Sunday, November 16, 2008

It's quite alright

It's been an interesting few weeks; and an especially busy week.

Each and every day I find myself getting more and more comfortable with my job. I'm learning quickly and working hard. My efforts are being recognized, which is a new experience for me. I work with a lot of really cool people and I'm making new friends. Suffice to say, it's probably the best "job" I've ever had. The pay isn't the best, but it's about moving up, so I don't feel so bad about it.

Speaking of which, I met an Egyptian vampire at work. She worships Anubis, Nepthys and Seker (Gods of Death)... yeah... She seems nice enough, but she cannot possibly be up to any good. I'm not sure what her plan is yet, but I'm going to find out. One day, I will most likely have to kill her... or she'll kill me, either way, it will end.

Karl got a job at 2k. He starts training on Monday. It will be interesting to work with him, as I've never actually been in a professional working environment with him. I mean, I've known the man over 10 years, but I can honestly say this will be a new and interesting experience. It'd be cool if he were on my project.

My work schedule gets me up early and in bed early. I have weird part of the day free, which means that I could possibly hang out with people if I wanted. But, in an effort to save money, I'm kind of forcing myself to be a bit anti-social and just stay in. It's doing some funky things to my head though, I'm finding myself losing touch with people and time moving very quickly. It's... disconserting... I need to make sure to remind myself to stay connected with people, lest I be left without friends.

That being said my life seems to be finally moving at the pace I was planning for. There were some serious bumps on the road, but now I am progressing into my plans with confidance. I look forward to seeing where life takes me and have a generally positive attitude about the whole damn thing. Truth be told, I was feeling a bit bummed recently, some kind of weird general depression; but for the most part, life is keeping me pretty happy.

It’s alright,
It’s quite alright with me
.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Ophir in the Bible

OPHIR
o'-fer, o'-fir ('owphiyr (Gen 10:29), 'owphir (1 Ki 10:11), 'ophir):

1. Scriptural References:
The 11th in order of the sons of Joktan (Gen 10:29 = 1 Ch 1:23). There is a clear reference also to a tribe Ophir (Gen 10:30). Ophir is the name of a land or city somewhere to the South or Southeast of Palestine for which Solomon's ships along with Phoenician vessels set out from Ezion-geber at the head of the Gulf of Aqabah, returning with great stores of gold, precious stones and "almug"-wood (1 Ki 9:28; 10:11; 2 Ch 9:10; 1 Ki 22:48; 2 Ch 8:18). We get a fuller list of the wares and also the time taken by the voyage if we assume that the same vessels are referred to in 1 Ki 10:22, "Once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks." The other products may not have been native to the land of Ophir, but it is certain that the gold at least was produced there. This gold was proverbial for its purity, as is witnessed by many references in the Old Testament (Ps 45:9; Job 28:16; Isa 13:12; 1 Ch 29:4), and, in Job 22:24, Ophir is used for fine gold itself. In addition to these notices of Ophir, it is urged that the name. occurs also in two passages under the form "Uphaz" (Jer 10:9; Dan 10:5).

2. Geographical Position:
At all times the geographical position of Ophir has been a subject of dispute, the claims of three different regions being principally advanced, namely (1) India and the Far East, (2) Africa, (3) Arabia.

(1) India and the Far East.
All the wares mentioned are more or less appropriate to India, even including the fuller list of 1 Ki 10:22. "Almug"-wood is conjectured to be the Indian sandal-wood. Another argument is based on the resemblance between the Septuagint form of the word (Sophera) and the Coptic name for India (Sophir). A closer identification is sought with Abhira, a people dwelling at the mouths of the Indus. Supara, an ancient city on the west coast of India near the modern Goa, is also suggested. Again, according to Wildman, the name denotes a vague extension eastward, perhaps as far as China.

(2) Africa.
This country is the greatest gold-producing region of the three. Sofala, a seaport near Mozambique on the east coast of Africa, has been advanced as the site of Ophir, both on linguistic grounds and from the nature of its products, for there all the articles of 1 Ki 10:22 could be procured. But Gesenius shows that Sofala is merely the Arabic form of the Hebrew shephelah. Interest in this region as the land of Ophir was renewed, however, by Mauch's discovery at Zimbabye of great ruins and signs of old Phoenician civilization and worked-out gold mines. According to Bruce (I, 440), a voyage from Sofala to Ezion-geber would have occupied quite three years owing to the monsoons.

(3) Arabia.
The claim of Southeastern Arabia as the land of Ophir has on the whole more to support it than that of India or of Africa. The Ophir of Gen 10:29 beyond doubt belonged to this region, and the search for Ophir in more distant lands can be made only on the precarious assumption that the Ophir of Ki is not the same as the Ophir of Gen. Of the various products mentioned, the only one which from the Old Testament notices can be regarded as clearly native to Ophir is the gold, and according to Pliny and Strabo the region of Southeastern Arabia bordering on the Persian Gulf was a famous gold-producing country. The other wares were not necessarily produced in Ophir, but were probably brought there from more distant lands, and thence conveyed by Solomon's merchantmen to Ezion-geber. If the duration of the voyage (3 years) be used as evidence, it favors this location of Ophir as much as that on the east coast of Africa. It seems therefore the least assailable view that Ophir was a district on the Persian Gulf in Southeastern Arabia and served in old time as an emporium of trade between the East and West.

A. S. Fulton

Bibliography Information


Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Definition for 'OPHIR'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". bible-history.com - ISBE; 1915.

1 Kings 10:11-13 (The Queen of Sheba exchanges gifts with King Solomon)

Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. Also, the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought great quantities of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. And the king made steps of the almug wood for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers. There never again came such almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day. Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

(Thank you Orry, this pleases me greatly.)

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Transitions in a Small World

I have completed my week long training at 2K Games. Today was my first real day of work in QA Testing. My transition period is finally at an end. Quite a profound place to be at the moment...

It's exciting to be at the first steps of a new journey. Makes me hopeful for the future. I have some big plans for myself and I plan on bringing them to fruition.

Work was really good today. I was expecting to be given a few days to get used to my project, but apparently that wasn't what my lead had in mind. We jumped right into the fire and it was exhilarating. I like my team, I like my lead, they like me. We seem to be working well together.

I've already done some good work, my lead made sure to note that he noticed. Feels good to be appreciated and acknowledged for your efforts. I think I'm going to like it here.

Small World Anecdote:

So Friday was Lisha's birthday party. Due to its proximity to Halloween, she requested it be a costume party. I dressed as Walter Sobchak from the Big Lebowski, successfully.

Anyway, so I'm mingling, drinking, etc. Meeting all sorts of cool people and just basically being social among friends. At some point in the night I end up chilling out in a chair for a while, just to enjoy the night air. Anyway, nearby two ladies are in the midst of conversation and in my boredom I ended up eavesdropping. One of the ladies was facing toward me, she I recognized as Emerson's sister. The other had her back toward me and I couldn't see her face; although, something was familiar about her voice...

As I was contemplating where I'd heard her voice before, she turned her head to the side and I caught site of her profile. That's when the bells went off. My brain started shouting at me, telling me that I knew this person but not sure why.

So I turned to my memory, "Well, what've you got?"
Memory shrugs and says, "Uh... shit... we got nothing so far. But we're looking!"
"Splendid. Emotion, how about you? Got anything?"
"All we got is a sense of 'missing,' like she was there for a time, then left."
I blink. "..."
Emotion clears it's throat, "So... yeah."
"Okay. Thank you, Emotion."
"Sure, boss."

This goes on for a while, me stuck at a stalemate with who this person is. At which point I got up and had to ask her:

"Excuse me, who are you?"
"Hi! My name's Noelle." We shake hands. Memory takes over.
"I knew your name was Noelle!"
"Really? Weird. You look familiar too, what's your name?"
"Ophir." Recognition shows on her face.
"I knew your name was Ophir." It's not just me, perfect.
"Shit. This is going to drive me nuts. Where do I know you from?"
"I don't know. Where did you go to school?"
"Calabasas. You?"
"Oh, I didn't go here, I was in New York for High School."
Fuck. I've never been to New York.
"Fuck. I've never been to New York."
"Yeah, I've only been here for 5 years." 5 years!? Perfect! Now I have parameters! Memory, go!
"5 years, okay, that gives me something to work with."
"Haha, okay."
"Did you go to college or school while you were here?" Could be from school.
"No, sorry."
"No, that's good! 3/4 of the past 5 years for me was school and sleep, we just narrowed it down a bunch."

At that point, Memory came back with the answer and took over:
"Did you work while you were here?"
"Yes."
"Did you work at Tony Romas?" Her eyes go wide, a smile creeping on her face.
"Yes!"
"I worked with you at Tony Romas!" YES! SWEET HOLY JESUS YES!
"YES!"

We hug for a while and end up talking for a long time, catching up. Turns out she worked with me for several months in 2003. We were really chill and she ended up leaving because they wouldn't give her time to go to Bonaroo. I missed her. It was good to see her. What are the random odds she'd be at this party. Small world.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Perfect Walls

The walls themselves will be plain, flat white.

Hanging on those walls, framed in medium thickness black-stained wood are the following posters:

The Big Lebowski
Back to the Future, Part II
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Demolition Man
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Nirvana - Smiley Face
Queen - Classic
Muse - 2007 Limited Edition Melbourne Music Festival
Mastodon - Blood Mountain

Hmm... I'm going to need some pretty big walls.

From the realm between dream and sleep.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Destination Unknown

What a week.

Jewish high holidays started this week, beginning with the New Year. But like all Jewish holidays, the day before, the day of and sometimes, the day after are also celebrated. Lots of family, lots of food... busy, busy, busy.

I went and saw Rancid with Orry today. We had an extra ticket (Tahl ended up flaking out) that we ended up selling to a scalper for $9. We met up with Jeffy and his friend Tony at the show just before it started.

The first band was this terrible group called Societies Parasites (or something along those lines, it had "society" and "parasites" in the title.) They were on the 1/2 an hour and left without complaint. Listen, I don't expect much from an opening band... just a beat that I can nod my head too... and I couldn't even get that.

Next was Manic Hispanic. I like those guys a lot. This is the 2nd time I've seen them, the first being when they opened for Offspring. They're a cholo punk cover band that just sings the songs they cover in spanish. Good fun, very entertaining.

Finally came Rancid. Lots of energy, fairly basic setup: 3 guys in front, drummer in back, huge screen on which generic rancid videos are playing. Apparently they ended up playing 32 songs (30 +2 encore) which was awesome, that's punk music for you. After about the first third I went into the pit. I moshed to some random song I didn't know and then Maxwell Murder came on (one of my favorites) so I had to continue. I ended up shooting out of the pit in places I didn't like, so I kept going back in until I got to a spot I liked.

I ended up at the front border of the pit next to Tony. He and I ended up rocking out together for the remainder of the show. At Time Bomb I boosted him to start crowd surfing, which was fun.

Only two downers of the show were the following: At some point some guy from the pit spun into me and elbowed me at the base of my spine, just above the hips. I freaked out because everything below my waist got tingly, but I recovered. Another time was this guy next to me asked for a boost so he could crowd surf, to which I was happy to oblige. So he's standing facing me, I bend down and put my hands in a cradle to support him. He puts his left foot on my hands, I boost him; and just as he is coming up, his right leg kicks out and hits me square in the balls. My god did that hurt. I had to put my arm across the back of the guy in front of me so I could recover. All in all, not bad.

In the end I was sore, (very) sweaty and slightly deaf. Very friendly put, lots of friendly people and all-in-all a really great show. I had a lot of fun and was happy to lose some frequencies in my hearing in exchange for the good times I had.

As tradition dictates we met up at Denny's after the show (we decided on the one at Sepulveda and Burbank), grubbed up and went our separate ways. I peeled the sweaty clothes off myself as I got home and jumped into the shower. A perfect ending to a very full day.

Tomorrow I run errands with Jeffy and play D&D. Looking forward to both... hopefully I get some good sleep tonight. I'm pretty sure I will, I'm exhausted.

Goodnight Neverland!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Happy New Year

To all fellow Jews out there, Happy New Year 5769.

Supposedly, it's Jewish superstition that if you get a new job just before the New Year that it will be a very successful one. I found out last night that Square-Enix has added me to their game testing talent pool. That's fancy talk for I got the fucking job! I'm not really one for superstition, but sometimes things are just a good sign.

Lots of changes for me this year. I am no longer with the Friar House. I have moved back in with my parents to save money. I have taken over Tahl's old room in the garage, it's pretty sweet. It took some getting used to but I finally made it my own.

I've been unemployed for a little over a month. I went through a lot of emotional states regarding it, but I'm pretty much enjoying it now. That being said, I'm looking forward to beginning the development of my career in video games.

I've decided that I'm going to run a New World of Darkness - Mage game. My roleplaying needs have grown more sophisticated; and while I will enjoy playing in Orry's D&D game, I need to run a game that focuses more on roleplaying and character drama. I look forward to developing that project as well as other endeavors in the near future.

Things are changing... that "transition" period of moving and unemployment looks to be coming to an end. It's time to begin the new chapter of my life. I'm really looking forward to it.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Good Morning World

One hell of a Saturday.

Goodnight.

4:54am