Monthly Archives: April 2009

Apr 10 2009
Uncategorized

Lousy with children

I’m in the middle of dinner when the call comes, so I excuse myself and head downstairs to the restroom.

I find an empty urinal and begin my business.

Midway through, a child’s head appears in my peripheral vision.  It’s blond with blue eyes and attached to the rest of the body, which is about five years old.  I’m somewhat startled.

It’s startling because of two reasons:

First, children don’t usually appear directly next to me.

Second, I’m used to being in the urinal stall alone.

He just hangs out for about five seconds and then looks up at me and walks away.  I have no idea what happened but I laugh.  I very nearly regret doing so, considering that I had been drinking earlier, but I focus on the task at hand and finish.

I head for the sinks as the urinal flushes behind me and find that the boy is just wandering free in the restroom.  I start to wash my hands at the sink and he stands  a few steps behind me.  I start washing my hands and he asks me a question.

“Are you a boy?”

Again, laughter.

I thought we had established that earlier.

(Editor’s Note:  Maybe I should start using an androgyny tag.)

Apr 09 2009
2 Comments
writing

Circling In

I normally enjoy the walk in, although lately the weather is too cold in the morning and then slowly changes as I get closer to work to, “too hot to wear a jacket.”  It seems like this morning is particularly bad, as traffic does not want to let me cross and I’ve caught every single crosswalk as it counts down to the red hand.

I’m at one when I hear the question.

“How long did it take you to grow that hair, man?”

“Too long,” I answer, without thinking.

“Damn straight.”  He looks at my hair again.  “You Japanese?”

“Nope.”

“Hrm.  Chinese?”

“Nope.”

He goes through the list.  Each gets a negative response.  “Korean?  Thai?  Burmese?  Laotian?  Vietnamese?  Malay?  Mongolian?  Hmong?”  To be honest, I’m kind of impressed.  Yet, at the same time, kind of disappointed.

He pauses to think.  “Taiwanese?”

“Sorry.”

He pauses again, with a puzzled expression.

The walk signal changes and I step into the crosswalk.  “Filipino,” I say without turning my head.

Midway through the crosswalk I wonder if even that word was a fair description.

Tagged ,
Apr 08 2009
Games

Alone

I’m playing Rune Factory Frontier right now and I’m really enjoying it.  Or I’m finding it compelling.  It’s a very thin line between the two.  World of WarCraft was compelling, but eventually it turned into something that felt more like a second job.  Not fun.  While enjoyment was still to be found playing it, I was finding it harder and harder to have fun playing the game.

Yet it was still compelling.  Eventually I knew that I had to just let it go.  I beat the final boss (Protip:  It’s your credit card!)  Then, I just let my account lapse.

I found something interesting about my playing habits with Rune Factory, how I have changed my habits over the years.

It used to be that when I found out something interesting, or exciting about a game I was playing, it really felt like a discovery.  That in this game, I did something that’s a singular experience, that event is something that was on the edge of a great frontier.  This was before the internet.

Now before I do anything I feel like I have to check for a FAQ or a guide to find out if it’s the “right” decision.

I was considering an expansion for the house in Rune Factory, but then I was presented with a couple of choices.  I then went to the forums and looked up pictures of the possible themes.  Then I almost posted something to twitter to ask about which one I should go with.

Then I stopped myself after I realized what I was doing.

I decided from that point on, I was just going to forge ahead and make the decisions and live with them.  That’s the beauty of Rune Factory.  There’s no “wrong” decision to make.  If a path gets closed to me, oh well, the game is huge, there are tons of things to do.

I just need to make my peace with that.

I need to make peace with a game about farming, dating, monster fighting, and returning balance to the land.

Oh, and I went with an unseen extension to my house in the game.  And it turns out to have been the steampunk styled expansion.

Score.

Tagged
Apr 07 2009
1 Comment
Uncategorized

DOB

Today I saw a receipt from the grocery store.  I noticed that I had purchased some alcohol and they actually put the date of birth on the receipt.

I didn’t notice that before.

So I didn’t think about it too much and got ready to shred it.  Then I noticed something odd about the date.

It was ten years later than my birth year.

And I can still buy alcohol.

Apr 06 2009
Games

DSi: No time for love, Dr. Jones

The DSi arrived today.

Although I can’t tell you much about it other than it’s black, and it seems to work.  I’ve been so busy doing real life things that I haven’t even put it on the network.  I’ve got it charging right now, and have played around with the camera.  Overall, that’s about it.

I should probably order an SD card for it.

As far as software is concerned, I was thinking about the Brain Age: Math edition.  WarioWare, while usually consistent in terms of fun factor is just more of the same with a new gimmick.  Or it could just be “Ware Fatigue.”  I’m Ware’d out.  (sad trombone)

But at least with the Brain Age: Math I’ll be playing something I enjoy.

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