You have got to be kidding me...

As I'm looking up job prospects (try not to laugh), I hear a loud crash. Is someone moving heavy equipment? Is the dumpster being moved? Is it the neighbor's loud music?

After a quick investigation, I realize that it's much simpler. It is a thunderstorm. Yes: hard driving rain, thunder, etc. The moment I sit back down, the power goes out. This means it's time to fix all the clocks and walk in cold pouring rain to work.

What the hell is going on?! We had a rainy/slushy Christmas day, and now we're having thunderstorms days before the New Year! In northwest Ohio! This is complete and utter bullshit!

Ohio... sometimes I really hate you.

Freakin' Cat

Last couple weeks in recap: Visiting both the families (mine and hers) went fine. Wish we could have made it to my mom's side's shindig. Got some awesome, thoughtful gifts. Took time to relax, now behind on my thesis. And there's probably more to update...

But Ozzy, one of the two cats we're taking care of, left a surprise for me this morning. See, he loves to drink any and all water... as long as it isn't the fresh water we put in his bowl. One result of this is that he's always sticking his nose and paws into cups, hoping to find more water. Either that, or he'll knock it over to find out, get scared when it tips and splashes, and runs away because he knows he's about to be in trouble.

Recently, I've gotten back into painting my 40K models. So far, Oz has been mindful of the cup with the paint water. He'll sniff, realize it's bad news, knock over some models, and go on with his feline life.

This morning, however...

Let's just say that I looked over while about to blog. And what I see is a knocked-over paint cup, model parts spread over a 1-foot radius, and soaked computer paper. ...sigh...

Oh, yeah, there's a long rant on Samizdat. This one's on copy-protected CDs. Next up: Why I freakin' hate Wal-Mart.

Fall Masque, and the sprint to the Finish

Half a week, as well as two papers, one review, one set of responses, and one exam to go. So... close...

To provide a little break prior to this final week, there was the semi-annual theatre dept. masque. Steph had the idea of going as comic-book sound effects. Brilliant, I tell you:

I spent most of the time taking pictures, making an attempt at amateur digital photography. Somehow, despite the lighting (and the camera's slow reaction speed in it), I was able to get some good action shots. For example, consult the image to the left. Zarecki and Pat engage in a little acrobatic exercise of heel-clicking. It's Ryan being Ryan.

Now, if I only had Photoshop, so I could fade the background...

Almost... there...

All the project work is done; all that's left is an exam and some minor (yet important) late classwork. Oh, and getting mail out to the gents I interviewed for my thesis. Not done yet, but the mind-shattering coursework for this semester is done.

So I'm a little more rested, a lot less grouchy, and a lot more Groucho.

Now I need to get back to the fun type of writing: Delta Green senarios (which I realize I actually have mostly written already--must have been done in my sleep), play scripts, and co-writing film scripts with Tony and Andrew. All this means that I'm not supposed to be writing columns for the News (as per my agreement with my thesis advisor). Then again, I haven't been doing so for the last month. Hopefully, this'll mean that I'll have energy and material for Samizdat again. Huzzah!