Plongitudes...

My lack of interest in Programming is starting to become obvious to me. I never thought industrial-level programming was going to be my cup of tea, but I was hoping one of the classes I've taken was going to jump out and grab me by the armpit hairs. But it seems like I was a samurai trying to learn blacksmithery to make my own swords or something. Didn't happen.
So what to do? How to proceed, and where to go? I've always been more of the idea man, and there is a place for that in the computer gaming world, but how to get to that point is the question. I mean, no one's going to come looking for a Chief Creative Emperor or what-have-you anytime soon. Professor Steve said in his contacts that they're always looking for people to write on videogame projects. But can a job writing plot and dialogue for a game really lead anywhere? Maybe, but to the Czar-hood that I would really need to explore my own ideas? I don't know...
A large influx of cash would really help me out on that. I think I could get the ball rolling with a couple of hundred thousand dollars, but how can I get my hands on it? Lottery doesn't work, seeing as I don't have money to waste on it. My wealthy relatives are out, seeing as they don't exist, and my robbery skills are seriously underdeveloped. At 29 I'm probably too old to enter that field as a newbie...

Jason

P.S. I was just kidding about the robbery thing. Not gonna rob anybody. Really. Seriously. I'm almost 100% positive about that. }:)

Toolboxical...

Have you ever thought about what tools you actually need in your toolbox? I think about that a lot when I'm on my computer at home. I have a ridiculously large assortment of advanced tools, nifty gadgets, and neat little widgets that do various tasks. I have a program that can join video files together so you can view them in one sitting. I have another doodad that can rename multiple files in the blink of an eye. One can pull files from damaged floppy disks and another tells you exactly what type of video compression your movie uses.
You get the picture, I could go on for days. But how much of this stuff do I need? I have used all the ones I mentioned, but what about the one that makes gradient colored toolbars? Or the one which can alter and adjust the little white shortcut arrows on file pointers? Whenever you have a toolbox, I think its important to evaluate for usefulness. How many household toolboxes have crap in them that has no real purpose? My father's has a half-inch diameter Allen wrench. What exactly is that gonna do for him? Our conversational toolboxes are often overflowing with little widgets that have no real purpose. Like my little anecdote that brings home the point of why I don't like orange juice, or my constant tendency to say words with an 'fl' sound. And I know there are some things in my sexual toolbox from my wilder days that would probably get me slapped now. But I so hate to throw things away...

Jason

P.S. There's so much dust in my sexual toolbox that it kind of reminds me of one of the grimmer, more frightening deserts. But I guess I've had my share of rain, so no complaints. Well, almost no complaints. }:)

Predictisms...

I wasn't going to comment on the 'Great Nipple Controversy', but I just felt the need to. The conservatives are outraged that someone would dare expose a nipple on national television where impressionable young kiddies could see it. The liberals are outraged that the conservatives are making such a big deal about what is simply a natural part of the human body. Well, except for the obvious plastic surgery. I didn't understand the fuss until I downloaded a blown up still image of the moment. Then I realized what it was all about.
All this time I thought our laws were set up to prevent young, fragile eyes from seeing nipples (which obviously must be the only part of the breast which matters, as no one has any problem showing every other square inch). Our founding fathers must have foreseen the potential for exposed nipple, and realized that such a nipple might even be (gasp) an unattractive nipple. Now it all makes sense! An ugly nipple could definitely be psychologically damaging. I felt a little warpage in my own head when I looked, repeatedly, at the image. It was like a car accident in its compelling nature.
So, in conclusion, I think the outrage is perfectly justified, but needs to be clarified. Maybe the law could be changed to only apply to unappealing nipples. We'll call it the 'Revised Nipple Exposure Amendment', only allowing exposure of nipples with a Hertz/Nippleman rating of over 7.5. I'm sure it would pass very quickly. Of course, then we'll need to form a 'Nipple Attractiveness Review Committee' to check and rate the nipples. Although it might be a huge sacrifice of time and effort, I'd like to volunteer now. I'm just the type of patriotic American who would be willing to take on this awesome responsibility. }:)

Jason

P.S. Exactly how many additional record sales were generated by that little stunt? Mistake, my ass! I'd like to shake the hand of the marketing guy/girl who thought that one up!

Dramatictator...

Drama is an interesting phenomenon. Why do some dramatic elements move us and others don't? I was watching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 6 finale the other day, and it is ridiculously emotionally wrenching to me. The evil blossoming from the goodest of the do-gooders, the unexpected twists and the blindsiding turns, and of course, the large amounts of ocular saline flowing. But then I watch the Angel season 3 finale, which is a direct contemporary, done by the same production team, and intertwined thoroughly with Buffy. And the emotional content is way, way, way down for me. I mean, it tries, but it just doesn't get there you know? And there is a nauseating symbolic sequence right at the end, showing how the two main characters, who have been getting closer and closer over the episodes, are wrenched apart farther than anyone could imagine, he to the depths of the ocean and she to an angelic higher plane of reality. Ugh.

But my question is, why does one work and the other fail? What is the secret ingredient to make a compelling drama souffle? And how can we prevent the dramatic webs we spin from getting blown away by the pitiless wind of apathy?

Jason

P.S. Why would a woodchuck want to chuck wood exactly? And why is everyone obsessed with measuring its chucking capacity? }:)