Memoirs of a Dragon Knight

Hmmm.

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:04:20 GMT

Today, while browsing on lunch, I came across a banner ad for some site that had information about degrees and various professions. Each of the professions in the banner ad were little smilies with some sort of characteristic (hair or hat, for example) that sort of identified the job in question.

For both graphics designer and web designer, the smiley was essentially Naruto.

Hmmm. Wonder what they're trying to say...

Parents safe in NJ already!

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:45:51 GMT

So we actually convinced my parents to do something touristy. *shock* We took them down to the Shedd Aquarium yesterday, and I think we all enjoyed it. They're renovating or something there, though, and had closed off the hall of the brightly-colored tropical fish and anemone.

For dinner, we went to Claim Jumper.

The weekend included a grand total of way too much good food out. Jen and I are stocked with leftovers to last all week.

And they called me about a half hour ago to say they were already back home. Which is pretty amazing. 11 hours of actual drive time (plus like 2 hours for breaks and stuff) in the Mustang. And that was with a state trooper pacing all of the cars on one of the turnpikes for over 50 miles.

Outlet Shopping

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sun, 04 May 2008 13:16:54 GMT

Outlet shopping in Pleasant Prairie with Mom and Howie went pretty well yesterday. The weather was icky and rainy pretty much all day, but it wasn't pouring at least. And we did all manage to get what we went there for (plus the inevitable very nice additions), except that the Black & Decker Outlet closed down, so Jen wasn't able to get a normal cordless drill (time to start scouting ads at work, I think).

Ghirardelli has come up with a wonderful new chocolate square - filled with peanut butter! Like a Reese's, but better (because it's Ghirardelli chocolate, and the PB is smoother). We couldn't pass up the bag of 50.

Got more polos and a pretty nice t-shirt at Izod, a replacement pair of shoes from Timberland for work for when my current pair gets shredded, and a nice rain jacket with hood from Columbia. All in all, didn't spend all that much either.

We had dinner at the Texas Roadhouse up in Kenosha, and man was that good. The ribs literally fall off the bone from this place - clean as a whistle. And the steak was pretty good too. Going to really enjoy those leftovers. :)

Now, we've got no clue what we're doing today. I know a visit to Menards is in the cards, along with a test drive in Howie's Mustang... but beyond that, not sure. I have a feeling that either Gurnee Mills or Woodfield are going to come up as possibilities though.

Do I need a license to post here?

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:58:28 GMT

yume_no_tenshi, I finally spent your Christmas gift at Target. :) Picked up Jak & Dexter along with Final Fantasy XII. Jak has been amazingly fun and frustrating.

Watching Jen play Final Fantasy XII tonight made me remember a VG Cats comic: Wardrobe.

Happy Birthday!

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:21:27 GMT

Happy birthday to ender_424

Happy Belated Earth Day!

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:14:09 GMT

I dunno... just haven't had much to post about lately.

Though, I did realize today that I'm going to need a new Red Mage icon soon. We're almost at AF. :)

And no, I have no idea why that dawned on me today.

Widescreen!

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:01:32 GMT

Went to Staples this morning to pick up an Acer 19" Widescreen LCD monitor for myself. Had planned doing so since seeing a nice price in their ad on Friday at work. I've been waiting for someone to put out a nice price on a 19", since anything bigger wouldn't really fit on my desk all that well.

Just got everything set up and tested it out (in FFXI, of course) and I'm quite wowed by it. The colors seem a lot brighter than my old 14", and text is a lot clearer, and it has both a wider and taller viewing angle. Very happy with my purchase, and will basically be paying for it when the $600 "tax rebates" come out.

I'm also quite happy with the base, because it's sturdy without taking up too much room.

Time to put the 14" in storage as a backup.

Druaga

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:18:55 GMT

Just watched Episode 2 of The Tower of Druaga -The Aegis of Uruk-... the series is settling down just a bit. Certainly makes a hell of lot more sense than the first episode did.

Can't wait to see the hell that's going to happen in episode 3. Getting caught at the scene of the king's assassination is never good.

Damn, I would love to cosplay this series, but there's no way in hell it'll happen in under a month for ACen.

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:55:24 GMT

Do not watch Episode 1 of The Tower of Druaga -The Aegis of Uruk- until you are fully awake. That is all.

Gonzo is releasing fully subbed episodes on YouTube and a couple other sites the day the original airs in Japan, which is pretty cool. I just need to remember to keep a lookout for them.

Convert!

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:17:33 GMT

/em sighs contentedly.

Hmmm...

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:51:11 GMT

Yesterday, on my way home from work, some older guy noticed that I was reading something by Anne McCaffrey. After I pulled out my headphones and told him which book (Renegades of Pern, which I put away after 20 or so pages because of a headache), he proceeded to try and chat across the train car (though it was the first car on one of the new 8-car Brown Line runs that people don't remember are 8 cars so forget to move to other parts of the platform, so only a few other people on after Addison) about her at me, and how he'd met her and been to her place in Ireland twice. And that the last time he talked to her, her biggest problem was that her hips weren't letting her ride her horses. And that he went to school with somebody who's collaborated with her, which is how he got the introduction to her.

Talk about weird. He also mentioned that he had a chance to meet his favorite writer in person too, but that he was much better read than talked to. I didn't bother asking who (partly because of the headache, and partly because I really didn't care).

And to think, nobody has ever tried to chat after staring over my shoulder while I'm playing FF3 or FFTA on my DS. x.x

progress

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:36:11 GMT

Basic Windows install... check.
Ethernet adapter driver... check.
Video and Audio drivers... check.
Mouse and Keyboard drivers... check
AVG Anti-Virus, Anti-Spy, and Anti-Rootkit... check.
Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy... check.
Firefox... check.
Thunderbird... check.
Microsoft Office... check.
Final Fantasy XI (all 9 discs worth)... check.
Update Final Fantasy XI... check.
Adobe Acrobat... check.
Paint Shop Pro... check.
iTunes... check.
Scanner Software... check.

Everything is running absolutely fine so far.

Still to do:
Roxio
VLC

Fun Computer Times

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:18:19 GMT

Looks like it's time for a fresh install. AVG finds nothing wrong, but I can't finish a scan with Ad-Aware, that program gives me a dll error when I open it, and can't even install Spybot Search & Destroy.

Woo!

At least we have the laptop...

edit: oh, I forgot to mention, it took two hours to struggle through slow folder changes and unresponsiveness to back up my profiles for Firefox and Thunderbird, plus the FFXI User folder...

Why can't computers just work?

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:28:35 GMT

Could not for the life of me get my computer to boot this morning. It kept freezing before it even seemed to get to Windows - and I let it process one time for the length of a shower, and it didn't get any further than any other time.

Stupid technology.

Why can't it all just work all the time?

Happy Easter

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:50:49 GMT

Happy Easter y'all.

The Black Mages new album is sweet. And I've only listed to a combined about 1.5 tracks. Them doing the FF6 opera scene is just wow.

Cels

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:35:30 GMT

Um... wow. Someone has made an offer on one of my Utena cels (and not one of the cels I'm so attached to that I'd automatically say 'no' about), which means I had to flip through my cel books to verify the condition and all that. And I've come to the realization that my cel gallery is in a huge need of a major update. I'm actually rather embarrassed with myself that I thought "wow, I totally didn't know I had one of that character" numerous times while flipping through.

Like my cel of Bud Mint from KO Beast that I got off of Y!J Auctions.
And some of the Naruto repro cels.
And the pair of Kiyomizu cels from Himiko-den.

Urk.

Yes, sorely in need of updates. Wonder if I can make myself some time for it. Just means cleaning off the scanner and pulling it out... and devoting at least a day to scanning and HTMLing. Ugh. I think that's why I haven't done it.

rambling...

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:04:47 GMT

So last night, Jen and I were out in West Ronfaure (if you can see where this story is going already, a cookie for you!) leveling her Scholar with my Samurai. We'd just hit level 10 after mass-killing things down by Knightwell, and we traveling on our way back to town for the night. And I only travel one path from north to south or from south to north in West Ronfaure.

As an aside, I have to say I'm really rather liking SAM and Great Katana. I just wish I would remember to pick up a bow and arrow one of these days. I picked up the Katayama Ichimonji a while back for the explicit purpose of "when I got Samurai to 10", and not only does it kick some serious ass, but it looks pretty awesome too. For now, SAM is probably my choice of DD class to pick up. At least until I unlock Dragoon and get to experience it for a bit. I'll need to level NIN at some point as an eventual sub to RDM, but bleh, my wallet doesn't like that idea just yet. Not to mention still needing to level my mage subs yet, too.

Anyway, as we're running, something catches my eye out in the distance. A string of yellow characters that started on one side of a hill, disappeared for a while behind the hill, and continued out the other side. "That's a really long name," runs through my mind. About 4 seconds later, we're still way outside of claiming distance (heck, we were still so far away, I couldn't even Tab to it yet), and a Goblin Weaver decides that it wants to cast Dia on me, but I saw and realized.

"Shit," I said.

I ignored the goblin, ignored the Orcish Fodder right next to the enemy with the really long name, and attacked. With three things beating on me, and Jen confused because she hadn't heard anything other than me saying "shit", after I started my attack I figured it would probably be a good time to pop Meikyo Shisui. Tachi: Enpi for 40 -> Tachi: Enpi for 91 (?!) = Distortion for 54. Dear Altana, I love that skillchain. I didn't even bother using my third WS on the bunny since one more swipe would kill it, so I saved it for the orc. After I offed the orc, we finally took care of the stupid little goblin.

In the end, I've now killed Jack 5 or 6 times, and am only 2 more Earth crystals to the good.

/sigh

I know it's just a trophy piece, and it's not likely I'm going to ever do much more with THF (maybe get it to 25 for Flee, but that's probably about it), but I still want the damn Rabbit Charm. If only to sell. >.>

Been a while...

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:36:05 GMT

Not sure what exactly to type. Been trying to help jedijenchan feel better, although my habit of bad jokes usually winds up setting off a coughing fit. Wish there was more I could do.

I decided to break out Tales of Symphonia over the weekend (woo! one less game in plastic wrap), and played it for a bit when the voices didn't annoy Jen too much. Also played some more of Endless Ocean, and found all of the pirate compass pieces (with the help of a FAQ).

Just put a meatloaf in the oven.

Oh, and while watching some drag racing on Sunday night (because we'd already seen the Food Network Challenge that was on), I found out that one of my cousins on my mother's side is apparently a professional motorcycle drag racer. How about that, eh? Of course, he was from the side of the family furthest from our branch. I never really got to associate with them much.

desk lamp

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 02:30:18 GMT

Jen and I were at IKEA, checking out their mattresses and bed frames. I also spent some time looking at the desk lamps, and found a new one that I really like. MÖRKER gives off just the right amount of light, and is not directly in my eyes. This means I don't need to have the overhead on all the time. Sweet!

Distant Worlds

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:22:06 GMT

Last night, Jen and I went to the "Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy" concert. Jen was quite miserable when we got there from bring sick, but I think she started feeling better once the music started. ^_^;;

I'm not going to recount everything they played, but I went into the concert without knowing what would be on the playlist (even though the did have a concert in Stockholm, Sweden in December, and it's listed on the website), but after doing some counting my reaction at Intermission was "ok, they're missing 4, 6, and 11."

They all did show up in the second half, including the "Memoro de la S'tono" from FFXI with the choir backing and a soprano soloist. "Theme of Love" from FF4 showed up soon enough too. And so I'm sitting there thinking... "so, what about 6?"

Then Arnie Roth made the announcement that they were doing "Maria and Draco", the opera scene. OMG did my eyes light up like a kid on Christmas morning. That alone would have made the concert worth seeing, because I've always wanted to see it. There were 3 opera singers for the parts, too, and somehow the women's voice actually sounded quite reminiscent of the synthesizer sound from the game. But it was just AMAZING! And in the lead-up to it, Arnie announced that not only have The Black Mages just finished recording another CD (note to self: buy them all), but they've recorded "Maria and Draco" for it. Can't wait to hear that.

After they finshed, Arnie Roth runs off-stage to mass applause, then comes out like 20 seconds later to say that was the last piece, and they're going to do one encore. Some guys shouts out "One Winged Angel!" And after some joking around, Arnie announces Terra's Theme.

However, the choir was on stage the entire 2nd half. Everyone knew there was a reason for that. So after they finished Terra's Theme, Arnie went back off stage to be accompanied back about 30 seconds later by Nobuo Uematsu-san himself. After much bowing, Nobuo told him to do one more, and we got "One Winged Angel."

All in all, a wonderful concert. I wish we hadn't been at all sick and were able to fully make a night of it (dinner and what-not), but I think it was still enjoyable in the end. I especially loved the performance of the FF6 Opera, and the Swing de Chocobo arrangement.

Azumanga Dreaming...

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:52:45 GMT

The last two nights, I've had some very odd dreams. They involved me being back in school. Except Yukari from Azumanga Daioh was one of my teachers. And she had the Yukari-mobile.

I don't remember all that much aside from that, but it was very weird.

And no, I have not been watching Azumanga lately, or reading it, or listening to any of the image songs.

Ugh....

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:14:48 GMT

I just watched/listened to like 6 performances on American Idol. Someone come shoot me, I've lost all respect for myself.

crappy weather

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:45:23 GMT

I just moved my car out of ~3" of standing water, because I would actually like to have it move before the Spring Thaw. The water on the driver's side front was over the lower part of the tire completely and across the wheel, and the driver's side rear almost there. There's a Saturn parked behind me where it's even worse.

Let's hear it for screwy weather. And OMG I've forgotten how slippery ice covered with a thin layer of water actually is. XD

Costume anxiety

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:18:07 GMT

I really need to figure out what costume(s) I want to do this year, and see if I can get (at least) one of them made before ACen. It's very bad trying to think about this while on the Brown Line on my way home... while listening to the Utenamyu. Especially when Grandma Dios (or perhaps, "Fairy Godmother Dios") starts chiming in, because I had delusions of doing that before. Just like I had delusions of doing the Lodoss Island Parn costume (which, if anyone remembers, does not involve Parn in his own armor ^^;;).

However, thinking realistically about this year... I think I've narrowed down a list of characters to consider.

Georg Prime, in his Suikoden V Queen's Knight wear (last picture on the right)

Hatake Kakashi from Naruto, because I've considered doing this costume for like the last three years and haven't

Kiba Inuzuka from Naruto, because as far as Naruto costumes go, this is one that actually suits my build. I've also started to really like Kiba after reading up to the bit in the manga that Viz is up to (him versus one of the Sound Four), and he suits me much better than Shikamaru

Eagle Vision from Magic Knight Rayearth, which is another costume I considered long (long) ago and am still interested in doing. It will require me getting screen caps because there are *no* findable good images of his whole costume, and a Google search for "Eagle Vision" turns up the cars, curiously enough.

Syaoran from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, which is the least likely of these listed costumes, but immeasurably easier to contemplate than a Mokona costume (which I briefly considered and then discarded as being way too difficult to do and transport, despite how much joy I would get from bouncing and puu-puuing around the con and annoying any Kurogane cosplayers I might find)

I also have a bad feeling I'm going to wind up in a Takashi Morinozuka (Ouran High School Host Club) costume as well... unless the group Jen's committed to finds one on their own. ^_^;;

Next year, though... next year, I am going to get in decent enough shape to not embarrass myself as Suikoden III Futch. That's going to be my goal.

car show

dragonboy042@livejournal.com — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 02:55:27 GMT

Went to the car show today. End results: W00! I fit in both the '08 Mitsubishi Lancer and the '08 Nissan Altima. Thank you Subaru for screwing up the WRX, as well as the Impreza in general - not only was it the car I couldn't even fit in, but the hatchback-only WRX is stooopid.

Had a great time overall, but this is all I have the will to post right now. My knees just ain't what they used to be. I'm getting old. ;_;