Calculation Theme

I hate these sorts of days.

I hate the sort of day where I don't do anything productive, I can't seem to get any plans together, and the plans I do have are things I don't really want to do. I was supposed to go to Scuttlebutts (I think I'm going to start calling it Shittyfucks) since Eric is in town for convocation. Unfortunately, I really don't like Shittfucks and Eric isn't my best of friends, so I decided to bow out (though Laura went out with him). I had hoped to hang out with Adam tonight, but of course he never got back to me, and it sounds like he's busy tomorrow. So much for another game of Runebound.

I seem to be having more of those sorts of days lately. I've been pretty mopey for a good week now. My scheduling course is giving me grief, I haven't had a chance to play any board games, I haven't really gotten out of the house much lately.

I've been getting up at 9AM, exercising, and eating breakfast in the pursuit of getting that "full of energy all day" feeling that I hear about so often. I can't say it's helped at all; I still spend more time sleeping than the average house cat.

Games nights have been random. Last week, I had a total of 10 people over to play games (many stayed until midnight). This week, I had a grand total of 0 people come to play games. Grant and Chanel came over around 8, but they weren't interested in playing games so we watched shitty TV while they talked my ear off about their trip. I don't know what it is, but I'm not the type of person who really cares to hear stories or see pictures of other peoples' vacations. It just doesn't interest me at all.

At least I had a pretty good birthday. I got to spend some time with Laura on Friday night, though we haven't really done anything outside of my house in about as long as I can remember. On Saturday night, I went to Adam's house and we played Runebound and drank. We started playing around 8, and didn't finish until just after midnight. It's a long game, certainly, but perhaps our analytical skills were dulled on account of the alcohol. Regardless, we had fun and we both plan to play it again. I'm already looking into getting some expansions for the game to buff up the decks.

On Sunday, we went out for dinner at Tony and Adam's. It was pretty good. After dinner we had some of Mrs. Stilla's cake, and I opened a few gifts. I got a fair amount of booze and candy, as well as a few shirts. I think Laura spent too much on my gift.

After dinner is what I was looking forward to the most: a five player game of El Grande with Adam, Trevor, Laura, and Mr. Stilla. The rules were easy to explain, and it seemed like everyone really liked the game. At the end of the game, I eked ahead of Laura for the win. It was a very close game, and I'm glad that she did so well. She has told me numerous times how much she likes the game, so I anticipate it being played again in the future (assuming I can get more than zero people to show up on Wednesday nights).

Listening to... Muse - Assassin
Link of the moment... I picked up a really good deal online the other day. I likely won't have it until after next weekend, though.

I...uh...hmm...yeah.

BLEH. I need to get my act together. I spend too much time in front of my computer. I'm starting to get that zombie face feeling, if you know what I mean. And with all that time in front of the screen, I still leave my blog unedited for over a month. M'oh well, not like it's important in any way.

I've been very excited to get my hands on a game called Runebound. It's not like anything I own now; it is best described as an "adventure" game. From what I know of it, I'd describe it as Diablo, if it were a board game. You start off with a fairly weak character, fighting weak enemies, collecting gold, experience, and loot in hopes of becoming more powerful by collecting items, weapons, and allies. I'd likely have purchased it myself if my birthday weren't so close (I can be difficult to shop for as a result of my niche hobbies). It's not the type of game that will hit the table on games nights, as most people wouldn't care for the theme or the game length. Regardless, I'm sure it would make for a few entertaining afternoons with Adam, since he's always willing to do anything.

Laura and I have been seeing quite a bit of each other in the last few weeks, and things are going pretty well, despite my constant portrayals of insecurity. A gentleman mustn't kiss and tell, though, so I don't think I need to say much more on the subject. Trivia: Assuming Laura makes my list of "people I have considered at one time to be my girlfriend", then 50% of the people on said list will have the first name Laura.

I've started work on my course for the summer, an introduction to machine scheduling. So far, I'm left quite unimpressed both by the source material and the course organizer (who coincidentally is my new research supervisor). The material is dry and not very helpful with regard to the exercises. I had an assignment due today, and emailed the prof for help on Friday. She said she hasn't had time to look at the material yet. I went to her posted office hours today for help, but she was nowhere to be found. I'm less than impressed.

Well, Grant, Chanel, Sheena and Dan have headed off for Europe. The couples won't be back until May 27th and June 11th (!) respectively. I'm sure they're having a great time. They left on Friday, and skipped out on the previous games night to pack and visit family. I had a lot of cancellations that night, but had two new people come over. The three of us had a lot of fun; we played three games (as opposed to the usual 1 plus filler that I normally experience), and they really liked all of the games I showed them. They are both going to come back in the future. I had to convince them that I did indeed have other friends and everyone had canceled on me, but perhaps they think that I spend every Wednesday night sitting in my basement hoping that someone will finally show up.

Listening to... Metric - Down
Link of the moment... UHF video by Weird Al

Update #1 - Birthday Hijinx

Well I guess I have a moment to recap some stuff.

Wednesday (my birthday) wasn't a particularly good day. Classes crawled along as usual, a handful of people sent me some e-cards, and we got to go out for Chinese food (which was probably the highlight...it was really good). I was feeling really tired all day. Just before bed I figured I'd have a game of chess with Hugh (who learned how to play only last week), and he beat me. I could have easily checkmated him too, but I didn't see the move until Andrew pointed it out after the game.

On Friday night, I went bowling with Nathalie, Steve, Laura, the roommies, Nicole, and Nicole's friend Sofia. I didn't do as well as I usually do in the first game. I have the uncanny ability to place the ball about a half an inch to the right of the head pin every time. Half an inch cost me about 6 or 7 strikes, I'm sure. John got the high score of something like 190 after getting five strikes in one game. Hugh got a turkey, but since we were paying by the hour, he didn't get to finish that game.

Afterwards, we headed back to my place and we waited around for the second car to get back. When they did, they waited around upstairs doing god knows what to my cake, and waiting for Julie and her friend Agnes to come. When they finally did (after me trying to keep Nathalie, Steve and Laura entertained), I blew out the 22 candles on my cake and we all had a slice with some ice cream.

We followed that up by playing an 11-player game of Cranium. We couldn't fit nearly that many people in the now-furnished living room, so we played in John's relatively massive room (which also worked out since we were in need of some A/C). My team fell behind early, but caught up late. We weren't in the dash for first place, but I blame that on being on the team of three. We did pretty well for ourselves though.

After that, it was past midnight, so I dropped off the UWP people and came back for a game of Mario Party 4 (notice, not MP6) with Nicole, John, and Hugh. That kept us up until 3, which was likely not in our best interests since we were going to Niagara Falls the next morning.

Overall, I give this birthday 8/10. The 24th wasn't a great occasion, but the fact that we got 11 people together for games at my place more than compensates for it. Plus, I can consider Niagara Falls a little birthday trip.

Listening to... Snapcase - Gates of Steel
Link of the moment... This looks like fun, I'll have to keep an eye out for it