Smiley Town, Episode II: Attack of the Grin [Now with over 1.5 million page views!]

[classy_cat18]

Went out to dinner at Olive Garden yesterday, complete with a free sampling of wine and great service. The best part? I didn't have to pay. ^^

[Crystal Tears]

Congrats Gavin! ^^

I actually finished the first chapter of my novel! This made me extremely happy, but it's rough and it will probably have to go through major changes before it's actually ready and I can move on.

But still...

:3

[classy_cat18]

Today I found out I bowl better when I'm buzzed. Seriously, after the first sip, my ball hopped out the gutter and knocked down eight pins. XD

[Blademaster]

Today came. It wasn't as beautiful as four days ago. But it still came.

And, again, I woke up to see it... Well, technically, I was WOKEN up, but... I could've not woken up at all.

[mattbcl]

I went to work, only to discover that we had no assignments for the day. So we sat in our shop for 4 hours and watched Hogan's Heroes on DVD. There really are worse ways in the world to get paid.

[ChobiChibi]

Hey fanfic! Come to share my happy things for the day

Most of you know I bake. Well, I baked these on Tuesday, but I decorated some today...



This one was a treat for le bf. After my housemate had commented that the man I'd made with buttons down him... "Are they nipples?" XD She's German, she no understand...

Also, she's wearing a thong XD *drew on the back*

[Crystal Tears]

Best gingerbread ever. ♥

I woke up today and had text from friends.

This always makes me smile.

[Gavin Luper]

Shonta: nice work with the bowling, woulda loved to see that play out!

Blade: it's the small joys in life!

Matt: man that sounds like a fun day at work! wouldn't say no to that for a change ay

Becki: that gingerbread man is both fantastic and atrocious

Sie: nice sig!

as for me, today I celebrated STRAYA DAY with my bf and some mates at a pool party, had a barbie for lunch, listened to hottest 100, watched the fireworks from a hill near my house with my bf and family, then had another barbie for tea, followed by rockmelon and icecream

fun times

[classy_cat18]

Yesterday, during a Big Team Infinity Slayer (Halo 4), I racked up enough points to call for a Gravity Hammer via ordinance and took out someone with it.

...Actually, we took each other out. Which counted as a Kill from the Dead!

[ChobiChibi]

First, to make up for the lack of happy yesterday, I will fill in XD Yesterday I had a dream about Oslo. Asking him about where he lived in Ontario, where is is now, and if that's near Calgary cos my bf might be going there and I was jealous. Then I told him hilarious stories about Magmar and then I woke up.

Today I beat the car insurance game. But that's not as exciting as the dream I had XD I had a dream that Crystal Tears and Pichu Luver came to the UK, and I was all excited and everything (like Squeeing at Sie with all the air in my lungs), but then I hugged Rio and I refused to let her go XD

So I've had dreams about... 6 TPMers over the years. My imagination is far too active at night, clearly.

Gavin, I love your description of the gingerbread :3 Except she is a lady... I have man and lady cutters XD

EDIT: ALSO. I got a B in my first Masters assignment. The one I spent weeks shitting myself about. FUCK YEAAAAH.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I just won a Legendary figurine in Pokemon BrainStrain. Deoxys, to be exact. I'm not sure if it counts since I'm too amazed to smile. Anyways, Knight of Time let me choose the Forme and I took the Defense one, since, well, I'll need Defense tomorrow. My emotions took control in the library car a week ago, and one of my Aspergerish Facebook conversations from 2012/2/14 was finally reported to a teacher. We shall have a meeting with the teacher in the library tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it full of both excitement and fear.

[mattbcl]

Last night I wrote 3 pages of material. This is pretty amazing, given that I haven't really felt inspired to write until this past weekend.

Why? Well, because of this: my Dungeons & Dragons group is known for epic ridiculousness, but we played from 6 pm Saturday evening until about 3 am Sunday morning with perhaps only 2 or 3 breaks in between. One of our members, a school bus driver, had to go home because he was about to pass out (his biological clock was screaming at him to go to bed), and as these things so often seem to happen, the most epic turn of events began happening after he left. For about 15 minutes during this debacle, everybody in the room - including our fair and benevolent Dungeon Master - was convinced that a member of our PC party was going to die horribly (DM said with finality in his voice, "Oh, he's definitely going to die"). Instead, fate seemed to be on this character's side and permitted him an escape from such an end at the last moment, but his actions have now condemned the entire capital city in which our party has been adventuring.

During this whole exchange, two of us were on our feet and pacing about the room nervously, waiting with total anxiety for the end of the confrontation. Nobody expected this character to survive, and yet he managed to get away from an otherwise inescapable enemy. At the end of it was a large exhalation from the entire group, and we all found ourselves regretting that our bus driver couldn't have been there for it - but I was inspired by the events, and so I said, "Nobody tell him. I'll write it."

You can probably guess that 3 pages doesn't nearly cover everything (you may have noticed my penchant for excruciating detail). But it's a good start, and I'm planning to have the drabble complete by Wednesday evening.

[mattbcl]

I have a day off today. This makes me happy.

[Charles Legend]

I crack myself up...

seeing how I depict the Grays as being a six foot gray humanoid ant like alien with big black compound eyes and three fingered hands and feet. then have one snarl at Charles “Don’t call me a cockroach!”

~Charles Legend

[Lady Vulpix]

Last night I wrote 3 pages of material. This is pretty amazing, given that I haven't really felt inspired to write until this past weekend.

Why? Well, because of this: my Dungeons & Dragons group is known for epic ridiculousness, but we played from 6 pm Saturday evening until about 3 am Sunday morning with perhaps only 2 or 3 breaks in between. One of our members, a school bus driver, had to go home because he was about to pass out (his biological clock was screaming at him to go to bed), and as these things so often seem to happen, the most epic turn of events began happening after he left. For about 15 minutes during this debacle, everybody in the room - including our fair and benevolent Dungeon Master - was convinced that a member of our PC party was going to die horribly (DM said with finality in his voice, "Oh, he's definitely going to die"). Instead, fate seemed to be on this character's side and permitted him an escape from such an end at the last moment, but his actions have now condemned the entire capital city in which our party has been adventuring.

During this whole exchange, two of us were on our feet and pacing about the room nervously, waiting with total anxiety for the end of the confrontation. Nobody expected this character to survive, and yet he managed to get away from an otherwise inescapable enemy. At the end of it was a large exhalation from the entire group, and we all found ourselves regretting that our bus driver couldn't have been there for it - but I was inspired by the events, and so I said, "Nobody tell him. I'll write it."

You can probably guess that 3 pages doesn't nearly cover everything (you may have noticed my penchant for excruciating detail). But it's a good start, and I'm planning to have the drabble complete by Wednesday evening.

Now I'm intrigued.

I keep thinking about Quest of Twelve and how I still have to write the final chapter... but then I think about all the other things I should be doing and... I'm afraid it'll have to stay on hold, probably for a few more months.

[mattbcl]

Now I'm intrigued.

I got the piece done yesterday after a titanic push that involved another 10 pages. Considering posting it here for scrutiny.

[mattbcl]

Another awesome evening of Dungeons & Dragons tonight. Amongst the exchanges:

Little boy: "Look, Grandpa, I'm a knight in shining armor!"
Grandpa: "Get a real job!"

[Blademaster]

...How does this place have more views than every other thread on the site combined?

I've never understood that, but lately it's really been bugging me to not know.

[mattbcl]

If I recall correctly, it had something to do with Jay's hack attack last year. Threads that were deleted were restored into this singular post, but all the viewcounts went here too, and they couldn't be properly returned to their respective origins when the threads themselves were all properly redistributed.

Of course, there's a decent chance my recollection is entirely off.

[Gavin Luper]

If I recall correctly, it had something to do with Jay's hack attack last year. Threads that were deleted were restored into this singular post, but all the viewcounts went here too, and they couldn't be properly returned to their respective origins when the threads themselves were all properly redistributed.

Of course, there's a decent chance my recollection is entirely off.

Your recollection is more or less correct. We had a megathread and after sorting through it all it ended up carrying a whole heap of viewcounts so we gave it all to Smiley Town.

Breaking that thing apart was one of the most painstaking things we mods have ever done. It took about a week from memory, and we were mostly working at it every day for hours. But hey, we got the forum's/world's biggest viewcount out of it, so I figure it's really a win for us.

[Blademaster]

Not fair.

[mattbcl]

On the negative side: two friends came down with stomach flu this weekend, which means our D&D'ing will likely be postponed until next week. Oh well.

On the positive side: those who made it here are having a wonderful time with us, playing various ridiculous tabletop games, eating soup and cake and ice cream, and generally enjoying each others' company.

[mattbcl]

Do I see a working TPM?

Thumbs up!

[ChobiChibi]

Hooray! We're back!

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

My life was empty for few days.

[Blademaster]

Same. I was considering suicide, but I saw the site was back while I was waiting for my gun license to be approved.

[classy_cat18]

Same. I was considering suicide, but I saw the site was back while I was waiting for my gun license to be approved.

Damn paperwork.

Red Dwarf is on Netflix. That's what I have to be happy about. Oh, and I finally got a chance to see the inside of a used electronics store that they advertise on the radio over here. Pure...paradise. Got two volumes of manga for under ten bucks.

[Blademaster]

I apologize in advance for my absolutely abysmal technological knowledge...

What, in simple words, IS Netflix?

Is it movies or TV? Is it ON a TV? Is there a limited selection, or can you pick fom pretty much every movie (or TV show) ever made? How much does it cost, if anything? Does it get cable like HBO and Cinemax, or is it just basic?

SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS WITCHCRAFT TO ME.

(Spoiler:) If you really need to laugh/make yourself feel better, I never had TiVo either. And we only stopped using beepers around the turn of the millennium. Hell, I didn't even know what a computer was until the late '90's.

[Crystal Tears]

Netflix is basically a large assortment of movies and TV shows that you can watch whenever you want. You sign up for it, and through their program (that's available on the PS3, WiiU, 360, and the internetz) you can pick whatever movie you'd like and watch it for free (You pay a monthly fee), but if you love to watch movies its a lot cheaper then buying every movie.
I believe it also rotates what movies it has available. Or at least it does for Canada. Canada's choices are severely limited, but we're told that the American Netflix has a much larger database of movies and shows to pick from.

My friends have it, we watch movies regularly through my bff's PS3.

If you want to try it, I believe they have a month free trial.

I GET TO WORK TOMORROW, I'M EXCITED.

*runs off*

[ChobiChibi]

Blade, TiVo only just made it to this country in the last year or so. So don't feel so far behind XD

We've had netflix for a while, but it sucks over here. It's been around longer than TiVo and it sucks. There's not a big enough variety and things take ages to be put on it. So therefore I don't use it.

I'm happy today because today is a stress-free practical music day. I had a singing lesson, windband (I fucking love playing Bari Sax, it's unreal) and later I get to go teach my a capella choir the first verse and chorus of a song I've arranged for them. Tuesdays are good days :3

It feels weird grammatically correcting syllables when you're arranging though XD Do do do do, do do do do do. Do do do do do, do do do do do.

[mattbcl]

There's another bari sax player here? And it's the same person who appreciates bass clarinets? Good lord, woman! *fistbump*

[ChobiChibi]

Yay! *fist bump* I wish it was my instrument, I play my housemate's. But I love it. I prefer bass instruments. So one day I will buy a Bari and Bass Clari <3

EDIT: Although, since posting this, I have discovered that the bari made a hole in my top. I caught it on one of the bits that holds the bell to the main body of the instrument, and untangled myself, thinking nothing of it (it happens all the time). Then later when I got home, I found a hole It's one of my fave tops! D:

[Blademaster]

...So, Netflix is a pre-chosen selection of movies (no TV) that costs a monthly fee to browse through?

...

What's the point? I can just watch the same stuff online for free.

[mattbcl]

No, no, there's a plethora of television shows also available on Netflix. I use it all the time. Many of my favorites are there.

[classy_cat18]

They've recently made a deal with Disney to show their movies too. The classic ones, not just the recent ones.

Plus it's legal. No fear of going to look for it only for someone to have taken it down. Netflix's stuff does expire, but they give you a warning and it's usually back up later anyway.

[Charles Legend]

Just asking but has anyone here used Jbox to order stuff from Japan, if so how reliable is it? because I was thinking of ordering the Coro Coro comic, I was namely thinking of getting it so I can help revel information about new pokémon instead of siting on the sidelines...

~Charles Legend

[mattbcl]

^ Never have, I'm afraid.

I wrote a bit on my D&D story the other day, but I'm having difficulty getting back off the ground for it any other day (including today). But I have a two-day weekend coming up, so maybe I'll have some time to devote to it.

[mattbcl]

Yesterday I learned my parents are going to be moving away this coming June (this is thanks to Dad's chosen profession in the ministry), after 12 years of service in our current community. Today he announced it to his church. While most were shocked and saddened by this news, there were some who were happy to hear it. Our youth leader was sitting in front of those people at the time and overheard their elation. He told my mom about it after the service - possibly not knowing that my mom has Sunday school class with those same people. She was understandably reluctant to go to Sunday school after that...

Makes me wish that people wouldn't be so harsh as to want each other to go away and never come back. And then I wonder how much of a hypocrite I am... after all, I've had that same desire about several people who have made impacts on my life.

[Chris 2.1]

I think Netflix is cool. In the UK (London specifically) a cinema ticket can cost you £12-£13 so paying £6 a month for access to a huge database of recent TV and movie releases is great. Also, people are using their laptops for TV and DVD watching so much now; in my flat we just sold our crappy old TV because we never sit downstairs and use it. Also saves on a TV license, which is good!

[Blademaster]

...A TV license...?