School's out for summer

Two-thirds of a year gone, and two semesters closer to my goal of a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education.

Why is this taking so long?

Actually, it's only seemed long these last few weeks leading up to finals. Many big projects with neighboring due dates does not a happy Captain make. I scraped by and ended up with grades that reflected the minimal effort I put into my finals preparation. Now that I'm into the summer schedule, I plan to recharge my batteries and come out swinging in the fall semester.

A few notes of thanks from this scholastic year:

•To my new brothers of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Thanks for all your support and mutually uplifting efforts.

•To Profs. Dutton, Friedrichs. Thanks for your patience.

•To Prof. Welsh. Thanks for a thoroughly enjoyable general education class! Not quite as painful as expected.

•To the SDSU Chamber Singers and the "Fellowship". You performed my arrangement with the convinction that I hoped you would. Bravo.

•To Rogue, Dan, Thomas, Johnny, TK, Franklin, James, Whitney, Jon, Jesse, and Mac. Thanks for keeping me sane during the 2005-2006 school year. Looking forward to a great summer of gaming!

•And of course, to Mom, Dad, Amanda, and Bubba. I'm not the easiest person to live with, and you still put up with me. Thanks for your love and encouragement.

When will my next post be? Don't hold your breath. ;)

School, WoW, and FMP

I can't believe it's almost been a month since I started this thing... it seems like the last few weeks have just been a blur. Anyway, school is going well... I got invited to join a scholastic fraternity (not what you'd think). But here's the major problem:

They want me to give up Friday nights.

*SIGH*

This, of course, would limit my participation in Friday Nights @ Pfizer (see first post), which makes me sad. However, I can't ignore the professional opportunities that this would open up for me. I've already made some good connections at SDSU in a month's time, and I can't help but think that the networking offered by this group would give me an invaluable resource when I start working in the field... it's not what you know, it's who you know.

On other fronts, I've been totally absorbed into the World of Warcraft community. It's a great source of entertainment, if not completely pernicious in its programming to keep you playing for hours at a time to accomplish any significant goal. I'm still enjoying it with a lower mid-level character (lv 24/60). It's very much like Diablo II in many ways... except for the membership fee. One of the nice things about D2 was the ability to play it over a LAN... WoW is only available online. In many ways, it's not unlike MUDs of old, and I am reminded of the good old days when I played the Unforgiven MUD with high school buddies. Good times.

The last new hurdle that I see in front of me is the joy of learning FileMaker Pro from the ground up. I am familiar with the peripheral use of it (I use it every week to create purchase orders), but now I'm being asked to solve our company's problems relating to updating the price lists from about 20 vendors. This involves all sort of fun and exciting scripts, portals, and other terminology that I'm still trying to retain. As if I wasn't trying to cram enough in my brain this semester with 16 units... of course, I feel bad when I hear people say they're taking 23 units, and I think 16 plus a FT job is rough.

More as it develops...

A Beginning

So here I am. My second ever attempt at blogging. This seems to be a good outlet for venting in general, as well as to those (very) few of you who actually hazard a care about what is going on in my life. So my major points of interest (no particular order):

•I Don't Like To Lose

This is a web radio show (not a podcast) that covers the highly specialized field of Second Edition Star Trek CCG high-level tournament players (all 50-100 of 'em). And yes, any more modifiers in that last sentence would have required more HTML expertise than I possess at the moment. I've done eight episodes so far, plus some Origins coverage. I had planned to post some GenCon coverage, but judging this time around was a bit more demanding than Origins. Thanks to any of you who like the show; it's not dead, just on a brief hiatus while I get some ducks in a row for future guests.

•SDSU

I finally start my upper-division studies this fall! It only took me 9 years to get in as a junior. I am studying for a Bachelor's in Music Education (BME), recently changed from the unfortunate acronym for Bachelor's in Music (BM). I am also pursuing a Single-Subject Teaching Credential in Music for California (I'd also like to squeeze in another SSTC for math if I can). My eventual goal: to teach high-school music, either band or choir, or both. I took the placement tests on Wednesday: theory went pretty well, piano could have been better, and sight-singing was just fine.

•A.D. Kirk & Sons Plumbing & Supplies

My current place of employment. We've been not as busy in the shop this year, although service calls seem to have remained steady or increased a bit. We specialize in old fixture repair components, mostly because the local aging communities of El Cajon/La Mesa like their faucets they way they were, and they don't want to have to put in a new one. Who said change was good? Owned by my father and uncle, I work here also with my father's parents and my sister.

•Starbase 619

619 is the main area code for the greater San Diego area, and Starbase 619 is the group of spectacular friends involved with Star Trek CCG that I've met and enjoyed over the last few years. We get together once every couple weeks for larger events, and meet weekly just to screw around. I recently stepped aside as a administrator of the group so that I could focus on school; it remains to be seen if that was actually warranted.

•Decipher

The Company that still owns my soul. I've signed on for lots o' volunteery goodness with them, the most recent of which is as a DGMA Level 4 Judge for Star Trek. I used my newfound authority to judge at World Championships this year. Their production problems and downsizing has shaken the community's faith in their ability to produce the games we love. Nonetheless, I will still play their games long after CCGs are fondly remembered as a fad in the 1990-2000s. Who thought Star Wars CCG was dead and gone? Apparently not the fifty or so people who showed up to play it at Gen Con this year. My point is that it will be fun while it lasts.

•D&D GROUP OF DOOM

This is the group from the old Mission Valley WotC Store #409. We mostly all still live in San Diego, and we get together every once in a while to relive the best and worst moments from the three brief years of the store:

-über-Nazi
-collapsing ceilings
-stains
-rain
-Stinky Guy
-Poké League
-Dance of Doom
-Joe vs the 'thief' and thief's momma
-roadkill on front monitors
-LAN craziness (Sims, Diablo II, Half-Life, UT)
-El Moco Loco, Piso Mojado, and Sabado Picante
-inventory
-promo goals
-demoing Password
-Pysduck
-Weird Al
-holiday CD
-7777
-Xmas party charades
-tossed salad
-D&D movie
-Comix & stuff/Poké limits
-scheduling 0 hours
-present for Juan in the trashcan
-NeutraAir
-Jenny *shudder*
-raver Matt & glowsticks
-late nights @ In-n-Out
-crack apartments
-immaculate reception of cheeseburgers
-'oh yeah oh yeah'
-gg gg gg
-'signing out'

Anyway. There are still a few of us left from this group who get together on an entirely inconsistent basis (usually 2-3 times each month) to play the core adventures introduced when 3rd Edition D&D was released right after the store opened in Sep 1999. Our core group consists of 10th and 11th level characters, most of which we've played for almost six years now. I will go into further detail on request. Suffice to say, this is the yin to my Star Trek CCG yang.

•Friday Nights @ Pfizer

This is the other gaming group that has defined my weekends. We play at the convenient time of Friday night, since most people have left for the weekend, and don't care that two of their co-workers have friends over for games. Very much in the light-hearted vein, we play all sorts of stuff (Hackmaster, Mutants & Masterminds, Star Wars RPG (d6), Astro-Rangers, Diablo II, D&D 3.0, Settlers of Catan, Office Dodger, Blue Cheese or Ranch? and many more). This will soon be moving to Friday Night @ Somewhere Else, since the Pfizer plant in San Diego is one of seven to be cut for the following fiscal year. I laugh on the most consistent basis with these guys. We miss you Wayne!

•Club Jade

The Star Wars fan group that I was inducted into last year, and am hoping I will get to participate more with this year. Overall, a great collective of insiders, obsessive fans, and great people to chat and filk with. Especially the filk part (filk = sci-fi/fantasy fandom parodies of well-known songs). I had a great time mutilating the Billy Joel epic 'Scenes from an Italian Restaurant' after seeing Episode III with the group, and finished with a filk entitled 'Escape From Coruscant (Scenes From Episode III)'. A brief excerpt:

Saber of blue, saber of red
Perhaps a saber of bright green instead
We'll catch a transport of this world
Fly away to somewhere safe
You and I, Yoda... mmMMmm

Saber of red, saber of blue
It all depends upon which side are you
So give me coordinates you want
And we'll escape from Coruscant

And other high hilarity ensues. I will be happy to provide full lyrics for those interested.

***

So there's the majority of my interests at the moment.