Starting on the near wall, in very tiny letters, Suho1004 has scrawled his Asylum Diary. Through some strange magic, he has managed to write so that the most recent entry is always at the top. Interesting...
2 December, 2002
Dear Diary: Wow. One month between entries. That's a new record for me. I've been meaning to get around to this, but for some reason I just haven't. I was finally prompted to write this entry by the ending of the November sig contest (congrats db!) and a conversation I had with [internallink=4643]TP[/url] last night. He's currently working on a top secret project codenamed "Grail" (OK, so it's not top-secret, but it sounds cool, doesn't it?), which looks to be shaping up rather nicely.
The inmates are currently working on an icon for the FAQ (something we can put in threads when we want to say "check the FAQ here"). I like the way my idea worked out, and I rather pleased to have started a small "circle renaissance." I think, though, that in the end we will be better of going with the simplest design possible, and something small enough to fit in threads without taking up too much space.
Not too many other earth-shaking things going on. We continue to get a steady stream of new inmates, which is a good thing. Fresh meat is always good. WS and tiki are gone for the time being, so that's a bit of a bummer, but what can you do? I will be taking my own shore leave in a little over two weeks from now. It will be nice to get away from these halls for a while, I must admit. A little fresh air never hurt anyone.
Well, I guess that's about it for now. Time to get back to my voltage experiments.
1 November, 2002
Dear Diary: Well, the October sig contest is over. I wasn't really expecting to win with all those fantastic sigs, but I was very pleased to be included in the list of runners-up. I have to say, though, that I like my sig for this contest the best of all my contest sigs. I'm not sure why, I just do. Anyway, we're still waiting for Slime to come up with a theme for this month... still chasing after that elusive second win to prove that the first win wasn't just a fluke....
I'm also pretty pysched that the RPG campaign is rolling along rather nicely. We had our first group session last Saturday, and we're having our second tomorrow (two weeks in a row!). It was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to getting back with the group and getting deeper into the campaign. Telana has been considering writing an account of her experiences; we'll see where that goes.
I know this isn't exactly an Asylum happening, but I've been having a great time in the Gurus Network Design Workshop. I never imagined that a simple assignment could make you think so much. A bunch of people are participating, and it promises to be a very enlightening experience.
Well, that's all for this time. Gotta run.
23 October, 2002
Dear Diary: Yup, it's been three weeks since I've written. I suppose I could make some excuse about how busy I was. Well, I was busy, but let's face it--taking ten to fifteen minutes out of my life to write here is not going to kill me, is it? So why didn't I write? It's not that I didn't want to write, nor that I didn't have anything to write. I just didn't write. Chalk it up to laziness, I guess. But this should serve as a lesson for my web page that will someday grace the Net... it's getting there, and I actually hope to have it up next month.
Let's see... a lot has happened since my last entry. I got in a pretty good entry (I think) for this month's sig contest. I'm happy with it because it turned out exactly the way I wanted it to. Well, I did actually consider making the text bulge out, and then have the pattern kind of slide up and down over the bulges, but that would have been a major pain in the butt. Anyway, this sig is one I'm proud of. Will it win? Probably not, but that doesn't really matter that much--I'm satisfied with with it. When I get my hosting account set up I think I'll collect all my sigs and add a little section to my cell here to display them....
The RPG campaign actually started up (kind of) last week, and I hope we'll be able to get into full swing this Saturday. I'm actually going to be insanely busy from Friday to Monday, but I promised I would be available on Saturday (and besides, I need to take breaks sometime, right?). I guess I'm going to have to put the finishing touches on my character sheet and get that off to Veneficuz.
I wonder if I am not growing a bit more testy these days. In two instances this month I chewed people out in the site reviews forum, and both of them were new here. There were the two sites by cheeaun and then another site by allen designs. The thing that pissed me off about cheeaun was how s/he pretty much blew off my comments about the translation and then completely denied that the logo was a copy of Google. It's not so much the act, but the bold-faced lying about the act that got to me. Anyway, I posted a harsh comment, and that was the last we saw of cheeaun. allen designs actually posted his site twice, but he took down the first one after getting only one comment. So none of us were in a terribly good mood when he asked for his second review. Still, I was nice, and I tried to be as helpful as possible, but his attitude just got to me. I said something to the effect of: If you just want a pat on the back, go elsewhere, and I guess he did. DL posted after me and pretty much supported what I said, but I still feel like I was the one who chased him away. So chalk up two newbies for me this month....
I told myself that I would always try to be level-headed and calm, and I would try to cut people slack and give them the benefit of the doubt. Was I justified in the way I acted toward cheeaun and allen designs? I tell myself that I was--I didn't say anything that wasn't true, and I didn't say anything purely out of spite. But it just really bothers me that I was probably the reason they will never be back. That was never my intention. I suppose it could be said that there are some people we are better off without... I don't know, it just bugs me.
Ah, well... what's done is done, and can't be undone. I guess it's time to learn and move on.
2 October, 2002
Dear Diary: Well, a lot of stuff going on at the Asylum. I think the RPG campaign might actually be getting off the ground soon, but we'll have to see about that. I was also pleasantly surprised to find some weird stuff in the lobby this morning when I walked in, like the V8 project and Izzay and Synax's foray into the world of miniature crustacean cuisine. The most impressive thread this past week, though, has been Asylum Love, without a doubt. That's some touching stuff there.
Izzay won the September sig contest, and he's already come up with a doozy for this month. I've already got an idea, but unfortunately it will have to wait. And that will have to be all for this week's entry, as I've got a ton of stuff to do outside the Asylum. *sigh* So, until next time....
25 September, 2002
Dear Diary: Hmm... this seems to be becoming a weekly thing here. It actually feels like a lot longer than a week since I wrote my last entry--that's how busy I've been. I really should get a planner or something and start writing stuff down. This is really taxing my brain trying to remember the eight million things I have to do this week.
The next formal debate, on the legalization of drugs, is now underway, but it's only a one-on-one this time. Personally, I think that will make it a bit less interesting, but no one else stepped forward. It will be interesting to see if this debate will stay general or devolve into a comparison of certain drugs. So far, it seems to be staying on the general side.
My final chess match, with Veneficuz is also underway, but the pace is rather slow. As WS pointed out, the Sicilian Dragon seems popular this time around. It will be interesting to see how the two games play out. I've gained a bit of confidence after my first tourney win (my first win was a forfeit after the second or third move). Too bad this is the last match.
18 September, 2002
Dear Diary: Well, I (and a bunch of others) have finally been added to the Asylum Yearbook. Perhaps I should rephrase that: I have finally gotten off my butt, cooked up a stortrooper, and sent it to GRUMBLE, who was kind enough to put me in the front row so everyone can see my shirt. I would have been satisfied with a space at the top in between two people with small hair (hehe), but I'm not complaining. Now all I need to do is get my little asterisk in the Asylum Locator and I'll be all set! Last I heard, though, mr.maX was not accepting new submissions.
Things are moving rather slowly with the Asylum D&D campaign, but at least I have finally put up the information on my character. If nothing else, that should should get WebShaman and his blasted tomahawk off my back ;-). Considering the pace of things around here, I think we'll be lucky if we start before the first snowfall.
Things are also moving rather slowly in my quest to establish an online presence. I've got the basics of my sites ready, but now I just need a host. I won't have the money until next month anyway, so I guess I'll just continue poking around and looking for the best deal.
Man, I really need to get back to work. That's enough procrastinating for today.
11 September, 2002
Dear Diary: I would say something about the significance of today, but in the end I think the Onion had the most insightful commentary. Words are not going to change what happened, so I'll just let this one be.
That's it for today, I think. For some reason, I'm not feeling too profound right now.
2 September, 2002
Dear Diary: Yet another new month rolls in, and autumn is just around the corner. The August sig contest is over, the winners have been chosen, and I am not among them. Oh well, there's always this month's contest. I've already got an entry in, but I doubt it will stand up to any sort of competition.
I've officially graduated now, so I'll have more times to wander the halls here. I'm also working on my website. Two websites, actually--an academic one and a personal one. I wasn't going to do the personal site, but responses in a recent post I made to commemorate the seventh anniversary of my leaving home and coming to Korea have caused me to change my mind. I've always kind of wanted to do a blog, and this will provide me with that "outlet" so I can concentrate on making the academic site more "professional" (ie, less frills, more content). I'm really looking forward to both of those.
Sites continue to pour into the Site Reviews forum (which is another motivating factor). I guess we must have been having a drought a little while back, because plenty of people are posting these days.
No word on the RPG campaign, but some of the last posts made in the thread indicated that I might actually be able to play. We've yet to decide on a time, but it would be nice if it worked out to an early evening time for me. Still waiting on that one.
That's about it for now, I suppose. I'm going to have a lot of free time for the next few months, and I'm most worried about managing that time well. I don't want to fritter it away on stupid little things--I want to get things done. Hmmm... maybe I should close my diary and get my rear in gear.
20 August, 2002
Dear Diary: Well, it's getting around to that time of year again--whenever the end of summer starts coming around, I always feel a little blue. It could be the seasons changing, the timing of events in my life, the fact the autumn has always been an emotional time for me. I always thought I would grow out of this, but now I'm not sure if I ever will.
I suppose listening to Flashback Radio doesn't help with the nostalgia, but oh well. It's funny how listening to 80s music can lift me up, but it also makes me a bit melancholy at the same time. It's quite paradoxical.
In other news, I did e-mail the Doc about the writing forum, but I haven't heard anything back from him yet. I guess he's pretty busy these days. I suppose I'll just let him act on it if he wants to, and just let the issue lie. I think it would be nice to have a content forum, but if not I will survive (as in Gloria Gaynor, who's singing on winamp right now. Cool).
Well, I really should be working, so, until next time...
12 August, 2002
Dear Diary: A lot of new things cooking in the Asylum. First off, it appears that ramsay has left the building. Who knows if he'll be back.; there's always a possibility. I've got to be honest, he was never my favorite inmate, and there were times when he definitely bugged me, but I always tried to be diplomatic when dealing with him. Although some may see me as a sycophant, I must say it pleases me that ramsay held no ill will toward me when he left. I've been working hard on my abrasive nature for many years now, and I think I've definitely improved. Of course, the medium we are dealing with helps a bit. It's easy to let something slip out of your mouth in anger, but having to type it out and then submit it gives you a little more time to think. It still amazes me, though, that this does not deter some people from making complete and total fools of themselves. Ah, what am I saying? I did the same thing not too long ago.
All in all, not a very good stay for ramsay at the Asylum. I wish it had been better... and it now occurs to me why I might have had more patience with him. He reminds me a lot of my youngest brother, who also has something of a superiority complex. Not to say he's not intelligent, but I'm not sure he even knows what the word humility means. I guess when someone reminds me of him, I have a little more patience with them.
Enough of the negative stuff, though. On a positive note, before he left ramsay initiated a discussion on the possibility of a writing forum. I would like to see something like a content forum myself, and other inmates have different ideas, but ramsay was the one who got the ball rolling. I do hope something comes of it, because it is a good idea
Veneficuz and tikigod also brought up the possibility of an Asylum RPG group. WS and I have expressed interest, along with some others. These things usually take a while to organize, but if we can keep up interest I think we can pull it off. Especially since the two who brought it up have experience with the technology already. Veneficuz also mentioned Neverwinter Nights in his last post... I wonder how many of the inmates play NWN? I thought about mentioning it, but I didn't want to get off-topic and risk sinking the project. Perhaps when my module is complete I can post something about it. It would definitely be a lot easier to execute than a PnP session.
So, an inmate has left, and he has left behind his legacy--good and bad. But the Asylum rolls on, bigger than any one of us, and bigger than all of us put together. Long live the Asylum.
9 August, 2002
Dear Diary: Whoa. Now that was a long delay. But the rough part is now past, my thesis is all printed out, and it should be smooth sailing from here on in. I'll try not to leave you up on the shelf there for so long again.
It's good to see that the Asylum hasn't fallen apart without me (hehe). Some old faces coming back, some new faces making waves, but still the same Asylum. Oh yeah, and Wakkos has taken to running around the halls naked again. Someone has to do something about that--where's a mini-guillotine when you need one?
Let's see, last month's sig contest is now over, and DB pulled out another one. I was pretty pleased with the way my column turned out, actually. Not the way I imagined it, but cool nonetheless--sort of Art-Deco-ish. I've got a wonderful idea for the new contest... I just wonder if I will be able to pull it off.
Well, I suppose that's about it for now. More to come soon.
17 July, 2002
Dear Diary: Yet another long delay between entries. I've had so many things going on outside the Asylum (yes, they do actually let me out occasionally) that my visits have been quite brief.
The formal debate has practically ground down to a halt now, but the peanut gallery is still going strong. The latest news, though, is that InSiDeR is being banned from the Asylum by his mother, who evidently thinks that we are a gathering of satanists. Not quite sure about how openly discussing your beliefs automatically makes you a satanist, especially when there are a bunch of Christians hanging around here. Hopefully he will be able to convince her that the Asylum is OK, rather than having to try to sneak around any measures his parents may take.
I've also been a tad disappointed at how the sig contest for this month is going. With all the entries we had last month, and the great topic this month, I would have thought we'd get a lot of entries. The month is already have over, though, and we've only had a handful. I'm still trying to come up with an Asian-style sig, but of the entries so far docilebob and Thumper definitely lead the pack.
Here's a bit of good news, although I'm still a little cautious about it. After vogonpoet's Asylum Postcard, I've gotten glimpses of him here and there around the Asylum. I'm not sure if he's back for good, but he does seem to be showing his face a bit more often. Well, you know what they say: you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave...
8 July, 2002
Dear Diary: I think the Philosophy Forum may be getting too deep for me. Either that or I just haven't been around enough to keep up with the conversations there. Take Dan's teleportation thread, for example. The inmates all brought up some very interesting points, but by the time I got there there were about thirty posts, and the best I could come up with is a lame comment on how the military will probably manage to teleport humans first. And, of course, I've long since been left behind in the peanut gallery thread for the formal debate on the existence of God.
*sigh* It's strange how, now that my thesis is done, I'm spending less time here. That might have something to do with all the stress, and the fact that I've got a million things I want to do now that I have the time. I really need to hang out with the inmates more...
Incidentally, it's now been one month since I started writing my diary here.
3 July, 2002
Dear Diary: Well, the June sig contest is over, and after much anguish and deliberation, I managed to pick the winner. The winner, Amerasu, has already come up with this month's contest, and it looks like it's going to be a good one: The Ancient World. And I thought winning a sig contest was an experience--judging the contest was definitely an experience. With great sigs comes great responsibility, or something like that. I must admit I was slightly disappointed not to see a sig based on Count Rugen's life-sucking machine (maybe I'll make my own). Still, it was an amazing outpouring of talent.
The World Cup is over as well, so no more watching football in the lounge with the inmates. It was fun while it lasted, but it's kind of a relief now that it's over. It was almost as if time was suspended for a whole month as we ate, drank, and breathed football. That might explain why my breath smells of leather.
So, now is a time of closure, turning the page to a new chapter in life. Time to move on...
28 June, 2002
Dear Diary: It took quite a deal longer to let myself down from the flagpole than I thought it would. And when I finally did get back into the Asylum, all hell had broken loose. Thank goodness for the Automatic Retrieval System, which sucked me back here to my cell. I don't think I'm coming out again until it is time to judge the sig contest...
17 June, 2002
Dear Diary: It is quite pleasant here, actually, on top of the flag pole. Peaceful, away from all the insanity, gazing out over the Asylum compound from my perch.
It's hard to believe it's only been about two months since I've come to this place. Already I feel at home. Sure, there are the occasional inmate uprisings and scalpings, but overall it's not a bad place to be. I came here looking for a cure, but I've discovered that I wasn't really sick. It's the rest of the world that's off its rocker.
Ah, the sun is setting now, and I feel inspired...
Red sun slips down low,
Casting out warm tongues of light...
My pants are on fire.
16 June, 2002
Dear Diary: Whether it's the nice weather today, the fact that my digestion seems to be doing fine, or last night's especially memorable shock therapy session, I seem to have snapped out of my funk. Yes, our resident twit is still doing his best to stir up controversy, but for some reason I don't really care anymore :-).
It's now over halfway through the month, and the entries to the sig contest have slowed, but that's to be expected. I suppose we'll get some more entries toward the end of the month. As it is, there are a lot of good entries now, and I really dread having to judge them at the end of the month. I wish there was one that I could say was a clear winner, but there are so many good ones it's going to be very difficult to choose. I keep hoping that someone will come in and blow everyone away, but with the display of talent this month I think a close finish is more likely. There are still two weeks left, so we'll just have to see what happens.
My only regret is that the contest was marred by the unfortunate twit incident. I don't actually know what happened--I seem to have a knack for missing controversy. Anyway, the contest threads are something I would like to put in my personal favorites list, but I'm afraid they'll bring up bad memories. Then again, I guess I shouldn't be afraid of the truth, and in a way it would be a tribute to Vp...
14 June, 2002
Dear Diary: The bad mood continues... I'm watching a miserable football match with the inmates in the lounge. If we lose I'm going to take Ducati down to the basement and give him some shock therapy.
Gotta snap out of this funk...
11 June, 2002
Dear Diary: Yep, still kind of bummed. VP's "departure" yesterday didn't really help with that, of course. I pop out of my cell, amble on down to the main lounge to watch some football, and there's a note from VP saying goodbye to everyone and he's leaving! I'm not really sure what happened, since most of the evidence was already gone by the time I got to the scene, but apparently it had something to do with another member of the Asylum. *sigh* This isn't the way it's supposed to be. There are a few people who have some growing up to do around here.
Some of the old timers think he'll be back. I sure hope so. Then again, some of the old timers are really, truly nuts. Maybe that's just another way of saying "wisdom"--who knows? Anyway, I hope that wisdom will prevail...
10 June, 2002
Dear Diary: Well, I'm feeling a bit bummed at the moment. I went down to the shock therapy room yesterday when no one was around, but that didn't do much to lift my spirits. Maybe I need to up the voltage or something. Wait, that seems like a sign that I'm addicted... am I using shock therapy to forget about my troubles? At the time, it seems great--there's nothing like drowning your sorrows in an invigorating electrical current. But when it's over I often feel worse than I did beforehand. I mean emotionally, of course, not the fact that my piss comes out black. Maybe I should seek counseling... nah. The football match will be on in a few hours, I'll just go watch it with the rest of the inmates. That should make me feel better.
8 June, 2002
Dear Diary: I decided to redecorate my cell today, which pretty much consisted of scribbling on the walls with my crayons. Fun nonetheless. Heh, I also decided to start my diary today. I suppose I should write something profound for my first entry, but I'm just not in a very profound mood right now. Maybe later...
