Michael

Happy Birthday to me!

Sun, 25 Sep 2005 16:07:11 GMT

I am now officially 25 years old. When I was younger, I often looked forward to this year. I honestly couldn't tell you why.

Regardless, I'm a happy man going into my quarter-century. I've got a good job, a beautiful wife, wonderful friends, and a relatively sane family that is doing what it needs to do to stay happy.

Last night at my birthday party Terra pointed out that since I switched over to my new site format, my LJ feed has been dead. So, I made a new one:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/random_dialogue/

The entries haven't shown up yet because I just made it, but that's the feed that you can use to follow the posts on my actual website.

Happy Sunday! :)

I'm not terribly shocked

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 06:01:13 GMT

Robert Heinlein wrote you - your stranger in a
strange land, you.

Which Author's Fiction are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

From Kristin

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 01:42:25 GMT

You know the drill:

Sometimes late at night I'm awake playing video games.

If only I could go back I would write more.

Someone told me once that I was like their mom.

I have no willpower .

I can't stand when people attack what they can't understand.

When I think of love I think of a pretty pixie.

I always question Creationism.

The last time I cried I was weak.

My reoccurring dream is pretty boring.

Cell phones are like tiny technological telepathy machines.

You are about to expire. You can say two words to the world before you go. Fuck Death.

Sat, 13 Nov 2004 23:29:55 GMT

Green is your Lightsaber's color.

Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth,
harmony, and freshness. Green has strong
emotional correspondence with safety. Green is
also commonly associated with wealth and
happiness, so someone with a green lightsaber
like yourself is a fortunate soul.

What Colored Lightsaber Would You Have?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thu, 11 Nov 2004 17:18:33 GMT

(from Heather)
Below, a list of actors. Copy and past it into your own journal. Replace the movies and roles I've listed with the ones you like best for each actor. At the end of the list, add an additional actor.

+ Tom Hanks - Toy Story (Woody)
+ Jim Carrey - The Truman Show (Truman)
+ Tobey Maguire - Spider-Man 2 (Peter Parker/Spider-man)
+ Mel Gibson - Maverick (Bret Maverick)
+ Ben Affleck - Chasing Amy (Holden)
+ Harrison Ford - V. Hard to pick. Star Wars Trilogy (Han Solo)
+ Kevin Spacey - The Usual Suspects (Verbal)
+ Edward Norton - meh. Fight Club, I guess. (Narrator)
+ John Cusack - V. Hard to pick. High Fidelity (Rob Gordon)
+ Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Carribean (Capt. Jack Sparrow)
+ Will Smith - MIB (Agent J)
+ Matthew Broderick - WarGames (David Lightman)
+ Brad Pitt - Twelve Monkeys (Jeffrey Goines)
+ Keanu Reeves - The Matrix (Neo)
+ George Clooney - Ocean's Eleven (Danny Ocean)
+ Christian Bale - meh. Reign of Fire (Quinn Abercromby)
+ Ethan Hawke - Gattaca (Vincent Freeman)
+ Adam Sandler - The Wedding Singer (Robbie Hart)
+ Robin Williams - Good Will Hunting (Sean Maguire)
+ Arnold Schwarzenegger - True Lies (Harry Tasker)
+ Bruce Willis - V. Hard to pick. Fifth Element (Korben Dallas)
+ Eddie Murphy - Mulan (Mushu)
+ Morgan Freeman - Se7en (Detective Lt. William Somerset)
+ Nicolas Cage - The Rock (Dr. Stanley Goodspeed)
+ Russell Crowe - Gladiator (Maximus)
+ Ben Stiller - Mystery Men (Mr. Furious)
+ Rodney Dangerfield - Caddyshack (Al Czervik)
+ Al Pacino - City Hall (Mayor John Pappas)
+ Robert De Niro - Brazil (Archibald 'Harry' Tuttle)
+ Tim Curry - Clue (Wadsworth) "I know, because I was there."
+ Denzel Washington - V. Hard to pick. Fallen (John Hobbes)
+ John Travolta - Get Shorty (Chili Palmer)
+ Kevin Bacon - Tremors (Valentine McKee)
+ Alan Rickman - Die Hard (Hans Gruber)
+ Gary Sinise - Apollo 13 (Ken Mattingly)
+ James Spader - Stargate (Dr. Daniel Jackson)
+ Christopher Walken - Sleepy Hollow (The Hessian Horseman)
+ Donald Pleasence - You Only Live Twice (Ernst Stavro Blofeld)
+ Joh Hannah - The Mummy (Jonathan Carnahan)
+ Colin Firth - Bridget Jones' Diary (Mark Darcy)

Writing Exercise

Wed, 10 Nov 2004 15:10:37 GMT

Kristin recently put up a thing:
If you happen to be working on some creative writing project, fanfiction or NaNoWriMo or what have you, post exactly one sentence from each of your current work(s) in progress in your journal. It should probably be your favorite or most intriguing sentence so far, but what you choose is entirely your discretion. Mention the title (and genre) if you like, but don't mention anything else. This is merely to whet the general appetite for your forthcoming work(s).

I'm not sure I've ever mentioned the process by which I write, but thanks to the short form I get to work with I primarily write in all or nothing spurts. Nine times out of ten whatever I'm writing is finished when I step away from the keyboard. The upside to this is that I can turn out a 1500 to 3000 word article in a few hours reliably and (at this point I *think*) decently. The downside to this is that I have about 15 short stories with roughly 500 to 3000 words in them, started in one session, never finished and never returned to.

So, since I know that I haven't displayed almost any creative writing in quite a while, I'll toss what I have of one of em' up here.
I don't even remember what this one is about, and I'm not going to reread it till I post it. Otherwise, I won't post it.

So, here we go:

Hooding

The last thing Clarissa Daystrom expected to see when she woke up was a spirit. And yet, there he was, sitting quietly by the cot she had traded three cartons of cigarettes for last month. Pulling her dirty jacket closer around her, she winced at the inhuman gaze the flickering flame-creature was casting in her direction.

"Who sent you?" she inquired through a cottony mouth. The fire elemental regarded her silently. She'd seen a few of them since The Wall went down, but never one this unformed. Most of them she'd seen resembled people or animals. The creature hunched on the overturned crate looked more like a candle flame that had been blown up like a balloon. Two harsh red beads danced in the "face" it presented to her, over a line-thin slit that could be called a mouth.

"Pi. Needs help." The flame-thing shivered on it's perch. "Bugs." This last word was stated in the hissing whisper of it's first statements, but with a disdain that gave the creature a humanity she hadn't attributed to it.

'Daze', as she was known to her friends, sighed and sat up on the cot. She pulled her knees up under her chin and asked the elemental "You going to escort me back, or am I hiking all the way to Dearborn on my own?"

"Escort." came the crackling, whispering reply.

Daze nodded and stood/rolled off of the cot. She slid a rubber band out of one of the many pockets in her jacket and pulled her hair back into a pony tail. She twisted the rubber band over her 'do while she stepped first one foot, then the other into a pair of combat boots. The jacket, and the boots she bent to tie, had been presents from a chivalrous Eagle Security officer who'd attempted to help her at some point during the containment zone situation. He'd been a nice enough guy, never tried anything with her, and kept mostly to himself. He'd been part of a small band of ex-cops who staked out part of a neighborhood during the coldest months of the first year in the Zone. By that point she'd been so hungry and tired she'd have slept in a ghoul's larder if it had meant five minutes of sleep. Straightening up, she checked herself out in the broken mirror propped against one wall of the pipe room she laughingly called "home". A hard face looked back at her around the cracks. That had been the last time she'd stayed with a large group of people for long.

Gesturing with one hand, she slung her pack off the floor with the other. The fire elemental lifted off of the crate and moved to the foot of the staircase heading up. Casting her eyes across the small space, she made sure she wasn't leaving behind any belongings she could live without. Satisfied, she grabbed her last and most important piece of gear out from underneath the cot - A well oiled and maintained Colt Manhunter. Flipping the safety on, she slid the piece into the waistband of her cargo pants in the small of her back. She straightened her jacket, squared her shoulders beneath her pack, and quickly ascended the stairs two at a time.

She didn't look back, but when she stopped at the door she knew the elemental had followed because of the warmth she felt on the backs of her knees. She paused, listening at the door for a full three count before disengaging the deadbolt and pulling open the door.

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 05:38:45 GMT

You are Nicholas D. Kristof! You enjoy travelling,
going as far as China, Africa, Alaska, and
Central America for a good story. You use a lot
of quotes and references in your stories. You
tackle tough issues like AIDS and religion,
which makes you controversial among Christians.
You're a good man, Nicholas D. Kristof.

Which New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Wed, 29 Sep 2004 20:46:57 GMT

I amNyarlathotep!

The 999 forms of Nyarlathotep are a point of meditation for the true initiate. It is through these manifold faces that the secrets of the universe are made known. Called "The Crawling Chaos", Nyarlathotep is the disembodied ego of Azathoth and thus the universal "I" of known reality. Some of the many documented forms are; Father of Knives, Nephren-Ka, the Black Man, the Beast of the Lashing Tongue to name a few.

Which Great Old One are you?

Thu, 16 Sep 2004 19:28:56 GMT

(reposted from RD.net)

I guess the cat's out of the bag, so I'll talk about that exciting news today. I've been hired by the Slashdot folks to be the new Section editor for games.slashdot.org. My first post is up here.

Many thanks to Rob Malda and the other Slashdot editors for the opportunity, and buckets of thanks to the amazing Mr. Carless for the recommendation.

Regrettably, this means I will no longer be writing for MMORPGDot. I'm editing a story from Erich to put up tomorrow, and then my final Random Dialogue column is going to go up next Monday. It was very fun while it lasted.

This has been quite a year.

Trekage

Thu, 09 Sep 2004 21:38:32 GMT

So, I took this Meyers Briggs Based Star Trek Personality Test. This is what I got:

Myers-Briggs would say that you are an ISTJ (Introvert, Sensor, Thinker, Judger). In Star Trek language, you share a basic personality configuration with Spock and Miles O'Brien.

Not very correct at all. :)

The problem is that I answered based on Star Trek. I far and away identify with the science dorks more than anyone actually like me, as far as the bounds of Trek goes. In fact, I'm sure if I had the chance to buy Miles O'Brien (my favorite Trek character) a brew we'd have a fine time. But, that's not really me.

Sat, 04 Sep 2004 04:35:50 GMT

Gabe
Jesus fuck, thank god that's

over. your score is 49

Avid Penny Arcade fan, obsessive gamer and able to kick Tycho's ass!

On top of that you can handle DivX !!! Be proud of yourself, you've earned it.
Now go out their and kick those babies asses all over!

Take the test!

Fri, 06 Aug 2004 18:12:44 GMT

Can you tell there isn't a lot going on at work this week?

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (58%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain.
Left Brain (46%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?(word test)
personality tests by similarminds.com

Fri, 06 Aug 2004 18:05:41 GMT

More testing...

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I'm Batman

Thu, 05 Aug 2004 18:31:37 GMT

Which member of the JLA are you?

Batman

Losing his parents to a tragic mugging, Bruce Wayne took a vow to wage a one man war on crime. Using the image of the bat to strike fear into criminals, he dons the guise of the Dark Knight after the sun sets. A genius detective and scientist he is a valuable member to the League even without powers

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Wed, 04 Aug 2004 14:34:22 GMT

Old school punk! You just say what you have to say
regardless of what everyone else thinks!
You're one of my most favourite types of
music... You're raw and uncut! You're
surrounded by hype...just don't let it make you
go insane...

What genre of rock are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thu, 29 Jul 2004 15:27:39 GMT

Many many many Thanks to Jennibot for hooking RD.net up with an LJ syndication.

If you'd like to get the blather from my primary site, go here and add me to your friends list. ;)

RSSify Me, Baby

Tue, 27 Jul 2004 21:32:50 GMT

Hey everyone!

Does anyone within hearing range of me have one of those magical "make my account better" codes lying around? You know, the ones that let you have the full range of services LJ offers?

RD.net has an RSS feed now, and if I have a magic account I can syndicate it to here.

Can anybody help me out?

Take My Love, Take My Land...

Fri, 16 Jul 2004 14:11:37 GMT

(full size)

from winterhawk

Wed, 12 May 2004 14:51:42 GMT

Here is that list of songs that one pompous magazine said sucked. We will show em'!

Bold the ones you actually like.
Underline the ones you really hate.
Leave the ones you're on the fence about normal.
Italicize songs you've never heard

We Built This City ... Starship
Achy Breaky Heart ... Billy Ray Cyrus
Everybody Have Fun Tonight ... Wang Chung
Rollin' ... Limp Bizkit
Ice Ice Baby ... Vanilla Ice
The Heart of Rock & Roll ... Huey Lewis and the News
Don't Worry, Be Happy ... Bobby McFerrin
Party All the Time ... Eddie Murphy
American Life ... Madonna
Ebony and Ivory ... Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
Invisible ... Clay Aiken
Kokomo ... The Beach Boys
Illegal Alien ... Genesis
From a Distance ... Bette Midler
I'll Be There for You ... The Rembrandts
What's Up? ... 4 Non Blondes
Pumps and a Bump ... Hammer
You're the Inspiration ... Chicago
Broken Wings ... Mr. Mister
Dancing on the Ceiling ... Lionel Richie
Two Princes ... Spin Doctors
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American) ... Toby Keith
Sunglasses at Night ... Corey Hart
Superman ... Five for Fighting
I'll Be Missing You ... Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112
The End ... The Doors
The Final Countdown ... Europe
Your Body Is a Wonderland ... John Mayer
Breakfast at Tiffany's ... Deep Blue Something
Greatest Love of All ... Whitney Houston
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm ... Crash Test Dummies
Will 2K ... Will Smith
Barbie Girl ... Aqua
Longer ... Dan Fogelberg
Shiny Happy People ... R.E.M.
Make Em Say Uhh! ... Master P featuring Silkk, Fiend, Mia-X and Mystikal
Rico Suave ... Gerardo
Cotton Eye Joe ... Renex
She Bangs ... Ricky Martin (William Hung version)
I Wanna Sex You Up ... Color Me Badd
We Didn't Start the Fire ... Billy Joel
The Sounds of Silence ... Simon & Garfunkel
Follow Me ... Uncle Kracker
I'll Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) ... Meat Loaf
Mesmerize ... Ja Rule featuring Ashanti
Hangin' Tough ... New Kids on the Block
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You ... Bryan Adams
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da ... The Beatles
I'm Too Sexy ... Right Said Fred
My Heart Will Go On ... Celine Dion

Show and Tellage

Thu, 15 Apr 2004 19:42:02 GMT

I feel compelled for some reason to share with you a slice of my desktop work environment.

Fri, 20 Feb 2004 16:55:22 GMT

Parkage

Thu, 19 Feb 2004 15:28:05 GMT

ROCK ON!

You're Jurassic Park!

by Michael Crichton

You combine all the elements of a mad scientist, a brash philosopher,
a humble researcher, and a money-hungry attracter of tourists. With all these features,
you could build something monumental or get chased around by your own demons. Probably
both, in fact. A movie based on your life would make millions, and spawn at least two
sequels thatwouldn't be very good. Be very careful around islands.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

GURPSage

Mon, 02 Feb 2004 20:50:54 GMT

You're GURPS Technomancer. You don't
believe in limiting yourself. Magic, tech?
You'll have both please. You have a strong
cult following and you're okay with that.

Which GURPS book are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

gothage

Mon, 02 Feb 2004 16:10:53 GMT

You are Klaus, the Rivethead. You have the power of Industrial Might. You listen to music that sounds like a train going through a tunnel at high speed. Most importantly, you stomp holes in the dancefloor.

Where Are You on the Gothic Colour Spectrum?
brought to you by Quizilla

Aliasage

Thu, 29 Jan 2004 15:13:25 GMT

EXOTIC FOREIGNER ALIAS (Favorite Spice + Last Foreign Vacation Spot)
Cayenne Toronto

SOCIALITE ALIAS (Silliest Childhood Nickname + Town Where You First Partied)
Macoo Madison

"FLY GIRL" ALIAS (First Initial + First Two or Three Letters of Your Last Name)
M-Zen

ROCK STAR ALIAS (Any Liquid on the Bar + Last Name of Bad-Ass Celeb)
Scotch Wheaton

DIVA ALIAS (Something Sweet Within Sight + Any Liquid in Kitchen)
Snickers Sprite

GIRL DETECTIVE ALIAS (Favorite Baby Animal + Where You Last Went To School)
Penguin Evergreen

BARFLY ALIAS (Last Snack Food You Ate + Your Favorite Drink)
Yogurt 7-up

SOAP OPERA ALIAS (Middle Name + Street Where You First Lived)
Richard Parnell

STAR WARS ALIAS (First 3 letters of your 1st name + First 2 or 3 letters of your last name,
First 2 letters of your Mom's maiden name + First 3 letters of the city you were born)
Miczen Cochi