I got a facebook friend request from an old co-worker at Hasbro Interactive. It's great to reconnect with old friends, so of course I said "yes!"
I had a horrible time sleeping last night - lots going on, and I just couldn't get the brain to shut down. I was up in the middle of the night, and around 6 am I figured "what the heck, may as well go to work...." and posted this status: "feeling like a knotted up stress ball this morning. May as well get ready and head in, since I haven't been asleep in hours.", with a "some things never change" response from this old friend.
So, I thought about it. I don't have a diary that chronicles where I was 10 years ago on June 25. But I have a pretty good idea. Let's review June 25, 2009
1. I have a game in that critical stage between Beta and GM.
2. I'm waiting for approval from the IP holder
3. I'm listening to barbershop on my headphones while looking at bugs.
4. I ate pizza for dinner last night.
5. I am volunteering at work today for an event that involves bringing your kids to work.
6. I'm wearing a t-shirt that has branding for the game studio.
7. The shirt is bright orange.
8. I've got at least 5 big things going on outside my work life.
9. I'm a Senior Producer on the project.
When I think back to 10 years ago, here's my best guess list:
1. I have a game in that critical stage between Beta and GM. CHECK
2. I'm waiting for approval from the IP holder. CHECK.
3. I'm listening to barbershop on my headphones while looking at bugs. CHECK
4. I ate pizza for dinner last night. CHECK
5. I am volunteering at work today for an event that involves bringing your kids to work. POSSIBLE CHECK - Odds are good I was volunteering for something.....
6. I'm wearing a t-shirt that has branding for the game studio. CHECK
7. The shirt is bright orange. 10 YEARS AGO, MY ENTIRE WORKSPACE WAS ORANGE.
8. I've got at least 5 big things going on outside my work life. CHECK
9. I'm a Senior Producer on the project. 10 YEARS AGO, I WAS THE A Senior QA Lead on the project.
Yep. Some things never change!
Off to show games to the kiddies......................
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
South Park Sunday!
I'm working on my barbershop geek book. Sweetie is playing World of Warcraft at the dining room table. Our soundtrack for activity today is season 1 of South Park on DVD. I still enjoy South Park, but it's pretty rare for me to laugh out loud through an entire episode some 13 seasons later.
The first few seasons though, holy crap, that's funny stuff. It's like visiting with an old, funny friend.
Once I figure out how the heck I setup the barbershopgeekbook.com website last year, I'll update it, in case you're interested in what the heck I'm talking about. It falls firmly in the "niche product" category. ;-)
Oh, and BTW. I went to the grocery this morning and caught bits of A Prairie Home Companion. I take back every negative thought I've ever had about NPR. Garrison Keillor is awesome. I think I'm going to become a subscriber/patron type person.
The first few seasons though, holy crap, that's funny stuff. It's like visiting with an old, funny friend.
Once I figure out how the heck I setup the barbershopgeekbook.com website last year, I'll update it, in case you're interested in what the heck I'm talking about. It falls firmly in the "niche product" category. ;-)
Oh, and BTW. I went to the grocery this morning and caught bits of A Prairie Home Companion. I take back every negative thought I've ever had about NPR. Garrison Keillor is awesome. I think I'm going to become a subscriber/patron type person.
Friday, June 12, 2009
NPR
Radio has become intolerable to me. I'm spoiled with Rhaspody and Pandora and my iTunes collection. I'm spoiled with playlists that are so finely tuned to my moods that I will listen without forwarding and say "Wow, that song is so perfect for how I feel right now!" If I hear the "Do you know the enemy" Greenday song one more time in the morning alarm sequence (or on Comedy Central as a commercial), I feel like my head will explode. Maybe I'm not "cool" anymore, maybe I'm used to instant gratification, but radio does not do it for me.
My Sweetie has a Sirius radio in his car - so when we drive in his car, it's Howard Stern, all the time. When we drive in my car, it's turned into NPR.
I hate to admit it. I've had a completely irrational (but at least I know what it is) dislike of NPR for the majority of my adult life. I've always been disdainful of it as "old people radio". But it seems to be the only thing I can stand for the 12 minute drive to work. And I'm enjoying it!
But I had a weird association the other day - the "All Things Considered" theme consistently reminds me of Eric Cartman singing the "Cheesy Poofs" in the "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Food" episode from the second season of South Park? Listen closely the next time it comes on, I don't think you'll be able to un-hear it. It makes me laugh quietly every time it comes on.
Anyone? Am I nuts?
My Sweetie has a Sirius radio in his car - so when we drive in his car, it's Howard Stern, all the time. When we drive in my car, it's turned into NPR.
I hate to admit it. I've had a completely irrational (but at least I know what it is) dislike of NPR for the majority of my adult life. I've always been disdainful of it as "old people radio". But it seems to be the only thing I can stand for the 12 minute drive to work. And I'm enjoying it!
But I had a weird association the other day - the "All Things Considered" theme consistently reminds me of Eric Cartman singing the "Cheesy Poofs" in the "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Food" episode from the second season of South Park? Listen closely the next time it comes on, I don't think you'll be able to un-hear it. It makes me laugh quietly every time it comes on.
Anyone? Am I nuts?
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Blood Drive
They do a lot of community-centric events at my work. Book donations, community work projects, pet food drives, and blood drives. A lot of the events are incentivized by giving rewards to teams that have the highest percentage of participation, best improvement in participation, and overall number of participants.
Yesterday was the semi-annual blood drive. I work with a highly competitive group of people, and the pressure was on to win one of the awards. During a team meeting, I decided to end the conversation of why I was not "a team player" that "participates in team events" by calling the information number for the Puget Sound Blood Bank.
The conversation went like this (oh, and on speaker phone, during the meeting):
BC: Hi and thanks for calling the Puget Sound Blood Bank Clinical Services line. This is so-and-so, how can we help you?
Me: Hi! My name is Tanya. We're having a blood drive at work, and I had some questions about my potential eligibility to donate.
BC: Sure, what are your questions?
Me: I'm receiving TNF blocker immuno-suppresant IV therapy for arhtritis every 7 weeks via portacath in my chest. I had so many IV infusions last year that the veins in my arms and hands are shot. Oh, and I have pernicious anemia and my blood type is A+. Can I donate?
BC: (....silence.....)
BC: Ummmm
BC: No. You're not eligible to donate at this time.
Me: Oh, OK. Thank you! Goodbye.
I think that closes that conversation for at least another six months.
Yesterday was the semi-annual blood drive. I work with a highly competitive group of people, and the pressure was on to win one of the awards. During a team meeting, I decided to end the conversation of why I was not "a team player" that "participates in team events" by calling the information number for the Puget Sound Blood Bank.
The conversation went like this (oh, and on speaker phone, during the meeting):
BC: Hi and thanks for calling the Puget Sound Blood Bank Clinical Services line. This is so-and-so, how can we help you?
Me: Hi! My name is Tanya. We're having a blood drive at work, and I had some questions about my potential eligibility to donate.
BC: Sure, what are your questions?
Me: I'm receiving TNF blocker immuno-suppresant IV therapy for arhtritis every 7 weeks via portacath in my chest. I had so many IV infusions last year that the veins in my arms and hands are shot. Oh, and I have pernicious anemia and my blood type is A+. Can I donate?
BC: (....silence.....)
BC: Ummmm
BC: No. You're not eligible to donate at this time.
Me: Oh, OK. Thank you! Goodbye.
I think that closes that conversation for at least another six months.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Tuesday check in
Nothing like dropping a load of crazy off at the dry cleaners, and then abandoning it for a couple of weeks. I've found myself with a few minutes of quiet, and wanted to give a more normal update to the blogosphere.....
Mundane stuff:
1. Work - my "high profile, no one else could ship this game" game went live on May 27. It's doing very well, with over a week at #1, and staying strong in sales. It's a beautiful game, and I'm really proud of it. It's nominally a hidden object game, but the real gameplay is deductive reasoning, set in the CLUE world. In many ways, it was a perfect project for me - my favorite developer, my favorite artist, my favorite audio resource. It's nice to know that having the stars align ends up in good result. Mac version goes live 6/10, for my mac-using friends. If you're interested, you can get the game here - http://www.gamehouse.com/download-games/clue-accusations-and-alibis If you fall in love, let me know and I'll send you a coupon code to unlock the full game.
2. Wedding - We're getting married in 102 days. ONE HUNDRED AND TWO DAYS. How is it possible that's all the time that is left? How is it possible that when I look at my calendar in Outlook, July 4th is the next holiday! This year is flying by. Of recent note: Bridal hair and makeup trial is scheduled, and the appointments for me, Jen, and the mom's is set for the day of the wedding. We booked a block of rooms for out of town friends, and got a suite booked at Pike Place Market for Jen & I on Friday night, and Mark & I on Saturday night. I've also got a light continental breakfast setup for the wedding party on wedding morning so we don't have to worry about 8:00 hair and makeup AND breakfast. We've confirmed details for the rehearsal dinner, Jen's working on invitations, and I've had the first fitting on my dress (It's so freakin' beautiful!). Left to do: Rings, Cupcakes, Wedding License, setup pre-wedding meeting with the preacher to practice, and figure out if/where to have brunch with family on Sunday post-wedding. And figure out a bridal shower date. More is done than is not done, which is very, very rewarding. Whenever I feel like I might be losing it, I watch on-demand episodes of Bridezillas. It makes me feel so well adjusted.
3. Games - I think I had a revelation this week. I'm not the same gamer I used to be. I don't have the same attention span, I don't even have the same interests. This past weekend, I played Kitten Sanctuary (AGAIN). I didn't get all perfect on the previous play through, so I had to fix that. And the kittens are cute. I also return to World Mosaic on a regular basis as my "mental comfort food". The Wedding Dash and Dream Day Wedding Games help me feel like I'm "doing something" even though we're in a planning lull. I can't wait for the new Build a Lot game. I feel like I'm a well rounded gamer..... I'm still pretty anal about how I play - If I stick with a game past about 15 minutes, I play it to completion. More often than not, I play it to PERFECTION.
Last week, I spent $55 to download the Sims 3. The Sims family of games is something that I've logged weeks of my life against. Building them, tweaking them, meeting their every need. When they get too whiny, I just put them in a room, build a wall, and wait for them to drown in a puddle of their own whiny piss. I played this new game for less than an hour, and I feel like I've seen enough. It's just not that much fun to me anymore - it looks beautiful, but things just take so long. My Tanya-Sim woke up at 7 am, it took over 2 hours to make waffles. It was noon before I got the sim-dishes done, sim-showered, and sim-cab called. Even with the time fast forward, I had no sense of accomplishment, and I didn't get to anything good. I wonder if it's me? Or the game that changed?
4. Health - 5 weeks ago, I fell off the back deck while taking out the garbage and damaged myself. I sprained my right ankle and broke my left. That's one way to get out of taking out the garbage! It's also been a crazy-making experience for me. You can't drive a stick shift with a broken left ankle (heh. I guess you can't drive an automatic with a broken right ankle, either) It's really hard to get up and down stairs that don't have handrails (like 3 of 5 staircases at the house) with a broken ankle. And the arhthritis treatments are keeping the arthritis under control, but suppressing your immune system means you suppress your healing, too. I am trying not to think about x-rays on June 17, because then I start thinking "what if he says another 6 weeks in the boot?"
Other interesting news:
I've signed up for several adult writing workshops at Seattle 826. The first one is June 23, and is called "How to Grill a Star", and will be taught by Warren Etheridge. I'm stoked!
So, there you go. NORMAL (boring) update! ;-) More crazy soon, I promise!
Mundane stuff:
1. Work - my "high profile, no one else could ship this game" game went live on May 27. It's doing very well, with over a week at #1, and staying strong in sales. It's a beautiful game, and I'm really proud of it. It's nominally a hidden object game, but the real gameplay is deductive reasoning, set in the CLUE world. In many ways, it was a perfect project for me - my favorite developer, my favorite artist, my favorite audio resource. It's nice to know that having the stars align ends up in good result. Mac version goes live 6/10, for my mac-using friends. If you're interested, you can get the game here - http://www.gamehouse.com/download-games/clue-accusations-and-alibis If you fall in love, let me know and I'll send you a coupon code to unlock the full game.
2. Wedding - We're getting married in 102 days. ONE HUNDRED AND TWO DAYS. How is it possible that's all the time that is left? How is it possible that when I look at my calendar in Outlook, July 4th is the next holiday! This year is flying by. Of recent note: Bridal hair and makeup trial is scheduled, and the appointments for me, Jen, and the mom's is set for the day of the wedding. We booked a block of rooms for out of town friends, and got a suite booked at Pike Place Market for Jen & I on Friday night, and Mark & I on Saturday night. I've also got a light continental breakfast setup for the wedding party on wedding morning so we don't have to worry about 8:00 hair and makeup AND breakfast. We've confirmed details for the rehearsal dinner, Jen's working on invitations, and I've had the first fitting on my dress (It's so freakin' beautiful!). Left to do: Rings, Cupcakes, Wedding License, setup pre-wedding meeting with the preacher to practice, and figure out if/where to have brunch with family on Sunday post-wedding. And figure out a bridal shower date. More is done than is not done, which is very, very rewarding. Whenever I feel like I might be losing it, I watch on-demand episodes of Bridezillas. It makes me feel so well adjusted.
3. Games - I think I had a revelation this week. I'm not the same gamer I used to be. I don't have the same attention span, I don't even have the same interests. This past weekend, I played Kitten Sanctuary (AGAIN). I didn't get all perfect on the previous play through, so I had to fix that. And the kittens are cute. I also return to World Mosaic on a regular basis as my "mental comfort food". The Wedding Dash and Dream Day Wedding Games help me feel like I'm "doing something" even though we're in a planning lull. I can't wait for the new Build a Lot game. I feel like I'm a well rounded gamer..... I'm still pretty anal about how I play - If I stick with a game past about 15 minutes, I play it to completion. More often than not, I play it to PERFECTION.
Last week, I spent $55 to download the Sims 3. The Sims family of games is something that I've logged weeks of my life against. Building them, tweaking them, meeting their every need. When they get too whiny, I just put them in a room, build a wall, and wait for them to drown in a puddle of their own whiny piss. I played this new game for less than an hour, and I feel like I've seen enough. It's just not that much fun to me anymore - it looks beautiful, but things just take so long. My Tanya-Sim woke up at 7 am, it took over 2 hours to make waffles. It was noon before I got the sim-dishes done, sim-showered, and sim-cab called. Even with the time fast forward, I had no sense of accomplishment, and I didn't get to anything good. I wonder if it's me? Or the game that changed?
4. Health - 5 weeks ago, I fell off the back deck while taking out the garbage and damaged myself. I sprained my right ankle and broke my left. That's one way to get out of taking out the garbage! It's also been a crazy-making experience for me. You can't drive a stick shift with a broken left ankle (heh. I guess you can't drive an automatic with a broken right ankle, either) It's really hard to get up and down stairs that don't have handrails (like 3 of 5 staircases at the house) with a broken ankle. And the arhthritis treatments are keeping the arthritis under control, but suppressing your immune system means you suppress your healing, too. I am trying not to think about x-rays on June 17, because then I start thinking "what if he says another 6 weeks in the boot?"
Other interesting news:
I've signed up for several adult writing workshops at Seattle 826. The first one is June 23, and is called "How to Grill a Star", and will be taught by Warren Etheridge. I'm stoked!
So, there you go. NORMAL (boring) update! ;-) More crazy soon, I promise!
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