A Good Weekend, and Thorough
Since the snow melted, things have been pretty quiet. I've mostly been working, and enjoying it.
Wednesday was the employee prerelease tournament for the latest set, which I spent teaching a guy from Creative Services to play. Believe it or not, a number of people get jobs where I work without playing any of the games. That was in fact a lot of fun, and it looks like I'll be meeting regularly with him and somebody else from Creative Services for lessons. I love my job.
Yesterday was the public prerelease up in Seattle. I met atrayah for lunch at Racha, a really good Thai place I'd never been before (like most places in Seattle), and then she and I walked down to Seattle Center for the prerelease.
If you're not familiar with the culture at Magic prereleases, walking in with a pretty girl is one of the more provocative actions one can take. I was also wearing my "Wizards R&D" shirt, figuring, well, if I can't wear it there, where can I wear it?
As for atrayah, I think she got a kick out of being one of the few girls, and one of the very few attractive single ones, in a sea of socially awkward teens and twenty-somethings. She wanted to meet my co-workers, so I obliged her. Doubtless I will be doing some explaining on Monday as to who she isn't.
There were a number of R&D guys there, which is pretty usual for the Seattle prerelease (and must have been for the one I went to in 2003, but I have no memory of it). The tourney organizer gave us all decks to build, and we were encouraged to square off (it's called "gunslinging") against anyone who wandered up. One of the guys behind the R&D table was a skinny guy with red hair and a beard I didn't recognize, but he acted like he belonged back there. That always works.
atrayah left, and I sat down and built my deck (incorrectly, as usual, although I later modified it into something pretty good). I had a little sign that had my name on it, but the most common question I got throughout the day was "Who are you?"
Eh.
(Close second was "Do you know where the side drafts are?", but that only happened once, so it's probably not fair to count it.)
I also lost a lot, but that's okay. One of the guys beat me with a preconstructed theme deck, so that's doubly okay.
Hanging out with some of my co-workers in a different setting was really enjoyable, especially after my (very cool) boss(ish) joined us and we adjourned to T.S. McHugh's, an Irish restaurant nearby. The mystery man turned out to be one of the new interns and a good guy.
atrayah and I were due at shardavarius's birthday party downtown in fairly short order, so (after checking with the guys) I had her meet us at T.S. McHugh's. An enjoyable time for all.
The guys struck off for further shenanigans, and we parted ways (with much hand-shaking and warm manly regard, except I suppose in her case) and made our way by bus to the birthday party at Fadó (pronounced "fuh-DOE"), an Irish pub-thing. The place was casual-fancy, quite my cup of tea, though I wish I'd been dressed to match, and the drinks were good if a bit steep. We probably would have stayed longer if the band that showed up hadn't turned out to be an awful cover band doing such scintillating hits as "Jenny (867-5309)". Apparently sometimes they have a live Irish jam "sesiun," but tonight was not one of those happy nights.
I didn't know most of our group, but they turned out to be pretty cool, and it was good to see zackdale and swartho, whose LJ handle I didn't actually know until I went looking for it a moment ago but was very easy to pick out. Heh. Little-known fact: He actually exudes a substance called "swarth," which has many astonishing and extraordinary qualities.
We fled from the cover band, headed to the White Horse, a.k.a. Books, Wine, and Beer (or something like that), which was an extremely cool place that, sadly, didn't seem to have room for us. We ended up at some place whose name I didn't catch. It was actually pretty nice barring the gothic-industrial bathrooms, which inspired a serious fear of tetanus with all their atmospheric rust and sharp edges.
The group split up around 1, and shardavarius, atrayah, and I took a cab back to her place, where she went to bed and I drove him home (living in the same complex makes that sort of thing rather convenient).
He and I both have people up in Bellingham we visit regularly, so we decided that we should really coordinate these efforts.
Sleep did not come easily. Not quite sure why. I'd had a good day, and a full day.
Today thus far has been very quiet and lazy. I've got stuff to get done, as ever, and weekends are the only good time to do it. But then I always have to decide between cleaning, writing, and working on a side project I took on a long time ago (loooooooong story).
Plus right now I have a sleeping cat in my lap, and who gets up under those circumstances?
My birthday's next Thursday, so I'm finally getting around to contemplating my plans. I have Friday off work (everyone gets a birthday holiday), but I'll probably end up spending it at the Department of Licensing, finally getting my Washington plates and driver's license. Fun!
Tentative plan at this point is to find a place in Seattle with good live music (folk, jazz, or blues) that won't be too crowded and meet up with folk there on Saturday night. I have no idea what place in Seattle might meet these stringent requirements--suggestions, please!
Quote of the day:
Prince: "Cats chase mice. Hens lay eggs."
Straggletag: "What's that supposed to mean?"
Prince: "It means some things have to do with other things... and I have nothing to do with you."
--Jim Henson's The Storyteller, "Straggletag"
Wednesday was the employee prerelease tournament for the latest set, which I spent teaching a guy from Creative Services to play. Believe it or not, a number of people get jobs where I work without playing any of the games. That was in fact a lot of fun, and it looks like I'll be meeting regularly with him and somebody else from Creative Services for lessons. I love my job.
Yesterday was the public prerelease up in Seattle. I met atrayah for lunch at Racha, a really good Thai place I'd never been before (like most places in Seattle), and then she and I walked down to Seattle Center for the prerelease.
If you're not familiar with the culture at Magic prereleases, walking in with a pretty girl is one of the more provocative actions one can take. I was also wearing my "Wizards R&D" shirt, figuring, well, if I can't wear it there, where can I wear it?
As for atrayah, I think she got a kick out of being one of the few girls, and one of the very few attractive single ones, in a sea of socially awkward teens and twenty-somethings. She wanted to meet my co-workers, so I obliged her. Doubtless I will be doing some explaining on Monday as to who she isn't.
There were a number of R&D guys there, which is pretty usual for the Seattle prerelease (and must have been for the one I went to in 2003, but I have no memory of it). The tourney organizer gave us all decks to build, and we were encouraged to square off (it's called "gunslinging") against anyone who wandered up. One of the guys behind the R&D table was a skinny guy with red hair and a beard I didn't recognize, but he acted like he belonged back there. That always works.
atrayah left, and I sat down and built my deck (incorrectly, as usual, although I later modified it into something pretty good). I had a little sign that had my name on it, but the most common question I got throughout the day was "Who are you?"
Eh.
(Close second was "Do you know where the side drafts are?", but that only happened once, so it's probably not fair to count it.)
I also lost a lot, but that's okay. One of the guys beat me with a preconstructed theme deck, so that's doubly okay.
Hanging out with some of my co-workers in a different setting was really enjoyable, especially after my (very cool) boss(ish) joined us and we adjourned to T.S. McHugh's, an Irish restaurant nearby. The mystery man turned out to be one of the new interns and a good guy.
atrayah and I were due at shardavarius's birthday party downtown in fairly short order, so (after checking with the guys) I had her meet us at T.S. McHugh's. An enjoyable time for all.
The guys struck off for further shenanigans, and we parted ways (with much hand-shaking and warm manly regard, except I suppose in her case) and made our way by bus to the birthday party at Fadó (pronounced "fuh-DOE"), an Irish pub-thing. The place was casual-fancy, quite my cup of tea, though I wish I'd been dressed to match, and the drinks were good if a bit steep. We probably would have stayed longer if the band that showed up hadn't turned out to be an awful cover band doing such scintillating hits as "Jenny (867-5309)". Apparently sometimes they have a live Irish jam "sesiun," but tonight was not one of those happy nights.
I didn't know most of our group, but they turned out to be pretty cool, and it was good to see zackdale and swartho, whose LJ handle I didn't actually know until I went looking for it a moment ago but was very easy to pick out. Heh. Little-known fact: He actually exudes a substance called "swarth," which has many astonishing and extraordinary qualities.
We fled from the cover band, headed to the White Horse, a.k.a. Books, Wine, and Beer (or something like that), which was an extremely cool place that, sadly, didn't seem to have room for us. We ended up at some place whose name I didn't catch. It was actually pretty nice barring the gothic-industrial bathrooms, which inspired a serious fear of tetanus with all their atmospheric rust and sharp edges.
The group split up around 1, and shardavarius, atrayah, and I took a cab back to her place, where she went to bed and I drove him home (living in the same complex makes that sort of thing rather convenient).
He and I both have people up in Bellingham we visit regularly, so we decided that we should really coordinate these efforts.
Sleep did not come easily. Not quite sure why. I'd had a good day, and a full day.
Today thus far has been very quiet and lazy. I've got stuff to get done, as ever, and weekends are the only good time to do it. But then I always have to decide between cleaning, writing, and working on a side project I took on a long time ago (loooooooong story).
Plus right now I have a sleeping cat in my lap, and who gets up under those circumstances?
My birthday's next Thursday, so I'm finally getting around to contemplating my plans. I have Friday off work (everyone gets a birthday holiday), but I'll probably end up spending it at the Department of Licensing, finally getting my Washington plates and driver's license. Fun!
Tentative plan at this point is to find a place in Seattle with good live music (folk, jazz, or blues) that won't be too crowded and meet up with folk there on Saturday night. I have no idea what place in Seattle might meet these stringent requirements--suggestions, please!
Quote of the day:
Prince: "Cats chase mice. Hens lay eggs."
Straggletag: "What's that supposed to mean?"
Prince: "It means some things have to do with other things... and I have nothing to do with you."
--Jim Henson's The Storyteller, "Straggletag"