Just because I’m a big bad dungeon master now, this was not always the case. It wasn’t that long ago that I was playing my first real campaign of Dungeons and Dragons. It was during that campaign I made a terrible mistake that I will never live down.
In the story was something about a king and somehow my character ended up with a crown. It magically poisoned you if you put it on (my fellow adventurer found out,) so I never put it on, but my character didn’t realize this crown was actually important. He wanted to a new sword way more than he wanted to keep the crown. So when nobody else was around, he went to shopkeep and tried to sell it.
The shopkeep knew exactly what it was, took the crown, threw a shiny blue sword at me, and immediately left through a trap door never to be seen again. I lost the King’s crown – which was basically the key objective we had – and I got a sword with +1d6 frost damage the glowed a bright blue. I was also dumb enough to think this was awesome.
Now everytime I make a suggestion people say things like, “yeah! That’s cool, like that shiny blue sword!” Last night my best friend was helping me test out a possible bug on Simplenote, and he immediately used as his text “Alex is a stupid person who trades the king’s crown for a shiny blue sword.”
We all make mistakes. With good friends you’ll never forget them either!
The other day Ber said she did ‘only 8 rows.’ I calculated that out and the number of stitches that equalled out to was almost 3 times the entire work I’ve done on my sock. Dang, she’s fast.
We are in the home stretch for the arrival of the little one. It can literally be any day now. I’m also nearing the completion of the baby blanket. Just a couple more color changes.
I feel like now its just a battle of the wills. Who will be victorious?
When I was in college every semester felt like torture. Once we got near the end of the semester I’d make a spreadsheet that had everything that was expected of me listed out. Every assignment, paper, exam, meeting, or anything else would be there, color-coded and with a due date assigned. A countdown of every day I had left would be at the top. I couldn’t wait for the spreadsheet to be clear.
Not kidding when I say I spent some evenings staring at the spreadsheet, just to pass the time while I waited for the end.
This last trimester of waiting for the baby has felt a bit like that. Everything needs to be completed. Not just baby stuff, everything. That household chore I’ve been putting off, the work project that’s behind schedule. It’s felt like I’ve not stopped rushing in weeks. Some folks will chalk it all up to nesting – I think it’s just good prioritization. When this baby comes I’m not going to give the time of day to anything else, so may as well settle it up now.
Just like how Accounting homework wasn’t going to touch my Christmas break.
It’s good that I’m gaining traction though. It’ll be a sprint to the end, but an effective sprint. What’s also been important is that I’ve gotten better at just saying no to a lot of things. Choosing not to do something is a decision and action combined into one – thinking you should do it, not doing it, and feeling guilty about it later is procrastination and really three actions that are all wastes of time.
Don’t be offended if you invite me to something and I reject it quickly. It’s just the end of the trimester and I’ve got a big test coming up.
It’s been really fun at Automattic as we built the new WordPress.com. It’s cool to manage a WordPress site so quickly and beautifully. On top of that, it made building the WordPress.com for Mac app a reality. I’ve been beta-testing the app for a month or so now and have been really pleased with it.
If nothing else, seeing that W in the dock is pretty cool.
When I’m on my big monitor at home I usually have the reader tab open at the smallest width on the side of my screen. It’s a quick way to have a lot of information at-a-glance and also see notifications quickly from all our company P2s. With that up it makes it easy to also create new drafts, because the new editor is so fast to load and autosaves quickly too.
The cool thing about this launch is that the product today isn’t really so different than it was yesterday. If you’ve been using WordPress.com over the last year and a half, you’ve been watching the product be built and released bit by bit. But what is different is that it’s now open source. Anyone can view the code, contribute to it, and use it to make the next cool thing in the WordPress community.
Some required reading if you really want to dig into this launch:
The Hypocrites, a performing company based in Chicago, have made their return to Actors Theatre of Louisville. Last year they performed an adaptation of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance where the setting was as if performed by the kids from Lord of the Flies. This year, they brought us an adaptation of H.M.S. Pinafore setup like a slumber party. A slide leading into a pillow pit and bunk beds were prominent features of the set. The cast were costumed in pajamas and robes.
Both Pirates and Pinafore were excellent experiences. They were presented in promenade style, where not only the performers but also much of the audience was down on stage, on the set, singing along (if you wanted to.) If you happened to be sitting in the wrong place at the wrong time, a cast member or stage manager would tap you on the shoulder or give you a strong point to let you know you need to move.
It lead to some fun interactions that can’t really make it into a script. Like a man professed his love for a woman in character, then a little girl reacted out loud with a sudden exclamation, “that’s creepy!” The kid got just as good a laugh as any joke. “Yes! And you’re about to see a lot more of it!” the actor replied, not missing a beat.
One woman sat on a bench that was a soloist’s primary staging for a song, and had to keep switching seats throughout the tune while he moved around. Just as she got comfortable on a different bench, the soloist headed that way and interrupted the song with a quick “I’m afraid I’ll need that bench too!” where she moved yet again while the soloist was then joined by another cast member for a brief duet.
The best thing about these adaptations is that they cause reactions just as the originals would’ve in their day. A patter song itself doesn’t get the laughs or wows from a popular opinion today, but when the Hypocrites put their spin on a patter song it sure does. They disregard the need to keep Pinafore pure, and instead perform the hell out of it so it will be appreciated as entertainment, not as a history.
Another great choice made in this adaptation was to gender-swap most of the roles. Having a crew full of women and a “good boy” as the captain’s son let some talented actresses play more fleshed-out roles. G&S had great musical sense for their day (and in today’s standards too, I’d argue) but equality in women’s roles wasn’t their strong suit. If your first introduction to Pinafore was this one, you may very well have not noticed anything odd about it because the swap was done so well. The man playing Buttercup may get most of the praise for that seamlessness.
H.M.S. Pinafore will be playing at Actors Theatre through December 13th. I’d recommend seeing it and bringing a friend. It’s a really short show, about 80 minutes with a 1 minute intermission. Yes, really, a 1-minute intermission. Enough time to do four 15-second things, or a two 30-second things. Anyway, you get a lot of bang for your buck and there’s still time to go out for a drink afterwards.
Or, you can go home and watch “Cape Feare,” an episode of the Simpsons where Bart convinces Sideshow Bob to sing the entirety of H.M.S. Pinafore before murdering him. You’ll get to sing along!
Honorable mention to Picard, Worf and Data singing “A British Tar:”
I’ve been in porter & stout mode since August. I imagine the cravings I was going through is what some folks experience from lack of pumpkin beers (though I can only assume.) Whenever I saw a porter or stout available, I snagged it. We’re finally approaching that time of year when even grocery stores have plenty of heavy, malty options.
Rhinegeist is a Cincinnati-based brewery that I’ve come to appreciate consistently. I still haven’t tried all their cans, but as I see new ones I usually grab a sixer. This is the first I’ve seen of their Panther Robust Porter and I purchased it with no hesitation.
Robust is an excellent word for it. The flavors are a mingled variety of earthiness and has a rich mouthfeel. Richer even than the West Sixth Christmas Ale, though it’s only half the alcohol by volume. It’s heavy, in a good way. You get some bubbly finish but man it’s beer worth lingering on.
Been thinking a lot recently about how my child may experience life differently than their peers. My coworker, Kraft, has a great post on that topic:
What will the children of Automatticians and other remote worker be like when they enter into the work force? Will they accept the typical working experience or will they balk at the assumption that work is done best from a central location? Will they struggle to enter the work force when they expect to be able to be at home for lunch every day, or available to step out of the office for five minutes to hold a baby like a generation ago people taking a smoke break.
Two months ago I started training at BAREfit Adventure Training. It’s an unconventional place, but it’s been a great experience. They provide a welcoming atmosphere no matter what fitness level you’re at, no matter why you need to train. Some folks want to lose weight or start healthier habits. Some folks are training for the firefighter exam or for Ninja Warrior.
BAREfit is expanding their operation and are looking for help with an IndieGoGo Campaign.
On top of the great training regimen they already provide, they’re going to build out more of their facility to fit more new obstacles. On the second floor they’ve already started setting up the area for a coworking space. It’s particularly exciting for me, because it’s already so close to my house that switching between home, work, and training can be easier and easier.
I think it’s an interesting project, and I know the folks managing it are good people. If you’d really like to dive in to the project, the $1000 level works out to membership for $28 a month, plus a bunch of other perks. Not gonna lie, I considered it, but with other savings goals in mind I decided to back it at a lower level. For even $10, you can help the project happen.
Many thanks if you choose to donate. I’ll do a few burpees for you.
Alex "Gus" Gustafson 