A handsome piece of deformity.

It should be noted that the previous update was made with tongue firmly in cheek — my cheek, for anyone keeping count, and my tongue — and should only have been taken as seriously as, well… it shouldn’t have been taken seriously at all. Badgers? wtf? Irony was the name of the game, folks. The message previous was intended to mock the absurdity of stereotypes, not reinforce them, right down to referencing obscure musicians, the ludicrous sponsorship message, and the smiley. Some of my best friends are just that — friends — though the world may view them as ‘goths’, or ‘rivetheads’ or ‘punks’ or ‘preps’ or ‘professionals’ or ‘insert label here’. They, however, are defined through my eyes by friendship or, failing that, their merit as human beings, not labels; as individuals, they are beyond definition via any clumsy and ill-defined category.

Heaven help us all should I ever direct my clumsy vocabulary at satire…

Had a lousy day and was about to make some angst-fueled generalization about people being |insert creative expletive here| until I realized that a) I’m not a goth and therefore lack the necessary pathos to do so; b) I’m a person; and yet c) am not |expletive|. Therefore, people in the most general sense cannot be something that I, as a person, am not. Hah! Screw you, logic!

:)

As such, I shall have to seek catharsis in some mellow and uplifting music and stop being silly and self-absorbed. First, Múm’s “Finally We Are No One”, likely to be followed by Machiste’s “The Italian Stallion” — Machiste being a Beefcake-related project, for the inquisitive — or maybe some Manitoba.

This update was made possible by the Confederation of Perpetually Miserable People, the letter ‘m’, and viewers like you. Badgersbadgersbadgerscheerupdamnitbadgersbadgers!

Welcome to the wonderful world of feline ownership, in all its multiplicity of meanings.

Sadly, this is how many people think they can treat a pet — because an animal is strictly a piece of property to many, it can be summarily disposed of however that person pleases. If the animal pees on the floor because no-one’s bothered to train it, whoops, let’s put Fluffy down. Don’t bother spaying your cat, just drown the kittens.

You’ll see more of this sort of thing, unfortunately. There are a lot of responsible, caring people out there, but there are also a tragic number of people who do stupid and callous things with a dependant life because they can. The tragic cases merely stick more tenaciously in the memory; I’ve heard (and met) just as many happy rescue stories.

Consider not that the cat was dumped, but that the lady you got him from cared enough to give him a transistory home rather than taking him to be put down or just plain ignoring him for the coyotes to get. Consider that you cared enough to adopt him and beheartbroken by the circumstances.

Consider that you’re providing the best possible thing for him right now: a stable home where he’ll be loved and appreciated and enjoyed.

There’s currently a cat hiding under my bed. He’s cute, and white and orange. He’s also a little rascal.

Despite getting a cat, today was strangely depressing. I’ve been in an odd state of mind since this afternoon and can’t put my finger precisely on ‘why’. I suppose it has something to do with people callously abandoning a loved one, in this case an animal, and leaving it to die. Listening to my poor cat whimper miserably while transporting it home was soul-wrenching, and really raised my ire. Much as I love having a cat, I am deeply troubled by how exactly I obtained it.

Going to hide in the comfort of music, now. Spent the weekend finding god in caffeine, cats, coitus, comics and cups. It’s time to pay some attention to compact discs. Wish m’love were here, though, but really, what else is new?

I’m getting a cat. Today. Glee. :)

Since I’ve been given free reign to do so, I’m updating this thing. < cackles maniacally > I find it terribly funny that someone who claimed to be heartbroken yesterday because I didn’t update my blog hasn’t updated his.

… okay, the Evil Creative Spirit crawled back into bed on me.

Damnit.

Love, you’ll have to provide your own clever-and-witty update, I’m afraid.

I aim to accomplish three things this morning.

First, find the individual responsible for setting off the fire alarm in my apartment complex, a smoker who did so ‘accidentally’ from what I’ve heard, and shake his hand for reminding me that I need to insure all that I own. Following that, I am going to rip his dumb-fuck lungs from his body and piss on his lifeless corpse. I take gross offense to having all that I am and own threatened by the ignorance of some asshole, or assholes for all I know, deciding that their selfish self-destructive habit is more valuable than the lives of everyone else they share the complex with and the possessions contained therein. Finally, I’m going to put on a strong pot of coffee, given that it took me until nearly 3AM to fall asleep (ain’t insomnia fun?!), it’s now 5:40AM, and I need to be up at 7AM.

Fuck.

I was going to post something long-winded about North American puritanism, hypocrisy and double-standard (morale pluralism?), and Janet Jackson’s nipple, but have decided against it. Ain’t worth my time, dear reader.

In other news, my girlfriend is rightfully and rightly indignant in her 2/3/2004 entry.

Oh, well. With the striking of match, a shadow is cast. My frustration regarding the contents of my previous entry will give me a chance to accomplish a fair bit of reading over the next few days, likely in the form of a few “Preacher” trade paperbacks by Garth Ennis and that new hardcover that a co-worker convinced me to invest in as part of an at-work book club.

Whilst on the topic of reading, I can’t stop drooling.

Installed first Neverwinter Nights expansion, Shadows of Undrentide, and learned something that’s pissed me off extensively. What’s the point of investing over sixty hours in developing a character and marketing something as an expansion if, as a poster on BioWare’s webforums so eloquently states, “[w]hile you technically *can* use your NWN character in SoU, you’ll be disappointed with that. SoU is really intended to be played with a new first level character. The storyline doesn’t make sense if it’s played by the Hero of Neverwinter. Also, the monsters and puzzles and such will be way, way too easy for a high-level character. Your best bet is to start a new one.”

While this will give me a chance to create and play a new character, I was dearly looking forward to watching my pre-existing thief mature further. Additionally, I was rather set on learning the fate of several of the characters in Neverwinter Nights, as the epilogue to the game is somewhat lacking in detail (meaning there isn’t any — the story climaxes and there’s nay a denouement save a quick conversation and a four-screen ‘movie’). It’s very irksome that Shadows of Undrentide does not continue the story developed in Neverwinter Nights.

Expansion my ass.

Getting the DOOM itch again…level design and all that jazz. Killed the better part of an hour cruising eBay for old 486 and Pentium systems. Something in the range of a P200 with a one gig drive would be optimal for my needs. Load up DOS 6.22 with a trusty SB16, get DCK in there and *BAM* I could finish a few maps I’ve left lingering on my hard drive, on paper, and in my head. My head’s afire with nostalgia.

Finished Neverwinter Nights last night. Good stuff. I’ve a few complaints, mind, all of which orbit around henchman. To elaborate, I wasn’t able to manage the inventory of my henchman, henchman intelligence rates just above yams and just below smegma, and, worst of all, I was only ever able to employ but a single henchman at a time. I mean, what, was the near 300,000+ gold I was carrying around not enough incentive? Oooh, wait…

Henchman intelligence. Smegma.

It’s all explained.

Anyways, I’m informed (or perhaps self-deceivingly fantasizing) that the bulk of those issues are addressed in the expansions for the game. Speaking of, Shadows of Undrentide will be installed shortly; I purchased a copy this afternoon coming home from work. Overall, playing Neverwinter Nights was time well spent. I’m impressed by the engine and the potential therein and look forward to passing many more hours playing the expansions… that, and buffing up my crossbow-wielding, catch-me-if-you-can, you-can-buy-my-loyalty thief.

Time today was passed reading and, oddly, listening to a lot of Project Pitchfork (got me a craving for those Elmer Fudd vocals). Was a helluva good day for a Monday, all things considered, with the added bonus of talking to not one but both of my siblings. Cool.

I’ve never wanted to go to Kenya so badly in my life!

in love, me
falling, like –
plummeting
jubilant –
golden bronze;
not going
just coming,
forever
with you here.

This poem was brought to you by the number three.