Kleene Star

Watched the Serenity trailer. Am I going to be lynched if I say that I didn't think it was that great? The trailer, I mean - it gave me a fair amount of hope for the movie, though I hope there's a lot less River in the movie than in the trailer. I hate to say it, but I don't much like her. Of course, I'm only a couple of episodes in to the show (since I'm timing it to finish the show about when the movie comes out), so maybe she gets better. Maybe. Of course, I never much liked Buffy either, and I still loved the show, so maybe even if the movie is River-focused I'll be okay.

You know what I'd like? An Inara movie. Inara is TEH BESTEST, at least so far.

Anyhow, I'm experiencing a certain amount of inner serenity, too, as my to-do list is slowly shrinking. I've gotten extensions on a couple of things and am working away like a busy busy beaver at the rest. The updated list is here, for those who care:


Due April 23:
Prepare for Passover. (Notes on the seders are coming soon - both were superbly awesome.)

Due May 1:
Abstract for Bryn's RPG anthology. Status: draft of proposal done. Needs to be read by someone who isn't me to make sure it makes sense before I send it, plus add the bibliography and fix my bio. Can be finished today.
10-page paper for literary theory class. Status: second draft is finished (and hovering at 13.5 pages). Needs one more pass-through plus a bibliography before I can send it in. Hopefully can be finished today.

Due May 8:
Prepare talk for MIT conference. Status: I've reviewed the material and made a few notes. I should make sure I can speak to an exactly-twenty-minute length.
15-page paper on cognitive theories of learning. Status: 1/3 done, research and notes completed for another 1/3.

Due May 13th:
Playable version of Wiped! for game design class. Status: I've made an outline and noted the game issues I have to work out. (Anyone want to brainstorm with me? I could use a little brainstorming action. Specifically, I want to talk about the conflict-resolution system and about skills vs. successes.)

Due May 15th:
15-25 page paper on "radical play" for my social theory class. Status: I have a topic and a mental outline, but I haven't begun the research or put anything down on paper.

Due May 20th:
30,000 words on the RPG-book project. Status: 5,000 words down (and good enough that they rated a call from the guy who hired me, to the effect of "OMG!! you guys rock out!!1!!").


The things that are stressing me out are the social theory paper (because I haven't begun the research) and Wiped! (because I'm having a hard time making myself sit down and write the "this is a storytelling game" section, as I've just read so damn many). I'm doing better than I'd thought I would be doing at this point, though. I've gotten at least somewhere on all my projects. Now I just have to finish the things I'd like to get done today, so that I can go to Ike's Passover party tonight.