That's my mood for today.  Take it or leave it!

I almost quit when the new look came about.  I haven't even been on regularly for a month, though I did pop in to take part in the user's choice awards for 2005

Its time I came back and checked what was up.  Lo-and-behold I get a new emblem -- "Pushover".  What exactly is that supposed to mean?  I only rate games either 1 or 10 because I am just a boolean thinker.  The game either stinks or its a game worth playing.  There are no in-betweens for me.  I really don't like this emblem!  It doesn't explain my position with respect to the world well enough.

I also received another emblem -- "Convivial".  What exactly is that supposed to be a commentary on?  My ability to convey my own sense of serenity on an already useless forum-system?  Wonder who I pissed off to get that one?!?

I decided to play Resident Evil 4 again, but this time on the Playstation 2.  I guess we'll see if its worth it.  Already I am noticing that the graphics aren't quite as sharp or crisp.  They should have just left this game on the Gamecube -- where it belongs.

Boy am I glad to be home again. Now my air conditioning is out! Power is on, but the winds apparently damaged the central air conditioner engine outside. They are fixing it now. Hope they can do it. Its over 90 degrees in here (Fahrenhait of course).

I got the hell out of Dodge, just like I said, but I am glad that Dodge dodged the bullet (pun intended). I should have stayed here and rode it out, but hindsight is 20/20.

My buddy m0zart didn't make it to Virginia. Those wonderful professional and very FEDERAL TSA employees decided not to show up for work, effectively cancelling his flight to Virginia. Remember how Tom Daschle kept saying that airport security must be Federalized to be professional. Let's see, how did he say it: "To professionalize, you must federalize." Thank goodness that bozo is out of office!

So, m0zart and I took back roads up in the general direction to Dallas until we were literally forced onto I45 North. It was CLOGGED. No movement for over two hours when we got onto the freeway. Then, they opened up the I45 South to go Northbound as well, and though it was still slow, it was above 20 miles an hour. After thirteen hours on the road, we arrived in Addison, a suburn of Dallas. On the way, I had obtained a Dallas yellow pages, and called every hotel in existence. We managed to find a very expensive hotel, with suites, which had the nice side-effect of giving me high-speed access

Dallas is just... not for me, generally speaking. Some things are almost twilight-zonish. We were lost downtown for a while and ran upon the area where President Kennedy was assassinated. That place was literally frozen in time. The same 50s/60s-style neon Hertz sign glows in the distance. The book respository is still there, though now converted into a government building, with the floor where Lee Harvey Oswold (in non-conspiracy theory-based versions of events) shot Kennedy is turned into a museum. Right there is still an old-style deli, with food that tastes like its been frozen since 1962. An old-style movie theater is there, still running, though I couldn't tell if as a movie theater or for stage productions. And geez, the hat and shoe store sells hats and shoes for men and women from the style popular in 1962. Even the sales associates are dressed in the garb. Its like walking through a time warp.

The reason for all this driving around and searching (and getting really lost) was that I left without packing anything other than a laptop. I had no clothes other than the sweat-soaked garb I came here with. We purposefully didn't run anything other than the SUV's engine (i.e. no air conditioner), because we didn't want to run out of gas like so many had along the side of the road. We gave up and returned to the hotel, where they told us that a huge mall was just around the corner and they didn't know how we could have missed it. So we got directions, and ran across the "mall" in question, namely Dallas' Galleria. I must say that I like this Galleria better than Houston's. Its possibly the only thing I liked better than a Houston counterpart so far.

Anyway, there are almost no stores that have basic non-fancy male clothing in the Galleria. Most places that deal in generic male clothing were out. Apparently I wasn't the only one who failed to bring clothes. So I was left to try to peruse the fancy shops in a mad frenzy to glean whatever basic clothing I could find. First it was "Abercrombie for Kids". I didn't realize it was an "Abercrombie for Kids", I thought it was the adult version. So I told the sales lady, "I am just here to get some basic garb, nothing special, nothign that would make me stand out." I went into a very long spiel about how I didn't want to look cool, because I personally don't think that's too cool, and that I didn't want to stand out for sure. After giving her this long buying pitch, she nodded her head and said "No, I don't think we can help you here!" I was like, "Uhm, why not?" "Well," she replied, "this is a store for kids... go down this way to find the adult store."

Now she tells me! So I rush to the adult store, wading through a whole slew of people clearly at the mall to be seen rather than buy anything, and arrive at this store. I walk in, and right off the bat, I knew ... this place is not for me. I walked up to the salesman: "Sir, let me explain my situation to you briefly. I am not Fonzie. I am not here to look cool. I am here to buy clothes. I don't want pants that are more baggy at the foot than they are in the hind end area. I don't want socks that change colors in the lighting. I don't want shirts that are so thin that my skin cells are still visible. I don't want jeans that look like they've been through a hurricane, I just passed an opportunity to make those myself. Above all, I don't want to wear clothes that scream that I am on my way to a gay pride parade. I am just John Doe here, every man right before you. I am here out of necessity, not out of desire. I wear clothes to hide my nudity, not to showcase it in a pretty package! In which section in this huge store can I just come in, get clothes, and exit without looking like a 30-something trying to be a kid again?"

He looked me cold in the eye, and said: "Sir, I don't think we can help you." I realize this was my first foray into the world of abnormal clothing, but the comment left me speechless, and that's rare. After having visited it, I think I have decided that "Abercrombie" is a supernatural term for undead teenagers.

Stunned, I left the store feeling like I had just been rejected on a date. I continued what seemed a completely fruitless search, playing tag with every store I could find.. Ultimately it wasn't fruiltless, but it was needless. A trip for clothes that would have taken me 10 minutes and cost me under $100 at any utilitarian department store of the Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or Target varieties, ended up taking four hours, and costing me a little under $500. That's a LOT of effort and money to go through just to get clothes that will make me look like every man, and allow me to just blend in. But what can I say, fashion is important to me!

I'll end this with a great big THANK GOODNESS that I have internet access here. Isn't capitalism wonderful? Only in America can a hurricane refugee rest in a luxury hotel and play around on the net.

When I loaded up CNN and saw that the storm was now just a Cat 3, and no longer heading that close to Houston, I felt a little cheated at first. I felt like I should have stayed home and endured it there. Oh well, its not good to mess with these things, and who is to say another Cat 5 won't come up and land right on Houston? Hindsight is 20/20, and I'd rather not second-guess the decision.

Anyway, I don't know why I am rambling on here, except that perhaps I am having net withdrawal I'll end here and not bore you guys any longer.

Alright, so a few weeks ago, mother Earth decided it was time once again to treat the gulf coast as her urinal. As "mom's" feminine cycles go, apparently its that time of the month (or rather, century) for her, and unfortunately, there isn't enough Midol in the world to calm this storm.

My fellow Gamespot buddy m0zart is knowledgable about these things, and heard today that its now classified as a category 5, and headed right for us here in Houston. Category 5 hurricanes are particuarly nasty. The winds are the speed of a tornado, and given the size of this one, its basically like a tornado the size of small state is going to ravage my area. That would be bad enough, but its much worse, believe me. Hundreds of small but fierce tornados form inside of the hurricane's circular winds themselves, and are pushed by that wind like speeding bullets from one end to the other, basically ripping apart everything in their trajectory.

In other words, its time to get the hell out of dodge. Walk-in closet campouts aren't going to cut it this time around.

So I am going to be doing exactly that. I haven't decided yet whether I'll go with m0zart to Virginia, or up to Texarkana. Wherever I go, it won't be anywhere near Houston. Maybe its time for a vacation at San Antonio. A good look at the Alamo is just what I need at a time like this.

ANYWAY... just wanted to post what was up. I know that most of you don't care, and that's alright by me. If some of you get a sick pleasure out of my suffering, well that's alright by me as well Enjoy it while it lasts.

Gamespot experienced a demo of the new controller, and wrote a summary of it here. Check out the section on their demo of "Metroid Prime 2: Echoes", reworked for the Revolution's controller. Alright, I'll be a prince and quote it here: