BYOB Party Epilogue

I can't speak for everyone else there, but I really enjoyed the party. Katy and I felt we had set the bar pretty high with the invitation, but it came together nicely.

Everyone arrived with three books and left with three different books.  I wish I had written down some of the titles because there was a lot of variety.  Maybe people will add comments below with the books they left with or just remember.

The party was not without flaw.  At that last minute I was scrambling to find some literature-themed trivia on the Internet.  I guess I wasn't paying enough attention because the questions ended up being far too hard.  (If you heard the line, "The drought had lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended," would you recognize it as the first line from 2001: A Space Odyssey?  I'll have to put a little more planning into that aspect of the party next time.

Here are some images from the party… or rather from right before the party.  My battery went dead so all of these images are either of the food or the books that people brought.  I didn't get a chance to take snapshots of the firemen and supermodels in attendance.  Sorry, Internet.

Update: There are more pictures from the party over at Betsy's blog.

Putting the Ouch in European Style Indoor Karting

My company's IT department engaged in a team-building activity yesterday.  (Team building in the sense that we were all in direct competition with one another.)  We went to an indoor track to race go karts.  It was a good time.

What is the most surprising is how physically grueling it was.  At first we were all driving fairly tentatively.  As the evening went on, though, everyone became more comfortable with the vehicles and more aggressive.  Predictably perhaps, by the end of the session the track had devolved into little more than a bumper car rink where the cars could reach speeds of 40 miles-per-hour.

Everyone rolled into work today with stifled groans and weight being awkwardly shifted from foot to foot.  I can't blame all of my weariness on the bumping, though.  Even if I had been alone on the track, I would still have difficulty walking today.  I'm shocked at how sore my hands (particularly my index fingers) are.  I guess gripping those tiny steering wheels while guiding a roaring vehicle through hair pin turns is just exhausting.

Apparently I had the good fortune of being large enough that I had to wedge myself into the car.  While it was uncomfortable, it did keep me from jostling around too much when I made contact with the wall or another car.  Some of the more wiry members of the IT department had colorful welts from when they had been slammed around in the car.  I ache all over, but I'm as pretty as ever.  (Insert punchline here.)

Don’t Our Parties Sound Fun?

We spent far, far too long last night crafting a cleverly worded invite to our cleverly themed party. I cry when I think that much effort went into something that will only be seen by a small cross-section of society. To stop my crying, I reveal it to the masses.

This party is BYOB (Bring your own books.) Three to be exact. At the end of the night you'll leave with three entirely different books. More details we can't divulge, but fun and mayhem will ensue. Remember that the books you bring say a lot about you. If you choose to arrive with a dog-earred copy of a book with a bare-chested pirate on the cover, we can't guarantee your emotional safety.

We will provide victuals and libations. We don't want anyone to leave with an armful of Clifford books, so young children and their reading materials should be left at home.

All of the clever literary witicisms will take place from 6pm to 9pm.

For those of you who are able to stay after the books are put away, we expect it to devolve into the type of drunken debauchery that takes place in a book with a bare-chested pirate on the cover. You know. Your typical Saturday night at the Mabbitts.

Those of you who have seen our house know that we have accomodations for quite a few overnight guests. The slots will be available on a first come – first serve basis, but we can easily handle 10 people (not counting us) who would not have to sleep on the floor. Speaking of floor, we have a lot of that. If several people have an inflatable mattress they'd like to bring, the number of comfortable sleepers could get much higher.

If you were lucky enough to make it onto this guest list, you are a member of the inner circle. Benefits of being in the inner circle include (but are not limited to) spending the night on Friday, spending the night on Saturday, spending the night on both Friday and Saturday, and GETTING OUT OF OUR HOUSE on Sunday…. (you know who you are)

Update: I'll have another post after the party with pictures and a synopsis for everyone doing a research paper on our parties.

Waxing Philosophical with World of Warcraft

I've realized something important about myself and how I relate to the rest of the world in my journeys through Azeroth. The biggest revelations have centered around "grouping". Grouping involves loosely confederating with the other rugged individualists who play the game to acheive objectives that are too overwhelming for one person to handle alone. "Soloing" is when you disdain the shackles of this organization and seek glory as a party of one.

With a few notable exceptions, I prefer to solo.  In addition to identifying the phenomenon, the World of Warcraft As Life^TM metaphor hints at some possible explanations.  In most of the groups of which I have been a part, there is one or two players who simply do not understand how to work well in a group.  Perhaps they attract the attention of monsters that are better left alone.  Maybe they derive misguided pleasure in laying claim to magical weapons and armor that would be far more useful for another member of the party.  Some don't commit any serious flubs, but make inconsiderate comments.  These actions bring the whole experience down and make me anxious to dive back into the wilderness with only my trusty axe between me and a legion of fantastic beasts and penny-pinching goblins.

It's not that different from how I feel in my day-to-day life.  Working with others brings together a mix of people with different competencies that may or may not complement each other.  It's frustrating enough to endure a teammate that doesn't offer anything useful to the collective, and even more draining to be that person.  Working in groups can feel like an incredible burden.

For years I've concluded that this means I am an introverted person who prefers not to deal with other people.  (Ah, the dangers of self-diagnosis.)  I'm beginning to suspect that this only comes close to explaining the situation.  Imagine someone who concluded that a fear of drowning should be addressed by refusing to bathe.  The solution does address the issue, but it's messy.

I do actually crave and enjoy social interaction with other people.  To my great relief, I have come to believe that I can even thrive working with other people towards a common goal.  (That's good or the next 60 years or so were going to be very taxing.)

What I require is some part of the whole for which I am responsible.  I need complete sovereignty over my objective and clear metrics for evaluating the degree of my success.  I don't want to share my task with anyone else.  It's mine.  Mine, I say!  (Well, I'll share with Katy, but she's earned that right.  You haven't.)

I have no problem brainstorming and planning with other people.  I can handle the challenge of integrating my work with other pieces to assemble a Voltron that can vanquish the larger problem.  Under the umbrella of that great success, though, I need to nurture a discrete personal victory.

In the real world that is possible, although it seldom happens by accident.  That distinction might be where the World of Warcraft As Life^TM metaphor falls apart. 

Truth Would Be Stranger Than Fiction If It Weren’t the Same Thing

I’ll admit I was a little late getting in on this phenomenon.  It wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that I saw my first episode of the television show Firefly.  Within a week I had watched every episode ever made.  That may sound impressive until you realize that less than a single season of episodes was ever created.  It was more than enough to win me over, though.  I even bought a shirt that says Joss Whedon Is My Master Now.  If you don’t get that joke, but would like to, see the context. 

So part of the premise of the show is that the empirical Alliance crushed a small rebellion of independents, not quite affectionately referred to as Browncoats, in honor of their wardrobe of choice.  The show’s protagonist was on the losing side of that battle and still holds a bit of a grudge.  In a surreal (but perhaps not entirely surprising) turn of events, fans of that fictional universe have decreed that the cancellation of the television show is a parallel to the epic battle that occurred on Firefly.  (Or more accurately, in Firefly’s backstory.)  They identify themselves as Browncoats and describe the network as the “Alliance”.

For my own part, I did sign the virtual petition to have a second season of the show because it truly is a phenomenal piece of entertainment and art.  Of course, as in the series, this is a battle that was lost a long time ago.

In Case You Doubted That Businesses Were Targeting China As an Emerging Market

I saw this a few months ago, but just came across it again.  This is a commercial for Coke and World of Warcraft.  I’m not sure if they split the cost 50/50 or what, but the commercial seems to paint them both in an equally positive light.  There’s also a group in the commercial which may or may not be a popular act in China.  It could also just be three random actresses.

Movie posts are in chronological order. Look for July 19, 2005 to see China’s Coke/WoW Commercial.