MOTHER FUCKER!

I have a newfound respect for the sport of tennis.

Now, this raises the question. If Marat Safin does it, and other players don't mind, what about me, eh?

There's something oddly poetic about this.

I'm just not sure if it's a poem you'd ever read aloud...

Woo... remind me to go yell at someone in the Blogger department... format changes make my head hurt.

So, the major news of the day: I FOUND MY GAME BOY!!!!

For those of you who care, it's been lost since before E3, and I found it exactly where I'd put it: in the box of spare electronic equipment. Yeah, I feel stupid.

In other news, my job at Google is going well. The food is amazing, and I think I've gained about 10 pounds already. At least, that's what it feels like. The people are very cool, and while the job is mildly tedious, the environment, and the company make it worth it. I'm enjoying life. I'll enjoy it more after a paycheck. *grin* Raises make Erin happy.

Fanime is this weekend, so those of you who will be there, you will find me running around with a staff badge. I'll be working at the masquerade, so this should be interesting. ^^

Okay, gotta run. My phone calls. ^^

I need to get out of my parents' house as often as possible. My dad's need for attention is making me sick. When someone tells you "You be a good boy" without a hint of irony, you know that it's time to leave the house. And hell, I've only been there a month.

It's kind of sad, the feeble ways he tries to bridge the massive gap between us. He tried to get me to read the San Jose Mercury article on E3, because he thought "it was something I needed to know about".

My sister and I had this conversation today:

ve: i hate dad
ve: i think he's insane
ga: agreed. What'd he do this time?
ve: he keeps swearing i tell him these things that have never even crossed my mind
ga: last night he yelled at me for not cancelling the second phone line after I called the number on the billing statement and got Vietnamese
ve: if its in veitnamese, he can call
ga: that's what I said
ve: makes more sense for him to call
ga: he's like "I ask you to do ONE thing and you can't do it!"
ve: well, he said "how come you didn't come home last weekend?" i thought you were coming home for mother's day
ve: ???
ga: "Well, yeah, I can't really call during work hours, and when I'm at home they're out"
ga: yeah, I heard about that too. I have no idea where he pulled that from after we had to cancel last week
ve: mom said it didn't matter to her. and she seems too tired for a production anyway
ve: and he's always yelling at her to not work so hard, where its him that makes her even more stressed out
ve: which he doesn't understand
ve: i pointed that out to him two weeks ago and he didn't talk to mom for a few days because he said "she put me up to it."
ga: she keeps making me tiptoe around him when I'd rather just not talk to him
ga: "I'm not letting you leave this house until you say goodbye to your father" and stuff
ve: that's the other thing. i don't want to make her life difficult, but i'm also not going to tiptoe around him
ve: maybe you can frame me as the bad one and just let me do all the talking since i don't live there.
ve: might make your life easier
ga: maybe. I might try that
ga: I really hope I get one of the Gamepro openings, gives me an excuse to move back out of the house
ve: he's getting more and more unmanageable
ve: i think we've hit an all-time high in how much i hate him
ve: even moreso than when i lived with him
ve: i find his behavior unacceptable and intolerable
ga: yeah, he's reminding me why I stayed in Berkeley even though I didn't have a job. It's getting really hard to find reasons to stay at home, even with Mom the way she is
ve: sorry you gotta deal with it
ve: bac hanh is the only one who really recognizes what is happening
ve: i'd come home more if he weren't such an ass
ga: Bac Hanh? really?
ve: yeah, she's mentioned it to me a few times
ve: how she understands why we don't come home much and that his behavior is driving the family apart
ve: she's a good ally
ve: because dad actually listens to her
ve: two people he responds to: ba and bac hanh
ga: It's kind of sad how Dad makes feeble efforts to connect with me and fails
ga: like he tried to force me to read the Mercury article on E3
ve: i find him sad, overall
ve: he's more unmanageable these days cuz he doesn't get the attention he needs from mom

I think it's funny that, given how much my sister and I used to fight, what brought us closer together was my dad's behavior starting to tear the family apart. Family is weird.

Bahahahahahaha

Don't everyone hold your breath now...

Wired Magazine byline get! Issues of Wired for everyone!

(Page 62, in case you see the issue on shelves and want to see. It's 12.06, the issue with The Incredibles on the cover)

*sob*

Please just shoot me now and lets get it over with. Blew off quite a bit and spent a whole lota money just so I could spend 4 days in hell. Yippie!!!

Somehow, I'm still alive. Finals and all, no sleep for almost 2 days, but I've done it. Thank heaven for things like that.

Now on to other matters.

As I noted before, a while back, my grandmother passed away in early April. The whole thing screwed me over pretty bad, and I ended up dropping 2 of my classes this semester. Add to that getting burned by a woman that I was finally becoming close to, and then also everything else cropping up in addition, and you have a recipe for some hard times. But I'm through and done. Now to have some fun }:-P

I'm still (somehow) on track to graduate in 2 semesters. My little business is actually getting clients (Greg, Fred, you guys are absolute lifesavers, I don't know how I can thank you) and the semester is over, all making me a bit giddy as I sit here and type.

Seriously, you ever had one of those little moments where the path seems to be clearing up? Where the world becomes a bit more in focus? It's happening right now, so the next few months are going to be filled with a little 'ol busy, busy Pdac out causing trouble and wreaking havoc across the globe.

But first:

Thanks go out to all my friends and family for being there when I went through this, even despite my own attempts to withdraw from the world. I 've managed to stand up again, ready to go. I owe it all to you :)

It seems like we all have trying times in life. But that is what happens. You have the good and the bad - the two keep the other in perspective, and you appreciate what they give you. As appealing as the dream of eternal happiness is, it hardly can compare with the reality (pun intended) that the world offers. After all, why not enjoy the time you have? We only have so much, make the most of it.

See you all again soon :)

You know, I'm still feeling pretty down, but my new Fury In The Slaughterhouse finally arrived from whatever retailer imported it here to the states and then sold it to me through Amazon, and it is everything I hoped it would be thusfar. So far all the songs make me feel better and ditch the more AOR rock feel for the more of cynic/bleak rock they've always done so well. I'm only about 4 songs into the 16 track CD (I got the special edition with the 1 extra song) but thusfar it's exactly what I wanted in a new album from them. So while the world is not okay, it's a little bit better.

Thanks guys. Glad you're still kicking ass over in Germany. Maybe one day I'll see you live.

Hmmm....

So I survived E3. I'm sunburned, I'm exhausted, I'm drained, every single muscle in my body hurts, my feet feel like frozen needles any time I step on them, my brain hurts, I'm mentally just out of it ... the list goes on and on. On the other hand, I saw a ton of cool games and I'll be broke this fall if I don't get back to work soon.

Oh yeah, Dom, next time you even consider thinking about going back into XI, LET ME KNOW. I can help your ass if you need it. A few bad experiences do not a bad game make.

There are some movies in one's lifetime that one only sees the cable version of - twenty minutes into it. Then one sees an actual viewing of the entire film, and one goes into shock about the opening twenty minutes and/or characters they didn't know were in the film.

For example, today I watched an uncut version of the governator in "Kindergarten Cop". I never knew that Cathy Moriarty was in the film, nor did I realize there was a scene leading up to the co-cop's food poisoning.

I know, no one cares about Kindergarten Cop. I'm just pointing out that it's interesting how much you miss when commercials are added in. But yet the story remains intact. Just something I've been pondering.

monkey: "Hey guys, can anyone help me through Sauro(tab)?"
Linkshell: (crickets)
monkey: "anyone? I don't know the way and it already took me like a half hour to get through Meripha(tab)"
monkey: "Alright, would anyone at least tell me what mobs are aggressive here so I can avoid them?"
Linkshell: "Goblins and Yagudo, both aggro on sight. That's it."
monkey: "Okay, thanks..."
Final Fantasy XI: Sauromogue Couerl hits Dingonosuke for 68 points of damage
Final Fantasy XI: Sauromogue Couerl hits Dingonosuke for 50 points of damage
Final Fantasy XI: Sauromogue Couerl hits Dingonosuke for 62 points of damage
Final Fantasy XI: Sauromogue Couerl hits Dingonosuke for 70 points of damage
Final Fantasy XI: Sauromogue Couerl scores a critical hit! Dingonosuke takes 97 damage
monkey: /em pushes up daisies
City of Heroes: "Come back to me, sweetheart... in Paragon City, the time between point A and point B is mere minutes, and you can avoid aggro by superleaping out of trouble. And you can party with all of your friends by becoming their sidekicks."
monkey: "I love you, City of Heroes."
Final Fantasy XI: "Wait! I'm not done sodomizing you yet!"
monkey: "I have a new sugar daddy now. Goodbye."

And in the fine tradition of American conservative politics, corruption and war didn't lower Bush's approval rating. Gross negligence and economic laggardness didn't either.

No, it took pictures of naked people before it took a hit.

To market, to market to buy a fat pig.
Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

*sob* and no E3 for me...bring me some swag back pretty pls?

Huh.... they changed all the blogger interface.

Anyhow, down in L.A. for E3. Show starts tomorrow. A little drained/wiped/tired right now.

Damn...damn...

Ah, so this is what Issues taste like. I'd forgotten what it was like to have them after getting the job took care of my last major one.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOMS!!!

I don't know how many actually read this thing, but it's a good sentiment none the less. ^^

Going dark. Back when I'm in SoCal.

Welcome to modern America, where outsourcing is in, temp jobs are a permanent staple of employers and the President of the United States has turned into a reverse Chicken Little, telling us nothing is wrong when the sky is, in fact, falling.

Sorry, I try to avoid from political ranting because inevitably, someone tells me I have no clue what I'm talking about, I'm a Communist, if I don't love it then leave it, how can I consider myself an American, but let's cut right through the bullshit and down to what's going on right now. The election coming this fall -- how anyone in their right mind can consider voting for Bush is beyond me, and yet, the polls are still split 50/50. What more do people need? Do I need to find photos of W. raping a kitten? Do I need to find a picture of him shooting your grandparents? Do I need to get him on record saying that "people don't matter" in America? Seriously, what will it take to make people look at this bizarre world!

On top of all of that, the ending of "Friends" is being trumpted like the anti-Christ is coming. Oh no, the Apocalypse is here, "Friends" is over! You can't see my rolling eyes, but they are a'rollin'. I give a shit why?

I'm trying to stay optimistic. I'm going to E3 in a few days, and on Monday night I'll be in full dress regalia listening to Uematsu's music being performed by an orchestra. I'll be making posts somewhere (either on Real Life, Devious, or I may float my reports over to Gamer's Depot, we'll see)...

It took me nearly an hour to find my Transmet shirt for the con. We leave tomorrow. Talk about chaos.

Any my day just keeps getitn better!!! Anytime god wants he can just unleash the lightning and my day will be complete.

Well I am officialy haveing the worst day of my life so far (at least that I can remeber). Alarm doesn't go off this morning, gas cover breaks off at the pump, main PC won't boot, out of replacement brushes for motors that has been going on for days, one lucrative project falls thru, rear-end a limo (going LESS than 5MI an hour) while getting something for work after hours I shouldn't have had to get, get ticket, now I can't get ahold of specific people I need to talk to, and definately with out a doubt unable to goto E3 under ANY terms now (and this is about half the shit thats going on today). WHEEEEEEEE!!!!!! I wish I just hadn't gotten out of bed today.

Pardon me...I think I'm gona go bash my head into a wall now.

So... its that time of year again. The time of year where Cliff gets a new wardrobe in a matter of days. What fashions will we see him in this year? A stunning "Fable" t-shirt? Or maybe something a little more casual, like Sponge Bob? Hmmm? Well I suppose we shall have to wait and see.

In other news, when did this become a place for displaced employess to discuss the frequencies of baseball walks? Can anyone tell me this? Also, what is this "Google" thing that you speak of?

As of tonight, there have been 61 bases-loaded walks issued in the major leagues. Given that the season "started" on March 30th in Japan, then ACTUALLY started on April 4th in Baltimore, that's been almost two walks with the bases loaded occurring each day. And let's not even factor in the 8 times a batter has been hit by a pitch and that has scored a run... and that four games have ended with a walk-off... walk.

Geez.

New lesson of the day:

Never sneeze downward when wearing a low cut shirt.

So you see, it appears as if Major League Baseball has decided to sell ads not only on the walls, not only over the PA, not only with the names of the parks themselves... but on the bases. Good Lord. Even Fay Vincent, who once was commish of baseball and also president of Columbia, says that it's sad.

I'm not the kidn to claim that baseball is a pure game--but jeebus, ads on the BASES? Who will look at those? Seriously? Mask handouts at games, sure. Ads on the walls and such, sure.

But the BASES?

God is mocking me.

It seems like I'll be moving to Paragon City full time now... goodbye, Vana'diel, I'll still come back to visit often, but I was born to be a superhero, not a lewd tarutaru.

Okay, it seems inquiring minds want to know:

Yes, I got the job at Google. I start Tuesday, May 18th, at 8:45am. I'll be an AdWords Representative, meaning that if any of you need advice on your AdWords account, more than likely, I'll be the schmuck dealing with you. I'm sorry. I'll be a trainee starting, basically a type of temp, and I can become a permanent employee in time. With my temporary position comes free lunch every day, breakfast if I want it (I dunno if it's free or not), free access to the company gym and showers, and the joy of being able to say, "Oh, I work for Google," and watch the conversation immediately turn to IPO's.

w00t.

I'd go back to being a boring old reporter if I got to cover stories like THIS all the time... (Found from Warren Ellis' blog Die Puny Humans)

Thank you Dom, for paying for our senseless ramblings. Thank you Cliff, for remembering your html. Thank you Dave for the new site des- wait, never mind, it all still looks the same.

Hell, I'd given up for awhile.

Thank you, Mr. Cliff, for giving us our Blog back. ^^

Don't all thank me at once.

I fixed that bitch. Site is live at five again Johnny.

So technically we're back up and running. Right now http://thetouched.com/ will get you here, so spread the word. The standard www.thetouched.com should be working shortly. I hope. If not, well, I'll keep hitting things. I'm good at hitting things...

W00000!!! Were baaaaacccccckkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!