June 2, 2010
I just added Internet Is Serious Business to the directory of guides. It's 23 pages detailing the Doodles/Squnq/Triggur drama, for anyone who's interested. Most people aren't, but I don't see anything wrong with telling the whole story since certain folks keep insinuating I have something to hide when I don't.
June 1, 2010
Ramping up...
March 1, 2010
I'm working on updating the Anthrocon Dining Guide for this year, and getting occasionally distracted by old maps and pictures of Pittsburgh. I learned the site currently occupied by the David L. Lawrence Convention Center used to be a steel mill and railroad freight yard back in the day. There's a lot of old abandoney steel mills scattered around Pennsylvania. The only one I've been to so far was the one in Phoenixville, before it was torn down. I should scan in my pictures from it.
I also had fun looking at cakewrecks... cakes gone horribly wrong. This one looks like a squashed hedgehog.
February 13, 2010
I've been pronking around the internet all day, just exploring random blogs and stuff. This is funny. That first link leads to Disenchanted's essay When Weirdos Get Together. Click on it. I insist. (Seriously, the essay's a good read, but I clearly have way too much time on my hands if I thought to do this. Then again, my website is the #1 result for "cabbage fetish".)
Folks over at B-Side Blog think unicorns are awful now, but I disagree... that's just a mutant deer. Elsewhere, Liz Strauss has some explanation of why people don't comment on blogs that I found interesting. And there's news from SixApart of an Avatar blog up on Typepad that pulls in content from Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.
January 18, 2010
I went on my first bike ride of the year today. It was 55 degrees, and got even colder once the sun went down! Brrrr. I need to buy some warmer clothes if I'm going to do stuff like biking in the winter. Crazy!
I also added a new section on the obliterated village of Eastview to the Xydexx Map Department, including two old newspaper articles from when people were leaving the town.
January 10, 2010
Historical information (Break Neck, Howland Library) has been moved to Xydexx Map Department.
January 7, 2010
I've moved my cranana bread recipe over to this site, as this seems to be where all me recipes are accumulating lately. Minor tweaks and reorganization all day long.
December 28, 2009
I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to write a story like The Hi (cf. Squeakypony 30). Whereas there would be one fragment of the story, then click on link and it points to another fragment of the story, and so on and so on. I was thinking about it last night, and the only drawback I can think of is that I would have to write the story in reverse chronological order. In other words, the last page would be the ending, but I'd have to write that first in order to know what the previous fragment links to.
December 21, 2009
Nobody wants to hear about my weird dreams that don't make any sense. But I write them down anyway, when I can remember them. Here's one from October 13, 2001:
Last night, I dreamt I was outside WalMart here in Leesburg, and lots of people were sitting around in the parking lot. It looked like an anti-war protest sit-in or something. There were police there. They told me I should leave because they were going to start shooting tear gas. They also told me I had left both my alarm clocks in the middle of the parking lot for some reason. I retrieved them, and hopped in my car to leave...
...and was somehow transported to some kind of science museum, with strange exhibits that reminded me of the Exploratorium. I stopped at one of the exhibits that was under construction. It had a rocky landcape, upon which sat an animatronic seal made of thick black rubber. Murr. A few museum workers were placing a big SUV-sized tracking device on its back. Actually, I think it may have been an SUV. And the seal was complaining about having to carry this big SUV on its back, and didn't understand why it couldn't just have a radio collar.
I started to leave, and when I got into the lobby the Museum Commandos arrived. There were two of them, dressed in dark green fatigues and carrying rifles. They scurried back in forth across the lobby, and then broke into a musical routine. I dove across the floor and down a small flight of stairs to get away from them. One of the museum workers sitting on the stairs eagerly asked me "Is Alice (i.e., Ann B. Davis, the maid from The Brady Bunch) really moving to Bethesda?"
I found this information over on Everything2, where I used to write nodes fairly regularly. A lot of folks liked my writeup about exploring King's College when it was abandoned. I should probably update my writeup about Hudson River State Hospital. There was a fire there a few years ago that destroyed a significant portion of it. Fortunately, I have pictures.
December 13, 2009
I baked pumpkin raisin bread the other day, as well as pumpkin cranberry bread. It turned out okay, but I need to smash up the cranberries next time so they'll get distributed throughout the bread better. They seem to have all gone to the sides and bottom of the loaf. Still, it tastes good.
I may take a crack at some of the cookie recipes the Washington Post printed the other day. 25 different cookie recipes. Perhaps I should invest in a pony-shaped cookie cutter and rolling pin.
In other news, I got a life-size inflatable horse in the mail.
December 9, 2009
It snowed the other day, and sleeted last night, but there's nary a trace of it now. It's 50 degrees and everything's melted.
I'm heading over to Winchester shortly to go see Old Goat and Renfield. I already have plans to go up to New York for the holidays, Xakor and Lisa will be in town.
In theory, I'll be working before then. That's the plan anyway. No word yet.
I've started work on Xydexx's Encyclopedia of Interesting Stuff, which is going to be short blurbs based on my interests in my LiveJournal profile. Just something to keep me busy.
December 3, 2009
The Xydexx Directory of Things needs a proper tagline (and a logo, come to think of it). Right now it just says updates from the squeakiest pony on the internets, and advice to go and drink cake. But the part about the cake is a lie.
The obvious choice would be a graphic featuring a squeaky pony somehow. I can probably draw one of those up. A squeaky pony doing Important Research. Yeah. Because researching the cute and weird is like a full-time hobby.
In the interest of promoting more cuteness on the internet, here's a video with kittens. Adorable.
December 2, 2009
Continuing in my fine tradition of procrastinating about NaNoWriMo, I didn't finish again this year. Disappointing. I also did not get to bike the entire C&O Canal as plans for that fell through. Perhaps next year. I would like to do some bike camping, either traveling from DC to Pittsburgh, or DC to New York, but I need to find someone to go with. Biking alone gets kinda old after a while. At least I managed to meet my goal of 1000 miles for the year.
I'm not deployed currently, but there's another gig or two on the horizon, possibly starting next week. Maybe in DC. We'll see.
I haven't picked up Cities XL yet. Thinking of getting it via Goozex. Right now I'm slowly making my way through Grand Theft Auto IV. I have almost all the parts of the city unlocked. I'm up to the mission where I have to retrieve the cocaine from the abandoned hospital (I managed to do so, and then got blown away by the cops. Oops.) It's also to the point in the game where I do all sorts of non-mission-related things just to see what happens. Maybe I'll follow one of the residents and see what they do over the course of a day. Important Research and all.
I attempted to make Swedish Butter Cookies after my latest cookie-baking spree. I made them bigger than recommended, and put two cookie trays in the oven at once, which resulted in the cookies on the edge getting burned. The ones that did come out okay were tasty enough. Lessons learned for next time. As I'm not currently deployed I think I'll make some more cookies with my downtime, Or perhaps pumpkin-cranberry bread. Hmmm.
November 10, 2009
In celebration of the newly-opened Wegman's in Leesburg and his three days off from work, Xydexx is going on a baking spree. In the sidebar to the right you will find links to Xydexx's Nomnomnommy Cookies and Pumpkin Raisin Bread recipes. Xydexx's usual schedule for baking pumpkin raisin bread was delayed slightly due to an alleged pumpkin shortage this year. (There were no cans of pumpkin puree to be had at the local Target, and this was their excuse. Perhaps it was all a conspiracy. One will never know.)
No matter. Now you can make nomnomnommy cookies and bread also, and the recipes are here so Xydexx won't have to scour the unholy network of disorganized yak fringe (i.e., the internets) looking for them next year.
Also, NaNoWriMo begins this month, and Xydexx will likely continue his fine tradition of procrastinating about it.
October 1, 2009
Pronking at the speed of light! This is the latest update to the Xydexx Directory of Things and supercedes and previous updates.
Xydexx has finally finished that ever-confusing exercise in procrastination, the Squeakyponyland Guide to Import/Export and the Super Bowl of Eyeballs. It was subject to scope creep and now includes information on the Russian Popper Mafia, but ironically this was the impetus to complete the Guide. (A seperate page, describing the Russian Popper Mafia, is rumored to be in development.) Also in development will be a website to worship Xydexx and click on his shiny, squeaky hooves.
In other news, Xydexx finished his 7-day trial of Cities XL, which is kind of like Sim City. Had a bit of trouble with the GUI in full screen mode, which was resolved by putting it into windowed mode. The game is very much geared toward building huge mega-cities. There is a neat function where you can zoom down to street level and watch the traffic and activities of your citizens (kids play frisbee and launch paper airplanes off roofs of buildings). There's a trading aspect of the game as well, where you can sell your city's extra resource "tokens" and import others that it needs. You will be able to play online with other players for a fee. Xydexx was unable to trade water tokens with another player, who was reportedly disappointed with this decision. "Let them drink cake," responded Xydexx.
Xydexx now has an account with LibraryThing, detailing his strange collection of books. Xydexx's library includes a disproportionate number of books on modern ruins and local history, and there are also a surprising number of books on furry fandom. Some day, these books may even be organized instead of placed mostly-randomly on the bookshelf downstairs.
Big adventures are on the horizon for Xydexx and his merry band of adventurers, who will be exploring the abandoned tunnels of the Pennsylvania Turnpike this month. This will be a 24-mile ride round trip, bringing Xydexx inevitably closer to his 1000-mile goal for the year. Xydexx has recently purchased another bike headlight for his recumbent, because the tunnels are dark and scary. The more light, the better.
February 23, 2009
So I just finished baking some cinnamon-oatmeal-raisin cookies. They turned out much better than the last recipe I used, which resulted in rock-solid lumps of inedible not-cookie. It called for three cups of oats, but I only put in two to be on the safe side. They seem okay. I have another recipe to try as well.
Mohansic State Hospital
Xydexx has recently gathered information about the former Mohansic State Hospital and the area surrounding Mohansic Lake in Westchester County. A subpage with details and maps he collected will be added soon.
Current Events
The current events section is no longer current and needs to be updated. Currently I'm looking into acquiring Adobe Creative Design Standard for conducting my Important Research. I need to add an About Xydexx page here, create a graphics template with a color palette for XDT, and then complete the long-awaited Squeakyponyland Guide to Import/Export and the Super Bowl of Eyeballs. In my downtime I'm also working on logging in submissions we've gotten and creating the database for the Anthrocon conbook and ad submissions. I've also finished doing major re-organization in the downstairs storage room.
Robot Ponies
Robot pony production has come to a halt, and the factory is currently idle. I am once again considering resuming production of squeaky ponies instead, because they're shinier and squeakier. Or perhaps a springbok. Everyone wants an inflatable springbok. They're bouncy and squeaky, too. No raygun to turn people into ponies, but I guess you can't have everything.
Speaking of which, I need to finish up that naughty artwork for the 2-page comic which currently only exists in draft form in my filing cabinet here. So much to do! But I think folks will like it once it gets finished. It's delightfully pervy, just like me.
Historical Info
This page will be replaced with information on Mohansic State Hospital and the New York State Training School For Boys, once I get around to it. I have the necessary maps and such. I have a theory that there was a railroad siding leading to the NYSTSFB, because there was a line item in their budget for construction of one, and satellite views show something that looks an awful lot like a railroad grade that ends at Mohansic Golf Course. It's entirely possible, but I need to stop at the Yorktown Historical Society and confirm this. All in good time.
Random Notes
Random notes are extremely random. There is, however, a limit to how much I can publish here. It's like I commented a little while back: Entomology really bugs me. Ha! With wit like that, one wonders why I don't play Mornington Crescent more often.
I should set up a website dedicated to worshipping Xydexx's shiny, squeaky hooves. That would be awesome, like Xydexx. Then when people click on his hooves to worship them they get little randomly-generated bits of advice and good thoughts. Yeah, I think I like this idea. The trick is overcoming procrastination enough to make it happen.
Mission Statement of the Damned
The Mission Statement of the Damned continues to torment hapless surfers of the internet. It was developed by my former cow-orkers at Hunchbacked Billiards:
"The burgeoning global approximations marketplace is accelerating to an emergent cusp of the inevitable tipping point, and we recognize that our existing organization is asymetrically hyper-qualified and strategically positioned to advance our industry-leading best-practice business modeling to the next challenge level and utilize 110% out-of-the-box, scalpel-in-hand synergistic thinking. Actively leveraging best-in-breed thought leadership by example with battle-hardened personnel and C-level, securely networked E-technology, we dedicate each other to promote silos of excellence through impactful force projection upon the global marketplace and actualize positive international brand recognition as the gold standard, premiere provider of world-class services that are not merely baked in, but future-forward and unsurpassed by anything except our own expectations."
This still needs to mention something about project management in relation to robotic ponies.
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