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June 29, 2005
Moving Day
I'm sitting in the midst of the chaos that it moving, already sweating a bit. It's time to load up the truck.
Our last night in the Charlottesville house was spent sleeping on the floor. I took the bed apart last night, so Sarah and I slept on the mattress laid out on our hardwoods. She's now getting ready; we're eating at Bodo's one last time before we go get the truck. Bodo's is a bagel place here in town. They're easily the best bagels I have ever had. Sarah and I usually eat there one morning a week, but lately we've been going more and more in anticipation of the move away. The bagels are crispy on the outside but chewey on the inside. They don't toast them, but usually they are only half and hour (at most) from the oven anyway. Slathered in cream cheese or topped with eggs, bacon, or other more exotic ingredients (feta cheese, cucumbers), they are a great breakfast/lunch/anytime food.
We've got a long day ahead of us and probably won't actually leave town until tomorrow morning. Regardless, this will likely be my last post for a few days, since we don't have an internet connection at our new place yet. But keep checking back, as I'll post while Sarah and I are on vacation.
Bye, Charlottesville.
Posted by Nakia at 06:48 AM | Comments (5)
June 27, 2005
A busy weekend
Sarah and I now own a home!
Sarah and I drove to Rock Hill Friday for our home closing. It was surprisingly painless. I had heard lots of horror stories about closings, but ours was a snap. We even got money back, due to our seller covering a lot of closing costs, the prorated taxes, and our earnest deposit. I will credit the ease of our closing largely to the skill of our agent and the goodwill of everyone involved. Our seller/builder (our house is brand new), even gave us a notebook with all the subcontractors listed, some lawn care tips, and all the warranty information on our appliances. We camped out in our new bedroom on an air mattress; we're moving everything on Thursday.
Saturday night we were back in Charlottesville for a going away cookout hosted by out neighbors, Chuck and Kellie. Since over 50 people had RSVP'ed, they moved the party out to Chris Greene Lake. It was lots of fun, even if a little melancholy, since we're saying "see you later" to lots of friends here in the Ville.
Sunday was more packing, with a lot of help from Sarah's sister, Jen. (She came down from Baltimore for the party). Sunday night we went over to my buddy Cameron's new house. He gave us the tour, then we grilled out and played with the dog a bit. His wife, Jenny, was out of town until Tuesday, so we didn't get to say goodbye to her. But it's not like we're never coming back to Charlottesville.
Also saw Batman Begins Friday night. Very good stuff. Top five superhero movies, definetly. Better than either X-Men movie, maybe as good as Spiderman 2, maybe as good as The Incredibles. Hopefully, there will be more Gary Oldman as Gordon in the sequel.
Posted by Nakia at 10:28 AM | Comments (9)
June 23, 2005
Farewell to the Divide
Continuing our tour of restraunts we will miss, Sarah and I ate at Continential Divide tonight. Love it!
The food at the CD is upscale southwestern/tex-mex with some California influence, which puts it as a favorite anyway. But everything is just so well done. The sauces are spicy and flavorful, but not too hot. Their meat is always cooked just right, whether it's the pulled pork in the pork tacos to the cuban steak (my choice tonight). They also have 24 kinds of tequila (or something like that) and Sarah assures me their margaritas are great. Plus, the place has attitude. Their slogan is "Too crowded? Too loud? Too bad!" It's a tiny place and there is almost always a wait. The staff have just enough attitude to give the place some character without sacrificing service. Awesome place.
Posted by Nakia at 09:33 PM | Comments (5)
More Cowbell
One of the funniest SNL skits in recent memory:
Man, this is funny stuff, only slightly marred by Jimmy Fallon. Was there one skit he was in where he didn't crack up in the middle of it? Glad Farrell and Walken pulled this one out. . .
Posted by Nakia at 09:30 PM | Comments (1)
June 22, 2005
Recatigorization
I just added some new categories to help with the site organization.
They are:
"Gaming" which will cover D&D and other gaming related material.
"Pictures" which will cover thoughts on movies or other visual art.
"Sounds" which will cover music and concert reviews.
"Words" which will cover thoughts on books (including comics). I know, comics have pictures, too, but I have to pick one. And I read comics, whereas I watch movies.
Posted by Nakia at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2005
The End of an Era
Another morning up before the alarm, feeling good except for a bit of a junk food stomach hangover. Last night was the last night of (regular) gaming for me in C'ville.
It started simply enough. A bored, geeky guy moved to town and looked for other bored geeky types to play Dungeons and Dragons. He put up a flyer at the local game store. He got an email from this guy named Rich, who said that there was an open spot in a game that was beginning at the game store on Tuesday nights. He went, met Rich in person and played in the game. They bargained with some myconoids in a not very fun game, but he kept Rich's email with the hopes of finding a better group.
Later, he got a call from a girl named Suzanne. She had just moved to town and was looking for folks to game with. He had also found two other potential gamers -- Matt and Tim -- through some random internet site. They all arranged to meet on the patio between Clemons and Alderman Libraries. He was especially impressed with Matt's Sonic Youth t-shirt. Everyone seemed okay, not scary or dirty or anything, so the agreed to give gaming together a shot. Matt wanted to start making up characters Right Then, so they went back to his minimally furnished crappy graduate student apartment. They sat on the floor (because he only had one chair), rolled dice, and made up D&D characters. Later, Matt's fiance joined them. A few sessions later, Rich joined the group.
Thus it began. Almost five years of gaming together. They took turns running games -- Tim ran a GURPS game, they rotated DM duties in an experimental try in cocreating a campaign, Suzanne ran a game for awhile. Matt's friend JD joined the group, playing regularly despite living in Harrisonburg. He later met a guy named David at the comic book shop. David joined at the tail end of a lengthy campaign which culminated in the defeat of Vladj the Red, Scourge of the North.
He and Rich drove 500 miles to Gen Con, a great gathering of gamers and geeks.
He took a break from gaming to get his dissertation done, but gaming continued. Matt ran a Midnight game. Rich later began his own game, bringing Leland and Robert into the fold.
They had a good time. Stories were created. Friendships were made, and occasionally strained. People moved away. The fellowship dwindled.
To Rich, Matt, Tim, JD, Suzanne, Laurel, David, Leland, Robert, and everyone else I was able to game with here in Charlottesville: Thanks for lots of fun and a Bag of Holding full of stories.
Posted by Nakia at 09:51 AM | Comments (3)
June 20, 2005
Farewell to Food
The two most important things Sarah and I are doing before we leave C'ville are hanging out with friends and eating at our favorite restraunts. We got to do both this weekend.
Blessed by glorious weather, Sarah and I went to the gym and then the outdoor farmer's market Saturday morning. We love the market, even if we don't really ever buy anything. I did have a fresh homeade doughnut, which was so good it immeidately provoked the Homer response: MMMM. . . doughnut . . .*drool*
We then went home and packed some boxes. Sarah wanted to do something outside, so she washed the cars. I joked it was my own private Bikini Car Wash. I'm indeed a lucky man.
I had also promised Sarah I would take her to a movie of her choice, since she gladly went with me to see Episode III. She wanted to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Here in the Ville, it was only playing at the Carmike, which is the Worst.Movie Theatre.Ever. [Rant] Seriously. The individal theatres are small, with broken seats, sticky floor, and often mysterious stains on the screen. The sound is horrible. The popcorn and drinks are sub-par; the "small" at the Regal in town is the size of the "medium" at the crappy Carmike. The employees are the epitome of the "sullen teenager" stereotype. I tried to avoid the theatre at all costs. The last time I went, the ticket vendor had to stop smoking his cigarette out front to sell me the ticket. The only drink they had was Sprite. Thus, my vow to never return.[/Rant]
Given my feelings about the Carmike, I told Sarah we'd go to Short Pump. If we were driving 45 minutes, we might as well make an evening out of it, I thought. So we invited our friends Rich and Laura along and decided we'd eat at the Cheesecake Factory after the movie. A good time was had.
Sunday was more packing. We had dinner with some other friends, Rob and Laura, at Sticks. Sticks is a local kabob place with really good hummus. We sat with Rob and Laura, eating and talking, until we closed the place down. Much fun with good food and good friends.
Posted by Nakia at 10:21 AM | Comments (3)
June 17, 2005
A good Friday
Have you ever stirred awake before your alarm and thought "Wow. What a good night's sleep -- AND I don't even have to get out of bed yet!"? Then you roll over, put your hand on the person you are lucky enough to be sharing a bed with, and doze, drifting in semi-consciousness as the day comes into being outside your open window.
That was me this morning. I woke up from a great night's sleep, which is always a good way to begin a day.
I'm not even sure why I got a great night's sleep; I actually went to bed a little late. I was in a pretty good mood when I went to bed, which I am sure helped.
Last night we had a great D&D session. We scheduled this extra Thursday session so we could get through the adventure before I left. Monday will be my last session with these guys before I move. Rich is doing a great job as DM, challenging us without going over the top. Last night we defeated two devils and retrieved a magic orb. And, yes, I know I am totally geeking out now. At least I didn't tell you about my character (well he's this wizard who had to leave the magic college and has this cool familiar and. . .)
On the geek front, I've also started playing OGame, an online sci-fi RTS where you build resources and spaceships and conquer planets. It's like a Sid Meyer game. My friend David, who moved from C'ville to Portland recently, sent me the link to the game awhile ago, but I just signed up. So far, it's pretty fun.
Speaking of Portland, I'm reading Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk. I'll give a full report when I'm finished.
Sarah and I have also firmed up our vacation plans. After visiting my dad in Knoxville, we're going to the NC mountains for a couple of days, just to relax. We're staying at what looks to be a nice place in Blowing Rock -- The Village Inn. We've got a room with a jacuzzi on the deck -- awww yeah. I haven't been to that part of NC in a long time, so it should be nice.
Now, we're just continuing to pack. We close on the house next Friday. Buying a house, vacationing at a mountain inn -- how very adult.
Posted by Nakia at 08:39 AM | Comments (2)
June 15, 2005
Summer Plans
Life is hectic. Sarah and I spent last night trying to figure out exactly what we are doing this summer (and beyond) and making some concrete steps based on those plans.
Here's what the summer looks like for us so far:
We'll load up our moving truck on the 29th of June. Drive to Rock Hill and unload on the 30th. Then, we'll stick around Rock Hill on the 1st, unpacking and taking care of things around town. On July 2nd, we'll leave for Irving, Texas, where Sarah's parents and sister live. We'll stop that night in Jackson, MS (We made hotel reservations last night). We'll drive into Irving on the 3rd. Sarah wants to go see Jackopierce that night at some festival. Then, on the 4th of July, we'll go see the Boston Red Sox play the Texas Rangers. I'm very excited about that one. We'll then stick around a couple of more days, visiting with Sarah's family and some of our Texas friends.
We'll probably leave on the 7th and head east. We may drive up the Natchez Trace parkway a bit, but the goal is to get to Knoxville in two or three days. We'll hang out with my dad in Knoxville for a couple of days. Then, well then I have no idea. Sarah has to be back in Charlottesville on the 15th; my class starts at Winthrop on the 18th. So we'll probably stop back by our Rock Hill house, then head up and relax at a place in the North Carolina mountains for a couple of days. I'll drop Sarah off in Charlottesville, then head back to Rock Hill to teach. Anyone know of a cool place to spend a couple of relaxing days in the NC mountains?
It sounds hectic, but we're trying to build in some relaxation time.
Posted by Nakia at 10:15 AM | Comments (1)
June 13, 2005
Moving Progress
Just a quick update today, since I cannot seem to post on the weekends. Sarah and I had our yeard sale Saturday. We made a little money, but most importantly, got rid of all the bigger stuff we didn't want to move. We're still packing, sorting, and throwing stuff away.
We also watched Mr. 3000. It was bad, bad, bad, bad -- and I like baseball and Bernie Mac.
Thanks to those of you who post comments. That type of feedback and conversation was why I decided to blog in the first place.
Posted by Nakia at 03:05 PM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2005
Sherri was a waitress. . .
Last night, Sarah and I saw Robert Earl Keen at Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond. Good stuff (except for the parking situation).
Last night, Sarah and I headed east to Richmond and the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens to hear Texan singer/songwriter (and fellow Aggie) Robert Earl Keen. I like REK a lot, mainly because he can tell a great story, both traditionally and in a song. His best work gives us glimpses of love ("Gringo Honeymoon"), murder and desperation ("The Road Goes On Forever"), and longing ("I'm Coming Home, the wonderful new song "What I Really Mean"). All of these tuneful stories are infused with a vivid and definite sense of place. Most of the time, that place is Texas, though occasionally he ventures to Santa Cruz, Mexico, Tenessee, or (in the new song "The Great Hank") Philadelphia, where he sees Hank Williams in drag.
Last nights show was hampered by an obviously under-the-weather Keen, though he tried his damndest. With a scratchy voice that he described as "the love child of Tom Waits and Joan Rivers playing country music", he solidered though old favorites like "Gringo Honeymoon," "Feeling Good Again," and "Shades of Gray." He also treated us to new stuff. He played "What I Really Mean," and commented that it had been written in Charlottesville. The set also featured "Mr. Wolf and Mamabear" and "The Great Hank." Although Keen was not at his best and played a short set, I was still impressed, especailly by the obligatory "The Road Goes On Forver" as the closer. This song tunred into a guitar and mandolin jam that lasted ten minutes, with Rich Brotherton on guitar blowing me away. That was one of the best "Roads" I have ever heard.
A good time, to be sure, even if we just sat in the parking lot for thirty minutes after the show. One exit and no one directing traffic -- nice job, there, promoters.
And even though I was home and in bed by 12:30, I'm still beat. This means, of course, that I'm an old man.
Posted by Nakia at 09:33 AM | Comments (2)
June 09, 2005
Moving sucks
Moving sucks. Everyone knows it. It's just a pain to sort, trash, pack, load, haul, unload, unpack, thrash, and resort. It's why your true friends are the ones who will help you move. But the suckiness of moving isn't just because of the sheer amount of work involved, which often takes place in addition to your normal work and in addition to the "things you must do before you leave." Moving is a lot of work, but is also puts you in an odd, in-between place.
When moving, you are not here and not there. You're pulling up stakes, but have yet to put down new ones. Part of you is future-focused: did I order trash service yet? What color drapes should we get? Is there good Mexican food in our new town? Part of you is consumed by present demands: I need to pack. I need to finish this project before I leave. I need to make sure to call Stephen and hang out before we take off. Yet a third part is caught by the past: remember my crappy first apartment in this town? Remember those months I worked at the bookstore? Remember how you hated this place when we first moved?
Moving pulls you in these three directions, unmooring you, putting you in transition, in flux, in flight.
I've moved a lot. In the five years in Charlottesville, I've lived in five houses/apartments. I moved here from Texas. I moved to Texas from South Carolina. I remember that move particularly well, because I did it on my own. I left my father's house in Conway and drove to Greenville. I spent the night with my friend (John) Harper. The next day I drove the two hours down I-85 to Atlanta, where I stayed with another good friend, Daniel. Then, I hopped back into my seafoam-green Chavy Blazer and headed West on I-20, stopping in Tuscalosa to eat lunch with another friend. I spent the night at the Comfort Inn on Canal in New Orleans. Alone and wary, I didn't enjoy the city much. I was back in my room before dark. The next day I was up almost at dawn, headed West on I-10, over the inummerable bridges that spanned the bayous of southern Louisiana. I arrived in College Station that afternoon. I remember thinking that, with all my stops, I had left a trail of friends across the country like breadcrumbs, just in case I needed to find my way back home.
This move is very different from that one. Sarah is with me. We've bought a house. I'm starting a great job. But some of those feelings -- of being stretched, pulled between future, present, and past -- have surfaced again. I'm living on those in-betweens, as John (then Cougar) Mellencamp sang. But it's okay.
Posted by Nakia at 11:12 AM | Comments (2)
June 08, 2005
Had the $240, had to have the puddin'
One of the funniest sketches of all time.
Thanks to reveal over at ENWorld for digging this one up.
Posted by Nakia at 11:26 AM | Comments (1)
June 07, 2005
It's the story, silly.
Last night was probably my next to last night playing Dungeons and Dragons with my Charlottesville, group. That bums me out quite a bit because I’ve had a lot of fun playing D&D over the past five years with some very nice and creative people here in C’ville. I’ve been playing D&D and other role playing games for a long time, since 6th or 7th grade. What do I get out of this activity?
1. It’s a social outlet. It’s just hanging out with friends, making jokes, drinking beers and Coke while engaging in a common activity. People watch sports with their buds, they go to bars with their pals; I just happen to sit around a table and role funny dice. Gaming has actually led me to develop deep and lasting friendships with a lot of people. One of the guys I gamed with in Texas was a groomsman in my wedding. I served as an usher at Rich’s wedding here. For me, gaming has been a consistent social activity that’s led to lasting friendships.
2. It’s fun mental exercise. I like pretending. I like figuring things out. I like solving puzzles, coming up with tactics and scenarios, and testing my wits. Gaming lets me do all of these things. It poses a challenge and allows me to learn new things. I know D&D helped me develop my vocabulary, reading skills, and math ability when I was younger.
3. Most importantly, it let’s me participate in developing a story. I love stories. It’s why I’m drawn to novels, films, and comic books. Stories help us understand things about other people; they help us to understand things about ourselves. Gaming allows me to participate in the telling of stories, which seems to me to be a fairly fundamental human activity. Fundamental, at least, in what it means to be human. We tell and retell, we call and respond. Gaming gives me a way to be a story maker, rather than just a story consumer. That’s invaluable to me.
Posted by Nakia at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)
June 06, 2005
Something of Substance
Thus far, almost everything on my blog has been about the blog itself and not much about the blogger. Since the whole point of this thing is to keep in touch with people, to facilitate communication and relationships, then it would behoove me to let people know what's going on in NakiaWorld (admission is free).
My life is currently dominated by an impeding job-related move. At the end of June, Sarah and I will be moving from Charlottesville to Rock Hill, South Carolina. I'm going to be an Assistant Professor at Winthrop University. This is almost a "dream-job" situation for me. After finishing my PhD in Foundations of Education with a focus on Philosophy, I wanted to get a professor job at a smaller university where I could focus on teachng while still doing some writing and research. Actually, given the job market for PhD's, I just wanted an assistant professor job, somewhere. As it turns out, I happened to get one at a school with a great reputation, nice faculty, in an affordable place to live that's reasonably close to an urban area, and fairly close to my family. Rock Hill is just outside of Charlotte, NC. It's about three hours from my brother in Myrtle Beach and three hours from my dad in Knoxville. I'll be teaching "Schools and Society" to mostly undergrads. I couldn't be happier.
Moving and a real job meant buying a house, which Sarah and I were able to do. Actually, the process is still going on, since we don't close until the end of the month. Buying a house deserves it's own column/entry, I think, so I'll post those thoughts later.
We're in our final month in Charlottesville. That means we're packing, sorting, throwing things away, getting ready for a yard sale, and trying to visit all the restraunts we'll miss when we leave Charlottesville. For all the issues I have with this town, I will certainly miss the culinary opportunities it presents.
The plan now is to get our stuff together this month, haul it all down to Rock Hill and our new house on the 30th, then unload. We'll spend all of one day in our new house before hitting the road. We'll wander about and vacation for a bit. Sarah will head back to C'ville to housesit and work a little more at her job. I'll start teaching a summer class at Winthrop on July 18th. Sarah will be in Rock Hill after the 25th. Whew. I'm getting tired just thinking about all that's going on.
Posted by Nakia at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)
Grumble, Grumble. . .
I had grandiose plans to get a lot of work done on this site over the weekend, but Adelphia let me down. . .
I couldn't access the site all weekend! I am not sure what was wrong. All I know is some sites would work, some would not, and some would take forever to load. My email sites (gmail and yahoo) worked fine. I was able to access the IMDB last night to see who played Patsy Cline in "Coal Miner's Daughter." (Beverly D'Angelo, better known as the mom in the "Vaction" movies). My banking sites would work, but very slowly. Yet, I couldn't get to Professor Pope, ENWorld, or some of the furniture sites I wanted to browse. I was really frustrated. I place the blame on my ISP, Adelphia. Their cable modem service is pretty flaky at times.
Well, c'est la vie. When I couldn't acess the site Friday night, I just wrote an entry in Word. I'll paste it in later. It will just be out of order.
Posted by Nakia at 08:45 AM | Comments (3)
June 03, 2005
Style Isn't Everything
After much tinkering with the stylesheets and colors for the site, I'm just going to leave it as it is for now. I found this stylesheet at Moveablestyle.com. I also found a great Moveable Type resource page, which includes lots of tips for beginners, at Elise's Site. Her site has been super helpful and I highly recommend it.
There's also a nice color mixer at Colormatch 5K.
As far as the site goes, next I am going to try and figure out how to add a "Links" section to the sidebar. I also want to try and figure out how to spruce things up a bit with pictures or graphics.
Posted by Nakia at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)
Better late than never
This was supposed to be posted Friday night, but I couldn't access the site from home.
Just got back from Barnes and Noble. Sarah's gone until tomorrow night -- whaitewater rafting with work. I was feeling bored and useless, grazing images on the TV like junk food, so to get out of the house I went to the big bookstore. I used to work there, which is a story unto itself.
I am intimidated and inspired by bookstores. There is so much there of interest, so much to read, to learn, to respond to. I looked at books on Art Deco, some Palinhuk novels, a book of Camus' essays, Moby Dick, and read the Ewan McGreggor interview in the newest Esquire (which was rather worthless. You don't learn much new about Ewan other than he had to pretend he was this really slow animal while in acting school and he has a big penis. Seriously.). With all that, how can I pick one thing to read? How can I prioritize? What if I finally start Moby Dick and hate it, or can't get through it? I'm paralyzed, almost, by fear of starting something new, or picking the wrong thing. I get the same way in record stores. I either walk out of there with 12 different things, or I leave with nothing. Given my general financial state, I mostly opt for the later, which leaves me bereft of new material. That, in turn, makes me mad at myself. Yes, I am a mess.
But the trip wasn't totally useless. I got out of the house, away from the TV, and generally feel better about things.
Now, I am going back to the television, but with a purpose. I rented the Dune miniseries. Sarah's not a sci-fi fan at all, so I pick out stuff like that when she's not going to be around to watch it with me.
BTW, the Assault on Precinct 13 remake was not good. Not horrible, but predictable and generally lame. I never saw the first one, but it's John Carpenter, so it has to be better. I was also seriously annoyed that the climax of the movie takes place. . . in a pine forest!!? When did they get forests in Detroit, especially the bombed out crappy part of Detroit Precinct 13 was in?
Alright, enough of that. Off to Arakis and thinly veiled representations of Arabic/Muslim culture in science fiction.
Posted by Nakia at 09:04 AM | Comments (0)
June 02, 2005
Color Me Bad
As you can see, I am experimenting a bit with color schemes for the site. Sorry it's so ugly right now, but I'm working on it. I learned about CSS color values and found a great site that breaks them all down: CSS Color Values.
On another note: When I edit stuff from my crappy Windows 98 machine at school using the Firefox browser, there are buttons for adding links, italics, etc. No buttons on Safari, though. Odd.
I am going to continue to play around with the colors, as well as try and add a "Links" sidebar. Now, though, I am going to watch "Assault on Precinct 13" (the new one with Ethan Hawke). Yep, Sarah's at work.
Posted by Nakia at 07:13 PM | Comments (0)
June 01, 2005
Well, here goes!
After a conversation with my brother, I've decided to go ahead with this blog project. Thus, it begins. . .
Yesterday afternoon I talked with Andre about the "philosophy of blogs," citing many of the same concerns I posted yesterday. As always, he put things in perspective. He's much more net and computer savvy than I am. He put together this website, after all, plus there is 803 Productions and his very cool UMD Planet. So, he's seen a variety of blogs and gave me good feedback about their content, purpose, and usefulness. They are a tool, after all, and tools are what you make of them.
So, I'm now a blogger. My next task, with Andre's help, is to make my site more functional and attractive. I'll try to put some links in the sidebar, get some better colors and graphics, and try to make this site a cool place to visit.
Lest I forget, Andre pointed me toward the blog of his new business partner, Paul. Check it out: Screw The Man!
Posted by Nakia at 08:46 AM | Comments (2)