forever blowing bubbles all the way

I'm not ashamed to admit it: I want a bottle of this stuff. The bubbles are stunning, and the dye disappears with time and friction -- very cool.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. (I define "good" as "ate yourself retarded," for the record.)

"ummm...thanks mapquest"

The title of this post is a quote taken from my lovely girlfriend, Laura. I'm heading out to the quaint town of Galena, IL this weekend with her. Should be a nice relaxing time. One thing we weren't expecting, though, was for this trip to point out some glaring deficiencies in our beloved Mapquest. Have a look at the directions we were given:




Hopefully, you can read that. Now, I've had trouble with Mapquest in the past -- primarily when trying to get to my buddy Scott's parents' place -- but I've never seen this little gem before. As my dad said, "It might as well say, 'Drive 86 miles west, turn left where the barn used to be, then ask.'"

Oh, well. At least it'll be dark out, thus maximizing our chances of getting lost -- but minimizing the chances that anyone will see our shame!

On a completely different note, if you read Penny Arcade on a regular basis (and, forsooth, you should), you'll be familiar with Tycho's penchant for ending each post with a short phrase from whatever song he's listening to at the moment. I kind of like that, and thought I'd steal it for myself, nefarious evildoer that I am. So, here's my first: mouse over the text to get a tool tip explaining what song and artist the lyric is from. Enjoy!

send my love to you

Kids Make the Darnedest Crap -- In China

My good friend Beuk, who moved to China last month, notes in his blog something that I just had to make sure you guys saw:



Yes, that is a little kid preparing to take a dump in the middle of the sidewalk. This is evidently common over there, as is the split in the tyke's pants that permits such an undertaking. I guess Shenzhen is just too business-oriented; I spent two weeks there and didn't see a single toddler squat down and squeeze one out in front of God and country. Wow.

Su Doku Fever!

I, like so many of you, have finally succumbed to Su Doku Fever. This pandemic is the weird-looking numbers game originating from Japan that now appears in newspapers, books, and websites everywhere.

For those few of you who have not yet been exposed to this virus, the game works like this:

You are confronted with a grid of eighty-one squares, with a certain number of squares populated by a number ranging from one to nine. When the puzzle is solved, each row, column, and three-by-three section of the grid will contain the numbers one through nine, with no duplicates. The difficulty of each game varies with the number of numbers you're given to start with, and with the placement of those numbers. It's like Minesweeper with numbers.

That's it. I've wasted God knows how much time on this lousy game already, and I don't show signs of stopping. If you're ready to give it a try yourself, I recommend the following sites:

Web Sudoku
The Times Online

First Post!

And with this post, I christen this blog the dork's demesne. Here I shall post any manner of geekishness I see fit. Neither video games, nor anime, nor computers, nor Dungeons and Dragons shall be beyond the purview of this webspace. I may even venture off into other, non-geekish matters, such as work or relationships, if the whim strikes me. If it should come to pass that I have enough proclamations to make about various subjects, I may even choose to split this into a multitude of blogs, such is my power.

Cast your eyes upon me, and tremble; for I am Dork.