Category: Blog Page 18 of 141

I’ve got the brain, you’ve got the looks…

On March 25, 2012

Jeff has been visiting this weekend, which means the conversation level in our house gets more surreal than normal. (This is no bad thing.)

We were having a discussion about a great list of songs by band which were mostly one-hit wonders, and I was saying how I had kibitzed over the inclusion of the Pet Shop Boys, who had numerous top-20 singles in the 80s, and were even bigger in Europe.

Me: And of course, they were pioneers of gay disco, and that’s no small thing.
Larissa: I didn’t even know there was such a think as gay disco.
Me: Oh yes.
Larissa: Apparently, I’ve been hanging out with the wrong people.
Me: You obviously haven’t been hanging out with gay people at discos.
Larissa: I like gay people. It’s the disco I object to.
Jeff: How do you know a disco is gay, anyway?
Me: Easy. It makes passes at other discos.
Larissa: So what does a straight disco make passes at?
Me: (shrugs) A laundromat?

When I find myself in times of trouble…

By autographedcat

On March 20, 2012

In Blog

So, having made a solemn pledge to start updating again, I promptly stopped updating. Which isn’t to say things have been boring around here. runnerwolf came to visit, which was shiny and awesome, and then I went to California for Consonance, which was also shiny and awesome, and then I came home and had the plague, which was dingy and boring, and then Marian Call was in town for a concert, which was back to shiny and awesome.

So, rather than talk about those things, each of which deserves at least a post unto itself, I want to talk about Pop Culture Comfort Food.

This past weekend was mentally fragile for me. I do pretty well most of the time these days, but depression still sucks, and every so often it gets the better of me. There are some things that reliably help, but it’s mostly a matter of just getting through them until my brain chemistry balances out.

Since I had managed to lure kitanzi into playing The Old Republic with me, I got the notion over the weekend to rewatch Star Wars. I followed it up with The Empire Strikes Back because, well, it comes next, doesn’t it. And a couple of things struck me while I was watching it:

1) The Special Editions are fine. Seriously. There’s really nothing wrong with them. (Before you start, I want to note something: Han still shoots first. Really. Go watch. He shoots Greedo, whose gun discharges at strikes the wall. At the very worst, they shoot simultaneously. It’s Not Even A Thing, stop griping about it.)

2) These films are, for me, the cinematic equivalent of a big bowl of macaroni and cheese. I’ve seen them enough times now that they really are like comfort food. I go back to them and I’m 10 again and the world is okay.

kitanzi and I were discussing this last night, and she said that she couldn’t really think of a movie that fit that category for her, but she certainly had books which did, most notably Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series, which she claims to have read more times than she can actually count anymore.

So what are *your* pop culture comfort foods? When you just need something warm and familiar, what entertainment do you turn to?

If my wings should fail me, Lord. Please meet me with another pair…

By autographedcat

On February 29, 2012

In Blog

Woke up this morning to the sound of my chest attempt to forcibly evict one of my lungs from it’s rightful place in my body. Very unhappy about this turn of events.

Working from home today.

I Told You You Could Always Count On Me

By autographedcat

On February 27, 2012

In Blog

Stumbled across this absolutely fantastic cover of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” in a Popdose article last week. Thought I’d share it. 🙂

But it was obsolete before I opened the box….

By autographedcat

On February 18, 2012

In Blog

Once upon a time, bedlamhouse got a copy of a new video game called City of Heroes. It was an online multi-player RPG set in a comic-book superhero universe, and he suggested to the others in our AD&D group that if we all got copies, we could team up and play together. So I went and bought a copy. After watching me play it for a few days, kitanzi decided it looked like fun, so we went and got her a copy too. For the next three years, we played the game a lot, often just the two of us, often with other members of Penguin Force, our superhero group. But eventually, we did what could be done, and newer shinier games (*cough*World of Warcraft*cough) lured me away from Paragon City. When I made the jump to WoW, kitanzi decided to hang up the MMO habit, not wanting to get addicted to yet another time sink.

Earlier this year, though, CoH, now a venerable old warhorse in the MMO field, announced they were going free-to-play, and old subscribers could reactivate their old characters and play without paying a monthly fee. We both jumped back in, and while I couldn’t recapture my enthusiasm for the game, she had a lot of fun beating up bad guys and flying around.

Last night, kitanzi says to me, “Yeah, I think I’m getting bored with City of Heroes again.”

“Well,” I said, perhaps a bit too eagerly, “If you want to try Star Wars: The Old Republic”, I could get you a copy. We could play together again!” She’d been watching with interest as I’d been playing the game since shortly before its release, and she’d also enjoyed watching me play other BioWare games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect, so she didn’t require much convincing.

I decided that it was probably about time put a proper video card in her machine, though. Integrated graphics were fine for the games she was playing before (I mean, CoH came out in 2004…it’s not really going to stress out a modern system, even without a gamer-spec card in it), but TOR was likely to give it a bit more of a workout.

So, in preparation for this upgrade, I popped open the case to examine her power supply. I honestly expected to need to replace it, because gamer-spec video cards are power-hungry, and this was just a Dell Inspiron intended for general home use. But hey, I figured, check anyway, to make sure. And what I found astonished me.

I had figured I’d find a 280W or 300W power supply. If they’d been really spiffy, maybe a 350W, but I didn’t expect more than that.

It has a 160W power supply.

I checked my calendar to make sure I hadn’t accidentally opened the case of a computer I built in 1995 instead of the one I bought last year. Seriously, Dell, way to go. I’m amazed it even boots.

It’s now fitted out with a 500W PSU and an ATI 6670, which is a solid entry level card that wasn’t too expensive. Now we’re ready to conquer the galaxy!

Maybe I’m amazed at the way you pulled me out of time

By autographedcat

On February 14, 2012

In Blog

For 10 years now, you’ve been the centre of my universe, and the foundation upon which I build all worthwhile things. You followed me to strange and foreign lands, upending your life for the hope of a better one, and you are still willing to do that for no reason other than my happiness. When I said “I want to reshape the universe,” you said “Okay. Where do we start?”

You transformed me into a better version of myself, and I still marvel every day at your quiet grace, your unwavering trust, and your unquenchable imagination. No matter what roads I travel, or what distant truth I seek, home will always be wherever you are, and where I shall always return.

Happy Valentine’s day, Larissa.

I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadows

By autographedcat

On February 14, 2012

In Blog

A lot of people have been reacting over the last couple of days to the death of Whitney Houston. She was, obviously, a superstar, and like any superstar, the news of her death generated a lot of strong opinion and emotion, both good and bad.

But when I heard the news, my first thought was of a more personal moment. I was fifteen years old, and one of a number of sophomores who were tapped to be waitstaff at the junior/senior prom. We scurried around refilling punch bowls and setting out trays of snack food in the lobby area of the gymnasium at the local junior-high school while the older students got their groove on. It was their party, after all. We were just the help.

Just before the last song, the adult chaperones turned us all loose and told us we were welcome to dance that one dance before it was time for everyone to go home. Various of the other kids who were dating filed off. I wasn’t dating anyone, and I was shy, so I was kinda not sure what precisely I should do.

And then Shannon, who was one of my best friends, walked over, cocked her head to the side that way she would, and held out her hand. And we went into the gym, and I held her close to me, and we danced.

The song was “The Greatest Love Of All”, by Whitney Houston. It was a huge radio hit at the time. And that is, hands down, one of my favourite memories of high school, ever.

Goodnight, Ms. Houston. Thanks for being the soundtrack to a perfect moment in time.

The only doom that’s looming is you loving me to death…

By autographedcat

On February 12, 2012

In Blog

Tonight, kitanzi and I continued working our way through the stack of DVDs in the to-be-watched pile. It was her turn to pick, and she chose Thor, a film which I had seen in the theatre but she had not.

Thor is, I thought, a surprisingly good comic-book action flick. I was dubious that a character as inherently silly as Thor could be turned into a decent movie vehicle, but between a JMS co-written script, Ken Branagh’s direction, and a stellar cast headed up by Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins, it turned out to be a fun, breezy romp, and the Asgaard visuals are nothing less than stunning.

But that’s not what I came to tell you about. I came to tell you about why I’m so very lucky that kitanzi loves me so much.

Towards the end of the film, Thor, having been fully restored his powers, is going to fly off to the transfer site to take the Bifrost bridge back to Asgaard to confront his brother, Loki. He pulls Dr. Foster (Portman) to his side, and flashes her that impossible grin of his, causing her to give out a small, schoolgirlish giggle.

I couldn’t help myself. I leaned over to Kit, and softly whispered, “The hammer is my penis.”

And we both cracked up. We had to pause the movie. And she hit me at least twice over the course of the next half hour.

I’m lucky she loves me. Hell, I’m lucky she’s still speaking to me. 🙂

If You Don’t Know The Thing You’re Dealing…

By autographedcat

On February 10, 2012

In Blog

So here’s a question I put out there to my friends who have expertise with sexual health. (Or even just an opinion on the matter.)

A friend of mine is recently starting to become socially active, having become single a couple of years ago. He’s already involved in a casual friends-with-benefits relationship, and there’s something on his horizon that may be developing.

At some point, I recommended to him that as long as he’s dating, he should get an STD test periodically. Particularly if he’s going to be involved with more than one person at one time, I consider it an ethical responsibility. He agreed, and said that since he was already due for his annual physical, he’d ask them to run it at the same time.

Yesterday, he told me that he’d had that appointment, and that his doctor had refused to order the panel:

His rationale, insofar as I could read it, was “They aren’t reliable past the first ten minutes after you have them, so wait until you have a stable partner and then get tested together.

To which I said: “You should fire your doctor. That’s not only wrong, it’s completely irresponsible.”

This goes beyond my usual insistence that as the consumer, you have the right to have a say in setting your own health priorities. I’m flabbergasted that a doctor would, in 2012, tell a sexually active person that there’s no point in getting STD screening as a preventing measure.

Am I overreacting, or is this utterly bizarre?

Turning the second key…

By autographedcat

On February 10, 2012

In Blog

So earlier, my darling kitanzi and I made an agreement. As she writes in her journal:

Ok, ACat and I have a deal. I will start posting again if he does, and vice versa – and I still don’t have much to say, but dammit, it’s a deal. I can’t guarantee it’s anything worth anyone reading, which is much of what’s kept me from posting, but hey – if you don’t like it, feel free to unfriend me. I promise not to hold a grudge.

So…. a post a week, at least, hopefully more. May be crap, may be trivial, may be something no one but me is interested in. Here’s a starter – ask me a question, any question. I will either tell the truth, or say something so outrageous it’s an obvious and hopefully entertaining lie. Hell, I dunno if anyone is even reading this any more. Say something? 🙂

I’m engaging this slightly differently from a technical standpoint. I will compose my posts on Dreamwidth and crosspost them to Livejournal. I don’t especially care where people actually respond to them, and I may leverage other tools to make it easier to share certain content as well.

But, by gosh, this is own. Acat+Kitanzi, the blogging team that brought you…..links to a giant potato head statue, and amusing essays about our wedding and honeymoon, and con reports and strange song lyrics. All that, and more, so watch this space.

Stealing from my lovely wife, let’s open the floor for questions. Ask me a question, any question at all. The floor is entirely open.