William Riker's Beard

I thought this weekend was going to be a bummer for several reasons. Most notably a certain someone being out of town! However, this weekend managed to be fabulous.

I went to a party at The Liz, followed by a party in a pool where drunken clothed swimming took place. I'm fairly sure all of my favorite people in Ohio were there. To make it even better, I got to make a Will Riker reference and a Ferangi reference in the same night -- and both were gotten. That's pretty amazing.

Where am I?!

Today when I woke up Starwars was on TV (always cause for celebration), and I didn't know what was going on. Why did I smell like chlorine? Where did my other earring go? The mystery was solved by a note I had drunkenly written myself before bed. I didn't lose actual memory from last night, I just didn't get enough sleep so when I woke up I was still drunk.

Later I got to go play with not one but seven kittens! They were super cute in their wobbly eyes-just-opened state. Speaking of kittens, in a few more weeks they'll all need homes! So if you're looking for a friend (or a replacement for your Companion Cube), let me know. On the way home I went to an icecream stand and got a waffle cone. Mmm, waffle cones...

I have no closing statement for this entry.

A Month to Kill

I realize now after writing this that the title sounds like I'm some contract killer or rebel soldier or something and I only have one month to kill my targets before the time is up. If I don't meet the deadline, I get dead? I don't know. I don't think I thought this through.

Anyway.

The hospital, my doctor's office, and their various phone-slaves finally mustered up enough team coherence to reschedule my sleep study. What was a speedy, "four days from now," is now an obnoxious, "one month from now." June 23rd. Which naturally pushes back all of my other scheduled appointments as well, since they rely on information provided by this one. Also, it's been changed from a daytime sleep study to an all night sleep study followed immediately by an all day sleep study. So I'll be effectively removed from society for 24 hours.

I have no idea how I'm going to entertain myself during this time frame. Lots of reading, I presume. Doctors are seldom interesting enough to hold a conversation with past the 5 minute mark. I've met enough to know. I'd bring my sketchpad, but then I have to deal with the constant inquiries. Asking me what I'm drawing, where I learned to draw, if I do it professionally, my inspiration, and what sorts of mediums I use. Like it's some sort of arcane magic they've never before seen first hand. It is very difficult to draw anything with someone over your shoulder distracting you every three minutes.

Mother's Day Space Marine

I took my mom out to brunch and bought her a book for Mother's Day, then treated her to gourmet coffee. Don't forget your mothers this weekend, guys. They love you! You're never too cool to love your mommies, I don't care who you are.

Every now and then I get the urge to actually go out and shop for things aside from groceries. Rare but not unheard of. Particularly, I find myself in much need of clothing. I can never take shopping for clothing seriously though because you just stumble upon such whacky clothes you can't help but imagine what sort of crazy person actually buys them. This makes shopping more fun though because I make a game of it. If I can find the absolute ugliest, most bizarre item on the rack, I win. If I can fit into it, I double win. If someone gets a picture of me making an ass out of myself, you win (but I won twice).

Mission accomplished!

I passed a quarter machine at the mall and was sad to learn I held no quarters whatsoever. Though I magically had a single dollar. I NEEDED more balls for my collection. Not ten steps away -- I found a change machine. Cha-ching! Balls +2.

My quest for a dual timezone watch is finally at an end. In lovely sterling silver, I can now keep track of time in Ohio and California simultaneously! Best part? By being nice I got the clerk to add the watch I wanted to the current 50% off sale. Only thing better than stylishly keeping time on both coasts? Doing it for 50% less.

When isn't a good time to be a Space Marine? Never, that's when. While meandering about waiting for pretzels to cook, GameStop happened. I figured I was due another game for my DS to make waiting rooms and airports less boring. Let it not be said digging through the clearance bin never pays off. Once you get passed all the teen idol games and movies made into a game games, you may actually find something worth paying for.

I also bought several Magic cards and when I got home to have a gander at them noticed someone threw in extras for free. How dapper. Free stuff is always great! Aaron says, "The amount of free stuff received is inversely proportional to the amount of clothes worn.  You probably could have gotten a lot more!" He's probably right.

The Weather

I absolutely adore this weather. Despite the fact that it keeps making the electricity go out. I love it.

Darkness and lightning, rain and hail, wind and thunder...

I've got the window open, I can smell the storm on the air, drink my tea, and read my book. Life is good.

I Dream of Sleeping

In all honesty this was a rather pointless doctor appointment in the grand scheme of things. Basically I walked in, waited for him to arrive, and was told the same exact thing I was told before. By the other doctor. Only difference was that this guy could order more sleep studies to be done. So I do that again during the day time, this Tuesday. They're testing to confirm narcolepsy.

The good: I'd have a diagnosis.
The bad: Controlled substances for life.

If it is as they suspect, I've likely been suffering from the effects of it for years now. Since high school at least. Which explains a ton, actually.

Essentially all those super awesome in-depth dreams I have and recall with such great clarity every night are both a boon and a curse. Narcolepsy is scientifically cooler than portrayed by the media and yet amazingly less funny. No cause for concern yet, so I won't concern you!

I report to the hospital at 8am and stay all day, napping on cue. They'll be measuring the time it takes me to fall asleep and the time it takes me from that point to reach REM sleep. Those with narcolepsy get little to no Deep sleep, instead bypassing it straight to REM. This was observed in my overnight sleep study, but to confirm I have to do it every time I sleep -- even during day time naps.

We'll see how this goes. I remain optimistic regardless.

Bokchoy Wonderland

Went and saw Alice In Wonderland this past weekend. It wasn't as dark as I had expected an Alice In Wonderland rendition by Tim Burton to be, but it was entertaining none-the-less. Alice In Wonderland is inherently dark by it's very nature, so I suppose I just suspected Burton would've honed in on that more to his advantage. It was enjoyable though. I liked the Cheshire Cat especially, but then again he's always been my favorite.

I have a strange fascination with quarter machines. You know? Those things you see in super markets and theaters everywhere. Insert a quarter, get a random toy.  Usually I just buy rubber balls, the fun is in trying to guess what color you'll get. If you guess right, you win! But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a Bok Choy Boy from the theater's machines. I mean, who could? Just what is a Bok Choy Boy? Well...

Delicious bok choy!

A boy. Whose? I don't know.

 Somehow combining the two gives you this:

 Yeah, I don't know either. Moving on!

We had the hardest time finding card shops, which was boggling because several years ago there were at least 4 or 5 within a 30 minute drive (30 minutes is considered pretty good, out here).  In fact local listings still list them nearby. However, all of them are gone if you try going to where they are supposed to be. Like all just up and closed simultaneously. I eventually managed to find a few places -- none of which were actual card shops. So at least I know where I can find M:TG cards locally, should I desire anything mundane I don't require the internet for.  For everything else... there's the internet! I imagine that's where I'll be buying the brunt of my stock from anyhow. Since, you know, Ohio and all.

In other geeky news, I finally got Dragon Age working. I'm not sure how many of you have played it or plan on playing it, so I won't spoil anything. Song of Ice And Fire fans may be interested to know there is totally a Ser Jory in it though! Whether or not it's an intentional reference, I have no idea, but I found it amusing. Aside from that it's been Dawn of War II and Skies of Arcadia. I need more hours in a day to play all these games. Dragon Age is absorbing too many of them.

Tomorrow is my doctor appointment. Briiiiight and early, so I probably won't be on until afterward and even then I'll probably try to nap as soon as I get home. At least you know ahead of time that I'll be leaving you hanging a while.

Sky Pirate

Computer and internet troubles have plagued me since my return, no biggie, I'll have them sorted out in no time. In the meanwhile I have Skies of Arcadia to keep me busy. I get to be a sky pirate. Yes, you read that right and it's exactly what it sounds like. Only cooler.

Which beats what I was doing before hooking up the Gamecube:

Staring contest with my cat.

I win by default because he always falls asleep.

The game plays a lot like your typical JRPG, but you have an airship. Also, maybe I just haven't played a JRPG in a long while, but this seems like more fun than what I'm used to in a JPRG. Less predictability, if that makes sense. Normally in this sort of game I've figured out the good guys, the bad guys, and how it's all going to end within the first hour of gameplay. Not so here.

That's what she said.

Readjusting to Ohio hasn't been easy. In fact, I don't think it's possible. I'll just have to manage. Somehow. A time machine would be helpful, if any of you have successfully built one yet. In exchange for its use I could offer you... Cadbury Creme Eggs. Or art.

In unrelated news, I think I'm going to the movies this weekend? I need to scout out local card shops as well so I can get my nerd on. We'll see.