Well, I think that from now on most of my posts will be friend locked. I think the motivations for this are quite clear. It's not really my ideal situation but I guess It's pragmatic. I suppose I won't do it for all of them, just the ones which contain any personal information. I guess saying that I'm worrying about what I will write for NaNoWriMo (because, yes, I saw people were doing it, and yes, like a lemming, I followed ;) Hmmm...

On behalf of all those who fought side-by-side in this glorious conflict, I'd like to say cheers! Open a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and let's celebrate. Wars don't last forever, and we succeded spectacularly in this one. Once again, congragulations!

Current Location: Champagne flute!
Current Mood: jubilant

Oh, and if anyone could tell me what dirty or clean means, I'd be greatful!

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favorite Movie:
5. Favorite Song:
6. Favorite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:

And the questions:

1. Do we know each other outside of LJ?
2. What's your philosophy on life?
3. Would you have my back in a fight?
4. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
5. What is your favorite memory of us?
6. Would you give me a kidney?
7. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
8. Would you take care of me when I'm sick?
9. Can we get together and make a cake?
10. Have you heard any rumors of me lately?
11. Do you/have you talk(ed) crap about me?
12. Do you think I'm a good person?
13. Would you drive across country with me?
14. Do you think I'm attractive?
15. If you could change anything about me, would you?
16. What do you wear to sleep?
17. Would you come over for no reason just to hang out?
18. Would you go on a date with me if I asked you?
19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
20. Will you repost this so I can fill it out for you?

Current Location: Leaving to go to SeaTac!

Remember the recently discovered "dwarf planet" affectionately dubbed Xena by it's discoverers...Well, we can't get away with that anymore. Because it has been officially named Eris (technically 136199 Eris according to Wikipedia). Eris, if you like me have never heard of this Greek goddess, is, "Eris (Greek Ἒρις, "Strife") is the goddess personifying that quality, her name being translated into Latin as Discordia. Her Greek opposite is Harmonia, whose Latin counterpart is Concordia."

Well, I thought Xena had a bit more flair but oh well. 
Here's the links if you're interested: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/136199_Eris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eris_%28mythology%29

Current Location: On ERIS!!
Current Mood: confused
Current Music: Killers--On Top

I saw today that there was a new design presented for the future buildings to go in at the WTC site. The centerpiece of the project, the Freedom Tower, remains unchanged, but the surrounding buildings seem to have a bit more character than the last design. 



Personally, I'm in the camp that says that we should rebuild at Ground Zero. If for nothing more than to show the terrorists that they didn't succeed in one of their main goals. We can't forget that the al-Qa'eda's reason for targeting the Twin Towers was for what the stood for just as much as their size and the people in them. They wanted to destroy American business; they wanted to take out these two pillars of the American economic miracle. And though they did destroy the towers, that doesn't mean that we should let them win by turning the whole area into a park. Don't get me wrong, though, I completely understand and sympathize with those who oppose building at the site. I've been there twice and I know what a sacred place it is in American history, and that should NEVER be forgotten. But I think it is even a more powerful symbol still to build these great edifices and show the terrorists that life goes on in America, and that the American dream lives on.

It's not for me to decide, but I'd be happy to visit this site someday. And lastly, I may be the only person in the United States who still likes President Bush, but I just think he deserves some kudos for keeping us safe for the last five years!

Current Location: Home...after work
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Beethoven's 9th

As I wrote in a previous post, I was hoping that KOTOR 3 would finally be announced at May's E3. Yeah, so much for hoping. Nonetheless, even without an official statement from, well anybody, there are several good signs that suggest that the game is truly in developement. If I had to assign a "Magic 8-Ball" answer to the question, "Will there be a KOTOR 3 and in is in production?" it would probably be, "Signs point to Yes".

What signs might these be you ask? Consider this hopeful bit of information...IGN.com, a reputable gaming site with quite a few connections believes that KOTOR 3 is in development enough so that they have it list under rumored games for Xbox360, PS3, and for PC. This note is attatched to the link:

NOTE: This game has not yet been announced or officially confirmed by the publisher. Exact plans for which platforms this title might release on are also unconfimed at this time. Unofficially, the game is expected to be one of three next-gen projects in the works at developer Obsidian Entertainment.

There was also an article speculating about some features of the game but I wasn't able to find it. There's also the clipping from an interview with a LucasArts representative,

"Q: Ok, I'm going to throw out some more titles, and you can
comment, or react to them however you like. Knights of the Old Republic
III?

A: That's a great idea. [Poker face]"

And then Feargus Urquhart saying in March of 2006, "We have been talking with LucasArts to do KOTOR3 since August 2004 and we hoped to do it since KOTOR2 was done. LucasArts is thinking what they want to do with it and we would happily make KOTOR3, if that's what LucasArts wants to do."

My sources are pretty good. Anyways, it seems the logical choice to make. Logical enough that I'm thinking it might be a good idea to start up an LJ group for KOTOR 3... Anybody else with me??

Current Location: Earth
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Ya TabTab wa Dalla'--Nancy Ajram

Meh... That's pretty much me and writing lately. I've done a little but I'm in a bit of a--I can't think of a word to describe it--you know one of those times when nothing you write comes out like you'd hoped it would. The fact that I cannot even come up with a word to describe what this is, is an indication of how it is. And the fact that my writing is completely incoherent is just another testament to my 'meh' feeling. It's not writer's block. Oh well, I'll give it a week.

I was starting to write something for that challenge. I had actually had the idea of writing something about my Exile's pre-KOTOR life ever since I read "Lunatic Fringe" by Cadillac Cowboy. It inspired me to write about that time period. But don't hold your breath.

In other news (well, this will need an explaination) our Japanese exchange student finally left today. So, my brother went to Japan in July on a foreign exchange trip through a sister city program. He loved Japan and had a great experience with his host family. I must give him credit too, because he is truly interested in Japan (not in the anime-otaku way though). He has been studying the language on his own for sometime and has really done as much as he could to learn about the culture. Unfortunately, when it came time for us to host a Japanese student in exchange we got Yoshiro Inagaki. I truly wonder why he even came to America. It began when he just about never spoke to us. Language barrier we said, but on occasions when he need to get something from us, his English was quite good. Okay, one flaw...wait there's more! You see during the week, he and the rest of the exchange students are visiting places of interest around the Seattle area (where I live) and on the weekends the host family's are supposed to take their students to places they find interesting... We thought that the tour of the Boeing plant in Everett--the world's largest building by volume, where they build 747s and 777s--would be interesting. Not for him. He complained the entire time to my brother and said that he would rather go to this booth thing set up by the city of Hekinan, Japan at some festival so that he could do calligraphy there. I'm sorry, calligraphy is very interesting by why come to America to do it? We let this one go too. But then on another day, he had asked to be taken to another host family's home so that he could play basketball with his friend who was staying there. Once again, why travel like 10,000 miles to play basketball, but oh well. But wait the worst is yet to come, he asked the host mother of his friend to take the two of them to another outdoor market thingy (it's Seattle we're really into organic outdoor summer hippie markets) the host mother (who is Japanese, and teaches it a local high school, in is EXTREMELY nice) graciously offered to take them at 10 am and pick them up at 1PM. At noon, she later told us, he called her up on a pay phone and told her in Japanese, "We're really bored, come get us now." I know! This is getting long I know, and I could go on for a while but I'll just say that on top of that Yoshiro, was also a very dirty person who had no qualms whatsoever about leaving trash (candy wrappers, empty cups etc) on the floor of my brother's room. I am an 18 year old guy, so you can just guess how nasty his room had to have been (after just 2 weeks) if I'm bringing it up. ARGGGHHHHHHHH... But as I said, mercifully, he's gone.

Oh, what the hell, I'll be an optimist today and say that maybe dirty, rude Yoshiro will save me from my 'meh' block, because I've got to apply some of those undesireable characteristics to a character or two in my fiction. :O

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: He's gone!
Current Music: Where is My Mind, Pixies

Sono tornato!!! I'm back!!! I'll be posting pictures and a general summarization of my trip in, oh, let's say a week... But I wanted to say that I'm here and congragulate the Italian team for winning. I was really sad to miss the final game. Living in Italy for three weeks made me a real fan. Once again more details in a few days, but first about Monsieur Zidane... I would describe him as a "Figlio di Puttana" or Son of a Whore. That dirty French terrorist, l'audace!1 Materazzi was never my favorite player, but the poor guy didn't deserve that. Regardless, Forza Azzuri! Bravo Totti, Zambrotta, Toni, Pirlo, Materazzi, BUFFON, Grosso, Gattuso, Del Piero, and of course my personal favorite because he has the constant look on his face like his about to start crying Alberto Gilardino!


P.S. I'm really happy to be back in the USA!! SUVS & Minivans, big drinks, cookie-cutter houses... among other things, you have been missed.

Current Location: 'Merica

I realize my last post was pretty incomplete...I was really interested by your replies. So this post will pretty much be a reply to your replies... :)

Trillian: Interesting! I think I got a Lirik-ish name from the generator once. And weirdly enough, the main character's name, in a series of books I just read, is Raf. It's totally unrelated though, Raf is short for Ashraf in these books. :) I don't even really know what I was thinking when I made my last post, but yes you and Alice were my intended targets with those questions. I'll make sure to ride a gondola for you! And I'll even take a picture and post it!

Alice the Raven: Mille grazie per i bouni auguri! Spero d'avere belle vacanze in Italia (Thanks a lot for you good wishes! I hope to have a good vacation in Italy) :) Man, you are good. That was absolutely a shamless reference to Sartre. I find that talking about or making reference to existentialism or existentialists makes you sound a whole lot smarter than you actually are...hehehe ;) I always like your names, and now I know the cool meanings behind them.

As for the names of my characters...Isis is of course an Egyptian goddess which goes well with her because I imagined her as Middle-Eastern. Plus it's a cool sounding name, and it contains the word 'sis' which is perfect for Revan's sister ;) Naxala has no meaning it just sounds cool. Valin Narbon, I sort of made up. Narbonne is a city in southern France, which is where I got it from. I thought I had come up with Valin out of nowhere, but then I read that someone else had named their Exile Valin as well. Most of my other names are from my imagination.

Thanks so much. I'll be thinking of you guys! I'll be back soon!

YAY!! I'm leaving for Italy in four days! I won't be back until July 10th, but hopefully I'll get access to a computer so I can read some of your posts and stories. That and I'm gradutating from high school in 3 days.

I'm curious, where did you come up with the names of the characters in your story? Are they of any significance?

Current Location: Les Chemins de la liberté
Current Mood: accomplished