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Friday, November 17th, 2006
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| Time: | 8:19 pm. |
| Mood: |  amused. |
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I've heard reports of riots, thievery, gunshot wounds and self-inflicted blunt force trauma. And now for the psychological damage: http://www.smashmyps3.com.
-Jrl II-
(Wonders if there will be enough Wiis to get one for Christmas)
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Thursday, October 5th, 2006
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| Time: | 10:17 am. |
| Mood: |  blah. |
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I called up the car place yesterday. According to their diagnostics, I have two bad fuel injectors. Then the guy hit me out of nowhere and said that with the number of miles I have on my car, if it was his he wouldn't even bother fixing it. What!? They're not supposed to talk me into NOT getting expensive repairs! So I told him I was coming to get my car back, and that I'ld sleep on it.
At this point, I'll probably get the repairs done anyway. It's not like I have the money for a newer car. I need to squeeze as many miles as possible from this one.
-Jrl II-
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Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006
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| Time: | 4:21 pm. |
| Mood: |  depressed. |
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You know that engine light thing I wrote about before Otakon? It came back. Then went away. Then the brake light came on whenever I made a right, but went away when I made a left. So we added brake fluid, and that fixed it. Then the engine light came back on, and has been on for over a week. So I finally took it to a mechanic. From what I could understand, I have two(!) misfiring cylinders, but they're still investigating the cause of "some terrible noise". I don't think I'm getting my car back anytime soon. Which sucks. It also looks like I'll be taking the bus to work for a while. Which sucks harder.
-Jrl II-
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Thursday, August 10th, 2006
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Now a few final thoughts, impressions, and suggestions for the con. First, note to self: For whatever reason, the three hour drive to Baltimore puts a lot of tension on your shoulders, such that they are sore the next two days. Next year, do some sort of exercises in the month leading up to the con to work them out a bit. Also, remember the Baltimore highway strategy I posted a few days ago.
The pocket guide this year sucked. It was less like a booklet, and more like a map. Eventually I got the hang of it, but it was never convenient to unfold it, turn it around and upside down, and try to find the part I was looking for.
The con was packed again, this year. I didn't run into people (outside of the hotel) I knew too often. Although, oddly enough, I did see Andrew in the Maryland House on the way down, and (AGO treasurer)Nate on the way back. I saw Ted & Lydia once. I saw Jonjor twice. Roche once. I saw Valerie - and I think Rizzo - cosplaying as - something green. They were with, or at least very near, a Shadow Sora, so I don't know if it's a Kingdom Hearts thing, since I'm only halfway through Kingdom Hearts II. But other than that - though I think I'm forgetting at least one person - I only saw people I knew at the hotel, either in the hallways or in the lobby. I also met some new people in AGO, including <lecherous old man>a cute pre-frosh</lecherous old man>.
I made it to the game room a few times. I have to admit, Guitar Hero looked cool. but I suck at things like rhythm and manual dexterity, so for me it's probably a lot more fun to watch than to play.
In the dealer's room I only bought my requisite T-shirt, as usual. What can I say? It takes a LOT to get my attention, especially with rising interest rates and gas prices.
And Roche - I was serious when I said you had to e-mail me a copy of that picture you took of me. If I don't look too dorky, I might use it was my Otaku Booty picture or something. :D
-Jrl II-
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Wednesday, August 9th, 2006
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Saturday I wanted to go see if there was anything to Fate/Stay the Night, but the screening had been canceled. Eventually I wandered in to the second and third episodes of Rumiko Takahasi Anthology. I managed to catch most of Ghost story of Yotsuya, a live-action horror flick. The director was featured in the Otakon booklet, and several of his works were shown at the con. I finally got to see Howl's Moving Castle in the 35mm room. I think it was screened last year, but the line for the room went on forever, so I didn't even try to get in. Also in the 35mm room was Sanjuro, a Kurosawa samurai flick. After that I grabbed something to eat, and showed up a little late to the Cosplay Masquerade. I sat down at the 1st Mariner Arena in the middle of the third skit. There weren't that many bad ones this year, and more great ones than I remember there usually being. The one Kingdom Hearts battle one really sucked. It was like kids running around fighting with sticks. The Kingdoms Hearts dance one was good, though. So was the flag/battle one. And all the solo musical ones were good, with the possible exception of the girl with the... what was it, "To Zanarkand" one? With the violin/fiddle? That one grated on my nerves. The 1st Mariner Arena is big, though. I'm sure it was expensive to rent it out, or else they should do more big draw events there.
Sunday, I decided to go see Nana of Seven. It's obviously meant for a young audience. It was around 11 by then, so I went back to the hotel to pack up and checkout. Since I had until 3 to leave the parking lot, I went back to the con for the Sunday afternoon fan parodies. I got to see This is Otakudom, which I had heard by name for probably two or three years now. I also got to see the sequel, which name I can't remember off the top of my head. Something to do with S.T.E.A.M.? While not strictly anime, and not strictly a parody, they also showed Here Comes Dr. Tran. If you have not seen this yet, go over to google video and search for Dr. Tran. A seven minute video labeled "Dr. Train" will show up at the top. That's the (misspelled) one you want. Between the video itself, and the reaction of the audience around me, my throat was in severe pain about five minutes in. You, however, will have the option of pausing when it becomes too great to bear. Go watch it. NOW!
-Jrl II-
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Otakon was a blast this year, like every other year, and now that I've recovered a little bit, I'll share what I did. Thursday went a little better than the way I thought it would. I managed to get off at the right exit, but still got off at the wrong spot. (Note to future: Once you get off at the exit to downtown, do NOT take the sub-exit to MLK. Keep to the right. That might actually take you past the convention center, where you mean to go.) After that, I found my way to my hotel, and then off to the convention center to pick up my badge. By the time I got back to my hotel, most of my friends had shown up, but the ones I was sharing a room with were off hunting for gas. We checked in when they got back, and got a surprise: all the rooms weren't going on Ed's card. Each of the rooms was going to go under a person staying in the room (or in the case of the three AGO rooms, under AGO's treasurer). Adam and Roche had brought cash, but I was planning on paying with a check to Roche or Ed. Fortunately, my card had enough on it that I could pay for the room using it. Once up to the room, I made my demand request that since the room was on my card, I was going to get a bad, and they both agreed. And so by happenstance, for my first even-yeared con I finally got a bed all to myself.
Friday was a video filled rush. I started with something I'd never heard of before, Shingu. Junior high boy gets drawn into a world of aliens and people with supernatural powers. I had seen characters from (read: pr0n of) Eureka Seven, and I decided to see if the anime was any good. I might have to watch more of it. Then down to the 35mm room to see Godzilla 2000. (Spoilers: Godzilla destroys lots of buildings.) Ouran Host Club was more bishonen than the pocket guide described it as, but I still enjoyed it. And finally the AMV Contest, which I somehow managed to get into. The line had run out the building by the time I got to it, and by the time I got to be within five or seven places to the front of the line, they had to stop us to make sure there was still room left. After they let about fifty of us in, they let people trickle in in twos and threes, as they were able to find room. The selection was awesome as usual. It was hard to pick favorites to vote for.
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Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
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| Time: | 3:46 pm. |
| Mood: |  excited. |
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Okay guys and gals, I'm off. See you in Baltimore!
-Jrl II-
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Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006
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| Time: | 8:26 pm. |
| Mood: |  nervous. |
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Okay, here's the plan for tomorrow: I start my drive to Baltimore, alone, in the late afternoon, in a car without air conditioning. My ass will be totally numb my the time I hit the whatsit-house, where I'll get out to walk around and get a drink. I will continue my trip to Baltimore, missing my exit. But since the highway ends right after that I won't have to backtrack much. I will then make my way to my hotel, after trying to figure out how parking works. Then, since I don't have a cell phone and don't know what room I'll be staying in, I'll wander around for a couple of hours in 90's-100's degree weather trying to find Roche, Adam, Ed - hell, ANYONE I know - so I'll have a place to stay. So basically it'll be just like last year, except I've pre-reg'ed.
-Jrl II-
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| Time: | 1:08 pm. |
| Mood: |  busy. |
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I woke up at 7 this morning, so I could shop for clothes at Sears when it opened, while it was still a cool eighty seven thousand degrees. I tried to go yesterday, but decided I'ld rather not have my blood turn to amber. As my baggy-ass 34 inch waist jeans suggested, I have moved down to a (relaxed fit!) 32. I've also shrunk in the legs by two inches. Either that or I've been buying two inches too tall for years. Which, given the intersection of my perceptiveness and fashion sense, is entirely possible.
It looks like I'll be driving alone over to Baltimore. If it wasn't for all the freaking water in the way, it wouldn't be such a bad drive. As it is, I'll have to drive in a triangle to get there. Well, no, I'll be driving in an early nineties Nissan Maxima, but the path I'll be taking will be triangular. I just hope I can get the hotel room number from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) johnroche before I head down. Last year with mistara's group was... fun... but I'ld rather not have a repeat. If my brother hadn't managed to loose/destroy his cell phone, I'ld steal it for the weekend.
-Jrl II-
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Tuesday, August 1st, 2006
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| Time: | 4:46 pm. |
| Mood: |  hot. |
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Dear sun,
Fuck off.
No love, James.
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| Time: | 7:59 pm. |
| Mood: |  tired. |
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I'm still trying to work out transportation arrangements to Otakon. No one on LJ has yet taken me up on my offer to give them a ride. So starting next weekend I'm going to open the offer up to any crackhead who can type, by which I mean I'll be posting on message boards around the 'net. So if you still need a ride, now would be a good time to let me know.
-Jrl II-
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Thursday, July 13th, 2006
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| Time: | 11:50 am. |
| Mood: |  okay. |
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Yesterday afternoon, my check engine light mysteriously did not stay on, and my ride into work was much smoother than before. So now I'm confused as to what the original problem might have been, but I'm happy my car is working properly again.
-Jrl II-
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| Time: | 11:30 pm. |
| Mood: | tired. |
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My fish committed suicide Friday night. No, really! I heard a 'thunk' noise from my aquarium, and when I turned to look, my fish was sinking towards the bottom, and landed on its side. Poor fishy. I've drained my aquarium of most of its water, but I don't know when I'm going to find the time to empty and clean it properly.
One of my co-workers quit last week, effective last Friday, and my boss is on vacation this week. And the new girl, whom the departing co-worker trained to take over, has said she'll blow her brains out this week. It's going to be a lot of fun at work.
-Jrl II-
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| Time: | 10:44 pm. |
| Mood: |  calm. |
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Last week was a freakin' trip. Last Sunday I decided to dust my room. And dust. And dust. And dust. I've got way too much freakin' stuff for dust to collect on. I spent hours dusting, only got about half the room done. I was pretty sore on Monday.
My coworker was on vacation last week - let's just say it was a busy work week. Especially Wednesday. And Friday was end of quarter. I'm glad next week has a holiday in the middle.
I must have gotten a bad batch of gas on Wednesday, 'cause I noticed my check engine light came on that night when I started my car up, and it rode really rough. I was worried the whole ride home. When I got back to my room I started looking up causes for my symptoms, and that's when I discovered the gas thing. I just hope I'm right. I don't need car trouble before Otakon. By the way, uh... who still needs a ride? (Yes, I'm shameless.)
Oh, and my state's government is closed. Just in time for the biggest tourist week of the Summer. Yay.
-Jrl II-
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I've finally gotten my lazy ass around to registering for Otakon this weekend, so I guess it's about time I started planning out the essential details. Like lodging and transportation.
As craptastic as it is, I do own a car now. The same car I used to get to Baltimore last time. Driving to Baltimore in the middle of Summer with no AC sucks. Eating the entire cost of driving to, parking in, and driving from Baltimore also sucks. I can solve one of these problems by offering a ride to anyone without one. It'll increase the length of my trip a little bit, but I can deal with it. I can solve both by accepting a ride from someone who's offering, but that creates a new problem, by increasing the length of their trip quite a bit.
I remember making some tentative plans with Hannah's friend at the beginning of the year for hotel space. I'm guessing that's still good. But if I share a ride with someone, it might be easier to stay in a hotel with them.
So I guess I'll start trolling message boards for hot teenage school girls who need a ride to Otakon this year. But, uh, in case that falls through, you guys can ride with me too. :-D
-Jrl II-
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| Time: | 12:06 am. |
| Mood: |  sleepy. |
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I voted in New Jersey's primary elections Tuesday. Unofficial results show that the guy I wanted to be the Democratic nominee for NJ's 2nd congressional district lost. Yay democracy.
I had a slice of rum cake on the weekend. I was reminded once again why I don't like rum. Who drinks that shit? Turpentine has less fumes coming off of it. *Blech* to turpentine cake.
I'm coming to understand American cultural hegemony. I'm trying to find a Swedish internet radio stream that broadcasts in Swedish. I keep coming up with American songs.
-Jrl II-
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Wednesday, May 31st, 2006
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I saw the new X-Men movie this weekend. Rumor goes there's a scene after the credits roll. I caught an X-tra (haha, punny) blurry clip of it on youtube.
Woke up X-tremely (suffer!) early this morning to go to the dentist for my scheduled full mouth X-rays. Everything looks good, they say.
-Jrl II-
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| Time: | 10:01 am. |
| Mood: |  optimistic. |
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This week, I have become an investor. Whoo hoo! Well, it's only to the tune of $100, but I guess it's a start. As long as fed rates don't go up another three or four percent, and no one defaults, I might actually make a few bucks.
-Jrl II-
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| Time: | 8:45 am. |
| Mood: |  awake. |
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Remember when I said that my brother was going to be moving back up soon? Well, he's back, as of yesterday afternoon. And he brought his underage girlfriend with him. I've known it was going to happen for a week, I just hadn't written anything about it.
-Jrl II-
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drained.
devious.