Month: January 2004

I got sent an interesting article on world oil consumption today. It’s a fascinating read, and the conclusion is that in the next six to eleven years, the world will have to drastically change the way it produces energy. Oil is integral to more than just energy consumption, and it’s going to be interesting seeing how things play out.

As a kid, I remember hearing all about renewable energy, and thinking it strange how obviously better it was, and yet how little we used it. We are truly lazy creatures, but soon our hands will be forced.

As usual, I get caught in this weird brain loop whenever I start thinking about the future and what it’ll be like. I can’t really describe this… I just know that it’s something I’ve always done… I used to do it more, but haven’t as much lately. It’s really just a train of thought that somehow just keeps looping around the same track–the engine connected to the caboose; an ouroboros in my brain. It’s not that I don’t go anywhere, but that I keep visiting the same images and ideas, mostly snapshots or impressions from science fiction books I’ve read.

On New Year’s day I went to a board/card game party with my friend Beth, who has moved to Australia for her engineering job. She wanted to hang out that night, as she was leaving to go back to Australia in the next few days, and didn’t have much time left in the cities. The party was at Roo’s place, and he seemed surprised when, after giving me directions, I told him who he was talking to.

At the party we played Chez Geek, and this awesome pictionary type game called Squint. I had a great time, and now wish I had a way to get a hold of Roo to ask to be invited to future parties.

Coincidentally, I was invited a while back to a “war games” party hosted by this guy I know from some of JasonJ’s parties. (Hosted by a guy also named Jason.) Nate, Derik, Jason and I all went out there around 4:00 yesterday, and ended up staying till 11:30. (Yes, there were at least three Jasons at the party. I think there may have been four when we first arrived.) We played a really awesome card game called Guillotine for at least a few hours. Then we played Groo, The Wanderer–another card game. It was not quite as fun as Guillotine, but I would play it again. Before we left, I tackled the game Illuminati, which was particularly frustrating, mostly because none of the four of us had played it before. About two, maybe three hours later, I had to leave before the game was anywhere near ending. (None of the other people I’d arrived with were playing any more games, and it was getting pretty late.)

Jason is planning on having more of the same parties at his place, and I know I would definitely be interested in doing it again. I want to pick up one of those four-player chess boards for next time, as I think I could have convinced Derik and Foster to play for sure, and hopefully there would be at least one other in the crowd willing to play it with us. It strikes me that that would be the kind of party to get a game of 3D Chess going at too. I should build a board for that.

Earlier, I got to watch Nate scream, “Suck my nuts! Suck my nuts!!” at the TV after he beat a particularly difficult boss in Ape Escape 2. Now I’ve got to go join him and AJ for a rousing game of Mario Cart Double Dash.

It’s the new year, time to reflect on the old year.

I express myself best in lists, so here are some of my favorite things of 2003 (in alphabetical–ie, no particular–order), followed by some other statistically interesting tidbits.

best music of 2003:
* Cloud Cult, They Live on the Sun
* Fluke, Puppy
* Her Space Holliday, Young Machines (although it mostly just renewed my vigor for their old album, Manic Expressive.)
* Junior Senior, d-d-don’t don’t stop the beat
* Radiohead, Hail to the Thief
* Ulrich Schnauss, A Strangely Isolated Place
* Tosca, Dehli9

Favorite books I read in 2003:
* Blood Music, Greg Bear
* Jennifer Government, Max Berry
* Robota, Doug Chiang & Orson Scott Card

Number of books I read (completely) in 2003: 18

Greatest accomplishment in 2003: Finished NaNoWriMo. (50,000 words in one month)

Thing that upsets me the most that I didn’t do in 2003: Finish the novel I started for NaNoWriMo.

Number of pictures I took on my cameraphone in 2003: (approximately) 100

Number of days in 2003 I owned my cameraphone: 4

OK, so this wasn’t quite as all-inclusive as I’d originally planned. Happy New Year everyone!!!