Fontastic

Bad, bad pun. Sorry.

I made a font! It's called ExcitinglyChnky in a tribute to the interior of the Heart of Gold. It doesn't have nearly a full glyph set, but it'll get simple jobs done.

If you do download it, please read the enclosed ReadMe. Also note that, while I'm offering this font for free, I do have it protected under a Creative Commons license.

Edit: I oughta mention, it really only looks best at 10-12 point size.

Edit II: The font is in TrueType format. In case you wanted to know.

Edit III: For some reason it would appear that the “W” doesn't appear. Bloody hell.

ISDead

On Wednesday, I took my Dell into the Information Services Department. I told them my laptop wasn't charging when I plugged it in. They took a look at it, and told me it was a problem with the “system board”. They also told me they'd order a new one and it'd be there tomorrow.

I was sick the next day, so the next time I went in was Friday. In fact, I went in, at various times, three times on Friday. First time I was told by a lower-ranking worker that it looked like it wasn't ready. Second time this was confirmed, and they told me to come back in the afternoon. I did, and I was told it still hadn't come.

I just came out of ISD (I'm blogging from a library computer), and they told me that the Dell guy wouldn't be in to fix it until Monday.

ISD: Incompetent Service Department.

S'no Day

We got a good bit of snow. At least a few inches. Of course, school wasn't cancelled. It never is. Bloody boarders.

I was unbelievably tired this morning. You know you're tired when you have forty milligrams of time-released amphetamines (in the form of Adderall XR) beginning to circulate, are sitting up in bed, with a 120-watt lightbulb on next to your head, and you're still making a decent, if irrational, attempt to stay asleep.

I could have slept, too.

At school I still felt sick. The dizziness is something I don't have usually. It's extremely unpleasant. I finally ended up going to the health center.

I've only gone to the health center once before in my life, voluntarily anyway. 'Twas in fifth grade. The only reason I went was because all my friends told me I looked like I was going to die. I did go home that time.

So anyway, I ended up in the back of the health center listening to Don Byron. Don Byron is a god. Buy Bug Music (iTMS link) or perish. He has the hoopiest band I have ever heard.

Hoopy means really together for those unfamiliar with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy lingo.

So what does that mean? It means that Don Byron comes closer to perfection then anybody I have ever heard. So check him out.

That wandered a bit. Too bad.

Up To

What have I been doing, you ask? Here's a rundown.

Saturday: I played Dungeons and Dragons with the usual crew. It's a lot more fun thanks to XP Calc. It turns out our party was not getting a quarter of the experience we should have gotten. We also had an awesome naval battle against some pirates.

Sunday: Not much.

Monday: Field trip! My grade went to New York to see The Gates. I took some photos of both The Gates and the road-side scenery on the way there.

Central Park was cold, wet, and miserable while we were there. Because of that, I don't think I enjoyed The Gates as much as I might have.

Afterwards we went to the MoMA. That was especially lame. Why? Because MoMA has some incredibly awesome stuff. Wait, that's not it. The lame thing is that our guide only showed us four paintings. A Chagalle, a Picasso, a Rothko, and one German painter whose name I shall not attempt to spell. Good stuff, but in a museum with the best stuff...

There is something wonderfully surreal about coming around a corner and seeing a painting you know so well it's burned into your memory, and then suddenly it's right there. This happened to me with Starry Night.

Tuesday: Went to school. Also went to my art therapy, as I do every Tuesday now. Nothing makes you feel quite so crazy as a trained art therapist examining your miscellaneous doodles which suddly seem much more sinister and meaningful then at the time you drew them.

Also on Tuesday, the family cat, Fifi, died. She preceded me into this world. 16 years is pretty good for a cat.

Wednesday: Not much. Went to school.

Thursday (Today): Did not go to school. It seems both my dad and I came down with something. Slightly flu-ish. Actually, I did physically go to school, but only to the infirmary.

That's about everything.

Bad Day

I'll blog later. I have photos to post, too. Stuff to talk about.

So yeah.

Going

Field trip soon. We're leaving at eight. Where's Ben? Can't wait.

Hmm, little rhyme. Anyway, should be good. Will blog when I can. Taking my camera. I charged the battery last night and I've got two CompactFlash cards with me (128MB and 64MB). Don't have my cellphone, sadly.

Also taking my iPod. Tunes for the road. I'm bringing my splitter and two pairs of headphones. One pair might not be fully functional. Better than nothing. What to play?

Cancellation

Geometry Honors was cancelled! I'm happy. When I went up to class, there was a note on the door. There was no explanation, but who needs one? I'm taking the opportunity to play some more N. I beat another episode and am making a good attempt on the next.

Power Strip

Wow, that sounds like something totally awesome. I don't mean it that way, sadly. I'm talking about that I brought in a surge protector to my school's student center. Specifically, I took it to the corner known locally as “Derektopia.” That's where everybody with a laptop hangs out gaming, or, in my case, coding/scripting.

When it was discovered, it was heralded as being a good idea and actually useful. It was agreed that I was now, quote, “slightly less useless.” So yay. I'm just going to leave it there, since I've got a ton of them, it was a fairly cheap/dirty/old one, and, well, the donation has enhanced my image.

Okay, and it's practical. Yeah, that too.

Follow-up

Following up: Where did the Universe Come From?

Without a doubt, the biggest question in science is, “Where did it all come from?”

I have to disagree. I'd have to say the biggest question is “What got it started?” or maybe “Why did it get started?”

Brilliant minds have expressed every conceivable opinion.

Nooo, not really. Brilliant minds haven't offered up the theory that flaming squirrels created the universe out of matchsticks and nylon.

You'll discover:

• The mistake Einstein later called “the biggest blunder of my career” – and a dangerous assumption that nearly blinded him to the greatest discovery of the 20th century

That would be the fact that he refused to believe that quantum mechanics existed because it's insane.

Enjoy...

Perry Marshall

Is that the same Perry Marshall as this one?

I went on a mission to study the most brilliant minds in marketing today, across dozens of industries and professions. The system I've developed over the last five years delivers powerful results for corporate sales people, in a measurable and predictable way. I now produce training tools and consult with a select number of high tech clients.

Perfectly qualified to be talkin' 'bout the universe, then.

Blech

I stumbled upon this website The American Atheist. I don't like it. It does have a cool interview with Douglas Adams, but I still don't like it. Why not? I'll explain.

They're taking a radical standpoint on Atheism. Whatever, go for it. But it doesn't smell much different from any fundamentalist, right-wing, conservative, blah blah blah preacher's website. It has about the same quality of design (zing!).

Not that I'm qualified to comment, seeing as I didn't design my own blog. Least I have the decency not to cram a load of gifs into it. And I really like my work on Botherly.

Taking it Easy

I'm not doing much. Just relaxing, listening to Victor Wooten. I got our good speakers working again, and boy, am I happy I did. Such a huge difference between Klipsch 5.1 surround sound and un-powered, woofer-less desk speakers.

I've got a field trip on Monday to go to NYC to see the Gates art “thing.” I'll hafta bring my camera for that, no doubt. Might be fun. Well, no. Then again, yeah.

See, the bus ride is probably going to be bad. Don't have many friends, see? And so on. But technically only the bus ride'd be bad. The actual thing would be good. Hopefully.

Eh, I'm going to succumb to the grooves of one of the greatest bass players who has ever lived. Play on, Victor.

Early

Turns out we had a sleep-in day today. That means I got in about... Two and a half hours before my first class. Least it gave me some time to do stuff.

I really need to check my school mail more. That way I would have known about it. Still, I got to listen to some Leo Kottke and some Johnny Winter, so the time wasn't wasted.

Saturday Night

Stolen straight from my email.

To: Take a wild guess
From: dougie [at] gmail dot com

Oh, you wanna know serious fuckin' irony? After finding out I wasn't getting to go the dance, my friend Chris came over. Somehow, it was decided that we'd go to a movie.

Guess what we saw.

"Hitch."

Yeah, a romantic fuckin' comedy.

That's gotta be the most ironic fuckin' thing in my entire life. It's actually pretty funny in a "ha-ha-ha-oh-gods-I-want-to-die" sort of way.

Ironically yours,
Dougie

You can fill in the blanks from there.

Words of Wisdom

"The Soupy Toasterson Show": Soupy Gets VD - A Holiday Special:

“I don't have an answer for that. If I did, I wouldn't be thinking about how I'm currently not dating someone, and how it eats me up inside, and how this day, is making things worse, because I feel this inate compulsion to do something, to do anything, but I can't for various reasons.”

*Sigh.*

Whee!

St. Valentine's Day! Worst one! Evar!

Ah, That Was It

I just remembered what I meant to blog yesterday. I did have Jazz Band after all; meh. I also had Latin, with my advisor subbing in for my teacher. It was interesting; eventually, in a couple of years, he might be teaching me (in something like AP Virgil, gods willing) so it's sort of a sample of things to come.

I'm at school. Got a free period, then Biology, then Jazz, then Latin. My Latin teacher was supposed to email us our assignment, but he hasn't yet. S'not good.

Trying to decide whether to go to the Westtown dance or not tonight. If I did go... I'd see Rachel. But the last one I went, all of the music seriously bit. And... Why is this even a question for me? It shouldn't be.

Yet, it is.

Power Outage

I had to get a new power supply from ISD today. My old one stopped working; when plugged in, it began to emit a high-pitched, rapid beeping that was really annoying. Plus it didn't work. So they gave me a new one.

Uhhh, yeah.

Somethin' else I wanted to say, but I forget. Ech, I'll post if I remember.

Thumbs Out

Recently I reread my copy of The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. My copy is different from that linked; It's bound in “genuine bonded leather” and I [heart] it. It's also different because on the spine it misspells the short story Young Zaphod Plays it Safe as “Young Zaphoid Plays it Safe.” That's the only place it's misspelled.

Anyway, this reading (this is between the fifth and seventh time I've read it) was a little harder for me. So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish is essentially a love story, and I can never read those anymore without being reminded of my own sorry situation. It ends unhappily in Mostly Harmless, which is depressing enough even without empathizing with the tragic/romantic aspect of it.

Anyway, I wrote a limerick.

There once was a man named Dent
Who thought himself a bit of a gent
He hitched a ride
To the other side
Of the universe he found out was bent.

I don't think today's gonna be too bad. I was having some stomach problems this morning, and in fact threw up, but I still trudged to school. It looks like I won't have Latin today, and I might not have Jazz Band either. S'good, I can use the time.

Faith

There's a discussion going on right now in one of the blogs I'm in. It started out being about homosexuality, then devolved, as it were, into religion/Creationism/Darwinism/evolution.

It's kind of interesting. Quiggy is unusual for a teenager, as not too many (at least of the ones I've known) are very devout. The teenage years are typically a period of atheism, agnosticism (the stage I'm in), or exploration.

Thing is, I wish I could believe like that. That, without proof, with everyone railing against me, I could stand firm. I believe in science, but science can't sustain you in low points, except, perhaps, where it applies to antidepressants. There are no songs called "What if Stephen Jay Gould Was One of Us?".

Faith is a good thing to have. It's been proven that terminal patients who are faithful do live longer than those who don't believe.

I do have some personal views on religion. Since I've gotten over my atheistic period, I've spent more time thinking rationally -- comparatively, at least -- about the nature of things. It's a lengthy subject, though, and it might be best to save it.

Barely

Would you survive a horror movie?

"You made it through the flick, but, um, it's not a pretty picture. You're the bloody heap in the corner who everyone thought was dead until you stumble into the hero's arms after the bad guy bites it (think Jamie Kennedy in Scream). You are a smart and fiesty person, but you're also a little reckless and you tend to put yourself in awkward positions -without a good weapon. But even though you get sliced up a bit, you get to survive and that's all that matters. Who needs all those toes, ears, and arms you'll be missing by the end of the flick anyway?"

Well, now that you mention it...

Therapy

So, yesterday I met for the first time with my new “art therapist.” The only part of that that's necessary to understand is “therapist.”

He seems like a pretty nice guy; his name's Mark, he actually used to be an artist. He sounds slightly like Norm MacDonald, which is cool, and looks very slightly like Bill Murray, which is also cool.

Since it was the first time we met, it was just the standard, “So, tell me a little bit about yourself” that you tend to get in these circumstances. Anyway, seems like I'll be meeting him weekly on Tuesdays. I'm supposed to bring the “art” (re: doodles) I create in my free time in.

We (my mom, grandmother, and I) might have to go to California in the next couple of weeks. My great-uncle (grandmother's brother) is dying of cancer, and he offered to pay our way to see him. The problem is that you need a photo ID to fly, which my grandmother doesn't have. We're going to try to get her one, but it'll take some time.

Mardi Gras was yesterday, apparently. I didn't feel it, or really see any indications of it. Oh well.

Today is Ash Wednesday, as well as the start of the new Chinese Year; the year of the Rooster.

Spring break's coming up; I can't wait.

Holiday

So I don't have school tomorrow because I've got a headmaster's holiday. Convenient timing, as I was consigned to my bed today due to a combination of emotional and physical problems (each feeds off the other; it's very nasty).

Not sure what I'll be doing. Probably getting a jump on my homework.

Nahhh.

So attractive

From Gabo's party. That's me in the middle, Ben's on the left, Tucker's on the right, and I'm rending the soul from Alix's body.
Posted by Hello

Retrospective

So, yesterday was Super Bowl XXXIX. The Philadelphia Eagles versus the New England Patriots. The symbol of America versus the lovers of America. And all that. My hometown lost, as all of you not living in a cave know. Eh. I was pretty sure they would. But then again, odds are pretty good I'm just a pessimist.

We watched the game on our big-screen (but not HD) TV with the good 5.1 speakers. That was pretty cool.

Super Bowl Snacks:

• Spaghetti (for dinner)
• Eagles-themed cupcakes (chocolate and vanilla mix, vanilla frosting, green and white sprinkles)
• UTZ Eagles-themed potato chips (regular)
• UTZ Sour cream and onion chips (crinkle-cut)
• Pink Virgin Lemonade

Saturday I was at Gabo's. It was okay, but it wasn't great. For the guest list and photos, see Gabo's post. I was glad to see Gabo, and Ben, and Evan, but everyone there (except Ben and Evan) were really homophobic. I mean, it was just retarded. See Ben's post for more.

We did watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I hadn't seen before. It was a good movie. Good music, too.

The weekend before I slept over at Ben's. It was good. We played some D&D and watched Napoleon Dynamite on my laptop. I think I'll have to blog more about that movie later, as it warrants it. You can see Ben's post for more (again).

When I got home, I went to sleep at about 1:00 PM EST and woke up at 9:00 AM EST the next day. In other words, I slept for 20 hours. This sets the record for me. Also of note is that I slept on the couch in the living room (as opposed to the mattress in my bed room).

That's about it for now.

Blogger ChatBot Pt. 1

I had a good idea for setting up a computer and AIM (or similar) account so that if you IMed it, it would blog your message. The way I'm thinking of doing it, it'll only work on a Mac. I'll post more details when I have them.

Oh, the reason why it's Mac-only: It uses iChat, AppleScript, and OS X Mail.

Edit: Looks like my idea will hafta be put on hold... It looks like I'd hafta know Perl, which I don't. It's possible to do, I'm sure, but not easy. Actually, I think I could do it with just AppleScript, but it would still be hard.

It's in my mind

And in my car
We can't stop now we've gone too far
Too far!

Whoa yeah.