Teenage ambitions… of being a writer
Recently, I found an old book I've had since middle school. This book is kind of special to me, partly because it was autographed "To Jeffrey" by the author when I met him, but also because it reminded me of one of the first pieces of fiction I'd ever written (well, that I can recall, at least).
These are a few of my favorite things
Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 1984. I’m six (“and a half!”) years old, and this is the year I would discover some seriously cool stuff: Transformers and G.I. Joe. While G.I. Joe had debuted two years earlier, and my older brother, Kevin, doubtless had some of the toys, I didn’t really notice that stuff until after I’d turned six. At this point, I was beginning to become one of the “big kids,” and my tastes in toys reflected that. The fact that, a year later in 1985, both toy lines would have TV shows – which were, really, little better than half-hour-long daily commercials for said toys – certainly aided in my discovery. That year also saw the release of a new cartoon in the U.S.: Robotech, and by 1986, I’d also discovered Voltron, another Japanese import. Add these to my existing love of the Star Wars toys, and I’m shocked my mother was able to refrain from causing physical harm to myself or my brother whenever we happened to pass a toy aisle when we’d go shopping.
Some thoughts on “Battle: Los Angeles”
I finally got around to seeing Battle: Los Angeles today. I don't see too many movies in the theater anymore, largely because it's gotten so expensive, but also because it requires a fair amount of planning and effort to actually go to the theater, rather than streaming something on Netflix or grabbing a DVD from the Redbox kiosk after checking out at the grocery store. So, I used a coupon code to get a free rental from Redbox, and I chose Battle: Los Angeles. I'd heard a few good things about it online when it came out, and the premise seemed promising enough: follow a squad of Marines in Los Angeles during an alien invasion.
My first thoughts were summed up fairly well in a post I made on Facebook shortly after finishing the movie: "Wow. That was pretty good. Better than I'd expected, in fact. The shaky-cam was a little annoying at times, but I actually didn't even notice it throughout most of the film."
Star Trek Online, all night long…
I couldn't sleep tonight, so I decided to take on a mission in Star Trek Online... seems I bit off more than I could chew on that one.
Oh, it started off just fine. In fact, I had no problems at all until the end of the mission, when one of the Klingons turned out to be an Undine shapeshifter and it sent me up against an Undine dreadnought and four frigates. Alone. In a light cruiser. Oh, yeah, that ended well... after getting my @$$ thoroughly kicked about a dozen times, I finally dropped the mission; I'll have to try it again once I've got a (much) bigger ship.
But, alas, I couldn't end the night like that. Despite the fact that it was by this point nearly 2 am, I still couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to end the game on a sour note. So I took on a simple patrol mission. Patrolled four systems. Simple stuff. Ended up getting promoted from Lieutenant 4 to Lieutenant 5. Unfortunately, now it's 3am, I still can't sleep, and my alarm's going off in 3 hours so I can be awake by 8, out the door by 8:30, and in class by 9...
Star Trek Online: Head Start Launch
Open Beta is over, and now Star Trek Online is in "Head Start" for all of us who pre-ordered the game, giving us the opportunity to get a head start before the game officially launches on Tuesday.
In the Open Beta, I planted my tongue firmly in cheek and named my character Captain Dunsel, a tip of the hat to the classic Star Trek episode "The Ultimate Computer." This time, however, I was somewhat more serious. As in the Open Beta, I named my ship the U.S.S. John Rodgers, after my ancestor and the U.S. Navy vessels likewise named in his honor, but my character was decidedly different. Now that the game is launching, several new options are available, and more will be available on Tuesday; I used the option to make my character a liberated Borg drone named Thirteen of Forty-Seven. Okay, so there's still a bit of in-joke in the name, but it's not as readily apparent. At least I didn't name him Forty-Two of Forty-Seven; that would've just been excessive.
Joined the Star Trek Online Open Beta
Today, I installed and began playing Star Trek Online, which is in Open Beta until the end of the month. I'm very impressed; Cryptic has done an outstanding job translating the world of Star Trek into game form. After only a few hours playing the game, I'm already willing to shell out the cash for a Lifetime Subscription when it goes live in a couple weeks. It's really that good.
Because it's Open Beta, our settings won't be retained when it switches over, leaving us to be somewhat whimsical with our name choices if we desire. One of my friends, Winston, decided to use the opportunity to name his ship the USS Lollypop (It's a good ship, he insists). I decided to give a nod to the Original Series by naming my character Captain Dunsel. TOS fans will get the joke immediately. I was somewhat more serious with my ship name, the USS John Rodgers; there have been two US Navy ships with that name, in honor of one of my ancestors. I may reuse it when STO goes live; I haven't decided yet.
Anyone who's also playing in the Open Beta, I invite you to send me a friend request. My username is @jharlan1977.
Qa'pla!
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-18
- Finally watched the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. WTF? Klaatu as interstellar Greenpeace?! #
- @dannymcguffin You do realize that they make screens for your windows to keep the bugs OUT, right? in reply to dannymcguffin #
- Sitting at Starbucks, paying $8 for Internet & waiting for my group to get here so we can get ourselves ready for the midterm tomorrow #
- Today, amazingly, was fairly productive. Did some gaming, studied for the midterm, did laundry, even got my pirate on and watched Trek XI #
- Midterm debate for English 103 went OK. Speech class in 30 minutes, w/ midterm on Wed; my speech is on zombies in pop culture! #
- @BadAstronomer Let's just ignore the half-dozen instances during TNG when Troi tells Riker she never kissed him with a beard before. in reply to BadAstronomer #
- Bleh. Not feeling up for class this morning. Overslept, running late. #
- Rather surprised that I got an A on my last English paper (the one I turned in late). I didn't put as much into it as I should have. #
- Off to school again in about 15-20 minutes. Midterm for Speech class today. "Zombies in pop culture." Hope I do it justice. #
- Accidentally deleted midterm for Speech 10mins before class while trying to print... Tried undelete but no luck. Prof gave me an extra day. #
- Reading: Glitch hits Visa users with more than $23 quadrillion charge - http://bit.ly/2i4BF #cnn #
- Got an A on my speech! #
- Figures. Get an A on the midterm, and find a dead battery in my truck. Waiting for a jump start #
- Battery was fine. The starter on the other hand... Push started the truck to get home but need to get it fixed asap #
- Dammit. Replaced the solenoid relay and it STILL won't start, even though everything seems to indicate that's the problem. #
- Can't wait til it hits its optimum orbit. (via @BadAstronomer) Apollo landing sites imaged by LRO! Incredible images! http://tr.im/sOCn #
- Went to a baseball game with Darren & Chris; minor league team, the OC Flyers. Had a good time, planning to do it again Wednesday. #
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Zombies in Pop Culture
For the midterm in my Speech class, we were required to give an 8-minute informative speech on a topic of our choice, and were urged to pick unusual topics. Naturally, I picked zombies, and eventually presented a history of zombies in pop culture. Here's the outline of my speech.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-04
- Saw Transformers 2. Not great, but not horrible. It is exactly what Bay is best at: paper-thin plot, hot chicks, & lots of kewl 'splosions #
- DO WANT! RT @thinkgeek "What happens in the holodeck stays in the holodeck" tshirt, mens: http://cli.gs/QSu58t womens: http://cli.gs/ge8aTq #
- @NathanFillion You didn't steal anything. You appropriated assets in lieu of additional monetary compensation for your services. #
- All right! I've got 8 hours of class starting in 3-1/2 hours and I didn't get ANY sleep last night! #
- Aw crap. Just found out about paperwork I had to file last mo for GI Bill that's gonna delay my check up to a mo. I need it for rent on Fri! #
- Despite operating only on 2 hours of sleep that I grabbed between 7&9am, I did OK at school today. Even got 100% on my speech this pm #
- Best thing about my Yoda lunch box: picnicing on the quad between classes every day #
- Have to give 2-3 min memorized speech from history or film. Think I'll do Sisko's log entry at the end of the DS9 ep For the Uniform #
- Whoops. Meant I'm going to do part of Sisko's log from DS9's In the Pale Moonlight. "Most damning of all... I think I can live with it." #
- Wow. Gorgeous redhead in shorts laying on a blanket & reading a book across the quad. #
- It's definitely a holiday weekend. Getting loaded down w homework by my professors #
- What? Can it be true? Do I actually have a date this weekend? Survey says "yes." #
- "A girl who can tie a knot in the fiber which encircles the kernel of a nut is sure to be married." Yep, that's a vital skill all right #
- My life's a soap opera. Friends dying in Iraq & car crashes. Brain tumors. Cancer. Psycho exes. Name a cliche and I've probably lived it. #
- RT @BadAstronomer WOOHOO! LRO first light images of the Moon! AWESOME pictures! http://tr.im/qEKL #
- HA! RT @mashable Reading: "64 percent Say Too Much Jackson Coverage"...the ad above the article is amusingly ironic: http://bit.ly/amvGb #
- @gadgetdoll One of my friends suggested we should call it As JeffreysWorld.net Turns LOL in reply to gadgetdoll #
- RT @def_leppard Free Def Leppard concert tickets for military personnel and veterans! See http://bit.ly/uHEGX for details. #
- @gimliaxewielder Both B & C: we're watching Star Trek and I'm making dinner. in reply to gimliaxewielder #
- Can't seem to get the dropdown menu for kingdom-con.com to work, but everything else is looking ok, at least. #
- @Quarksbartender that is is obviously one of the beer tap handles from Quark's. Used to get Blood Draft & Romulan Ale from you all the time in reply to Quarksbartender #
- @wilw Please, we want to be all "HOLY CRAP!" Spill! #
- Upgrading my computer to Ubuntu 9.04 (I know, it came out 3 months ago). Need to do some laundry, grocery shopping, maybe wash my truck too. #
- majorly updated http://www.kingdom-con.com and am currently working on the forum skin. Will work on the dropdown menu CSS issue later #
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Size of the Enterprise, Parte Tres
OK, the numbers floating around for the size of the Enterprise in the new movie have left me feeling like something wasn't right. The ship just didn't seem to be quite that big in the film. So, using my trusty ruler and my Playmates model of the new ship, coupled with the knowledge that the viewscreen/window on the Bridge is 26 feet (thanks, Gizmodo!)...
The bridge window is 1/2 inch long on the model. So 1 inch = 52 feet. The model is 18 inches long. Therefore, the ship is actually 936 feet (285 meters) long. Which is about the same size as the original.
See, kids? It pays to pay attention in math class.
Help feed my caffeine addiction
I am reading
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Random Quote
There are no evil thoughts except one: the refusal to think.
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- So apparently my school is streaming my graduation this morning at http://t.co/j2bir62y
- So this is happening now http://t.co/B1flb6l4 http://t.co/qHMyUhFU http://t.co/XzmFvrfq
- Done with school. About to see Avengers with a few friends...
- Just turned in my final paper. Tomorrow morning, I graduate. It still doesn't feel real yet.
- 3 classes done: 1 grade posted, 1 known, & waiting on the 3rd. Final paper for 4th class due tomorrow. Graduation in 26 hours... Bring it.