Originally Posted on Facebook, this one is about creating the album art for your "hit album".



( rules )

This is my "25 things" meme. I'm posting it on LJ and not Facebook because it will crosspost there. You're supposed to tag other people. I am not tagging anyone. Do, or do not. I am an unfeeling idol made of a thin meat crust filled with a raspberry jam.

Here are the Supposed Rules that I Break Because I am an Iconoclast: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you.

( The Items, Cut for Douchebaggery )

More questions, this time from hedr_goblin.

( We'll just cut this now... )

Here is another question meme. It has different rules.

1. Just reply with a pointless comment. Doesn't matter what. I'll drop five on you. I can't do everyone, so we'll limit to the first five.
2. Post the answers and repeat the same to other people.

These questions are from structurefall.

1. at what point did nexuswar become a viable single source of income for you? was the transition difficult?

It hasn't yet, and probably won't. It pays for itself, but the bulk of my income comes from working on other games for other people. I'm not really allowed to talk too much about those, however.

I have another game in the works that could, theoretically, make "real" money, but it's a ways off. It's one of those things where I wish I had, like, a quarter million to develop with - the things I could do. . . holy crap.

2. has your awesome 'stache been notably unpopular with anybody? like, have people come up and been like "why the fuck are you growing that ridiculous thing! shave already!"

Not that I've noticed, but I don't get out much. I figure that anyone who would give me shit isn't anyone that I would really care to hang out with much, so it doesn't bother me. I'm going through a "roots" phase right now, so back to metal we go.

I think you're the only person who has commented on it, actually.

3. do you actually posess the CD in your icon, and is it any good?

No. Heh. The image was made by a user on the Nexus War forums. There was a "post a picture of yourself" thread, and I posted one with the 'stache with the text "I am metal". And he ran it through some filters and put it on a CD cover. I like it a lot, hence it's being used as my icon.

4. how's it going with the guitar learning stuff?

Better than two weeks ago. It's slow; old dog, new tricks. I can play Smoke on the Water and Catch Scratch Fever and can write some blues riffs but that's about it.

5. is it possible to take the sub-account i currently have on domains.gaijin for maintaining thechainsawmafia.com and actually separate it from mine without screwing up the domain? it belongs to ilovezombies, who i haven't spoken to in like two years, so it's kinda silly for me to have control over it.

I believe this is theoretically possible, but there may be a better way to do it. I'll look into it.

So, yeah.My wonderful wife gnat23 did this high school meme thing.

( So, I am. )

Because I really like this one, that movie meme. Ganked from many places:

* Go to IMDB.com and look up 10 of your favorite movies.
* Post three official IMDB "Plot Keywords" for these 10 picks.
* Have your friends guess the movie titles.

1) Mummy / Warehouse / Airplane Accident - Raiders of the Lost Ark, with melty-face supplied by pegasus_team
2) Gunslinger / Outhouse / Garfield Assassination - Unforgiven, shot up by egoism
3) Snake Oil / Battle Hymn of the Republic / War Crimes - The Outlaw Josey Wales. umbria endeavored to persevere.
4) Pearl Necklace / Nail Gun / Ninja - Batman Begins, bataranged by buttler
5) Christ Allegory / Radiation / Helicopter Accident - Superman, flown in by umbria
6) Group Vomit / Intentional Mistranslation / Urination Scene - The Goonies, truffle-shuffled by umbria
7) Owl / Unicorn / Nail through Hand - Blade Runner, decanted by psymbiotic
8) Impregnation / Hibernation / Android - Alien (eto_theipi and bettyscout had discussions about the "bonus situation")
9) Gagged and Bound / Exploding Body / Potion - Big Trouble in Little China, guessed by the green-eye loving psymbiotic
10) Hypodermic Needle / Levitation / Sleep - Dark City, tuned by futureboy

iamfourninjas asketh:

1) What brought you out to California?

I had reached this sort of zen understanding that if I *didn't* leave West Virginia - and do it RIGHT FUCKING THEN - I *never* would. My home town is like the Death Star: it's got this evil tractor beam that keeps people there.

So I picked a place as far from home as possible. Not because I hated home so much, but because I knew that if I were anywhere on the other coast it would be too easy for me to give up and go back home. Out here, it would be a bit of a haul to go home in failure.

2) Has there been any spawning discussion between you and gnat23? What's the plan?

This seems to come up a lot lately. There is, indeed, an answer, and the answer is, well. Let's put it this way: there is a reason why our new apartment is as large as it is.

Yes, there has been discussion. The plan is: Yes. Probably only one kid. Two to three year time frame.

Ta-da.

3) What leads you towards a tabletop gaming style that sets it more as "hanging out with some gaming" rather than the other way around?

I don't really think that I'm the one who sets the tone, to be honest. I really am just happy to hang out with my friends; gaming becomes a convenient excuse most of the time. We vaccilate: sometimes its more "game" than "hang out"; sometimes the other way around.

It also depends on the game. I've never been one to hold a strict whip: in a lot of ways, its the job of the gamemaster to ensure that people have fun and if people indicate (one way or another) that they're having more fun goofing off, then, well . . .

4) Does cigar smoking take a psychological place for you that alchohol used to?

In no way, shape, or form. Booze was a crutch - an excuse, a coping mechanism. Cigars are merely a vice.

5) What creative exploits are you up to these days?

I'm doing a lot of sketching (nothing worth talking about). I've been goofing with some java programming. And I've been reworking a large portion of the game I've been writing for the past year or so, now that I have time again.


(Standard Rules Apply).

Interview questions from (I like this crap):

1) What one thing made you realize you were really in love with Gnat?

The fact that there wasn't one thing, to be honest. It is very difficult - nay, impossible - for me to pick one thing that I love about more than anything else.

2) If you had to spend the rest of your life living in one place, where would that be and why?

San Francisco - four-one-five represent. I've been lots of places and had lots of powerful experiences elsewhere, to be sure - but while those experiences were meaningful, no location has ever resonated as "home" to me so much as the Bay Area. The weather is right, the politics are left, and let's face it: it's hip as all-fuck.

3) There's a disaster and you have to leave the house only with what you can carry. Your wife has the cats. What do you take?

Several jars of saved body fluids.

Actually, it would probably be a single, specific computer - samael.gaijin.com - because it is the CVS server and has stored everything I've ever written.

4) What's your (current, realistic) ultimate goal in life?

There are two, and they do not compete.

For one, I (we) have plans (vague and as yet undetailed) to spawn. This is a relatively big "life goal," one that changes everything, so it definately fits into the question. There is a corrollary which is intended to support that: make a ton of cash ("fuck you" money being ideal).

The second is to succeed at doing something I love: writing. Right now, I'm working on a game and have thoughts to start a small publishing company. There are also thoughts about starting a cigar shop. Who knows? They're realistic and yet still ephemeral.

5) In one word, describe yourself.

Fluid.

So, yeah. Standard rules apply; if you want questions, respond here and ask for them.

My dear gnat23 asked me stuff:

1. Do you expect the same out of your friends that you expect of yourself?

There are degrees of expectation. A while back I sort of understood that not everyone saw as many things in the same degrees of "right" and "wrong" that I did - and that their behaviors would be different from mine because of this - and that I would have to accept degrees of variation in those people close to me. I think this is true for all people in all places - some people are constantly late. I am not. So it goes.

For the most part, I do not expect people to hold to the same standards I have in most things. For example, I try to be practical for the most part, and careful and exacting in language. Most people aren't like that - and I don't judge it to be something that can make or break things.

However, there are things I expect in return. One of them is loyalty: if I am loyal to you, I expect this in return. I stick my neck out for my friends, fight for them when they aren't around. I reckon that's part of what a friendship is about.

That's not even an absolute, either. My reactions change based on certain things. For example, if you're my friend, and I find out that a group of people have been involved in a "talk shit about brandon" fest that you were present for and you didn't stand up for me - even just saying, "Hey, he's my friend, so shut the fuck up" -, I'd probably be a bit sad about that but that's the extent of it. May never bring it up - but I'll trust you less, maybe.

But, say, I find out that you've also *joined in* the fun - perhaps just to feel like part of the group, perhaps because you mean it - doesn't matter - that's bad. Over the line. You may never know that I found out about this stuff, either, because I can (and have) simply cut people out of my life like a cancer.

2. Whould you ever consider finishing your degree? Or would it be impossible for you to fully respect the instructors these days?

There is a part of me that definately wants to go back to school but at the same time a big part of me says "why bother?" I don't really know what I'd study, to be honest: anything I'm interested in I tend to study on my own. I certainly don't need it for a "career" in computer science.

I don't think that respecting the instructors is the issue; I had a very important lesson beat into me my first year in college which basically amounted to "you can always learn something from anyone." And at this point in my life, I have a great deal of respect for teachers.

3. Your personal appearance has changed dramatically since merely a few years ago. Do you find yourself treated differently because of it?

Well, lessee. In the past three years I've: cut my hair to nothing, changed my glasses, changed the way I wear facial hair, and put on close to 35 pounds of muscle. So, I suppose those are signifigant changes - but for the most part, I've not noticed any difference in treatment.

My friends were with me through all the changes, mostly, so they got used to them as I did; the type of work I do doesn't really pay too much attention to appearances like that. I've not really been a part of the "dating" scene in a long time, so I don't have anything to compare any changes like that inside that arena.

4. What was it about me that attracted you?

I'm a sucker for direct people. Also, you obviously own yourself, and carry yourself with that knowledge.

Also: blue eyes.

5. What shall we have for dinner Wednesday night?

Either sushi, steaks, or pizza.

futureboy's questions:

1. What is your basic religious/spiritual belief?

The older I get, the simpler it gets. That doesn't make it any easier to "do the right thing" but what are ya gonna do?

At this point, I have a belief in a God. I think God permeates everything - *is* everything, every thought, every person. I think that there are times when we, as splinters of this God, are more aware of this than other times.

I believe that there is a universal compass of "Good" and "Evil" but that it is rarely if ever black and white.

I don't believe in a heaven or hell. At least, not in the Judeo-Christian sense of punishment/reward. I don't really believe that Christ was divine, either - at least, no more so than me or anyone else. I just think he was a very wise person with a great idea: "Hey guys! Let's try not to be dicks to each other."

2. If you could go back and witness an event/period in history, what would that be?

Wow. This is such a broad, reaching question - and the more I thought about it, the more muddied my answer became. There are lots and lots of events I would have liked to see: the fall of Carthage, the trial of Socrates, Leonardo DaVinci, Ali vs. Frazier, etc. I'm just going to go with my gut instinct, though, and say the crucifiction. That entire period of history, actually - the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire, etc.

It's a very fascinating time.

3. If you could make/remake a film adaptation of a book, which one would you do?

Easy. I've been talking for years that I want to do a good, well-produced version of "A Wizard of Earthsea."

4. Choose 10 songs for the soundtrack of your life.

Tough. Here goes, in no particular order:

godspeed you black emperor, "Moya"
Buddy Holly, "Rave On"
Donovan, "Season of the Witch"
The Beatles, "Blackbird"
Jane's Addiction, "Ocean Size"
The Jesus Lizard, "Monkey Trick"
Smashing Pumpkins, "Wound"
Urge Overkill, "Heaven 90210"
Afghan Whigs, "Blame, etc."
Richard Wagner "Tannhauser Overture"

5. Which circle of Hell would you be eternally damned
to?

While I fully expect to be sent to the 9th circle, round 3a (where the people who murder their guests go), it is probably more likely that I'll spend my eternity submerged in boiling blood for doing violence against my neighbors. Circle 7, round 1.

User valree asked me these questions:

1) If in some apocalyptic scenario you could save only one animal from permanent extinction, what species would it be?

What an interesting question. The quick and cheap answer is Bluefin Tuna - so that I could always have Maguro Nigiri. However, upon reflection, I'd have to say that I would choose to save cows.

Daddy loves the beef.


2) What's the most beautiful visual thing you've ever seen?

The beauty of a thing is often dependant up on the emotional weight it carries at the time of it's viewing. With that in mind, I would have to say the most beautiful thing I've seen is this:

Several years ago, I was in Nepal and went to a place called Dashinkali - which is a sort of temple where the Hindus make blood sacrifices. I spent some time there but then my friend Lalu told me that there was another temple up on the higher hill - one dedicated to the Mother of Kali. We climbed up there - it was about a mile - and had to remove 100% of the leather we had and leave it in special storage compartments before ascending higher into the shrine itself.

When I got up there, I was met by a breathtaking view of the Kathmandu valley. It was misting in the valley below, and the entire area was a lush green - but what was most amazing was peeking out from the green of the jungle on the face of the mountain opposite us was shimmering gold: a large Buddhist temple.

3) If you had to come to a premature end, how would you like to die (Mister Bond)?

The obvious answer is "dying to save a bunch of people" but I don't think the chances of that happening are very high.

However, it's far more likely that I will meet a premature end through the accident of fate - in which case I would, of course, want it to be quick.

So: nuclear holocaust with me at ground zero, surrounded by no one for miles (except corporate executives and politicians).

4) What is the single most important thing for you to accomplish in your life? Why?

I would like to know that something I have said or done has lived after me, obviously.

Perhaps a plague or something.

Seriously, though, I would like to be published and read by people other than those who know me - and feel that it made a difference somewhere.

5) If you could have extreme physical mastery ... say of a martial art, that bordered on hong kong movie/matrix-type abilities OR you could hear people's thoughts at will, which would it be?

Since I can already read minds, I would have to say the Kung-Fu. Actually, I don't know that I would want the temptation to read the minds of people - that much power is honestly something I have no desire to possess.

With Kung-Fu, though, I could be Batman.


Rah, rah. I like this meme. If anyone wants questions, just ask.

Blah, blah, stupid meme. Here are structurefall's questions and my answers. (Normally I won't post here but this is easiest).

1. why'd you stop coming in to #sfrivethead? was it seriously THAT inconvenient to use idlenet? isn't #devgaf on a closed off network anyhow?

Couple of reasons, but yeah: the move to another server was a big part of it. At that point in time, I was in four channels on three servers (two on efnet) and the only thing making the efnet bullshit worth dealing with was the fact that I was in *two* channels there. So when one bailed, I had no reason to be on efnet at all - and given the amount of time I ever spoke in either channel, the effort to add yet *another* server. . . etc.

I opposed the move of #/dev/gaf from efnet as well, btw - but the people who wanted to move were more vocal than I and ultimately I didn't care. But further: I'm not hanging out there at all anymore, so it's not an issue.


2. would you say that your taste in music is particularly convergent/divergent from gnat23's?


That's an interesting question and a difficult one to answer. Both gnat23 and I have very . . . broad . . . musical tastes. I don't think either of us particularly likes a type of music the other hates, so we don't run into any arguments: for the most part, I'm okay to listen to whatever she wants to listen to for the time being and vice versa.

Where we have favorite stuff, though, we don't match up much: she really likes funk and a lot of rap, for example. I'm pretty "take it or leave it" on that; likewise, I have a thing for a lot of 50's and 60's oldies - and she's not so into that, either.

3. ever consider growing your hair back? why'd you cut it to begin with?

Hah. That's a question I ask myself every six weeks - whenever it gets long enough to start bugging me. "Do I want to grow it out again?" And everytime, I think "yeah - I'll do that!" and then a week later I'm getting it cut.

Part of the problem is that, well, I'm old enough to be part of the establishment now, and with that responsibility comes a receding hairline. The other thing is that, oddly, it is just more . . . *minimal* short. And I like minimal.

4. i'm totally behind on your day-to-day life. maybe i wouldn't be if i read the gaijin journal... which may be lj-syndicated someplace i'm not aware of, so i'll check in to that, but anyhow, what are you up to in general these days?

Probably not, actually - what I put in my journal isn't so much day-to-day stuff anymore - or, at least, I try not to write about that stuff. It isn't lj-syndicated (for now); I'm lazy.

These days I'm really fucking lazy, to be honest, and I spend most of my time eating. Eating is a full-time job for me, the past month or so - lots and lots of protein (I'm on a mass-gain cycle). I have a gig where I work from home for a company called Openwave - it isn't very interesting stuff (for now), but has the potential to be important in the future.. I'm reading a hell of a lot, smoking cigars out back, and sketching. I go to the gym a lot and lift heavy things.

5. which software project are you most proud of, and why? if you were offered gobs of money to port it to windows, would you?

Another tough question. I'd have to say seraphim, obviously - but version 2, not version 1 (the current "live" instance is version 2; the available source is version 1, which I hate - version 2 source isn't available, either, because it's still pretty buggy). The reason why is because people *use* it - constantly - and it seems to make people happy. I don't get many "thanks" for it but wtf - that's not why I wrote it in the first place.

However, the most complicated code I've written/am writing is the second iteration of an XSL translator/Site Management tool called "eXoSkeLeTon" (named by Aneel Nazareth) - it's pretty much a full-blown content management system with tons and tons of features (but also: tons and tons of bugs, which is why you won't see that source available yet, either).

And yes: I'd port them to windows. Money is money and I don't believe that choice of operating system is anything to be religious about.

Emacs over VI, though. That's a different story.

6. how would you describe your political views?

There are two sides to that: personal and practical; what I'd like to be true and what I think *could* happen.

I'd *like* for there to be what is called a "true" anarchy: that is, everyone takes full and complete responsibility for their own actions and doesn't fuck with other people. I'd be down with that. I'm not talking about the type of "anarchy" that your garden variety gutterpunk espouses, either ("every man for himself! woo! crush the system!") - that shit is childish, not thought out, and ultimately self-destructive.

None of this will happen in my lifetime.

So, in the practical sense, I'm a very left-wing "democrat" - neo-socialist, etc.

7. what's your favorite band? tell me about a personal experience involving said band.

I don't really have a "favorite" band so much as bands that I'll listen to almost exclusively for a while. For example, I've been on a big Guns N' Roses kick lately (don't ask me why) but a week ago I was listening to Amon Tobin *constantly*.

However, I suppose I have two stories I can tell about bands that I like a lot.

One is about the Smashing Pumpkins: after "Gish" was released, and before "Siamese Dream", I was in New York and saw a couple bands at CBGB's (Wax and Velocity Girl). Anyways - I was hanging out front and ended up getting stoned with a couple people (it happens) and it turns out the guy with the weed was none other than James Iha. So we rapped for a while and he told us that the new album was going to be called "Heroin" and then I got the munchies and went next door and got a slice of pizza with the lead singer from Wax. The end.

The other story is about the Jesus Lizard: I did the best interview I ever did with David Yow and it never aired because it was deemed "too offensive" - and not from cursing, either. He didn't cuss. Neither did I. Instead, we had burping contests and talked about picking noses for like, an hour. Seriously. And it was funny, funny shit. After the interview, we were backstage, drinking beers and shooting the shit and he just says, "fuck this water shit." So we went to the upstairs bar and stole a big-ass bottle of Jack Daniels - unopened - and proceeded to drink it. I thought I was a champ-een drinker but damn. I may have had a *third* of the bottle (one of the big square bottles, mind you) - and after that I could barely move (and swore off whiskey for the next two years). David, however - he fucking *finished* it. And then went onstage. And performed "Monkey Trick."

There are other random stories that people like to hear (like me cussing out G.G. Allin), but those aren't about people I like.

8. we both tend to type entirely in lower case. i know my reasons; what are yours?

I actually tend to switch back and forth between using correct case and not. It really depends on the tone I'm trying to set with the language, to be honest. I like lowercase because I find it more aesthetically pleasing; however, I also understand the value of writing in a more "formal" style.

It really depends on the context. I write a lot of dialog in lowercase, and large portions of stories sometimes.