Stick Cricket

I'd heard about this game from friends, so I decided to give it a go. For a while I was frustrated by the way that any appeal means the batsman is out. If you nick the ball and it goes behind you, that's caught. If I keep playing, I'm sure I'll get good (and come to peace with the idea that the fielders appeal not to ask if you're out, but because you're already out). I don't know if I can be bothered, though.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I am told that this game's busiest times are during work hours.
PPS - Unless this is everybody's job, people are being naughty, it seems.

The Sunday Mok - Tension and Stuff

Last Sunday was a standard-issue day. Nothing overly remarkable about it. Two church services plus supper at The Coffee Club.
On Monday I found that the upstairs vending machine at work rejected my five dollar note every time. I have yet to try with a different five to see if the fault is in the machine or not. I think it's the machine. I also had a meeting for the church April Fair, during which I got some good sketching done.
Tuesday was work, then karate, then Erin's housewarming. The housewarming was pretty much segregated into Christians and Others. We stayed upstairs on the deck and only rarely ventured downstairs in search of drink receptacles. Very few of them came upstairs to meet us, though, so I guess we're even.
Wednesday was Australia Day, so I had the day off work. I went to brunch at Simpson's Falls via a lift with Bronwyn, then lunch at the Uniting Church to see the renovations to the old halls. After that, I basically just lazed around and listened to the end of the Triple J Hottest 100.
By the end of Thursday I had the biggest tension knots in my shoulders that the world has ever seen. Painful. Played City of Heroes and watched Joan of Arcadia.
On Friday we started up our year 8 & 9 youth group again, sort of. Have you ever thrown a birthday party and nobody showed up? It was like that. Exactly like that - the planned program for the night was a birthday party for everyone.
Saturday I saw Closer by myself. It was good, though I did find some of the dialogue unnatural. Nobody is that honest with themselves. I also saw Vicki for the first time in a month and probably the last time ever.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Life sucks.
PPS - Again.

Dire Sun

I've been meaning to do this for a while. This right here is Dire Sun, my main City of Heroes character. He's a Tanker with the power sets Super Strength and Invulnerability. So ... Blogworld, meet Dire Sun. Dire Sun, meet Blogworld.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Mingle.
PPS - You two play nice, now. 

Stop work meeting

The discovery of this blog at work has now resulted in near-zero productivity, at least for the moment. Angry Brad, Actor Adrian, Darth Gerard and Bachelor Brant are all thrilled to see themselves mentioned. The immediate goals of the office have changed from "software engineering" to "being wacky enough to blog".

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I expect someone to start juggling fire any moment.
PPS - I'll have to be more careful what I write in future.

Carving transistors out of stone

My people and I have a great tradition: if we want it and it doesn't exist, we make it. This policy of ingenuity and imagination serves everyone well. One common idea, as wireless networking and internet telephony become more widespread, is a single phone unit that acts as a VoIP handset when at home and a mobile phone when out and about. This is close, but no cigar yet. I'm sure someone is out there with a soldering iron and some electronic diagrams right now figuring out how to make one.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I include myself with these tech innovators only on the software side.
PPS - And, actually, I rarely get to do anything cool.

It's time to go, Mokalus

If I'm being upbeat about the experience, I can consider the six hours or so of my Big Brother audition as an approximation of time in the house. I met some interesting and boisterous strangers. We talked, we joked. We even had some tasks. We were on camera. We met Gretel. I stood in front of a crowd of people who all wanted to be where I was, even if that was only at the front of the line. I made friends, and I made jokes. In the end, I was voted out.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I can be positive about a great many things.
PPS - Not everything, but definitely many things.

A difference of opinion

I just went to pay a bill at the post office, and the drone behind the desk tried to tell me that I had to fill out a deposit slip. I countered with the fact that this has never been necessary before, at which point he caved in and processed the transaction without a deposit slip.

So I suppose when he said that I "had to" fill in this slip, he was exaggerating just a bit.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Like saying "Earth has been invaded by giant blue aliens" when it actually hasn't happened at all.
PPS - That is, if that still counts as exaggeration.

Bloodshot and Shambling

The other day I saw some friends after a big night and asked them why they looked quote dead endquote.
Now I'm thinking it would have been funnier to just yell "ZOMBIE!" and run screaming in the other direction.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - At least now I'm prepared for next time.
PPS - Zombies. They never stop giving.

Green and Gold

I love Australia Day. It's like a Saturday in the middle of the week. An odd kind of Saturday when everyone wears flags and celebrates our national identity by cooking sausages outdoors and watching cricket. It's another one of those days when it's way too easy to overeat, especially if you have breakfast, brunch, lunch, an afternoon barbeque, dinner and an evening party.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - This year I have managed to have only five of those six eating opportunities.
PPS - Big shout out to all Aussies overseas, particularly Glenys, Amos, Dan and Lotte.

Every single hair is now wrong

I think a few months of DIY haircuts are starting to catch up with me. It's nothing too adventurous - I've just been clipping the back so that it's impossible to use the word "mullet" to describe my follicular arrangement. I've been waiting for the rest of my hair to grow out longer, and now I'm not sure what to do about the bits around my ears. I tuck it behind my ears and it looks pretty stupid. I let it fall forwards and it's too long. I'm not at all confident that I could cut it acceptably, so I may be off to the barber again.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - The Brisbane Summer Humidity(tm) isn't helping, either.
PPS - Nothing much does.

Nanu, Philosopher Extraordinaire

What would it be like if the major philosophers and scientists of our time had lunch with Keanu Reeves? According to our little clown troupe, the results would involve many comical contrasts between high thought and "whoa". The phrases "I caught my first tube today", "I know kung-fu" and "there is no spoon" would occur at least once each.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - We only ever refer to Keanu Reeves as "Nanu".
PPS - I don't know where this originated.

The Sunday Mok - The Joel Fan Club

Last Sunday was hot, humid, and generally unpleasant. I spent the afternoon asleep on a mattress on a concrete floor downstairs, which was the coolest I could get. I was still sweating. I sang in the evening church service and was extremely under-confident about it.
On Monday on the bus ride home, I bumped into Katrina, a friend from primary school who had just started a job nearby. That was quite bizarre. I guess I'll be seeing her regularly now.
On Tuesday I started a new habit of renting a cheap DVD from the video shop across the road from the office. I started with Kill Bill Volume 2, which I liked a bit better than the first volume, not because it was better, but because the first one was worse.
On Wednesday I briefly entertained the idea of opening a CafePress shop, basically for my own private use. In the end, I decided not to bother. I played City of Heroes as my Controller character and almost completed a mission solo, then died.
Thursday I attempted the same City of Heroes mission as my Controller with some help from a Scrapper who dropped out before the end of the mission and left me for dead. I'm sure he didn't mean to. I also finished reading The Eye in the Pyramid, the first book of the Illuminatus! trilogy. It's a bit mentally taxing sometimes, and yet it seems to demand a creative response from me, so usually I end up completely exhausted after reading some of this.
I spent Friday at work redesigning part of the system that handles our approvals process. It didn't feel like much progress after I tried it once and changed all my code around, only to discover a better way moments later. I also went to dinner at Roman Gardens, an Italian restaurant at Corinda with Miv, Julia, Lydia, Adam, Rory, Colleen, Julie, Steve and Bronwyn, who were seated around the table in that order. I just like showing off my memory sometimes. I really enjoyed the food.
Yesterday, Saturday, I waited in line for about five hours to try out for Big Brother. That was the most entertaining part. Shout goes out to the "Joel Fan Club": Emily and Dustin. Get some sleep, Emily - you'll need it. And good luck with the band. I also saw "How To Make a Monster", which is an exhibit at the Queensland Museum all about animatronics, which was very cool.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Dad destroyed the light fitting in my room while trying to fix it.
PPS - At least he didn't electrocute himself, though. That's always a plus.

Silent phones and the voices in my head

It's office policy that mobile phones are off during work hours. To some people, this means nothing at all, and they let their phones ring loud and proud, irritating everyone nearby. Our section subverts the rule by leaving phones on vibrate, with the side effect that they are inaudible when ringing to nearby workers. The upshot of this is that people will occasionally start talking to themselves for no reason, usually starting with "Hello?".

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Typically much mirth ensues at this point.
PPS - We are easily amused.

Made-to-order consumer electronics

Picture this: you can imagine an electronic device you want, and it does not exist in the current market. You go to a website and tick off the features you'd like in this device ("plays digital music", "makes phone calls", "laser sword") and pay a nominal fee plus parts and postage. Within six to eight weeks, your device arrives, complete with user manual and warranty. How awesome would that be?

Even better, if a device already exists on the market that does what you need, the site can recommend it to you.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - The bonus to companies, of course, is good market research for new mass-production items.
PPS - I imagine these devices would be more expensive and a bit less polished than mass-market consumer electronics.

Brockian Ultra-Cricket

Over a discussion of 20-20 cricket, we were attempting to come up with some other ways to jazz up the game and make it more exciting. Some suggestions:
1. Combo bonuses for boundaries. For instance, the first six is worth six runs. If you hit another on the next ball, that's seven. A third would be worth eight.
2. Bonus runs for wearing less protective equipment. Super bonus points for carrying no bat.
3. Allowing fielders to tackle batsmen, and the batsmen to defend themselves. After all, they're already wearing spikes and carrying clubs.
4. Multi-ball! MULTI-BALL!

Mokalus of Borg

PS - It could get very interesting.
PPS - Or very silly. It's all good.

Not yellow, though

Looking at Jono (from Half Way Out)'s spiked mohawk on Saturday night, I thought it would be really cool to get one myself, only with the ability to fold it down and spike it up without my hands. You know, like a cockatoo's crest.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - The main difficulty would be the mechanics of it all.
PPS - I imagine some kind of pulley system attached to my eyebrows.

Did I really just say that?

Explaining some of our software to visitors from Melbourne:
"The business objects can also join together, like VOLTRON."

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Yeah, I need help.
PPS - Everyone together: "NEEEERRRRRRD!"

Kevins Smiths

I saw Dogma again last night (I've lost count how many times I've seen it now) and the one thing that always bugs me is the poor grasp of non-English plurals. For instance:
"I've had to put up with it for a millennia."
No, you haven't, see, because you can either put up with it for a millennium or many millennia. And the one that really gets to me is:
"I am a seraphim."
You are a seraph. What you just said is as crazy as saying "I am an angels".

Aside from this extremely nit-picky point, I do enjoy the movie almost as much as I hate/loathe/despise the type of person who talks as I watch it. Especially if they rationalise their behaviour as "I know I'm not supposed to talk, but it's really important that I point out right now that I've just noticed that's Jay and Silent Bob". I don't care. Nobody does.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Occasionally I make threats to people like that.
PPS - They're usually empty, so they never sink in.

The greatest thing I have seen today

The Mozilla Thunderbird email client displays _textual_underlines_ as actual underlines! That is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I bet it does /italics/ too.
PPS - I'll have to test it.

The Sunday Mok - So Long, And Thanks For All The Riffs

Last Sunday I was falling asleep in the morning church service due to a late night. I imagine I'll be doing that again today, for much the same reason. I hung out at Kirsty's place in the afternoon and also after the evening church service.
Going back to work on Monday was definitely a drag. Killing time for the entire week was not a good feeling, either. I know I achieved some things - I just felt like there should have been more of them. Netball in the evening.
More work on Tuesday and much the same feeling. It kept up all week. Karate in the evening and an early night. I wanted to stay awake more easily at work. I don't think I really achieved that.
On Wednesday I picked up Evil Genius and played it for a while. It's probably just the novelty factor that's leading me to spend more time on this game than my others.
On Thursday, when I got home from work, it was still light outside, so I went for a run. I've started carrying 2kg dumbbells because the 1kg ones were no challenge anymore. My time is still up around 37 minutes for my regular route, and I have not yet completed it carrying the bigger weights without slowing to a walk. When I can run the whole thing in 30 minutes or less, I upgrade weights again.
Friday night I spent hours playing Evil Genius, well into the witching hour. Had a timeslip - I kept going for just five more minutes several times. A party next door kept going until 02:40 with no music, just loud drunk-talk. At 01:00 I put in some earplugs which blocked out only my recognition of the words. I settled for that.
Saturday was the farewell GERALD gig (and I still don't know if they preferred their name written in all-caps, all-lowercase or one capital). After a few good bands (Half Way Out and Triple-07 were the best, IMO, and I heard Rest Assured's "Captain Planet" cover again), Gerald came on and played a set of probably 25 songs or so. If they started on time, they played for 2 hours, and I was up the front skanking the whole time. That's about the level of sophistication I can manage in dance: flailing and kicking around to the beat. This is probably why I love ska. I like Half Way Out too. They gave me a t-shirt.
Needless to say, after two hours of active dance, I was perspiring a little. We could have grown rice. It felt pretty darn good to change out of those clothes and get to bed. I saw many people there, too. My friends, some old schoolmates, friends and family of the band and lots of fans.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - It's a shame to see the band go.
PPS - Geographical pressures are fairly insurmountable in the music world, though.

Guess the Character!

I've had a bit of a play with this: Guess the Character! - See if the computer can guess which film/TV character you are! It's interesting, but it sometimes takes ages to get to the point. The first couple of times I tried it, I thought it was gradually honing in on the character, seeming to ask more specific questions. A few more tries later and it seemed to be floundering. The following characters were not listed when I tried them (and I didn't add them):

Lambert, the sheepish lion (from an old Disney short)
The nameless Jackalope from Pixar's "Boundin'"
Joan Gerardi from Joan of Arcadia

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I'm not sure if I've spelled Joan's last name correctly.
PPS - And I'm not positive I got her hair colour right when asked.

Gerald - Thats All Folks

The greatest ska band I have ever spoken to, Gerald, is breaking up and going out with a bang this Saturday. I'll be there, and I intend to party hard. If you're in Brisbane and are available, come along.

GERALD @ the Jubilee Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Saturday 15th January 2005, 8pm
Cover charge $10
Some other bands too.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - It's tragic, it really is.
PPS - I'm gonna miss being a groupie.

The Lukewarm Water Device

Our water heater here at home is about as old as me, and is now approximating my own ability to heat water above body temperature. That is to say that the thing is almost ready for retirement. Currently it produces just enough "hot" water for a disappointing shower, with none left over to wash dishes. One of those activities has to adapt, or the water heater has to be fixed. I'm guessing we will choose to live with it for a while, because Dad has this odd idea about home repair that says "if we don't fix it, we'll get used to it".

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I'll probably start boiling water on the stove to wash up.
PPS - The problem is that adds ten minutes to my morning routine.

Reality

It's possible that my grip on reality is a bit tenuous. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, giants, dwarves, elves, gnomes, superheroes, spaceships, pirates, ninjas, androids and Jedi populate my everyday world. To an extent, I know they're not real, but I often act as if they were. I attempt to use the Force to change traffic lights on a fairly regular basis. If I completely lose my grip, there's no telling what could happen, though it would possibly be less spectacular in real life than my imagination.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Sometimes I try to harness this to write fiction.
PPS - Usually I end up with a dark, unfinished, very short story.

Angst. Sorry.

Usually I'd keep this kind of thing to myself, but it seems to be as good as anything else I'd post today. Last night I learned of a number of events planned by my friends to which I have not been invited. Part of the reason for that is surely that I have to work and can't afford much time at the moment. Still, I'd rather make those decisions for myself.

Let Me In

Over there in that bubble is where they
Can't hear me whisper
Can't hear me talk
Can't hear me scream
LET ME IN I cry in a voice
Too small to notice in the cacophony of silence
Unplug your ears
And show me where the door is
Let me at least stand outside in the rain
While you mock me
I'd rather that than be out here
Alone
Invisible
Silent
Take me with you when you go nowhere
Do nothing
Sit still
Let me follow you to the room full of white
Let me see you all together
Let me in
Let me in
Let me in.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I still consider unmetered, unrhyming verse a copout.
PPS - It's quick and honest, though.

Apply nose (A) to grindstone (B)

Of course I don't feel like being back at work right now. I had to wake up two hours earlier than I have recently been accustomed to and my shirt has long sleeves and a collar. The Christmas decorations are still up around the office - so glad that's not my responsibility. There'll be a mountain of email to dispose of, which will probably take all morning, and the fact that I have friends in university who are still on holidays for another two months is really going to get to me this afternoon. Sigh.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I'm really not in a foul mood.
PPS - It's just that a change of routine is too much to handle this early in the morning.

The Sunday Mok - 9 January 2005

Last Sunday was relaxing, as usual. After the evening church service some of us stayed behind to watch Stargate SG-1 DVDs until about 01:00. The rest of the day was sleep and City of Heroes.
On Monday I sun-bleached my hair a bit. I probably would have preferred it to come out a bit lighter than it did. People have yet to comment on it, which is probably because most of my friends have spent time at the beach recently, and their hair has also been lightened.
Tuesday I went shopping for a router, a gift and to get some old photos developed. The router story has been told already and the photos were less than spectacular. They seemed to be mostly opportunistic shots and film-wasters just to finish off the roll, spanning Easter to New Year. I don't take many photos. I bought Evil Genius for the gift, based on an Apropos of Something recommendation. I have since finished the demo and heard positive reviews from many other people. Now I need my own copy. Youthworx reunion also that night.
Wednesday was way too hot and humid to do anything but lounge in front of a fan. I went to Bridgit's to hang out with Stu and Murrae too, and play Party Monopoly. I lost first, which makes me some kind of winner, I think.
Thursday I went op-shopping with Stu and Bridgit for appropriate 80s costumes for Stu's 21st. I had mine sorted out already - I was just checking for cheap suits and hideous ties. I went back to karate in the evening for the first time in a few weeks and came home drenched with sweat. I blame the humidity for creating a zero evaporation rate.
On Friday morning I checked out the QFleet car auctions with Dad. The Toyota Camry I was interested in sold for $19 300, which is not surprising considering its good condition and low odometer reading. I played City of Heroes in the afternoon until Daniel and Lotte's farewell party, which I enjoyed. Of course.
Saturday I found out that the next time I'll see Vicki will be three weeeks from now, unless she calls me first. I'm going out on a limb and saying she's not gonna call. I went to Stu's 21st dressed as Freddy Krueger and was quickly surpassed by Murrae's full Darth Vader costume. We tried to convince Murrae (recently elected Elder at church) to wear the costume when he first distributes communion. He seemed less than receptive to the idea. Party pooper.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I'm not quite looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.
PPS - Most of my time will be sorting out weeks of email.

In the Summertime

For the majority of you who live in Brisbane, this will hardly be news: Summer here is hot and humid 24/7. This feels like the biggest thing affecting my life right now. The heat and humidity combine to cover every person in a thin layer of perspiration and condensation, like an amphibian. The humidity means this does not evaporate like it should. It's tough to keep long hair in good condition. You feel like a set of gills wouldn't go to waste, since you practically swim through the air anyway. Also, because sweat smells bad and it isn't going away, it's almost impossible to smell good unless you live in air conditioning or stand in front of a fan all day and night. Personally I opt for three showers a day.

As bad as all this is, I imagine this is the only thing keeping the South-East Queensland population from exploding - others used to harsher Winters migrate North to tropical Queensland and experience the most pleasant Winter of their life. They move here. Summer rolls around and they melt like snowmen. So I guess it's not all bad.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I go through 600mL of ice per night.
PPS - That's as well as the open windows and fan.

Dream Another Dream

I had a post all ready to go for this morning and then this dream hit me. I dreamt I was in bed very early in the morning and woke up with a strange compulsion to go downstairs and look out towards the ocean. I could see sparks flying into the air from a massive bonfire down on the beach (by the way, we don't live near the beach) and also some tiny pathetic fireworks. Then a bus - no kidding, a Council bus - comes flying through the air turning end-over-end and embeds itself up to halfway in the corner of the house. It barely missed my bed.

Of course by the time I checked around to see if anyone was playing a joke or wanted me dead, some of my friends had come over to see the bus. By then it had turned into a whale and I kind of lost my momentum.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Just this morning I saw this which might at least explain where the idea of a flying bus came from.
PPS - I think it also had something to do with City of Heroes.

Routerised

I've just finished the minor headache of installing a router here at home to properly share our cable internet between two computers. I've restarted this computer about four times and rebooted the router maybe six times. I've had to check and change the internet password a few times, and more than once everything seemed to be working for about five seconds before it all fell down again. Now, however, everything seems to be up and running properly, and all the programs I've tested so far have worked without issue.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I have yet to test the connection from the other PC.
PPS - I'm only a little worried about the new total of ten devices running on two power outlets in this room.

Stimulus/Response

I have made an observation of human behaviour. So far I have only observed this in females of the species, but it may equally apply to males. When a girl is just on the verge of entering a romantic relationship, she becomes way more friendly to everyone else, including people she might have avoided previously. I also have a couple of half-baked pop-psychology explanations:

• She may believe she is keeping the secret by behaving in a more friendly manner to everyone rather than just her prospective partner.
• Her system may be flooded with positive hormones, bringing about an involuntary goodwill to all people.
• She may (subconsciously) realise that she's about to drop out of many social circles for a little while, and is pre-emptively making up for it.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Whatever the explanation, I have seen this to be true on a few occasions now.
PPS - I have yet to correctly interpret it as it happens.

"Useless" is such a harsh word...

It seems useful to me now, like many impractical ideas I've had before: an expiry date on files, emails, folders, whatever. That is, the file is slated for future deletion, but is intended to hang around until then. As I said, it seems useful, but I think it would be one of those features that gets buried in the background and used only a few times.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I just want it so I can free up more of my memory for other important data.
PPS - Like more Simpsons episodes.

This is why I don't talk much

I carry a little black diary notebook in my back pocket everywhere I go. I use this notebook to keep track of appointments, taking names and occasionally to write down profound thoughts that strike me at odd moments. This, then, is my top 5 of those profound thoughts for 2004:

5: "If you think someone is boring, you don't know them well enough". This is probably just a reaction to me thinking I am boring.

4: "You can't dance and worry at the same time". True enough, eh?

3: "Every minute of every day we leave behind the person we once were. Change is not just inevitable - it is essential. Without change there is no growth. Without growth we cannot adapt. If we cannot adapt we spend more time trying to change our environment. Eventually all of our time is taken and we have none left to live in. The world will change whether you want it to or not. As long as you live here, you will have to make peace with change." This entry is notable because of its sheer length. It took a whole week's worth of pages to write down.

2: "I've learned that a baby's smile is the most infectious smile in the world". Everyone smiles when a baby does.

1: "Kung-fu Zombie Movie", referring to a half-baked idea about combining the two best movie genres of all time.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - There are many, many others.
PPS - Some of them belong on t-shirts.

The Sunday Mok - Bound and Rebound

Last Sunday, both church services were quiet. It seems that everyone's away right now. Bad Eggs has started to grow on me, after another viewing on Sunday night. I believe that's the fourth time I've seen that movie.
On Monday I saw The Incredibles and I invited just about everyone I knew via SMS, which probably cost me about as much as the movie ticket, in the end. One invited person came along and brought two other people, so that's probably the last time in ages that I try that.
I spent Tuesday mostly just reading and playing City of Heroes. We went to a family friend's place for dinner, and that's when I was invited to Rainbow Beach.
Wednesday was uneventful - reading, games, television, DVDs. All the really exciting stuff a hermit can do.
Thursday morning I left for Rainbow Beach and met the team, including New Girl, Vicki. By evening I was certain she was interested in me.
Friday morning Vicki was acting a little more distant. This led me to give her my number before I left, instead of asking for hers. I'm a little confused. I went to two New Year's Eve parties that were very different. I left one that comprised about nine laid-back people and arrived at the other in the middle of a rowdy, thirty-person game of Pass The Parcel.
Saturday after staying up to watch the first sunrise of the new year (as is my personal tradition) I slept in until 4pm. Not kidding. The rest of the day I played City of Heroes.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - It'll be at least a week before I get to see Vicki again.
PPS - And, of course, I can't call her.

New and improved!

I've just spent a few minutes updating my Blogger profile, because I had a new picture to use. Even though Dad owns a spiffy digital camera, somehow I have this aversion to actually using it to take a decent avatar picture of me. I just use whatever recent photo I get my hands on, like a digital photo scavenger.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - This particular one was taken in early December 2004.
PPS - I've only rarely been tempted to use a picture of Brad Pitt instead of me.