Lee.org

I’m subbing tomorrow! Just like that! I’ll be subbing for an 8th grade math class. I was getting myself terribly nervous about this but when I heard what I was teaching, it all of a sudden seemed much more doable. Heck, the math class warmed me up for it! I suppose I’ll be going things like basic algebra, fractions, negative numbers, and word problems…. Not completely unlike what I’m doing in the class that I’m taking! I’ve still got butterflies in my stomach though.

Ugh, more NERO crapola. See this page.

I’m starting to enjoy my math class. Maybe it won’t be -completely- impossible. Each time I sit down to math homework, I’ve got to really turn on my gray matter. It’s pretty cool actually. I’ve started cheering myself after getting hard problems. “Yes!” It feels good when you understand the universe a tiny bit more! Psych never posed itself as too much of an obstacle.

I got a call at 5am yesterday to go substitute! Just like that! I’ve got to call them back and tell them when I can actually work.. .and then get ready for them to call me… at 5am(!!) so I know if I’m working on a particular day.

My cousin Sam recently asked me where I got the name Gadlen:

I took the name Gadlen from a comic book that I used to read called Sandman by Neil Gaiman. The main character being The Sandman, the god of sleep… Morpheus, Dream.

There’s this one time in the story when Dream comes home from a rough trip to his castle in his funky dream-domain. We get to meet the two caretakers of the place, Gadlen and Hobbes. They are these fairly strange little guys that didn’t have particularly important jobs… cleaning the castle, tending to the grounds and stuff. They sort of feel like the Rosencrantz and Gildenstern of the Sandman world (mostly in the funny “R & G Are Dead, the movie way). I really enjoyed their presence… how they held themselves.

The name “Gadlen” stuck out in my mind when I wanted to create a unique name for myself to use on the internet. It pleased me that the name was, and still is, virtually unused by anyone else on the internet and the world. So there you have it!

Sandman is a tremendous comic that had a big impact on the way comics were made and marketed to older (17+) readers. It was the impetus for DC Comics’ “Vertigo” label. If you’re mature enough, I think you might get a lot out of it. They’re now available in graphic novel format, 10 books in all I believe. I only have the first 5. Hmm… you know…. gift giving is the finest form of flattery!

Out of the blue, I was offered a staff position at a new NERO International chapter. The head of the campaign wrote to me:

I am starting a chapter of NERO International in New Jersey, and I am looking for creative knowledgeable people to form a Staff, or even just to NPC. I want to reward people justly and to have great events where a Staff that works together makes for a great game for players – even people who know nothing about NERO. I love to roleplay and I love to LARP, which is why I have gotten involved over time. I remember your characters – and though I would not normally send an email like this, I recall you as an excellent roleplayer and great to roleplay with.

I was of course appropriately flattered, and the spark inside me that glows brightly when playing shimmered a bit. But I didn’t let it smolder. I’m too disappointed in the too many years of hanging out with people that couldn’t ground themselves. I graciously declined the offer.

2 years ago my old company considered distributing demos and content on DVD discs but I determined that it wasn’t cost effective and the disc formats had compatibility problems. DVD discs cost $17 apiece, recorded only in DVD-RAM format (only playable on DVD-RAM drives… no you don’t own one), and the burners cost $6,000.

Moore’s Law has been working overtime… Today, DVD media now costs as low as $0.79 per 4.7 gig disk. Recorders cost $350 for a 4x drive, recording onto DVD+R (the same format as your computer and DVD video player)

Here’s a burner: Sony DRU-500A Here’s some media: (0.47 terabytes for $90!)

Of course, this makes DVD copying tools like this one very popular The world is evolving at a lightning pace!

Hey neat. I just caught the tail end of a song on WNTI that I had never heard before…

Artist	Track Title	Album	Label	Time Played
The Bobbettes	Mr Lee	45 rpm	Atlantic ’51	5 Minutes ago

Check out the song (a local link)

The refrain is “Mr. Lee Mr. Lee. Oh, Mr. Lee”. A lot of people have called me “Mr. Lee” before, and they sometimes double it up, “Mr. Lee, Mr. Lee!” but I always thought they were calling me that because of it’s Chinese sound and it’s fun to say. Go ahead, try it! Oh, and, no my name isn’t Chinese, it’s a shortened form of a Hungarian name. Wow. I’ve lived my whole life without knowing this personally important facet of the collective unconscious!

[additionally, see my July 30, 2003 Journal entry]