Monthly Archives: June 2005

Back to School

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My first day on the new project is over, and it went pretty well as far as I can tell. I’m really excited about the project itself (which I can’t say anything about because of all the NDA’s and such), [...]

My first day on the new project is over, and it went pretty well as far as I can tell. I’m really excited about the project itself (which I can’t say anything about because of all the NDA’s and such), although that excitement is probably causing me to show off more of my Disney fandom than I’d like to. Hey, my career strategy so far has been “try to get a job at a company you’re a fan of and then work the hell out of it until you’re burnt out,” and that’s worked out okay so far.

The environment seems to strike a good balance between professional and super-talented, and laid-back. I’m still wary of getting too excited about any job after working for LucasArts, but so far all signs point to yes.

There’s going to be more travel down here to LA than I’d expected, but that’s probably an advantage. The bad side is my anti-LA bias that I’ve already made apparent; the good side is that it’s nice to actually see the people you’re working with. Plus, it should help structure my time better than “wake up, pour Coke, smoke cigarette, turn on computer, begin working.” And of course all that time spent on BART and at airports is life-affirming, in much the same way that people waking up from year-long comas resolve to live more fulfilling lives.

So now I’ve just got to figure out what to do with any down time in LA I might have. I’ve gotten some suggestions so far that I’ll try to check out. I’m not much of a club guy anyway, and going to nightclubs alone in a foreign city seems… well, I’ll probably end up doing it, but not until I’ve exhausted my theme park opportunities. The LaBrea Tar Pits are out because I hate redundancy; I would only go there to use a nearby ATM machine and type in my PIN number. And Santa Monica and the coast are out because I don’t like beaches (so I guess you could say I’m a playa hater)*.

*If you’re here from a link on the SDMB: yes, that’s the second time I’ve used that lame pun. Get your own blog if you think you can do better!

I'm Moderately Displeased with LA

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Turns out my hotel is a short hike from Universal Studios. I can do without the theme park — I’m assuming it’s pretty much the same as Orlando’s version — but having the City Walk relatively close to the hotel [...]

Turns out my hotel is a short hike from Universal Studios. I can do without the theme park — I’m assuming it’s pretty much the same as Orlando’s version — but having the City Walk relatively close to the hotel is a nice bonus.

Last time I went to the City Walk was over an E3 weekend, and I ended up seeing Battlefield Earth with some coworkers. So my memories of the place are traumatic at best. But tonight, my flight was delayed two hours, so I didn’t get in until after 10 PM. The place is a lot more subdued at 10 PM on a Tuesday; no crowds to speak of, and the loud, giant TV screen was playing Alison Krauss videos instead of that loud hippity-hop music all the kids like. Plus, getting in late meant none of the arriving-in-LA-after-a-six-hour-drive-to-find-sinus-clogging-heat syndrome. Just a short flight into an airport named after Bob Hope, which was playing “Dead Man’s Party” (interesting choice for an airport) and other 80′s songs on the PA system, and a reasonably easy suburban drive to a theme park hotel, all in clear 70-degree weather.

You could even say it’s “pleasant.”

But internet access from the hotel is ten bucks a night. Garrr! Fucking LA!

Some Alone Time with Mickey

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You’ve just quit your job, spent a month unemployed, and turned old! What are you going to do now? I’m going to Disneyland on Thursday, which proves that even something as awful as having to go to Los Angeles can [...]

You’ve just quit your job, spent a month unemployed, and turned old! What are you going to do now?

I’m going to Disneyland on Thursday, which proves that even something as awful as having to go to Los Angeles can have a silver lining. They’ve had a big 50th Anniversary celebration, and I’ve been curious to see what all is going on, but afraid to go because of the crowds. Hopefully on a weekday, it’ll be less insane. (Walt Disney World over the week after Memorial Day was nuts).

Used to be that the idea of going to a Disney park by myself would just seem miserable, but now I’m actually kind of looking forward to it. I hope that’s a sign that I’m just getting more mature, not that I’m getting more creepy anti-social.

Thirty-Four

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One more year down without my dying, but I sure gave it the old college try last night. I hung out with a bunch of friends at the Crow Bar for a repeat of last year’s birthday. I’d said last [...]

One more year down without my dying, but I sure gave it the old college try last night. I hung out with a bunch of friends at the Crow Bar for a repeat of last year’s birthday. I’d said last year I wasn’t going to do that again — said it on the internets, as a matter of fact — but last Monday around 2 AM I decided I’d better do something to celebrate it.

Early reports say I had a good time last night, but I’m not the one to ask. I do remember what seemed like dozens of people asking me repeatedly if I needed another drink, and considering how much it hurts to type right now, I must’ve answered “yes” every time. Based on the contents of my pockets, I went to a restaurant that serves sugar — I have vague memories of lasagna (at least, I hope that was lasagna) and I hope that I paid for it or that someone paid for it on my behalf.

As much as I’m enjoying the Memento-like intrigue of this morning, standard apologies for anything inappropriate you believe I said or did and can convince me that I really did say or do it. And if for some reason you’re reading this and are just now hearing about it, because I was putting the invite together around 2 AM from an address book that hasn’t been synched up in 6 months and I neglected to invite you, then apologies go double.

Everyone who showed up: thanks loads for coming out! I had a blast, it was a great way to celebrate the birthday, and I really appreciate your coming. Everyone who didn’t show up or I forgot to invite: don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything.

Now I’m going to lie down and see how long it takes Advil to start working.

Cards v0.1

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A while ago, Rain was saying that she didn’t have a version of solitaire for the Macintosh I made her buy. So I offered to write one. There are plenty of versions already out there, but I have my reasons. [...]

A while ago, Rain was saying that she didn’t have a version of solitaire for the Macintosh I made her buy. So I offered to write one. There are plenty of versions already out there, but I have my reasons. I’ll list them, in fact:

  1. I’ve never seen a freeware one that’s as lightweight and simple as the versions that come free with Windows.
  2. I need practice with Java and still need to learn Mac OS X programming.
  3. I can mess around with the images.
  4. I believe that all game programmers are required by law to have written a version of solitaire or Tetris at one point.
  5. Just felt like it, okay?

So here it is. (That’s a direct link to the zip file). It only runs on Mac OS X, and it’s very simple but still kinda large and slow what with the images and with its being written in Java and all. I think it works; I tested it until I got sick of playing Klondike. One thing: double-clicking on a card or stack of cards will immediately move it to the first location where it fits.

Plans for future improvement, if I ever get around to it:

  • Add FreeCell.
  • Animate the cards moving into place instead of just popping them there.
  • Save the state of the game when you shut down the app.
  • Add Blackjack and maybe Poker.

Also note that the card back images of Vincent D’onofrio and Mark Ruffalo (no, I can’t tell them apart, either) were at the request of my patron.