A tooth in the coin machine, puppies, and a co-worker fainting...it's been a hell of a day!

Gamer Nerd News Ahead...

So...here's the obligatory "here's what I think" post after my Christmas games have been broken in.

First, Kirby's Epic Yarn: It's freaking adorable. The cute factor makes me want to throw up a little, but in a good way. The challenge of getting through the levels isn't there. I mean, really, I haven't found a way to die. I'm fairly certain you can't die. You just lose some beads, which is where the challenge comes in. You're awarded a medal for every level based on how completely you raped the world of its beads and treasures. Three treasures. Thousands of beads. The beads can buy you decor for your little Kirby pad and the treasures can help with furnishing rooms in an up-and-coming apartment complex. I'll be perfectly honest with you, this is what keeps me going. I'm a whore for "collect this and then do this with it" sorts of things. Not fetch-quests, but collecting. Getting a gold medal hasn't been super hard just yet, but I think the challenge will ramp up by the end of the game. It's a nice break from the ass-kicking I'm getting playing the next game on this list.

Donkey Kong Country Returns: Holy. Shit. It's the kind of game that makes you want to buy an extra controller. For the two player co-op? No, not for that. Just so you can bash one of them to bits when you get to the end of a stage for the fourth time and the same damn crab kills you randomly because you still can't get the concept of roll and THEN jump. It's not the game. It's you. And that's why I haven't rage quit. I get a liiiiiitle further every time I die, and that's enough to keep me coming back. That's not to say I haven't raised my arm and shook my fist at the television more than once. It's a great little game, and collecting the KONG letters and the puzzle pieces is going to keep me playing these levels for a long time. Oh, and keep your eyes peeled when you play it. There's some really great fan-service stuff in it.

And lastly, I got Disney Epic Mickey (the title annoys me; I think it should read "Disney's"). For the most part, it's been a really fun game with some small issues. I'm starting to find the dark, drab, overall blah of most of the scenery a little tiring. Granted, in this world, there's a reason everything's sort of ugly. But I still have started finding it a little...draining. Maybe that's intentional. What isn't intentional is the damn camera! I think I've cursed the camera system in this game more often than I have cursed at myself for fucking up in Donkey Kong...It just...doesn't listen. Doesn't make sense. Doesn't WORK! I find myself pausing for a moment to readjust the camera, and sometimes that moment is REALLY important, like, say, when you're on a sinking boat trying to find the next one to jump on. If there were a penalty for dying besides starting a room over, I'd be pissed off. I do love the pain/thinner dichotomy, though. IT's a system that works really well. Playstyle really does matter. If you use more paint and do good, you're rewarded differently than if you use thinner and make mischief. There's two ways to do almost anything in this game. Sometimes you don't really even know you've made a choice until you see the consequences and go, "Whoops..." I find that immensely satisfying, which is why the shoddy camera system doesn't have me shelving this one...yet.

I'd suggest you play all three, honestly. They're kind of wonderful in different ways. My favorite, though? Donkey Kong Country Returns. I'm not surprised, though.

Out

Glory of Glories!

No, seriously...I'm so happy I could cry.  Last night I was just laying in bed laughing.  Why?

BED!

We got our new bed.  Oh.  My.  God!

Let me break it down for you.  Pillowtop on both sides.  Queen.  Serta Perfect Sleeper.  Seven hundred thread count sheets.  Down comforter.  Boyfriend (not pictured).  One two by four chunk (the frame was missing a wheel when we got it to the house...we'll have to recover that.  Fourteen pound Marbles kitty.

Words can't even describe how happy I am to have a real bed.  And...we got rid of an old broken entertainment center, moved a bookcase, and set up our bedroom like a real, adult bedroom.  We need some matching end tables and maybe a lamp or two.  Oh, and a headboard and footboard.  But...that can wait for now.  For now I'm going to be sleeping like a friggin baby with a smile on my face and a cat sleeping on me.  Last night we went to bed around 1 AM because we were having a new-bed-moving-in party.  I slept for around seven hours, and I woke up thinking it was about noon and feeling like I had slept for close to twelve hours.  It was 8:45.  

Glory of glories!

Now all that's left is to donate the old frame, entertainment center, and television to Goodwill.  Oh, and break the new bed in...maybe this weekend.

Out

Five Minutes To Go...

Before I have to finish getting ready for work.

It's nice to see people posting again! It felt like a ghost town around here for a little while. I guess finals and stuff will do that. I wouldn't know anymore, sadly.

Today is a momentous occasion. If you've been reading for long, you've probably expressed incredulity at the fact that Robb and I sleep in a twin bed. If you haven't, express away.

BUT!

Today (weather permitting), we are getting a real, live (well, not live...that's be creepy) queen bed! Yes. Pillowtop on both sides. Comfy. Lovely. REAL! Where are we going to put it? God only knows. Robb's got a lot of work to do in his room between 5 and 6:30 when we leave to go pick it up. My friend Katie is changing her guest room into something else, and she doesn't have room for it anymore. So. There we go.

FINALLY! We'll actually get to sleep like real people in a real room. I'm excited!

Oh, and Christmas shopping (and wrapping) is done. Now all I have to do is get Robb a birthday present and call it good. I feel so bad for him, not being able to celebrate his birthday on the 24th...ever. This year is no different. But it's okay. We usually have a warm, happy Christmas time after Christmas...or way late on Christmas day. Some year we'll spend it together...

This year, though, it's all about waking up Christmas Eve morning in a beautiful queen bed!

Out

Burlesque...

Oh man...the boy and I went to see Burlesque last night.

Phew. Glad that's over with.

We got in the theater and we were the only two in there, which I love. That means I don't have to be quiet. And as we sat there and the previews ran, I thought to myself, "These previews are a little hardcore for this movie...odd." Then the movie started and it said it was based on a true story. Umm...what? And when the name of the movie finally came up, I was like, "Ummm...we're here to see Burlesque, not Unstoppable. So I went to the asshole manager (this theater's manager has been there since it opened, and he truly is the overgrown high school nerd who thinks he's GOD) and I said, "I don't mean to be a bitch or anything, but we paid to see the 7:05 showing of Burlesque, and we're getting Unstoppable." And he goes, "Really?" Ugh. So they started the RIGHT movie and it was on like...insert Cher joke here.

So...Burlesque...

Let me break it down for you: it's every "girl leaves home with big dreams" movie you've ever seen, but probably with yummier boys and worse acting. Cher's face doesn't move, which is worth watching for. Alan Cumming, sadly, only has a bit role. He's great with what he does, but I would have loved to see him. Christina Aguilera sings her ass off, but the dancing leaves something to be desired. It's fun and shiny, but nothing spectacular. There were times I actually groaned because it was so obvious that they were trying to be the next Chicago, which no one will ever be.

HOWEVER...

It's a must that you go see it if you like two things: boys that are so hot it makes you ache (Cam Gigandet is impossibly gorgeous), and Stanley Tucci. He, for sure, steals the show. All of his lines are perfect. His acting is flawless. His character feels like one that was ported over from a much better movie. So, he steals every scene he is in...which is pretty impressive since Cher is in most of them.

I would have liked to see Cher sing a little more. I would have liked them to cut out a few side plots that were poorly written and ridiculously resolved. And I would have liked to see Cam Gigandet in my car when the movie was over.

So there you have it.

Oh, and one more thing: you might want to bring a fire extinguisher. At one point Christina Aguilera was in a montage with Cher that involved a Madonna song. It was so gay I almost burst into flames.

That's all.

Out

Again with the Water Guy...

So, after intermittent looking and getting no where, I gave up trying to find the Water Guy on Facebook. That was months ago. I figured I'd just move on, see him around town sometimes, and smile when I did. And then...

I don't know what I was looking for. I think I was just browsing through people who knew people...but I found a guy who said he worked at the water company where I knew Nick worked. So, I perused his friends list.

Stalk stalk stalk...wait!

There!

I found him. Seriously...and my long quest was at an end. Unfortunately, it was pretty much an anticlimax. He has one photo. He's single and into women (or a liar), and he hasn't been on since August. Also...he posts weird statuses in German, which is sort of unexpected. Oh, and the photo he has? Not that great.

But at least I can stop looking now. I know he's out there and I know what his name is. That's good enough for me. It's time to put this crush to bed. I mean...umm...to rest? Sure. That, too.

Out

Little Red Riding Hood and Flu Symptoms...

Blah. I'm typing and feeling like I could throw up at an minute. This is awesome. I felt fine when I woke up an hour-and-a-half ago. But...I showered, I had a glass of water, I worked out (not in that order...in fact, that's exactly reversed). Other than that? I haven't done anything. There's no reason or me to feel sick. I certainly hope it's not flu. Blech.

Well, this is an uplifting post.

Let's move on. In my writing group meeting on the 30th, I was tasked with writing about a well-known character who loses the thing that's dearest to them. This was the result:

All her life, she’d been defined by this one piece of clothing. This...blanket. This...hood. The name had followed her like the billowing cape attached. And now? She stood on the crude stone bridge looking over the edge and into the water that flowed easily by underneath.

Every good forest needed a river. This river was as good as they came, meandering through the trees, never breaking its banks, catching and disposing of leaves in the autumn. Orange, brown, red.

Little Red Riding Hood unclasped her namesake and whirled it off her shoulders, a gesture she was quite good at after years of donning and disrobing. She held it in her arms like a wounded animal. A single breath more, and it was in the river, floating, drifting. The red became saturated, dark with the river’s carriage. Before long, she couldn’t tell it apart from the leaves that rested on the surface, and after another minute it was too far away fro her to see.

She turned from the bridge’s edge and continued down the path. She wouldn’t see her grandmother again for a long time, so the worry hadn’t set in. On her way back to her mother’s house, she passed the store clerk as he crouched at the base of a tree, collecting mushrooms.

“Hello, Mr. Twist!”

He turned and looked at her, squinting at her face. Finally, he unscrewed his face and gave a small wave, not his customary hello. He didn’t even ask about her grandmother like he usually did. She shrugged and continued on her way.

Next, she met the headmaster of the small town’s school. She waved as she skipped by, but he only looked at her in her drab smock and kept walking. People certainly were being unfriendly. “Maybe it’s a full moon,” she thought to herself.

She arrived at her house in a few more minutes, a small thatched cottage on the edge of town. When she got inside, the fire was out and there was not a meal on the table. Her mother was no where to be found. She called around the small house, looking in every spot she might be hiding. “Maybe she stepped out for something.”

Before she could sit down again, she heard a commotion outside. She stepped from the cottage and looked at the street, which was teeing with people headed toward the forest. She stopped one of them.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Where is everyone going?”

The woman looked at her with bugged eyes. “The old bridge! Little Red Riding Hood has drowned! Widow Malachi found her hood on the banks a ways down.”

She chuckled and said, “But I’m Red Riding Hood!” but the woman was already too far away to hear her. She shut the door and turned, and a man was staring at her.

“Thief!”

Little froze, staring at the man, who rushed toward her.

“You thief! Taking advantage of the commotion and the disappearance of Red Riding Hood! I’m taking you in!”

She dodged him, but he was too fast. He grabbed her right arm and started dragging her toward the constabulary. She protested, “But I’m Red Riding Hood!”

“The hell you are!” the man said, snorting. She screamed to anyone who would listen, but no one responded. They were all headed to the forest. The constable threw her into the jail cell and shut the door. “There. Now you can’t do anymore harm while we’re all off finding that poor, poor girl. You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“But...but..” she dissolved into tears as the man slammed the door and headed off with everyone else into the forest.

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I love a good short short. Although the jury is still out on whether or not this is good...
Out

Medium Difficulty...

That's what the design on my new shirt is called.

Yup.  A seance.  A Pac-Man ghost.  It's all there.

Anywho...that's my "congrats for finishing your novel" present to myself.  It's all I can afford at the moment...

Out