That Haunted and Accursed Pile

Authlogic

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 01:25:49 GMT

I have a project I call “Clubcar.” It had its genesis in my frustration at the pathological inability of a group of coworkers to chose a lunch destination, coupled with our general dissatisfaction with the day-to-day functioning of most other automated decision systems.

It was also a complex enough problem that it seemed a good way to learn Rails. Because it was my first Rails project I was as yet unfamiliar with many Rails idioms and practices. I reinvented a few wheels that really should have been patterns.

I am now going back and spending time cleaning up the code base and extending it to allow more than just the original group to use it, since several people have expressed interest in it.

One of the wheels I invented was authentication. Since a wider audience needs a much more robust authentication (and authorization, but that's a separate issue) system, now is a good time to rip out my simple implementation and use one of the off-the-shelf solutions with far more features, and far fewer bugs.

And here's the rub. By far, the most popular solution, acts-as-authenticated (and its REST-ful progeny: restful-authentication) are primarily code generators. The expectation is that you'll use them in a new project to generate the models, views & controllers that make up your authentication system. This has presented two problems, one practical, and one philosophical.

The practical: since my system already has all of these things, I tried to carefully shoehorn the generated code into my existing framework. It was a mess, I felt I'd painted myself into a corner, and the project stagnated.

The philosophical: while I was despairing and frustrated over the shoehorning, I began to wonder: why is the Rails community as a whole, which has “DRY” (“Don’t Repeat Yourself”) as a mantra so enamored with code generation? Even if it's not you writing the code, it is still repetition that makes the project harder to maintain, makes it harder to incorporate fixes and features from later version of the tool, and seems to fly in the face of not only DRY but good object-oriented design as well.

I set the project aside. In returning to it (now that I need to amuse myself on the train again occasionally.) I decided to once again look for alternatives.

I have stumbled upon Authlogic, a plugin that seems to be written by someone who shares my misgivings. It's also extremely well documented, highly configurable, and has a complete API for extension.

Fair warning: I haven't actually started moving my project to Authlogic, and I may yet find some fatal flaw. But I'm very much looking forward to trying it out, and if I do happen to find a flaw, perhaps I can patch it, and everyone using it can benefit immediately, not on their next project!

ETA: I just sent the author some fan mail, because it makes me that happy!

Horus 2002-2009

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:43:05 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

There are far too many words for me to write here, and I’ll never get it out if I try to capture them all. Keeping it short: The candle that burns at both ends burns twice as bright, but half as long. Horus succumbed to chronic renal failure today. Hoka Hey, little man.

Quality Time with Pepper, originally posted by Erik

Sleeping Horus, originally posted by Chiara

On Some Level, We are Already Legal

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:31:00 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

Chiara and I are spending this weekend in Monterey / Carmel / Pacific Grove hammering out wedding details. To me this is poetic for on this day our relationship becomes “legal.”

18 years ago today, we had our first date. February 8, 1991 was the Snowball.

I don’t yet know if she realizes this fact, but I do know that she doesn’t expect me to remember.

Today will be fun!

ETA: She didn’t remember. I win! Off to taste some cake.

Not a Time For Gloating

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:29:57 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

For the past few months, I’ve hoped that this evening I’d have something about which to gloat. But since about this time last night, I’ve had the immortal words of the inimitable Terry Gilliam, as delivered by an understated Bobby D on a seeming endless loop in my head:

“Listen, kid. We’re all in this together.”

There are likely to be many on the side on which I’ve been standing who are looking to destroy those on the other side, as a manner of repudiating the thinking and damage done in the last eight years. I fully expected to be one.

This morning my realization that I wasn’t in that camp prompted me to remember a well-respected Republican admonishing:

“Why, madam, do I not destroy [my enemies] when I make them my friends?”

It’s going to take every one of us to roll up our sleeves, pull the wheel, and turn the Ship of State off the suicidal course on which it has been directed for the last 8 years.

Let it begin with me. Yes we can.

Grabbing My Destiny (By the Antennae?)

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:45:02 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

This afternoon I tendered my resignation. I leave behind a great group of people on the cusp of major to stratospheric success. It was a very hard decision, but my destiny lies elsewhere.

The top half of the page at left isn’t as true as it’s been in the past, making the decision all the more difficult. But the bottom half sings a profound truth.

I was not looking for a new gig. But a few kept landing in my lap that I couldn’t pass up. I’ve accepted the senior developer position at Emmet Labs, an early-stage social platform startup in San Francisco.

There are many reasons this excites me: learning a lot while working on interesting problems in a cool (metaphorical) space surrounded by fascinating (and occasionally famous) people in a dynamic and passion-driven environment. That’s where I thrive!

Obviously there are a lot of other, less exciting emotions tied to the coming and the going, but I feel the need to keep this entry short. Perhaps I’ll catalogue them in a future post.

Golden Gate Social Bike Ride! (Take 3)

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:51:55 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

...This time with 4 part harmony and feeling.

I’m putting together another all-abilities, all-ages, slow as molasses, stop & smell the roses bicycle ride over the Golden Gate Bridge on Sunday, June 22.

When:: Sunday, June 22th (next Sunday, not the day after tomorrow). My plan is to start at my house at noon or 1pm. If I’m riding alone, I can probably be at the bridge in 30 minutes, but connecting with people will modify that, and the schedule for this ride is necessarily a bit flexible. I’m also open to other ideas (see below)
Who:: Anyone who has a bike, can manage to stay (mostly) upright on it, and wants to ride across the Golden Gate (C’mon! It’s fun! You should do it at least once!)
What:: Riding a bicycle across the Golden Gate Bridge. Also, you might want to consult your doctor about ADHD, and/or cut down on the fine herb clouding your short-term memory.
Where:: At a minimum, the Bridge, but see below

I plan to ride from my house and over the Bridge, at a minimum. I expect to connect with people along the way. I will stress again, for the ADHD sufferers out there, that this is a slow, fun, social ride. There are some options to consider, however: (nearly all of these can be played by ear)

Options on the Near End

Ride with me from my house. (Ha!)
Ride Caltrain to 22nd St, start from there, taking a flat route around Potrero Hill. Mostly for South Bay denizens.
Ride BART to 16th Street, and meet me there. Mostly for inhabitants of the Beast, but South Bay folks who are nervous about traffic might consider riding Caltrain to Milbrae & taking BART. This will avoid all but 5 blocks of 16th St. (Once we turn off onto Sanchez it’s all quiet streets and/or bike lanes)
New! Ride Caltrain to 4th/King, or BART to Embarcadero, pick up the Bay Trail a few blocks away. This isn't nearly as nice as the ride through Golden Gate Park & the Presidio (and it's longer), but it's all but completely removed from traffic (Caltrain more than BART)
Park in the garage in the Marina (at Pier 39), meet us at the bridge. This may be the best option for folks worried about distance / fitness. (Though the climb from the Marina to the bridge is a lot less gradual than through the park, and you’ll need to find your own way (I can give you directions), unless everyone decides to take one of the Embarcadero options).
Miraculously find parking in the parking lot at the bridge, or on the streets surrounding, join us there, ride over the bridge, ride right back, get into the car, go home, secure in the accomplishment of actually riding a bicycle over the bridge. I strongly recommend against this approach, but it is an option.

Options on the Far End

Turn around at the Marin end of the bridge, and backtrack. Certainly an option, but take a look at #2 before you settle on this.
Continue (almost entirely downhill, with one climb) into Sausalito, have lunch / snacks, or just sit in the park. Take the Ferry back to SF (which lets out close to the garage in the Marina.)
Same as above, minus the ferry. (What goes down, must come up. It does, however, feel great to conquer it.)
Continue from Sausalito to Tiburon (a gorgeous ride, but it’s another 10-15 miles) I, myself, will only consider doing this on the condition that everyone is going. We can take the ferry back from Tiburon.
Or not. Complete the circuit. I might be up for this, but I reserve the right to wimp out. Contingent on more of the same above.

(Added!) Distances Involved

22nd St - 16th St. BART: 2.2mi
16th St. BART - Fell & Baker: 1.9mi
Fell & Baker - Presidio: 2.4mi
Presidio - Bridge: 2.2mi
Bridge!: 2.1mi
Bridge - Sausalito: 2.7mi

Alternate Route Distances

4th/King - Ferry Building: 1.6mi
Ferry Building - Blue & Gold Ferry Terminal (Pier 39): 0.9mi
Pier 39 - Bridge: 5.8mi

Deviations from these options are highly encouraged! Any questions? ASK!

It’s Dead, Jim

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:23:14 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

My Treo 650 was acting a little strange during my travails in travel on Tuesday. Wednesday morning it got even weirder, and by noon it stopped working at all.

I’m in Miami for the week, and I feel a bit vulnerable without having the ability to connect with folks, either at home, in the family, or people I want to see/meet here.

But beyond that, I don’t know what to do moving forward. Palm is dead as a platform. The rumored impending release of the 3G network iPhone would be absolutely perfect, except:

The rumor is completely unsubstantiated, it started as an off-hand comment by Walt Mossberg, and is fueled entirely by wanton wishful thinking
I need something now, not in a month or two
It would mean giving a(nother) red cent to AT&T after they:
1. flagrantly and recklessly colluded with the NSA to violate the law and our Constitutional rights.
2. decided all of your personal information? yeah, that’s now “Marketing Information” they're free to use (and sell) as they see fit.
3. etc, etc, etc…

It’s that last one that is so problematic. I feel completely hypocritical even considering an iPhone. Yeah, sure, Android, um, see #2 above.

Further Evidence of Geekdom

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:24:50 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

In preparation for a demo that could lead to a huge opportunity, I worked two weeks straight, most nights until midnight, sometimes until after 2am. No rest for the ~~wicked~~ weary on the two weekends, I just plowed straight through.

I’m done, back banging on the stuff on which I should be working, and I was very much looking forward to a respite this weekend.

There’s just one minor glitch. The problem I left on Friday evening is sticking in my craw. It’s interesting. I know I should leave it until Monday, but here I am logging into the VPN to grab the file so I can at least map out how I think it should be solved.

Hopefully that will exorcise this demon, and I can go back to enjoying a weekend with my sweetie.

Comment Spammers, They Love Them Some Journey

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:44:34 GMT

Recently I've started getting a bit of anonymous comment spam on my LJ. Well, not so much my LJ as just this entry. The head-scratcher in this is that with only one exception, none of them include a link or even a URL.

I don't see the point of that. Perhaps they're trying to increase the weight of the pills mentioned as a global keyword, or bring down the reputation of random LJ/blogs in order to relatively increase the reputation of their splogs.

Most likely it's being done manually, but people unclear on the concept. Rules of Spam #3.

Or maybe they're just trying to let me know they aren't the ones who also like Journey.

I've given up wondering why that entry, and only that entry. I assume it made it into a database somewhere. Doesn't really answer the question, but it's not a group I should expect to be acting logically. Again, see Rule #3.

The First Word was Hartford...

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 03:04:14 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

[This has been rolling around my head for a few weeks, and I’ve been chomping at the bit (until my site redesign was finished and MT was working again for me) for the time I could write it.]

I play at being a misanthrope. It’s not all charade, there is certainly a fair bit of my character that is completely anti-social, and while I’ve come out of my shell in shocking and scary ways in recent years, I’m still rather introverted.

But at the deepest level, the essential kernel, I am an optimist. A humanist. A romantic.

There hasn’t been much fuel for that spark in the public space in recent years, in fact in most ways we haven’t been sliding toward oblivion so much a stampeding toward it.

And yet, as I observed the political process recently I’ve found myself experiencing some odd emotions. While reading reading Jon Taplin’s Blog I put my finger on it. The odd sensation I couldn’t quite grasp was hope.

I feel hopeful. Not that we’ve turned around and are headed in the right direction, but that maybe we’ve turned a (slight) corner. That some more people are starting to ask hard, important questions. That people might actually be willing to put aside differences, and dig in for the herculean task of rebuilding everything the last 8-10 years has torn down.

I fully expect these hopes to be dashed. We, as a nation, have been coddled and encouraged to stick our heads in the sand for too long for it change overnight. And the siren song of blissful ignorance is powerful. But, if the cards fall well, that dashing could be delayed until after January. Several months of hope could do me (and many of us) a world of good.

Edit: I finally figured out what was breaking the crossposting of this entry. The original draft of this entry, had I been able to publish it, would have coincided perfectly with the speech about which everyone is talking. It’s gratifying to see so many of us feel the same way.

I know it’s more of that blinding hope, but I can’t help but feel that the choice before us is between the politicians of the past; and a statesman, the likes of which we haven’t seen in a generation, who will lead us into the future.

The Plea (And Confession) of a Type Torturer

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:23:51 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

Please believe me. I’ve tried. I will grant that some of those attempts may have been half-hearted, but I was weary, down-hearted. I didn’t think that I could do it (and I’m still skeptical), but I can’t live this lie, maintain this charade any longer, and so this voice cries in the wilderness, hoping someone out there can help me out of jam of a mental block:

I need a replacement for Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed:

One with an honest italic (not just slanted romans). One that will contrast as beautifully against my body font (currently a simple Bodoni Book, with both lining and old-style numerals as appropriate) without clashing.

You see, I don’t want the world, I just want your half.

My current front-runner is Agenda Semibold Extra (or Ultra, I haven’t decided yet) Condensed (Italic):

[ I've decided to remove the samples for Agenda, you can find it if you care, but as I said in comments in the cross-post I realized I liked it a lot less once this was posted.]

While it is quite nice in its own right, it's too round, lacks the subtle, oblique stress that (was one of the elements that) drew me to Franklin Gothic, and the lack of a branch terminal on the spine & bowl mating of some forms (“b,” in particular) doesn’t sit well with me. It doesn’t feel as . . . classy. You see, I’m still hoping for a long-lost italic cousin to come out of the woodwork.

I can’t seem to shake that sense. A little help?

How I came to be in this pickle is a longer story, one of interest to no-one except myself, I suspect.

The romance began slightly more than 10 years ago. I don’t remember now if it was love at first sight, but it was something close. It definitely led to the awakening of my interest in the arcane world of typography.

Oh, sure, I’d long known about fonts, and I collected as many as I could find. I’d long before hit the 127 face limit in MacOS. But typography still lay just outside my purview. This project would prove to be the first step on that awakening.

It came at a perfect confluence of events, I had just read^[1] Robin Williams’s Non-Designers’ Design Book (it's been through a few revisions since) and just attended a re-employment seminar that charged me to rewrite my résumé from the ground up. Granted, most of the results are now cringe-worthy, but at the time I felt on top of the world.

I was using Times Roman^[2] as my body font (I know, I know, they were baby steps at first), so I wanted a very strong sans serif with a much darker color for my titles. The speed and satisfaction with which I settled on Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed was rather unsusual for me at that time.

I soon realized that I needed to distinguish between employers and job titles, so I applied an italic style to the titles. PageMaker, not finding an italic font dutifully slanted the romans. I can hear the type geeks screaming in pain, and I wish that was the extent of the sins I must confess, but there is more. And I think (in my defense) the ungainly, mildly disturbing width of those letters eventually pushed me in the direction of learning what an italic really was, and started opening the world of typography to me.

When I migrated away from PageMaker into building the PDF from XML source using FOP, I lost my slanted roman “italics.” After casting around for a replacement font, I eventually dug in, learned the PDF file format and figured out how PageMaker transformed the letterforms, and spent far too much effort perpetrating that particular crime. I eventually wrote a Perl script to apply the matrix transformation to the right text in my PDFs, and as I upgraded FOP a few times spent time hacking my script to work again.

With the latest upgrade I finally said, “Enough!” I no longer had an excuse — I know what I was doing was wrong. I must correct myself. My inner type geek can turn a blind eye no more.

And so, here I am, trying to replace my first lover. The one who opened my eyes to a new world, in so many ways. Yes, she’s a troll. But I’ll always have a speical place for her.

...And I just realized that this whole entry could have been condensed down to a pithy, personal ad format. I’m sure anyone still reading to here would have gotten more amusement out of that than this missive. Oh well. Next time.

^[1] (or was about to read, chronology of events has always been a slippery thing for me, and events from this time in my life are particularly elusive)

^[2] It wasn’t until much later that I moved my body font to Bodoni Book, not realizing that in so doing I was using two very different faces by the same designer, Morris Fuller Benton.

The Wedding [Singer] [Planner] Filter

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:19:24 GMT

For those of you with your heads in the sand, cfox74 and I are planning a wedding. I'm almost certainly going to post about it. Wedding planning is a topic that tends to overwhelm those other than the soliloquizing, oblivious miscreants currently engaged (ha!) in the pursuit.

In an effort to appear less self-absorbed than you all know me to be, I thought I'd set up a filter to spare (most of) you the details.

Anyone even mildly curious is more than welcome, of course. The filter is just a public service.

I'll screen the comments, feel free to make them snarky.

Synchronicity

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:56:07 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

[While this may not be the first time I've heard this song since certain facts came to light (to me), it's definitely the first time I've considered the lyrics:]

Really, who but a candidate for a doctorate in astrophysics (now properly defended) could write such a heart-wrenching song about the perils of relativistic space travel?

I know I've had my suspicions over the years, and, sure, it could be argued there are other interpretations (I'd expect nothing less from such a master), but this coincidence is too strong to ignore.

Open Letters

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:08:20 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

Dear USPS:

Look, I know things are busy for you right now, so you probably won't even hear my cries over the din of all of the mail you're processing, however I have two comments:

"package tracking" != "delivery confirmation!" Please stop trying to confuse the issue
"Express Mail" my fat, pale, hairy ass!

In short, my package should have been here overnight 1 week ago (even giving you the benefit of the doubt). I have no visibility into your process. I just want my damn package!

no love,
E

Dear Random Cyclist Who Likes to Draft Me on Moffett Park Blvd.:

First off, I am greatly honored by your obvious trust in my abilities, but I have two questions for you as well:

Dude, seriously, what the fuck? That shit is dangerous done with people you know how to anticipate, but a random stranger? Yes, yes, I'm in awe of your mad skillz and your obviously far stronger cojones, but what the hell is wrong with you?
We've done this a few times now, you know I turn left at Borregas, do you not realize that when I look behind me I'm trying to gauge the likelihood of being mauled by a death machine as I enter the lane? Seeing your smiling face blocking my view is not helpful.

In short: thanks, now please back the fuck off!

No Love,
You Don't Even Know My Name

Dear Random Other Cyclist I'd Never Seen Before:

I'm sorry my passing you was such an affront to your machismo that you felt you had to be a complete prick about it. But let's compare:

I passed you, on the left, letting you know I was there, ("On your left")
You passed me, on the right (seriously, are you dense?) with nary a peep, at a stop sign, where you immediately made a left turn across my path!

I nearly ran right into you, asshat! If I'd been aware of what you were about to pull I might have out of spite. I hope your manhood has been vindicated. Now kindly cut that shit out.

Whatever.

Reaping What I've Sown

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:02:59 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

For once, I'm using that metaphor for something positive!

After a most delectable Thanksgiving dinner[*], I contemplated the carcass of the bird and said "We can't just throw that out," (You can take the boy out of New England, but you can't take New England out of the boy) "I'll make stock!"

So I gathered up a mirpois, some additional aromatics, and some leftover herbage, and put the bird on to boil.

[Note to future self: wishing either of your 8Q stock pots are large enough to handle 4lbs of carcass doesn't make it so. If you plan to do this again, buy a proper stock pot!]

10 hours of boiling, scumming, and topping off later the bones had given up quite a bit of collagen, but there was still some left. On the other hand, it was 1am and it would take about an hour[**] to cool the stock to the point it could safely be stored in the refrigerator. So I pulled it, strained it through cheese cloth and started the cooling process.

When I finally dealt with it, I found that while it wasn't as gelatinous as it might be, it was most assuredly more than a mere broth! Success![***] I then dutifully broke out the muffin tins and portioned it into 1/2 & 1c amounts, plus a few pints and into the freezer it went.

And now, with Chiara off at a baby shower, I went to the kitchen to contemplate lunch. Once there I was hit with a revelation like a bolt of lightning:

Consommé!

Another mirpois (diced this time), one of my frozen pints, a little salt, a little pepper (ok, a lot of pepper. Probably too much, my nose is still running) and some egg noodles I didn't know we had. (Yes, I threw it all together into the pot at the same time, sue me.) Finished with a squeeze of lemon juice.

In a word, sublime.

[*] I think Chiara's tired of me raving about the carmelized onion & balsamic gravy that she couldn't eat, but really, everything we ate was fantastic. That gravy, however, was a mind-expanding substance.

[**] In the other stock pot, surrounded by ice, with two frozen nalgene bottles full in the middle to speed the process. That's all AB's idea.

[***] Ok,I also found it to be a bit murkier than I might like, probably meaning that I cooked it too high and didn't scum as effectively as I should have. It was also curiously lacking in schmaltz. Oh well, for a first (solo) effort, it wasn't bad.

Band Geek 4 Life!

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:25:23 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

The plethora of emotions this brought to the surface was a bit surprising, actually:

Unfortunately, I can't find one from the "correct" perspective.

Represent, yo

(via Play this Thing)

Dissonance

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 03:30:23 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

I'm sweaty, smell faintly of smoky beeswax, and I have (mild) first degree burns on my hands and forearms.

I also feel giddy, and more centered than I have in a long time. Even though pretty much everything I tried failed, most of it spectacularly.

Emulation

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:23:25 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

I just suffered a strong sense of cognative dissonance this morning reading David Byrne wax poetic on Justin Timberlake's Madison Square Garden concert [about 2/3 of the way down, "JT on HBO"]. I would have assumed . . . Well, I would have assumed that he was as closed-minded as I am.

Sure, I could write it off as simply one artist's appreciation for the craft execution of another. But that would miss an important lesson here: one of the things I admire and respect about Byrne is the gusto with which he tries new things!

As an artist, it benefits him greatly to be able to embace the new. But the same could be said for all of us as human beings.

RSS Is . . .

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:53:53 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

RSS is a long, protracted exercise in letting go.

. . .And a constant reminder that I need more practice.

Pick Me! Pick ME!

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:46:20 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

I just listened to the following, meme tags never end up with a list this good:

"Five Man Army" — Massive Attack
"Don't Stop Me Now" — Queen
"Down Under" — Men at Work
"The Dead Heart" — Midnight Oil
"Parsec" — Stereolab
"Cecilia" — Simon & Garfunkel
"Stretch Out and Wait" — The Smiths
"Stuck in a Loop" — Devo
"If You Want To Sing Out" — Cat Stevens

Sure, it's not my perfect list, nor is each song necessarily the best choice from that artist, but each one of them has me moving in my chair in degrees varying from a little bit to full-on embarrassing.

I think I'll pull a Teletubbies: Again! Again!

Fetish Objects

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:29:37 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

The first thing I noticed about the paperback copy of The Code Book that I picked up recently was that it just felt wonderful: the cover, the inner page paper, everything. This is the most tactilely satisfying book, paperback or otherwise, I've had in very long time. I believe this is independent of the subject matter, which has completely fascinated me since I read "The Gold Bug" at the age of 8 or 9.

In slight contrast, C gave me a (hardback) copy of the latest novel by one of my favorite authors (Rant, Chuck Palahniuk), and while I'm also enjoying the feel of it, I strongly suspect some of that is the enjoyment I'm getting out of reading his prose.

Edit: Ok, so Rant took a a turn for the "Bwah?!" near the end, and while I still enjoyed it, (and it didn't diminish my tactile enjoyment) I feel compelled to say that. Oddly enough, this particular turn is one of which I'd be much more tolerant (and might actually enjoy) coming from another author.

Swiftly Satirical

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:13:56 GMT

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

[For the really impatient, you can just skip straight to dessert.]

I've been remiss, but work has been Crazy! A few of you already know this, but for those that don't:

Chiara and I took part in an ~~event~~ ruse last Saturday. She has already described the event fairly completely, I just feel compelled to point out that in presenting the puzzles as faits acomplis, she makes them seem much easier than they were. Much of our time was spent figuring out how to attack each clue, and what the puzzle might ultimately be.

After collecting plastic eggs all afternoon, the final step of the final puzzle spelled out "ARE YOU READY TO PUT YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET(,) CHIARA(?)" I had knelt beside her to "read over her shoulder" while she transcribed the message as Kate read it. At least, that's what she thought. Finally, questions were popped, the enormity sunk in, and champagne flowed.

Yes, the entire event was a ruse. And everyone involved, save one (miraculously), knew that.

So, how did this incredible, over-the-top, crazy afternoon come to pass?

Evolution of a Dream

It all started as a daydream years ago. "When I do it, I want there to be a scavenger hunt involved."
That morphed quickly into a clue hunt, much like the Fairfield Area Research Team events friends & I put together in High School. It's funny that those events were inspired by the Bay Area Race Fantastique, put on by a bunch of Stanford folks, and here we are where it all started.

And that's pretty much where it sat for years. But somewhat recently, even I could no longer deny that this was where I'd be putting this plan into action.
I realize that if I can help it, the ending should be as much of a surprise as I can manage. [That appears to have worked! Yay!]
So how on earth do I manage that? Well, if it's more than just her playing the game, that adds a level of credibility.

The trouble is that all of these plans have a fundamental flaw: if I design everything, I can't very well play, since I'll have to coordinte everything, and even if I hand that off, I know all of the solutions, they'll all seem trivial to me, and I won't be able to keep from pushing us along, taking away some of the frustration, yes, but with it some of the triumph.
I begin to plan details, and enlist help from Kate & Bryan. I'm quickly overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.
Fortune smiles upon me. Arshad & Corby (who have been playing in these events for a while, much to my envy) invite me to participate in the play test for Shinteki's Decathlon 3. A "Corporate Events" link on the website leads to an epiphany.
The rest, as they are wont to say, is history. A wonderful beginning to a long history.

I'll leave it here with an idea that ended up being infeasible in the final event. My original plan for the eggs was to have them covered with (in order):

M
W

DXIV

DC
CM
CCXXI
DCCCLX
DCCXX
CLXX

N
Y

CXIV

DCXCVI
CCC
CCCLXX
CCCXXX
CCLXXXII
CDXX

A
E

CDXCIV

CDXC
CDXXX
CCXXV
DCCLXXXVI
CCXXVIII
-

O
E

DCCCXX

CXVII
CXX
D
DCCCX
DX
DCCLXXX

R
D

DCCC

C
CC
CDL
CCXX
CXV
CCCV.CCXXXV

(The first set of each egg under the line was optional)

I couldn't be happier with how things turned out, and I'm greatly looking forward to what follows!

Stress

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:19:14 GMT

[This entry is in reference to Swiftly Satirical. And was originally behind a rather severe filter.]

I just need to keep telling myself that in a little more than 30 hours this will all be over. One way or the other.

Last night I had the second worst stress dreams I've had in memory. It all centered around my sleeping through the event.

In the last two days, the weather has turned back on like a switch had been thrown. It looks like it will be spotty on Saturday and nice on Sunday. This makes me wish I'd gotten word out about my intentions to have this event LAST weekend before the date was usurped.

Organizers asked me if I wanted to move to Sunday, which would probably work, were it not for the dinner planned afterward.

Speaking of which, the venue I'm trying to book (NOT the one in the Evite, FWIW) keeps BLOWING ME OFF. Last night I talked to them only briefly and they said "It's not really enough time to plan an event like this." Really, huh, that's why I've been calling for SEVERAL DAYS, asshat. Gonna try one last time this afternoon, otherwise the fall back venue (the one on the Evite) will get the call.

Note to self: "Don't forget the ring" — Make that a mantra

Note to self about the Note to self: It seems to have a better ring if you add ", DUMBass" on the end.

Comments screened for the hell of it.

Edit: Ok, so these are the perils of posting from work, I got sidetracked and completely forgot the main point I wanted to make above: the hardest part of all of this has been managing to keep my trap shut! I am so accustomed to telling her everything! On more than one occasion I nearly blew it because I was so excited about things and I absentmindedly started to share. Fortunately, in each case my mouth didn't start moving before I realized how dumb that was.

Kept Buggin' His Old Man: "Dad, Get Me a Burrow Owl"

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:11:18 GMT

Happy Birthday to avocado_tom, who shouldn't see this, and thus won't reply to it if he does. :-D

Edit: [Comments screened just in case I'm wrong]

Swiftly Satirical

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 07:32:55 GMT

[This entry is in reference to Swiftly Satirical. And was originally behind a rather severe filter.]

The follow on to Surprise 9/22:

I sent the following Evite ("Mom! Dad! Don't touch it it's EEEEEVILLLLL!") just a bit ago. Suffice it to say, if you can see this entry, you're invited. Comments Screened, fire away.

Host: Erik (trying to Surprise Chiara)

Location: New Eritrea
907 Irving Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 US

When: Saturday, September 22, 6:30PM

Phone: 415.264.6191

Note: This is a surprise for Chiara! Please make sure the months of planning don't come unraveled!

Please join us for a communal meal. This will be the culmination of an afternoon long scavenger/puzzle hunt, the climax of which is a production of the aforementioned satire.

Confused? I'm being stupidly cryptic, but the clue is a pretty obvious one. (But don't blurt it out, either)

[This location is still tentative, however the neighborhood is right.]

The actual invite can be found via this link, but since they long ago started requiring logins to even view an invite, the whole "external URL" feature became an exercise in futility and frustration.

Please RSVP either here or there. I'll need an accurate count.

Edit: I meant this to go out quite a while ago. But you assumed that.

Host:	Erik (trying to Surprise Chiara)
Location:	New Eritrea 907 Irving Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 US
When:	Saturday, September 22, 6:30PM
Phone:	415.264.6191