Blithe Bewilderment

PS3 is cool. So is FreeRice.

2008-05-24T11:46:00.004-05:00

I really love my PS3, especially now that I have SingStar and I'm using Folding@home (a project from Stanford where computers across the world do the volunteer work for us and help contribute to medical research).

For my folding, I have joined Unfiction's team. It's small, but I <3 Unfiction, so I'm happy with that.
Why join a team at all? I dunno, really. :) It's mainly for the community of it, and the friendly competition. Folding@home awards points for the amount of work you have your computer complete, so teams can be created that allow people to accumulate more points and crawl up a leader board of fun volunteer-ness.
Just leave your PS3 on while you're afk (er... afcontroller?), and you've helped cure diseases. Sounds good to me! If you don't have a PS3, you can contribute from your computer instead.

As you can see, I went with the "Tapioca" view for my protein simulations. :)

SingStar, on the other hand, is pure fun. With the (optional!) videos online, it's really like going to karaoke night with the whole world. :) Everyone so far is very nice, which makes it a really pleasant environment.

Oh -- I also got Eye of Judgment. Hrm. It's really cool; I just need to learn how to stop losing. :P

Though it's not technically a PS3 title, I'm playing Persona 3 (a PS2 game) on my PS3 as well.
This.
Game.
Rocks.
My.
World.
Mix Japanese RPG with sim game, and I'm a goner.
The fighting style in this one tends to raise a few eyebrows, but I'm more concerned with saving the world and trying to buy a brand bag for Yuko. ;)

When I'm not at my PS3, I'm often playing around on FreeRice, another charitable site, and lots of fun. Give it a go! You'll improve your vocabulary and feed the poor at the same time. :)

Thanks to Mike for showing me FreeRice! And a big :P to my mom for getting insanely higher scores than I could ever dream of reaching. ;)

Script Frenzy is cool.

2008-03-31T13:49:00.000-05:00

Hooray for Script Frenzy! It's the script version of what I was up to last November: NaNoWriMo. I have to write 100 pages of a script in one month!!!! Wish me luck, everyone! :)

NaNoWriMo gifts are cool. ;)

2007-11-06T14:48:00.000-05:00

All I ever do is log in to talk about what I want. How likable is that?

;)
But, seriously. I'm exhausted from NaNoWriMo already, and I'm looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. Normally I'd just put these items on my Wishlist, but ... I want them asap. :) Actually, I want them as rewards for winning NaNoWriMo.

So. Have you wondered how to congratulate your Mokey when November is over? Wonder no more! The perfect answers are here:

NaNoWriMo 2007 T-shirt
NaNoWriMo Merit Badges
Something cool onto which I can iron my merit badges, like a tote bag or a jacket
That, "Oh, wow, really?" thing people do to make someone feel like they've accomplished something super cool

That's it! :) Still writing over here -- word count is so far so good. Here's hoping I make it through!

NaNoWriMo is cool! :)

2007-11-04T11:10:00.000-05:00

Where's Mokey? She's in front of the computer, of course, writing her month away! ;)



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Housewarming parties are cool! :)

2007-10-07T13:10:00.001-05:00

I'm about to have one, and everyone's asking what I need. Just wanted to remind that I have a running wishlist here -- just click the label to the left that says My Wishlist-In-Progress. :) Thanks!

Harry Potter is cool. SPOILERS!

2007-07-24T13:53:00.000-05:00

Just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last night. Excellent. It's such a wonderful book, and the perfect way to end the series. I cried my eyes out about five different times, and my head aches from reading obsessively for hours on end. All so worth it. Absolutely, without a doubt, the best book in the series, if you ask me. Great pacing, great emotion. Great, great, great.

Of course, there were a few questions I had when I put the book down. So I Googled them. :) And I found this cool blog!

I'm going to share my own responses to what the blogger wrote here because it was such a great prompt... :) I hope the writer doesn't mind me quoting her here. If so, just let me know, and I will be happy to change it!

~THERE ARE SPOILERS BENEATH THIS LINE!~

Bold = Blogger, Italics = Mokey

Logical flaws

Lots of problems with the Fidelius Charm:

JKR has said that with the Fidelius Charm, when the Secret Keeper dies the secret dies with him. Yet suddenly here, everyone he has told becomes a Secret Keeper in turn. That’s not entirely unfair, because she said it in an interview rather than within a book so it isn’t canon, but also because that may have been only what happens only if the Secret Keeper hasn’t told anyone. Still, handing out wrong info in interviews isn’t really ~~cricket~~Quidditch.

I don't really mind this. As the blogger pointed out, the conclusion we can easily reach is that the secret only dies with the Secret Keeper if he hasn't told. I think that's how I took JKR's comment originally, anyway.

However, she definitely gave the impression that the Secret Keeper needs to be someone not living under the charm’s protection - yet here, Bill Weasley is SK for Shell Cottage and Mr. Weasley for his house. So why could James or Lily not have been their own SK? I know James trusted his friends, but it just seems entirely unnecessary.

I completely agree. This has to be explained for me, or else a lot of the story will seem very unnecessary.

If Shell Cottage is under the Fidelius Charm, why do Ron, Dobby, Harry, et all have no trouble getting there? I suppose Bill could have told Dobby of its whereabouts, but earlier Ron finds it on his own and there’s no opportunity for him to have been told.

Exactly. Makes no sense to me at all.

Murder Mystery Dinner Parties are cool!

2007-06-03T13:20:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos from the very first Murder Mystery party I have written -- Ninja vs. Samurai! :) Thanks to Vanessa and Michelle!

Vanessa the Ninja will chop you up!

Van and Jonathan are both Ninja fighters! (omg look out behind you!)

Brent = super cool farmer! :)

Michelle's a society lady, Rob's a Samurai, and Brent's a farmer. (Oh, no! Ninja attack from behind!!!)

Rob the Samurai battles Mike the Ninja!

The party hostess takes on Crazy Ninja Mike!

Ninja assassins are out of control!!! Necole looks like she's about to come to a nasty end.

A-ha! Necole doesn't handle kind of treatment well, Jonathan! Watch out for her special Ninja moves!

Taking a break from fighting, Ninja Mike and Samurai Rob do a little dance.

Those Ninja fighters. They just can't stop killing each other!

Ninja Sayounara!

Chad and Angela bein' cool!

Michelle and Wayne bein' sweet! :)

Ninja love!

Kimono girls!

Cool chopstick, kimono bowing!

Watch out! My brother is a crazy Ninja!!!

Here we are with our Samurai Sprocket... and... OMG More Ninja stealthiness in the hallway!

I can't tell whether they're hugging or about to slice and dice each other.

The more sake you drink, the warmer everything becomes! ;)

lolol No, don't fool yourself. I wasn't cooking. But I was serving the meal!

Speaking of serving dinner...

Everyone enjoyed their food!

And afterward, we sang along to the guitars!

Basically, I decided that I'd had enough of murder mystery dinner parties that didn't do the things my friends and I wanted. So I wrote one! My buddies were kind enough to alpha test it for me, and it went really well! Plenty of inebriated fun, and lots to eat.

Now it's back to the writing board for a few more revisions, and I'll probably upload it to my eBay store for anybody else who would like to play. :)

I've added a poll here for everyone to vote on the theme of my next murder mystery game. Many of the options are ones that a few people have already suggested. Let me know what you think!

Thanks to everyone who helped and participated. We had a great time!!! :)

New home, new tank, new addition to the family! All cool! :)

2007-05-27T15:42:00.000-05:00

Haven't had much time for blogging lately. I bought a condo! :) It's very spacious and comfortable. Rob, Othello, Miranda, and Weasley, and I really feel like we're at home, and we've each found that feeling in our own special ways!

While Rob and I have been unpacking boxes with family and friends, Othello has been going from room to room, claiming each one as his own. This is normally done by walking directly to the middle of the floor, flopping over, and demanding a belly rub. One alternative is to just relax with his back against a cool wall and watch all the action from there. Either way, Othello is saying, "Thank you for buying me this condo. Now... where do you plan to live?"

While Othello has checked out every inch of the place, Miranda and Weasely have spread out in their new, larger tank! Within just about ten days, Weasely already looks bigger! The tank is so enormous that we're definitely going to have to add plants and decorations -- it looks pretty bare as it is. They like swimming around in their extra space, though, and they take full advantage of it; sometimes one will try to secretly eat all the breakfast while the other is still sleeping!

But this morning the best part happened...

We got a new family member! Meet Sprocket. He's lived in the condo a total of eight hours, he's a total of 11 weeks old, and he has learned a total of nine important things already:

1. "Sprocket, sit."
2. "Sprocket, down."
3. "Sprocket, come."
4. Puppy training treats are awesome.
5. Use the puppy pads whenever possible.
6. Try very hard not to jump on Othello.
7. The sliding glass door is a door, not the air.
8. Uncle Mike and Aunt Necole love Sprocket.
9. Playing and napping are regular parts of a good day.

That's all there is to report at the moment! :) More Fishy Show and Othello/Sprocket updates to come! I'll also get back to my Ireland story soon -- with more pictures!

Travel is cool. (Part 3 of 10)

2007-04-02T15:06:00.000-05:00

The third day we woke up and went right to Trinity College for the Book of Kells. There was a huge line, and it was a little rainy outside, but we made it in eventually!

First, they usher you through a really cool gift store, where we found ourselves playing with books and trinkets until it was time to go in to see the main attraction.

In the exhibit's entry room, there were walls covered with photos of different pages (some from the Book of Kells itself, some from other similar books) and information about what the images meant and what the history was. It was very interesting.

Next, we walked into a smaller room with the actual Book of Kells itself in a rectangular glass case. People crowded around it and nearly had to elbow each other out of the way for a good look at the pages. Only one page is turned per day, so unless you planned to come back again, this was the only real-life example of the Book of Kells you'd get to see.

Of course, it was very pretty and thrilling to think about. The ink has lasted remarkably well. No photos are allowed, so I don't have pictures of my own to show here.

After viewing the pages, we moved into another room upstairs -- the Library Long Room. This was the highlight of the visit, in my opinion. An enormous and beautiful library packed with books and rare copies of manuscripts on display. For a book-lover, it smelled comforting, like being more at home than you could be anywhere else. The walls reached up so high you had to crane your neck a bit, and all the way up were books and books and more books.

It was the most incredible thing I'd seen on my trip so far. My mother actually cried a little, which prompted my brother to turn to me and whisper, "I love Mom."

Then it was back downstairs -- I felt like a child being tugged away from its favorite puppy -- to the gift store, where I immediately purchased a key chain of the Long Room to keep with me always.

But our itinerary didn't allow time to dawdle. Already it was time to hurry to the next destination! We grabbed some snacks and piled into our Tourist Out-Loud Green Machine of Motion-Sickness and headed across grass-filled, sheep-covered countryside toward Galway.

By evening, we arrived, settled in to our hotel, and went out in the freezing cold for a nice dinner before bed.

And what a nice dinner it was! I believe we heard of the place from an inebriated local who mentioned it to my uncle.

McSwiggan's Bar & Restaurant is a lovely establishment that provides something for everyone, as far as I could tell. We ate in a dimply-lit area that looked like the perfect prom dinner location. Downstairs, there was a bar with music and lots of people enjoying the warmth. Our waitress was friendly and funny. And the food. Was. Incredible.

If you're ever in Galway, you would be a fool to miss McSwiggan's. It was one of those dining experiences where everyone at the table feels as though he or she chose the best meal, and your party can't stop talking about how tasty everything was, even hours after you've left the restaurant.

Full and completely satisfied, we hurried back to our hotel in the cold rain. Our family went to bed, but Mike and I stayed up to drink at the hotel bar. That was a super cool experience because locals came in there to drink as well, and we chatted with them, the bartender, and the security guard about everything from beer to politics. We really enjoyed getting to discuss the differences between our two countries.

Finally, it was bed time. Mike and I arranged with our family to spend the morning on our own exploring Galway while they went to Connemara. We had to rest up, though, because they'd be picking us up after lunch to visit the Cliffs of Moher!!!

Travel is cool. (Part 2 of 10)

2007-03-30T12:07:00.000-05:00

The second day we flew on Ryan Air to Ireland.

omg It was an uncomfortable flight, and we were packed in like sardines. My father noticed on their in-flight shopping brochure that they were selling lots of utterly useless things like bullet-proof wallets. There were actually advertisements on the overhead baggage compartments, like the kind you'd see on the insides of subway train cars. Well, at least we got there!

After landing, we stretched our legs for the first time in about an hour and went to find our rental car. I wish I had a good photo of it here: a large, green van with sliding doors on each side. It was, as my brother would say, very "tourist out loud." It turns out I only took video of the bus, but there are some pictures of us sitting on the inside!

Much of the first day was spent driving around, looking for Dublin's center, and searching for our hotel.

We saw some interesting things during our drive. From local band posters to strange statuettes of reclining women in home windows, to Hobbit-style front doors, my whole family enjoyed looking out at Dublin. We couldn't wait to get out to walk actually walk around!

Finally we came to our hotel, where we threw our things down and got ready to have a freezing night on the town.

It started with a walk to a nearby pub for food and beer. Mike enjoyed a few genuinely Irish pints of Guinness, which he reported were much better in Ireland than they are in the states.

Afterward we wandered Grafton Street, which is a bit like Church Street in Orlando, or Lincoln Road in South Beach. In other words, it's a road that is open to pedestrians only, with tons of stores and pubs lining the way.

From there we went to a really cool pub called The Duke, and we started our Literary Pub Crawl! This was lots of fun. Two actors led us on foot around a small area of Dublin, performing classic works of literature and sharing some Irish history with us along the way. Of course, in order to soak in our educational experience, the actors periodically dropped us at relevant pubs for another pint or two before we moved to our next location.

I was wearing my Equus T-shirt, and several college exchange girls from the states sat me down during a pub stop to interrogate me about the details (both artistic and physical) of young mister Radcliffe. :)

One of the most exciting stops on our adventure was the prestigious Trinity College at night, which is a beautiful thing to see. My aunt studied there for one of her master's programs, and she has always told me it's an incredible place. We were thrilled to finally see it.

Tipsy and tired, we headed back to bed, planning to visit the campus again the next day for pictures and, of course, to see the Book of Kells.

But that's the next day! :)

Travel is cool. (Part 1 of 10)

2007-03-29T10:27:00.000-05:00

I just got back about a week ago from England and Ireland. :)

There were ten days of pure exploration and traveling, so I'll make ten posts to show what we did, step by step.

DAY 1: LONDON

We arrived at Gatwick via Virgin Airlines (double-decker plane, Premium Economy seats that were a little uncomfortable, nice food, and good movies in private TVs) and spent the next four hours making our way through London transportation to our hotel.

That sucked. When my mom mentioned that we'd just spent over half the time it took to fly to England trying to get from the airport to our hotel, we thought we were going to pass out from exhaustion right there.

But holidays aren't for resting! :)

We got right to the important stuff -- having lunch, settling into our awesome hotel, freshening up, and heading to Piccadilly for EQUUS.

Yes, folks, I have seen Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) smoking, cussing, and naked.

Because everyone's asking, I'll just make an official note that he's a perfectly normal-looking guy, that he spent a rather long scene at the end of the show with no clothes on (for a portion of this, he was on top of a naked actress), and that no one in the audience whooped or screamed in fan-girl fashion when he dropped his knickers. Oh, and I don't have any pictures. :) But they're out there. Just look around.

Human curiosity out of the way, let me say that the play is amazing. It's dark, to be sure, but very well-written and makes the audience think about issues like religion, sex, parents, personal passions, and, um, horses. :)

Daniel Radcliffe is a wonderful actor. He brought the character to life in a very believable way. It was easy to look at him on stage and take broomsticks and magic out of my mind.

Richard Griffiths (the principal character) was incredible. My brother and I especially enjoyed his performance. He had a strong presence and made every line feel personal, even to those of us in the nose-bleed section.

~Thank goodness for pay-per-show binoculars attached to the seats!~

The rest of the cast was great, too. I particularly liked the roles of the parents.

The set was very minimalistic, and it worked. One of my favorite parts of the play's design was the way they handled the six horses. Actors dressed in brown clothes held their hands behind their backs and wore enormous masks that looked like cages in the shape of horse heads. There were also similar cages on their feet to look like hoofs.

It was an awesome experience. I'm so glad we were able to make it. During intermission, Mike bought a poster, and I bought a T-shirt. We didn't wait around to get autographs from the cast because it was probably going to be a huge crowd, and we were exhausted. But I'm sure they know we enjoyed their performance. :)

Afterward, we went back to the hotel to rest up. The next morning we were heading to another airport to fly to Ireland.

Falling asleep in our comfortable beds and snacking on yummy room service, Mike and I watched British TV. Please note that I am about to link to something that would not be shown on normal TV here in the states.

I am blown away by what they're allowed to put on TV.

Seriously.

Are you reading this? Let me quote something from the first link:
"Meet the *** A couple who perform simulated *** in a range of unacceptable places."

We were enthralled. Swearing, public nudity, and all in a Candid Camera kind of style.

What a country. :)

Edward Gorey is cool.

2007-02-22T15:15:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday, Edward Gorey! :)

Vacations are cool.

2007-02-19T10:57:00.000-05:00

Rob and I went on vacation this weekend. :) It was lots of fun -- and also a little weird at times!

Read on for the Twilight Zone of holidays. *eerie music plays*

We'd made reservations to stay out of town Saturday night so that we'd be nearby for the Florida State Fair on Sunday. However, I refused to leave for the hotel until I'd sorted out Perplex City's new puzzle. :) Thankfully, I was able to crack the code with the help of the smarties at Unfiction, and Rob and I were off to enjoy our weekend!

Before leaving, of course, we stopped by my parents' house to grab the Perplex City board game (a present they'd held off since Christmas!). Couldn't go anywhere without that.

The trip got off to a pretty strange start. In the middle of a downtown traffic jam, Rob asked, "Is it Friday or Saturday?" The traffic looked like your typical rush-hour drive, but we were late in the day on a weekend. *eerie music plays* That lasted for nearly half the trip. :P

To entertain ourselves, we sang songs all the way to the hotel. :) Eventually we arrived, and we checked in.

This was a Howard Johnson in the middle of nowhere. There was a restaurant attached -- a Mexican place with big, Corona banners everywhere as if it were a birthday party or Cinco de Mayo or something. *eerie music plays*

We went up to our room and got straight to the important stuff: checking our email. :) Of course, we needed to eat, so we decided to plug our laptops in and head down for some good ol' HoJo Mexican dishes. But where were the outlets?

After searching for several minutes, Rob realized that they were on the wall -- near the ceiling. You actually had to stand on the couch to reach the main outlets. *eerie music plays* Pretty weird!

The Mexican restaurant was very good. Our waiter had to be about 17 years old and didn't speak much English, and he was probably the nicest waiter I've ever had. He excused himself every time he approached us or walked away, and he tried his hardest to help us with our orders.

Rob got a beer he'd never heard of before, and I ordered a strawberry soda.

After eating, we were very tired, but we went to get snacks anyway at the local WalMart. Another strange experience! There, they had a queue of several lines put together. When you got to the front of the queue, you were next to be checked out. As soon as a cashier opened up, a recorded voice boomed out from above, "Please go to 3," (which meant that we should go to cashier number 3). *eerie music plays* It was actually very efficient, and we wondered why nothing like that existed (that we'd seen) in our city.

Why did we bother getting snacks when we were so tired, you ask?

Because it was time to play the Perplex City board game, of course! :) Rob dominated most of the time, but I officially won. Technically speaking, he gave me a bunch of the answers toward the end, so I'm not sure the win is 100% mine, but I'll take it. The game was TONS of fun. We're hoping to play it soon with my family for a game night!

Finally it was bed time. :) We went to sleep to be ready for the fair the next day!

But before we got to the fair, there were still some weird things to encounter. First, during Rob's shower, the hot water ran out. It didn't just slowly go cold, as most showers do. This shower simply stopped running water at all when the hot tap was on. *eerie music plays* A bit frustrating (and the people at the front desk didn't even apologize for our trouble!).

Then we went to explore a little more as we waited for my mom to come into town for the fair. We went to a little plaza where, we realized, was actually the end of the world. There were two Starbucks in the same plaza. *eerie music plays*

In this strip mall, we also found a family Christian store, and, since it said it opened at noon (two minutes from then), we decided to wait around and have a look.

I'm a big sucker for the Veggie Tales, and I get a lot of jokes about that from my friends, especially since I've never claimed to be anything near a hard-core Christian. What can I say? They're an entertaining show. :)

In this store, we found plenty of Veggie Tales, but we also found what looked like a knight costume for children. This was a "Christian Character-Building Costume" that let kids "Play and Learn About God's Protection for Spiritual Battle." *music stops abruptly*

I don't know about the rest of you, but preparing our children for religious battle sketches me out big time. Of course we had to take a picture. :)

Next came our trip to the bank before we left for the fair. This turned out to be one of the locations of the world-ending Starbucks... and the Starbucks drive through was actually part of the bank drive through! *eerie music plays* Just in case you need a Frappuccino with that deposit, I suppose.

Finally, we made it to the fair with my mom and aunt. Rob took tons of video there, so I don't have any pictures -- except one!

We actually found a game booth that gave away Fraggle Rock toys!!!!!! They had Wembley and Gobo. I couldn't believe it. Rob felt an obligation as my boyfriend to win me a Fraggle.

Damn right. ;)

That didn't prove to be very easy, though. You had to win 57 little toys, trade those in for one medium, then win about 79 medium toys, trade those in for one large toy, win 123 large toys to trade in for an extra-large toy, do a silly dance, publish an award-winning novel, and beg on your knees. Or, in more literal terms, the guy wanted us to shell out $60 for a Fraggle.

I wanted Gobo.

Rob tried to talk sense into this money-hungry lunatic, but the verdict was final: we had to take another $20 out of an ATM and play through that to earn Gobo, or I had to settle for the $40 purple monkey that Rob had already won by tossing darts at balloons.

Obviously, we went for an ATM. But it was out of order! So we went to another ATM. Also out of order! Another, and another... they were all clean out of money. *eerie music plays* Apparently other people were spending their lives' savings on toys as well.

In the end, we decided to keep the purple monkey and go back to riding rides. He's actually very cuddly and cute. Guess what we named him?

Gobo! :)

All in all, a super fun (sometimes super weird!) vacation. *happy, end-of-story music plays*

Valentine's Day is cool. PERPLEX CITY ROCKS.

2007-02-14T12:43:00.000-05:00

My boyfriend gave me the sweetest gift today. :) I don't like roses, but apparently he thought the holiday called for at least one, so he got me a chocolate rose. Nicely played. Then he gave me a heart box of chocolates, and when I opened it up, I found purple and green (our favorite colors) flower clippings glued to the inside! The chocolates, he assured me, were safely stored in the refrigerator. ;) I've put the super-cool flower arrangement on my desk at work. It's beautiful and smells great. I'll post a picture soon.

There's another wonderful surprise today! At least, we hope it's coming today... Rumor has it that Perplex City will update its page sometime on the 14th, and right now the site is down for "maintenance or upgrades"!!!!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I will be refreshing obsessively for the rest of the afternoon.

Play this little mini game to pass the time! :)

Colbert Day is cool.

2007-02-13T11:21:00.000-05:00

I would like to propose something different:

Instead of celebrating a famous person's birthday this February, let's take the whole month off.

I suggest this for several reasons, the primary one being that my brother and I are preparing for our trip to Ireland soon, and we could probably use the downtime to get organized.

However, after we get home, we'll barely have slept off the jet lag when a very important holiday will take place -- Colbert Day!

This, I propose, should be our next big party. It fits almost all requirements.

It's super cool and slightly strange.
It takes place on someone's birthday.
It happens near another holiday: our return to the States.

The only problem is that it will be on a Tuesday. I'm not sure how everyone's schedule looks, but I might be willing to be groggy Wednesday morning in light of all the things listed above.

So... what does everyone say? Tuesday, March 20 = our next party?

btw, if you are here seeking pictures of our Mozart party, please hang in there... I know my good little brother will send me the photos soon!

Travel is cool. ... and so are robots.

2007-02-04T12:04:00.000-05:00

I'm going on a trip soon, so I thought I'd spend today playing around on the Internet with sites that list fun things to do.

Feel free to check out my Gusto! page to see where I'm going and what I'm thinking of doing there. Do you have any ideas to share with me? I'm open to them (as long as my travelmates like them, too)!

Of course, as we surf the web, we always come across the strangest things that take us off on little tangents of interest.

Somewhere along the way, I found cool Robots to save.

Then I found Pandorabots. No clue what's going on here at the moment, but I'm a sucker for this sort of thing. :) You can now have a totally pointless conversation with the Mokeybot. I know your lives are finally complete. :)

This is all I have for you now.

Where are your party pictures from last weekend???

Good question. They will be up as soon as my good little brother sends them to me. ;)

July 21st is cool.

2007-02-01T10:03:00.000-05:00

I swear I'll post pictures from my latest party soon. But first...

omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomg!

:)

Volunteering is cool.

2007-01-28T15:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a busy day for Rob and me. We did some manual labor, and then we had a party. :) I'll just talk about the work part here. See my next post for the party pictures!

We decided it would be nice to do some regular volunteer work, so I researched places online. VolunteerMatch is an incredibly useful site that has many search options so you can find the best opportunity in your area, online, or providing help with something you specialize in.

Rob and I found something for Green-Up Orlando on the morning of the 27th. They were asking for people to come help with landscaping at Quest, which is a local non-profit to assist people with disabilities.

Green-Up Orlando basically travels the city and organizes volunteers to plant trees, repair landscapes, and generally brighten up the area while giving the environment a good dose of what's best: nature.

We thought that was pretty cool, so we signed up.

Saturday morning, we were pretty sleepy. :) Still, around 920 (a bit late, but I'm late to everything), we arrived at our location and went right to work. The people were incredibly cool -- we met Green-Up workers, Quest employees, and even a guy from a local country band called the Heathens!

Rob and I worked with another woman on moving mulch and covering tree bases, flower beds, etc. To tell the truth, I had no clue what I was doing. :) It was a good thing Rob was there, or else I probably wouldn't have known which end of the shovel to use! ;)

We shoveled, raked, and wheeled mulch around for about two and a half hours. That may seem like a lot of hard and boring work to do for free, but in a strange way it was some of the best fun I've ever had. I loved meeting the people and having a new experience. Rob said he loved helping good people.

It wasn't all work, though. We did take a few minutes off to have water and doughnuts in the breakroom. People came in and out, and they asked us if we were the "people who signed up online." Everyone was very welcoming.

My back, arms, and legs hurt today, but that would be the case after half an hour of Wii, too. Ah, the Wii. That's another blog entirely.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome way to spend Saturday morning. Green-Up even gave us cool T-shirts! We'll be sure to wear them at the next event. :)

Drinking games are cool.

2007-01-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

Rob's birthday was the 21st of this month (*cheers*), and, if you've read my blogs up to this point, you can probably guess we considered that a perfect excuse to party. :)

At our little gathering, we instructed some of our novice drinking buddies in the ways of both Asshole and The Derby.

Asshole is probably a familiar game to anyone who's been to a college party. The Derby, however, is a creation of our own.

Drinking games are great for so many reasons:

They're ice-breakers.
They get the party started quickly.
They allow everyone to be silly without having to make fools of themselves in a public place.
They keep drunk people safely contained in a residence (where they aren't driving).

When we sat down to play our birthday party drinking games and found that not everyone knew the rules, I suddenly realized my true purpose in life:

I must educate the world in the ways of drinking games.

By no means can this brief explanation be considered a comprehensive list of all alcohol-related recreation. However, I hope it will inspire you to share other games, create your own, or simply practice good, drunken fun in the comfort of your own home.

Asshole
This is a card game with rules that are apparently regional. I'll post the rules we follow here, but know that if you go to Penn State or Georgia Tech, you may play a slightly different version. Basically speaking, the general idea should be the same.

Required materials:

one deck of cards
beer or liquor
several people -- each person must have his/her own drink!

To start: Deal all the cards out, one at a time, to each person. To determine who goes first, we ask which player is holding the three of clubs. That lucky person puts down the 3 of clubs, face up, and the game begins.

The objective: You want to get rid of your cards first. If you fail to reach this goal, the game continues, and your new objective is to get rid of your cards as quickly as possible. The thing you do not want to happen is for you to be the last player with cards remaining.

The scoring: There usually isn't a scoring process in drinking games. You just drink where you would normally lose points. However, in Asshole, there is a ranking system. For the first round, of course, there is no ranking. But after one round is over, there will be a President (first player to get rid of his/her cards), a Vice President (second player to get rid of his/her cards), Treasurer... Secretary... etc., Fetch (next-to-last player to get rid of his/her cards), and Asshole (last player with cards remaining).

The ranks: The President is the winner. The Asshole is the loser. If you are President at the end of one round, you will be President in the next round until someone wins that rank from you later. In other words, you play the game over and over, and whatever rank you achieve at the end of one round is the rank you will be known as when you start the next.

President's details:

The President gets to make a rule at the beginning of his/her presidency. The sillier, the better. Lift your pinky when you drink, no cursing, everyone gets a ridiculous name and must be called that for the rest of the night, don't say the word "drink," etc. Whenever someone accidentally breaks a President's rule (even if that President is no longer President at the time), the rule-breaker must drink.
The President is the highest rank, and can therefore, at any time during his/her presidency and for no reason at all, tell anyone else in the game to drink.
The President can request in what order the cards are dealt, to ensure he/she gets the best possible hand.

Lower-ranks' details:

If you are a lower rank, you simply play the game and follow the rules. The only benefit of your rank is that you are not Asshole or Fetch, and you can make anyone with a lower rank drink at any time and for no reason at all.

Fetch's details:

This person came very close to losing, and therefore has follow all the rules as well as get up to refill everyone's drink when they request it. Yes, even the Asshole's drink.
The only benefit of this rank is that Fetch can tell the Asshole to drink any time and for no reason at all.

Asshole's details:

The Asshole is not in a position to tell anyone to drink, and the Asshole must be nice, or else someone is likely to make him/her drink again.
The Asshole has to deal the cards.
The Asshole should be prepared to be bossed around.

To play: Match or beat any card that is thrown down on the table. If I put down a five and you are next to me (determine with your party whether you're going clockwise or counter -- change seats for ranks if you'd like to), you must put down a five or higher.

If you put down exactly what I put down, you skip the person after you. That person must drink. If I put down a five, and then you put down two fives, you skip the next two people, and they must drink.

If the person after you can't beat what you put down (for instance, I put down a five, and you beat that with three aces, but the next player has nothing to beat that), then that person must drink.

Doubles (two of a kind) will beat singles. Triples can beat doubles or singles. Quadruples can beat triples or doubles or singles, and you should all yell at the Asshole for having shuffled poorly. Anything more than four of a kind means someone is cheating. ;)

There are two wild cards. The better of these is the two, which is called a Clear. If you can't beat the triple aces that were thrown, you can always throw a single two. This will clear the table, and you get to go again, putting down anything you want.

The other wild card won't clear the table, but it lets you skip. Honestly, you could just pass and drink without throwing anything at all, but the object is to get rid of your cards anyway, and this is a fun way to do it. A four is called a Social. When you throw a four, you can put it on the triple aces as a way of getting rid of a card without having to play on a high number. Everyone at the table has to drink when a Social is thrown (even the President). This card does not clear the table, though, so the next person will have to play on the triple aces.

That's basically it for Asshole! :)

The Derby

This is one we came up with when Brent gave Mike a Tic-Tac-Toe shot glass board. No one could sort out how to make Tic-Tac-Toe a drinking game, so The Derby was born. It's pretty simple.

Required materials:

nine shot glasses
two players
beer
someone who can yell "One, two, three, GO!" at a moment's notice
spectators who will cheer you on and perhaps challenge the winner

To start: Challenge someone to a Derby run.

The objective: Win the fifth shot glass.

The scoring: Unlike other games, you are not punished by having to drink. In The Derby, the winner is rewarded with more beer.

To play: Line up the shot glasses in three rows, like a Tic-Tac-Toe board. Fill each one with cold beer. Stand around talking to each other until someone yells, "One, two, three, GO!" When you hear those words, grab your first shot glass and start drinking as quickly as you can, finishing each one, trying to get to the middle (fifth) glass. Whoever gets there first gets to drink the last shot glass of beer. Everyone is amazed. The winner feels very cool.

That's it for The Derby! :)

Happy drinking! Be safe!

Parties are cool.

2006-12-31T16:25:00.000-05:00

What's the obvious thing to do during the holidays?

Hold a party!

Of course! And what's the obvious kind of party to hold during the holidays?

A SAFARI Party!

:) Yes, we had a Safari party last night in honor of Rudyard Kipling, whose birthday is apparently December 30. It was much cooler than the regular Christmas/New Year's/etc. parties going on this time of year, and we got to toast Mr. Jungle Book again and again. Who could ask for anything better?

The day started with uber cleaning and decorating (thanks, Mom and Dad, for bringing tons of cool stuff!), and soon the apartment was a perfect safari wonderland.

We had a safari door,

a safari TV,

and a safari bar!

Then guests arrived. There were only 6 of us total, which is very nice when sharing alcohol. ;)

We played the soundtrack to Disney's The Jungle Book and had a great time playing games and generally being silly.

Our first game involved taping print-outs of cartoon jungle animals on everyone's back.

The rules for this game were pretty simple: you could ask questions about your animal, and everyone would tell the truth, but no one could tell you what your animal was. When you felt ready to guess, you announced your animal to the party. If you were wrong, you had to drink. If you were right, you had to make someone else drink. :)

Brent was a lion.

Necole was a hippo.

I was a monkey (not to be confused with the name Mokey), and Mike was a rhino.

Rob was a zebra.

And Adam (not in his own picture due to tardiness and camera-shy...ness) was a tiger.

We also played another game, where we sat in a circle wearing name tags and had to solve a problem as a team. We were allowed to look at each other's name tags, but not our own. Our problem was that we needed to cross a stream, but a tiger was in the way.

Brent's tag said, "Hello, I am THE LEADER."
Adam's tag said, "Hello, I am YOUR SPIRITUAL ADVISOR."
Mike's tag said, "Hello, I am OVERTLY SEXUAL."
Necole's tag said, "Hello, I am SPEAKING IN A LANGUAGE YOU DON'T KNOW."
My tag said, "Hello, I am A TOTAL MORON."
And Rob's tag said, "Hello, I am ALWAYS TALKING DOWN TO EVERYONE."

Once we solved our problem, we each guessed what our tags said based on how we were treated. Everyone guessed correctly! :)

Incidentally, our solution was to feed the total moron to the tiger so it would be distracted. Hrm.

Other than drinking and eating everything in sight, we also opened our safari socks (stockings) and sang karaoke.
Tons of cool presents were in our safari socks! Tiki faces, jungle animal beenies, those fun balloon twisty things that clowns use, candy, snake toys, etc!

Brighthouse rocked my world last night for offering Oxygen on-Demand with its Air Karaoke. Mike brought his amp and mic up to the living room, and we each took turns irritating the neighbors with our... er... vocal talents. :)

All in all, it was a pretty fun night! :) Thanks to everyone who came and made it so super cool. (thanks again to Mom and Dad for providing lots of decorations and munchies)!

I'm posting a little poll here to vote for our next party. All options are Saturdays! Please vote for your favorite! Hehe, go ahead and vote even if you aren't coming -- it'll be fun to see who has the coolest birthday.

By the way, Anderson Cooper's birthday is in June on a Sunday this year. We can definitely celebrate that.

*note: There should also be a little something on the 21st(ish) for Rob, who will get older on that day. :)

More pictures below!

Brent and Mokey stalking a tiger

Mike spying while Necole takes aim

Mike drunken shooting

Brent shooting sparks from his sparkle gun

The Beatles enjoying karaoke

Donating for the holidays is cool.

2006-12-24T13:32:00.000-05:00

Someone in my boyfriend's (Rebeefio -- see photo in the last post) family is sponsoring an orphan for the holidays this year instead of giving gifts. They sent a really cool email to everyone with a picture of the little girl and a brief description of her life and goals. How totally awesome.

Last year I posted my favorite charity of the year, but I've seen tons this year and can't choose just one. Luckily, though, there's a Charity Navigator that allows you to browse charities from all over the world and view evaluations of each one. There's even a Holiday Giving Guide 2006 for you last-minute shoppers!

It's always wonderful to get a card that says something nice has been done in my name. When you think about it, we love giving presents about as much as getting them. Sometimes more, really. Charity gifts make the getting experience a giving experience as well. :) So if you're considering donating to a charity instead of buying a random present for your loved one, I say go for it!

Happy holidays from Mokey and Rebeefio! :)

2006-12-24T13:13:00.000-05:00

Happy holidays! :)

(we'd be smiling, but we forgot to put on animations -- imagine big smiles)

Happy holidays from Othello and Miranda and Weasely! :)

2006-12-24T12:59:00.000-05:00

Othello says, "Happy holidays!"

Miranda and Weasely say, "Happy holidays!"

The Fishy Show, A New Friend for Miranda?

2006-12-22T14:57:00.000-05:00

Miranda had spent several days floating around her tank. There were plenty of things to do, but nothing made her happy.

She tried playing in the plants, but they didn't feel as nice as before.

She tried eating the bamboo, but it didn't taste as good as before.

She even tried riding the Bubble Ride, but it wasn't as fun as before.

One morning, as her people dropped some breakfast into her tank, Miranda looked up and said, "I'm lonely."

But they just walked away.

"People probably can't understand fish," Miranda said to herself. "Why do I even bother?"

She watched them eat their own breakfast next to each other, talking and smiling, while she nibbled her fish food all by herself.

"This is such a big tank," she said to nobody. "I wish I could have someone to share it with."

The rest of the day, Miranda went about her usual routine: swim over here feeling lonely. Swim over there feeling lonely. Take a nap. Wake up. Repeat.

Soon it was dinner time. Her people came home and opened the aquarium lid, but she barely looked up to say hello.

"Hello," said a voice next to Miranda in the water.

She nearly jumped out of the tank. "Who are you??"

A bright red goldfish had swum up next to her and was smiling.

"I'm Weasely," he said with a friendly flick of his tail. "Who are you?"

"Miranda," she said. "Where did you come from?"

"Them," Weasely said, indicating Miranda's people. "They brought me home to be with you." He paused. "You don't mind, do you? They thought you needed a friend. I certainly needed one, so I was glad to come along."

Miranda just stared in disbelief.

Weasely swam closer to her and smiled again. "Will you be my friend, Miranda?"

All at once, Miranda burst into laughter. "Yes!" she shouted. "Come on! I want to show you around!"

They swam over here and over there.

She showed him the plants, and they felt perfect for playing in.

She showed him the bamboo, and it tasted great.

"This is the best part," Miranda told him, and they swam to the Bubble Ride. "Give it a try!"

Miranda and Weasely rode the Bubble Ride all night, even after dinner, even after their people had turned off the lights. Hours past bed time, they finally fell asleep, both happy to have found a new best friend.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Tune in next time to see Miranda and Weasely get a water cleaning! :)

Puzzles are cool. PLUS HARRY POTTER IS COOL (omg!)

2006-12-22T14:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I may not be able to solve puzzles, but now, thanks to Perplex City, I can make my own! You'd think that would be easier, but it turns out you spend about as much time staring at a blank page trying to dream up a puzzle as you do staring at a pre-made riddle trying to sort it out.

But I gave it a shot anyway! My first creation is called "The Light," and if you want to try it out, you'll have to ask me for a link. Sorry, but that's how the puzzle maker works for now. They're going to have permanent links available soon. Until then, it's just for those who request it!

Hope you enjoy! :) Go make your own puzzles and send them to me, too!

PS -- I'm putting this part under "Games" because there's a brief game involved. Go to JK Rowling's site and clickity-click around to figure out the title to Harry Potter Book SEVEN! Thank you, Jo Rowling!!!! What a perfect winter present! :)