30.3.05

Melting Points

In science, we are taught that solid materials, under enough heat and/or pressure, will melt into a liquid. However, many objects burn in the presense of oxygen long before they melt. So, what if, you had, say, a tree. and it was stand in an extremely hot vaccuum. Would it melt? What does liquid tree look like? Can I drink a hot carrot? (No, I think that would be too hot.) But still. I want a puddle of grass....

What Have I Become?

I'm still sick. I think I'm getting worse, actually. I have a terrible headache just between my eyes, right above my nose, and it HUUUUURTS! But enough wallowing in pity. That's what the Tylenol is for.

After my physical collection got soaked, I decided to go into Magic Online. As I said when it first came out, my only major beef with the system was that you had to buy cards online, thus forcing you to maintain an online colection seperately than the physical cards. Since most of my physical cards are soaked (and btw, I'm looking to sell the cards that remained dry) and I was gonna basically have to start over anyway, I thought I'd try my hand at the online game. I'm keeping my physical decks, and I'll possibly attend an occasional tournament just to have fun and then sell the cards I get, so anyone I played in real life is still gonna have me to play with, but all my upcoming card buying will be done online.

I'm currently waiting for two sealed deck tournaments to start: one at 1AM tonite (I didn't know when it started when I signed up, but its a qualifier for an Invasion Block Sealed event, so I thought I'd try my hand at it) and one tomorrow night at 9PM. From now on though, I'll look for tournaments that start a little earlier in the day. My thoughts, though, were that it would be smart to play in sealed deck tournaments as a way to build up my collection. After tomorrow night, I'll have at least 150 cards, plus 12 basic lands of each color, which should be enough to make a semi-decent two-colored deck or too. I'll be able to play around for fun and for free after that. Of course, I plan on playing in several more sealed tournaments, at least 2, before shifting focus to booster drafts for my card aquisition. I'll also prolly get a pre-con from each upcoming release, and see what else is out there. I'm a little disappointed that I can't buy cards from before Mirrodin, but i think that's worth it. It's also why I hopped in the last chance IPA qualifier. ^_^

Okay, enough about that. I'll tell you all how the tournaments go after I've done them, of course. In other news, I've sold myself on the PSP. So, while I'm spending all my hard earned money on virtual Magic cards, I'm also gonna be saving up for a $250 piece of hardware, plus a few $40 games. Lumines was always a must have PSP application for me, but it always seemed to be a quick silly puzzle game, like Tetris. It looked like a lot of fun, but not worth a $300 investment. I wanted at least ONE other substantial title to play on the system. I went in and looked, and - Metal Gear: ACID, a tactical strategy thingy. I dunno, but it looks interesting. Also, Mercury looks like an interesting button-tapper.

So yes, here I am, buying into the things I never told myself I'd buy. Ah well. It's fun to betray your principles. ^_^ Laters all.

28.3.05

Greg's Adventures In Jerkdom

I made it back from Austin. My adventures there were patently unremarkable, but the flights backk... I got a few good stories for you. Let's begin!

I got to the airport alright, boarded up and everything. I sat in the wrong seat at first, then next to a father and his baby, and then they ran off to an entirely empty 3 seat row, leaving me with two seats for myself. Score. So the flight attendant uses the empty seat next to me for the props for the amazing safty thing. Tiny seat belt strand. Tiny mask. Tiny saftey guide. Anyway, the mask strikes my fancy. So I asked her, could I have the air mask for a suvenier? Nope. Fine, that's cool.

The plane got in on time, if not a little early, so I looked at my watch. 30 mins to boarding, an hour till take off. That means I should be able to stop in the book store and check if they have Mahoromatic vol 5. Then the plane gets stuck on the runway. for another 20 minutes. Doesn't matter, I'll still get everything done on time. Never mind that my plane landed in terminal A, the bookstore was in terminal C, and my Lubbock flight was waiting at gate B. I have super travel experience. I can do it! So I get out there. No book. Wasted trip. Ah well. So I get on the tram (TrA'Ain, I'm in DFW) and ride to B. It's a 5 minute trip. I got to the gate 10 minutes before departure. There's nearly no one there, and the signs don't show where the flight's going. Eep. So I look at the listings, the flight hasn't left yet, and I can see the plane there. No reps, just a buncha other passengers. I talk to one.
"Has the flight left yet?"
"Nah, why? Who are you?"
"Huh? I'm a passenger..."
"Are you Levine?"
"Oh, yeah, thats me."
"THEY'VE CALLED YOU LIKE EIGHT TIMES!"
The other people were standby passengers. Sorry guys. I'm getting my seat after all. Didn't mean to get your hopes up.

Okay, that flight goes okay, once I get on, and then as I'm getting off... THE MASK!!! I hadda ask. Can I have that?
"Sure".
"Awesome, thanks!"
So yeah, I take it, then wait for the guy to bring my bag out from the closet so I can go. I say thanks again when he gives me it, then run out to wait for Mike. And I wait.

And wait.

Mike got lost some how, and so I didn't leave for about an hour. During that time, I heard the announcement
"To all passengers departing flight XXXX out of Dallas Ft. Worth, would whoever took the air mask from the plane please bring it back."
Fuck them, I think, I'm gonna wait for Mike. So I wait some more. They call it again. Fine, while I'm there, I might as well see what the fuss it. I go there, two people are on the passenger sign looking something over, there's no attendant that I can see. I go back outside to look for Mike. 10 minutes later I hear the announcement again except with the added threat that they're not gonna give people the baggage off the plane. I was smart enough to not check anything this flight, but those other suckers are lucky Mike got lost, or they might never have gotten their bags. So I go up to the counter, where there IS an agent. I give her the mask, and tell her that the guy let me take it off. "SUUUURE he did." Dammit, don't call me a liar. Whatever. I walked off and tried to find Mike some more.

A few minutes later, just after I've dialed Mike, the agent comes out, accompannied by a police officer. I hung up, and have to go give them my information. Drivers licence, address, phone numbers, a lil lecture ("DON'T TAKE SHIT OFF OF PLANES!!") Yeah, okay, I'm not supposed to do that kinda stuff, I'm sorry, the guy said I could... That's another thing, I SWEAR I got permission from the flight attendant to take it. But the agent told me, "He told me he didn't know why someone would take it." Liar. Fucking liar. I was standing RIGHT there, staring at him for 5 minutes. He gave me that damn mask. Rawr. Anyway, apparently they can press theft charges. Fucking bullshit. If they do, I'll sue those bastards or something. Rawr. That attendant is a liar, or at worst it's an honest mistake. Leave me alone.

u_u I'm tired and my head hurts. Oh yeah, and I got Jackie sick over the weekend too. Whoops. Sorry honey.

23.3.05

Sick: -_-

im sick. im skiping caps so you will know how sick i am. also, my computer is running slow because it feels sick too i guess. it needs a reboot, but ive still got... a little under a day left on the mahoromatic torrent. i really shouldn't be getting it... i should be looking for the dvds out there. i saw them for 15$ a piece back in nj. if i'd been thinking i wouldn't have spent all my money before i went, but que sera sera. anyway, back to my own pounding head. it's pounding. and my nose is stopped up. and i hurt all over, especially over my head and neck. im afraid im gonna barf or something, but im gonna try and hold down some coke, and maybe make one of these hot pockets matt brought back... oh well. i'll be bouncing on and off line today. project greenlight is on, and im interested in that. i finished mahoromatic volume 4 this morning, so now i need to find that. I also need something to read on the plane this weekend... ok shit, the lawnmower is too loud to watch tv... headphones in. its also prolly too loud to sleep or something... sigh.... okay, enough being scatter brained. im gonna go. cya. hope you feel a little better than me. ^_^~

21.3.05

Upsizing

I was watching Kim Possible earlier. I haven't seen it for a week, so it was good to get back into the swing. It wasn't the best episode ever, "The Ron Factor", but I did get a revelation. Bueno Nacho Grande sizes the whole meal. Not just the chips and drinks, but the whole thing. Burger King's large gives you a bigger drink and fries, but still the same Whopper. Dammit, I want to upsize my Big Mac. I want my Bigger Mac!!

Oh, and in some other news, it seems that my mom's homeowners insurance will cover the issue of my destroyed Magic cards. They're still lost, and I'm prolly going to just go Online anyway, but its nice to know I'm covered. Okay, I'm exhausted again. I dunno.

Still Somewhat Damp

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I loaded up a binder with clean, dry paper, and went to my classes. I came back to find... Water on the floor. O_O!!! To the maintenance teams's credit, they were already on the job, cleaning and such. Oh well, I had other things to do. I rode down to the Bank of America ATM and took out some cash, then went into Black Dog for some comfort manga - Mahoromatic 1-3. I came back, found the room still semi-flooded, and walked on.

I found an empty study room or something, so I sat down and read through the first book. It's a really neat series, Mahoromatic. The premise is that after fighting off an evil alien invasion, Mahoro, an android warrior, has less than 40 days to live, unless she removes her armorments and leads a civilian life, expanding her lifespan to nearly four=hundred days. So, she becomes the maid for the son of her late inventor, and goes through the usual "robot girl makes mistakes" hijinks. It's all really very light hearted, but at the end of every chapter is a display showing the remaining time for Mahoro, adding a kind of bitter-sweet tinge to the story. I'll admit it, I'm hooked, as you'll see in a bit...

In other news, the Goldmember Saga has drawn to a close. I walked down to Hastings and stood at the help desk (I thought that's what it was, anyway) and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Eventually I realized there was a steady stream of customers, so I just hopped in line. They were none to pleased with the situation, and I expected such. I try my best to be a nice guy when returning things, but a lot of times people just yell and get angry that things aren't exactly the way they wanted them, so I guess I was a welcome change for the clerks. I got $6.48 in store credit, and went off to spend it. I found Mahoromatic volume 4, and the 3rd Chobits DVD, for a little less than usual, which was nice. I was looking for some Mahoromatic DVD's, but the only one they had was the one I got in NJ. I was most disappointed. Oh well. Maybe next time. *Shrugs.*

Okay, 11pm, time for my evening walk / Subway visit. That's enough bloggerating for one night. L8r.

20.3.05

A Break Of Biblical Proportions

Holy. Cow.

It's been more than a week, and an eventful one at that. I'll see what I can remember about it...

It all started the 8th, a Friday. I had planned to get up for my morning computer classes, come back, and leave for the airport at 2 or 3, for a 430 flight. I stayed up 'til 4am setting up my minidisk player, then slept in until 1. THEN in my rush to pack, I left my minidisk player there. Ain't I smart? Yup... I had George Carlin's book to keep me company, and a Game Boy... I am so lost in FFI... But no music meant I was victim to the ambient sounds of the aircraft. Never a good sound. I could write a whole post just about the noises on the flights between Houstin and Philadelphia. Not now, though. I'm tired. Anyway...

Day two: The Bar Mitzvah. It took me about half way through to realize this was the normal Jewish Saturday service, with Dylan's little ceremony thrown in the middle. I suppose the closest Christian analog I can place is like a Baptism. That night, on the other hand, was some all out Jew-balie. Yeah, I like puns, you know that. Anyway, that was the first night in many years that I actually did some funky dancing. You know the kind. The DJ yells out moves for you to copy or whatever and you look like a dumbass waving his arms to the beat vaguely.

My legs were sore for 3 days after that. I missed the ski trip. -_-

The trip was really quite lazy. Oh yeah, I did buy the PS2. I don't know why the AV cables are seperated, but they still work. I'll get a new one somewhere, maybe. It works, though.

Oh yeah, Tuesday I bought a copy of the Incredibles on DVD. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you must. It is one of the greatest animated movies ever, and I am very glad I bought it. I also got the Maharomatic "Spring Special"... Maharomatic is some anime about a robot maid thing, James has been going ballistic about it, so I bought it and checked it out. I was a little disappointed that the "Special" was just one episode that really doesn't relate to the main storyline. I wanted like an hour long thing or something. Whatever. It's rather entertaining. I think I'll get the manga of that, and maybe even the DVD's, if I keep finding them for $15 for 4 episodes. ^_^

Hrmmmm.... The next major event was the tournament. We only got 4 people, so it wasn't too crazy. I drafted a pretty decent RGb Deck, and I say Pretty decent because I managed to wipe the floor with everyone. The only game I lost was one to Melanies deck, and I'm pretty sure it was due to mana flood or screw or something. Nah, she drafted an alright deck, though it was big. I'm sure if she'd just cut it down a little, she would have done much better. Anyway, that was over in a matter of hours, and then we spent the rest of the night watching anime.

It was then that I learned from Matt over AIM that my room had flooded, and all of my commons and uncommons were soaked. X_X We think they can be salvaged, somewhat, but I'm thinking of taking this as a sign that I should give up the cardboard crack in favor of it's online substitute. I'll keep a few decks around, of course, but if my cards end up unsalvageable, I'll see about installing Magic Online and taking up drafting until I build up a semi-decent collection. I'll prolly get a few pre-con's too, and rebuild my ninja deck online.... I wonder if they still have 7th edition drafts out there. Hrmm... Anyway, I'll have to think about that more.

I got in tonite at 10:10, just a few minutes early, no real issues until I got to the room and saw the full extent of the damage. I had been using a box my mom had sent me as a footstool - that was fully melted... You had to see it; it was amazing. Anyway, nearly half my school papers were gone. My CS text book serves as a nice little measure of how high the waters got. It's neat. Okay, I'm rediculously tired now. Gonna sleep....

A few random thoughts:
-I like the word rediculous. A lot. I don't know where it came from, but I say it a lot. It's rediculous.
-I was thinking, what's the last thing Matt and Ben did together? Last thing I can think of is Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, but then I think back to that time that they were Holywood's major pair, or something. I dunno, but after Good Will Hunting, they were like a duo or something. And now, nothing. Hrmm...
-I'm going back to Austin for Easter Weekend. Yay me!

Okay. I'm dead. Night.

10.3.05

The Things You Don't Know

So yesterday I told you that Matt got some milk, right? Well, yesterday, I'm trying to get Matt to lend me his camera so I can show off my nifty beard before I shave it off for the Bar Mitzvah on Saturday. He won't budge, so I throw out my trump card. I open the fridge, pull out the milk, and threaten to finish his precious half-gallon of milk. His reply:
Do you know how I got that milk? A friend gave it to me because he wasn't sure if it was good or not. You can have that milk if you want it.
I check the carton, and sure enough, it expired Feb 20th. x_x It was still good, of course, but my threat lost a lot of weight. Matt started laughing. Jackie started laughing at me over the phone. Even I started laughing. It was funny, I'll admit. I still never got his camera, either.

On to more current events. Last night I went to Hastings as I mentioned. Today - the Manga and Gaming stores. First, I went into Black Dog and picked up 2 volumes of Pita-Ten (cuz it sounded interesting, and I'd heard good reviews) as well as the volume 2 DVD of Chobits. I also was feeling generous, so I spend the last of my money on 3 Magic packs while I was there I opened a Door To Nothingness (I can't tell if that pun is intended or not) and Ink-Eyes out of my Fifth Dawn and Betrayers packs, respectivly.

I also opened a Darksteel pack containing Arcbound Ravager and Skullclamp. Talk about your lucky packs, eh? I didn't really have a use for either of them, being banned in Type two by the end of the month, so I went to the OTHER Magic vendor on University, the one who sucks. I took in the Ravager, and the guy who owns the place has NO idea what things are worth, so he's using an Inquest to judge prices. The Inquest was from before the Raffinity bannings, so the Ravager is a high priced card. Just what I was hoping for. I got 8.25 in credit for that and the Skullclamp, plus a Lodestone Myr for a a grand total of $9 credit. For that, I got 6 rares - Winter Orb, Static Orb, Seismic Assault, Cosmic Larva, and a pair of Prophetic Bolts. ^_^

Okay, that's about all for... WAIT! Kitchen table limited! I must tell you about my brilliant format for multiplayer! Okay, so after the draft, we're gonna shuffle up all the cards of people who are staying later and deal them into random decks, then add 25 basic lands - one of each color. This is basically what my mom did for us when she only owned a few cards. Then we have a free-for-all multiplayer game. Sounds interesting, no? Anyway, after that, rather than leave everyone with a completely random assortment of cards, we do a square draft, as I call it. I'm sure I've read about it somewhere, but basically I'll lay out all the cards randomly, and going in some predetermined order, we'll each pick a card to keep (not for gaming, this is the end of the night kinda stuff, just for fun) BUT only one from the edges. So the cards on the inside of the square, so to speak, are protected by the ones inside. It apparently makes no sense to anyone but me, but I guess that's cuz I suck at explaining things.

Anyway, That's about it so far. Next stop - New Jersey. Sigh. My first time being there without a laptop. x_x. Oh well, I'm sure I'll survive. Wish me luck on the tournament.

9.3.05

Things I Hate; And Some I Don't

Just now I was standing in line at Sam's Market waiting to pay for my quesadilla, and some girl brought up some yogurt, apparently for breakfast. That triggered a memory of mine. I hate yogurt. And I mean I hate it. With a passion. With the burning fire of a thousand suns. I loath yogurt. I have a grudge against it. It is my sworn bacterial enemy. v_v! You wanna know why? Do you? DO YOU? Well I'll tell you. It made me miss a date. Yep. In preschool. For whatever reason, that was the one day out of my preschool career where I got to be in the class with my friend Kathy. I loved her. She was my best friend. My girlfriend even. ^_^ Anyway, so I was looking forward to spending nap time with her. First though, lunch time. So I began to eat my yogurt. It took forever! By the time I finshed, everyone else had left for their naps. All the good spots (the ones by Kathy) were taken. U_U... It has haunted me to this day. And all because of that accursed yogurt. I hates it so. Rawr.

In a related story, I managed to convince myself that an electrical outlet killed my sister, and therefore I hate all their kind. But that my friends, is a story for another day.

Lesse, I did things today that were fun too. I did some pre-trip shopping. I stopped in Hastings and got George Carlin's Napalm and Sillyputty, plus an older Transformers comic - it was only $2!!! Oh, and speaking of deals -

My friend has a PS2 he doesn't want anymore, so he offered to sell me it for $50. I'm thinking 'Score!' As it goes on, he offers instead to trade it to me for some things, namely (the offer I took) the three Austin Powers movie's on DVD. So, while I'm at Hastings, I find them used. They're ~$20. No, not apiece. Total. So yeah, that's getting me a PS2 over Spring Break. Now all I needs is some games. *Sigh* Oh well, at least I can watch my DVD's now. Yay Zim!!!!!

Oh, and one last note before I go poopy. I reached into the fridge to grab a can of coke to eat with my quesadilla. Instead I find myself a bottle of 2% milk. This, for anyone who doesn't know, is my absolute favorite. I had two glasses before I decided to stop. After all, it does have to last until Friday. *Nods.* Okay, potty time. catch you guys later.

8.3.05

Anything For You

I have this song on my mini-disc player: "Anything For You" by Evanescence. I like the music. I love their sound, as a band. Some of their lyrics are a bit on the off side, though. Take a look at these:
I'd give anything to give me to you
Can you forget the world that you thought you knew
If you want me,
Come and find me
Nothing's stopping you so please release me

I'll believe
All your lies
Just pretend you love me
Make believe
Close your eyes
I'll be anything for you

Nothing left to make me feel anymore
There's only you and everyday I need more
If you want me
Come and find me
I'll do anything you say just tell me

I'll believe
All your lies
Just pretend you love me
Make believe
Close your eyes
I'll be anything for you

I'll believe
All your lies
Just pretend you love me
Make believe
Close your eyes
I'll be anything for you

Anything for you
I'll become your earth and sky
Forever never die
I'll be everything you need

I'll believe
All your lies
Just pretend you love me
Make believe
Close your eyes
I'll be anything for you
Isn't that kinda depressing? She's so desperate for this guy that she's willing to believe lies of love. I remember realizing that and figuring out that I don't want that for me. It wasn't till I heard it again just today that I realized I'd been looking at it from the wrong angle. Not about not wanting that kinda relationship. I don't wanna be in that relationship. But I was thinking of it as "I don't want someone to lie to me about their love for me." However, the song applies to me in just the opposite way. A lot of my recent issues in relationships stems from me lying to girls about my love. My heart lies with Jackie, and I need to keep that straight and not lie to other girls. I'm sorry. *Shrugs*

This got preachy really fast. And mopey. I dunno. I like the song, I guess. Just don't want to lie to girls about my love. So... I think I lost the point. Oh well.

WTF's A Caucasia?

Apparently, Caucasia is a real place. Who knew? Anyway, I don't like being referred to as Caucasian. I've known black people to resist the term African, because they aren't from Africa, they're native born American (or English, or what have you. I personally resist using the term African-American because then I'm stuck on what to call the same kind of person when they're from somewhere other than America. I prefer to stick with the term black, until I learn their name, at which point, I'll their name, obviously. *Shrugs*

I'm not a racist. I'm really not. I see everyone as being just another guy. I'm naturally shy around all people, so if I shy away from you in the halls, its what I always do. I really do like the Internet for the following reason: no one knows what you look like on the other end unless you want them to. By the time you do get a picture, you should have gotten the idea about what your friend is like as a person. That's how I like to judge a person. Beyond that, a person's looks are purely icing of the cake.

The point of that inane rambling is that I see someone's skin color as an identifyer, the same way I'd say that one person is taller than another person, or has different color hair. It just so happens that, at least to my eyes, a person's skin color stands out more than any other feature, especially reguarding two people of starkly contrasting colors. If I'm looking at two people from across the room, one black and one white, and I'm trying to point one out to the guy next to me, I'll say "Oh, he's the white/black guy at the other end of the room." I try to not let such things affect my actual perceptions of people, of course, and I'd like to think I'm pretty successful at it. Maybe if everyone just wore a sign with a color, a letter, a number, and a shape, each unique to them, completely random (maybe the shape would be a surname or something.) That way, if you needed to identify someone from across the room, you'd merely point out "The Blue Guy," or "Green A32 Square over there."

In any case, let it be known. I have never been to Caucasia. I do not plan on visiting Caucasia. I am not Caucasian. I am white. Better yet, I am Greg. Call me that. Nice to meet you. Bye.

6.3.05

Rounders

I'm watching Rounders. I dunno why. I was flipping and caught the beginning of it at 1, so I thought, eh, why not. It's got Matt Damon, Ed Norton, and Poker. How can you go wrong, right? I still say I've never seen Norton in a movie I didn't like him in. Death to Smoochie, Fight Club, the Italian Job... In China PJ and I turned on Primal Fear, the first movie with Edward Norton. We'd never seen it before, so yeah, we watch it. A-Freaking-Mazing. The man has a fucking gift. He's my favorite actor, seriously. For serious.

I checked through my email yesterday. I have a 4:15 flight into Austin, and I don't know why. Thus, another check through the archives is needed. I LOVE Gmail. It saved my ass. My flight details:
Flight: from LUBBOCK TX to HOUSTON BUSH INTL

Day and Date: Fri, 3/11/05
Flight: CO*2822
*Operated by EXPRESSJET AIRLINES INC doing business as CONTINENTAL
EXPRESS
Class: Y
Depart: LUBBOCK TX, 4:25PM
Arrive: HOUSTON BUSH INTL, 5:59PM
Equipment: ERJ-145
Meal:
------------------------------------------------------------
Flight: from HOUSTON BUSH INTL to PHILADELPHIA

Day and Date: Fri, 3/11/05
Flight: CO 1602
Class: B
Depart: HOUSTON BUSH INTL, 6:48PM
Arrive: PHILADELPHIA, 11:00PM
Equipment: 737-800
Meal: Snack
Yay! I get a Snack! ^_^ Hmmmm. I'm glad I have this all set up. Okay... A week in New Jersey. That will be awesome. There's a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, and a Magic PT Qualifier for a Tour Event I can't really attend, but really I know I'm not gonna get that far anyway. I'm still wondering about going at all. I don't wanna go at all. I would feel so lame. But my step brother won't go, and I don't really know anyone else in the area. Maybe one guy I can drag along, maybe. I dunno. I'm gonna try and run a booster draft outta my step-mom's house the 18th or 19th, so that should be cool. Make a little profit, I dunno. I prolly will just spend the money on more Magic cards. The circle goes on. Whee.

I made a couple of decks over the past week. One White/Blue Isochron Scepter control. Holy Day on a stick is almost always a lock. Otherwise I put a Counterspell on or even better, Memory Lapse, then stabilize the board and send out the Exalted Angel. It's pretty sub par, but if you wanna see the list, I have it written up here.

Meanwhile, Matt berated me for not making creature decks. Most of my decks are annoying combo decks. Or at least, annoying to play against. Fun to play in. You see, the way the game works, at any given point in a match, theres an aggro player and a control player. One player is putting out the theats, the other player has to answer them. That's how it works in two player games, at least. And I like being the player with the answers, because eventually, the aggro player runs outta cards, threat or otherwise. I also like drawing cards as much as possible. So, when they're spent, I got a hand full of cards for them to deal with. It's fun as shit. But everyone gets pissed. Anyway, I like being the guy in control. And my decks reflect that. Look at the last deck I mentioned. You put you're counterspell on a stick, you can play it every turn. It's stuff like that I enjoy. But it gets my opponant's pissed. I either end up not drawing the cards I need and I get overran, or I do get the cards I need to shut my opponant out of the game. It's worse in multiplayer. My idea of a multiplayer deck is a 3-card combo that wins in one turn. I love my Last Laugh deck is great. It's fun, its consistant, its explosive. The more players, the more damage it does when it goes off. But when it goes off, eveyone else feels helpless.

The point of this rambling, Matt asked me to make a creature deck. Not some weird combo deck that makes an unblockable deck huge creature, not an engine that pumps out as many little Squirrel Tokens as I need. A deck that plays creature cards, turns them sideways, and hopes they win in combat. It's tough for me. My decks are designed by starting with a core and supporting it. I pick 3-5 cards that will be the ones I want to draw, use them as four of's, decide how much land they'll need, and fill in the rest with support cards. A creature deck, though, has no core. It doesn't have a designated structure to build around. It's a mess of creatures. So I truged on. And there in is the other half of my delemma. My play group (Matt, his brother, whatever other guys happen to be wandering around) they don't even have a collection as big as mine, which is, while big to the layman's eyes, appears to me to be slim pickings. I need to draft more. I need to find money to draft, and a place to draft. But that's another story. Anyway, I'm big stack at the table. I'm the "rich kid" who's got the rares that can't be beat. I try to tell them, nah, the rare's don't make the deck, that it's all about fundamentals. I feel like such a bastard, because I HAVE the rares, and in a lot of cases, they do make the deck. It's what makes them rares, a lot of the times. Anyway. I made it, its a three color Fire's of a sort. Flametongue Kavu's and Spiritmongers always went together in my mind.

Sigh. I'm random. I need to shave.

This movie's been having the shortest commercial breaks. I swear. They give one break between each segment. It's weird. Oh, this one had 2. Whoopie. Okay, I gotta see how Matt wins back his money from the Russian. Night.

Close the Blast Doors!!!

OPEN THE BLAST DOORS! OPEN THE BLAST DOORS!

I'm watching Episode IV now. I haven't seen this in so long. Episode 3 comes out in May. I hope it's good.

I've been thinking a lot about that chick. Btw, her name's Steph, and she's from New Jersey, and so yeah, back before all this happened, I though, 'Hmm, maybe we could get together and chill or something.' I dunno, I still wanna, but I prolly couldn't trust myself to keep my hands off her and such. Sigh... But I'm not leaving Jackie over her. I love Jackie. With all my heart. And I love my boyfriend, TaVan. Yes, that's his real name. Ain't it sexy? I love him very much. He makes me horny in my pants. And say things like that. o_o *Embarrassed.* Ah, fuck it. Im a very loving person, and I suppose I don't care who knows it. ^_^ Love you Tavvy! and you too Jackie!!!

5.3.05

Ares Bug?

I have a friend trying to tell me that there's a fatal bug with Ares, something that will crash my computer. Not that I don't trust her, but I don't trust her source. She says her friends GRANDMOTHER encountered the bug. Grandmothers aren't the most reliable computer users in my experience, so I'm looking for more evidence to corroberate her report. Anyone know anything?

I'm Too Damn Sexy

My ex is all depressed because I won't go out with her. I feel really bad about it, too, because she's a great friend, especially when you consider all my old jackassery. I used to be a cyber-player. I'm evil. But yeah, she let me stay as her friend, after some time, and I really appriciate that. Now though, she wants to be more than friends. A lot more. Despite the fact that I'm with Jackie. It kills me, but I can't get her to understand that as much as I care about her, I can't be her boyfriend as long as I'm with Jackie, and I want to be with Jackie for a long, long time. Sigh. I don't want to lose her as a friend. She won't have me as anything less than a lover though. What do I do? o_o?

2.3.05

Wascally Tewwowist

Five years ago I had a shot at capturing Usama bin Ladin. Five years ago I let him slip through my fingers. I have regretted it ever since.

My friend and I were riding the bus home, talking as usual, and he tells me about Usama bin Ladin. This is in '99 or 2000, mind you, before every American was familiar with the map of the middle east, when the towers still stood, when September 11th was no different from March 8th. I had never heard about him back then, so I asked. It turns out, he was a six-and-a-half-foot-tall Arabian on a dialasis machine. How hard could he be to find? And the best part - $2,000,000,000 reward. That's right, a two billion dollar reward. Man, what was I thinking. Save the free world, AND get oodles of cash. Technically, I woulda had to split it with my friend, but that's still a clean one billion dollar reward.

I've often thought about what I would do with a considerable sum of money. Despite the temptation to blow it all on something stupid, I'd save a bunch of it. I'm 20. I plan to live to be 100. Let's say $200,000 a year to make me happy. That's a 16 million dollar chunk stashed away. $984 million to go. Hrmm... I think that's MORE than enough to supply me forever. I'd have a big house, prolly in the hills of Austin, actually, because I like the climate, and the proximity to the tech center. Plus, my family lives there. Hmm.. I'd also want a private jet. I'd learn how to fly it, of course. Cruise Liner, also. Some people get yachts; I want the Titanic. I'd need to fill out my Transformers collection. I'm basically working with unlimited funds, it seems, so I've stopped worrying. I'd get a big screen TV set up, and not one that would break. In fact, I'd probably have my whole house wired up so that everything was computerized. That's always a fun thing to do. I dunno, I think that'd do it. A T3 line to my house. A huge movie liner. I'd prolly donate a bunch to charity. I'd have enough money to give money to whoever I felt like. I'd prolly be nice to a buncha friends, but not overly generous, and I'd donate a lot to different world governments I like. I'd be a philanthropist. Prolly invest a good deal in businesses. There, that seem's like a good amount. I've spent a billion dollars.

Trouble is, the amount was a bit wrong. I found this site listing his figures and such. It seems I'd only get $27 million, and even then only if I got him alone. Hrmm... I'm too lazy to redo all my wants and such. I'd prolly have to keep working anyway, though. *Sigh* You win this time, bin Ladin. This time...

Also, The Rock was on the Daily Show, and among other things, they mentioned the Doom movie. I was excited about it, until I remembered that old issue of Penny Arcade. I hope they're wrong. They'd better have Mars Hell Demons or else...

STUPID COMPUTER!!!!

My computer's power supply died today. May it rest in peace. That poor gerbil has spun his last little wheel. u_u Many thanks to Matt for having a spare power supply for me, at least, so I'm able to hobble along for the most part. No more leaving the beast on 24/7. That's what caused this. Its case is open. It apparently didn't have ANY cooling aside from a tiny heatsink on the CPU, and then power fan. SIgh. Top it off with my buggy, retarded moniter, the one I need to hit to make it work, along with a pair of dumb USB ports, I've got a pretty ghetto computer set up. And its NOISY! x_x

In other news, when the break down when off, I was going off on a little link I found at HomestarRunner.com. Apparently, This Book is Better Than 1st, 2nd, and Quite Possibly Even 3rd Base. I find the claim a little hard to believe, having been to 1st, 2nd, and Quite Possibly Even 3rd Base. I will, however make a list of things that may be better than 1st, 2nd, and Quite Possibly Even 3rd Base. Here goes:
-4th Base. Also, any other things that are of a sexual nature beyond 1st, 2nd, and Quite Possibly Even 3rd Base.
-Some Number of Tacos. Tacos, as I stated earlier, are pure Good. It would only be a matter of time and tacos before their becomes greater than 1st, 2nd, and Quite Possibly Even 3rd Base.
-Matt claims that The Awesome and The Game (two things I will not attempt to identify further) are greater than 1st, 2nd, and Quite Possibly Even 3rd Base.
I'll leave the list open for new entries as I recieve them.

OMG! They Killed The First Amendment!

You Bastards! Scary. Even scarier when you think about all the terrible fates befalling people in my stories. If a story about zombies overrunning a high school is a terrorist threat, what about a story of zombies overrunning New Orleans (my as yet unpublished third Detective Greg story)? Or squirrels devouring a man whole (the first one)? Or a peaceful revolution of a native alien population from a US colony (I have that one stored away somewhere)? Or a band of survivors after a massive biological attack by an evil supercomputer (I've kept that one mostly under wraps)? Or two young innocent people in a series of adventures onboard an interstellar cruise ship (now I'm just giving them away)?

Wow. I'm some sort of felon, I'm sure. I'm also sure I've got a huge writing backlog. I'm prolly wasting all my writing talent in this blog, too. Oh well, I'm sure someone out there would try to tell me it's not a waste. ^_^

1.3.05

Oooh God I'm Evil!

I'm being evil lately and not letting Jackie call me, sighting my anti-phone-ness-thingy (I don't like telephones much) and my own personal evilness. I then sought to prove it, by doing the evilist things I could. Now, I am not really evil. Anyone who knows me would tell you I may be egotistical, a jerk, an idiot, an ass, or an aggressive kisser (that last one may or may not be bad). But you must all agree that I am not EVIL. So, with that in mind, what follows is OBVIOUSLY fiction (and edited for my protection.) (Wow, I like parenthasis.)
Effervescence 34: greggy evil, i know
Jackie: you are!!!!!!!!!!!!
Effervescence 34: *kills 3 kittens
Effervescence 34: *...by beating them to death with a puppy
Jackie: O.O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Effervescence 34: o_o
Jackie:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo
Jackie:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooOOOOOOooOOOoOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
(Those O's were hard to format. ._.)
Jackie: YOU CANTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Jackie: -cries-
Jackie: -hides in her bed-
Jackie: nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Effervescence 34: hrmm
Jackie: NOOOOOOOO
Jackie: I said no three times... ITS RAPE!~
Effervescence 34: *wraps it all up in a christmas present and gives it to a 4 year old boy
Effervescence 34: ^_^
Effervescence 34: THAT is evil
Jackie: -turns chibi and hides under her covers and cries-
(Chibi-Jackie is cute!!! ^_^)
Effervescence 34: -"hey, billy, remember all those pets you always wanted?"
-"da kitties and da puppy?"
-"Yup, well.... MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
Effervescence 34: *eats a kitty in front of the boy
Effervescence 34: muwahaha
Jackie: -cries-
Jackie: nooooooooooooooooooooo
Jackie: YOU KILLED THEM!!!!!!!!!
Effervescence 34: well
Jackie: YOUREEEEEEEE EBIL!!!!
Effervescence 34: they all had cancer
Effervescence 34: (because i locked them in a cage with a cell phone)
Effervescence 34: but still
Jackie: NO THEY DIDNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jackie: YOU KILLED THEMMM!
Effervescence 34: well, in my defence, it hurt me a lot more than it hurt them
Effervescence 34: wait, no they all died.
Effervescence 34: reverse that
Jackie: NOOOOOOOOOOOOo
Jackie: -cries more-
Effervescence 34: it hurt them a LOT more than it hurt me
Jackie: -shakes violently and bawls- YOU'RE EVIL!
Effervescence 34: duuuh
Okay, enough of that. Also, in my FIFTH post in this 24 hour period, I've had the coolest song stuck in my head. It's great:

Sponge - Plowed

Will I wake up some dream I made up
No I guess it's reality
What will change us or will we mess up
Our only chance to connect with a dream

Say a prayer for me (X3)
I'm buried by the sound
Of a world of human wreckage
In a world of human wreckage (X2)
Where I'm lost and I'm found
And I can't touch the ground
I'm plowed into the sound

To see wide open with a head that's broken
Hang a life on a tragedy
Plow me under the ground that covers the message that is the seed

Say a prayer for me (X3)
I'm buried by the sound
Of a world of human wreckage
In a world of human wreckage (X2)
Where I'm lost and I'm found and I can't touch the ground
I'm plowed into the sound

Will I wake up some dream I made up
No I guess it's reality


EDIT - By the way, it was decided that creation of a taco is on the opposite end of the spectrum, but one taco was not enough to cancel out the kittens being beaten with a puppy. Further research will be need. ?_?)

I Took Screenshots!

My screenshots are amazing. First look, I've conquered the Applegeeks RSS feed! So w00t me!



Next, I have a lot of music:



That's right, that's over THIRTEEN THOUSAND music files. Nearly 40Gigs. I am the best. Oh, and of course, my customary desktop presentation.


AGH! Photobucket resized me! Bastards!

It's prolly still not as hawt as the one Matt's running, but I like the way the two cuties are peeking out over all my windows and stuff. It's cute. ^_^ Okay, that's like four posts in one day. Sorry to keep bugging you. Shrugs. Night night.

Look What My Boyfriend Said!

He wanted me to show you this stuff.
Effervescence 34: *tackles you
Effervescence 34: im horny and i want a man to fuck
Effervescence 34: please?
Red ish DIVA: :( I am about to go to bed, and my mother will force me because I'm all drugged up right now.
Red ish DIVA: I promise tomorrow~! Hot and Sweaty man-sex.
Effervescence 34: yay
Effervescence 34: i love you
Effervescence 34: *kisses
Red ish DIVA: ^.^ I know
He's so cute, huh?

Um... yeah, that's about it. I'm his little bitch, so when he says jump, I ask how high. x_x. Oh well. Nighty night guys and girls.

Something Different

I was gonna put up a whiney stupid post about how much of a loser I am, but you know what? Whining about it isn't gonna do anything. I know I'm a loser, and it's totally my fault, meaning its totally within my reach to fix. I cheered myself up. Go me! No more fishing for compliments! ^_^

I had another thing I wanted to show y'all. Oh yeah:
SomeOne: How can XXX break up with XXX? She's wondering... And she needs an opinion on it
Effervescence 34: my reccomendation? exploding mole in his locker. He'll never see it coming. ^_^
Some names have been changed to protect the stupid (me).

I love being random.

Potatoe!

Holy Crap

Wow. They killed affinity. About damn time. Meanwhile, I'm gonna rebuild my old Psychatog deck, and possibly my old Wild Research Madness deck, with a few minor tweaks to that.

Okay, just a short one tonite. The Banned/Restricted list was kinda cool, I thought. That, and I like how the Portal cards are gonna be made legal in Legacy and Vintage. Go that. \0/