A quick primer on modern economics:

Hat Tip: The Anchoress

I made some major additions to the living room today. I have replaced the sofas, got a new lamp, and some really neat candles. The sofas are from American Signature.


They're pretty neutral as far as the fantastic style I'm going for. If anything, they are more contemporary in style than I was really looking for, but I didn't particularly like the old fashioned styled sofas. However, with the right accents, I can still achieve a sense of the exotic and fantastic. Other parts of the living room are already heading in that direction. Here's the new spot for my trunk.


The lamp there is from World Market, and matches the lamp that hangs over the couches.


The final addition to the house today is a collection of orange and blue (Go Gators!) candles, also from World Market. They're very Moroccan in style. They fit with the whole far off lands idea, almost Arabian Nights.


That actually gets me most of the furniture in the living room. The only furniture I have left is to replace the coffee table and end tables. Everything else will be decorations. I have lots of wall space left for paintings, swords, and what not. I also want to get some throw pillows and curtains. This is where the more fantastic elements will really come out.

I was wandering around the Escapist today when I came across some links to a Star Wars: The Old Republic walkthrough over on IGN. I was immediately hooked. I was looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV, since I loved FFXI so much, but I think Star Wars definitely wins.

Final Fantasy still has an attraction for me. It was the first MMO I played, and is still the gold standard for a medieval fantasy world. I'd like to see how Square Enix upgrades that.

But. Star Wars. It's Star Wars. I'm so excited I can't get out a coherent thought. The fan reflex kicked in hard. Star Wars!

Fwp-shhhhsssss... wronnnn, worrrarrang. Wrorr-K-SHH! K-SHHkrilkrklkkrlk, wrooonn, wroaonng.

Last night marked my first time back at karate since college. Once again I am studying Butokukan and Aikido. After one class, three things are readily apparent:

1. I am really, really out of shape. I mean really out of shape. After only an hour of floor exercises, my vision was darkening around the edges, I could see stars, my legs were shaking, and I couldn't hold my hands steady. And afterwards, I was unable to do all 20 two-count push ups, nor all 10 full-body crunches. And that's for what sensei called a light class.


2. I actually remembered all the techniques. Not any of the Korean for them(back at UF, we only used Korean for the first year, then switched to Japanese. Not that I remember the Japanese). But I did know the techniques. I even remembered the bit of Aikido we did at the end.


3. I am really bad at them. OK, so while I remembered the basic movements, chambers, and footwork, the execution was just all around sloppy. None of movements were clean and crisp. My body was very disconnected; feet, hips, and hands all moved independent of each other. Nor was I getting full chambers most of the time.

The final assessment is that I have a long way to go. I would not be surprised if it takes the whole semester to get back to where I was before I dropped out four years ago. Still, it is something I want to do, in part to get in better shape (it's much easier with someone pushing me for a whole class), and partly so I have the ability to defend myself even when unarmed.

And if you're interested in the title of the post, go listen to this.

I found an interesting article on hats over at Big Hollywood today. It caught my attention since I do wear a hat, a battered old fedora I've had for many years. I wear it almost everywhere, and it has long since become my trademark. It imparts a sense of style and adventure that is otherwise missing from men's fashion.

I'm somewhat haphazard on the hat etiquette, hats having gone out of style long before I was born. Seems pretty straight forward, and since no one else knows it, it'll be hard for anyone to say I'm wrong.

This hat has reached the point in its life where it only works with casual clothes. It's too weather beaten for anything really formal.

One of my Christmas gifts this year was my very own treasure chest. It fits perfectly with the old world style I am going for in the living room. With the tiger painting, I was worried that the downstairs would become too oriental for my liking. I want something a little more fantasy for the living room. This is definitely it.


Of course, I'll have to trap it, like a proper rogue.


I still need to get the main furniture for the living room, mostly so I'll have an idea of what colors I can work with in all the other accessories. I'll have the library paid off in another couple of months, then I can start looking for sofas and chairs and tables. Slowly but surely I'll create my adventuring abode.

Last night marked my Third Annual New Year's Eve Rocket Battery. In order to top last year's array, I got my self a bigger camp grill. I started off by lacing safety fuse across the top of the grill. There is over 65 feet of fusing on that thing. Then we began sticking bottle rockets on the launch platform.


Here is the finished array. Not as many add ons as last year, but more bottle rockets, some 1300.


But of course, what you want to see is the launch. So here it is:

The laser comes courtesy of some friends up on the building next door. I was hit with a few bottle rockets, some of which decided to explode when they hit me. Still have all my fingers. Here is the after math.


Since we've upgraded from cardboard, there were no fires to put out this year. I guess if we want to go bigger, I'll have to get another grill.