Tuesday, August 3, 2004
So I had my first adventure in the OC today. I was directed by my roommates to a mall earlier today in my attempt to find a wireless router. So I went to said mall, called "The Block." At first I didn't think much of the name, and then I started wandering around this mall only to discover that it covered an entire block of the city, hence the name. And we're not talking Stockton blocks, or even Portland blocks for that matter, no we're talking an LA block. This was probably close to 10 Portland blocks put together. It wasn't until I got "inside" that I really realized it. There were at least 3 or 4 stores as big as Powells in Portland. There were probably 200 stores in this mall, it was huge. Well ok huge for me at least. I have yet to see a mall as big. Granted I know one exists cuz it has a roller coaster in it, but hey, I'm not in Minnesota or where ever. Somewhere mid east. Anyways the reason I put the "inside" in quotation marks earlier was because there really wasn't an inside to this mall. It had the normal mall layout, except in place of the normal enclosed hallways connecting the stores it was an open space with stores lining either side. It was kinda nifty really. Definately new for me, all the malls I've been to (not including strip malls, they are another mall type together) are completely enclosed. It's something I've come to expect, and was plesantly surprised at this one.

The rest of my adventure took me driving all over Anaheim, Fullerton, and whatever the city was that that mall was in. The problem is that there really isn't a definative line where one stops and the other starts. It's all one big thing. Anyways, so I traversed three cities in 45 minutes in search of a Best Buy, which I knew was in Fullerton. So I pull out the map and find it there and start driving. At the 45 minute mark, when I had just entered Fullerton I realized that I was only half way to my destination. The map I have is at a much smaller scale than I'm used to, so while distances may appear short in what I usually see on maps, the real distances are actually rather large. Fortunately for me I found a Circuit City not long from where I decided to turn back so I went there instead. Ah the joys of a large city(s). It's definately a new thing for me, Stockton was huge compared to Eugene, but the LA area is even bigger. Anaheim alone has at least 100k people in it, and when you think about the fact that there are at least 10 different cities making up Orange County (I don't really know if that estimate is right, I think the number is actually higher but I've never managed to count all the city names on my map) and this doesn't even include LA itself or any of the immediate surrounding area. Now I realize why in Demolition Man they called it San Angeles.
12:21 a.m.

Metroid Hunter

Monday, August 2, 2004
So I had orientation today. It was interesting. Apparently the programs they're going to be teaching us are Photoshop (yay), Illustrator (yay), and 3D Studio Max (yay). Photoshop I already know like the back of my hand. Illustrator I know a little and want to learn more. 3D Studio Max I've played around with a little and want to learn more so I'm happy about this. Unfortunately one of my first classes is "Strategies for Creating Success in College and Life." Somehow I don't really think I need to worry about this. I've already been in college for 4 years now, I think I know what I'm doing. So I'm going to see if I can drop that class.
01:18 p.m.

Metroid Hunter

Sunday, August 1, 2004
Dini's Log: Stardate 010804.2

I've just entered the Anaheim System and have begun to explore my surroundings. Currently I am at the planet LeMed near the edge of the system. The locals seem friendly enough, I've even become friends with a few of them. Currently I am sheltering myself with three of them. I am currently cramped up in a small hut with one, Celestina (I think that was her name), the other two, Angelica and Jennifer are currently sharing another hut which connects to the main gathering area.

Yeah ok, enough of that. Anyways here I am in Anaheim, well it's barely Anaheim. Five feet away is Orange, well ok so maybe five feet is an exageration, more like 5 blocks. Anyways it's kinda almost not Anaheim. Not like it really matters since this is all one giant city as it is. I've discovered that the new Westwood campus here is conveniently located right across the street from the Mighty Ducks (hocky) stadium and two blocks away from the Angels (baseball) stadium. Good thing they have a bus cuz it would be hell to try and get to campus with a game going on. My apartment isn't all that far from school if you go via the freeway which is right next to both the school and my apartment. Unfortunately I got the small room to share with my roomie, Celestina (I'm still not sure if that's her name). Actually me, Jennifer, and Angelica are all having problems with her name, I think she should just go by Celest and make life easier but she doesn't want to. Anyways the interesting thing is the fact that I'm the only white person in the apartment. The other three are all hispanic. Not that I have a problem with that, they're all nice enough, but the cultural differences are what is going to get me. One I could handle, but three will be interesting. Glad that I only have a nine month lease. That and the fact that I really, really don't want to be sharing a room with anyone. This room was really not designed for two people.

*sigh* I don't have interent yet, and I really want it. Actually I don't even have a phone book with which to call Comcast to set up a time for them to get us internet. I'm going to get to play techie and set up everything for us since I'm the only one who knows how to do it. Lucky me, I get to do ResNet stuff agian. The other sucky thing is that I got saddled with three freshmen so I get to troubleshoot all kinds of shit for them since this is their first time away from home. My roomie seems a bit scared since she didn't say anthing, or at least not much, her mom did all the talking for her. The other two at least are independent enough that they do stuff. Actually I have a feeling they're going to take off a lot and leave me here alone with the other chick. Eh, I can handle that I suppose. Glad I have a laptop to use to run away from things.

Hmmm... So I'm thinking of getting a router for our apartment and a wireless station. I have wireless and it would be nice for the laptops. I know I have wireless, my roomie has a comptuer although I don't know how old it is. Jennifer has a laptop but it's like five years old. It's a Toshiba Sattelite, so I've probably seen it walk into ResNet before. Speaking of ResNet, once I get settled I got some awesome posters that would be perfect. Hopefully I can get them mailed off to Meg before she leaves to go back since I don't have ResNet's address. One is a road sign that says "Hackers Ahead" or something and the other is a road sign that says "Internet Worm Crossing Next 5 Miles." I thought they would go perfectly in the office. Especially the worm one. The hackers one isn't as cool. I got them from my friend who got them from Microsoft for free.

Anyways this has been a really long post. Sadly it won't hit the internet for at least a few days. I may compile a few more posts between now and then, hopefully not too many.

Edit: Mwahahaha I'm stealing wireless from some other poor schmuck who didn't encrypt his wireless connection. Yay for stupid people.
10:48 p.m.

Metroid Hunter

Thursday, July 29, 2004
So yeah I just got the oddest comment about me ever not more than 5 minutes ago.

Oscar: I'm sorry Denise you don't look enough like a man for me to rape you. Everyone: *silence and odd looks at Oscar*

Yeah, I don't know. But it was too odd to not blog.
10:01 p.m.

Metroid Hunter

Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Ah the joys of San Francisco, or rather the joys of getting lost in San Francisco. It's a good thing I have a damn good sense of direction. Well damn good in the sense that I can recognize landmarks really easily and what turns we've made and where I am in relation to the bridge we need to get back to. Especially when it happens twice. Unfortunately I was supposed to meet Meg just outside of SF and got lost and ended up going into the city before I realized what had happened. Fortunately I managed to get myself out without any problems. Then I had to come back again with Meg this time and the MapQuest directions were crap because of construction and whatnot. That and the great instructions like "Take the exit." What exit? I didn't see an exit? Actually that was the great direction that got me lost the first time around. The second time around wasn't completely MapQuests fault, unfortunately Meg couldn't remmeber the address for the Japan Center and the street going to it was a one way street and the directions to get out didn't account for the fact that we'd be on a different part of the street and couldn't get where we needed to be. Fortunately it was easy enough to figure out where we needed to be. All in all it was fun.

So the other thing I discovered during the duration of this trip was kinda interesting when it dawned on me. So here I am driving towards the bay area when I actually happen to pay attention to my surroundings. Well pay attention is a bad word, I was paying attention, but it was more of one of those things where you suddenly notice something interesting about surroundings that are very familiar to you. Something you hadn't noticed before even though it was always there. Now I understand why people in Oregon always freaked out about how close I drive to the car in front of me when I go anywhere. Here I was driving 70 on a freeway and I noticed that I wasn't more than 2 car lengths away from the car in front of me. Then I looked around and noticed that everyone else was doing the same thing. It was a very crowded freeway and everyone was going 70+ and was 1.5 to 2 car lengths from the car ahead of them. And yet it's so familiar to me that I never noticed. I'm just used to driving in cramped conditions and maintaining speed while cramming in cars. Besides as soon as you let more than 2 car lenghts get between you and the person in front of you someone will fill in the gap and put you half a car length from them. So really it's better to just tailgate like everyone else does. They're used to it.

Anyways odd ephiphiny, that's the end of my story for now.
12:58 a.m.

Metroid Hunter

Saturday, July 24, 2004
So I finished reading Dune (a 500 page book) in 5 days, which is damn good for me. Especially considering that the book contained more politics and dealing with ways of life and plans for vengence than it did actual action. I couldn't even read the one Star Wars book that is simliar that fast. Damn that was a good book. I'm kinda sad it took me so long to finally pick it up. I kept hearing about it but had never gotten around to picking it up. I got it on Monday, started reading it Tuesday and finished it about 5 minutes ago. I'm feeling kinda proud of myself about now. Granted it helped that I don't have a job and could actually spend 4 hours a day reading. For me 100 pages read in 4 hours is an accomplishment. I'm a rather slow reader unfortunately, which is part of the reason why I haven't read as many books as most people I know. I've managed to finish 3.5 books since I arrived home and will probably finish one more before I leave next week. Granted that last one will be a small one but it's Terry Pratchett so I can count it. Anyways enough of that, I should be going soon. I have a Hackmaster game to go to. I'm even bringing Dark Tower which is this cool old board game from my moms era. It's like D&D in a board game, only slightly simpler.
05:51 p.m.

Metroid Hunter

Saturday, July 17, 2004
Ok so after debating with myself quietly for 3 years about this I finally decided to take the plunge and, well, cut off my hair. Yes you heard me, I cut it, really short. Up in Oregon the long hair wasn't that bad and actually kept my head nice and warm. However now that I'm back in warmer climates I managed to convince myself to change my hair. I've had it long for 8 years so I figure a change is about due. Besides now I get to give my hair to one of those organizations that can use it for wigs for cancer patients and such. So not only do I get short hair but I get to do a good deed as well. Not a bad trade off if I say so myself. So without further delay I present to you my new hairstyle:

02:43 p.m.

Metroid Hunter

Saturday, July 10, 2004
Yeah so the only reason I have internet right now is cuz I'm leeching off of a friend at a LAN party. Yay for LAN parties. It sucks not having internet. I do have dial up at home but it's so shitty that I can't stand it and would rather go without internet than have to deal with the slowness. So I basically just get on long enough to check my email and that's about it. I haven't been checking blogs or web comics or anything. So I'm going to have a shitload of stuff to catch up on when I get good internet again. At that point in time I'll update everyone on my new address and phone number and such.
04:25 p.m.

Metroid Hunter

Monday, June 21, 2004
My internet is a black hole.

I say this mostly because it's going so slow that time seems to stand still. So I think there's a mini black hole where my internet should be and it's sucking up all the bandwidth and making my internet move incredibly slowly. So that's why I haven't said anything cuz I can't stand being online when it moves this slowly. I'd rather not be online at all, which is what I've been doing. So I haven't actually read anyones LJ since I got here since I don't have the paitence to wait 5 minutes for each one to load. I know I could use my friends list but that only lists entries to a certain point. Either way I don't wanna do it.

Anyways the move wasn't that bad. Although there's a ton of my stuff in the garage now and in my room and in the living room. Like 75% of that apartment was mine and it's now all here. But we got it all down at least. Right now I'm in the process of looking for a temp job for the next few weeks so that I can at least make a little bit of cash. Money=good.

Got to meet the two new kitties, Ernie and Tiger. Ernie is one of those black and white tuxedo cats. Tiger is black and orange kinda mottled together, but it kinda looks tiger stripeish hence the name. They're both very cute.

My friends and I down here are playing a pencil & paper RPG called HackMaster. It's basically 2nd ed. D&D. Fortunately THAC0 is done all by the GM and not me. Although it took me 3 hours to make my character. Granted the only copy of the book we had was on a computer and I was doing other things at the time but still, character creation for the experienced character creator still takes an hour. You literally have to roll for things like who your parents are, if they are dead, how good of a parent they were, how many siblings you have, if any of them are alive, you relationship with each and every on of them, etc... It's kinda annoying. And it's one of those systems where you roll the dice and just enter in the number as you go down, so of course my first roll on 3d6 is a 4. So my character has a 4 strength. I can barely wear my clothing without being encumbered. So I cary no weapons and am a cleric. Fortunately I get a war dog to help me out. So yeah it makes life interesting.
03:13 p.m.

Metroid Hunter

Wednesday, June 9, 2004
OMG what the hell are the dev's at Sony THINKING

The text reads:

slie
mood les
comming this
month
the’ll make you tap tap tap

and yes they did mispell "they'll"
11:19 p.m.

Metroid Hunter