Blogging hard … so you don't have to

I am considering getting rid of or reducing my storage space.  The only problem is, there are items in there that I don’t really want to give up.  That means I would have to find temporary homes for them.  So, please let me know if you are interested in having any of these items in your house on loan:

• Coffin shaped coffee table (opens like a coffin, you can put stuff like TV remotes inside)
• Coffin shaped book case.  Converts into an entertainment center
• Black and red triangle shaped desk.  Has a LCD monitor arm for mounting your computer screen.  You are welcome to re-paint it if you wish.
• Brown leather daddy chair.  Ultimate gaming/reading chair, very comfy.
• Queen sized futon matress.  No springs, fiber fill.  You can have this if you want it.
• Super nordic loft bed of awesomeness.  This is the bed that has 5 feet of clearence underneath.  It is extremely sturdy and the best bed I have ever owned.  Also looks very evil with the four bed posts looking like talons and each talon has a ring attached to it for no particular reason.  The futon goes with this so if you want the bed you can take the futon with it.

Please let me know if you are interested.

-Aaron

Now that I have a family car (for reasons other than having a family) I thought it might be funny to use it to my advantage.  Here is the sticker I have come up with:

I was thinking of making the kids into question marks or something but I thought that might make the joke too complicated.  Input?  Ideas?

-Aaron

Things that have happened in the last two months:

• Had my car broken into, macbook stolen
• Bought a new macbook pro
• Bought a new car
• Registered a fictitious business name
• Started researching survival and putting together my kit
• Scheduled this year’s Pirate Fest
• Learned a lot about Wordpress

Those are the big things.  I had a giant to-do list that I made and ended up completing most everything on the list.  It was a real motivator!  The survival thing will be happening soon, I am reading the SAS manual right now and it’s chalk full of great information. 

In other news, I finished a bunch of games.  Mass Effect 2 was awesome.  I really loved the story and the gravity of choices.  It’s the type of game where you feel like you are sitting down to act in an action movie.  Dragon Age was also a great game.  At first, playing the game I thought it was a little awkward, but then I realized, “Hey, this is fantasy Mass Effect!”  After that I had a bearing on how the game should be played and I really enjoyed it.  Found out that Ticket to Ride is an XBLA game.  They did a great job with it but so far I am getting ym ass kicked online.  Need to re-think strategies.  Also got an XBLA game called Shadow Complex.  A lot like Metroid, really good game btu I am not done with it yet.  Finished Borderlands.  Really enjoyed the game though I think it had its flaws.  A low variety of enemies was first and foremost, stat overload on the weapons kind of got annoying and the inventory system was a bit of a mess.  Considering trying Bioshock 2 but I am not yet sold on it.  Also playing a little World of Warcraft again … don’t judge me.

-Aaron

Kevin, the Ragged Clown, made a list of things that he wants to get done in his lifetime. What a great idea! Certainly not a new idea, but something I should certainly be doing. Without further adieu, here is my list (subject to change).

Things to do:
- Survive in the wild alone for 7 days
- Sail to Monterey
- Sail to Baha
- Sail to Hawaii
- Sail around the world
- Own a tall ship
- Get a tattoo
- Visit
– Scotland
– England
– Ireland
– France
– Australia
– Amsterdam
– Germany
- Learn to fly a plane
- Own a motorcycle
- Join a secret society
- Search for treasure

Things to make:

- Submarine
- Underground house
- Viking long hall
- Gun
- Sword
- Modern armor
- Car

I am hermitting up. There are too many things I wanted to do this year that I didn’t get to do and I will be making up for it next year. The first of those things is the Monterey trip. I am going before new years, alone if I have to. I have from Christmas to New Years off so it will be happening. Only the adventurous need apply. We will not be turning back because it’s cold or you are geting little splashes of water on you.

The second thing is Scotland. This year we went to Cosamel and that was a lot of fun. Next year will be Scotland. One of the problems is I have this crazy vision of what a trip there should be like and it differs from what other people consider a vacation. I want to travel light; backpack, all items with me at all times. No suitcases full of crap. No hotel reservations. Have a long list of things we might like to visit but no set plans. Kevin is giving me lots of good advice about this. I originally wanted to go with a sleeping bag and tent but he suggested against it, saying B&B type places will work much better and are plentiful as long as you are there when school is in.

Current list of activities (will update as submissions are made):
The Broads
The B&B that my ancestors owned (Gramma gave me the details)
Islay
Edinburgh
Stonehenge and other henges
Battlefiels: Bannockburn, Stirling
Castles

Current tentative dates: May 29th – June 13th. This would require 9 days of time off if you get Memorial day off.

So, if this sounds like something you would like to do, let me know.

One of the ways I am sort of saving up for this trip is to not drink anymore until the trip. That’s pretty extreme and I am sure there will be events that will present beer to me in great quantities for free that I won’t be able to pass up but the idea is to save money by not buying beer all the time. Let’s see how that works out.

In other news, we are playing Diplomacy again. The world has no other game as serious and emotional as this game. What a thing it is.

-Aaron

My latest obsessions include watching TV series’ that I once avoided but now seek out because I have exhausted the Netflix library. This currently includes Smallville, Hercules, Sliders, Survivor and a few other odds and ends. Ones that I have finished in this way are Always Sunny in Philadelphia, SeaQuest, 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory and a few others that I cannot remember at the moment. Fun!

Now, THIS is something that I have been obsessing over as well. Thanks to Wil Wheaton for pointing this talent out to me. She made a CD that I am probably going to buy, also I see this girl going on to do great things.

Yesterday I went sailing with my neighbors on their Catalina 30. It was great to be on a boat where I am not the one who has to pay attention. It was also neat to check out their cool boat. So much room! I think I want to move up soon.

-Aaron

I like to collect cool things to do in Santa Cruz. By that I mean the cool deals and cool events on certai ndays so I have a list of things I can do on a given day. I thought I would list some of them here.

Hulu’s – Friday – Sunday you can get all-you-can-drink mimosas in three different flavors for $10.

Crow’s Nest – Wednesday is all night happy hour; half price appitizers and $3 well drinks and pints. Get there early if you want a table!

Hindquarter – Monday is all-you-can-eat beef ribs. Yummy!

Buffalo Bell – $0.49 wing night on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They don’t bread their wings which I think is way better than the over-breaded wings at most other places. Some argue that without breading it doesn’t hold enough sauce and they are wrong.

Santa Cruz Gamers – Here is something you can do for free if you like board games. We are playing tonight if you would like to join us. You don’t need to bring anything, just show up at Woodstock’s Pizza at 6pm!

Costco – They certainly don’t need my endorcement but consider this: If you go there on a Saturday or Sunday you can literally eat enough samples to have lunch for free. When approaching your would be free food vendor, I suggest looking at them like you are truly interested in their product and might buy a large parcel of said product if only you could try a sample first. After your sample is in hand, nod a couple times and walk away while thinking, “Sucker…”

Also, in the course of writing this blog post, I found out about this blog that is devoted to this very subject and allows you to sort by day, type of food, etc…

I just wanted to post a few little internet tidbits, in case you were bored.

First, someone asked about the “Start to Crate” game rating system, so I dug the thing up. I mentioned I am playing DDO right now. If you were wondering, the StC rating is 0. You start the game looking at crates that you break open for things.

This Halloween I am dressing up as Dr. Horrible: The Rotund Years. To prime you for this, I would like you all to spend the 42 minutes and watch this thing because it is truly awesome. If you have not watched this thing and you ask me what I am with a blank stare, I will respond, “I am a mad scientist,” while silently judging you.

If you ever played the original Legend of Zelda, you will die laughing at this thing. Thanks to Jordan for pointing me to it.

Here are a few more things to tide you over until your next thing.

-Aaron

Not a lot happening right now, just trying to save some money and enjoy life. My birthday has come and gone, thanks everyone who came to Red to wish me happy 34th. Thanks to Amelia for the bottle of mead, and I hear Dowdy is recording a song about me!

In other news, the infamous earl grey mead is brewing, looking forward to that. I bought a new game called Agricola and I really like it. I even bought customized pieces and a plastic tray to keep them in and make the game easier to play.

Big news, I and a few friends have gotten a little bored of WoW. When we heard that DDO had gone free-to-play we decided to give it a try. We are having a great time with this game! I am playing a rogue and they have made rogues better than any other game has to date. They are super sneaky and stabbity and there are a good third of the dungeons that can’t even be done without a rogue to disarm the VERY deadly traps. There are also many doors that cannot be found or opened without a rogue so you end up getting 20% of your loot from having a rogue in your party. You also get exp bonuses for disabling traps in each dungeon so your party gets more exp from having a rogue. In this game rather than having tank/healer/dps you actually have a four role system where you need tank/healer/dps/rogue. It sadly does not have a Mac client so I have to play it on my Windows partition but hey, it’s been worth it so far. If you want to join us, we are on the Ghallanda server (if your name is Keri, we are on the Pleasegoawayyouscarystalker server).

Winter is coming and I once again have exciting windy and rainy nights, battle with mold and mildew and the need for a reliable heater. Thanks to a wonderful gift certificate from my mom and Doug I now have a new heater and a couple of new fenders to help me weather the storm. For those brave adventurers who like fast, windy sailing, please let me know when you would like to go!

-Aaron

The above picture is my pirate flag, MY pirate flag, designed by me and sewn together by Leanne Fredrick to fly on my boat. Nice isn’t it? I found out that Wells Fargo has a card customizing service that allows you to use an image to be printed on your ATM card. NEAT! I thought this would be the perfect picture! It was REJECTED! Why was this rejected? One of their guidelines for inappropriate images is:

Images of flags, unless it is one of the flag-related images from our photo gallery.

What flags are in their image gallery? Only the US flag. I have no idea what this policy serves. What flag could one have on their card that would offend someone? I personally think this is pure jingoist bullshit. Now I eagerly await your rebuttals in the comments section about why this policy makes sense.

-Aaron

P.S. They even anticipated me trying to upload the same photo again, the website automatically prevents it.