Category: Adherence to the Repeated Memes

The Viral Meme (as tagged by Merrie…)

D'Arque Bishop

Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.
1) SFO Mom
2) Minivan Mom
3) Psy_guy (Minivan Dad)
4) MerrieB
5) The D’Arque Cathedral

Select Five People To Tag:
Okay… I choose ACJ, Jesse, Scott Howell, Tygerlander, and Jenn.

What Were You Doing 10 Years Ago?
I was still attending UH; I was preparing to go to Ireland with the UH Marching Band for the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin, and otherwise wondering if I was making the right choice staying at UH. I was also working part time at Prints Plus in the Woodlands Mall, where my ex-gf was my boss. (Go figure.)

What Were You Doing A Year Ago?
I was doing the same old same old work I’ve been doing the past few years, and also preparing to go to Midway Gamers Day in Las Vegas to cover Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and the GameCube version of Mortal Kombat: Deception.

Five Snacks You Enjoy:
1) Cadbury Crunchies
2) Brownies
3) Nachos w/ queso
4) Kit-Kats
5) Chocolate chip cookies

Five Songs You Know All The Words To:
1) Pink Floyd – “Comfortably Numb”
2) Nine Inch Nails/Johnny Cash – “Hurt”
3) Tom Petty – “Runnin Down a Dream”
4) Bob Seger – “Turn the Page”
5) Kansas – “Carry On Wayward Son”
(I know far more than these, but they came to mind…)

Five Things You Would Do If You Were A Millionare:
1) Pay off bills.
2) Invest most of the money.
3) Buy a new home in England or Ireland.
4) Donate to a charity.
5) Get a nicer home for my parents.

Five Bad Habits:
1) I speak before I think what I’m saying.
2) I tend to rush when I eat.
3) I’m extremely disorganized.
4) I snack.
5) I procrastinate.

Five Things You Will Never Wear Again:
1) Sandals.
2) Pendants or chains.
3) Bracelets.
4) Cowboy hats.
5) Any belt with a buckle big enough to be mistaken for a license plate.

Five Favorite Toys:
1) My GameCube
2) My Playstation 2
3) My GBA
4) My iPod
5) My talking Dalek. :-)

Another stolen from groovychk…

D'Arque Bishop1 Comment

WHITE
WHITES are motivated by PEACE, seek independence

and require kindness. They resist

confrontation at all costs. (Feeling good is

more important than being good.) They are

typically quiet by nature, they process

things very deeply and objectively, and they

are by far the best listeners of all the

colors. They respect people who are kind, but

recoil from perceived hostility or verbal

battle.

WHITES need their quiet independence and refuse to

be controlled by others. WHITES want to do

things their own way, in their own time. They

ask little of others, and resent others

demanding much of them. WHITES are much

stronger than people think because they dont

reveal their feelings. WHITES are kind,

non-discriminate, patient and can be

indecisive, timid, and silently stubborn.

When you deal with a WHITE, be kind, accept

(and support) their individuality, and look

for nonverbal clues to their feelings.

What Color Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Stolen from Tygerlander…

D'Arque Bishop

You are The Hermit

Prudence, Caution, Deliberation.

The Hermit points to all things hidden, such as knowledge and inspiration,hidden enemies. The illumination is from within, and retirement from participation in current events.

The Hermit is a card of introspection, analysis and, well, virginity. You do not desire to socialize; the card indicates, instead, a desire for peace and solitude. You prefer to take the time to think, organize, ruminate, take stock. There may be feelings of frustration and discontent but these feelings eventually lead to enlightenment, illumination, clarity.

The Hermit represents a wise, inspirational person, friend, teacher, therapist. This a person who can shine a light on things that were previously mysterious and confusing.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Top ten influences…

D'Arque Bishop2 Comments

I’m stealing this from Sean MC, who stole it from various people along the way. That said…

My Top Ten Non-Familial Influences (from a completely random and train-of-thought perspective)

1) The Doctor (from Doctor Who)

Granted, the Doctor is a fictional character, but I always found him to be a big influence. I guess it was the fact that he was always slightly off-kilter yet had a formidable intelligence, strong character, and always seemed to come out on top. Being a kind of misfit in school, I guess I saw in the Doctor that it was okay to be slightly weird at times.

2) Chris Wiser

Chris and I are old old friends. Granted, some of his character attributes leave a LITTLE to be desired (like the last time I went out with him and he got absolutely smashed, or a few of his money-making schemes). But through it all, he was friendly, respectful to his elders, and had a good attitude. More than once he and I have been mistaken for brothers, believe it or not. The fact that he was respectful, called my parents “Sir” or “Ma’am”, and all always stuck with me.

3) Linus Torvalds

Yes, yes, he’s the creator of Linux, and I’m a heavy Linux user. That’s not why he’s on this list. In his leadership over the Linux creation process, he’s a firm leader, but for the most part, highly pragmatic. That pragmatism is something I always admired, as it showed me that a pragmatist can win out in the end.

4) Jenn Dolari

I’m pretty sure she’s going to be as shocked as anyone that she’s on this list. “Why?” she would probably ask. It’s simple. She’s shown me that if you’ve got something you want to do with yourself, or a story you have in your head, there’s nothing wasted in bringing that story out; the only waste is in keeping it to yourself… and you may never know where it might take you.

5) Two way tie: Sean McCormick and Kourt DeHaas

These two were my best friends up until 9th grade or so (where a couple of different factors kinda caused us to drift apart). They put up with my idiosyncracies and we went through a lot together. I can’t name anything specific I learned from them, but the times we spent together still resonate with me today… from the creation of the sub-society, the Kranix stories, the Goddamn Dam, and other misadventures. Nothing’s better when you’re doing it with friends, eh?

6) Melissa Rose

Missy and I had something of a fling going for a while, and even today we’re still best friends. She showed me that it’s okay to be a geek and that you’ll still have a chance at a romance with it. However, she’s kind of busy now trying to suppress the geek part of me at times. We’ll see how well that goes over in the days ahead…

7) Ed Boon

Now, some of you might be wondering what the hell Ed’s doing on here. (He’d likely be one of them if he ever saw this site.) The reason he’s on here is simple: Mortal Kombat. MK has been part of my life from the day I first played it at the university arcade in 1992. However, I could never have dreamed then that by this time, I’d be helping to run one of the internet’s top Mortal Kombat fansites, and be known to MK fans and to the MK design team themselves. My time with MK5.ORG/MK Online came out of the blue, and I went from being a fan to being a known authority on the subject. It’s kind of weird like that, but all of this came from a simple arcade game Ed helped create in 1992, and has been a big supporter of us, always having a kind word to say when we’ve spoken. For that, I thank him.

8) Scott Howell

This kind of goes along with the Ed entry. One day in November or December 2001, out of the blue, Scott messaged me on IRC and asked me if I would want to go to E3 to cover MK: Deadly Alliance for MK5.ORG. I decided “what the hell”, and said yes. … it’s now four years later, and neither of us expected to be where we are today. MK5.ORG/MK Online have been a hell of an influence on my life since I was hired on… and who knows where it’ll go from there?

Besides which, Scott’s “can do” approach and his marketing abilities always astound me, and make me work to be a better administrator and presenter for the site and everything at large.

9) Sinc

To the people who came from EFNet #Vampire, Sinc needs no introduction. When I became an op on that channel, Sinc (who still worked in the background at that time) became known to me, and as we talked, I became aware that he ran his own UNIX-style server that ran a free UNIX called Linux. I was using a UNIX account at UH at the time, so the prospect of learning more about this “Linux” intrigued me. I experimented with it on my own, starting with Slackware 3.2, and over the years built up my knowledge and abilities. It was purely my knowledge of Linux that got me my job with Walker Bolt back in 1999, and I now hold the title of Linux Administrator at T3 Energy, and am responsible for overseeing several different Linux servers. For that matter, it was me that helped bring Linux to the company as a whole, by the CIO’s request. I also maintain three Linux servers at home, and help maintain two others (including Sinc’s server; he comes to ME for advice now). I wouldn’t be where I am now without Sinc showing me the Way of Linux.

10) Tammy Loomis

I almost completely forgot about Tammy, which is scary considering without her help I might not be here now. Tammy was a friend of mine in high school; in fact, she went out of her way to be my friend. I didn’t exactly make it easy, as I was admittedly a very hateful bastard in my freshman year of high school. I was convinced that people considered me nothing more than a joke and wanted nothing more to have fun at my expense. (In fact, she tells me the first time she tried to introduce herself to me, I was rather rude and acted like she was trying to make fun of me.) She preservered, and I gradually came out of my shell and realized that no, not everyone wanted me to be the butt of their jokes. I ended patching things up with my classmates, and I put those years behind me. Without her showing me that yes, people DID want to be my friends and wanted my friendship, I may have fallen too far for salvation long ago. I sometimes wonder if she ever knew that.

Well, these weren’t nearly as poetic or insightful as Sean’s were. :-) It’s the best I could do at this point; I don’t often think too much on these things. Oh, well…

Thank Tygerlander for this one…

D'Arque Bishop

Ground Rules: The first player of this “game” starts with the topic “5 weird habits of yours” and people who get tagged need to write an LJ entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.

1) Whenever I see one of those huge inflatable gorillas on top of a car dealership or furniture store or what have you, I feel compelled to hum the Donkey Kong intro music.

2) I frequently use the phrase “ten to one” when describing whether or not someone is going to do something. (E.g., “Ten to one he’ll get that stuff entered in on time.”)

3) I almost never drink alcohol with a meal, unless it’s like beer with something spicy. I reserve the alcohol for after meals.

4) I don’t keep anything personal on my desk at work, save a Despair, Inc. desktopper. I never have kept pictures or anything like that on my desk whereever I’ve worked.

5) I actually prefer going to sleep with some kind of soft background noise like music or a computer fan. The exception is if a TV is going in the same room as me, as I’ll constantly be distracted by it and end up trying to watch.

As for who I tag… I choose: Missy, Scott Howell, Sean MC, Dementia, and Malia. :-)

Stolen from Ms. Dolari…

D'Arque Bishop

~~series one~~

— Name: Scott Bishop
— Birthdate: November 9th, 1973
— Birthplace: Winfield, IL
— Current Location: Spring, TX
— Eye Color: Blue
— Hair Color: Dark brown
— Righty or Lefty: Righty
— Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
— Innie or Outtie: Innie

~~ series two – describe~~
— Your heritage: British
— The shoes you wore today: Black Bostonian dress shoes
— Your hair: Short and brushed back. (It’s my low-maintenance haircut.)
— Your eyes: Large, round, and blue.
— Your weakness: Food, I’m afraid… especially pizza, burgers, or pasta.
— Your fears: Heights.
— Your perfect pizza: Deep dish, with extra cheese, double pepperoni, and ham.
— One thing you would like to achieve: Writing my own novel.

~~ series three – what is~~
— Your most overused phrase on aim: Bleh.
— Your thoughts first waking up: “Do I have time to go back to sleep? … shit.”
— The first feature you notice in the opposite sex: Eyes.
— Your best physical feature: My eyes and smile. (I’ve been told they’re very distinctive.)
— Your bedtime: On work nights, 10:30-11:00 PM. Otherwise, 1-2 AM.

~~ series four – you prefer~~
— Pepsi or coke: Coke… usually Diet or Zero.
— McDonalds or Burger King: Burger King.
— Single or group dates: Single.
— Adidas or nike: Sketchers.
— Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Yuck.
— Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate.
— Cappuccino or coffee: Hot Chocolate.
— Boxers or briefs: Boxers.

~~ series five – do you~~
— Smoke: No.
— Cuss: Yep.
— Sing well: I think I do. Catch me at karaoke and judge for yourself.
— Take a shower everyday: Yes.
— Have a crush(es): Mmmm… yes.
— Who are they: That would be telling.
— Do you think you’ve been in love?: Yes.
— Want to go to college: Ask me later.
— Like high school: Eh.
— Want to get married: Sure. Will it happen? Who knows.
— Type with your fingers on the right keys: No.
— Think you’re attractive: If I lost a bit of weight.
— Think you’re a health freak: *snicker* Hardly.
— Get along with your parents: For the most part.
— Play an instrument: Flute.

~~ series six – in the past 3 months, did/have you~~
— Drank alcohol: Yep… Shiner Bock, mostly.
— Smoke(d): No.
— Done a drug: Technically alcohol and caffeine are drugs, but otherwise no.
— Made Out: No.
— Go on a date: No.
— Eaten an entire box of Oreos: No.
— Eaten sushi: Yes… for my birthday, even.
— Been on stage: Yes.
— Been dumped: No.
— Gone skating: No.
— Made homemade cookies: No.
— Been in love: No.
— Gone skinny dipping: No.
— Dyed your hair: No.
— Stolen anything: No.

~~ series seven – have you ever~~
— Played a game that required removal of clothing?: No.
— Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: No.
— Been caught “doing something”: No.
— Been called a tease: No.
— Gotten beaten up: No.
— Shoplifted: No.
— If so, did you get caught: N/A.
— Changed who you were to fit in: No.

~~ series eight – the future~~
— Age you hope to be married: Who knows.
— Numbers and Names of Children: Let me get marriage sorted first.
— How do you want to die: Peacefully in my sleep, and not screaming in terror like my passengers.
— Where you want to go to college: I’ll decide later.
— What country would you most like to visit: The Netherlands, Australia, and Japan.

~~ series nine – opposite/same sex~~
— Best eye color?: Blue
— Best hair color?: Red.
— Short or long hair?: Long.
— Best height: Medium.
— Best weight: Average to few extra pounds.
— Best articles of clothing: Meh.
— Best first date location: Dinner and a movie sounds good.
— Best first kiss location: Uhm.

~~series ten – number of~~
— # drugs taken illegally: 0
— # people I could trust with my life: 5-10
— # CDs that I own: 186 (not including double CD sets and my OC Remix downloads)
— # piercings: 0
— # tattoos: 0
— # times my name has appeared in the newspaper? No clue.
— # scars on my body: Two or three
— # things in my past that I regret: Meh.