I felt like I was involved in a rather cool decision today. Sure, I wasn't asked directly...actually, it was very indirectly...and more than likely I wasn't the only one who suggested it. But I do know that I did submit the idea, so I can say I had some small part in it. Maybe thanks to me (I'm not sure), you can play "Renegade" by Styx on Rock Band 2. And in other Rock Band news, there's a good chance there may be more Muse coming to the game, if a recent poll has any sway on Harmonix.

Other than that, no real big stuff going on, which is great after the week and a half of Brandy being sick. I don't want anything "big" happening...and watch, something will happen because I said that. But, fingers crossed, nothing will happen.

For some reason, my back and neck are pretty sore. I think I'll sleep now.

I have got to put pencil to paper sometime soon. It's been way to long. But I just got Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the ol' 360, and I easily get addicted to Castlevania games, especially the Metroid-style Castlevanias. They're just so fun, I can't stop!

I had to take Brandy to the doctor today, so she gets the rest of the week off to stay home all drugged up and getting better. It seems like it was a really nasty case of food poisoning. If it's anything worse, she'll have to have tests run on Friday. But until then, rest, medication, and a bland diet of non-acidic fruit and rice for Brandy. Lots of rice.

The only bad thing about this is I had to take a day off of work to take her to the doctor, what with only one car and all. And my supervisor is a hard-ass, so I'm about to get a lecture on how I should care about my job more than, oh, I don't know, the woman I love so much that I've dedicated the rest of my life to her. So while it would take me missing another 3 or 4 days in a row before it could be considered a terminable offense, all tomorrow I'll have to hear about how I'm in danger of losing my job and how careless I am for missing one day. It's not going to be fun tomorrow.

Oh, and Dragonball was pretty kick-ass, in a bad and good way. The movie was horrible, but in the way that makes it hilarious and enjoyable. Actually, I'll probably see it again this weekend. I feel bad for giving money to such a poorly made movie, but I had fun and laughed a lot, so why not?

I just got down playing basketball with my brothers and my dad. It was the first time I'd played since early Fall. I only played one game, and I'm pooped. And that is no good.

I thought I would post some artwork here, part of a series that will eventually be 30 2.5" X 3.5" cards in ink. It's part of a 30 character meme that has, for some reason, taken forever to finish...and I'm only half way done. So I posted 4 of the cards on deviantart, since I was just sitting on these cards with no one to show them. And I'll post a different set of 4 right now! Part of the rules of the meme is that I can't tell you who they are, you have to guess. So here are numbers 2, 4, 7, and 13. I won't show off anymore until the project is complete. Hopefully this will give me more incentive to finish this.



( Hey Ladies! )

And one other thing...DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION, HELL YEAH! It's like someone scheduled a train wreck and is selling tickets! I'm going this Saturday. I am such a glutton for punishment. I mean, I saw Fantastic Four 1 AND 2 in theaters. I'm addicted to bad movies.

I am official a member of normal society. I got my first speeding ticket. I'd say 6 years of driving without one violation isn't too bad...could be better, but oh well.

It's not been the best week, ticket aside. Ran out of work to do today, which is not going to be good for pay. Makes me worried about my job a little, but I'm a hard worker, and there are hundreds in line before me if the lay-off machine starts running. But it's no fun sitting around in an office with absolutely nothing to do. Sure, I'm paid to do nothing, but I've gone through this before with my last job, and the days dragged on forever.

Hopefully the weekend will make everything better. I assume there will be the usual weekend group over. Just 3 weeks, and it already feels like a regular thing. Heather even has her own chair...it's weird, but good. I like having a new group of friends around, even if they all wear frilly dresses. And James, whenever you want to see Monsters Vs. Aliens, let me know.

James, thank you for saving us from that evil, evil hallway wall that was attempting to close in on us like a trash compactor. Only your forceful kick could force the wall open, saving us from certain pancake-like doom. And with the shiner you gave it, I don't think it will ever try that again. And you took the high road and even helped patch up the wall's wounds. What a guy you are, James!

Serious, that is how I will remember last night for the rest of my life. And James, if I hear that you are still feeling guilty over this, I will hunt you down. I'll only kill you if Kasha introduces my wife to Twilight.

But seriouser still, Venture Bros. Marathon was pretty great. We got to see Sgt Hatred's "D", ate cake ice cream (not cake AND ice cream, cake ice cream), and introduced someone to rule 34. Good times.

Scuba



And on another note, picked up Venture Bros Season 3 yesterday, and as stated by the little sticker on the front, it is uncut. And BOY IS IT UNCUT! I've only watched a few episodes, the one with Dr. Henry Killinger and the episode with my favorite title, "Now Museum, Now You Don't". And in those two episodes, I have seen the penises of the following characters:

Dr. Jonas Venture Sr.

Colonel Gentleman (and his dangly balls)

and last but not least, Ned, the Human Callous

I don't know how, out of 13 episodes in the box set, I somehow watch the two episodes with the most penises first. Oh, and you get a glimpse of The Monarch's ball sack in the third episode. Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick sure do love penises.

Who's ready for Venture Bros. Marathon?!

I just remembered why I haven't posted anything on here in forever...I get The Writer's Block. Sure, there's plenty to talk about, but once I get in front of a computer I just blank out. I know, let's share pictures!

( SPY SAPPING MY LIVEJOURNAL )

And on a note that is completely unrelated, Venture Bros. Season 3, hell yeah. Who's up for a Venture Bros. marathon on Friday?

And the streak is broken.



I was just tired of nothing new being here. Since the last post, my grandpa (Papa) died, I graduated from EKU with my BFA in Graphic Design, I got married, and got a job at a call center where I am currently kicking ass. So...busy 46 weeks.

Sunday was my BFA Senior Show, and it was quite a hit. Many of the faculty members were amazed at how the Graphic Design students were able to pull off a show in two weeks with no help from their instructor. That's right. Our instructor was barely in class and never took time to even look at what we were doing. And we only had two weeks because our instructor was sitting on his ass and not telling us important information or helping in any form or fashion. But it went well, despite everything.

So now it's just a few more papers, and then I'll graduate. I'll be out of the college scene and into the grown-up world. I don't feel ready, but who does? So why not just jump out there and see if I can swim, eh? I'm ready.

Oh, and if things weren't looking up already, this tid-bit of news literally gave me goosebumps.

Del Toro directing "The Hobbit"!

Del Toro AND Peter Jackson working together on a Tolkien film?! This will be the greatest thing ever placed on film.

Thanks to talking with my next door neighbor about video games and what not, I've convinced myself that I want a Playstation 3. Yes, I just bought a Wii not too long ago, and no, I do not regret that purchase. The Wii is still my top choice for gaming, especially seeing as how Sega seems to be considering the Wii their console as well (I'm really excited about Samba De Amigo Wii). But the PS3 is sounding really sexy right now.

First off, they have some nice games coming around the corner. Metal Gear Solid 4, especially. I'm a huge MGS fan, and it pains me to know right now that I can't complete the story unless I have the Sony Black Monolith. Then there's Soul Calibur 4. Yeah, it's on the 360 as well, but Yoda is never a fair trade for Darth Vader. And Disgaea 3, of course...though I never got around to beating Disgaea 2...I suppose I should do that. Oh, and Rock Band. I would much, much rather have a Rock Band that has downloadable content and customizable band members than what the Wii is getting. Those 5 bonus songs for the Wii don't even come close to making up for the mess Nintendo has made concerning downloadable content.

Then there's the fact that Bluray won the format war. That makes the PS3 a cheap Bluray player, and thus, a nice addition to any home.

And finally, Sony has been a good company when it comes to consoles. Sure, they really, really screwed up at the beginning of the PS3's life. REALLY screwed up. But a great product can win out despite bad marketing. And it looks like the PS3 has the power and capabilities will start to win over the masses.

But...I don't have the money, so right now the Playstation 3 is only a fantasy. Once I graduate, get married, and get a full-time job, then MAYBE I'll get a PS3. Until then, I'll just wait for MGS4 release date so I can eventually watch all of the cutscenes on YouTube.

So, my last semester has finally made a turn for the good. I had my thesis presentation yesterday, which was one of my major assignments for my final semester. And it actually went very well! It surprised me. I felt like I had an eerie calm about me that I don't normally have when giving a presentation. Maybe it was because I really didn't care all too much about the presentation. It has been a year-long project...one I've honestly lost interest in. So I guess I was fine because I just wanted to get it over with and move on to the more important assignments, such as the AIGA Portfolio Review in Cincinnati.

This is where my years of Graphic Design schoolin' (or if you've read my journal, my lack there of) is displayed in a neat little portfolio. Oddly, I'm rather calm about this as well, but not for the same reason. I'm really proud of the work I've been able to accomplish just within the past year. I want to talk about my work because I love it so much. I don't mean to brag, because I'm not entirely sure if my work is indeed "good" or not. But I enjoy making it, and I personally love it, and that's really all that matters.

A lot of awful stuff has happened this semester, and I can say that it has been the hardest semester in my 4 years of college (save the best for last, huh?). But it's finally ending, and I'm feeling much, much better about it. I'm ready to move on and get out of this place.

And at work, no less! You know, the only time I post here is when I'm at work...which should be the only time I shouldn't post onto any website like this. Against policy and what not.

But yeah, I'm dead tired. Went to sleep late, got used to sleeping in (a little) this weekend, boring as hell first class, then to work. And when I arrived, the office was in the midst of rearranging. Which in this case (and in most cases) meant that some of the women wanted to move heavy desks, and the men were forced to comply. And these aren't little school desks, but giant office desks. Heavy, cumbersome office desks. An hour and a half of doing that, and I was tired.

But of course, in the midst of the moving, my office computer was disconnected, and I'm waiting for the tech guy to reconnect it. Which won't be anytime today. This can be seen as an excuse not to work (which it is), but the work I had to do would have helped kill time so I can get out of here and work on stuff that's actually important.

And...I'm about to fall asleep again. I'm half-tempted to play some Earthbound or something on my laptop. Right now, I'm trying to be a good boy, but if nothing happens in an hour, I'm about to go join Ness.

Graduation is fastly approaching, and I have a crap-ton of work to do in too little time. I could go into the full list, but I'm sure I've complained about that before. What's getting to me is this question, "How am I going to pull this off?"

It really doesn't help matter when Brawl is waiting at the apartment AND at my parent's house.

This is going to be really, really hard, and not a lot of fun at all. I'm going to go ahead and apologize to my friends and family, because I probably won't get to see you guys or hang out much at all. And I apologize to myself, because I won't be able to enjoy my last days as a college student. Once I get through this and have that diploma in my hands, I'll make up for it, I swear.

Nothing's easy anymore, is it?

It's Spring Break, and I'm working. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is sitting at home. All my friends are off on some kind of adventure. Sure, I'm making money, but I don't really care about that. I just wish I had something to do.

Luckily, today is my last day of work this week. Hopefully Thursday and Friday I'll actually feel up for doing something with my fiancee or my family (they're the only one's here, basically). But today, I'm dead. Work kills me. Not that it's hard...actually, quite the opposite. There's nothing to do. So I look for anything to do, just to look busy. And by the time the work day is over, and I can actually go do something I enjoy, I'm worn out from pretending to work all day. I don't like that.

I need to start working out or something. I feel worn out all the time, and that's not good. I guess I'm still depressed. For anyone who doesn't know, my grandfater (lovingly called "Papa") died this past week. I guess I'm still not over it. I feel like I'm pretending throughout the day, just like at work.

And to make matters worse, I'm not getting enough sleep. I was up until 2am last night because I just wasn't tired. And then I woke up at 7am, when I didn't have to wake up until 9am. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I'm beat.

I think I just need rest, but I'm not sure how to get that right now.

Good news! I got a Wii! It has taken a lot of patience and some rather good luck, but Wal-Mart finally had some Wiis in yesterday. And I only went there to pick up The Darjeeling Limited!

I'm very happy with my choice of gaming platform. It took me awhile to decide on this one, but I am quite happy with it. Though the XBox 360 is very tempting, offering many high-end RPGs (Mass Effect, Lost Oddysey) and innovative FPS (Bioshock, The Orange Box), I really had to look at what kind of gamer I am.

I am a casual gamer.

This took me some time to accept, really. I'm a huge fan of the media. I love gathering knowledge on all platforms, from games I would never dream of playing to the games I absolutely love. I adore video games. But I have noticed a change in me, or really, a change in my environment and time management. I used to love the vast Japanese RPG, loaded with several disks of storytelling and battles with gargantuan beasts. But now, I just don't have the time to go on such adventures. I can't drop school, work, and relationships for games.

But I still love to play video games. So what do I do? I turned more towards the handhelds, namely the Gameboy Advance and DS. These had the RPGs I love, but they were in on a system that knows you don't have all the time in the world.

The Wii also has these types of games, the ones that you can pick up and play for a bit, and not have to sit through a 20 minute cutscene to get to 10 minutes of play, then another 20 minute cutscene.

I also chose the Wii for its game types. Like I said, the DS has the RPGs I'm looking for, so why have another system for the exact same thing? I would like to go more in-depth with the FPS genre, but it has never really interest me too greatly, and though I do have more interest now, it still doesn't have a strong hold on my attention. And when it comes to FPS or games of that type, there is always something better to come along within a year. I don't have the time nor the funds to feed that kind of habit; the same habit sports game fans go through every year.

I thought about the games I can go back to and play. Games I can buy, then come back to over the years. The classics. The games of my childhood, and the recent games that have become classics in my own eyes.

The Wii offers more of those, to me. Also, there is the backwards compatibility, which is always a huge draw for me. I like to expand my game library, not replace it. I have embraced the fact that I am a pack rat, and that I cannot throw anything away. This includes games.

The bottom line for me, though, was this: Games are supposed to be fun. And to me, fun does not include proving that I am better than everyone else at shooting people, or collecting materials to construct a certain set of armor for stat bonuses. To me, fun is jumping into the action, saving the world, defeating the bad guy; playing games with the people I love, and no one feeling worse for playing. Considering all of the options before me, with the current state I'm in, I find the Wii to offer the most fun. It's not for everyone, but it's for me.

Earlier today, I was going to post here to tell people I now have a Wacom tablet to use. It's not mine, it's my advisor's, but I have full use of it for the rest of the semester. I was also going to show people my Tegaki E account to show my first time drawing with the glorious tablet.

Then work happened.

Then envelopes happened.

I have been folding large envelopes into smaller envelopes for the past 4 hours. I don't even know why I'm doing it besides that I'm a student worker, and that's what student workers do. I don't know what goes in the envelopes, or the reason why they don't just buy smaller envelopes. I will probably never know why I did it, but it is done, and my fingers hurt.

No More Heroes has become my newest obsession. Currently, there is no cooler game. Absolutely none. This is the coolest game ever made.

It's like playing a Tarantino movie, namely Kill Bill. Comically large amounts of blood spray, dramatic death scenes, a bad ass motorcycle, beam swords, some of the most original, creative characters you can find outside of Metal Gear Solid. This is a beauty.

I am currently the 4th ranked assassin, and now I have to go fight a witch.



Seriously, it's all I ever talk about anymore. It. Is. Awesome.

That doesn't mean I get out of class. Only got me a 2 hour delay. IT'S STILL SNOWING, THE ROAD IS STILL HORRIBLE...2 hour delay. I had two classes today...well, I would have. One was cancelled and the other one might have well been, because nothing was accomplished and there were only 5 people present.

It's just going to be one of those days. Nothing's going right. Even that cancelled class was bad. I had to ask off of work to get to that class today, because it's a class that only meets once a month, and it only meets during time when I have work. Now it has been moved to next week, which means I either have to miss it due to work or miss more hours of work, which will mean less money. Neither one sounds good to me. Lose, lose.

And I have a paper due tomorrow that I can't get started on until I can get into the art gallery on campus, which is never open during a time I'm not in class or at work. I know that was a double negative, but I really don't care right now.

It's just not going to be a good day. Well, there is a silver lining. We haven't had a good snow in years, and this looks like a good one. It is quite beautiful outside. Maybe I'll throw some snowballs at my roommate later.

So...I'm making a game. A Flash game to be exact. I have nothing else to really talk about, and plenty of time to kill, so I thought I would talk about this.

It's for my senior thesis in the Art & Design department and Honors. I'm killing two birds with one stone, credit hour-wise. Actually, three birds, because I also have an independent study for this project as well. I'm getting plenty of credit for this project, but the bad thing is that I only have one semester to do it. I'm going to be in a whole new level of stress once I'm in full swing of things.

The game will be in the vein of LucasArts adventure titles, like Monkey Island and Sam & Max. It will be a murder mystery. That's all I want to say at this moment, at least until I get some stuff onscreen that I can show off. Oh, but the thesis. My thesis is that games are the new art medium. Just like Graphic Design and Photography, it is a medium that has developed from new technology, yet it is hard for the art community to accept this medium as "art". You all have seen the debates over it. That's what sparked my interest in it. So not only is it a Flash game, I have to put a level of artistic creativity into this thing so it could be considered "art". I think I have a concept that fulfills that purpose, but we'll see.

I'm pretty excited about the project. Should be fun. Well, I'll at least get all the fun that I can from it. I work better when I focus on making the work "fun". That's my strategy. Even if it doesn't seem like an enjoyable task at first, I just think "okay, how can I have fun with this. Let's try this", and then I just go to town on the project.

Instructions: Open up your iTunes and fill out this survey.
How many songs total: 1841
How many hours or days of music: 4.3 days

Most recently played: "Hidden Village" ~ Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)

Most played: "Search and Destroy" ~ Iggy Pop & the Stooges

Most recently added: "Hidden Village" again...I found a lot of Smash Bros. Brawl music

Sort by song title
First Song: "About Her" ~ Malcolm McLaren (Kill Bill Vol. 2)
Last Song: "5150" ~ Tsunami Bomb

Sort by time
Shortest Song: "Franz Kafka! Finale" ~ Scab
Longest Song: "House of the Rising Sun" ~ Santa Esmeralda

Sort by album
First album: Absolution ~ Muse
Last album: Within a Mile of Home ~ Flogging Molly

First song that comes up on Shuffle: "Killer Queen" ~ Queen

Search the following and state how many songs come up:
Death - 3
Life - 16
Love - 44
Hate - 4 (6 if you count the word "whatever")
Sex - 1 (oddly enough, it's called "sex addict")
You - 111 (My music is fit for "your" needs)