Time-Related Disappointments

Well, it's been an interesting turn of events the past few days... couldn't be expected, but it's not horrible, just means I have to wait a little longer for what I want.

Got my last box of computer parts yesterday. All of the boards, memory, storage, graphics, and other such things arrived from Newegg. I put it all together, turned it on, and nothing. Now, I made sure to follow the instructions and everything so there is a chance that something came busted or I missed a plug, but my friend is coming over to take a look at it after work today. Still need to pick up an OS (I'm thinking Windows 7, possibly dual booted with some flavor of Linux) and some speakers. Once (and if) it starts running I'll get to have some fun with it. 

Waited until midnight last night for the email from the folks over at Clarion. When that didn't come I got simultaneously confused and a little upset just because I felt a little ignored, but thankfully I re-checked their website. They extended the date of notification until the 22nd, which I can completely understand but still I want to know what's going to happen. Otherwise I've started writing a new story: nothing particularly cerebral or deep but it's entertaining to me. 

I've also started reading a new web comic: Gunnerkrigg Court. The art style didn't impress me much at first (not that it was bad at all), but it dramatically improves into a beautiful illustration as the comic continues. The plot is thick with minimal dead-ends, and good characterization. Urban fantasy that delves into both High Magic and High Tech at times, but never to a ridiculous(-ly undesirable) degree. It's been around for a while but it has a reputed 30(!?) comic buffer so that there is never any missed days, or so I've been told. I'd highly recommend it.

I'll keep in touch amigos!

How I wish it was spring

Well, still sick, but then again that is nothing new. I've been spending the time getting the fencing databases up to date, editing my drafts, studying or sleeping. Mostly sleeping.

The team is hosting a fencing tournament this weekend  here at Michigan State. It is C rated event in sabre, which is good in Michigan (almost a B rated event, but the Bs of Michigan had other obligations... can't be helped.) The last C rated sabre event in Michigan was our Spartan 3-weapon in 2009 (my freshman year), so this is the first opportunity for advancement in a while. Meaning that there is a chance of grabbing a C this weekend for me, or at least renewing my D for 2012. Being sick may screw with these plans, but we'll see how things go.

Past that we have MFCs (Midwestern Fencing Championships) next weekend, and we'll need to have power rankings done by Monday for these. They are easy calculations, but it's an enormous amount of database queries and data polishing to ensure they all go well (I hope these go well...). The Championships are the first weekend of our spring break (as usual) so we'll get to go home and crash when we're finished beating the other teams into the ground (that's the plan at least).
With all of this fencing stuff going on, I honestly can't think straight enough to worry how I'm going to do. Having a cold may have something to do with it as well, but I'm not so sure.

Finished my edit of the first story, and that has been passed back for further work. Working on the next story's editing and we'll see how much I have to cut out before I can begin reconstructing. I wish I had the energy to push through and finish these in one go, but it'll have to be a gradual process for the moment.

Been listening to Tally Hall's Good & Evil album recently. They are one of my favorite bands, and G&E is a very pretty album. I honestly wish they would tour more, and I kick myself for skipping a concert of theirs to study for a Biochem exam (retrospectively, it still doesn't sound like a good plan...). Also thinking of grabbing tickets to Andrew Bird when he drops by Detroit in May, but that's a ways off. His new album 'Break it Yourself' will have to satisfy me until then once I get my hands on it in March.

Farewell Fiasco