True story.
So when I was a youngin', my family took an epic camping trip. Not as epic as the camping trip that makes up most of the last book, but it was pretty darn exciting. I don't remember much of it. Well bits and pieces, but certainly the most vivid memory of this trip was reading the latest Harry Potter book at the time. Since it was summer, it had just released before we hit the road, and if I remember correctly my brother and I had to share a copy. It doesn't matter who was reading it really, just what happened one day...
My parents like wine. Who doesn't though? As an adult now, I can attest that I also am a fan. However, we were young kids who did not part-take for obvious reasons, and when my parents chose to visit a winery near the campground we agreed to tag along anyway because we definitely weren't going to be left behind at the camp by ourselves. Anywho, my parents are inside the winery and the weather being nice my brother, our dog, and I stay in the van. The dog, the legendary Fudge-- a chocolate cocker spaniel that could not have been any more high maintenance even without having the crazy long hair-- suffered from separation anxiety. He wanted to find our parents, while we were quite content to just read. Well, the windows had been rolled down in the van, because my parents are not cruel, and Fudge takes it upon himself to escape by jumping through said window.
My brother and I both quickly get out of the van and start to try to corral poor Fudge and get him back inside. But before we can, two big bulky lab-sized dogs show up, and start chasing Fudge around the van, who for the record does not enjoy other dogs at all. And at this point I sympathize with him and am convinced these bigger dogs want to eat him. I run like the wind and grab Fudge, while yelling at my brother to get in the van. I swing open the door with one hand, Fudge flailing about in my arms, and make a dash for safety. But I bang my head against the top of the door frame and fall back letting go of Fudge. He doesn't get very far, and I pick him up and manage to get inside. (Meanwhile, I later learn that on the other side of the van in what I thought was surely danger, my brother is petting one of the lab-like dogs, who had been barking "play!" not "kill!". Silly me...)
Fudge and I are safe. My brother gets in the car sure enough, and in the chaos and fear that my poor dog had experienced he just starts to take a dump...on our brand new hard cover copy of Harry Potter (and probably the Goblet of Fire. The green one?) SO gross. And so upsetting as a young kid who prizes books above all else. And one shitty present for saving the day. (Heh, puns.)
Thank goodness for dust jackets, amiright???
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
A Date with ....Destiny!
So I'm watching Husband kill some Dregs (drags?) on Destiny. We pre-ordered last minute and have put some time into it yesterday and today, and I thought I should talk about it before I forget and before it's not new anymore and no one cares.
If you haven't heard of it, it's a new science fiction game from the people/company behind Halo (I think?). And in many ways it's very similar. Powered armor, fancy weapons, aliens. Yup. Most importantly, kickass graphics and marketing designs that totally sucker you in.
And while it's new and exciting and fun to play of an evening, I do kinda feel like a sucker.
It's a First Person Shooter World of Warcraft... and here are the reasons why that's not as great as it sounds, despite being a WoW fan that loves FPS games too...
1. The story. Oh dear goodness. WoW can get away with not having the story as the focal point, because it's so task oriented. I don't need to know why I'm killing ooze or whatever, to have fun doing it. And honestly, fantasy can hold it's own without a story. Just the elements are sufficient, obviously magic being a large part of that. But Destiny isn't really pulling it off. The writing is terrible. I know Peter Dinklage has been taking shit for his voice work, and really it's not great, but I believe it has to do with the writing first and foremost. If what he's reading is crap it's never gonna work well anyway. Nothing is explained, and the few moments of revelation are stilted and lacking. So we've pretty much lost the story element, which bums me out since science fiction stories are often my favorite. And I thought that when building my character that I would get a character, I was pretty disappointed to not really experience any of the RPG aspects of a MMORPG (which I suspect heavily influences this game). The cinematics are brief, and there are no dialogues - not with the little guy that follows you everywhere, the leader role, or with vendors. If it wanted to be like other First Person Shooters that just gave you a gun and a place to run around killing things, that would be okay, but they seem pretty proud about the story they do have, so you can't really ignore it like you can on a game like Call of Duty where the story is 100% optional.
[Also, if you are going to rip us off on a physics engine that matches what we know about gravity on moons, please at least acknowledge it with a blurb in the already-forced story about why, so I don't get all grumpy cat about not being able to jump leaps and bounds because the developers didn't want to write another set of code.]
2. It's pretty damn weird to be leveling solo and have all this stuff on your own heads up display or whatever, and then you start a quest/objective with a handful of people that pop in and out depending on where you are. It's irritating enough in WoW when I'm used to it, but in this gaming environment it's just weird to spawn somewhere and not have any enemies because a group ahead of you got to them already. If my only objective is to shoot, even if I don't know why, then don't rob me of that opportunity. It's not like there are other skills I can level up while I wait.
3. Multiplayer. I get it - online FPS are making bank in the video game industry. I love them too. But so far, the mechanics don't work. I already mentioned shared objectives, which is just different, but I could get used to it. Husband, however, tried to play what in WoW would be a battleground/arena set-up. Capture the flag was the style, I think. That's cool. What's not cool is no pairing system that puts you against people in the same range. He was level five. The other team was level twenty. That's pretty disparaging, and not very fun.
4. I think that's it.
The pros so far still outweigh the cons enough that we haven't stopped playing. I think the best asset of this game is the AI. I've not seen enemies behave like they are in Destiny. It's almost unreal how real it is. They dodge, hide, charge, retreat, flank... they are damn complex and hard to fight. It's a good thing! It makes this a step above other FPS games, where they just kind of hide, pop-out and shoot. Period. This is so much better, so much more challenging, and more rewarding when successful. The adrenaline rush is effin' insane.
If you're not very good at FPS games, the good news it that the respawns are helpful. I prefer it to the old style of Call of Duty. There isn't a single respawn point, unless you're in very specific areas, but rather it settles the enemies and drops you in just close enough to start firing when you resume. It's like it rewinds the game (but not really).
The graphics are pretty sweet too, as I said above. And the art direction is fantastic. I saw the intro's compass rose for a second before I was like "OMGOSH I LOVE IT I CAN HAS TATTOO????" I won't, but it's beautiful. The little loading symbols are neat too. Props art guys.
If you were on the fence about this game, I say go for it, just be aware of what it is. My brother did not want the game, but broke down and got it too, and he seems to like it more than he thought. Maybe it still has room to improve, since it's still so damn new.
...
If you're bummed the story sucks, the good news is that my work-around is reading Fortune's Pawn . It's science fiction / military / adventure. I was reading it when Husband was playing Destiny and it was pretty neat. I haven't gotten very far in it, but I've enjoyed it to be sure. The main character has awesome powered armor, so that alone was exciting! Plus the characters are interesting (think Firefly), the universe intriguing, and it takes place on a ship. Sweet!
If you haven't heard of it, it's a new science fiction game from the people/company behind Halo (I think?). And in many ways it's very similar. Powered armor, fancy weapons, aliens. Yup. Most importantly, kickass graphics and marketing designs that totally sucker you in.
And while it's new and exciting and fun to play of an evening, I do kinda feel like a sucker.
It's a First Person Shooter World of Warcraft... and here are the reasons why that's not as great as it sounds, despite being a WoW fan that loves FPS games too...
1. The story. Oh dear goodness. WoW can get away with not having the story as the focal point, because it's so task oriented. I don't need to know why I'm killing ooze or whatever, to have fun doing it. And honestly, fantasy can hold it's own without a story. Just the elements are sufficient, obviously magic being a large part of that. But Destiny isn't really pulling it off. The writing is terrible. I know Peter Dinklage has been taking shit for his voice work, and really it's not great, but I believe it has to do with the writing first and foremost. If what he's reading is crap it's never gonna work well anyway. Nothing is explained, and the few moments of revelation are stilted and lacking. So we've pretty much lost the story element, which bums me out since science fiction stories are often my favorite. And I thought that when building my character that I would get a character, I was pretty disappointed to not really experience any of the RPG aspects of a MMORPG (which I suspect heavily influences this game). The cinematics are brief, and there are no dialogues - not with the little guy that follows you everywhere, the leader role, or with vendors. If it wanted to be like other First Person Shooters that just gave you a gun and a place to run around killing things, that would be okay, but they seem pretty proud about the story they do have, so you can't really ignore it like you can on a game like Call of Duty where the story is 100% optional.
[Also, if you are going to rip us off on a physics engine that matches what we know about gravity on moons, please at least acknowledge it with a blurb in the already-forced story about why, so I don't get all grumpy cat about not being able to jump leaps and bounds because the developers didn't want to write another set of code.]
2. It's pretty damn weird to be leveling solo and have all this stuff on your own heads up display or whatever, and then you start a quest/objective with a handful of people that pop in and out depending on where you are. It's irritating enough in WoW when I'm used to it, but in this gaming environment it's just weird to spawn somewhere and not have any enemies because a group ahead of you got to them already. If my only objective is to shoot, even if I don't know why, then don't rob me of that opportunity. It's not like there are other skills I can level up while I wait.
3. Multiplayer. I get it - online FPS are making bank in the video game industry. I love them too. But so far, the mechanics don't work. I already mentioned shared objectives, which is just different, but I could get used to it. Husband, however, tried to play what in WoW would be a battleground/arena set-up. Capture the flag was the style, I think. That's cool. What's not cool is no pairing system that puts you against people in the same range. He was level five. The other team was level twenty. That's pretty disparaging, and not very fun.
4. I think that's it.
The pros so far still outweigh the cons enough that we haven't stopped playing. I think the best asset of this game is the AI. I've not seen enemies behave like they are in Destiny. It's almost unreal how real it is. They dodge, hide, charge, retreat, flank... they are damn complex and hard to fight. It's a good thing! It makes this a step above other FPS games, where they just kind of hide, pop-out and shoot. Period. This is so much better, so much more challenging, and more rewarding when successful. The adrenaline rush is effin' insane.
If you're not very good at FPS games, the good news it that the respawns are helpful. I prefer it to the old style of Call of Duty. There isn't a single respawn point, unless you're in very specific areas, but rather it settles the enemies and drops you in just close enough to start firing when you resume. It's like it rewinds the game (but not really).
The graphics are pretty sweet too, as I said above. And the art direction is fantastic. I saw the intro's compass rose for a second before I was like "OMGOSH I LOVE IT I CAN HAS TATTOO????" I won't, but it's beautiful. The little loading symbols are neat too. Props art guys.
If you were on the fence about this game, I say go for it, just be aware of what it is. My brother did not want the game, but broke down and got it too, and he seems to like it more than he thought. Maybe it still has room to improve, since it's still so damn new.
...
If you're bummed the story sucks, the good news is that my work-around is reading Fortune's Pawn . It's science fiction / military / adventure. I was reading it when Husband was playing Destiny and it was pretty neat. I haven't gotten very far in it, but I've enjoyed it to be sure. The main character has awesome powered armor, so that alone was exciting! Plus the characters are interesting (think Firefly), the universe intriguing, and it takes place on a ship. Sweet!
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Is it fall yet!?
I would just like to declare that there are few things better than the following combination:
Warm yummy coffee
Soft Husband's hoodie
A thunderstorm
Incense
Lord of the Rings Soundtrack
I might make it through this work week after all!
Warm yummy coffee
Soft Husband's hoodie
A thunderstorm
Incense
Lord of the Rings Soundtrack
I might make it through this work week after all!
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Yer A Wizard!
I've started re-reading Harry Potter.
I don't know what made me do it. I'm going to blame tumblr.
I have a love/hate relationship with these books. I grew up loving them, but in my college years started to hate them. But then I still liked the movies... But I was grateful to J.K. Rowling for writing the series, but resented how she always claimed to be a victim of the stories emotional trauma just like us readers. And I dare say no, do not trivialize what I am feeling because of what you have written by saying you feel the same way. You can cry because you killed off a character, but let's never forget that you did it, and you didn't have to -- hat you decided it was more important to make a point about some social issue (as apparently they all were symbolism). I'm much more appreciative of George R.R. Martin's style of -- yeah I did it, and i'll do it again, just wait! you think this was bad, you don't even know! mwahahaha! *giggles*
So that's why I wasn't reading Harry Potter...even when I took a class in college about Harry Potter. Yeah, that was a thing. I compared Harry's invisibility cloak to Plato's Ring of Gyges to determine that Harry would probably stop at a stop sign even if there was no one around. Woo college!
But anywho, I've been on tumblr a lot lately and seen a lot of posts about the world of HP, and Rowling released the new update on his life or something, and a musician that I don't remember, and I was like "hey, maybe I should give it another try?" So I did, and was quickly engrossed. And I rewarded my read-a-thon of the 1st book with a viewing of the 1st movie. Husband noticed what was happening and quickly jumped on board. So we're now reading the books in order, and watching the movie whenever one of us finishes the next book -- which is always when Husband finishes the book now, since he's a crazy fast reader.
The books are wonderful. I admit it. They are incredibly crafty and witty when Rowling wants/needs to be, and I can't help but get suckered into it. I definitely like the lighter side, and am slowing down the darker the books get. But I do enjoy being able to read at my own pace. It's not a competition (although it does kind of sound like one...) and it's not the release of any of them. There are no spoilers to look out for, and I don't need to be the first kid in class to finish them either. It's kinda nice. In just a week or so I leisurely made it to book four, and well stopped. (I had a craving to read some Sherlock Holmes.) But that's settled and I'm back at it trucking along. I'm super excited to take the time to continue to appreciate all the stuff that gets ignored in the movies. Particularly Hermoine and the house-elf stuff. That stuff was totally skimmed when I had a little brother anxiously waiting for his turn to read the book and we were sharing a copy. But Hermoine is a badass, was totally my role model growing up, and I'm excited to read it and actually appreciate it.
I've also enjoyed watching the movies. Can't help it. And it's been funny to see them so close together. Not having years between a book's release/read and the movie. They are pretty cheesy. Don't get me wrong, great fun. But kind of terrible. Harry is a character that needs an omniscient narrator, so you really get a feel for what's going on in that kid's young little head. (a.k.a - what is wrong with Harry Potter??) It really makes no sense after reading the books which are so thorough in explaining stuff and his motivation for doing stuff. By comparison the movies are now like high-quality Potter Puppet Pals. Not a dig on their acting (they're just kids!) but in how frenzied the action and pacing is. And he just seems daft, like all the time! And without understanding the nuances of his rivalry I actually started to feel bad for Malfoy at the end of the last movie (Prisoner of Azkaban). I'll have to explain why in another post, but if you think about it, it's not a stretch of the imagination...besides the whole, father is a death eater thing...
If you want a good late-summer read, I recommend giving the books another go. And if you want a great laugh, watch the movie immediately after... which reminds me, I owe someone a viewing of Goblet of Fire...
'til next time!
I don't know what made me do it. I'm going to blame tumblr.
I have a love/hate relationship with these books. I grew up loving them, but in my college years started to hate them. But then I still liked the movies... But I was grateful to J.K. Rowling for writing the series, but resented how she always claimed to be a victim of the stories emotional trauma just like us readers. And I dare say no, do not trivialize what I am feeling because of what you have written by saying you feel the same way. You can cry because you killed off a character, but let's never forget that you did it, and you didn't have to -- hat you decided it was more important to make a point about some social issue (as apparently they all were symbolism). I'm much more appreciative of George R.R. Martin's style of -- yeah I did it, and i'll do it again, just wait! you think this was bad, you don't even know! mwahahaha! *giggles*
So that's why I wasn't reading Harry Potter...even when I took a class in college about Harry Potter. Yeah, that was a thing. I compared Harry's invisibility cloak to Plato's Ring of Gyges to determine that Harry would probably stop at a stop sign even if there was no one around. Woo college!
But anywho, I've been on tumblr a lot lately and seen a lot of posts about the world of HP, and Rowling released the new update on his life or something, and a musician that I don't remember, and I was like "hey, maybe I should give it another try?" So I did, and was quickly engrossed. And I rewarded my read-a-thon of the 1st book with a viewing of the 1st movie. Husband noticed what was happening and quickly jumped on board. So we're now reading the books in order, and watching the movie whenever one of us finishes the next book -- which is always when Husband finishes the book now, since he's a crazy fast reader.
The books are wonderful. I admit it. They are incredibly crafty and witty when Rowling wants/needs to be, and I can't help but get suckered into it. I definitely like the lighter side, and am slowing down the darker the books get. But I do enjoy being able to read at my own pace. It's not a competition (although it does kind of sound like one...) and it's not the release of any of them. There are no spoilers to look out for, and I don't need to be the first kid in class to finish them either. It's kinda nice. In just a week or so I leisurely made it to book four, and well stopped. (I had a craving to read some Sherlock Holmes.) But that's settled and I'm back at it trucking along. I'm super excited to take the time to continue to appreciate all the stuff that gets ignored in the movies. Particularly Hermoine and the house-elf stuff. That stuff was totally skimmed when I had a little brother anxiously waiting for his turn to read the book and we were sharing a copy. But Hermoine is a badass, was totally my role model growing up, and I'm excited to read it and actually appreciate it.
I've also enjoyed watching the movies. Can't help it. And it's been funny to see them so close together. Not having years between a book's release/read and the movie. They are pretty cheesy. Don't get me wrong, great fun. But kind of terrible. Harry is a character that needs an omniscient narrator, so you really get a feel for what's going on in that kid's young little head. (a.k.a - what is wrong with Harry Potter??) It really makes no sense after reading the books which are so thorough in explaining stuff and his motivation for doing stuff. By comparison the movies are now like high-quality Potter Puppet Pals. Not a dig on their acting (they're just kids!) but in how frenzied the action and pacing is. And he just seems daft, like all the time! And without understanding the nuances of his rivalry I actually started to feel bad for Malfoy at the end of the last movie (Prisoner of Azkaban). I'll have to explain why in another post, but if you think about it, it's not a stretch of the imagination...besides the whole, father is a death eater thing...
If you want a good late-summer read, I recommend giving the books another go. And if you want a great laugh, watch the movie immediately after... which reminds me, I owe someone a viewing of Goblet of Fire...
'til next time!
Friday, August 29, 2014
I'm baaaaaaack!
So, I couldn't do it. I left thinking I was gone forever and here I am again. Let's just pretend that after I last updated, I have been so busy with the toils of Nanowrimo last November, and I've just now found a break to return... In reality, I did "win," or complete, the contest thing and have a pretty solid first draft of a zombie story I aptly titled "Crazy Zombie Adenture Novel Thing." I was too busy in my excitement to notice I spelled "adventure" wrong on the winner certificate. Oops.
But there has been so much going on lately, and stuffs pending for the future, that I couldn't not come back. I have to talk about it all! If you look at the header you'll notice I've changed it from "growing" geek culture to "living" it. I'm done trying to prove myself. There are no credentials. Hell, Chris Hardwick of Nerdist gets shit for not being the right kind of nerd, whatever that means. So why worry about it? I'm much to busy enjoying it. I'm just going to talk about stuff I like, and if you're thinking that's selfish, then you would be correct.
That said, I'm not a big fan of my previous mega-update posts, so hopefully this will be the last for a very long time because I will be so thorough in resuming this hobby of mine that there will be no need to catch up...
"Let me explain... no, there is too much... let me sum up." - Inigo Montoya
1. I got married so Fiance is now the Husband. The wedding was historical and awesome, and being married is the bees knees.
2. I've found some comic & book gems that I can't wait to talk about / review. Gaaah. So excited.
3. Guardians of the Galaxy.
4. I'm back to some old habits, including Sherlock (can finally brag that I finished reading A Study in Scarlet, which I started at least a year ago...geez.), playing Civ5 waaaay to much, and wishing I had more time for WOW (can't wait for this fall!), and contemplating working out (which I am DONE talking about. You don't care, I don't care. Just whatever. Boo.)
5. I think that's everything?? There was a World Cup this summer, so I'm missing memory of like 4 solid weeks of this year, because that was all I did and it's one big blur. And I've been on the road quite a bit too, so that doesn't help.
Yay!
But there has been so much going on lately, and stuffs pending for the future, that I couldn't not come back. I have to talk about it all! If you look at the header you'll notice I've changed it from "growing" geek culture to "living" it. I'm done trying to prove myself. There are no credentials. Hell, Chris Hardwick of Nerdist gets shit for not being the right kind of nerd, whatever that means. So why worry about it? I'm much to busy enjoying it. I'm just going to talk about stuff I like, and if you're thinking that's selfish, then you would be correct.
That said, I'm not a big fan of my previous mega-update posts, so hopefully this will be the last for a very long time because I will be so thorough in resuming this hobby of mine that there will be no need to catch up...
"Let me explain... no, there is too much... let me sum up." - Inigo Montoya
1. I got married so Fiance is now the Husband. The wedding was historical and awesome, and being married is the bees knees.
2. I've found some comic & book gems that I can't wait to talk about / review. Gaaah. So excited.
3. Guardians of the Galaxy.
4. I'm back to some old habits, including Sherlock (can finally brag that I finished reading A Study in Scarlet, which I started at least a year ago...geez.), playing Civ5 waaaay to much, and wishing I had more time for WOW (can't wait for this fall!), and contemplating working out (which I am DONE talking about. You don't care, I don't care. Just whatever. Boo.)
5. I think that's everything?? There was a World Cup this summer, so I'm missing memory of like 4 solid weeks of this year, because that was all I did and it's one big blur. And I've been on the road quite a bit too, so that doesn't help.
Yay!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Literary Liveliness!
Ahoy! Hope you survived Halloween! I spent the evening hiding in my house watching a Long Island Medium marathon on Netflix. That counts as spooky right? I was going to go for Ghost Hunter International instead, but since I felt compelled to sit in complete darkness to avoid tempting any trick-or-treaters to stop by, I couldn't handle it. Maybe next year I'll come up with a wickedly geeky costume, but this year I didn't do anything, at all.
Anyway, I figure today would be a good day to update since there are quite a few things going on - almost all of which deal with books! How exciting!
First, if you didn't already know -- Ender's Game is in theatres today! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to see this. And this won't be like all the other times a movie comes out that I've been waiting for, but then I never go see. I already bought tickets a couple days ago for a showing tonight. That's how excited I am! It's one of my favorite books, and it's got Harrison Ford in it. UM, YES. I actually re-read the book a couple weeks ago as a refresher. Did not regret this. Sometimes I feel bad re-reading a book, because there are so many new books I could being reading. But screw that, it's Ender's Game. Totally worth it... I will say the trailers progressively got worse for this movie. Its like the whole thing is a spoiler! But I guess if you haven't read the book, then it won't make sense what you're seeing so you wouldn't know it's a spoiler. But still! It's like every scene in the last few trailers have been from the second half of the book. Why would you do that?? UGH, NO. The only consolation for this advance screening as it were, is that it looks so freakin' epic. CAN'T WAIT.
Second, it's November! (Can we stop and acknowledge that I've somehow managed to keep this thing going for almost a year! As a life-long quitter, I find this to be an accomplishment!) Anyway, that means it's NaNoWriMo -- National Novel Writing Month! I obviously enjoying writing, so this month is always a joy! Check out nanowrimo.org! I wasn't planning on participating this year, since I haven't been writing anything but this blog for a while. But today I was like "eh, why not?" It's always amazing to see what you can do. I never hit my word count goal, but I'm always surprised by just how much I get done. So now I've got to start figuring out what the heck I'm going to write about. Last year I made some serious progress on a soap opera spoof thing. I'll never finish it, but it was a lot of fun.
Third, yesterday I read Hyperbole and a Half's new book! Please check out the blog if you haven't already! It's absolutely my favorite thing on the internet! Like, I fully expect you to click the link read just one post of hers, and then never visit my blog again. And I'm totally okay with that. If you like what you see there, then you have to get her book. It's equally fantastic. I've honestly never laughed so hard reading a book before, and her illustrations are amazeballs. Go check it out!
Anyway, I figure today would be a good day to update since there are quite a few things going on - almost all of which deal with books! How exciting!
First, if you didn't already know -- Ender's Game is in theatres today! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to see this. And this won't be like all the other times a movie comes out that I've been waiting for, but then I never go see. I already bought tickets a couple days ago for a showing tonight. That's how excited I am! It's one of my favorite books, and it's got Harrison Ford in it. UM, YES. I actually re-read the book a couple weeks ago as a refresher. Did not regret this. Sometimes I feel bad re-reading a book, because there are so many new books I could being reading. But screw that, it's Ender's Game. Totally worth it... I will say the trailers progressively got worse for this movie. Its like the whole thing is a spoiler! But I guess if you haven't read the book, then it won't make sense what you're seeing so you wouldn't know it's a spoiler. But still! It's like every scene in the last few trailers have been from the second half of the book. Why would you do that?? UGH, NO. The only consolation for this advance screening as it were, is that it looks so freakin' epic. CAN'T WAIT.
Second, it's November! (Can we stop and acknowledge that I've somehow managed to keep this thing going for almost a year! As a life-long quitter, I find this to be an accomplishment!) Anyway, that means it's NaNoWriMo -- National Novel Writing Month! I obviously enjoying writing, so this month is always a joy! Check out nanowrimo.org! I wasn't planning on participating this year, since I haven't been writing anything but this blog for a while. But today I was like "eh, why not?" It's always amazing to see what you can do. I never hit my word count goal, but I'm always surprised by just how much I get done. So now I've got to start figuring out what the heck I'm going to write about. Last year I made some serious progress on a soap opera spoof thing. I'll never finish it, but it was a lot of fun.
Third, yesterday I read Hyperbole and a Half's new book! Please check out the blog if you haven't already! It's absolutely my favorite thing on the internet! Like, I fully expect you to click the link read just one post of hers, and then never visit my blog again. And I'm totally okay with that. If you like what you see there, then you have to get her book. It's equally fantastic. I've honestly never laughed so hard reading a book before, and her illustrations are amazeballs. Go check it out!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
BUY ALL THE THINGS!
Um, not to brag or anything (but I'm so gonna brag...) I'm freakin' awesome...kind of...
This week you've probably heard that the latest Grand Theft Auto V released. The Fiance has been super excited, and like the freakin' awesome gal I am, I offered to trek over to Game Stop to buy him a copy since I'm about to jump back to traveling regularly and this way he could play all weekend long without a care in the world. Yup, awesome.
Being the anti-social semi-hermit that I am, I do not frequent Game Stop. I'm quite content with Steam and Amazon, thankyouverymuch. But I ventured forth! The closest location for me is in one of those strip-malls that is a pain in the butt to visit, but even that didn't deter me. I navigated my way over to find that half of the complex (the Game Stop half, of course) is completely packed with not a spot to be found. And oddly all the spots are just about wide enough for a Vespa, so all the cars are wonky and taking up a space and a half, leaving those other spots that are so small that if you did manage to get in, you'd be leaving your car through the trunk. Not good. But again, I pressed on, and ultimately parked by myself about the equivalent of a couple blocks away.
I find out on my hiking trip to the store that a gym has moved in to the complex is to blame for the madness. As you've probably noticed, I have some serious mixed feelings about working out. So, I was pretty bummed to realize that all these cars belongs to people whose first task after work was to exercise, while I'm bitching about walking a block or two to go buy a game and sit on my butt all evening... Eh, to each their own I suppose...
Anywho, I get to my destination and waltz in -- yes, waltz -- gamer girls know what I'm talking about. There is something magical about being a lady in a video game store. It's like the opposite of a bull in a china shop...You and any other ladies in the store are automatically and simultaneously the hottest, coolest person in the room (well, at least that's how it feels...I was a sweats-wearing, frizzy-haired mess. But no matter. I was a girl buying video games.) I point to the game, and ask the dude behind the counter if he's still got copies. He does -- success!
And then the unthinkable happens... I fall for all the crap that Game Stop is known for selling. I had already decided to renew/upgrade my membership before I walked in the door, so you'd think that'd be enough of a sell for the kid -- he didn't even have to ask on that one! But no...
How about a protection plan for GTA?
Oy. "How about no," I think to myself and unfortunately do not say. (Where did my will go?! Re-roll dammit!) Yes, I even agreed to the stupid protection plan. And alas, my only rationale was "well the game is already damn expensive, what's a few more bucks?" which I've decided is exactly what they want you to think! Bastards. I admit this diminishes my awesomeness by a couple points. But this story is only one part how awesome I am, one part how ridiculous it is to visit this store sometimes...
As if this wasn't enough for the kit to make his quota for the day in one, frankly easy, sale...
How about a protection plan for GTA?
Oy. "How about no," I think to myself and unfortunately do not say. (Where did my will go?! Re-roll dammit!) Yes, I even agreed to the stupid protection plan. And alas, my only rationale was "well the game is already damn expensive, what's a few more bucks?" which I've decided is exactly what they want you to think! Bastards. I admit this diminishes my awesomeness by a couple points. But this story is only one part how awesome I am, one part how ridiculous it is to visit this store sometimes...
As if this wasn't enough for the kit to make his quota for the day in one, frankly easy, sale...
Have I pre-ordered a game recently?
Ugh, no. What's the point. Most games are sufficiently stocked that I don't feel the need to be on a wait list for something I can just waltz in and pick up on the off chance "I just have to have it!" (which is just about never). And I don't do midnight releases. I did that once - drove and hour and a half with pre-fiance dude who wasn't smart enough to pre-order at the store in our college town. Then another hour and half back, only to find that there was no way in hell that guy (affectionately now known as "butthead") had any intention of passing over the controller to let me try my hand at COD... I often wonder how our friendship lasted after that, but I assure you it wasn't for too much longer...So NO. I do not pre-order.
But then, the Sales Dude all cool-hand-Luke slides the list of pre-orders in front of me. I scan the list, and words like "Lego" jump out at me, reaffirming that whatever they're selling, I'm not buying...and definitely not as a pre-order..."Do you like Assassin's Creed?" Sales Dude asks ever-so innocently, pointing to the top of the list. Gah, of course I like it. I love it, truth be told. Albeit, I skipped the first one, and am only about half way through II. But I can't stop playing it right now, and I've already bought Brotherhood and III. So yeah, I know about Black Flag. Dang it... "It's only a $5 deposit" he adds to the jumble of thoughts rolling around at this point. C'mon man! *sigh* "Alright, fine."
[At this point, I decide to get it in Xbox 360, but for reasons I can't begin to describe other than panic. I won't go into the details about whether this was a smart choice or not; I'm sure you'll make up your mind well enough without my additional ramblings about next-gen. I've got a story to tell!]
Goodness. So what's left? I've bought the latest and greatest game release of the moment, got suckered into the warranty for said game, upgraded my membership, and pre-ordered. There was literally nothing left to sell. It was ridiculous. There should be a hotline for (awesome) fools like me, or a way to self-impose a ban on visiting gaming stores...What a mess! Sales Dude obviously loved it, proceeding to tell me about other limited edition gizmos people could order (thankfully he acknowledged that he was not trying to sell them to me, but just showing me as a fellow fan...although I think it's sad a sales guy actually had to tell me that, as if without the disclaimer I would have put it all on my tab...pitiful). Fortunately with nothing left, it was pretty easy to make my escape...you know, after I'd voluntarily been robbed of all my money and pride; and I hobbled back to my car. Which I actually struggled to find because it was so far away from everything. I'm sure the reverse-window-shoppers in the gym were getting a kick of watching me parade back and forth trying to leave with a smidge of dignity intact.
But then...despite all of this, just hearing my fiance's excitement when I called to tell him I successfully picked up the game combined with my own excitement from knowing that I will eventually be ready to play Black Flag, and at that point will be prepared with my own copy...yup, I'd say it was all worth it...
Maybe.
[At this point, I decide to get it in Xbox 360, but for reasons I can't begin to describe other than panic. I won't go into the details about whether this was a smart choice or not; I'm sure you'll make up your mind well enough without my additional ramblings about next-gen. I've got a story to tell!]
Goodness. So what's left? I've bought the latest and greatest game release of the moment, got suckered into the warranty for said game, upgraded my membership, and pre-ordered. There was literally nothing left to sell. It was ridiculous. There should be a hotline for (awesome) fools like me, or a way to self-impose a ban on visiting gaming stores...What a mess! Sales Dude obviously loved it, proceeding to tell me about other limited edition gizmos people could order (thankfully he acknowledged that he was not trying to sell them to me, but just showing me as a fellow fan...although I think it's sad a sales guy actually had to tell me that, as if without the disclaimer I would have put it all on my tab...pitiful). Fortunately with nothing left, it was pretty easy to make my escape...you know, after I'd voluntarily been robbed of all my money and pride; and I hobbled back to my car. Which I actually struggled to find because it was so far away from everything. I'm sure the reverse-window-shoppers in the gym were getting a kick of watching me parade back and forth trying to leave with a smidge of dignity intact.
But then...despite all of this, just hearing my fiance's excitement when I called to tell him I successfully picked up the game combined with my own excitement from knowing that I will eventually be ready to play Black Flag, and at that point will be prepared with my own copy...yup, I'd say it was all worth it...
Maybe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)