I wanted to be a scientist when I was a boy. To be an astronaut was even better: they were scientists who got to go into space! Of course, I had other dreams as well: writer, teacher, even becoming a priest… well, at least until I discovered girls. The desire to someday become a father outweighed the boyhood interest in the priesthood and its accompanying celibacy. All these dreams had a unifying pattern: they were all professions of highly intelligent people that I respected and admired.
(more…)
Tag: Star Trek
-
Role Models and Father Figures
-
Slacker!
I’m falling behind on updates for this blog. I need to rededicate myself to this project, as well as to others. Mostly, though, it’s just because I’m so damned busy. Between working 30 hours per week at two jobs and taking a full-time courseload of 12 credits of upper-division history classes, I don’t have a whole lot of extra time left over for, well, anything, and most of what little free time I do have gets eaten up by playing video games. (Star Trek Online is, in fact, a key offender in that area.)
-
Teenage ambitions… of being a writer
Recently, I found an old book I’ve had since middle school. This book is kind of special to me, partly because it was autographed “To Jeffrey” by the author when I met him, but also because it reminded me of one of the first pieces of fiction I’d ever written (well, that I can recall, at least).
(more…) -
Star Trek Online, all night long…
I couldn’t sleep tonight, so I decided to take on a mission in Star Trek Online… seems I bit off more than I could chew on that one.
Oh, it started off just fine. In fact, I had no problems at all until the end of the mission, when one of the Klingons turned out to be an Undine shapeshifter and it sent me up against an Undine dreadnought and four frigates. Alone. In a light cruiser. Oh, yeah, that ended well… after getting my @$$ thoroughly kicked about a dozen times, I finally dropped the mission; I’ll have to try it again once I’ve got a (much) bigger ship.
But, alas, I couldn’t end the night like that. Despite the fact that it was by this point nearly 2 am, I still couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t want to end the game on a sour note. So I took on a simple patrol mission. Patrolled four systems. Simple stuff. Ended up getting promoted from Lieutenant 4 to Lieutenant 5. Unfortunately, now it’s 3am, I still can’t sleep, and my alarm’s going off in 3 hours so I can be awake by 8, out the door by 8:30, and in class by 9…
[amazon_link asins=’B002673XJA,B00BUQA14I,150113017X,B071Z3D139,B000G75AL6,0789335298,B01068FP3W,B01D5CXMAO,1910132853,B07F2P93XM’ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’harlander-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d4e4e774-0e59-11e9-9135-319fdeecde9b’]
-
Star Trek Online: Head Start Launch
Open Beta is over, and now Star Trek Online is in “Head Start” for all of us who pre-ordered the game, giving us the opportunity to get a head start before the game officially launches on Tuesday.
In the Open Beta, I planted my tongue firmly in cheek and named my character Captain Dunsel, a tip of the hat to the classic Star Trek episode “The Ultimate Computer.” This time, however, I was somewhat more serious. As in the Open Beta, I named my ship the U.S.S. John Rodgers, after my ancestor and the U.S. Navy vessels likewise named in his honor, but my character was decidedly different. Now that the game is launching, several new options are available, and more will be available on Tuesday; I used the option to make my character a liberated Borg drone named Thirteen of Forty-Seven. Okay, so there’s still a bit of in-joke in the name, but it’s not as readily apparent. At least I didn’t name him Forty-Two of Forty-Seven; that would’ve just been excessive.[amazon_link asins=’B002673XJA,B00BUQA14I,150113017X,B071Z3D139,B000G75AL6,0789335298,B01068FP3W,B01D5CXMAO,1910132853,B07F2P93XM’ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’harlander-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d4e4e774-0e59-11e9-9135-319fdeecde9b’]
-
Joined the Star Trek Online Open Beta
Today, I installed and began playing Star Trek Online, which is in Open Beta until the end of the month. I’m very impressed; Cryptic has done an outstanding job translating the world of Star Trek into game form. After only a few hours playing the game, I’m already willing to shell out the cash for a Lifetime Subscription when it goes live in a couple weeks. It’s really that good.
Because it’s Open Beta, our settings won’t be retained when it switches over, leaving us to be somewhat whimsical with our name choices if we desire. One of my friends, Winston, decided to use the opportunity to name his ship the USS Lollypop (It’s a good ship, he insists). I decided to give a nod to the Original Series by naming my character Captain Dunsel. TOS fans will get the joke immediately. I was somewhat more serious with my ship name, the USS John Rodgers; there have been two US Navy ships with that name, in honor of one of my ancestors. I may reuse it when STO goes live; I haven’t decided yet.
Anyone who’s also playing in the Open Beta, I invite you to send me a friend request. My username is @jharlan1977.
Qa’pla!
-
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-08
- Duct tape is like the Force: it has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together. #
- Letter of Eligibility from VA for new GI Bill (finally) arrived today! Need to take to school’s VA office to finish paperwork & get money #
- Got B’s in both of my classes. Expected, though I’d hoped for A’s. GPA dipped a bit from 3.33 to 3.31. Want to keep it high for xfer to CSUF #
- via @Tymethief A non-twittering friends take on NK: I know he took care of it but really, sending Clinton to pick up women in North Korea? #
- RT @GammaCounter Bookstore window t-shirt: “Don’t judge a book by its movie.” #
- Prices are going up all over… even the 99 cent store has raised their prices… everything’s 99.99 cents now #
- I made a spreadsheet listing every Star Trek story (films, tv, books, comics, games) in chrono order. Let me know if you want a copy. #
- Oh, that doesn’t bode well: RT @LATimes Paramount won’t screen ‘G.I. Joe’ for print or broadcast media critics http://bit.ly/So8B0 #
- Would get $11K/year with old GI Bill, will get $33.5K/year w/ Post-9/11 GI Bill. Vets check out GI Bill calculator: http://bit.ly/luYba #
- Drunk Pedro knocked on door, said I owed $135. Showed him cleared check. Math, alcohol don’t mix: friends don’t let friends derive drunk #
- Met w CSUF transfer counselor, planned out Fall schedule. Now off to deliver GI Bill paperwork to campus VA office… #
- WTF? Turned in paperwork to VA office, they tell me I prob won’t see any money till November. #
- Great news from IAVA for California veterans who want to use the GI Bill. http://bit.ly/S3Ivm #
- Explains the smoke during the game: Woman dead, daughter critical after house fire in Fullerton. http://tinyurl.com/ltrr5w (via @abc7) #
- It’s like the Hand of God: thought I was only getting 1 GI Bill check for summer; just got a 2nd (albeit smaller) one. I can pay my bills! #
- Bills paid, got some groceries, replaced the starter on my truck and it STILL won’t start. Neighbors think the new solenoid is defective… #
- Guy next door had his TV blasting so loud I thought there really was a riot building with sirens approaching before I looked outside #
- “Don’t be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life.” Bertolt Brecht #
- Off to see GI Joe. I know everyone’s either loved or hated it… and knowing is half the battle; we’ll see where I fall in a few hours #
- I really liked GI Joe. Don’t be fooled by bad commercials – the suits are only on screen for 10 minutes and they’re not that bad #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
-
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-04
- Saw Transformers 2. Not great, but not horrible. It is exactly what Bay is best at: paper-thin plot, hot chicks, & lots of kewl ‘splosions #
- DO WANT! RT @thinkgeek “What happens in the holodeck stays in the holodeck” tshirt, mens: http://cli.gs/QSu58t womens: http://cli.gs/ge8aTq #
- @NathanFillion You didn’t steal anything. You appropriated assets in lieu of additional monetary compensation for your services. #
- All right! I’ve got 8 hours of class starting in 3-1/2 hours and I didn’t get ANY sleep last night! #
- Aw crap. Just found out about paperwork I had to file last mo for GI Bill that’s gonna delay my check up to a mo. I need it for rent on Fri! #
- Despite operating only on 2 hours of sleep that I grabbed between 7&9am, I did OK at school today. Even got 100% on my speech this pm #
- Best thing about my Yoda lunch box: picnicing on the quad between classes every day #
- Have to give 2-3 min memorized speech from history or film. Think I’ll do Sisko’s log entry at the end of the DS9 ep For the Uniform #
- Whoops. Meant I’m going to do part of Sisko’s log from DS9’s In the Pale Moonlight. “Most damning of all… I think I can live with it.” #
- Wow. Gorgeous redhead in shorts laying on a blanket & reading a book across the quad. #
- It’s definitely a holiday weekend. Getting loaded down w homework by my professors #
- What? Can it be true? Do I actually have a date this weekend? Survey says “yes.” #
- “A girl who can tie a knot in the fiber which encircles the kernel of a nut is sure to be married.” Yep, that’s a vital skill all right #
- My life’s a soap opera. Friends dying in Iraq & car crashes. Brain tumors. Cancer. Psycho exes. Name a cliche and I’ve probably lived it. #
- RT @BadAstronomer WOOHOO! LRO first light images of the Moon! AWESOME pictures! http://tr.im/qEKL #
- HA! RT @mashable Reading: “64 percent Say Too Much Jackson Coverage”…the ad above the article is amusingly ironic: http://bit.ly/amvGb #
- @gadgetdoll One of my friends suggested we should call it As JeffreysWorld.net Turns LOL in reply to gadgetdoll #
- RT @def_leppard Free Def Leppard concert tickets for military personnel and veterans! See http://bit.ly/uHEGX for details. #
- @gimliaxewielder Both B & C: we’re watching Star Trek and I’m making dinner. in reply to gimliaxewielder #
- Can’t seem to get the dropdown menu for kingdom-con.com to work, but everything else is looking ok, at least. #
- @Quarksbartender that is is obviously one of the beer tap handles from Quark’s. Used to get Blood Draft & Romulan Ale from you all the time in reply to Quarksbartender #
- @wilw Please, we want to be all “HOLY CRAP!” Spill! #
- Upgrading my computer to Ubuntu 9.04 (I know, it came out 3 months ago). Need to do some laundry, grocery shopping, maybe wash my truck too. #
- majorly updated http://www.kingdom-con.com and am currently working on the forum skin. Will work on the dropdown menu CSS issue later #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
