Black Mesa ruins my sleep

The folks over at Black Mesa Corp. have destroyed my sleep once more, just like I knew they would. One of the first things I wanted to play on the PS3 was the Orange Box and I've tried it out and it's fabulous. I started off with Half Life 2 and it has a fabulous beginning with G-Man appearing in a creepy vision as the credits roll. It's immediately obvious that Gordon Freeman is in serious trouble and that City 17 is the last place he should be and you have to start running and hiding immediately. I was blown away by how sharp the textures are and how great the lighting is, it's the most impressive version of the game I've seen.

I started off cautiously moving towards the street and I felt like everyone was staring at me, including the little flying eyeball sentries. The alleyway felt much safer and I could relax a bit. That didn't last however, as I had to flee to a building nearby and the security forces came running on my heels. I made it to the top floor and was beckoned inside by a local, but got caught escaping to the roof. Man, it's such a creepy game and I had to stop playing to connect to the real world and uncreep myself :)

Portal actually made me laugh out loud with joy at the sense of humour that they imbued the AI with. It's so snarky and condescending. The puzzles start out fairly easy, but by the ninth one, I was getting stumped. This is going to be so much to play, I can tell.

nightmare at Future Shop

I have dreams like these, trapped in a loud, too-bright retail hell for hours on end, while my wonderful husband makes up his mind on an item. First he has to pick it up and read the box, then stare at the pictures to get an idea what's inside. Next is to go to the computers and read reviews on the intertubes to find out what other people say about his possible purchase. Then it's back to the section to compare the first item with other similar items that might be better or worse. At every stage I have to be consulted with and I listen to the arguments for or against the items in question. I give my opinion and think that we will be arriving at a decision at this point. No, because then there are questions for the staff and discussions with them about their preference, then a little pondering outside in the quiet, and then it's back into the noise and lights for another round of box perusing, review reading and questions to me and to the staff.

Just as I am possibly going to faint from hunger, we arrive at a decision. I demand that this be it, the final decision, no waffling and we pay and I hustle us out to the car having survived another trip to the electronics store. Back at home we unload the purchases and I finally get to eat, which is all my brain is focused now. After food and tea, I can properly appreciate the new toy, which is a PS3 and has fun games I will like, I just wish for a slight shorter ritual purchasing.

keeping track

Inventory software is fascinating to me and I find that I will get into a spell of wanting to identify and tag all of some things I own, such as books, dvd's, or cd's. I recently went through all of our books and starting entering them into computer, adding book covers and descriptions for them all. This inventory led to a lot of delays while I skimmed through titles I had forgotten about. Why is it that I felt compelled to buy three copies of The Silmarillion, or 2 different books on furniture and house design? Tolkien is a favourite but three copies of the same book seems a bit excessive. The furniture and house design books have gone to charity and I am still scratching my head over why I bought them. I have no design sense. I don't build anything or craft much, nor can I use drafting tools. I did find a fabulous book of quilts that I obviously snagged for the colours, since I don't make quilts either.

Earlier in the year there was a story forwarded to me of a couple that sold all their possessions to live on a boat and travel the world. They had decided it was important to them for their kids, ages six and nine, to see the world and learn by doing, rather than sitting in a classroom. Upon reading this, initially I was struck by the wild desire to do something similar. Sell everything, buy a Westphalia and tour the country. It seemed rational at the time, this wild flight of impulse. The world was dragging me down and I would simply refuse to play along. Slowly though, reality popped in for a chat, and I realized I would miss my books. The security of knowing that the Oxford English Dictionary is at arm's reach - the two volume magnifying glass version not the skimpy one volume codensed - the sense of knowing that I can be struck by insomnia and pick up a book for distraction, this all coalesced into being resigned to not giving up my stationary life just yet. I still yearn to be brave enough to fling all the possessions out the window and just go, but for now I will be content with the occasional escape.

Day One

New Year's resolutions are a quagmire to be avoided at all costs, yet here I am, on the very edge of the year, making promises and setting myself up for trouble. I know myself and deadlines are the sure way to make me accomplish anything useful at all, so I justify this wandering into resolution territory by simply saying that it is the only way I will get on the writing grind with any serious intention. So just as Char did the 365shots thing last year, I will vow to do the 365words thing this year.

There will be no grand declarations of weight loss or suddenly running marathons. Just the discipline of words.