Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in xander_opal's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
9:49 am	Thank you To the members of the branches of the armed forces of the United States of America, both currently serving and of former service, I thank you. Current Mood: Solemn (Comment on this)
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
9:32 pm	Bread Machine Recipe My friend Proxima asked me to post this when I brought it up in a chatroom. This is for a two-pound loaf; check loaf capacity before using. Place into the bread-pan for the bread machine, in order: 2 tablespoons real butter, cut into four pieces or so 1/2 cup milk, best is whole milk 1/2 cup very hot water 3 cups flour (unbleached bread flour) 1 tablespoon sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons bread yeast Set bread machine for a two-pound loaf, medium or light crust, and wait. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
8:34 pm	You are officially old when... ... someone nearly old enough to drink is too young to remember the Star Trek series you grew up watching as a child. Current Mood: creaky (20 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
8:51 pm	SCA News A recent SCA event had one of the fighting areas on a hill. They then screwed up with the spacing so another event's area took up some of the space, making it smaller than customary.   That compounded the problem, so not as many folks showed up. To put it succinctly, the slight list had a slight list had a slight list... Current Mood: Amused (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, October 19th, 2009
3:05 pm	Family lost Just found out this morning that Julie, the wonderful dog I've known for over 14 years, had to be put down yesterday.  She had stood behind my brother's truck as he backed up; he couldn't see her, didn't know she was there. Julie was a mix... blue heeler frame with a beagle's colors, somewhere in there was golden retriever.  The sweetest, kindest, most wonderful dog I've ever had the priveledge to know.  She loved children and kittens.  Tried helping herd cows until accidentally kicked by one as a pup.  Loved to play fetch-- but not after a  younger I played 'fetch' with snowballs in the winter, or walnuts in the fall... poor dear didn't know which one we'd thrown. She was sad whenever one of us had to leave for an extended time, and ecstatic when we came back.  Until she grew too arthritic to jump in, she loved to ride in the farm's pickup, up front. She never jumped up on any of us when we were wearing good clothing. Well, not more than once anyway. Julie hated collars, too.  Her neck was just thick enough in proportion to her head, she could slide out of them unless they were on too tight.  Thank goodness for good neighbors, and that she preferred to stay at home. More recently, she'd grown too thin... and over the last four years or so, rather deaf.  Her vision was starting to go, too. It was pretty much her time... but still too soon, for me. I love you, Julie.  Good dog.  Good girl. Current Mood: Sad (11 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 13th, 2009
10:59 pm	Any color you want as long as it is black. I spend my days with people pushing me into a neatly labeled box at work, just as I have been all my life.  Then I log into a chatroom (edit: not barchat), and watch people grouse about how horrible and ugly (various impossible fantasy characters) are with (impossible attribute(s)/impossible combination of same) that I happen to like.   That, after being ridiculed by the core of the tabletop gaming group I'm with for playing dragonlike or saurian characters when I have the chance.  Apparently, when settling down for escapist fantasy/fiction, I'm supposed to limit myself to human ranger, dwarf fighter, elf, and nothing else, or the equivalent in the game system currently being used.  Monty Python had a point, in Life of Brian, when the crowd who shouted, "Yes, we are all different" in unison turned on the one person who wasn't different just like them, to kill him. If I want to restrict myself to scripted, robot-like choices, I'll spend my time playing console or PC games and not bother with the supposed greater opportunities to go outside the box available with pencil and paper gaming.  For me, part of the fun is coming up with a character who isn't a generic species/class combination, though still within the available rule-set, and make the effort for the character to mesh into the setting in a functional way, not being actively disruptive, but dealing with the consequences of not being yet another (insert archetype here). I must have a more sideways view of the world than most other folk, or be more willing to ask, 'What if?'  or to explore in different directions. I have walked upon the broad path traveled by many before in this exploration of imagination; while it is easy to follow, I find it dull and uninspiring; an aging suburb of gaming.  Rather, I shall forge a machete of thought and ideas and hack a new path to the same goal; it may be longer and harder, but what sights might I see, that none have seen before. Current Mood: unhappy (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
5:27 pm	Moving ground For some odd reason, I find it easy to slip into a 'grounding' state when driving or walking, yet most descriptions seem to be about staying in one place and focusing there.  While it definitely helps when I'm trying not to drive in a bad mood, it just feels odd. Thought I'd toss the observation out there, and see what others who practice centering or grounding think. Current Mood: Calm Current Music: 20" box fan in window (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, August 17th, 2009
5:50 pm	Away for caring Ever stayed away from someone for a while in an attempt to actually prevent a friendship from blowing up on your end?  That was my thought over a year ago; really wanted to add a couple friends to my LJ friends list, but I have extreme differences with them on their politics. With tempers running high and accusations flying between various parties, I didn't want the temptation to do or say something I'd regret, like I have before. Perhaps I grow mature in my old age, perhaps not, but I try. Current Mood: philosophical (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 15th, 2009
7:36 pm	Knowing is half the battle... So, I saw the GI Joe movie last night.  Astonishingly to many, I had fun watching it. Why? I reminded myself beforehand that it is a movie based on a cartoon/comic book, based on a toy series, with a new line in that toy series put out just for the movie. It was exactly what you would expect from such, so I sat back and enjoyed the ride I signed up for. The only way to make a Citizen Kane movie out of one like this, is to put out a Citizen Kane action figure with kung-fu grip action. Current Mood: Amused (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, August 7th, 2009
10:35 am	Shirt needed So, my friend Pathia links on her LJ to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeIYjKG2V0A and I listen through several times, muchly enjoying it.  First pass, great sound. Second pass, good lyrics, not pushing an attitude I can't reconcile with good audio art.  A couple more listens, just because I like the beat and it goes good with caffeine.  And an idea strikes, remotely related: A T-shirt, with an anarchy symbol, and the words, Anarchists Unite! Because I'm in a silly mood. Current Mood: Amused Current Music: Muse-- Uprising (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
1:48 am	Shadowrun, games, and limits Years ago, someone once told me that one aspect of roleplaying games was finding one's limits. I definitely found one of mine tonight.  Yes, it is just a game.  Yes, I'm an adult, as were the rest of the players and GM. And yes, it is Shadowrun. Where at best, one can be a lighter shade of gray.  Part of the interest of the game is navigating the slippery moral slope. What I am leading up to is, I don't do torture without an extreme example/reason-- see also the classic, 'ticking huge bomb' hypothetical scenario.  I'm playing a guy who does driving and hacking.  Trying to 'retrieve' a woman from quitting a yakuza-based business.  Teammates messily snatched a guy off the street that was a source of info, and decided to torture him for it.  I was too horrified out of character to stop the declared actions, as the characters cut off a teenager's finger-- and proved that torture is not an auto-success, even in a game world, because the idiots /failed/ to get the information because they were impatient. I tore a strip off the other three players in-character, then proceeded to do so out of character (carefully delineating the two, I should note). I also told them, truthfully, I was very close to packing up my dice and walking out the door I think the group needs to talk sometime, when we're not all worked up, about the game expectations, which I should have brought up the second session.  To be fair, the GM has put out what I call 'warnings', which I did bring up last game session-- what the characters do /will/ affect their reputation, and how the rest of the people in the game world treat them.  Also, the GM said he'd make allowances for my opinions by not describing what is done in detail.  Not quite in line with the point I was making, but I understand his viewpoint-- he sells rope, so to speak, and cheap by the yard.  The players can buy as much as they want, just have no complaint coming when it comes time to wear the neckties. I do know I'll be leaving that game if they pull that kind of evil, obscene, and STUPID shit again. Because even if its just a game, I'm still the person making the decisions. Current Mood: Angry, Upset (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, July 5th, 2009
9:41 am	Transformers thoughts So, for about two weeks or so now, folks have been grousing about the Transformers movie-- myself among them, though for reasons applicable to any movie save a documentary on Stupid Things In Movies. Anyway. My reasoning for why there's little point in complaining about mis-characterizations in Transformers 2: Transformers 2 is a sequel to A movie based on a Cartoon based on a Comic book based on a Toy line partly inspired by a Different toy line. (supposedly, Transformers was predated by the Go-Bots) That isn't to say that Bay, Spielberg, and their bevy of writers shouldn't have made a better product (sawing JarJar in half means twice as much disgusting mass-- its like running an ochre jelly through a band saw.  Not to mention too many jokes about biological and non-biological body functions). Anyway, this constitutes the minimal rant requirement of someone with a blog within two weeks of a popular movie. Current Mood: tired, sarcastic Current Music: Talking Heads (Comment on this)
Friday, July 3rd, 2009
7:54 pm	Chance thoughts on antennas and EM waves Went for a walk, have to get some thoughts down. Electromagnetic (EM) waves are interesting things-- photon waves, that is.  Photons behave as both a wave and a vibrating particle, and the manner in which one treats them depends on what one wants to measure.  Basically, they propogate as sound waves do, or in a two-dimensional representation, as the waves across a still pool when you toss a stone in.  There's the famous double-slit experiments, etc., as well.  Now, I've been trying to wrap my mind 'round how an antenna always seems to intersect the propogated wave just so, in that the maximum appears across the ends and there's a null in the middle.  About the only way I can manage to explain this is by probability. An antenna, according to the shirtsleeve logic based model in my thoughts, collapses the probability function of an electromagnetic wave, much like one or more slits in a barrier always produces a given pattern of light and dark on the surface beyond when there is a point light source shining.  The shape and orientation of an antenna, then, is designed to produce a desired 'image' that the connected transmission line 'detects' in the form of a varying voltage and current. Now I just need to learn some calculus to make my thoughts precise language, and then compare the results with the writings and equations of the likes of Maxwell, Faraday, Tesla, and Marconi.  One thing is for sure-- I'll have no lack of term paper material should I manage to get into graduate school someday. Current Mood: musing (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
8:52 am	Just a meme And to save your flists... ( And to save your flists... ) Current Mood: Tired (Comment on this)
Monday, June 8th, 2009
8:35 am	Irony is listening to someone complain about deregulation, how more companies need tighter government control.  And then getting them onto a rant about how bad government groups like the FDA is. Current Mood: darkly amused (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
6:26 pm	If the class wants a show... Communications Circuits teacher: What is used to transmit a line of sight signal to stations beyond the original antenna's horizon? Me: Could you say that again? CC teacher: What is used to transmit a line of sight signal to stations beyond the original antenna's horizon? Me: Could you say that again? CC teacher: Argh! There's one of you in every class. I find myself doing this more and more when my classmates are either unprepared for class (as in, didn't read the chapter), or aren't picking up on the lecture/concepts as fast as myself.  I don't like being the set-up person in the 'Xander and Professor Show,' so I will either drop broad hints or commit bad puns. Or both. Current Mood: amused (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 25th, 2009
10:31 pm	'tis the season Today is a day to remember. Remember those who stepped to the front, many who weren't even asked to. Remember those who swore to uphold the Constitution. Remember those who took that ship, took that plane, instead of abandoning their oaths. Remember those who advanced into fire, that struck down those about them. Remember those who could only be stopped by death, lest that death take their countrymen as well. Remember those who survived those terrible days, whole or maimed. Remember those who died abed, honorably discharged of their duties. Remember those who bear their duty still, to the Constitution and their countrymen. I remember.  Stand tall, soldier, airman, seaman, marine.  There's still a home to come back to, because of you. Current Mood: Thoughtful (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
9:04 am	Attitudes toward the world, man, and technology Bit of a rant ahead. On one side of an argument, is someone calling for humanity to be culled due to environmental impact (humans on environment, environment on humans). On the other side is someone saying that people should be given the opportunity to better themselves and the world around them. The first side sees a seething, faceless mass. The second side sees the faces of individuals, and extrapolates from them into the mass. The first side is quite liberal, city-centered, despises guns.  The second is fairly conservative, rural, and a gun owner. A sample of one does not a trend make, yet this seems to be a trend from my observations-- there's a group of people who think all but a chosen few should die.  Oddly, this group dislikes firearms, and in the US would be rated liberal for a number of aspects of their attitude.  There's another group, who is too busy to draw attention to causes, because they're working hard to better the world around them.  They don't think anyone should die, to lessen the impact on the environment.  They'd rather offer a chance to help them along.  Maybe make a modest profit along the way, but they're not too greedy, and tend to reinvest a good portion of their time and money into worthwhile projects.  Oh, and they're evil firearm owners. It is a strange inversion from what is projected into public attitudes-- those who choose to wield instruments of death are such proponents, by their lifestyle alone, of life and health.  And at the same time, those who decry the ability to wield said instruments of death are so willing to sentence others to die. Current Mood: pissed (26 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 26th, 2009
7:41 am	Penguicon! OK, there's a few folk I know here that aren't on barchat, so I'm bringing it up: I'm going to be at Penguicon this weekend, from the evening of May 1 to the morning of May 3.  Anyone else that I know (That I know I don't know is going) going to the con? Current Mood: bleary (Comment on this)
Friday, April 17th, 2009
10:32 am	Self-programming With a likelihood that it won't take.  I'm trying to reset my expectations of others, to what's more realistic.  Fond memories to me are fleeting thoughts to others; old, fun times are long past, and I don't mean anything to them in that way anymore.  The things I set aside time for in hope, or a promise, is catch as catch can to other people. Welcome to the real world, I guess. In the real world, nice doesn't cut it.  Nice means a person is looked over-- there's always someone more appealing.  Sure, there's always later.  Days later, weeks later, months and years later.  Later never comes, though, because there's always yet another more appealing person around who's a bit hotter, etc. I've been told by some that I need to be more tolerant, that some people just have poor social skills or the like.  There's only so far a person can make allowances for that, though, without getting a tattoo on my back reading 'Welcome.' As I said, I'm too nice.  Add that in to my principles I mostly stay with, and I wind up walking alone in this life.  Barring some happy accident, alone is how I'll leave this life as well. I'm not sure why I expect everyone to be nice and gentle, why I have such high hopes.  When a person sees things one way, and the world sees things another-- the one who stands alone is rather likely in the wrong.  This sort of thing isn't like math, where I can lay out a proof, walk someone through the calculations, and prove my position; this is a social issue.  When society chooses its direction, it is join, or stand apart, wither, and die. And so, once more unto the breach, my friends, once more unto the breach.  Could someone please hand me a petard? Current Mood: dark Current Music: Silence (3 Comments |Comment on this)