Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts

Halloween Reflections

Well, it looks like I managed to post on the first and last day of this month (since Blogger struggled on Blog Action Day and even though the post is there I don't count it), which is weird, but okay, I guess. It's Halloween today (for those living under a rock) and it's finally fall weather.

I remember back at the 'ole university that Halloween was the biggest weekend and the biggest event of the year. Since it's always been my favorite holiday, I was always up for the shenanigans during the big celebration. I guess the tradition rubbed off because I continue to want to celebrate Halloween by having costume parties.

This past weekend was the 2nd Annual Halloween Costume Party at our place and we had a great turnout. Everyone was willing to get dressed up and play along with our games and drink our free beer. It was great seeing old friends, and I hope they'll all come back next year when I've worked out the bugs and will have more time to spend with them. I honestly did make an effort to hang out with everyone, so I hope no one feels left out.

Other than a few rude and hurtful comments and scenes that I won't go into (but have been stewing on quite a bit), I think the party went pretty well. I'm already thinking about improvements for next year (which I need to do since I'll be de-decorating the house in the next couple of days). Right now, my biggest problem is what to do with the left-over food and beverages.

Anyway, thinking about Halloween always makes me think of the year I won best costume in my hometown parade. For years, I came up with ideas trying to win that stupid thing, and one of the last years I participated, I struck gold. My uncle has gone as Oscar the Grouch when he was younger and won first place and my grandma still had the silver trashcan he used in the basement. When I saw that, I thought, "Well, since I never win, I'll just go as trash". So I had my grandma help me attach a trash bag, paint my face brown, and staple real trash to the bag (banana peels, old milk cartons, and other not-so-gross objects). Lo and behold, the judges dug it and I won in my category. Technically I guess I went as recycling instead of trash, but no one really knew that, and to this day, I do not look at trash the same way. (Or the judges).

So, anyway, I hope you have enjoyed my Halloween ramblings and are having a Happy Halloween of your own.
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Winning the Lottery and Super Powers

Not a day goes by that I don't win an international lottery. Hundreds of millions of dollars tempt me each day when I check my spam folder. If I actually cashed in on all of them, I could buy and sell the people sending them. Alas, it's only spam.

I've been watching a lot of Smallville the past couple of weeks, and it's been creating a huge internal dialogue in me about why I gravitate toward superheroes and other archetypes for entertainment. Let me preface this by discussing how I came to like certain super characters.

Spider-man and Batman are also up there with Superman for me. (I know, pick the three with the biggest following why don't I?) Spidey and Batman were first introduced to me through drugstore comics I would pick up and browse while I was waiting for the shopping trip to be over. Having suckled at the He-Man teat during my formative years, the concepts of super powers and secret identities were old familiar turf by this time. With comics being designated as a "guy" activity, I found out more about these two through animated series, which was an acceptable form of entertainment for a young girl. The original Batman live action series was also being run on Nick at Night at the same time, so I was able to see Adam West portray the characters through a myriad of "WHA-AM"s and "KA-POW"s. Then came the Michael Keaton movies, that rooted Batman as one of my favorite characters. The part I liked best about him was that he used devices rather than real powers.

A few years later, my family tuned into The Adventures of Lois and Clark. Dean Cain became Super-man and had to deal with human dilemmas and saving the world. Up to this point, I kind of thought Super-man was a tool (sorry original movie fans). Reeves did a good job of portraying the character he was given, but the character was weak. He was too plastic and alien to see any qualities that I myself might possess. He wasn't human and it felt alien. Then the live action series of Lois and Clark came along. Cain made Super-man human. The writers showed the turmoil and human emotion that the plastic Super-man of the movies lacked. I could finally relate to the character and I was sold.

Recently, there have been more movies depicting these characters. The Spider-man movies let me connect with Spidey on this same human level the cartoons lacked. The Batman prequel revived my interest in a character I gave up for dead when Kilmer took over. Then, thanks to the D-train, I was fully exposed to two great episodes of Smallville (season 5 finale, season six premiere). I was willing to go back and put up with the awkward first season freak-of-the-week episodes and thanks to DVD could ignore those plots in favor of the longer character-evolving story arcs. I could relate to this Super-man and was excited to see him Return in a movie. Unfortunately, the movie was another plastic caricature. A much better plastic man than the previous films thanks to more realistic special effects, but still an alien with which I could not empathize. So I decided to stick with the Super-man I liked - on TV.

I was rewarded when the Smallville sixth season DVD came out. I had missed the Oliver Queen story arc due to a lack of DVR and catching up in the series on DVD. Imagine my surprise when I found that of all the characters I'd known so far, the one I could relate to best was the Green Arrow because he lived in the real world, or at least a much realer and uglier world than the others. I've always had a penchant for gray characters.

This is when I discovered that my super power may be extreme empathy. I can only relate to characters that I can understand well. I need to be able to put myself in their position and see their motives for the actions they take.

At times, this power is also my weakness, especially when I leave the fantasy realm of entertainment and watch comedy or drama. Sometimes it's physically painful for me to see characters embarrassed or hurt. My mortification sets in before they even stumble into the situations that cause their pain.

I'm not sure why this is. I, like most people I know, had my own moments of awkwardness or embarrassment when I was younger, but nothing like the deep-seeded mortification or embarrassment I feel when I watch characters walk in to these situations completely unaware of what awaits them. Sometimes I find that my reaction is much stronger than their reaction, and I wonder why this is.

I also wonder why so many writers love to put people in these kinds of situations over and over again. Yes, some humiliation is good for character growth, but sometimes it's way over the top of what it needs to be - probably to heighten the viewer's reaction and emphasize the trauma of the event. I would love to see more scenes where the humiliation factor builds, but then, like many times in real life, the others who could laugh don't because they're too polite. Sure not seeing that on reality TV.

Now if only my super power could have been to cash in on those lottery winnings for real...
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Campus Parking

Just when I was starting to worry that my writing well was running low, Fate stepped in and handed my the perfect subject matter - Campus parking. Being an OU alum, I have experienced the trials and tribulations of finding parking on campus before. Let me say that while Athens was obsessively strict in their parking enforcement, at least they clearly defined which lots were meant for whom and under what conditions there were exceptions.

Ashland U, on the other hand, is a murky cesspool of parking violation exploitation. AU parking passes are significantly cheaper than OU passes - $30 per year at AU vs. $120 per quarter at OU (back in my day). Unfortunately, you are dependent upon a diagram that is too small and not clearly defined, as well as signs with 18 pt font that you are supposed to be able to read and comprehend from a moving vehicle. In fact, some of the signs do not even face vehicle entry ways to the lot. While the updated AU online campus map (which I just viewed for the first time while writing this post), does in fact distinguish between the lots, the map handed out with the passes does not. It's up to the employee working at the time to clearly make these distinctions. Being lazy, I only used the one I was handed (and did not cross-reference it with the one from the previous year, which clearly defined the separation, until later) and was rewarded with a $25 parking ticket this morning.

I confronted the Safety Services officer accompanying the parking attendant and demanded clarification. I was informed that I could file an appeal and I immediately set forth to do so, after he almost destroyed my evidence of misinformation (by adding a line to delimit the lots - don't worry I noted this and attached the diagram with his revision labeled as part of my appeal). I was granted access to knowledgeable individuals who were surprisingly helpful and understanding of my upset at these circumstances. I also had the honor to be the first AU student to file my appeal online. Apparently, Student Affairs wanted to test the new system to make the 72 hour appeal turn around time more fair to students. They were very excited that I was willing to be their guinea pig, so hopefully that and my detailed novella of the circumstances will help me get my appeal approved.

I try to play by the rules after being conditioned by OU parking to do so. Being misinformed or lacking the appropriate information to determine what the rules are understandably aggravates me, as does a ticket almost equal in cost to the pass I purchased. I was previously warned not to park in visitors' lots (only because I had a pass in my window, those who cheat by not buying one get a free pass all the time), so my paranoia at parking in a lot labeled "visitors and authorized vehicles" (notice there is no mention of commuters) landed me in an adjacent faculty/staff parking lot where the sign is only clearly visible to pedestrians. Anyway, I have filed my appeal and made a request in it that they update the parking map so these kinds of mistakes are impossible in the future. It may be a few weeks before I receive a decision, but I will update this post to reflect the outcome of my appeal.

As a warning to anyone trying to follow parking rules, I suggest you demand clarification even if they have to hand draw you a new map.
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Foresight Can Save Your Fandom

The biggest non-regret of my life is the fact that I did not see Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in theaters. Yes, that's right, me, one of the biggest Star Wars nerds around did not see Lucas's new film in theaters in 1999. My reasoning at the time was that I wanted to experience the beginning of the new trilogy in the same manner as I did the original trilogy, which was on a TV screen. I had seen two of the Special Editions of the OT in theaters when they were released in 1997, but it was not until 2002 that I saw a new Star Wars movie in the theater for the first time.


My quest for personal continuity forced me to wait an excruciating 6 months before seeing the next film. By then, I knew that it did not live up to its expectations. I knew that Jar-Jar was already classified as the biggest blight on the SW universe, and my expectations were reasonable. Perhaps that is why I am still a fan and did not totally reject it as many did. The optimist in me still enjoys the battle between Darth Maul, Obi-wan, and Qui-Gon. To me the biggest offense of TPM is not Jar-Jar, but instead is the evil "midi-cholrian" explanation. To take something as encompassing and encouraging and good as the Force and explain it away with a tale of divine conception and faux biology was an insult to fans and the Force. Luckily, this explanation was toned down later in Revenge of the Sith, as was the divine conception. I can only hope that one day the tale of Darth Plagueis will be told and the Force will be restored to its appropriate mystical proportions.
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100th Post

It's here. The moment you've all been waiting for - ND's 100th post. This little post here kicks off our mini-blog-a-thon. Some of the following posts may be short, but they will be entertaining.

For this post I thought I'd reminisce about how this blog came to be. Shawed, the original blog was inspired by Trevor Danger's old blog H8FUELED. After reading his crazy ranting and ravings (which were very educational) I decided that I too needed an outlet to inform the masses about the crazy and depressing predicaments caused by the state of the world today. My friend MisHou, used a fun word called "shawed" to proclaim she was both shocked and awed by something. At the time, with the anger behind my posts, this was the perfect nomenclature for this blog.

As time passed and I decided to branch away from anger, I decided it was time to revamp the blog and rename it to something more reflective of my personality, and thus No Disintegrations was born. At the time TD had discontinued H8FUELED (but now he's back with PCP), and I was feeling the burden of lashing out at society resting squarely on my shoulders. If you know me, you know I like Star Wars (okay, understatement of the year). So I tried Googling some great catch phrases from The Empire Strikes Back to see what was available. No one had latched onto Vader's direct order to Boba Fett, "I want them alive. No disintegrations," so I staked my claim and the revamp (prompted by Blogger's code update) proceeded.

Over the past almost 2 years, I feel I've covered quite a range of topics. Usually, I don't feel that I have enough material to create an entire post about certain topics. So, in celebration of the 100th post to this blog, I decided to create some mini (some mega) posts about topics I didn't feel I had enough material to cover in my usual posts. Thus, today's blog-athon. Love it or hate it, or be ambivalent. Just read and comment, or at least take the new poll.

To those who have been dedicated readers over the years (TD, MT, and maybe LT?) I thank you for continuing to wade through my crazy hodgepodge of writing. Thank you for your support and feedback over the years. To anyone else who has ever visited this blog or read it infrequently, I also thank you. Without random people, I would have no one to write for or mock. To my contributors I thank you for your contributions and hope that you will continue to occasionally add something. You guys have a lot of talent and I hope you will continue to share it. Special thanks to Dtrain for the DCN posts. I hope to see more of them as they are some of my favorites on this blog. And finally, I'd like to thank Pregremlin, Sam, and Gandalf for providing un-ending excitement in my life and for curling up next to my laptop (it's really funny to see Pregremlin do that).

Keep reading, keep writing, and keep hoping for a better future.

Your blog host,
dre222
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Lessons Learned - Pregremlin's BBQ Ultimate Classic


Face removed to protect identity

A few weeks ago, we hosted several people for Pregremlin's BBQ Ultimate Classic. This all-encompassing event involved ultimate frisbee, a cookout, and ultimate Flip Cup. For those of you who have never played Flip Cup, look up some rules online and get started. It is by far one of the best party drinking games ever.

As with most events, there are always a few incidents that happen to make them totally memorable. I won't bore you with those details, but instead I'm going to offer some party tips based on lessons I learned from this event.
  1. Candles and Drunks Don't Mix - In an effort to curtail the amount of bugs present for the Flip Cup Tournament, I placed several large citronella candles across the entrance created by the garage door being open. This worked wonders on the bugs, but I made the fatal mistake of mixing drunks and candles. We now have several large pools of wax created by stumbling. Luckily, we're not picky about those kinds of things, but learn from us and avoid using candles when people are drinking as much as possible. It could save you a flame engorged home.
  2. The Host Must Oversee Sleeping Arrangements - Even if your party is only being attended by adults, you should still make sure everyone has a place to sleep and the materials necessary to do so. I made the mistake of placing blankets and pillows in a central location figuring folks would grab what they need and share the rest. The next day, I was enlightened by tales of blankets thieves, squatters, nests, and people sleeping it off in cars. Apparently material distribution and space claims were the biggest problem, along with lights being turned off before everyone was settled in. If you are the host, take a few minutes at the begining of the night to makes ure that everyone has an assigned spot to crash and the materials needed to do so.
  3. Close Your Bedroom Door - People do strange things when they pass out. We could have had a very awkward momnet had we been awake at a certain time. The "Consular", as I will call him, somehow ventured into our bedroom during the night and passed out on the floor at the foot of our bed. He woke in this position and sheepishly removed himself while we were still safely asleep. Had he decided to climb in our bed, or if we had to amke a late night restroom visit, this could have been very awkward indeed.
  4. Don't Make a Beer Run - If you have a keg, do not make a beer run when it's cashed. We cashed ours around midnight and because folks were still lively and playing games, we decided we could use beverage reinforcements. Being in no state to make those kinds of decisions, I erroneously purchased too many replacement libations and they are still residing in our fridge. Our goal is to now consume them before the next gathering.
  5. Hide Your Cell Phone Charger - I placed my cell phone charger in a very safe place while cleaning for this event. In fact, it was so safe that I have not been able to locate it since and was forced to order a new one. I'm assuming that I am at fault in this instance, but it got me thinking. Everyone has cell phones now, so it could be easy for anyone to grab a charger thinking it belongs to them without checking to be sure. (If this happened in this case, please mail it to me). The best plan is to put it somewhere where no one else will be.
  6. Things Happen When You Aren't Looking - As you can see in the picture above, anything that could possibly happen might at your event. Keep some emergency phone numbers handy in several locations in case your guests aren't as flexible as that guy. (Who rules for being able to perform this contortionist feat.)

Use these tips for your next event, and maybe you can be the host/hostess with the most/mostess. (Although the day after tales may not be as interesting).

*This is post 99. Check out post 100 and the mini-blog-athon starting at midnight.*
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Sam the Deer Hunter - Video

While I'm working on the Origins game reviews, I thought I'd take a break from serious blogging to bring you a funny incident that occurred in my backyard two nights past.

I have a bold Siamese cat named Sam who recently ran away for a couple of weeks into the woods after an altercation with the neighborhood devil cat. Since his return after 13 days of exposure and almost starving, he has become an adept hunter. In the time since, he's brought us two mice with one confirmed kill. Of course it could have been the same mouse twice since the first one he brought was the one that got away.

On Tuesday night, Pregremlin happens to look in our backyard and spies a deer. He tells me about the deer and then says that Sam is sitting right next to it. By the time I get to the window, the cat has begun to stalk the deer. When I see him run up to the deer until they are almost nose-to-nose, I know it's time to grab the new video camera and try to capture this moment for posterity. What I caught was the tail end of the confrontation.

In the video below, you will see Sam on the left and a deer on the right. I haven't mastered the various camcorder functions yet or the editing software, so the video is fairly dark and uncropped. Watch what happens:



After chasing the deer off, Sam stood guard for another hour and then returned to the abode. I asked him what he thought he, an 8 pound cat, was going to do if he caught the 260 lb deer. Of course in the mysterious way of cats everywhere, the only reply I received was a blank look.
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A Sad Day for Science...

Today is a sad day for science as we mourn the passing of a pop culture legend for the field and deny funding necessary to keep millions of people safe from severe weather.

Mr. Wizard, Don Herbert, passed away yesterday at age 89. I remember watching his show on Nickelodeon when I was young, and one show in particular sticks in my mind. This was the show where he told everyone how to inflate their marshmallows by putting them in the microwave. You could also make them explode this way. His biggest trick was showing generation after generation how to conduct science experiemnets using things they had around the house. It's hard to tell how many science fair projects were based off of one of his episodes. The best thing about him and his show was that he instilled the belief that anything you wanted to do or make was possible as long as you had the supplies and the knowledge. Since much of my childhood daydreaming involved schemes to build my own inventions and much of my last few years has been spent studying ways to recapture his enthusiasm and showmanship in the science classroom, this seems to be an enormous loss for science and teaching to me. Hopefully, his show will be released on DVD so future generations can experience the hope and possibilities his show generated.

The NOAA chief said in a letter that the QuikScat satellite, which is the primary source of information for predicting hurricane intensity and paths, is limping along in space. Due to a failed transmitter, the QuikScat has been working off the backup transmitter. If that transmitter goes, the error rate could go up 16%. Plans to replace the satellite first launched in 1999 have been pushed back to 2016. This is due to the minimum 4 years and $400 million dollars it takes to get one of these babies built. It's funny how we can continue to throw money at pointless posturing, but something crucial to people's safety and lives can be delayed and delayed. This is another instance of having the science and technology available, but not pursuing it even though it could benefit many, many people. But you can be blasted sure that if this thing could be hooked into an iPod, we'd have one by Christmas.
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Star Wars Celebration IV: An Epic Blog

WARNING: The following post strictly focuses on Star Wars related news and a summary of my trip to Star Wars Celebration IV in Los Angeles. If you are not a Star Wars fan, but like Family Guy or Robot Chicken, you may want to keep reading to find out about the creators and their upcoming Star Wars specials. If you’ve already lost interest: “We don’t need to see your identification. Move along, move along.”
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May the Fourth be with you



For those of you who don’t know, today is Star Wars Day. Something that started with a horrible pun and has now continued year after year for true Star Wars fans (I belong to this category). On this auspicious day, I thought I would post some info I know non-Star Wars fans are just dying to hear…

First, I’d like to tell you briefly how this all began for me. I was lucky to be introduced to Star Wars in my 8th grade English class by reading excerpts from the screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back. I was selected to read the role of Luke Skywalker (since there were only two people in my class who could read aloud without struggling – the other guy read Yoda). While I had seen bits and pieces of the movie as a child, I had never seen one all the way through. After class I went to the local video store and rented The Empire Strikes Back. I was immediately hooked and had to rent Return of the Jedi for obvious reasons (if it’s not obvious to you, stop reading now). I finished off the trilogy by watching A New Hope. USA decided to choose that exact year to run all three films in order during Christmas. I bought an 8-hour VHS and captured them for my own viewing pleasure. I can’t say how many times I watched that tape, other than daily for at least a month. To this day, while watching the originals (not Uncle George’s 2004 DVD monstrosity) I can still tell you where the commercial breaks from the tape were. Needless to say, some figures called Bend’ems turned up in Odd Lots not long after that and I began buying anything Star Wars I could get my hands on (which wasn’t much at the time). Then came the release of the THX editions with associated merchandise and then the big 20th anniversary release of the special editions in theaters - by this time, I had moved up the ranks to full-fledged Star Wars collector. When The Phantom Menace was released, I didn’t see it open in theaters because I wanted to experience the way I experienced the first three for the first time – on TV. After watching it, I’m glad I waited since it would have been one of the biggest disappointments ever for me. Well, now you have the gist of my personal Star Wars saga, and I’d like to give you a quick preview of the next installment.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope, Lucasfilm has decided to host another Star Wars Celebration cleverly named “Celebration IV”. This huge geekfest will take place in Los Angeles, and I’m going. I’m only planning on being there a couple of days due to finances and work, but I’m going to live it up while I’m there. Not only will there be tons of exclusive merchandise for collectors like me, but there will also be some interesting and perhaps unexpected celebrities in attendance. Two of these famous folks I’m really looking forward to seeing are Seth McFarlane (Family Guy) and Seth Green (Robot Chicken, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Both Family Guy and Robot Chicken have Star Wars specials planned in honor of the 30th anniversary and both have permission from Uncle George to create them. Star Wars celebrities of course will be attending, and right now the confirmed big names are Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, and Jake Lloyd. Two major “guests of honor” from the SW universe have yet to be confirmed. With so much to see and do I’m sure it will be a short and fast couple of days. Wednesday May 23rd kicks the celebration off with a 6-movie marathon in the order of storyline. While I won’t be spending 17 hours watching the films, I would at least like to try to catch one of the films from the original trilogy. I’m hoping to take a lot of pictures and take plenty of recorded notes so I can give a full report on my return. Until then, celebrate May Fourth the Star Wars way.
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Mythical Creatures


Apparently, there is a Pegasus in my vicinity. On my way to work this morning, I found myself staring at a Deer Crossing sign that had been converted to a Pegasus Crossing sign. The artist even took care to label it as "Pegasus", so as not to be confused with other winged ungulates in the area. While the sign above does not do justice to the original I saw this morning, it is a very similar sign. Apparently the artist had no clue that Pegasus is actually a winged horse rather than a winged deer. I must say that I do think Pegasus would look dashing with a set of antlers, almost regal in fact.

My main concern is that this sign was only about a half mile from where I live. If Pegasus is known to frequent the area, should I be watching for him out my sliding glass doors? Should I make preparations to profit off this unnatural stroke of good fortune? You know, Pegasus T-shirts, stickers, and other crap. Should I be concerned that Pegasus may be establishing a breeding colony and we will soon be overrun with winged terrors? Are mythical creatures considered endangered species? Would I go to prison for killing Pegasus if he started attacking me and my car? That one sign would suddenly make me fear such things and such a tiny stretch of road is an amazing testament to pictures being worth a thousand words (or in this case maybe 100).
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The Neighbors' Cats



This is what a cat-friendly neighborhood looks like on a typical day.
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