A post longer than it needs to be….

We won our game last night by 8 points, our biggest win, against a team we lost to during the regular season.  Both times we played them short-handed.  Miller made a big difference from last time.  They didn’t really have anyone to cover him since Eric stayed on the field to occupy Pete (their best player).  Just think what we could have done if we’d had Patrick to even further dilute their lines.  In all, I do think we had a more hustle than during our last few games.  Reif credited my pregame email.  Not sure it made too much difference.  I think people just needed to be reminded that we’re in playoffs now.  You have to *play* if you want to keep playing.  Personally, my game was okay.  I generally kept up with Deb and Emily, but did get run rough-shod a couple of times too.  Didn’t touch the disc much aside from a point as handler in zone and a point as popper in zone.  In both cases, I was pleased with how I managed their marks.  As handler, I had the backhand swing, which is disadvantageous for me.  It helped that Eric was the middle and could go after anything poorly thrown.

Post-game, I drank too much and ate too much.  And I had forgotten to take my antihistamine earlier.  I think I was up until about 3am, with a little dozing.  Then woke up at about 5am and finally was up again at 8.  Had a sick-dream involving setting up some widgets for the VOTS pages.

Today, I have some GI distress (probably due to my beer-chips-guacamole-cinnamon-roll dinner) and I feel like my brain is slightly too big for my head (probably due to lack of sleep).  My joints are not bad.  My left foot is a sore, but otherwise, I’m good.  In regards to my mental health, PMS is a bitch and, unrelated to that (honestly!), certain people need a  good smack.

I need to take a trip to Target today and get some work done.  It does seem awfully bright outside though.

As Time Goes By…

Well, they removed the dead tree. It looks so bare through my door now. You can see the tree in this picture, courtesy Google Maps Streetview, before it was entirely dead. I need to get a perch-type-thing for the hummingbird. I’ll miss him hanging out, though he has been favoring the other tree for the last year. It’s shadier. Funny thing, the first humming birds I noticed in that tree were the mom and baby, over four years ago.

I also wonder how long it will be before this pic will be photographic evidence of Hefty as well. (Hefty is the truck.) The radiator has not been happy and now that the weather is warmer, it’s only gotten worse. It very likely we’ll be purchasing a new vehicle in the near future. It’s not a grandchild, but my family will rejoice. They seem to think we don’t spend a healthy amount of money…

The weather is strangely overcast. No wind. No chance of rain, of course. Just slightly cloudy. My parts would probably hurt if I hadn’t taken some ibuprofen earlier today.

Disc in an hour and change. First pool game. We’re going to be short handed, sadly. The situation doesn’t look good.

Been fairly productive today, aside from the procrastination that I’m doing right now. Sent a short story (“Personal Trust”) off to market (Kaleidotrope).  Did a crit for Critters.  Mucked out the apartment.  Had a nice nap.  Now I have to shake off this malaise.

Like this:

Via

bigfootcountry

 , who came up in my “random entry” window:
The Black Seas of Copyright, a paper by Chris J. Karr examining copyright law in relation to Lovecraft’s works. Good reading.

My mood has definitely been on a downswing today.  Could be the headache that hit me early in the day.  I knocked out the pain, but still felt drained and hungry all day.  In general, I’ve been pretty lazy this week.  Just can’t seem to get anything going.  Eric told me not to worry too much about it, with the understanding that once he finished up class, real work needs to begin.  He has decided that his project for the summer, aside from an AI programming project, is to get the final details of Weordan nailed down as well as a good deal of forward progress on the novels.  He might even take a stab at Fuel Eater.  So, effectively, I can count *this* as my vacation.  Still, I shouldn’t be so lazy…

Like this:

I’ve been in a novelty-seeking mood.  Which for me manifests in trying new restaurants and planning trips to museums instead of bungee jumping or some such.

Today we tried:
Restaurant #5: Slices
It was Eric’s idea, actually.  He’d heard lots of good things about Slices and figured we should give them a try since there’s one close by now.  I had a slice of Chicken Pesto pizza.  Eric had that as well as a slice of Pepperoni and Mushroom.  And it was good!  The crust is maybe a little too thin for me to really love it, but the toppings go a long way to reaching my heart.  Eric considered the chicken pesto to be the weaker of the two.  Their crust is very crunchy as well, but not crackery.  They’re also reasonably priced, so we’ll be having them again occasionally.

For dessert, I had:
Ice Cream #6: Dulce de Leche gelato from Mercato del Gelato
It wasn’t as impressive as the chocolate hazelnut gelato I had at Chill, but that might be due to the flavor selection.  Then again, gelato is less calories than the same sort of smooth , rich ice cream.  Still pricey though.

We went by the Shakespeare marathon, but the seating was in the sun and the sound system had an overly loud quality that I find annoying.  Too bad, I think they were in the middle of Much Ado About Nothing when we were there.

I felt pretty broken last night after disc.  My back was unhappy and my right leg in general was having problems.  My calf, hamstring and buttock have a tendency to knot up while I’m playing.  A hot bath (and Vitamin I) helped last night.  Amazingly, I woke up today with only the usual lower back stiffness that went away after being up and moving.  My right pinkie finger is still giving me problems.  It’s fine until I reach a point of  “overuse.”  Then I tape it down again and it’s fine.   *shrug*

Like this:

Amid the 250+ other things in my Google Reader this morning, I  found:
AbandonedNovel.com Asks Authors to Dust Off Old Stories :: GamingReport.com :: Where Gamers get their News
Now, I don’t think I have ever met a tabletop gamer that didn’t have an idea for a novel or one half finished already.  And in some cases, a finished novel.  Or finished volumes of an epic to rival The Lord of the Rings in future influence and Robert Jordan in sheer quantity.  So, the posting to GamingReport.com is great marketing for this venture.  And it piqued my interest because I know there’s gotta be a catch…

Abandoned Novel
The site is clean and pretty nice looking.  No fuchsia background or 20 pt font.  But, considering that Teton River Productions, Inc. (the company behind this venture) does web design and content management, I shouldn’t be surprised.  Actually, looking at the links provided off of Teton River Productions, I am less impressed.  And I kind of wonder if there’s more to Teton River Productions than just its CEO.  Abandoned Novel will be the company’s first print publication.  Considering the number of submissions they’re likely to get, that’s an ambitious first project.  Now, on to the Terms and Conditions.

First, just by submitting, you’re tying your manuscript up for three years.  For three years, you can’t do anything with it while Teton River Productions potentially does nothing with it.  Maybe that’s not a loss to you.  It’s an unfinished novel that was just sitting in a drawer after all.  But during those three years, Teton River Productions maintains the right to publish it online for 30 days without giving you anything but a copyright notice.  Again, maybe you’re good with that.  I’m a pixel-stained techno-peasant myself and have free fiction on my website.  Except in my mind, there’s a difference.  I’m giving away my fiction on *my* website.  There’s no one else profiting from it (in terms of exposure), but me.  And when Peter Watts offers his novels online, it is to drive sales of the books he’s already had published.  Yes, Tor (his publisher) is profiting, but they’ve already made an investment in the author.  I highly doubt that Abandoned Novel and Teton River Productions will do the same.

Like this:

Had to bug-out to the mall to write.  Needed the change of scenery.

Saw a lizard on the way.  The first I’ve seen on a long time.

Encountered a very annoying driver who does not understand that waiting for me to cross while I’m still yards away from the intersection is neither polite to me nor the other drivers around him.

Also, I am a heartless wretch that will not sign a petition for something I know nothing about even if it involves health care and kids.

Tea in another 100 words.
Update:  Frozen Chai from Tea Infusion is expensive, but tasty.  Coffee places are a little like bars, aren’t they?  Over-priced, but what are you gonna do?

Pinky in a-okay shape.

Foood…! And other happiness.

Had a food day on Tuesday.

Restaurant #4:
For lunch we went to Efes Turkish Cuisine. Eric had previously eaten there when he was gainfully employed. Actually, he had lunch there on his last day at Freescale, though it was unrelated to his leaving. The place impressed him and it went on my list of places to eat after winning bets. It was very tasty. I ordered the Adana Kebab and Eric had what he ordered the first time: the Doner Kebab.  The portion of the adana kebab was a little small (one skinny sausage), but spicy enough that the dinner portion would be too much.  The doner kebab is a deal though, consisting of a nice pile of blacked, yet tender and well-seasoned, beef bits and sauces.  Both were served with rice, a pita with spicey tomato sauce and cabbage salad, though the menu said the cabbage was only included with the doner.  I have to say, the cabbage salad really made the meal for me.  Might seem silly, but that’s the sort of thing that will ensure repeat business from me.  The salad was fairly simple with a vinegar dressing, but cool and flavorful.

Ice Cream #5:
Later, after watching There Will Be Blood and generally goofing off, we went to Chill, the new gelato place by Pita Jungle.  I’d never had gelato before, but gelato parlors are becoming ubiquitous.  I went with Chocolate Hazelnut and Eric had Cookie and Cream.  I was impressed.  I don’t think I’ve ever had an ice cream so rich in cocoa flavor.  It was a lovely shade of dark brown and had a sheen to it that matched it’s slightly sticky texture.  The hazelnut taste was a nice undertone, and there was even a few slivers of nuts as well as a whole filbert.  Eric was less impressed.  I had a bite of his and, though I’m not a lover of cookies and cream, I could see why.  While the cookie bits were nicely broken and distributed, the base gelato was pretty plain.  I would guess that this is due to gelato being milk-based rather than cream-based.  A “vanilla” gelato just might not work as well.  But, since I was happy with my purchase, we’ll give them another try in the future.  And I might give the more upscale Mercato del Gelato a try while checking out the Shakespeare Marathon this weekend.

One of those things that makes me happy and isn’t food:
While searching around for the above links I came across this: Apache Restaurant Row.  And I realized, I really love where I live.  Yeah, the neighborhood is a little dodgy and my apartment is on the broken-down end of the spectrum.  But it’s a cheap apartment.  It’s a block away from the post office, a mile away from a major highway, within five miles of ASU campus.  The restaurants along Apache are generally cheap and good.  A mile north is Tempe Marketplace, and a street south, the light rail is going in.  We were the first neighborhood with the free Orbit shuttles.  There are two parks and a community center within the square block of my neighborhood.  If I want a tasty microbrew, that’s just a mile and change away.  Whether disc is in the south or north, we’re not too far away.  While I wouldn’t mind bigger and nicer accommodations, I think I’m one of those people who will stay in Tempe.  And not even the spiffy part of Tempe.