My Corner of the Interweb

Stuff.

Mood: Pretty good.
Music: Everything is Everything, Lauryn Hill
Game: World of Warcraft, COD2, Dungeons and Dragons Online (Khyber Server), GR:Advanced Warfighter
Book: Learning PHP 5, Sklar/O'Reilly, Watchmen, Moore.
Weather: Cloudy, cool.
Jobs applied to today: 0. (Haven't looked yet...)

This post is likely to be scattered, as I've got a lot of different things I've been meaning to write about.

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I saw V for Vendetta...and was suitably impressed. Fabulous casting...except maybe for Natalie Portman. Not sure why they cast her, exactly. The remainder of the cast provided a very, very British feel...in fact, the feel for the entire film felt very much like a 70s British drama. The set design and costuming were great. Portman's accent was a bit strained...but not undoable...at least to my ears. Yes, the story was neatly over the top, and the intended (or unintended) parallels and easy shots to the current American government could be a bit heavy handed at times...but overall, they did a great job of providing a view into an alternate, yet not so far away, present. I'd recommend it.

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Lately, I've been drinking a fair amount of Crystal Light. Crystal Light's done a really cool thing where they have these little packets of pre-measured amounts of flavoring for 16.9oz bottles of water. For some reason, lots of bottled water comes in that size. Why it's not an even pint, I don't know, but I suppose there's some sort of marketing reason. Anyway, these little Crystal Light packets are exactly the size for one of these bottles. You just open the bottle, dump in the packet, shake, and you have a bottle of lemonade or peach iced tea (my favorite) or raspberry or whatever. I've been drinking a fair amount of these. I just buy cases of water, and flavor them when I want something a bit different. It's certainly cheaper than buying cases of Snapple.

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I got a callback. Well, not exactly. I followed up with a company that I really wanted the job, and the lady said that she'd been meaning to call the candidates they wanted to speak to but hadn't got around to that yet, as she'd been out of the office. She checked her list, and sure enough, I was on it. So I have a voice screening tomorrow at 3pm. Wish me luck. I think I'd be really good at this job. At least with my present understanding of the job.

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Lately, a few of my friends have put down their blogs. There have been a number of reasons why they've done so...but all of them have at least mentioned in passing that one of the reasons (although not the deciding reason) is that certain people have found their blog, and they don't feel comfortable having those people read it.

I am not going to criticize that position. A few days ago, I made the comment that I self-censor to some extent. It's certainly true that there are people that I never expected that read my blog...and none of them are unwelcome. For example, I strongly suspect that my mother and my brother do not read my blog. They might...they've made no comment that they do...and I've never told them of its existence.

Initially, my blog was meant to be my diary, or a journal...just a place to vent a bit, help organize my thoughts, and so on. This may have included my frustrations with my family (of which I have very few, to be honest...) or things that would be a bit awkward to discuss with my mother or brother. Both my mother and brother are more than capable of finding things on the web, and I knew it was a distinct possibility that they would find it some day. As far as I know, they have yet to do so...or are savvy enough not to mention it.

That's not my point here. My point is that I've always been aware of the fact that someone who I didn't expect could find my blog...and I didn't want to find myself in the position of having to explain myself to my boss, my brother, or someone else that I least expected.

This isn't to say that I still wouldn't have to do so. There are definitely things in here that would start some heated discussions with certain people should they read them. Or create familiarity with me that isn't quite appropriate, such as in a professional relationship.

In any case, I've never had any real desire to start discussing my sex life, how I feel about religion (for the most part) or anything like that. Not because I don't have sex, or don't have my views on religion, but because I've never really discussed such things with anyone (at least not very many people at all.) So I don't have a whole lot of internal dialogues on those topics...and it's not something that I feel like writing about.

In short, the blog community is definitely a worse place for seeing moufaisbad go bye bye. Yes, Landry's still out there (and we still love her...) and if you find her, be all sly and stuff and don't out her. Which, if you think about it, is a pretty fucking funny thing to say about Landry.

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I'm re-reading The Watchmen, by Alan Moore, of aforementioned V for Vendetta fame. It's not hard to see why Moore is often cited by most graphic novelists as a major influence on their work. Moore took comics and wholly transformed them into a vehicle for serious storytelling...for adults. Watchmen is NOT for kids. Yes, there were hundreds of "adult" comics...but Watchmen isn't one of them. It's a great look at an alternate world...one where superheroes exist...and are outlawed as vigilantes...and what happens to them as a result.

The very ability to create a believable world with superheroes is tough enough...but then totally discard the accepted superhero universe by making the world hate and fear these people...showing them as people with flaws, showing that the powers don't make them moral, or sane, or rational. Just amazing.

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Today, I'm having lunch with my brother's wife's brother-in-law. Say that 10 times fast. Never met him before, but apparently he lives in Seattle, and he's family (if a bit far removed) and so I've been wanting to meet him. He's in tech something or other...which is what family members say about me. So I figure he'll tell me what he actually does for a living. Maybe he has some suggestions on how to find a job (assuming that Weds doesn't work out...) or maybe I'll just have a decent cajun/creole lunch.

I'm also planning on getting a bit of shopping done downtown...I'm planning on making a lamb curry for dinner tonight. If it comes out, I'll post the recipe. It'll be my first visit to World Spice since I've moved here...which is odd on its own, given how much I love the place.

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Oblivion was released yesterday/today. My pre-ordered version ought to be available tomorrow...so, before my interview, I'm going to shoot out to Game Crazy and pick it up. Looking forward to being able to sit on my couch and chill with an RPG instead of having to sit upright on the computer. By all accounts, it's racking up the good reviews and awards. Maybe this one won't be riddled with horrible bugs like the last one.

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And last, it's my birthday in 2 weeks. I'll be 38. I can't even believe that number when I look at it. Where the fuck did all that time go? Thirty-eight. I've been 18 for 20 years.

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I think that's enough of an entry for today. I need to do my morning chores and get read to head into the city. Y'all have a good day.

Posted by Glenn at March 21, 2006 07:39 AM