Category Archives: Personal Blog

Entries from my personal journal

Personal Blog

Miniature Golf

Last night, DC, Beth, Brendan, Scott and I all went to play miniature golf. This was quite pleasing to me, as I love mini-golf in such a disproportionate amount compared to my skill at it.

Nevertheless, I still came in second place, which was very surprising to me, as the best I hit the whole night was a 3, I think. I tend to have Happy Gilmore syndrome, in that I can launch the ball well enough to get it close to the hole on my first shot, but putting is impossible for me.

Highlights of the evening included DC stepping into a pond, Brendan hitting the ball so hard that it violated the space-time continuum and teleported onto the next green, me nearly taking out DC with my follow-through swing, and me apparently doing some matrix-like move that involved rocking up on my toes just in time to let a ball speed under my heels.

Afterwards we putzed around in the arcade and won enough tickets to get 3 super balls and 2 Chinese finger traps.

An evening well-spent.

Personal Blog

Traveling Adventures

Well, here I am in Pittsburgh. I ended up having to make the journey alone, but it was not so bad. In fact, I sometimes forget how recharging long spells of alone-time can be.

It turns out that my dinky little mp3 player will play protected wma files afterall, so I was engaged for most of the journey with listening to Dracula. (For those who do not know, you can download audiobooks for free from the public library. Their selection isn’t immense, but big enough that you’ll likely find something you like.)

It seems I am pretty good at listening. Dracula is a book I have started no less than three times by seeing it laying at someone’s house, and picking it up to read. I’ve never acquired a copy long enough to finish it, though.

I won’t say I get excited about long road trips, but I find traveling pleasant for the most part, and I do enjoy pretending I’m on some grand adventure, or making attachments to the car I’ve been following for the past 100 miles, or stuff like that.

When I stop for a break, I like to find those small pocket places that have no business existing except to cater to the needs of the road tripper. You know, the sort of outposts just off the interstate that have all the necessities for the traveler clustered together: fast food, gas station, armor merchant…

My brother told me of this, but I experienced it myself to verify: driving into Pittsburgh is bizarre. You have just spent a good amount of time driving on the interstate, through rolling hills and trees as far as the eye can see. Then you go through this tunnel, and on the other side you are suddenly smack in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh. It is quite strange! I bet they have a portal in the middle of the tunnel.

Anyway, I’m up here safe and sound, and will spend the evening taking advantage of every nook the hotel has to offer. I’m excited about my visit tomorrow. Updates soon!

Personal Blog

Pittsburgh?

ATTENTION INTERNET! Or mostly, attention Louisville people.

I am going be driving to Pittsburgh on Thursday, July 20 so that I can visit Carnegie Mellon the following day.

Would anyone be so interested in driving along, so that I may not be lonely? It is a 7 hour drive, and I would probably stay Friday night as well, so we’d be back on Saturday. Most of Friday I would be off visiting campus, but there may be some time that night for fun times.

Please let me know! I’d be leaving that Thursday afternoon around 3 or 4

Games and Game Development, Personal Blog

Chicago!

Hooray for visits!! This weekend I made a brief jaunt up to Chicago to visit D Flo, who has been wanting visits since my short stay with him last year before my Japan trip (note, I still haven’t put up all my pictures from that, doh!)

I arrived at Midway and trained my way downtown successfully, with the loss of only one man. Two mans left for the rest of the weekend! (Also, D Flo, I swear there is no means of transferring from the red line to the orange line at Lake without leaving the station!)

We ate at a Mexican restaurant which was alright, except I think they made their tortilla chips with flour tortillas instead of corn. Grah! We then went to Best Buy and picked up a cheap compilation game for the xBox with Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell, and spent the latter part of the evening gaming away.

D Flo’s new pad is super nice, especially compared to his old no-bedroom one. It is great big and decorated in a very D Flo style, with hardwood floors all around. It is also right above a bar, and the living room (where I slept) was right above the stage area. It wasn’t so bad except that Friday night was apparently Live Punk Rock night.

Saturday I slept in, a big step for the no-later-than-8 trend I have picked up since starting work, but it was mostly attributed to the aforementioned punk rock show. We went out to grab food at a diner, and my appetite made a guest appearance, which I took advantage of.

We went down to Navy Pier and hopped on a boat tour (one of D Flo’s friend from his acting class is a tour guide, so we got to go for free). It was really fun and interesting, and since said tour guide was a comedian-in-training, it was entertaining as well. I got a little more sun than I had anticipated, but ah well, it will not kill me

After this, we met up with Rebecca, who works in the box office at the Briar Street theater, and assured me that if she’d known I was coming she could have hooked me up with Blue Man tickets. Doh! I may attempt to take advantage of this on my next Chicago visit.

We dined on Cold Stone (French vanilla with strawberries and oreo mix-ins, yum!) then saw a show at Second City. It was pretty funny sketch comedy and quite enjoyable. I can’t wait to see a show that D Flo is in (his D&D Improv hoo-hah starts up soon!)

After the show, D Flo and I picked up a pizza from the pizzeria right next to his place. T’was my first experience with Chicago style deep dish; it was strange but delicious. We spent the rest of the evening gaming (by which I mean my hands hurt, so I watched him play Splinter Cell).

A fine visit! I would like to go back again and have a museum day, and maybe catch Blue Man Group. Everyone should go visit D Flo and hang out at his new apartment. Win!

In other news, this visit has opened up the gates for a whole line of summer and fall visits! Lisa will have no money! But that’s okay, who wants a visit?

Personal Blog

Ow ow ow

Last night I was playing with Brenna (specifically, we were playing “OMG let’s run to that side of the room OMG QUICK RUN BACK TO THE OTHER SIDE! *repeat*”) when my toe got caught in my pant leg as I was stepping down.

Now I have a gimp toe, on top of everything else. One does not fully appreciate the importance of the second toe in everyday tasks, like walking, until said toe has been injured.

I’m hoping it will heal up quickly, because I want to be in tip-top shape for my visit with D Flo in Chicago this weekend, as I imagine walking will be a critical part of whatever we do. Woo!

Personal Blog

Tump

Greetings internet! I am here today to discuss the regional use of the word “tump.”

It is one of those words that was just part of my normal vocabulary growing up, and I didn’t find out until I worked up North awhile that its use was apparently regional.

For those of you unfamiliar with the word, it is a verb which I believe is some combination of “tip” and “dump,” and is used in such phrases as “Quit jostling around or you’re going to tump over the canoe!” Or, in perhaps its most useful form, “Don’t swing too high or you will tump over the swingset.”

During a ballers night discussion, I brought up that I thought the term was probably Southern in origin. Brendan rather huffily disagreed, because he had never heard the word before (he is from Richmond, a smaller town in KY) and claimed that it was not a real word and it was just something us crazy Louisvillians used.

According to Merriam-Webster, which I consider a reputable dictionary, it is in fact a real word.
Main Entry: tump
Function: verb
Etymology: perhaps akin to British dialect tumpoke to fall head over heels
intransitive senses, chiefly Southern : to tip or turn over especially accidentally — usually used with over (sooner or later everybody tumps over. Nothing to worry about if you don’t get caught under the canoe — Don Kennard)
transitive senses, chiefly Southern : to cause to tip over : OVERTURN, UPSET — usually used with over

Anyway, I checked with Will (originally from even smaller Morgansfreakinmiddleofnowhere, KY), and he also said the word was not a frequent visitor of his vocabulary. So now I’m more curious as to where “tump” is actually used?

So, internet, tell me: Do you use this word? Have you ever heard of it before? Where are you geographically located? Linguistics folk, I expect replies.

Personal Blog

Uggh

I don’t normally talk about or post about dreams because I have such a hard time listening to other people tell their dreams, or reading dream accounts, I figure it’s only fair.

But this vivid gem woke me from an early sleep and I thought it would be worth sharing.

I dreamed that the doctors found out what was wrong with me, and they had me come into the office and sit upright and submerged in one of those Japanese pot-tubs that they have at the onsens? Only obsidian.

Then they came and cut open parts of my back, where it is typically knotted, and withdrew the knots, which happened to be solid objects, or tumors, or something. I remember it hurting terribly, and being afraid, and that there was strange light, but the doctors were relatively friendly.

I also spent the last bit of while searching every nook and closet in the apartment for hidden doctors, and I locked the door to my room. Ah, the tricks the mind plays!