Mikka's Modding Project!

[MadHatt]

That's ...damn authentic. That said, I really didn't like pizza in Italy. I have no idea if that is blasphemy or not. It was just sort of a 'meh'. Maybe I got the wrong pizza.

 

So update on ants? This is becoming quite the dramatic occurrence.

 

Well, I know about what they'd like ...so I got that right. And I've been hitting bars since 15. While everyone got a beer, I got cocktails, spirits or wine. We used to hang around people way older than us (max was 33 or sth) and we sat around until 3am on a school night discussing philosophy or alcohol and drinking bottles of wine. It was awesome. Only reason I miss high school.

 

So...first politics and terrorism, now smoking discussions. Both my fault. I should learn when to shut up. I know people who smoke. A lot. So even when I didn't smoke, I was more with freespace on this. I think smokers and non-smokers should be courteous towards the other, and while I've never had a situation appear with someone being rude to me for smoking, I have heard various stories. I can understand the fact that people hate smoke but it's half turned into a witch-hunt overseas.

 

Norwegian pastries!! Which ones? Scandinavian ones are REALLY sweet, I've noted. The rest of Eastern Europe uses loads of rich, fluffy dough. But, seriously, ever find kürtős kalács, GET IT! Where I live, I can go to a fair that's every Sunday and buy one made right there, with the ingredients of my choice. I pick EVERYTHING.

 

So I've been busy lately. Last night was a break and I had some sort of party here. Got rid of some bottles, got new ones. Finally got online. No ideas on the mod tool, it always worked fine for me. I'd ask for the mod to test and see and I could, if you wanted, but that would include spoilers. Any chance of stealing another person's PC and test it out there?

[Mikka]

I had a pizza with prosciutto and melon on it, Italian style. I don't know how authentic that was, but it was sure yummy. Which is really all I ask for. I mean, I like things authentic, but yummy will win out every time. If you're serving good food, then that's all I personally need to know.

 

Still finding ants around the kitchen. I've taken to spraying them with vinegar every time I see them, and then cleaning the counters and floor with vinegar every night for good measure. They're... almost all gone? But not quite there yet. So I keep trying.

 

That sounds like a great amount of fun, actually. I was a good girl, for some definitions of the word. I didn't start drinking till I was 21, besides taking sips of my mom's margaritas on occasion and tiny little 'gulps' of wine given to me at holidays. But once I turned 21 and started drinking, it was like a whole new world was open to me. I started with sangrias, then quickly moved on to wine and cocktails and then boom. All this cool new stuff, ready for me to try. It was awesome.

 

Smoking is a really sore spot for me. I lost a little cousin to second-hand smoke: she died of it, because her parents were idiots who were smoking around an infant. And smoke gives me myself terrible allergic reactions. I simply can't be around someone who is smoking without finding it really hard to breathe and feeling all sick. So, honestly, my friends group? People who don't smoke and people who have switched to electronic cigarettes (which I've managed to convince every single member of my family to start using, now). My own health is really... touchy. I have a bad immune system. So the more I avoid things like smoke, the better off I am. Unfortunately, people seem to find my allergy hilarious and used to do things like blowing smoke in my face just to see me get all swollen and gross. Great people, seriously. And at that, I'm going to try to stop talking about the subject, because just thinking about it makes me mad. I can say, though, that restaurants that had smoking sections were going out of business by the dozen here in PA before the no-smoking bill was brought up. After the no-smoking bill appeared, three of the restaurants opened, completely non-smoking, and they're still around today. In my experience, people generally don't like smoke around their food- even smokers. It alters the taste too much.

 

I've had sakotis, which wikipedia says is sort of like kürtős kalács, but I've never had them. I'll keep an eye out, though Hungarian pastries... I don't know where on earth I'd find them around here. Norwegian pastries, let's see... I've had lefse, which I found a bit too sweet. I've had Norwegian almond cake, which I found delicious. I've had all kinds of rice pudding, which has ranged from good to 'eh'. I've had Norweigan donuts, which I enjoyed very much.

 

I missed you! Glad to hear all is going well. Hurray for parties! Mom was telling me I could hold one at my house, but I have no idea who I would invite. I don't know many people. Meh. Good for old bottles and new bottles, though. Hope you got some enjoyable stuff.

 

I've found the modtools works on my grandfather's computer, which is just like... great, really, great. ;_; That's a bit out of the way for me to work on, though if it comes down to it, that's what I'll do. I might have to wait to do the coding until after vacation, though (I'll be away from May 8th to the 18th, but I'll still have internet access, so it probably won't really change anything for me posting online). Honestly, I'm kind of at a bad point. I'm lacking inspiration, worried that nothing I write is worth looking at or reading, and suffering some personal problems. I haven't been really working on Cat or Cuàn at all. I need to just get over this writers block/depression and do stuff, but I'm just having trouble even getting words down. I'm in one of those cry-me-a-river 'wahhh I suck' modes, and I have no idea how to get over it this time.

 

But I'll keep trying. That's what I do.

[MadHatt]

You know, this evening I had to go to a neighbour's place at the ground floor and guess what? She told me there were ants. Balcony and somewhere around the guest bedroom. I suggested the cinnamon thing. Haven't talked to her yet but I will tomorrow so I'll see the results. I was amused, though, because before you two I hadn't heard much about ant infestations.

 

I was never a good kid. I drank and smoked and partied and my parents went to my school more often than I did. But yes, it was very cool. The fact that I got to hang around people much older than I was and discuss things over drinks and go out every night was fun, especially since not a lot of people treat kids that age as grown-ups. And they used to pay for a lot, because jobs. We youngsters paid for the cab and occasional cig. The guys were great. I lost touch over the years and now I'm much too busy to spend night randomly drinking away the hours, but I think that was the best part of high school (besides the skipping)

 

Did you like sakotis? Kürtős kalács is better because of the added stuff...like cinnamon, cocoa, sugar all tossed on it, made on the spot and cooked. And the dough is soft and delicious. Another thing you should try...special holiday sponge cake, or at least something like sponge cake. Somewhat like what the Italians call 'colomba pasquale'. It's usually made in Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania and it's a sweet bread but made with cocoa and nuts and cinnamon and isn't served on Easter alone. One of the best things I've tasted. It can be made at home but ...it's difficult to make. Not souffle difficult but more like "I would rather dig a well" difficult. You just sweat at it for three days straight. My mother made some...worst days ever and the thing was gone in a couple of hours.

 

Everything is okay. I've just had some hectic weeks that caught up to me. Missed you too and I enjoy our chats . My parties generally extend to people I know and people I drink with. So naturally, booze. Got some nice Shiraz.

 

Good luck on the writing and everything is worth writing down. Try and get some inspiration...walks, looking longingly out the window. Whatever works. I tend to start reading similar things to what I want and then brainstorm, usually while drinking. Editing after. I'm sure everything will be alright and there's no pressure.

[Mikka]

What really seems to work, even better then cinnamon, is vinegar. I now have a spray bottle with vinegar in it. See an ant? SPRAY IT. It kills the ant, and it confuses their, um, tracking ability. So I clean the counters and the floor with vinegar each night. I hate the way it makes my kitchen smell, but... the ants get fewer and fewer. Maybe one of these days, they'll go away for good. I can't wait for it.

 

Aw, I was the complete opposite. I was one of those model students up till 7th grade- I never did anything wrong, I never swore, I always followed directions (save for that one time when I told off that teacher at lunch), I got A+'s in everything, I acted like a little angel... then highschool came around and I turned in to an emotional wreck. I actually have PTSD (an, er, serious problem), but we didn't actually discover that's what it was till I was around 18, so instead I spent my teenage years curled up in what seemed to be the biggest fit of teenage angst in the world. I think mostly I wrote poetry and song lyrics, which was all tragic death and doom and unrequired love and more death and doom. I walked around in clothing two sizes too big for me all in black and never combed my hair. I was a little disaster. Now I have to look back at those days and be sort of like 'what was I on', though I've never done drugs. I was convinced the world was going to end in the year 2000, too. Seriously convinced. ...But, eh, we all grow up. I can't really say I miss those days, though I suppose they were an important part of my life. It was through that that I absolutely knew what I was going to do with my life- write, one way or another. So, finding oneself and all that nonsense.

 

I liked sakotis, yeah, but what you're describing sounds even better. Yum! Sadly, we have no Eastern European restaurants where I live. There might be some in Philly, but that's a definite day trip (and parking, ugh, parking). I'd like to try it and the cake you describe, though. Sounds delicious. Maybe I could at least find colomba pasquale at an Italian place near Easter next year... well, it's worth a shot. As for the work... I'd pass. ;_; I find baking a regular cake too time consuming, in general (then again, regular cakes don't do much for me... I'm more of a pie and ice cream person then a cake person).

 

I enjoy chatting with you, too. Shiraz is always good... ugh, we opened up two bottles of wine this weekend, from two completely different wineries, and found both of them bad. Just cloudy and smelly and not good tasting. That happens so rarely, so having it happen twice this weekend is really sort of incredible, actually. Didn't help my mood, though. I'm grumpy about it. I hate wasting money. And it would be a bit out of the way to take the wine back to the wineries, so all we could do is pour it down the drain and shrug. Bummer.

 

I'm just in an ugh place right now. I'm used to balancing daily life, work, project, and modding. I can do that fine. But with vacation coming up, there's like fifteen other things thrown in to the mix, and I have extra work this week too. So I'm sort of in a frenzy of frustration, with so much to get done before May 7th, and I'm getting all depressive and bleh about it. I just need to sit down and write without thinking about things, but that's always hard for me.

 

Have any ideas for Cat or Cuàn events? That's what I should be working on next.

[freespace2dotcom]

I consider myself to have been one of the "brilliant, but lazy" students in real life.

 

Once in sixth Grade, I was "sleeping", (arms crossed, head down eyes closed, as I often tended to do!) When I heard my teacher say "now watch this." and called me. He had someone next to him with the class textbook open. He asked me what a good example of something with viscosity, and to which I responded, "balogna" as that was what was in the book, as I was often bored and read ahead. I knew what the implications of that were, but really didn't care. Immediately went back to sleep, though that event left it's mark on me. Most of my schooltime from 1st grade through high school was like that, with really bad grades because meh, who cares? Then I went to devry and aced the entry exam that used 8th grade math. America's education standards are so pathetic. Right then and there I knew my high school years at the least were utterly wasted years of my life.

 

E-Cigarettes are banned in the military. I tend to think it probably has to do with the fact that you're sucking down nearly-pure nicotene for pleasure, which goes against the zero-tolerance drug thing. Taken that way I think it also greatly increases the overdose risk for the individual using them as their intake of that crap is greatly increased if they're heavy users.

 

As for Pizzas, I greatly love Chicago style. Now most people would assume that I am referring to what non-chicagoans refer to as that, which is that deep-dish pan "pizza" (which to me doesn't even qualify as real pizza) but rather the way local pizzerias make regular thin pizza. I've had pizza once in NYC, and although pretty good, It lacks the flavor and texture of "home"

[MadHatt]

Apparently my neighbour used salt and it ...worked? Somehow. Ants are a mystery to me.

 

I also had the black thing, but most of the bars were biker bars, heavy metal and old rockers so everyone had the black thing. And leather. And long hair. I don't know how they got through summer. And we argued about the bands for what seemed like forever. I had decent grades...never got into trouble much except for the skipping which was regular and extended to the point where it was a big surprise if I attended for a whole week. The doooom thing passed me by, but that's because I always was a little morbid and the thought amused me.

 

I think high school is a waste for most people. Most of the class work is dull, uninspired or uninteresting, skipping is easy and thinking outside of patterns lowers the grade (happened to me at a huge final). When I was in high school I couldn't wait to get into college. Now...I figure it's all mostly the same. Isn't it weird how much time we want to grow up as kids? And then we find out it's sort of 'meh'. The reason I wanted to grow up was so that I could have a house with a large backyard and loads of big dogs. I live in an apartment and the thought of a dog just brings up the idea of loads of extra responsibilities, shedding and how in hell could I get a big dog to a doctor if it gets sick.

 

Are normal cigs banned in the military or just the e-cigs? Because that's ...strange?

 

And thanks, freespace. Now I'm craving pizza. ...So do I have to add Chicago to the list of 'to visit' ? Because I heard the hot dogs there are also pretty damn special. I can already see myself visiting and ending up eating the entire time.

 

I forgot about the only one Easter thing. My dad and grandfather are orthodox so we celebrate twice. They were really distanced this year so the holidays were messed up.

Hope you do get to try it. It's pretty great.

 

I hate bad wine. Haven't had a chance to go on a good wine day either and probably won't soon. Combination of being busy, lacking cash lately and impending exams. Although, oddly enough, every time I get drunk on wine the night before an exam, I pass it no matter how unprepared I am. So far, I have never failed a single exam which is very weird considering everything.

 

I can understand the whole, having a rough time. I want to get a new job (this one is frustrating, annoying, bad and stressful), I want to write, which I haven't been able to, exams, college obligations (gotta go to labs which is hard with said full-time job) and just all around spring. It's also very hot and I hate heat. But hang in there, things will end up alright, and even if they don't life goes on huh? You can always get drunk and forget about it, I suppose. So this has gotten really depressive, real quick.

 

Cat and Cuàn!

If Cat is hyperactive, or at the very least generally energetic, you could have her pester the PC in different ways. Wake him up in the middle of the night because 'adventure'! There's a pixie in her room, odd shadows, she was running around and lost her wand. She could draw attention to something in class. The two of you could encounter satyrs. The PC could comfort her ferret, if the PC has a ferret, then they could become friends.

 

Cuàn could wander in the woods and rescue a lost PC. Provide help with Zoology assignments, rescue the player from Phillipe, ask you to help mediate a college situation, need your help with a wounded wolf, encounter a trap in the woods you both have to escape from (poachers, hunters etc.). It's a bit harder to think of adventures for him, seeing as he's so level-headed, but if I do think of more, I'll write them down.

[freespace2dotcom]

If you ever do visit Chicago, I would reccomend going to D'agustino's. My mother was a waitress there ages ago and was the place where I ate my first full pizza. you really can't compare it to chain store pizza. They've been known to actually mail pizzas all over the country, though whether that's worth the effort and hassle is debatable. (since you'd still need to reheat it.)

 

Hot dogs are one of those things I think is debatable. There's a Vienna Beef Plant, Which I've been to, and those HotDogs are great, but also expensive. I'm not a huge hotdog guy, so...

 

Normal Cigs are still barely tolerated, but while I was in, they permanently banned them on Nuclear subs. (prior to they still had one area where it was allowed to have 2 or 3 guys smoke at any time) There are only a few designated areas for smoking on the bases I've been to.

[Mikka]

I spent the day sick and miserable and completely wasting a day that I could have been writing. I'm still pretty out of it tonight, so this response is somewhat short.

 

I like the rising crust Chicago style pizza, but I don't mind thin crust, either. I'm not too picky about my pizza, as long as it's good. Can't eat it with extra cheese, though, due to my allergy, but people I'm with always seem to want extra cheese pizza. So I end up getting a stromboli or something as no one will share pizza with me.

 

I don't like hot dogs at all. Blegh. Too much knowledge isn't always a good thing.

 

The thing with E-Cigs is to get the rechargable and refillable ones. When you buy liquid to refill them with, each time go down a step on the nicotine level. Soon the addiction is cured and you're just smoking flavored liquid. Some of my friends keep doing that anyway, even though they're not getting nicotine anymore, because they like the comfort/habit of smoking a cigarette. I have my mom and friends basically all doing that, so everyone's on their way to quitting. Which makes for much more pleasant people in all. Addicts not getting their addiction are so grumpy... I try to avoid such people. I don't know why the military allows cigarettes, honestly. Seems to sort of go against the whole physical health thing they're trying to push in to recruits.

 

Salt didn't work on our ants. I think they're finally gone now, though. Of course, I don't want to say that and have them jump out again. Don't think I can handle that.

 

High school was just so easy. Everything about school was too easy, until the point where I just completely gave up on it (any impressionable teenagers reading this, please do not follow my example ;_; ). I could always wait to write my reports and do my projects the day before they were due, so I never learned to not procrastinate and that gets me in horrible trouble now. I really wanted to enjoy school, honestly, but all I ended up with is bored and with perfect grades that never got me anywhere. What could I have been doing instead of getting perfect grades that were meaningless in the long run? I wonder that sometimes. Honestly, I'd give anything to like, go back to age 12 when everything happened to me and do my life over. I know most people say they'd never go back to their teen years, but I'd do so happily. Hell, half the time I still feel like I'm a teenager instead of in my mid-twenties. Growing up is a confusing mess. It sort of sucked, actually.

 

Yeah, the Orthodox Easter isn't really heavily celebrated in the United States. Personally, I wouldn't mind two Easters, but I'm just greedy.

 

I confused a Tramanet with a Pino Grigio today. I don't know how I did it. Thankfully, it didn't ruin dinner, but I felt like an idiot. I'm just so out of it. I think I'm out of good dry red wine, too, I'll have to break in to my 'secret stash'. Which is scattered all around my bedrooms and makes me look like a wino, so I suppose it's not that secret.

 

Argh... best wishes to you with collage and difficulties and the heat. College, huh... it's one of those things I wanted to do but just didn't get a chance. Too bad, as it may have made those worthless perfect grades actually worth something. But you can't make a living on regrets. I just hope to improve my writing to the point that I can get published even without formal schooling. And keep trucking along, as it goes. Honestly, I'm sort of at the point where I just want to get drunk and hide from life's troubles, but that never gets you anywhere. So I keep facing them and trying to smile, which I suppose is all you can do. Life just seems to go out of it's way to kick me while I'm down. Which is an annoying trait.

 

Thanks for the suggestions for Cat and Cuàn. I'll probably end up using most of them, as I am completely without inspiration. To be honest, I may miss my May 8th deadline. If that's the case, I'll take the kids on vacation with me and work on them whenever I have free time. I *need* to get project and work done by this Saturday or I'm going to severely disappoint a lot of people and will probably end up fired, and then I need to do all those going away for vacation rituals like, you know, packing, which means Time Not Spent Writing. This is just frustrating, as I like the characters, and want to get them done, and want to do them so well that the Academagia Team goes 'wow, cool' and wants to include them but everything keeps happening all at once and it's a giant mess of arghhhhh.

 

I am so whiny in this post today. I blame the whole being sick all day thing and apologize for it. I can't rant on facebook so I'm just using this forum as a stream-of-conscious ramble and rant, I guess, which isn't really fair to this forum. I'll try not to do it again.

 

Still have no writing examples to put in the other thread. Hopefully soon.

[freespace2dotcom]

Well, I know it's getting back to religion, but I will only link to this concerning easter. That alone should make people turn their heads...

 

http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html

 

And I could also go on to mention the Christmas-Saturnalia connection, but.. Well, it's getting off topic.

 

High school grades don't count for anything, don't fool yourself. The only thing that matters is the slip of paper that we call a diploma. College grades count more so, but even then it's only really the degree that people look at.

 

And don't worry about being a bit whiny, mikka! If you can't grouse on the internet, then you won't be able to do so anywhere! (besides, this is your thread all tucked away, it's not like you go about spreading stuff everywhere!)

[Mikka]

I already knew most of the stuff about Easter. It's actually fascinating to me, how much Christian holidays take from the Pagan holidays they replaced. That's the sort of stuff about religion that I find interesting. I can do without the 'my god can beat your god' parts of the debate.

 

High School Grades could have helped me get in to a better collage, though, if I had went directly from high school to collage. But I, well, didn't. So... wasted, in the grand scheme of things. I sort of wonder if I'll have a kid who gets through Academagia all 'I ACED ALL MY CLASSES SO WELL THAT I MADE EVERYONE ELSE FLUNK, AND WHAT DO I GET? SERVITUDE TO A NOBLE. That's just great.'

 

...Weirdly, out of these six kids I'm working on, none are planning on going the regular paths for mages when they graduate. That doesn't mean that none of them will end on those paths, just that none of them plan on following the usual tradition for mages. Also, they all have daddy issues. I wonder what that says about me.

 

Yeah, I don't think it would be appreciated if I went in to the ask questions topic and started whining about how the world has not given me a pony yet (even Academagia hasn't given me a pony! WHERE IS MY PONY?!). But I suppose it's okay in this hidden little topic that only four or five people really post it.

 

Wonder how the DLC is going. Hopefully, they're not at the just testing stage yet. ;;

[Mikka]

Emergency project work today, tomorrow, and Saturday. Cat and Cuàn work Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and then probably then during vacation.

 

I'm writing about ninjas. Project is sort of awesome.

[Adrian]

"These things are no joke, any more than Judgement day is a joke." - David J. Meyer (from the link)

 

So, it is fairly legit to make fun of it? *cough* I couldn't help myself.

 

 

I'll agree, I find religion(s) fun and interesting. They show a great deal of the human mind to some degree. It does piss my mother off royally when I speak of it and she is within hearing range, but thankfully it is limited now to holidays only now... Also, sorry if I inadvertently make fun of your religion, it's not meant as a jab on -your- religion, rather, 'just' a jab on religion itself.

 

That said I like Easter, in my family it is a time where we all get together (one side of the family at least) and have a dinner, admire the decorated eggs everyone have made, take a trip to the nearby woods and roll the eggs down a hill (with a small price for the winner). It had taken a competitive edge some years back when I was in gymnasium (~highschool I suppose). I tried a parachute egg and various wheels and shell-reinforcements.. I don't think any of them ever worked to my intent (and I always made sure to clean up after! Important kids, keep those forests clean). That's what you get when there is a looming tree growing in the middle of the path I suppose! Ah well.

 

 

@School-induced procrastination. Sounds like it is a problem world over, school being too easy for some which leads to a large group simply procrastinating through most of it, and too late realizing that the shit has hit the fan. I know, I'm certainly one of them. I take some comfort in the fact that the world will end at some point, and my life will have meant little if nothing in the grand scheme of things. And isn't that just a positive outlook on life? (I'm serious, but not enough so that it becomes depressing)

 

 

I find it odd that I am usually much more willing to speak of religion than politics, I still am, but despite that I still find it odd. Some reason the idea of defending my political belief system seems more remote or dangerous. meh, it's likely due to too many family members having a liberal trend and mine is more socialistic, having peace at family dinners overshadows belief systems I suspect... (Relative terms, both would be HIGHLY socialistic in the USA I suspect)

 

 

At the risk of ruining harmony I'll add my thoughts about smoking and smoking ban and never mention it again. I can endure smoking, in large part of due to my mother smoking through my childhood, but I avoid it whenever I can. As soon as I had a backbone I even asked my mother to stop smoking by the dinner table, which I'm happy to say she fully agreed to and even supported.

 

Now, in Denmark many people rely on the public healthcare to get better, recover from sickness and such. In addition there is social security meaning that old and unemployed get some (token) money/pension that they can live off. That means that the government, in my eyes, is somewhat entitled to asking restaurants and cafés in addition to all government-funded buildings to enforce a non-smoking policy. THAT being said I would've rather that they didn't. They might have said that they hoped the private sector would follow and just enforce non-smoking in government funded (in my mind called 'public' though I'm not sure if that is how it is in English, or just my head).

I do enjoy the non-smoking immensely though, a friend of mine has allergic reactions to smoke as well, and it has meant the world to her that she can travel about without risking all kinds of nastiness - which makes me happy as well.

 

If smoking is 'really as bad as they make it out to be' I'll leave to you. I don't know how it is coloured in USA, in Denmark there are required labels on the tobacco packages: "Smoking kills" "May lead to cancer" "Lowers sperm quality".

 

In the end though, we have to die of something, and if my family record holds mine will likely be Alzheimer, so maybe cancer would be a mercy (A bit gloomy joke but so is Alzheimer, so it's fitting I suppose.)

 

 

 

I've also realized I can't spell 'government' I spell it 'goverment' - a poor habit. Adding to that I also realized I've made a long text about something I only intended to touch briefly and be done with it, because, well, it is a touchy subject for many (albeit important).

 

 

 

To return to religion, a brighter if more highly debated subject. I used to be very fond of Buddhism when I was in gymnasium (Highschool), we had a newly educated teacher in that class and he was full of fire and passion for all kinds of religions that we usually don't come in contact with in Denmark. (Read 'everything not Christianity')

 

We found a wonderful book written by someone who clearly wished to sell the story to danish people (all religion should be presented this way I feel). We even had a Tibetan monk come and speak with/to us. It was quite interesting, a shame that his english was as limited as it was, I don't think he fully understood the subtleties in some of the questions... regardless, it was presented (in the book, mainly) as a 'religion' that focused mainly on knowledge. The idea of rebirth and how 'knowing' would lead you out of the wheel of pain (read 'life'). Sadly I began digging and found them, like most other faiths, mired in senseless traditions. The writer may have spoken of 'knowing' and 'learning' and 'truth' but these things were all far too abstract (for my taste) to hold much value. I'm afraid that quelled the last real love I had in religion. From then on it has been a clever and fancy thing to discuss when people presented it to me.

 

 

I don't think I've ever tried seashell chocolates, are they filled chocolates or just... plain (I suppose the word would be..)?

[Mikka]

Okay, religious discussion. Skip it if it bothers you, please- I don't want to offend anyone, though I'm doing my best to be as non-offensive as possible.

 

I, myself, am agnostic. I believe there may be a god, or there may not be, but if there is one, I don't think he or she is paying much attention to my life in general, and I am okay with that. If it turns out there is no god, I lose nothing. If it turns out there is a god, then I will explain to him or her why my beliefs are the way they are, and why I don't have faith. I think a kindly god will understand. If there isn't a kindly god, just some sort of bastard jerk god, then I imagine nothing I say or do will matter anyway, I'm probably already damned for some sin I've surely made in my life.

 

I simply do not have faith- I just don't have that switch that allows me to believe without 'proof', though I have tried. Yet, oddly, I do sort of believe in reincarnation. I don't know how that works together, but it's what fits for me.

 

I have friends of all religions. Most are some degree of Christian, while the rest are some form of Wiccan (oh, and a lot of atheists, but they don't really count for this paragraph). I do have some Jewish and Muslim and Buddhist friends, and one Shinto one, but the core group is mostly Christian or Wiccan. I have no problem with any form of religion, and will happily go along with them to church and religious celebrations of sorts if I'm invited. I find religion fascinating and generally respect people who have that faith and willingness to believe and go forward in those beliefs.

 

I hate arguments between religious, particularly this Christianity versus Muslims thing that's going around. Both books say some horrible things, but most people don't just follow the book- they follow their heart and their morals and there are good people of every religion and bad people of every religion so please stop calling one or the other the religion of evil because it makes me sad. Then again, a lot of arguing makes me sad. I don't like fights.

 

 

Politics are horrible in the USA. I don't know if they are better in any other country, but in the USA it is basically 'if you do not vote with the party I follow, YOU HAVE BETRAYED AMERICA AND SHOULD NO LONGER COUNT AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN AND SHOULD GO DIE SOMEWHERE' and it's an ugly little mess. I don't even like thinking about things. I think I'm a to the left of our Democratic Party, which sometimes means I get people in the Democratic Party telling me that I have betrayed America, too, which is just like great, lovely. Our country is becoming severely divided by politics in ways that scare me at times. But that's the bed we've made. I just don't think it's going to lead anywhere good. But... I'm just some 25 year old gal. What do I know?

 

 

I sort of want my life to mean something in the great emptiness, or so. I want to- at least publish one book. Have my name be there. Leave something behind, no matter how bad it is and even if it's just doomed to a life in used bookstores. I want to make change. But... I'm also lazy and prone to procrastination, so I don't know if I'll ever do it. And that just makes me depressed and I really should be working, shouldn't I? Argh.

 

 

Belgium seashell chocolates are sort of like truffles. The outside is a milk and white chocolate 'hardish' (but not exactly hard) candy shell. Inside, it's smoother and creamier and mostly just milk. They taste quite good for their price. And they're not too hard to get a hold of.

[Adrian]

Well, most of my USA political understanding comes from The Daily Show and Colbert Report, but I'm happy to say that despite the Danish political scene being in a slight turmoil currently it is quite a bit more down to earth. I don't think I ever heard anyone claiming the other part being unpatriotic,... though... to be fair you don't get a lot of people claiming to be patriotic either. I am guessing the civil war is still casting shadows. My american history isn't as good as it perhaps should be (though my Danish history isn't all that amazing either..) so apologies if I am barking up the wrong tree ^^

 

 

To be honest I dislike your 2-party system (perhaps even going as far as calling it un-democratic). There seem to be more parties, but they are so small that they don't get any TV time, which is a shame. I won't say a huge multitude of political parties are amazing, but at least it makes the policies that do go through more fluid.

 

Heh, well they are exercising their freedom of speech when saying you've betrayed America. Don't get me wrong, I like freedom of speech and would prefer it being universal. What I would like more than that though is a bit of mandatory-thought-process going with it.

 

 

I'm sure you'll get there at some point Mikka, at least I hope so. If not a book then something else, life-goals have a way of changing as time passes. I like to think that nothing in this life (or the next if you will) is in vain. Every lecture, missed or attended has a worth. Even working hard for those top grades in highschool only to have them mean nothing later has a worth. It slowly defines you, for better or worse.

I'll leave it with two good things to remember. '- it is always good for something' Every bad thing that happens benefits something else. It's a basic thought but it is a gentle one if you accept it as such. And 'Everything you do a 1000 people do as well' - it may just be an excuse, as in, you are just a drop in an ocean, but I was presented with a different read. "Everything you do, every kind deed, and every misdeed, a 1000 people will do as well. So do kind deeds." It also works well in class, "If you don't know what the man is talking about, then ask, there are a 1000 more people wanting to know."

 

There was a potential for a lot of other mush, but re-reading it it felt... generally unhelpful and at worst detrimental in a lot of ways. So... yeah. Stopping that here

 

 

 

Ah, I may know them then. The chocolates that is. I'll admit I prefer my chocolate light and without filling (and huge quantities )

[CremePudding]

My understanding of USA politics involves watching some facebook people I don't really know.

 

Mostly middle-aged game-spamming conservatives mom vs younger snarky liberal guys. It's hilarious because it always degenerate into some sort of endurance death match like a bunch of pagan shaman trying to out curse each other.

 

...It's kind of worrying over here in Hong Kong too, because you got this odd situation of the locals zig-zagging between "China should burn and we should get re-annexed to Britain" and "Let's shut down Free Speech and go 300% patriotism".

 

We even have the unfortunate side-benefit of being just a dinky island viable to being vaporized from Earth easily compared to "another state in America" if we keep that up

 

I sort of want my life to mean something in the great emptiness, or so.

 

Personally, I'd say the first step is to stop thinking that there's a great emptiness. The second step is to be arrogant proud of what you are already doing. For all you know, working at McDonald already mean something*.

*: The act of hastening the demise of humanity, which sounds a lot cooler that way.

 

Seriously though? You could start by writing tutorials, things like that. Think of it this way - you are helping people directly, saving their time and what-not.

 

Like recipes. Game walkthroughs. How to knit a sweater. How to save water during showers.

 

You can always publish a book, but are you sure you want to make changes, or just leave your mark among the billions of names in a library index? Because if you have no idea what to do with your book, the only effect it will had is the latter.*

 

*: Quoted from some dead friends.

 

As for Chocolate... er.... Chocolate in Hong Kong is crap and expensive?

[Mikka]

I decided I was going to rate this topic five stars. Because I *can*. Woohoo for totally biased ratings!

 

Anyway, I'm sick. Somehow, despite my sickness, I managed all the typing I need to do for work. Can I finish project when I keep needing to stop and throw up? I guess we'll find out. I'm going to try my best anyway. I'm sick of making excuses and needing to backtrack and ask for extensions when I should be able to do this easy breezy. ...I just hope I'm well for vacation! Being sick on vacation sucks. Been there, done that, had miserable time.

 

 

So yeah, USA politics. I'm not sure it's so much a shadow of the civil war, because sides and who believes what have changed so often so much it's just this... thing. The USA is very big about patriotism, and during the 9/11 period where everyone was looking for someone to blame, it became a talking point- people who didn't agree with the speaker were traitors of the worst kind, people who were born in oh-so-awesome America but did not appreciate it and thus were UNPATRIOTIC and horrible, horrible monkeyweasels. And then it became a talking point. If you didn't agree with every movement of the government? You were unpatriotic. Well, yeah, said the opposing side, but the government is doing (bad thing- government's are always doing bad thing, in general experience), so if you DO agree with the government, then you're unpatriotic! The government changed, but all that meant is that the people on each side change their points- now the Republicans say you're unpatriotic if you think anything positive about Obama, and the Democrats say you're unpatriotic if you think anything negative about Obama, but it's just the same thing reversed.

 

And this goes all around in circles. Pledge of Allegiance in school. Are students who refuse to speak the pledge UNPATRIOTIC and HATING AMERICA and going to grow up to be TERRORISTS!!! who HATE AMERICA? Or are students who refuse to speak the pledge just falling on their right of FREE SPEECH which is VERY PATRIOTIC and besides the pledge has been changed like three times since it was first created so WHO CARES and EVERYONE HAS A RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT and lots of other capital words that goes back and forth.

 

I just can't ever remember seeing the country this divided. Oh, the losing party always 'hates' the current president, to some degree, but the things I see on facebook... I wasn't all that fond of some of the decisions Bush made, but I never would have been calling for him to be impeached or even killed (!!). And our government keeps slowing down and threatening to slow to a halt due to silly Republican versus Democrat nonsense that is only stupid power plays that just involve us making fools out of ourselves and generally nothing happening.

 

It's so annoying.

 

...I thought about just deleting that rant, but eh, it can stay. That's probably the most I'm going to say about USA politics though. They exist, they're messy, and I think they're taking a bad turn. And the facebook messages are horrible and hateful on both sides and sometimes make me want to defriend half my friends list. Stop posting hateful things, people! Grr.

 

(That's why I barely post on facebook.)

 

 

Eh. I know I want to be a mother, too, and I know that way, I'll at least making a lot of influence in one dear person's life. (Too bad abotu the, you know, needing two people for that... I'm kidding, I'm kidding.) But honestly, being an author (and being a mom) are just those things I've wanted ever since I was a little girl. I'm not going to give up on them.

 

But technically, by getting my work put in the game by the Academagia team, I'm sort of almost like an author, right? >.> Eh, I figure it's a start. I always wanted to write for a gaming company. But now I just feel like I need to release a novel.

 

How to change things with a book... I don't know. I do know that I'll probably have to write twenty crappy romance novels before I'm allowed to write the sort of story I want to write, as that seems to be how the book industry works now. I know romance sells, and I'm not saying all romance novels are crappy, just, uh, that ones I write probably will be. Still, I figure that's my 'in'. Write romance novels, sell them, and eventually get enough money that I can afford to publish a book that says what I want to say. I just need to figure out what exactly it is I want to say.

 

I should just write to write sometimes, though. Oh, and finish that tutorial. So much to do...

 

Better get back on project. ;;

[MadHatt]

Wow, loads of writing while I was away. Holiday stuff and suddenly, I miss three days of my life. I didn't even drink...

 

Politics...I never keep up with anything. My sole USA political understanding came from memes or gaming forums, which results in a dislike of Fox news. The patriotism thing, to me, is strange as I know a lot of folks from all around who would rather have a drink and laugh at their country than say things like 'we are awesome'. Sure, people rally if you go around saying the same thing (as a foreigner) but only if you're particularly mean/direct about it.

In Britain or Italy, you are much more likely to get punched for insulting a football team. In fact, it's best not to get football involved at all unless you are talking about a particularly bad player or if you both hate a team.

I am still a lot more into discussing football, though, even if I end up punched with a mug. Seems like a much more approachable subject on clear facts rather than a fight on belief and moral compass.

 

And Mikka, you'll get there. One idea and some practice at it and you will get there, if you don't give up on it. And you can always self-publish, if you really need to, but as far as I understand it, you can find someone to enjoy your work nowadays faster than some time ago. Besides, if writing makes you happy, there's no way you'll stop, so you can only get better.

[freespace2dotcom]

I've said it several times before, though I can't recall if I said it here.

 

There are two types of patriotism. Yes, two. The first is simply a love for the country you live in. People who have this type may or may not even claim to be a patriot, but in general will ask (sometimes difficult) questions and do things in order to better understand and help their country in their own small way.

 

The second type is blind faith in political power. These folks immediately assume that the side they're on is righteous and without fault, thus, and thus anyone who doesn't agree with them tend to be called names, and indeed, anyone who disagrees with them is not this type of patriot. (ie, cattle)

 

Totalarian governments tend to merge the two types together in order to consolidate power. Eventually, this eliminates the first type. The fact that the US continues to move in this direction is no small source of consternation to me.

 

I think the terrorists have already won. Because if you really think about it, the ones spreading the most terror are the ones in the media and government.

 

As for religion, I don't intentionally try to offend anyone, but I refuse to play 'politically correct' That alone would offend some people but I digress; If you don't have a spine, you can't walk. If you don't have tolerance for another person's views, you must be awfully insecure in your own.

 

I am a Christian, though I don't go to church services or anything. I dislike organized religion, as in many ways there are those who share the two types of "patriotism" to their views. I'm a protestant, and have no denomination. I believe in the flood of Genesis, and that before the flood there was a canopy of water protecting the earth from solar radiation, causing everything to live longer, as well as influencing slower metabolisms and slower (but larger) growth. I believe that is why humans have wisdom teeth, expiains a mass extinction event, and that the flood was the root cause of tectonic movements and mountain ranges. It explains a large number of things, really. If that alone is believable, then suddenly progress is made and we can go further. I find things like this very fascinating, though you only hear "noise" in churches today. (ie. That you must praise God, without giving a solid reason. Why should you give praise if you don't believe, why should you even go there if you aren't given a reason to?) A "church" is any place people congregate to talk about religion. It is not a place where you file an IRS Form to be recognized by the state. Though I will stop here as I am dangerously close to ranting.

[Adrian]

Madhat, a few years back, 10~ish perhaps, I'd say that the football case was in effect in Denmark partly sparked by DK winning the European Championship (in which we were only admitted due to the war in Yugoslavia). I was too young to know if it was like this before but after we won Football became a *huge* deal. The two main teams causing drama was FCK (from C(/K)openhagen) and BIF (seated in Brøndby, a suburb to Copenhagen) They were huge arch rivals and when they clashed you can be sure that the shops near the stadion would be wrecked and a rather large group would end with a night in jail. It's faded quite a bit though since then, as BIF went into sharp decline, later economic trouble and now they are threatened with bankruptcy and losing their place in the national league.

 

Despite all this Football never interested me, though almost all of my friends have some stake in it, most of them are still a bit gleeful that BIF is going down and the rest who were BIF supporters have some mixed feelings. They'd like to support them, but the club has (as I understand it) moved far away from what initially made the team great, so a lot of their supporters are now more angry at the management than the 'idea' of BIF.

 

With this slight detour I'll head to bed. My brain has been running on fumes for almost an hour now. So, goodnight and sleep well! (or... rise with a smile, depending on the time zone I suppose)

[Mikka]

You guys are saying important useful things, and I am far too sick to respond to them. Some cinco de mayo, I even had wine made from agave to drink in order to celebrate the occasion. Instead, I'm just being BLARGHHH all over the place.

 

I'm currently playing this moderately addicting browser tab game: http://candies.aniwey.net/ . You just leave it open in your browser tag, and get candy. Once you get candy, the shopkeeper appears. Buy a sword, then hit Quest, and you can start going on adventures to get items and the like. Once you get a key questing, you can start growing lollypops. It's like, the most hassel free game in existance. I'm just keeping it running as I'm doing whatever.

 

In project news, I wasn't able to get it done. That is very bad. So I'll be working on it Monday and Tuesday and maybe Wends on the plane. Praying I don't have to work on it during the actual vacation, because that would sort of suck.

 

In Cat and Cuàn news, there's no way they're going to be ready before DLC16 comes out if they're already past the writing stage and on the art stage (ooo, new art!). So I figure I'll release them as a mod to help shorten the wait between DLC 16 and DLC 17, maybe? And then the Academagia team can include them if they want to or not- it probably depends on whether there would be time to write them for year two, honestly. But... even if they can't make it in as official content, I'm still determined to get them done. (Still not going to make a Hedi student, though, unless someone wants to pay me. Unless the year two mod tools turn out to really like me.)

 

Someone (thanks!) actually mentioned the tutorial to me in a PM, so I'll try to work on that when I have a spare chance, as apparently some other people have interest in making new students. Which you should. It's fun! Think of your kid getting bullied to death by Philippe! Wee!

 

Politics are all dumb and I hate them. How's that for stunning relevations.

[Mikka]

Still stupidly sick. No progress to report. But I felt like posting because I'm too sick to do anything real like writing, but too awake to sleep.

 

I dreamed last night that the six kids I worked on (and Reitz, for some reason) got locked in a room with Victor Von Doom. Why? I do not know. Everyone fared badly. Antonio escaped alive though (if probably mentally traumatised for all eternity). I wonder if that's a dream-sign that I favor him, though I don't think he's my favorite of the kids. He's just the easiest to write.

 

Doctor Doom, though, seriously. BLASTED REED RICHARRRRDDDDS.

 

If ninja randomly attacked you out of nowhere, what would you do to discover who the ninja was and where their headquarters were? I think I'm allowed to ask that. Ninja code and all that.

[Mikka]

So, I'm off to sunny Flordia. Where it's 90 degrees and I will probably die of heatstroke. Or sunburn. One or the other, anyway.

 

I'll still have internet access, so this really doesn't change anything. I just won't be able to work on stuff much, though I still have some work left for project. Not looking forward to working on vacation, but it's the flu's fault. Stupid flu.

 

I'll post here when I have the time.

 

Question: what is everyone's top ten favorite video games of all time?

[Leoshi]

HHey! No dying of heatstroke for you Mikka! Or sunburn. Or anything else!

 

And your Victor von Doom dream just made me think, what would your kids do in detention? Along with Reitz (HISS!)

 

Top 10 hmm?

 

1) Skyrim

2) The Sims

3) Deus Ex: Human Revolution

4) Fallout: New Vegas

5) Batman: Arkham City

6) Fallout 3

7) Neverwinter Nights 2

8) KotOR 2

9) Assassin's Creed 2

10) Academagia

[Adrian]

I'm afraid I never got enough into mods to make Skyrim one of my favorites, same with Fallout 3 & NV.

 

I'm bending your request slightly Mikka, to games I spend most time on, surely it should be an indication at least. (Makes older games have a better chance)

 

Everquest 'Cause holy shit I've poured hours upon hours into you!

Baldurs gate 1 & 2 (including expantions)

The Sims

Commander Keen (various numbers, I can't really recall any more)

Diablo 1-3 (since we have already included series in this, but mostly the second. The third died too quickly..)

Command and Conquer (For the technology of peace! *cough*)

Red Alert (The first game I played multiplayer strategy with, was kind of harrowing )

Civilization

Starcraft (I spent *ages* playing protoss and loved it. It was by no means a rush, but rather how few soldiers can lose and still win, played a bit of the second's multiplayer too, pretty neat)

Day of the Tentacle (I probably shouldn't mention it, if going by time alone, but it was one of the games I learned English with, my dad playing it with me/for me. It was a great game. Who doesn't want a time-traveling tentacular problem? ^^)

 

Other than that, Academagia is close to this list, Team Fortress 2 too... Minecraft is working it's way up I suppose though it is very on-off and usually dies when I realize my great idea looks like crap.

 

Neverwinter nights was.... ... .. !! Well,,.. I have a bone to pick. I loved the initial graphics, the added choices in character creation and a lot of other things, but HOLY FU---- I can't stand their forced talk-initiations and (with that) no stealthing while in combat. I had a great fondness for rogues back in BG, but here you couldn't just stab people (or kill people at all) who bothered or annoyed you. So... bleh! I love the game but I *hate* it too for ruining my chaotic evil streak. (It's difficult to sow panic and chaos when employed by Lord Nasher and unable to kill random people...- or at least *feel* that you are sowing panic). Also, a dwarf monk? and I can't gut him? I can't even get rid of him? send him to die? I miss the permanence of death from Baldurs gate, far too easy to sacrifice people because after a fight they all pop back like nothing happened.

 

Fallout (1 & 2 mostly) and Planescape: Torment should be mentioned on the list, as I've poured a lot of hours into both. Also, Little Big Adventure. Another childhood favorite, I used to play it at a friend's place, we had a lot of fun trying to go through all that.

[MadHatt]

I shall exclude Scheherazade and Academagia seeing as I wouldn't be around if they weren't at least in my top 10. Only my computer, my sleepless nights and I know how long I've played them.

 

The rest are:

 

 

Arcanum

Silent Hill

NWN MotB

Planescape: Torment

Thief

Sacrifice

American McGee's Alice and Madness Returns

Blackwell games

Divine Divinity

Baldur's Gate

Fallout 1&2 and NV (I liked NV more for story and characters than combat/graphics)

 

I count the franchise unless specified. There's others...like Primordia and Gemini Rue and Witcher, Alan Wake etc. Top 10 is really restrictive.

 

It's awful to go to a sunny place with the flu. Best of health. Have fun. Take pictures!

 

Adrian, the dwarf monk does die eventually....does that work? Only the expansions were worth playing from that. And the mods. The graphics I didn't enjoy, but I didn't hate them either. And it was really hard to be evil in those games without some serious interventions. You just go around acting like a jerk.