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Post by Ambrienne on Aug 14, 2011 22:28:29 GMT -5
Well, I was feeling better. And then I managed to practice the accordion too much one night, and the next day my right shoulder was a screaming ball of pain. I ended up having to have someone stick an ice pack down the back of my shirt. It may say something about how inflamed that area was that I could barely tell that the ice pack was there at all. Or the replacement ice pack that was changed out when that one had turned to liquid.
...It finally stopped hurting halfway through the day after that one. I think I'm going to have to come up with a good way to strengthen those shoulder muscles, because obviously whatever I'm doing now isn't cutting it.
And yeah, I finally got the thing downloaded. But here's the kicker. I can't get it to work with the serial key provided. I e-mailed the site's support, and they say that they're working on the problem (I'm not the only one having said problem), but that I may have to contact someone else, etc. So... I'm a bit upset, but I'd be a lot more so if this were the only thing I'd ever downloaded from that site. But everything else from them has been fine, so hopefully this blip is indeed fixable.
Miniaturizing the dots? What do we call them then? Specks? Wait, I know. Pixels. And each different size of container would be a different resolution. But then, that might get kind of confusing. After all, higher resolution equals smaller grains/points of light. So the highest resolution of container might be the size of a thimble.
Maybe we should go by bits instead. Then bytes and so on. At least then the size would be directly proportional instead of Inversely.
Talking of vampires and 'poof', that reminds me of the vampire photographer in Terry Pratchett's books. Every time he uses the flash in the camera... instant ashes. Fortunately, he had some blood in a glass vial around his neck as a precaution.
I remember that there's a sci-fi author, Catherine Asaro (if I remember correctly) that did a decent job of trying to explain how faster than light space travel worked. I know it involved some kind of mathematics trick which, to me at least, fell under the category of sufficently advanced science being indistinguishible from magic, if you know what I mean.
Why must I tempt? Because I don't want to fall alone and want to drag someone down with me? ::coughs::
By the way, when I got home after the scent event and got to smell Charmed Life for the first time (aka the free gift in the pink bag), I noticed something... It's one of the three fragrances that people got to vote on as the next signature scent. I can't remember if it's the one I actually voted for, though.
If we went for edible lotions and salts, you could definitely market them as kid safe. Well... barring any allergies a person might have anyway.
Oh, yes. Make the soap taste good. Then everyone will be trying to eat it instead of wash with it. But then, I seem to remember that there's been the occasional bout of lousy food that kind of tasted like soap, so maybe this would balance the world out a bit.
Nostalgia is a tie breaker every time. One thing I hated though in the 'fill in the name yourself' department was when there was no default, especially with multiple characters to name. What if you have no friends? Or rather, not enough friends of the appropriate genders to fit the character lineups? I have to admit that is one reason I really liked Nippon Ichi having the random name generator option. Some of the names might have been pretty lame, but give it enough clicks, and you were sure to find something that would work.
(As in Lina Inverse of Slayers novels, manga, etc.)
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Post by Solana on Aug 15, 2011 20:39:46 GMT -5
Range of motion exercises are great for the shoulders, especially shoulder presses against the wall. Pilates has a lot of great arm exercises as well. And, of course, there's always fans and veils for working on endurance rather than just strength. It's amazing how heavy silk and bamboo can get after a while. There's also carrying around books for the extra strength boost. At least the download issue is a common one with a solution instead of something completely random that would require some Crazy Wisdom to diagnose. Or maybe it's getting the bad luck out of the way so that the next download is that much easier. Hmmm, with the bits, maybe instead of just focusing on flavors, we could also do images. More bits would, of course, give more detailed images. We could correlate the levels of bits with the videogames from that particular era. We'd make a killing when we pull off the convention. Yeah, I know what you mean about science and magic intertwining. Some of the physics books I looked through actually went into things from Harry Potter and X-Men to see what could be possible under which circumstances. Some of the theories about water being able to respond to positive or negative stimuli when forming crystals was extraordinary. Water would supposedly form beautiful and whole crystals when exposed to classical music or the names of deities or the word 'love' in different languages, or broken and jagged crystals when exposed to negative words. The same water, refrozen after each exposure. That's okay about the temptation- I love expanding the horizons. I broke out the lovely Carried Away last night to rub my mom's hands, and it was exquisite. With the edible, that would make cleanup after kids are eating much easier if the food is already soap. Naturally we would have to list allergies, and of course levels of sugar and all of that. Splenda would probably still work as an exfoliant, depending on what it's in. (The stuff dissolved when making TV cookies for work. Seriously, it was hissing!) Yeah, that could get tricky with names, especially for the male lead. I remember when my best friend was playing FFVIII and put her and her boyfriend's names in for Rinoa and Squall, and friends for GF's. She loved to report on which of her guy friends was getting 'more compatible' with her bf. ;D (Ironic title of a book on my shelves.)
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Post by Ambrienne on Aug 22, 2011 20:02:36 GMT -5
Yeah, I could do all that. Or I could just take a week off and not overpractice again. ...Wait, does helping haul a new recliner into the house and an old one out count as not overdoing things? ::coughs:: Yeah, that's um... pretty much what happened. Finally got another practice session in last night and I didn't turn into a ball of agony in the morning, so... victory! But my brain almost broke when my dad decided, 'Hey, let's not only put this piece you learned in another key... let's put alternating bases on the left hand!' ...And yeah. That's pretty much how all the techniques I learn get sprung on me. I'm currently going through my music collection for six video game/anime pieces for my dad to transcribe for accordion. Then, at least maybe I'll have some clue what I'm going to get hit with. I haven't decided what the other five are yet, but one of them is going to be Joker (aka Pram's theme from Makai Kingdom). I am kind of leaning towards at least one or two of the others being from Lunar, though. I'm pretty much sure the download issue is just one company failing to properly communicate with the other/not provide all the codes they were supposed to in the first place. The question is, does the other company really care, or will they just pass the buck back to the first one and call it tough cookies? On the subject of flavors and pictures (well, it's a little off, but you should get a few laughs out of this), check this out: ZOMG SmellsI wait while you read a random five or six product descriptions. Be sure to see what they say about Chocolate Orange Cordial, 'cause it kind of parallels one of the earlier jokes we were making. And no, I haven't ordered anything from them. I've got too much B&BW stuff already. It does give you plenty of cool ideas for combos, though. Yes, image resolution would be a good way to make it more fun (as well as give it another dimension of interest). When you mentioned graphics from an earlier era, the first thing that popped into my mind was Space Invaders. And then, another weird thought popped into my head. Doesn't SI sound like a good name for a parody of all the shows in the 'let's redecorate a room' genre? Yeah, I know that... doesn't advance our cause at all. That train of thought didn't just get derailed; it put us At Risk of pure insanity. But at least we'll enjoy the journey. I remember using a crystal growing kit once. I didn't do anything different to either of the two different tubs (no talking, etc.), and they were in the same environment, but the type and shape of the crystals they grew was totally different, despite having the same ingredients. One had your normal crystalline shapes, but the other was composed of translucent puffs that both reminded me of mushrooms and ice cream. So wait... does that mean we could make a fizzy volcano using Splenda (since it sounds kind of like the baking soda/vinegar reaction)? If we did, what would it erupt with? A fruit smoothie? (title by Patricia Cornwell)
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Post by Solana on Aug 23, 2011 13:10:49 GMT -5
Hmmm, maybe you got some good karma for your shoulder for helping to move a recliner. Those things can get pretty heavy and can be tricky to hold onto, so kudos. Cool, you've been transcibing videogame tunes to be able to play them?! (Any chance on youtubing the results? ) How's it going? Have you had any work well? Out of curiosity, which clef does the accordion use? I've tried playing tunes on my viola, (most notably, Doom Castle from Final Fantasy Mystic Quest,) but didn't have too much success. Drat, there was a website I found in college that had sheet music for different games, and I'd gotten a few from FFVII for violin and cello to try. Maybe I should try Gawain on again and seeing if it could be found. If so, and if they have anything for accordion, I'll be sure to sent them your way. OMG, I LOVE that ZOMG site! Seriously, they've come up with combos and dedications that almost seem beyond thought, especially the astronomical ones. The Kuiper Belt? (Then again, that was a kind of final villain in a game once.) Hatshepsut's Beard? Robot Birthday Party? (Wonder if they're looking for new inspiration...) Oh, man, when you mention the 'Space Invaders' parody, it makes me wonder what it would be like to get the Shrine motel decked out by a professional team. Watching them try to empty out all of the rooms could be pretty funny, depending on what everyone's got stashed. And, of course, the different safeguards we have in place. (They'd probably have to sign something promising not to sue us.) Whoa, making food volcanoes could be a brave new frontier. We could do fruit smoothies with carbonation, or try making cobbler and other desserts and have them quite literally bubbling over. Deep crimson cherry and strawberry with just a touch of chili glowing with the volcano's heat over a crispy chocolate crust of some kind while coming out of the oven. I wonder if anyone has done a chocolate cobbler before? Or even a dark crusted pie with slits in the top to allow hints of magma-colored fruit to poke through. It could bring a whole new meaning to fire desserts... (Famous knight of Arthurian legend, brought to mind by Rosalind Miles' 'Guenevere' trilogy. I'm sensing a new guilty pleasure after her 'Tristan and Isolde' series.)
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Post by Ambrienne on Sept 17, 2011 22:58:16 GMT -5
I doubt that there was any good karma involved. I'm not a very nice person, even when I'm not in pain. Which is, well, pretty much not for very long during any given day since I started taking Bystolic. I know there's a relation no matter what my doctor said since the one morning I forgot to take it, I had no pain whatsoever. I did, however, cross the insanity line at least a couple times and was a total beast to everyone that came near me. Well... even more than usual. And no, that's not an exaggeration. If anything, I'm on the understatment side. As for how much pain? Well... I take a cane with me pretty much anywhere that I'm required to stand/walk for more than a couple of minutes now. It doesn't so much prevent pain as prolong the time before it reaches the level where 90 percent of me wants to scream in pain, and the other 10 percent is wondering if it's a good thing when part of the pain goes away and is replaced by either numbness or a sensation much like being touched with a block of ice. One time, it got so bad that I was weeping (though that may have been as much due to the fact that I couldn't keep up with my father who was pushing a fully loaded shopping cart while I was carrying absolutely nothing). I know, I'm a regular Rei of sunshine. Sorry. Just... trying to let a little bit of my frustration out (because when you've got a choice between taking your BP meds and being in pain or, well, insanity and the risk of a stroke or something, sometimes you need a little relief). Maybe this will make you feel better (it's not doing that much for me yet, but I'm trying...): Quest for Glory series LP. And, weird as this sounds, I am literally even more of an overachiever than the person who did this... and yet I did absolutely none of the gold exploits. They've also got some other interesting LPs on the site but this is one of the more memorable ones I've read so far. My dad does the actual transcribing of music, because... I keep forgetting things like, oh, what notes are called, so even if I can hear music in my head it would take forever and a day to get something down. And I guarantee that it wouldn't look like anything that came out of a normal person's brain if I had to write it down. Sure, it would mean something to me, but not anyone else. Hm, as for Youtubing anything, well... That would be dependant on either my father or I being able to figure out how to make such a video and my perfectionist tendecies accepting anything less than no mistakes whatsoever. So, um, at the moment it's... maybe a slightly greater chance than Obama becoming a Republican. ::coughs:: I guess that pretty much answers how it's been going. Well, not really; I'm extremely dissatisfied with myself and yet somehow the people that dad showed a couple of sound files he made thought I was wonderful. I think they need their ears checked... and possibly psychological evaluations (because they're all either current or former accordion students/players, etc.). The accordion uses both treble and base, so it's like the piano... except with extra evil since even at the best of times you can't see what your left hand is doing and everything is by touch. By the way, BaBW has a few new seasonal scents again, as well as the return of a classic, Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin. Coincidentally, that classic is the best of those four scents. At least, in the opinion of me and two other people anyway. I think they'd come up with a whole new book of litigational precedents based on any attempt to remodel the motel rooms. Not to mention that I'd probably go ballistic the instant they touched any of my stuff. ...Okay, so that's what I would do, not my avatar, but hey... (One of the Neon Genesis Evangelion characters)
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Post by Solana on Sept 18, 2011 14:45:17 GMT -5
Well, I haven't had the honor of meeting you in RL (yet), but you've been nothing but kind to me since joining this crazy group during ToH II. Please, feel free to rant about medical issues as much as you need to. Seriously, sometimes you just need to get it out of your system. I know what it's like to be in pain every single day of your life, needing medications just to function as close to normal as is possible, and needing help and extra support just to walk. I own a few canes and use them. (Too bad the dolphin dagger cane can't be used in public. Would putting a sign on it that says 'this cane is also a weapon' mean that it's no longer concealed?) It's not being Negi- tive, it's a survival tactic. I've been having extra fun myself. We're short-handed at work, which has upped the ante for anxiety, and I've been getting extra work to get done with typing. Damn fibro invited in tendonitis and has also welcomed back some plantar fasciitis. So, more job fun. (Although leaving the bookstore was only partially about the symptoms. The other part was a son of a bitch district manager/HR guy who didn't believe in 'special treatment' and his pansy manager who never had my back. After I mentioned the ADA and wrote to HQ, he started the 'creating a paper trail to get the sick girl fired'. Needless to say, he's getting a very special cameo in my project. Ah, literary justice...) So, do what you need to. And if you need anyone to help out with special raids or paybacks for those who 'don't get it', you know where to find me. Looks like there will be another RenFaire trip. There are a large number of places that sell essential oils/perfumes; would you like me to look for anything for you? There is one shop that offers samples of soap on trays, and people often mistake it for candy. They keep a record on a chalkboard of 'soap eaters'. One day there, we passed a couple that accepted the soap, simultaneously popped it in their mouths, and simultaneously spit it out. The worker gleefully cried out 'Soap eaters! Soap eaters!' and went to add two more marks to the board. I bet that never gets old. ;D We'll just keep doing what we do. Sometimes I think that's the hardest part, not trying to do anything grand or miraculous, but the simple act of living and (God willing) thriving day after day. (Pint-size teacher in Negima)
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Post by Ambrienne on Sept 20, 2011 21:40:50 GMT -5
I'd say it's easy to be nice when you have to think about what you're saying as you type, but then I remembered... The internet is full of trolls. But then... maybe they don't think before they type. Or they just don't care. (Or worse yet, they enjoy being unprintable nouns with plenty of descriptive adjectives that may or may not coinicide with a certain political party's mascot.)
It's not a very Brave Story, but I'm a lot more comfortable with the written/typed methods of communication, because then you don't have to worry about things like dead silence while you rack your brain for a suitable conversation topic (especially if you're like me and don't have a lot of experience with that beyond your early to mid teen years)... or how people may misinterpret your facial expressions and think you're in a bad mood when you're not.
You know, they say 'no concealed weapons', but if you actually walked around gleefully carrying a weapon in full view of everyone, wouldn't they get even more frightened? Sort of like what happened near the beginning of Persona 4, only without the benefit of having your uncle as a member of the local police force.
Of course, a person with the proper frame of mind (i.e. me) can make anything act like a weapon should the situation call for it. I'd pity the fool that tried to mess with me whenever my pain is at its highest, because that's when I usually try to distract myself by thinking of all the interesting uses for various objects around me in the event of an emergency.
See, I told you I was mean. ::coughs::
I don't know what kind of oil I'd even have to think of asking for. So far, everything I've thought of is in the realm of speculative theory, though I have been eyeing one particular perfume making kit I saw on Amazon a while back (the one that actually sounded the most non-fluffy and had reusable value given that it's supposed to teach you how to make your own perfume ingredients as well as history). I might actually have to pay attention to exact proportions so I could repeat what I've done once I've found a winner.
I do know that I will never, ever use vetiver. ::shakes fist at a certain cologne from BaBW:: That is definitely something that could benefit from a 'less is more' approach.
Whenever I hear about soap eating, I somehow keep thinking of this one epsiode of Gilligan's Island (and I never even watched the show that much). Probably because the episode closed out with a lot of belching/burping of soap bubbles.
Speaking of recreating type things, I was watching some Chicago area TV around a week ago and they had a special on Medieval Times. They showed shots of the various stages of training their knight candidates go through. I think I recognized one of the people taking the sword training as being there the one time I actually got to go. I ordinarily wouldn't remember something that small from so long ago (it had been an early 19th birthday present), but dad was being his usual self by saying things like 'you shouldn't sell tickets to see the torture devices; you should make people pay to get out'.
That guy I thought I recognized? That was the one taking the tickets. ><
(The book by Miyuki Miyabe that got several videogames made off of it.)
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Post by Solana on Sept 22, 2011 20:31:28 GMT -5
Oh, yes, the eternal trolls. My dad enjoys quoting Louis L'amour, and one of his come to mind- 'An empty wagon rattles the loudest'. Besides, typical expletives are for the unimaginative. It's more fun to dip into other languages, especially ones from fantasy universes if you have to be careful that almost no one would recognize it. (Note to self- invent a few good ones for Atlantean.) Being able to be creative with weaponry is no bad thing, especially for a fantasy writer. Say you need a character who's as inventive as Jackie Chan, or you need a fight scene in an unlikely area. It's much more fun to be able to use your surroundings or improvise. And where did the ideas for weaponry come from in the first place? Plenty of Japanese weapons, like my hydro's kamas, came from farming tools. Look how often frying pans as weapons pop up, even for Luna. Or the still funny trash can lid as a shield. (That was even in Dragnet.) There are even whole schools and styles for using our canes as weapons that goes beyond having one slip out of one's grasp. I've also noticed my muse giving me ideas during the bad days, maybe for compensation. It was during a really yucky day that she tossed me the idea for a flaming ice fountain. Aryn carves one out of ice, pops a little cup in the top, fills it with alcohol, and lights it up. (Can't go into more details now, but it'll look cool by the time it shows up.) Okay, I'll keep an eye out for anything unusual while Lucan around at RenFaire and let you know what I find. Many places hand out business cards to purchase things off of websites, and it's not a bad idea to see what's available or get inspiration. If you decide to pick up that perfume making kit, and these guys have cards, I'll pass on the info to you. (Ooh, a full line of Shriner scents, anyone?) ;D Wow, getting to watch sword training? That's a really sweet birthday present! Did you get to participate?! Did the guy take your dad's suggestion? Sounds like a lot of fun! (One of the Knights of the Round Table. I finished Rosalind Miles' 'Guinevere' series and restarted 'Tristan and Isolde', my ultimate guilty pleasure.)
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Post by Ambrienne on Oct 2, 2011 21:10:51 GMT -5
At least the garbage can lid was potentially useful at the time you got it in the game. But that's not exactly the case for the Apron, Kitchen Knife, and Butcher's Block items in Lufia.
Come to think of it, Persona 3 had some really good joke sounding/looking weapons that were really pretty awesome. Stuff like the Nail Bat, the Bus Stop Sign, the Toy Bow (suction cup arrows), one of Akihiko's boxing gloves (one fist looked like Jack Frost, the other like Pyro Jack), and the various hockey stick versions of the naginata (female hero's weapon) in the PSP port/remake (it gave me giggles to cause the Fear effect with some of them).
Oh and... you know how you mentioned the Space Quest series a while back? That LP archive had one for the whole series. You wouldn't believe how I stared at the depths some of those potential look/taste/other action descriptors sank to. Not that they weren't funny mind you, especially the shout out to the King's Quest series (something about a quest for disk space).
There was on thing they didn't mention, though. Maybe because it wasn't meant to be funny so much as a reusing of graphical data. Just watch Roger Wilco sneak. Then look at the Quest for Glory thief. Want to take bets on which RW should be? Perverted twin, descendant, or alternate reality counterpart?
...For some reason, that sounded a lot more amusing in my head than it typed out to be. Oh well. They can't all hit well. Sometimes it's just a Bad Beat.
It was a TV special; I didn't get to see the sword training in person. I can't remember if they did offer lessons to people or whether it was just exclusively training for those who would one day be knights in the main dinner theater events. I do know that a lot of those footwork movements reminded me suspiciously of the same things volleyball players were taught to do. I guess it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. After all, that kind of footwork was meant to make it easy to move around and cross distance quickly.
I've got to admit that the time I was there I was more ticked off at my inability to pick up the food so that I could eat it than I was paying attention to the finer points of the actual jousting and swordplay. Even now, I still have trouble picking up and holding on to stuff like wings covered in sauce. It's just so slippery.
(Part of the title to the newest Burn Notice book)
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Post by Solana on Oct 5, 2011 19:03:44 GMT -5
Oh, yeah, Lufia was famous for crazy items like the Magic Bikini, screwdrivers, bunny suit, evening gown, or even a pot for a helmet. (Though to be fair, a screwdriver was also used as a weapon in the great movie 'Serenity'.) It might be fun to give LARPing a try, if only to build versions of some of these and see how effective they would be. Suikoden had some interesting weapons as well such as boat paddles, book straps, or even just plain rocks. Ha, so Space Quest had more than one shout out to King's Quest? There's another in SQVI where a character is playing different songs. One of the songs is a verse or two of 'Girl in the Tower' from KQVI. I'll have to go check those out- Space Quest is so unbelievably nutty that it would be priceless to see what a LP would add to it. ;D (A perfect example is the intro to number 6- www.youtube.com/watch?v=icB54RdJzFc)Sorry to say, RenFaire didn't happen this weekend so I didn't get a chance to do that research. Next year. In the meantime, there's still The Scent of Jasmine and juniper and rose and being happy At the Scent of Water. Underground Art Gallery has been clearancing essential oils, so it'll be a good opportunity to stock up and keep researching them for ways to keep illness beaten down. A TV special is good, too. Speaking of the correlation, I remember when Superstars of Dance was on, the Shaolin monks and Groovaloos (American breakdancers) were comparing skills. In volleyball, the footwork would be essential with good hand/eye coordination, sense of nearby bodies, and the unpredictable nature. (Plus it can be really, really funny if people go for crazy moves.) (Note to self- after the hands get better, see about getting a volleyball game going.) (Jude Deveraux title, Linda Nichols title.)
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