A Space Of One's Own

It has been hard to blog recently because it hasn't been easy to get onto my computer. (And blogging from the tablet is super annoying.) When we started to redo 'the office' to make a nursery it meant getting rid of the spot that I would use my laptop. Jason's work station was moved into the spare room/laundry room and there wasn't space for my chair and little table. For a while I used my laptop on the coffee table downstairs (as I am doing at the moment) or sometimes in bed. However, it was a strange phenomenon where it was either in the way or too out of the way. If it was in the way then it would get moved and tucked away somewhere and that made it harder to pull it out again later to use.

This has meant no blogging, but also my emails are piling up and I haven't done my banking. I have stopped playing WoW, which I have pretty consistently been involved with since Fall 2019. There is also jobs to apply for and more cafe stuff to finish up. Basically I need it to be easy, and comfortable, to work on my laptop. Didn't know this was an issue since I haven't really had or used a desk in a while, but I guess I did always have some type of set up that made it convenient. 

We do have plans to rearrange the living room soon, for baby proofing now that Cigi is becoming more mobile, and that will have some ripple effects for the dining room. I think I will try to set up in there. So fingers crossed you will start to see more posts soon!

Halloween In Quarantine

Disclaimer: Ok, so we aren't really in Quarantine at the moment or even doing extreme self-isolation, but it rhymes better with Halloween than "pandemic" or "covid" does.

Happy Halloween!

Jason and I on Oct 31, 2020

Selfie taken with Jason's Phone

I think this is the first year at Casa Verde that we haven't given out candy! We normally get between 50 and 100 trick-or-treaters, it is hard to keep track because Jason messes with my system of counting (he gives more than one piece of candy, and eats it while handing out, so who knows what our real numbers are.) This year we here highly discouraged from doing the traditional Halloween celebration in Toronto because we are a 'hot zone' with substantial increase in Covid cases recently. So our blinds were pulled, and lights turned off, super sad!

So, why are we dressed up this year? Well, we did a on-video, in-costume, mini-raid (20 instead of 40 players) on WoW. Our costumes were put together about 15 minutes before it started, since I do still have a dress up box with various bits and pieces; which is now also home to Jason's cowboy hat I made him buy for the Calgary Stampede.

There was still fun for kids, I am part of a local neighbourhood parents group on Facebook and a women in the area arranged for a physically distanced parade, scavenger hunt (we were an 'eye ball house' check out photo), and ghost message game in a nearby park. All the kids in the parade got a treat bag (I sent her a bit of money towards making them). 

The activity sheets were posted on Facebook and we printed off the one for the park to try it out. It was quite the challenge! Jason and I spent over an hour wandering around the park to do it, we had to find 100 little ghosts and then colour in squares on a grid to learn the message. We found 95 of them and discovered that the answer to "What does a ghost say?" is "Boo!" I took a picture of Jason working on it, he took over the colouring part right away, and my job was to hold the pencil crayons. It might have been designed for kids, but I had a great time!

Lost In The Sandbox

Jason, Rob, and I have been playing Fortnight, for the PC, since the summer. I keep meaning to post about it, so much fun! I haven't enjoyed a game this much since World of Warcraft (WoW). Similar to WoW, Fortnight has 'events' and just finished one for Halloween. I was able to get a character that is dressed up in a cute cat costume, and she kinda looks like me!!

Note: The post title is in reference to the Fortnight game style.

AFK Not AWOL

I caught mild flu (really just a low-level fever and the aches and pains that go with that) which I have been battling since Wednesday. We are also working on the house a lot at the moment. So for these reasons I haven't posted for a while.

I didn't go AWOL (a-wall) since that stands for Absent WithOut Leave, and because I run Always Standing, I gave myself leave from it. I realized that for the past few years I have been saying A.O.L. for this concept, but that isn't right! No one says A.W.O.L., they make it a word/phrase A Wall. Also, AOL is nothing, it is just an old internet company America OnLine.

AFK is from the gaming/chat world and stands for Away From Keyboard. Jason and I have been watching The Guild on Netflix right now, so that is where the gaming short hand is coming from.

Physically Too Old To Game

I found a really fun game! Actually I have been waiting to buy it for a long time. Last time Jason and I went to Ottawa, Jenn and Jon showed us Prison Architect that they bought on Steam. It looked like a lot of fun - a combination of zoo tycoon and sim city. However, when we got home and I researched getting it, the cost was pretty high. Steam has a summer sale so I decided to wait for that to get it. The sale happened last week and I got the game for a great price.

The problem is that I am now addicted and can play the game happily on my computer, in my own little world, for hours. I haven't felt this way about a game in a long time. Lately the games that I have been into have been on my phone (or Jason's tablet): Theme Park, Pet Shop Story, and Trivia Crack. I can really get into these games but I don't feel that absorbed and each time I play it is only for a short period of time.

My love of Prison Architect reminds me of playing games like World of Warcraft or The Sims. Staying up too late. Wishing I was playing instead of being at work or school. Long stretches of time focused on the computer. And in true game addict style I was up until 1am last night, stretched out on the couch, laptop in my lap, designing my prison for hours. When I finally decided to go to bed, standing up was painful. My lounging position had cramped a bunch of muscles. I definitely don't have the energy or stamina to game like I used to, or I need to find a really comfortable/ergonomic position to do it in.

Working Not WoW

I got a part-time job because I was running out of money. I start today and am up way too early. Really I would just prefer to be playing WoW or Sims, which is why neither are currently loaded onto my computer. I need to start writing papers too, the rest of this month is going to suck.

Sincerely

---from an email forward

Dear Icebergs,
Sorry to hear about the global warming. Karma's a bitch.
Sincerely, The Titanic

Dear Noah,
We could have sworn you said the ark wasn't leaving till 5.
Sincerely, Unicorns

Dear America ,
You produced Miley Cyrus. Justin Bieber is your punishment.
Sincerely, Canada

Dear Yahoo,
I've never heard anyone say, "I don't know, let's Yahoo! it..." just saying...
Sincerely, Google

Dear Windshield Wipers,
Can't touch this.
Sincerely, That Little Triangle

Dear iPhone,
Please stop spellchecking all of my rude words into nice words.
You piece of shut.
Sincerely, Every iPhone User

Dear Nickleback,
That's enough.
Sincerely, The World

Dear World of Warcraft,
Thank you for ensuring my son's virginity.
Sincerely, Parents Everywhere

Dear Fox News,
So far, no news about foxes.
Sincerely, Unimpressed

Dear Saturn,
I liked it, so I put a ring on it.
Sincerely, God


I find the following funny, but they might offend others...

Dear White People,
Don't you just hate immigrants?
Sincerely, Native Americans

Dear jf;ldsfa/kvsmmklnn,
Please lknvfdmv.xvn.
Sincerely, Stevie Wonder

Dear Osama Bin Laden,
Marco....
Sincerely, United States

Dear Michael Jackson,
You really should have became a Catholic Priest.
The pay isn't great, but the benefits....
Sincerely, The Pope

Zero To Nerdy

These are some more photos from the shoots I did with Steph before Christmas. I believe these were for an 'environment' assignment; she had to submit portraits where you can see the background and the background can't be a studio. She used this series, however the titles are my own.

ZERO TO NERDY IN THREE SHOTSLooking For Clothes On A Saturday Morning

Sniff Test: Nothing Is Clean

UHHH, Pissed At Noobs

All Photos By Stephanie Beach Photography

Christmas List - 2010

It is December 1st, which means it is time for my annual huge Christmas list! I always wait until after Mike's birthday, which was yesterday. Happy Holidays everyone!!

Big Ticket Items
-Small digital camera
-Cord/Cordless drill
-$ for clothes
-$ for travel

Clothes
-Socks (Shoe size 7)
-PJs (L/M)
-Sweaters (M)
-Black Leggings (L)
-Pretty Winter boots
-Moccasin slippers with fur
-Tank top camis (M) Black & other colours
-Zipper sweater/sweatshirts (M)
-Running Shoes (7)
-GD for Smart Set, Rickis, Sears, Le Cheateau, Aldo, etc.

Binx
-Cat brush you wear as a mitten
-Pet cleaning wipes
-Cat Attract Litter
-Cat litter deodorizer

Games
-Sims 3 Expansion packs (PC)
-WoW Game Cards (PC)
-Card Decks
-Bridge Set of Cards
-Puzzles
-Taboo
-Scattergories

DVDS
-Season 1 - Volume 2 of Glee
-Season 5 of How I Met Your Mother
-Boondocks Saints
-Cutthroat Island
-Inception

Books
-Freud collection/anthology
-Eyewitness Top Ten for New Orleans
-Easy instruction book for Bridge
-Anything by William Gibson
-'Classics'

For The House
-Cordless phone
-Bookends
-Small watering can
-Kitchen Knives with stand
-On Counter Paper Towel Holder
-On Counter Cooking Utensil Holder
-Oven Mitts
-Screwdriver with all the ends
-Large bath towels/bath sheet
-Hardware to hang pictures

Other
-Simple sports watch
-Nice dressy watch
-Post-its and tabs for research
-Milk chocolate
-Gin
-Cool snowboarding helmet
-Cream corn
-French-cut green beans

Geek Girls Unite Award

Heather gave me another blog forward-chain-award thing. This time it was a Geek Girls Unite Award which she won and then awarded to three people including... The Chris from Always Standing, who plays WOW, among other geeky things... Heather is proud of her geek status, myself not as much so. Mind you, while I hate e-mail forwards, the blog ones are pretty cool, so I'm going to try to befriend my geeky side at the moment.

So Here I Am!

Geek Girls Unite

List ten geeky facts about yourself

Pass this award onto your favorite female geeks

Ten geeky facts about me...

1. WoW - I play World of Warcraft. Come on, world's most-subscribed MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) people! I think it is awesome and so much fun, but definitely geeky.

2. Settlers - I love all games, especially card and boardgames. My favorite being Settlers Of Catan, which is a strategy game similar to Risk. It is a bit complex and very geeky, always hard to find people who will play with me.

3. Trivia - I love trivia, both in question or random fact form. Useless facts are super interesting and fun for me, which I guess is geeky. I also really enjoy Jeopardy.

4. Engineering - While I didn't stay in it, I did start my university career in Mechanical Engineering so I enjoy and have a basic understanding of advanced math and science.

5. Reading - I have always loved to read. I learnt at a very young age and have been reading ever since. This is what lead to English after Engineering fell through. I carry a book in my purse at all time.

6. XCKD - I enjoy a few online comics, my favourite being xkcd. I also regularly read Penny Arcade and Ctrl+Alt+Del.

7. Glasses - I wear glasses. I own contacts but rarely wear them, only putting them in once or twice a month for special occasions.

8. Museums - I absolutely love museums, of any variety. I can stay in a museum from open to close, the only thing slowing me down would be sore feet. I love to read everything in every display. I like to learn.

9. Russia - I have a thing for Russia and will be going on a big trip to visit it. Seeing Russia has been a dream of mine for more than 15 years. This might not be a geeky thing but it is strange.

10. Blog - I blog. Lastly, I figure that blogging is pretty geeky and I have been writing Always Standing for years now, posting regularly.

Pass this award onto your favorite female geeks...

Bloggers

1. Steph writer of The Great Abyss

--Engineer who has way to many personal Excel sheets

2. Anne writer of Four Litre Chocolate Milk

--Geographer who can rock The 80's look

3. Erin writer of Always A Mess

--Neopets Addict who has a thing for Anime

Honourable Mentions

1. Teri

--Who I'm sure does math for fun

2. ERin

--Who is both a geographer and Trekkie

3. JennD

--Who is big into the video games

When The Dog Bites - Electronic

Favourite TV Shows
How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, House MD, Glee, America's Next Top Model, Cougartown, 30 Rock, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report

Favourite Movies
A League of Their Own, Fifth Element, Aladdin, Labyrinth, Wag the Dog, 10 Things I Hate About You

Favourite PC Games
The Sims, World of Warcraft, NeoPet's Games

Favourite Music
Hotel California - The Eagles, Come Together - The Beatles, Starlight Express - Musical, The Phantom of the Opera - Musical, Les Mis - Musical

The Guild

The Guild is an online sit-com (Yes, they have these) about an online guild. Basically it is about a group of people playing World of Warcraft but the game itself is never explicitly named. I find it super funny!! I watched the first two seasons in one sitting. (Which sounds impressive until you realise that there is only about 10 episodes a season and each is only around 5 minutes long.) What brought my attention to the show was the following music video, which is a trailer for the upcoming 3rd season. I love it!!

I Want It!!!

Ottawa Erin and Steph (as noted on her blog) have purchased the new Sims 3. I'm very jealous, it looks pretty damn good. I so love The Sims, the first two were wicked and I have been waiting for the third with baited breath. For all those other Sims lovers out there (and lovers of Sims lovers) these Ctr Alt Del comics say it all. One, Two, Three, & Four! The third one makes me laugh so much, not that I would ever put my Sims through social torture, I'm very nice to my likenesses. The last one is so true, as I have used that technique a number of times on boyfriends in the past and while it would normally work for me too, probably not while playing The Sims. The game is seriously that awesome!! In my current state of procrastinating from a pile of essays that are due, I have actually been wondering what to do for PC Gaming over the summer. I currently don't have anything on My New Pet after reformatting it a few weeks ago. I have a couple of options;
1 - I could load back on my old trusted copy of The Sims 2. This is a pretty basic option, easy to do, I know I love it, it wouldn't consume too much of my time, and it is a pretty rocking game.
2 - I could start playing WoW again. This is a more complex option. It would take forever to start up again since there would be days of patches, there has been two expansion packs since I last played so there might be some adjustment, and it tends to consume a good chuck of my time. However, Steph and Dave did get me a 60-day game card for my birthday so it wouldn't cost me anything to start playing again.

3 - I could buy The Sims 3. This is the expensive option. I would want the Collectors Edition (come on, go good or go home) which is $70, it looks intense so would take a whole bunch of my time, but I know I would love it, oh so much.

Empty Nest

Two roommates flew away on two different trips. Another roommate is heading home on Thursday. That will leave just Em, me and The Boy Roommate around for Reading Week. I guess it is going to be pretty quite. Oh well, I have my O.C back episodes, World of Warcraft, and tons of homework to do, I will be kept quite busy, if not a tad lonely.