The Scrolls

Spam, Spam, Spam

Cole — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:01:17 +0000

I clean out the spam comments on my blog on a pretty regular basis. I find that my plug-ins are damned good at catching them and I rarely even look to see if they’ve caught something I want to keep. Sometimes, though, I look and cannot help but be amused by them. So here are a few recent examples.

Whatever you do, don’t have sex with him. He’s probably trying to make you jealous or use you because he’s hurt.

Great advice! It has nothing to do with this post, though.

I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you. – Roy Croft

Sweet. Who are you?!

GERMAN SCIENTIST PROVES VIRUSES ARE NOT ALIVE:

OKAY I BELIEVE YOU.

Where exactly is the facebook like button ?

Relevant question spam. I am confused. You can like any post on the individual post page, though. I’m not so fond of that plug-in these days. hmm..

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson: “That it will never come again is what makes life sweet.”

Things just got profound.

J’approuve completement.

Merci.

There are also a surprisingly large number of comments about theZune. Do they even make that any more?

Last Night

Cole — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:01:23 +0000

Last night was among one of the crazier things I’ve done in my life and, to be honest, it wasn’t that crazy for a lot of people. It was for me, though.

I was a little sad, somewhat annoyed, exhausted and a whole lot of angry. So I did the adult thing, downed an entire bottle of alcohol and posted all my angry, man-hating thoughts for the world to see on Facebook/Twitter.

This is not an apology.

I mean, it was annoying, I can give you that. But I am not sorry. I needed a night to not care. I needed some time to refrain from being the responsible adult. I needed to express anger and I needed to let myself feel sadness and I needed to let it all out — which I pretty much never do.

Luckily, I did so in a pretty entertaining way and no one seems upset with me. In fact, the general consensus is pretty much that I would be a hoot to drink with when, you know, I wasn’t full of angry hate. I think anyone who knows me even moderately understands that I am not that person. I have tried so very hard to be responsible, mindful, positive and strong in the past couple years. I’ve made great strides but sometimes I needed a reminder that I don’t have to be those things all the time.

Last night, I found support from some awesome people, who I would expect to be there, and some awesome people who surprised me by being there. They all surprised me by telling me it was okay for me to feel and act the way I felt and acted because they understood.

I also knew that I would sleep on it and feel better in the morning. Which I did, more or less. Some of the things that set me off didn’t matter in the morning light and some of them are going to make me feel a little blue for a while but none of them are the end of the world or even any worse than anything I’ve had to handle before. And I guess that makes me feel pretty good. Maybe I just needed to check out for a little bit but I’m awesome enough to know how far out I can go and able to reel it back in when I need to.

What happened last night won’t be a regular occurrence, thankfully, but last night needed to happen.

Maplestory stopped working after patch? Try this.

Cole — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:08:18 +0000

The other day, I downloaded the patch for Maplestory and was excited to sign in. Little did I expect that when I would click any shortcut or try to open GameLauncher.exe from the Maplestory folder, than nothing would happen.

I actually had the same thing happen before and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t find the solution so I stopped playing and uninstalled it for a while. I randomly re-installed it to find that it worked a couple months later.

The problem, it seems, is that Maplestory is now Windows 7 compliant. This is actually a good thing but your game won’t launch if you’ve been running it in Compatibility Mode, which you needed to before. If the game doesn’t launch after a patch, try this:

Open the Maplestory folder on your computer. For me, it’s located here: C:\Nexon\MapleStory
Right-click GameLauncher and select Properties.
Click the Compatibility tab and uncheck “Run this in compatibility mode for.” Make sure “Run as Administrator” is checked.
Click “Ok”.
Repeat the process for Maplestory.exe if you have been running that in Compatibility Mode.
Relaunch your game.
Give me all your mesos.

Changing My Tune

Cole — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:17:56 +0000

When I first heard that there were not one, but two!, fairy-tale inspired stories coming to night-time television last fall, I was pretty excited. I wanted to check out both Grimm and One Upon a Time and.. I did. I actually watched Grimm first and couldn’t get into it, at first. The format was more dramatic and crime procedural than I expected so I turned it off within a few minutes, despite feeling that the main character was pretty hot.

I think I forced myself to like Once Upon a Time because there was no way I was going to not like any fairy-tale television show. And I like how the plot incorporates your favorite stories into a modern day version. There’s enough of a spin to keep it interesting and some of the characters are masterfully cast. Specifically, Mr Gold/Rumpelstiltskin and the mayor. There’s some cheesy CGI and plot holes in general but nothing that will keep me from watching it. It’s a family-friendly show that requires a little bit of suspension of disbelief but it feels good and.. magical.

But I decided to give Grimm another chance the other night and now.. I have to admit that I not only like it but I like it better than I like Once Upon a Time but.. it’s not fairy-tale-esque. Although the main character is a descendent of the ancient Grimm family and, as such, is expected to hunt monsters like werewolves and such, it’s not about fairy tales. Because he’s a cop, this definitely has a dramatic, police feel to it. So it’s not magical but, that’s okay. I already have a magical show to watch.

As I described Grimm to Wendy, she asked if it was like Supernatural. It’s not quite as dark but, yes. Most of the adversaries have been were-like creatures: bears, pigs, bees and, yes, wolves. There was a stay ogre, too. Grimm isn’t necessarily any more realistic than Once Upon a Time and the focus is more on the drama and action than on the characters, like in One Upon a Time, which focuses on character development. Still, I really enjoy the main character’s werewolf buddy. He brings some great comic relief to the show and was well cast himself. Grimm also has some of the same CGI problems but it feels a little more polished than Once Upon a Time.

Anyway, they’re both good but only one of them is really about fairy tales.

4 Ways to Protest SOPA on your WordPress Blog

Cole — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:06:47 +0000

Blackout your blog.

The list of plug-ins that will blackout your blog for the day and automatically return it to normal is none-too-short. I installed the SOPA Blackout Plugin to display a splash page for my visitors on the 18th. The settings allow me to decide if I want visitors to be able to view the site at all — and I do. Simple Stop SOPA will take your site offline between the ours of 8AM and 8PM on the 18th.

Redirect your blog.

If you don’t mind losing hits and possibly confusing or frustrating your visitors, consider the Stop SOPA and PIPA Plugin to redirect your visitors to the official Stop SOPA website where they can cast a vote.

Display a ribbon.

Perhaps the least obtrusive plug-in, the Stop SOPA Ribon simply displays a diagonal banner on the top corner of your blog. If you can’t afford to take your website down because of business/advertisement/financial obligations, this is the one for you. Your readers can click the ribbon to go to the American Censorship site to learn more about why SOPA sucks.

Put up a widget.

Have a little room in your sidebar or widget? Host a widget that helps to increase awareness about SOPA for the day of January 18th.

Turn the Page

Cole — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:12:23 +0000

Apparently, Dez wants to read 25 books this year or did last year or whatever. I am such a horrible friend. I don’t pay enough attention. Anyway, when I saw this announcement I thought “That doesn’t seem like a lot of books” even though it’s slightly more than two per month and almost double what I read last year. I can count all the books I read, more or less, off the top of my head.

I’ve technically read 1.5 books this year so I’m on a roll. I’m finishing one that I started last month and I’ve got two more on my plate so I’m doing pretty well. Inevitably, I’ll slow down at some point as my life is taken over by MMOs or blogging but I hope to be slightly more consistent this year than last.

Hello Twenty Twelve

Cole — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:49:30 +0000

2011 went out with a fizzle, not a bang, and so 2012 doesn’t quite feel like it’s here. Nothing really marked the end of my year in a noticeable way so it’s hard to believe this could be the year that the world ends — ha!

I do like to have something to get me in the mindset of the new year. Perhaps I just need to make a more dedicated effort next year to end my year with loved ones and maybe even a New Year’s kiss. ;)

Part of me is sad to see 2011 end because it was the best year of my life and a small part of me is worried that 2012 will not live up to it, especially considering how much I’ve been battling my anxiety lately.

Still, I bet this year will be pretty rawrsome either way.

The Center of the Tornado

Cole — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:35:26 +0000

Things have been happening.. around me, not to me, just around me.

I enjoyed a drama-free Christmas. It wasn’t quite like when I was younger but it was nice. No fighting, no big problems. I was pleasantly surprised. We exchanged presents and enjoyed food and played games. I stayed at my uncle’s well after everyone else had left, chatting with him and his wife. There was some definite low-key awesomesauce going on.

On Christmas Eve, my sister’s grandmother was admitted to the hospital. This isn’t out of the normal as her health has been failing because of her diabetes for some time. She’s in and out of the hospital all of the time. Things weren’t looking good but I didn’t think it was any worse. Last night, my sister called me in tears about how sick her grandma was and Mom said her husband had gone to the hospital. Samantha quickly cheered up, as kids do, and I hung up.

I texted Mom a little bit later to ask her something unrelated. Her reply said her mother in law seemed to be doing better but, apparently, she died a short time later. I woke up to several texts from Samantha about her grandma dying but, by the time I woke up, they were already at the hospital with my mom who underwent a hysterectomy today. That went well, as we had reassured her and she’s spending the night.

I went up to the hospital today to see Mom and Samantha and Mom was incredibly funny because of her drugs. She was enjoying her alone time and being able to sleep, however. I took some time to talk to Samantha who seems to be doing incredibly well with this all. I don’t know how.

So, as you can see, I’m surrounded by activity that doesn’t directly affect me. I’m just trying my best to be there for everyone right now and hopefully I’m not failing.

Look pretty, smile!

Cole — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 20:13:55 +0000

As I was showering and planning Christmas photos for tomorrow it struck me that I may as close as it gets to the family photographer. It’s not that I’m necessarily any good (hell, I don’t even have a dedicated camera that I use) and I have friends who are much, much better but.. I am less bad than the rest of my family. I don’t take pictures where people are mid-sentence or mid-bite or doing something potentially embarrassing. Because I like to look good in photos, I assume other people do, too and, when I take a picture, I try to take one that is, at the very least, clear and well framed it not artistic.

It has always amazed me how absolutely God-awful my family is as taking pictures. They really have no sense of photos and that, I think, is part of the reason I shy away from photos. We don’t always look amazing but a bad photo just makes us look so much worse and I delete all my bad photos immediately from my phone/camera.

So, tomorrow I am hoping to take a few decent pictures and email them to the folks in the family so we can look a little less dysfunctional. I may not even be in them because, hey, I’ll be behind the camera.

Why?

Cole — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:36:16 +0000

I don’t know why but I constantly forget how significant certain things are when it comes to my mood. Being well rested, fed and clean among them. In hindsight, those are pretty significant things on that pyramid of survival — you know the one I mean, even if I forget the name — and I’m sure everyone agrees about food and sleep, even if I’m more of a clean freak than others. Still, I will let myself be hungry for hours or prolong my shower, even though dealing with those things right now will make me feel a million times better even if nothing else about my day changes.

And it’s ridiculous because every time I finally do eat or sleep or shower or decide to pop some medicine to kill that headache, I’m like “oh my god! I feel so good. Why did I wait to do that? What is wrong with me?” My productivity shoots through the roof, my mood elevates and everything is all fine and dandy until the next time I feel hunger or the next morning when I put off my shower.

I am weird, man.