The Lobster Loaf

I’m moving!

abbytmiller — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:14:07 +0000

…or, at least, in the process of moving. Check out the new blog space. It’s still thoroughly under construction, and I’m working out all the kinks of the new system I’ve set up. I’ve started posting over there, though, and this will be my last post over here. So… update your feeds?

And, as a special bonus, the first PMOGger over there will find a special surprise. (I’m looking at you, Fritz.)

list time!

abbytmiller — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:30:21 +0000

Things I have done in the past two weeks or so:

Teched, opened, closed, and struck a show.
Started rehearsal for another show.
Slept through an exam. (Oops.)
Had my photographic ego stroked by one Director Shady.
Written and turned in a really good paper.
Spent the night in the design area of TI.
Started the process of installing Leopard on my HP laptop.

It is mostly items 1, 2, and 5 that have kept me so radio silent. I have a paper due Wednesday and a final on Friday and then I will be free, free, free to do whatever I please. Hooray?

I kind of miss New York.

I sure wish it would get warm around here again.

ugh

abbytmiller — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 05:01:59 +0000

I am in finals week hell.

I will be out of the woods when I finish the paper I am currently working on (ETA: about 5AM), but it is difficult to concentrate when I feel so racked* with guilt for having neglected my blog for so long.

Until I am able to pull myself out of the literary quagmire I find myself floundering in at the moment, any looking for insight from me will have to satisfy themselves with these videos. I am a huge fan of the Mario Kart series, and I can’t wait for the Wii incarnation to come out. Can’t wait, I tell you! It looks awesome.

[update - 5AM: I need an hour's extension on my self-imposed deadline. Just for the record.]

*Other grammar and usage nerds may balk at the lack of a “w” prepended to this verb; they can click here.

that wasn’t so bad!

abbytmiller — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:36:19 +0000

Today, I did the impossible: I had a pleasant DMV experience.

relapse

abbytmiller — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:11:52 +0000

I guess I felt entitled to a little bit of indulgence, since I had taken a stab at chipping away at my stack of reading. I’ve read less than half a book and skimmed another, though: progress which definitely does not justify my purchase of two more books this afternoon. I was in Barnes & Noble searching for a book the University bookstores didn’t carry that I need for research on a final paper and I succumbed to the temptation of Rushdie and Keillor.

I know.

So, on my way home from the bookstore, books in hand and tail between legs, I came up with a set of goals for spring break, which starts officially in a few weeks and practically Monday afternoon when I finish my last class and move to reading week and finals.

And here they are.

A Set of Goals for Spring Break

Give my apartment a thorough shakedown. I’ve been so busy lately that my feeble efforts to combat the clutter are failing pretty miserably. I need to clean out my massive mail pile, recycle my collection of old newspapers, do a bunch of laundry, vacuum, mop, the works.
Read three more books. This entails finishing the book I’ve started and removing three more from my reading list. I can tell you right now, the three I tackle will most likely be this one, this one, and this one.
Finish Super Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario. And get some work done on Zelda. I’m behind the times, I know, I know.
Cook a lobster loaf. And while I’m at it, write out the history of my logo/emblem/blog name. It’s pretty boring, but it lets me draw stupid pictures, so it’s worth a blog post of its own.

There you have it. I’ll let you know how it goes.

This photo is in honor of the birth of Wanda Sykes, exactly 44 years ago.
It makes sense. Just trust me on this one.

I wish I were my cat right now

abbytmiller — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:06:06 +0000

She’s fast asleep in a sunny spot, somewhat twined around the wheel mechanism of my desk chair. I’m afraid to move because I don’t want to roll over her tiny sleeping paws. She will never know what I give up for her.

I did end up sleeping last night, because I was able to finish the Hamlet text adventure game rather quickly. I have read Hamlet a few times, as well as most of the other Shakespeare plays referenced in the game. I also worked on the New Student Week production of The Compleat Works of Willm Shkspr (Abridged) this year so even for the plays I haven’t read, I know what parts are comedy fodder and that’s all you really need to get through this game with a score of 100%. I found upon further exploration of the site that Hamlet was written simply as a proof-of-concept for the game engine. No wonder it was so easy!

The other text adventure by the author, though, is another story. Aunts and Butlers is (or so far seems to be) a full-length text adventure comedy of the highest degree. I’d explain further, but frankly, I’d rather get back to playing it, and I suggest that you do the same.

A hastily-chosen photo to satisfy the day’s requirement:

Ting-a-ling-a-ling!

Happy birthday to Shaq!

two things

abbytmiller — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:15:46 +0000

1. Yesterday I topped my all-time high for pageviews: March 5th rang in with 50 in the pot. Sweet!

2. I got out of rehearsal at about 11:45 and it was snowing. So much for my allegations of springtime…

[update: GUYS. I'm not sleeping tonight because I have to play the Hamlet text adventure game. !!!!]

it’s spring.

abbytmiller — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:08:08 +0000

No matter what you try to tell me, the little men in my head have decided that it’s finally spring and my mood today reflects that proclamation. I feel great today.

For starters, I have a new favorite song. Not an all-time favorite song, mind you – Madonna still has that market cornered for me. I just have a new song of the moment. I bought Brandi Carlile’s most recent album The Story yesterday after “Turpentine” was playing on the radio when I woke up, and I’ve been listening to that song ever since. Take a listen in a background window while you read the rest of this entry, and you will be afforded a multidimensional sensory image of my current state.

Another great thing about today, aside from the bright sun and the thirty-five degree weather, was something that happened to me at the Rock as I was coming out of my first English class on the way to my second. I generally ignore whoever’s out there when I pass by – they’re trying to get me to sign up for their club or come to their event or do something else I have no interest in – but today, there were dueling causes. One kid was sitting at his dinky little table trying to sell baked goods for the benefit some human rights protest somewhere. I can’t be sure. He didn’t even have a sign.

The people competing (and winning) for the attention of passersby had an offer that was nearly impossible to refuse: free hugs. There were about four kids with big neon posters that said FREE HUGS in big black block letters, and if somebody approached them, they got just what was advertised: a free hug, with bonus good wishes for a nice day thrown in there for effect. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was their enthusiasm, maybe it was some unknown factor – but people were actually taking them up on it. Bitter Northwestern students took time out of their busy schedules of complaining about their engineering homework and the snow to hug strangers. It was like a Dave Matthews Band video. Heartwarming, right? It was pretty nice.

Here’s today’s photo!

Name that train station. Try!

Tattoo Girl tech is going well and I am feeling less hopelessly unprepared for the start of the Bacchae. All in all, things are good today, and I haven’t really been able to say that for a while. It feels pretty great.

To close, happy 34th birthday to Eva Mendes, and according to my Google search hits, happy Lobster Week 2008 (???)!

more reasons to celebrate

abbytmiller — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:50:40 +0000

1,000 pageviews! Hooray!

photo by Grundlepuck on Flickr.

happy national grammar day!

abbytmiller — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:29:05 +0000

Tuesday, March 4th is more than just Antonio Vivaldi’s 330th birthday and my half-birthday, ladies and gentlemen. It is, apparently, National Grammar Day. From the website:

“We believe language is something to be celebrated. March 4th is the perfect day to do it. It’s not only a date, it’s an imperative. So March forth on March 4th! Celebrate your mother tongue!

Also, there’s already a National Punctuation Day, and it didn’t seem fair to leave clauses and such things by the wayside when the commas that embrace them get such attention.”

The thing that I love about this day that I’ve just discovered, other than having cause to celebrate one of the nerdy things I enjoy on my half birthday, is the name of the organization behind it: SPOGG. The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. Join here. You’ll be glad you did.

In other news, I wish I had a motorcycle, and that it was warm enough to drive one up and down Lakeshore Drive. That would be perfect. Speaking of which:

My theoretical bike would have to be that shiny.