Today's Bridge: I believe we came out well on top, with a four-trick doubled set (to be fair, Thom got confused when I doubled... but he'd opened 3S, I overcalled 4D with a monster of a hand, he bid 4S... what else could I do? Then he raised himself to 5S, and I doubled that too... he became fond of underruffing today) and a hard-fought 4H that's worth describing in detail. My hand held many wonders: S K-10-x H A-9-6-x-x-x D 7 C K-9-x, so when Bruce opened 1D and Thom overcalled 1S, I had to bid 3H. It's just too kickass a distribution not to. 2NT could have worked, but as it turns out, it's much easier to take ten tricks in hearts than nine in notrump. Bruce responded 4D, which was no surprise, so I bid 4H and left it there. Kelly led a spade, naturally, which was part of the reason I wanted to declare... guaranteed spade trick. However, Bruce surprised me on that front with S A-x-x H K-8 D K-J-x-x-x C A-J-10. That's enough to open 1NT no matter how you count it, but again, we'd have landed in 3NT that way... not good with those diamonds. I covered Thom's jack with my ace, then pulled two rounds of trump. Thom showed out, leaving Kelly with the Q-7. No chance of pulling those without losing a trick, and I still had a spade, at least one diamond, and a possible club to lose. I elected to run my diamond to the king, which won, and led the jack of clubs for the finesse (after all, Kelly had just been marked with the ace of diamonds, so Thom HAD to have some power in his hand for his bid... silly me), which lost to Kelly's queen. She led another spade, so I took the ace and started leading the low diamonds, hoping to set up the jack. For two tricks, they both followed suit while I ruffed low, leading the clubs back to the board. Then I let Kelly have her ace of diamonds, sluffing my losing spade. Now she only had the Q-7 of hearts, and I had the A-9... and it was her lead. She was endplayed - whichever one she led, I could cover and have the high trump. Notice that I needed her to lead a heart to win both of those tricks - if I lead either of my hearts, or use one in a ruff, she gets her queen. Still, by my count, that's 11 tricks... odd. I'm pretty sure we only made 4. But I can't imagine what they could have taken other than the queen of clubs and the ace of diamonds. Oh well. The important thing is that you understand what an endplay is - forcing an opponent to lead so that you avoid another loser.

Today's Gaming: With liberal applications of magic, I made some progress in the original God of War. Not nearly feeling up to throwing myself at God of War 2 again just yet. Now I'm in the area where I have to dodge moving saw blades, crushing spiked walls, and lots and lots of wall-bound enemies, before the major timed room. Ugh. I expect this to take far too many tries.

Today's Questions: kestrel127 asked me five, so I have to answer them. The problem is that some of them don't really make much sense, and you'd think that would make them just my kind of questions, but... I'll just have to show you.

1. So, you're like internet famous and I must admit, I don't know why. Why are you internet famous? Should I call my internet lawyer on you?
Well, it probably has to do with my anime fanfiction primarily. I've been writing it and posting it since college, and while I haven't posted anything lately (which is the fault of many people other than myself, mainly those who volunteered to preread and never did), I haven't entirely given up. I certainly don't have the status of someone like D.B. Sommer or Megane 6.7, but people on the FFML used to know my name, and if I have any say in the matter, they will again. When I hit Livejournal, I gained a new sort of forum in which my wit can be fully appreciated, so I spread it around as much as I can. I like to believe that people in bad_service and customers_suck look forward to my comments and enjoy them.

As for calling your Internet lawyer on me... yes, yes you should. But not because of my fame.

2. Cage match. Harry/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Harry/Snape, and Harry/Draco. Cannon is not an issue. Four ships enter, one leaves. Which one? For extra credit, a similar cage match between the shipper fandoms.
No cannons? But those are essential in any ship battle! Anyway, as much as I liked the idea of Harry/Hermione early in the series, around the time Harry started noticing Cho Chang, that was off. Harry/Ginny is the only one of those that I would allow to leave the cage... I will myself destroy the others the moment they enter, bias be damned. The fandoms, though... Harry/Snape fangirls are inhuman beasts that could rip any opponent to shreds with their sharp claws and mighty teeth, and their scales would provide protection from any attack. However, the Harry/Draco fangirls would quote from the books until the Harry/Snape ones' brains explode... so it would probably be a toss-up. I think both camps would kill each other after finishing off the straight shippers (who, being normal, sensible humans, don't stand a chance), leaving Harry free to date his one TRUE love, Millicent Bulstrode.

3. Favorite bizarre news story of the month and/or year and why.
Hmmm... tough one, because I really don't remember them that well. I rather liked the guy who cut off his leg with a pocketknife just before the rescuers showed up. The will to live crippled him for life. But we've had some hilarious lawsuits, like the lawyer with the pants and the Chinese guy suing over McDonald's receipts. And the dumb criminals just keep on coming. How about that blind guy who keeps driving even after he's been arrested? I think I'll have to call in the expert on the subject. Number 6?
*Number 6* That's a difficult question of the year! Um... I think the lawyer suing over his lost pants is the best one. He just doesn't seem to understand how stupid he is.
*Rei* We know plenty of people like that.
*Himeko* Oh! The guy who got two thousand credit cards and had to shred them all was pretty weird!
*Number 6* Weird of the year!
*Miyako* I still say nothing will ever top the Jesus-scented candles, even though those were years ago.
*Himeko* Maho?


So there you have it. "Maho."

4. To save the planet, you must give up Harry Potter, anime or eating at restaurants. Which will it be?
That depends on the circumstances and conditions. Am I giving up all memory of Harry Potter, the very existence thereof, or merely the chance to read or watch future installments? Likewise, what exactly is keeping me from eating at restaurants? If I'm on travel, would I have to find a grocery store and figure out a way to make meals, or could I order pizza to be delivered? Does take-home fast food count? More to the point, exactly what is going to destroy the planet if I don't choose one, and how? I think there's a case for attempting to prevent the destruction of Earth through some other means. What do you think?
*Captain* The choice must be made! Nothing you do can stop our outer space planet-kill laser!
*Ichijo* I found the "self-destruct" button.
*Captain* What are you doing up here?
*Ichijo's Little Sister* Pwee! (draws a picture of Harry Potter eating at a restaurant, anime-style)

I think I'd be most likely to give up eating at restaurants, if it came to that. I could do with cooking more, and I'll never have a date to take to restaurants anyway, so that won't matter. Harry Potter's too big to throw away now that I've spent all that time and money on it.

5. Why the hell are you in Indiana anyway?
Because I got a postcard with a giant nose on it.

It seems like such a surprise, right? Me, a Libertarian Atheist (when labels need to be applied to me at all), living in the state as likely to vote Democrat as Al Qaeda. The state that has equal parts tolerance for non-Christian religion and unicorn feathers. The state that's colored red on the political maps three days before any election is held. Why would I live here? Well, for one thing, I haven't left because I really don't care what people think of me in real life. Online, sure, I want to be respected and liked, but in real life, I'm used to nobody liking me and don't see why that would change. I also don't vote, and generally don't care about political issues, because I believe the other side is just as bad. And I don't NEED people to tolerate my Atheism... it just means I can take advantage of their Christianity if I need to and not feel guilty, because it's to mutual benefit - I get what I need, and they feel good about giving it to me. But what am I doing here in the first place, especially considering that I grew up on the East Coast and in the Middle East? Why the Midwest now? Well, like I said, back when I was in high school looking at colleges, I was getting inundated with informative postcards, booklets, and even applications from the colleges that were REALLY forward about their recruiting. The Armed Forces wanted me, and a Jesuit college even offered me a full scholarship (fat chance). But the only one that really stood out was one from a school with the strangest name I'd ever heard: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The picture on the card was of a tall guy in a suit, but instead of a head, he just had a giant nose with tiny eyes. The caption was "Our dean of admissions is NOSEY." And it went on to say that he wanted to know more about me so he could offer me a place at the school. In a sea of rather sad cards, that one stood out for trying, at least, to be funny. So I sent it in and got back a booklet with Legos on the cover. The booklet was informative, but had enough humor in it that I put the school on my list. Any school with a sense of humor is one that sees things my way. MIT was still at the top of my list, but when the interviewer came to my house, he was a real jerk and talked me out of going. (He still wanted me to send in my check with the application, though... I tore it up not long after he left.) Rose-Hulman not only had a mere three-page application (one page of which was to be torn off and given to my guidance counselor, while two of the remaining sides were just checkboxes and another required only a signature), but they sent back the check even though I'd missed the free application deadline, AND they let me know within a few weeks that I'd been accepted. I never applied anywhere else, never thought of going anywhere else (except MIT), and can't imagine having gone anywhere else. After I graduated, I got a job in Fort Wayne for a few months, then lost it for a few more, before I finally got my current position at Crane. Having to leave the state would be a hassle at this point, and I'm happy enough where I am. It's got issues, but so does everywhere else. These are the issues I've dealt with since becoming an adult, so I'm used to them.

Well, didn't leave myself enough time for an episode of Tsubasa... but when do I ever? I suppose I could play Crackdown for a few minutes, but I'm unlikely to make enough progress to be worth the hassle of turning the system on.