An Open Letter to the Federal Government

Dear Mr. Flaherty,

It has recently come to my attention that evil wizards continue to roam the countryside. I understand your position as a conservative Member of Parliament, in having to determine good witches from bad witches and whatnot, but when I must exercise such care in the purchase of laptop computing devices, I know that my government is not working for me effectively. Please rectify this serious problem.

Sincerely, Robert Clark

Memetic Virus

People start writing the gibberish I usually write (take a picture of it) whenever they're not actively thinking about not doing it, and they have a means to. They feel compelled to do it, as if it were relieving them of some level of stress, just in the action. Viewing said writings, or hearing them spoken carry a chance of spreading the virus to others.

Progression of the virus. This is how something will come of it. Perhaps introduce a TF element into the memetic virus, so that over time, they start shifting into something else.

How would this be solved by mortal man? Possibilities include burning the documents. Or perhaps having a slightly more advanced staged person tell them what's written. You will have to provide a translation, so that people know what's being written. Once this is done, perhaps there is a simple ritual that can be done. Especially effective if done by non-mages. benefit to that is that a non-mage is coming up with a magical solution. Problem is that this solution may be too easy.

On a side note, perhaps a TP link could be set up with one of the victims, then relay the informations. Of course, that would spread the virus all the quicker and worse. Again though, handing away the solution is a bad thing. Perhaps embed it as a riddle. Or seeming like a riddle. Maybe they will need some sort of countermeme. LOLcats. The salvation of the multiverse will clearly depend on LOLcats. Or the ability to distract these people in general.

What would they shift into? This thing is definitely either some sort of weapon, or an attempt of some sort to salvage an alien civilization/species/whathaveyou.

If it's the former, you'd want to go for something incapacitating. Perhaps inflict a debilitating OCD or more writing as time goes on. Or perhaps they transition into writing out the entire works of the species just to keep them going. If the latter, then there should be personality shifts over time. Have cultural stuff change, give them new infoes, or a change in what they view to be right or wrong, or make them focus on other things in life. Try to make them seem alien, without being shock characters. Pendra's a good upper limit for shock-value. A notch or two lower than her. She's a good example of alien though. Maybe not so much lower, as a lateral shift to being 'alien' in a different way. Have them lose their English as time goes on.

You should write out a very long script of what they're writing. have there be a preset number of times they write it out before they reach each stage, perhaps? Of course, having someone in a more advanced stage read it out to them is just going to run the risk of spreading the virus, and advancing it within themselves.

Random Thing I Wrote

Allison Morgan, a trim girl with fair features was the star pupil of Alexander Bell middle school in Jackson, Ohio. The son of a Mormon father and a somewhat agnostic mother, she saw much of the Mormon culture. Her father, Henry, came from a fairly religious family. One that largely saw her mother, Charlotte (neé Reimer as a negative influence on Allison. It wasn't really a fair statement either. For some reason, the family had gotten the impression somewhere along the line that Charlotte was one of those militant atheists. A woman that would have no to-do with God, when really the case was that she just didn't give a shit. Whatever the reason, it left poor Charlotte with dirty looks and gossip spread behind her back, about where she came from.

Funnily enough, that was from a Presbyterian background. Her grandfather, a Presbyterian minister that to this day at the ripe old age of seventy-eight preaches the good word to his flock that has grown smaller in recent years. A decent man, though with a whiplike temper when provoked, George Rogers, Charlotte's maternal grandfather, greatly disapproved of Charlotte having, what he feels, slipped through the cracks. Charlotte faces this disapproval from her grandfather and grandmother without even having her mother anymore to shelter her as she might have.

Her mother, Rachel, had passed away when birthing her youngest brother, Jacob, fourteen years Charlotte's junior. What's more, Jacob was not even the youngest of the bunch, his father Trevor having remarried a few years after Rachel's early death. Alexis Farrow was only four years older than Charlotte, and she never warmed to her at all. It wasn't by any fault of Alexis' either, having never tried to be anything but a friend to Charlotte, but unfortunately they never really got on. Or more to say that Charlotte never got on with Alexis.

It was never that Charlotte would treat her badly. She just wanted nothing to do with the woman. She was glad her Dad was happy, sure. It's not that she wanted him to be unhappy, or for them to break up... It's just... She didn't want Alexis to be there. Being her stepmother. Having taken that place. That was all. But there wasn't much to be done, and in her mind, the ship hand long since sailed on making amends with the woman and making friends. Not much to be done about it really.

I Don't Know

I feel so lonely right now.

Dreams Still.

I had that dream again last night. It's starting to freak me out, and I wake up worried that I've failed again. I end up feeling like I'm stuck failing. It makes me not want to even think about school.

Dreams

I've been having a recurring dream.

In it, I'm in school again, and it's November. And I haven't been attending classes, and I don't understand the material being taught. Then I learn that the midterm either just happened, and I missed it, or that it's coming up in a day or two. And there's no way to make it up. Then I learn my marks are low, and that there's no hope. And I end up feeling this massive hopeless feeling that I can't shake off.

That's where I usually wake up, and I remember that I'm not in school yet. It's starting to worry me.

I has a QR code

Imaginings.

Here we go.

I'm making it onwards unto my goal, and all that I see below me is naught but a fire riddled landscape, flaming up and flaring up, decimating all that lays before it.

That thing I sought is gone. It's gone forever, and I'm never getting back, no matter how I try.
It's been stolen from me, and no matter how I cry and how I whine, and how I tear up, it shalt never be returned.

All that I thought was real is gone, and replaced with a pale imitation of that was ripped from my soul so quickly.

It's gone. It's gone and I want it back. You bastards, why did you take it from me? It was mine! How did I bother you with it, and why would you want to hurt me for that small thing. That small victory.

That small dignity.
It was all I had.

Greetings, from the World of Tomorrow!

I bought a bicycle, and I am tired as hell, after riding a sum total of, upon checking Google maps, almost six kilometres. That is half of what I need to do, just to get to work, and I did it in two bursts. And both times, I had to walk my bike a bit.

This is going to be a serious fucking challenge.

Also, I've switched over to G-mail. Just to get caught up with 2008.

Until next time, I guess then...

Good News

I may have managed to get what I was looking for. The TRC spot seems to be going to me, by the sounds of my conversations with our store HRM. I don't even know how to feel for sure yet, other than just happy. I had been resigned to the fact that I was going to have to type up my pitiful little retail resume, and pass it out to some stores only to be met with failure, but now, for the first time in two months of thinking about this, I'm faced with this odd hope. It's very odd.

Two months of feeling this constant oppressive weight on my shoulders, has just lifted. It feels amazing.

It really does feel amazing.

Merrily I Ooze Along

I'm sure this is all a large surprise to my faithful readers, but I can't seem to care about updating this regularly. I don't know what it is about blogging that brings me to it in waves. Maybe it's just catharthsis or something, that thing I need to do every so often just to have it out of my system. I might just need to find some sort of system for this, too.

You know what though? I blame Twitter. Damned Microblogging. What I'll have to do is find a way to put my TwitterFeed on the site. That'll fix things.

Anyways, it's not looking like I'm going to get the position, and I'm probably not going to follow through on my threat, because I, sadly, was born without a spine. It's very tragic. I shall just ooze along now.

Godspeed, ladies and gentlemen. Godspeed.

Welcome to March

Hey, I live. Awesome.

I have felt so uninspired since the start of February. Hurry up Spring. Get here quicker.

I need to figure out what the hell is going on.

The Adventure

I went on an adventure the other day. I posted it all to my Twitter Feed, which is Shadowlost. Feel free to follow. Or not. I don't care.

Oh yeah. Happy Family Day.

Take That!

I'm doing it right now! You can't stop me, muah hah hah hah hah!

Seriously, there's not a thing in the world you can do, and no matter how much I may be Wallace, you still have two G's in your name, Googly-Elmo!

Wait, I'm on Twitter, right?

I'm considering dinner. I'm thinking linguini with meatballs. Maybe with veal.

Without Incident, the Day Came and Went

So, the job fair was today, and all in all, I don't know how to feel. I know for a fact that there were ex-GM employees that applied for the Tool Rental spot specifically. I also know that one of the TRC employees wants me in there, since they know that I'm more likely to stick around than some guy who wants the job as a hobby in retirement. I'm pretty sure I did a good job of singing my own praises in a non-obnoxious way today to the relevant people. Finally, I'm fairly confident that I will receive an interview.

Lord, I hope they give me an interview. I really do not want to have to follow through on my promise.

I want to work somewhere where I will feel challenged. Hurry up, Depot. I want to see how this turns out so that I can start thinking about what to do next.

Dread

I'm the fallback for Tool Rental. I was called to be in there tonight when someone needed a break. Why then is it that I feel so much dread at the thought of this job fair tomorrow?

I'm worried that they're going to replace me and shove me off without even a cursory glance. Like they did with the head cashier position. That's my worry, and I know that I've gotten the pro-sales manager to promise that I would have an interview, I'm still worried that I'm not even going to be seriously considered.

Once bitten, twice shy, I suppose.

A Promise.

So I still feel like writing. The time is 8:30, and I still feel like writing. I don't know about what, and my eyes aren't even open. Isn't learning to type properly just completely awesome?

I've had a long day. I was supposed to be off in a half hour, which would coincide nicely with the death of my cell phone's battery, but that seems destined not to be. Oh! Interesting fact. I have a smartphone now. I've been trying to figure out how to blog on it nicely, but Blogspot seems to not work very nicely with my Motorola Milestone. Maybe with 2.2 it will do a bit better.

So what to talk about. Kaerwyn is below you. Home Depot is on this end of the screen, your room is on your end of the screen. Above you will be some post about my thoughts at the moment, much similar to what this is. To your right, there are some links to other places on the internet. To your left though. Oooh that's an interesting place. There's some blue there. Look! To the left of these words! Blue!

I'm in the Tool Rental Centre.

Six months ago, I applied for the head cashier position that was available. After some wait, the position went to a coworker of mine, and I was not even granted an interview. I was deemed unsuitable for the job. It was one of the most demoralizing experiences I had ever experienced in a job. It affected my work performance for three months or so, and even still, I don't have the same rosy view of The Home Depot that I used to. Now though, I have seen an opening I am fully trained for, have experience in, and am the fallback guy for when they need help. I am talking about the Tool Rental Centre. There is an opening, and I have come to a decision.

If I am not granted an interview, I will quit my job.

There. It is in print. If I am not granted an interview for the tool rental associate position that I applied for, I will find a new job and quit this one.

That being said, I talked to the manager of the department already, and he has actually promised me that I will receive an interview for the position. I am cautiously optimistic that I will not have to follow through on my promise.

I will not quit, if I don't get the position. There is a bit of a shakeup going on here at the Depot regarding one of our stocking teams, and they are being given special priority for transfers. Also, we are having a job fair, and we may pull in a millwright or something when the Depot casts out its nets.

So yeah. I will understand, though be disappointed, if I don't get the position. They better grant me the courtesy of granting me an interview for a position I held for a few months though. That, or they can find a new person for my current position anyways.

That's all there is to say then. For now at least.

Update!

Well, there went five days of possible updates. You all missed such gems as me analyzing a dream I had last night, several random statements, a multitude of things I did not think I would hear as a child, and other random thoughts.

I'm going to use the time I have here to talk about the Lunes, or at least until I get tired of that thought process. The floor yields its infinte time to Sholto's creation.

As some of you may know, one of my hobbies is roleplaying, specifically tabletop games, which meshes well with my boardgaming hobby, but also a single IRC based roleplay that I've been involved with now for almost three years known as Kaerwyn. Kaerwyn is excellent by the way, and you should all play there. I'm Shadowlost there, and I will help you get involved if you feel the urge to do so.

It's a small community of twenty or so active players, and we have a blast with it. It's set in a 'nexus universe' which means that you can pretty well do anything you like, and play on it. It's tricky to explain, but hey, look right! There's a link! CLICK IT!

Yes though. Lunes. Sholto is a player there, and one of the younger ones at that. He's one of the more creative players, and created a universe in which the Lunes reside. They are for all intents and purposes, short anthropomorphic wolves which speak in the third person as a general rule. Silly sounding, eh?

Maybe, but the plots that I've had based on Xeva, the Lunes homeworld, have been some of the most engaging of those I've played, save for those set on another player's world... but that's a story for another time.

In any case, Xeva makes for an awesome sandbox. The elements are there for some really epic plots, and Sholto is kind enough to let you play in his sandbox to your heart's content, so long as it all makes some sort of sense. Like the demise of magic, and the rebirth of a new sort. Or a shunned noble's quest to redeem himself, and those like him who cannot touch the magic he sees as his birthright. Or the journey of a young woodsman to find what is right, and what is moral in a world he is new to, and a world he thought he knew. I have a character who is a Lunes, and he's one of the most fun characters I've had in years.

So yes. I know it's few to noone who reads this blog, but I hope someone does someday and comes to pay us a visit. You will not be disappointed.

I am also the town treasurer.

What am I still doing up? I was tired hours ago! I am the mayor of yawny-town.

Blaaaaaarg.