Last week my computer gave me major problems. I knew it had to go. Since most of my Mafia relatives are still in Sicily (you didn't hear that from me, capice?) I had to rely on other methods to get rid of the sad, dusty old machine. AKA, I put it in my storage closet...and went out to buy a new one. Down to Best Buy, said I! So Jeff and I drove down to Wilmington, DE to browse the tax-free computers Best Buy has to offer. They have a LOT. I finally picked out an "extreme gaming" computer by HP—I've never owned an HP so I don't yet know what to expect of it, but so far I love it. It's really fast, has the most kick ass video card I've ever seen and is generally so much better than my old Dell. That thing was so basic, and it didn't really have the balls to do what I needed it to do. At any rate, I've reinstalled The Sims 2 and all 6 expansion packs I own, and all 25,816 custom content objects—and the game runs like it isn't even trying! It's so fast! The only thing about this computer I don't like (yet) is that it runs Vista, and I don't have any experience with it so I'm still figuring out how to do all those little customization things people love to do when they get new computers. I'll figure it out eventually. As for the "WTF World Market??" subtitle of this post, Jeff and I were surprised and dismayed to find that the World Market store that used to be two blocks away from the Best Buy is GONE. Suspiciously missing from it's previous location. We used to go there every time we made the trip down south, and Jeff really needed to restock his supply of Chalula hot sauce by buying the humongous bottle of it that World Market usually stocks. Instead, he'll have to get a tiny little bottle from Wegmans. Sigh! I'm going to do some research and see if I can't figure out where the store went...but I'm not happy about it. Not happy at ALL.
I'm in the process of building a new Sims house, beach style. I don't know what it'll look like in the end because I've never really liked the beach style, so I've never built anything that way. I'll be using my memory of the houses down at the Shore—I've been there a total of 2 times, so I'm pretty confident I'll be able to remember everything perfectly. Hahahahahahaha. When I've got pictures, I'll upload them here. For now, I don't have any pictures to share, sorry!
Thus Jayne decreed.
HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A WHILE AND I'M EXTREMELY SORRY! 05 JULY 2008
The past couple weeks were hectic, in a way. A couple weekends ago my friend Emily and I went to the Popped! Music Festival, held at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Most exciting out of the full day's lineup was Gogol Bordello and Vampire Weekend. I'd really only ever heard of these two bands, and was very much blown away by their live sets. When a band is good live, I will give them the time of day. Seems logical, right? I took shitloads of pictures that day, but I'm only going to put two of them up here. One picture is of hottie frontman for Vampire Weekend, Ezra Koenig—he's on the left there. (There are more photos of both bands on my deviantArt page—if you're interested.)
The other picture is something I noticed while I was standing in the hot, sweaty, smelly crowd, digging for something in my purse.
Lastly, I was driving home the other night and caught the end of a stunning sunset. When I was almost home, the clouds split in such a way that it looked as if the sun was shooting fire across the sky (I know, poetic. Sometimes I amaze myself.)
Thus Jayne decreed.
MONDAYS CAN KISS MY SHINY METAL ASS. 16 JUNE 2008
Well, after recovering most of my Sims objects and starting on new houses, I feel slightly less like beating the crap out of the game. It still has problems, but at least I have cool crap to put in my houses! (Right on, sista, amen!) I'm trying to think outside my design box still, and my latest creation is a modern bungalow. It's mostly chic, but only because I'm really starting to like that white, rustic furniture. God, help me. So, here are some pictures, and you'll have to take my word for it but I've listed them out going around each floor from left to right (as with show photo captions! How familiar!) Some rooms are missing because I'm not done with them yet—it's a BIG house:
I have non-Sims related photos, too. There were some kickass clouds present on my drive home today, and while I didn't get an opportunity to pull over and take clear shots of them, I still managed to get a closeup that shows how cool they were (I think):
And to balance it all out, here's a cute picture of a SQUIRREL! YAY!!!11!1!
Thus Jayne decreed.
I DON'T DO THIS OFTEN ENOUGH, SAYS ABBY. 04 JUNE 2008
Yes, okay, it's been almost a full month since I last put anything new up--but it's only because I've been so busy downloading custom content for my Sims! ...then having exactly 4,221 of said custom content files DISAPPEAR FOR NO REASON, and having to re-download them all. EPIC LAME. So, I apologize for my absence from blogging, but it totally wasn't my fault. :)
That said, I have a major load of pictures to show you! They're from a house I titled "Broken Loft". It is supposed to be an old building, perhaps a warehouse, that was renovated into an awesomely tubular loft house. I hope it comes across that way, har har! It's not strictly modern, either--I try to vary my design style somewhat every now and then, and this is a mix of Bohemian, modern, and shabby chic. I think. Mercifully, this house was built the day before I lost a shitload of files, so even though I can no longer play this house as it was due to all the custom content in the house having resorted to default Maxis items (most of them an outdoor, Greek-style plant pot), I can still look at these pictures and remember how cool I thought the house was. Meeeemoriiieees... My favorite part of the whole house is the "Llama Crossing" sign. :)
I told you it was a major load! Hope they're fun to look at. Unfortunately my video card is NOT the best (I'm really cheap) and this is as big as Maxis lets me save my pictures. I wonder if there's a mod for that.....I'm going to go search!
Thus Jayne decreed.
SPRING IS FLOURISHING & HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!! 05 MAY 2008
I had a looooong day at work, and the only thing I can do in an instance like that is take pictures. Lots and lots and LOTS of pictures. Since I have my camera on me at all times, I was able to stop at a nearby park today on my way home from working late. The sun was still high enough to provide good lighting, and there was no one else around—just how I like it! Here are a couple of pictures from the semi-adventure:
I got a lot of images that could be used as stock, so I'm going to put them up on my dA stock account—in case anyone's interested. :)
Thus Jayne decreed.
JOURNEY TO THE SONIC DRIVE-IN 03 MAY 2008
Today Jeff and I made the 12-mile journey to the nearest Sonic drive-in restaurant for some burgers and fries. For those of you who don't know what Sonic is, you may now consider your life meaningless up until this point. It is styled after the drive-ins of the 1950s, wherein you drove up, parked next to a large menu panel, ordered your food, and then sat back and waited for a waitress to roll up to your car on roller skates and hand you your delicious fast food. Jeff and I love going there because the food is terrific, and we get to sit in our car with our own music playing while we eat. And the drive, while not the shortest, is scenic. So we went today for lunch, and got more than the usual service (which is always good)—today, we were served by a young waiter who skated around our car and rolled up to the window with our wonderful food in hand. The servers we've seen during previous visits did NOT wear roller skates, but this young guy was brave enough or crazy enough to try it, and he was good at it too! Thankfully, I always have my camera on me and had been taking pictures the whole way there, and saw no reason why I shouldn't take one of him.
So that was cool. And since I mentioned how scenic the drive was, let me give you some examples!
Anyway, that was our Saturday trip. Tonight I've been asked to read for a play that my good buddy Abby wrote. She claims I'm perfect for the part, so no pressure there! It'll be fun. :)
Thus Jayne decreed at 2:45PM.
SIMMING & OTHER BORING STUFF 28 APRIL 2008
I've made yet another blog and hopefully I will keep this one longer than the last zillion I started and abandoned. I promise nothing!
So, I love playing Sims. Most of my joy comes from getting lots of awesome, modern custom objects and then building houses in which to place them. Then end result is a ton of in-game screenshots, which I'm thinking of posting here everytime I'm particularly proud of a house. I've posted photos below of my latest, which I'm semi-in love with. It's not perfect, and I'm still working on the kitchen, but this is it so far. Enjoy!
Thus Jayne decreed at 8:08PM.