Christina and I have discussed building some sort of reward system for Sierra when she does something good. Actually building such a system, though, would be quite the challenge. A few days ago, Dré sent me a link to a new game called Chore Wars. The concept? Do chores, earn XP, collect gold and treasure. Basically, it’s a live-action RPG in the truest sense of the term.

The beauty of Chore Wars is that there aren’t really any rules (aside from the setup of the game itself), which works perfectly for our needs. Basically, you create chores (referred to in the game as “adventures”) and assign values for gold and XP for each chore. As chores are completed, players can log in and claim them to increase their in-game levels and their gold.

Individual chores can be given a range for rewards; for example, doing the laundry might be worth 20-25 XP and 11-28 gold. You can also assign the percentage chance of random treasures and wandering monsters, further increasing the feel of a traditional RPG.

While we probably won’t pay too much attention to wandering monsters, the rest of the game should serve as a great visual aid in helping us, and Sierra, see what she’s doing and what can be done to earn gold for privileges, toys, etc. I’ll try to post an update in a few weeks, after we’ve used Chore Wars for a while.

You know how we didn’t want to pick a popular, trendy baby name? As it turns out, the name we were leaning towards - Ava - was the fifth most popular name in the US in 2006. So much for originality. Variant spelling Eva was ranked 124th, which is the spelling I’ve argued since the name was mentioned.

We actually met an Eva (spelled with an E) over the weekend at the zoo, who was the first young Eva I’ve met. I happened to overhear her father calling for her, so I asked him about her name and the spelling. It was then that I learned about the extreme popularity of the name. Since then, my hunt for a name has broadened somewhat, though I haven’t found any new prospects.

Back to the zoo, we went there for our annual company picnic, which I was in charge of planning this year. All I can say is that party planning can be a bitch, but it turned out well in the end. Everyone seemed to have a good time, which is the ultimate goal of any such event. View photos.

Christina, expectedly, got a bit tired towards the end of our tour through the zoo, but she and Sierra still had fun. Many of the animals were out that day, a day in which rain was expected to ruin our adventure but suddenly decided to take a break and let us have a warm, humid day instead. I found a new love for sea lions and reaffirmed my love of elephants.

Monkeys in cages make me a little sad - I’d hate to be stuck behind a cage all day (which I am, metaphorically, but I digress). These gibbons, though, really take the cake.

I loved Transformers as a kid. I had a few of the toys and watched the ‘toon when I could, though I was pretty young; it’s been a while since I’ve seen it, and I really don’t remember it well now. I remember Optimus Prime, Grimlock, and Bumblebee, but I couldn’t tell you too much about any of the other characters. I do remember thinking that giant alien robots that turn into cars are awesome - in theory, anyway.

I reserved a lot of skepticism and doubt about the new live-action iteration of Transformers. My biggest fear was, simply, that Transformers would not translate well from their 1980’s comic/cartoon/action figure roots to present day life. It’s one thing to see robots turn into cars, guns, and dinosaurs when they’re in a kids’ cartoon, but it’s something else altogether to make that believable in a live environment. My other reservations were aimed at the level of commercialism in the movie; I feared that the Transformers franchise may turn into an oversized commercial for GM or the US Army. Additional worries of a terrible story, bad acting, and the usual components that go into any movie were also considered.

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I finally released my first original WordPress theme, Fight. It’s essentially exactly what you see here… for now.

I’ve already started working on my next theme, which will be a stark contrast to Fight - in fact, instead of being a black-based theme, it’ll be white-based, with two right sidebars. It will probably be up in about a week or so, but I don’t think I’m going to release it publicly; I may just keep it as the default Deanish theme all to myself.

Download Fight Here

It may be hard to see in this terrible picture, but these Cheez-Its are good until August of 3007. Yes, my friends - 3007. Simply amazing. Where else can you find a deal like that? Crackers that last for 1000 years - that can feed my great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- grandchildren - are worth their weight in gold. (Which is 10 ounces, by the way.)