Eight Hamlet Facts (with Linden Flavor!)

Hamlet and Philip during my Linden days-- offering many conversations, but no ceremonial tasting of The Man

Devious London Spengler tagged me, followed by Gwyn and Bettina, all three dragging me into this ungodly blogger's game. After the break, 8 facts about me, followed by 8 links to SL bloggers who are condemned to follow suit.  To hopefully make things more interesting, all my factoids are taken from my time as a Linden.

1 - On Fridays, I mostly came for the free beer and Battlefield 2.
Since being an embedded journalist and a contractor meant I didn't need to come in on a regular basis, my times in the Linden office were sporadic.  The big exception was Friday afternoons, when a dozen or so Lindens took a break to drink beer and play BF2, turning the whole office into a thunder dome of smack talk. (Bub was always the loudest.) That's the main thing I miss from the Linden days.  (See 5.)

2 - I also miss the beef jerky.
The Linden lunch room (this was in the 2nd Street office) once contained a constantly refreshed box of beef jerky.  After the painful layoffs of late 2003, the days of carefree jerky ended.  Last visit in September, the lunch room in Sansome was copiously well-stocked to keep programmers fed into the late evening.  Still no jerky, though.  (Not enough meat eaters to effect a Jira vote?)

3 - The first Resident I got to meet in person as a Linden was...
Lucky me, Nephilaine Protagonist.  (That's not counting brief "Oh hais" to assorted Residents at the first couple Linden-sponsored parties, or for that matter, the many Lindens who began as Residents.)

4 - The time it took me to realize that [Redacted] Linden was [Redacted] Famous Beta Resident.
Approximately 14 months.  And it would have been longer, if I hadn't raised the subject.

5 - I pwn all Lindens at BF2.
They won't admit it, but they know it's true.  Except maybe Jeff, who camps the Cobra gunships.

6 - I never really had The Man.
In the early years at least, the Lindens had an initiation tradition for new employees called Tasting The Man. It's not what you're thinking. "The Man" was the nickname for a satanically hot hot sauce that Ian Linden discovered at a Midwestern barbecue shack run by a talented but obstreperous anti-Californian chef.  (When he found out you were from there, he made you eat more.)   The Man was hot.  Like so hot, your tongue went numb, the third second you tasted it; so hot, the Lindens carried the jar in a paper towel, because even touching the container was a dicey proposition.  And during group lunches, the Lindens would put a dollop on top whatever the newest employee was eating during Friday's group lunch, and watched to see what happened next.  Anyway, as a contractor, I was never given a chance to  ceremonially taste The Man (though I often got to see the red-faced aftermath.)  Still, I sometimes wish I had.

7 - I never beat Cory Linden at Texas Hold 'Em.
Philip occasionally invited Lindens en masse to his lovely place in Pacific Heights, for a night of low stakes poker.  I'm not a bad player, but any time Cory was at my table, my fate was sealed: dude's a ruthless bluffer.  Just remember that, when you're wondering what the Lindens are up to.

8 - At the end of this Second Life Herald post, I'm not really asleep.
That's just what Urizenus things, but ha ha, the joke's on him: I'm just insanely, inexcusably drunk.  Oh wait, there is an excuse: it was partly caused by Goldschläger shots foisted on me by Cory Linden, in a misguided attempt to revive an old Annapolis tradition of his.

Now to tag some SL bloggers!  In no particular order, a random eight that I've been liking and reading:

Frank Koolhaas of Played in Italy
Scarlett Niven of Digital Image Fashion
Fleep of Fleep's Deep Thoughts
Eladrienne Laval of A Stroll Through Caledon
Seraphine Khorona of Encore Seraphine
Jaymin Carthage of IBM
Tara5 Oh of Ugo Trade
Ordinal Malaprop of An Engine Fit for My Proceeding

The rules, should you decide to accept them:

1- Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2 - People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
3 - At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4 - Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

I'll be doing that last bit over the next few days, but if you read this post before then, start fact your spouting!

Comments

[Nexii Malthus]

Haha! Awesome random facts!

[Seraphine]

Oh neferious seige
blood be thy name
for the mercy of time
is naught for us all.

I have a fashion show next weekend,
so my 8 random facts will likely
be delayed until after. Hugs.

That's the spirit, Hammie ;)

Lovely 'facts' indeed!

[qarl]

The Man.

see, i like hot food. if i don't get jalapenos at least once a day, my metabolism falls off. habaneros make a nice snack. at the local thai restaurant - the cook once came out to yell at me - her eye were sore from cooking my food.

so when they brought me The Man, i sorta laughed.

no.

The Man always has the last laugh.