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[Jul. 11th, 2009 :: 01:04 pm] |
Seems like I may have spoken too soon - I finished the 1st episode of the new Monkey Island about 40 minutes after picking up where I left off.
Did some shopping, bought some new pyjamas and a stack of new plastic kitchen container things because they were on special.
I might have some lunch and do some more laundry. Woo. |
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[Jul. 11th, 2009 :: 09:41 am] |
I got the new Monkey Island game last night. Well, the first episode. I am really enjoying it. I've played all 4 of the Monkey Island series (it seems most geeks my age remember them fondly) but I just finished playing MI 3, again, the other week. I absolutely adore Monkey Island 3. Number 4, I didn't like as much and have only played a couple of times. The step from 2D cartoon to 3D polygons was a big mistake at the time, I think, but the new one by Telltale looks really good. If I had a slightly better graphics card (I have a GeForce 7600 GT which is a couple of years old now) it would look even better but as it is, the game looks lovely. It's still polygons so people have pointy bits but that's sort of alright considering how cartoony the models actually are. It's colourful and cartoony and exaggerated and that's the right way to do Monkey Island if you ask me.
I've done a couple of the "map" puzzles in the first episode and think they're interesting - a change from the typical puzzles that may involve a map in these sorts of games. I won't say any more as it took me a while to twig and don't want to spoil that lovely moment of "ohhhh!" for anyone else.
The humour is still there - albeit a little less quirky than in 3. I've only played it for about an hour, maybe hour and a half, and it feels like a really good continuation of the series. I haven't felt like I've been ripped off or that Telltale have ruined the game. I feel that some of the silliness may have been toned down - in 3, it was funny just because of the way Guybrush got out of predicaments (I adore the sequence between getting to the snake crossing area, being eaten by the snake, and then finally escaping to land in quicksand). The little extra quirks seem a bit few and far between so far in the new game, but it's still early days yet. It's almost like they used too much common sense in the puzzle solutions and all the character designs. I'll keep playing it today and see if it gets sillier.
First I have to hang up some laundry and then I'll get stuck back into it. I am so glad that they decided to resurrect this series of games, and I'm so relieved that, so far, they've done all those fond adventure game geek memories justice. |
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[Jul. 10th, 2009 :: 04:18 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | hovel | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  stressed | ] |
I'm really glad that it's the weekend. Work has been so-so, I've been really busy all week and D has been cranky about the land and we haven't heard anything. I am figuring that no news is good news. Actually he's been cranky about my not calling the solicitors or estate agent or bank, he called me today and kind of hassled me about it for a good 10 minutes, but I didn't have the solicitors number at work and I couldn't look it up so he could have just saved himself 10 minutes and not hassle me and just look it up himself.
[sigh] He didn't call them during the day so I've just given them a ring. Everything is fine. Now we have to wait for the seller to complete the work she is supposed to do in accordance with the Council requirements to subdivide, and then when the subdivision (and all works related to) is completed, that's when we have to get things moving again from our end.
So we've bought a block of land. Almost!
If the block was already a finalised plot with its own title we wouldn't have to worry about all these conditions of subdivision. In case anyone was wondering.
I've got a few things to take care of before I can properly relax, may as well do them now and get them out of the way. |
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[Jul. 4th, 2009 :: 09:20 am] |
Lunch went okay. My Picasso mask turned out really good, but Supervisor dressed up as a Pensioner and she looked hilarious and won (the prize was just having her lunch paid for). Some of the girls came out to have a look at the block before going home, everyone is kind of jealous. I've felt really sure about the block(s) but all the girls going "wow" and "that's awesome" and congratulating me (us) has nailed this decision as the right one, for me.
I also made my face up all Picasso-esque, it looked alright. It smudged really easily as I only had normal makeup, and when I got home I took a bath and scrubbed it all off and now my face has broken out in a rather extreme way. I haven't had this many spots for... I can't remember when I had this many spots.
Last night I used google image search for a couple of hours, searching for "cream kitchen" and "green bathroom" and so on, and saved quite a lot of pictures to my House Stuff folder. Trying to find looks that both D and I like is difficult. He loves dark timber kitchens, country kitchens, old castle style kitchens. I do not. I like practical, simple kitchens (simple seems to mean modern) with a splash of colour. He doesn't. But I found a picture that we both liked last night. This is a major accomplishment. I'm going to make up some collages in photoshop - digital scrapbook - and print them in colour, and see if he will understand what I'm trying to do with the rooms then. I sat and sketched the kitchen yet again and coloured it in while I was watching the footy last night, and when I showed him he just went "ewww." [sigh] But to me the colours I used were the same colours I found pictures of last night. And he liked those. I don't know.
We have paid the deposit on the block. Now I think we have to wait. I'm not sure. We might have to call our solicitor or talk to the bank loan dude to find out what happens. |
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[Jul. 2nd, 2009 :: 04:36 pm] |
Tomorrow at work we're having a lunch and we have to go dressed as something beginning with P.
I was going to go as the Patchwork Girl but only 2 people apart from myself would appreciate it. Powerpuff Girl was second on the list. Both of those ideas would require shopping and/or sewing.
I've decided to go as a Picasso. Namely, the Weeping Woman. I'll just wear whatever suits the colours (probably black) and make myself a mask. I've got paper, cardboard, pencils, and thick black texta. I think I'll manage. I've just printed out a picture to refer to and I'll try and match the colours from the screen.
I'm going to make it a bit 3D as well - not just one plane. I'll make the main part of the mask in 2 pieces and slot them together so it really does have bits poking out in front of other bits.
I should go and get started. |
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[Jun. 28th, 2009 :: 09:25 am] |
Yesterday was a good day. I made soup. I saw my sister. I caught up with Mark. I did 3 loads of washing. Which means I've got plenty of time to iron today.
I'm making progress with another attempt at house plans. The reading nook has been absorbed into the master bedroom, but it's a smaller total area, so now the dining/kitchen can have more windows. There will be a central skylight over the kitchen anyway, but I want the dining area to be more open and to have easy access in and out onto the back verandah or patio or whatever they call it these days.
I think I need to plan the laundry. Like with a room planner tool thing. I have the IKEA room planner software but I don't know if that will have all the bits I want in it. I suppose I can give it a try. |
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[Jun. 27th, 2009 :: 08:55 am] |
So it's still going to be a long time before we can start building, and it's going to be even longer before we can go in and finish the house, and it'll be a while longer then before we can move in and throw a big housewarming party.
We have to finalise our house plans - D has decided there's things about what I've come up with so far that he doesn't like. He doesn't like the reading nook, he wants a "library" room, and he's insistent on the walk-in robe being closed off and not just a walk-through robe. And he reckons the kitchen would be better off on an external wall. I sat down last night and tried to tweak what I had to make these sort of changes and basically it means I'll have to start from scratch.
He grabbed a copy of the drawing software I've been using and then proceeded to whinge at how stupid it was because he couldn't do anything with it. I didn't just get the software and draw a perfect plan straight away. I've been doing sketch after sketch after sketch, figuring out which rooms will be noisy and which will need to be quiet, doing rough flow-chart style maps to figure out what rooms need easy access to other rooms, all sorts of stuff. And then it took me 3 attempts to get to the plan I posted the other day, and that isn't perfect either.
We also need to figure out what we're doing with the bathrooms and kitchen. Most of the other rooms are just standard boxes with doors and windows and maybe a built-in-robe.
What I might do is when we get the house plan to 90% perfect (it's at about 75% now) is then take each individual room and draw it in a 3D view, and then I should be able to figure out what bit will be tiled and what won't, and what other stuff we will need. I did this with the kitchen, to try and figure out if we have enough cupboard space, and to figure out where the cutlery drawers should go. I looked up kitchen sinks last night, because I want a big square sink that will fit my biggest oven tray and cutting board in, flat, as opposed to one end in and one end on the edge of the sink, which is what happens with the little sink we have here. I got a couple of Franke sink brochures last night and they've got a few in the right size, so it's not a crazy idea.
I also had a look at shower screens and surrounds. Basically I don't want anything that's been molded and I don't want thick metal edging on anything. That creates mould of a different sort. The frameless shower screens are nice but D of course has to whinge about how he doesn't like the glass as it makes him feel too exposed. He wants frosted glass. Okay, how about frameless shower screens with 2/3 frosting at the bottom? Fine. I don't see how it makes any bloody difference if the shower in the ensuite has clear glass, it's going to be a double shower so it's not like we won't see each other when we're in the shower.
Thing is I have very clear ideas on what I want. I have been preparing for this for a few years now. D doesn't know what he wants but he still thinks what I've come up with isn't good enough.
We'll probably have a few arguments over this, no doubt. We have very different tastes. He likes intricate antiques and old things. I only like old things if they're classically styled/shaped without all the intricate faff. Like those roman chairs that sort of look like a cursive x. I like those if they're plain. He'd want one with all the curlicues and carving and whatever. I like furniture to focus on the basic shape and allow the beauty of the materials used to shine through. I don't think furniture needs decoration, if you get it in the right shape and right colour/fabric/timber/materials, it should be decoration enough. Simplicity of form with function of use with inherently beautiful materials. No carving or embroidery required.
I know the house is going to be quite eclectic when it's all said and done. As long as the kitchen is how I want, I don't really care how the rest turns out. I mean, I do, but honestly, I'll just be glad that it's ours. |
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[Jun. 26th, 2009 :: 04:37 pm] |
We signed the contracts today. And the seller had already signed them.
o_O |
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[Jun. 24th, 2009 :: 05:40 pm] |
I think we're going to go for it. It's a bit awkward, and fencing it might be a bit of a pain, but... it's a good size and I kind of like the idea of having a non-square lot. It's still big enough to put any house pretty much anywhere on it. I might have to start from scratch with the house plan ideas to suit a different orientation though - go for a "ranch" or horizontal layout instead of a vertical one. If that makes any sense.
We don't have the full plans yet so we only have the one definite measurement, from the other block plans that we do have. |
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[Jun. 23rd, 2009 :: 08:54 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Placebo - Devil in the Details | ] |
9 o'clock and I think it's time for bed. I got everything done. Made pork stroganoff for dinner, ended up with leftovers for lunch at work tomorrow, got my bathers washed and got the house plans started again. Again, because I had to get different software because my trial version had expired. I even found time to do dishes and empty and stack the dishwasher. I wish every day were so productive. Maybe I should swim after work more often. I come home feeling completely shagged out but I always seem to get a second wind at about 7.
I should iron something to wear to work tomorrow. I think I shall do just that. And then collapse in a heap and lose consciousness. |
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