Hello, 2011.
The new year finds me living on my own, now in Fargo, ND. My modest pile of life savings is getting smaller by the week, and I am getting more and more proactive in actually trying to land a job somewhere.
In the meantime:
I just played this for like 8 hours straight. I'm going back for more soon. Gods damn you Ezio Auditore di Firenze. And gods damn you five foot tall snowdrift in front of my garage.
The new year finds me living on my own, now in Fargo, ND. My modest pile of life savings is getting smaller by the week, and I am getting more and more proactive in actually trying to land a job somewhere.
In the meantime:
I just played this for like 8 hours straight. I'm going back for more soon. Gods damn you Ezio Auditore di Firenze. And gods damn you five foot tall snowdrift in front of my garage.
Last night, again,
you were in my dream.
Several expendable limbs were at stake.
You were a prince, spinning rims,
all sentiments Indian-given
and half-baked
I was brought
in on a palanquin
made of the many bodies
of beautiful women.
Brought to this place, to be examined,
swaying on an elephant:
a princess of India.
We both want the very same thing.
We are praying
I am the one to save you.
But you don't even own
your own violence.
Run away from home—
your beard is still blue
with the loneliness of you mighty men
with your jaws, and fists, and guitars,
and pens, and your sugarlip,
but I've never been to the firepits
with you mighty men.
Who made you this way?
Who made you this way?
Who is going to bear your beautiful children?
Do you think you can just stop,
when you're ready for a change?
Who will take care of you
when you're old and dying?
You burn in the Mekong,
to prove your worth.
Go long! Go long!
Right over the edge of the earth!
You have been wronged,
tore up since birth.
You have done harm.
Others have done worse.
Will you tuck your shirt?
Will you leave it loose?
You are badly hurt.
You're a silly goose.
You are caked in mud,
and in blood, and worse.
Chew your bitter cud.
Grope your little nurse.
Do you know why
my ankles are bound in gauze
(sickly dressage:
a princess of Kentucky)?
In the middle of the woods
(which were the probably cause),
we danced in the lodge
like two panting monkeys.
I will give you a call, for one last hurrah.
If this tale is tall, forgive my scrambling.
But you keep palming along the wall,
moving at a blind crawl,
but always rambling.
Wolf-spider, crouch in your funnel nest.
If I knew you, once,
now I know you less.
In the sinking sand,
where we've come to rest,
have I had a hand in your loneliness?
When you leave me alone
in this old palace of yours,
it starts to get to me. I take to walking.
What a woman does is open doors.
And it is not a question of locking
or unlocking.
Well, I have never seen
such a terrible room—
gilded with the gold teeth
of the women who loved you!
Now, though I die,
Magpie, this I bequeath:
by any other name,
a Jay is still blue
with the loneliness
of you mighty men,
with your mighty kiss
that might never end,
while, so far away,
in the seat of the West,
burns the fount
of the heat
of that loneliness.
There's a man
who only will speak in code
backing slowly, slowly down the road.
May he master everything
that such men may know
about loving, and then letting go.
Go Long - Joanna Newsom
you were in my dream.
Several expendable limbs were at stake.
You were a prince, spinning rims,
all sentiments Indian-given
and half-baked
I was brought
in on a palanquin
made of the many bodies
of beautiful women.
Brought to this place, to be examined,
swaying on an elephant:
a princess of India.
We both want the very same thing.
We are praying
I am the one to save you.
But you don't even own
your own violence.
Run away from home—
your beard is still blue
with the loneliness of you mighty men
with your jaws, and fists, and guitars,
and pens, and your sugarlip,
but I've never been to the firepits
with you mighty men.
Who made you this way?
Who made you this way?
Who is going to bear your beautiful children?
Do you think you can just stop,
when you're ready for a change?
Who will take care of you
when you're old and dying?
You burn in the Mekong,
to prove your worth.
Go long! Go long!
Right over the edge of the earth!
You have been wronged,
tore up since birth.
You have done harm.
Others have done worse.
Will you tuck your shirt?
Will you leave it loose?
You are badly hurt.
You're a silly goose.
You are caked in mud,
and in blood, and worse.
Chew your bitter cud.
Grope your little nurse.
Do you know why
my ankles are bound in gauze
(sickly dressage:
a princess of Kentucky)?
In the middle of the woods
(which were the probably cause),
we danced in the lodge
like two panting monkeys.
I will give you a call, for one last hurrah.
If this tale is tall, forgive my scrambling.
But you keep palming along the wall,
moving at a blind crawl,
but always rambling.
Wolf-spider, crouch in your funnel nest.
If I knew you, once,
now I know you less.
In the sinking sand,
where we've come to rest,
have I had a hand in your loneliness?
When you leave me alone
in this old palace of yours,
it starts to get to me. I take to walking.
What a woman does is open doors.
And it is not a question of locking
or unlocking.
Well, I have never seen
such a terrible room—
gilded with the gold teeth
of the women who loved you!
Now, though I die,
Magpie, this I bequeath:
by any other name,
a Jay is still blue
with the loneliness
of you mighty men,
with your mighty kiss
that might never end,
while, so far away,
in the seat of the West,
burns the fount
of the heat
of that loneliness.
There's a man
who only will speak in code
backing slowly, slowly down the road.
May he master everything
that such men may know
about loving, and then letting go.
Go Long - Joanna Newsom
Thanksgiving Weekend
I played video games like it was a full-time job (literally, as in 10-12 hours a day from Wednesday to Saturday). Yes, one of the few benefits of living in my parents' home as I do for at least another month or so is cheap living, so I don't have to work and can concentrate on my studies and, when school is off, play a fuck ton of games. It helped my gaming and hindered my social life that the week before Thanksgiving coincided with my birthday, and I was lucky enough to get a bunch of games as presents. Here are some reflections on what I wasted my short time on this Earth on:
I. Assassin's Creed II (Xbox 360)
In this sequel to 2006's Assassin's Creed, you play the role of 15th Centruy Italian Ezio Auditore da Firenze (well actually, you play the role of his descendant Desmond Miles, accessing Ezio's memories through a machine that reads Desmond's ancestral DNA). Ezio apparently plays some major role in the persistent war between the Assassins and the Knights Templar, and it's up to you to unlock his memories by learning to become an assassin, and stealthily kill lots of people on the way.
I'm only just getting started on the second town (Tuscany), but I can already say that this is a vast improvement over the first game, which is saying a lot because AC1 wasn't a bad game at all. ACII does a lot more at the beginning to develop Ezio's character, and the missions you undertake seem more enjoyably paced. I regret that I will probably have to wait for Christmas Break to sink the amount of time I'd like to put into it to be as immersed in the game as I would like to be.
II. Team Fortress 2 (PC)
I've been playing this squad based on the 360 since it came out on The Orange Box, but since I recently bought a new gaming PC for the first time this decade, I decided that TF2 would make an excellent reintroduction to the world of PC FPSs, and woah was I right. This game ate up the majority of my gaming sessions, and often kept me up hours into the night.
III. Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360)
I really loved the first game. It was one of the first games that I felt truly captured what it would feel like to be in a zombie apocalypse (the other being Dead Rising), with a small squad of survivors trying to get from point A to point B while a thousand infected humanoids try to tear them apart. L4D2 is, again, an improvement, with more personality, more special infected types, melee weapons (chainsaws!) and some incredible new lighting and weather effects that in my opinion completely justifies a full-priced release. I did manage to play through every campaign with random groups of people online, and there is a good amount of diversity among the gameplay types to ensure the new is as endlessly replayable as the original.
IV. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
Another sequel. :/ Everyone knows about this game, so I'll just say I found that the single player story was dumb but effective at times, and the multiplayer is a compelling challenge (my KDR is a pathetic 0.80). I find it's a perfect game to pop in when I want to mindlessly kill an hour.
V. Silent Hill: Ørigins (PSP)
Ooh, this one's a prequel! My experience with the series is somewhat limited, having played entirely through 2, through most of 4, and barely started Homecoming. That said, Ørigins (empty set FTW) is awesome so far. It's terrifying, the music always kicks in to intensify the horror, and subsides to let you hear every frightening creak and footstep to maintain the eerie ambiance of the cursed town of Silent Hill. The protaganist (Travis, a long haul trucker WITH A MYSTERIOUS PAST!) is interesting enough, and the narrative is passable enough to get me from scare to scare. I'm very impressed with how this game handles on a portable system.
So that's this week in gaming. In other news, the Movember-themed mustache still thrives:
I played video games like it was a full-time job (literally, as in 10-12 hours a day from Wednesday to Saturday). Yes, one of the few benefits of living in my parents' home as I do for at least another month or so is cheap living, so I don't have to work and can concentrate on my studies and, when school is off, play a fuck ton of games. It helped my gaming and hindered my social life that the week before Thanksgiving coincided with my birthday, and I was lucky enough to get a bunch of games as presents. Here are some reflections on what I wasted my short time on this Earth on:
I. Assassin's Creed II (Xbox 360)
In this sequel to 2006's Assassin's Creed, you play the role of 15th Centruy Italian Ezio Auditore da Firenze (well actually, you play the role of his descendant Desmond Miles, accessing Ezio's memories through a machine that reads Desmond's ancestral DNA). Ezio apparently plays some major role in the persistent war between the Assassins and the Knights Templar, and it's up to you to unlock his memories by learning to become an assassin, and stealthily kill lots of people on the way.
I'm only just getting started on the second town (Tuscany), but I can already say that this is a vast improvement over the first game, which is saying a lot because AC1 wasn't a bad game at all. ACII does a lot more at the beginning to develop Ezio's character, and the missions you undertake seem more enjoyably paced. I regret that I will probably have to wait for Christmas Break to sink the amount of time I'd like to put into it to be as immersed in the game as I would like to be.
II. Team Fortress 2 (PC)
I've been playing this squad based on the 360 since it came out on The Orange Box, but since I recently bought a new gaming PC for the first time this decade, I decided that TF2 would make an excellent reintroduction to the world of PC FPSs, and woah was I right. This game ate up the majority of my gaming sessions, and often kept me up hours into the night.
III. Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360)
I really loved the first game. It was one of the first games that I felt truly captured what it would feel like to be in a zombie apocalypse (the other being Dead Rising), with a small squad of survivors trying to get from point A to point B while a thousand infected humanoids try to tear them apart. L4D2 is, again, an improvement, with more personality, more special infected types, melee weapons (chainsaws!) and some incredible new lighting and weather effects that in my opinion completely justifies a full-priced release. I did manage to play through every campaign with random groups of people online, and there is a good amount of diversity among the gameplay types to ensure the new is as endlessly replayable as the original.
IV. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
Another sequel. :/ Everyone knows about this game, so I'll just say I found that the single player story was dumb but effective at times, and the multiplayer is a compelling challenge (my KDR is a pathetic 0.80). I find it's a perfect game to pop in when I want to mindlessly kill an hour.
V. Silent Hill: Ørigins (PSP)
Ooh, this one's a prequel! My experience with the series is somewhat limited, having played entirely through 2, through most of 4, and barely started Homecoming. That said, Ørigins (empty set FTW) is awesome so far. It's terrifying, the music always kicks in to intensify the horror, and subsides to let you hear every frightening creak and footstep to maintain the eerie ambiance of the cursed town of Silent Hill. The protaganist (Travis, a long haul trucker WITH A MYSTERIOUS PAST!) is interesting enough, and the narrative is passable enough to get me from scare to scare. I'm very impressed with how this game handles on a portable system.
So that's this week in gaming. In other news, the Movember-themed mustache still thrives:
I would like to shave it off Tuesday, but a friend is trying to talk me into growing it out for his Christmas party in three weeks. Might be good for a laugh, I suppose.
Sometimes I read Bukowski when I can't sleep.
from "to kiss the worms goodnight"
when my heart stops
the whole world will get quicker
better
warmer
summer will follow summer
the air will be lake clear
and the meaning
too
but meanwhile
the green pill
these greasy floors off the
avenue and
down there a plot of worms of worms of
worms
and up here
no nymph blonde
to love me to sleep while I am
waiting.
Beautiful sentiment, disgusting reality.
What a lovely man.
So I've been growing this thing on my face, for charity.
That's right, it's Movember!
Overall, I'd say it's going pretty well. This is the longest I've gone without shaving the upper lip, and the experience has taught me that my natural 'stache is shaped a bit like a batwing. I've also learned that I never want the mustache to become a part of my identity. It seems to carry certain expectations of wisdom, maturity, and you're-25-graduate-from-college-and-get-a-job-already-itude, expectations that are too lofty for my current standing.
The pic above is from day 16. It is currently the beginning of day 22, and the Mo dies in the drain of my shower in a little over a week.
That's right, it's Movember!
Overall, I'd say it's going pretty well. This is the longest I've gone without shaving the upper lip, and the experience has taught me that my natural 'stache is shaped a bit like a batwing. I've also learned that I never want the mustache to become a part of my identity. It seems to carry certain expectations of wisdom, maturity, and you're-25-graduate-from-college-and-get-a-job-already-itude, expectations that are too lofty for my current standing.
The pic above is from day 16. It is currently the beginning of day 22, and the Mo dies in the drain of my shower in a little over a week.
I received my signed copy of XKCD: Volume 0 in the mail today!
Really helped to balance out a day in which I woke up early to do homework for a class that the professor didn't even show for, then once again found out I did below average on a Physiology exam that I thought I rocked. Ah well, there's still time.
Fall is here, back to school.
9 credits stands between me and a B.S. in Computer Science with an emphasis in Network and Operating Systems analysis.
I'm excited to finish up my education, but wary of the expectations that come with the degree (i.e. get a real job, grow up, develop pimping skills).
9 credits stands between me and a B.S. in Computer Science with an emphasis in Network and Operating Systems analysis.
I'm excited to finish up my education, but wary of the expectations that come with the degree (i.e. get a real job, grow up, develop pimping skills).
Drag Me to Hell was as awesome as I had hoped!
I was literally the *only* person in the theater. I went to a Saturday matinee at the crappier of the two major theaters in my town, and for some reason the projector was sort of flickering through different levels of brightness throughout the film. I'm not the type to ask for my money back, but it'll definitely be a while before I go back to that place again.
The experience of the movie was in no way diminished, though. It was ninety minutes of pure, cheesy, campy popcorn horror dipped in fun sauce that one would expect from the director of the Evil Dead movies.
I was literally the *only* person in the theater. I went to a Saturday matinee at the crappier of the two major theaters in my town, and for some reason the projector was sort of flickering through different levels of brightness throughout the film. I'm not the type to ask for my money back, but it'll definitely be a while before I go back to that place again.
The experience of the movie was in no way diminished, though. It was ninety minutes of pure, cheesy, campy popcorn horror dipped in fun sauce that one would expect from the director of the Evil Dead movies.
JANUARY 2011
DECEMBER 2010
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