seanshannonposted 2008.05.11 at 14:38
</p>
(Come on, you knew this was coming, right?)
Mood: 
chill
Music: dj nagureo -- "5.1.1."
posted 2008.05.09 at 21:11
Lara is awesome. <3
Mood: 
content
posted 2008.05.08 at 14:41
Figured you might want to help get the word out about this:</p>
Stride offers free gum to people who sign petition to stop Uwe Boll from making more movies
Mood: 
curious
Music: Matsui Keiko -- "Water Lily"
posted 2008.05.06 at 23:30
Me as a superhero:</p>
(They didn't have full-figure body types, okay?)
Make yours here and post it to your LJ.
Oh, and my super power? Sarcasm.
Mood: 
pessimistic
posted 2008.05.06 at 00:04
... but at least he has decent taste in dancing games.
Mood: 
tired
Music: Matsui Keiko -- "Crescent Night Dreams"
posted 2008.04.01 at 19:39
The bowling alley by my house that used to have a Pump machine a long time ago (which was broken long before I ever got into dance games) got an Exceed 2 in recently. I haven't played dancing games since Dad's death, but I figured I should give it a shot since I was so close and I knew I wouldn't do well anyway. The thing is I did do well; even though I really haven't played much five-panel, Pump's huge perfect window meant that timing wasn't so much of an issue. I think I actually got more misses than greats throughout the seven sets I played. I kept things light because I'm so out of it now (still can't get back on track with my diet), but I did take notes of the FPCs I got. (No photos, obviously, because the results screen doesn't stay up long enough for me to even power up my camera, let alone snap a photo.)</p>
Normal FPC #1 (overall #1): A Trap
Normal FPC #2 (overall #2): Point Break
Normal FPC #3 (overall #3): Run!
Normal FPC #4 (overall #4): I Love You Baby
Normal FPC #5 (overall #5): Love Is A Danger Zone
Hard FPC #1 (overall #6): Funky Tonight
Hard FPC #2 (overall #7): One Love
Hard FPC #3 (overall #8): Oh! Rosa
Hard FPC #4 (overall #9): Love Is A Danger Zone
Hard FPC #5 (overall #10): Slam
Everything was played on 2x because of Pump's stupid flat default noteskin. Seriously, the more I play Pump, the more I realize not only how much I hate Pump, but how much I hate what it does to people. Seriously, I used to think Lara was so cool back when I first met her and she was all about the DDR, but ever since she got heavy into Pump everything's always Cesar this and Brazil that, and I've lost nearly all the respect I ever had for her. Seriously, every time she starts badmouthing Extreme I get so pissed I can't stand it. Pump It Up is the worst bullshit I can see.
Mood: 
frustrated
Music: Rick Astley -- "Never Gonna Give You Up"
posted 2008.03.22 at 21:09
Thank you to all of you who sent words, thoughts, prayers, and such after Dad's death.</p>
I actually tried to go back on my diet the day after he died, and I think I might have actually succeeded were it not for the fact that Dad left a lot of food behind that the rest of the family wanted me to clean up. I had my reservations -- I'm an even worse packrat than he was, and even if the food was going to grow mouldy and stink I was still at that stage where I wanted to keep everything of his -- but I figured that going off of my diet for a little while might have actually been a good thing for me.
Two weeks after that I tried to go back on my diet, and I succeeded for four and a half days, but then I just collapsed again. Between all the business surrounding Dad's death and all the work I have to do with teaching, I have just been unbelievably busy, and sugar and caffeine have been the only things that have kept me going half the time these days. (At least I haven't turned to other substances for support.) This past week was especially difficult, what with my birthday on Tuesday (I finally own Guitar Hero) and Dad's birthday yesterday.
I'm going to try to go back on-diet tomorrow, but I already find myself trying to bargain with myself for just one more day or one more week of eating bad foods. I know that I can't keep eating the way I've been eating here -- and I haven't gotten any exercise since Dad died -- but food is one of the few things that I'm finding any comfort in right now (I finally found Faygo's version of Pepsi Blue locally), and I need comfort right now in the worst possible way. Now more than ever I need moral support to keep me on the right path here with food and such.
I did play DDR Disney Channel the week before Dad's death, and I'll have to post about it later when I have more time, but needless to say I was not very happy with it. I ordered SuperNOVA 2 JP a week ago and I should have it come in sometime this coming week; I probably won't have time for dance games until the week after at the absolute earliest, but with the weather warming up I'm hoping that I'll be able to get back to regular DDR/ITG here shortly.
I don't want to give the impression that I'm that bad off right now -- I could be a lot worse than I am right now -- but again, I could use support here as I try to get back to a regular, healthy diet.
Mood: 
sad
posted 2008.02.23 at 15:06
My father died from an aneurysm earlier today. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be dieting for a while here.
posted 2008.02.17 at 01:03
Food logs: [ Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Off-diet Saturday ]</p>
Between the cold weather and having about a million things to do right now, it was another exercise-free week, but I'm hoping that I can at least get out to the garage tomorrow since it'll be a bit warmer.
I picked up DDR Disney Channel today, and as much as it looks like large parts of it will really stink, it looks like it may be beneficial just for playing for long periods of time without worrying about score. If I get out to the garage tomorrow, I'll try it out and see if it's going to useful for more than just completing my PS2 collection.
Mood: tired
posted 2008.02.10 at 01:01
Click on the links and select some positive/negative words that you think describe me. (The positive one is one that I did a while back; the negative one is new.)</p>
Johari (positive)
Nohari (negative)
Mood: curious
Music: Hockey Day in Canada still
posted 2008.02.09 at 14:47
Food logs: [ Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Off-diet Saturday ]</p>
I only made it out to the garage again last night, but two nights of DDR this week is still a whole lot better than I was doing the past few weeks. Monday was two hours of SuperNOVA 1 US, Friday two hours of SuperNOVA 2 US (no, I'm not practicing to play SuperNOVA 2 AC, which I honestly have no desire to play between the Betson screw-ups and the removal of dj nagureo's songs), and as promised I'll keep the picture floods behind an LJ-cut now.
( Home version AAAs #717-731, one on Heavy )
That Heavy AAA was actually a sight-read (I haven't even tried the Standard chart yet, and flagged the Light chart the only time I played it some five months ago), so I guess maybe the long layoff didn't affect me too badly. The anxiety over trying harder catas and tens has come back with a vengeance, though. I just hope I can keep playing here, but with the high tomorrow forecast to be only 8 degrees -- Fahrenheit -- I don't think I'll be heading out tomorrow.
I'll be picking up SuperNOVA 2 JP when it comes out later this month, but it'll be more for the sake of completing my collection than having any actual desire to play it. I'll probably do the same with Disney Channel soon, too. Has there been any word on a home release on PIU Pro? Not that I'm that eager to play it, but at least then I could play five-panel at home on my good pads.
Mood: 
busy
Music: Hockey Day in Canada!
posted 2008.02.04 at 22:58
I actually played DDR in the garage earlier tonight. I got some new AAAs too, although I'll save those photos for the Saturday post.</p>
For now, I'd just like to ask why people say that exercise is supposed to make you more alert and active. That used to be the case for me, but ever since I started playing Heavy/Oni charts that hasn't been the case. By the time I get done playing and have dinner, I'm just too pooped to do much of anything. Maybe it's just me, or maybe I'm working out too hard, I don't know. I just thought I'd throw that out and see if I get any feedback.
Mood: tired
posted 2008.02.03 at 18:14
Food logs: [ Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Off-diet Saturday ]</p>
Yet again I failed to get in any exercise last week as I was just so busy with things, but that should change this week with a lighter schedule (at least for the first part of the week) and warmer temperatures. I may even try to hit the arcade in the middle of the week if I can get in some practice here at home first.
Mood: busy
Music: Puppy Bowl IV!
posted 2008.01.26 at 23:53
Food logs: [ Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Off-diet Saturday ]</p>
Between the super-cold weather and still sorting things out at the start of the semester here, I didn't get in any exercise at all this past week. Believe me, I am not happy about this in the slightest, but for now I still don't see myself hitting the garage soon. I don't need another long layoff here, given how my skills seemed to deteriorate so much while I was sick.
Mood: 
cold
Music: f.s. blumm -- "nie"
posted 2008.01.19 at 19:14
Food logs: [ Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday ]</p>
Yeah, I'm staying on-diet today for a change, but that's kind of negated by the fact that my entire exercise for the week consisted of an hour of yoga on Wednesday. This was my first week back teaching (and this is my first term teaching more than one class), so I was busy, and on top of that I'm still very, very hesitant to go out to the garage when it's so cold out. Given that we're only supposed to get up to 15 tomorrow (that's Fahrenheit, not Celsius), it may be even longer before I stomp more arrows.
Mood: sad
posted 2008.01.17 at 21:50
Go to these links and pick out what the directions tell you. Then post your final result. Tag a few friends to do the same.</p>
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Ra
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.
2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.ph
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.
3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesti
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
I tag you. Yeah, you.
Mood: 
lonely
posted 2008.01.13 at 02:21
Food logs: [ Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday ]
(Saturday was off-diet because I had to bake cookies for my students.)</p>
As far as exercise, Tuesday I had to skip because of a work function, but every other day (save Saturday) was two hours of DDR, starting on Sunday with Konamix then doing the four Ultramixes in order after that. This is the first time I can recall that a week of DDR didn't get me back to the level I was playing at previously, but then again I'd never tackled catas like I had just before I got sick. I can only hope I get back to old form soon.
That may prove difficult, however, since I teach Monday through Thursday evenings this coming semester (as well as an online course), and I probably won't be able to play at home those days. I also won't be making any arcade trips until February for a variety of reasons. I'm seriously giving thought to turning Saturday into an exercise day, just so I can keep playing more at home. (It'd still be the off-diet day of choice, though.) I see a lot of yoga in my future this month.
Mood: tired
Music: Matsui Keiko -- "Light Above the Trees"
posted 2008.01.05 at 20:38
Food logs: [ Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday ]</p>
No formal exercise to speak of this week, although with my sister and brother-in-law moving out of the house this week I did sweat up quite a bit trying to reclaim some of the space in this house. Besides, we're going to have a bit of a warm snap starting tomorrow, so I figure that will be the best day for restarting DDR.
I'm going to be making some tweaks to my diet which I'll get into later, but I suppose the most important thing right now is that I'm going to switch to weekly entries here from now on. When I started this diet log a few years back it was kind of a big deal when I got a AAA on a home version; now I just feel like I'm burdening everyone's friends pages with my picture floods. I'll still make posts when I feel I've crossed major milestones (which at this point, apart from that elusive arcade Heavy/Oni AAA, I figure is just passing the "real" 10s, both at home and at the arcade, and maybe when I get to 1000 home version AAAs), but I want to turn this LJ a bit more personal and less "same stuff every day."
Oh, and I'm entering a freestyle tournament next month. Guess I didn't learn my lesson the first time.
Mood: busy
posted 2007.12.23 at 20:28
Yeah, so I got really sick there right after the DDR tournament a couple of weeks ago. I blame Cleveland. (My water bottle ran out while I was there, and I made the mistake of drinking Cleveland water without straining it first.) Two weeks later and my sinuses and stuff are still going haywire on me, which has meant no exercise and no dieting. I'm hoping to return to normal on both those fronts at the start of the new year, but I'm making no guarantees on that front.</p>
I also wanted to post today because this is the four-year anniversary of me playing DDR for the first time. Is a Heavy/Oni AAA at the arcade too much to ask for in this coming year? *sigh*
Mood: 
sick
Music: Tori Amos -- "Cooling"
posted 2007.12.08 at 23:42
Food logs: [ Yesterday ] [ Off-diet today ]</p>
I wanted to get in DDR yesterday, but I was too busy baking in preparation for today's DDR tournament in Cleveland. I was originally slotted to compete in the Standard division, but then during my warmup I wound up black flagging Twilight Zone Standard (and on an easy step to boot), which resulted in me getting bumped up to Lower Heavy, where I lost in the first rounds of both the regular bracket and the loser's bracket. On the one hand, I understand that I should feel good about the fact that I actually got bumped up a bracket, but at the same time I think I could have gotten the same feeling if I'd won Standard, and I could have bagged a few bucks in the process too. Oh, I did get this during my second warmup set ...
Arcade Heavy/Oni Singles AA #150: WWW.Blonde Girl (oh the lol)
Although I didn't do as well as I was hoping at the tournament (which was to be expected since I'd been practicing Standard charts and wound up playing catas instead), I did have the privilege of actually playing against Lara in the loser's bracket. Lara was kind of one of the first really cool dance game players I was first made aware of back when I was starting to get into DDR and looking around the messageboards and such, and given just how tremendous of a player she was then (and still is now), I never really imagined myself ever being in a situation where I'd be good enough to be challenging her in a tournament. (Although to be fair she did wipe the floor with me.)
I wouldn't say that Lara and I are that close -- we haven't really talked that much about things other than dancey games -- but I do like to consider her a friend. More than that, though, long before I met Lara I'd say that I considered myself a fan of hers, and that fandom persists to today; I'm certainly rooting for her to win the women's title at World Pump Fest later this month. Driving home from Cleveland just now, I couldn't help but look back and just think about how much of an honour it was to be able to compete against someone whom I admire and whose friendship I cherish so much. I hope that one of these days she and I can compete against each other again, and that I can provide her with more of a challenge than I did tonight.
Mood: tired