The Menagerie

Long, long time gone

I really can't recall how many years it's been since I went more than 24 hours without checking email.  Ten?   But Sunday I didn't bother to open my laptop. 

Anyway, I did a lot of sleeping and household things this weekend -- breaking down cardboard, cleaning the downstairs carpet, that sort of thing.  Saturday I spent with a scrapbook pro at her gorgeous home on the mountain above my house, admiring the view, drinking (non-alcoholic) margaritas, chitty-chatting (as my sister might say) and putting stickers in my not-nearly-so-snazzy scrapbook (begun long ago) to dress it up.  Lots of fun.  Sunday I gardened and beat my all-time best Civilization Conquests score. I love taking over the world. 

Today I work. 

Gaming weekend

So the days are long, long since gone when we'd play RPGs on Friday night and Saturday night and maybe even Sunday afternoon.  Yeah, that was in college, and times have changed.  We've grown up.  Work.  Have lives.  <snort>

Saturday I played Civ III Conquests (yes, III, not IV) and lost horribly, then won pathetically.  Matthew played lots of City of Heroes/Villains (it was double XP weekend).  Sunday we did the Costco thing and then came home to play a task force in City of Villains with eight others via TeamSpeak. (A task force is a story arc of very difficult missions that generally has some sort of useful reward at the end that makes it worthwhile.)  It was about four and a half hours, which makes it kind of short as task forces go. 

Well, and I did do a little work, too, but I can't talk about it.

Since I have nothing interesting to tell you about the weekend (wait...we DID have a nice dinner Friday), you might want to read about Perky the Duck instead. 

Queen of the Geeks, Part II

Me:  I want to get Nyarlathotep, Hounds of Tindalos, and Deep One plush toys to add to the Cthulhu toy for the baby.

Matthew: What?! Are you nuts?

Me: Look, the kid needs to know true evil exists in the world.  Cuddly plush toys are an inoffensive way of letting her in on the secret.

Matthew:  Shelley, you are not going to expose our child to the idea that undefeatable monsters exist in the world.  Not as a baby.

Me:  [Blinks rapidly]  You call yourself a Cthulhu GM?  You know as well as I do that shotguns kill Deep Ones. 

Queen of the Geeks

If you aren't willing to take Mellow-Drama's word for it*, you can check out this thread.  PRIMUS, by the way, is a fictional federal agency that deals with paranormal issues -- think of it as the FBI for the superhero set.  I wrote a book about PRIMUS long ago (1997-8).
 

*In 1L, Mellow-Drama and I had to exchange memos or some such, and I knew she had a blog and I wanted to see what her voice was like in her casual writing vs. her legal writing, and I made a comment about how I liked how strong her casual voice was.  She asked me how I'd found her blog, and I told her that I'd googled her.  A couple of hours later, she said, "You didn't tell me you were the queen of the geeks."  I must have blinked blankly, and she said, "I googled you."  These days, you'll find a lot more boring stuff than would have appeared in 2002 -- back then, most of the hits would have to do with my not-so-secret RPG habit.  I am very, very geeky -- so geeky I once co-chaired a "Women in Gaming" seminar at an RPG convention. 

OK, but the graph makes no sense to me at all

(Apparently I'm not *that* intellectual.) Lifted from Betsy.

the Wit (52% dark, 30% spontaneous, 10% vulgar)

your humor style: CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat. I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer. Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion. You probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais The 3-Variable Funny Test! - it rules - If you're interested, try my best friend's best test: The Genghis Khan Genetic Fitness Masterpiece

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on darkness You scored higher than 99% on spontaneity You scored higher than 99% on vulgarity

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Which Action Character are you?

This is even more apropos given that a great-great-grandfather was named William Wallace Farris. Kudos to Denise to finding this survey!

You scored as William Wallace. The great Scottish warrior William Wallace led his people against their English oppressors in a campaign that won independence for Scotland and immortalized him in the hearts of his countrymen. With his warrior's heart, tactician's mind, and poet's soul, Wallace was a brilliant leader. He just wanted to live a simple life on his farm, but he gave it up to help his country in its time of need. William Wallace 79% Batman, the Dark Knight 71% Maximus 67% Lara Croft 67% James Bond, Agent 007 63% Indiana Jones 54% Neo, the "One" 46% The Terminator 33% El Zorro 29% The Amazing Spider-Man 29% Captain Jack Sparrow 25% Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com