1,356,976,800 Seconds Old (Approximately)

I turned 43 years old this past Saturday. We celebrated without much fanfare, and that was by choice: I guess I'm now on the even-numbered-birthdays-blowout plan, after the big Trek puzzle hunt for my 40th and the karaoke extravagana for my 42nd.

But despite being low-key, we did manage to pack in quite a few things:

One week before my actual birthday, I livetweeted my binge-rewatch of the first season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the best damn show on television. See my Storify for #CXB43.

The night before my birthday, I gathered some friends for drinks and dinner at the Multnomah Whiskey Library, followed by dessert at Petunia's Pies & Pastries.

On my actual birthday, D and I had breakfast (featuring waffles!) at Gigi's Cafe. Then I met some friends to do "Kidnapped!" at Portland Escape Rooms, which we did escape, taking just six minutes longer than the current record time. We rounded out the evening with Bridget Quigg's one-woman comedy show Techlandia at Funhouse Lounge, and filled the intervening hours with stops at two different McMenamins.

On Sunday, we dragged our friend Darla to the Portland Art Museum, where among other things, we saw this camel. Then we stopped at Lapellah for happy hour.

Finally, on Monday, we met another friend for dim sum and chatted about escape rooms and general puzzling.

Is that an accurate snapshot of my life right now? More or less. It doesn't encompass any work activities (writing, freelancing, etc.), but otherwise these are pretty much the things we love doing: hanging out with friends, watching shows, eating and drinking, and playing games. Not necessarily in that order.

I'm Feeling 42

IN THE WORLD WE LIVE IN, MUCH IS SAID
ABOUT WHEN WE ARE BORN AND WHEN WE DIE.
OUR BIRTHDAY IS CELEBRATED EVERY YEAR TO
COMMEMORATE THE VERY INSTANT WE CAME INTO THE
WORLD, AND A FUNERAL IS HELD TO MARK THE DAY
WE LEAVE IT. BUT LATELY I’VE BEEN
WONDERING...WHAT CAN BE SAID OF ALL THE
MOMENTS IN BETWEEN OUR BIRTH AND OUR DEATH?
THE MOMENTS WHEN WE ARE REBORN...

That's Taylor Swift, in case you were wondering, from her foreword to 1989.

And here are The Doubleclicks to sing me into a new year:


https://youtu.be/zCF_js2y0Ec

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling forty-two.

(Are you in Portland? Come celebrate with me!)

I Turn 42 Next Week

And you're invited to come celebrate with DeeAnn and me, if you're in the Portland area! We've planned a variety of "CKL=42" events for you to choose from...

Wednesday(9/30), 6-10pm: "West Side Karaoke"
Voicebox NW, 2112 NW Hoyt
Please RSVP on Facebook* if you plan to join us; we're getting a private suite and need to know how many people we're packing in. Singing is not required! I will be happy to croon at a captive audience all night long. :) We'll provide some food and non-alcoholic drinks; you buy your own booze and additional munchies if you like.

Thursday(10/1), 8pm: "Rifftrax Live: Miami Connection"
Regal Cinemas Lloyd Center (outside the mall), 1510 NE Multnomah St
My actual birthday! Buy your own ticket and meet us at the theatre. Get there early (7:30pm) for the pre-show!

Friday(10/2), 11am: "Tea and Company"
Wong's King Seafood Restaurant, 8733 SE Division St, Suite 101
Meet us for a dim sum lunch! We eat family style, so we'll just split the bill evenly among everyone who shows up. Please RSVP on Facebook* so we know how many people are coming (they don't take reservations, so there will be a wait).

Saturday(10/3), ~2pm: "Game Day Afternoon"
Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd Ave
We plan to hang out for a few hours in the Courtyard Restaurant and play various games (and eat and drink). Stop by whenever and join the fun!

Sunday(10/4), ~11am: "Breakfast on Mars"
Time/Place TBD
Meet us for breakfast and a movie (The Martian) in the wilds of Vancouver—you buy your own food/ticket. Cinetopia won't publish their showtimes until next week, so if you're interested, RSVP on Facebook* to get updates!

* If you're not on Facebook, just send me an e-mail to let us know which event(s) you're coming to!

And please don't feel obligated to join us for any of these activities, if they don't appeal to you. The two of us know how to have a great time all on our own. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN ;)



(And yes, I know "please RSVP" is technically a redundant phrase. Colloquial usage
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

I'M OLD

AND THAT'S OKAY. ISN'T THAT RIGHT, THE DOUBLECLICKS? RIGHT.


http://youtu.be/zCF_js2y0Ec

I don't have any big plans for my birthday this year—mostly because, honestly, it'll be hard to top last year's incredible awesomeness—but it's been a really good year so far...

• I self-published a collection of my 512 Words or Fewer stories
• We went on our fourth JoCo Cruise Crazy, and ran our best puzzle-hunt-at-sea yet
• I went to Clarion West!
• I got an agent!!
• Puzzled Pint grew to ten cities
• I sold more short fiction, including my first SFWA qualifying pro sale!!!
• I've been invited to present at StoryCon this month and the SFWA Readings next month

What's next? Well...

• More short fiction sales, hopefully (I currently have nine stories out on submission, of which three have been shortlisted)
• We'll see what happens with Waypoint Kangaroo, the novel my agent is trying to sell
• I'm going to the Surrey International Writers' Conference for the first time
• I'll be doing NaNoWriMo again, of course
• It looks like Puzzled Pint will expand to eleven cities this month

Life is good. :)

My 40th Birthday Survey Results

TL;DR: Despite an unfair advantage, my sister still wins. :)

Back in September, I asked people (by e-mail and social media) to fill out a quick survey describing how long we've known each other, where we met, and their first impressions of me in five words or fewer. It turned out to be the second best birthday present ever! (The best was, of course, The Double Secret Game.) Below are the results of this completely unscientific study.

I received 110 total responses, the first on September 4th (DeeAnn, testing the form) and the last on October 2nd, the day after my actual birthday. The majority of the responses--71 people, or just over 65%--came in during "opening weekend" (Thursday, September 5th, through Sunday, September 9th).

Mmm... pie chart...

Not surprisingly, the biggest segment of responders was in the 2-5 year range (2008-2010). We moved to our current home area--Portland, Oregon--in late 2008, and about a year later started making a real effort to get out of the house and meet people. There's another big cluster of responses in the 1-2 year range (2011-2012), which includes several Sea Monkeys and more awesome Portlanders.

The second biggest segment was the 10-20 year range (1992-2002), which includes some college friends, my wife, and other people we know from living in the San Francisco Bay Area for over a decade. Many of those are Gamers, and all of them are fantastically creative and generous, because that's how we met them: through doing cool stuff for fun!

My favorite part, though, is the five-word first impressions. Here's the word cloud (minus seven people who opted out of this public analysis):

"IN NO MORE THAN FIVE(5) WORDS: what was your FIRST IMPRESSION of me?"

Of course, some of those individual words don't make much sense out of context. In no particular order, here are a few of my favorite five-word first impressions:

• "Tall guy likes Star Trek"
• "quiet, tall, and hungry"
• "Quiet, but lots in there."
• "Kind of mopey, I think."
• "inclusive trekkie asian ambitious nice"
• "Guy interviewing me" (from a former co-worker)
• "He looks like Mr. Spock."
• "He likes everything I like!"
• "Intriguing -not normal"
• "still waters run deep"
• "someone I'd like to meet"
• "Clever non-aardvark Bastard"

But honestly, it's the entire collection of responses that is most striking. You can see some of that in the word cloud--I am clearly known far and wide for my love of Star Trek, and also for being tall and quiet. I guess I knew a lot of this already, but it's nice to have actual data. You know, science and all that.

I also provided a form field labeled "Anything else you'd like to tell me?" in case five words wasn't enough. Some of those responses were pretty great, too:

• "Yes, but I had a stroke so I can't write it."
• "Don't make a fucking W with your fingers.
  
  It's been great getting to know you over the years through games, social events, and those crimes we agreed never to discuss. Here's looking forward to another 9 years! Cheers!
  
  Corby"
• "Dude, if I could remember things that happened years ago, I wouldn't have got into the habit of writing stuff down. So, uhm, don't trust that memory of your first impression too far. Oh, wait, I write stuff down, so I don't have to remember: Here's the earliest mention of you on my site: http://lahosken.san-francisco.ca.us/anecdotal/hunt/5/05.html#happybirthday"
• "Funny, the 'how long have we known each other' question was surprisingly difficult to answer. I played in your Hogwarts Game in 2006, but don't really think that counts - I was looking for some kind of definitive 'social' connection. I decided to go with what I could mine from Gmail:
  
  Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:23:59 -0700
  To: Jeff Phillips
  From: Facebook
  Reply-to: noreply
  Subject: Curtis C. Chen confirmed you as a friend on Facebook...
  
  ~Jeff"
• "I like you. I don't want to punch you in the face."
• "Your creativity inspires me!"
• "I think it's a very good reflection on my taste in friends that many of them are able to reinvent themselves, take chances, create new amazing things, and involve others in their projects. You can do all that (and more), and it is for that reason you're my friend."
• "Thanks for introducing me to Larry Niven!" (his books, not personally)
• "The first time we met, I totally profiled you.
  
  Our section of the airport was nearly empty. We were both waiting for our connecting flight to Martha's Vineyard to attend Viable Paradise. I saw you working on a laptop that had a bunch of stickers on it. Laptop and stickers somehow screamed 'science fiction nerd' even though I couldn't see what the stickers were exactly. I consulted my own machine, saw that there were two distinctly Asian names on the VP student list. You looked more like a Chen than a Ha (though of course you could've easily been a Terhune, Johnson, or Kloos). I approached cautiously, half-expecting you to explode: 'What? So you see an Asian guy in an airport and just assume we all write science fiction??!' To my perhaps visible relief, you just smiled and shook my hand.
  
  Happy 40th, Curtis!" (from a VPXII classmate)
• "You introduced me to the Hollywood Bowl. I've been following classical music ever since." (from a high school friend)
• "It was my third date with Wei-Hwa and I remember him inviting us along to dinner with you guys. It was a great time."
• "You know the line from the theme from the movie Shaft that goes 'who's the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks? Shaft!'
  
  Well, if you were black, and a detective, and hugely promiscuous, and your name were Shaft instead of Curtis, I would think that song would apply perfectly to you.
  
  And even though you are none of those things, I think the song applies to you anyway.
  
  Happy birthday, Mr. Not an Aardvark!"
• "I heard 'I'm an Aardvark' on my kid's Sesame Street playlist just last week!"
• "Welcome to the old-timers club, sonny."
• "You have only two years to plan your next birthday project. 42. It is the number after all."

But all that said, I think this is my single favorite overall response (from my younger sister):

Thank you to everyone who participated, and thanks for reading all of this rambling analysis! Those interested can view all the public raw data and do the math yourself. Feel free to share your own conclusions in a comment below. :)

SnoutCast #191: "Double Secret" Contributors Corby and Josh

This week, we talk to Josh Ward and Corby Anderson, two of the puzzle creators for my "Double Secret" surprise birthday puzzle hunt!

[ Download mp3 - 23 MB ]

00:59 - "conspiratorial"
03:57 - Josh's puzzle creation story
08:09 - Corby's puzzle creation story
09:37 - everything you need to know about Q is in "Spock Impersonator"
12:22 - fun with Photoshop (or perhaps GIMP)
16:19 - "It's a fake!"
21:40 - yet another link to the slideshow
23:19 - The End

Tell us we're wrong on the Internet! E-mail podcast@snout.org or post a comment at www.snout.org/podcast.

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "First of May" by Jonathan Coulton

[ Subscribe to SnoutCast / iTunes link ]

   

SnoutCast #190: This Was 40

Okay, it's forty-eight--minutes long, that is, if you want to be pedantic. But come on, my wife and some of my best friends made a birthday puzzle hunt just for me. I think I'm allowed to gush for a while.

THANK YOU again to everyone who helped with "The Double Secret Project!" I love you all forever. (Scroll down for the inevitable slideshow.)

[ Download mp3 - 45 MB ]

00:59 - "deceptive"
03:20 - the lying began way back in June
08:16 - a close call in July!
10:29 - The Game began at Genies
15:19 - the first Clue: at which point Curtis knows for sure Matt is involved
19:09 - the second Clue, more revelations, and solving alone is hard
20:59 - the third Clue: Brian, Jeff, and Donna's "chubby tricorder"
25:33 - changing cars, getting kidnapped, and learning about child safety locks
29:19 - the fourth Clue: Q presents some paper dolls
31:50 - the fifth Clue: music to transport by
33:38 - the final Clue: Starship Artemis on stage!
44:27 - (don't worry, we'll talk about The Famine Game soon)
45:10 - upcoming: Ghost Patrol Reconstructed (Halloween night)
48:15 - The End

And here's the slideshow (photos by Britta and Chris, certain terrible music choices by Richard):


http://youtu.be/m3Mv0riLu6o

Tell us we're wrong on the Internet! E-mail podcast@snout.org or post a comment at www.snout.org/podcast.

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "I Feel Fantastic" by Jonathan Coulton; "The Nerdy Birthday Song" by The Doubleclicks

[ Subscribe to SnoutCast / iTunes link ]

 

This is 40

The last ten days have been full of so much awesome, I can hardly believe it. I'm forty years old now, and I am incredibly happy and grateful to know such wonderful people in the world.

I'll write more later, but meanwhile, check out this slideshow from my surprise puzzle hunt and early birthday party (photos by Britta):


http://youtu.be/m3Mv0riLu6o

And a few of my random photos from The Famine Game:


https://picasaweb.google.com/116737692309729475506/TheFamineGameHighlights?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIfA-_PJwdWUew&feat=directlink

Like the song says: life begins at forty. My adventures are just beginning.

Haven't We Met?

I've ordered some rain for tomorrow
PDX will be sunny but wet
And out of nowhere you're suddenly there
And I say, "Yeah, pardon me, have you filled out my 40th birthday survey yet?"

(with apologies to the late Kenny Rankin)

Don't worry, I'm only going to be nagging you to complete this survey for a couple more weeks. And if you're not convinced you want to participate, for whatever reason, please scroll past the form and read on.

(scroll down to see all questions)

Embed not working? Go to http://snout.org/40survey

Back in 2010, I ran a birthday art project called "37 Postcards", in which I asked people to send me postcards from their home area and tell me why they lived there. DeeAnn and I had cross-referenced a lot of city data before deciding to move to Portland; we weren't constrained by jobs or family, so we could choose to live anywhere we wanted.* I was curious why others lived where they did, and what they liked about their home areas.

I scanned in each postcard as it arrived, and you can see all of those images under the 37postcards label on this blog. I've received 59 so far--and counting! So, to coin a phrase, HUGE SUCCESS.

I've been wanting to do another "birthday ask" for a while, maybe even make it an annual tradition, but I didn't hit upon something that seemed interesting and worthwhile until now.

I have never really been sure how I appear to other people, and though I know I've changed over the years, personality-wise, I don't know if my outward appearance has altered significantly. And it's not really something people will tell you directly; very rarely do people look me in the eye and say, "I think you are _____." It's something I have to suss out indirectly, by noticing their reactions to my behavior. And I'm not very good at reading people.

So, I figured, why not just ask people about where they met me, and what their first impression of me was? Which would also capture how long we've known each other, which is interesting information, and totally quantifiable. (Even though this is a completely unscientific survey, I still like to have some hard facts.) It would be a weird question to ask out of the blue, but hey, it's my party, I'll poll if I want to.

Just to be clear: I am not fishing for compliments here. I'm very glad to see that at least a couple of people have given not-necessarily-complimentary answers, because they were honest, and that's what I want. I want to know if I seemed less than friendly when we first met. I want to know if I did something especially good or especially bad. It's all signal, and I want the feedback.

So. If you haven't completed the survey yet, it should only take a few minutes. At least take a look?

http://snout.org/40survey

If you can, please respond by the end of this month (Monday, September 30th, 2013). Thanks in advance!



* We did limit ourselves to the continental United States, because we didn't want to risk any international quarantine issues which might prevent our cats from coming with us.

Be a Part of My 40th Birthday Project

TL;DR: Tell me how we met! :)

Back in 2010, I ran a birthday art project called "37 Postcards" which went very well. It's taken me a while to come up with a sequel, as it were, but here it is now, in the form of a short survey which should only take you a few minutes to complete!

(scroll down to see all questions)

Embed not working? Go to http://snout.org/40survey

Please respond by the end of this month (Monday, September 30th, 2013). I'll share some of the collected data on this blog the following week.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's the 10th anniversary of my 29th birthday, and The Doubleclicks are virtually helping me celebrate:


http://youtu.be/zCF_js2y0Ec

As usual, you can follow me on Twitter today to see appropriate (and inappropriate) trivia related to the number 39. Hope you're having a great day too!

Wanted: Creative Impulse

Dear Internet:

This Saturday is my 38th birthday. I'd like to celebrate by doing another crazy stunt like last year's "37 Postcards" project, but am currently drawing a blank on what that might be.

So I'm asking for your help. Please e-mail me your ideas and suggestions for something fun and interesting. (If you don't have my address, just comment on this blog post.)

I've done the postcards thing, as mentioned above; and puzzles might be fun, but seem a bit obvious. Ideally, I want something that helps people express themselves with art they might not otherwise create.

I'll decide on something before Halloween and make an announcement both here and on SnoutCast.

Thanks in advance!

I Have a Secret Admirer, Too!

CKL isn't the only special one around here. When we came home yesterday, there was a UPS package addressed to me on our doorstep.

Inside, we found this:



Inside that, were these:



They are delicious.

Thank you, Secret Admirer!

Postcard #42

A very pleasant surprise from my lovely wife DeeAnn, who was pretty sneaky during our visit to the Maryhill Museum of Art a few weeks ago. I love her more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to Me

Had a great 37th birthday with my lovely wife DeeAnn:

• breakfast at Mother's (their excellent salmon hash, per foursquare tips);
• drove down to the Evergreen Aviation Museum (which also tweeted me);
• stopped at The Bomber for dinner; then
• came home to a slice of cake from Larson's Bakery.

Photos and more postcards coming soon.

Postcard #1

It's been just over a week since I posted my call for postcards, and I've received my first one--from a completely random person on the Internet! A pleasant surprise, and now the bar is set. How about it, family and friends? Where's your postcard? :)

ADDENDUM: I sent this reply.

CKL's "Wish You Were Here" Birthday Project

Next Friday, October 1st, is my 37th birthday. And, inspired by something our friend Linda did last year for her husband Brent's birthday, I'm asking you--my distant friends and family--to send me postcards to mark the occasion.

Since moving to Portland, the one thing I've missed the most is being around our friends. We love our new home, and we've met lots of cool and interesting people, but it's not quite the same. And regardless of how many new friends we make, we'd like to stay in touch with our old ones, too.

So I'm asking for a little slice of your life; a small, flat taste of where you live and what's special about it. We put a lot of thought into our decision to move to Portland, and I'd like to know about your current place of residence.

Are you in? Here's what to do:

1. Find a postcard depicting something interesting in your town. It could be a local landmark, your favorite restaurant, or even a photograph you took (the USPS will mail just about anything with the right postage on it).
   
   
2. Write a message starting with the words "I live here because..." Complete the sentence any way you like. Tell me what you love about where you live, or whatever it is that keeps you there.
   
   
3. Address the postcard to:
   
   (Photo snapped by Igal Koshevoy at 30 Hour Day 2)
   
   
4. Affix proper postage. A standard postcard* takes a single twenty-eight cent ($0.28) stamp to send by US Post.
   
   
5. Mail it!

I'll scan all the postcards I receive, front and back, and post them to this blog. My goal is to collect thirty-seven postcards by the end of October. I'd love to get one from you!

ADDENDUM: To see the postcards I've gotten so far, look for the "37postcards" label on this blog.

ADDENDUM: Success! I received postcard #37 on October 21st--which, coincidentally, was my wife's birthday. Thanks to everyone who participated, and don't let this stop you from sending me a postcard anyway! I'll post 'em if you mail 'em. (See what I did there?)

P.S. As noted in SnoutCast #34, you do NOT need to send me a puzzle or encrypt your message in any way. Really, you don't. Just the postcard would be great. Okay. Thanks.

* Minimum size: 3-1/2 inches high by 5 inches long by 0.007 inch thick; maximum size: 6 inches long by 4-1/4 inches high.