Ash Plissken

Long-overdue update

2007-10-13T15:23:11Z

Just in case anybody is still subscribed to this thingy, I suppose it's about time I reported some significant events in my life.

On May 22, 2005, I went on my first date with Liz. We met on OkCupid, and went to the National Zoo, because the Zoo is awesome. Liz is the one who convinced me to get checked out for ADD, and what do you know--I turned out to have it. She's good at recognizing the symptoms, since literally her entire family has it. Now I'm on Concerta, and life is better.

On or about July 29, 2006, I proposed to her, also at the National Zoo. I had decided to do it next to the mara enclosure, because in addition to being the second-biggest rodent (after the capybara), maras are also the only species of rodent that mates for life. It seemed appropriate. As it happens, the mara enclosure is right in front of the gibbon habitat, and gibbons also mate for life. Now, if I'd really been thinking, I would have phrased the question, "will you be my mate for life?" but I didn't think of that until later. Give me a break; it was like 100 degrees out. The heat actually had be a little concerned that she might want to bail on the Zoo trip, in which case I would have had to insist, which might have made her suspicious. But she still wanted to go, so I lucked out there. Also, she said "yes"... so I got that going for me. Which is nice.

On April 21, 2007, we got married (not at the Zoo this time, but in a church). It occurs to me that we still need to get the video of that back from the videographers, so that I can remember more of what actually happened that day. Mostly, I remember being monumentally relieved, and that the cake was tasty. We had a cake topper with pocket dragons on it, and gave out assorted rubber duckies as favors.

July 21 (and 22), we moved into our new apartment. Sometime before our lease is up, we might even finish unpacking and putting away everything, but I wouldn't put money on it.

The path to mental health begins with but a single step.

2005-02-10T16:01:25Z

Well, now that it's been almost a year, I figured it was time to post again. :P Actually, it's because I had a reason that I figured people would be interested to know about.

For the first time since college, I have an appointment to see a psychologist. :) I finally did it. It's amazing how much easier some things seem after you've done them.

Hopefully, I will find out why I am the way I am, and how to become healthier. Wish me luck.

Well, that's that. :(

2004-03-10T22:43:47Z

Mom called me at work a few minutes ago. Grandma died this morning. :( I'm headed up there with my cousin and her husband tomorrow morning, instead of Friday.

I'm not crying yet... not sure why. It still feels kind of like it did when I didn't know how long she had, for some reason. No doubt that will all change when I actually see her.

I guess my increasingly close relationship with God is also helping. I'd rather she be with Him now than living the way she was for another year.

I love you all, friends. Take care of yourselves; I'll see you early next week.

Grim news

2004-02-17T03:29:11Z

Apparently, chemo isn't an option for Grandma's cancer after all, because the tumor is still there and it's too big. It's also inoperable, because it's too entangled with her bowels.

They estimate that she's got between 2-6 months left, and has a 2% chance of being alive at this time next year. :\

Of course, someone's got to make up that 2%, and Grandma's just the stubborn kind of person to do it. I'm still not taking any chances; Lynn and I are both going up there for Easter.

Your prayers and/or emotional support are appreciated.

Maybe I picked the wrong week...

2004-02-10T16:49:18Z

Bleh. I don't know what's up with my body. I'm way groggier than I should be this morning, and my stomach is crying out for salvation. Maybe I picked the wrong week to go on a diet.

Perhaps I'll eat lunch early today. This is CRAZY! (said in a Brian Fellow voice)

I've been trying to avoid memes, but...

2004-02-04T17:22:27Z

I took the OkCupid love quiz and just wanted to record it somewhere, especially because I was struck by how on the money it seemed to be. Some of those questions were hard to answer.

My result was...

The Slow Dancer
Deliberate Gentle Love Dreamer (DGLDm)

Steady, reliable, and cradling her tenderly. Take a deep breath, and let it out real easy...you are The Slow Dancer.

Your focus is love, not sex, and for your age, you have average experience. But you're a great, thoughtful guy, and your love life improves every year. There's also a powerful elimination process working in your favor: most Playboy types get stuck raising unwanted kids before you even begin settling down. The women left over will be hot and yours. Your ideal woman is someone intimate, intelligent, and very supportive.

While you're not exactly the life of the party, you do thrive in small groups of smart people. Your circle of friends is extra tight and it's HIGHLY likely they're just like you. You appreciate symmetry in relationships.

Your exact opposite:
The Hornivore

Random Brutal Sex Master

ALWAYS AVOID: The Battleaxe

CONSIDER: The Maid of Honor or The Sonnet

Not so good news.

2004-01-28T15:45:13Z

Well, Mom called last night, and the news was not so good. Grandma went back to the doctor about the obstruction in her colon, and as it turns out, it was a large tumor. Not much is known about it aside from that, but Mom said that it will most likely be treated with chemo, and that Grandma will probably have to end up with a colostomy.

I just hope they found it early enough that the treatment will be successful.

Correction: She now HAS an ileostomy (which is like a colostomy, but the surface is connected to the small intestine instead of the colon).

Tons o' fun

2004-01-26T15:53:08Z

As expected, the weekend was great. Friday night was a LAN party at Bud's (after which Justin and I crashed there, and ate breakfast and played a little more C&C Generals the following morning), Saturday was crazy game night at Dan's (involving 4-player Mechassault, 8-player Halo, and Munchkin, among other things), and last night was Nicole's Golden Globes party (which included some MIT people I hadn't seen for a while). Good times all around!

The part I hadn't planned on was the having a hangover this morning. Bleh. I drank a decent amount of water last night, but I guess it wasn't enough. It was enough to give me time to sober up before driving home, though, and that's the important thing.

Speaking of driving, it was slooooow going last night and this morning, what with the weather being as crappy as it is. Safety first.

Interesting dream

2004-01-22T18:37:54Z

I saw Big Fish last night with Chris, Nicole, Ben & Karen, and a woman I'd never met before named Kelly. I'm not sure how she knows everybody, but I guess I'll find out if she's at the Golden Globe party on Sunday.

Big Fish was very touching. I was already starting to cry about half an hour into it.

Then, this morning, I had a dream where I was at someone's house, watching TV with a few people, and this interesting show was on. There was a city that appeared to be populated by ghosts, and the first scene involved a busy bank (or something like a bank). The people waiting in line and the people leaving were able to walk right through each other, and the faster they moved, the more transparent they became. It was a really cool effect.

The interesting part began when the action focused on one particular ghost, who was talking to Gandalf. He said to him, "One of your hobbits has brought over an unintended species--a kender. May we call in your God of the Hunt?" Gandalf answered him, "Yes."

I was thinking, "Damn, this looks like it could turn out to be a cool show. I wish I knew the name of it." Then something else happened in the room, and when I turned back to the TV, it was showing nothing but silent static. Then I woke up.

A nice dream

2004-01-20T15:20:18Z

I may not be the biggest Liv Tyler fan in the world, but I had a dream this morning in which I was walking around a suburban neighborhood with her on a nice day, and I got to make out with her, and that was pretty cool.

Speaking of cool things, I haven't mentioned this yet, but I've been using an ergonomic split keyboard at work, and it's not as difficult to adjust to as I would have expected it to be. I think it's making me improve my touch-typing skills.

Last night...

2004-01-19T19:27:02Z

I watched Real Time with Bill Maher.

GOD, Al Sharpton is such a fucking idiot. He just has no clue at all.

Weird dreams from this morning

2004-01-15T19:33:28Z

The first one involved my parents' old house in NJ (as, it seems, many of my dreams do). There was a documentary on TV about laurenlall's</span> moving to Texas, and for some reason, it was on Comedy Central. Anyway, there were quite a large number of PVPers throwing a party for her, and somehow the party ended up being in my parents' living room. The alarming part was that at least three of them had brought dogs with them, without asking first. The dogs ended up being fine (no cats were spotted until after they had left). Then one of the cats started chasing a mouse around the house at very high speeds, and I woke up.

Then, there was a dream involving some church-related thing. It seemed to involve both my sister (who works for her own church back in NJ and frequently sends me Jars Of Clay CDs), and groups from the church I go to locally. Anyway, there was some kind of retreat taking place in a vast building with many rooms, and I wasn't sure which room I was supposed to meet in, so I checked a list. Interestingly, I was on the list not under my real name, but as Ash Plissken (although they spelled it with one s). So I went to the appropriate room, and it was obviously some kind of singles session for the purpose of chatting up members of the opposite sex, but in a church-appropriate context. It was very surreal. I was sitting on some bleachers with two friendly women, one of them leaned her head on my shoulder, and then I woke up.

Work's going okay, but I really need to start getting up earlier. This is not going to cut it.

WHOOOOOOO!

2004-01-15T01:41:51Z

Finally passed the final, and unlocked the Light Tactical Vehicle! Got it on the first try tonight. I was, as they say, in the Zone.

It's a minor accomplishment, but it brings me joy.

Whooo!

You have to appreciate the little things.

2004-01-13T18:44:46Z

Like the fact that the 2-hour final round of Celebrity Poker Showdown is on at 8 tonight! Good, good stuff. Can't wait!

I finished everything in MM2 except for the San Fran final exam. I think I'll be able to do it eventually if I just keep trying; I almost DID finish it once, but I missed the last checkpoint, not realizing in time that it was off to the left side of the highway. Argh. I'm getting better at not screwing up the middle part, though.

It turns out that the paint job unlocked by Midterm 2 was not the green fire truck, but the "Groovy" double decker bus.

Midtown Madness 2 be danged

2004-01-12T18:19:08Z

I spent many hours this weekend trying to unlock all of the cars and paint jobs. I got all except the Humvee, the Classic Chrome paint job for the Mustang Fastback, and another paint job for something else (I think it's the green paint job for the fire truck). Those things are going to be absolute bastards to get, due to the way in which they must be gotten.

The first thing I have to do is pass Midterm 2 of the San Francisco Stunt Driver course, which involves ramming a pickup truck into submission, and then escaping from cops and reaching a checkpoint before the time runs out. Since I only accomplished either of those tasks after more than 20 tries in the preceding lessons, and even then just by the skin of my teeth, I am not optimistic about the number of tries this is going to take me.

Hmmmm

2004-01-07T15:56:48Z

The only things I remember about my dream this morning are as follows:

-Trying to hotwire my car, and hitting the wrong wires (probably because I watched National Security last night)
-Being on a Real World-type show, but where people get voted off (probably because I watched "The Real World" last night)
-Strapping on something that I found by the side of the road (like a discarded water heater, but lighter) that allowed me to fly for some reason
-Superman coming after me for throwing a hammer at someone while flying.

Your guess is as good as mine.

I think this is turning out to be very good.

2004-01-06T22:51:03Z

There are several ways in which I think coming out to the new location to work is going to end up being a good thing.

1. Return to a cubicle environment. Before, I was at a point where I was hardly ever motivated to leave my office and interact with people. Now, I'm sitting closer to other people, and we have easier access to each other. It just seems like a friendlier situation.

2. When I'm not at my desk, I work in a lab with the lead engineer right there next to me, so it's easy to ask as many questions as I need to about what I'm working on.

3. In part because of that fact, I expect to have a better feeling that I know what I'm doing, which always helps me to enjoy the work more.

4. It's a fresh start in general. A whole new group of people to make a good impression on and be sociable with, which is a nice opportunity since (as mentioned above) I didn't socialize much with the old group anymore.

5. The commute is now going in the opposite direction from most people, so even if I work normal hours it's not bad! :D

6. There are staff meetings every Monday at 0900, so I have to make myself get up and start keeping more normal hours, which I expect will be good for me on the whole.

To summarize: Woo hoo! ^_^

Whee, and furthermore, doggies.

2004-01-05T22:18:12Z

Started my new gig in Chantilly today.

So far, so good!

A dream

2003-12-31T16:40:56Z

I had a dream this morning that started out with me being back at my high school (even though it's now a middle school, and the high school is somewhere else now). I was definitely "just visiting" as an alumnus, but for some reason I think I still had a class schedule to stick to. I spent most of the time hanging out and shooting the shit with my Latin teacher, Mr. Rizzo.

The weird part was that there seemed to be a mostly-cooled lavaflow on its way down a hill towards the school. I was the only one who seemed at all concerned, and my level of concern was surprisingly low, since the school building seemed completely able to take it.

Then, after a pointless conversation with another guy in my old Latin class about the cooling of the lava, which resulted in my practicing hammering railroad spikes in a school courtyard, the dream included actress Robyn Lively, in two roles: once as a student at my school, and once as herself, in some kind of authority/detective role. There was a point where both of her were standing there staring at each other, and I thought they were going to kiss.

At this point, the dream had pretty much ceased to be about high school in any way, and turned into an odd version of the movie The Golden Child. I seemed to be sharing the Eddie Murphy role with Eddie himself. I think my old church in New Jersey got involved in it somehow.

That's about all I remember.

Ooog

2003-12-31T04:15:27Z

I might have to skip the NYE trip to NYC tomorrow. :(

I just got back from dinner with Chris, Kath and Anne (and Chris's co-worker Rob, as it turned out), and I could feel myself starting to get car-sick. If my head still feels tomorrow like it feels right now, I don't think I will be able to handle a 5-hour car ride. :(

That would suck. Obviously I really want to go, but I'd better do what's wise rather than what I want. *sigh*

Hmmmm

2003-12-30T20:28:18Z

Okay, so I guess it's about time I started using this thing.

It's not going to be anything fancy, but I need to decide what kind of journal it's going to be. I think maybe I will use it as an honest-to-God journal, where I just record the events of my life insofar as they are fit for public consumption. I've been meaning to start a dream journal too, so I think I will record those here too.

So here we go. I got back from Christmas at the Farm (my parents' and grandmother's house in rural PA) yesterday. Met with Eric (one of my fraternity bros) near Pittsburgh on the way back, for lunch. It was good seeing him, as always. We chatted a bit about some other brothers with whom we stay in contact, as well as some with whom one or both of us has fallen out of touch. After getting home, I spent most of the evening watching TV with my roommate and a friend of his, and eating delicious wings from Glory Days.

Today, I received some bad news from said roommate's girlfriend, that he had broken up with her on Saturday after 7 years. Ecch. What a mess. I don't want to take sides, it just sounds like an unfortunate situation all around.

The plan for tonight is to hang out with Chris (best friend, lives 10 minutes away) and Kath (visiting from out of state) and Anne (Kath's friend who lives in Maryland). Can normally expect a good time with that bunch. Plan for tomorrow is to drive up to NYC with Chris and Kath, and party on New Year's Eve with Ed (Chris's college roommate) and, presumably, their other MIT friends. Also predicted to be a fun time.