MadMup.com

I never expected it to happen to me. I'm not sure how it did. I'm frustrated and I feel helpless.

I can't login to my Yahoo! account. It won't recognize my password and the password recall function isn't working for me. On some computers I had it set to "Remember Me" and can still do some things, like make my picks for the football league I'm in see that I have 5 emails. But when it asks me to verify my password so I can check my email, it says it's incorrect.

I've gone through the proper channels with tech support but have heard nothing from them. I hate, hate, hate being up against something faceless - I can't talk to an actual person to get anything resolved, and don't know what I can do from here.

I only use my Yahoo! email for a few things, but I do use it. More importantly, though, my Flickr account is tied into my Yahoo account and if I can't log in to Yahoo, I can't log in to Flickr.

I guess the loss isn't too big, in the grand scheme of things. It's the effect it's having on my psyche that's harder to take. I'm losing my faith in technology. It's always been there for me, you know? It does what it's told, and when it fails it's usually pretty easy to figure out why. But this... well, it makes no sense. I have different passwords on my different accounts and I use them every day, so I know which one goes with what and I know which password went with this one. So since this happened with Yahoo!, is it going to happen with my other stuff? I didn't lose much with this one, but I've got plenty to lose with some of the others and no easy way to back it up. In fact, having it online was the way to back some of it up.

I'm actually on edge, feeling nervous. I don't like it and I still feel powerless to do anything about it.

Labels: grr

5 comments

It's been a long time since a linked to a game review I wrote, for a couple of reasons, really: people didn't seem too terribly interested and it felt kind of silly.

I've been informed that the ol' site here could use an infusion of silly after all the morbid and heavy posts lately, so here's a link to my latest review, Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the Xbox.

The short version is that I really liked the game a lot. It lets you team up any four Marvel superheroes from a little over 20 choices. My team of choice was Wolverine, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, and Spider Woman. A bit heavy on the Spider-people, I know, but Spider-Man had to be in there, and Spider Woman had some neat healing effects and long-range attacks.

I've been working for Digital Entertainment News for 2.5 years now and have written 45 game reviews, most of them for games I didn't enjoy playing. Overall, though, I have enjoyed the experience and I don't thank my boss often enough for the opportunity. Here's a public shout-out (am I allowed to give shout-outs? I guess we'll see) to my boss: Thanks for the cool opportunity and all your patience, monk!

Labels: game review

1 comments

I hope you've had a good Thanksgiving and remembered all the good things that have happened to you in the last year. I took some time out to do that myself, and it was extra-nice to be included in a friend's remembrances via phone call.

Aside from that, though, I've been sick all day. All week, really, but it started getting worse last night. I slept fitfully and woke up hardly able to breathe. Luckily Meijer was open today and I was able to get some medicine. Dayquil got me through a good portion of the day.

I should have taken some NyQuil about an hour ago, but I resisted it. Oh, I needed it. The sniffing and the hard to breathe started long ago. I knew NyQuil would help, but it seems so final. Once I've taken it, I've got a half hour to an hour or so before I start to get a little loopy and fuzzy-headed. On top of that, it's some of the nastiest stuff a person can ingest willingly. I always want to follow it up with something else, but I'm afraid of diluting its power or something.

I finally took some about five minutes ago, so I should sleep pretty well tonight. If you happen to call after I've gone to sleep I might answer, but it might be weird for you. Consider yourself warned.

Labels: sick

4 comments

I am firmly, firmly on Team Pam.

Labels: TV

7 comments

Like most Beatles fans, I don’t have too many nice things to say about Yoko Ono. She broke up the band, man. Not cool. Very not cool. And she’s weird. Like, super-weird.

Recently, though, well…

Recently I’ve been listening to the soundtrack for the movie Rushmore. One of the songs on it is “Oh, Yoko” sung by John Lennon. He sings “In the middle of the night I call your name” and “in the middle of a shave” and other mundane times in a person’s normal day. She’s on his mind all the time. And it hit me – they were in love. No matter how weird they were or how “arty” or how whatever they were, they were in love.

John met her at a showing of her “work.” There was a ladder and John climbed it. On the ceiling above the ladder on a small card and in small type, there was a single word: “yes.” It intrigued him, and the ballad of John and Yoko spun out from there.

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn’t say John and Yoko were perfect for each other. Two more strange people you won’t find anywhere. But that hasn’t stopped 30+ years of Beatles fans being mad at her, including me.

But I think I finally get it. No matter how much it changed his life or the lives around him, he was in love. I can respect that. I think I can almost forgive him, even.

Yoko’s still a wacko, though.

Labels: Beatles, love, music

2 comments

I am now the proud owner of a 1999 Saturn Station Wagon:

He's small and zippy and takes cheap gas. I like him! I can actually tell where the corners are on him, too, so parking's been a lot easier.

There's only one thing left to do: put a sticker on him that says "Chick Magnet." I figure that's the only way anyone will ever know he is one.

Labels: car

4 comments

I'm not going to be a star or anything, I'm just going to Wisconsin this weekend to get my new-to-me car. Since March I've been driving my mom's car because I sold my van. My dad found me a car, but it needed some parts... like, an engine, for one.

I grew up never really knowing what vehicles we'd have around the house from day to day, so driving my mom's car around for a while wasn't a shock to my system. It was, however, a big deal. Literally. See, my mom's car is a Cadillac DeVille. It's a big car. I have trouble turning it and I try to park it so I don't have to back it up because I can't tell where the corners are on it. Add to that the fact that I'm extremely nervous about damaging my mom's car and it's been a harrowing few months.

Still, there are worse things in the world to drive than a Cadillac. In fact, the heated seats have come in handy lately. I've got less and less tolerance for cold, it seems, so they've made early morning rides to work a bit less unbearable.

But Mom's missed her car and mine's ready to go, so back it goes. And it just so happens to coincide with my niece and nephew's birthdays, so good timing, eh?

So, if you need a ride to and from Wisconsin this weekend, give me a holler. I'm not leaving until after my improv show, so you've got plenty of time to pack. The ride up'll be nice. The ride back? I guess we'll see! 5 comments

I've gotten some good feedback on the crossword puzzle in the last post, including one friend who called me 4-5 times about it to update me on his progress and try to weasel answers out out of me. I never gave him (or anyone!) the answers, but something I said during his last call spurred him into figuring out the last answer he was missing and he's the first (and only, so far!) 100%.

If you just want the answers, click here. If you want the long, drawn-out version of the answers, read on!

Across
1. My favorite author - Steinbeck, as in "John." My favorite book of his is Of Mice and Men.
7. I apparently looked like one in high school - Muppet. My current screenname is an adaptation of it.
9. I have participated in the growth of The World's Largest Ball of __________ - Paint. It is located in Alexandria, IN.
13. The Cynical _______. I met her in Dallas. - Tyrant. And you know? She wasn't really all that tyrannical. Nor cynical!
14. I was in a wedding here earlier this year - Canada. Specifically, a town called "Yarmouth." I think it was named after what a pirate tells you to shut when you're talking too much.
16. My other 20-year friend - Josh. This one lost a little with the inclusion of the word "other" since the "first" one doesn't come until later in the puzzle. incidentally, Josh is the one who got the 100% on the puzzle.
19. Internal organ that Internetians are most likely to steal - Kidneys. This is based on the urban legend of the people waking up in a bathtub full of ice and missing one. And by "urban legend" I mean "actual fact, you better believe it because it will most certainly happen to you, I'm not kidding."
21. My "catchall" entries, "_________ of Nothing" - Apropos. Taken from a line in "All I Wanna Do," a Sheryl Crow song that I don't actually like that much.
24. I have played every game in this series and finished most of them - Tomb Raider. I know what you're thinking, but it isn't because of Lara Croft. I love the gameplay of the series - it tends to be just the right amount of difficulty for me without being too hard.
25. I spend too much time and money here - Best Buy. More money than time, really.
28. My favorite movie - Batman. Batman Begins is a better Batman movie, but this 1989 movie is more fun to watch.
29. Evil (but cute!) cat - Nutmeg. Beauty, as they say, is only skin-deep. And if she had her way, she'd flay you in the name of "research."
30. My second-favorite superhero - Spiderman. There's supposed to be a hyphen in there, but that doesn't translate so well into crossword puzzles. Plus, this way you can pronounce it like it's a last name: "Hi, I'm Jeff Spiderman. I just moved in across the way and your dog's been in my garbage."
32. He's white & nerdy and so am I - Weird Al. I'm not as nerdy as the song claims he is, but I score pretty high on the chart.
35. Subject of an interesting book I read recently - Cadavers. The book was Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.
42. I am resistant to it - Change. Especially pennies. Ha! Really, I like routine and rarely enjoy variations.
43. I have had mixed results dealing with this site. Current status: I don't trust it. - eBay. I'm right around a 50% success rate and it has done nothing to help my faith in my fellow man.
44. My current ringtone - Mahna Mahna. It was featured on the first episode of "The Muppet Show" and it instantly cheers me up when I hear it.
46. The name of the improv group I'm part of - One Size Fits All. That is so not true.
48. I can only play up to "Medium" difficulty - Guitar Hero. While I have played a few songs on Hard, I can't do it very well and I don't enjoy it.
49. Fellow I've collaborated with on four Theater Hopper strips so far - Joerules. That's his screenname, but he really does, art-wise.
50. My term for a person (me) who refuses to watch movies on videotape - DVDlitist. See, the last "D" in "DVD" ends in the same "E" sound as the "E" in "elitist," so that's why that works.
51. I occasionally make this kind of cake - Twinkie. But it's been a long, long time. Too long, I suspect.
52. I write these for videogames - Reviews. For two-and-a-half years now. Weird.
53. My favorite group - The Beatles. I realize the clue is misleading - group of what? Stars? Muscles? Latin participles?

Down
2. My term for hiding out in one's home and avoiding contact with others - Turtling. The teenaging, mutanting, and ninjaing are all optional.
3. I bought a miniature version of this Inuit statue - Inukshuk. I have it displayed in a bookshelf at the top of my stairs and see it every day and it still reminds me that "people have been here before." it's comforting.
4. I have two friends with this name - Brian. One in Wisconsin, one in New Mexico. They are both smarter than me.
5. My work and my life - Computers. It's depressing sometimes. One good EMP blast and it's all gone!
6. They are on every plane everywhere. Watch out! - Snakes. you might think this is an oversimplification but I can assure you that it is not.
8. Where I grew up - Wisconsin. It made me the hearty outdoors-loving soul you see today. Okay, so maybe not. But I do like cheese!
10. A hobby I'm trying to start - Origami. It isn't going well. I enjoy the end results but get frustrated with the foldings.
11. My term for an online person - Internetian. I'm not sure which way I like pronouncing it, though. Making the last "T" a hard one is easier to say, but making the "TI" a "SH" sound makes it akin to "Martian," which appeals to me.
12. My birthday - May six. Only six months away!
15. The country in which my farthest-away friend lives - Australia. It is also a continent!
17. The subject taught by my favorite teacher ever - Literature. She also taught English, but it is her Lit classes that were the more memorable.
18. Brand of chocolate that tries to ruin my life with the sayings on its wrappers - Dove. It has tried to get me to flirt, which is not a good idea at one's job, I don't think.
20. My favorite director - Tim Burton. There's something about his warped view of the world - odd, but not scary - that appeals to me.
22. Where I side in an age-old debate - Ninjas. One ninja in one night could do away with a whole boatload of pirates, so I don't even know why this is a debate.
23. _________ From School, a series I swear I'll finish eventually - Memories. Wouldn't it be great if I finished at least one thing I started this year?
25. I am afraid of them - Birds. Another misleading clue, as there are a hundred things that could go in here. Like "germs," for instance.
26. _________ & Noble: where I get my hot chocolate fix - Barnes. When I was in first grade, I had a sorta-crush on a girl with this last name. Coincidence? Yeah, I think so.
27. All I Need To Know About Life I Learned By Watching _________ - Seinfeld. Seriously, I'm compiling a list.
31. Embarrassing character on my luggage - Darth Maul. But not anymore!
33. One of my 20-year friends - Dave. Who, at last count, was still missing three of these answers.
34. Nice cat, named after a Star Wars character - Dala. She is just about the sweetest cat that has ever lived.
36. Best. Boardgame. Ever. - Scrabble. I'm hoping to play a game or two of it this weekend!
37. My favorite NFL team - Dallas Cowboys. Some day they'll be good again, I swear.
38. State I've only been to twice but have had a life-long interest in - Texas. And my two visits to it haven't ruined that interest. I'm planning to go back in December. Maybe I should move there...
39. According to at least one friend, I have too many of these to keep track of - Quirks. I found that most people wanted to guess "movies." Owning too many movies is another quirk, I guess.
40. My favorite female singer - Sheryl Crow. I can think of nothing else to add here.
41. My celebrity crush - Winona Ryder. *swoon* Uh... can guys swoon? I guess so, because I just did.
45. My home town for now - Lafayette. For all you stalkers out there, that'd be the Indiana version.
47. I finally bought a 30Gb version earlier this year - iPod. And I've enjoyed it for the most part, too.

So there you go. Hope you had fun with it, because I did!

Labels: Scrabble, Seinfeld

2 comments

I like to do the crossword puzzle from the local paper as often as I can. I find it relaxing and fun. Well, now it's your turn.

I've created a crossword based on my blog so you can (hopefully) have some fun and, in the process, see how much you know about me. Every answer should be from my blog somewhere, either explicitly or implicitly.

The web-based Java version is here.
The printable version is here.

Have fun!


11/6/06: Update - The Answer Key is here! 3 comments