Category Archives: Personal Blog

Entries from my personal journal

Personal Blog

A totally bizarre experience

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I just had the strangest experience.

So, the screen door to my patio has popped out of its track, which I’d intended to fix long ago but forgot about. Apparently I left the glass door open tonight, and one of my neighbors saw this plus the popped screen and was worried that someone had broken into my apartment. They knocked on my door and the landlady called me on the phone, but of course I was asleep and did not hear these things.

I was woken up by a flashlight in my face, as they’d called to police to come in and make sure I wasn’t, like, dead on the floor or something. They’d even brought a dog with them! The weirdest part was it wasn’t until I was after I was up and talking with them, and they’d explained what happened, and I’d thanked them and they’d left to reassure my landlady/neighbor that my brain even really processed what was going on.

It was as though dream brain was making up logic to make sense of the presence of two people and a dog being there. I think my intuition was on track, though, that there wasn’t any danger going on, so that I did not wake up all a-pounce, as I sometimes do when people startle me out of sleep (even in those cases, I’ve never actually throttled anyone).

At any rate, I feel nice that I have watchful neighbors, and I doubt I will ever forget to close and lock my glass patio door after this >_<

Games and Game Development, Personal Blog

Crawfish and other fun

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Today was a fantastically social day, by my standards, seeing as I normally spend my weekends napping. Rob and I and some others were commenting about how the older ETC alums know very little of the current first-years (or rising second-years at this point), so we decided to organize a brunch for the LA alums and students who were interning in the city this summer.

A healthy crowd turned up, and a fun time was had by all mingling and chatting and such. I got a really tasty drink, which was essentially water infused with lemons, oranges, and cucumbers, with a large amount of each floating about in it. It was cheap and refreshing, and I’d like to attempt making some myself at some point.

After the ETC Brunch, Ben and I headed south for the Long Beach Crawfish Festival, which is supposedly the largest festival of its kind out of New Orleans. The buzz had been spread around Insomniac about the event, and we were all for it. I’m certainly glad I went, for the crawfish were DELICIOUS. They scooped up a giant pile of steamed crawfish onto my platter, along with some red potatoes and corn, and it was all seasoned very well. I also picked up a plate of jambalaya from another booth, and it too was fantastically made.

We sat down in the shade with a multitude of other people and listened to some great live Cajun music, including one band featuring a washboard played with spoons. Fantastic! The atmosphere was great all around, as there were tons of people decked out in fancy hats, dresses, and parasols (much to my delight, as I was carrying my own). Everyone was having a great time, and I couldn’t help but snap up some photos of people dancing and enjoying themselves.

After our crawfish feast, we met up with Josue, who lives in the area, along with his wife and friend, and went to an arcade. Normally I am not one to pass up on playing arcade games, but today I was content to watch Josue and his amazing skills at the old school Star Wars game, as well as some crazy sword game on which he got the high score for the day (some other girl was doing quite well playing after us, and Josue eyed her intently, thinking he may have to defend his sword game title, but she only got 2nd place. Fortunate enough, as we may have been there all day, otherwise).

We parted ways at last and Ben and I returned to Burbank, where I was quick to catch a nap upon arriving home. Today was a delicious adventure, for sure. I think I’m going to have to make a pot of shrimp creole before too long.

Personal Blog

Wildlife Adventures

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Tonight I went out to play frisbee golf with some ETC alums and some park in Pasadena. It was a fun time all around, but being out in the park really drove home for me how unfamiliar I am with the plants and animals of my new home.

Ever since the sixth grade (go Holy Family Ecology Team, woo!), I’ve had some ability to identify trees, and while I may not remember their scientific names anymore, I could always name the more common varieties in the woods of Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The animals I ran into always felt familiar to me. I mean, I grew up with all of that, right?

Tonight at the park, I saw some lizards, but didn’t know what kind. We flushed out a family of some kind of ground bird with a stray frisbee. Kind of like quails, but I don’t think they were. And, of course, we trudged through all manner of desert scrub and under trees which I couldn’t name if I tried.

Basically, I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do. Surely the library will have one of those tiny books on identifying local trees.

Speaking of trees, around the 13th hole, we saw some guys who had treed their frisbee, and couldn’t get it down by throwing rocks (it was wedged high up among the small branches pretty good). I was feeling adventurous, so I clambered on up into the high branches of the tree (about 15 feet up), then walked out onto a bough near the edge, in spite of the terrified protests of my friends below. I managed to prod the frisbee out with a stick, and climbed back down without injuring myself (though I did sustain a fair amount of scrapes).

The two guys were extremely grateful, and I felt very happy knowing that I can still climb a tree at 27 – I’m pretty sure the last time I did so was in high school or earlier. Adventure! I’ll probably regret it tomorrow morning, but for now, I feel hard core 🙂

Personal Blog

Books

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It’s easy to take for granted, but the library is pretty much the greatest thing ever.

I haven’t just been focusing on games since moving to LA; there are plenty of books I’m plowing through. Living right next door to the library has inspired me to use it, it would seem. Here’s what I’ve finished so far.

Moby Dick, which I’d never read before. I liked it a lot! Even the whaling sections! I think it has to do with my insanely fast pace at reading: it made all those informational chapters feel like pleasant asides, nothing that I had to plow through. As I mentioned in a status update before, it could just run in the family (my brother is a big Melville fan).

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I always got this and To Kill a Mockingbird mixed up, because they both had birds in the title. I enjoyed this read quite a bit as well, even though I foresaw the inevitable end. It was tough, but fascinating and well-contained.

Shardik. In spite of Watership Down being my favorite book ever, I realized I’d never read any of Richard Adams’ other stuff. Shardik was a focused journey story, and had a lot of the same feel as Siddhartha to me. I think I prefer Adams’ animal-POV stuff, but it was a good read nonetheless.

Next up on my plate are The Forever War and another Adams’ book, Traveller

Personal Blog

Fourth of July Fun and Feasts!

What a day of splendor! I spent the holiday with Josh, and we had a fantastic adventure of a day! Our primary goal was to defeat the grill and make something tasty, using the book that my mom lent us as a guide for proper grillin. We picked up some porterhouse steaks from Whole Foods and inevitably, as always happens when Josh and I go to Whole Foods, we indulged in purchasing way more tasty food than we’d originally planned.

I was pleased and surprised to see that the Whole Foods in Pasadena carries Garlic Expressions – my favorite salad dressing of all, and I introduced Josh to its majesty via an heirloom tomato & avocado salad, drizzled with the garlicky, vinegary goodness. DELICIOUS!

We also picked up fancy cheeses and breads and apple butter, which proved to be fine supplements to the steaks (which, I may add, were grilled to absolute perfection). Afterwards, we finished devouring the rest of the cherry-blueberry pie I baked yesterday.

In addition to the foody decadence, we played games (finishing Gears of War 2 finally, and starting through Half Life 2 Episode 2) and had not one, but TWO naps! It was the finest and laziest way to spend a holiday.

Huzzah!

Personal Blog

Pedigree Dog Documentary

An interesting (and somewhat disturbing) documentary on the genetic problems with pedigree dogs, yoinked from Klandagi.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=44215931

Now, I know most people on the internet don’t want to spend an hour watching a video, so I’ve highlighted a few interesting moments in the documentary. Scrub on! I do recommend watching the full thing, however. This is a BBC documentary, so focuses on British pedigree dogs and show dogs.

I find it particularly interesting during the part where they compare show breeds today to how the breed looked a hundred years ago (scrub to 6:40 to see).

One commenter notes how dog show judges have a huge impact on the direction the breed takes, since breeders will produce dogs to win shows.

At 16:30, the documentary points out that the Kennel Club had its roots in the Eugenics Movement. Captain Kirk would be outraged! Joking aside, though, wouldn’t it be fascinating it we exercised the same attitude in human models as we do with show dogs, as far as selective breeding for desirable traits? I wonder what they would end up looking like after 50 years?

Someone draw a picture! I want to see a concept.

At 18:40, I discovered that 1 in 20 Rhodesian Ridgebacks is born without a ridge. Fascinating! Listen to the breeder talk right afterwards about what a shame it is that these new uppity vets won’t put down a healthy puppy for its lack of ridge.

At 24:00, it talks about how pet insurance is more expensive for a pedigree dog than a mutt due to the health implications, which I find smirk-worthy.

32:00 shows another interesting comparison between the original and today’s pug, and 40:40 compares the change in the basset hound.

43:50 reveals a conflict of explanation of the anatomical features of the bulldog between bulldog breeders and dog historians. The idea of unusual explanations to justify non-traditional traits as being traditional is something I run into a lot in the martial arts world, and so I can empathize with the frustration of the historian.

49:40 finishes up talking about an activist raising awareness on syringomyelia in King Charles Springer Spaniels (an issue frequented several times throughout the documentary), and the resistance offered up by breeders of the dog.

So there you go, I hope my highlights may have gotten a few more people to watch a bit of this. Comments?

Personal Blog

Squee!

I am full of happy, you guys. A near-full month has flown by right under my nose, and I am completely at ease with the pace. I don’t feel like I’m in a hurry for anything.

I love my job! The Insomniacs scooped me right back up into their pack, and I feel completely at home there. I love my team and I love the work that I’m doing, and I try every day to be grateful for it and for how lucky I am.

I also love the place that I live. There are so many flowers piled up outside my window, and every day hummingbirds zoom about and drink out of them. It smells wonderful! I was hesitant about choosing to live by myself out here at first, but now I’m very glad I did. Owning my space has inspired me to take responsibility for it, and I’ve made it into a place where I am happy to be. I took Joyce’s suggestion and printed out several photos from my trip to the Phipps Conservatory, framed them, and hung them about my apartment.

The greatest thing about moving across the country and starting a new career is the opportunity it gives for creating good habits. It’s like a clean slate for starting up routines.

I’ve been cooking regularly again, like I used to before grad school, and I have a little herb garden which I use just about every day.

I’ve started riding my bike to work every day, and I’ve been stretching every morning and every night. It’s like I’m getting healthy again, or something!

Anyway, I’m trying to burn a solid memory of how I feel these days into my mind, so that when I run into hard times in the future, I can call it back up and smile.

Personal Blog

Banana Tortilla

So I’ve been in my new apartment for a few days, but my stuff won’t get here until tomorrow. Thus, being left with my cast iron skillet, my travel/camping spice kit, a banana and some corn tortillas, this delicious treat was created…

Ingredients:

1 banana
2 corn tortillas
cinnamon
honey
vegetable oil

1) Drizzle some oil on the cast iron skillet and heat it up, medium-high
2) Slice the banana and throw the pieces on the skillet; sprinkle pieces with cinnamon
3) After about 30 seconds, flip the banana slices and sprinkle cinnamon on the other side
4) Remove banana slices and divide between two corn tortillas. Drizzle with honey and fold the tortillas over
5) Heat the banana-filled tortilla on the skillet, about 15 seconds each side.

Enjoy!

As for other updates, I LOVE my apartment in Burbank. Love it! It is so beautiful, and the area is filled with fragrant flowers, and the view outside my sliding patio door is so pretty and placid. I’ve already set up an herb garden and printed out a few of my Phipp’s photos to hang on the wall.

Once I get all my belongings in and set up, I will be keen on visitors for sure. I start work on Monday: excitement!

Personal Blog

Phipps Conservatory

So I went to the Phipps Conservatory today to take some photos. I love my fancy Canon Rebel, but I’m notorious for leaving my camera behind when going on outings, and so I never have any new photos! It seems that if I want to take pictures with it, I have to plan a trip to do so. That’s all the well, I’ll get better at remembering eventually.

The Phipps is one of my favorite places in Pittsburgh – both the architecture and the overwhelming pleasantness of the botanical gardens. Plus, it has a whole room devoted entirely to orchids, my favorite flower!

You can see all the photos here, but below are a few of my favorite shots. Enjoy!

Plants and flowers below!

Personal Blog

Graduation

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I have a Masters degree! Wooo! This morning when I woke up, I felt free and full of adventure. I felt like a different person, which did not happen at my high school or undergrad college graduations. It was mysterious!

First off, an update about my grandfather. He was able to get his oxygen intake down and return home, where he is apparently doing well considering the circumstances. Hooray!

When my family came in for graduation on Saturday, we went to Claddagh for dinner. On a Saturday night of graduation weekend, it was unsurprisingly packed, and we had a long wait for our table. Later, they informed us that the wait would be longer, because the kitchen was so backlogged on orders that they weren’t taking any new ones until they caught up. They said they could seat us and we could order drinks, but that it’d still be 45 minutes or so until we could order food. We said that was fine.

When the waiter brought us our drinks, he also brought a couple packages of oyster crackers for us, which was very thoughtful. While we were snacking on them, my brother and I theorized that oyster crackers might be tasty with malt vinegar. So we started pouring, very carefully, single drops of malt vinegar on single oyster crackers, then eating them with delight (it was very tasty afterall!)

Well, I think the waiter saw us doing this, and assumed that we were either starving or crazy, because he showed up a few minutes later with the good news that he’d talked to the chef and was going to be able to take our food orders just then. Bwahaha!

The graduation ceremony on Sunday was really nice. Delicious, delicious food! Photos of me looking all masterful here. Afterwards, in true nerd fashion, I took my family to see Star Trek, and everyone enjoyed it. Wins all around!

Speaking of wins, my parents totally surprised me by getting me a PS3 as a graduation gift! I was completely caught offguard! Hooray! Now I can actually play the games that Insomniac gave me! Oh, that too…I know I jabbered about it on facebook and twitter, and most people know about it, but I can’t remember if I blogged about it on LJ. I have a job! I’m going to be returning to Insomniac as an Associate Designer. I’MA MAKE GAMES FOR A LIVING!

WOooooooo! Spring Break!