This is my secondary gaming blog which I'll use it from time to time to talk about what's new in my life when it comes to games or otherwise and reviews updates.

I also have my own personal website entitled The Mind of Game which I use to post a great deal of gaming news, First impressions, Reviews and Editorials. Check it out when you get the chance. I keep the site updated with a pretty steady stream of content so check back often.

• 25Dec 09

  Happy Holidays!

  Just wanted to pop in and wish you all Happy Holidays. I would've done it sooner but there was much preparation that needed to be done for the day of craziness and celebration (we had Christmas dinner at my house this year) that was soon to follow earlier today.

  Fun times today. It was great spending time with the family this year on this rainy and oddly warm Christmas day.

  So, that'll do it for me for now. I may post an end of the year blog post in the coming days but I'm not totally sure. I'll be around on Xbox Live, Steam and the PSN. I received Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Need for Speed Shift for the 360 as well as Uncharted 2 for the PS3 in addition to a few games I purchased on Steam as part of their ridiculously awesome holiday sale (seriously, if you're a PC gamer or have even the slightest interest in gaming on the PC, go now) so if you feel like doing some gaming over the holidays, just let me know.

  • Posted Dec 25, 2009 7:40 pm PT
  • Category: General
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• 22Dec 09

  The Art of Forza Motorsport 3

  Forza Motorsport 3, released on October 27, 2009, is one of the best racing games ever made due to its excellent array of single and multiplayer game modes, large and varied selection of cars, incredibly realistic racing physics and unparalleled accessibility (at least within the racing simulator genre). Another important aspect that Forza 3 also excels in is in its highly impressive visuals, running at a buttery smooth 60 frames per second. Because of these excellent visuals, the in game photo mode allows for some truly breathtaking images.

  Now, I'm not exactly what you'd call an expert photographer but I've become positively enamored with the game's photo mode after a few trips to the Forza Motorsport 3 forums and taking a look at the multimedia showcase forum, in which budding photographers and folks obsessed with the sheer beauty of four wheeled vehicles meet to share the images they've taken in Forza 3. Taking a look through some of the threads there, I was amazed at the levels of realism and artistry that people were able to achieve with Forza 3's photo mode and decided to try my hand at producing some high quality images of my own. So, I decided to revive my long dormant Flickr account and create a gallery of the best images I've come up with. Some of which I'll share below.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Clicking on any of the images above will take you to the full size 1280 x 720 version of the image you click on, which is also a part of my Forza 3 gallery at Flickr. If you want to view the rest of the images I've uploaded, just check out this link. So check out the images if you like and let me know what you think.

  Re-posted from The Mind of Game

  • Posted Dec 22, 2009 8:14 am PT
  • Category: Cars
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• 1Nov 09

  So, NaNoWriMo Has Officially Started...

  The only question is, am I going to participate this year?

  Well, I'm going to give it a shot, but I still can't be totally sure I'll be able to make it to 50,000 words and be proud of the 50,000 words I've written. Ever since I found out about NaNoWriMo, I've been racking my brain, trying to think of something to write about and, while I have a few basic plot points down; I don't have the story fully outlined the way I want it yet. Some people have told me to just start writing and fill in plot details as I go but I don't know if that will work for me. I've tried that in the past and it's never worked out well for me.

  The main concept I have been kicking around and will likely go with is a spy novel, starring three agents working for a top secret black ops organization within the NSA (which I haven't named yet...) is codenamed "Silver Bullet" and has absolutely nothing to do with werewolves, despite said codename. I have the first couple of chapters outlined, a few important plot points including the major plot twist that occurs near the end and, of course, the end. I figure that's enough to go on for now but I keep second guessing myself. There's a lot of research that I still need to do in order to present something that's reasonably accurate as government agencies, weaponry, tactics and covert operations aren't fields I typically study but I'm relatively sure that I know enough about these fields to write something that's reasonably accurate and believable, at least to the average reader.

  I have another concept in mind involving vampires but they seem to be the flavor of the month right now and I want to write about something that's not so common in…everything these days (I call that the Twilight effect). The only problem with not going with this is the fact that I feel like this concept would be easier to write. I already have most of the story planned out and filling in the plot as I go along wouldn't be terribly difficult, or at least not as difficult as I perceive my original concept to be.

  
  This is me right now

  Now I know the goal of NaNoWriMo isn't to produce prize winning works of pure literary genius but I don't want to produce a steaming pile of garbage either. I want something that's readable and at least mildly interesting. Perhaps this is just me second guessing my ability as a writer but I honestly don't know if I can deliver that in 30 days, as much as I'd like to, especially now that I'm behind schedule with my outlining. Today is the first of the month and I'm supposed to write the first 1,667 words of my novel today and I haven't yet done that. Perhaps I can get enough of the outlining done tonight to have a solid idea of where I'm going with this and be comfortable enough to actually start writing. I don't know. I guess I'll find out shortly after I've concluded this blog post and gone back to my outlining.

  If any of you have any tips or suggestions, let me know, I'll certainly be glad to hear them.

  Re-posted from The Mind of Game

  • Posted Nov 1, 2009 6:25 pm PT
  • Category: Writing
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• 22Oct 09

  So...Next Month is NaNoWriMo...

  

  That's National Novel Writing Month to the uninitiated and, long story short, I've been thinking of writing something this year.

  I found out about it back in late '07 and while I thought I wanted to write something, I never got around to taking the project seriously. Last year, NaNoWriMo passed me by, without me remembering that it was going on until it was too late to contribute something. To be honest, I just remembered it a few days ago when a buddy of mine brought it to my attention. Now, I'm frantically trying to come up with something to write about.

  See, the object of this month long literary event is to encourage aspiring writers of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. The way I have it planned out; I'll have to write some 2,000 words a day every day (excluding Thanksgiving, I figure I'll want a break around that time) until the end of the month deadline. Whew. That sounds like a great deal of sitting in the glow of my laptop's screen with a Microsoft Word document open, typing away whilst trying to resist the temptation to aimlessly browse the web, prowl around internet forums, watch reruns of My Wife and Kids or turn on my Xbox 360 to play another round of the upcoming Forza 3 or GTA IV expansion The Ballad of Gay Tony. This will unquestionably be a true test of my willpower.

  As I lay in bed last night trying to get to sleep, a torrent of questions flooded my mind, leaving me restless for a while before I was finally able to drift off to sleep. What will I write about? Can I really write 50,000 words before the November 30th deadline? Can I crank out something that's actually worth reading in such a short period of time? And, perhaps most importantly, do I have the discipline to stick to my writing schedule for 30 straight days?

  One of my biggest flaws is that I am a chronic procrastinator. I'm worried that I'll end up putting this off over and over again until a few hours before midnight on the 30th when I finally decide that I need to get something done but by then it will be too late and the challenge would have passed me by…again. This isn't something I want to take lightly but I've never been able to discipline myself like this before and perhaps that's because I've never had to. I've put off even the largest school projects until the last minute (sometimes, even, the day they were due) and still managed to put out "A" quality work. That fact has made me understandably cocky regarding my ability to do anything at the last minute. I guess the difference here is, if I do procrastinate, it won't be like I'm failing a major assignment, I'll just be letting myself down.

  I haven't decided whether or not I want to do this. I recognize this as something that could be hugely beneficial to me but recently, I haven't been in the mood to write. I guess the best remedy for this is to...write. I've been trying to get back into the swing of things by writing a few reviews but so far, nothing has really rekindled that creative spark that has been lying dormant for so long. I will say that the idea of working on something for NaNoWriMo has gotten me a bit more excited as of late so maybe all I need to get back into the mood to write is to start writing in the first place.

  Whatever I decide, I'll keep a steady stream of updates coming. If I do decide that I want to participate in this, I'll probably create a new blog for chronicling my progress on a daily or weekly basis. If I do, I'll be sure to spam the links everywhere. Who knows? I might even revive my long dead Twitter account to keep folks updated.

  Re-posted from The Mind of Game

  • Posted Oct 22, 2009 4:58 pm PT
  • Category: Writing
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• 11Oct 09

  Has Anyone Ever Had a Dream In Which...

  You're packing luggage for a long vacation?

  In my experience, I'll be running around, making sure I have everything I could possibly need or want in my bags and making last minute changes as needed for this great trip I have planned...only to wake up before I even get to the airport. Or, if I'm really lucky, I'll be all set to board the plane when reality decides to show up and slap me across the face.

  * heavy sigh*

  I have these dreams quite often and I hate them. I hate them with every fiber of my being. I hate the fact that my subconscious mind continuously tortures me with the fact that I desperately want to take a vacation to some far off land but I lack both the time (can't miss school right now) and the resources ($$$) to make my dreams a reality. What's worse is I'm not skilled enough in the art of lucid dreaming to be able to recognize that these dreams aren't real and stop them before I get too excited. It's really depressing waking up and realizing that everything I just experienced was all a very convincing lie constructed to remind me of all the great things that I just can't do right now.

  *Another heavy sigh*

  Has anyone else experienced anything similar to this? Does anyone have any tips for stopping these dreams in their tracks?

  • Posted Oct 11, 2009 9:05 pm PT
  • Category: General
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• 6Oct 09

  Gran Turismo PSP Review Posted

  I've just posted my review of Gran Turismo PSP, which I picked up early this week since I enjoy the Gran Turismo series and I figured having the ability to pick up and play it at my leisure when I'm away from my PS3 would be a pretty good deal. Ultimately, I was disappointed with my purchase because of a few disappointing omissions, notably the career mode. Without some kind of structure compelling me to press onward, the grind of winning races to earn credits to buy new cars grew stale. Gran Turismo PSP isn't a game I'll rarely play because of this but its long time appeal is crippled because of it.

  I posted the review at GameSpot with a score (something I've been distancing myself from) and at my site without a score. Instead of a score, I added an "At a Glance" blurb to the top of the review which sums up my feelings on the game in a few words. So, check them out if you wish. I'd be very happy if you did.

  • Posted Oct 6, 2009 8:41 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 3Oct 09

  I Picked Up a Few Albums Recently

  While I was driving home from some errands I had to run a few days ago, I passed by a local FYE store and decided to go in. Normally, I shy away from FYE because they are typically more expensive than other, larger retailers such as Best Buy but there was a huge sign in the window that said "All CD's $9.99 or less" and that's a deal I just couldn't pass on.
  
  I walked in with the intention of buying Life After Death by late-great rapper The Notorious B.I.G. I thought I'd be able to grab the CD for the $9.99 price I saw in the window, which is an absolute steal. I was wrong. Turns out the deal doesn't apply to multi disc albums. I was crestfallen, since the album was $25 and there was no way I was paying that much for a single album, especially since I can find it cheaper elsewhere. Instead, I picked up the following three albums.

  Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. II – Raekwon

  

  As one of the best examples of the Mafioso rap subgenre popularized by the likes of Nas, Jay-Z and Raekwon himself in recent memory, this album is packed with drug references but that's to be expected. What makes this album unique is its composition, which is akin to some sort of purely musical cinema. Each track blends into the next as if they were scenes in a 70 minute long film. It's a very interesting concept that works incredibly well in practice, as it apparently did in its predecessor Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.
  
  The Low End Theory – A Tribe Called Quest

  

  What needs to be said about this album that hasn't already been said ad nauseum in just about every Hip-Hop related publication out there? The blend of jazzy beats and lighthearted and always insightful lyrics delivered by the duo of Phife Dawg and Q-Tip is among the absolute best the Hip-Hop genre has to offer. I can easily recommend this to anyone, even those who are new to or still wary of the genre.
  
  Me Against the World – 2Pac

  

  This is considered one of 2Pac's best works, alongside his last album All Eyez On Me released 7 months before his death. Me Against the World is an unquestionably excellent album. Thematically, 2Pac's obsession with death takes center stage with such tracks as If I Die 2Nite and Death Around the Corner and his lyrics are his usual sharp, poetic and consistently brilliant.
  
  And there you have it. I was definitely in the mood for some new (well, new to me at least) Hip-hop and rap music to listen to. I know that there are those of you out there who don't like rap and others who downright hate the genre. I'm not going to try to sway your opinion on the matter here but so far, these albums are excellent, as I expected and I'd recommend them to anyone with any interest in the genre.
  
  Re-posted from The Mind of Game

  • Posted Oct 3, 2009 5:42 pm PT
  • Category: N/A
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• 9Sep 09

  Mass Effect Pinnacle Station Review

  Due to my Mass Effect fandom, I bought the recently (and very, very quietly) released Pinnacle Station DLC without even thinking about it. Big mistake. So, I reviewed the content for Talk Xbox (my first review in months) and, here's the first paragraph of said review.

  "Long before Mass Effect was released, Bioware teased with the notion of extending the life of the game long after the final credits rolled by way of post release DLC. Unfortunately, these ideas didn't seem to pan out as lavishly as expected and, nearly two years after the release of Mass Effect, Pinnacle Station is only the second downladable content pack. Even worse, this content isn't all that great – in fact, it's downright mediocre at best."

  Justin McBride - Talk Xbox

  Full Review

  • Posted Sep 9, 2009 8:22 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 7Sep 09

  Strongly Considering the Purchase of a Netbook

  Do you guys think that's a good idea?

  Now, I've done my fair share of research on the matter and I know full well that they are underpowered in comparison to their laptop cousins. My main reasons for wanting one are portability and battery life. Two things that netbooks deliver in spades, if you get the right one. This is the model I'm planning to pick up, should I decide to get one.

  

  The ASUS Eee 1005HA "seashell". Of all the netbooks I've looked at, this seems to be the best in terms of performance, and battery life overall. It is certainly one of the more attractive netbooks out there and it will suit my needs (mainly document editing and web browsing) just fine.

  Then again, full size laptops offer vastly better performance and, at least in the case of Macbooks, similar battery life but cannot compare in terms of portability and that's a big thing for me. Four years ago, I stumbled into the laptop market and bought this 17" behemoth which served me well for a few years. It performed well enough but the battery life was always crappy (2 hours 30 mins at its peak when I bought it, considerably less now) and, weighing in at nearly ten pounds without its huge power brick, not the least bit portable.

  Last year or so, it began to act a bit flaky and now, I want to break this thing. It's incredibly slow, even with 2 GB of RAM under the hood, the hard drive is small (80GB isn't nearly enough for my tastes) and the battery can't keep the laptop powered on for more than fifteen minutes away from the AC adapter. Seriously, this thing needs to go.

  But I'm getting away from the point. Good laptops can be a bit expensive, especially when Macbooks enter the ring. Now, the question I have to ask myself is, do I really need the increased performance of another full size laptop or would a netbook be fine? The tech nerd inside me wants the increased performance of a laptop, but portability is, of course, important to me as well and based on the research I've done, laptops with screen sizes of 12.1" to 14" can be on the upper end of the price range. So, should I buy the netbook or save my cash and pony up for a laptop?

  • Posted Sep 7, 2009 7:01 pm PT
  • Category: Computers
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• 1Sep 09

  20k Posts and I'm Taking a Break From GameSpot

  A few days ago, I finally reached 20,000 posts in the forums. Wow. Never thought I'd see the day, especially when I started posting on the forums way back when in the summer of 2005, seeing posters with a mere 1000 posts and thinking to myself that I'd never get there. Funny how quickly things changed once I dived head first into the festering cesspool of ignorance and stupidity known as System Wars. Sheesh. To this day I don't know why I ever set foot in there and I'm consistently baffled by my inability to leave. But I digress...

  Having reached that milestone in my forum career, I've decided to take a break from GameSpot. How long will that break last? I don't know. It may be only a few days before I have the urge to post again (although it's been over a week since my last post and I'm still going) or a few months. We'll see soon enough.

  In that time, I'm not going to disappear completely. I'll be updating this blog more frequently as well as The Mind of Game (you didn't think I'd post a blog here without plugging my offsite blog did you? ) and use the time I would've spent lurking around System Wars and crying for the future of our species (seriously, if you want to lose faith in humanity, spend a few minutes in System Wars) working on some of my outside projects, including that novel I've been hinting at for months now.

  Alright, that's it for now. See you in a few!

  • Posted Sep 1, 2009 7:53 am PT
  • Category: General
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• 25Jul 09

  I Bought an iPod Touch

  

  Over the past couple of years, I've been somewhat of a Zune fanboy. I certainly had my reasons. My first MP3 player was a 20 GB iPod that I loved for about a year, until the hard drive was somehow corrupted and it stopped working. After several unsuccessful attempts to resurrect my poor iPod, I gave up and tossed it aside in favor of using other devices to satisfy my MP3 playing needs. For a while, I was getting by with just my PSP and whatever songs I could cram onto its memory stick but that just wasn't enough. Two years ago, Microsoft released the Halo 3 Edition Zune and, in the midst of my Halo 3 fanboyism, I snapped it up without a second thought and instantly fell in love. The Zune isn't the perfect MP3 player, but in my mind, it was incredibly underrated. But I digress…

  Ever since the announcement of the iPhone and the subsequent announcement of the iPod Touch, I've been following the two gadgets closely but I must say that my interest in the iPhone is virtually nil, due to the fact that I am a Verizon customer and the iPhone is saddled with AT&T. This is a carrier I've heard naught but bad things about in regards to call quality and signal reception, two things that are rather important when it comes to phones. Perhaps when the iPhone makes the jump to Verizon's vastly superior network (I'm a bit of a Verizon fanboy as well), then I'll get excited about it.

  So, the iPod Touch was the device I latched onto and grew increasingly fond of over the past few months and, after just as many months of quiet consideration, I bought one. After being on the fence for so long, what finally pushed me over the edge? Unsurprisingly, I finally caved after having a few opportunities to actually use the device and after using the iPod Touch, I was convinced. I had to have one.

  You see, I'm the type of tech nerd that is constantly searching for "that device" and other tech nerds will know what I'm talking about. It's that one, magical device that will do everything you want it to do, be it playing MP3s, videos, making phone calls, sending e-mail, internet browsing, whatever. You name it, that device does it. Arguably, the iPhone is the closest any device has ever come but I've already explained why I'm not gushing about that.

  And there you have it. I've been using it over the past few days and I love it. Honestly, I really wanted to wait for the Zune HD to see what it would offer to counter the iPod Touch beyond what little we know such as the inclusion of the Nvidia Tegra chip and integrated HD radio but I'm quite the impatient fellow when it comes to things like this and Microsoft's slow trickle of information related to the Zune HD has turned me off and yes, I fully understand that this is standard operating procedure for corporations such as these. So far, the iPod Touch is pretty much everything I was hoping it would be and provides one of the best experiences I've had with a portable device because it comes the closest to being "that device".

  I'm considering writing up a full review of the iPod Touch over the next couple days and maybe doing a little video review or something. We'll see. For now, I'll just say that I'm impressed with the iPod Touch and very happy with my purchase and leave it that.

  Re-posted from The Mind of Game

  • Posted Jul 25, 2009 6:09 pm PT
  • Category: Technology
  • 9 Comments

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• 6Jul 09

  Annual Birthday Update: I'm 22!

  

  Yep, it's that time of year again! I am now 22 years old.

  I could ramble on a bit longer but really, what more is there to say?

  • Posted Jul 6, 2009 7:23 pm PT
  • Category: People
  • 11 Comments

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• 30Jun 09

  New Avatar and Forum Signature

  As the title suggests, I've created a new avatar and signature for my Gamespot profile. After well over a year of sporting my Joanna Dark avatar and sig, I thought it was time for a change so I jumped into photoshop this morning and whipped up something new to go along with my newest gaming obsession, Forza Motorsport 3.

  Avatar

  

  A simple take on the new logo for Forza Motorsport 3. Nothing too elaborate here, just took the logo, added a bit of outer glow, a matching border along the outside and my new signature watermark in the form of the "G21" logo.

  Signature

  

  Again, nothing too elaborate (right-click and view image to see full size). I essentially cropped this screenshot and added the Forza 3 logo, GUFU logo, my profile name and my G21 watermark.

  And that's pretty much it. You can probably tell that I'm incredibly excited for the release of Forza Motorsport 3 this October.

  • Posted Jun 30, 2009 11:25 am PT
  • Category: General
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• 21Jun 09

  Blargh...

  Yesterday marks the first and last time I'll ever eat a Big Mac. My stomach will thank me.

  Woke up this morning with stomach problems and spent much of the following few hours in the bathroom, no doubt related to that damn sandwich. Bleh.

  • Posted Jun 21, 2009 3:02 pm PT
  • Category: Food
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• 20Jun 09

  I Had a Big Mac For the First Time Today...

  

  It was pretty good. I wonder why I waited so long to try one?

  • Posted Jun 20, 2009 3:23 pm PT
  • Category: Food
  • 11 Comments

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• 5May 09

  My Wisdom Teeth Extraction: Day Two

  Remember how I closed my last blog post? How I said I was going to try to get a good night's sleep? Yeah...that didn't happen.

  At 3:30 AM, I woke up to intense, throbbing pain in my jaw. Seemed the painkillers had worn off in the wee hours of the morning, just in time to disturb what had previously been a good rest. As I lay there, half asleep, still partially dreaming, I saw myself as a member of a biker gang. It was strange. I don't remember much, but we appeared to be in some sort of junk yard. We were having an inane sort of conversation (about what, I can't remember) as the throbbing pain continued. I couldn't ascertain what was causing the pain, so I rode my bike around, looking for some sort of clue. A clue I never seemed to find.

  That was the extent of the dream, as I finally woke up and realized something had to be done. It was too early to take another vicodin but fortunately, I could still take an Ibuprofen. I walked into the bathroom and swallowed one of the pills. They had been strangely effective in lessening the pain prior to my surgery and they were once again effective. But still, I had to sit there, on my bed, in the dark as I waited for the pill to take effect. The dream returned and I found myself riding around the junk yard aimlessly. There was no method to the madness and shortly, as the pain vanished and I laid down for sleep once again, the dream slowly faded into obscurity.

  The day went along smoothly. My diet of yogurt, soup, smoothies and Slim Fast shakes was nothing special, as expected. In fact, I began to wish I hadn't had the surgery, if only to have the ability to eat solid food. You know those commercials for fast food, fancy restaurants and the like that you never seem to pay attention to? It's amazing how much they stand out to me now...

  Man I'd kill for a burger right about now...

  So far so good. Pain has been minimal at its worst and there has been no bleeding or any other complications. Here's hoping this will blow over and I'll be back to normal soon.

  • Posted May 5, 2009 8:42 pm PT
  • Category: General
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• 4May 09

  My Wisdom Teeth Extraction: Day One

  So...I had my wisdom teeth removed earlier today. This is something I'd been dreading for years, ever since they came in. Having heard a bunch of nasty stories of impacted wisdom teeth, which essentially entails your wisdom teeth not coming in properly, or not even exiting the gum line at all (see the picture, it isn't graphic). Fortunately, my wisdom teeth came in properly...or, what appeared to be proper for a few years. Maybe I should briefly explain what lead up to this to give you a better idea as to why I suddenly had this procedure done.

  Friday night, after feeling no signs of any sort of pain, I went to sleep. Later that night I awakened to a strange pain in the side of my face. I didn't know what it was; all I know is that I couldn't get to sleep for any measurable period of time afterward.

  The following morning, I awakened, groggy and thoroughly exhausted due to the lack of sleep that night...the day of an important final no less and I immediately noticed the pain in my jaw. I went into the bathroom and checked my teeth in the mirror. Nothing appeared to be wrong with them so I took a pain pill and went to c|ass. The final was easy enough but unfortunately, the pain persisted through the c|ass and for quite some time after I'd finished and left and when I say "quite some time" I mean the rest of the weekend.

  For two days, I had to deal with soul-crushingly intense pain, staving off bouts of intense pain with my good friends Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Sure, the pills managed to lessen the pain somewhat for a couple hours at a time but it always came back with a vengeance and nights became impossible to sleep through. Monday, the pain reached a head and I decided I could put this off no longer; it was finally time to visit the dentist...and you can probably guess what happened next.

  I was a tiny bit apprehensive about going under the...er...tongs, as I've heard plenty of horror stories about surgery but all these feelings melted away as the pain reached its peak as I sat in the waiting room, feeling like it was going to drive me insane.

  I've heard that tooth related problems/injuries can be among the most painful you'll ever feel. After what I've felt in the past couple of days, I'm very much inclined to believe that. Now I see why teeth are targeted as methods of torture.

  The entire process wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be getting my teeth pulled, in fact, I probably suffered more waiting for the dentist and his assistants to finish up the paperwork and knock me the hell out. I was thoroughly sedated with shots of Procaine (Novocaine) and whatever else was in the IV they set me up on and they got to work. I don't even remember falling asleep though and I could swear I was at least partially aware of what was happening as I saw (or, at least, thought I saw) the dentist pulling at least one of my teeth out of my mouth.

  Afterwards, I woke up to the sound of the dentist's assistant telling me to bite down on the gauze they'd previously stuffed in my mouth to keep me from bleeding. I was still fairly out of it but surprisingly enough, I was at least able to stand and walk without assistance before being driven home.

  Now, as I sit here at my laptop at 12 AM, writing this for your viewing pleasure, I can feel a slight twinge of pain. Let's just say I'm not exactly looking forward to the next couple of days in my recovery. I feel great now that the constant stabbing pain (seriously, it felt like I'd been punched in the face several times after chewing broken glass and gargled with a bottle of sulfuric acid, all on the right side of my mouth) is finally gone and knowing that I won't have any further problems due to my wisdom teeth is a huge plus. Plus, my dentist gave me some Vicodin to help manage the pain (don't worry, I'm no abuser) so I should be able to keep the pain down to a minimum.

  Well, that's it for now, I think it's high time I head to bed and get some much needed sleep. After four straight days of getting very little sleep, I think I owe it to myself.

  PS: I'm still a bit loopy from being sedated so if anything in the above paragraphs looks a little off, please forgive me.

  • Posted May 4, 2009 9:11 pm PT
  • Category: General
  • 3 Comments

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• 1May 09

  I'M FINALLY DONE WITH CLASS FOR THE SEMESTER (caps)!!!

  As you can probably tell from the title. I'm excited. The semester is finally over and I'm free! Three months of stress (numerous lengthy papers, presentations, projects, other things) finally over with!!! I'm free until the Fall!

  Oh wait...I signed up for summer classes as well...

  • Posted May 1, 2009 8:49 pm PT
  • Category: N/A
  • 6 Comments

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• 7Mar 09

  New PC Games For the Collection

  

  Yesterday, I took a trip up to Best Buy and picked up a few new games for my PC, as you can see in the picture above. Pretty sweet eh? Before you ask...no, I haven't yet pulled the trigger on the PC I told you guys about a few blog posts ago. So, I'm guessing you're wondering, why did I buy games that I'm almost positive my PC can't play (at least in the case of Crysis and Crysis Warhead)? While I'm sure if I tried to run Crysis on my machine it would violently explode, I figured Command and Conquer would run well enough and, after installing it yesterday, it seems to run just fine. But buying Crysis and Crysis Warhead now was just an investment for my future PC, whenever I get around to building it. The best part of all of this? All three of those games there cost me only about $30 plus tax.

  Best Buy is having a sale on certain PC games, detailed in this thread on CAG a friend of mine showed me. All it requires is a Best Buy Reward Zone Gamer's Club membership, which is free, and the coupon you'll see in the thread.

  Alright, that should do it. I just wanted to let you guys know about the deal in case you hadn't already heard. Hurry though, these deals are going fast. When I got to Best Buy, I managed to snag the last copy of Crysis Warhead, which was apparently the last copy at any Best Buy within a reasonable driving distance of my zip code, as I found out when I got home. The Orange Box, which I also wanted to grab (if only for Team Fortress 2) was also nowhere to be found. Happy hunting guys! Here's hoping I'll finally be able to start building my PC and can finally see what all the fuss is about concerning Crysis.

  • Posted Mar 7, 2009 9:44 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 4 Comments

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• 2Mar 09

  The Art of Creating a Vigilante

  

  Hmm...I'm having a sort of dilemma in my writing. First, a little back story to get you up to speed on what this post is about. I'm in the process of writing a book from scratch. I'm also in the process of rewriting a book I started back in the eighth grade. What these books are about...well, that's a story for another time. Anyway, in the story I'm writing from scratch, the main character eventually becomes somewhat of a vigilante after a traumatic experience early in the novel (very much unlike the traumatic experience that happened to Bruce Wayne, so it's not a rip off of that and that's not where I found my inspiration). What I'm worried about is...in today's fiction, vigilantes and anti-heroes in general seem to be done to death. I honestly don't know if I can portray the character properly or at least different enough from the rest of the vigilantes out there to make an impact.

  In my personal reading and internet research (basically glossing over Wikipedia pages and forums) it seems that the two characters that truly epitomize what it means to be a vigilante are Batman and Watchmen's Rorschach. The two characters have very similar but at the same time incredibly different approaches to cleaning the streets. Both Batman and Rorschach aim to put an end to crime, but Batman has two rules that he will not break under any circumstances, the first being using a firearm and the second, killing the criminals he comes into conflict with. Rorschach, on the other hand, has no rules. This creates a distinct contrast between the two characters right off the bat. Batman can be seen as a sort of noble vigilante in the way he refuses to sort of lower himself to the level of the criminal underworld whereas Rorschach is totally uncaring and unflinching in his duty of punishing all forms of crime and corruption, severely, resulting in a character that seems to be likable, but at the same time you wonder if he's hypocritical and insane (or insanely hypocritical). After all, he's in effect crossing the line he punishes others for crossing each time he "punishes" someone for their crimes.

  So, the question remains, how can one create a character that approaches the fundamental principles of vigilantism without making the character seem like he was modeled on one of these readily available archetypes? Can that even be done? It's tough. This character of mine, he doesn't have a sort of duality in his personality, like Bruce Wayne and Batman. He's pessimistic, cynical and, well, angry. Now, I haven't read Watchmen yet (I do plan on picking up the graphic novel before I see the film) but I'm worried that he might seem too much like Rorschach. I haven't done too much research on the character of Rorschach (I ended up spoiling something for myself so I promptly stopped) but he seems a bit like that kind of guy I'm modeling my character around. My character doesn't share Rorschach or Batman's passion for eliminating crime from the streets and doesn't know if he's doing this because he believes it's right or if he's doing it for purely selfish reasons. I can't delve too far into what those reasons are without spoiling a bit of the story but, let's just say he has a sort of hunger for the job.

  

  To put it simply, I'm a bit befuddled by the whole issue. Character creation is paramount to a good story and I want to avoid the pitfalls writers sometimes fall into when creating this type of character. I don't want my character to seem too similar to any current vigilantes or anti-heroes that are so popular in mainstream fiction, be it television, books or movies, I want him to resonate strongly with my future readers, leaving a lasting impression. This is where you come in. I know the people of the internet read, play videogames, watch television and/or watch movies and I could definitely use the help. What do you like to read? Do you like anti-hero types of characters? Do you think they're overdone? Am I crazy for doubting my artistic ability? Do you hate me for subjecting you to this? ( ) Why or why not?

  Re-posted from The Mind of Game

  • Posted Mar 2, 2009 8:48 pm PT
  • Category: Writing
  • 5 Comments

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