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You know what I haven't done in a really long time? Post on this blog, that's what! I really don't have a good excuse either as I basically just forgot about it. I'm such an ass.

Life is progressing in Minnesota, but very, very slowly. Wife has begun rehearsing for a play/musical that opens at the end of January, and I have not been doing much of anything other than slowly looking for a job. While the hunt continues there are a few potentials just over the horizon. I may actually get to do some web development...for money! Wow!

Gears of War 2, such a good game. I loved the first game, and it's pretty much the only reason why I wanted an Xbox 360 in the first place, but the sequel, man, so good. My sleeping schedule is now entirely out of whack again because I've been playing Horde mode online until the wee hours of the morning. It seems to be improving my overall game as well because I'm doing a lot better in the 5v5 matches. I've never been very good at FPS style games on consoles (I'm a keyboard and mouse kind of guy), but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.

I just watched this interesting (and fun) video that compiled a whole mess of videos of kids this year who received Nintendo Wii's for Christmas. It was a heartwarming compilation, but I must not be ready for kids yet because a lot of the videos I found a tad annoying as the kids just seemed over dramatic. Don't get me wrong though, there were definitely a few winners in there, like the kid who broke down in tears. Oscar nomination anyone? Click here to see for yourself.

I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the kids though because unfortunately it seems most people lose interest in their Wii after only a few months. The innovation wears off and it becomes just another gimmicky toy. Now, if you only own a Wii and no other game console, then that's a different story entirely. I hope for their sake that that's the case.

Have a fun, happy, safe, enjoyable, memorable, digestible and unforgettable New Year's Eve! I'll see you next year!

Sleeping Pills

D: You're watching a movie, why did you take a sleeping pill?
Wife: You look like you've got a big, fluffy ponytail.
D: I do?
Wife: And there are all these people running around with swords.
D: Swords?
Wife: Yeah, little ones.

As if that wasn't enough, a few minutes later Wife was ready to have the laptop removed from the bed so she could fully sleep.

Wife: Where will I sleep?
D: Um, in the bed.
Wife: Yeeeeeah!
D: ...
Wife: There's a dog chasing you.

Better luck next time.

I don't know if it's the way the cat fails or just the act of doing so that makes me laugh so hard. It shouldn't be that funny but it is!

Obsessed with fighting games.

May 1992; Knott's Berry Farm, California. It was the end of my 6th grade year and everyone on the high honor roll list had secured themselves a sweet trip to Knott's. Oh and how sweet it was going to be! When we finally all piled off the bus and made it into the park, I heard from a far, "Boomerang! We're going on Boomerang!" This was the newest ride at the time, and while not yet a fan of roller coasters, I didn't want to be the odd man out. I found myself shaking with fright but it wasn't enough to pull me out of line. We rode.

As was to be expected, despite the fact that everyone else had an awesome time on the ride, it was the Boomerang that would come back, as they do, to knock me to the ground. Well, not literally, but close enough. I felt miserable; completely sick to my stomach.

I spent the next handful of minutes standing by a very nice trashcan, feeling sick and wondering not only if I was going to throw-up, but how embarrassed I might be if I do. In the end though I didn't, which was the preferred choice anyway. Unfortunately, during my close encounter with the trashcan, I had told my friends to just go on without me. I knew I wouldn't feel up to any other rides any time soon. Upon feeling better I slugged my way over to the arcade and found myself dwindling down the remaining hours of the day with what little money I had to spare. This is where it began.

I'm sure I played lots of games that day, but there are only two that I remember. Street Fighter and Street Fighter II. I remember seeing Street Fighter II and thinking to myself, "Hmm, I should probably start with the first one." I think I was just scared of being challenged by someone who was already familiar with the game. I also knew no one touched the original game anymore so I would be safe. Well, it didn't take long to figure out that the original Street Fighter was one of the hardest, least responsive games ever made. I don't think I even reached for a second quarter after the computer wiped the floor with me. I swallowed my pride and walked over to the corral of Street Fighter II machines.

Blanka is who I remember most from this experience. Whether I played as him, or couldn't beat him, he is who I associated the game with most at first. Later it would be Ken as my older brother took ownership of Ryu. I came to find out quickly that I sucked equally as bad at Street Fighter II as I did the original game, but at least it felt like I was in control of what I was doing, so I kept at it. I remember, for me, the most daunting thing about the Street Fighter games was the fact that they had six buttons per player. It seemed like too much from far away, but once you got in there, it all started to make sense.

This wasn't quite the moment that I got bit by the fighting game bug, but it was certainly the beginning. At least now I knew that when I saw a fighting game, wherever I might be, I wouldn't be scared to approach it.

To be continued...

Dear Rachel and Sidney

I'm sorry but your wedding sucked.

=\

Slow going.

Hello readers, whoever you are. Life in the land of lakes has been moving along nicely, but without much to report. There have only been two days of snow, but that's probably for the best as I'm sure I'll be sick of it once March rolls around. The job hunting has been minimal, but that doesn't surprise me. I knew I wouldn't be looking very seriously at first. I just want to learn my way around town, get my feet grounded, and then I'll start sending out the resumes. I do feel guilty, but Wife is good about pointing out that the life I'm leading now and for the next few months is what I wanted so I shouldn't feel guilty. She's right. We saved up enough money to get by for a few months so I shouldn't worry.

There's a new website that I've been wanting to work on for a few years now. This is what I'll be doing with all of my spare time. There is also a nice new video game coming out next week that I've been waiting for, so that's exciting, too. It's a remake, do you know what I'm referring to? Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix! Whew, that's a mouthful. This is an updated version of the fighting game that started it all. This was the game that began my early obsession with fighting games. With all of my recent excitement, I've been reminiscing to old days past and I hope to write it all down as a sort of tribute to that which I loved most from my middle-school days.

November 26th. Xbox Live Arcade. Be there. =)

What happened to peep?

This is going to be a short entry, but it's food for thought none the less. I'm not really sure why my brain thinks what it does sometimes, but I can't argue with it. Let's just get to it, shall we?

There's POO and PEE. There's also POOPOO and PEEPEE. So why is it that there's only POOP and never PEEP?

Answer me that!

They say it's angel dandruff.

They kept asking, "Are you sure you're ready for Friday?" And I continued to reply, "Yeah, yeah, I was here last year, it's fine." Well it's not fine! Day one and I don't even want to leave the house! Stupid snow!

Okay, wait, calm down. It's really not that bad...yet. There's not even snow on the roads so I just need to relax. I'll tackle this white demon and today is the perfect day to do it!

It's emergence day. Again. Today marks the release of Gears of War 2 for the Xbox 360. Today is the day that I drive in the snow, by myself, for the first time ever. It has to be done. The original Gears of War managed to find a spot on my all-time Top 10 list, so it's only natural that I grab a copy of the sequel as soon as I possibly can.

Life near the Great Lakes has been good thus far. I'm slowly learning my way around town, but wouldn't dare go out yet without my GPS. I feel a little guilty relying on it, but that's what it's there for, right? And unlike Michael from The Office, I definitely won't let it drive me into a lake.

It's me and you, snow. Bring it on.

Let the driving begin!

The time has come. We set out tomorrow for our drive across the country! Goodbye California; hello Minnesota! The wife is quite excited while I'm excited and nervous at the same time. You see, I've never lived outside of California before, so this is quite an adventure for me. But it's something I've always wanted to do, so I'm trying not to let myself get too nervous or stressed out about the whole ordeal.

In all honesty, I've wanted to move away from California for quite a while now. I'm just tired of the fast-paced life here. It's not all it's cracked up to be, people. California is mostly dirt and desert. Unless you're filthy rich, you're just like everyone else who is just getting by in your overpriced apartment. It's an expensive state to live in and nowhere near as glamorous as everyone seems to make it out to be.

So I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got some last minute packing to do. I love procrastination.

Neck injury.

I am getting absolutely nothing done! I've acquired this God awful crick in my neck/shoulder that has rendered me completely useless. How did I injure myself you ask? I'm pretty sure it was that damn basketball arcade machine that I tried so hard to defeat on Wednesday. I played for about 20 minutes straight, and I guess the motion of not being able to follow through all the way has completely tightened up my neck. This totally sucks!

Our move to Minnesota has been pushed back a few days as a result. But don't worry, I've got frozen strawberries on my neck so I'm bound to recover ASAP!

Please, not again!

I'm sorry, but I just don't want another president who always comes off as a fumbling idiot! Is it really that hard to speak correctly?

Back on land!

We're back! The honeymoon was wonderful, I have a few funny stories to tell, but absolutely nothing ready at this time. My plan to write daily completely failed. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that I didn't have time to write, but more so that I was honestly just too darn lazy. I can't believe how many naps we took.

Be on the lookout for more information from our trip. We had a blast!

There's honey on the moon.

It's that time folks! We're only a month "late", but hey, better late than never, right?

We're off to enjoy the waters of the Pacific as we embark on a cruise down to Mexico. There most likely won't be any way for me to post while we're gone, so instead I'm going to try and write daily anyway and then post them once we get home. But in the meantime, you'll need to just sit back and wait. I'll leave you with a few riddles to keep you occupied.

1. What falls but doesn’t break, and what breaks but doesn’t fall?

2. The person who buys it doesn't need it. The person who makes it doesn't want it. The person who uses it doesn't know it. What is it?

3. What goes around the world but stays in a corner?

Good luck! I'll see you in about a week!

Excited and scared.

Today was an interesting day. I'm not really sure what I was feeling, but it was akin to that feeling you'd finally get on the last day of school where you realize you're not going to see these people again for a really long time. Except in my case, it's possible I may never see these people again. Ever. It's a bit strange.

I was a little sad when it was finally time to start saying my goodbyes. It started to sink in once I had finished packing up my cubical. I managed to squeeze all of my desk toys and gadgets into a pretty small box, so that was satisfying and yet equally depressing.

Cruises! Note to self: the next time I go on a cruise, don't tell anyone. It seems everyone has been on a cruise at least twice, and they all have conflicting advice about what to do first and how to handle your stay. I eventually just started blocking people out because I came to realize that there is just so much freakin' stuff to do, only you can decide, when the time actually arrives, what you're going to do. And hey...

THIS IS OUR HONEYMOON, PEOPLE! WHAT DO YOU THINK WE'RE GOING TO BE DOING?!?

So I'm feeling a little scared of the fact that I'm now actually unemployed. That's right, I'm completely jobless. It's an interesting feeling. I've had a steady job for the past six years and now, by choice, I've got zero income and we're living off of our savings. It should be an interesting ride, but I'll tell you what, I'm going to enjoy every minute of it!

And here's a little piece of irony. When I got in my car after work, and turned on my stereo, this was the lyric that came on first. It's from the song "Afraid" by Yellowcard.

I am afraid right now,
You never will get out,
You'll never let yourself be saved,
You are so afraid.

Sheesh, talk about feeling like you're being watched. =P

Eight hours to go.

480 minutes to be exact! Do I sound excited? If I do it's because I am! But I'm not as excited as I was expecting to be.

Yes it will be nice to finally be moving on to (hopefully) bigger and better things, but the feelings that are going through me are a bit unsettling. I guess it was to be expected, I mean, I've been at this job for the past three and a half years, so it's going to feel very different not coming here at all anymore.

What comes next? I have no idea. After the honeymoon, we will finish packing, mail off a bunch of our stuff to where we're going to be moving to, put the rest in our car and head on out for a four day drive across the country. I've never driven that far before so hopefully we don't have trouble finding ways to keep ourselves amused.

But I digress. I think I'm going to miss this place, at least in the ever so slightest way. I'll definitely miss a few of my co-workers (you guys know who you are). I'm sorry to be leaving you behind and I wish you the best of luck getting out of that place. You deserve so much more, both challenge wise and paycheck wise.

As for where I'll work next, again, it's totally up in the air. I've started looking, but not at anything serious yet. We have enough money saved up to keep us going for a few months so hopefully neither of us will need to settle on a job we know we won't enjoy.

Wow, what started as a promise to stay with this company for at least a year turned into so much more. I probably should have left a long time ago. Here's to better decisions in the future.

It's that time of year!

What time of year? Video game season, that's what!

Every year around this time all of the big name developers and publishers get ready to release their new masterpieces upon the world. It's an adventure that lasts a little less than two months as we build up to Christmas. This year there seems to be an abundance of games that I'm interested in. And surprisingly, there are more console than PC games this year.

I've decided to share my list with you now, not so much for the purpose of sharing, but more for the sake of my not having to worry about forgetting any of them in the future. Lucky you.

- Fallout 3
- FarCry 2
- Fable 2
- Gears of War 2
- Call of Duty: World at War
- Guitar Hero: World Tour
- Mega Man 9 (yeah, yeah, I'm late)
- Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (hopefully)
- Quake Live (I know it's free, but pleeeeease!)

Whew! And you know what the awesome part is? I have no idea when I'll even have time to play any of them! Hooray! ... *sigh*

Honestly, as much as my time has been cut a bit short as of late, it may free up a tad as the next few months go by. Let's keep our fingers crossed. I've got a few Xbox 360 friends who would definitely be interested in some co-op Gears of War 2, so here's to free time and open schedules!

Cheers, mate!

Blah-ging on the Eee.

This will be the first of what I hope to be a very short list of entries that seem to start with me not really having much to talk about. But I'm trying to stay consistent with how often I submit new entries so if this is all I've got then so be it.

Regarding the topic of this entry, this blog has actually allowed me to use my Asus Eee twice in two days! I've had this little guy for almost a year now, and while he is handy to have on trips for quick Internet access and movie watching, I really haven't felt like I have done anything useful with him. Maybe this is what I have been waiting for?

If any of you who read my last post are wondering how my friend's Mega Man marathon is going...well...it's still going. Let's leave it at that. =)

Early in the morning.

Just about breakfast time.

I'm sorry, I had to. It's just after 1:30am and as usual I am still awake. Not for much longer, but awake none the less. A good friend of mine, in honor of the release of Mega Man 9, has decided to run an all night solo marathon through all nine "old school" Mega Man games. He may be crazy for thinking it can be done, but that doesn't mean I'm not completely jealous that I can't be sitting right there next to him.

These all night (or all weekend) gaming marathons are starting to creep up more and more. From Zelda to Mario to Mega Man to Final Fantasy, gamers are more and more showing their dedication to the games they love. Sometimes it's for charity, other times just to say they did it. Either way, that's one bandwagon I think I'll be jumping on sometime in the near future.

But what will I play?

Two down, three to go.

It's getting down to the wire. Only three days until I am no longer employed. My time spent at this place of business was good. It had its ups and downs, but overall worth the experience.

Blah, blah, blah.

Honestly, this job has been going downhill for about the last year or so. What was once a good starting place for a career in IT quickly turned into exactly, and only that: a starting place. There was no room for me to pursue web development (my focus in college) and pretty soon even my helpdesk tasks were taken away from me. I was moved "up" to a never-ending project and soon lost contact with anyone outside of my department.

Locked in my cubicle is where I stayed. Quickly it became the norm to hear people asking, "You still work here?" *sigh* Unfortunately, yes.

But no longer. It's time to move on to bigger and brighter things. Greener pastures as they say. I am going to commit myself to finding a job that suits me. And while I look, I am going to pursue my own web ideas so as to clear up some space in my head after all these years.

Only three days to go. And only five days until my wife and I finally go on our honeymoon.

I'm happy. =)

Here we are.

I guess this is as good a place to start as any. Something has to be said first, right? This blog will explain itself in due time, so don't try to read between the lines too much, okay?

There is an adventure waiting for me. I am newly married, and in about four weeks my wife and I will be packing our bags and moving across the country. Her adventure will differ from mine in that she has moved like this before (minus the married part). I have never lived outside of my home state. Sure I've traveled before, but never for more than a few weeks before returning home as my vacations, as do most, always come to an end.

This will be an adventure; a new chapter in my life. Am I excited? Of course I am! Nervous? Absolutely! Have I started freaking out yet? Not quite, but the day may come.

Welcome to my thoughts. Welcome to my story.