Obsessions

XP Pro DL Time: 40%, T- 11 minutes.

As I write this, I'm dl'ing Windows XP Professional. It's coming in at around 500+ kbps, so I should have it downloaded before I finish this entry. I'll let you know when it's done.

I've got to stop watching TV while I do this. Nine minutes.

Lately I've been reading a bunch of webcomics. Too many. I've got, *counts* at least 11 comics I read on a weekly basis, assuming they get updates. Most of them do, though. Right now Megatokyo has me extremely inthralled. I've talked about it before, a while ago, I suppose, but I really cant help but recommend this comic. It's simply the best story driven webcomic out there, and in my opinion the best ever. Granted there are some comics that don't really work well without a plot, and also granted, Megatokyo's humor value has taken a bit of a hit. Don't get me wrong, it still has plenty of funny comics, but as Fred Gallagher (the author) himself said in responce to complaints that people there was no joke in certain comics, "Sometimes life isn't funny."

Also, I'm working my way up through the archives of two new comics: Little Gamers and Starsomething. It's time consuming work, but I'm addicted. I don't reccommend this hobby to anyone who wants to keep a life, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

While writing those paragraphs, the DL finished. Shows you how slow I write. I'll finish this, create a system restore point, then see if I can't get upgraded to Professional. Of course, by the time you read this, I'll prolly be done already. Ask me how it went.

Don't worry, I'm not done with you yet. I've got another addiction. Cute anime and manga. I've become hooked on the Cardcaptor Sakura manga (though all reports say the American release of the anime was butchered by 4Kids to make it more kid friendly, so I'm staying outta that.) As evidence, here's my wallpaper. Here though is where I meet my dilemma. You see, CCS was released in two 6 volume series. First, a left-to-right of Sakura's first adventures. Then, a right-to-left release of her continuing adventures, after she became Master of the Cards. (Yes, its inherently silly. That's half the fun.) I bought this series first, actually. Recently, to my surprise, they have begun re-releasing the original series in classic manga format. I'm crazy, I can't read manga left-to-right. It screws with my head. I don't know why. So anyway, now I've started reading the original series. And that's the problem. In a sense, I've now bought 1-3 and then 7-12. I'm missing 4-6. Too make matters worse, volume three ends in a cliff hanger. The last chapter is part one of something. I can't in good conscious start that until I've got the next books. *Head explode.*

Also, I recently got the volume 3 DVD of .hack//Legend of the Twilight, the last of the set. My DVD box is now comlete. *Beams.* Now I just need volume 3 of the manga. For some reason, the stories are rather different, so I must get the end of both. Also, I have to say that I like //Twilight better than //Sign.

Time's running short. If I don't start the XP install now, I might be late for Calc. I wanted to say something about Champions of Kamigawaa, the new set of Magic. The pre-release was last weekend. This is the first one in a year I missed. Okay, I said something. Time to install.

Yarrr

Ahoy mateys! Today be International Talk Like A Pirate Day, so shiver yur timbers lest ye wanna walk tha plank. In honor of this here fine occasion, and other thing which I be gettin' to later on, I've rigged up a screen shot featuring tha festive swag I've adorned my good ship with.

In that thar pic ye'll be wise to note the large table I'm swappin' debloons on. Aye, Cap'n Greg's fallen prey to the siren song o' poker. And I ain't half bad, neither. If ye peer close to tha screen ye can barely make out that deceptikhan, that's me, has amassed quite a treasure. I took that picture nary five minutes before starting this, yet as I write this, I've got even more than tha picture shows. O'er five hundreds of chips, though it all be fools gold. Yarr. Still, tis all in good fun.

By Great Neptune, if this accursed network acts up any worse, she'll have to face my steel. Actually, nay, on second thought I'll just be done with it and plunder the local Walmart for a new router. Exceptin' I be land locked, with nary a ship to sail cross the street, let alone to Wallyworld. *Sigh* 'Tis a lonely life I be a-leadin.

O'course, me problems with tha Internet be not all my fault. I'm looking for a file hostin' site, a place to hide my vast treasures, so ta speak. Right now I'm just looking to help a friend add a touch of music to their eerily silent Xanga, but nowhere on the seven seas can I find a place that will link MP3's. If any of ye men know of a good spot for me, do the ol' cap'n a favor and point me along.

Avast! The swashbucklers at party poker have kicked me offa my table. Those rotten varmits will pay for this! To arms! Board the lot of 'em!

Killing Babies and Classmates

The current political situation has be a bit disheartened. If I haven't made it clear to you yet, I don't think Bush deserves another 4 years. I truely think he didn't deserve the first four years, but since I didn't vote in the last election, I don't really have much right to complain now. I will say that Bush got dealt a crappy hand, as presidencies go. He came in and the economy started plummetting. (I don't pretend to know anything about what causes economics, and I'm pretty sure that constitutionally, the Executive branch gets no effect on money, so that could indeed not be his fault.) The attacks on September 11th, all conspiracy theories aside, were being plotted long before Bush won his election, so those weren't his fault. However, he has managed to turn a national tragedy into what I see as a way to propel his (and his friends) own personal agenda. I don't think the war in Iraq was justified, and I don't like being lied to by the government on why we have to go to war, especially as my age is the group that's gonna get drafted if Bush continues escalating his military war on terror. I don't like his current plan of proactive war, because that leads to a state where as long as there are non-American-allied nations out there, we will be in perpetual war. And I wouldn't put it past him to, should he win this next election, start declaring elections to be unsafe in our current "terror-filled" environment. I realize that's a tad extreme, but I wouldn't put it past him.

This is not to say that I think Kerry is my supreme choice for President. I'm sure there are better candidates out there. Myself, for instance. But I agree with the concensus "Anybody but Bush", or "John Kerry's a douche-bag, but I'm voting for him anyway". That's why, getting back to my original point, I'm frustrated. You see, I live in Texas. I'm sure you know about how some states are red, and some are blue, and some are white. I'm in a red state... I think. It's going for Bush anyway. I was thinking about this the other day, and there is really very little that could cause Bush to lose the Lone Star State. As I ran it through my head, I realized that only one thing could cause Texans to swing away from Bush. He would have to kill babies. A LOT of babies. And even then, they'd have to be white babies, probably American. He could bomb a whole Mosque full of Iraqui infants and whatever Islam uses for nuns, and it would be spinned off as being a casualty in the war on terror. Hell, he could probably claim that the Mosque was a terrorist hot-spot, and he'd get praised for it. The idea is just a little sick, you know?

Texas being locked does sort of takes a little pressure off me, though, because no matter how I vote, it's not my fault what the next President does. But I am kind of upset, because I am really upset with Bush, and it looks like I'm not gonna get a say in kicking him out. U_U

Anyway, I'm voting Nader anyway. I just hope enough swing states swing for Kerry.

While I was searching for that movie I linked to above, I found another site with an interesting quote: " "If what I say is right, the whole US government should end up behind bars," Mr von Bulow told The Daily Telegraph at his home in Bonn. " Obviously taken out of context, it does raise the question: If the goverment is in jail, which is itself a goverment run institution, who's guarding the cells? I found that a bit funny, anyway.

I was sitting in Computer Science yesterday, and marveled at the stupidity of my fellow classmates. Granted, it is an entry level class, one I am probably more than qualified to skip, so their confusion is understandable, but some of the things they said made my head hurt. It's all highly contextual and technical, so I won't repeat the lines right here, but yeah, it makes me fear that I'm in for a very boring year.

Not having a car sucks. I realize I don't need one on campus. Well, I do now, cuz my bike sprung a leak in the back tire, but I can still walk to class, and the parking situation is terrible, but still. I need to be able to drive around. I couldn't get a ride to A-Kon, an anime convention in Dallas, that I'd been hoping to stop by. I can't go home for the weekend without planning like a month in advance. And worst of all, I CAN'T GO TO THE MOVIES!!! There are a lot of cool movies coming out. Watch as I list the ones I wanna see.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse - This looks just cool. Chicks with guns, zombies, and explosions. It's a very "guy" movie, but I still wanna see it. I saw the first one, and it was actually pretty bad, but this one is looking better from what I hear from friends who have seen it.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - I love the retro feel of this movie, the way it looks like something out of the Buck Rogers kind of science fiction. It's just something you dont see much any more. Today's science fiction movies are all heavily philosophical, like the Matrix and I, Robot. I want to see more swashbuckling in my movies. Swashbuckling is fun.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innosence - Speaking of philosophical science fiction... I have admittedly not seen the first Ghost in the Shell, but everyone I hear says it's a classic anime film, with a great mix of action and thought provoking subject matter. I like swashbuckling, this is true. But I also enjoy movies that make me think. I like both, depending on my mood. And so I want to see this movie, as well as Sky Captain. Yes, I'm a tad Skitzophrenic in my movie watching.

Alright, I've rambled enough now. I don't know why the clock here is set for when I start this thing. I'm changing it to when I finished, if I can.

Okay, One More Screen Shot

Yea, I promised I wouldn't show you guys my screen any more, but I did funky stuff to my screen. I made stuff SEE THROUGH!!! Oh, and I got Firefox, which is sweet, too. Check it out. Yeah, I kept the wallpaper too, that's prolly a rarity for me. Hehe.

I also wanted to make this post because I didn't like the fact that the word "masturbate" was showing up in big bold letters, so this might be lighter on content.

Nah,I wouldn't do that to you guys. I do have an interesting topic to rant about. A few days ago, I came upon this thread on the Megatokyo boards. If you don't wanna read it, the thread basically says that a large explosion and accompanying mushroom cloud appeared in North Korea, close to a supposed location of a Missile Base. While the official explanation is a forest fire, there were seismic readings of a large rumbling at the time. Most forest fires don't rumble, do they?

Anyway, so I've kept CNN running in the background while I stayed up all night and nothing better was on. Any news dealing with North Korea made me prick my ears up. So far there have been two storied. One, a quick blurb, just said that it was no nuclear reason for the explosion. The second was a larger story that said that North Korea's major threat to us was that their nuclear stockpile could be stolen and used by terrorists. I'm sorry, I was under the impression that North Korea had ICBMs that were pointing towards the west coast of the US. That seems to be a little more scary to me than the "6 degrees to nuclear holocaust" the government seems to be guarding against.

Alright, I'm tired, but I got the information that I should try and shove my schedule into synch by staying straight till tomorrow night. For your information, I went to sleep at 8AM yesterday, and woke up around 6. The other day, I went to sleep at 5AM, then slept for nearly 12 hours. My sleep schedule is fucked up. I need to fix it. So yeah, I'm staying up until around 12:30 tonight, because I gotta watch Conan. HE'S SO CUTE!!!

One last thing, I saw the Last Samurai the other day. I thought of some aspect of it more than simply the "NINJAS!" aspect, but honestly, I can't remember what it was. Oh well.

New fact from CNN - Hurricane Ivan is generating more than 5x the power that the world is currently consuming. We need to harness that... Somehow.

Also, this ban on assault weapons issue is confusing. I'm a big fan of gun control, as too many people have proven they aren't mature enough to use guns at all, and if they REALLY want to kill someone, I'm sure they can find a way. However, on this particular issue, I'm confused. What exactly makes assault weapons different from other guns? Most weapons, when used, do in fact assault someone. I shall research this, and then return with my findings. God speed friends.

Why I Can't Masturbate Anymore

What follows is my explaination to a friend as to why I can't masturbate as much as I used to. Though the subject matter may be a little off-putting, I assure you there is nothing graphic about it. It's just me being silly. I am however pissed that my fonts didn't carry over. Oh well.

Oh yea, and the names have been changed so u don't start spamming her. You can spam me, though. ^_^

xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: im really just bored
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: gime something to do
xXXxXx: your hand
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: hrmm
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: nah, my roommate wouldnt approve
xXXxXx: lol
xXXxXx: r u friends with your roommate?
xXXxXx: my sisters always had really really weird roommates
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: i am
xXXxXx: cool
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: but he still wouldnt want me jacking it in the dorm
xXXxXx: lol
xXXxXx: then go take a " shower"
xXXxXx: lol
xXXxXx: hahaha
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: nah
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: its a public shower room
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: id get caught by some stranger
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: then my only option would be to have sex with him
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: and i dont want that
xXXxXx: o god
xXXxXx: lol
xXXxXx: xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: then my only option would be to have sex with him
xXXxXx: ?
xXXxXx: what
xXXxXx: hahaha
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: exactly
xXXxXx: how do u no he would want to?
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: he wouldnt
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: but we'd have to
xXXxXx: y?
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: and it would just be akward
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: its just the way it is
xXXxXx: uhhhh okay
xXXxXx: well what if hes strait/
xXXxXx: ?
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: exactly
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: it doesnt matter, we still have to do it
xXXxXx: but y
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: i dunno?
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: why is the sky blue?
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: it just is
xXXxXx: well what if he thinks your ugly and runs away
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: i have to chase him
xXXxXx: y
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: hes not allowed to run
xXXxXx: y
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: its the rules
xXXxXx: what rules
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: THE rules
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: the rules of getting caught masturbating in the shower
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: if someone catches you, you have to have sex with them
xXXxXx: what
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: and in a boys only dorm
xXXxXx: says who
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: if it was a boy / girl, i might risk it
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: but no chance of that
xXXxXx: who made these rules?
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: i did
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: just now
xXXxXx: wow
xXXxXx: lol
xXXxXx: does your room mate no these rules
xXXxXx: bcuz i dont think u should tell him
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: not yet
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: no
xXXxXx: he might get scared
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: i just made them up
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: theyre not real
xXXxXx: lol
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: im just messing with u
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: heh
xXXxXx: yeah i kinda figured
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: it was funny, tho
xXXxXx: lol it was kinda scary
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: well
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: duh
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: hehe

Sleep Deprived

Okay, regardless of votes, I picked the Windows 95 wallpaper. I forgot, though, to take a screen shot of it. As well as this one I found later. However, I DO have a screen-shot of my current wallpaper, which I picked out after a long and thorough discussion with a friend of mine. I like it much. It may last a week. ^_^

On to more pressing issues, because, yeah, I'm tired of talking about wallpapers. If you want to see my current screen shot, just click the link in my aim profile. Or ask. Anyway, I've got a bad sleep schedule going on. Its erratic. I was deadly afraid that I'd fail my two tests today. I didn't, and they were only quizzes, but yeah. I went into both without any sleep. Then I came back and slept from 2 till 6:30. It was very nice. But yes, I can't get on a good sleep schedule. I will evetually. Alright, I'm tired again. Give me topics to rant about. I'm horny. Oh, I know. You gotta love this stream of conscious writing.

I spent the last night arguing with a friend that Playboy's spread of video game characters does not in fact signal the dawn of a new age of human decadance. He was convinced that because they could show "Cartoons" as he called them, they would continue to push the boundry of what is and isn't child porn, using logic such as this. I don't think Playboy will, simply because it's really one of the more conservative *ahem* Gentlemen's Magazines on the market. They are, as this debacle over video game characters shows, also one of the most visible brands on the market, and anything that's even possibly amazing. Playboy isn't going to lead the industry of child porn. It'll take a LOT of change, and I don't think this one video game thing is going to affect it. I'm honestly confused about the argument my friend was trying to put forward, so I probably am doing a terrible job of explaining both his and my own. Sigh.

Oh, and .Hack//Twilight is restarting. If you didn't see it the first time, start. The first ep is on now, but its every Friday at 1AM EST/12AM CST, and its good. Ima go watch it. Bai!

PS@1226 - Happy 9/11! yes, I know its not happy, thats the joke...

Welcome to the part of my blog where I check and see if you're paying attention. Even though you probably couldn't get four feet from me without hearing about this particular post... Never mind. Here's the point if you got her some other way. I want a new wallpaper. yes, I've had the old one for about 3 days, and I want another. Gimme a break, I said I was a junkie last time.

For reference, my current one.

I could just upload these to the page, but first, that will kill anyone using a 56k, and I know too many of them, and second, some are "Not Work Safe", as in, a bit risque`. Or something.

Contender 1
By the way, I'm going though these in alphabetically, because I'm lazy. This here is one of the wallpapers from the OS-Tan series, the anthropomorphism of various operating systems, mostly Windows. It's fun. I like it. It is a bit pink, though...

Contender 2
Yes, it's called AngelTits. I like the name. I don't know why, but I do. It sounds like a terrible pet-name for a lover: "Come here, Angel tits, let's snuggle." Anyone who wants me to call them that, feel free to volunteer, I think its kinda cute in a really sick way. Oh, and the wallpaper is hot, too, though I dunno if I'd wanna have it up for the world to see.

Contender 3
I dunno, I just like this one too. No real reason, except it reminds me of a techno song I used to have called "Blue Angel". If you can find me that song, this paper is a shoe-in for the slot.

Contender 4
Yep, number four is Oren-Ishii, from Kill Bill, in cat-girl form. Ain't it cute? I suppose I have a bit of a catgirl fetish. Maybe I'll show you some more of those things should you ask. >_n

Contender 5
Another of the OS-Tan ones. Its supposed to be XP-Tan, the Windows XP character. There are better pictures of her, but I like this picture for its simplicity. It's calming, if you ask me. ^_^

Okay, e-mail or AIM me with you're vote, I'll announce the winner later. Thanks for your support.

Confessions Of A Wallpaper Junkie

Hrmm.. They changed the V-Chip ratings symbol thingie. Again. Weird. Oh well. Yeah, I'm watching Whose Line as I write this.

Anyway, yeah, I'm addicted to wallpapers. I have a folder dedicated to wallpaper images. Right now, there are 408 files there, sized at 124 Megs. I still want MORE!!!
Actually, I really like the one I have now, as seen here. Still, if you feel like sharing / trading, lemme know. I prolly have something you'd like. ^_^

College life is settling down. This is day one of my first 3-day weekend, which is fun without a doubt. I have homework due on Sunday at midnight, and more due Monday at midnight. Anyway, I prolly should be working on that, but I obviously have more pressing issues. Like wallpaper. And, believe it or not, calls from the 210 area code asking if I run a government installation. I don't. At least, not at this number. My phone number, if you feel like calling, is available upon request. I don't feel like posting it here, because some crazy people are out there on the net. Anyway, I like getting calls. Makes me feel luvved.

My shift key is loose than my other keys, except maybe my spacebar. The right one, anyway.

Speaking of computer things, I have a virus hiding in my system files. C:\System Volume Information\ is hiding a .DLL with some infection in it. However, I can't access that folder. It sucks. I'm currently looking into it, but you guys need to help me.

Anyway, I'll leave you on this note: Michelle isn't ugly. If you're a single guy, IM her at AshyWater on AIM. Bye.

Kerry Alert!

I was flipping and saw the Fox News Channel. You know, the ones without a liberal bias. They have a Conservative bias... No, agenda. Anyway, I saw a bright red banner on the screen. "FOX NEWS ALERT" it read in bold letters. Naturally, my instict was to pay attention. Alert? Is something happening? It turns out, of course, that the ALERT was a speech by John Kerry. I found that funny, and put this in an AIM window:

"Yes, this is Bill O'Rielly on the scene where just moments ago Senator Kerry flipped, and is expected to flop at any time... We at Fox News advice all Americans to stay inside, stay tuned to Fox News and always, Always, vote Bush..."

Anyway, I liked it. It was that or:

xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: OMG KERRYS GONNA GO ALL LIBERAL ON US GOD SAVE US!!!!
xx L33T N1NJ4 xx: RUN FOR THE HILLS, HE WANTS GAYS TO MARRY!!!

So, moving on: I've been to all my classes now. They've been surprisingly better than I expected, and I'm looking forward to a good semester. I've also started up D2, which is fun. I'm currently a level 26 Amazon Archer. So.. Yeah... Anyone who wants to play... Whatever, I'm tired. I'm thinking of napping before calculus at 1. Later.

My Wish List

It's 4AM. I should be sleeping, but instead I'll blog. I've mentioned that I need to stop buying stuff before Christmas, so my family can get me something for Christmas and my birthday (Christmas Eve, if you didn't know). So then, I need to make a wish list for my family to start shopping. Trouble is, a bunch of the items on my list aren't out yet. Anyway, if any of you wanted to be nice enough to get me something (like I deserve it, heh) then here's the list. And if not, well, you can read it as a list of things I'll be fiddling with in '05 (between classes, of course).

Transformers:
G1: Stunticons - The Decepticon car team. These guys kick ass, and I need them. So much. I just realized I'm really tired, so don't expect much of a discription in these. Also, any of the Toys'R'Us Reissues would be nice, especially Powermaster Prime.
Alternators: Hound, Dead End, others - The Alternators line, if i havent told you already, are the Transformers toys made after officially licenced Automobiles. They look absolutely STELLAR. Yes. Stellar!
Energon: ??? - I really need to look into this line more. Despite being the current major line, I really haven't been impressed by much. Actually, I like the little "Omnicon" things, which are the $5 models of the series. They're nifty. The Terrorcons aren't bad, either. And they're fun, cuz they're supposed to be like Decepticon Stormtroopers, so I could get like 20 of them, and it would just be more accurate. ^_^ However, I know I do NOT want the Energon Prime, he's just freaky. Oh, and none of the kiddy playtoy things. I'm too big. U_U...

Video Games:
GBA: Pokemon Leaf Green - I know, Pokemon is just for kids, and its old, but hell, I like it. Sides, I'm gonna get Fire Red for my 7 year old cousin, so we can play together. It'll be great! I'll catch them all!!! Plus, the wireless function looks fun.
Final Fantasy Advance - The original two FF games, for sale portably and upgraded graphics-wise. Can't go wrong.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain Of Memories - I LOVED Kingdom Hearts on PS2, I gotta get the Game Boy. No contest.
Others - I'm sure there are more. Metroid: Zero Mission, umm... I dunno, I can't think atm.

PS2: System - I was promised one if I got good grades. I'm going to get good grades. No questions asked. So therefore, I'm getting a PS2
GTA: San Andreas - This just looks cool. We all know how great gta 3 and Vice City were. If you don't, don't worry, I'm sure life under that rock is great, too.
Disgaea - Actually, and game by this developer. I can't think of the name, but yeah. It's supposed to be a nice tactics game, like FFTA, love of my life, and it's also rumored to contain humor. Humor? In a video game? I must see this. "For SCIENCE!!"

Okay, I know I want more things, but I really can't think of them. One thing not going on my list, of course, is manga. I love it with all my heart, but I'd just feel uncomfortable getting some explicit manga shit from my grandpa. It'd be... akward.

Speaking of manga, after moving in (and getting broken furniture replaced, FINALLY - took em 5 days) I've discovered that I have JUST BARELY enough room for my current manga collection (45 books for the curious). I couldn't fit any more. I will buy more, of course. I just don't know where I'll put it. o_0;...

Okay, I'm DEAD tired. I need to get my sleep schedule working. Good night readers.

Greetings from Lubbock

Yeah, I made it here. It's great. I've got a T1 line and everything. And a wireless router. You know, since this is entirely so huge.... u_u. Anyway, Matt doesn't arrive till Thursday, so that gives me two days to get my cards arranged. I currently have most sorted by color. I have way too many.

Actually, I have less than I had before the trip, but that's the 2nd story I have. The first involves a gas petal and a motorcycle. I was trying to pass people on the two lane highway. It sucked. I had to gun it up to ninety to get around them and back in the right lane. Anyway, after I whipped around the motorcycle, I got looked in my rear view mirror. Now, the guy didn't look like a cop BEFORE I passed him, but after, I got paranoid. I looked back at him, and his lights are flashing. Not changing colors, just going bright or dull yellow. I was SO confused. And paranoid. Turns out his lights were just kinda loose. It was all good.

2nd problem occurred when I stopped to get my mapping software outta the back. I dont know why, but I opened the side door. The software was in the back, but what the side door held, much to my chagrin, was a shoebox of random magic cards. This shoebox dropped right into the puddle we'd stopped next to. Yeah, I'm a dumbass. Anyway, I got a pile of around... 500 cards I can never use again. I'm gonna donate em to some learning kids. *Shrugs*

So I finally showed up! YAY!! Phone works. Internet works. TV works. Remote works. Everything is great. I've gotta start packing stuff onto shelves and stuff. I should do that now. Whatever. Great thigng about my new internet, though, is that I dont have to ever sign off. If you wanna talk, just drop me a line.

Kay, laters. I'm gonna put my Transformers in battle poses atop my bookcase.

Daily? Pfft....

A friend was telling me I should do these daily. I doubt I'll keep up this current pace up much more, but now is an eventful time. And I'm sure to pick up new experiences at Tech. We'll see.

Tomorrow I leave for Lubbock. However, I if doubt I'll get a chance to get online before Monday evening. Just a heads-up. I PROMISE to get something out by Tuesday night, even if it's just an entry from the library about how my new dorm doesn't work. In any case, I am really excited about Tech. And nervous that I'm gonna forget something. One suitcase can't POSSIBLY have enough clothes in it, can it? Oh, and I need socks, don't let me forget. Like I said, I'm bringing all my Magic cards, so hopefully I'll have them somewhat organized from now on. And I'm bringing all my manga (41 volumes!!!) and my meager collection of DVD's. The Transformers Original TV Series Box sets are coming, too, though they nearly got left behind because I couldn't find Season 3, part 1. Turns out it was just lying open, hidden in plain sight. Don't you just hate that? I KNOW I'm gonna forget something... Oh well, wish me luck, eh?

Also, I've been watching TV lately. I always do, of course, but lately, it's been different. Good. Or at least the Teen Titans 2-Parter I saw today, "Aftershock." It was great. I really was very impressed, so much so that I demanded that Matt record it onto his computer for future study. It was just SO great. I love all the episodes with Terra in them. Something about her just kind of intrigues me. I was kinda sad about the end. I won't spoil it for you, but it's a bit of a tear-jerker. Not THAT much, like .5% or something. But it was a great way to end the "Terra working for Slade" arc. I hope they make more episodes with her, I can't wait.

What is it about Terra that fascinates me so? I'm not sure, I guess I like the way her character isn't really sure of herself. She's got amazing powers, but doesn't truely believe she's got what it takes to play with the big boys. She'll go out of her way to prove herself, and really wants acceptance. ("Oh, yeah, that's new, a super-hero who feels outcast..." Shut up, voice in my head.) But yeah, it's really entertaining to watch her character grow, especially since none of the other Titans really do. They laugh, they learn, and at the end of the episode, everything's exactly the same as it was in the beginning for them. Terra, on the otherhand, is visibly affected by her experiences. She's a real person, and it almost seems like she helps bring the other characters to life more when she's around, too. Anyway, I'm rambling.

In other news, I managed to find kiddy porn on basic cable. (O_O?) TNT aired Superman 2 the other night (dead of the morning Saturday, really) and so I decided to record it. It had many great features, even though I didn't watch it all the way through. First, for those who don't know, it's the one with the other Kryptonians who battle Superman because they are evil. *Shrugs.* It's great. The villians are originally shown being imprisoned first in a pair of rotating hula-hoops, and then in a two-dimensional plane (amazing effects here). Also, Clark Kent's editor at the daily planet, in responce to a terrorist threat in Paris (What, terrorist before 9/11? I dont believe it!) tells Clark to research "everything on terrorism." I was laughing so hard at that, I had to get Matt to record it to an MP3. I'll share it when I get it on this comp.

And the child porn, during a flashback/intro/recap montage, it shows a preschool age Kal-El emerging from his just crashed space-pod, completely unharmed, of course, and also completely nude. Now, it makes sense because he was sent away when he was just a baby, but still, they could have done something about his tiny baby-penis. Yes, you read right. There was a childs penis uncensored on national cable.

And I deleted the TiVo of it, so no, you can't see. Rent it yourselves.

Perverts. (^_^) Later!

Storm Troubles

We had a big thunderstorm tonite. It made my house even more hell-hole-ish than usual. Here's a list of all the thing's that the storm has done.

-It was loud. Hard to concentrate on TV.
-It set off my car alarm. Twice. How does an electrical desturbance trigger anti-theft devices? (Next thing I know, Thunder will trigger the Steal Law in FFTA, too.)
-Made me have to unplug my computer. No fun there.
-It apparently KILLED our cable internet. The only reason you're reading this is because our next door neighbors, whose wireless net extends just into my bedroom, didn't get their internet killed some how. But it's a bitch to keep this thing aimed right. Actually, this had me worried that I had fried my network card before I realized that my comp wasn't the only one not getting net. Had me REALLY worried
-It cut the water. I'm not sure how that happened, either, but our water's out. o_0?

Anyway, I'm gonna unplug everything for the night, just in case the storm rears its ugly head again. Sides, comp needed a good battery drain now. Night.

AGH! SPAM!! And Other Thoughts

Just as I started this, I got a spam e-mail. They suck. I highly reccommend against them. In fact, I may be getting a new email address, prolly still with Hotmail, but still "Gee-Tom fifty-five fifty-six at Hotmail dot com" can be an mouthful in spoken words. Oh well.

Before I get a new addy, though, I'm gonna wait for a reply to an e-mail I sent earlier today. I found the site www.JesusIsHitler.com and was reading through their hatemail. The people who's letters get tapped for those sections are always the funny ones, or at least the easiest to make fun of. As I was reading through, one in particular caught my eye:

----- Original Message -----
From: marlese fairgray
To: Jesusishitler@Jesusishitler.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2004 8:16 PM
Subject: ur wrong


how dare you say that when jesus has sacraficed his life so that yours could be saved. he went through all that pain so he could save you and all you can do is say that. Your only using him as someone to blame for your countries past unfortunes. if you were to believe in him he would come and save you all but you denied him, you have brought it on yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you have any responses at all or any truthful information on him, read the new teasetament of God or email me at surf_chick102@hotmail.com

----------

Note that the email posted there doesn't work anymore, apparently she got tired of reading the flood of people blindly telling her she was dumb for insulting a joke site or something. I sorta felt sorry for adding to the mess, but I had this strange urge to send her this message:

----------

Hello-
I'm sure you've gotten about a hundred e-mails about this already, but I was just wondering, when you wrote in, did you honestly believe they were serious about it, or were you just playing along? As I read through the hatemail, I got an inkling that all the e-mails were faked by the sites creators, because, in all honesty, they're the funniest part of the site. You're not so much (I couldn't hear what the media clip responce was after your letter), but the amazing hate at what is obviously a joke site is just hilarious.
I agree, it's a terrible site. The jokes aren't all that funny (I found the original letters MUCH more amusing than the stupid responces given by the authors, but then they are trying to play a part), but I have a thing for obviously wrong logic errors. "Jesus and Hitler have never been seen together at the same time." "Both were picked on in High School." Those two statements are almost contradictory in argument, and a five-year-old could point out the fact that simply because they both have seperate instances of going to high school prooves that they are seperate people.
However, these people aren't the ones you should be calling non-believers. They are posting a joke on the internet. A distasteful joke, to be sure, but just a joke. They do not believe that Jesus was Hitler any more than you do. They know that it is impossible. I might even assume that they could be closer to Jesus than you would think, simply because they feel comfortable applying humor to their beliefs. As a wise man once said:
"...religion [is] only good and only in balance when they have a sense of humor. When they don't, things go awry. All we have to do is look at our enemy. That's a group that does not have a sense of humor. That's a group that's just snapped. And that's what happens when you don't laugh. You get all wound up in what you're believing in and no one's going 'ha ha!', and you're screwed."
I'll leave you with that remark. Thanks for your time.
-Greg Levine

P.S. - If you're wondering why I chose to send this to you, it's no reason in particular. You're e-mail seemed more intelligent than most, and you did list your e-mail address and offer to discuss the issue. Feel free to respond if you want.
PPS - I just tried to send this e-mail to surf_chick102@hotmail.com (the one you asked to be reached at) and it was offline. I hope you don't mind me using this one.

-----------

I really hope she reads it. She strikes me as intelligent. Enough, anyway, to have an enjoyable correspondance with her. Either way, though, it just felt good to get that whole spiel off my chest. It wasn't directed at her personally, just that group of humorless Christian fanatics who can't stand to have Jesus made fun of. Sigh, I'm gonna try to not reiterate what I said in the e-mail, and just move on.

Moving on... That's what I'm gonna do on Sunday. Leave Austin. Destination: Lubbock. Texas Tech, precicely. And I'm actually really excited to get out of the house and go. I WAS gonna leave today, because my Grandpa's got a Reunion of sorts there tomorrow, and we coulda carpooled and such, but yesterday he called and said he wasn't gonna be up to it. So I slacked off. I really need to pack clothes and books and movies and that'll be it. I already pretty much know what I'm taking. It'll be great. Plus I get a whole week up there before classes start. Just me and my T1 line. Oh, and Matt. Matt will be there too. He's cool, so don't worry. I'm sure I'm in good hands.

I'm going on a video game diet for the rest of the year. I won't buy any new games until Christmas. And I'm not gonna have a PS2 in my dorm until then, either. My only form of entertainment will be my laptop. And my Game Boy. And my books. And TV. And my Magic cards. Yes, I'm bringing my Magic cards. All of them. ALL OF THEM!!!! They will be sorted, and hopefully made into a few decent decks. I've been having a string of losses lately, and want to make some better decks and rebuild the ones I've got. I'm thinking of branching out into an extended deck, despite not having anything before Invasion, really. *Shrugs.* I'll be able to get the cards I need. Oh yeah, IM GONNA HAVE A GAMING STORE RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!!! (Magic store, not like an EB or something. That would make me break my diet.) That is a major plus, especially considering I don't have a car. I'll have a bike, though, and campus is pretty flat, so I'll be okay, except for getting out to the mall or what have you.

This gaming diet thing is really hitting me at a bad time, though. Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green are coming out. I was planning on buying one, and giving the other to my cousin for Christmas. Yeah, I'm a stinker. Also, Final Fantasy I & II Advanced are coming out. As is Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. I need ALL THESE GAMES (well, only one of the Pokemon Games, but still...) Hopefully, I'll get them for Christmas.

Anyway, with all that going on I just have one question for you all: Were you listening to me? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?


Look again.

Bam.

Later guys.

Pet Peeves - P Alliteration Gone Awry

I have two pet peeves on my mind right now - Punctuation, and its lack of use; and the upcoming election, and people who support Bush. Paint also showed up, but ignore it.

Punctuation is crucial to the internet. I just read a large Xanga entry, that was all one gigantic, non capitolized sentence. It was hard to read. Don't do that people, please. For my sake. Fix it.

Politics. The topic makes my head spin. Really. This is my first election that I'll get to vote in. I'm honestly bummed. No matter how I vote, Bush will win my district, simply because he used to be governor. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge Kerry supporter, but I completely disagree with Bush's last term. Pre 9-11, he was on vacation most of the time. It was funny, watching him spend month long sabbaticals at his Crawford Ranch. Then, the WTC got hit by planes. Bush sprung into action. Homeland Security! Airport Security! All sortsa Security! Things were being DONE. Quite frankly, though. I'm scared. Not because of the terror alerts they keep putting out. I think we're at Orange now, for some reason. I don't really know, nor do I care. I'm more scared of the power Bush and his administration have garnered from their War on An Abstract Noun. I've heard rumors that the elections may be postponed due to terror threats. Quick note: who's deciding what counts as a terrorist threat? The Bush Administration. The prospects scare me.

My personal beef with Bush is the fact that he lied to send our nation to war. There are no WMD's in Iraq. Iraq is nowhere NEAR the largest threat to us right now. Sigh. Its not that I think Kerry will be better than Bush. I just don't believe that Lying in that manner should be rewarded. For reference, look at Clinton. For lying about a personal sexual affair, he nearly got kicked out of office. Meanwhile. Bush and Co. testify before Congress, convincing them to take us to war, and spending billions of dollars, all on, as near as I can tell, Bush's personal Vendetta against Saddam.

Anyway, I'm tired. I'm voting Nader, by the way, unless something else comes up. Green Party 100% yo.

What Happens When I'm Bored

A while ago I was bored, so I wrote out a long e-mail to a friend. This was before my days of blogging, so I ended up venting. A lot. Here you go.

--------

Hey-  

I'm sitting in class right now, bored out of my mind! Why couldn't you have just stayed sick... jk. I'm glad your feeling all better. I'm going to work on this e-mail intermittantly, as random things pop into my head, so expect it to get a little.... random. Heh.  

Anyway, I think I need a new e-mail address. This one is getting too cluttered with junk mail (I filled up my block list!) So, if you have an any suggestions, feel free to let me know. It'll prolly be with Hotmail again, cuz I love these guys, and I can check my e-mail using Outlook Express, which is a bunch easier to use than the normal website interface.  

Hrmmm... just checked my Netscape Mailbox. I got it for free, comes with a AIM account. I don't usually use it, but the little icon was flashing, and I got annoyed. AGGHH, there it is again!... Okay, thats done.  

So, what do you think of this real time e-mail thing so far? I'm just doing it cuz I'm bored. I really should do something else. Homework?....nah. Maybe I'll start my rants again. If I do, I'll be sure to include you, because I know you like them so much... well, the ones I showed you.  

Sigh.... stupid webcomics, they update too slow. I need my stories in one shot bursts, not in GIGANTOR (for some reason, I'm pronouncing that word in Spanish, so the G = H, as in HIGANTOR!) extended sessions, stretched out over weeks and months... I've got too much free time for them to be lolly gagging. Heh, I'm not one to complain, tho. Not like I have MY OWN webcomic... yet. *Can't draw worth a crap.* Oh yeah... oh well, scratch that idea, then. I'll just stick to my own rants and stories, and other text-based art forms. *Wonders: do ANSII naked girls count as text-based art?*  

Last night, I was watching Moulin Rouge (not ROGUE, though I believe a rogue [a ranger type fellow in a fantasy story, like Strider from Lord of the Rings] is definately cooler than a rouge [a pink? does that even make grammatical sense?] hehe, side tracks are funny) with a friend from Washington. No, we weren't together; we both started the movie at the same time in our respective locations, and chatted about it as we watched. If you've never seen it before (or even if you have, there's no stopping me!), theres a scene where the main characters (guy [Ewan Macgregor, by the way, the total bad ass who plays Obi-Wan in the prequels, and he's got my name smack dab in the middle of his last name, too!] and girl [Nicole Kidman, just to be fair]) are singing a romantic love song and dancing, and they step off the balcony, and are dancing around a minature version of Paris (its some sort of love trippyness or something). The conversation between me and Anya (the girl I was watching it with) went something like this (and no, I'm not going to use the actual screen names, because I'm too lazy):

"
Greg: OH NO!
Greg: EWANMACGREGOR IS ATTACKING PARIS!!!
Anya: lol
Greg: SUMMON GOZILLA!!!
Anya: how romantic
Greg: heh
*five minutes pass as she realizes that summoning Godzilla is not romantic after all*
Anya: hah
Anya: dork
"

So there you have it, unequivical proof that I am a dork. AND PROUD OF IT.   At this point, I have 3 major tangents bouncing in my head, but this one wins out: "I AM SO COLD RIGHT NOW!!!!!!" *sHIVERS* *Remembers he left caps lock on, debates whether to go back and fix that last bit* *Goes back and DE-fixes it* 

Oh yeah, I wanted to talk about my signature in that last e-mail you got. I don't usually go by the nickname of "Johnny". (Hell, I don't usually spell Johnny that way, I spell it Jonny, or just stick with John.) I included it as a reference back to myself being labled a type: "Johnny" Magic player, i.e., someone who likes making wacky and tricky decks, like the unbelievably long winded Leveler Deck I made yesterday. I do hope it didn't bore you. I usually throw in some random quip like that at the end, in the format Greg "something" Levine; or Greg Levine, something of something; or just Greg Levine, something. Today I'm leaning towards Greg "HIGANTOR!" Levine, but I think I have more stuff to tell you, so who knows.  

Plus, I have another hour to tell it to you in. gahh, I can't take this 3 hour stretch of NOTHING in between classes. I'm so glad I have you to get me through it all.  

I WAS GOING TO SAY SOMETHING HERE, AND I FORGOT IT!!! ...Oh wait, now I remember. This is the first e-mail where I have ever used those little ** brackets, or done any 3rd person narration like that at all. And I have you to thank for inspiring me.

Random tangent: I was watching School of Rock the other day, and theres one part where the principal is coming, and they have to make it look like they're really doing work. So they all scramble to clean up their rock stuff, and as she walks in, he says, "...and so, E=MC^2." (More on Einstein in a bit [and some other math related stuff, if I can remember it][This is more a note to me than to you, but I'm going to leave it in here, as a window into my odd little brain.) One of the random figures he has on the board, though, is this: "!x?". I just thought that was a funny little thing.  

This random memory was brought to you by this poster sitting in front of me. The headline reads "FREE TUTORING!!" which suprised me, because I wasn't aware the tutors are being held captive. Anyway, below that is a picture of someone with glasses teaching someone without glasses, because we all know people with glasses are smarter than people without glasses. (Listen to the track by Jim Gaffigan I sent you for more on that, and ask me to act out the things he does with them, because they need to be seen to be fully understood.) The girl with glasses, again, because girls are smarter than boys (you > me ^-^), is pointing to "2 x 4 = 8" and "2 + 4 = 6", and the boy is just sitting there with a confused look on his face (-.o, sorta) and a question mark above his head.  

Wow, do I love tangents. I just spend more time describing a poster that triggered a memory than the memory itself. I'd better nip this paragraph in the bud, before it gets too big, too. *Nips.* 

On Einstein: E=MC^2. Now, you know what that means, I hope. Energy is equal to Mass time the speed of light squared. C is the speed of light, mostly because he needed something REALLY BIG to make the conversion work, and the square of the speed of light (which i dont feel like writing out right now) is indeed, a big number... but its also a trippy number. It has been defined as constant, and that if, say, you are at a stand still and you shoot a lazer beam, it will go C. And if you are in a spacecraft traveling at 99.99% of C (because no object other than light can apparently travel that fast)and shoot a lazer beam, it will ALSO go at C! The usual way this would work, of course, is different. If you are at a standstill, and fire a projectile at Xmph, it will go Xmph, minus whatever decelleration factor it has, and if you are going Wmph when you fire the same projectile, it will travel at W+Xmph, the combined speed of itself and you. Okay, this is getting boring, so I'll stop that, because its starting to sound like a physics lesson.  

However... *dives back into the subject* what if you were in a spaceship going 30mph below the speed of light, and fired a projectile (not a lazer) with a speed of, say, 45 miles per hour. Logic, to my knowledge, dictates that is speed would be your own speed plus its own, in essence, (C-30)+45, or C+15, 15 miles faster than light per hour!  

Okay, now that your all excited, thinking I'm a genius, I've just been informed that I was wrong about light speed. Its not a Universal Constant, it is constant to the observer. So, if your standing still, a light beam will go by you at Cmph, and if your going 200 mile an hour, light going by you travels at 200+Cmph. Light is just screwy. I hate it, and I still think Einstein fucked up.  

Gee, I hope I spelt Einstein right.  

Hrmm, information is coming to my brain in slower clips. From the second paragraph through now, it has all been one straight shot of writing. ("Righting"; heh, damn I suck at spelling.) I crapped out again right about here.   I like this e-mail, I'm going to send a copy to myself. *Adds gtom5556@hotmail.com to "To: " space.*  

Hrmmm... I just randomly tried to check my Netscape mail (its squirrelmonger34@netscape.net, if your wondering, but dont send me anything there). (Actually, just about any of my screen names on Aim [don't put spaces] in followed by "@netscape.net" works). But this time, it won't let me. Grr.....   I'm sleepy. It's too bad there's no beds around here, or I'd be napping right now. Actually, I guess, for you, its a good thing I can't sleep now, because otherwise you wouldn't get this amazing e-mail! (Is it too big? I think this is just big today because my mind hasn't been dumped like this in a while.)  

It's one o'clock, so much stuff yet to do. I have that 600 word paper on optimism due tomorrow, which I'm sure I can complete (see, optimism!). I have two more classes today, no homework in them per-se, but I need to get a move on on my C++ Programs. I also need to read my History Book report book, so I have some idea of whats going on. Oh, and Math homework. That's been sitting next to me this whole past 2.5 hours. Hah, like I'm going to get started on any of that crap now.   Well, I've really enjoyed talking to you. Like I said, I needed a mental dump, and I think you've helped a lot. Thank's a lot.

Still got more time, and more random thoughts in my head. I listened to an Audio Cassette of a Power Rangers episode this morning. Finding old collections of childrens tapes is awesome. Anyway, it was the first episode with the White Ranger, and made me miss those spandex wearing freaks. Not the ones they have now, but the old and cool ones. I have like one random episode from the "Green Ranger Saga" on Video, but its not really worth watching. Once, when I was babysitting for some lil kids, they popped in the tape for the Mighty Morphin' (not "Morphing) Power Rangers Movie, and I saw like the first 15 minutes of it. THAT IS NOT ENOUGH! If you have it, could you bring it to me tomorrow?I need to finish it. I've already watched it before, but I feel its worth completing, and its starting to bug me.  

Other random Power Rangers things:     

     As much as I want to, I have yet to answer the question "Do you know what time it is?" with "ITS MORPHIN' TIME!" though it was once an away message. I'll remake that when I get back home tonite.     

     When and if I get a cell phone, I MUST make one of its ringtones the sound for the power rangers theme: "beep beep boo-beep beep - beep."

     Currently stuck in my head is the orginal rocking Power Ranger theme, as well as the Red Rangers amazing cry of  "TYRANNOSAURUS!"
     Whenever I see the card Sabretooth Tiger, or hear any random reference to the creature at all, I can't help but think of the Yellow Rangers equally amazing cry: "SABRETOOTHTIGER". Some how, she managed to make it all one word.  

K, thats enough of that. I really need to head off to class now.

-Greg "betcha forgot all about HIGANTOR!" LeVine

p.s. Just wanted to see the difference between LeVine and Le\/ine... hrmm much l33tn355 is included. I am so glad that the V in my name can be capitolized.

---------

Okay, that was fun. I only edited it to turn brackets into **'s, and to protect the identity of the friend I sent it to. All spelling errors and other typos are from yours truely, as of Monday, October 6, 2003 1:23 PM. That was fun to re-read.

OK, later days folks.

Misetings article

Found some old stuff, wanted to post it for posterity.

The following is based on actual events;
Only the names, places, and events have been changed.

"DCI Bans 'Scissors'"
by Squirrelmonger (me)- January 06, 2003

Renton, WA -- Citing the results of a recent 'Rock, Papers, Scissors' tournament, the DCI has banned the use of Scissors from all forms of sanctioned play.
 
Jeff Williams, a spokesman for the DCI, explained, "The statistics don't lie. Over 30% of last weekends matches were won by players running Scissors. It's obviously too powerful for competitive play. It is a direct foil to any sort of Paper strategy, and that's simply not the kind of environment we want to encourage."
 
In a recent poll done by the DCI, Scissors was the number one picked symbol used by players. Rock, the only dependable way to beat Scissors, was a close second, but Williams believes "this is a backlash and only helps further drive home Scissors dominance of the game."
 
Since it was first revealed in 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' first release, Scissors has been one of the most dominant strategies in the game. Many players have feared the "two-pronged menace". Now, however, Williams hopes to allow Paper players to step out of Scissors' shadow and finally flourish on their own.
 
"This is a great time to be a Paper player. 'Flat-handers' finally have a chance to show their worth."
 
Many Rock players have worried that this change may also adversly affect their play as well, but Williams remains confidant. "Remember, this is a changing game. We may make a mistake from time to time, but we're always working for what's best for the game." 

Random Babbilngs

I just watched Independance Day. Or at least the last hour of it. It was good. The best part, though, was seeing the DVD extras they show on FX for some reason, including the deleted Bi-plane scene, where instead of flying his jet, Russel, the drunk, crashes his crop duster into the alien superweapon. You hadda see it, I guess, but it was hilariously out of place. Also funny was the idea that the human's resistance plan required an absolutely perfect record against the aliens. Had one of the alien city-ships survived long enough to regain its shield, it could have gone and enslaved the planet on its own. It was an all or nothing. In fact, it lead my to envision my own deleted scene for the movie.

Earth's counteroffencive has succeeded, and all the alien ships have been destroyed. The rubble from crashed cityships is being cleared away and salvaged. But, as one particular panel is pushed aside, one surviving alien jumps the worker, then turns to the camera, and lunges for it. Fade to black, and the words "The End?" appear on screen.

IT'S GOLD!!!

If you ask me, the muslim's got it all wrong. If you're going to have a religion-based dress code for women, it should not involve large amounts of clothes. Especially in the desert, which is like a beach except for the lack of ocean. If I were making the rules,  I'd go just the opposite. ENFORCED FEMALE NUDISM! (Like the Ferengis!) It makes sense. The female form is the most beautiful natural gift from God, and should not touch any man made clothes, nor should anything obstruct it from view. Also, to avoid the unsightly "ugly chick," mandatory exercize regimines will be ordered. Now, its been proven that sexual intercourse burns off tons of carbs and fat. Therefore, a good fucking will be vey neccessary.

Where Does The Time Go?

AGH! This stupid game is giving me a headache. It was due a while ago, and I was lucky to get an extension, but now I'm STUCK. I'm getting weird linker errors I don't know how to fix. If you think you can help me, feel free to IM me.

Anyway, let's see, what all has happened in current events. Since my last post, that is. Let's see, my last MAJOR post was when I was on the way back from Jersey. Okay, that's a good way to segment it. Since then, what has happened to Greg? Well, first, the multiplayer deck I mentioned and then decided to not talk about got built. It was completely sucky, but that's okay, cuz its for multiplayer. I built it really hurriedly, though, because last Friday I took it out to a Multiplayer tournament. Actually, a 2v2 teams format, which was fun. It preformed horribly. Absolutely horribly. However. I did manage to resolve my game winning combo once, so the night wasn't a complete loss. In fact, that was my goal for the night: to play a kickered Desolation Angel with Last Laugh and Sphere of Grace on the table. (Don't worry if you don't understand it; basically doing that meant "I won".)

After going losing two rounds out of two, Matt and I decided to leave. Our destination: I, Robot. Despite my anger with the movie earlier, I do have to admit, this movie was spot on to Asimov, with the minor exception of a robot brain being purposefully built without the three laws. Even the red lights, which I had laughed at when I first saw them in the previews ("Why are the robots going from blue to red?" "Well, cuz they're angry, I guess." "Okay, why would USR equip their robots with lights for that occasion?"), even they served a purpose and made sense in the context of the film. It was great, and not quite the dumb action shooter I thought it would be, though you are welcome to view it as such. The special effects were fantastic. (The movie is like the Matrix in that while you CAN enjoy it as just an explosive action film, if you take the time to think during the film, you will get a little more out of it.) Also, though I haven't heard plans for a video game, I believe it has the possibilities to make an exceptional movie-game like "Goldeneye" was on the N64. Were I to make it, I would have a gaming engine simlar to Grand Theft Auto 3 and on, though with more emphasis on the non-car parts, as well as a tighter storyline rather than the random "Greet person, accept misson, do mission, repeat" game that GTA is. Don't get me wrong. I love that kind of game, but when basing the game on a movie, the storyline should take a little more precidence. (I'm under the impression that Spiderman 2's game succeeds very well without a tight storyline, but for I, Robot, I believe a tighter storyline is neccessary.)

Wow. I really had a lot to say about that movie. One small side note: while in the theater, I saw a mother and her two young daughters. Young as in like 3-5ish, which I thought might be a little young for the movie. Oh well. It wasn't really too bad, so whatever.

Also in the news for me: .hack fever. Or something. I dunno, ever since I noticed they were showing .hack//Legend of the Twilight on Cartoon Network, I've been scrabbling to watch and read everything about it as possible. The third volume of the manga is still a few months off, but until then, I have pleanty to keep me occupied. Legend of the Twilight is great, and I bought the first volume box set DVD (which comes with the soundtrack too! ^-^), as well as set my TiVo to record it. I will still buy the newer DVD's, though, because I have this funny belief about actually paying for things I like. *Shrugs* I've gone on that rant before. Also, I got from matt all 27 eps of the original .hack//Sign, and the four Luminality episodes. Both are subtitled, though, making following the majorly dialogue based story a little harder while doing other things. I will watch it, though. I also am still entertaining thoughs of creating a game like "The World", the emmersive MMORPG .hack takes place in. I'm pretty sure the technology is all there, it just needs to be implimented. One issue: the specialized controls for the game. More on that later, maybe.

I HAVE A DVD BURNER!!! YAY!!!! *Installs it, waits...* IT DOESN'T WORK!!! Grrr.... Yes, when I noticed my grandfather had 3 DVD-RW burners and only two computers, I decided to take one off his hands. Unfortunately, the software isn't there. I shall have to spend a bit more money on my quest. I was at Fry's Electronic's last night, buying bargin blank discs (try saying that 3 times fast), and decided to get a program to let me burn. Unfortunately, I only had enough money for a cheapo brand program. It SAID it burned DVD's as well as CD's. The Fry's employee I consulted said that as well. (He recommended the 60$ program, but I didn't have enough for it; point is he said the 20$ one would work.) Guess what guys. It. Doesn't. Work. I'm pissed.

I had more, lost it. Later days. Pizza time. All that.

Multiplayer Madness

It's been a while since I posted a Magic deck on here, so I think this is as good a time as any to start. Especially now that Wizards is working on official Multiplayer rules. Here goes, a revamp actually, of my classic multiplayer Last Laugh deck.

I'm too lazy to... ah, fuck it, I'm too tired to do anything. If you wanna learn about the Last Laugh deck, ask me, I'll either play you (if I'm feeling mean) or give you a decklist (if I'm feeling friendly), or just act like it doesnt exist (because I'm either evil or lazy and didn't make it). Shrugs.

Comments Now Available

I got home, and decided I needed a change. So, Voila, you can now post comments. Lucky yous. Knock yourselves out.

Edit: turns out that I've had them all along? I dunno, its done with that little number thingy, anyway. I may change my template to make it easier, or something. I dunno.

Airport Blues

Any Mac users thinking the title has something to do with a wireless LAN, stop it. I’m talking about the real airports, the kind airplanes live in. And, no, they don’t have wireless connections here. Fuckers. Anyway, I’m sitting here between gates 24 and 25, and am bored. I left the house with a poorly charged Game Boy – Mistake number one. I also packed only one book: Asimov’s Robot Visions, a good read, and one I have finished now, after the three hour flight out of Houston. Also not helping was the five hour delay. While PJ and Dan had enough warning that they didn’t have to leave Philly today, I was not so lucky, I don’t know why Dad couldn’t manage to get all three of us on the same flight. Oh well, I get to spend an extra night in my own bed, finally. I was getting a cramp because none of the beds up there were really meant for me. One of the odder things was the tiny mattress, smaller than the bigger mattress is sat on, that I called a bed. It was comfortable enough, though my feet were somewhat odd being a level below the rest of me. *Shrugs.* On second thought, I should have pushed it down farther, and had the pillow sit on the lower ledge, therefore keeping me balanced. Oh well, too little, too late.

This is going to be a bitch to edit. Assuming is still gives me the odd characters that I can’t show without trying (possibly this “– a quotation, or the hyphen, who knows) I’m gonna have to go through and edit every line of the entry where a non-alphanumeric character appears. Oh well. Also, speaking of editing, it turns out you cannot spell Houston with an ‘I’. Thanks spell checker! *Thumbs up* ^-^

Random Wireless networks are odd things. I have somehow acquired a barnacle of a network signal. “AJRWireless” or something. It sorta annoys me, cuz it doesn’t do anything except occasionally boot me off networks that actually DO work. Or something.

The guy next to me says there’s a free network connection over there. *Points.* Anyway, I’m gonna finish this and then go and see if I can get on. ^-^ *Closes WMP.*

I’ve become obsessed with robots lately. More so than usual. I said I was reading the Asimov book, and I’m looking forward to seeing I, Robot, and then heckling it for not being anything like the original story. Actually, if it ends up looking really bad, I’ll just wait and rent it in a few months. Merry Christmas to me! Here’s my major beef with the movie. The robots in it are supposed to have Asimov’s three laws of robotics built in. I repeat them here because not everyone knows them:

1: A robot may not harm a human being, nor through inaction cause one to come to harm
2: A robot must obey any orders given to it by a human, except when doing so would go against the first law.
3: A robot must preserve its safety, unless doing so would go against either the first or second laws.

Asimov uses these laws in his stories to counteract what he dubs “The Frankenstein Complex”, a fear humans have that, like Frankenstein’s monster, robots will rise up and attack their creators. Being free of that outdated plot device, Asimov uses his robots as tools, not as metaphors or anything morally silly like that.

However, the new movie, (which by the way has Will Smith playing a character who has never appeared in an Asimov Story) has robots attacking people, or so it seems. I actually want to see the movie, if only because I have this strange belief that all the action in the movie is either a case of human driven panic, or paranoia on Smith’s part, OR, Smith himself is a robot, and therefore open to attack by other robots. It could be interesting. It could also be an average “Bang Bang Shoot-em-up,” as my Grandmother used to call them.

I’ve also been watching the Chobits series Matt was kind enough to get for me. (I promise, Hill, one of these days I’ll learn how bit torrent works). I have decided that I need to make a robot computer case. It seems to me that all the necessary components such as a hard drive, Ram, and other hardware cards, could fit into a head sized space, seeing as how they fit in a laptop and smaller devices. All other accessories, such as disc drives and monitors, would be plugged into the head, much the way monitors and external disc drives work today. There could be microphones built into the “ears”, a speaker in the “mouth” and at least one camera in her “eyes.” Yes, her. I plan on building myself a Chi, or at least a female persocom.

With all this attention on the head, why bother with a body, aside from the fact that it looks nice? (I would find it unsettling to plug an optical mouse into the back of a dismembered head.) The obvious answer is mobility. I want a computer that will walk around and follow me, and possibly be able to have conversations. Prosthetic devices work well enough for a human brain; it seems to me that an electronic one would be able to control the motors much better, or at least just as well.

Anyway, that’s my dream. Or rather, part of my dream, who’s finale is to put my brain in a robot body. (AND THEN TO FIGHT CRIME WITH IT!!!... Nah, jk).

Later, gonna see if I got on the flight, or if I got on the internet, or both. (Neither would suck.)

One Man, One Way

I have come to a desicion. We need more movies based on old television series. They're already talking about a Transformers live action movie, so that's good. Another movie I decided we need, though, is Knight Rider.

I told one friend that, and was met with a resounding "hunh?" so I'll explain: Knight Rider was an old 80's show about a guy who drove around in a talking car, fighting crime. Oh, and not just any guy. It was DAVID HASSLEHOFF! MUWAHAHA! Anyway, it was a great show if only for its cheezy-ness.

Other ideas for cheezy 80's goodness that need movie-izing include: the A-Team and a GOOD version of the Super Mario Bros.

Notes From the Garden State

So, I missed writing in from Virginia. Oh well. I've been busy. (i.e. lazy... Or horny and looking at porn. Take your pick.) Anyway, yes, for those of you who are out of the loop, I was in Virginia, and yes for those of you even more so, I'm in New Jersey now. So, here goes.

I'm right now in my stepbrother's room. It's cool here. Or rather, everywhere but here. This is the warmest room in the house. And I like that. This state is too cold. The water is cold, the air is cold, everything. EVEN THE REFRIGERATORS! (Well, duh.) I'm getting by, but having family members who say 75 is too hot... AGH. I'm SAVING YOU ON AC BILLS!! Anyway, aside from that, NJ is good. Most people think of NJ as being the ass of the country. That isn't true, in my experience. My thoughts on the matter are that the "New Jersey is a giant trash-heap" mentality comes from New Yorkers. You see, NJ across the river from NYC is just more of the same cityscape. But because it's not New York, New Yorkers can, no MUST, laugh derisively at it. However, the part of NJ I'm in, the central part, is like pure suburbia. And everyone asks me which I like better, NJ or TX, but really, I like them both the same.

Sigh, I spent all morning downstairs, so I gotta go be in trouble now. Sigh. I had no reason to go downstairs, we weren't told to expect any calls or anything. Sigh. I was happy up here, James was happy up here. I don't see what the problem is. We're both fine. Oh well. Again.

Bai.

Oh Yeah, This Thing!

*Blinks into existence again!*

Whoa, got lost for a... month? *Shrugs* I got a lot of work to do. Here goes.

I saw Dodgeball last night. That was SWEET!!! I haven't seen a movie where I was laughing my ass off at it in the theater, but this was Excellent, with a capital E. I don't want to spoil many of the jokes, but I will say two words: "Chuck Norris".

Here's some news: I enrolled in college. Twice. Once at Tech, but that you know about. The cool one is the 2-D Gaming class. Yeah. I'm gonna make a game. It's gonna kick ass. My game is about ninjas. That's all I can tell you until I get the first release out. Trust me, you'll be the first to know. I CAN tell you about the game our class is designing together. We aren't going to make it, it's just an exercise in game design, not implementation. But yeah, the pitch is basically Grand Theft Auto meets Star Trek. And not the new GTA3 or Vice City versions. Its a 2D game, so this is based off the older GTA games, the top-down ones. They're amazingly deep, and such. Anyway, I wrote up a little description on my professor, seeing as I'm going to NJ during the last few weeks of the course. Luckily, I can e-mail him my final video game. This is what I sent him:

"Here's my idea for the Grand Theft StarShip or whatever we're calling it now. You play as an independent mercenary for hire, willing to work for whoever you want to. You move around the galaxy or whatever map you use in a small one man shuttlecraft that can dock with larger cruiser craft and assume control of it. You use this ability to complete the missions given to you from various warring factions. As you complete missions for the different races, your reputation with them, good or bad, varies based on what you do for (or to) them. For instance, and I'm using Star Trek faction names simply because I'm too lazy to make up new names, say you take a Romulan mission to steal a Federation starship and use it to attack a Ferengi outpost. The Romulans will become happy with you, and the Federation AND the Ferengi will dislike you, some. This will also start a war between the Federation and the Ferengi, and open up a whole new set of missions. Missions will range from simple hit and run destroy missions, to stealing enemy ships for various reasons such as: they are powerful new secret weapons, or they carry hostages, or they have important cargo or data. Another possible mission would be one where you steal a Klingon ship, then use it to sneak deep into Klingon space, dock with another Klingon ship, and board it to kill a dignitary, with a high speed escape / battle against impossible odds to get out to safety. The game would be naturally open ended, with any number of possible game plans to follow, allowing unlimited replay value, letting the player play however he or she wants to. Either as stealthy secret agent, playing all sides against each other, or a simple attacker, blasting away at whoever his chosen faction tells him, or anything in between. One could also completely disregard the storyline all together, start the game, and head for the nearest biggest ship to steal, and wage war against the entire galaxy. Of course, that plan isn't wise, and usually leads to a big fiery explosion of the player's craft. But it is fun. Another note is that all the different ships have different ability profiles, such as speed, weapons, defense, stealth, tractor beams, and what have you. I think it sounds cool."

Okay, I'm going to Jersey tomorrow morning, so.. I gots ta go. I promise more tomorrow from the garden state... I hope.

Long Weekend

Well, actually, my whole life is a weekend, so, yeah. Anyway, it started off great, at the pre-release of 5th Dawn. I won't bore you all with the inane details, but basically, two things about the day made it most awesome. First, I opened up around $30 worth of rares in just one mere Mirrodin Tournament Pack. Score. 2nd, the games were enjoyable. Despite the fact that I went 3-4 for the entire day, just missing getting prizes for the first flight and completely failing it the 2nd, I enjoyed nearly every game I played. It was really, REALLY fun. I need more money to buy more cards now...

Also, lets see, the kitties are doing well. I let them loose in my room, and they've grown comfortable around me, enough that they'll attack my legs and such, anyway, so that's progress. They are currently making a buncha noise, though, so I'm not sure, I think I'll spend more time holding them from now on.

And finally, I'm enrolled in a course on 2D Gaming at ACC. It looks exciting, I hope, considering that the last 4 computer courses I've taken have been basic "intro to C++" stuff. And at the end of it, I'll have my own little game! Sweet!

Okay, I'm fucking tired now. I stayed up till like 430 last night watching MST last night with Matt. It was enjoyable (who wouldn't want to see "Santa Vs The Martians"?) but it tired me out. So I go zzzzzzzzzz

Dammit, People, Frankenstein is NOT a monster

I saw a commercial for Van Helsing this morning. It has you battling, among other things, Frankenstein, or so it claims. Despite all my fantasies of seeing Hugh Jackman beat up on an old guy in a lab coast (and let me tell you, shooting random scientists in Goldeneye was fun, especially when you just shot them in the leg or something), the commercial showed Van Helsing instead beating up on some large blue creature seemingly hobbled together from different corpses. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, you've been desensitized by Hollywood monster films more than you know.

At the moment I'm looking for the Teen Titans Theme. Anyone who has it (preferably in Japanese), I would greatly appreciate it.

Just a few minutes ago, I got a call to go downstairs. My mom was having trouble with the printer. I managed to diagnose the problem without actually looking at it, or even getting out of bed. Let me first preface this story with a little factual tidbit. One of the reasons people dislike tech support people is because they always sound condescending, usually because they ask questions that make even the most base computer user feel insulted. For instance, when dealing with a faulty printer, there are two stock questions they always ask.
1. Is the printer plugged in to the power source?
2. Is the printer connected to the computer?
Despite how stupid you would have to be to miss one of these problems, you would be surprised how often one of these problems is the source of the problem. Alright, so when I heard that the printer was acting up, I immediately thought back to this morning, when the computer down there was being frustratingly slow, as usual. I got fed up and brought down my laptop, hooked the printer into it, and printed off the web page I needed. Then I unhooked my computer, but I left the cable there, hanging in plain view of everyone. Including my former programmer mother. You'd think she'd be computer literate, right? Right? Sigh. I hadda go down there, and pull the cord through myself. Low and behold, the printer worked 100% better.

Oh yeah, in case u hadn't noticed ever, the downstairs computer pisses me off. I hate it with the fire of at least 36 suns. And possibly a smaller satellite object, like the moon.

I GOT KITTENS!!! Two, to be precise. A white one I've named Wampa, and a brown/black striped fellow with white paws, whom we've taken to calling Snowshoes. Both are boys, about 5 weeks old, and absolutely adorable. *Huggles both.* Course, the downside is, while house-breaking them, they need to live in my bathroom. Which is now a mess of kitty litter and cat food. Ugh.

Lessee... Tidbits: I got a new manga - Negima! It's alright, a bit hard to keep up with, though, since it involves an entire class full of girls. How the hell am I supposed to keep up with 31+ characters? Oh well, it contains fan-service aplenty, so I'm not complaining. And magic powers. You gotta love the magical 10-year-old teacher. And the class of 31 sexy chicks... I know, I'm a dirty old man. U.U...

A while ago I bought a 3' Care Bear, Bedtime Bear, in pillow form. I dunno if I just recently broke him in or what, but he is REALLY soft and nice. My only question is: Should I take him to college, which is also coming up soon, and I need to clean my room, and AGH!!! *MY HEAD ASPLODE!*

Earlier today, I managed to get a free Tribes 2 CD Key, even after the website providing them claimed they were all out. W00t for my l33t skillz!

Also... No, wait, that's it. So long, fellas!

Greg Trek IV: The Journey Home

Wow, I’ve been slacking this vacation. Oh well, not really much to tell. My uncle snores, so being in my own room will be nice. ^-^ The fact that I haven’t cleaned my room is a bit of a downer, but whatcha gonna do, eh? By the way, I’m headed home now, as I write this (9:52pm by my comps internal clock). This trip made me realize how much I miss my mini-disc player. I have a buncha crap tracks on this computer. I can’t wait till I’m out on my own, er… with Matt, actually, who will give me all the songs I demand. Cuz he’s a good friend like that.

So, what’s new with Greg? Lessee, Blogger got a new interface. You folks don’t notice it, but it looks neat from my perspective. I’m actually hopeful that this letter will work and not replace odd characters with even odder ones. Yep, that’s what I did on my vacation, surfed the internet, and noticed the home page was different. Actually, that’s not the ONLY thing I did. I chatted online, as many of you prolly know. I also read some new articles and stuff that interested me, but (shock and awe) I also did stuff AWAY from the computer. Aside from playing with my little cousin (which is a lot more boring when we’re at her house, cuz she doesn’t have a Playstation or ANYTHING u.u) I managed to catch a couple of movies on my Aunt and Uncle’s satalite TV. W00t! Trouble is, they also have TiVo, so watching live TV doesn’t work, cuz they have a seemingly 24 hr TiVo schedule. I did get to watch a few movies, though: Mission: Impossible, Star Wars Episode 2 (which I got my laptop during the middle of, because Hayden Christian [Anakin Skywalker] gets on my fucking nerves – the guy can’t act! I would’a made a WAY better Anakin Skywalker. I go the height down, and could prolly have developed into a halfway decent saberist, or whatever the word is. */Rant*), and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The last one made me somewhat want to go see the third one. I’ll look into when it comes out. If its any time near when Lena’s coming to Tennessee to visit me, I’ll prolly see it then.

Also, I did a bit of shopping. Not much mind you, but still, my grandfather gave me $40 when I got to Tennessee, and I don’t have it anymore. What did I spend it on, do you ask? Well, for starters, we somehow ended up going to the mall for mother’s day. After getting lost in a “+”-shaped-mall (they need more directories), we eventually found Waldenbooks. And let me tell you, this is like the king of all WB’s, from a manga standpoint (the only standpoint I look at them from). It was seriously almost like a mini-B’n’N in there. So, since I recently had finished Love Hina, and was looking for a new series to follow, I picked up something called Tsubasa, by Clamp. It’s got a really cool story, involving characters hopping from one universe to another, in search of a girl’s lost memories. The girl in question is Sakura, but not the Cardcaptor from Clamp’s other series. Rather, its her in a different universe, and she’s unconscious for most of the series anyway, so she doesn’t matter much. Catch me later, and I’ll explain later; I’m a tad confused about it right now. I also picked up Love Hina #1, the American version, because the bilingual Japanese version I got earlier is missing two chapters. So, now I’ll have to find some time and go back and re-read them all. Shouldn’t be any problem, since ATM I have no other books that I need to pick up. Of course, Megatokyo, .Hack, and Tsubasa are still being read, but I have all the volumes of them published as of yet, so…. I got some time. If anyone out there has any suggestions, I’d be greatful.

“Ah, but two Manga, that’s only $20!” you think. “Where’d the rest of the money go?” Well, child, I also bought something in the greatest store ever: SAMS! (Okay, not really the greatest ever but still...) I walked in the front with my aunt, and immediately headed for the game section. Usually, most of the games Sam’s keeps in stock are crap, but every once in a while, they’ll carry a gem or two, if you’re looking. Case in point, I saw FFTA a while back, and this most recent trip saw Metroid: Zero Mission. That would have probably been the game for me, except for it was a few dollars out of my range. Just barely, though. I’ll have to try and catch a ride with mom next time she goes to Sam’s. Anyway, dejected, I sidled down to the PS2 games, to see what bargain-bin games they were offering there. The thing about that is, greatest hits games are usually about the same price as normal crappy games, so Sam’s just lumps them all in together, in the “Under $20” category. As I’m looking, I spot Xenosaga 1, a game I recognize from some old EGM’s as being a good game, though with exceptionally long cut-scenes. I, for one, like watching cut-scenes. It’s like a little reward for playing so well. ^-^! So I bought the game, and that’s where the rest of my money went.

Don’t worry, I’m not broke. I got money in the bank. I just can’t get at it right now cuz my ATM card has a once per month limit, and I used mine last on like May 2nd. Cuz I’m a dummass. *Shrugs* Anyway, I also have a buncha quarters. This comes in handy in two places – Arcades (more on that in a second), and those machines where you put in quarters, turn a metal knob, and a prize drops out, be it gumball, peel-off Tattoo, or !?CONDOM?! Yeah, that’s right, truck stop bathrooms, which I have been frequenting lately, have condom dispensers. I saw one on my way up here and wondered… should I? I mean, I am of age, verile, and exceptionally horny. So, it’s not like I wouldn’t use it, given a willing partner. Course, the problem is just that. I don’t have a partner. I’m not in a relationship where I need a condom, and thus, I don’t need one at all. Anyway, just thought I’d clue you all into that amazing moral quandary of mine. (I didn’t get it, if you’re a bit dense.)

About arcades – Lena’s 7th birthday, the one I arrived in Tennessee just in time for, was held at Chuckie Cheezes. I really don’t know what the draw of that place is. I mean, it’s got some good games, but for the most part, they’re all kiddy games. *Thinks for a sec* *Remembers he was there for a SEVEN-YEAR-OLD’S BIRTHDAY* Duh. Anyway, the afternoon wasn’t a TOTAL loss, seeing as the place had a MW4 game. Yeah, that’s right, MechWarrior 4! W00t! I proceeded to sit in it and kick total ass at it, as well as inputting a bunch of quarters. (It’s not that I died a lot; it’s cuz the game ran on a timer.) Anyway, I went through and beat the ass of the game. I got first place on the Moon – 700000 or so. Beat THAT! Of course, despite this amazing feat, Lena couldn’t understand why I’d waste so much time on a machine that didn’t give out ANY TICKETS AT ALL. (I then gave her all the ticket’s I had from random Ski-ball encounters.) By the way, thanks Uncle David, for funding my MechWarriorage.

There was one last thing I needed to say, and I JUST remembered it. E3 is going on now! W000000. For those of you who may not know, E3 (Electronics Entertainment Expo) is the video game industries major yearly campaign, where they unveil all their new goodies. New systems, new games, new awesomeness. This years high mark, for me anyway, was the revealing of the Nintendo DS (Dual Screen) It’s a portable device with, you guessed it, TWO screens, one above the other. It’s rumored to have power at least equal to the Nintendo 64, and features a touch screen and a rechargeable battery like the SP. Also cool is the fact that, like all previous Nintendo Portables of the GB line, the DS is backwards compatible with all the older games. So now I can switch from Metroid Prime: Hunters (a FPS for the tiny thing) to old school Tetris vs. PJ, should I want, or any other combination. True, I can do that NOW, too, but still… I gotta get this. Its got TWO screens! As for PSP, Sony’s competing product… eh. It looks alright, but I do still have to go with the DS on this one. Not only does it let me play all my old games, it also comes from the experts in the hand-held gaming, i.e., the team that managed to beat out the Game Gear with a green and black fuzzy screen. *Sniffles in remembrance of the wonder that was Tails’ Adventure.* Sony still has my support in the home market, but being able to play Tetris, Pokemon Red, Mario DX, and FFTA, in addition to whatever new stuff Nintendo releases for the DS, all on the same device has it’s merits.

Okay, I’m sleepy, and they’re prolly gonna want me to drive before we get home. It’s 10:45 now, and my computer tells me there are 2hrs, 45 mins left before I get home. See you tomorrow!

Notes From The Road

Evening readers. As I write this, I sit in the read passenger seat of my grandfathers' conversion van, currently en route to Memphis Tennessee, where I will crash for the night. It is currently 9:43 according to my computer clock, so I decided to write this. Actually, I grew bored. It's now too dark to read anything, and I have a history of developing motion sickness anyway, so reading never was much of an option. I don't know why computing is, tho... *Barfs.* JK. So far, when I wasn't driving (a.k.a. most of the time), I've been watching Undergrads. I've managed to watch all of them thus far, excepting episodes 7 and 8, which have erred for some odd reason.

*Searches through Start Menu*

Hrmm... I apparently had episode 21 of Cowboy Bebop all along. I'll have to watch it sooner or later. Most likely later. I'm currently running the "Add To Media Library By Searching Computer" trick, one which usually causes WMP to freeze up. It didn't this time. I'm fucking scared now. Wait, it froze on 100%. What a pisser. I'll keep you posted. At least the music is still running.

Lessee... I had something interesting pop into my head earlier, but it's gone. Instead, I suppose I'll send a happy birthday shout out to my lil'cousin Lena, who will be officially 7 tomorrow. Way to go you. I hope you like the present. (It's funny, cuz I know she doesn't read this thing. At least I hope she doesn't. So why am I writing to her? Oh well.)

Also, in case I manage to forget somehow, happy Mothers Day to all the moms I know. I hope this one 24 hour period where we all say nice things to you makes up for all the shit we put you through the other 364 days a year. ^-^;

L8r, I'm sleepy, gonna get some z's while still driving, I hope. If I don't hook up online in Memphis, I'm sure I'll get on in Murfreeseboro tomorrow (where my Aunt and Uncle live.)

Oh, and to anyone looking forward to riding with me to the 5th Dawn Pre-release: don't worry, it's still on, though I'm not sure how many extra people I can bring with me this year. My mom is planning on driving there, and attending and what not, so that's one seat less. I suppose we'd better work out a seating chart or something for the car. Seats are reserved for Matt, Dan, Jesse, and Rob, which leaves at least one extra seat empty, depending on who of that four decide to attend. We're just gonna have to work it out, I suppose. Talk to you later.

One final thought. The media search completed successfully. I'm blaming its prior failures on UG ep 7, which I deleted earlier today. I also found a volume leveling feature in the search tool, so I've used that. Let's see how that works out, shall we?

Added 10:03 - Oh yeah, I figured out what was bothering me. All this trip, I've been keeping my wireless card on, in the hopes that some random trucker will have internet access some how. *Shrugs.* I know it's stupid, but one can hope, right? Anyway, though I obviously haven't found one yet, I HAVE been bugged by something called "ajrwireless." It seems like its following me, or something, like it's in the car, or on the highway. Anyone else know what this thing is? Lemme know if you do. I'm gonna scan Google when I get a net conn back. (After reading Megatokyo and Penny-Arcade, of course.)

Added at posting time - YAY! I'm in Memphis. Sorta. And I get a real bed! W00t! Okay, sleepy time. Zzzzz....

Dallass (I can never spell that city)

I'm in the Dallas, TX Comfort Suites, conveniently located in the middle of no where, out of sight. It took us way too long to find this place, since it wasn't where it said it would be. Anyway, I'm again on the road. Sorry to those of you who may have missed me over the past week. The comp was taken from me for a messy room. The room is still a mess, but I got the laptop back for vacationing purposes. So.... You'll hear from me when I get to Tennessee, my final destination. (UT2K4 is still being held captive, tho, so don't challenge me. Yet.)

Wait, what's that? You want more? Well... Okay. How's this: Deep Space Nine. Spike TV has started showing reruns of the show, and I'm beginning to enjoy it. I dunno why, really. It's just so... Different. If you live in a hole or something, DS9 is the only Star Trek series that doesn't take place on a starship. Instead, it occurs almost exclusively on a former Cardassian mining station that has been commandeered by the Federation, and is situated outside the strategically important Bajoran Wormhole. This change in dynamics alters the attitude of the show. Instead of being an adventurous team of star-faring explorers like all the others, the crew of Deep Space Nine have to be much more political in their dealings with the local peoples, the Bajorans, to whom the wormhole is like a sacred ground of sorts. It's complicated, and I feel like a total geek describing that, but I am, so bear with it.

On a somewhat related vein today, I saw an episode of Undergrads today (I have most of the series saved to my HD) that raised the issue of which was better, Star Wars or Star Trek. The show was heavily Wars-biased, but to my uber-geek mind (I've got a fucking Comp-Sci Letter Jacket; I AM the Uber-Geek) the two are not competing brands. Star Trek, a weekly series, is a vastly different experience from the 6 total Star Wars movies (except for the 10 Star Trek movies, which often fluxuate from good to bad and back again and are an odd experience themselves.) In any event, even the subject matter of the series is different. Star Wars is an Action/Fantasy movie at heart; Trek is more of a drama. The two need not be compared.

Other geek stuff: I FINISHED LOVE HINA! It was great, and is highly recommended by Greg. The question is, what do I read now? I'm still waiting for .Hack vol 3 to ship, and aside from that... I don't know. Clamp impressed me with Chobits, and I've considered somewhat attempting to begin CCS (Card Captor Sakura), but I'm nowhere near entirely sold on it. Any suggestions from you all would be nice. Okay, peace out.

Random Acts of Money

I am now 82$ richer. I got this money through two rather interesting turns of events, which I shall relate to you.... Now.

First, last month, on the 15th (that's APRIL 15th, for those of you paying attention) I was filing my tax return. Guess what, since I spent most of the time un-employed, I got money back from my taxes taken from salary. $27, to be exact. So that came in the other day. Whee for me!

Next, and by far the cooler one, was my recent eBay sale. Recently, I wrote about the pestering I was getting from Gmail. I shouldn't have complained, really, it was just a tiny pop-up notification. Anyway, Dan, who didn't know I had the offer at the time, sent me a news link, as a kinda "hey, this is cool" thing. It showed how people were selling Gmail beta accounts. "Hey... I could have one of those..." I mused. This was all this morning. I got on eBay, listed my account slot for just under the going rate, and voila! This evening, someone had used the "buy it now" option to give me $65 for a Gmail account.

I'm sure some of you are wondering why I was so anxious to get rid of something like that, or at the very least, what Gmail is that makes people want to buy it so badly. Before selling the account, I did some research into the service. Evidently, it was a 1 Gigabyte(!) account, in addition to Google's cutting edge search engine techniques to sort through your mail quick and easy. However, it also scans your e-mail for keywords so that they can pinpoint you for ads easier. I don't need that kinda intrusion, thank you very much. I'm sticking with Hotmail.

I am also owed a favor from a friend of mine for getting a guy to ask her out. I have NO idea what that is worth. Any suggestions??

Okay, I have to go FINALLY clean my room. u.u