Impossibility is enticing

Pandora, Anyone?

2009-01-02T12:20:00.002+08:00

If you are on Pandora, add me (brittfrey@gmail.com) or let me know your email address so I can add you.

On a side note, how am I supposed to customize my damned station if it won't play songs I dislike!? I think it's psychic.

Starting My Think Tank

2009-01-02T10:45:00.004+08:00

I have always believed that my dream job would be to work in a think tank. As a corollary, if I were rich, I would want to bankroll a think tank, recruit some of the brilliant people I know with diverse talents, and be the project manager, doing what I believe I do best: fix things. While I was driving up to Tulsa yesterday (I do my best thinking on long drives, for many reasons), I started wondering why I needed to wait until I had money to start working on the think tank. Sure, I wouldn't be able to pay anyone salaries, including myself; I wouldn't be able to actually implement most or any of the proposed solutions; I wouldn't have resources for face-to-face meetings or any helpful tools. Maybe no one would pay any attention to what we develop, but is it possible to start working towards solutions now, without money? It seemed to me that it is possible and I should start now, while I have some free time.

To that end, I've started coming up with a list of what I need to do to get things rolling. The first couple of steps are to get a discussion forum running and to try to recruit some people to help in the whole thinking business. Then I/we will need to start developing standard procedures for selecting problems to be discussed and how to address a problem once it has been selected. After that, it will just be a matter of discussion, research, thinking, more discussion, arguing, more thinking and research, more discussion, and hopefully coming to some sort of consensus. Maybe nothing will come of it, but it shouldn't hurt to try, and maybe it will do some good.

So now I'm off to send an email or two about getting a discussion board up, then start drafting some invitation emails for people I think might be interested.

My Opposition to New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-02T07:13:00.003+08:00

We find ourselves at the time of Earth's rotation about the Sun where most people come up with things they'd like to change during the next rotation; the vast majority of these changes are subsequently abandoned, probably before Luna completes one rotation about Earth. Several years ago, I began to feel uncomfortable about New Year's resolutions. At that time, the cause was very likely something as base as a disappointment with my past performances and a dislike of the expectations placed on me. Within the past couple of years, though, I've developed a more nuanced dislike for the concept. Although I'm sure it was only so that I could rationally justify my dislike, I feel that I have a few reasonable points against the tradition.

To be clear, I am not complaining about individual or specific resolutions, rather the tradition of using January 1st as a motivator for resolutions. I will admit that actively contemplating what might be wrong in our lives is a useful exercise. I will also admit that some people actually succeed with their New Year's resolutions; however, I believe these people would have succeeded with their resolutions if they had started at any other time of the year.

My first complaint is that New Year's resolutions encourage people to delay enacting changes in their lives. It seems that when people think of something they want to change, they put it off until January 1st. Now, don't get me wrong, I am definitely not a concrastinator; I have taken procrastination to limits that should be in the Guinness Book of World Records. But when it comes to improving yourself or your life, I think that delay should be avoided whenever possible. Many times, including some recently, I have heard people comment on things they would like to change, but that they were going to wait until New Year's Day. This means that, despite their realisation of a problem, they fully intend to keep up a bad habit for a period of time. New Year's, in these cases, is encouraging them to keep doing things they would like to stop. That, to me, seems to be a negative consequence of the tradition.

My second complaint is that these resolutions are extremely ineffective. Doing a quick search (i.e. go do your own research if you want reliable figures), it seems that over 90% of New Year's resolutions fail. When people try something and fail, it discourages them, making them less likely to try again. I believe that many of the resolutions would not be made were it not for the pressure of the tradition. So if any of those 90+% of resolutions might be made some time later when the person has really decided that they want to try to change, because of past failures during New Year's attempts, they will be less likely to try later when they are actually more likely to succeed!

So, in my estimation, the entire concept of New Year's resolutions encourages people to maintain bad habits until the 1st, at which time they attempt to quit cold turkey, fail when the 'magic' of 1/1 fades, get disappointed in themselves and their ability to change, and, thus, become less likely to ever successfully change in the future. If you want to change something, change it. If something is wrong and you know how to start fixing it, do it. Don't put it off until next Monday, after the holiday, or New Year's; just start working on it now.

25 Random Facts

2008-12-27T01:10:00.004+08:00

The Rules:

- Come up with 25 things about you, it does not matter what you pick as long as they true.

- You then have to tag 25 people, including the person who tagged you.

I'm ignoring the second rule. If you want to post about yourself, I'd be glad to read it, otherwise you wouldn't be on my friends list.

1) I had two full sets of adult teeth. One full set was pulled once.

2) I juggled fire with a guy on a unicycle in a street performance in Victoria, BC, Canada.

3) From the age of about 6 or 7 on, I went to and from school alone and spent the afternoons alone until my mom got home from work. I read a lot and had a particular fondness for unexplained phenomena (ghosts, Bermuda Triangle, UFOs, etc). One day, I was reading a book on ghosts that had pictures. One of the pictures showed an 'apparition' coming down some old stairs. At the top of the stairs was a dresser with an old, porcelain basin and pitcher. Our house looked exactly the same - stairs, dresser, and porcelain basin and pitcher. I wouldn't go inside the house until my mom got home. To this day, I sometimes still get nervous on stairs.

4) The news came to interview me once for being a good student. I was skipping school at the time.

5) I'm a hopeless Romantic.

6) I never consumed a full alcoholic beverage until I was 30. I still haven't smoked, other than hookahs.

7) Other than one time in first grade, I've never struck someone in violence. That time I don't remember, but my dad said that I told him someone was picking on me and he told me to hit him. Apparently they had to pull me off the kid the next day.

8) I have very small wrists and fingers for my size.

9) When I was really small, I drank gun cleaning fluid, ate potting soil, and swallowed a quarter. All at different times, of course.

10) I have recurring dreams that I can fly if I concentrate.

11) I can't stand sarcasm.

12) I am atrocious at Scrabble and crossword puzzles, though I have a relatively expansive vocabulary.

13) I used to weigh about 300 pounds (vs current 195).

14) I can't stand talking on the phone, and phones ringing make me cringe.

15) If I don't get enough sunlight, I am unable to sleep before 4 or 5am.

16) When I was born, I was horribly jaundiced and either had a blood transfusion or almost had one.

17) I once went three days with no food or water and three more days with only water. I don't recommend it.

18) I want to believe, ala Fox Mulder. This does not mean what most people say. It's not that Mulder, or I, believed all the wacky theories he put forth; it's more that he wants to find something out there that is true, and keeps looking, throwing out weird ideas and trying to prove them true. It's more an ongoing search for something to believe.

19) Chocolate, cheese, and wine are some of my comfort foods. There are a few other alcohols that are up there as well.

20) One day at the pizza store, I pulled a pan out of the oven and it slipped out of my grips. The pizza was cooking at 750 F. First the metal pan hit my arm and flipped over, dumping the hot pizza onto my arm. Then the sauce from the pizza drenched my arm. My entire left forearm was swollen at least one inch. The next day, it was completely healed.

21) I'm a pacifist.

22) Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Batman are my idols.

23) I like blades (knives, swords, axes), nice clothes and accessories (tailored suits and shirts, nice watches, ties, cuff links), and extreme weather (snow, ice, rain, wind, lightning, thunder, frogs).

24) I love traveling and meeting non-Americans, probably because I love to learn new perspectives and cultures. I plan on leaving the country in about a month, or less, and never living in this part of the country again, or maybe even anywhere in the States. Who knows, I might not ever settle anywhere!

25) I can kill you with my brain.

Update: Trading, Writing, and Traveling

2008-12-13T12:00:00.001+08:00

Yes, I know it's been quite a while since I've updated. There's not a lot going on for me lately. Well, I have a few very important things going on, but they are either boring or not for me to be discussing with the random public :)

Most of my time since October has been spent trading (currency, EUR/USD, for those that don't already know). It's going decently well, though I really need more capital to be able to do anything substantial. I'm working on doing that just now, gathering some more capital from a few individuals. I'd rather not involve others; if I had enough capital on my own, I would do it on my own. But, it is what it is, and I need to get capital, so I have to deal with other people's money. I think that's what I dislike the most, the responsibility and just general stress of dealing with someone else's money. Oh well.

A couple of months ago, I finished my most recent writing project. The Star Wars Rebellion Era Campaign Guide (http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Rebellion-Campaign-Guide/dp/078694983X) will be coming out next summer. For the foreseeable future, it will be my last writing project. I honestly was fairly burned out before I began this project, but I couldn't pass up the offer to work on my first book. Hopefully, my name will be on the final cover, which would be nice. I think my word count was about 10% of the total book, though I probably shouldn't talk about what parts I actually wrote, as the contents haven't been released.

I am hoping to begin traveling again by mid to late January, though that depends on getting capital fairly soon and trading going at least slightly well. I'll be going back to Asia first, starting in Korea and then branching out from there. The most likely secondary candidates are Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, China, then down into Thailand, India, and the surrounding areas. Of course, that's all tentative, but it gives you an idea. I have so many places I didn't get to in Asia, and so many regions to see, other than Asia. I'll keep you updated, of course.

Psychology of Monogamy

2008-10-09T02:06:00.005+08:00

I was having a conversation earlier that prompted me to think quite a bit about jealousy and sexual monogamy. As is typical, this drove me to start doing research, introspection, and analysis of many related issues, probably far more than I should. Our little journey starts with the question: why do some of us want monogamous relationships? From there, we quickly move to other questions, e.g. are our reasons valid; what are the reasons for our reasons; is there an appropriate answer for everyone or even in general; is it something we should fight for or rail against; what are the relationships between sex and self-worth; how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie-Roll Pop?

I'm not saying that I am against sexual monogamy; on the contrary, I have some sort of desire for it. I just want to be able to justify my desire in the issue, or at least be forced to admit to myself that I have an unfounded desire. Perhaps a truly healthy relationship doesn't need sexual monogamy, or perhaps a truly healthy relationship becomes sexually monogamous without any thought on the issue; maybe you fantasize about sex with others, but not really have a strong desire to carry through on it. But why? There has to be something to curb the desire, and is that something a thing to be sought and cherished, or just a factor for some people but not others?

Let's start with one point that is not really up for debate, at least not here: most humans are genetically and/or psychologically driven to have multiple sexual partners. If you disagree with this, can you just [bracket] the idea for now and pretend I'm right? It doesn't seem like this desire is biased towards men, either; apparently women want to have sex just as much as men. Go figure.Don't lie to yourself that your partner is never going to see someone they want to get funky with, or that you never will. It's natural to see a really sexy person and think about sex with them; it's part of the word, after all. We can't honestly be upset with someone for fantasizing a bit when Alessandra Ambrosia and/or Daniel Craig shows up on the screen. By corollary, we can't honestly be upset about fantasies involving equally sexy no-names on the street. Sure, we can be dishonestly upset about such fantasies, but be honest about your dishonesty and realize that it's unnatural to be upset about something so natural.

If we take the above paragraph as true, which you implicitly agreed to do by continuing reading, expecting a partner to not think about sex with anyone other than you is to expect them to be inhuman or dishonest. Assuming your partner is a human, which may not be true in some locations (Baaaaahhh), you are expecting the latter - your partner to lie to you and feel guilty about themselves. That's great if you thrive on a relationship of guilt, dishonesty, and delusion, like 90% of people and statistics. If, however, you want an honest relationship and still want to consider monogamy, you need to expand your inquiry.

Desire to have multiple sex partners, or at least fantasies about such are natural. "So, necessarily, we should embrace that point and follow through on it! To do otherwise would be unnatural! Right?" Wrong! Maybe we should embrace the point, but the inclusion of the word 'necessarily' throws a wrench into your monkey. Catching a cold is natural, but that doesn't mean we should, necessarily, embrace colds, seek them out and breath deeply the sneezes of others. "So that means we should, necessarily, fight the urge and be monogamous! Right?" What did I just tell you about the word 'necessarily'? Quit throwing things at monkeys (unless it's poo) and think rationally. Breathing is natural and I, for one, do not want to fight that urge, except maybe when sneezing is involved.

Being 'natural' doesn't tell us what we ought to do, though it might give us a starting point. If we have an urge, we ought to have a reason to resist that urge. If we have no reason, we might as well embrace it. What are the possible reasons for fighting the urge and embracing monogamy? I'm no expert on the topic, of course, but a few psychological rewards seem to be commonly cited. I'm going to cover one reason or theme of reasons, then quickly dismiss it/them because I can't relate at all, nor sustain any interest in the topic. Monogamy can cater to feelings of dominance or ownership. I do not respect such desires, so I'm not even going to entertain this as a valid justification for monogamy. It might be a reason, but it's definitely not a justification in my book. At least I'm honest!

Another reason cited is that monogamy gives us a sense of safety. I suppose this is based on the idea that if our partner isn't sleeping with anyone else, we don't have to worry about our partner leaving us. I really don't see a strong connection here, though; it feels more like the delusional attitude I discussed above. Remember that your partner is going to think about sex with someone else no matter what, so you better have more than just sex supporting your relationship, or you're either just fuck buddies or you're probably not going to last long anyway. If your partner is going to leave you because of sex, you were either in a rather narrowly supported relationship to begin with, or you had some other serious issues the two of you should have discussed; sex wasn't the reason, it was just the catalyst. If your partner is leaving you for more reasons than just sex, then we're talking about more than just sex, aren't we?

A similar reason, possibly another facet of the same reason, is that sexual monogamy helps you feel special somehow, that your partner favours you over all others. But, just like with the feeling of safety, this needs to be rooted in more than just sex. A healthy relationship likely includes everything other than sex and sex (in most cases), so I'm not saying the sex doesn't matter; I'm just saying that your partner abstaining from sex with others shouldn't be the source of a sense of safety in your relationship or the sole reason for feeling special or favoured by your partner. These should be rooted in a wide array of commonalities, attractions, and trust. Sex might be a part of this equation, but it seems like there needs to be more to reasonably justify sexual monogamy. If you have a sense of safety and a feeling that your partner considers you to be special without sexual monogamy, do you need the monogamy? It seems you would need something else at that point to justify the monogamy.

How do we make feelings of safety and specialness important enough to sex to have them justify sexual monogamy, or can they? Are there other justifications for sexual monogamy? How do we continue this chain of thought? I'm sure there are multiple answers that will suit different people, but I don't feel like I have reached an answer for myself. What do you think?

HDR Photography

2008-09-24T03:40:00.003+08:00

A week or so ago, my iGoogle page featured a 'how to of the day' about HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography. I like photography and dabble a very tiny bit in it, but nothing serious; I use my little digital camera that I bought two years ago, without much adjustment of exposure or anything like that. I sometimes take some decent pictures, but I know people that put my skills to shame. Likely, I will never be a fantastic photographer; however, I am quite good at post-processing.

HDR appears to take multiple exposures of the same picture, overlay them, and take different contrasts from each picture to create a composite with a much higher contrast ratio throughout the entire picture. I haven't really looked into the actual mathematics or process behind it, so I could be completely off-base, but that's the impression I get.

When I read the article, I was definitely intrigued by the idea. I went out the next day with the intent of taking several samples for HDR processing. That night, I played around with the recommended freeware HDR program and my samples. While some of the results were interesting and evocative, none were clean enough for my tastes. Dissatisfied, I left the pictures alone, until this morning. I've been distracting myself from other tasks (or faffing around, I believe is the term?) by playing with the pictures some more.

The results of this morning's "research" have been fairly informative. I learned that the basic forms of the algorithms are somewhat bland (perhaps I should increase the exposure bracketing?). The only truly impressive transformations are made by the Mantiuk algorithm with "Contrast Equalization" enabled (I'll label this "CE" in the future); all the other transformations are fairly mundane, though the Reinhard 2005 algorithm seems to do the best job with these mundane transformations. The Mantiuk algorithm with CE, however, kept producing a large amount of dithering. After playing with different types of photos, I learned that it doesn't seem to handle solid colours or subtle gradients very well. When I found a picture with a lot of detail and very little in the way of solid colours, it worked much better.

Through much experimentation, Frey Labs are proud to present the following samples for your consumptive entertainment. If you look at the sky in the top left of the HDR versions, you can see the dithering I was discussing above.

The original rose photograph with no exposure adjustment (click for a larger version):

HDR version, Pregamma 1.0 Mantiuk CE 0.1 Saturation 0.8

HDR version, Pregamma 0.9 Mantiuk CE 0.1 Saturation 1.4

I can play around with the settings to get different results and, of course, do further post-processing in GIMP or Photoshop, but these are the raw output of qtpfsgui 1.9.2. For the best results, you want a lot of detail and very little solid colour. A contrast factor lower than 0.1 will produce ghosting. Contrary to what you might think, lower pre-gamma settings do NOT make the image darker; the tone mapping will create the same brightness with CE turned on, no matter the pre-gamma setting. Lower pre-gamma settings create richer and brighter colours, while higher pre-gamma settings create some washed out Burton-esque results.

The how-to says you need a tripod or stable surface for taking the exposure-bracketed photos. While you don't need one of them, I definitely recommend it. Qtpfsgui has an "Auto Align" feature when you first choose the photographs for the HDR process. The first option, "hugin's", crashes on my system, but the second option, "Median Threshold Bitmap", has worked well for me so far.

The how-to said that cloud detail is significantly amplified by HDR, but I do not have any samples with which to test that. I will continue playing with my other samples later and post any interesting results.

Reading for the Story or the Writing

2008-09-06T12:25:00.003+08:00

I've been thinking lately about why I enjoy rereading some books and not others. I recently borrowed six of the Dragonlance novels (annotated) to reread for nostalgia. I read them way back in middle school and high school and remember enjoying them immensely. The other night I finished reading about 3/4 of the first book, when I suddenly became bored with it. I skimmed forward to read through the marginalia and glance at important bits revolving around Raistlin, then decided I was done reading, at least the first three novels.

Why can I reread some works, like Bujold's Miles books, Pratchett's Discworld series, or Lovecraft's short stories, while I can't be arsed to read some books a second time, even though I enjoyed the first read? I realized today that the difference is in why I enjoyed the piece. Some writers are good at creating stories, while others are good at crafting language (a few are good at both). The former create an interesting world and series of events that pull you along, always making you want to see what happens next; however, when you already know what happens, you don't have quite as much interest. The latter authors are interesting for how they tell a story, not necessarily what story they are telling. I read these authors because I like to read their prose; I enjoy ingesting the words.

Authors that are interesting for their method, rather than their goal, I can read over and over again. Pratchett's satire is so humourous and insightful that I can read it repeatedly, no matter what he is saying. Lovecraft's skill at evoking indescribable horror and a sense of the fantastic is what attracts me to his work, not his overarching plotlines. I suppose it's much like being able to listen to Sam Jackson or James Earl Jones read a phonebook; it doesn't matter what they are saying, so much as how they say it.

So, while out today, I picked up a collection of Lovecraft short stories that I didn't already own, and the next three novels in the Discworld series. I also bought Anne Rice's Mummy, or Ramses the Damned, but I don't recall if I loved that book for the story or the prose; I shall find out, I suppose.

In other news, I've been infected by British English. It started years ago, when I found certain turns of phrase, spellings, or grammatical conventions to be interesting or more reasonable. I am afraid it is spreading, though. Hopefully I won't start replacing Zs with Ss.

"I am naked and free, like my god."

2008-09-06T12:08:00.004+08:00

That is what I saw posted on the back of a bicycle today, the rider of which was a young woman wearing a bikini bottom and flower petals around her nipples. Apparently, being topless in public is not illegal in Portland, which I suppose is appropriate, since men can go topless at will.

For those that haven't been to Portland, this scene is indicative of the atmosphere of Hawthorn District, the area next to which my friend lives. It is pretty much a mix of a hostel-type atmosphere and a heavy dose of hippies. I also saw a young woman walking down the street with homemade fairy wings and a man in black and white striped pants, a black tophat, no shirt, and a large quantity of alcohol in his blood stream.

There are a few dozen shops lining the street over about a mile's length, including vintage and secondhand clothing stores, custom jewelers, a hostel, a Ben & Jerry's, an arms and armor shop, a store with toys and shirts reminiscent of what I would find in some parts of Hong Kong, a Powell's bookstore, a vegetarian Thai restaurant, a few other restaurants and coffee shops... you get the idea.

It's an interesting area and I could enjoy spending some time living in the area, but I'm not sure how long it would entertain me. I'm concerned that, like most places with character, many of the people are just impersonating the character they think they are supposed to have for the area, rather than being their own people. Anyway, I doubt I will be spending too much time here anytime soon, as I don't plan on settling down anywhere in the near future. I just thought I would share a vague idea of the area.

BDK8-03 Teaser

2008-06-26T14:18:00.002+08:00

My very last writing project for Living Greyhawk is BDK8-03, which I think I am renaming 'The Combination of Souls'; that has an allusion to the BK's proper name, Combination of Free Lords, and relates to the plot. The story is going to wrap up the Dahlvier and Vorelornir (That Which Slept) storyline that started way, way back in 2004, I think it was? Well, the first mention of That Which Sleeps was back in 2002, I think, but we got the real storyline started a couple of years later. Anyway, there's a lot of background information that I've given to some of the PCs over the years, but has never really filtered out to the playerbase. This adventure will fix that, telling everything that happened to all the characters, how they got where they are, and how to stop That Which Slept. The strange thing about this adventure, what really has me feeling uneasy, is that it is a love story. I've never written one before, it's not exactly the normal forte of D&D, and I'm not sure how well it is going to come out.

On the way up to OK, I wrote a bit of the adventure - yes, while driving. I pulled out my notebook and scribbled while driving, looking down every once in a while to make sure I was still somewhere near the lines and the ink was still flowing (that was a constant battle). The result is actually some of my better narrative text; though, that's not saying much, since narrative text is one of my weak points. I figured I'd type it up here for the BK people to have a sneak peek and for other friends to just read something I wrote, if they care. Here you go:

The lich reaches into his robes and retrieves a silvery orb. Deep shadows, black as tar, flow across its otherwise flawless surface. Dahlvier raises the orb in front of his face, his milky-white eyes examining it intently. The expression on his face indicates that, were it possible for the animated corpse, he would be crying.

"This...is all that remains of what we once were. The immortal forms we now inhabit are as nothing compared to what lives on in this twisted mockery of union, a sadistic antithesis of what we once shared. Ironic, isn't it? I fought the Stern Lady to an unholy stalemate so that I could have more time - time to right what went wrong, time to save my people...time to free Her. Thousands of years have passed, and all I have ever known, all that I cared about has fallen into Wee Jas's embrace, all but the two of us. Now, to finish this, to set her free, I must finally cede the game to Death's Embrace. For Vorelornir to die, so must I."

Long time no see...

2008-06-26T14:13:00.003+08:00

Yeah, it's been a little while since I've posted anything. To sum everything up, I graduated law school, I wrote 4 rounds of core/core special adventures, LG is wrapping up, I'm homeless for the foreseeable future, and I'm in Oklahoma for just under two weeks (back in Austin on the 8th, most likely). I will spend a few days in Tulsa, then over to Stillwater, then back to Tulsa, I think :)

One related note is that I just noticed, while driving into town, that I feel differently. I grew up here, and I'm intimately familiar with the city, yet it somehow feels alien to me. It's not that I get lost, can't find anything, or get confused; it's just that it seems off somehow. I guess all the traveling plus living in Hong Kong and Austin broke me of feeling like this is home. Now I just have to find a home, which has been a recurring theme for me for quite some time :/

The big Bandit Kingdoms finale was last weekend. With the end of the BK and LG, I will be posting a couple of entries related to what I've learned in all my time playing, writing, editing, and admining for the campaign. The BK post will likely be tomorrow and will cover playing and a bit of writing. The LG post will be later in the week or next week and will cover the more administrative, behind the scenes stuff.

I'm going to type up one other blog entry, check my email, then go to bed. Catch you on the flip side.

Hello, Boston

2008-02-15T12:24:00.002+08:00

When I awoke this morning, one of the first thoughts through my head was 'What the hell am I doing?' It's a question that's been plaguing me all day. What am I doing here? I don't mean that in the metaphysical/existential sense. Why, exactly, did I decide to come? I've always thought I should visit New England, but I've never had a strong compulsion to actually do so. Joe's been trying to get me to visit since he moved, something like two years ago. Dave, the kind gentleman putting me up for the first few days, also has said in the past that I should visit. Some of the HK exchange students planned on using a Boston Beerfest as an excuse to have a reunion this spring. There is one this weekend, but it sold out before I could get my tickets, and noone else is coming to visit this weekend; it's just me, the Boston locals, and no Beerfest (not that I particularly enjoy beer). That doesn't really bother me, though, as I can tell now that's not really why I'm here.

So, why am I here? What made me spend the money and time to travel across the country to Boston. Why did I decide to pick a weekend and come without any itinerary or desires? It's not like I was thinking I really wanted to see what Boston was like, in case I wanted to live here; I don't know of anything in Boston I really care to see. When I decided to come, it felt like the thing to do - a perfect idea. Now it feels like I was crazy for even considering it. It's not like plans have fallen through and I am now not sure I want to be here; I had no plans. It just seemed like I ought to be in Boston this weekend, and now I'm at a loss as to why I listened to that feeling and, if it's right, what I'm supposed to do now that I'm here.

The whole thing just doesn't make much sense to me. For those that don't know me, spontaneously booking a trip like this is far outside my realm of normal behaviour, and looking back on it, it disturbs me a bit to not know what I'm doing or why. Anyway, I suppose I will wait and see, though I don't know what I'm supposed to be watching :/

Breakfast and Women

2008-02-09T22:18:00.000+08:00

As I have noted earlier, I am staying with my grandparents for a couple of nights. One of the nice things about that is MawMaw wanting to cook for me every morning. This is fantastic, as I am a bit lazy and definitely not a morning person. I usually skip breakfast, as I have no motivation to fix anything. I started thinking it would be really cool to have this, someone to make me breakfast, more often; however, then I realized a problem: the type of woman I like doesn't tend to be the 'cook breakfast for her man' kind of woman. I guess I tend to prefer a woman that is more likely to wake up, glare at me, and throw a granola bar at me than she is to get up and cheerily fix breakfast, which is fine with me, as I like attitude. I just have to steel myself for the fact that this is not going to be something I have very often in my life. Oh well, I'd rather have a smartass woman with a mischievous grin than breakfast any day.

Followup to Yesterday's Novel

2008-02-09T21:31:00.000+08:00

You know where I realized that running worked completely different muscles than the elliptical? Yeah, well, yesterday's realization is nothing compared to the epiphany I had upon waking this morning (if you can call it waking, more on that later). Holy [insert four-letter expletive of your choice]! Various parts of my legs, lower back, butt, and feet hurt like hell. I guess I should look on the bright side, that I am sore fewer than 24 hours later, when it used to take 36 to 48 hours (metabolism speeding up), and this should indicate that I have made some progress and the next time should be easier.

One side effect of exercising that I forgot to mention is the return of insomnia. In high school, I always had trouble sleeping. I would have a hard time getting to sleep, then I would only sleep well for two to four hours before waking up and having a fitful time the rest of the evening. This would usually be followed by a nearly mandatory nap sometime in the day. When I got fat, at least I had the good fortune of being able to sleep...sometimes for 12+ hours a day. Well, as I get into better shape and my metabolism increases, the insomnia has returned. Two nights ago was the first good night's sleep I've had in over a week, and last night I slept for a grand total of 4.5 hours before waking up at 6:00 and staring at the ceiling for an hour until I decided to go ahead and get up. Another side effect is an increase in mania, but that's another story and I feel like doing my daily sudokus, so peace out. Hopefully you're all still asleep when I post this.

Running and the Elliptical

2008-02-09T05:25:00.000+08:00

That sounds like the title of a really bad children's parable.

I guess I should give some of you a bit of background first, for context. I've never been a good runner...actually, that's a misstatement; I've always been a horrible runner. When they made us run in elementary school PE class, I could barely finish the mile and it was in a very poor time. Throughout my several years of Judo, even when I was going to practice 3-4 times a week for 3 hours each time with an hour of weights and cardio before, I couldn't run. I would do wonderfully on the rowing machine and the stairs, but I couldn't run a mile to save my life. The one year that I played football, I smoked /everyone/ in stadium snakes, but couldn't run distance or sprints at even an average level. When I played Ultimate for two years at OSU, I started at 250+ pounds, so it's understandable that I couldn't run then. But after two years, I was down to about 210 or so and able to do a few crappy sprints now and then and play full games (granted, I was a handler, so I didn't have to run as much as others), but I still couldn't run a mile.

For the past ten years, approximately, I've been losing weight from my peak around 300 pounds sometime around 1998. It tends to go in spurts with plateaus at particular points. I did most of my work between 1999 and 2004. A couple of years of Ultimate and living on rice and beans (with a can of chicken as a treat when I was really rolling in the money...) helped quite a bit. I plateaued around 210 from 2004 to 2007, for the most part. I had started gaining some weight back early in law school, but lost most of it when I went to HK in the summer of 2006. This past fall in HK, I lost almost 20 pounds, which was great. Unfortunately, I knew that I was going to have a hard time keeping it off, since when I returned to the US, I would not be walking everywhere, the food would be much less healthy, and the portion sizes would be about twice as large. So, I decided I would need to make some adjustments to my normal routine when I got home. I decided I was going to take drastic measures...start running !

For the past two weeks, I've been using the elliptical at Mike's place every other day and seeing some decent improvement. The first time I used it, I barely managed to complete about 12 minutes at maybe .7 miles, with several walk-breaks in that period. The next attempt was 15 minutes at a mile, then 18 minutes, then 30 minutes with 4 breaks at 1.8 miles. The last two times I used it, I went 30 minutes without walk-breaks and am up to about 2.3 miles in 30 minutes on hills. I was pretty happy about that, especially considering my atrocious history with running.

Late last night I drove to Houston to see my family and make an appearance at Owlcon. Since an elliptical is not exactly very portable, I figured I would have to finally break in my shoes on an outdoor surface and do actual running. I expected it to be a bit different, maybe slightly different muscles, and maybe a bit easier since it would be on a flat surface rather than hills. Well, guess what? I still can't run a damned mile! I ran maybe a total of 1.5 miles and had to take several breaks. It was completely different from the elliptical! It worked completely different muscles and worked my lungs harder. The elliptical kept my heart rate higher for the duration and worked some muscles just above my knees and up along my thighs. Running was working some muscles above my knees and to the outside of the leg, my shins, and my arches. Part of that is probably my shoes; they are supposed to work the muscles in my feet and lower legs. But, still, it was quite disappointing. I guess I'm going to have to start running one day and elliptical the next to work the different muscles. Hopefully, I will see the same improvement as on the elliptical.

The good news is that, rather than regaining weight, I've actually lost about another 10 pounds since I got back from HK. I am now down to 183, which is probably the lightest I've been since 1993 and my lean, not-so-mean, not-so-green Judo days. Of course, considering I know I still have some fat to lose, that means I have some serious muscle mass to regain, particularly upper body (as usual). I suppose I will start working on that when I get back from Boston and live near campus again. Ok, if you made it this far, I feel sorry for you and I will let you get back to your life now ;)

Quanting News

2008-02-08T03:34:00.000+08:00

Mike and I (mostly Mike) worked early this week on the testing platform, with good results. He got it setup so I can put all the data I want in the database (I'll eventually get about 5 years worth in there), choose the dates I want to test, run the test, choose the dates I want to chart, choose the data to chart, and view the chart. I can even zoom in and zoom out (though only to original dimensions for now). We still have some work to do, like getting it setup to read a file for algorithm variables so I don't have to hack the code everytime I want to tweak it, but it's in a state now that I can run tests quickly and look at the results pretty effectively.

Unfortunately, looking at the first few sets of tests, it looks like I may need to change the algorithm some. I'm getting good data on some parts of the algorithm, but there are certain other data points I am missing. I'm getting some decent results, but I don't know if that's just luck or if it's a decent algorithm that could be better. If I could get the other data points and then tweak the components a tiny bit, I could get some fantastic results. I'm just going to have to play with it to figure out how to get those other data points somehow without getting false positives. That last bit is going to be the tricky part.

So, things are progressing well, but I'm a little behind the schedule I had set for myself. I wanted to know if this thing was going to work by mid-February, before I went to Boston, but I don't think I'm going to make it at this point. The initial returns were good, about 1/3 to 1/2 of our target return, but again, that could just be luck. All-in-all though, things are progressing well and I should know something soon. Anyways, I'm going to go get some editing out of the way and maybe eat some soup. Yumm.

This weekend (7.Feb to 10.Feb)

2008-02-08T03:21:00.000+08:00

I was planning on leaving for Houston last night to spend some time with the Grandparents, but I was too tired, hadn't packed, and needed to clean part of the house to do my part to help get ready for Mike's brother and sister-in-law coming into town for the weekend; besides, even if I left directly after class, I wouldn't have arrived in Houston until about 10 or 11pm. So, I planned on leaving this morning after cleaning, maybe around 11am. It turns out my grandparents are bowling tonight and won't be home until 9:30, so I'm waiting around ATX until about 6 so I get there when they get home. I'll spend tonight and Friday with them. Saturday I'll make an appearance at Owlcon and probably stay the night there. Sunday I'll head down to my dad's place to see my bro and sis, spend the night there, then head back to ATX early Monday in time for my 2pm class, Nonprofits.

Today, I have to finish editing FUR8-01, BDK7-08, and maybe a couple of interactive ARs. Casey is planning on getting me BDK8-01 late tonight, but they are hoping to run it at 7pm tomorrow night at Owlcon, and I don't know that I will get it turned around that quickly; I'll try though. Also this weekend, I need to read On the Genealogy of Morality a couple of times for my Nietzsche class and prep a couple of minutes of presentation on Sony's IP strategy, specifically related to Blu-Ray and the lessons they learned from the Betamax snafu. In whatever time is left, I get to quant using the new GUI mike put together. (more on that in another post)

Music to Check Out

2008-01-31T16:14:00.000+08:00

Riot! album by Paramore. There aren't enough good rock groups out there with a female singer, but this one comes through. I really enjoy this album and will have to check out their other one.

Minutes to Midnight album by Linkin Park. Even if you don't like LP, maybe especially if you don't like LP, you should at least find somewhere to listen to this. Apart from one or two songs, it is quite different than their previous work, and I like it. Mr. Hahn spends most of the album on a midi board; I miss him on the turntables, but the album works. The album kind of reminds me of the Silverchair album I discuss below. It has a bit of a pop edge to it, but it doesn't cross over into pop; it manages to accomplish a sound somehow different.

Diorama album by Silverchair. This is an older album that B. turned me on to. It has a really interesting sound, especially listening to it straight through. It's not good driving or exercise music, but it is a fantastic composition for just listening.

World of Monsters album by the Drovers. I've loved this album for a long time, since I helped a coworker at American Airlines find it way back in the 20th century and listened to it myself. They were a sort of celtic rock band from Chicago way back 'in the day'. The last track, When Fortune Turns Her Wheel, is one of my all-time favorites.

How to Save a Life album by the Fray. I know, some of these songs are overplayed, and the sound pretty similar to each other, but there are some gems on it. Hundred is one of my new favorite songs.

It Won't Be Soon Before Long album by Maroon 5. Really only the first 4 or 5 tracks are that good; then it slips into standard top 40 single-mode. You might not like it, but I think the beginning of the album is worth checking out.

Liberation Transmission album by the Lost Prophets. There are a few good songs on here, kind of in the vein of the Fray, in my opinion. (I don't know which came first; I'm just trying to make a comparison.) 4:AM Forever is probably the best track on the album.

Of course, I always have to mention Moxy Früvous. They aren't exactly what most people would like, but their talent, lyrics, humour, and general fun make them great to me and some others.

I'm not sure why I felt like sharing all that, but there you go. Enjoy!

And So It Goes

2008-01-31T15:56:00.000+08:00

I know it's been a few weeks since I updated, but my promised motivation was not exactly forthcoming! (I'm lookin' at you, Q! ;) No, James, I don't want you to send me naked pictures when I don't post; the idea is enough motivation as it is.) While things have been happening since I made it back to Austin, actually, since I made it back to Oklahoma in late December, they have not really been the types of things that others would be very interested in; they have been events and actions important to me and advancing my personal goals. I have my classes setup (M-W) and have been working on stuff like my programming project, mentioned earlier. While I am not finished with anything really, I am getting past important milestones; You might say I've been fighting the battles that comprise the war.

I might be moving back into Spanish Trails in a couple of weeks. They have a 1-bedroom that might work and they are willing to do a lease until May 31st, which is great since I don't know where I am going after graduation. I should start working on that ;) Oh well, things always work out in the end, and as the hanging on Brooke's wall taught me to add to the end of that statement, "...if they aren't working out, it's not the end."

Here's my upcoming schedule: I'll be going to Houston from the 6th to the 10th of February, Boston from the 14th to the 19th of February, and D.C. from the 27th of February to the 3rd of March. Jill mentioned a possible trip to Mexico in late February, so I might get to see her from about the 22nd to the 25th. I think I am going to stay in Austin most of the time after that, including for Spring Break; Ken mentioned coming into town for SXSW and I figured I should show him around. That, school, and programming represent my life for the next few months. Come visit me in Austin if you get time!

A Quanting We Will Go (Or what I did on summer break)

2008-01-31T15:16:00.000+08:00

It seems a lot of my friends don't really know what it is I do on the side with Stuart and, recently added to the team, Michael. For several years now, Stuart and I have been developing, off and on, an automated forex trading system. Forex is a term for foreign currency exchange, which means we sell one currency and buy another, shifting our assets between the currencies at, hopefully, opportune times. We deal with the Euro/US Dollar (abbreviated to EUR/USD) pair for a few not-to-be-disclosed reasons. So, when the Euro is high relative to the dollar, we exchange it for Dollars; when the Dollar is high relative to the Euro, we exchange it for Euros. The system we are building is automated, so it tracks various points of data and decides whether one of the currencies is high relative to the other and executes trades at the right times. There are, obviously, many pieces of information missing there, but that's the general idea without revealing trade secrets :)

This was one of the projects I took up when I got back from HK, part of the new-Britt system and the mantra 'Make it work.' When I made it back to Stillwater to see Stuart, I kicked this project into high gear after a long hiatus. I've been working on it since the end of December and have made substantial progress on the back-end (that means the programming part of it). Michael joined us a week or two ago, which is fantastic as he is a great programmer and on the short list of intellectual equals ;) His skillset is slightly different than my own or Stuart's, which helps a good deal. Mike and I have rebuilt the code from the ground-up, implementing new features, the ability to add more features in the future, and most importantly, rigorous testing features. Previously, I had to tweak our system and then watch it run on live data throughout the week, looking for patterns and tweaking further. We can now run the program off old data, seeing the results of a week's worth of trading within seconds. The last key part was finished by Mike tonight: charting. Having nigh instantaneous results is fantastic, but it takes me vast quantities of time to go over the data and look for patterns and fixes. When I get up later today, I should be able to do a little bit of programming and then jump right into my real job of quanting (yes, I made up that word).

Mike informed me that the position I filled for the company was officially called a Quantitative Analyst, or Quant. Basically, I look at all the data, find patterns, try to codify them, and then implement them in a program that takes advantage of those patterns. Starting tomorrow, I should be able to run a month's worth of data and then start zooming into various hot points of the month to examine what was happening with the markets and our system at the same time. This should allow me to pinpoint important changes and quickly test them, arriving at a vastly improved system in a fraction of the time. It may sound geeky (and it is), but I am very excited.

That is one of the things I do outside of law school (and law completely). I also write, edit, and project manage games for Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro), but that's ending this summer and was more of a hobby that turned into a job. It also doesn't sound nearly as impressive ;)

Almost 'Home'

2008-01-07T13:50:00.000+08:00

Well, I head back to Austin tomorrow. As I have said before, I don't really feel like I have a 'home', more just a temporary living location, but Austin is the closest I have right now. I've been visiting family and friends in Houston, Tulsa, and Stillwater the past two weeks, since I returned from Hong Kong. I look forward to seeing my friends there and settling down for a while, but I still know it's not permanent and I will be moving somewhere else within the year. When that happens, I want to find somewhere to stay for a while; I want a real home for once. I just have to find out where that home is going to be. We'll see how things work out.

And now that I have completed the Trifecta of posts three days in a row, Quinci has to send me naked pictures of herself. MWAHAHAH!

Happy New Year

2008-01-06T09:21:00.001+08:00

Just in case you are living on Neptune or some other heavenly body where solar years have a different duration, we are now in the year 2008. If you are completely unfamiliar with the superstitions and traditions of modern culture (perhaps you are an unfrozen, caveman lawyer), you were supposed to do several things on the 1st of January, such as make resolutions you really don't intend to keep and eat black eyed peas.

Personally, I've never been a huge fan of New Year's resolutions. How many people actually keep their resolutions, or make meaningful ones? If you don't have a better reason to change than the fact that it is now time to put the wrong date on all your checks, you are very unlikely to succeed in those changes. And if you do have a better reason, why are you waiting until the first of January to start, you lazy schmuck?

Don't get me wrong, I am an avid fan of personal improvement, especially if it doesn't involve reading a book. Over the past several years, I have spent a good deal of time on introspection and self assessment; I have tried to identify my personal problems and work to correct them. This process I jokingly model in my Britt versioning system. (I am a geek. If you are reading this, that shouldn't surprise you.) Britt 1.0 was way back in the days of yore, the early 90s, when the Wii would have been on Star Trek: the Next Generation, and Rock Band meant Guns N' Roses. Britt 2.0 occupied the latter half of the 1990s and is affectionately referred to as 'Dark Britt' by those in the know. Britt 3.0 and 4.0 only lasted a few years each, from about 2000 to 2003 and 2004 to 2007, respectively. As the 21st and 7/100ths century dawns, it is time to unveil Britt 5.0.

So, given my disdain for New Year's resolutions, how do I justify attempts to change myself at this time? For me, it just so happens that the time to change happens to coincide with the new year. I didn't plan to make changes on the first, nor is it really a sudden change. We are all changing all the time, or should be, and I have been working on some drastic changes consistently over the past five months. I just got back from Hong Kong and have been thinking about some important life choices and one of the final changes will be worked on over the next few months.

I don't really like talking about myself that much, and I adore being vague and mysterious, so I am not going into what changes I have made or intend to make. Suffice to say, I don't know how well this will work, as it involves acting, which has never been my forte. As my friend Jessica A. pointed out, likely correctly, I am scared of it; but, as Mary Schimch suggested, I should do one thing every day that scares me. I don't know exactly why I am scared of acting; I don't know if it is a fear of success, failure, loss of options, or being the cause of an eventual downfall of mankind and rise of a flying monkey empire, but I do recognize that I am scared of action, irrationally, and that I should do something about that.

So, now that I have ridiculed anyone that might possibly answer this question, did any of you make New Year's resolutions? Or do you have any thoughts about what I said above or New Year's resolutions in general?

Home again

2008-01-05T00:11:00.000+08:00

I am back in the US, seeing everyone for the holidays, and missing HK and the people I met/know there. I am currently in Stillwater, OK (home of Oklahoma State University). Last night we went to Kyoto, the only (as far as I know) Japanese restaurant in town. Our waitress turned out to be from HK, so I got to talk to her about how much I missed it, how bored I was here, how spread out everything is, how hard it is to get anywhere, and everything else I'm not liking about being home. Unfortunately, she has been away from HK for about 2 years and doesn't miss it too terribly much.

To be honest, I also don't miss the city horribly. It's more that I miss the people so much and don't like it here. On a scale of -10 to 10, I have about a -5 or -6 feeling about being back home or maybe just this part of the country in general, maybe a 4 to 6 feeling about HK, and an 8 or 9 for the people in HK or that I met there. Sure, I'm glad to see the people back home, but I am seeing them about as much as I ever do. There's also the realization that many of the people here I will always be able to see and will continue to see for many years, though it be sporadicly. Many of the people I met in HK I may never see again, or may only see in passing, fleeting, shallow instances.

I think the difference may be that I have had plenty of time with the people at home to develop lasting relationships and for us to really get to know each other; with the people that I met in HK, I have only had enough time to scratch the surface, to get an idea of what might have been or how much I would have enjoyed getting to know them better, and letting them get to know me. Perhaps I will move to HK to work, but even then, the students from HKU are spreading out to their respective cities. No matter where I move to live and work in the future, I will never be able to connect meaningfully with all of them; it is a geographic impossibility. That is probably the hardest part for me. People and relationships are very important to me, though I guess that sounds trite; I am sure almost anyone would say the same thing if they were asked or were thinking about it.

I'm really not sure what to do about it, or if there is anything I can do. I've been thinking about it a little, tangentially, lately. I believe this is going to be one of the important issues I need to solve or address in the next few months, before I determine what I'm going to do with the next few years of my life; that is really still completely open and unclear. Feel free to discuss and help shape the future of Britt ;)

Help me update

2007-11-21T20:22:00.001+08:00

I apparently need help encouraging me to update my blog and upload pictures. Help me by bribing me or giving me really good reasons to do so.

For those that don't know, I don't have internet in my flat, so I tend to not spend much time online while I'm in HK. That seems to have a very significant impact on my desire to blog...

Pics Uploaded

2007-09-02T13:50:00.000+08:00

I've uploaded pics to Picasa from the past week or so:

More pics from Jess's Bday Party

Tennis pics

Pics of my flat

Pics from Wii night(s)

Misc. club pics

Misc. HK pics

Mahjong Night

2007-08-27T14:24:00.001+08:00

I'm tentatively playing my first game of MJ tonight with Albert, Fish, and IPM. Albert and Fish taught me the basics last night, so I'm all prepped to kick their asses ;) Wish me luck.

Bureaucracy FTW!

2007-08-27T14:18:00.000+08:00

I just went down to the law faculty to check in and was handed a form and told to fill it out and mail it back...to the place where I was standing. That's right, I can't just fill it out and hand it to them; I have to mail it to them. That means I still don't know what my schedule is going to be next week. On the plus side, on my way back to my room I saw a table for the chess and board games club. Unfortunately, like most socially inept gamers, they have their games on Friday nights. As I plan on either traveling or going out on the weekends, I doubt I'll be able to join them. It is reassuring to know that gamers are the same on both sides of the planet.

I'm off to Taikooshing to meet Albert this afternoon. I've never been there, so I may take some pictures. It's just another area on HK island, farther down the island line than I have been.

Irony

2007-08-26T17:18:00.001+08:00

OMG, I was just laying on my bed surfing channels and what do I find? Sitting in China watching TV, I come across a program talking about bats in Austin, TX. how's that for irony?

Afternoon Constitutional (boring post)

2007-08-26T16:17:00.000+08:00

I just went for a hike up to the Peak. Visibility was quite poor, so no pictures this time. I think it's about 5-6k from Robert Black up to the Peak, with about 1/3 of that a decent grade; the other 2/3 being is mostly horizontal, at least relatively. The new building was complete, so I wandered around in there for a while and looked around on the terrace. There's a Madame Tussaud's, Swarovski, and a few other interesting stores. There were some really nice pieces at Swarovski's; I wish I had some decent income so I could get things for people. There was a group of school kids playing Pachelbel's Canon, which is my favorite classical piece. After some leisurely strolling at the Peak and getting some water, I walked back down and now here I am. I think it's Peanut Butter and Jelly time! Actually, it's just peanut butter time, so I can get some protein.

Navy just let me know that the flat is ready, though they're waiting on curtains and new light fixtures, which arrive Friday. I'd move in, but I had to prepay this room. I'll check on getting a refund and moving into the flat early, but I don't have much hope.

I just realized this entry is really boring. Sorry about that, but I can't think of much interesting to say at the moment, too tired. I'll make up for it in my next entry, promise.

Oww

2007-08-26T07:34:00.000+08:00

After getting back to my room yesterday afternoon, I did some exercising, which included the hard stomach exercises Jill told me about. I'm having a hard time moving this morning; every time I move to anything short of a fully extended position, my stomach cinches up and makes standing difficult and painful. It's good, because it shows progress, but it hurts! I'm thinking of walking up to the Peak today, so hopefully I won't be able to move my legs tomorrow :)

Oh, and I can't sleep very well. Granted, I slept a few hours early in the evening yesterday, but I fell asleep about 02:00 and woke up about 06:45, AFTER taking the ambien my mom gave me to try to fight jetlag. That stuff apparently does nothing to me. I wonder what that says about my body chemistry that ambien doesn't knock me out, at least for more than a few hours.

Off to breakfast now to see who the early risers are this week.

Pics uploaded

2007-08-26T01:13:00.000+08:00

Pictures from Jess's bday and Gencon have been uploaded to, respectively:
http://picasaweb.google.com/brittfrey/JessSBday
http://picasaweb.google.com/brittfrey/GenconIndy2007

Lunar Eclipse Tuesday

2007-08-26T01:10:00.000+08:00

Anyone want to go up to the Peak with me on Tuesday night to see the lunar eclipse? Local time will be 18:42 (moonrise) to 20:23 (end of eclipse).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070824/sc_space/viewersguidetuesdaymorningslunareclipse

I know I'm in China...

2007-08-25T23:53:00.000+08:00

...when one of the channels in my room is Panda TV. That's right, a channel that broadcasts the daily activities of pandas on four webcams.

Value Added Content

2007-08-25T23:50:00.000+08:00

I forgot to mention the bonus feature of my room at Robert Black: jackhammers at 9am, right outside my door - literally, like 5 feet from my door. I guess I won't be oversleeping...

Try not to miss me too much...

2007-08-25T14:01:00.000+08:00

After a long day of traveling, I arrived in Hong Kong yesterday. I arrived at 15:00 on Friday, HK time (02:00 Friday, Austin time). Albert was at the airport waiting for me, being the badass friend that he is. He took me to Robert Black college, where I decided to spend the next week until my flat is ready. Robert Black is where I stayed last summer, so I am familiar with the area and such. Albert dropped me off around 16:00 and I spent the next 3 hours getting into my room and taking a nap.

At about 19:30 or so, I got up and headed out for Jessica's birthday party. I had to walk down to Central to find an ATM, as I was without cash, then up to Soho to Cru, the restaurant at which we were eating dinner. I got the opportunity to meet several friends of Jess and see a couple of people that I knew from last summer. It was great to see Jess again, even if she did put "Britt(any)" on my nametag ;) Dinner was quite nice, though the chocolate martinis tasted horrible. I did my first shot (two actually), which was not bad, but was also not something to get excited about. Overall, this whole drinking thing has been rather unimpressive. Granted, I haven't been drunk yet, but I don't plan on intentionally becoming so, and I haven't noticed anything great about being tipsy.

After dinner, we went out to Dragon-I. We got the VIP, skip the line and list, treatment again, which I'm beginning to get used to hanging out with some of my friends here. I'm not as intimidated by the rich/model crowd anymore and mainly think a lot of the women just need to eat something. Overall, it was pretty fun, though there were some issues that came up that required some cheering up. We mostly sat around in the outdoor area chatting and having a good time. Next, it was down to Q, a new(ish?) club in Lan Kwai Fong. It was pretty cool, with a pleasant decor and not very crowded. I did some not-very-good dancing, but it was dancing, which is a start for me, and we had a grand ole' time for a few hours. Amazingly, I just happened to run into Marco while there. He is a friend I have from last summer that I know through Albert. Once he recognized me, he promptly jumped on me and wrapped his legs around me - funny, but why can't some of my female friends do that? ;) He was on his way out, so we chatted for a few, then he made his way out. Around 03:00 we left and people started dispersing for home. I walked with Jess up to another bar where we met Steph and Michael. At this point, I decided to leave as well, as I had been fighting jet lag all night.

The walk home nearly killed me; I had forgotten how hard those stairs are to climb when the escalators are off. Oh, wait, they call it the TRAVELATOR now, sorry. At least that removes the problem of what to call an escalator that takes you down (escalator should only be for 'up'). By the time I got to my room, my shins, calves, stomach, and kidney area were killing me. Granted, I had been on an airplane for 20 hours, walked around town before dinner, then danced some, but I'm going to have to do a lot of exercise to get into shape. I am tentatively planning on walking/jogging up to the Peak everyday, which should get me into shape really quickly. Anyways, I got to sleep around 04:30. Unfortunately, I woke up at about 08:30 :(

I spent about 45 minutes shaving and showering, then went to eat breakfast. I had good ole' congee, hot tea, and toast. It's almost like being back in Austin with the Spanish Trails ladies again, only I traded the company of pretty female friends for congee - not a good trade, imo. After breakfast, I went to the office to get a power adapter so I could charge my laptop, then left to run a few errands. First, I went by 7-11 to get a SIM card. Unfortunately, when I asked for a SIM card, the guy at the counter pulled out a list of about 10 options and all the text was in Chinese. I just went with the one that looked like what I had last year, and that worked out. Second, I walked down to Central to get an Octopus card - that's the auto-debit card for the transit system and several stores, like 7-11 and Park N' Shop. Third, I went up to the Park N' Shop at the top of the TRAVELATOR! to get a few groceries. I picked up some bread, nutella, peanut butter, tim tams, Lindt, crackers, soup, cheese, and insoles (I've been needing those for a while). Fourth, and finally, I came back to my room to catchup on emails and post to my blog, which I am currently completing :)

I have no plans for tonight, but Jess or Albert might give me a call. Honestly, I wouldn't be sad if I just spent the night resting. Sure, it's not exciting, but I had a long day(s) yesterday. Pictures from last night should be on Jess's fcbk and, hopefully, some of the other people will be uploading pictures as well. I'll copy them down later and put them up on Picasa for people to see. It's about 14:30 on Saturday now. I'm going to try not to take a nap, maybe unpack my bags, and get in some exercise, I think. Later faithful readers!

Geek week begins...

2007-08-15T08:00:00.000+08:00

I will be leaving for Gencon in Indianapolis in about 4 hours. For those that don't know, Gencon is like Gamer Mecca. I'll get to spend 5 days around overweight, socially inept, stinky gamers. Granted, there are normal people there as well, and I like some of the overweight, socially inept, stinky gamers, but the overall percentage of those qualities is much higher at Gencon than probably anywhere else in the world. There are a couple of special events running that I wrote, I have a few meetings to attend, and some announcements to handle. Other than that, I'll be running some games, answering questions, avoiding questions, and wandering the dealers' room. If you have requests for items from the wonderful world of geeks, let me know. Yes, some of you have already told me, like collectible vinyl figures, but there might be some really cool stuff there that would suit some of you and I would have no idea. So, leave a note and I'll see what I can do.

I get back to Tulsa late Sunday/early Monday, then leave for Shanghai/Hong Kong on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Smell my nutmeg!

2007-08-12T14:18:00.000+08:00

No, I'm not going to help you make that make sense. MWAHAHAHAHAH!

I thought I might give my faithful consumers a glimpse at one of the revolutionary features of Britt 5.0. Previous versions of Britt used rudimentary and discrete importance and meaning routines. All events were evaluated for importance and meaning. These routines...ahh, screw it, this programming metaphor is getting old quickly. Anyway, I used to look at everything that happened and try to figure out what it meant, thinking everything had to mean something. Also, once I thought I had stuff figured out, I would decide if something was important, pretty much an all or nothing type of thing. While I used to make fun of Rod for thinking in discrete terms, where everything had to be all or nothing, I've realized recently that I was doing the same thing. Even worse, I was thinking I was being 'mature' for thinking that way. For example, while Rod would turn the A/C on full blast until he was cold, then turn the heat on, I wouldn't get into any types of relationships unless I already knew I might be able to be with the girl for a long time. If I didn't think marriage was possible, I didn't want anything more than friendship, if I even allowed for that.

I'm starting to realize that this is idiotic, immature, and probably just an extension of my desire for control and fear of commitment, which are probably the same thing really. Sometimes, things don't mean anything at all, or maybe things aren't clear to the people involved. Sure, sometimes events or actions have meaning, but not everything does. And jumping straight from nothing to everything, does it have to be like that, and is that even a good idea? I need to be willing to be wrong if I ever want to be right. Of course, like Socrates, I should always realize that I know nothing, but that's very hard to do :)

So these are things I've been thinking on for a bit and plan to think about a good deal more over the next few months, among other things. If you want to talk about this topic or similar ones, feel free.

Britt 5.0 is currently in development with public beta testing beginning in Q4 2007 and an expected release date in Q1 2008. Check back often for previews of other features in development.

Friend needs work

2007-08-12T00:13:00.001+08:00

I have a friend that needs a job in ATX or Ft. Worth in copywriting, marketing, PR, or (she didn't say these two, but I think she might like them) photography or singing. I'm biased towards ATX :), but if you know of anything in either town, please let me know.

Somewhere a rainbow is weeping.

2007-08-11T13:27:00.000+08:00

I actually have no way of tying that title into what I was going to post, but it's just so damned funny! I was watching Psych (good acting in that show) and the main character was making fun of his dad's shirt and said that it was colour genocide. Ahh, comic gold.

Anyway, I've begun work on Britt 5.0. If you anyone has any feature or bug fix requests, now is the time to inform me. Don't worry; if it's bad, I won't hold it against you, but I might kill you for it. Don't let that deter you from providing creative feedback, though. I already have some things in development, but you could provide ideas that lead to amazing advances in Britt technology and maybe, just maybe lead to the salvation of all humankind from the alien, monkey overlords. If you don't want to help me, at least think of the alien, monkey overlords.

Getting my google page setup

2007-08-11T08:44:00.001+08:00

Sweet! I am getting my iGoogle page setup with RSS feeds of all the blogs I check. Instead of having to go to them all individually, especially when they don't update very often, I can just look for new stuff on iGoogle. I got blogspot blogs figured out, but need to check livejournal and Y! blogs now.

For blogger, add a gadget to iGoogle that points to http://name.blogger.com/feeds/posts/default

For Y! blogs in Hong Kong, add a gadget that points to http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/name/rss

For LJ, go to http://name.livejournal.com/data/rss or /atom.

So, the problem I'm finding is those stupid friends that make posts private.

I figured out how to login through an atom feed. For LJ, for example, do the following:
http://user:password@name.livejournal.com/data/atom

Damnit, that didn't work. :(

Fantabulous Meme

2007-08-11T06:59:00.000+08:00

This one is definitely worth doing.

What would you do...
If you heard the penguins were taking charge and over running the country?:
Mobilize my team of guerrilla warriors and take back the country against the threat of flightless birds.

If you heard that the world was going to end tomorrow?:
Find a way to stop it.

If music wasn't existent?:
Umm, make it exist?

If you saw a man/woman streaking across your front yard?:
Smile and cock my head to the side (no pun intended) and be a bit confused, especially since I don't have a yard.

Have you ever...
Almost drowned in a type of body of water?:
No.

Streaked?:
No.

Streaked with friends?:
Missing prerequisite.

Try to jump off some type of large and tall platform?:
Of course. Wait, how do you try to jump off something?

Tried to fly?:
Yes.

Eat something just to prove to someone that you could?:
Not to prove that I could, but to broaden my experiences.

Went out and tried TPing a house or any of the sort?:
Yeah, think so.

Bologna'ed a car?:
Huh? People do that? Never heard of that.

This or That?
Toilet Paper or Leaves?:
What the hell do you think?

Pens or pencils?:
Pens.

Laptop or computer?:
A laptop is a computer. Between a laptop and a desktop, probably a laptop.

Lol or haha?:
It really depends on the situation. There are subtle nuances separating the two.

Smile or Frown?:
Lately? Smile.

Smile at someone who was staring at you or wave the middle finger?:
Smile.

The Used or MCR?:
Lost me there.

Chicken or Turkey?:
Chicken.

Pie or Cake?:
Cake.

Divorce or Forever Married?:
Who would want to get divorced? When I get married, I want it to last.

Good boys/girls or Bad boys/girls?:
A bit of both (good and bad, not boys and girls, sickos). I want someone that is a fantastic person but has a bit of a wild streak and maybe some bad past that they've overcome like a comic book villain turned hero.

Crayola or RoseArt?:
Hmm, probably Rose Art.

Crayons or Markers?:
Different tools for different tasks.

Random things... more.
Sleep with a stuffed animal?:
I have.

Fell down the stairs?:
No. I'm graceful, like a dolphin. How many dolphins have you seen fall down stairs?

Fell UP the stairs?:
Yes. Dolphins don't climb stairs very well.

Climbed a mountain to it's highest peak?:
Yes, and love it. I would like to do it again sometime.

Dived off a diving board in 3 ft. water?:
Yes. I can do shallow diving perfectly well.

Rolled down a hill and then smash into a parked car at the bottom?:
No, but I once flipped my bicycle while going down a hill and had it land on top of me while I slid down the asphalt of the hill.

Wanted your parents to shut their mouths when you already know what to do?:
Of course.

Favorite...
TV Commercial?:
I don't really watch TV, so I don't have a large enough sample size to know.

Type of Dog?:
Border collie.

Type of Cat?:
I love most cats, but I tend to prefer ones that have a bit of attitude but are cool about it.

Weather?:
I like extreme weather, bright sun, lightning storms, snow storms, ice storms, tornadoes, curtains of rain, high winds, etc. Of course, I also enjoy a nice calm day as well. They elicit different types of feelings.

Pen?:
I forget the brand, but the artsy ones that Cristina got me.

Telephone?:
I don't like using the telephone, but obviously the iPhone is keen.

Binder?:
I'm not in elementary school, though law school is like it sometimes...

School activity?:
Skipping it.

Work place?:
I'd love to work in a think tank, solving myriad world problems.

Room in your house?:
I'm homeless, and I think my next place is a studio.

Type of computer?:
Eh, something that works.

Type of car?:
Aston Martin, though I like my Scion tC.

Type of sound?:
A smile. You figure it out :)

Nearing the end people...
Ever wish for something that you knew would never happen?:
Yes, see the title of my blog. Though I think of them more as unlikely rather than impossible.

Wish upon a shooting star?:
Everytime.

Tried eating bubbles that came out of a bubble bottle with the bubble wand?:
No, since soap doesn't taste good.

What time did you start if you remember?:
About 18.05.

What time is it now?:
18.13.

Did you enjoy the questions?
Yes.

Why in the world did you take this anyway!?:
You had me at penguins.

Virgin post

2007-08-11T06:56:00.000+08:00

Welcome all to the magical, mystical Britt show. This is my first post here and will be used primarily to test the layout. I may have to check if fcbk can import blogger posts as well. So, sit back and enjoy the wonderful content that awaits you in the near future.