Ugh, more NERO crapola. See this page.
I’m starting to enjoy my math class. Maybe it won’t be -completely- impossible. Each time I sit down to math homework, I’ve got to really turn on my gray matter. It’s pretty cool actually. I’ve started cheering myself after getting hard problems. “Yes!” It feels good when you understand the universe a tiny bit more! Psych never posed itself as too much of an obstacle.
I got a call at 5am yesterday to go substitute! Just like that! I’ve got to call them back and tell them when I can actually work.. .and then get ready for them to call me… at 5am(!!) so I know if I’m working on a particular day.
My cousin Sam recently asked me where I got the name Gadlen:
I took the name Gadlen from a comic book that I used to read called Sandman by Neil Gaiman. The main character being The Sandman, the god of sleep… Morpheus, Dream.
There’s this one time in the story when Dream comes home from a rough trip to his castle in his funky dream-domain. We get to meet the two caretakers of the place, Gadlen and Hobbes. They are these fairly strange little guys that didn’t have particularly important jobs… cleaning the castle, tending to the grounds and stuff. They sort of feel like the Rosencrantz and Gildenstern of the Sandman world (mostly in the funny “R & G Are Dead, the movie way). I really enjoyed their presence… how they held themselves.
The name “Gadlen” stuck out in my mind when I wanted to create a unique name for myself to use on the internet. It pleased me that the name was, and still is, virtually unused by anyone else on the internet and the world. So there you have it!
Sandman is a tremendous comic that had a big impact on the way comics were made and marketed to older (17+) readers. It was the impetus for DC Comics’ “Vertigo” label. If you’re mature enough, I think you might get a lot out of it. They’re now available in graphic novel format, 10 books in all I believe. I only have the first 5. Hmm… you know…. gift giving is the finest form of flattery!
Out of the blue, I was offered a staff position at a new NERO International chapter. The head of the campaign wrote to me:
I am starting a chapter of NERO International in New Jersey, and I am looking for creative knowledgeable people to form a Staff, or even just to NPC. I want to reward people justly and to have great events where a Staff that works together makes for a great game for players – even people who know nothing about NERO. I love to roleplay and I love to LARP, which is why I have gotten involved over time. I remember your characters – and though I would not normally send an email like this, I recall you as an excellent roleplayer and great to roleplay with.
I was of course appropriately flattered, and the spark inside me that glows brightly when playing shimmered a bit. But I didn’t let it smolder. I’m too disappointed in the too many years of hanging out with people that couldn’t ground themselves. I graciously declined the offer.
2 years ago my old company considered distributing demos and content on DVD discs but I determined that it wasn’t cost effective and the disc formats had compatibility problems. DVD discs cost $17 apiece, recorded only in DVD-RAM format (only playable on DVD-RAM drives… no you don’t own one), and the burners cost $6,000.
Moore’s Law has been working overtime… Today, DVD media now costs as low as $0.79 per 4.7 gig disk. Recorders cost $350 for a 4x drive, recording onto DVD+R (the same format as your computer and DVD video player)
Here’s a burner: Sony DRU-500A Here’s some media: (0.47 terabytes for $90!)
Of course, this makes DVD copying tools like this one very popular The world is evolving at a lightning pace!
Hey neat. I just caught the tail end of a song on WNTI that I had never heard before…
| Artist |
Track
Title |
Album |
Label |
Time
Played |
 |
The
Bobbettes |
Mr
Lee |
45
rpm |
Atlantic
’51 |
5
Minutes ago |
Check out the song (a local link)
The refrain is “Mr. Lee Mr. Lee. Oh, Mr. Lee”. A lot of people have called me “Mr. Lee” before, and they sometimes double it up, “Mr. Lee, Mr. Lee!” but I always thought they were calling me that because of it’s Chinese sound and it’s fun to say. Go ahead, try it! Oh, and, no my name isn’t Chinese, it’s a shortened form of a Hungarian name. Wow. I’ve lived my whole life without knowing this personally important facet of the collective unconscious!
[additionally, see my July 30, 2003 Journal entry]
A friend asked me, “And you? How are things?”
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I got a letter just a few days ago saying that the Hackettstown school system has approved my application to become a substitute teacher. :-). They say I’ll be teaching in 2 weeks.
I started my math and psych courses…
The Math class is hard. It’s really hard. I’m worried. This is gonna take a lot of concentration and work… a lot of hours of cursing my own stupidity during homework sessions. Well, at least I’ll have the psych class to balance it out!
I’ve been working a lot on my web page. I think it’s replacing some important social element in my life… like not getting out enough or having a girlfriend or somesuch. It’s a healthy enough and stimulating activity so I’m not too worried. Check it out at www.lee.org.
I’ve started playing chess online and with Chessmaster 9000. Even when set to high school level, little automaton “Carrie” still kicks my ass, but that’s what learning is all about. At least she doesn’t gloat about it. :-)
I continue to sell my bottles of Marilyn Merlot wine on eBay. See . Wine is gonna put me through college! (assuming my supplier doesn’t run out or figure out how -he- can make as much money as I am on these bottles!
My folks haven’t been in NJ now for a month and I’ve taken over the house. It’s nice. Though I have to say that even when they were here, it was pretty darn OK. They’ll be back for a week starting next week.
I’d love to have a partner to interact with, voice ideas with, and work with. I feel I’d be more happy and successful in life if I had one. I’ve thought this for years and I’m disheartened that for all my looking I haven’t found one. I’ve been a part of a whole, missing the whole for a long time.
Kindred spirit: Penn, the larger half of Penn and Teller.
Kikkoman! Kikko Man!
Original – link dead :-(
local version – not dead :-)
Wuw. This is some of the most….. I don’t know.. you just have to see it for yourself… Wuw. Did the soy sauce maker actually commission this work? If so… what does that mean? Wuw.
If you can read the Japanese and it says anything interesting, please write to me! I’d be most interested in finding out what predicated the swinging dead cat, and how the fish-headed Kikko-Man got the chick in bed. Wuw.
Did I mention…. “Wuw”?
Here’s an email response to my aunt about a question she had:
>Subject: FW: Attn: MCAFEE VERSION 7.0 CLEARANCE SALE!
>
>*NEW-Special Package Deal!*
>2003 McAfee Version 7.0 Software Suite – Home Edition-
>THE NAME THAT MEANS SECURITY FOR YOUR PC COMPUTER.
>Includes – Feature-Packed Utilities…ALL For ONE Special LOW Pr…
————-
>Should I get this?…
It’s pretty much a cardinal rule to never buy anything from a Spam message. The vast majority of spams come from scam artists trying to steal from people. I get about 20-30 spams per day (yes really!) so I pretty much know. And I get about 5 spams a month about that Mcafee. I’d guess that some software pirate in China made a gazzilion copies of Mcafee and he’s sold them to spammers. OR, maybe there aren’t ANY for sale and those folks will just disappear as soon as they get your credit card! I don’t know… well, hey, lemme check on the internet and find out a little.
I just went on Google and searched for “mcafee version 7.0” and spam.
One of the first results I got back was
one that reports on fraud cases just like I said
So the moral of the story is, don’t buy nuthin from spammers.
On the other side, if you are worried about viruses and such, you’re talking to the right person! I can set you up with a legitimate copy of Norton AntiVirus and Blackice firewall. …
I had my first classes today… Math is (surprisingly) going to be a challenge while Child Growth and Development will be an excellent opportunity for me to polish up on the fine art of BS. I haven’t been in a classroom in 10 years. This will take a little getting used to!
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I put some more spit-polish on my “I hate NERO” page after a friend asked me about NERO. I startle myself at how much of a grudge I’m still holding over this thing. I guess my “counter-betrayal mechanism” has been working overtime since Cha. I have to vent the toxic fumes in some direction. So, come one, come all, step right up and see the gruesome object of my disgust.
————–
I’m still in the Wavexpress beta program… which mostly means that I write to them when I find a bug. I’ll always love poking at things and making them break. More than that, I love taking all the failure modes into account to try to figure out exactly what’s broken on the inside…. you know… like shaking a present at Christmas 10 different ways to try to figure out what’s inside.