randomness 1 Comment

Firaxis Needs A Proofreader

For Christmas, Amy got me CivCity Rome. I installed it this evening, and have been enjoying learning all about my fun new game. Being a former scholar of Latin, I hold Rome in a special place in my heart. (Mrs. Nemeth TOTALLY would have given me Latin extra credit if I’d brought in this game as proof that the Roman culture still influences today’s society.)

However, there is one thing that’s really, REALLY bothering me about this game.

The grammar.

Just look at this screengrab:

Tell me, can *you* find all the comma splices and run-on sentences? I can. I propose that the caption should read as follows:

Hail, Quaestor! You do well, and Rome smiles upon you, honoring you with this high rank and title. I would like you to stay on in Capena for a while. The people here are scared and believe their illness brought on by evil spirits. We must show that Roman Gods are stronger. Erect some temples and encourage the locals to marry. This town is important to Rome; let’s put some backbone into it.

I tend to be a little comma-happy, setting off all clauses with commas, even those that some grammarians claim can simply attach onto the normal sentence structure. Not everyone is as liberal with their commas as I, although I always have a reason. I also prefer more complex sentence structure than I’ve rewritten above; being that this is a ten-and-older game, though, and narrated to boot, shorter sentences work better.

Am I a grammar nerd? You betcha. Maybe there’s a patch to fix the horrendous sentence structure — I’ll have to go see, I suppose.

*sigh* My inner nerd shines through once again…

roadtrips 4 Comments

Ohayocon7 Retrospective, Part I: Fried Bologna Sandwiches


[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].

I haven’t blogged about the last few cons Aaron and I have attended, mainly because I prefer to save my opinions and narratives for Aaron’s podcast. This time, though, there are enough other random, un-anime things that deserve mention that I think I’ll go ahead and blog about the weekend. And I will begin at the beginning, with fried bologna sandwiches in Waldo, Ohio…
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otaku

Gone To The Con

Heading out to Ohayocon in the morning. Planning to stop in Waldo en route for some fried bologna sandwiches. Meeting Amy at the Drury Inn & Suites (hopefully before opening ceremonies), and all three of us are bunking up in a hotel room for the weekend.

This might be our last con for a while (or we might go to Anime Punch in the spring), so I’m planning to live it up. Not that I don’t usually, but you know.

Still need to pack my clothes, get Amy’s Christmas and birthday presents ready, upload the Low Carb Lifestyle Podcast episode so generously recorded by a guest podcaster, and do some dishes (if I don’t fall asleep first). I’m sure there’s something I’ve forgotten, too, but I’ll think of it eventually.

I’m tired already. This can’t be good.

the ongoing saga of my job 8 Comments

Positive Attitudes Change Everything

I’ve never thought of myself as a positive person. I *have* been known to have my head in the clouds, to be detached from reality, or to be overly optimistic about my chances of attaining a particular goal — usually monetary or career-oriented, like raising $5000 to go on a choir trip to Europe during high school, or getting a totally kick-ass job right out of college. But no one could accuse me of having a generally positive attitude.

That said, I’ve been noticing that a lot of people around me have been particularly negative lately. Sure, Aaron and I don’t seem to have very many friends who hang out with us anymore. Sure, my job is most likely history by July. But I don’t need to wallow in it all. I need to find alternatives.

I keep telling myself (and anyone else who will listen) that this recent turn of events with my job will probably end up being one of the best things to happen to me, once I look back on it in about three years. The key is getting past the awkwardness of the moment, getting past this whole woe-is-me crap, and jumping into the fray feet-first and running.

Not to say that I’m going to bail as soon as I find an alternate employer who will offer me a job. No, I plan to do some research, take my time, get all my proverbial ducks in a row, make sure my portfolio isn’t something I’d be embarrassed for my ideal employer to see, retool my resume, all the normal job-hunting accoutrements.

That said… and please indulge me while I shift gears… I *hate* job hunting.

It reminds me that I’m not as good as I want to be. It reminds me that there are so many other people out there that are so much better at what I’m supposed to be good at. It reminds me that my self-esteem has never been the most stable thing around. It reminds me that I haven’t fully developed my own unique style of design (although I may finally almost have a photographic style of my own). It reminds me that I’d wanted to work out of the home once upon a time, but have since realized that a home business is more trouble and more instability than it might be worth.

*deep breath*

I can market myself to these people. I can make myself look appealing without stretching the truth (too much). I can code SQL and PHP and VBA and javascript and HTML/XHTML. I can find a typo a mile away. I can make a visually appealing interface. If my Typography professor is to be believed, I can even do decent layout.

So why am I so hard on myself?