Foolster41's Blog

Go Sonics!

2008-01-30T21:51:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to a sonics game, it was really close, the sonics won by just 3 points and it was pretty close the entire way through. I'm not much of a sports fan, but I had a really good time.

Bee Movie

2008-01-22T23:44:00.000-08:00

I just saw Bee movie. The movie is about a bee (Jerry Sinefeld) who wants something more than the normal hive life (like in Ants), but he ventures out of the hive and breaks the rules, talking with a human. He finds out that humans enslave bees in order ot harvesast their hard made honey. I really liked the main premise, but unfortunitly while some of the dailog, and Sinfeild and Partrick Walburtan's acting was good, there were too many dull points in the movie where the movie just stoped moving. I saw it at a cheap theature ($1 tickets!) so, I guess I got my money's worth, though it's probibly better to wait for the DVD to rent rather than shelling out $6-9 for seeing it in the theature.

Stargate

2008-01-07T00:02:00.000-08:00

I just saw the movie stargate all the way through for the first time. I've tried twice before to see it, and something keeps happening half way and I can't finish it. It was a really cool film, I really liked the strangers in this new civilization aspect to it, and it made me think of the world I'm building, which though it takes from a lot of different places besides egypt (Actually, I can't really think of any Egyptian influence in mine), it has some of the desert/middle eastern influences to it as well.

Orange Box Soundtrack

2008-01-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

Right as I type this, I'm listening to the Orange box soundtrack. It's quite awsome with tracks from most of the games in orange box (No tracks for Half-Life 2). It features Jonathan Coultan's "still alive", both the orignal version and a new version with him singing. I'm a big fan of all the games, and I know I'll be listening to this over and over, that is when I'm not playing the games themselves.

Deathnote

2007-12-15T23:51:00.000-08:00

Can't get any work done because I've become addicted to the show "death note". It's like a slightly creeper anime Lost.

Ascent to Bable and Other books

2007-11-27T23:53:00.000-08:00

I finished "Ascent to babel", a book I mentioned before on linguistics. It was a very interstitials read and had a lot of things I never knew. It covers things like how our brains understand languagees and what order (grammer, words) and even perdictsthe next word! It wasn't as helpful in developing my conworld language, but a good read none the less.

Now I'm picking up the 2nd book in the Wheel of Time series "The great hunt" which i really recommend. I'm disapointed in myself that I waited this long. I'd like ot find the WoT RPG book, but it's expensive. $50 is more money than I have right now for anything. I plan on at least getting it from the library so I can check it out. I can imagine a whole bunch of cool things from the books (Like the cool "wolf-brother" thing introduced in book one) that would be really cool in an RPG. I might even be able to incorpeate it in to a regulad D20 game since WoT RPG is also in the D20 system.
I've even slipped some wheel of time-ish sayings already in the current campaign i'm in.

Wanted: Dream Job

2007-11-18T00:35:00.000-08:00

A job just opened up at Bioware for a writer for their MMos. This would be a dream job for me, writing characters and worlds. It's definitly one of favorite parts of working on a large fantasy project I've been working on (Sorry, can't say more because it's not all mine, and I might be able to actually finish it one day). I'd like to work for that as my ultimate goal. I hadn't really thought of being a writer in the games industry (I've daydreamed of being a designer, programer of artist in the games industry before).

Since we'er talking about dream jobs, what would be your dream job?

Money for eyes!

2007-11-09T21:46:00.000-08:00

Great news just came in, I'm approved for support from the government to get the eye surgery I need to fix my eye condition. I can't remember what it's called, but it is an elongating of my cornea making it hard to see at a distance. The surgery will cost about $20,000 an eye, something me and my family can't afford right now, but it looks like I will be able to get the surgery some time soon!

NaNo Energy Low

2007-11-05T01:26:00.000-08:00

I'm still working on my NaNoWtiMo novel, but I'm falling behind. Only just over 2,700 words when I should ahve by now written 6,667. I'm not giving up, though I wonder if I can evne catch up especially now since the first jet of energy has worn off and I have writer's block.

I'm also working on memorizing lines for an upcoming christmas comedy drama. It's a story about a family reunion that has some interesting characters and challanges. I'm hoping I can keep on track and memorize the lines I need to. Preformances are in only four weeks in early december!

Two books: The Wheel of Time Book 1 & Ascending to Babel

2007-10-19T19:14:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to read the wheel of time for a long time. I just finished reading the first book, "The eye of the world" and I really enjoyed it. The main characters weren't perhaps as interesting as I usualy like in other books, but the characters are beleivable, and the story is very interesting with a very unique world. My favorite character ended up being Lohei, a "Ogrier" (sp?) who is both a book worm and adventurous. I look foreword to reading the next book.

Now my next book about linguistics very simplified for non-linguists (like me) to understand. I've dabbled in linguistics before, trying to write my own language but felt a little bit overwhelmed, especially after trying to read a big textbook on linguistics. I didn't understand half of what was in that book. This is a much lighter read and I'm enjoying it so far. I'll let you know what I think when I finish it.

How will it all end?

2007-10-02T01:19:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some research recently on story endings because of my storyboarding my first novel, and I'm not sure exactly how it will end. I was wondering if anyone out there who happens to be reading this has any methods for coming up with an ending.
Obvisouly every story needs and ending, a resolve to let the story rest. How often do you know how a story will end? In how much detail?

I know it should be something satisfying and make sense. I'm wondering if I thinking too hard and maybe it should just be a surprise to even me. One of the inspirations for my story is a narrative that is a story poem that ends somewhat tragically, so i'm looking at the possibility of this ending as a tragedy as well. Most of what inspired me is the mood of the poem, it in a way touches me, though I can't explain exactly. It's a moving sadness. Some of my favorite stories are at least partially tragic if not completely (Hamlet, Les miserable). I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks!

Steakpunk Magazine

2007-09-26T00:22:00.000-07:00

I recently found a fascinating magazine that I've been enjoying called steam punk magazine. It is a free online magazine following the genre of steampunk not as fuction, but as a more or less real life point of view. I've been interesting more with the steampunk genre lately, mostly starting with Girl Genius and being a engineer in World of Warcraft (Ok, perhaps that's only tagently connected).

National Novel Writing Month

2007-09-25T22:04:00.001-07:00

Signups for national novel writing month is coming soon! I have a basic outline worked out, but I still am unsure about how it will all end.

The website it at http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Happy Fire Day!

2007-09-23T19:45:00.001-07:00

We had a big party to celebrate the beginning of the 3rd (and last) season of avatar.
We had a few friends over and decoated the place with red balloons with fire emblems. For food we had fire flakes, leechy nuts, sushi, roast ruck and sweet rolls with pork and cactus juice (it'll quench ya!). It was allot of fun. I can't wait for next weeks episode, it was really good!

A new nephew!

2007-09-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

Last night
Benjamin Elliot was born tonight at 10:49pm.
7 pounds, 13 ounces.

I've only seen a picture, but I hope to see him in person in the next few days.

November is National Novel Writing Month!

2007-08-31T00:19:00.000-07:00

I took another look at the site for National novel writing Month today, and I think I'm going to take a crack at it. I'm a terrible procrastinator so I'm not sure how much I will get done, but I'm going to try to write a little something every day for the month of November.

I have a few ideas in my head for the story.

Another site I found recently and added to my blog marks list is writing fix, which is a site that provides tips and exercises for writing. The site seems to be primarily aimed at kids, but the exercises are well written and can work for anyone. Some of the books the exercises are based on are even books like "Of Mice and Men" and "Lord of the Flies" (Which while I really like both books I don't find either very kid friendly, so their inclusion is a little weird to me. Oh well.)

What book are you?

2007-08-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge fan of these quiz things, but a book related one is right up my alley.

You're I, Robot!

by Isaac Asimov

While you have established a code of conduct for many generations to
follow, your demeanor is rather cold and calculating. Brought up to serve humans, you
have promised never to harm them, to follow orders, and to protect yourself. Living up
to this code has proved challenging and sometimes even drives you mad. If you were a
type of paper, you would be pulp.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I'm not as cold and by the book as the quiz would have you think. I'd like to think of myself more of a Jean Valjean than a Javart. (I'm currently re-reading Les Mis. I also put the most recent movie version which I've realized I've managed to never see and the musical concert DVD on my Netflix list.) Though I appreciate being associated with a pretty darn good book.

SL Store

2007-08-10T01:37:00.001-07:00

I'm starting to make some sales in my store at the NCI mall! Most of the problem is getting the word out.

A note that tipping does not work as I thought it did as I said in the instructions on the vendor, it will just return the extra money (A handy feature I didn't know about, but I'm glad it's there since it ensures you can't overpay)

Here is my current catalog:

Sword Rack: L$250 (NEW)
A decorative sword rack with space to decoratively display two swords. Sword in picture not included. 18 Prims

Connect 4 L$200 (NEW)
A scripted connect 4 game. Click on a slot on the top to place a stone, and the stone will fall to the proper place. say "Reset" to start a new game.

9x9 Go Board L$100
A fully functioning pine go board with black lines. This board is for smaller "practice" go games. Great for playing Go and as a home decoration. Comes with copy-enabled black and white stones.

19x19 Go Board L$200
A fully functioning pine go board with black lines. This board is the standard sized board. Great for playing Go and as a home decoration. Comes with copy-enabled black and white stones.

Conenct four L$200
A scripted giant connect four game. Click the top slots to select the slot you want the peice to fall. Note that there may be lag, depending on the area.
say "reset" to reset the game.

Liar's Dice l$5
A game of bluffing and luck. Players bet on the number of dice showing a face on all players.. click the game to view th cups, say "roll" to roll the dice.
say "reset" to reset. Requires at least 1 other Liar's dice game to play. Rules can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liar%27s_dice, or IM me and I'd be happy to explain the game. As seen played on the second of the popular pirate movie trillogy.

Light Post L$10
An elegant lamp post, like you would find at a office building. Nice outdoor decor for your office or home. IM to get a quote for bulk deals in packs of 10 or more.

I'm adding new stuff pretty frequently (once every 2 weeks to 1 month) and I'm happy to do my best to do custom orders at fair prices, and always happy to answer questions about my products.

Edit: some mistakes with list. I no longer sell the light sword.

Till we have faces - Yet another project rivived

2007-08-10T00:56:00.001-07:00

I got a new copy of till we have faces so this has motivated me to again work on that script based on the book. My last copy fell apart on me, though I had put it aside because I've been working on other things.

I've been careful to resist the temptation to see what other people have done with it. I'm a big fan of C. S. Lewis' work and this is my favorite book by him. I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

Hula! Luau!

2007-08-04T22:40:00.001-07:00

I just got back from a party from my dad's work. It was hawai'i themed, complete with lais and inflatable palm trees. :) It was a very beautiful country club. we swam in the pool, ate delicious food (kabobs, pineapple chicken, and more) and I did my best a limbo. Overall it was fun, though I can't get that darn limbo song out of my head! la la lalala la la, la la lalala la!

Comicon 2007

2007-07-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

We started off on Sunday night, driving like crazy until we got to san Fransisco on Monday. We looked around and went over the golden gate bridge. We saw the opera house at night, which was really cool looking, all lit up in orange lights. The next day we walked through china town and went to a little tea shop. It smelled very nice, and the owner was very friendly. She let us sample a few different kinds of teas. She served by first pouring the tea from the tea pot in to the cups and then emptying them and invited us to smell the cups. then she filled the cups with the tea. It was the best tasting tea I had ever had. We then went for lunch and had roast duck, Dim sum dumplings and roast pork in a sweet roll. We then continued on and got to do some body surfing on the way (which I'd never done before and is really fun.) finally we reached San Deigo at last!

The place was crowded all four days. About 1,500 people I heard was there. we went to the making fiends. panel for the brand new show on nick. I got autographs from the entire crew there. I went to the PVP animated series panel, got signatures from one of the writers of the tick, the writers/artists from the flight comic book series and the people behind the web comic Narbonic, DrMcNinja and Girl Genius. I also went to the great avatar panel and saw the preview for the final season. I got to play the classic arcade game Donkey Kong and a few other games and got a bunch of free stuff.

Overall, it was a really fun week.

Comicon!

2007-07-31T01:28:00.001-07:00

I had a lot of fun at comicon this last week. Right now I'm tired, so I'll blog about it tomarrow.

Gnomeraregon

2007-06-19T12:41:00.001-07:00

Woot! I finally beat Gnomeragan! Don't bother looking for it on a map. :)

ophthalmology

2007-06-17T08:50:00.001-07:00

Last friday I was asked by a friend who's an ophthalmology student to come to her classt at a local collage. The idea was so the students could see an unusual case. They had me sit behind a few machines that I'd seen a few times before, and I got to even learn a little bit about the eyes, and got to see the toehr side of the machery. Everyone was really nice, and it wasn't boring at all like I expected.

Paris

2007-06-08T23:36:00.000-07:00

I know that maybe I'm just feeding the fire by saying this, but Paris Hilton is going to jail. That's all they talked about on the news today. Who cares? There are probibly thousands of DUI arrests each year. The only reason this one matters is because it's someone famous.