bluegargantua (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bluegargantua) wrote2008-03-30 08:49 pm
bluegargantua) wrote2008-03-30 08:49 pm
Entry tags:
What a long, strange trip it's been
Hey,
So I wrapped up my vacation with a fight home from Portland this morning. Only delayed by an hour.
How did I spend my last few days?
Thursday: We successfully ran some errands that we'd failed at earlier and did a little long-distance sight-seeing. In the early evening we went out to see Cirque de Soleil. The show playing in Portland was Corteo, the basic gist of which ws that a circus clown is on his deathbed and is hallucinating the sort of dreamy episodes you would expect from a Cirque show.
It was, as always, a good show.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
methanopyrus enjoyed the lovely women spinning about in giant chandeliers, I rather enjoyed the strapping young men in the giant hula hoops who rolled about in them (carefully opening and closing hands in rapid succession to keep from crushing them against the floor). I also loved the trampoline sequences. So much fun and there's not a few tricks they did that I could readily duplicate (no idle boast, I had a trampoline as a kid and I'm pretty good at it).
Friday, I ropedmathanopyrus to join me at Gamestorm 10, a gaming convention just over the river in Vancouver WA. I mostly went for the dealer room, but I did get the chance to show methanopyrus a few new games like Carcassone. She joined a demo game of High School Drama with the game's creator and there was one other thing we tried...
"So what's this game about?"
"Oh, you move these giant robots around and you shoot at each other. If you get shot too many times, you blow up. But you don't win if you blow up, that's a common mistake newbies make. You make the other guy blow up, not you. But it's a complicated game."
"I don't care, let's give it a try!"
"Um...if you're sure. They're doing demos over there..."
And that was how I found myself sitting down to play a demo of game of BattleTech with a girl!
"So, there's your base to-hit number, then you add modifiers for your movement speed, your range, cover, and how far the target moved."
"Ack!"
(this, incidentally, is why I don't play BattleTech, although the new Introductory Set is so damn tempting)
In the end, my Hunchback managed to close the gap and 2 AC-20 shots later, her Quickdraw was a glowing slagheap. She did put up a real strong fight, though. I was only two dots away from blowing up myself.
"This was the geekiest thing I've ever done in my life and I have a biochemistry dregree!"
But she was a good sport and seemed to like some of the other stuff a bit better so that's good. Besides, after that, we went out to supper and she ate most of my Butterscotch pudding desert (with real Scotch), so I figure she got something out of it.
Saturday: Mostly shopping. I got a couple of gifts forasciikitty. Then we went out West of Portland, past Beaverton (hee!) and out to a bar/hotel/restaurant that used to be an old Masonic lodge. The food was good, but sadly, there were no ancient artifacts to be discovered.
We came back home and I prepped for my flight home today.
It's been a long trip, but it was a lot of fun. Portland is a great city to visit and I had a great time seeingmethanopyrus too. Tomorrow, I get to discover how bad the commute to my new office is. Whee!
later
Tom
So I wrapped up my vacation with a fight home from Portland this morning. Only delayed by an hour.
How did I spend my last few days?
Thursday: We successfully ran some errands that we'd failed at earlier and did a little long-distance sight-seeing. In the early evening we went out to see Cirque de Soleil. The show playing in Portland was Corteo, the basic gist of which ws that a circus clown is on his deathbed and is hallucinating the sort of dreamy episodes you would expect from a Cirque show.
It was, as always, a good show.
methanopyrus enjoyed the lovely women spinning about in giant chandeliers, I rather enjoyed the strapping young men in the giant hula hoops who rolled about in them (carefully opening and closing hands in rapid succession to keep from crushing them against the floor). I also loved the trampoline sequences. So much fun and there's not a few tricks they did that I could readily duplicate (no idle boast, I had a trampoline as a kid and I'm pretty good at it).Friday, I roped
mathanopyrus to join me at Gamestorm 10, a gaming convention just over the river in Vancouver WA. I mostly went for the dealer room, but I did get the chance to show methanopyrus a few new games like Carcassone. She joined a demo game of High School Drama with the game's creator and there was one other thing we tried..."So what's this game about?"
"Oh, you move these giant robots around and you shoot at each other. If you get shot too many times, you blow up. But you don't win if you blow up, that's a common mistake newbies make. You make the other guy blow up, not you. But it's a complicated game."
"I don't care, let's give it a try!"
"Um...if you're sure. They're doing demos over there..."
And that was how I found myself sitting down to play a demo of game of BattleTech with a girl!
"So, there's your base to-hit number, then you add modifiers for your movement speed, your range, cover, and how far the target moved."
"Ack!"
(this, incidentally, is why I don't play BattleTech, although the new Introductory Set is so damn tempting)
In the end, my Hunchback managed to close the gap and 2 AC-20 shots later, her Quickdraw was a glowing slagheap. She did put up a real strong fight, though. I was only two dots away from blowing up myself.
"This was the geekiest thing I've ever done in my life and I have a biochemistry dregree!"
But she was a good sport and seemed to like some of the other stuff a bit better so that's good. Besides, after that, we went out to supper and she ate most of my Butterscotch pudding desert (with real Scotch), so I figure she got something out of it.
Saturday: Mostly shopping. I got a couple of gifts for
asciikitty. Then we went out West of Portland, past Beaverton (hee!) and out to a bar/hotel/restaurant that used to be an old Masonic lodge. The food was good, but sadly, there were no ancient artifacts to be discovered.We came back home and I prepped for my flight home today.
It's been a long trip, but it was a lot of fun. Portland is a great city to visit and I had a great time seeing
methanopyrus too. Tomorrow, I get to discover how bad the commute to my new office is. Whee!later
Tom