Pop Quiz, Hotshot

I've been so busy at work lately that I haven't had much to play Kingdom of Loathing (let alone post on my blog). I've almost maxed out my turns on all 3 characters. Of course, I've come to realize that having 3 characters may be a bit excessive. I might have to cut back.

Anyway, I found this cute quiz. It's actually pretty lame, but it's kind of fun answering KOL-related questions. Give it a whirl, foolios.

My Brown Shoes

It's been quite awhile since I've purchased any brown shoes. But I've been trying to branch out lately, and I'd had this Aldo gift certificate lying around for over a year now. Seemed like a good opportunity to get some brown shoes. You know, for more wardrobe options, a diversified look. Anyway, after much agonizing, I came up with the pair pictured here. Pretty hip and urban, no?

Now, the thing is, my dad almost always wears brown shoes. So much so that when I'm wearing my new shoes, I look down and see my dad's feet. I think I'll get over it eventually, but I'm still not entirely comfortable.

I should also note here that my dad refuses to wear navy trousers because he's afraid he'll be mistaken for a mailman or naval officer. I can see his point. Still, maybe odd clothing phobias run in the family.

Krazy Kat!

Yesterday, I came home to find that the devil cat had gone absolutely bonkers while we were at work. Here is the evidence against him:

Exhibit A: Television was on and volume turned all the way up. (Fortunately, it was on video 2, so it only made a slight buzzing sound. I just feel bad for any neighbors who are home if this happens again.)

Exhibit B: A small plant on 5-foot-high shelf had been knocked to the floor, with dirt scattered all around it.

Exhibit C: A mouse-on-a-string toy had been severed.

Exhibit D: A plastic bottle was on the floor.

But he's soooo cute, isn't he?

Calamari Pharmacy?

Just posted a review of Katamari Damacy on my reviews site. At this rate I'll be reviewing something about once a month, if I'm lucky. (I won't presume as to whether this makes you lucky or not.)

Foiled!

What a rough morning! My sister was supposed to come over at 8:30 so we could go over to Peets for breakfast. Naturally she showed up at 8, right as I was getting out of the shower. Damn Muni! It's not even reliably slow! Peets was a madhouse when we got there; the line was almost out the door. And after we ordered, they forgot to give Megan her cinnamon twist; we had to go back and ask for it. Then, upon receiving our coffees (The woman behind us in line got hers before ours! Imagine that!), we discovered that the little cinnamon and cocoa shakers were MIA! Quelle horreur!

Undaunted, we drove to Stonestown. Why not do a little shopping with my sister while she's in town, I thought? I'll just be a touch late. Of course, when we got there, everything was closed. Apparently malls just don't feel the need to open until 10. At least we could use the restrooms while we were there. No luck. The narrow hallway to the restrooms was filled with queues of octogenarians doing jerky tai-chi-like exercises. It would just have been too surreal to walk through all that.

Finally we discovered something at Stonestown that was open: Borders. Naturally I had left my gift certificate in my car so I couldn't actually buy anything there. But surely we could use their restroom? Nope. Out of order.

I felt like crying.

Not really. Nothing really bothered us. Even the lack of cocoa powder for my mocha. We had a fun time chatting and doing a little familial bonding.

Would You Like Some Cheese With That?

Last week I received the wine fridge that my insanely-generous friend Melissa ordered for me for my birthday. Apart from a couple of nicks and dents, it is all that it's cracked up to be. It seems such a simple thing, but having your nice wine displayed in a gleaming black box is an edifying thing. I get a little thrill of pleasure every time I walk past it.

The top two shelves are French and Italian wine (7 or 8 bottles). The bottom racks contain a bottle of champagne (Veuve Cliquot from the Sims Online celebration), a dessert wine, and two other whites. Everything else in between is Ridge Zinfandel, various vintages. Bwah hah hah hah! All those pretty silver foil caps look especially attractive displayed in my gleaming black box of wine (although they're difficult to see as picture). Nineteen bottles. Maybe I should pick up another to make an even 20.

Shown on the right is our old wine rack/stand thing. It's where all the lesser wine that doesn't need to be aged goes. You know, the stuff you bring over to friends' houses so you don't have to sacrifice anything you might miss.

Free at Last!

Those of you who have been with this blog from the beginning may be wondering at this point, "Did Daniel ever end up having to report for jury duty?" Well, let you wonder no more: in the mail yesterday I received a postcard from my good buddy, Gordon Park-Li, Jury Commissioner. This missive indicated that my request to be excused from jury duty was granted. Score! Maybe I should become a professional jury duty avoidance consultant.

And it's a darn good thing that I was excused, considering that I was scheduled to report two weeks ago!

Say My Name! Say It!

What is there about the name Daniel that just makes people think they can call you Dan? I'm pretty consistent about introducting myself as Daniel (besides when ordering at Jamba Juice/Peets/etc. -- I've had my name announced as Danielle when my order was ready. Now I always say my name is Dan. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?), but here's how the typical conversation goes:

Me: Hi, I'm Daniel.
Average Person: Nice to meet you, Dan. I'm XXXXX. (Note: I have never actually met anyone named XXXXX, but even if I did, I would never call them XXX for short.)

What??? Are there other names for which this holds true? I should start introducing myself Richard and see how many people call me Rich, Richie, or Dick. Hmmm... better yet, I should try to introduce myself to people named Richard and call THEM Dick. See how they like it!

Up until high school I was pretty adamant about wanting to be called Daniel as opposed to Dan. However, my fencing coach just insisted on calling me Dan, and four years of being so addressed eventually wore down my ability to care. Now, my co-worker friends all call me Dan, but they're my friends, so I hardly even notice.

I also wish it to be known that I have nothing against the name Dan. Some of my best friends are named Dan (okay, one). I just have always thought of it as a very corporate executive name. You know: Dan, Bill, Bob, Larry; tall old white guys with side-parts. Ok, so I guess I do have something against it. Sorry, Dan.

I Love You, Sweater Thingies

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped by the Banana Republic flagship store in downtown SF. I had been looking for some sweater/sweatshirt/hoodie-type things, and BR had them in abundance. After trying on a good 15 different items, I eventually got frazzled and left without buying anything. Susie and I dropped by the BR in the Embarcadero so I could show her some of the items. But as it wasn't the flagship store, its selection was limited.

So I had to leave, unfulfilled, knowing that my wardrobe was incomplete, feeling a sweater/sweatshirt/hoodie-type-thing-shaped hole inside. But gradually I came to recognize the two items that would fill the void within. On my birthday, I left work early, drove down to the flagship store, and bought the green hoodie (Man, I hate the word "hoodie." Seems so girly!), pictured here in gray as it is NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IS ONLY AVAILABLE AT THE FLAGSHIP STORE, and the black zippy sweater jacket thingy. Anyway, I've been extremely happy with these two items as it can be awfully cold at work, and it's nice to have something to wear that's not a jacket. Plus, the black one goes with almost anything, AND when I'm wearing a black shirt, I can wear the green one and not have the black-over-black combo that makes me feel like a loser that works at a videogame company.

Green two-zip hoodie: $65
Black wool zippy sweater jacket thingy: $125
Filling a sweater/sweatshirt/hoodie-type-thing-shaped hole: priceless

Note to self: you cannot spell availalbe