Good News

Things are starting to look up a little. I have news of the Loan coming through, the grazes are healing, I have work tonight, I have a lead on work that pays more, I’m preparing to make chilli jam, a cauldron of beany meaty stew, and I have The Book of Classic Board Games.

The book collates public domain, small tile-board games that do not play with more than two sets of counters. Like draughts/chequers, though that game is not included as you already know it. They claim the games are easy for novices to play meaningful first games, but offer deep strategic possibilities to those who play further.

It’s an oversized, cardboard book of 15 straightforward board games. Many rules fit on a single page side, so sit opposite the board, though a few have more rules and explanation; like Go and Backgammon. Their version of Go is set on a quarter-scale board, good for pattern practise. I’m coding a version of Mancala from it, a cheap and rewarding activity.

No more Mr. Nice Guy

Got my first mugging last night. Two guys, junkies. One came up to me to beg for change. Me being a kind heart got my walled out and searched for change. He grabbed the wallet and ran. I ran after him, there was a chase, but I caught him and threw him to the ground. Got my wallet back, thought about bashing the life out of him but – again – decided that was unfriendly and “no harm done”.

No harm done includes a 1cm hole in my right hand where I skidded to the ground, an 8cm hole in my left knee, a 10cm gash in my trousers, and £85 – which I can truly ill afford – which he slipped out the wallet.

The next and every white, male, homeless man in his 30s who asks me for money is getting a good, hard, facial fist-fucking.

Sweet Maria Ripens

Around the start of the summer I was given a ‘Twilight’ variety chili pepper plant; “an unusual medium/hot variety producing a rainbow of fruits. Harvest July to September”.

The plant – now named Maria – was well-watered, dosed with organic tomato feed, and given as much sunshine as it could take. It produced was a mass of tiny white flowers which turned into a mass of miniature, hard, purple chilies. Over the last couple of weeks or so the fruits have started to grow and ripen. The very first chili harvested contained a maggot; the second two batches were better, four or so small, hot, chilies. They might have been picked a touch under-ripe. A number of fruits are beginning to really ripen now, including a few nice large ones (ding dong, carry on). Ripening starts with the dark purple blanching unpleasantly into a jaundice yellow; that ripen though oranges and reds, starting at the tip and heading to stem.

The plant itself is lovely, a good two-foot high and wide. It dominates the window and is easily seen from the ground, two floors down. Some of the leaves have wilted, there is some leaf burn, and several leaves have a few bites out of them. I removed one caterpillar and two aphids; and I have left several small spiders. The debut crops were used in soups (chicken and vegetable, ham and potato) and were spiced-up marvelously by them. Looks like a bumper crop of hot chilies over the next few weeks. Let’s see if Maria survives the winter – perhaps I should dump her away in a manger somewhere.

The photos demonstrate something more than the plant: that my camera is now working again. Beware, photophobes!

The decidedly surreal final photo is insisde my apartment hall, entering from the front door. That’s The Dude starting at you: through a mirror, on my door, behind kaleidoscopic lenses. Mirrors, doors, and lenses are all good perception references, so I’m sure he would approve.

Who is I?

This post was provoked by a Brit in LA, adding albums to the list.

Four jobs I have had in my life (not including current job):
Chinese Take-Away Counter Assistant
Programmer
Managing Director
Building Site Labourer

Four Movies I have watched over and over:
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The Matrix
The Thing
The Big Lebowski

Four Albums I have listened to over and over:
Warrior at the Edge of Time, Hawkwind
The Carnivorous Adventures of Lupine Howl, Lupine Howl
Pure Phase, Spiritualized
Exit Planet Dust, The Chemical Brothers

Four places I have lived:
Cambridge, England
Edinburgh, Scotland
Paris, France
The Hague, Netherlands

Four Shows I love to watch:
The Trailer Park Boys
The Prisoner
The 4400
Monkey!

Four Places I have been on vacation:
California, USA
Geneva, Switzerland
Malta
Southwold, England

Four of my favorite foods:
Curry
Cullen Skink
Lobster
Full English Breakfast

Four favourite drinks:
Real Ale
Margarita
Coffee (without milk)
Tea (with milk)

Four places I would rather be right now:
Café Cremers, a coffeeshop in The Hague
Mesquite, Dallas, Texas; working for id Software
The ISS – the International Space Station (a.k.a. Thunderbird 5)
Cuba

Four People I Command to do This:
Err… I know even fewer bloggers than BritInLA. I’ll ask around some of the students, will post links if they do it.

Fleshers Weak

Two days gone of freshers, plus a weekend. So far, so good. I’m sharing Halls of Residence with some very cool people: a couple of Canadians, a Frenchman, a Scot, and an Englishman. We’ve made friends, and made friends with various people around the halls. Speaking of which, they’re very nice. Clean, modern, comfortable. The shared facilities does not include a living room, but does include a well-equipped kitchen (multiple fridges and cookers, etc.). It has been VERY noisy until 4am, each and every morning, but I survive with equal measures of vodka, going down to say hi, and earplugs.

The University itself is large, overwhelming even. The library has multiple rooms on each of the multiple floors, and there are many buildings. Students jumping first-year, i.e. me, are given morning sessions on the differences between further and higher education, stuff like the Harvard referencing system. Much of it is common-sense. It has been fun to meet the guys from last year – all but two of them are on the course, and all but two of them have been in this week. They are all into the Nintendo DS, and looking at writing homebrew applications for fun, education, and profit. In this respect they are four months behind me (none of them demonstrated interest last year) but it’s good they are heading in the same direction now.

Not much else to report. Looks like I will be founding one games club (board, card, rpg), and have managed to negotiate a discount at the local game retailer. Some of the guys on the course want to start a computer/video games club, have suggested they go ahead and start one.

Second Year

It is with some trepidation I approach Second Year. At some level things are going okay, I have a little money from the summer job, I have digs sorted out – University accommodation (parties ahoy!), and I’m looking forward to study. There isn’t a games club at Caledonian, so I approached them and they are keen for me to set one up. Some of my friends from first year are interested in helping run it, which will help. The University has a great gym, with loads of exercise classes, including martial arts. Just £25 for the year, I’ll be joining. So much to look forward to…

Yet with all the mid-September start-of-term goodness, I’m quite unhappy. The relationship I’ve been in for two years has ended. Quite a sad time, as you might expect. Not sure if the break is for-now or for-ever, time I guess will tell.

Oh well, here’s to life at big school!