faster pussycat.. type! type!

Sims 3 Experience Part 1

2009-06-24T22:47:25Z

A couple of days ago, I came out of my Sims 3 stupor. I felt like I had been on a bender. (Only without the tasty beer - Wil) My new and fragile house keeping regime had fallen to pieces. I quit cooking dinner. Or willingly shopping for food. The house was getting sloppy again. Who cares if my dishes are done, it's my sims dishes that are important! You should have seen my laundry hamper. It was overflowing everywhere.

But I expected this, really. I knew it would be like that for at least two weeks. I am getting a grasp on my own life again. Actually, for the past several days, I've been reading a great deal. So... that's good.

When I found out that EA was releasing the Sims 3 as a Mac/Win hybrid DVD, I was thrilled. Aspyr seemed to have pretty much abandon the Sims 2, we don't even have the last few expansion packs. Bastards. I was tried of seeing things I could not have because our game was translated and released by a seperate company.

That's to say the Mac releases did not have it's issues, this time around. I hate to say this, because I was/am so grateful to EA for finally getting on board with the Mac players, but the first few days were full of frustrations for me. I have had a handful of crashes. One major crash that resulted in the complete loss of all my families. I still had downloaded material. And I had the beginning versions of those particular sims, but the households I had been building were gone. Which pissed me off because Posey and Simon were due to have their first baby.

Extremely sluggish performance forced me to play using my laptop display, rather than the monitor I normally have connected to it. (I only use one display at a time so it's not a dual monitor situation.) The sound would disappear after a few moments of game play when i was using my soundstick USB speakers. It was fine when using my headophones.

Miraculously, the sound issues has disappeared. And the performance issues when using my monitor improved, they aren't great, the sims still stop and take long pauses between actions, but not like before. The only things that has changed since it wasn't working is it is no longer 88 some odd degrees in our easy bake apartment. As near as I can figure, maybe my laptop was overheating? It is a very system intensive game. I turn every single application off before playing.

All in all, it's a great deal of fun to play. And I will discuss some of my characters in depth later, for Fee. Who loves the Sim stories. However, I would like to leave you with one other bug. I gave my Sim, Clive, a guitar to play. It is now permanently attached to his body. No matter what I do, change clothes, take a shower, go to bed, workout, that guitar is stuck to his body. And it leads to some very interesting stylistic choices when he actually plays the guitar.

Well, it's a start.

2009-06-18T05:00:46Z

In case you are reading this in an RSS feed... I put up a new blog design. It still needs lots of tweaking. But I'm pleased not to have a generic, non-jodiferous, template up. I basically stole the banner from my old booklist page and changed it up a bit. Added Momo. It's not the only banner I designed over the last few months, but oddly, it was the first. I was completely sold on another idea, but then I took a good look at both of them together, and I just decided this on was more me.

Couple of things, I created tabs along the top. And pages for the blogroll and Monthly Archives and Category Archives. After nearly 7 years of blogging, a list of monthly archives can get quite cumbersome. Trying to clean up the sidebar a bit. I've also added my Goodreads book list info, but I've been pretty negligent about adding my books to it. I resolve to do better.

So... yeah. There you go.

Mess

2009-06-16T21:20:39Z

Hey, I'm messing around with the blog design and layout today. Don't be surprised if you see weirdness come and go.

Well... at least I am not playing the sims nonstop.

Sims 3

2009-06-04T02:24:19Z

I got it. I'm playing it. I love it. But I'm having some unfortunate performance issues which are a bit of a joy suck. Well.... I DID buy a brand new computer for the release of sims 2. Just sayin. And in completely adorable news, Wil has started playing the Sims 2.

Talking about it is not the same as playing it.

2009-05-25T19:08:16Z

Oh god, you guys. My hunter is level 79 and 3.5 bubbles. That means I am 16.5 bubbles away from 80, the level cap. Also, she is no longer Tangwen, but Tangwen the Explorer. Since I have explored every inch of the world of World of Warcraft, I have a title. I would not quit until I got my ability to fly in Northrend (lvl 77) and finished exploring the world to get my title. And a special tabard.

And, oh yeah, I can MAKE FLYING CARPETS, bitches! This is not a super fast one, I have to save up 5,000 gold to get the ability to fly super fast.

So, maybe you are asking yourselves, what are you going to do, Jodi, when you reach 80, and have saved up 5,000 gold and can fly super fast? Doesn't matter, because the Sims 3 comes out in a week and I'll have a whole new obsession. I cannot wait I cannot wait I cannot wait!

On with the show

2009-05-19T17:25:59Z

I write blog posts in my head CONSTANTLY. You wouldn't know that by reading my blog lately. There is a big difference between lying in bed and composing entries and actually typing them out, however.

So many things I "write" nowadays need to be prefaced by a certain fact. I've tried several times to sit down and actually compose a for reals post about it, but never actually completed anything I liked. As time went on, the need to share all the little details became less important. And now, at this point, I just want to post something about it, so I can move on and talk about all the other things in my life that are affected by it.

So, here it is. Last year my depression came back. That's why I disappeared over the winter. And spring. I tried to deal with it without medication. I failed. I finally decided to go back on meds, a new one, in February. I fell better now.

Liar Liar Pants

2009-05-19T16:26:47Z

Last week, we kept getting phone calls from "Private Caller", with no number displayed. They were very persistent. Both Wil and I are ... hesitant to answer the phone when we don't know who it is. I have had too many years of scary bad credit. And both of us too much time spent doing phone technical support to ever trust that any phone call is not going to come with a time consuming request. Plus, we were busy. Playing World of Warcraft.

After the 10th call that day, I answered the phone. Recently, I had been victim to Roger's willingness to give out my home number to one of the "authorized" retail partners. They called and called and called. We ignored them. (I would pick up the phone and say "Hello-two-three" and hang up. A trick I learned dealing with afore mentioned horrible credit. If you don't answer in 3 seconds, chances are I don't want to talk to you. ) Finally requested to be removed from these lists. So when a woman I didn't know asked for me, some kind of paranoid instinct kicked in and I said I wasn't home. I don't know why. I tried to take a message, and that's when she said she was calling from the CIC. Canadian Immigration.

I freaked out. What was I supposed to do now? Backtrack and admit I lied and that I was home. Explain to her about the near harassment level of sales pitches we've been getting because of our wireless contracts? Hope she thought it was funny. I couldn't admit to Immigration that I had lied to them, even in such a benign manner, and it was totally innocent and benign, albeit extremely paranoid! So I carried on. She said she would call Jodi's representative, I said I would tell Jodi they called and hung up. Then I ran in to the room and woke Wil up from his nap to tell him that I LIED TO IMMIGRATION and that was going to hell and no way were they gonna let a liar in to the country. Because lies are the first step to terrorism, right?

Turns out my lawyer had made a few mistakes on the form and they just needed some corrections. But it means they are, at last, processing my application.

Ugh... Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you!

2009-05-14T17:17:53Z

I have been playing too much World of Warcraft. Way way way too much. Like, all day sometimes. I'm not the only one in this house.

So we have a new rule. For three hours, after we are up AND dressed (it's not always necessary to get dressed when one is playing WoW all day.) we have to do all the things we need to do, that WoW is keeping is us from doing. Now, for the most part, I have been doing pretty well on keeping the house neat. Until the last couple of days, dishes were done at least once a day. Bed has been made every day, except the day before yesterday. Floors and couch vacuumed of kitten hair, bathroom clean and littler box scooped. But it's starting to slip.

Today is the first day of the new rule, which is in effect Monday thru Friday. The goals are different for each of us. I do not, yet, need to look for a job. However, I have lost touch with almost all my friends. That makes me lonely. So while chatting and emailing and such are on my list of things to work on, they really are not on Wil's. He doesn't have this problem.

These are the things I plan to work on, in my 3 hours:

Housework
Blogging
Blog redesign
Reading and commenting on other bolgs
Facebook, chatting and email to stay in touch with friends and family
Writing in general
Meal planning

Anything that is not WoW. Watching tv and playing with iPhone are not allowed either. I've been chatting with Fee for a while. My fingers are tired.

Of course, when the Sims 3 comes out in 3 weeks, the Rule might have to go to hell.

Greetings from sunny Edmonton Alberta

2009-04-26T20:59:43Z

In the spirit of total disclosure, I started this post, and wrote that title, when we were still in Edmonton. We got home late last night.

A few weeks after Wil was laid off, we went out and bought him a new suit. Originally, we looked for a dark grey, but the suit we found is actually black. We bought two colored shirts and I got to pick out a pretty tie. He looks very handsome in the whole get up. I told him that now he was ready not only for interviews, but for fancy parties, special occasions, weddings and, god forbid, funerals.

We are in Edmonton for the second funeral of the month. What is up with that? Poor Wil has had a hell of a month, emotionally. It's the first time he's lost someone so close to him, let alone two. Enough is a enough, really. I don't understand why the fates, should there be such a thing, have to focus on the funeral part of my unfortunate comment. Where are the fancy parties, special occasions and weddings. And interviews, most of all, where are the interviews?

Well, it's better than talking about the weather. Which is beautiful, btw.

2009-04-10T00:01:45Z

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I wanted to try to make lasagna. Lisa sent me a link to this recipe. I made it and it was AMAZING. So good. I fell in love with it. The only thing I did differently was to use shredded mozzarella and hot Italian sausage, which Wil is a huge fan of, instead of breakfast sausage.

I was pretty pleased with myself. We ate on that lasagna for 3 days. When it was gone, I missed it. I dreamt of the next time I'd get to eat it. Low and behold we had a house guest the following week. So I made it again. This time, I followed the recipe and used sliced mozzarella cheese. The result was awful. I've never been so sad about anything I've cooked. I was so looking forward to it. The problem is, she talks about how simple and generic all her ingredients are. Nothing fancy. I took that too literally and used some Kraft Mozzarella slices. Basically, it was like making lasagna with white American cheese. Overly gooey, overly salty and not good. Very bad. It was thrown away.

Since I was so sad, I thought I would give it one more try yesterday to cheer myself up. Perhaps I am slightly obsessed with eating this lasagna right now. Once again, success! Using shredded mozzarella.

So, that's my lasagna story. I wanted to post the link to the recipe, in case anyone is interested.

Oh man, did I break it but good.

2009-03-27T07:13:05Z

I have a terrible problem with procrastination. I am always waiting for things to be perfect in order to do something I want to do. The weather, my mood, my health, my environment. It's too loud, too quiet, too sunny, too grey. And these are things I want to accomplish... honestly. I guess I am intimated by the process in some cases.

Today I was contemplating my blog redesign I've been planning/desiring/threatening/sitting on for months now, and I was reading Zen Habit's Dead Simple Guide to Beating Procrastination. Specifically Number 9: Forget about perfection. Just start doing it, and fix it later. In the spirit of that, I have removed my template and applied a Movable Type template. Over the next few days, I am going to be adding content back to the site using their new Widgets methodology. I wanted to do some cleaning up of the sidebars anyway. After the content is the way I want it, I will be changing the over all design.

If you are an RSS subscriber, this won't make much difference to you, unless you comment. Perhaps I could just redo the whole thing on a clone blog, perfect it, and then do a grand unveiling. But it's that kind of ambition that has made me put it off this long. I learn by doing things, and I'd rather just jump into my blog, and get started. Even if that means some construction messiness for a couple of weeks. I won't want to leave it in a generic template for long, so it's bound to motivate me to finish.

waffles

2009-03-25T19:04:00Z

Like the english muffin, the waffle is a dish with an admirable appetite for butter. I like that in a breakfast food. I remember my stepfather assisting some kid* in buttering his waffle saying, in all seriousness, "It's very important to get butter in each and every one of the holes."

While enjoying my Eggo this morning, I realized he's right. You DO have to get butter in all the little valleys of the waffle. Butter is savory, it has salt in it. A bite of waffle with just syrup is only sweet. But a bite with butter AND syrup is a marvelous mix of sweet and savory, to return to another a bite of just sweet is a disappointment. It is worth the extra effort.

Buttermilk Waffle, I salute you. Welcome to my tummy.

*I think my friend was babysitting this kid and she brought him by our house for breakfast. I remember him taking it VERY seriously. He was that kind of kid. He probably insists, to this day, that each and every waf in his waffle has butter.

Oh god! Oh god! Bobbies! We are NOT watching this. I'm sorry about the boobies.

2009-03-17T22:23:54Z

One of my favorite things about Canada is their attitude towards adult content on tv. Basically, after 10 pm, it's your responsibility to make sure your kid doesn't hear the F word or see bare breasts. There is a content warning after each commercial break, warning you about content, but that's it. I love that. We are so prudish in the States. (See J. Jackson's Nipple v. The United Priggish States of Football Watching America for further evidence.)

But the truth is, I'm not a parent. I don't have to worry about anything. Until Wil's daughter comes to visit. Wil and I are not used to thinking about the content of what we watch. To be honest, every single tv show on Canada seems to have a content warning of some kind after the commercial break. You become sort of immune to them. Several times this week, we were caught off guard. I wanted to watch a show about a housewife with multiple personality disorder, as naturally a person like myself would, but on the "previously" scenes there were bare boobies and people having the tv sex. Oops.

We were looking forward to watching tv simulcast of Will Ferrell's broadway show "Your Welcome, America: A Final Night With George W. Bush" on HBO for weeks. It was on Saturday, at 8 pm. So the three of us were sitting on the couch, watching it together. HOW WERE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW HE WOULD SHOW A PICTURE OF A PENIS???? I mean... COME ON! It's not our fault.

If it were my kid, I wouldn't care. By age 11, we probably already would have spoken of, and looked at pictures of, penises. For educational purposes. But I have no idea what her mother's take on it is. I have no grasp of how mature she is about these things. The last thing I would want to do is treat a kid like an young adult before her time. For reals. That makes me sad. Other people's kids are mine fields, you know what I mean?

I know for sure she does not know the definition of the word "muff." Thanks for saying it 14 times in a row, Mr. Ferrell.*

Must have meat.

2009-03-13T00:23:33Z

The hiatus was unintentional. I have reasons. Maybe we'll discuss them later. And I feel extremely rusty now. I think I will baby step back.

1. The old lady in front of me at the store today smelled of beans and franks. Also, I'm pretty sure there was a guy in bulk foods who had recently pooped his pants. I have the nose of a dog.

2. Does anyone have a really good lasagna recipe? I want to learn to make lasagna. Feel free to share. Must have meat.

3. I didn't mention this earlier, but Wil was laid off at the end of January. We knew it was coming. He's looking for a job. Please give him one if you have one free. Must be fun and pay lots of money.

YeeeeeeeaaaAAAAAaaaAAAAy!

2009-02-28T20:19:40Z