June 29, 2001

A Busy Week (Recovered from LiveJournal)

Like the subject says, it's been a busy week. We did end up seeing Evolution a couple nights ago, as I mentioned in my last update, and it was pretty much what I expected. Stupid, stupid fun. Our friend, the illustrious Brian Wyrick, accompanied Autumn and I to the theatre, and donated his free popcorn refill to my cause. There's a bit of David Duchovny arse in the film, but it was a tasteful mooning (isn't that an oxymoron?), so I had no problem with that.

Just before we left for the picture, Kate called to make sure we were all set to visit her in the middle of the week, which we were. She also mentioned she and Mark had gone to see Evolution earlier in the week, and said it was horrible. I took a moment to reconsider our plans, but with Autumn's prodding decided to go see it nonetheless. It was better than she made it out to be.

Hey, there's 2 paragraphs about Evolution! Wasting your time, I am...

The beginning of this week was just a blur for me, so why don't we just skim over it? Monday Night was the usual... wrestling. Autumn made some shrimp fried rice that was just excellent, using our new "Asian Tradition" wok. I think it's called a work, anyway... I'm drawing a blank. Anyway, Kate gave that to us for our graduation, so if she's somehow found this journal buried within the pages of LiveJournal, thank you from the bottom of my heart! It's like I always say, Autumn likes to cook and I like to eat. The gift of food preparation tools is something she'll enjoy right away and I'll enjoy sometime later.

I've lost most memory of Tuesday. I think I just spent the whole day formatting pages into the Campus Map site. It turned out well, too, as now I've only a few changes and the main page itself to finish up before we're good to go.

Wednesday was a really weird time. I had to get up extra early (6:30 in the AM), so I could arrive at the library before they opened up to the general public. Once there, I shot QTVR panos around the general area and took off for the Music Building loading dock, where I was to meet with a fellow named "sinker". Sounds a bit shady, doesn't it?

Turns out 'sinker' is the guy who maintains all the elevators, roofs and whatnot on campus. He took me up to the roof of AC and Bracken Library, where I shot a bunch of new panos from interesting angles. It was a cool experience, and Sinker turned out to be a legitimately cool guy. Lots of ladder climbing was in order, which was OK by me.

Later that afternoon, after a day of QTVR work in Denise's office (as the program refuses to work in my office any longer), Autumn and I headed off to Lafayette to help Kate celebrate her 21st. We arrived at Chili's, where we were planning to have dinner, just as Mark was walking in the door. I sincerely like Mark, and it's a shame he and Kate are having problems. He's a cool guy, though he does occasionally run with a subject a bit too long. Perfect example; we started discussing GI Joe later that evening, and even though Kate was obviously bored / annoyed about his reluctance to discuss anything else until the subject had died, he just kept going. He's got a good heart, but could probably do with a lesson or two about communication with her.

The night went on to disastrous results, as we hit the bars the girls became thoroughly trashed in what must've been record time. At final count, I think Kate had 5 shots (including one 'Liquid Cocain'), a large Margarita (earlier in the night at Chili's), an Amaretto Sour and some other drink I can't think of offhand. By the time we reached the car, she was uproariously drunk and singing "Suck me good, fuck me good!" at random intervals. If you know Kate, you realize how completely unlike her this is.

Back at the house, she and Autumn proceeded to show each other their womanly parts while Mark and I toyed with his bizarre N64-ZIP Disc contraption. I guess he spent $400 on this thing, and can fit between 4 and 8 games on one ZIP, downloaded from the internet or recorded straight from a cartridge right there. A bit pricy for my range, especially considering the lack of decent games on the system, but it seemed to have been a good purchase in the end. He had a half dozen ZIPs full of these things. We went off to bed, with Autumn and I sleeping in Kate's bed (at her insistence) and Kate and Mark sleeping in the living room. She had the air conditioner in her room turned on to full blast, and instead of turning it down I chose instead to wake up every 20 minutes shivering. Can't really understand why I did that...

We woke up the next morning to the sound of Kate retching in the bathroom. She reminded me of a librarian vomiting, because after every puke she'd say "my goodness", followed by some moaning. It's funny now, but I shouldn't have been laughing at the time. :)

So Autumn and I played a little N64, toyed with her cat & kitten for a while, and hugged her goodbye, assuring her she'd feel better soon. The drive home wasn't as monotonous as the drive out there was, and when we got back in Muncie I set about burning a copy of Sonic Adventure 2 and a Dreamcast NES Emulator I found on the net. Later on, Kevin and Brian swung by to watch RoboCop. After they took off, I went upstairs and passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Oh, I remember what we did Tuesday... we went and checked out an apartment in Indy. It's just off 96th street, near Keystone at the Crossing, and allows pets. This is good. We really liked it, and plan to move there if this job in Anderson turns out.

Speaking of which, they haven't called yet and it's the end of the week. Methinks a call Monday is in order.

Joe gave me an e-mail last night to tell me if this job doesn't turn out, he may have an opening working alongside him at this video / CD-ROM development house in Sarasota. Now that would be sweet... we've always talked about working together, and now it seems like we might be doing it right out of college. I'd have no complaints.

Keeping those fingers crossed.

posted by drqshadow at 2:14 PM 0 comments

June 24, 2001

Monotony Fills My Hours (Recovered from LiveJournal)

I feel like a robot, after doing basically the same tedious task over and over again for 7 straight hours. In other words, I'm sick of working on the Campus Map pages. It's not that I despise the design.. it's simple, clean, and legible. It's just that there are about 1500 pages (well, I'm exaggerating) that need to be switched over to the new look, and just about every one needs a little bit of tweaking in the HTML to make it look right. Still, I got a big glob of it done today, and I should be able to finish up tomorrow.

Doesn't stop my wrists from aching at the end of the day, though.

Last night was fun. Autumn and I grabbed some fast food (she hit KFC, while I devoured Burger King goodness) and watched Evil Dead with Joe and Kevin. We also watched the infamous "shit" episode of South Park, and were surprised by the fact it didn't bother us at all. I think we've become jaded by society's acceptance of curse words as everyday language. It's not a big deal though, right?

I'm listening to the tail end of Hum's CD, "Electra 2000", and there's a seemingly neverending loop of this horrid organ music that's been playing for the last 5 minutes. I think that accompanies the tasks I've been giving myself today pretty well. The same, annoying thing, over and over and over again...

posted by drqshadow at 5:21 PM 0 comments

June 23, 2001

Sealing Up the Muncie Chapter (Recovered from LiveJournal)

I've got exactly a week left in my employment here at the University, and then this whole page in my life is closed off for good. I can't say I won't be happy to leave Muncie (in all honesty, I'm quite relieved to be finished), but it's a pretty big step to be taking, and one I'm not altogether sure I'm ready for yet. But I guess everybody feels that way at one time or another.

My boss, Denise, took the graduate assistant I've been working with all year and I out to lunch Thursday afternoon, which came out of the blue and was a nice surprise. The meal was a bit awkward, as none of us really hung out aside from the workplace, but it served a reasonable enough way to say goodbye. I'm amazed I polished off an entire burger at 11 in the morning, as I wasn't even beginning to get hungry yet, but sure enough there was no sandwich left on my plate when the bill arrived.

Yesterday was a sort of nothing day for me, as I didn't feel motivated to work and thus spent much of the day on the Something Awful forums and The Oratory. Last night Autumn and I hit Scotty's brewhouse with BP and Richard, the third or fourth time we've done so, and had a fine time. Afterwards we took a short nap on the couch and went out to Maron's boyfriend Jim's house for a party.

To say I was uneasy would be an understatement. I don't know why, but I just felt completely out of place at the house, and we ended up leaving within a half hour. I felt bad for showing up and taking off so quickly, but was relieved to be gone all the same. I'm just not a 'party person.'

Today's been another chunk of nothing. I think we're planning to see Evolution this evening, which would be the first time we've seen a movie as a couple, not surrounded by friends, in a couple months. Jeremy returns from his extended vacation tomorrow, likely with a whole new collection of useless toys and things he doesn't really need. And I wonder why he has trouble paying me the $500 he owes, not to mention the creditors that call at all hours of the day. The boy needs to learn how to handle money.

I've finished a few more pages on the BSU Virtual Map, but things are quickly becoming tedious there. I didn't realize there were so many pages I'd be converting to this new look. Boring "grunt work."

I'm ready to eat, but they've locked the doors to the main lab outside, and if I leave my office to get some food, I won't be able to get back in. Grrhg..

posted by drqshadow at 4:56 PM 0 comments

June 21, 2001

Whups (Recovered from LiveJournal)

I've already started to slack, hunh? Not a good sign. But I had a good reason for yesterday's lack of an update; I was off interviewing for that job I mentioned before.

I'm more convinced than ever that position's ideal for me, having met the senior designer I'd be working with and seen the environment I'd be calling my own. He did say there have been several others interviewing for the position, including three today, but if I don't get the job I'd be really interested in meeting the person who did. I don't know if that sounds conceded or not, but that's just how I'm feeling about the interview. I left with a really good feeling about things.

On the way back home, I passed a used video game dealer, which meant that I certainly had to stop in and see what they had to offer. About three minutes later I emerged victorious, a used copy of Power Stone for the Dreamcast under my arm. It was absolutely pouring rain outside, and by the time I sprinted the three feet to my car, unlocked the door and entered, I was drenched. The downpour was fierce enough to slow traffic on I-69 down to 35 mph.. half what the usual speeds read like on that highway.

When I got home, Autumn and I drove to the far south side of Muncie to pick up a pizza at one of the last remaining Little Caesar's in existence. That beef and mushroom pizza is just incredible.

The evening slid back into the rut we've dug afterwards, as I planted myself in front of the Dreamcast and Autumn sat, reading, on the couch behind me.

I haven't mentioned my interview to the parents yet, I'm hoping to wait until I actually have the job to mention it to them. My father would just go insane, telling me what I should or shouldn't do and how I should or shouldn't do it, if he knew I had a potential job on the horizon. I'm glad he's trying to use his connections to land me something, but this is something I really want to do on my own. Of course, if it turns out that I don't get this job, well... I'll be in a melluva hess then. But let's just pretend like that isn't a possibility. There are always lucrative jobs in the dishwashing industry I can fall back on.

Today's bound to be humdrum. More HTML scripting, perhaps a break to pick up some comics, and a King of the Ring preview to write. Nothing much on the schedule for the rest of the week.

posted by drqshadow at 10:31 AM 0 comments

June 19, 2001

A Bit Early Today (Recovered from LiveJournal)

I'll be out for the rest of the afternoon shoting Quicktime VR Panos, so it's an early update kinda day.

I'm sitting about right now, remembering the golden days of the internet and my youth via a conversation in AIM. I've been on the web since roughly 1992, which is absolutely insane when I think about it. I've been climbing across bandwidths for almost ten years. I'm about to make a living off them. Does that make me a supreme master of all things geek or what?

OK, maybe not that alone. But I've got three life sized "Star Wars"-related standups in my house. And I'm proud of that fact. If that doesn't throw me over the limit, I'm not sure what could.

So yesterday was a great day. I got shit done. Then I went home and sat down to watch some wrestling as is my Monday night habit, and the phone rang not five minutes in. It was the place in Anderson where I'd applied for an entry-level design position. I'm going in to interview tomorrow. Things look really hopeful, and I think this is a job I'd actually enjoy quite a bit. Working with a high quality music distribution company, mostly doing web stuff. Here's hoping...

After Raw was over, I made my way upstairs to the Mac and started up Hotline, where the wild Yosef was already waiting for me. I started downloading from his multitude of online applications and Autumn and I went off to Taco Bell for dinner.. only a little late at about 10:30PM.

When we returned, Autumn almost demanded I play Resident Evil: Code Veronica, because it was the only Dreamcast game I owned that I'd yet to turn on. Well, that and she'd been playing it off and on all week and wanted to brag about being better at it than I, laugh as I jump at the appropriate scenes, etc..

Long story short, I was still playing 3 hours later. I'm hooked on Resident Evil again. Bastards at Capcom know how to make a good, fun game.

I didn't want to get up this morning, but somehow managed to drag myself into the shower. Work's been ok today. I'm not quite as enthusiastic as I was yesterday, but I'm still getting stuff done pretty regularly. I'm excited about the new Campus Map design, which is good. That means I'll get it done faster.

OK, I'm boring again. Time to say goodbye.

posted by drqshadow at 1:46 PM 0 comments

June 18, 2001

Getting Stuff Done (Recovered from LiveJournal)

It's sad, really, but I've been looking forward to the chance to update this journal again. Just the thrill of something new, I guess.. though the thought that updating a journal is enough to make me excited is a pretty sad thing.

I'm feeling productive, which is good for the Ball State University Virtual Map... my current project. I actually finalized a design today, did some troubleshooting, and begun the long, drawn-out process of switching the existing pages over to this new look. Haven't cross-checked it on PC yet.. I'm saving that whole mess for another time, when I feel up to screaming at the computer screen.

Speaking of which, I really need to get on fixing some of the bugs on The Oratory. It's functional, but it's only a matter of time before people start complaining about the nasty broken tables that are going on there..

Last night was a really uneventful eve. Autumn and I ordered pizza, and I sat through about an hour of Gone With the Wind with her before giving up and heading up to snipe some people in Unreal Tournament. I hadn't played it on my computer in ages, and since Jeremy had taken his machine away with him for the week, I had no choice. After sitting through about half an hour of downloads (skins, upgrades, modifications), I finally got a chance to knock some heads off. Good, clean, American fun.

I've been multitasking this afternoon... doing everything at once, from installing QTVR on a new machine to chatting on AIM to creating, formatting and inserting images into new HTML to air drumming.. and now I'm doing some work on the journal. Hooty hoo.

Oh, and I paid bills this morning. The excitement knows no limits with this one. I'm listening to a really shitty metal CD... so why am I enjoying it so much?

About an hour before I shove off. Should get a bit more done on the map pages and call it a day.

posted by drqshadow at 4:56 PM 0 comments

June 17, 2001

First Post (Recovered from LiveJournal)

So I decided I'd best start writing a journal, since I'm likely to forget all the exciting things I did on June 17, 2001, when I'm older. I'm a bit giddy, because I just discovered there were over 50 other people in this little 'journal community' who share my vested interest in "pooping". Weird.

Anyway, I'm blowing time at work at this point. I've been working on the 'images' pages of my web site, which haven't been active for the longest time, and I really need to get working again. Those dedicated 7 hits a day I get count on it.

Let's see, what did I do earlier today. I woke up, after a wonderful evening with Autumn, around 9AM and laid in bed for a bit until the alarm went off at quarter after. Shit, shaved, shampooed, showered, the works. The rear tire of my trusty Grand Am is out of wind, so Autumn gave me a lift to RB in her little golden wonder vehicle. She kissed me goodbye, and looked absolutely gorgeous.

I am in love.

I got to work and actually earned my keep for a while, before the pull of the internet became too much for me. I've spent the rest of the day working on my website and just surfing randomly. I'll be off in about 3 hours, and Autumn and I have a whole chunk of nothing planned for the evening. I'll give my parents a call, because it's father's day and a Sunday, which is when I call my mother regularly. And that'll be that.

It doesn't bother me to be doing nothing these days, because that way I have time to play my Dreamcast.

Goddamn, I'm a dork.

posted by drqshadow at 2:36 PM 0 comments

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