This movie snuck up on me out of no where. I feel like I should have known about it, though, given how many people I know who have since confessed to having read the novel. I fully intend to give Gone Girl a read after this fantastic film adaptation. There are a few things that may keep a viewer from enjoying this movie, however, which I don't feel are flaws with the film. Overall, though, I highly recommend viewing it before reading anything else about it as a lot of what makes this movie as good as it is though is the way it carefully manages the revelation of plot twists and important information throughout the run time. This makes a really good discussion of the quality of the film dependent upon information that would constitute significant spoilers. So, you'll have to trust me, and then read the rest of this later.
The first part of the movie drags and feels predictable, reaching a point where a thoughtful viewer may safely conclude that either everything is as it seems and the movie will be straight forward and mediocre, or a bad twist is in store that will tank the movie for the sake of being surprising, or that there is a really well developed twist coming. This part of the movie is the most difficult to watch. It's well filmed and acted, and the music is well done, but it feels very straightforward and uninteresting. We've seen this movie before, where we slowly see that the supposed victim appear to be the criminal.
It initially feels so bland that the twists that make up the movie would be a complete surprise if it weren't for the fact that the film is developed by David Fincher. It's pretty clear that the movie had places to go with a director like this, and it goes to them. Gone Girl is a brilliant and thoughtful thriller with clever twists and turns all the way up until the end. The list of actors and actresses all deliver brilliant performances and the film itself is technically superb in its execution. The cinematography and direction underline the themes of the film constantly and deliver the story to spectacular effect.
This is a must see for fans of genius psychological thrillers and is genius in the horror of the finale. I strongly recommend seeing this film.
Thursday, October 09, 2014
Friday, August 22, 2014
Some Days
Life
is so full of obstacles that are either so trivial or impossible to
overcome that success or failure is generally meaningless. A guaranteed
outcome is ultimately empty, you tried the impossible or you
accomplished the expected.
It is when life sends you a challenge that is on the very edge of what is possible that should make your blood pump. These opportunities are few and far between and they push you to be faster, stronger, smarter... in a word, they challenge you to be better. Your very best. These challenges must be embraced for what they are, the opportunity to be incredible. These challenges should be embraced to the fullest, because they do not present themselves every day, and because they mean so much.
Some days you just have to be a badass.
It is when life sends you a challenge that is on the very edge of what is possible that should make your blood pump. These opportunities are few and far between and they push you to be faster, stronger, smarter... in a word, they challenge you to be better. Your very best. These challenges must be embraced for what they are, the opportunity to be incredible. These challenges should be embraced to the fullest, because they do not present themselves every day, and because they mean so much.
Some days you just have to be a badass.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
As It Happens
It turns out that some people do read my blog. Thank you so much to those who commented on my last post! I will leave commenting turned on, and limit my anti spam to just using captcha.
I've been absorbing a lot of great media lately. I've seen a good number of movies recently and read a large number of books. My favorite book that I have recently finished was easily Homeland by Cory Doctorow, and my favorite recent movie was surprisingly Noah.
All the movies I have seen in theater have been pretty solid though. The weakest one is easily Captain America: The Winter Soldier. When it was all said and done, the movie was only a little better than an average super hero movie. The big standout next to Noah was The Muppets: Most Wanted. I LOVE the recent Muppet movies. They're immensely enjoyable and the new one was as funny as the old one.
Noah was a surprise, though. There haven't been very many good movies based on the bible in years and years and years. It's a genre that tends to get flooded with movies that target a very small audience with greatly differing standards that also tends to be too divisive to do what needs to be done to make a good movie. Noah does it. It really gets into the really cool pre flood biblical mythology. Fallen angels, people living hundreds of years, and the like. It depicts a man who is genuinely concerned with purpose and what is wanted from him, and has some very cool psychological tension. I would recommend this movie to anyone, I liked it a lot. It was a genuinely good movie.
Also, my back yard is getting cozier and more developed. Time to start working on a patio to keep chairs and a table on next to the fire pit I just built.
I've been absorbing a lot of great media lately. I've seen a good number of movies recently and read a large number of books. My favorite book that I have recently finished was easily Homeland by Cory Doctorow, and my favorite recent movie was surprisingly Noah.
All the movies I have seen in theater have been pretty solid though. The weakest one is easily Captain America: The Winter Soldier. When it was all said and done, the movie was only a little better than an average super hero movie. The big standout next to Noah was The Muppets: Most Wanted. I LOVE the recent Muppet movies. They're immensely enjoyable and the new one was as funny as the old one.
Noah was a surprise, though. There haven't been very many good movies based on the bible in years and years and years. It's a genre that tends to get flooded with movies that target a very small audience with greatly differing standards that also tends to be too divisive to do what needs to be done to make a good movie. Noah does it. It really gets into the really cool pre flood biblical mythology. Fallen angels, people living hundreds of years, and the like. It depicts a man who is genuinely concerned with purpose and what is wanted from him, and has some very cool psychological tension. I would recommend this movie to anyone, I liked it a lot. It was a genuinely good movie.
Also, my back yard is getting cozier and more developed. Time to start working on a patio to keep chairs and a table on next to the fire pit I just built.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Why We Can't Trust Anyone
Well, it appears you just can't leave your doors open online. I left captcha off of my comment forms for as long as I could, but I haven't had a real comment in almost a year, at least not directly on my site, and I certainly haven't had a fraction as many as I have spam comments lately. It's not worth the trouble, I'm constantly being emailed now having to read how my useless blog is "Exactly the type of information" some robot is looking for and how much they appreciate my contributions and wont I please visit their porn site, etc.
I am strongly considering turning off comments entirely, really. I haven't had a real one in so long.
I am strongly considering turning off comments entirely, really. I haven't had a real one in so long.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Upgrades And AMD APUs
For the third year in a row I'm incredibly disappointed with AMDs APU offerings. The processors themselves are just fine. They're adequately powered for a low level gaming machine, and their quality ranges from playing all games at low settings and low resolution to playing all games at medium setting and high resolution or high settings and medium resolution. The problem is really with the upgrades. A decent video card in a complete system is a stepping stone, as long as the socket is compatible. The PCIE-16x has been pretty standard for a while and even among the graphics PCIE slots there has been a lot of inter compatibility. I've been able to pop in just about any video card that's come out for years and years now. Same with the AMD 2, 2+, 3, and 3+, each and every one of these sockets offered a wide range of chips that scaled from entry level to high end.
And this is where the APUs have just flat out failed, three years in a row all the socket has changed, limiting you to inside of a single generation of chips. You've cut out every prior generation of consumers from upgrading in any meaningful way. They can't upgrade the processor without changing the motherboard, at all. And if you upgrade your video card on its own you're torn between a very tiny Crossfire upgrade or an expensive upgrade that totally discounts your system's APU graphics core. You certainly can't use one of the new APUs. When this happened in the first generation it was upsetting, but three generations in a row is unforgivable. AMD APUs are off my list, it's not happening again. I'm not going to buy another system that requires a full system rebuild every year for a modest increase in performance. Because when you get down to it, the third generation APUs are nice, but they're not nice enough to justify a third new motherboard and processor to run them.
As for the upgrade route, I'm currently using an A-10 6800k, I ended up deciding to grab a 6670 GPU for my Steam Box, a decent little card that will give me a modest crossfire performance boost for my APU. I really can't wait to see how much improvement I get to milk out of the combination. Would be nice to see a really good improvement in Crysis 2 and Skyrim, the two benchmarks I've been using lately. The new A-10 7850k is just absolutely not worth the system rebuild cost. It'd be close to 250$ for a performance increase of a fraction of what an equivalently priced video card would offer.
By the way, Ninja hoodies are pretty cool, I love mine.
And this is where the APUs have just flat out failed, three years in a row all the socket has changed, limiting you to inside of a single generation of chips. You've cut out every prior generation of consumers from upgrading in any meaningful way. They can't upgrade the processor without changing the motherboard, at all. And if you upgrade your video card on its own you're torn between a very tiny Crossfire upgrade or an expensive upgrade that totally discounts your system's APU graphics core. You certainly can't use one of the new APUs. When this happened in the first generation it was upsetting, but three generations in a row is unforgivable. AMD APUs are off my list, it's not happening again. I'm not going to buy another system that requires a full system rebuild every year for a modest increase in performance. Because when you get down to it, the third generation APUs are nice, but they're not nice enough to justify a third new motherboard and processor to run them.
As for the upgrade route, I'm currently using an A-10 6800k, I ended up deciding to grab a 6670 GPU for my Steam Box, a decent little card that will give me a modest crossfire performance boost for my APU. I really can't wait to see how much improvement I get to milk out of the combination. Would be nice to see a really good improvement in Crysis 2 and Skyrim, the two benchmarks I've been using lately. The new A-10 7850k is just absolutely not worth the system rebuild cost. It'd be close to 250$ for a performance increase of a fraction of what an equivalently priced video card would offer.
By the way, Ninja hoodies are pretty cool, I love mine.
Monday, January 06, 2014
Thinking About Things
So, I've been thinking a lot about movies and books where the characters clearly voice one opinion, intended as the message of the story, but the actions clearly paint a different picture.
This one was kind of a weird monster. All of the narrative problems aside, and any of the other things you might not have liked about this movie, one thing it did really poorly was stick to its message. It tried to explore the idea of a machine with a consciousness and a life as valuable as a human being. And then at the end it sacrifices the machine specifically to save a human being, showing which one of them is really a person.
You're as good as real people, unless one of the real people needs a new heart.
A really good experience comes from a cohesiveness, where the film says its messages subtextually as well as overtly. Terminator salvation was particularly disappointing because it came from the otherwise excellent Terminator franchise. Take Terminator 2 for instance. The future is what is important, not any one person regardless of emotional attachment. They say this over and over again, and then they repeat it in the subtext, any character can die as long as they accomplish the goal of saving the world from Skynet. And in the end, to prevent the world from repeating its mistakes, the terminator destroys itself, because it has to.
Terminator Salvation could have made a similar argument, but they didn't, really. They didn't even look for other solutions. The machine was a convenient sacrifice.
I'll spend some time thinking of other movies where the message differs from the underlying values of the story.
This one was kind of a weird monster. All of the narrative problems aside, and any of the other things you might not have liked about this movie, one thing it did really poorly was stick to its message. It tried to explore the idea of a machine with a consciousness and a life as valuable as a human being. And then at the end it sacrifices the machine specifically to save a human being, showing which one of them is really a person.
You're as good as real people, unless one of the real people needs a new heart.
A really good experience comes from a cohesiveness, where the film says its messages subtextually as well as overtly. Terminator salvation was particularly disappointing because it came from the otherwise excellent Terminator franchise. Take Terminator 2 for instance. The future is what is important, not any one person regardless of emotional attachment. They say this over and over again, and then they repeat it in the subtext, any character can die as long as they accomplish the goal of saving the world from Skynet. And in the end, to prevent the world from repeating its mistakes, the terminator destroys itself, because it has to.
Terminator Salvation could have made a similar argument, but they didn't, really. They didn't even look for other solutions. The machine was a convenient sacrifice.
I'll spend some time thinking of other movies where the message differs from the underlying values of the story.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Things We Learn
I just honestly didn't think it was possible to learn to dislike someone so much so quickly. It's really interesting to pay attention to characters in books and stories, and even people in real life. The actions of the character reveal their true biases and priorities and often in subtler ways than you might imagine. For instance, frequently the actions done in many stories could have been performed by a great many characters, and the character chosen to actually do them is incredibly telling. For instance, the betrayal by the fiance in the movie Frozen. This character actually feels very wedged into the story but their function there is very deliberate and purposeful even if clumsy. It has to be that character that performs that betrayal, because it has to undercut the concept of traditional fairy tale romance to set up the real love story, the love shared by the two sisters. He's there because the writers felt he was necessary for contrast, and that they weren't confident that their story, by itself, would be contrasted against the other stories in their genre so they needed to internalize this conflict, despite having a wealth of other characters and circumstances they could have used to make their point.
So you look at what a character is doing. They may profess great love for someone else, but if every time that love requires any kind of difficulty or sacrifice they hide it or ignore it or let the other character down, then there's nothing there. I could easily depict a scenario like this in a matter of moments as it is so easily caricatured:
Jim and his wife have reached a difficult spot in their relationship, and they agree to separate. THis rough patch is caused by financial difficulty, they can't support each other and they can't achieve their goals realistically, and it begins to look impossible. During their separation both Jim and his wife have affairs with various lovers, but Jim becomes particularly fond of her, tell her he loves her and spends a great deal of time with her in secret. Jim is also unfortunately a borderline alcoholic, which has caused many social ills. Their affair goes on for some years and one day the unthinkable happens, through both great effort, and chance, and the support of both his wife and his mistress Jim gets a new job. Concerned for appearances in the grace period for the new job that leads to everything he wanted in life, Jim ceases all communication with his mistress on the chance that this would risk his job in the eyes of his new employer as he has no idea how the new employer would react to such a relationship, but Jim still sips whiskey under the desk at work. Three sips a day instead of a half a bottle a day, but he doesn't give it and everyone knows about it. It is quite probably more damaging of the two, but it would cause Jim personal pain and discomfort to give up the whiskey.
This is a simple and meaningless example of how you can identify a characters real motivations and genuine internal struggles. People are generally very transparent if you give them enough time and pay close enough attention. Sometimes when you get really involved with a character early on though it's easy to miss things that seems meaningless but unfold in a larger pattern.
Breaking Bad 's Walter White is a brilliant example of this, the portrait of his character over the course of the series draws upon a very beautifully complex series of motivations. Every scenario of conflict draws on the tension of what is more important to Walter, very rarely, if ever can we believe what he is saying. He is clearly portrayed immediately as a character incapable of admitting real truths about motivation or feeling to almost anyone, however his motivations and values are consistent throughout the entire series.
He is a damaged man cheated out of billions first, he is a family man second, he is a brilliant chemist third, he is an moral man fourth, and he is a honest man fifth, and a truthful man last. The conflicts as these are carefully pulled out and highlighted in each of his major decisions is like a character being beautifully painted, but in time and with something richer than colors can ever display.
THere is also a brilliant tension with the audience as we wrestle with our own values, and whether or not we want to see him succeed. We constantly ask ourselves just how much we like Walter White. At what point does he cross the line where we could no longer feel good about seeing him successfully resolve his issues into a happy ending through any amount of cleverness?
I find it amazing how often we ourselves have no idea what our actions communicate to the people around us and how important it is that they communicate what we really feel.
Sunday, December 01, 2013
Double Review Day: Frozen Book Thief
I sit here tonight, eager to play more of Dishonored GOTYE, which I just started yesterday, but reluctant to do so without taking care of some overdue responsibilities. I've seen two movies in the past weeks and I feel that you should know about both of them. You know who you are. And if I don't write these reviews tonight, already at least a day late, who knows when I will ever write them.
Disney's Frozen:
I wish I could say I was surprised by this movie, but I'd managed to totally avoid any trailers for it and I didn't hear anything about it till the buzz exploded that it was just a fantastic film. I'm happy to say that I was not in the least disappointed. I went in expecting a great film and I got one. It's easily the best film in Disney's "Disney Film" repertoire of feature animations since Beauty and the Beast. I mean, sure Wreck it Ralph and the most recent Winnie the Pooh were both just stand out amazing movies from the same studio, but this one FEELS like classic Disney. More importantly, though, it feels like classic Disney that is relevant. It breaks molds, it's not a romance, there's romance in it, but it's not about a girl getting a guy or vice versa, it's about being able to connect with the people you're closest to, which is broader picture type stuff.
This movie is layered. It's filled with metaphors, and it has to be. The story is bigger than it really has time for, and frequently feels rushed. There's more than a few spots where everything feels really cramped together, and in a perfect world and in a perfect movie, it wouldn't feel that way. Story wise, the pacing is probably the thing with the most issues. I don't know a good way that this movie could have fixed this. Maybe it needed to be longer, maybe it needed a few less events. Maybe if it didn't have to have as much comedy as it did, or didn't have to be a children's movie it could have cut some of the "fluff" but the fluff was as much of a reason to watch the movie as anything else. Olaf is adorable, and honestly, he's the type of character who is usually cast with a voice that sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me, but he's not annoying, his voice is whinny to me, it's soft and he just sounds so sweet, which works because he is just such a sweet character. Another weak point for the film is the song writing. Some of the songs just don't work very well for me. They lack a strong structure even though they have some great lines, and they don't hold the scene together well enough.
These are just rough edges though. It's no a perfect movie, though it felt like with some really careful polishing it could have been. The story is beautiful, complex, and loaded with interesting characters and twists. Many of the songs are noteworthy and extremely well done, getting to the core of the characters and the scene and moving the plot along briskly with lots of character development that works. The characters are very well done, though there are a few two dimensional characters that could have had more depth. This movie is a must watch.
The Book Thief:
This movie is just beautiful. It feels like a movie from my childhood that I forgot. The pacing just feels like something from another decade, everything about it feels ancient and it fits very much with the themes and ideas. There's more happening than just the main plot line, all of the characters have something going on. This movie is able to convey a lot of sub-textual story telling because of the well know historical background that allows it to include a great deal of history that would otherwise make it very much impossible to tell the whole story in a meaningful way.
From the cinematography to the music and dialog and characters, this movie is simply an excellent example of film making. I hadn't been impressed by almost anything I had seen at all this year until I saw this movie, and it was like waking up. It was warm and sweet, funny and sad, beautiful and painful and moving. I can recommend this movie without reservation to absolutely anyone, as everything about it is extremely well done. I am honestly having trouble thinking of any really rough patches that kept this movie from being amazing. There are a few weak points in the acting, which shouldn't be taken at face value, because this movie rides so heavily on its child actors it would be astounding if it didn't have those moments, and what few there are barely cause a hitch in the pacing of the scene.
I haven't read the book that this movie is based on. That doesn't necessarily mean much, but it's always weird to me. There are so few book to movie translations I have ever enjoyed, maybe 5 or seven. I do want to read this book very badly now, and see how the movie holds up after reading the book. It would be absolutely fascinating. If you have the chance, though, definitely watch this movie. It's beautiful, heart wrenching, and extremely well crafted.
Disney's Frozen:
I wish I could say I was surprised by this movie, but I'd managed to totally avoid any trailers for it and I didn't hear anything about it till the buzz exploded that it was just a fantastic film. I'm happy to say that I was not in the least disappointed. I went in expecting a great film and I got one. It's easily the best film in Disney's "Disney Film" repertoire of feature animations since Beauty and the Beast. I mean, sure Wreck it Ralph and the most recent Winnie the Pooh were both just stand out amazing movies from the same studio, but this one FEELS like classic Disney. More importantly, though, it feels like classic Disney that is relevant. It breaks molds, it's not a romance, there's romance in it, but it's not about a girl getting a guy or vice versa, it's about being able to connect with the people you're closest to, which is broader picture type stuff.
This movie is layered. It's filled with metaphors, and it has to be. The story is bigger than it really has time for, and frequently feels rushed. There's more than a few spots where everything feels really cramped together, and in a perfect world and in a perfect movie, it wouldn't feel that way. Story wise, the pacing is probably the thing with the most issues. I don't know a good way that this movie could have fixed this. Maybe it needed to be longer, maybe it needed a few less events. Maybe if it didn't have to have as much comedy as it did, or didn't have to be a children's movie it could have cut some of the "fluff" but the fluff was as much of a reason to watch the movie as anything else. Olaf is adorable, and honestly, he's the type of character who is usually cast with a voice that sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me, but he's not annoying, his voice is whinny to me, it's soft and he just sounds so sweet, which works because he is just such a sweet character. Another weak point for the film is the song writing. Some of the songs just don't work very well for me. They lack a strong structure even though they have some great lines, and they don't hold the scene together well enough.
These are just rough edges though. It's no a perfect movie, though it felt like with some really careful polishing it could have been. The story is beautiful, complex, and loaded with interesting characters and twists. Many of the songs are noteworthy and extremely well done, getting to the core of the characters and the scene and moving the plot along briskly with lots of character development that works. The characters are very well done, though there are a few two dimensional characters that could have had more depth. This movie is a must watch.
The Book Thief:
This movie is just beautiful. It feels like a movie from my childhood that I forgot. The pacing just feels like something from another decade, everything about it feels ancient and it fits very much with the themes and ideas. There's more happening than just the main plot line, all of the characters have something going on. This movie is able to convey a lot of sub-textual story telling because of the well know historical background that allows it to include a great deal of history that would otherwise make it very much impossible to tell the whole story in a meaningful way.
From the cinematography to the music and dialog and characters, this movie is simply an excellent example of film making. I hadn't been impressed by almost anything I had seen at all this year until I saw this movie, and it was like waking up. It was warm and sweet, funny and sad, beautiful and painful and moving. I can recommend this movie without reservation to absolutely anyone, as everything about it is extremely well done. I am honestly having trouble thinking of any really rough patches that kept this movie from being amazing. There are a few weak points in the acting, which shouldn't be taken at face value, because this movie rides so heavily on its child actors it would be astounding if it didn't have those moments, and what few there are barely cause a hitch in the pacing of the scene.
I haven't read the book that this movie is based on. That doesn't necessarily mean much, but it's always weird to me. There are so few book to movie translations I have ever enjoyed, maybe 5 or seven. I do want to read this book very badly now, and see how the movie holds up after reading the book. It would be absolutely fascinating. If you have the chance, though, definitely watch this movie. It's beautiful, heart wrenching, and extremely well crafted.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Republic Wireless
Well, I'm in for a great experiment. I've picked up a Moto X from republic wireless and their 25$ per month 3g data plan and I am EXCITED. I've had about a week to play with the phone so far and I am honestly very impressed with my experiences. I'm a pretty tough customer to please, too, because I was pretty happy with Boost mobile and the service they have provided me over the years, most especially over the last few months with my most recent phone.
I've been using the HTC One SV and it was by far the best phone I had ever used. In fact, if it were not for with the give and take advantages/disadvantages between the plan/phone I'd say it is dead even tied with the Moto X for me. The One SV could last a day and a half easy with 4g LTE turned on and running, and even moderate use over the time period. Games would burn out the battery, but what phone do they not do that on?
The Jellybean O/S ran smooth as silk, the screen was bright and large enough to be comfortable but not too large to function conveniently as a phone. The one and only hiccup I ever had with it was the disk storage space management. With a limit for 2 gb of app space and a fairly large list of pre-installed apps that could not be removed the updates eventually made it very difficult to keep any games installed on the phone and still allow for all the apps I wanted to be able to update regularly. In the last few months disk space management actually became quite serious any time a list of apps needed to update.
The Moto X has a massive internal drive comparatively, and though it can't use an SD card, even though the One SV would let you plug one in, it couldn't REALLY use it either. Using my internal storage space without a care in the world I still have about 10 GB free internally to play with on this phone allowing me to really breathe and enjoy games and other media really easily and conveniently.
The contextual features are also really sweet and I really enjoy playing with them, though, honestly they are not as impressive as I had initially hoped. Using NFC to lock and unlock the phone turned out to be less awesome than I had hoped mostly because of software. You can't unlock it just by touching it to a RFID chip, you have to push the unlock button, then touch it to the RFID, and it's just an extra step that feels nu-neccessary. I just wish it could completely unlock with a swipe. I just think the software isn't quite there yet.
And I am a battery life junky, the longer without a charger the better. You never know when you'll be in an emergency and need to go as long as possible without charging, so those extra hours mean a lot to me, and the Moto X just doesn't give me the same battery life.
Overall, between the price of the phone time, the list of features and advantages and disadvantages, I'm happy with the difference, for now I'll be sticking with Republic Wireless and their truly fascinating service plans, which I highly recommend anyone check out.
On a side note, I can't wait to live in the future when my phone can unlock my house, turn on my car, and pay for things on site with NFC wallet apps and RFID for EVERYTHING, and even be used to authenticate my identity and my driver's license. On that day, I wont need my wallet or my keys anymore. I remember when I only needed my keys, and then only my wallet and keys.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have a phone case that holds a few cards, enough to hold all the essential ones I carry around with me. Since I do not carry cash this means I can finally experiment with leaving my wallet behind.
The last two days of my life I've pared down to just a wallet and keys and it feels AMAZING.
I can't wait for more of the future!
The Jellybean O/S ran smooth as silk, the screen was bright and large enough to be comfortable but not too large to function conveniently as a phone. The one and only hiccup I ever had with it was the disk storage space management. With a limit for 2 gb of app space and a fairly large list of pre-installed apps that could not be removed the updates eventually made it very difficult to keep any games installed on the phone and still allow for all the apps I wanted to be able to update regularly. In the last few months disk space management actually became quite serious any time a list of apps needed to update.
The Moto X has a massive internal drive comparatively, and though it can't use an SD card, even though the One SV would let you plug one in, it couldn't REALLY use it either. Using my internal storage space without a care in the world I still have about 10 GB free internally to play with on this phone allowing me to really breathe and enjoy games and other media really easily and conveniently.
The contextual features are also really sweet and I really enjoy playing with them, though, honestly they are not as impressive as I had initially hoped. Using NFC to lock and unlock the phone turned out to be less awesome than I had hoped mostly because of software. You can't unlock it just by touching it to a RFID chip, you have to push the unlock button, then touch it to the RFID, and it's just an extra step that feels nu-neccessary. I just wish it could completely unlock with a swipe. I just think the software isn't quite there yet.
And I am a battery life junky, the longer without a charger the better. You never know when you'll be in an emergency and need to go as long as possible without charging, so those extra hours mean a lot to me, and the Moto X just doesn't give me the same battery life.
Overall, between the price of the phone time, the list of features and advantages and disadvantages, I'm happy with the difference, for now I'll be sticking with Republic Wireless and their truly fascinating service plans, which I highly recommend anyone check out.
On a side note, I can't wait to live in the future when my phone can unlock my house, turn on my car, and pay for things on site with NFC wallet apps and RFID for EVERYTHING, and even be used to authenticate my identity and my driver's license. On that day, I wont need my wallet or my keys anymore. I remember when I only needed my keys, and then only my wallet and keys.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have a phone case that holds a few cards, enough to hold all the essential ones I carry around with me. Since I do not carry cash this means I can finally experiment with leaving my wallet behind.
The last two days of my life I've pared down to just a wallet and keys and it feels AMAZING.
I can't wait for more of the future!
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
What if Fez Were Good?
I mean, don't get me wrong, my initial experience with Fez was extremely positive. It didn't take long for the thin veneer of positive to wear away into almost nothing. The puzzles initially have very cool structure, and the music is beautiful. There were some strong story telling devices used in the game world, which often are neglected in more narrative heavy experiences and make for incredible world building. But then I started to notice that nothing was being built on top of it. There just wasn't any purpose for this beautifully created world.
Then the puzzles started to bump into some of the meatier puzzles that make up the majority of the game. A lot of them dealing with reading long sequences of code and puzzles that require a lot of notes. Very classic and old school, requiring meticulous note taking to decipher the very clear and incredibly obvious puzzles. I hated every minute of that. Recently another game brought back a similar relic of ancient game playing, the hand drawn map. Etrian Odyssey brought back old school with style, integrating map making into the very deepest parts of the game, but at the same time giving you the tools to play with the maps inside of the game.
I once heard someone say that it's less important to accurately reproduce what we remember being good than it is to reproduce how they made us feel. To capture the essence. What I loved about puzzles that made me write down and copy codes and images and codes to use later is that it made me feel like I was discovering special. I don't feel like that anymore. I know the solution, but the writing and memorization becomes just irritating. I feel like when I know the solution to a puzzle I should be able to implement it without having to stop playing the game. Etrian Odyssey manages to capture the essence of how I felt drawing maps without the inconvenience and irritation I'd have if I had to actually pull out graph paper. This is one of Fez's bigger failings.
By the time I got to the initial "ending" of the game I had begun to tire of almost everything I initially found charming about it. For everything that is there, it is missing something that feels deeply essential, leaving a very superficial experience.
Even the exploration becomes a chore as backtracking transforms into a granular and tedious experience. The map is very nearly completely useless as the most useful long distance shortcuts are poorly documented if they're visible at all. I live for quality exploration. Super Metroid, Shadow Complex, Castlevania... these are my bread and butter, the root of everything I love most in games, and Fez manages to implement this element in a way that makes me loathe it. Navigation is just slow and painful and tedious, like a point and click adventure game with slow walking and puzzles across 30 screens.
To sum up, the game feels amazing when it first starts and quickly wears away to a chore. But it really could have been amazing.
Then the puzzles started to bump into some of the meatier puzzles that make up the majority of the game. A lot of them dealing with reading long sequences of code and puzzles that require a lot of notes. Very classic and old school, requiring meticulous note taking to decipher the very clear and incredibly obvious puzzles. I hated every minute of that. Recently another game brought back a similar relic of ancient game playing, the hand drawn map. Etrian Odyssey brought back old school with style, integrating map making into the very deepest parts of the game, but at the same time giving you the tools to play with the maps inside of the game.
I once heard someone say that it's less important to accurately reproduce what we remember being good than it is to reproduce how they made us feel. To capture the essence. What I loved about puzzles that made me write down and copy codes and images and codes to use later is that it made me feel like I was discovering special. I don't feel like that anymore. I know the solution, but the writing and memorization becomes just irritating. I feel like when I know the solution to a puzzle I should be able to implement it without having to stop playing the game. Etrian Odyssey manages to capture the essence of how I felt drawing maps without the inconvenience and irritation I'd have if I had to actually pull out graph paper. This is one of Fez's bigger failings.
By the time I got to the initial "ending" of the game I had begun to tire of almost everything I initially found charming about it. For everything that is there, it is missing something that feels deeply essential, leaving a very superficial experience.
Even the exploration becomes a chore as backtracking transforms into a granular and tedious experience. The map is very nearly completely useless as the most useful long distance shortcuts are poorly documented if they're visible at all. I live for quality exploration. Super Metroid, Shadow Complex, Castlevania... these are my bread and butter, the root of everything I love most in games, and Fez manages to implement this element in a way that makes me loathe it. Navigation is just slow and painful and tedious, like a point and click adventure game with slow walking and puzzles across 30 screens.
To sum up, the game feels amazing when it first starts and quickly wears away to a chore. But it really could have been amazing.
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Adventures
Wow, I had a pretty awesome week last week. A good week at work, and
then a good week in leisure. I averaged above quota all week, which just
felt great. It's the first time I did this purely on merit. Then,
Friday night I was able to see the Astros vs the New York Yankees live.
It's not like seeing the Yankees play is a life long dream of mine, but it's somebody's and someone out there has died not ever accomplishing this life long goal, and there's something to be said for accomplishing other people's lifelong dreams. A sort of beautiful saccharine joy. Kidding aside though, I got to go to the game with Rich and a fried of both Rich and Mike, and I had a great time hanging out with them. After that, the three of us went to Flying Saucer and had a pretty good time.
Slept in and felt great on Saturday. Relaxed and played games. Finally around 5:30 or so Rich swung by and we went out to Souther Star Brewery for Oktoberfest. I had a great time with a whole bunch of friends. Delicious food, delicious beer, and great company. Finally went home late at night and just totally lost consciousness.
Sunday evening? Breaking Bad series finale. Had a great time. Cooked queso with Sean and Scott. Guac and sour cream. Tons of chips. Then Breaking Bad and the first episode of a new season of Bob's Burgers, and a great episode at that.
And Sunday night I had no work. Took the night off to fully enjoy Breaking Bad with friends. Spent all of Monday relaxing and chatting and working on small nothing projects.
All in all a crazy good week. Working hard on making this week just as good.
It's not like seeing the Yankees play is a life long dream of mine, but it's somebody's and someone out there has died not ever accomplishing this life long goal, and there's something to be said for accomplishing other people's lifelong dreams. A sort of beautiful saccharine joy. Kidding aside though, I got to go to the game with Rich and a fried of both Rich and Mike, and I had a great time hanging out with them. After that, the three of us went to Flying Saucer and had a pretty good time.
Slept in and felt great on Saturday. Relaxed and played games. Finally around 5:30 or so Rich swung by and we went out to Souther Star Brewery for Oktoberfest. I had a great time with a whole bunch of friends. Delicious food, delicious beer, and great company. Finally went home late at night and just totally lost consciousness.
Sunday evening? Breaking Bad series finale. Had a great time. Cooked queso with Sean and Scott. Guac and sour cream. Tons of chips. Then Breaking Bad and the first episode of a new season of Bob's Burgers, and a great episode at that.
And Sunday night I had no work. Took the night off to fully enjoy Breaking Bad with friends. Spent all of Monday relaxing and chatting and working on small nothing projects.
All in all a crazy good week. Working hard on making this week just as good.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
It's Time To Look at the Big Picture
I've put together a Steam Machine early this year, using windows for the games availability, and I wanted to use it with the AMD APUs to test out some really affordable hardware options and I have been incredibly surprised by the quality of performance I've gotten.
There are some really big improvements I wish Steam could do that would push Big picture mode a long way. I wish I could be logged into both my living room PC and my bedroom PC without having to worry about whether or not I've logged off already and will need to re-type my credentials if I accidentally log in some where new while my old machine is still running. I can see needing to be told that a game is being played and not being able to play a game while the other profile is, but that looks like it's being addressed by game sharing.
One thing the Steam Big Picture can't do right now is have multiple user profiles logged in simultaneously. There are already some great games that support local multiplayer, Dungeon Defenders, and Monaco to name a few. This is something that consoles have been able to do this entire generation and I'm a little spoiled for it.
The ability to browse and play media from inside the client. Movies, music, etc.
The things I can tell you're trying to fix, and just need to improve on, fixing game launcher issues. Skyrim still requires a mouse to start the game and in game requires a keyboard to type things. Rocksmith requires a keyboard in game to type things but the big picture mode shell prevents the keyboard from working inside of it at all. Etc. Bugs in general.
Aside from that, Big Picture mode is making amazing strides, and I would be exstatic to play on it as my primary gaming machine in my household and to give my input during its development.
There are some really big improvements I wish Steam could do that would push Big picture mode a long way. I wish I could be logged into both my living room PC and my bedroom PC without having to worry about whether or not I've logged off already and will need to re-type my credentials if I accidentally log in some where new while my old machine is still running. I can see needing to be told that a game is being played and not being able to play a game while the other profile is, but that looks like it's being addressed by game sharing.
One thing the Steam Big Picture can't do right now is have multiple user profiles logged in simultaneously. There are already some great games that support local multiplayer, Dungeon Defenders, and Monaco to name a few. This is something that consoles have been able to do this entire generation and I'm a little spoiled for it.
The ability to browse and play media from inside the client. Movies, music, etc.
The things I can tell you're trying to fix, and just need to improve on, fixing game launcher issues. Skyrim still requires a mouse to start the game and in game requires a keyboard to type things. Rocksmith requires a keyboard in game to type things but the big picture mode shell prevents the keyboard from working inside of it at all. Etc. Bugs in general.
Aside from that, Big Picture mode is making amazing strides, and I would be exstatic to play on it as my primary gaming machine in my household and to give my input during its development.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
I Notice When You Don't Talk to Me
I'll tell you the story about the goblin that ate fire.
It was a rotten and greedy goblin. She'd
snuck into a giant's house, and because of how giant things work the
goblin found she had swollen up to giant size herself. However, the last meal in her
belly didn't, because magic is funny that way, and so while she had
been just a little bit hungry before, she was famished now that she had a
great giant empty belly and only a very very small half digested smack
in it.
So
she found the dining room, and, sure enough, the giant's table was laid
out with an enchanted never ending feast lit with torches and served on
gold plates. Even though it was never ending she was so hungry that she tried to eat it all anyway.
The more she ate, the more sprouted magically from the table. The faster she ate it, the faster and quicker it erupted from nowhere.
The great hungry goblin was so ravenous that she was not
discouraged, used both hands to shovel every morsel into her vast
mouth, hinged so far open that she could no longer see her own hands
tirelessly thrusting sustenance down her gullet. Suddenly she gasped
and gagged and choked and sputtered, clutching at her throat!
Wheezing and gulping for air she failed about till
she fell down on her back, striking so hard against the floor that it
dislodged the obstruction in her throat and caused her to choke it down whole.
Still shocked and surprised and out of breath she kept
tumbling backward and out of control right through the back kitchen door
and out of the house, back to her normal size, and down the steps and
off into the woods where she finally lay still.
When she began to feel herself again, she noticed she
felt hot all over everywhere, for though she did not know it and had not
reasoned it out yet, she had absent-mindedly swallowed the giant's torches .
And great fiery torches of fierce flame lit by dragons they were, though now she was just a very tiny and unassumingly normal goblin.
She went on to be the mother of all goblins, the fire
in her belly always destroying whatever she ate, always leaving her
hungry and angry, but forever cooking within her unlimited imaginings
and ingeniously clever hatreds. And that is why all goblins are so bitter to the core of their
bellies, and so clever as to work out any plot or trap or weapon.
Because from then on, all true goblins have had a bit of that stolen fire in their bellies. And it forever drives them to evil madness.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Sometimes it's Hard to Get the Message
Well, I've been doing my very best to keep myself occupied. Been doing a lot of small projects, such as building balsa wood air planes and working on coursera classes. I should be getting my grade soon for my most recent class on Startup Engineering. It was an engaging and challenging class that I really enjoyed a lot.
I've been doing a lot of reading in the past few months.
Name of the Wind
Wise Man's Fear
Boneshaker
Just a Geek
Spin
Big Jack is Dead
World War Z
Outlander
I haven't watched very many movies. I've gotten free screener passes to a bunch of them that I've just ended up not being able to go to because of being too tired from work or having to go alone. I may end up having to just go alone to most of these. I could have seen Kick Ass 2 forever ago. I really enjoyed watching the first one and the second looks like an excellent followup.
I did see World's End, however, and that was an excellent movie. Probably some of the best acting Simon Pegg has ever done, enjoyable jokes, endearing characters, fascinating storytelling. It really was not done justice by the advertisements for it, which sort of failed to capture the feel of how the movie really was.
I'm going to start taking some more in depth web design classes and learning more about payment gateways and how to set up a merchant website from the ground up. I'd like to see what can be done to really push some of the boundaries on this.
I'll have access to a level 3 VPS from HostGator pretty shortly that should let me play around and really see what I can do. It will be really cool having access to it. I guess I could also play around some with a VPS that George gave me access to as well.
I'm pretty excited to see what I can to to accomplish some new tasks. ALso, it's about time, but I'm going to start drawing again and playing around with some art to see what I can do. Little bit of photoshop, little bit of charcoal, maybe play with some color.
I've been doing a lot of reading in the past few months.
Name of the Wind
Wise Man's Fear
Boneshaker
Just a Geek
Spin
Big Jack is Dead
World War Z
Outlander
I haven't watched very many movies. I've gotten free screener passes to a bunch of them that I've just ended up not being able to go to because of being too tired from work or having to go alone. I may end up having to just go alone to most of these. I could have seen Kick Ass 2 forever ago. I really enjoyed watching the first one and the second looks like an excellent followup.
I did see World's End, however, and that was an excellent movie. Probably some of the best acting Simon Pegg has ever done, enjoyable jokes, endearing characters, fascinating storytelling. It really was not done justice by the advertisements for it, which sort of failed to capture the feel of how the movie really was.
I'm going to start taking some more in depth web design classes and learning more about payment gateways and how to set up a merchant website from the ground up. I'd like to see what can be done to really push some of the boundaries on this.
I'll have access to a level 3 VPS from HostGator pretty shortly that should let me play around and really see what I can do. It will be really cool having access to it. I guess I could also play around some with a VPS that George gave me access to as well.
I'm pretty excited to see what I can to to accomplish some new tasks. ALso, it's about time, but I'm going to start drawing again and playing around with some art to see what I can do. Little bit of photoshop, little bit of charcoal, maybe play with some color.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Stories
I wrote a story today. It's not good, but I think it has a weird sort of charm to it.
There once was a boy with an egg. He always had this egg, no matter what. It came with a carton full of other ordinary looking eggs, but this egg would not crack for breakfast no matter how hard he tried to break it. Tap tap tap, he went on the side of the bowl, and then on the pan and then,
Wham...
Wham...
WHAM!
It would not break on the counter. He took the egg to the garage and smash, smash, smash he went with the hammer. But the egg would not break, and so he kept it with him. Maybe it was not an egg, but only a perfect egg shaped rock. Who could tell? But it was something special.
He kept the egg with him always. For forty years he kept that egg. He had it with him when he met the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He had it with him when she agreed to go to the movies with him, when they had their first kiss.
He had it with him when she agreed to marry him. They had kids together, three beautiful girls, adorable from the moment they were born. He had the egg with him when she left him, taking the girls with her.
The egg was still with him the last time his children called him. And years later it was still with him when his parents died. When he lost his job he kept it with him while he worked around the house doing every day chores, and singing to keep his spirits up.
It was the only thing he kept when he lost the house, that and the clothes on his back.
Homeless and alone, he stopped changing clothes, and shaving. He lived wherever he could get shelter from the elements. He grew very skinny, with little to eat, and occasionally not feeling like eating even when he could. There just didn't seem very much point to it.
And so it came to pass, after forty years he sat on a corner of an empty crossroads, no where else to be, and nothing in the world but his rags and an apple he had gotten the day before from a kind stranger and his egg.
He didn't even like the egg, mind you, but what else could he do but keep it?
And so he sat there, on his fiftieth birthday, alone with his egg, when, it began to wobble, and crack, and finally to hatch. Out from inside the egg stepped a full grown unicorn! He was so shocked and surprised that he couldn't even think anything, let alone speak. The unicorn stood there silently, looking at him, and appraising him.
The two stared at each other in total stillness for an hour, before the unicorn flared its nostrils and sniffed the air. It saw the apple on the ground, ate it in one bite, savoring the delicious juices as it chomped down on it; then it turned and left.
It was still several minutes before the boy could think anything, as he was stunned into complete silence, both the apple, the egg, and now the unicorn gone. When finally he thought to himself, "So..."
"Unicorns ARE real!"
There once was a boy with an egg. He always had this egg, no matter what. It came with a carton full of other ordinary looking eggs, but this egg would not crack for breakfast no matter how hard he tried to break it. Tap tap tap, he went on the side of the bowl, and then on the pan and then,
Wham...
Wham...
WHAM!
It would not break on the counter. He took the egg to the garage and smash, smash, smash he went with the hammer. But the egg would not break, and so he kept it with him. Maybe it was not an egg, but only a perfect egg shaped rock. Who could tell? But it was something special.
He kept the egg with him always. For forty years he kept that egg. He had it with him when he met the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He had it with him when she agreed to go to the movies with him, when they had their first kiss.
He had it with him when she agreed to marry him. They had kids together, three beautiful girls, adorable from the moment they were born. He had the egg with him when she left him, taking the girls with her.
The egg was still with him the last time his children called him. And years later it was still with him when his parents died. When he lost his job he kept it with him while he worked around the house doing every day chores, and singing to keep his spirits up.
It was the only thing he kept when he lost the house, that and the clothes on his back.
Homeless and alone, he stopped changing clothes, and shaving. He lived wherever he could get shelter from the elements. He grew very skinny, with little to eat, and occasionally not feeling like eating even when he could. There just didn't seem very much point to it.
And so it came to pass, after forty years he sat on a corner of an empty crossroads, no where else to be, and nothing in the world but his rags and an apple he had gotten the day before from a kind stranger and his egg.
He didn't even like the egg, mind you, but what else could he do but keep it?
And so he sat there, on his fiftieth birthday, alone with his egg, when, it began to wobble, and crack, and finally to hatch. Out from inside the egg stepped a full grown unicorn! He was so shocked and surprised that he couldn't even think anything, let alone speak. The unicorn stood there silently, looking at him, and appraising him.
The two stared at each other in total stillness for an hour, before the unicorn flared its nostrils and sniffed the air. It saw the apple on the ground, ate it in one bite, savoring the delicious juices as it chomped down on it; then it turned and left.
It was still several minutes before the boy could think anything, as he was stunned into complete silence, both the apple, the egg, and now the unicorn gone. When finally he thought to himself, "So..."
"Unicorns ARE real!"
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Getting Started with eCommerce
Been trying to get my stuff together to help with the commerce on my business site. I'm drowning a bit here. I don't know whether to do store software or a plugin for the Wordpress main site as is for the site. Finding the right payment gateway is a nightmare. You need a descent set of options for accepting payments, some way to take credit card sales directly from the site, that requires an SSL, I've got that. Paypal, and Google Checkouts both have to be options. Amazon should be, but is a little harder to find support for.
As for direct credit card gateways? You're either getting high percentages or monthly fees. Monthly fees are right out, because of how inconsistent our businesses, but you have to weigh those monthly fees against the total cost of difference in overall per charge interest.
I'd love to find a book or some kind of resource talking about other people's experiences with this. I know one has to exist, this isn't dark ages. Small business eCommerce is a dinosaur now in terms of evolution. Obviously it's evolved to a modern animal, but still. I want more than I have been able to find. I guess part of the problem is no one ever should tell you which payment gateway to use, and the vast array of options and needs is so extreme that maybe it's just not possible to tie it all together, and part of the problem is that so many of the options are incredibly worthwhile.
Anyway. I should have something workable up by the end of the month as a reasonable payment gateway, and I've really enjoyed learning about it all. I do wish there were some slightly more accessible resources available that were easy to find.
As for direct credit card gateways? You're either getting high percentages or monthly fees. Monthly fees are right out, because of how inconsistent our businesses, but you have to weigh those monthly fees against the total cost of difference in overall per charge interest.
I'd love to find a book or some kind of resource talking about other people's experiences with this. I know one has to exist, this isn't dark ages. Small business eCommerce is a dinosaur now in terms of evolution. Obviously it's evolved to a modern animal, but still. I want more than I have been able to find. I guess part of the problem is no one ever should tell you which payment gateway to use, and the vast array of options and needs is so extreme that maybe it's just not possible to tie it all together, and part of the problem is that so many of the options are incredibly worthwhile.
Anyway. I should have something workable up by the end of the month as a reasonable payment gateway, and I've really enjoyed learning about it all. I do wish there were some slightly more accessible resources available that were easy to find.
Wednesday, August 07, 2013
Death is the Poor Man's Doctor
I really haven't kept up with this in a while. It's a weird sort of private and not private, and I never know who has read it and who hasn't and what I can say about what I'm thinking. Everything in here is honest, but there are some things that I feel and do that I can be a little more expressive about than others. Journal status, though, I'm really enjoying my new job. I've been there almost 5 months and it's been an extremely enriching experience.
I want to spend some time talking about things that haven't changed. I'm still reading a lot. I've read four books in the last month and I feel pretty good about it. I've reread The Name of the Wind, I've read Spin, Just a Geek, and Big Jack's Dead. I am in the middle of re-reading Wise Man's Fear, and I am also in the early parts of Boneshaker. I've watched a ton of video. Most of the really big movies that have been released, many of which are so unmemorable that I couldn't even tell you all of them. I've watched most of Orange is the New Black, which is an excellent show. I've watched House of Cards, which I also enjoyed immensely, as well as the new season of Arrested Development.
I've been expressing myself musically. It's meant a lot to me, the few little songs I know on the guitar. I work hard to expand what I can do and push my boundaries. The music sounds beautiful to me, and I treasure every note that rings out from its grimy strings. I guess it's my fault they're grimy, I can have that effect. Maybe I should change them. They'd sound brighter. I'd just run my fingers up and down them all day again though, and rub off on them, and then they'd just be that way all over again so it feels a little futile till they can't hold a tune.
I guess that's just more mortality for you. I should draw more. I'd really like to draw more. And write.
Things that are new. Job, dog. It's been interesting meeting lots of new people. Lots of new people, it's pretty intimidating to me. I finally made it to a Houston Restaurant Weeks restaurant this year, and that's something I've been trying to do for a few years. It felt pretty good. I got a new desk. That was a long time coming. It was really special and took a long time to pick out because a desk is so important. And then... my chair broke. So now it's time to start working on picking a new office chair. That's something to sigh about.
I've been involved in kickstarer, and even started to reap the rewards of projects I have invested in. A lot has happened with Louisianime, it has really become something very important to me that I am proud of. I've really opened up to some new experiences all around in life.
I'm always sad when you've really invested yourself in a friendship and you get used to talking to someone every day before you notice that you're the only one calling them. You observantly notice, that if you went days without calling them, they just wouldn't talk to you, and all of a sudden you feel like a tool. There are so many nuances to that, you feel unwanted, burdensome, like a living annoyance. After that it's back to trying to moderate being as much friends with them as they are with you.
I'm going to take a week's vacation and go to California in September or October, and visit some new places.
Anyway, I'm really tired right now and it's time for me to get some sleep. I'm going to read and pass out, have a good night, world.
I want to spend some time talking about things that haven't changed. I'm still reading a lot. I've read four books in the last month and I feel pretty good about it. I've reread The Name of the Wind, I've read Spin, Just a Geek, and Big Jack's Dead. I am in the middle of re-reading Wise Man's Fear, and I am also in the early parts of Boneshaker. I've watched a ton of video. Most of the really big movies that have been released, many of which are so unmemorable that I couldn't even tell you all of them. I've watched most of Orange is the New Black, which is an excellent show. I've watched House of Cards, which I also enjoyed immensely, as well as the new season of Arrested Development.
I've been expressing myself musically. It's meant a lot to me, the few little songs I know on the guitar. I work hard to expand what I can do and push my boundaries. The music sounds beautiful to me, and I treasure every note that rings out from its grimy strings. I guess it's my fault they're grimy, I can have that effect. Maybe I should change them. They'd sound brighter. I'd just run my fingers up and down them all day again though, and rub off on them, and then they'd just be that way all over again so it feels a little futile till they can't hold a tune.
I guess that's just more mortality for you. I should draw more. I'd really like to draw more. And write.
Things that are new. Job, dog. It's been interesting meeting lots of new people. Lots of new people, it's pretty intimidating to me. I finally made it to a Houston Restaurant Weeks restaurant this year, and that's something I've been trying to do for a few years. It felt pretty good. I got a new desk. That was a long time coming. It was really special and took a long time to pick out because a desk is so important. And then... my chair broke. So now it's time to start working on picking a new office chair. That's something to sigh about.
I've been involved in kickstarer, and even started to reap the rewards of projects I have invested in. A lot has happened with Louisianime, it has really become something very important to me that I am proud of. I've really opened up to some new experiences all around in life.
I'm always sad when you've really invested yourself in a friendship and you get used to talking to someone every day before you notice that you're the only one calling them. You observantly notice, that if you went days without calling them, they just wouldn't talk to you, and all of a sudden you feel like a tool. There are so many nuances to that, you feel unwanted, burdensome, like a living annoyance. After that it's back to trying to moderate being as much friends with them as they are with you.
I'm going to take a week's vacation and go to California in September or October, and visit some new places.
Anyway, I'm really tired right now and it's time for me to get some sleep. I'm going to read and pass out, have a good night, world.
Friday, August 02, 2013
There's A New Member in My Family
Everyone meet Arthur Dent. He just arrived at my household yesterday and has already settled in quite nicely. He enjoys long walks around the neighborhood, cuddling in a lap to watch TV, sleeping, wagging his tail, and eating poop.
We'll see how this goes.
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