Switching routers

I'm going to attempt to switch our router (we're upgrading from four ports to eight). I think I have the crucial info jotted down (saved as a PDF actually).

May the force be with me.

5:10 PM: Wow, that was surprisingly, pleasingly, pleasantly easy. Totally painless, in fact. The set-up wizard didn't work in Safari or Firefox, but Camino 0.9a1 did the trick.

If you're curious, I went from a D-Link DI-604 4-Port Broadband Router to a Netgear ProSafe™ VPN Firewall 8 w/8 Port 10/100 Switch.

We are now drowning in cords, though. Eventually, gods willing, everything will be wireless. One day, one day!

Gameplay

Last week, while I was at the shore, I got playing my copy of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. I had actually bought it a long time ago off of eBay but never got around to really playing it.

Sadly, I am now addicted. I've always played RPG's but not many strategy ones. At first I thought I didn't like them (because I wasn't very good) but now that I've gotten the hang of it, I can't stop.

Admittedly, the judges get annoying.

The other sadness involved is that my copy of FFTA lacks the Nintendo Seal of Quality on the cartridge. Whenever someone uses the lunge technique "Piercethrough" my game glitches out. It does at other times, too, but not as consistently.

The other game I've been playing a lot is Kirby: Canvas Curse. I'm also a fan of the Kirby games, and this one, while representing a pretty different shift in gameplay, is definitely worth it. It gets frustrating at times, but I haven't yet been able to put it down. It seems still a little too short, a common complaint for the Kirby series.

It does a good job of showing what the Nintendo DS can be used for. Gimmick or not, that touch-screen rocks.

Flickr badge

Flickr badge,
originally uploaded by dougward.

My new, unofficial Flickr badge.

Made with the Flickr badge maker.

Au revoir

Rachel left for China today. Predictably, I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand, I'm happy, because I know she's going to have an awesome time.

On the other hand, I know I'm going to miss her terribly.

Of course, she's only going to be gone for six weeks. I mean, hell, I've gone six months before without seeing her.

I did get to say a pseudo-good-bye last night, as I phoned her up and we talked for a bit. I'd rather have said aloha in person, but things rarely work out that nicely.

In other news, I went to the dentist's today. Apparently my teeth are in good shape, which is good.

I am going to be getting braces on in two weeks, which is going to be...interesting. And painful, from all that I've heard.

Take this survey

Odeo Clown

Odeo is an awesome tool for podcasting.

I just created my account today, but I'm going to be using a lot more. Heck, I might even produce my own show, or at least have a shot at it.

From the Shore

I got back at about six yesterday. As soon as I got home, though, my family and I went out for a nice dinner.

Just what I wanted... As soon as I get home after riding in the car for a good number of hours to immediately get packed into the car again.

Anyway, right now I'm working on titling selected photos in preparation for uploading them. I managed to take 132 photos, and though I'm not going to Flickr them all, there's going to be plenty for you to look at.

I also plan on writing up some sort of synopsis/summary/series of selected anecdotes from the trip.

5:59 PM: I Flickr'd everything, so you can check out The Shore photoset.

Packing

We're coming back.

Watching TV

Not much has really been happening. Been busy, though. Yeah that makes not much sense but whatever.

Buried

Your intrepid hero

Sand

Ferris wheel

We didn't go on it.

The boardwalk

The beach

Our neighbors

We're here

On the road again

Leaving

So I guess I'll be leaving tomorrow. I'm going to be gone for a week, then I'll be back. I'm bringing my camera so I can get some photos and I'm bringing my phone for mobile communication/blogging.

More info: I'm going to be leaving for Ocean City at 09:30 tomorrow. I'm going to be with Gus and his family, which is always a pleasure.

Going Pro

Yesterday I upgraded to a Flickr Pro account after I discovered I had hit my uploading limit. The month's not even halfway done, so I figured I could do with some more freedom.

Swimming

Today I went over to Ben's house for a swim party dealy. It was good fun.

Gus, Evan, and the Townsends were there. We swam around at first, then went inside to make some Captain Awesomes.

Captain Awesome

A drink composed of equal parts ginger ale and cranberry juice with a dash of lime juice.

We stayed inside and attempted to tell ghost stories. That didn't work. We played a little ping pong, and then sort of watched a movie.

The movie was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is an awesome movie, but which really nobody paid attention to. Myself included.

When the movie ended, we watched TV. I should add that other people were playing Magic and filling out character sheets, so there was more going on than it might seem.

Eight o' clock approached too quickly and it became time to leave. I said my good-byes and parted ways.

On a different topic, I found an email from the Google Video team in my mailbox. It was regarding the movie I uploaded, Count Monkula. There's a problem with it, namely that music is featured to which I don't hold the appropriate copyrights/licensing.

It's possible that one day I might open it back up in iMovie and replace all the offending music with my own stuff, but don't hold your breath.

This has been the most exciting day yet this summer.

Saturday to now

On Saturday I went over to Ben's house to play D&D. We played our Eberron campaign and finished our quest. Nobody died, despite what our DM promised.

Although nobody died, Ben and Gus ended up creating new characters; Gus because it turned out his character was inadvertently illegal, and Ben because Gus, who had been our prime melee combatant, insisted on making a weak (weak in the melee-combatant sense) replacement character.

I stayed with my bard, although I started multi-classing as an artificer. They have some really cool abilities, and this way, I can finally make my Helmet of Impact.

Evan seems to have undergone Total Spontaneous Existence Failure.

We slept over at Ben's house. I didn't sleep, unlike the rest, but while Ben and Gus were awake we drew on Quiggy's face.

I watched Hellboy for the first time. It was a good movie. I was glad that I read The Call of Cthulhu recently, it helped me understand a few things that I wouldn't have otherwise.

When I got back home I checked my newsreader, checked the number of unread emails in my Gmail account, and then fell asleep until today.

Today some old college friends/bandmates of my dad's are coming over. I need a shower. And bass skills.

Update: I spent about two-three hours sweeping our porch before Peter and Mo (my dad's friends) got here. It's good to see them again. Then we had to take two of our dogs to the vet's. Mixed results. One dog needs oral surgery, the other needs a major change in diet.

Ceremony

I had to go to the graduation ceremony of my old school today. I won a particular award last year, for which I had to go back and co-present the same award to this year's winner.

I was happy to be back, except that I had to be in pants, dress shirt, and blazer in 85°F (29°C) weather, with 71% humidity. Still, it went off without a hitch (I think), and after it ended at 11:30 (it started at 9:30) we adjourned to the dining room for refreshments.

Mmh, free food.

Later: There was a snake on our porch.

Happy birthday, RJ!

Music is my life

Not a whole lot has been going on. Yesterday we had a few doctor's appointments, about one per family member, and our doctors are conveniently an hour's drive away, so that took up most of the day.

I've been listening to a lot of music. My last.FM profile is currently saying that I've played 4,456 tracks since October 27th. And in case you were wondering, here are my current stats in iTunes:

• 7,519 songs
• 20.2 days
• 27.24 GB
• 542 artists
• 774 albums

My most recent purchase on the iTMS was The White Stripes' new album, Get Behind Me Satan. This is the first time I've seen a PDF on the iTMS, although I already knew you could import them into iTunes.

Update: It's a cool album. Apparently it was recorded in only two weeks, which is believable. I don't mean that in a bad way.

It's totally different from everything they've done so far. That's bad and good. It's not the hard rocking it used to be, but it is definitely worth listening to. Bottom line: I like it.

Movies

First I saw one of my favorite movies, The Wedding Singer. I really do like it. The soundtrack is amazing, and there is just so much to like.

The final scene on the airplane is definitely one of my favorite scenes, ever.

Then Chris and I saw The Longest Yard together. (If you're wondering about the Adam Sandler kick, it's pure coincidence.) It was okay, but it wasn't really funny enough to be a comedy, or dramatic enough to be a drama. If it had decided what it was, it would be twice as good.

I'm gonna try to do something that isn't watching movies, so don't worry about tons more posts about movies.

Yee-haw!

I'm out, baby, I'm out!

2:55 PM: I'm going to go watch I Heart Huckabees. Then, after that, I think I have a phone call to make.

Later: It was a good movie, much better than I think the reviews gave it credit for. It was similar in many ways to Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently. Compare the Existential Detectives in Huckabees to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

I made the phone call, even. I'm glad I did.

Even later: We watched Waiting for Guffman with dinner. Excellent movie. If you like any of Christopher Guest's other works (This is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show), then you have to see it.

Exam Progress

Monday: My Geometry exam is over. Well, it was over when I finished it at 3:45. It wasn't that bad, though. There were at least four questions I'm fairly certain I won't get full-credit for, but thankfully the proof at the end wasn't evil.

Today's Memorial Day. Isn't that supposed to be some kind of holiday? Blah. I should rat my school out to Homeland Security for being un-patriotic. It's treasonous, is what it is.

Tomorrow I get to slay the beast that is HAM.

Tuesday: HAM has been slain. Actually, it was completely ridiculous. Somehow the four teachers responsible had managed to bungle the projector so that it was all green. I mean, it was all green. And they still expected us to identify art. Ragh!

Wednesday: Latin and Biology are over. Latin was pretty good. I got 88% on Biology. Eh.

Thursday: My last exam. Over. No more. Tomorrow I have a chapel, and then...

FREEDOM.