Anne got home very late from work last night, so after the boys went to bed, I killed some time playing nethack. It’s moving from “a fun diversion” to “a serious addiction.” Just this morning, I was reading The Center for American Progress, and my heart skipped when I saw a Y next to a @. I instinctively hit “Z a .” and crashed my browser.
My waking obsession with Nethack reminds me of the old Tetris days, when I’d see patterns in everything. The best one was on approach to Kennedy Airport on a red eye flight, after I’d played through two sets of batteries on my Gameboy during the five hour flight. The Manhattan skyline (one of my favorites in the world) was mentally filled in by all sorts of blocks as the plane landed. I think I had about 5000 mental points when we touched down.
But check it out! I got farther last night than I ever have:

1 15917 Morc-Mon-Hum-Mal-Law died in The Dungeons of Doom on level 12. Killed by a xan. - [68]

Okay, I don’t know WTF a Xan is, but it kicked my ass in three turns. I was in The Big Room, just one step away from the stairs when I died. The worst part is, my own stupidity cost me the game: I forgot to #pray (I was piously aligned) which would have, at least, restored my HP (at best, it may have whacked one of the baddies who was wailing on me). I was also carrying an unidentified amulet of lifesaving (is that what it’s called?) which would have obviously saved me had I put it on. Moral of the story? Don’t forget to quaff and read, and apply and put on everything when you’re close to the end. It’s not like you’ve got anything to lose.
Of course, you could also tear yourself away from nethack for more than three minutes at a time . . . even though there’s something intensely satisfying about listening to the scores for the three Lord of the Rings movies while you play.
I’m just saying.
Exciting link of the day is also a plug for me: I’ll be on The Screen Savers tomorrow (on tape, not in studio) with those interviews I did at JPL last week. I talked to my producer yesterday, and he told me that some of the stuff that couldn’t make it on the air because of time constraints will be streamable on the web, at their website.

I’ve got several “irons in the fire” as they say over near the chuckwagon, so producing original material for WWdN is going to be difficult for a few days.
However, in a shameless effort to keep you around, I’ll do my best to link at least one amusing / interesting / useful link a day until I can scrape some stuff out of the creative portion of my skull.
Today’s link is to Something Awful. Specifically, a hilarious article Lowtax wrote called “How To Be An Internet Tough Guy.
Enjoy.

When she accepted her much-deserved Golden Globe, überhottie Charlize Theron thanked the director of Monster, and said, “There’s only so much you can do, but if somebody doesn’t give you a chance there is nothing you can do.”
. . . if somebody doesn’t give you a chance there is nothing you can do.
That sums up — perfectly — why it’s so goddamned hard to be a working actor.

If you’re not reading bOINGbOING every day, you should start right now.
WAIT!
I mean, as soon as you’re done enjoying the majestic WWdN.
For those of you who are still here, I present a terriffic article I read at bb this morning: Confessions of a Car Salesman from the wonderboys at Edmunds.com.
It’s filled with useful and sometimes shocking information, that anyone who buys or leases a car should know. That’s not surprising, since providing consumers with just that type of information is what Edmunds is all about. The unexpected thing is, it’s wonderfully written literature, too. Are you listening, This American Life?
You are?! Well, why won’t you put me on your damn show then?! !?!111
Oh. Sorry about that. I mean, uhm . . .
Yeah. It’s a really great article, and worth your time.
Okay, now you may be dismissed. 🙂

Over the weekend, Ryan and Nolan and I played several hours of Talisman. Friday night, we played for close to four hours. On Saturday, it was almost five before my Warrior of Chaos defeated Ryan’s Thief on the Crown of Command. Last night, in an effort to play the game in a reasonable amount of time, we decided to play the game with just the original rules, and the first two expansions, but while setting up the game, I realized that my Talisman Adventure components seemed to be missing, so I set out on a quest to find it.
My quest took me into one of my closets, where I thought the box may be hiding behind some blankets. While I was deep in the closet (har. har. har.), I failed my search attempt, and a roll of eight forgotten Teen Idol™posters fell off a shelf and hit me on the head. I took 1d4 damage from this clever trap.
I never found the Talisman Adventure box, and we ended up playing “Classic Talisman,” with just the original rules, characters, items, and stuff. As punishment for our insolent attempt to complete a game in less time than it takes to fly coast-to-coast, the gods prevented us from completing our game. It’s still set up on our dining room table, to be completed later today, after homework and chores are finished.
This morning, while I quaffed coffee and waited for OpenOffice.org to load so I can work on Just A Geek rewrites, I thought to myself, “Maybe it’s a sign, those posters falling on my head . . . maybe I should . . . auction one of those Teen Idol™ things, and purchase a replacement Talisman Adventure Set!”
I smacked my right fist into my open left hand, Burt Ward style.
“Oh, good idea,” my Mr. T. Bobble-head said, “I pity the fool who doesn’t auction off one of those posters!”
“Don’t look at me,” said Mr. Plow, “I only talk when I’m in the right World of Springfield Interactive Environment, which is sold separately.”
“Well then, I guess it’s two against one, Mr. Plow,” I said, and hit submit.