Holiday Crush

Well, the holidays are over. I had a really good Christmas this year, got lots of fun stuff like a new Food Processor and a little Acer NetBook from Ben, various video games, a cool rip-apart Zombie plushie and some cash, as well as other fun stuff.
Christmas day was a blizzard, but my mom, dad and brother stopped by for festivities (soup and vegetable tray and my dad brought his snow blower and cleaned our driveway for us). Ben's mom and aunt weren't able to make it, so we got in Ben's 4-wheel drive Jeep and drove down to his mom's place for Christmas. She got us new office chairs, which we literally loaded on sleds and slid them down the snow-filled stairs to the car.
For New Years Eve, we went to HuHot with our friends Becky and Kevin. I wasn't that impressed, to be honest. I usually eat at Genghis Khan Mongolian Grill down in Kansas City when I visit BenW, and I LOVE that place, so I couldn't help but compare the two and GKMG wins, hands down. Afterwards, Becky and Kevin came over and we just hung out and chatted about nothing until the new year rang. Ben went to bed shortly after, and Becky was tuckered so she and Kevin left fairly early as well. But it was fun and low key, which is usually how I like to roll.
On New Years day (night) we went over to our friend's Jason and Meagan's new house and had a game night with various yummy food (the Amazing White Trash Puff Balls truly were amazing) and fun games (A-Z was fun, I won my very first game of Settlers of Katan [of which I've played before, but never won] and played Things [which is more fun with more people])
Saw a couple of movies over the break. Sherlock Holmes was pretty good, and I thought it was funny that I didn't figure out the twist which should have been very obvious but in the context of the movie was very hard to realize. Avatar in 3d was also really good, a lot better than I expected it to be, but I didn't have any expectations so it made it all the more awesome when it did turn out to be as great as everyone said it was.
The snow has been crazy! Our driveway hasn't been devoid of snow since early December, which is odd since we haven't had any significant snowfall around the holidays since I was a kid. If I had a sled, I probably would have more fun outside, but I don't, so I haven't.
The coming year has quite a few video games to play (thanks to Christmas). I finally finished Bowser's Inside Story last night, so I can start playing Zelda: Spirit Tracks that my bro got me for Christmas. I also got the first Uncharted game (since I played the second one first and loved it, I asked for the first one and look forward to more of cutie Nathan Drake and his treasure hunting), and the God of War collection (which BenW wants me to play since he knows I'll pick up the upcoming third title when it's released). Lastly, I received Rock Band 2, so hopefully more Rock Band nights will happen in 2010.

I don't have any New Year's Resolutions this year. I'd like to quit smoking, I'd like to go to the gym more often, and I'd like to get more done on the house. But I guess we'll see how that turns out as the year progresses.

Novels and Nonsense Riddles and Nathan Drake

Quick Update on books and video games

I finally finished The Historian, after approximately 4 years and 3 stabs at it, but I finally did it and I'm so glad I did. The ending (even if Dracula only pops up for about 50 pages in a 675 page book) was totally worth it. All the reveals and reunions and the stunningly described imagery of EVERYTHING made this totally worth the effort, the wait and the stress involved in reading it. Do as I say, not as I do. The book is worth reading, even if my actions made it seem like it wasn't.

After finishing The Historian, I immediately picked up a trashy gay mystery novel (First You Fall by Scott Sherman) to pass the time and finished it in a day and a half. Such is the extent of my ADD brain when it comes to books. The novels I feel I should read and truly want to read take me a lifetime. Those that are twee and flights of fancy between my more serious reads take complete control of my spare time until I'm finished with them. Ah well. In the end, the book wasn't as trashy as I expected it to be, and since it's part of an ongoing series, I can't wait for the second title to come out!

I also completed Batman: Arkham Asylum, which I believe is probably the best that Batman has been put to the video game screen, ever. Both dark and humorous, with tons of awesome visuals and a maddeningly satisfying Riddler sidequest make for great gaming experience. Also, it has one of my favorite characterizations of (and a leading villain role) for my favorite of the Rogues Gallery, Miss Pamela Lillian Isely...Poison Ivy if you're nasty. Again, with the ADD. It took me three to four months to finish Silent Hill: Homecoming, and only about a week to finish this game. Again, I say ah well.

Started playing Uncharted 2: Among Thieves last night, something to keep me busy between now and next week when Assassin's Creed II comes out, of which I plan to play the hell through. I must say, Nathan Drake is probably one of the cutest video game protagonists I've played as. One could even call him smokin' hot, if those terms apply to VG characters. (sidenote: I thought (and Ben doesn't agree) that he looks strikingly similar to Alex Shephard from Silent Hill: Homecoming, a character I thought was kind of odd looking, but that could be because he was programmed that way (lame Jessica Rabbit reference))

Still waiting to be finished? Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story on my DS. I need to get back to it, but lately my lunch breaks at Starbucks have involved reading, so there hasn't been a good opportunity to sit down with it for any period of time. Eventually, though.

Hello again, have we met?

I feel like my life is on media overload. Sometimes I wonder what it was like to live in a world without music at my fingertips, video games, DVRs, movie theaters, books and new ebook readers on which to read them, etc. It just seems like so much, and it's stressing me out. But I guess if that's all I'm worrying about, my life can't be going too bad, right?

Our Tivo is always full now, I still need to scale back on the shows I watch, I think. Heroes specifically. We've got 7 hours worth of episodes (haven't watched a single one this season) and I'm ok with that. It was never my fave, and with so many to watch it's easier to be blase about the show and just give up.

I'm still reading The Historian, it's been like 4 months, but I have progressed farther than I did the first time I tried to read it several years ago. I still vow to finish it, and won't start a new book until it's done. It's not that I don't like it, just so much media! (re: above)


In other news, our house is shaping up nicely. In the past several months we've put on a new deck, gotten a new toilet and dishwasher, and generally made it a little more liveable in the process. It's nice to see how the house looks now, considering how it looked when we first moved in. It's a nice feeling. Still on the docket is new fixtures in the bathroom shower and fixing a phantom leak/drip behind our kitchen wall that has been driving us (mostly me) nuts. There's also finishing the driveway extension and drywalling/finishing off the basement with a laundry room/bathroom and a nice storage area. Part of me just wants to tear out all the walls in the basement and reconstruct in as we see fit, I'd kill for some more space down there, considering how big our furniture is.

I'm liking my job, but at almost five years in I'm wondering if it's what I want to do for the rest of my life. I don't know if I want to head back to school and learn a trade or get a laptop and try my hand at writing. God knows, though, I'll still be at Barnes and Noble, no matter what I do.

Well, here's hoping I keep the entries coming.

Somewhat busy weekend

This weekend was a pretty good one. Although we didn't do our separate movie plan on Friday (He was going to see Shopaholic, I was going to see Friday the 13th) because of the snow, the rest of the weekend was quite fun, including Valentine's Day! Ben enjoyed his gifts, and felt bad that he wasn't able to get me anything as great as he did last year.
We had a wonderful sushi dinner at Sakura Bana (with pretty much every hipster kid in Omaha). I even tried "real" sushi, rather than California Rolls. They were called Tijuana Rolls, and had cilantro, tuna and pickled jalapeno, with the rice and seawead. They were good, I was suprised I couldn't even taste the fish.
We also bought a new dishwasher from the Mart (which is being delivered today), had some coffee at Barnes and then swung through World Market and got a vase and a pretty snazzy new candleholder for the bathroom.

On Sunday, I downloaded PixelJunk Monsters (a tower defense game with pigmis, I guess) and we've been playing that quite a bit. It's nice to have a game that we can both enjoy.

I started back up on Dead Space last night too, and am halfway through Chapter 2. I normally don't get freaked out too easily, but I can't play that game for long periods of time alone in the dark, otherwise I think there are things crawling on the ceiling or hiding in my cupboards, waiting to grab me, heh. Fun game though, and it'll keep me busy until RE5 comes out.

My manager accepted my leave request for the beginning of March, and I can't wait to see Watchmen in KC! On IMAX!

Star Trek Opera = Genius (and suprisingly heartfelt)

The Raw Shark Texts & Resident Evil 5 (demo)

The Raw Sharks Texts by Steven Hall
****1/2 (of 5)
There is so much to say about this book, and yet, there is so little I can say because I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. It's kind of like House of Leaves mixed with Jaws, with tinges of The Matrix and Memento, if that makes sense. The book is so out there, and everything feels like it needs to be interpreted and studied to get the complete feel of the book. The title itself is a play on Rorscharch Tests, which adds a whole new aspect to the story now that I've finished.
I loved the interaction of the main character, The 2nd Eric Sanderson, with those around him, including The 1st Eric Sanderson who we learns about via notes left from the latter.
The book starts as a journey as 2nd Eric tries to figure out what part of his memories are gone and why they left him. During this investigation, he stumbles upon conceptual fish, fish that steal people's memories, alter moods, change attitudes, feed on desolate minds, etcetera. After an attack in his own home, 1st Eric's letters lead him on the trail of Dr. Trey Fidorous and into the arms of Scout, who may be the 1st Eric's girlfriend Clio, supposedly dead from a scuba accident in Greece. She has her own reasons for capturing whatever is chasing 2nd Eric.
The last quarter of the book is basically Jaws, only on a conceptual plane, as the three (and Ian, 2nd Eric's ginger cat, along for the ride and none too pleased) try to kill the Ludovician, a conceptual shark that has been hunting 2nd Eric, and may have been the cause of 1st Eric's demise.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the plot and who was what, when and where, but I loved reading this book. The unique print style (with shark attacks being visualized with word pictures) and the way 2nd Eric jumped around in prose, from letters to maybe-remembered memories to the 'here and now'. The references to books, people, history and old films boggle the mind, and I'm sure further research could add depth to the book. I found The Annotated Raw Shark Texts wiki, and I'm totally going to read the hell out of it and see if what I think happened, actually happened.

Resident Evil 5 (demo)
****
I've been excited for this game ever since it was announced 2+ years ago, and yesterday, a demo finally appeared on PSN, so of course I downloaded it immediately when I got home. I'm still a newbie to PS3 (and I never really owned a PS2) so the button configurations still confuse me a lot of the time. Apparently, the controls of RE5 are similar, if not the same, as RE4 (one of my personal favorite games, although I played on the Gamecube, so I'm even more unfamiliar with the controls).
The demo consists of two scenarios, one in a Public Commons area after a rather bloody execution, and the second in a desolate Shanty Town with a rather wicked boss at the end. I started with the Commons area and it was apparent immediately that I would need this demo as practice if I were ever to get the buttons correct. I died pretty horribly that first go through, but by the third, had completed the section (by running from the Executioner and shooting him outside rather than in the house where the action starts), although with very little ammo or life left.
I never fully beat the Shanty Town area. It's quite long for a demo level (at least 15 minutes) and the boss at the end is a pain. I never did beat him. He's a play on the Chainsaw Guy enemy from RE4, although scarier and a LOT faster. I think you're supposed to kill him by exploding gas barrels near him, but I couldn't quite get the hang of it.
I think I'll really enjoy this game. The AI of Sheva (your in-game partner) is spot on, other than she's a bit more of an ammo hog than I'd like. I liked being able to set her to either attack other enemies on her own, or cover me as needed. And the partnering up to solve problems was refreshing, after the drain Ashley Graham was in RE4. I was sort of sad that I couldn't damage Sheva, but I guess it makes sense when she's always so close to you. The equipment storage solution for this game is unique (real time, I guess they call it) in that you don't go to a separate screen to get items from your briefcase, rather you use buttons on the direction pad, or you open up your inventory in the middle of the action and dole out ammo/change guns/heal yourself. I'm not sure how much I like not being able to take a break to heal, but I guess it adds to the ambiance, right? And unlike a lot of people that have reviewed the demo, I actually prefer not being able to move and shoot at the same time. I inevitable run in, guns blazing, and get myself horribly killed with games like that. With RE5, I'm able to actually focus and aim, running just adds to the frantic-ness.
I already pre-ordered the game (the super special edition, even) and cannot wait to wait in line at midnight and race home to play the full game!

Two in a day, I am getting back to form

I just found out Resident Evil 5 (in demo form) is on PSN starting today, so that will eat up most of my after-work time tonight. That's a shot from the game (courtesy of Joystiq), isn't Chris Redfield dreamy? Sheva is pretty attractive as well, but I swoon for some Redfield arms! I even went to GameStop over lunch and preordered the game, I'm so excited. The collector's edition (with figurines and bags and such) to boot!

I gave Ben the choice of a sausage and pepper frittata or fried chicken for dinner, and fried chicken won out. I'm gonna look up some recipes and see if I can find a baked version so I don't feel bad eating like 4 drumsticks. And if we go to the gym tonight, I don't want to negate any of the calories/fat burned by scarfing down on some bad-for-me breading.

This past weekend, I had an OCD, I'm-not-on-meth-but-may-as-well-be cleaning session in the house. Christmas decorations were taken down, the floor was swept and mopt, the ceiling was vacuumed, the bathroom was scrubbed down. Now all I can think about is how dirty the rest of the house is in comparison. Next on the list? The office. It's in need of a really good vacuuming and dusting. I also need to clean out my desk and the filing cabinet and *maybe* the closet too, we'll see. After that, our walk-in. My clothes, especially t-shirts, need to be gone through and any unwanted items need dropped off at Goodwill.

Also, Heroes is back tonight, but I find myself not all that excited. Obviously, I'm more excited about RE5!