Moment to Relax

Just a slight bit tired and a little battered, but still I'm alive and kicking. Well, alive and sitting... kicking requires a little too much effort for my liking. I'm excited that the weekend is nearing, because that mean that I'll be off on Saturday and days off are goooo!

Jello brains, yes I have that.

Don't mind me if today's writing is jumpier then usual, or at least more so then it usually is. I think I'm thinking about a dozen or so things (and counting), not to mention I've been having fits of ideas that I've been trying to jot down and keep track of for future references.

I just got to watch Howl's Moving Castle again last night and I enjoyed it like I never saw it before. Maybe I really am just easily entertained? To be honest though, I think I even enjoyed this movie more so then I did Spirited Away. It's a good, fun story and I think I just might watch again for kicks.

Random thought here; Well, this weekend the Blue Angels are in town and I think my girlfriend and I are going to make the bus trip *cringe* out to see 'em. She really enjoyed the heck out of the Thunderbirds and she almost flipped out when she found out the Blue Angels were coming down here.

Anyway, I think I am about thisclose to convincing myself that paying $450 dollars just might be worth it for a Wii. Slightly expensive, yes, but getting 2 games of my choice? It does sound better then most deals in town (not having it in stock, buying a used system, etc). I just might get it this weekend, depending on how the self mental battle royale goes...

Game wise for the Wii, personally I'd still like to play Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and I know my girlfriend wanted Super Paper Mario and Elebits? Elebites? Eleranawayandstolethecookies? I forgot the name already... I think the real attraction for me is the Virtual Console, which sounds promising to me. I'm hoping Nintendo will release Super Mario RPG, among many, many other RPGs that were favorites on SNES.

Now I'm off to get in some gaming time before I start today off like a raging turtle in a downhill race. The mental image of a raging turtle is just too much... god I wish I could find/draw a picture of that. Hopefully the weather holds out too or else it'll be a heck of a rainy day. Blah.

Considerations

I've been looking to change my ways a bit, by that I mean trying out some new things. Maybe watch shows I'd not watch otherwise or maybe try out a different game or two, just to change things up a little bit. I think I've grown a little bored with myself and I can't imagine that is a good thing.

For starters, I've been having a growing interest in finding (and watching) the show Heroes. I've heard it is something like X-Men, in that people in the show have special abilities/powers.

A movie that I've just watching a trailer for tonight is a Chinese movie called "Seven Swords." It isn't a new movie or anything (I think it was released in 2005), but it seems to be about a group of seven people, each of which has a sword of their own. The purpose? I think it was to fight against an oppressive government or the like. Please forgive for the half-arsed explanation, I was/am fairly sleepy and things aren't being absorbed into my brain as easily as usual.

Next thing up, is actually a video game system that I originally intended to buy in place of getting a XBox 360. However, that goddamn Nintendo Wii was ever elusive and the only way of getting one was to pay some outrageous price for it. That, obviously, was something I refused and ultimately opted to picking up a 360. Yeah, the logic behind this one didn't quite pan out either, but it worked out in my mind at the time.

Then again, after looking at a number of different places and coming up with nothing, I guess that does help settle a mental dispute rather quick.

Still, I'd like to get a Wii eventually and this isn't just for games like Legend of Zelda and Super Paper Mario. Or Mario Galaxy. I kind of want to try out Rayman: Raving Rabbits on Wii, not to mention the Katamari game that is supposedly going to be released on the system eventually.

Truth be told, I actually want to play some of the games that are on it's Virtual Console and one game that comes to mind immediately is Earthbound. I don't know what it is, maybe it is all a mind trick? All implemented by merely listening to songs from it's soundtrack, which I am doing right now. Or maybe it was just a fun (and outright weird) game that was a blast to play through for the fact that it was truly something unlike anything that was out there at the time. Hell, even today too!

On the topic of games, I was recently informed (by my girlfriend no less) that I was brought out of retirement and am actively back in the world of Vana'diel. Yes, I have been revived in the game called Final Fantasy XI. I guess I can't fight it, not when my bloody elf is already back up and running. Fun and excitement this time around? Well, I can only hope for all of that and more or else this return will be short lived (again).

As for other changes... well, I am thinking of maybe coloring my hair to something crazy and maybe even getting a haircut after. I haven't done either of those things (or at least not coloring in years... I missed that blue hair...) or at the very least get myself a haircut. It isn't a good look when even I start to wonder if maybe i just might be smuggling a ewok on my head.

OK, so overall I don't have any real life altering changes and I don't think there really is anything I can change at this point. Yes, maybe a new job will finally work it's way into the hand and I'll actually go with it this time around. I think I am more concerned with just tiny little things for now, leaving the bigger fish for another day. Smart plan? Only time will tell on that call...

The Fight is Over

If I'm not mistaken, I do believe Halo 3 was being promoted with the line "Finish the Fight." Well, after taking the fight to both the Covenant and the Flood, I am here to say that my girlfriend and I have finally finished Halo 3 today (First Halo we've ever finished on normal difficulty too! Talk about amazing...). Was it everything that it was hyped to be? Let me just say that my feelings when it was all said and done is a little mixed.

From the start to finish, the game play felt more or less the same as it did in both previous Halo games. It seemed the only differences were the addition of a few new weapons and vehicles, which weren't bad additions at all. Otherwise, besides the typical better graphics, there didn't seem to be all that much that was different for this finale.

For the record, I did have a little bit of deja vu during the final mission. It was almost the same deal as with how the first Halo ended, being that it was a get-your-asses-outta-there type of thing. Basically, you'd better be able to handle a Warthog or else you're going to have a hell of a time during that final leg.

Speaking of the ending (no, I don't intend on spoiling anything), to me it didn't quite have the feeling I assumed it was intended to have. Maybe it was a little, how can I say this? Anti-climatic? In any event, it certainly did feel pretty sudden to me. I guess what I am trying to say is... well, I was expecting a little more.

Overall, I will say it is a worthy game and especially so if you've played through both Halo 1 and 2. If you've gone that far, you might as well see this fight to the bitter end. As far as it being earth moving and outright the god of games, I can't say that it was that great. For me, I think what killed the overall experience was the ending, though it is clear that this is indeed the end of a trilogy. I mean, how could they continue on when the Master Chief is...

Oops, almost blew it.

So as I was saying, yes Halo 3 is a must, especially if you've put the time and finished off the other 2 games to this series. I wonder where Halo will go now, I have read that there is plans (or is there an actual game?) for a RTS version of Halo, which sounds very interesting to me. Maybe by then, I may have a computer that will be able to handle such games...

Side Note: If an alien doesn't understand what "no means no!" means, give the gift of true love folks. Plasma grenades all around! (Yes, I know I have a clear obsession with those things. I can't help myself! They stick onto the baddies and boom! See ya buddy!)

Next up? Blue Dragon. I have the urge to finish off as many of the left over games I have before the holiday season hits. Lord knows there are more then enough games nearing release and more then a few that I'd like to get my hands on. Predict, I will. Work, I will live. *cries*

Turning Loose The Mind...

So I felt like going another round tonight, just for the sake that I haven't much else that I feel like doing right now. I could be playing video games, but right now I just feel more like writing rather then playing. Besides that, the night is young and gaming can come later.

I enjoy writing and I've been going at this for years now, though it still doesn't quite seem so to me. I am certainly glad that I picked up this passion or else it would have been a heck of a thing to have missed out on. It allows me so much more freedom then I think any spoken word can do for me. I could be wrong, though nothing else has proven otherwise to me yet.

So anyway, hopefully I can write this short little story out of mine out so that it'll make sense and not come across as a mass of nonesense. Then again, it'll probably end up that way, since this writing is a new idea in my mind and what you see is what you get from my mind.

Wow, I think I just managed to quickly confuse myself with my own damn words. That's talent folks, raw and uncut. >.>

Either way though, here goes nothing...

Was it life that was so bitter and cruel to him? Or was it fate again that dealt out yet another bad hand for him? Or perhaps this pain he endured, this suffering that tormented his mind and soul, was all just a part of a higher purpose? For all he knew, it could just be God's way of punishing him for the sins that litter the path which he walked.

He could have gone on thinking about it forever, but at this point "how" and "why" didn't really matter all that much. She was dead and gone, as was his entire family. All thanks to that damn war, which had ended some days ago with both sides effectively killing each other out and wiping whatever was left clean off of the planet.

As to how he managed to survive, well... that is beyond what any logic can ever hope to explain.

And now here he was, stranded in the middle of what seemed to be an endless desert hell, feeling like the damned fool he always thought himself to be. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if this truly was the only path he could trend? Shouldn't there be more then just life and death?

Quietly he noticed that his feet were carrying him away again, to yet another unknown destination in this universe. In the beginning, back when he first set out on his own, he tried to stop himself from going. But now he doesn't fight it, but rather, he simply follows the flow nowadays. Forward he would go, always holding tightly to a hope that maybe the next time his feet stopped, fate might feel a little more charitable and a hand worth keeping will be dealt to him.

Wishful thinking, yes...

But even those who've got that expression on their faces as if they had lost everything, even they cling onto a sliver of hope, contrary to what they would like for the world to believe.

Then his feet stopped suddenly stopped, leaving him slowly sinking down into the shallow sands beneath him. That fact, however, didn't seem to bother Alex all that much. He, like his mind, appeared to have been otherwise occupied at present.

It did, after all, amaze him as to how quickly sand can ingest something. Or someone. He wondered how many lives this desert had claimed...

...And then his mind came back to him in a flash and the situation began to filter through his mind, slowly yet surely. Now why did he stop so soon? And what was this feeling of anxiety that twisted his very gut?

"Alex..." Said a faint yet familiar voice, carried lightly by the winds. It sounded like his mother.

He turned and looked behind of him, at the sands which he had already passed. His eyes searched into the sandstorms that began to kick up around him, though each of them kept a fair distance away.

"Alex..." Said the voice again and this time it even startled Alex.

"Who's there? And how do you know my name?" Asked Alex.

"We know you better then you know yourself. We know your sins..."

That was enough to send Alex over the edge now and those words just kept echoing through his mind over and over again. Who knew anything about him? Or his sins for that matter?

He couldn't come to any clear conclusion, nor could he figure out who or what was speaking to him in this desert. A mirage perhaps? Or maybe his mind had finally unraveled itself to the point where his sanity was forever lost.

"We've come to collect..." It said again.

"Who is 'we'? And collect what?" Alex persisted.

"We are your family Alex... and your time has come..." Said the voice, now sounding as if it were directly in front of Alex's face.

That voice, it was indeed his Mother's...

"...time to come home big bro..." Said another voice, coming from behind of him.

His little sister...

"...time to be a man and die..." Said yet another, this time the voice came from the right side.

His Father...

"...time to be together, forever..."

His love...

Was this really happening to him? Alex just couldn't grasp the situation, given his state of mind and physical condition. Are these voices real? Was any of this real at all?

Then a hand appeared through the sands, a cold and chilling grip to be sure. It rested upon Alex's shoulder and Alex's body began to shake with fear.

Alex turned his gaze slowly to find that he now stared into the grim face of Death itself. His heart felt cold, almost frozen, as was the rest of his body now. He couldn't move, not even an inch.

It was far too late now and his time had come at long last and he knew it. He ran from the war like a coward, and in turn he left behind his love and his family to share an equal and final fate. He ran because he feared what fate had in store for him.

Now fate had caught up to him and the price he was required to pay was all too clear now. He could run no longer from his destiny and it was his destiny to die. Yet he felt it in his heart, the guilt and the sorrow and the regret all the same. If he could just turn back the hands of time...

But before he could even whisper a word of regret from his mouth or even conjure the thought of atonement, the face of Death disappeared in an instant. Equally as quick did both the breeze and sunlight vanish, followed momentarily by Alex himself, as the sands engulfed his body and pulled him under forever.