Category Archives: Cogging for Kibble

Scratch Pad May 10

9:07:

It is probably a bad thing that I want to begin my day with a vanilla soda.

9:13:

I ended up not going to orchestra last night; too much work to do. I settled down in bed with my laptop after dinner and fell asleep around 8:30. Oops. Slept all the way till 6:15ish, too. That’s about twice the amount of sleep I’ve been getting a night.

9:59:

t! just showed up and asked me what the name of the dictionary is, as it has to go into the script somewhere.

A: Joyce. Let’s call it Joyce.
t!: No, that sounds too much like joy, of which there is none regarding this dictionary.
A: Wait — Hector, then. Yes, let’s call it Hector.
t!: Hector; yes, Hector. Doleful doleful, and all that.

10:33:

Over the past couple of days ADZO and Sandman7 have really helped me work through an issue I was having difficulty dealing with. Thanks, guys. I appreciate your thoughtful input. As a result, something vaguely resembling sanity has been restored. Or at least equilibrium in the associated area.

10:35:

For the third day in a row we are having merrily out-of-season weather. Lots of shorts and sandals around. I myself wore sandals yesterday, and am wearing a different pair today. Today I have also worn my first summer skirt of the season, and a t-shirt. Yesterday was a short-sleeved knit top with jeans, but today it is officially summer at my desk. Except when I went down to get a tea and another immensely delicious shortbreadbrowniesquarething, I discovered that not having a pocket for my key card is a drawback.

10:36:

I thought my job was pretty much over. Was I ever wrong. Now I’ve sorted my dbase by definition, and there are SO MANY DOUBLES. A script was supposed to catch these a few days ago, but I was only told about a couple of them. There are so many more. Woe! This is going to take longer than I expected. Good thing I’m coming in on Monday anyhow.

10:37:

Did I mention my contract was indeed officially extended last night? By a week, because of the placeholder voice work I’m doing in the studio next week. Heh.

14:23:

Scott and I have been talking back and forth about the different music-based games for the DS. I want someone to develop a Cello Hero game. Or maybe we could hack the upcoming Jam Sessions and make it sound like a cello.

14:32:

I wish someone would make a Music Minus One CD for Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack to King Arthur. It’s really phenomenal. Hans is so very fond of a solo cello line, either exposed or playing in the ensemble, possibly because he has such an awesome cellist in Martin Tillman. (See [well, hear, really] such examples as PoC 2 [and 1 by extension, as he had so much of a hand in Badelt’s score], King Arthur, The Da Vinci Code, and MI2. Tillman and Zimmer are the reason why I ordered the cello music to PoC2 a few months ago: it’s all for the opening track. Seriously — much is the cello love for Hans and Martin for that track alone. And it’s finally shipped to me! It should be arriving tomorrow!

14:47:

Sigh. Vanilla soda. Even at room temperature, you are heavenly.

14:50:

It occurs to me that my cello would sound awesome in this room. High ceilings, hardwood floors, not a lot of thick things to catch and muffle the sound… (See what happens when I listen to Hans Zimmer and think about music games at the same time? My worlds collide.)

14:55:

Just checked; there’s King Arthur sheet music available, but it’s for solo piano. I could arrange it, of course. Because I really don’t get enough of that in band already, you know. Although it would be worth it just for a few of the themes. And hey, band’s on hiatus for half a year; I’m going to need something to keep me busy after the July 1 chamber orchestra concert…

16:20:

Erk. t! just gave his opinion on the auditionees for one of the voices to be recorded for this project, and told the sound guy to use me instead.

Scratch Pad May 9

9:15:

So: the pressure is now off, unless something drastic happens. I’ve got a good version of the dictionary without US/UK spelling issues (as far as possible in the game words), questionable game words removed and the same in definitions replaced; all levels balanced. Now it’s tweaking, looking at words to see if I’m happy with the progression, double and triple-checking everything. I sent both last night’s version (the one currently loaded) and ths morning’s version (all known errors fixed) to our ESRB rep this morning; I’m waiting for a reply concerning changes or issues, but that may take a while.

9:47:

It feels odd to be kind of making work for myself after focusing so hard for the past couple of weeks.

11:01:

Five minutes ago they handed me a DS and asked me to play, and I found a bug for them. Heh. (Or maybe I just confirmed it. Whichever — go me.)

11:30:

I’ve been staring at -ise and -ize suffixes for so long that I can no longer tell what’s right and what isn’t — they all look wrong to me.

13:39:

I spent my lunch hour browsing in the new Welch’s second-hand bookstore location, and came out with an armful of books. Then I bought a vanilla soda and half a dozen bagels. I’m going to miss this area. I am definitely going to make an effort to come out here at least once a month for lunch with the gang.

14:01:

Yup. I’m going to miss this. I won’t miss the loss of two and a half hours a day to commuting, though, and I’m looking forward to not missing Liam so much. And I miss working on my own stuff, too. I’ve been sitting in bed at night with my laptop reading through the Vivaldi story and Swan Sister on my breaks, and my interest in them is slowly being revived again. I just wish there were more places around where I live where I could go sit and drink tea and write, in order to get myself out of the house.

14:05:

Stewart’s Cream Soda is SO GOOD. It is positively addictive. I’m glad HRH picked this instead of the lime soda by accident for me two weeks ago, because it has allowed me to discover the wonderfulness of it. I usually find cream soda much too sweet, but this is very smooth. And did I mention addictive? This one is gone much too soon. (Checking the clock I see that it’s been forty-five minutes since I started it, but it feels sooner because now I have no vanilla soda, and I am lonely…)

14:11:

They’re progammed a sound into the game that’s a kitten’s meow, and it’s amusing but distracting. I think of Stella every time I hear it, or as HRH has dubbed her, “Darroch’s little monster”.

14:37:

There is a world of difference between misspelling something and mistyping it. Just thought I’d share that. (So I have lousy typing ability. I can’t be perfect.)

14:48:

Just came back from a brief ice cream break with Meallanmouse. I had a small cup of chocolate, but I should have had a small cup of soft-serve. We also picked up vanilla soda, from a different company. Not As Good. Still, it is vanilla soda.

15:29:

Heh — they’ve just asked me to do a sound test. They want to record fifty-odd definitions. Naturally this occurs forty-five minutes after I have eaten ice cream, so I am all gunked up.

15:50:

Not happening today anyway; no time in the studio. They’ve also asked me to be the on-site consultant regarding the pronunciation of the competition words at the Friday recording session, as t! is away that day.

15:51:

Working on this contract has also really sharpened my desire to read again, particularly theological and spiritual texts. It’s like the analytical and critical part of my brain was kicked back into life.

16:41:

Looks like this sound test will happen Monday — so voila, my contract has been somewhat extended, even if only by one day. This has to be officially confirmed, of course, but it seems logical to me.

Scratch Pads May 7 and 8

The scratch pads at work have seen scarce use these past two days as I’ve been over my ears in work and staying as focused as possible. But here’s what did get jotted down:

May 7:

8:56:

I made pancakes this morning, inspired by Blade’s breakfast on Sunday. It went over very well; Liam ate more at this breakfast than he has at breakfast in weeks There is enough batter left over to do it again in a couple of days, too. My pancakes aren’t usually this fluffy; apparently all the planets aligned in a particular way this morning.

10:52:

“Armadillos range from South America to the southern part of the US.” Really? Those are well-traveled armadillos. WORD CHOICE AND ORDER COUNT, people.


May 8:

Had a pancake again this morning. I really enjoy it when the whole family eats breakfast together. Liam likes putting syrup on one of his silver dollar pancakes, topping it with a second, and eating it like a sandwich. Not as successful is trying to eat this sandwich by impaling it on a fork and lifting it to his mouth.

So very tired. What with working on the laptop at home on other work at night once dinner in finished, my brain’s not getting a chance to rest.

Was suddenly ravenous at 10 AM despite having had a sit-down breakfast again, and descended upon the cafe to forage. Ended up with a delicious square thing for my coffee break — a shortbread crust, with brownie on top. Also a hot chocolate. And yet, curiously enough I have not gained any weight while eating lunch out every day. (This isn’t necessarily a good thing. I was hoping to see the scale creep up a bit.)

14:23:

shopsoiled lotus (no, this should mean nothing to you, it’s a note to myself)

16:35:

Overheard: “Yay, you worked all day to get it broken.” (Yes, we’re on a build deadline, how did you guess?)

Today’s amusing link: The Austenblog points us to a fantasy Jane Austen action film.

Also, weather? Ridiculous. Three weeks ago there was snow on the ground. We hit a high of 27 degrees C today. Enjoyable, but alarming.

Scratch Pad May 3

11:42:
Now it’s a game. Can I transfer a certain number of words to another level to make the numbers even out? (If I think of it as a game, it’s fun.)

13:35:
Lunch out with the gang! I will have make the effort to come downtown semi-regularly once this contract is up simply for the lunches.

14:51:
The entire room emptied out to surprise our assistant producer in the cafe, as it is his birthday. Very cool. I am now back as I have a pile of work to do before tomorrow afternoon, and I am the only one in the room, which is eerie.

16:15:
I cannot believe this pile of work that persists in not going anywhere fast. It’s all about adding a word here, taking one away there, shifting between the levels to keep things at the target numbers… but there are still over three hundred missing. I am not bitter about the loss of the supplemental dictionary, but I could be if I dwell on it too long. It comes down to adding as many new words as possible, then doing a reverse casade thing where I move blocks into higher levels and look for lower level words to replace them, over and over.

22:47:
Yes, I am at home, and am slogging through this redistribution and inserting words into various levels, readjusting, inserting, readjusting… I’m not going to bed until my target levels are within ten or so words for each level. That gives me enough room to lose more for various reasons. Figures this would happen today, when I got three secondhand cello books in the mail that I won on eBay and want to play through them. Liam has a very definite cold, and is back on his cold syrup. It’s almost gone; there will be just enough to send to daycare with him tomorrow before I have to pick up more. He’s not happy and he’s kind of off his feed, but he’s not deathly ill enough to keep home. (Good thing, because I can’t stay home, and neither can HRH after taking Wednesday off for Liam and Tuesday off for the car.)

11:17:
There; done. Tomorrow, I get definitions for the five hundred-odd new words and make sure they’re within the specified length. That’s all I have to do before sending it to the people who need to upload it, to make the demo ready for next week. I say “all” but I know damn well I’m going to be working insanely hard, and taking a short lunch in order to get it done by five.

Now: bed.

Scratch Pad May 2

Happy anniversary, HRH! Eight years ago today we became engaged. I still haven’t completely forgiven you for proposing when I was exhausted and sticky from spilling apple juice on myself during our pause to rest in the middle of a long bike ride on a ridiculously hot day.

9:28:
I just mistyped “polygamist” as “ploygamist”.

9:44:
“Sleep”: something I only got 4 1/2 hours of last night, because of working on the tarot kit review (thus my brain was still active and wouldn’t shut up till after midnight), and waking up early before 5:00 thanks to intuition, twenty minutes before Liam’s asthma woke him up. Poor little guy is at home today, with HRH staying home from work to be with him.

9:51:
Craving all sorts of bread today.

10:01:
I am engaged in a morphological process. I love my job.

12:55:
Back from lunch and had to take a tour around the desks to dodge the cluster of guys playing Guitar Hero.

14:03:
I have just made sure that “cowbell” is restored to the dictionary. This dictionary: now with more cowbell!

16:01:
Okay; now it’s all about moving things around to even out the numbers. Ugh.

16:35:
I got an email dictated by Liam:
“Happy! Down wa car caarr oh hoo a a Liam Ma Ma Juice….Nemo!”
It made me smile. Apparently he had a nap that was just shy of three hours this afternoon. I’m not surprised.

Scratch Pad May 1

9:43:
I’ve just read that Boo has passed away! I’m sitting here in the office trying not to cry. He was a wonderful bunny, and gave Liam so much pleasure at the caregiver’s. He will be sadly, sadly missed.

9:44:
Beltane today. At least it’s sunny. I’m so sad about Boo that I’ve lost the cheerfulness I had earlier about the holiday.

11:40:
Life is playing Calvinball with my poor husband’s brain. Interviews, no interviews, job leads, more job leads… at least no one is pressing him for a decision nownownow, so he can explore all of them properly.

13:08:
Mmm. Every time I have the quesadillas at the Mexican restaurant here, they’re different in a totally delicious way. Today the onions were caramelized. Although for once, I couldn’t finish it, possibly because I didn’t have breakfast until 10ish. Had the pleasure of Scott’s company at lunch today too; very enjoyable indeed.

13:47:
Have I mentioned how appalled I am about the incorrect that/which usage?

13:49:
Somehow a bunch of the final level words were marked to be edited when most of them were OK. Hmm. Must have had my finger on the wrong button while I sorted things mechanically one day.

15:35:
DONE!

16:05:
And now we scramble to replace the words we’ve had to remove. Lots of copy/pasting, and math to see if we’re closing in on our target numbers. Friday is our deadline. It would have been easy if we hadn’t encountered that double setback.

16:54:
Enough. To public transport, and to continue reading Diana Wynne Jones’ The Pinhoe Egg (a Chrestomanci book! about Cat!).

Scratch Pad Apr 30

9:16:
The metro went out today while I was on it; it spent a lot of time sitting in stations, then at Lionel Groulx the power went out entirely, the cars going dark, the air flow ceasing. My first reaction: “I’ve read ‘Crisse, des zombies!’: I know what happens next, and I’m ready!” It went operational again within ten minutes, but altogether my metro trip in took forty minutes instead of twenty. And I still got into work only fifteen minutes late. I don’t understand public transport at all. Also, when it is sunny, the buses are more on schedule than if it is overcast, rainy, or snowing.

Reading The Earth Path on the commute now. I keep coming across things that make me peaceful, or wish I had time to write responses in my notebook. The main reaction is, why wasn’t this book available when I started writing the green witch book? Starhawk says things so much better than I do. (As to why I didn’t pick it up when it came out: I’d already done a pile of GW research, then I changed gears and wrote the Wicca book, then I had a baby. Never got around to it. It’s entirely possible I would have been tempted to give up if I had read it, because why bother?)

Slept horribly — didn’t fall asleep till after midnight, woke up at 5:30 and couldn’t relax enough to fall back asleep for the last hour before I had to get up. But when I did get up I saw that my new French door was up on my office, after much trial on the part of HRH due to power tools losing their charge and doorframes being badly bowed out of line. The cats are very upset, particularly Nixie.

9:53:
I want to edit MORE! Curse the contract which requires us to use as much of the original as possible! The colloquialisms and lack of that/which agreement are driving me around the bend!

10:53:
A (sends this definition to t!): “parapet: to be brave enough to state an opinion that might upset someone”
A: *beats dictionary*
A: *a lot*
t!: I thought parapet was a kitten with ESP.
A: [howls]

15:28:
“Prawns: large small edible seas creatures.” *headdesk*

15:41:
Ouch. Hello, brick wall. I’ve done an insane amount of work so far today, and I think I just died. Also, my back hurts.

16:43:
Yup. My brain is pudding.