Friday, December 31, 2004

I've updated the blog template a bit. I've compacted it to make better use of space. There was a lot of wasted whitespace under the title because of how my tables were laid out and because of certain image sizes. Because of image caching the border may look "squished". If it does you'll need to reload the graphics on the page via Ctrl-R.

posted by pookzilla at 5:06 PM - 4 comments

I've spent much of the day in bed. My lungs are rattling and I fall into fits of coughing that I am convinced will spell the end of me. I am glad that I didn't plan anything for tonight. But then, I never plan anything for New Years. It's a stubborn tradition I intend to maintain. Humbug.

My Gilbert and Sullivan set has shipped, much to my displeasure. I was hoping they'd hold it until next week but now it looks like it may be delivered for Monday when the office is closed. I'm not sure what will happen with it. Blech.

posted by pookzilla at 4:28 PM - 0 comments

Thursday, December 30, 2004

I bit the bullet and donated $5 to become a MetaFilter member. By their standards I suspect I have absolutely nothing to offer but I felt the need to secure my nickname. Maybe one day I will be able to form a submission that won't have me flamed for being a n00b.

In other news, there really isn't a mood that a good chai latte can't improve. I trekked down to Starbucks to fetch some and it has really perked me up.

Also worthy of note (and scorn I'm sure): My Gilbert and Sullivan box set is shipping soon.

posted by pookzilla at 5:03 PM - 0 comments

If there's one thing that I've enjoyed this holiday it's my regular napping with Cthulhu. He's such a sweetie. Whenever I go for a nap he does too. I guess it's easy for him. After all, he does manage to sleep 90% of the day. Speaking of naps, it's time for one now.

posted by pookzilla at 1:05 PM - 1 comment

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

For what it's worth I deleted my Womanline account. As they say, "if wishes were fishes we'd walk on the sea."

Edit: Actually, they rejected my edits so I actually had to go and delete my profile. I would have preferred to leave a skeletal profile but it's hardly worth worrying about.

posted by pookzilla at 8:11 PM - 0 comments

I called the tattoo shop to see if they'd heard from Sarah and they had! She's in such a remote area that she didn't even know there had been a tsunami/earthquake. This makes me very, very relieved. It's cruel that so many other people can't feel this way at this time. :(

posted by pookzilla at 5:02 PM - 2 comments

Aaron says:
apparently most of my team is in work today

Pookzilla says:
better get going

Aaron says:
no, I just suggested that my made a start on my work

Pookzilla says:
think before you type

Aaron says:
woah

Aaron says:
no, I just suggesred that they made a start on my work

Pookzilla says:
take 3

Aaron says:
FFS

Aaron says:
I give up

Pookzilla says:
hahahaha

Aaron says:
you'll just have to talk to yourself in future

posted by pookzilla at 1:21 PM - 6 comments

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Could I possibly be more excited? Nope!

posted by pookzilla at 9:08 AM - 0 comments

I had another terrible dream last night. For some reason I was in highschool and I was wearing a bath towel. I had my backpack with me and in it were my clothes but I couldn't find a private place to put them on. I kept looping around, trying to avoid the crowds until finally I found a classroom that only had 3 people in it. I asked them if they could leave for a moment while I changed and they agreed. I opened my backpack to discover... they clothes weren't there. I woke up with a cry at this point. Blah, that is so lame.

posted by pookzilla at 7:38 AM - 2 comments

Monday, December 27, 2004

It's been very dry in the apartment now that we have the heat on most of the time. My cats coat has been looking... oh, what's the word? Disgusting. Yes, that will do. Anyway, one of the ways we used to keep his coat in good shape was to give him cod liver oil. He hates it, but it really does make a difference. So today at 4pm I mix a capsule of cod liver into his food. I mention this to K and she says "Hey! I did that this morning!" Great minds think alike right? Anyway, she called the vet to see if that will hurt him. Because of his size he should be OK. Maybe an upset tummy and the shits, but nothing serious. Phew.

posted by pookzilla at 5:34 PM - 4 comments

I painted today! I finished the base colours for my Celestine and totally finished off my Chronogladiator. He looks spectacular, if I might say so. I am really happy with his skin tone. I managed to dirty him up in such a way (using layers of very thinned black) that it looks like his veins are visible beneith his skin. I need to go back and try the technique on my Arcoflagellant.

posted by pookzilla at 4:06 PM - 1 comment

I had a very bad dream last night. I dreamed I went to this convention/dinner/dance/"gathering" with a guy who I considered my best friend growing up. We became seperated and much fo the dream involved running around looking for him. See, he was my ride home, and without him I'd be stranded. Along the way I ran into someone else I knew. Keep in mind this girl was not my friend growing up. She was a prissy bitch who loved nothing better than to hurt those around her. In my dream she was an absolute peach, however. She tried to help me find my friend but eventually had to leave herself. She offered me a ride home and a place to stay but I couldn't - my friend would wait for me unnecessarily. So back into the crowd I went but by now the crowd was thinning and I was becoming frantic. Eventually there were only a handful of people left and the lights were going out. I had to break a window to cause an alarm to go off in order to get out. The police came and took me away. I never did manage to get home or see my friend again.

posted by pookzilla at 7:55 AM - 3 comments

Sunday, December 26, 2004

I was all keyed up to go back to work tomorrow when I realized that I have both it and Tuesday off. I'm pretty bored with my holiday. I don't do them well and this one has been particularly hard to deal with. I've caught myself working several times now. If I'm gonna do that I might as well be at work. And yet... the office is closed.

I suppose I could always go downtown. I have a craving for chai so perhaps I could spend the day loafing at a coffee shop. I could also try and follow Aarons lead by painting some models. I havn't done that in a very long time. Blah.

posted by pookzilla at 9:26 PM - 0 comments

Hoping that Sarah isn't one of those lost in Asia. What a terrible tragedy.

posted by pookzilla at 1:08 PM - 0 comments

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Merry Christmas!

I made off like a frickin' bandit this year. From my parents I got a batch of homemade shortbread cookies and a cheque. From K I got a pretty necklace and charm. From X I received the crazy little stuffed baby Nyarlathotep. From Kayetie I received my first Ani Di Franco CD (To the Teeth) and a pair of books that meant a LOT to me as a child - the first two books from Yoshiko Uchida's "Rinko" series. From Aaron I got a heart attack in the form of a pair of Bang and Olufsen earphones, a bag of tea hand-picked by monkeys and a box of jellybeans. I guess Santa thought I was good this year.

posted by pookzilla at 9:01 AM - 4 comments

Friday, December 24, 2004

I called my parents to wish them happy holidays and was greeted to a talk with every member of my family that's still in Nova Scotia. Three brothers (two of whome I mixed up - they all sound alike), a sister, a half-dozen or so neices and nephews, a great-nephew and assorted inlaws where applicable. All of these people were packed into my parents tiny little town home. I don't know how they'd all fit without using grease and a shoehorn. Their poor cat must be terrified.

posted by pookzilla at 5:35 PM - 0 comments

Dear Santa,

I know it's late but there's something that I REALLY want for Christmas. Please grant my Green Bay Packers the ability to make a tackle. Just a couple, here and there. It would really make my day.

Sincerely,

Pook.

Edit: Well, you didn't deliver good tackling but I appreciate the win!

posted by pookzilla at 4:25 PM - 1 comment

Aarons gift arrived today! Hooray! There were three neatly wrapped little packaged in the parcel and a very cool card (that actually matched the wrapping paper - you woman you). The card has an elaborate pop-up figure skater on a pond. That certainly beats the bawdy elf card I sent him. :)

posted by pookzilla at 1:40 PM - 2 comments

Thursday, December 23, 2004

I am up to 33 stars in Mario DS out of a total of 150. I still remember how to do most levels from the Mario 64 days but a few of them have new twists specific to each character. For instance, for my last star I had to use Wario. He's particularly strong and can break things that the other characters cant. I used him to bust a bunch of big rocks that didn't exist in Mario 64 (as far as I recall). Hooray! Incidentally, I think he's my favorite character if only because he walks like he has hemorrhoids.

I'm going to have to go out to the grocery store tomorrow for a few last minute items such as peanut butter and pie filling. I also need to stop by the post office to pick up a parcel that the Post Office buffoons never bothered to try and deliver. Could it be that I'll have another present under the tree for Saturday?

posted by pookzilla at 8:02 PM - 2 comments

I am so very aggitated and I can't figure out why. I have the urge to pace around the apartment whist cursing and swearing. I could really go for some fist shaking too.

posted by pookzilla at 11:56 AM - 2 comments

My holiday has started with a viewing of Shaun of the Dead and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Shaun is as excellent as I remember it being and Christmas Vacation is still cool despite the fact that I've seen it 4 times already this season. For instance...

"I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane, with all the other rich people, and I want him brought right here with a big ribbon on his head. And, I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no good, rotten, floor-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed, sack of monkey shit he is! Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the Tylenol?"

posted by pookzilla at 10:38 AM - 0 comments

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

I am home for the holidays. Huzzah!

posted by pookzilla at 4:33 PM - 1 comment

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Now that it's official I suppose I should mention this... I will be presenting a session at EclipseCon regarding scalability within the eclipse user interface. This means I'll be in San Francisco for the first week of March. Hooray! I'm so scared! I havn't had to speak in front of a crowd in quite a very long time. I hope I don't freeze up. I hope I don't come across as an airhead. I hope I don't crap my pants.

posted by pookzilla at 7:57 PM - 3 comments

I foolishly went to the mall today. It was going well while I stood in line to pay for Shaun of the Dead. The store was playing The Clash (London Calling) and people were chipper. When I finished my purhcase I stood waiting for K in the mall proper. It was then that the flowing eddies of human offal overtook me. Sounds became muted and then tunnel vision crept in. For all purposes I was a meat puppet. Sigh. Sometimes I think this anxiety problem is getting better and at other times I know I'm just kidding myself. It's funny that I was OK while buying the DVD, however. I wonder if music can keep my mind level.

posted by pookzilla at 5:12 PM - 2 comments

It's 5:45am and I feel great. For some reason I feel completely refreshed. Given that I didn't get in until 10:45 last night I'm not sure how that is possible. Perhaps 12 hours of Lord of the Rings has some kind of theraputic value.

posted by pookzilla at 5:45 AM - 1 comment

Monday, December 20, 2004

So... much... Lord of the Rings. When I get home tonight (if it happens tonight) my dreams will be flavoured in a very particular manner.

posted by pookzilla at 9:00 PM - 0 comments

I'm working from home today. It's too cold to be alive. Besides, I was just going to work on a little presentation that it looks like I'll be giving in a few months.

And yes... my comment system is broken. It appears my hosting provider changed something that PHP doesn't like.

Edit: Actually, I dont think it will fix itself. It appears my hosting provider has set the PHP variable allow_url_fopen to false. GRRR. Oh well. It's a simple change to not rely on that support (and it should speed things up to boot). If you see anything broken please let me know.

posted by pookzilla at 8:11 AM - 4 comments

Sunday, December 19, 2004

People have been nagging me to change the look of the website so I've relented. Here is the work in progress. Keep in mind that the chair is a placeholder. I have something much more interesting (and sinister) in mind. I'm going to try and render it over the holidays. It's interesting how much darker my attitudes have become since the last redesign. There is no chance for a bunny ass this time around.

posted by pookzilla at 2:23 PM - 2 comments

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. Man is it miserable out. It's -17C with blowing snow and the windchill is hovering around -30C. This is not ideal weather for doing anything outside but we went and fetched groceries for the next week nonetheless. As far as I know the only thing that needs purchasing before Christmas is Shaun of the Dead.

It's reasonably warm in the apartment today but I still want to crawl into bed and snuggle with the cat. Perhaps I'll play some more Mario DS. I am astounded at how well the controls work. I was concerned that that it'd be quite awkward playing Mario 64 with a touch screen but it turns out it's very easy. I'm up to 10 stars already and I've only died once.

posted by pookzilla at 1:23 PM - 1 comment

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Ralph Klein is a tit.

posted by pookzilla at 8:33 PM - 5 comments

Memo to Billy:

I have my Nintendo DS (or is it a waffle iron?)... where's yours?

posted by pookzilla at 1:48 PM - 6 comments

Friday, December 17, 2004

I just had Chinese food delivered. I picked a schezwan tofu dish with chilis. HOLY CRAP WAS IT HOT. I don't usually react to hot food but this was borderline painful for me. My mouth is still burning and I can't feel my lips. Good stuff! I can't wait to have it again.

posted by pookzilla at 7:12 PM - 1 comment

Thanks go out to X for a most excellent Christmas present.... an outer god! I give you baby Nyarlathotep!
He will guard my office along with my frightening kitten and my Cthulhu slippers.

M4 shipped. This is good. It went VERY smooth. The smoothest milestone I can recall, in fact.

The Christmas party went well today. There was lots of good food and little children. It's funny how much like a cat a child is. They always like to be under your feet and can be disturbingly silent.

posted by pookzilla at 4:31 PM - 0 comments

Thursday, December 16, 2004

One more sleep until M4!!! *cough* Sorry, I'm very happy that this milestone is almost over. I am really looking forward to the next week of downtime. I'll still be working, but it should be at a very relaxed pace.

posted by pookzilla at 6:11 PM - 1 comment

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Some ambitious fool really needs to put together an eclipse plug-in suite for creating Firefox extensions. That would SO Rock the Kasbah. The Firefox extension framework seems so complicated (and underdocumented) at first blush.

posted by pookzilla at 8:10 PM - 3 comments

The office Christmas party is this Friday. Virtually everyone at work is married with children. I am single with a cat. I can't bring my cat.

posted by pookzilla at 6:07 PM - 4 comments

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Guh. Walking in this cold weather is killing me. Stupid asthma. I feel like my lungs are going to fall out at the moment. I felt the same way walking to work. I wasn't sure I was going to make it at one point. I couldn't find my inhaler in my purse and I was starting to panic a bit. I had to slow down and try to calm myself but it wasn't easy. Dying on the side of the road from a lack of oxygen and a surplus of panic is not how I want to go out.

posted by pookzilla at 5:21 PM - 5 comments

Monday, December 13, 2004

I've finally been talked into giving work a rest for the night. Of course, this has nothing to do with me accomplishing what I was trying to do. Nothing at all. It was all about the nagging. :) Incidentally, it was a test to verify that this bug is fixed. You may not find it exciting but it required writing a new session test layer for our test suites. That mechanism was a long time coming.

posted by pookzilla at 7:16 PM - 1 comment

Between the dreams, the coughing, and the cat tearing at the carpet (just out of arms reach, of course) I managed to get negative sleep last night. I feel like 50 miles of bad road. I've been up for about 30 minutes now and the cough is starting to go away but I doubt that's going to make a serious diffrence overall. I figure I'm going to work from home today. It's the milestone week, but today is only the warmup build. I shouldn't be missed too much. I'm going to get ahold of my (regular) doctor today and schedule an appointment to talk about the sleep problemm as well as get an overall checkup. It's been a few years since my last checkup.

posted by pookzilla at 6:44 AM - 1 comment

Sunday, December 12, 2004

In other news... I really wish I could completely eradicate my sex drive. Finding someone attractive does me absolutely NO GOOD. I generally have things under wraps but I really hate being tested. I can't help but feel terribly hopeless. Nothing good can possibly come from it. Of course this begs the question: why do I bother with womenline? Probably because I know it won't go anywhere. Blah. I'm bummed.

posted by pookzilla at 2:05 PM - 0 comments

Oh god. I couldn't imagine being more tired. I had fun last night. I think. I don't remember much past 10pm except that we watched Bad Santa (and no, Aaron, I didn't drink). Two post-midnight days is totally overwhelming me. But I may have a reason why...

My father was diagnosed with sleep apnea. He stops breathing when he's sleeping 15 times an hour. Each of these stoppages can last for up to a minute. Needless to say, this makes your sleep next to useless. And it's also hereditary. I need to get tested for this. It would explain SO much.

Still on the topic of sleep, I had terrible dreams last night as well. I dreamed that the guys at work and I were CSIs and we put together a murder case against my tattoo artist. After the case was in trial I realized we screwed up and that she was innocent. I was screaming, ranting and raving but no one would listen to me. They wanted to convict. I don't remember too much else except that I quit and drew her pictures.

posted by pookzilla at 9:09 AM - 2 comments

Saturday, December 11, 2004

I won at Settlers of Catan last night! I came in first in a group of 9 people and my prize was a travel edition of the game. Not too shabby for someone who's never played before, I must say. I'm going to bring it into work so we can play over lunch hours if Halo ever gets stale.

In other news I have Cthulhu slippers!
Cthulhu Sluppies!! Cthulhu Sluppies!!

How cool are they? I also bought Chez Goth, although I don't really know why. This will also live at work.

I am thoroughly unimpressed with the snow that is accumulating outside. Thoroughly.

posted by pookzilla at 9:08 AM - 3 comments

Friday, December 10, 2004

I'm afraid I may be getting sick. I have this suspicious little tickle in my chest that is getting progressivly worse. Blech.

It's going to be a very busy weekend. I'm going to a co-workers tonight to play Settlers of Catan. I've never played this game before but it looks quite fun. Tomorrow night is X's housewarming party. Somehow I also need to order a freerange turkey from the meat market downtown and then shop for groceries. All of this while dealing with 342 feet of fresh-fallen snow and freezing rain.

I am not optimistic.

Needless to say I am being slow this morning. I slept very poorly and I'm finding it hard to motivate myself into moving. I planed on going to my co-workers tonight directly from work around 7PM so I don't feel the need to rush but still...

posted by pookzilla at 6:59 AM - 8 comments

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

My little wakey-wakey session last night really knocked me on my ass at work today. I was very zombie-like. Thankfully the week is almost over. In an interesting paradox, I regret that the week is almost over. Next week is milestone week and I didn't quite get everything in that I was hoping for. I have the majority of it sitting in my workspace ready to go, but I dont want to check so much in near the end of the milestone - fluxy-fluxy is bad.

I havn't played Halo in ages. I really want to, but I'm always so bloody tired. I just can't seem to stay up past 8-9 at all anymore.

posted by pookzilla at 6:40 PM - 2 comments

I can't sleep. I was dreaming that people were logging bug defects against my personality. It was distressing. I also have the munchies.

posted by pookzilla at 3:24 AM - 3 comments

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

I'd like to share with you all some culinary advice that may go unmentioned in your day to day schoolings. The advice is as follows: thai hot and sour soup is best taken internally via the mouth, not the eyesocket. Oh the pain.

I've been getting pretty good at DDR on the Beginner level so I figured I'd try out the Light level today. OMG. It is SO not light. My mind does not move that fast, let alone my legs.

I checked in some more regressions. I suck! Yay!

posted by pookzilla at 7:19 PM - 0 comments

Monday, December 06, 2004

One of the women I messaged yesterday got back to me. We havn't talked much, but at least she responded.

There were two excellent headlines on Fark today - "The militants walked in for Jeddah jazz. I said, he ain’t here, but he sure went past. Oh, you’re looking for Jeddah jazz" and "Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito. Yo te quiero, oh mi corazon". It's a good day to be a Clash fan.

posted by pookzilla at 5:01 PM - 1 comment

Sunday, December 05, 2004

I sent out three messages on the dating site today. Zero replies. I think I know how the San Francisco 49'ers feel. Capital L loser.

posted by pookzilla at 2:06 PM - 4 comments

Saturday, December 04, 2004

Another Salvo in the War Between Mekong and Mitzi's

As I was sitting in Mekong today enjoying my crispy beef and satay vegetables who should come in for a meal? Former Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien (as seen here roughing up a protestor). Incidentally, he too ordered the crispy beef.

So X... How many former Prime Ministers have you seen eat at Mitzi's? :)

posted by pookzilla at 2:46 PM - 3 comments

Friday, December 03, 2004

About two months ago I purchased Lost in Translation and I finally managed to watch it this evening. Fantastic film. Bill Murray is a genius. I found myself in awe of how well I could relate to his character because I too often feel completely out of touch with my environment. I imagine that I come across looking as confused, as awkward and as lost as he did. Of course, I've never gotten the chance to kiss Scarlet Johansson so his character has a clear advantage over me.

posted by pookzilla at 9:25 PM - 1 comment

It turns out I wasn't quite as productive as I thought I was this week. It turns out I checked in some pretty serious regressions. Whoops!

posted by pookzilla at 6:57 PM - 0 comments

One of the reasons I wanted iTunes so badly was so that I could purchase Ani DiFranco albums for less than $30 a piece. I am defeated - iTunes Canada does not have any of her albums. :(

posted by pookzilla at 6:57 AM - 4 comments

Thursday, December 02, 2004

If this is legit then there are some folks in New York in serious need of defiling.

posted by pookzilla at 7:19 PM - 0 comments

iTunes has finally come to Canada! Hooray! I just did my first purchase - two bonus tracks from Rancid's Indestructible that weren't on the CD and Green Day's American Idiot. It was incredibly easy... 2 minutes to register and then just "buy now" from within iTunes itself. Very slick.

Speaking of slick, I played more DDR. My cat really hates it. He starts to attack the pad and jump at every little sound. Silly puddy. Oh... incidentally... DDR is easier and less painful if I hold my boobs in place. Oi.

posted by pookzilla at 6:39 PM - 6 comments

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

DDR arrived today. I played it for about 1/2 hour after I got home. Observations:
  • it is REALLY REALLY hard
  • I am REALLY REALLY out of shape
I was sweating like a pig by the time I was done. It's quite fun. Now if I can keep this up perhaps I can lose some of the spare tire that has settled around my waistline.

posted by pookzilla at 6:24 PM - 6 comments