Month: August 2010

I’m settled in, but there’s still more to be done.

D'Arque Bishop

It’s been nearly three months since I moved in with Jennifer. Honestly, it’s been pretty much smooth sailing here; or, as Jennifer has put it more than once, it’s been the most “non-event” event in her life. We’re pretty much crediting it to the fact that not only did we do a lot of preparation work in advance of my move in, I had been living here pretty much half the time in the months leading up to it. I made every excuse I could think of to spend nights down here… even if Jennifer herself wasn’t the primary reason, it helped that the drive to and from work from her house put together was shorter than the drive between my parents’ house and my office, one way. The one disadvantage of me being down here, so far, is that a good number of my friends live up in Spring. However, we make time whenever we can to go up and visit them.

About the biggest hurdle that I saw regarding the move in was the electronics. Of course, I had a number of electronics, and we had to decide what to do with them. The PC, game consoles, and TV ended up going into my office. The PC was a given, but with the consoles I can play games without bothering Jennifer if she’s watching TV. My home theater and DVD player ended up going into the living room. Jennifer didn’t have a home theater system already, so it made sense to put mine in place. As for the DVD player… her existing one wasn’t an upconverting DVD player, so we put mine in place there and moved hers to the bedroom.

However, our biggest foe so far has been wiring. The first of the two big examples has been in terms of networking. Her office is on the opposite side of the house from my office, and the cable modem and wireless router are located there. We REALLY did not want to run ethernet through the walls, and buying wireless adapters for my Xbox 360 and PC would have been expensive. (Not to mention it wouldn’t have helped my wired-only IP phone for work…) So, after doing some research, I ended up buying a ZyXEL WAP3205 wireless bridge. It basically bridges my ethernet network in my office onto the home wireless network. So far, it’s worked flawlessly. I’ve even been able to play online via Xbox Live with no issues. We’re also considering getting a second one to bridge our Wii onto the wireless network. (No, it won’t join our wireless network. We have no idea why, so the easiest solution is an ethernet adapter and wireless bridge.)

On the other hand, we’re not sure of a decent solution for our other wiring issue. We haven’t actually hooked up the home theater system yet, simply because of the speaker problems. Now, hooking up the front speakers and the subwoofer won’t be a problem (once I retrieve the left/right speakers from my parents’ house). HOWEVER, we really don’t have a good way to hook up the back speakers without running wire through the walls (again). Neither of us like going through the attic, so that’s kind of out. Running it under carpet is out, too, because the living room (like most of the house) has hardwood floors. We’ve tried looking at wireless solutions for rear speakers but have had no luck. So, here’s my question… does anyone have any ideas they’re willing to bounce off us? :-)

Otherwise, life has turned out to be pretty good here. I’m enjoying living with Jennifer, and things are looking pretty good for the immediate future. Here’s hoping things stay that way. :-)

A music meme. Blame Jenn Dolari.

D'Arque Bishop

I know I should be doing an actual post at some point. I’ll do one. I promise.

In the meantime, here’s a musical meme I yanked from my friend Jenn Dolari.

Step 1: Put your iTunes or equivalent on random.

Step 2: Post the first or so lines from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.

Step 3: Get your friends to contemplate your bizarre tastes in music by guessing the songs.

Step 4: Bold out the songs when someone guesses correctly.

1) Hey man, please don’t make a sound. Take a look around, can’t you see what’s right in front of you? Have a little taste, no more time to waste. You don’t wanna get left behind cause it’s all coming down right now.

2) In the time when darkness ruled, no one saw the light. In the cold black emptiness, victims of the night.

3) On his way to dinner, when it took him by surprise, and with one pull of the trigger, he would vanish overnight. Dancing by the roadside, holding on for dear life; then a gun from out of nowhere made a widow of his wife.

4) The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas. The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor.

5) You can have my autograph. I think I’ll sign it love to you. But should I sign it just for you?

6) Only came outside to watch the nightfall with the rain. I heard you making patterns rhyme. Like some new romantic looking for the TV sound, you’ll see I’m right some other time.

7) Show me a river that’s so deep, show me a mountain so high. I’ll show you love that’ll last forever. Flyin’ high, so high.

8) You get to feel so guilty, got so much for so little, then you find that feeling just won’t go away. You’re holding on to every little thing so tightly ’til there’s nothing left for you anyway.

9) Uhh! Awww, sookie sookie now! Hey! Oww, uhh! Come on, baby! Hey there, Sugar Darlin’, let me tell you something girl, I’ve been trying to say, now.

10) Love – Devotion – Feeling – Emotion. Don’t be afraid to be weak. Don’t be too proud to be strong.

11) Wake up in the morning, and I raise my weary head. I got an old coat for a pillow and the earth was last night’s bed.

12) Highway run into the midnight sun… wheels go round and around. You’re on my mind.

13) I tried to kill the pain but only brought more… so much more. I lay dying and I’m pouring crimson regret and betrayal.

14) Time it was, and what a time it was. It was a time of innocence, a time of confidences. Simon & Garfunkel – “Bookends”

15) Every night she walks right in my dreams since I met her from the start. I’m so proud I am the only one who is special in her heart.

16) Hooray for a child who makes it through. If there’s any way because the answer lies in you…

17) As I wake up in a room somewhere, dawn light not yet showing, there’s just a thin horizon between me and her; the edge of a half-dream glowing.

18) Words like violence break the silence… come crashing into my little world.

19) Tell me, Doctor, where are we going this time? Is this the 50’s or 1999?

20) I know you broke up with him, and your heart’s still on the shelf. It’s been over two years for me and I’m still not quite myself.