Yo, Judi, get yer butt on IRC or AIM… We both received your e-mail, but you can’t read our replies…

Been playing for 4 hours solid now. Sheesh! That game is EVIL! It’s Addictive! And damn, I missed Monk! (Maybe it’s about to repeat). Anyhoo, thanks to Judi and some other nice CoHers, I’ve gotten to level 9. Judi’s at level 12. Amazing!

Tonight, after the long, long night that is Parent/Teacher conferences, we had a surprise Retire-Rehire party for our superintendent. He’s been in the education biz for 30 years and we found it frugal, as a school, to let him retire and then rehire him. He gets a boatload more money in the deal too (since he’s now drawing his retirement).

So, everyone gathered in the media center before 7pm (there was to be a board meeting at 7:30) and chatted and waited. Many of the staff were present and quite a few of the super’s former colleagues were present as well. And shortly after 7pm, one of the board members got him down to the media center early so we could all shout “surprise!” as he entered. He was truly surprised, and rather speechless. He opened his gifts (nice clock, several gag gifts regarding fishing, Texas Hold’em poker, and Big Dawg, his nickname from last year), then we cut the cake and had snacks. I et some vanilla cake with lots of icing (yum) and had some lovely pond scum punch (you know, punch with frozen sherbet melting in it) and then headed on home.

Alas, we don’t have tomorrow off (I guess we’re getting Good Friday off in its stead) but it is jeans Friday AND payday, so I’m glad about that. And we have a 3 day weekend – woohoo! I’m thinking I could use some Indian Fud this weekend.

So, for Valentine’s Day, the City of Heroes folk sent e-mails around to their users (good use of the word here) telling them to invite a friend to try the game out for free for 14 days. Now, judiang is the woman who introduced me to the wonderful world of MMORPG (when I foolishly bought her Diablo II for Christmas one year). So of course, I thought that she should get the invite.

What have I done? I’ve created a monster! Or rather, a hero! It’s been loads of fun playing with her (her current hero is now level with Icy Hot Man – I expect her to be at level 10 by the time I see her tomorrow. Then she can sidekick me and I can help her along as best I can.)

City of Heroes is basically crack in electronic form. See, they get you with the cool graphics & the neat-o beat-em-up action. And then they take your money away every month. And what I’ve done to Judi is given her a free sample, but she’ll probably get hooked and will have to buy the monthly fix. Sorry, Judi! I’m a bad, bad friend!

(This just goes to prove to me that I should NEVER buy World of Warcraft! One crack addiction is bad enough, I don’t want to add heroin to the mix!)

So, the previous night I dreamt that one of my co-workers was an android on the run from the government and I was trying to help him stay one step ahead of the feds…

Last night I dreamt I was working as a go-fer on a Hollywood film (that was being shot in England or somewhere else abroad) during my summer months. They paid a lot more than I get paid for my summer work (of fixing the computers up for the next school year). And I was afraid the shooting would go into the school year, but the director (who resembled my old principal Dr. Peg McAtee) said that they’d pay me well to stay on. Ah, the dilemmas! 🙂

I don’t usually remember enough of my dreams, but when I do, the dreams are always, well, memorable. 🙂

Gakked from seangaffney:

1. Total amount of music files on your computer:
5,800+ (ripped from my CDs or purchased online). I listen to all of my music as MP3s anymore these days. One thing to note, however, is that this includes audio stories (Big Finish et al) which are over 900 of those files.

2. The last CD you bought was:
Ricky Martin’s Almas Del Silencio and Heart’s Little Queen. Last night, however, I almost made a music CD from tunes purchased at Rhapsody.com. But I thought I’d wait a bit to see if I think of any more songs I want to buy.

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
Well, in all honestly, I read this last night, but decided to wait until today to respond. “Martyr” by Rusted Root is playing now.

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.

“Eleanor Rigby” by the Beatles
“Homophobia” by Chumbawamba
“Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
“That’s My Impression” by the Pet Shop Boys (which has a tendency to get stuck in my head and won’t be excised until I play it multiple times)
Christmas songs sung by Julie Andrews

5. Since there is no 5, [really? where?] here’s a song that will get any song out of my head:
“That’s My Impression” by the Pet Shop Boys. But nothing can get that damn song out of my head. (I do love the song, so that’s OK.)

6. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?
judiang, if she ever stops playing City of Heroes long enough to post.
dark_pheonix, to see how many Pet Shop Boys make it into her top 5 (if any).
prairiepete, to give Pete something to do at work next time work is slow.

In seangaffney‘s answers to this meme, he passed the stick to me because “I wonder if Sylv playing the spoons will be in her top 5.” Well, hate to disappoint, Sean! However, my favorite version of the Doctor Who theme is, indeed, the Spoons version. 🙂

Valentine’s Day doesn’t belong to lovers. It belongs to all of us, whether we’re single, together, or in some other state. Yeah, I’ve had times^* when I’ve grumbled about gooey-eyed lovers on Valentine’s Day, but I’m now deciding not to let them get the holiday all to themself.

When I was a kid, I loved Valentine’s Day for some of the same reasons that capriuni mentioned in her post. (Funnily enough, I decided to write this up on the way in to church today, and then later read her post. Looks like we’re on a similar wavelength here.) I loved buying a box of those tacky kids Valentine’s cards (36 to a pack, with one special one for the teacher). Trying to find just the RIGHT one was always the challenge. I even did this from time to time as a college student and beyond. Of course, the candy was always a plus (the chocolate, not those nasty Necco hearts). And usually mom & dad would send me a card.

So today, I made my mind up. No more will the couples spoil Valentine’s for me. I’m going to celebrate love and my loved ones. I start off with the fluffball that’s sitting in front of my monitor and staring at the blinded window. I love my cat! Leo’s a major delight in my life and I’m grateful to have this time I do with him. We took a 2 hour nap today and it was quite relaxing. (I find naps are even better when spent with a cat laying on top of you.) Happy Valentine’s Day, Leo!

I had Bachelor Dad this weekend, and I loved it. I love my dad and my mom equally, though I do tend to take after dad a lot more, and we’ve had similar careers. I love those crazy ladies in Minneapolis, which is where mom is now. I love BadGurls Amy & Rachel & now mom. I’ve been very lucky in the sister department. Sure, I used to resent Amy when I was much younger (going from an only child to an older sister is quite a lot of stress on a 4-year old). But I love Amy lots, and have fun with her when we’re together. And Rachel’s been such a wonderful addition to our family. Let’s hear it for little sisters! Happy Valentine’s Day, family!

judiang and elsaf have been friends and mentors to me now for 9 and 10 years (nearly) respectively. I love them both dearly and enjoy the virtual times we have together as well as the real times we have together. So Happy Valentine’s Day to both of you!

Thanks to the Internet, I now have many lovely friends whom I keep in touch with via e-mail, mailing lists, and now LiveJournal. You folks are lovely and are loved, so never forget that. And thanks for sharing your lives with me! Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you!

If you have a significant other, I hope the pair of you have a wonderful & romantic holiday! If you’re single or between lovers, go off and tell the people that you love what you feel about them. Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to belong to the couples, we single folk can celebrate as well!

^* Like that time when I accidently went to the Olde Towne Inn in Eaton on Valentine’s Day. I was the only person there by myself – everyone else were couples. They had a man in playing a synthesizer and singing love songs. And the waitress offered me a newspaper to read. (This was, I think, when I decided to bring a book with me wherever I go from then on.) So I got back home feeling a bit depressed. Now, however, I just have to laugh at the incident.

Today is a nice day to goof off and play with my games. Mostly I’ve been playing City of Heroes and getting Icy Hot Man up to level 7. Even better, gordon_r_d‘s Spitfyre invited me to join the British Bulldogs SuperGroup. So IHM now has a second uniform to wear. You can see his main costume here.

Icy Hot Man of the British Bulldogs

Thanks Gordon – hopefully we can get a game in together sometime! 🙂

Now, I haven’t just been playing CoH today. I’ve also been redownloading all of my Real Arcade games (since I’ve yet to do that from reinstalling Win98SE several months ago). They’re raising the price of the GamePass monthly subscription (AKA, my Game of the Month club) in March (or April?) and I’ve decided to leave GamePass. At least for now. I’ve gotten 22 (counting the one I’ve yet to pick for February) “free” games from them since I joined. Gee, that would mean I’ve been a member for nearly 2 years! (For $7 a month, you get 1 free download of any game they have, plus discounts on their other games. I was in it for the “free” games, myself.) Of the 22, there’s probably 5 to 8 that I love to play. A few that I sometimes play. And a few that I probably shouldn’t have downloaded, but there ya go. Oh yeah, and the price they’re raising to? Well, only a buck more a month… So it’s not like it’s evil or anything. But there aren’t that many games I’m interested in downloading anymore. Perhaps when even more new games show up, I’ll re-up my GamePass.

This morning, I also went to Curves and Walmart. Then off to Tokyo Peking to get dad and I General Tso’s (with egg roll, crab rangoon, and hot & sour soup) for lunch. We watched last week’s episode of Monk and then went off to Tipp City in search of stained glass. (He and mom make stained glass items – actually, mostly him – since they took a class on it together sometime last year.)

So all & all, a fine day for Trinas. (And Bachelor Dad, for that matter.) Hoping that Mom is off having fun with Amy & Rachel! (We figure they’re having a ball together.) Tomorrow, dad and I are off to New Madison Unitarian Universalist Church cuz he’s preaching. And I’ll probably just goof off the rest of the day too. I love a good Goof Off weekend. (All weekends should be, you know?)

Re: Yesterday’s Blackmail. To make the person being blackmailed sweat a little. I will admit that said person is on my flist… But isn’t: akadriver, elsaf, kiri_l, michaellee, rustyverse, or versaphile, to name a few…

Remember, $100, unmarked bills, paypal account… 😉

In other news: Sylvester McCoy is currently touring the UK in a production of Arsenic & Old Lace. It’s playing all over the country, so if you’re there, look for it in a nearby theatre. He’s playing a part that I know all too well – Dr. Einstein. (The part that I played in my HS production of it.) I do wish I could get over to see it, but it doesn’t look financially viable at this time. Alas! Thus far, I’ve only found one review of it, and Sylv wasn’t flattered by it. (Actually rather unusual, since he’s usually praised for his stage work.) Still, it’s early in the production and that’s just one reviewer’s opinion.

The Seventh Doctor and Ace have recently been added to the BBC Cult Galleries, I discovered tonight. There are quite a few pictures of Sylv there now. And lots of other Who notables, too. My particular favorite would be this one (from That Circus Episode of Doctor Who.) There are a couple different ones in the Sophie Aldred Gallery, so be sure to check there as well.

I need inspiration for another Sylv LJ icon… Suggestions on a post card, please, sent to this address:

Tonight’s a new Monk – yay! I think I’m gonna watch it “live” and eat graham crackers w/ chocolate frosting between them and a tall glass of milk. Mmmm!

Trina Short, scatterbrain, signing off!