Month: November 2012

I wandered back into the world of Mass Effect III multiplayer after months of being away from the game. I must say I am impressed at all of the upgrades. This multiplayer has gone from a rote exercise in killing the same CG baddies to a nightmarish landscape of shifting responsibilities and team dynamics.

All of the old stuff has been remade to increase the atmospheric quality. Sometimes you battle through the night and at other times doors shut, creating kill zones in places that once were hideouts. I am certain there is a pattern to some of these maps. There always is.  However, if the team continues to update and modify as they have, MS3 Multiplayer will survive a long time.

Part of the reason it will survive is the updated player reward system. Now you can see each player’s skills displayed on the meetup screen. Their points flash by and the graphic underlying the user’s slot indicates their latest or perhaps greatest conquest. I see players marked at N7 Elites, Defender’s, etc. I have no graphic. I have no special skill points to reflect how long I’ve played the game. See, everything is new now. It is also much much harder.

 

Some Thoughts:

1. Storyforming my SR novel through the Dramatica software is helpful. It helped me add layers I did not think of. I’m not even done and I can already see how intricate and original the system has made this story.

My first-grader is skipping out on homework, and I am letting him do it. He developed a serious lazy streak. He rests on his intelligence and shrugs off the work that is needed to be successful. In other words, he is me.

This week his teacher challenged him with a large (20 pg) math packet and the completion of a book report. He completed half the math and completely skipped out on the book report. This is likely to lead to a failing grade in language arts and a major wake up call for a kid who just wants to get by.

I know he is young (5), and operating outside his range (1st/2nd grade class), but I believe he has the mental capacity to get through the grade. He is certainly smart enough, but he needs to mature into the learning level. This is still going to take some time.

 

0-8 is history. Welcome to the world of 1-8. I could end the season 5-8 with a outside shot at making the playoffs and then it is 0-0. I was powered by great performances from all my players, including some excellent play from Andrew Luck, a QB who I famously said was a bust waiting to happen. I think that 0-8 start was penance from the Football Gods. Here, on the eve of NFL week 10, I look to challenge Bristol greatness. Last week I went 11-3 with a couple of upsets to bust up my chance for a perfect 14. Still, 84-48 puts me ten behind Wickersham, eight behind Mortensen and still in striking distance of that championship. Will we see another strong week?

IND over JAC
No surprises here. Indy is rising behind strong offensive play and the heart of a coach who will not stop fighting–even when that fight is against cancer.

NYG over CIN
Road games are home games and vice versa.

TEN over MIA
Tough call, but the TEN running game is going to control the clock here.

MIN over DET
Something is amuck in DET. I cannot tell you why, but Megatron is not catching touchdowns. Madden Curse?

NE over BUF

NO over ATL
Yep, upset call of the week. I think NO knows how important this win is and in a home game, they are going to seal it late.

TB over SD

DEN over CAR

BAL over OAK

SEA over NYJ

PHI over DAL

SF over STL

CHI over HOU

PIT over KC

 

 

It is impossible to ignore the cresent of skin below the neckline broken by a line of cleavage. This is not a sexual affirmation, but an observation. For reasons I cannot understand, men–or just me–are compelled to look at a woman’s neckline. I try to stop. I often stare women in the eye to the point that it becomes obvious that I’m working hard to avoid looking down. I am not trying to be obnoxious or to sexualize people, I am merely responding to a strange unconscious urge to look at what is presented to me. I know this because it usually happens with women I am not even attracted to.

I think it is the flesh.

The persence of bare flesh presents a counterpoint to the clothing. I look at arms and legs the same as I do a neckline, but those glances are less noticable because they are more expected. It seems that the neckline and thusly cleavage, which some women work to make noticeable, is this odd test which women present in order to see just what kind of a person you are.

Does looking make you a bad person, a pervert, or even a deviant? Given the proclivity of designers to make low cut shirts, I feel the latter option cannot be true. It cannot be deviant to look when the majority of women’s wear is designed to goad you into doing so. I’m certain I sound like a pig for saying so, but indeed therein lies the trap.

I don’t think I am a bad person or even perverted. Maybe it is a sign that there is a good guy somewhere in me that I even choose to have this conversation. What I dislike most of all is that when my eyes do wander, it puts people on the defensive. I feel that I am making women uncomfortable with the notice of flesh, yet I don’t know how to not notice.

Some Thoughts:

1. The new season of The Walking Dead proves that no one is safe. There has been a quiet assumption that certain characters and concepts are basically off limits. In other words, some folks won’t be infected. However, that is not the case at all. Anyone can be killed. Even Rick.
2. The Giants lost another home game, this one in the 4th quarter. The loss was not terribly shocking, but it did come as a dissapointment to fans who hoped to step away from the sadness of Sandy by watching their team ‘do what it do’. I think the fans get that the G-men tried and that the Steelers don’t lay down for anyone.

I went through a period of time where I really let my guard down. I felt that I’d reached a point of organization and certainty where I could take it easy. Once that happened, I started to slip back into many of the old routines and things didn’t get done. Heck, I even missed a day of the blog. So, I think it may be a good idea to go back to the basics.

I scripted my week practically hour by hour in an attempt to see what I can do and what I must cut. If I allow the schedule to do its job I have a serious chance to put things right again with my time management.

The college I used to work at has a split personality. Many prefer to hire from within, while others prefer to hire outside. I was always torn on that account. When you hire from within you know what you get and you get someone familiar with the culture. You can even train them to be the kind of employee you feel you need. This is all good. To a point.

The college I used to work for hired a secretary who became an administrative assistant who became a Dean. This is where I feel the system breaks down. This person can easily continue that trajectory, becoming a VP at a college and eventually becoming a college president. What is wrong with that? I think it undermines the very nature of the academic schema. I believe all college presidents should spend a significant amount of time as faculty. You have to understand both sides of the business in order to really administrate the business. While I admire what it takes to go from scheduling meetings and answering phones as the front door for an administrator to being that administrator and finally that administrator’s ultimate boss, I feel that journey wipes away the ability to understand the academic side of operation from a practical standpoint.

I’ve struggled with this for some time, and I see it happening time and again. There needs to be a clear pathway to advancement, but right now, in some places, it is easier to go from Secretary to President than it is to go from Faculty to President. That isn’t how it should be.

Some Thoughts:

1. Day two of Nano and I have yet to touch my novel. Failure in progress…

November is National Novel Writing Month. For the first time I have actually registered for the month (under the name fastdos) and intend to do what I can to compose a novel. Doing what you can has been the real tragedy of this semester. I don’t claim that I have been the best teacher this year, and to thicken the bad news I think I may have turned a group of writers away from the novel. I subjected them to the harsh reality of writing a novel on a tight schedule. Thus far, all but one has failed to meet the deadlines for the course at the word level requested.

Long story short, once they failed to deliver at the level they believe I expected, many of the students became dismayed and dejected. I think I am on the verge of losing them forever. This is wholly my fault. I did not explain the requirements clearly and what I did explain was so much of a top end expectation that it proved to be too much for most of them. Still, the class is about Planning and Structuring the Novel, so what they’ve all done is so far beyond my quiet and unstated actual expectations that I am super proud of the accomplishments. They can now approach the novel with realistic understanding and expectations.

I’m not proud of the way things went down for the students. I have a lot of making up to do in order to restore trust and understanding, but I know that I haven’t burned the bridges so completely that they will not recover.