Diary (long)
Oct. 1st, 2005 11:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexxkayI've had an eventful week, so I'm putting this behind various cuts.
Rented a car on Thursday morning, so I could get to mom's memorial service. They were out of Economy vehicles, so they gave me a pickup truck. Driving it was unusual, but proved unproblematic. I brought along two "chicks with sticks",![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kestrell and 43duckies, and was very glad for their moral support.
The service was held in the church I was 'raised' in, and it was very odd to be back there after so long away. It really hasn't changed, unlike so many places of my childhood memories.
The memorial service for my mom was really moving. It was a full house; mom was important to many, many people. Dad put together a fine mix of physical artifacts, readings, reminiscences, and music. He really has a talent for that sort of thing. I suppose it's a sort of editing.
Here's what I said:
After dropping off43duckies at the T, Kes and I took advantage of our car-enabled-ness and went to the mall to buy new pillows. Mom used to love shopping at the mall...
On the way home, Kes started a conversation that may have long-reaching implications. She's starting to get frustrated with some aspects of MIT, and feel that it might not be the best "permanent home" for her, after all. And people at Google keep trying to hire her. So she asked me, hypothetically, whether I'd be willing to move to California.
Strangely, the answer is mostly yes, which it wouldn't have been a few years ago. Since marrying Kes, I've spent more and more of my social time with her, and less and less with my other friends. And much of the interaction I *do* have with my other friends is over LJ, and that could continue wherever I was.
Professionally, I'd have a lot more room to move out there. While I do like what I do at my current job, I don't like what they're paying me. But there aren't quite enough local game companies that I can easily find someone to offer me more money. (Or, in a worst case scenario, a new job if I lost this one.) I'm committed to working in an industry with sucky pay, but it needn't be quite as sucky as it currently is.
The one thing that would really be a complete negative about moving out would be that I wouldn't be around whilecvirtue's children grew up. But even that, while I would greatly regret it, is not necessarily a deal-breaker.
I've encouraged Kes to look into a possible summer internship, to at least test the waters. We shall see...
Friday morning, I dropped off my poor sick computer at PCsForEveryone, since it was on the way to returning the rented car. This is fairly computer that I keep in my room, so I'm not entirely bereft, but I sure hope I can get it fixed cheap. In a less debt-filled time, I'd just buy a new one at this point, but that seems fiscally unwise right now.
Had some very productive meetings at work, despit being somewhat sleep-dep'd. Work is starting to heat up again, in terms of keeping me busy actually *working* most of the day, which is why I didn't post about the memorial service right away. All in all, that's a good thing, as it makes me feel more useful/secure to be doing real work.
After work on Friday, I met Kes and we went to see MirrorMask.ladysprite and umbran did make it out to see it with us, which was cool. There turned out to be lots more people in the theater we knew, including siderea (who posted a lengthy review), damascene, and about half of Kes' classmates from the CMS program. Before the movie, easily half the people in the theater were exchanging gossip about Serenity :-) As Siderea remarked afterwards, "I doubt there was more than two degrees of separation between any two people in that audience."
I didn't love the movie as much as she did, but it was definitely enjoyable. One could easily get a lengthy essay out of all its influences/references, both to Gaiman and McKean's earlier body of work, and to the prior body of "magical children's film". Distant father figure - check; mother figure split into good and evil versions - check; mysteriously shaped key - check...
Kes and I went out afterward with Ladysprite and Umbran, and spent an enjoyable late evening geeking out about movies and books and prosthetics and whatnot. Umbran reminds me a lot of me; we're both mostly quiet, but often get a laugh when we do speak up. I got very self-conscious at one point when I noticed that we were both twiddling our mustaches in almost exactly the same mannerism. After dinner, they gave us a ride home, which was much appreciated.
Friday night, before bed, Kes mentioned that she had a suspiciously scratchy throat. In the morning, so did I. I had been hoping to get in a visit withcvirtue and family, but discretion seemed the better part of valor. I felt a bit better by evening, but not really energetic enough to go out, so I still haven't seen the finished version of Serenity. Maybe tomorrow. If not, then probably next weekend.
Spent much of the day playing more of We Love Katamari, the sequel to Katamari Damacy. It's everything a sequel should be; lots more of the stuff that made the first game good, less of the parts that sucked, and added explorations of ways to tweak the basic formula. Lots of levels have more complex objectives than just "get big", which adds interesting variety.
One level tasks you with lighting a large campfire. Your Katamari is actually on fire, and this constrains you in a couple of ways. If you don't roll up new material at a fairly constant pace, the fire will gutter and go out, making you lose. If you slip into the water, you also lose. The flaming Katamari can't actually roll up people, but if you do bump into them, they run away screaming with their butts on fire :-)
In another level, you have the traditional task of "get big", but with an unusual constraint. Instead of having a time limit, you are limited to rolling up 50 objects. So it becomes more of a strategy game, where you carefully evaluate what's the largest thing you think you can roll up at any given time, while avoiding any smaller objects.
Possibly the silliest level is the Sumo Wrestling one. For this one, your Katamari si not a round ball, but a fairly oblong sumo wrestler. You need to roll him over lots of food (which he will then eat) to make him fatter. Eventually, if you get him big enough, you can use him to knock over the reigning Sumo Champion to win the level.
Have stopped playing for the night, because my thumbs hurt...
Rented a car on Thursday morning, so I could get to mom's memorial service. They were out of Economy vehicles, so they gave me a pickup truck. Driving it was unusual, but proved unproblematic. I brought along two "chicks with sticks",
kestrell and 43duckies, and was very glad for their moral support.The service was held in the church I was 'raised' in, and it was very odd to be back there after so long away. It really hasn't changed, unlike so many places of my childhood memories.
The memorial service for my mom was really moving. It was a full house; mom was important to many, many people. Dad put together a fine mix of physical artifacts, readings, reminiscences, and music. He really has a talent for that sort of thing. I suppose it's a sort of editing.
Here's what I said:
My mother was many different people over the course of her life; she went through many changes. But there was one constant. Harriet was a crafter; she made things. She was always busy with her hands, and her mind, putting things together in new ways, to re-create them.I teared up many times during the service, but it was the reception that I found to be the hardest. Lots of people who I'd either never met or been out of touch with for decades offering their condolences. Argh. I stuck around for a bit, for appearances sake, and because some of them seemed to get some benefit out of talking at me. But boy was I glad to leave.
She built to last. When I was in high school, I was a huge fan of the TV show Doctor Who, whose hero wore a ludicrously long scarf. For Christmas, my mother made me a scarf like his, only more colorful. I wore it to High School every day, even when it was warm. [get scarf out] I no longer wear it so obsessively, but it's *still* what I wear in winter to keep my neck warm. Her works were high quality, and lasting.
She built with love. When I was much younger, mom made me a number of stuffed animals. One in particular is worth mentioning. [get snake] This is "Snakey". He turned out to be the first of many many more. Lots of you here have children whose lives have been brightened by "Harriet Snakes" of their own. Her works spread joy far and wide.
She helped others to build the things that they wanted. From time to time during her life, she tried to turn one of her crafting hobbies into a way to make money. When I was about 10 years old, Harriet had a small business selling counted cross stitch kits. Many of them were three-dimensional, doll houses and the like, formed from pieces of plastic 'canvas' sewn together. There was one kit that I thought was really neat, and wanted to make for myself. Mom made a bargain with me: I could have the kit for free, IF I would let her use the finished product as a sample. Many potential customers found the idea of building a 3D object out of cross-stitch intimidating; mom figured that she could overcome that resistance if she could pull out my model and say "It's really not that hard. After all, my ten-year-old son made this!" [get out space shuttle model]
This model space shuttle reminds me of Harriet in so many ways. The shuttle was a symbol of exploration, of brave aspirations. Our thoughts of the shuttle are inextricably mixed with tragedy and loss. We probably won't see any of the space shuttle fleet in action again. It's gone now. But while it lasted, it accomplished a hell of a lot. So did my mother. Thanks, mom.
After dropping off
43duckies at the T, Kes and I took advantage of our car-enabled-ness and went to the mall to buy new pillows. Mom used to love shopping at the mall...On the way home, Kes started a conversation that may have long-reaching implications. She's starting to get frustrated with some aspects of MIT, and feel that it might not be the best "permanent home" for her, after all. And people at Google keep trying to hire her. So she asked me, hypothetically, whether I'd be willing to move to California.
Strangely, the answer is mostly yes, which it wouldn't have been a few years ago. Since marrying Kes, I've spent more and more of my social time with her, and less and less with my other friends. And much of the interaction I *do* have with my other friends is over LJ, and that could continue wherever I was.
Professionally, I'd have a lot more room to move out there. While I do like what I do at my current job, I don't like what they're paying me. But there aren't quite enough local game companies that I can easily find someone to offer me more money. (Or, in a worst case scenario, a new job if I lost this one.) I'm committed to working in an industry with sucky pay, but it needn't be quite as sucky as it currently is.
The one thing that would really be a complete negative about moving out would be that I wouldn't be around while
cvirtue's children grew up. But even that, while I would greatly regret it, is not necessarily a deal-breaker.I've encouraged Kes to look into a possible summer internship, to at least test the waters. We shall see...
Friday morning, I dropped off my poor sick computer at PCsForEveryone, since it was on the way to returning the rented car. This is fairly computer that I keep in my room, so I'm not entirely bereft, but I sure hope I can get it fixed cheap. In a less debt-filled time, I'd just buy a new one at this point, but that seems fiscally unwise right now.
Had some very productive meetings at work, despit being somewhat sleep-dep'd. Work is starting to heat up again, in terms of keeping me busy actually *working* most of the day, which is why I didn't post about the memorial service right away. All in all, that's a good thing, as it makes me feel more useful/secure to be doing real work.
After work on Friday, I met Kes and we went to see MirrorMask.
ladysprite and umbran did make it out to see it with us, which was cool. There turned out to be lots more people in the theater we knew, including siderea (who posted a lengthy review), damascene, and about half of Kes' classmates from the CMS program. Before the movie, easily half the people in the theater were exchanging gossip about Serenity :-) As Siderea remarked afterwards, "I doubt there was more than two degrees of separation between any two people in that audience."I didn't love the movie as much as she did, but it was definitely enjoyable. One could easily get a lengthy essay out of all its influences/references, both to Gaiman and McKean's earlier body of work, and to the prior body of "magical children's film". Distant father figure - check; mother figure split into good and evil versions - check; mysteriously shaped key - check...
Kes and I went out afterward with Ladysprite and Umbran, and spent an enjoyable late evening geeking out about movies and books and prosthetics and whatnot. Umbran reminds me a lot of me; we're both mostly quiet, but often get a laugh when we do speak up. I got very self-conscious at one point when I noticed that we were both twiddling our mustaches in almost exactly the same mannerism. After dinner, they gave us a ride home, which was much appreciated.
Friday night, before bed, Kes mentioned that she had a suspiciously scratchy throat. In the morning, so did I. I had been hoping to get in a visit with
cvirtue and family, but discretion seemed the better part of valor. I felt a bit better by evening, but not really energetic enough to go out, so I still haven't seen the finished version of Serenity. Maybe tomorrow. If not, then probably next weekend.Spent much of the day playing more of We Love Katamari, the sequel to Katamari Damacy. It's everything a sequel should be; lots more of the stuff that made the first game good, less of the parts that sucked, and added explorations of ways to tweak the basic formula. Lots of levels have more complex objectives than just "get big", which adds interesting variety.
One level tasks you with lighting a large campfire. Your Katamari is actually on fire, and this constrains you in a couple of ways. If you don't roll up new material at a fairly constant pace, the fire will gutter and go out, making you lose. If you slip into the water, you also lose. The flaming Katamari can't actually roll up people, but if you do bump into them, they run away screaming with their butts on fire :-)
In another level, you have the traditional task of "get big", but with an unusual constraint. Instead of having a time limit, you are limited to rolling up 50 objects. So it becomes more of a strategy game, where you carefully evaluate what's the largest thing you think you can roll up at any given time, while avoiding any smaller objects.
Possibly the silliest level is the Sumo Wrestling one. For this one, your Katamari si not a round ball, but a fairly oblong sumo wrestler. You need to roll him over lots of food (which he will then eat) to make him fatter. Eventually, if you get him big enough, you can use him to knock over the reigning Sumo Champion to win the level.
Have stopped playing for the night, because my thumbs hurt...
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California
Date: 2005-10-02 10:19 am (UTC)Easy to get good sushi, it's always summer, and the vegetation will look a bit like Mars to you for a while. The hills between Mtn View and the ocean have many great hiking paths. Public transport is OK. Lots of local SCA.
Being associated with Google might well be as heady as it was being associated with Netscape in the late 90s. It was amazing. They did all these cool things for the employees... it was like nothing else I've experienced.
Now he considers moving!?
Date: 2005-10-03 06:42 pm (UTC)Go for it if that's what you want. You'll never likely be in better shape to try it out, and if you don't like it you can always do something else; even come back to Beantown. But if you never try, you always wonder ....
Say hi to your girl with the Googley eyes!