Then What?

You ever have one of those days where you stop what you're doing to wonder what the next thing you'll do is? Do you ever wonder why that's the next thing you're doing?

I didn't use to. I use to just be in constant gogogogogo mode doing thing after thing to reach some goal or another.

Then there came a point where I went... "wait a minute... why am I doing this?"

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying anything against creating something significant, pursuing higher education, or anything else of that nature. There's nothing bad about those things in and of themselves at all; in fact, they can be very good pursuits indeed.

But there is that baseline question of "why?" that must be settled.

And for me, there was a point where a lot of my "whys" where things like "leaving a lasting impression." Again, nothing wrong with that in itself, but really... when I think about it... it seems like chasing after the wind.

Even if I were to succeed in doing something that would be remembered for centuries to come, even if I somehow had the impact of a Martin Luther or something, what would I gain from it? What good is notoriety for a dead man?

Sure, sure... I doubt Luther was thinking about his own gains when he led the Reformation, and no doubt what he did has had a lasting impression to better Christendom. Sure, I've had some ambitions to make an impact for the good of others rather than building my own legacy.

But how often is that honestly the case? Not often at all.

I look at more common ambitions of people, ambitions I have also held... things like a strong retirement package, a business that has my name on it for a hundred years to come, etc... things that require a lifetime of hard work to try and achieve, and even then probability of success isn't high.

Again, nothing wrong with these things, but are they really worth it?

I don't think they are very often. The reality is, as a modern American, barring unnatural causes of death, I'll probably live to be somewhere in my 80s. I'm in my 20s now. Do I wanna work really hard, killing myself in the process, in hope of a nice retirement for the last 20 years of my life?

Not really, no. I wanna enjoy life while I can fully embrace it. I sound so unambitious these days... no longer interested in huge ideas and goals.

But I daresay I'm more ambitious than ever before.

I don't work myself to the bone day in and day out, but I take every day as it comes to me and make the most of it.

I'll take a chance on things today. I'll live in the moment.

I'm not advocating total irresponsibility, but nobody knows what tomorrow will hold, so I'm going to live for today. I'll still have general longer term aims (like getting my degrees)... but they stay generalized so as to make it easier to stay focused on the present.

Believe it or not, my reasoning is very much based on Biblical teaching, but I'll save the theological approach to my view on daily living for another time.

Another Oops

Forgot to update yesterday. I was up super-late playing Marvel, watching Corner Gas, then giving the Sopranos a shot.

All of which rocked my world.

Today, I don't really know how many episodes of Corner Gas I watched, but I do know that I finished the series. It was a really sad thing, finishing it.

I find Corner Gas to be a hysterical comedy show, but it's so much more than that. Crazy as it may sound, it became an alternate reality of sorts for me. But what do I mean in everyday terms?

I mean that the characters in the show can seem flat at first, but it becomes clear that the characters are real people as the show goes on. Each of the main cast has an undeniable amount of charm, and by the end of the show... it's like they were all a group of friends that I hang out with.

Watching the way the characters interact, understanding the relationship dynamics, it is obvious that I'm looking at living, breathing human beings. This resulted in watching an episode having a similar effect as listening to a friend talk about something s/he had done in the past... if not actually being there to experience the thing with the friend as it happens.

During the last episode of Corner Gas, I found myself quite sad. It was a funny episode, but it had a feeling similar to the one I have with my real friends now. It brought this realization of "we're going different directions, so this is kinda goodbye."

Sure, I'll keep in touch with my friends, but it won't be the same at all. Perhaps I give Corner Gas a little too much credit, but it's obvious to me that it is a more immediately tangible example of something that I'm actually experiencing and processing in this reality.

It's bittersweet, to say the least.

It's Getting Hot

No. Really. AccuWeather reported that it was 102 degrees today. That's bloody hot.

So hot, I said "bloody."

That's right, it was a solid ten degrees hotter here than it was in the part of Florida I'm soon to move to. Oh how funny is it to me that people here talk bad about Florida heat when our highs in the summer exceed theirs.

How much funnier to me that we were barely reaching 70 just a few days ago.

Aren't you glad you came to my blog to read about the weather? The blog of small talk. How awesome is that?

Very awesome. If only I could express in few words just how awesome it is as well as why it is so awesome. Sadly, I'm not that skilled, so you'll just have to take my word on this.

On a more serious note, I'm so excited about going to Florida. So excited. The craziness of life is about to catch up with me now that I have less than a month until I move.

Less than a month. Gasp!

I'll try to come up with something more apparently awesome to write tomorrow.

Right now, I'm gonna try and write a new song lyric.

Where's The Heart?

Where is the heart? Seriously.

No. This isn't a post demanding that you tell me where your heart is. I'm not that bold in general, but maybe I should run a poll sometime. Eh. Another idea for another time.

What I'm thinking about tonight is something I've noticed about the way I view movies or any other kind of story. As I've probably pointed out here before, or you've figured out on your own, I'm an emotional kind of guy.

Note to self: Rant about emotionalism used in persuasion some time in the future.

Forgive me, I digress.

As I was saying, I have a heart. I feel things.

When it comes to movies and whatnot, I need to feel things.

I just wrapped up Gangs of New York tonight. The night before, it was Watchmen. For the last day or two, I've also been reading the Japanese comic series Death Note. All of these works have one common thing that keeps me from completely raving about them.

They all lacked the ability to create an emotional connection between me and the on-screen characters. With the partial exception of Watchmen (still the overall weakest of these three examples), I find the stories, settings, execution of ideas, and (oddly enough) even the characters to be interesting and compelling.

But I don't find myself attached to them, and that really hurts the end result. Without a sense of feeling, I find these things ultimately unfulfilling. That really sucks in my eyes, too.

To clarify, I'm not saying I want happy endings or anything like that. I'm not saying I wanna walk away feeling good. But if I don't feel for the characters, then I don't feel like I experience with the characters the good and bad things happening.

I know it's not fair to expect everything to be on par with the Japanese series Fullmetal Alchemist (which, believe it or not, is still the greatest example of the ability to create emotion in me), but it seems fair to request at least some emotional connection.

I think I felt more emotionally connected to Confessions of a Shopaholic than I did to Watchmen. That's kind of sad, but it's true.

If only "fantastic" movies still presented that emotional connection. Without it, ultimately, the number of these movies that I end up caring about is a lot smaller than it could be.

Days Go Quick

Time really does go by fast. Sure, you can take that on the philosophical grounds of "it seems like yesterday I was 22." But I'm talking about the hours in a day... the hours that slipped away, leaving me to forget updating my blog until now.

Uhm. Thanks to Riley, I'm working on Japanese-comic-book drawings. Well... I just started learning like... 26 hours ago. But I'm learning.

Because I have sweet ideas for comic books, and I don't know anyone (other than Riley) with the skills to bring them to life. Guess I'll have to do it myself.

Sweet ideas are so sweet, though. I need to start getting them down on paper.

In the meantime, I give you this. It was my first attempt at a "realistic" character in the Japanese style (second if you include scratching it out on paper before reccreating it on the computer), and my second attempt at a character in the Japanese style altogether.

Romanticized Views

I'm pretty sure everyone has a romanticized view of something. Romanticized views of a big city, perhaps? A dream job? Some person?

You know romanticized views... when you look at something in a way that isn't really the way it is. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that. It can get dangerous if taken too far, though.

Me? I have romanticized views.

I love the idea of a small town on open plains. Why? I have no idea. Well, I have no idea why I'm so very drawn to the plains. I blame living in Dallas for a few years. I mean, mountains are pretty and all, but I just really, really like wide open, flatlands. They're awesome.

Small towns? That I understand more. People say there's more to do in the city. That's true. Lots of more businesses, restaurants, entertainment, employment. Cities have a lot of things going for them.

Right now, I'm living in the smallest city I've ever lived in, and the population is above 150,000 if I recall correctly. That's if I refer just to my city. If I look at the bigger city that it's pretty much a part of... the population goes over half a million (again, if my memory serves me correctly).

So why do I have a romanticized view of small towns? What is it about them that make me wanna up and find one to move to?

Closer sense of community? Space to breathe and live? Less noise and hustle?

To some extent, it's all of those things. Granted, natural social tendencies are gonna be a major factor in how much community one senses, and that doesn't change with small town or big city. Likewise, life in a small town could still end up incredibly busy.

But I think the thing about small town appeal that gets me most is that it doesn't have the same structure as a big city. Here, I live on a street shared with countless other people... which is attached to a bigger street with even more people... and so on. It's said no man is an island. No argument from me on that. But in the big cities, I can't help but feel like just another cog in the machine.

In a small town... or the area surrounding a small town in the proper sense... the daily machine sensation doesn't seem nearly the same... especially for those able to get away from employment in the nearest big city. Even with dependence on the small town, it seems that the sensation would be more of personal interdependence than being another number in a series of corporate and federal schemes.

Oh, and the part about being away from major population centers for survival purposes appeals to me, too.

Hundred and First?

Hmm. I just realized, I don't have anything particularly newsworthy to write about today.

Except for the house rodent getting out of its cage. I think I mentioned that a bat managed to get into the house a while back. It flew around and freaked the crap out of me and there was much laughing.

Tonight, my sister's hamster somehow got out of its cage and decided to take a run behind the nearby couch.

I didn't jump like I did with the bat. There's something decisively less creepy about a crawling thingem than a flying thingem. Still, I was not impressed.

I'm not big on rodents, be they winged or not. I don't like things moving in my peripheral vision, either. Not a cool place for them to be.

In unrelated news, I had a crazy dream involving a library and a crazed librarian who stuck me with a slayer's stake in my right shoulder. When I woke up, my right arm was all asleep and stuff. Crazy!

Oh, and I'm incredibly hyped about Florida.

One Hundred Posts!

Whoa. This is my hundredth post. How crazy is that? That's like... a lot of my rambling, ranting, and raving.

And you've been here through it all? I'm so touched!

Oh. I have so much hype over my move to Florida. It's ridiculous. I'm so stoked that things are working out for me to go after all. I could go on and on about how exciting this all is.

Or about how unreal it feels. Despite actually working on getting everything in order for my move, I don't think the reality of it has quite sunk in.

But I did secure a place to stay today, so that was the last of the things keeping this from becoming official.

Yes. I could talk forever about this whole Florida business, but I won't.

Instead, I'd like to offer my gratitude to my good friends. You know who you are, and I know that maybe two of you will actually read this, but I'ma thank you anyway.

In no particular order... my thanks to Brian for always being there. Like, doesn't really matter if you've had a crappy day or week, you're still there to talk with. Also, for being so good looking. Also, "Strictly Sports." Sucks we haven't hung out much in a long time, but my thanks for your constant awesomeness all the same.

My thanks to Marcus for listening even when I have the stupidest things to complain about. Also, for countless Taco Bell runs. Also, for being my clone. Also, for Coheed and Cambria. Seriously, thanks for being one of my closest and most trusted friends. It's impossible to really capture that in a short thank you.

My thanks to Nate for somehow being the guy who persuades me to do really stupid things when everyone else is all "don't do it." I still blame you (nobody said I was fair in casting blame) for Exodus and even Florida. Thank you for pushing me to do things outside my comfort zone when I'm riding the fence.

My thanks to Riley for not having a life outside the internet. I jest, of course, but it really is uncommon for me to be online and not having an insane, yet totally awesome, conversation with you about whatever. Thanks for always being fun to be around and caring (even on your down days). Also, thanks for reminding me that I still have a long ways to go in my pursuit of awesomeness.

My thanks to Zak for pretty much defining "e-brother." You never cease to challenge me in my relationship with Christ; it's nice to know I can always count on a decent kick in the nuts (metaphorically, of course, and in Christian love, too!) when I get off track. You also provide one of the best rivalries (in a good way) I've ever had.

There are, of course, many more of you that deserve thanks, but I can only type so much before I know you will stop reading. If you count me among your friends, and I you, then my great gratitude to you for sharing life with me.

Here's to the next one hundred posts!

The Promised Update

tl;dr version - I'm unofficially officially moving to Florida in just over a month. Detailed version below.


Earlier in the year, I was planning on moving to Florida to attend Florida Christian College. I was all kinds of hype. I had been accepted into the school and was fully on track to attend this fall term.

Then I got a surprise letter from Multnomah University saying that I'd be receiving a scholarship I had previously gotten, but I didn't expect it since I wasn't enrolled for the second half of the year. Still, the financial aid department didn't process my award letter until after the school year ended, so it seemed I'd be getting the scholarship anyway.

The scholarship (after other grants and scholarships) put me up to a near-full ride on tuition this year. I'd never been so upset about receiving money in my life. With a full ride as an option, I couldn't go away to Florida and take thousands of dollars in loans if I wanted to be financially responsible. So I pulled out of Florida to attend Multnomah.

Then on Saturday, I received a letter from Multnomah in the mail. Apparently, the financial aid department couldn't be bothered to check my eligibility for assistance before they told me what assistance I'd receive.

But this isn't a rant note. The bottom line of the Multnomah story is that I called them, and they were unbudging in giving me the scholarship. Citing that it was in the paperwork that I wouldn't be eligible for the scholarship if I had a lapse in enrollment and so on. That's fair enough in that it's true, and it's what I previously expected, but it's incredibly aggravating that they don't check something so incredibly obvious before telling people that they'll receive the scholarship. It royally screwed my plans for the next two years as well what I did with this summer.

But again... this isn't a rant note. So, I called up Florida Christian College to see if it was too late in the game for me to get back on track with them.

It wasn't. In fact, by the time I got off the phone, I was already cleared for fall term registration, my financial aid was back on track, and I was set to attend. I only had to verify that there would still be room in student housing for me.

This morning, I received a message verifying that I would have a place in the residence halls. With the last concern taken care of, it's unofficially official.

I'm moving to Florida in a month.

Well... a month and five days, but who's counting?

Oh. Right. I am.


Multnomah friends who were wanting me to come back, I'm sorry things didn't work out in favor of this. Friends who I had plans to do things with this summer, I'm sorry that this sudden shift in academic plans has messed our plans up.

Sarcastically, I would like to thank the Multnomah administration for misleading me then screwing me over on technicalities like any other business would. Sincerely, I would like to thank the same administration for doing these things, making the difference in school attendance costs much smaller, causing me to again pursue attending Florida... the great desire that I had all along.


Did I mention that I leave late August and am incredibly hyped about that? So much so that my hype outweighs my hate... by far.

Take care, folks.
Kenny

Not Quite There

Still not quite ready for a legitimately awesome post with full details and stuff.

I will say that Plan A failed. And now, Plan B is out of "may" and into "likely" territory.

However, it is not set in stone yet. Hopefully I'll have something more concrete tomorrow.

In the meantime, enjoy... life... and stuff.

Not Dead

I'm not dead. Honest.

I haven't forgotten to write, either.

I was just served some news in the mail yesterday, and it pushed me into a state akin to la furia del diablo.

I'll have some kind of update tomorrow. Hopefully, good news. Hopefully, this news I received will be fixed.

If not, hopefully plan B will work be possible.

If not, I will have great deals of wrath to spew in a post.

But I would much prefer good news.

Here's a spoiler: I may yet end up in Florida in just over a month.

Gotta Work On Consistency

I suck at Blogger. Mostly, I suck at remembering to write something new while I'm still in PM hours. Instead, I remember "oh dang... I still gotta write something on my blog" roughly 30 seconds before I pass out from being tired.

The fact that I get caught up in watching marathons of Corner Gas probably doesn't help this situation.

Seriously. A dozen episodes of the show in the last 24 hours.

Crazy thing? It's even better the second time through.

Oh. Side note.

Something something something... more time recording today turned out pretty well... something something... too tired to come up with anything witty.

Oh. Also. I think I'm going to watch Strange Brew tomorrow.

Why?

Because it's awesome.

As Promised

I said I had some big news or something for you in tonight's post.

I didn't forget to write this post (yes I did... but that's irrelevant now that I'm writing it), and I didn't forget about my big news.

How could I forget about it? I'm incredibly hyped over it. TOO HYPED.

What's all the hype about? I released my quality cut of "Corner Gas Love Song" on my SoundClick today. Check it out: http://music.kennyyeager.info

Yeaaaaaah. Did you believe that was the news? Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about that. I did things in that recording I haven't done before, so that's cool. Also, I think it's a very funny song. It's even a sweet song. But that's not the big news.

The big news does pertain to music, though.

Would you like to know what it is?

Oh how I'd love to postpone another day just to bug you all. I won't, though. I'll tell you what it is.

As soon as I point to the cardboard sign of a bear holding a shark. /random Homestar Runner reference

Alright. The news!

I'm working my butt off to make an amazing thing happen next summer.

I'm working on pulling off a continental tour. I put together a really, really early tentative map of stops today, and I came up with 40 places across the US and Canada.

I already have two good friends either on-board or very interested to join in the tour to give us three distinct acts.

We'll be playing in churches all over.

It's gonna be amazing. I have much, much more work to do, and I only have ten months to get everything set in stone.

Still, I know it can be done, and (God willing) I'm gonna make it happen.

Post up if you want the tour to stop in a town near you. Hopefully, we'll make it there.

How Aggravating

Aggravating, huh? Is this a rant blog?

Not really, I just have a knack for melodramatic entrances.

But I do find this a bit annoying. See, I watched a movie earlier. A movie that, on so many levels, I probably shouldn't have liked. Only thing is, I loved it a lot. Like... a looooot.

What movie? Knowing. Yep. A Nicholas Cage movie that I loved. How did this happen? The writers and directors pulled no punches. They had the guts to carry out their stories and worldview presentations with no last minute "haha... just kidding guys! Here's your happy ending."

That alone impresses me, but then add in that I cared about the characters and their plight, and I was hooked. Layer on top of that the worldview presented which made me pump my fist with a "heck yeah!" action, and despite all the reasons formal critics may hate it, I loved it.

And now, at Riley's behest, I'm watching Howl's Moving Castle. It's everything a movie should be. It's creative, it has likable characters, it's fantastically voiced. But there's one thing it isn't at this point (about 40 minutes in)... something I really care about.

On many levels, it should be blowing my mind, but despite all of these things it has going for it... I just don't care that much yet. I'm paying attention, but it's just not something I'm connecting with.

Which makes me sad. I want to love it.

But here's hoping it changes into something I deeply care about soon. It could happen.

Woo

No... not the romance kind of "woo..." the halfway to "woohoo" kind of "woo."

I ordered a power adapter for my laptop from some company in Hong Kong off of eBay. I got it... and it wasn't working.

Figuring that HK sellers probably don't guarantee against DOA shipments, I started tinkering with it. After messing with it a little bit, I finally got it working. Kinda.

Took a lot of getting the wall connector just right and some prayer, too.

But I got a full battery charge, and that made me happy.

Then I unplugged it to move it to a better location.

It quickly went useless again.

So, I did what I do best these days, I cracked up the wall connector piece and found the problem. One of the contact pads (I swear this kind of outlet connection design is absolutely stupid) went through some shoddy QC... seeing as the bloody thing was burned.

So now I have to find a replacement connector. My old one will work just fine, but this requires finding something that was probably thrown away a year ago.

Here's to hoping that filing a DOA claim with the seller will result in a new unit that fully works.

Oh how I hope.

I'm so ready to start recording music well again.

Speaking of music... great and exciting news in my next post.

Sometimes Words Seem Meaningless

Ever get the feeling that you're talking just to talk? Like nobody's listening?

Like you could say the most profound thing on the planet and nobody would hear it for it to matter?

Or like you could say the funniest thing ever... only for your smirk to be the only response to the quip?

Sometimes, I feel like that's what this blog is. I know from experience that it's not quite that meaningless, but sometimes that sensation gets to me.

I just wish it were only the blog that made me feel that way. Far too often, it seems people are only interested in their own ideas, their own words, their own voices... it seems like trying to talk with them is meaningless.

Sometimes, it actually is meaningless, and I'm truly wasting my breath. Fortunately, that's not always the case.

So I continue to talk. Continue to relate. I just pick my battles.

But here, in this open letter to the world? I will continue to share the Mind of Kenny. Who knows? Maybe someday someone will want to look back and go "wait... he was right."

This is my dream. Don't ruin it.

Clear Lines

So... I guess I forgot another blog post yesterday.

Probably watching X-Men and Corner Gas.

Corner Gas has officially become my favorite TV show ever. Sorry Zak, you'll have to disown me for choosing it over Buffy.

It's just a fantastic show. Phenomenal characters blended with dry, sarcastic humor that's right at home for me.

But that's not what I'm writing about. I'll start raving about Corner Gas again in the future. Tonight, I'm writing about a movie I watched.

Well, I tried to watch it. Didn't make it the whole way through. I kinda can't believe how much sex there was in that movie. Ugh. Too much... too excessive. The rest of the movie couldn't keep me interested enough to even finish it. Even with Sam Winchester (Jared something or another) of Supernatural in it.

But there was something I did like about it. It was very simple.

Particularly, there was a clear line of good and evil... even if "good" was littered with its own constant immorality of all kinds and "evil" didn't have much of a soul. That clear distinction of good and evil doesn't really exist in our world, but you know what?

I sure like being able to escape to a world where that line is very clear.

Alas. Reality is what it is.

Oh. I have a new song almost finished. Can't wait to record it.

And I have an awesome idea for a huge tour next summer. More on that soon.

Goodnight, mon amis!

Another Wow?

I am freaking traumatized. I have no other way to express this irrational behavior.

Two nights ago, a bat somehow got into my house. It was flying around at nearly 2:00AM.

It frightened me horrifically. Not in a "bats are hellspawn, and this is an indication that I'm under attack" sort of frightened. In the "holy crap, there is a freaking bat swarming at my head from nowhere... while I'm in my house" sorta way. (I admit that those were not the exact words I used.)

I dove around more that night then I have since playing dodgeball with people back in high school. If I were watching myself, I would have died laughing. However, I was ducking the swoops of the bat, so at the time? Not that funny.

It took me forever to come down off of that high of sorts.

Worse? The next morning, when retrieving jeans from my closet, I went to open my closet door and in reaching for the handle... the bat attack scene from the beginning of Batman flashed before my eyes. It took me a full minute to get over that image and open the door... which, of course, I opened at an angle and ducked around the corner as soon as I twisted the handle.

But tonight? Every little flicker of light, every indication of movement in the next room, puts me on edge.

Not cool.

I do not approve of this.

Anyone know of a surefire way to overcome traumatic damage such as this?

Being a Low Budget Guy

If you know me, you know that I like to shop as cheaply as possible.

Clothing? If it ain't crazy on sale or secondhand, I don't tend to hold off on a purchase until one of those things is true. Movies? Ha. Forget the theater; I'll rent it on DVD when I can get it for a buck at Redbox. Restaurants? Where's your dollar menu? I ain't shelling out $4 for a sammich at a fast-food joint. No way. No how.

Gaming? Well, I've worked out a system for this since I love gaming so much. Basically, if a game provides at least one solid hour of enjoyment for every two dollars I spend, then it's an acceptable cost. I prefer to get better deals than that, but that's my standard.

Today? Today I picked up half a dozen Xbox games for $15 thanks to a rocking deal at Gamestop. Most of the games are extremely well-rated games, too.

But more importantly, I wanted them, and I'm liking them a lot.

Basically, I win at shopping on the cheap.

Being a low budget guy definitely has its perks.

Sometimes I Just Go "Wow"

Today is one of those days when I am amazed with what I've pulled off. I know I've commented (or complained) about having to play through Overlord II in a hurry over the last week. Today was the day that it all had to come together.

I wrote well over 2000 words of detailed moral content breakdown on the game for my Plugged In contract. I'm pretty sure that's about the same length as one of the papers I wrote for Ethics last term.

Then, I finished that and moved on to writing a full game review for Christ Centered Gamer, my e-home away from home and long time point of ministry. I don't know how long that review was, and only one paragraph of it used any recycled material whatsoever.

And now I'm gonna work on my first "media response" as explained... uhm... yesterday. Definitely recycling a bit of material from my review for that, but it's still more work to go.

In all reality, I think I've honestly written close to as much today in regards to this game as I did all last term for Ethics, and I actually worked in that class.

Wow. Lots of work.

I'm so ready to enjoy some recreational gaming, some sleep, and a day off.

How insane is that? Game-related work is actually legitimate work.

Oh. Side note. I ordered a new power brick for my laptop. I can finally get back to recording new music. I may have already mentioned that, though. If not, look forward to new tunes in the future!

Adios muchacos!

Oops Again

Well look at that! I missed yesterday's post. I gotta get on top of things.

At least this time it was because I was working... instead of watching half a dozen episodes of X-Men. I love X-Men.

Work is almost done. I'm so ready to be done with Overlord II. The game is such a mixed bag.

Which reminds me, I think I'm gonna start a new section on my site for "media responses." I call them responses because I don't really want to review games, movies, music, whatever in the usual way.

You know, trying to break down and rate various aspects of a work on some loose grounds of objectivity and so on. Reviews have a place (they'd better since my job is to assist in review writing), but that's not what I wanna do this time around.

Instead, I'm gonna write about what I walked away from a given piece of media thinking and feeling. Thus, it'll be more of a sharing my experience.

Truth be told, taking games for example, I'm more interested in how enjoyable, fun, or intellectually/emotionally stimulating it is. Things like "it does new things" and "the graphics are mindblowing" really don't mean much to me in their own rights if the game isn't at its core enjoyable.

I think that's why art critics and I have a hard time talking about media and art. There's a fundamental difference in what perspective.

But I digress. Look forward to my first media response to Overlord II by week's end.

Oh Fate!

Some would deem me a fool, some would deem me lazy, but looking at history, and maybe just a few hints of myth, has shown me that trying to fight fate rarely (being generous there) does any good. So, I now do the rational thing.

I accept fate.

That isn't to say that I don't care what happens under an over-applied guise of que sera, sera. Far from it. I just accept that there are a multitude of things beyond my control, so I make the most of whatever situation I'm in, whatever path I'm led down, whatever opportunities I have.

Fate can seem abstract, even cruel at times. But for me, a guy who believes that everything (even the minutest of details) has a purpose, it takes a little faith and some guts to stick through the rough times in favor of the greater good that will follow in due time.

I used to despise fate. I used to want to rebel against the inevitable.

Now? I find peace in knowing that there are powers in play much greater than I. It's much easier to sleep at night knowing that I can do my part with the things I'm given, but the rest is in fate's hands.


I could have been a Greek philosopher. Blast this being born toward the end of the 20th century!

The Phoenix Saga

So, I know I planned on writing something interesting today, but I kind of got carried away with playing Puzzle Quest during the day and watching X-Men for the last few hours.

I think I watched the first seven episodes of X-Men season three.

Which was phenomenal. Seriously. Live-action series are rarely as good as this was. The Phoenix Saga, a five-episode non-stop story arc, pretty much blew my mind.

I'm not above saying that its conclusion demanded I fight back tears. Despite my experience with Full Metal Alchemist (probably the greatest televised series I've ever seen) and Naruto (which isn't quite the greatest but still has a special place in my heart), being emotionally impacted by a television show, especially by an animated series, just leaves me awestruck.

This X-Men series is too good. It definitely has its moments of cheesiness. People who can't stand how 90s it is (here's looking at you, Riley) need not apply. But the show just... wow.

I'll try again to write something tomorrow that isn't dripping in nerdiness.

"Try" being the key word.

Whoa

Crazy. I didn't post yesterday. How did that happen?

Oh. Right. I was off in nerdland with a bunch of guys from Shoryuken playing dat Street Fighter IV, Virtua Fighter 5, and BlazBlue.

BlazBlue rocked my mind. The other games resulted in me getting my face handed to me repeatedly. Especially during my "new guy initiation." In other words (for the second time... though the last was at another venue), I had to try and beat everyone in Virtua Fighter in rapid succession. Which really means that I got beasted on constantly. Thanks, Ray!

Anyway, I was gone until 4AM-ish this morning. Thus, no post.

Today, I did stuff... a lot of time spent on my contract work... which I should get back to tonight, but I hate that game so much.

Oh, and I finished season 2 of X-Men just a few minutes ago. Seriously, I could keep raving about this show, and I may do just that again in the future.

But now, I need sleep. Still playing catchup after last night's lack.

Goodnight. I'll try to be wittier tomorrow.

Why I Love John Mayer

So, I was talking with a buddy about my ideas on songwriting and my desire to start a band in the imminent future.

Quickly, my comments turned toward "John Mayer will have the biggest influence on my songwriting."

Why? Because Mayer is one of those rare people to have the ability to bridge gap after gap. The bridge between mainstream pop and creative songwriting? Got it. The bridge between young audiences and old audiences? Taken care of.

The thing that makes Mayer so significant as a musical influence to me is that he gets the balances in songwriting. Listening to his hour-long lecture at Berklee too many times to count has left me with one concept that stands out well above the rest.

Write music that gets stuck in everyone's head.

Melodies. Melodies are amazing. Hooks, too. Can have the greatest chord progressions in the world, but melodies are the driving force... and the thing that will be remembered.

Mayer is great at melody writing with complimenting guitar riffage and other instrumental things to spice up the overall song.


In related news, I managed to get some new acoustic strings today. After a re-string, I'm back in business. Got hype.