Weekended

[rowyn]

We didn't do fireworks this year. We used to go to a 3rd of July party and shoot off fireworks, but the woman who hosted it moved to somewhere less conducive to explosives and we haven't really done anything to celebrate the 4th since.

I was rather undermotivated in general this weekend, with the result that I spent a lot of time playing City of Heroes and even more time dinking around in City of Heroes.

"Dinking around", in this case, means mostly playing with the auction house. I've described arbitraging* in City of Heroes before. Several -- well, almost all of my characters over 20th, actually -- of my characters are moderately wealthy from arbitraging. This weekend, I took my ill-gotten gains and went shopping.

I'd already discovered the joys of fast recharge with my night widow, Arachniki. My controller on Justice, Jade Winds, always seems to be waiting for powers to recharge, so I decided to respec her with "faster global recharge" in mind. She picked up Hasten and dropped Snowstorm (after much angst over which of several powers she seldom used to ditch). I also made a point of getting five slots into several powers where an IO set was available that would give a global recharge bonus if five-slotted. And then spent about 17 million inf re-slotting practically everything on her with IOs and IO sets. Most of which went towards a single IO set, Decimation, which is annoyingly expensive. She still needs to get one more IO in that set, which will cost between 5 and 10 million by itself, depending how impatient I get.

Once she was done, I found myself, surprisingly, still in a mood to shop. So I bought some new sets for Justin and Kasadya, both of whom were mostly IOs already. I contemplated respeccing Kasadya for Hasten, too, because she's got about a bazillion powers with slow recharge rates, but I wasn't feeling that ambitious. Arachniki was already all IOs. I looked at Untainted but didn't buy anything new for her, since I hardly ever play her any more. She's got three purple recipes she could make and slot (two pet and one targeted AOE) but I can't quite make myself either sell the recipes or use them. The little part of me that wants to be uber would like to slot them. The rest of me knows it'd make more sense to sell them and use the proceeds to fund my other characters. The ones I still play. The one Ragnarok recipe is worth more than all the enhancements Jade currently has slotted put together.

In addition to all the shopping, I played the actual game a bunch too. Lut, terrycloth, Brenna and I finally finished the taskforce we'd started earlier in the week. We played the Pressure Cookers some, although not after I re-did Jade Winds, so now I want to play them again and see how the new build works. We finished Miss Ink's patron arc (conclusion: Mako is a jerk. Also, his patron arc is hard) and started Justin's, even though I'm only lukewarm about getting the patron pool powers.

Apart from gaming, I did a few other things. Lut and I went out to eat a few times and accumulated more leftovers for our fridge koogrr called a couple of times and we talked for a while, which was fun. I also called telnar and minor_architect and had nice chats with them. I worked on coloring a pin-up-style picture I'd drawn, because apparently pin-ups are what I draw even though I don't especially like them. Funny how that works. I think it's because pin-ups were my favorite style from age 12 to 25 or so, and that's when I got the vast majority of my art practice. Now I do them because I'd rather be adequate in drawing a style I don't particularly care about than bad at a style I have more interest in. Also, drawing doesn't interest me now the way it did when I was younger. What artistic talent I possess is really wasted on me. I wonder if my siblings ever feel this way about the years they spent practicing the violin and the piano?

Anyway, I still feel a little productive for having done something in the way of art, so I'm grateful for that.

In other news, my brain is trying to make me miserable, with some assistance from my job. I wish one of the two would quit it. Preferably my brain. You know how you'll have a cat that's trying to get at something it shouldn't, so you yell "no!" and the cat goes away? And then two minutes later the cat's back at it and you have to yell again? That's my brain. I keep telling it to stop and it works for two minutes then it's doing it again.

Stupid brain. Obviously I need to put the misery in a locked cabinet where my brain can't get to it.

* I have this urge to write an article explaining the difference between arbitrage, speculation, and investing. I don't know why.

Comments

[level-head.livejournal.com]

* I have this urge to write an article explaining the difference between arbitrage, speculation, and investing. I don't know why.

It's not for me to arbitrarily say why, but I can invest some time speculating about it. ];-)

===|==============/ Level Head

[rowyn]

You could! But will you? :)

[level-head.livejournal.com]

Yes.

I think that you've seen a myriad of people, from friends on LiveJournal to friends elsewhere to pundits and politicians get it wrong. And you cringe, a bit, to see it, while thinking that it's probably futile to try to explain.

And your audience may not be particularly inclined to hear about it anyway.

But I am here to say that I would enjoy reading it, and have a little bit of background in that direction myself and a keen interest, and I've found your financial writings to be generally insightful and well done.

And thus, I'd encourage it. It also matters that the United States is making policy decisions based on a notion of what these words mean in practice -- so any contribution of knowledge you make here will be a good one, and valuable.

===|==============/ Level Head

[rowyn]

You forgot "and because I like noodling about with financial terms". :)
I probably will write something about it. It wouldn't take long.

[level-head.livejournal.com]

I thought that was noodlous to say.

===|==============/ Level Head

[level-head.livejournal.com]

Obviously I need to put the misery in a locked cabinet where my brain can't get to it.

In fact, that's a good idea, but not an easy skill to master. Sir William Osler called it "living in day-tight compartments".

===|==============/ Level Head

[rowyn]

Sir William Osler called it "living in day-tight compartments".

Y'know, when you put it like that it doesn't sound like much fun at all. :)

[level-head.livejournal.com]

It's not exactly the way I approach things. But essentially, he's saying "don't try to carry the burden of the past, and the burden of the future, on your shoulders today. Seal them off in your mind, and do (and enjoy) the life at hand.

There are many ways of expressing the sentiment,. It happens that your phrase brought to mind the fellow described as the Founder of Modern Medicine, who described himself as being of "very mediocre mind", but who had learned some mental skills for happiness such as the one we're discussing.

===|==============/ Level Head

[rowyn]

But living in the present means dealing with my job. Woe! :)

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Technically, it's Mako's second patron arc that's hard. The one you don't have to do to get his patron pool. But you want to, because he's a jerk, and you get to beat him up at the end of it.

[rowyn]

I like doing tough missions occasionally. It gives more of a sense of accomplishment than easier ones. (Or "why the VEATs are getting boring"). I think even the treespec would've been fun if I hadn't been silly enough to try starting it ninety minutes before my bedtime on a week night. :)

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Aww, what's your brain biting you about?

[rowyn]

I think it's just a mean-tempered, bitey brain. It's making up things to be bitey over, but they're just excuses. This is the same life I've been living for years and some days my brain just decides to have a temper tantrum.

I think I wore it out or got the misery somewhere it can't find or something, though, 'cause it's calmed down again. :)

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

You know how you'll have a cat that's trying to get at something it shouldn't, so you yell "no!" and the cat goes away?

*meows incessantly* };)

[rowyn]

No! Bad kitty! No playing with the locked cabinet of misery!

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

*kittypout* *goes away for a few minutes* *returns and scratches at the cabinet* };)

[rowyn]

*distracts the kitty with petting*

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

*purrrrrrrrs happily on Rowyn's lap*

[octantis.livejournal.com]

I hear you on the misery thing. Why do we even keep this crap in the house? It's some caustic stuff, did we buy it to unclog a drain at some point?

[rowyn]

Y'know, I've had it so long I don't even remember what it was originally for. Cleaning up a nasty mess of anger? Or cruelty?

Whatever it was, it's such toxic stuff I don't dare throw it away. I'd need to call hazmat to come for it or something. And what if it turned out I needed it later?

[ltwarhound.livejournal.com]

Then you'd just get a new batch. Its cheap, everyone seems to stock it, and they tend to be happy to share it.