These are some neologisms from Cat's History of the English Language book (Dr. Stewart pointed out that the class had a really long name and that he would not be offended if students only pronounced the capital letters). Anyway, neologism means a newly coined word. These were from Britain, on a BBC Radio thing.
bagonize - to wait anxiously for your suitcase to appear on the baggage carousel
circumtreeviation - the tendency of a dog on a leash to want to walk past poles and trees on the opposite side to its owner.
polygrouch - someone who complains about everything.
kellogulation - what happens to your breakfast cereal when you are called away by a 15-minute phone call, just after you pour milk on it. (^ happens to Cat a lot)
hicgap - the time that elapses between when hiccups go away and when you suddenly realize that they have.
And for your further enjoyment, Dr. Stewartisms:
Overtime repeated syllables (such as in Englaland) are dropped out of words (leaving you with England). "This process is called haplology. Rather ironic - it has been suggested to change it to haplogy, and I can't say I disagree."
In reference to silent "e"s like the ones found in "change" or "dance" that are not pronounced but instead give clues about how another letter should be pronounced. ". . . these funny little 'e's that only tell you about their neighbor - gossips I'd call them."
"This is your vowel space." Pause, looks at the class. "This is your vowel space on Great Vowel Shift." Goes back to the chalkboard.
Some people in the class still haven't gotten that he's not entirely serious and they write these down. Cat writes them down, but for a different reason.
In other news, Cat is choosing her play this weekend for directing class. She has two she likes. She has to time them out and then pick one. Both of them are funny, so I think either one is a good choice.
Due to a siege in their other game, Traveller is being delayed. Though they do have their new ship picked out (it's called the Oleander) and Gabe's the Marquis de Megalmatree, which is pretty awesome. Megalmatree is the name of the main planet he owns. Pretty cool. In addition to the Marquis, the ship is staffed with it's designer, a scout, a female telekinetic engineer, a slightly shady lawyer and comm officer, and a gunner. Also around is Gabe's character's son and apprentice trader and two deckhands. They have cargo and a trade route, but further play is on hold. You'll have to wait to hear more about that.
Also to note - Cat is going to Chicago this weekend with Shelly. Shelly has to go look at something in a library or something. Snibbs and I are going to tag along (he's going on about manuscripts or something, I just like seeing our friends at home). It should be a good time.
Showing posts with label Traveller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Traveller. Show all posts
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Behind
Sorry! I didn't mean not to write. But see Cat was busy with the project, and then we went back to Cat's Parent's house and there were lots of things to do for Christmas, and then it was after Christmas and we went to visit Cat's relatives, and then we came back and bummed around, but Cat bummed around a lot on the computer so I couldn't get on . . .
Anyway, here I am.
I have a few bits of info to impart. For one thing, the Snowdrop blew up, killing all aboard. Carmichael and Elsie were not aboard when the ship blew and their condition remains unknown. Cat had fun doing it. Now they have new characters and a different ship that remains unnamed. It will be before the first game. Cat's picking and choosing for a new universe. It'll be fun.
Secondly, Clem underwent surgery today - it is not entirely complete since the beanies are having static and settling issues. Mrs. Cat's Mom thought it best to let him rest and settle overnight and check again tomorrow to see if they can get more beanies in before sending him back to school with us. We're all trying to be very supportive.
So Cat finished her project. Miss Adrien helped with a bit of painting and Mr. Cat's Dad helped by suggesting a good way to make a dome. The class liked it (though she wouldn't let me go with to class - something about the scale thing again). The teacher liked it too and she got a good grade. The little man got to go. She said he was to scale . . . lame. She said he's six feet tall. Liar! He is so not that tall! He's like a couple inches or something. Cat must have been really out of it from being up so late working on it - usually she's not so bad about numbers as that!
Cat's been having trouble with her rechargeable batteries, so she hasn't taken too many pictures. We might put up more later - like about what Snibbly and I did on Christmas - TEE HEE.
We're back in K-Town Saturday. We get to take the train! Comfort and Spud aren't excited about the train - neither is Clem, but that goes without saying.
Anyway, here I am.
I have a few bits of info to impart. For one thing, the Snowdrop blew up, killing all aboard. Carmichael and Elsie were not aboard when the ship blew and their condition remains unknown. Cat had fun doing it. Now they have new characters and a different ship that remains unnamed. It will be before the first game. Cat's picking and choosing for a new universe. It'll be fun.
Secondly, Clem underwent surgery today - it is not entirely complete since the beanies are having static and settling issues. Mrs. Cat's Mom thought it best to let him rest and settle overnight and check again tomorrow to see if they can get more beanies in before sending him back to school with us. We're all trying to be very supportive.
So Cat finished her project. Miss Adrien helped with a bit of painting and Mr. Cat's Dad helped by suggesting a good way to make a dome. The class liked it (though she wouldn't let me go with to class - something about the scale thing again). The teacher liked it too and she got a good grade. The little man got to go. She said he was to scale . . . lame. She said he's six feet tall. Liar! He is so not that tall! He's like a couple inches or something. Cat must have been really out of it from being up so late working on it - usually she's not so bad about numbers as that!
Cat's been having trouble with her rechargeable batteries, so she hasn't taken too many pictures. We might put up more later - like about what Snibbly and I did on Christmas - TEE HEE.We're back in K-Town Saturday. We get to take the train! Comfort and Spud aren't excited about the train - neither is Clem, but that goes without saying.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
The Continued Adventures of the Snowdrop
I am so sorry. There's been like two and a half Traveller games and I haven't reported on them. One was a short day where Sera Lewellan made sure that the local authorities were aware that the Snowdrop was in NO WAY involved with the bombing of a rebel base. They also made a fair profit on their speculative trade goods. It was short because Cat was really sick and couldn't focus on the game.
In the next exciting session, the ship was almost blown up by pirates. Comm and sensors officer Midnight and Pilot Chester Mannix had their hands full managing the long distance battle with a ship significantly larger than they were. With the help of the Steward's shooting as well as the engineering know how of Chad Ahron and Van Hawkins, the ship managed to stay together while taking the pirates down. Captain Gerrick Ransly kept the crew organized while the battle took place, and even managed to help hack into the enemy's computer. Drake Reed waited impatiently for a boarding that never came while Sera Lewellan stood at the back of the bridge with her fingers crossed that these fools would NOT succeed in blowing her and her ship up.
Having triumphed with a ship that was barely holding together, they limped to the spaceport in system where they received a discount for having taken out an impediment to business. While the ship was being repaired, the crew sampled "Argentinian" Pizza and gambled. Captain Gerrick ran into an old friend from the time he was in "information gathering" for a organized crime boss a few systems over. His friend, in "acquisitions," needed a loan to complete a pre-arranged transaction. Not liking the thought of what would become of his friend should his business not come through, Gerrick agreed to loan him 20,000 credits with a nice interest rate. Unfortunately for Gerrick, his friend was nailed and port security got his name. Gerrick lied his way out of charges of aiding a drug run, but he was less than thrilled with the news that his friend had gotten away and did not seem likely to pay him back. Taking the group's muscle with him (Reed), Gerrick went to confront his friend about the 20,000 credits and interest that had been promised to him. Unfortunately for them, his friend was hopped up on some highly illegal and unstable psi-drugs that sparked an immediate fight. Leaving Reed stuck under a steel crate, the criminal escaped.
Gerrick of course informed port security of the criminal's whereabouts, but they where soon proven no match for the rouge psionic's mind powers, hiding ability, or his drug-filled tranq darts. Gerrick again decided to take matters into his own hands, taking with him Reed (who was pissed because the guy "cheated" with the telekinesis thing), Chad, Chester, and Carmichael the steward. The remainder of the crew ordered pizza delivery and watched the fight on the bridge, Midnight having used her hacking ability to put the security camera feeds up onto the main screen. In the firefight that ensued, Carmichael parried the psionic's telekinesis with powers of his own, much to the surprise of the rest of the crew. The crew succeeded in taking out the dangerous drug runner but decided that they had had enough trouble in the system and kept a low profile until their repairs were finished.
In other news, Cat went to see a play at the school Kyle went to. Snibbly went, and he went on and on about the whole thing forever. They saw the other Caitlin from the Girl Scout troop and heard all about her summer research. Again, Snibbly went on and on about cell wall permeability in red blood cells because of it (I think it was for Deirdre's benefit - she's visiting again - anyway it certainly wasn't for mine). They also saw Kyle and met some of his gaming friends (wish I was there for that at least).
She also went to Columbia one day to try and find shoes for work. No go on the shoes, but she did find an awesome hat to wear when she doesn't have time to do her hair in the morning.
Cat took the GRE while she was sick, and rocked its socks even though (because?) she was on a little too much medication, taken so she could sit up long enough to take the test.
Thanksgiving's this week. She still hasn't taken the tickets off the fridge and given them to me. She really ought to do this. HINT HINT. We'll get to see all the home people. It will be lots of fun.
My last bit of news is very sad and very solemn. After many years of faithful service, Cat's oven has given up all hope of life. It totally killed Cat's breadstick earlier tonight. And in like 4 minutes too. It was pretty sad. Cat left a phone message for her landlady about the tragedy. Hopefully the appropriate steps to dispose of the poor thing will be taken soon.
Cat's not here right not because she's at the play, "house managing." She says that means she bosses the ushers around and tells people not to bring food into the theater. It doesn't sound all that important to me. Cat doesn't really like the play, not that it's not done well, she says, she just isn't a fan of Brecht. I guess he wrote it. It's called Threepenny Opera. Anyway, tonight's the last night for that.
That's all for now folks. I'll try to stay on top of the Traveller thing better from now on. That was a lot to write!
In the next exciting session, the ship was almost blown up by pirates. Comm and sensors officer Midnight and Pilot Chester Mannix had their hands full managing the long distance battle with a ship significantly larger than they were. With the help of the Steward's shooting as well as the engineering know how of Chad Ahron and Van Hawkins, the ship managed to stay together while taking the pirates down. Captain Gerrick Ransly kept the crew organized while the battle took place, and even managed to help hack into the enemy's computer. Drake Reed waited impatiently for a boarding that never came while Sera Lewellan stood at the back of the bridge with her fingers crossed that these fools would NOT succeed in blowing her and her ship up.
Having triumphed with a ship that was barely holding together, they limped to the spaceport in system where they received a discount for having taken out an impediment to business. While the ship was being repaired, the crew sampled "Argentinian" Pizza and gambled. Captain Gerrick ran into an old friend from the time he was in "information gathering" for a organized crime boss a few systems over. His friend, in "acquisitions," needed a loan to complete a pre-arranged transaction. Not liking the thought of what would become of his friend should his business not come through, Gerrick agreed to loan him 20,000 credits with a nice interest rate. Unfortunately for Gerrick, his friend was nailed and port security got his name. Gerrick lied his way out of charges of aiding a drug run, but he was less than thrilled with the news that his friend had gotten away and did not seem likely to pay him back. Taking the group's muscle with him (Reed), Gerrick went to confront his friend about the 20,000 credits and interest that had been promised to him. Unfortunately for them, his friend was hopped up on some highly illegal and unstable psi-drugs that sparked an immediate fight. Leaving Reed stuck under a steel crate, the criminal escaped.
Gerrick of course informed port security of the criminal's whereabouts, but they where soon proven no match for the rouge psionic's mind powers, hiding ability, or his drug-filled tranq darts. Gerrick again decided to take matters into his own hands, taking with him Reed (who was pissed because the guy "cheated" with the telekinesis thing), Chad, Chester, and Carmichael the steward. The remainder of the crew ordered pizza delivery and watched the fight on the bridge, Midnight having used her hacking ability to put the security camera feeds up onto the main screen. In the firefight that ensued, Carmichael parried the psionic's telekinesis with powers of his own, much to the surprise of the rest of the crew. The crew succeeded in taking out the dangerous drug runner but decided that they had had enough trouble in the system and kept a low profile until their repairs were finished.
In other news, Cat went to see a play at the school Kyle went to. Snibbly went, and he went on and on about the whole thing forever. They saw the other Caitlin from the Girl Scout troop and heard all about her summer research. Again, Snibbly went on and on about cell wall permeability in red blood cells because of it (I think it was for Deirdre's benefit - she's visiting again - anyway it certainly wasn't for mine). They also saw Kyle and met some of his gaming friends (wish I was there for that at least).
She also went to Columbia one day to try and find shoes for work. No go on the shoes, but she did find an awesome hat to wear when she doesn't have time to do her hair in the morning.
Cat took the GRE while she was sick, and rocked its socks even though (because?) she was on a little too much medication, taken so she could sit up long enough to take the test.
Thanksgiving's this week. She still hasn't taken the tickets off the fridge and given them to me. She really ought to do this. HINT HINT. We'll get to see all the home people. It will be lots of fun.
My last bit of news is very sad and very solemn. After many years of faithful service, Cat's oven has given up all hope of life. It totally killed Cat's breadstick earlier tonight. And in like 4 minutes too. It was pretty sad. Cat left a phone message for her landlady about the tragedy. Hopefully the appropriate steps to dispose of the poor thing will be taken soon.
Cat's not here right not because she's at the play, "house managing." She says that means she bosses the ushers around and tells people not to bring food into the theater. It doesn't sound all that important to me. Cat doesn't really like the play, not that it's not done well, she says, she just isn't a fan of Brecht. I guess he wrote it. It's called Threepenny Opera. Anyway, tonight's the last night for that.
That's all for now folks. I'll try to stay on top of the Traveller thing better from now on. That was a lot to write!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Adventures of the Snowdrop
Cat has been working on grad school stuff - slowly but she still has plenty of time. She was delayed by getting sick last weekend. It was a weird little thing - she was really sick for like 36 hours, and then she was fine, just a little tired. Anyway, not much got done over the weekend. Just the absolute necessities. But now her references have everything they need to reference for her, and she has most of a resume and most of a personal statement. Those things are going to get hammered out this week so she can have everything ready to put into applications in one go. She's also studying for the GRE with Sean (big Sean, not Spud - Spud wouldn't help her very much . . . ), and some on her own.
Today was a Traveller day! Almost as much fun as DnD days! Anyway, two weeks ago, the Snowdrop (a modified noble's pleasure yacht owned by Sera Richelle Llewellyn, Baroness of Umkahkuu) was employed to make use of the not-so-famous-but-very-intelligent Professor Van Hawkins's latest experiments - aka chemically enhanced weapons and explosives. The thing they were supposed to make use of this on was a base for insurgents with a free-Earth agenda (not very popular in an Imperialist setting, alas). There were grenades, and a really big fire, and the ship's hired gun was badly injured (no one was surprised) and the engineer was almost killed (everyone was not happy - engineers are important! Not that hired guns aren't . . . ), and Sera Llewellan had to bad mouth the nightside starport manager. But everyone made it out okay in the end and they retreated back to another system - one far enough away to hopefully not raise suspicion.
There they played on the fancy space station. Drake Reed (the hired gun) got in a bar fight over a not happening pool game, Chester Mannix (the pilot) and Chad Ahron (the engineer) went shopping, bought toys, guns, and candy, and saw a news report about they haven't been caught yet for blowing up buildings elsewhere in the sector, and Sera Llewellan lost her artificially intelligent robot when some navy sneaks wanted to see what kind of info he had inside of him. After paying off the port security for Reed's misdeeds, and kicking them into gear to help with Sera Llewellan's problem, Captain Gerrick Ransly and the rest of the crew (minus the delinquent Reed, who was kept on the ship by the Baroness's hand maid and her tranquillizer gun) got together to muster out the robot from possible harm.
After a bit of speculative buying, the Snowdrop is preparing to depart to deal with some pirates several systems away, hopefully for more profit this time. I know everyone will wait anxiously to hear the continuation of the Snowdrop's exploits, to be continued three weeks from now, when people are mostly done taking stupid tests and things. (Cat won't be, but that's okay - the next Traveller game is the week before she takes the GRE - which isn't a big deal since she has plenty of time to prepare for both)
Discussions of the week: New nouns in Japanese since they've learned basic sentence structure, the syntax of African American English, resumes in Theatre Seminar (convenient, eh? It's supposed to be), and measured perspective in scene design.
Today was a Traveller day! Almost as much fun as DnD days! Anyway, two weeks ago, the Snowdrop (a modified noble's pleasure yacht owned by Sera Richelle Llewellyn, Baroness of Umkahkuu) was employed to make use of the not-so-famous-but-very-intelligent Professor Van Hawkins's latest experiments - aka chemically enhanced weapons and explosives. The thing they were supposed to make use of this on was a base for insurgents with a free-Earth agenda (not very popular in an Imperialist setting, alas). There were grenades, and a really big fire, and the ship's hired gun was badly injured (no one was surprised) and the engineer was almost killed (everyone was not happy - engineers are important! Not that hired guns aren't . . . ), and Sera Llewellan had to bad mouth the nightside starport manager. But everyone made it out okay in the end and they retreated back to another system - one far enough away to hopefully not raise suspicion.
There they played on the fancy space station. Drake Reed (the hired gun) got in a bar fight over a not happening pool game, Chester Mannix (the pilot) and Chad Ahron (the engineer) went shopping, bought toys, guns, and candy, and saw a news report about they haven't been caught yet for blowing up buildings elsewhere in the sector, and Sera Llewellan lost her artificially intelligent robot when some navy sneaks wanted to see what kind of info he had inside of him. After paying off the port security for Reed's misdeeds, and kicking them into gear to help with Sera Llewellan's problem, Captain Gerrick Ransly and the rest of the crew (minus the delinquent Reed, who was kept on the ship by the Baroness's hand maid and her tranquillizer gun) got together to muster out the robot from possible harm.
After a bit of speculative buying, the Snowdrop is preparing to depart to deal with some pirates several systems away, hopefully for more profit this time. I know everyone will wait anxiously to hear the continuation of the Snowdrop's exploits, to be continued three weeks from now, when people are mostly done taking stupid tests and things. (Cat won't be, but that's okay - the next Traveller game is the week before she takes the GRE - which isn't a big deal since she has plenty of time to prepare for both)
Discussions of the week: New nouns in Japanese since they've learned basic sentence structure, the syntax of African American English, resumes in Theatre Seminar (convenient, eh? It's supposed to be), and measured perspective in scene design.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Schoolness
We're back at school and Cat's been to all of her classes at least once. Cat says Japanese is pretty cool, especially since there are people who are worse at it (yes, even with only 3 days of class, she can tell). Theatre Senior Seminar is like Theatre-group-therapy- because-no-one-knows-what-they're- doing-for-the-rest-of-their-lives. Cat's glad it only meets once a week. Scene Design got taken over by the new Theatre teacher - which threw Cat. Not that this Janet person isn't nice or not a good teacher, but Cat was mentally prepared for a Ron class. African American English involves a lot of reading, so I'm glad it's Cat that's taking it and not me. Of all the classes, Cat's the least sure about that one. She thinks she'll do well, but it will be more work than she expected.
In more interesting news, Cat got her Traveller rulebook (finally) and she has some characters and a spaceship (how often do you get to say that?!). She's working on stuff for them to do with their characters and spaceship.
Some people might find this interesting - Cat dyed her hair again, so now it's all one color. It's pretty close to her original hair color. The sun-bleached part was really getting to her.
We have a new addition to our house - Shawn Samuel. He's a perky little kid - all the same, Snibbly and I have been staying away from him. He's nice to the other animals, particularly Clem, but the other animals are on a more even size with him - Snibbly and I are afraid of the damage he might inflict on us. Maybe when he's older. . . Cat's settled on the nickname Spud for him, but only when her friend Sean is around. Otherwise, things would be way confusing.
Other than that, things are pretty normal. Cat's working on homework and studying for the GRE. She has to sign up for a date still, but she's working on it. She hasn't been writing as much as she'd like - once the spaceship thing gets off the ground, that should improve.
In more interesting news, Cat got her Traveller rulebook (finally) and she has some characters and a spaceship (how often do you get to say that?!). She's working on stuff for them to do with their characters and spaceship.
Some people might find this interesting - Cat dyed her hair again, so now it's all one color. It's pretty close to her original hair color. The sun-bleached part was really getting to her.
We have a new addition to our house - Shawn Samuel. He's a perky little kid - all the same, Snibbly and I have been staying away from him. He's nice to the other animals, particularly Clem, but the other animals are on a more even size with him - Snibbly and I are afraid of the damage he might inflict on us. Maybe when he's older. . . Cat's settled on the nickname Spud for him, but only when her friend Sean is around. Otherwise, things would be way confusing.
Other than that, things are pretty normal. Cat's working on homework and studying for the GRE. She has to sign up for a date still, but she's working on it. She hasn't been writing as much as she'd like - once the spaceship thing gets off the ground, that should improve.
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