The Dessert

I’d like to do a story involving the dessert. I’ve had an idea for a long while and images of tribes whose names are their deeds and scared on their flesh that live in the dessert in adobe buildings. There are a lot of ideas that could really work with that, I’ll see how many I can list off the top of my head:

Gandhi figure causes great conflict and strife by using passive and peaceful resistance in a warlike region.

A figure of prophecy struggles with a higher understanding that changes the nature of what the culture’s beliefs mean.

A conflict that extinguishes a tribe and the life of the last remaining member of that tribe.

A tribe of slaves revolts and struggles for their freedom violently.

The perspective of a woman.

The edge of a spreading dessert.

A tribe tries to raise and expand an oasis.

Themes that can be strong… Water, blood, wind, sun, ink, circles, steel, history, bones, animals, plants.

Moving Day Eve

Right now I am listening to the serenity soundtrack. It is surprisingly beautiful, and I absolutely love it. I also managed to somehow find the song Information. I love that song with a passion and I thought it lost forever, as hard as that is to do now, with everyone copying everything, and yet it does happen.

It’s funny; I was thinking what to write about aside from the meager and un-amusing events of my day when my sister called. She was arrested today. It’s the first time anyone in my family has been arrested that I know of, but I never asked my dad if he ever spent any time in jail for anything. So many of my favorite authors got in little brushes with the law when they were my age for stupid fun stuff that it seems like a part of youth almost, but not so with my sister. They nailed her just for being forgetful and failing to remember to pay a bad check.

It could be me, goodness knows I’ve overdrawn my checking account before; I just use a check card, so instead of bouncing I just end up paying it back to my bank plus 25 dollars. Where she is today, I probably could have been pretty easily, and that’s pretty scary. I guess I just have someone watching over me. Something always seems to go just right for me to keep me out of real trouble.

I don’t talk about religion much, but I just feel like saying, when I talk to God, I could never bring myself to ask for much after I stopped and asked myself what I really wanted at a young age. I could always ask for something different, but then, you always want something else. I pray for just a few things, wisdom, guidance, and protection for the we who is the life of everyone whom I touch.

This post is getting kind of long for now. I’m going to be moving finally tomorrow evening. I’m going to have Jake and Joe help me and drive my dad’s truck, which I have to pick up at 9:30 in the morning. I’m just going to move everything as fast as I can, I bet I can be set up between noon and eight in the evening, even have everything put together. I’ll finally be on a wireless network, which should be much awesomeness.

Some time this week we need to carve pumpkins.

Spiders Scare Me No More

I want to make origami out of this. That would be really cool. I passed my test today; it was really easy. I really just love that time period. The American Revolution is one of the more interesting periods in history if you count the Bavarian Illuminati, the rising philosophies behind it and the changing face of government. The world will never be the same.

I slept mostly for 8 hours last night. I keep forgetting to write about it but I had a dream the other night that was really weird and stuck with me. I was in a tiny earthy tunnel, and there were six spiders in six webs above me. Each spider was long and slender and tapped its two forward legs as they spoke to me. I told them that the world was changing and a new type of government would change it. They told me that people had been trying to do that for centuries. We argued together about the way the world was going to change, and what the world had been through. I was very afraid. Then I stood up and I broke through the webs and the spiders got on me and I jerked and woke up trying to brush them off of me.

http://www.3d2toy.com/headcrab.html

Random Stuff

Long but wonderful day, I kept my contacts out at work and got about 200 pages of Lord of Light read. It is becoming such an incredible book that I will have to read it again almost immediately. I’d been piddling, and it took a week to do the first fifty pages, but now I’m on page 250.

Some books are like that, I don’t know why. I love that intangible quality that makes some books really easy fast reads and others like walking through a wall, where each paragraph is dense enough to make you lose concentration by the end of it.

Still no luck getting a bed, but Pattie gave me lots of places to look, so I’m going to start with Wal-Mart and then go to another place that she mentioned and I know how to find, though I can’t recall the name off the top of my head right now. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find something cheap that will hold me.

I’m going to give my eyes some more rest tomorrow, and hopefully that will take care of that. I am also going to go to sleep in 10 minutes because I have mid terms tomorrow.

James Brown Rules!

I feel really good today, it’s been nice and sunny. I got to go for a good long drive in my car to school and then straight to work. I’m really happy about the over time I’ve been getting even though it’s been cutting into my life some and making me feel tired. I can live with that, I really can, because my paycheck next week should come with just enough padding to make me not feel like I’m just losing money, like I’m on a downhill roll where I’m spending more than I’m making.

Sometimes it’s too easy to be wrapped up in myself and get frustrated without thinking things through. I often find that I have the power to feel good regardless of the place I’m in among other people. This is an incredible power, but part of it is being able to empathize and understand why they’re doing what they’re doing. Sometimes I still disagree with them, but often, I find that at least understanding their internal justification allows me not to be mad at them for it, or mad at it for happening.

I was already feeling good today, but it made me feel extra good to read a news post by someone who seems to be able to see both sides too and feel good because of it. I may have to read more Ctrl+Alt+Del from now on. It’s always flown under my radar below other comics that I read regularly, but this news post really got my attention.

I really should list my favorites, just to give off links:
Schlock Mercenary
PvP Online
Penny-Arcade
VG Cats
Sluggy Freelance
Goats

And even though I’m a conservative, I still read I Drew This.

Oh yeah, that reminds me; everyone keeps saying that Jack Thompson’s attitude is a greater reflection of the conservatives. This is incredibly inaccurate, take a look at the great anti game crusaders of our times, Joe Lieberman, Hilary Clinton, etc.

Moving Day

It’s been extra hot today, which is sad after it was so cool and nice last night. I made sure to water my plants before I left, I am really hyped about my pepper plant. Later on tonight I will be moving the last of my things over to the house and then I will be moved, which will be a big accomplishment. Mike is going to be helping me, and I’m going to be borrowing my dad’s truck to do the big and heavy stuff, the love seat, the chairs, the desks, etc.

It could be a fairly long evening. I also need to watch Revolution sometime before I go to bed. I borrowed it yesterday to fix one of my absences. I haven’t had this smooth of a move in a long time, I really feel bad that my other roommates feel like I’m dragging my feet. I’m just being paced, I’ve always been paced, I took 2 months to actually move out of my mom’s house. This is extremely well paced for me to do it in 2 sets of trips over only a few hours. I’d still rather wait for the weekend.

GURPS, Oh Joy!

Today I created my character so that I can join a GURPS game on Thursdays between 7:30 and 10:30. I haven’t had a good role-playing session in a long time, and it should be really cool and enjoyable. I haven’t named my character yet though.

He is a failed farmer, and a retired soldier at the age of 25 after 5 years of military experience and 5 years failing at farming and walking away with only decent carpentry skills and mediocre burglary skills, which he has done for the past 3 years. Being a better thief than a carpenter makes for decent income padding definitely helps pay the bills. He is troubled by sleepless nights and a secret of treason during a combat situation, which could result in his permanent imprisonment, or even exile should he be discovered. After so many years in the military, after so many years of farming and pick pocketing, most of his military skills have rusted away with the armor he used to wear, his fast and efficient knife skills being the majority of what is left.

And that’s my character. I wish he had a name though, can’t think of a good one that fits the setting.

It’s been a long weekend, and everyone is totally moved into the new house but me, though they wish I had moved in this weekend. Maybe I should have, I really wanted to avoid doing it at the same time as everyone else, but I know Mike wishes I had moved this weekend. Oh well, I’m happy with where I’m at. I may get Alan’s bed, mom says that if he’s not there and if I can get my dad’s truck, I can have it for free tonight. It would be nice to have a bed, and since I don’t have to keep everything in my room anymore, I’ll have the space.

So, if everything goes well, tomorrow I could be sleeping on a very nice bed. Mike is going to help me move everything else tomorrow evening. Either way, I can’t stay out late tonight, because I have to be at work at 7 tomorrow. If this week is as good as last week, my paycheck could be over 900 when I get it next week.

I started writing in a real life paper with binding journal today. I wrote about history class today and how I felt about Alexander Hamilton.

System Shock 2

It was a really good day, I spent a lot of time in OpenRPG making new friends and observing some games, and then I helped move a fridge into my new house and got my key to the front door. Then I got the garage… woohoo! The tragedy is that it came at the cost of major work to Mike’s car door, which I deeply regret, that car means a lot to Mike. After all of which, I got to spend about 3 hours of actual game time working through System Shock 2 with Jake, which was awesomeness…. I have been wanting to play that game multiplayer for about 4 years now and it feel so good to finally have the means and a willing friend to do it.

Anyway, I have nothing to do tomorrow, but I’ll feel much better if I go to sleep.

Indigo Prophecy Review

Indigo Prophecy

Style: 95% Sound Quality: 90% Graphics Quality: 85% Game-play: 100% Average Quality Over Time Played: 100% Final Value: 94% at 40$

Highs: Innovative experience, awesome storytelling, intense and cinematic with interesting characters. This would be a brilliant adventure game among adventure games, and in the dessert that populates that genre currently, it is as pure ambrosia from the mouth of Zeus.

Lows: Sometimes it feels just slightly rough around the edges.

Best Played by: Anyone passionate about good story telling, adventure gamers, most RPG gamers. Absolutely anyone else, you simply cannot go wrong if you find it in the bargain bin, but it might even be worth the risk to pay full price.


Indigo Prophecy plays like a movie, and simply cannot be described any other way. It challenges in ways that no game has ever explored before. In the most novel approach to story telling through games, Indigo Prophecy pits the player against his or her own self as they are confronted with not only the task of doing their best at keeping the main character, Lucas Kane, from being arrested as it presents them with tasks such as fleeing a crime scene or hiding evidence, but also playing out the investigative duo Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles, and having the opportunity to either challenge by searching for evidence and hunting down Lucas to the extent of their abilities, or, going easy and trying to not catch themselves.

The rough edges of this diamond can be found in the controls, which are on average mediocre. The best bits, oddly enough, are the arbitrary action sequences where the player is presented with what can be described as a dual Simon Says style challenge that miraculously manages, through what can be imagined to be a great effort, to feel intricately tied to the action being performed, rather than as arbitrary as it is. The meat of the game, the adventure, plays out using rather standard and occasionally unpleasant direction keys, or even awkward (admittedly, only at the worst) mouse selection.

Also feeling lackluster overall is the game's brief length. A five year old couldn't get bored of this game before it was over. Weighing in at about 7 hours of gameplay, Indigo Prophecy is a bit of a meager offering in size, despite the consistant quality. Another four to seven hours would have been heavenly, though, in truth, the brevity will make replaying it in a month a completely unintimidating task, much like rewatching a good movie, the time investment for repeated viewings are minimal.

If adventuring is occasionally awkward, the carrying out an in game conversation can be downright paralyzing as every set of conversation options is timed, and the save system wont let you go back to immediately beforehand to replay just that one moment in time over again. This can be terribly frustrating as it means recovering from a bad conversation often means replaying the entire chapter, which can get tedious as you re-watch the un-skip-able cut scenes, which would be just fine on later re-plays, but are not so fun when watched over and over again.

Each environment shimmers like a perfect little Venus di Milo. From the most ordinary diner, to the brilliant retro military base done with a filter that makes it appear as though it were an old movie, each location is crafted with a love that is extraordinary and visible in every tiny detail. The detail is even more intriguing given that each environment is experienced in very small doses and often only once at all. If every game had real love like this in it, there would be no bad games.

The story of Indigo Prophecy begins to feel rushed as the end approaches, and little things, like who exactly certain characters are seem to get totally forgotten and even talked about as though they have already been elaborated upon perfectly. Given the richness of the rest of the story, and that the rest of the ending, including the main points of interest, are so far above par, this crime proves hardly worth mentioning.

The real and true tragedy of Indigo Prophecy will be direct results of the state of adventure gaming as a dead genre. Certainly lots of people will play this game, and, lord knows, more of this direction of gaming is desperately needed and wanted by a certain crowd of niche gamers who thrive on story and characters and dialog above mindless action, and who have been rewarded over the past seven years or so with nothing at all of note. If you love adventure games, buy it now.

7 Days

It’s a really calm nice afternoon. I feel bad that I haven’t been writing every day. Worse, I’ve barely been writing once a week. I really need to get into the habit in time for NaNoWriMo. I’m going to blog it again this year. I’m going to go seven days a week, and I’m not going to get hung up on the end. I think it will be more important for me to finish the story than to make it good. After it starts getting bad I’m going to stop letting people read it, but it is going to get finished.

Maybe like last year I will be equally consumed by so many other projects that it will simply become impossible. But I am going to do everything in my power to avoid it. I want to write something good. Someday, I want to have a novel published, that would make me feel incredible.

NaNoWriMo

It’s a beautiful afternoon, and NaNoWriMo is in the air. As it is, it’s only a month a way and I am looking forward to it. Thanks to blogger I know about this wonderful celebration. I cannot express how fun it was last year and how much I expect to enjoy it this year as well with a totally different story.

Last year I failed to finish. I had fun anyway, thanks to tons of other stuff. Mitigating circumstances made it acceptable. How could I not still feel good after everything I accomplished last November? I do believe it was one of the best months ever.

Anyway, on to try again. Here’s hoping I win this year!

Many Troubles

Today is a beautiful day; I just love the cool front that we’re getting. Later this week the highs will be 80. It’s the 3rd of October, and so I will be moving out very soon. I am still lacking a bed, but that’s okay. It’s been a very busy weekend, so I’ll just have to highlight:

1) Watched serenity on Friday with Mike, couldn’t get anyone else to go. It was an awesome movie.
2) Ate dinner with my mom and Mike afterward.
3) Opened up a joint account with Mike, Marcia, and Tara (ate many candies).
4) Went to the Texas Art Supply with Mike.
5) Went to the movies with my dad, until Mary Ellen got so sick I had to come home.
6) Ate dinner with my mom while Alan raged.
7) Helped my mom move.

All in all, it’s been a very buys weekend, lots of fun. I could elaborate on any single one of those points but the most I’ll say was that Serenity was a very enjoyable ride. Some of the finer points were a little lacking, the whole story was so tightly tied together that there wasn’t anything “extra” that solely served to flesh out the universe. All the same, it gets many bonus points for being in an all too sparse genre of movies and even more bonus points for having a fresh feel. It was much better than the Star Wars prequels and it made me really want to see the series.

Almost every trailer was for a movie that I want to see.

There are some fine projects that I am anticipating work on in the future…