Tuesday, February 20, 2007

02/19/07

Last night, I finished Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase For Lincoln's Killer. It's a great book. I'm not very knowledgable about American history before the 20th century (I love learning about the turn of the century and the Roaring Twenties), so almost all of this book was a revelation to me. I had just assumed that Booth was captured in the theater box immediately after he shot Lincoln. I had no idea he escaped and sent the nation on a 12-day manhunt. I also had no idea that he was the leader of a group of conspirators who, if they had succeeded, would have also wiped out the most important members of the cabinet.

There's next to nothing about Lincoln apart from brief glimpses of his final happy days in office and his final evening on earth. You learn far more about Booth and a bit about how his co-conspirators fared. There's a picture of him in the first chapter--what a handsome devil he was. It's so strange, but while I definitely don't like the racist prima-donna little jerk, I now have a morbid fascination of him. Maybe it's just my, umm, predilection for villains. :( I'm not the only one (and this is so bizarre/horrifying)--apparently there's a group of Southerners who to this day celebrate the death of Lincoln and raise a toast to "Our Brutus." I know Lincoln wasn't the perfect president (he suspended habeas corpus during the War and jailed accused Confederate sympathizers without evidence or trial), but come on!!

But what bummed me out after reading the book was the missed opportunity I had. In high school (pre-9/11), the senior trip was to Washington D.C. I had lots of fun, but the program we went through there was more focused on current politics than the historical aspects. And the times we did go to a museum, we were rushed through them (we only had 30 minutes to view the Smithsonian!). What kills me was that I was in Ford's Theater, but I didn't get to see anything! Oh yeah, I saw Bye Bye Birdie, but I didn't get to see the museum downstairs. I didn't get to see the Deringer and bowie knife Booth used to attack Lincoln and Major Rathbone, or his compass (if he knew how to read a compass correctly, he might have succeeded in escaping justice), or see his diary. I didn't even get to see or go near The Box either!

If I get the job I'm applying for (the job interview today went well I think), I'm gonna save up my money and vacation time for a week in D.C., take my sweet time and let all the history just wash over me in a great and constant wave.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

"Frailty, thy name is BINGLES"

For the love of Atrus, is it Thursday yet?!? The wait is killing me! I've been playing WoW again to take the edge off. I've given up playing my mage Schalazeal. A few months ago, I rolled a warrior named Nuhdahtahv (D'ni for "disaster") on a whim, and found her to be much more fun. It's great to blow through quests that gave me trouble before because now I can actually take some damage. Mining is also much more fun than picking herbs for alchemy. It's also fun to travel with Adam's Level 70 hunter--we ran through the Barrens for a warrior quest last night, and no Horde dared to touch me.

I also got my haircut today, because I finally landed a job interview! Unfortunately, the interview is scheduled for Thursday afternoon--I wanted to set aside the day just for Uru. Plus we don't know exactly what time MOUL is launching either.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Glad To Move On

It's official: I am now a college graduate! I got my diploma in the mail minutes before the DRC Forums Gathering. Even though I wish the event had gone more civilly, it was hard to feel too down with my degree in my lap. I'm just so glad to get it. I figured I wouldn't receive it until some point this month, but I kept having nightmares of somehow not graduating because I forgot to pay a library fine or something small. Reading horror stories of people not graduating because they didn't fulfill all requirements despite their own advisors reassuring them they were all set definitely didn't help either!

Now that I can stop worrying about getting my Bachelor's, I can devote all my worry to getting a job! I've been home since Christmas and no one's been interested. I REALLY want to avoid retail if I can help it; I've been there once and have no desire to go back.

Despite the job hunt, life's been pretty good. Adam recently got a job at a phone company in Quincy Point that he really likes. We even attended the holiday office party together, and I've seen his office. He looks really cute as a businessman. We've been hanging out with our friends on our typical Thursday Night Out. We've been playing a lot of Wii games, like ricing up cars in Need for Speed Carbon, playing Wii Sports, and wondering at the weirdness of Wario Ware Smooth Moves and Rayman Raving Rabbids. Tonight we admired Phung's awesome new widescreen monitor, and played a lot of Mahjong (real Mahjong, not the "matching pairs" Mahjong that I was addicted to). Gamewise, I finished Sam & Max Episode 3, and am now plodding through Final Fantasy III for the DS so I can borrow Gracie's copy of Phoenix Wright: Justice for All (I LOVE that series).

As for Uru, I like how they've spread out the release of existing content in order to keep people in the game instead of just waiting for launch (6 days!!) Regarding Cate as a possible(?) foil, that's fine, I just can't wait for the real villain (Destruction is Coming, y'know). I said it before in MOUL's official forums, but I want a bad guy who will make me think twice about being somewhere alone. It would be a nice change of pace to play off of someone who's not DRC-related.

This might sound weird, but when Cyan says destruction, I want some destruction all up in this cavern. Cyan doesn't do earth-shattering events often at all, so whatever they decide to do, it will resonate all the stronger. Maybe it will be an earthquake, a villain who can match Yeesha's abilities, a dramatic death, a dramatic return--heck, maybe all of the above is in the cards eventually. But whatever we face in the future, I'm sure we'll be able to find a way and make a home.