That said, as I was poking around in my pictures for the next Pseudo update, I came across this picture.
"Mom and Dad, I know you're going to be all gross and mushy and stuff no matter what I say, but do you HAVE to do it in my pancakes?"
The car dealership I visited today offered me what looks like a good lease deal. I'm just not sure it's what I should do. On one hand, it puts the payment at something easily affordable, and I wouldn't have to worry about the car ever being out of warranty.
On the other hand, the car would technically not be mine and I'm not sure what constitutes normal wear and tear in regards to the lease deal.
I'm really torn on this one.
Even if I get just one cat, I don't worry, but no cats.. that makes me worry. So, I started freaking out. Occasionally my ditzy roommate will lock them in the basement by accident. This has decreased since she quit smoking and doesn't go down there to smoke on an hourly basis, but still. No cats in the basement.
I paced the apartment twice and then went into my bedroom. Johnson lay there by the window, looking at me like I was crazy. Okay, one cat accounted for. I wandered back to the basement jsut in case. This time I took a thing of treats with me. I heard something in the basement, so I thought maybe they were there. I called out for Pashenko and heard his pitiful mew.. right behind me. I have no idea where he was, but he obviously wanted a treat.
So, this only left Malakhi, my black cat. I wandered the apartment a couple more times and couldn't find him. I was calling his name and shaking the treat cannister, but no sign of him. Heaving a sigh, I was about to get upset when I glanced over by my bookcases in a dark corner of the living room. There, on a black coat, lay a black cat, staring at me with big yellow eyes saying, "Why haven't you given me a treat yet, silly human?"
I must have passed him at least five times in my search to find the stupid cats. He was laying there the whole time and I never once saw him.
At least Pip was excited to see me. Of course, it's not like the chinchilla has too far to go in her cage and all that. :)
Howabout this? I'm still leaning towards version two, but I did agree with some of the concerns with the second one.
With this done, there's nothing to keep me from writing Day One up. Of course, this means my shiny object radar will go into effect, distracting me from doing the stuff I should be doing. :)
Anyway, I'd love some feedback on the cover. If anyone dislikes it, let me know. I'm not completely sure I'm happy with it, though I know I don't hate it.
Edit: Take two.. I changed it a little.
Which do you like better?
Recently at work, some of my co-workers and I started sharing music. I've now got two new artists that I'm obsessing about.
Tristan Prettyman is actually a chick, despite the name. Here's one of her songs, called "Madly". I've got both of her albums now and I'm pretty much hooked. Here's another song to try and hook you as well.
I'm not the most articulate when it comes to expressing why I like a particular artist, so forgive me for not being better able to express this. There's something about both her lyrics and her music that keeps both of her albums on repeat for me.
Next up is the John Butler Trio. I can say this one is most definitely the music, since I can only kinda understand what he's singing about some of the time. From what I understand, this group is ALL acoustic and it's an amazingly rich sound they're putting out. Here's a video for "Good Excuse". I don't know a whole lot about music, but I know that THIS seemed pretty intense to me. I've only listened to one of their albums, but I'm definitely going to be getting another soon.
Friday, I went out and did some test driving with my friend Rudy. Since my Dad is out of state, Rudy gets to play surrogate 'man in my life'. He might as well be a brother, so it works out well.
We first went to the Nissan dealership. We got a very new dealer who was obviously a little nervous, but nice enough. They're kinda cool when they're still new, before they've learned the shark mentality. Anyway, we took the Rogue out on the road.
I like it. A lot. We took out the base model, so it had nothing fancy with it. Everything in the version we test drove is standard, so no disappointing surprises if I decide to get one. It was a really smooth ride and everything felt very comfortable. From the seat to the way the controls worked. It took me a couple of moments to figure out the wipers and lights and all that, but that's pretty normal in an unfamiliar car. After I was done, Rudy hopped in and put it through its paces. The dealer actually buckled up in the backseat at that point. I felt a little bad for him, but I trust Rudy's opinion on the car, and he liked this one for the most part.
Next, we stopped in at a Saturn dealership and took a Vue out. I've always liked the look of the view, and I rented one a few years ago to drive from here to Columbus. I have to say, though, this one didn't compare to the Rogue. I liked the Rogue much better.
Ultimately, the Rogue is a little cheaper, better on gas mileage, and more comfortable. If it came down to those two vehicles, the Rogue wins hands down. I'm still a little uncertain about being able to afford the Rogue, but the more I look at things, the more I think I can do it. I'm going to try my bank for financing first, but I'll still see what the dealership financing will offer me, in case it's better.
MOVIE STUFF
Last night, I tried to meet up with a couple of friends to see Iron Man, but I got to the theater too late and couldn't get a ticket for the showing they were already in. Fooey. So, I decided to go see it as a matinee today.
I really liked it. I don't know that it had the same rush for me as the first Spiderman film, and I'm not nearly as emotionally invested in Iron Man as I was the X-men, but this one ranks right up there with my other favorite comic book movies. Robert Downey Jr. was perfect as Tony Stark (though I don't remember Stark being quite that glib in the comics). If you go see it, you MUST stay through the credits if you're a comic book fan. If you don't, you miss a great little teaser.
One thing I was thinking when I came out of the theater was how glad I am that my generation has started making movies. The geeks have gained enough of a standing to make the movies we've wanted to see for years. It seems like most of the storylines adapted to the big screen are based more on the stories that ran in the 1980's. Either way, it makes me happy.
( SIM STUFF )
Anyway, enough rambling. Time for bed.
Part Six is finally done. I originally wanted to get it all into one update, but the idea for the Twikkii Island segment grew so big that I had to split them in two. Now that it's done, though, I want to keep talking about it, so I decided to do a 'Behind the Scenes' thing. Consider it a DVD extra without the DVD!
( Read more... )
I am a weak, weak person. I told myself I wouldn't play the game until I got this next update done. I got about 30 of 125 slides written and decided to 'reward' myself. I would just play the house long enough to let Persephone and Matthew elderify.
That's it.
( Read more... )
"Why don' you write faster, Voice? Eberyone wants to see more of me and the other fif gen'ration babies. If.. if you don' write faster, I'm gonna cry.. *sniffle*"
I write slow because I am a lousy procrastinator who is distracted by shiny objects and terrified of hard work.
That said, I popped into the Walton house earlier today to do a wardrobe change on someone and on a whim, I decided to give Star a toddler table. This child is adorable and I really can't wait to get back to actually playing some of my families. I have forbidden myself from playing the main house until the next update is out. No Legacina baby until that's done. And I can't play any of the other houses until I get them caught up.
Hopefully I'll get a good amount of writing done this weekend. Hopefully.
I was playing one of the SSC houses (there are three now - four if you count Sarah and Chris's house) and discovered that Godfrey had decided to declare his attraction for a particular simself. I didn't even realize he had his gender preference set. If I did that on purpose, I have no idea when I did it.. Eitherway, he's got someone he's stalking..
( Read more... )
The car I would LOVE to get is the Nissan Rogue. It's a crossover SUV. That basically means its got some SUV qualities, but it's built on a car platform. It's at the high end of what I think I can afford, but I do think it's in my range. It's also an absolutely gorgeous car. I sat inside it and just went, "ooooooh."
The problem is, it IS in the high end of my range. Depending on what kind of interest rate I can wrangle on my sketchy credit, I might be looking at a car payment that is a bit more uncomfortable than I want to see. I've never been the greatest with money, and while I'm pretty sure I could afford it, I'd have to be more frugal than I have been the last year if I go with this car and the monthly payment is what I think it's going to be.
On top of that, it is a crossover SUV. The gas mileage isn't horrible, especially for its class, but it's not the greatest either. Gas at some stations around here is already at $3.60 a gallon. Am I prepared to get a vehicle that's going to cost me upwards of $70 a tank to fill?
So, I could get something cheaper and a bit more economical on gas. The Kia Spectra5 was a pretty nifty little car and would definitely be more comfortable in my budget. It also comes in a really cool shade of orange. It would definitely be nothing to be ashamed of.
So, do I go with my heart and try for the Rogue, or go with my head and aim for the more practical Spectra5?
At a Nissan dealership, I took a look at both the Versa and the Rogue, and I confused the heck out of the salesperson. He was dumbfounded that those were the two I was considering, since they're pretty far apart in his opinion. Ones a compact car, the other's a crossover suv. Well, yeah. But they're both cute and they're not sedans. I do really like the Rogue. It's a sweet car-thing.
I think that's the primary thing I'm looking for right now. The Not-Sedan. I don't want it to look too much like a station-wagon, but otherwise, I'm pretty open to anything.
After the Nissan dealership, I hit the Pontaic dealership to check out the Vibe. It's okay, but of all the cars I sat in today, the Pontiac was the only one where the seatbelt was too tight. That took it off my potential list right there. It's a cute car, but the Pontiac I had ages ago also had issues with the seatbelt, and I don't want to go through that again.
Once I was done there, I stopped at the Kia dealership. I've been contemplating the Sportage for a very long time, so I wanted a chance to sit in one, as well as check out their other ones that are similar. So, I sat in a Sportage (small SUV), a Rondo (crossover SUV) and a Spectra5 (compact hatchback). They're definitely not high-end, and the Rogue was much nicer interior wise, but for the price, they're all pretty decent and they were a comfortable fit. They also come with a 10year/100k mile warranty which is tempting.
In simming news, I gave myself a scare today. I installed Kitchen and Bath Stuff yesterday and then went to bed. When I got up today, I discovered all my neighborhoods were gone. Poof. Luckily, I was a good girl and I backed up my neighborhoods before installing. I popped the game open to check it out and make sure everything was okay. I wanted to see the new hairstyles, so I sent someone to the mirror. The game crashed. Uh oh.
I thought this might be Numenor's AGS, so I uninstalled it. Opened the game back up. Same thing. Removed my downloads folder. Same thing. Uninstalled CEP. Same thing. Uninstalled Sims Wardrobe Wrangler. Same thing. ARGH.
With some help from someone at MATY, I uninstalled KBS, removed all vestiges of AGS, renamed my Sims2 folder in My Documents, and then reinstalled KBS. This time it worked. I put my neighborhoods and downloads folder back, and life is good once again. Whew.
Some writing was accomplished today on the update. I've probably got just under half of the first part done. So, taking both parts into account, I've got 45 of 230 slides written. I'm really hoping the second part is easier to write. I think it flows better at least story wise. Either way, I'm thinking I might have it done to post by the end of this coming week.
What's your thought, o'simming friends of mine? Post the 1st part when it's done, or wait until I have both parts done and post them together?
Some of you have probably already read it and I'm quite behind the times, but I loved it so much that I have to infect those that haven't already been infected. It's a must read.
What the hell am I talking about? I'm talking about The Broke Legacy.
Holy canoli is it good. I finished reading it last night, ended up dreaming about it, and my mind kept wandering back to it all day. Only a few sim stories have effected me like that. This one is definitely worth the look. The pictures are gorgeous and the story is engrossing. It's got legacy and plot and Maxis sims all in one.
(You know me. I read something I like, I have to start pimping it around until at least someone acknowledges that they're reading it. :)
I think I'm about to start writing for the next Pseudo Update. I was actually hoping to get this done in March, but it took longer than expected to get the motivation to finish all the parts I needed. Staging complicated scenes may seem like a good idea when thinking up plot, but the execution can be a bit draining.
I did have fun building some of these sets, though. I downloaded a ton of stuff just for these scenes. There were new jungle-ish plants from MTS2, boats stolen from TSR via the booty, and best of all, pillaged stuff from Castaway Stuff at MATY. Those were the best since Pescado saw fit to also steal the functions of said items, so there's lots of accompanying animations with them. I don't think I'll leave them in my game indefinitely, but for a temporary thing, it was still cool to have Elijah climb a tree to scan the horizon.
Another key item that got used was the dueling swords by Paladin. He stole the animations from the Pirate Ship and set it up so that two sims can duel. It's perfectly safe, and no sims were actually harmed in the making of this, but I got to have it look like Elijah and the big bad guy were having a duel atop a Monkey God Temple altar.
Yay Monkey God temples! Even more fun than Ninjas! (Actually, all the goons in the Monkey Temple are also the Ninjas. Yay for multi-use extras!)
Now to see if the writing will go smoothly.
My car needs a new head gasket. This is expensive. Well, the part itself is cheap, but the labor is intensive and therefore making the whole process very expensive. Something about having to take the engine apart to get at the little thingy inside that's falling apart and letting the car leak oil. It sounds messy. And expensive.
This combined with the futzed something or another that's causing a transmission fluid leak has pushed me past the point where I'm willing to throw money into my car. So, car shopping.
I'm both a little excited and a little sad about this. Of course getting a new car is a lovely thing. The possibilities are endless and the new car smell is intoxicating as it seduces you into thinking of all the places you'll go on those wheels.
The sadness comes from the fact that I kind of feel bad for my current car. I haven't been the best of owners and I wish I could have given the car a better run for its money. Ah well...
Part of the problem is that I wrote myself into a bit of a corner. It was a completely voluntary corner, but at the same time, it's frustrating. I've been planning this update since Bon Voyage came out last year. The idea's been percolating in my head, growing and getting bigger all the time. Now that it's time to actually execute it, oof.
Don't get me wrong, I like doing the plotty scenes amidst the regular game play and stuff my sims throw at me, but to do them right it takes work. The animation hacks are both a blessing and a curse. With them, I can get so many more things than what I could otherwise. But they're all designed so haphazardly it's nearly impossible to find exactly what I'm looking for when I need it.
On top of that, there are the other technical difficulties. I needed some sims to pass out on a secret vacation lot. Did you know that sims CAN'T pass out on secret vacation lots? I certainly didn't. I bottomed out their energy bars, and all they did was just bitch about how tired they were. Eventually I threw my hands up in disgust and closed the game down. I figured out a way to work around that little issue, but it's still frustrating.
Then today I wasn't able to find a specific sim in the teleporter. I'm 99.9% certain all the vacation townies have the same names across neighborhoods, but this guy was nowhere to be found when I needed him. So, I had to go into CAS and recreate him. This is AFTER I also had to send the Pleasantview bigfoot to the facelift machine. Did you know that Bigfeet have different faces? I certainly didn't. The Terra Lostundo Bigfoot had the squishy frog nose face of Brandon Lillard. Pleasantview's Bigfoot had the exact same aspiration and LTW, but had Ben Long's face. GAH!
Either way, I did make some progress today. I ended up stopping because I wasn't quite sure how to proceed with the rest of the scene, but I got some good pictures.
Can I reiterate that I adore Shelby? She's what most would consider an 'ugly' sim, but sometimes she just throws me the most beautiful faces. I can't wait to see what her and Elijah give me as kids. Soon...
Of course, after this update, I have to work on Miranda's BC. And that's got some plotty to it too. *sigh* :}
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
silverselene posted in her LJ and I responded and she picked these five icons for me and now I get to explain them.This is how this works:
"Reply to this post, and I'll pick five of your usericons. Then post in your journal talking about those icons - why you like them, what they signify, etc. (If you have fewer than five, I'll just pick one."
And here are my icons that she chose:
First let me say that all of my icons are something I drew or made. For a time, I was part of an Everquest art board, where we would do secret exchanges with people. You'd sign up and get a name of someone and you'd make something for that person. A few of these icons come from those pictures. This one is specifically from: http://ang.mux.net/art/emby-desk.jp
I honestly don't remember who Embrael was, other than a High Elf Cleric in Everquest, but I'm still pretty proud of this picture. I think it's one of my better ones.
Ah, TPK. This is from when I was working with Jason Tondro and TPK Productions. Jason is an amazing GM and author and a really smart guy to boot. He wrote some gaming supplements for Mutants and Masterminds and I did the graphic design and layout work for him. I used this for when I was talking about the work I did for TPK. I do miss doing that stuff.
This one is another Everquest exchange. Here's the full picture: http://ang.mux.net/art/kaleya-desk.jpg
Ah, this one. http://ang.mux.net/art/fairy.jpg. This one I made just because. I liked the pose that she was in, and I originally started it to be a winter theme, but by the time I finished it, I was so sick of winter, I needed a little spring in my life, and that worked its way into this. I miss getting to do artwork just because, but I get so obsessed with whatever I'm into at the time that I lose track of other things. Right now, the Sims2 has taken over my brain, so..
This is another one that was all mine. http://ang.mux.net/art/aandk-desk.jpg.
For the simming folks out there, I honestly don't recall if I had this Aeric in mind when I named the original Aeric (Taylor's grandfather, not Aeric Walton), but this was obviously the source of the name.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5fxBtZ8
The ending was also quite appropriate.
P.S. Sarah, I think this has to be Shere Khan's theme song.
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