Plants Versus Zombies

I would like to bring a problem to light that may be soon affecting your own neighborhood.

Zombies

That's right... You heard me. Zombies.

They're coming to eat your brains.

But fear not. Never fear. For your next-door neighbor who wears a pot over his head and everyone thinks is crazy knew this was coming all along and has supplied you with a weapon to defend your lawn from the approaching zombie horde.

Seeds.

But not any seeds. No, no. These grow plants in an instant, and these plants aren't useless. They fire peas at incoming zombies to destroy them! You've survived the first wave, but what about the next? Again, you needn't fear for you get more plants with varied uses to protect that pink squishy thing inside your skull.

...Annnnd that's pretty much the premise for the game Plants Versus Zombies. I got this game a month ago for my laptop and have been addicted to it lately. At its core, this game is basically a grid-based defend-your-castle kinda game and does its genre well. There is a lot of strategy involved and many ways to do it. Tons of game modes, mini-games, and extras that are enjoyable as well. The zombies and plants are cartoon styled and have humorous descriptions in the Zombie Almanac that makes me laugh my ass off sometimes.

Overall, a good game that only costs twenty bucks. And get the collector's edition while you're at it. It's the same price and comes with a zombie figurine. Now, they just need to make a portable version for the DS, and I'll be happy. Well, more like happier.

Or you could not get it and be unprepared for the upcoming zombie Apocalypse. Your choice. Personally, I like my brain in my head and not in a zombie's gut.

Not Your Average Fairy Tale

I just had this crazy awesome idea to take my top seven words off savethewords.org/ and write a short nonsensical story. It's both challenging and fun. This sounds like a potential assignment for a creative writing class. 

Anyway... let's get this started.

...

Um...

...

Okay, I've got something.

Once upon a time, specifically WWII Germany, an airgonaut was flying through the air in his biplane, 'cause that's what airgonauts do, when his plane was shot down by some Nazis. He survived, but his plane was toast. He was in quite a predicament. Without a plane, how could he call himself an airgonaut? He wasn't all that worried though, 'cause he saw himself flying a plane again in the future using his essomenic powers he gained from secret British experiments on psychic abilities that were never mentioned in the history books.  However, he didn't know how he got a new plane in the future. Suddenly, he remembered that the biplane he was flying was one of the ones the Nazis used, so he figured out that he must have stole it from the Nazis!

Now having a concrete plan with absolutely no holes in it whatsoever, he dawned a fake moustache he had prepared ahead of time just in case something like this happened and traveled on foot to Berlin. Once he arrived at the cynicocratical (at the time) capital of Germany, he blended in seamlessly with the German citizens. Confident in his xenization, he didn't look where he was going and walked right into a Nazi officer and his escort. The Nazi officer was outraged and demanded to know who the airgonaut was. The airgonaut was in a pickle. Even though the airgonaut knew enough German to get by, he didn't know the icasm the officer used, so he tried somehow to talk his way out it with his very limited German. 

Unfortunately his quibbleism didn't fool the Nazi officer who knew that any real Berlin citizen would have understood his icasm. With his cover blow, the airgonaut decided to say, "Screw it", headbutted the escort, and stole his StG 44 assault rifle. The Nazi officer tried to shoot him with his Walther PPK 7.65 semi auto pistol, but the airgonaut kicked the officer in the place that houses a man's soul (Ya know the place). With his newly obtained weapon, he proceeded to moderncide (at the time)  the officer and his escort and ran towards the air base blindly firing his weapon wildly in the air. Somehow, he made it to a plane with no injuries on his part and only thirty Nazis killed. And what luck, the former pilot left the keys in the plane!

So, the airgonaut finally made it back to sky and lived happily ever after... until his own allies shot his plane down  'cause they thought he was the enemy, and he crashed into the Alps
 

Fin.

...

I really don't know exactly what this was.

Well, anyway, I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I had fun writing it, and if you didn't, well that's too bad.

Words, Words, Words

I just want to give heads up to this novel idea I encountered on one of my many Internet adventures.

www.savethewords.org/

Basically, the premise is to bring to light old words that nobody uses any more before they vanish in the ashes of time. I find this vastly entertaining. Who doesn't like words? (Don't answer that 'cause the answer would probably upset me and get me on a rant about modern society or something of that nature). So many new words to add to my vocabulary arsenal that will one day become ammo for the War of Grammar. Side note- anyone who gets this very  esoteric  reference is instantly my best friend.

Here's my top seven in no particular order of the words that have gained my interest.

1. xenization, n. - fact of traveling as a stranger
2. airgonaut, n. - one who journeys through the air
3. essomenic, adj. - showing things as they will be in the future
4. icasm, n. - figurative expression
5. quibbleism, n. - act of beating around the bush
6. cynicocratical, adj. - pertaining to rule by cynics
7. modernicide, v. - to kill modern people

Do it. It's free. Adopt a word or two. Get it on a t-shirt, although you don't have to.

Of course, there is a reason why some of the words are archaic, but that's no excuse for them to disappear. Wanna know something kinda sad? Most of these words aren't in the spellcheck.

I Think I'm Accident Prone

My morning has been full of injuries. While cutting a piece for a Styrofoam bust, I've burned my hand with a hot glue gun in several places and stabbed my thumb with a cut-away blade. I was bleeding a lot everywhere. There weren't any bandages or anything, so I had to McGyver one using masking tape and tissues. Earlier this week I cut my fingers twice, however, those were just nicks, and I had access to bandages.

This is making me think I may be accident prone, but it's not like these were my first injuries.

I've melted the skin of my right hand with scalding hot milk that overflowed onto my hand when I used to work at Starbucks, and before anyone says anything it wasn't my fault. The customer ordered an extra hot cappuccino, which we're not technically suppose to make extra hot (only cappuccino) for the very reason it will overflow, but
"The customer is always right!" 

(coughbullshitcough)

And of course, I can't forget the half a dozen times I cracked my head open when I was a little kid of one or two, and the fact that I slammed my head into the ground repeatedly 'cause I had teeth problems when I was still little and it hurt. And don't make a joke about how this explains a lot about why I am the way I am 'cause I've already heard it. Hell, I was the first one to say that joke.

All of this points to me being accident prone. Then again, it could all be in my cracked head. I'm such the actual accident prone people are much worse off than me.

This Might Be A Problem

Second week in the semester and already I think my schedule is going to kill me slowly and painfully, while draining away all of my vitality, willpower and creativity, not unlike cancer or a potentially good manga plot that either ends prematurely or has a horrible ending despite being given time to mature.

I'm being completely, three-fourths serious.

You don't want to see me when I'm 100% serious... when my cynicism is at its peak.

...

I barely have enough time to complete the work assigned Tuesday for the class Thursday, and on Wednesday I pretty much spend the entire day at the college. Overall, a hell of a lot to finish and do research on with just barely enough time to complete it, as long as I don't sleep much and embargo almost everything that makes me happy.

I do know what I have to do about all this, in order to make all of this much easier to do without losing my last reserve of sanity.

Right now, however, I feel like complaining.

Tomorrow, I will start organizing myself, but 'til then I shall complain.

I like to complain. My grandfather, who I'm told I resemble, complained a lot, too. So, I shall complain as well, then get my act together. But not until I'm finished complaining. I'm not happy 'til I'm unhappy.

...

......

.........

Okay, I'm done.

A Thought Just Dawned Upon Me

I know that only like three or four people have actually read this blog, and all of them are my friends who know me relatively well. The point of this short exposition is to ask...

What would someone who has never even met me think about me from reading my blog?

To make a point clear, I could care less about what 83.8 to 97.8 percent out the billions of people in the world think of me. This is more a case of intellectual curiosity than anything of that nature. I've been told by my friends who read this blog that the way I write sounds exactly like things I would say and how I would say it in real life. I know that may sound redundant (Of course it sounds like you, you fucking wrote it!), but it's harder than it looks. I am not really sure that an outsider would even partially get who I am from reading this blog. Everything that is written here is the stuff that I don't care if anyone reads, but all of the things I regard as personal or private I don't write about here or anywhere else for that matter. Even the slightly more personal posts leave out necessary details I would rather not write, and I immediately deleted that one very personal post I made one time when I was really pissed.

The Internet is one vast public form after all, and it's never a good idea to display one's entire life for all the world to see. A complete stranger would need more than the random ramblings posted here and my very brief profile info to really know who the hell I am.

I could go on with this and even add a discussion about social psychology, motivation, and personality tests, but I'm getting a little sick of how serious I'm being right now and miss the the humor a bit.

So, I'm ending this for now...

Back And Slightly Better Than Ever

My plan is to go back and add posts than I probably would have written if I had actually maintained this blog over the course of the summer break and then pretend that the blog has always looked like this.

Yay for denial!

That is all.

Now for something different.

First, I am very surprised to find that the Government class that I was kinda forced into due to circumstances I don't want to take about 'cause it depresses me is not actually that bad. It will still be a little horrible 'cause I hate the topic with a passion greater than any hate ever known to man or beast, but the teacher seems like he could make it at least mildly interesting. Plus, I assumed that because it was class about government, it would also be about politics as well. Yes and no. It's impossible to completely separate the two because politics influences government, but it's not a political science class so not as much politics as I thought there would be.

All of my other classes are going to be a ton of work but fun as hell, except for the class that shall not be named 'cause it depresses me. Other than that, it will be awesome.

Oh, and I have no class on Fridays, which is good since the rest of the week except Monday will be so full, I doubt I will receive much sleep. On Fridays I can crash and hopefully not burn.

My Other Blog

I thought I might as well post a link to my other blog I made for my Intro to Computer Graphics class, since I'm leaving it alone as a record of what I did last semester.

Take a look.

Or else.

It has mostly awesome stuff and some not-so-awesome stuff. Also a papercraft I made of myself so you can make your own little me to take with you and be your only real friend in this harsh, cold world of ours. Although, it's a little version of myself so maybe not so much. Depends.


...

At the moment I can't remember if I got an A or a B+.

Ode to Minions

First of all this is not mine. I had absolutely nothing to do with this. This is the 200th comic from Brawl in the Family.

It's just pure awesome in a can.

See if you can recognize all the references. I can and that scares me a little.

I Dream of Tetris

What is Tetris?

Tetris is a puzzle video game using seven shapes made up of four blocks first made in 1984. Tetris is the creation of Alexey Pazkitnov, and it's name come from tetra meaning "four" and tennis, Pazkitnov's favorite sport.

But Tetris is more than just a puzzle game, oh yes, it is indeed more. It is cultural phenomenon. It began an age. It's theme music will forever be stuck in our heads. It is not boring as someone who shall not be named (not Voldemont) has said. Tetris is good for the brain.

In fact, it has been found that playing Tetris a half-hour to three hours a day actually improves critical thinking. Those with posttraumatic stress disorder, like my cat, who play Tetris have less horrible Vietnam flashbacks.

No, don't! You won't have a good place for the Z-Block! You anger the Tetris god!

...However, let us not forget the dark side of Tetris. I am of course referring to the so-called "Tetris effect." It has been scientifically proven that playing Tetris over long periods of time will slowly drive you mad. You will associate everything with Tetris. A normal person sees a bunch of cardboard boxes stacked together, you see a bunch of potential tetrominoes. You begin to try find the best combinations in your head and, perhaps, play a game of mental Tetris. Soon, it haunts you dreams, and you start to hallucinate Tetris everywhere until you completely lose you fragile grip on reality.

Now, this phenomenon can apply to many other repetitive video games, but there's a reason why it is named after Tetris.

I, myself, am still recovering to this day, but I do not blame Tetris for my temporary insanity.

Never.

It's an Epidemic

It has spread like wildfire. No one knows where or when it started, but before anyone knew, it was already too late. Everyone has it now...

The Pokemon Fever

Too dramatic? I think not. Ever since Heart Gold and Soul Silver, the remakes of the original Gold and Silver Pokemon games for the Gameboy, came out, everywhere I look someone is playing it on their DS. Hell, I walked into a room with 7 total people (Then 8 when I joined them) playing it. The few people that are unaffected by this phenomena are either people who don't play video games or don't own a DS.

Don't forget the new little accessory that came with it, the Pokewalker. Now, let me explain this device to those unaffected by this disease. The Pokewalker is a pedometer that comes with the game that interacts with the game itself. You can send your Pokemon into it, walk around, level up your Pokemon, find items and catch Pokemon which you send back to the real game. Take my word for it, this is highly addicting.

Personally, I think this a wonderful disease to catch. Others could argue against this, but they're wrong. At least not until they play it themselves, then they can make their judgment. I know there are obvious side effects, like lost of time that could be spend doing something else, but I never thought of video games as a waste of time, otherwise I wouldn't bother with them.

Mission Accomplished

Yes, I have done it. I have finally beaten the extra mode in Kirby's Dreamland! Hell to the yes!

I'll get you Wispy Woods and your evil apples, too

Now, this might sound meaningless and trite to some, but screw you. I could barely beat the regular mode when I was a little kid and that was only after a ton of continues. Extra mode was impossible for me at the time. I remembered the unbeaten extra mode a week or so ago after I picked the game up again and made a goal of beating it.

There was lotsa trial and error and cursing (Don't forget the cursing) but I won in the end. I memorized the each boss's pattern, knew where every enemy was going to pop up, and located every 1up, powerup, and maximum tomato. My reward was nothing special: an enemy showcase after the credits and the code to unlock the configuration mode and sound test. I could have looked it up online, sure, but that's not the point. I couldn't have looked it up when I was younger, so the only way for me to learn the game's secrets was to kick its nonexistent ass. Oh, and kick ass I did today. Wispy Woods, Lololo & Lalala, Kabooka, Kracko, and King DeDeDe (Don't laugh, they're tougher than their names suggest) were trounced by yours truly.

Damn this feels great. I know this is kind of simple thing to be happy about, but, eh, I can be simple sometimes. Now, what to do next...

Blatant Pyromania

Here's some advice.

Go set something on fire.

...

Right now.

...

It's fun.

Now, I'm not advocating arson, just light a small piece of paper, a plastic toy soldier or something on fire and watch it burn/melt, as long as you place it on something that will not catch on fire and don't touch it directly 'cause it will be hot.

Now, why in the hell am I telling you this? 'Cause watching something burn into ash is awe-inspiring. I'm not going to say it's 'cause humans are destructive by nature yadda, yadda or any of that kind of crap, I just think fire is beautiful. I am a pyromaniac, just a practical one, even though that sounds like an oxymoron.

Prometheus does not get his liver eaten every day by an eagle as punishment for bringing fire to mankind, just so we can not set things on fire. Give the titan a reason not to say, "Well, that was a waste of my life." C'mon already, start a fire!

Please note that I am not responsible for any damage by fire done to people or property by anyone who read this post.

You didn't have to listen to me.

Old Video Games

Does anyone remember the Gameboy pocket? I do.

In fact, I still have my teal-colored entertainment gizmo and play it occasionally. Question is, why do people look at me weird when I play it? Does no one remember it anymore? Or is it 'cause they do remember but wonder why anyone would still play old, outdated games?

Blasphemy.

The people who forget about their past, in this case the Gameboy pocket, will play today's modern high-definition games without any regard to the roots of video games. I'm not damning today's games (out loud) 'cause there are truly great games out there (And also some really, really horrible aneurysm-inducing ones) but just advocating the appeal of retro games. The people who never played the originals, can never fully appreciate the newer games. Games have really evolved from Pong to Pac-man to Super Mario Bros to etc., and it's important to see said evolution and its continuity from the beginning to now and in the future.

Some old games were truly tests that challenged, not only your gaming skills, but your value as a person. I mean I still haven't beaten the extra mode on the first video game I ever played 'cause it truly it one of most challenging things ever and really tests my patience and anger management especially when that one frickin' enemy comes out of nowhere and kills me when I have one two health bars left. Then, the first boss, which on normal mode is a cake walk, can kill me in only two hits, and there are so few goddamn extra lives... wait... what was I talking about again? Oh, right. Don't abandon the old, 'cause it's old and not new.

I could write a whole book on this very subject, but right now I just want to express my love for my pocket-sized cure for boredom.

A Series of Unimportant Questions

What would happen if Carmen Sandiego and Waldo had a kid?

Would we ever find him or her?

Would he/she use his/her power of unfindability for good or his/her own nefarious purposes?

What would he/she do for a living?

What would he/she look like for that matter?

Wide-brimmed hat or stocking cap with a pompom?

Glasses or no glasses? Or perhaps contacts?

All good questions that don't really have an answer, but ponder on it if you will.

O, and if you don't know who either of those people are, look it up for not only for your sake but for their sakes as well.

Holy Shit, It's Already March

Where was I when it became March? Do I miss a meeting or something when it was decided or announced? 'Cause it can't be March already.

Right?

But it is... it is indeed March, much to my chagrin...

How can it be that two months have passed since my second semester started, and I have not noticed? I know February is shorter than most months but not that short! It doesn't feel like two months have passed. Maybe it's 'cause I haven't done enough from my perspective to warrant the passing of two months of time or the cliche "time goes by when you're having fun." I don't know, and that's what is frustrating about it.

Uhh... it's March, and I still have a lot of shit to do. Some for school, some for myself, and a little towards both. I'm not gonna get much sleep for a while. Just perfect.

I think I'm starting to hate March. No offense, March. Usually, I have no reason to dislike you, March, but I'm pissed at the moment and need an object to vent my anger upon. You just happened to be there at the wrong time.

Deal with it.

National Pancake Day

This is public service announcement.

I want to everyone to be aware of the existence of National Pancake Day, February 23. Why? Two words.

Free pancakes.

That's all that needs to be said to best illustrate how truly awesome Pancake Day is. Mark your calenders in red ink! It's better than about seventy percent of most holidays anyway. No one cares about President's Day, except furniture stores and car dealerships. Screw Arbor's Day, tree-huggers! ...I'm half-kidding, hippies.

If you don't like pancakes, then screw you. Get out of my sight. As long as I never know of your breakfast preferences, we can remain friends, but if you came out of the closet and revealed your dark secret... dun, Dun, DUNNNN... there will be some issues in our friendship. I don't even know if I would look at you the same way if we stayed friends, so I would have to end it most likely due to awkwardness of being in the same room as you. Maybe with time I could learn to accept your different breakfast orientation, but that's time I just don't have. If I did have the time, however, we would be able to remain friends, and the awkward atmosphere between us would vanish in an instant. The world would be one step closer to a better place...

Oh, and if you haven't gotten it yet, I'm parodying a friend with no definite stance towards homosexuality who finds out one of his/her good friends of the same gender is gay and his/her possible reactions to his/her friend's coming out of the closet. Also, I have nothing against homosexuality, just pancake haters.

They need to stop breathing the same air as me and die already, and the world would be one step closer to a better place... Yes, I see the irony. Do I care? Obviously not at this point.

I Need More Sleep

Again, another lesson for future generations that I have learned the hard way, so you don't have to. If you have happened to completely ignore my suggestion for a better tomorrow involving sleeping, I shall present to thee a temporary solution to your drowsiness.

Coffee.

...Yes, more common sense, I know, but as I have noticed in my daily activities, common sense is not as common as it used to be. In fact, I would daresay that it is uncommon.

Back to the task at hand, caffeine has proven an excellent way to stay awake. Unfortunately, I do not drink coffee regularly. Now, to those who drink coffee every day, this needn't apply to you, but to the others, like myself who seldom partake of this earth-colored liquid, this is a warning. Coffee will, I repeat, will mess with you both physically and mentally. Your extremities will shake at regular intervals, your eyes will twitch a little, and you will begin to question everything you have ever learned and everything you haven't learned yet. Even more so if you only drink coffee in times of quiet desperation. I, myself, only imbibe the substance when I'm either stressed, depressed, sleepy, or suffering from a headache, and this revelation I share with you occurred when I was under the influence of all four combined.

So tell your children and... yadda, yadda you know the rest, or at least I hope you do. I still don't know whether or not it will help the world or not.

Also, don't do this on the night before a test. Seriously, don't do it.

O yes, for those who may be concerned, my common sense is recovering splendidly. However, it refuses to talk about the incident. I have not yet ruled out the possibility of suicide or attempted murder. Or even attempted murder disguised as suicide.

Conversation

It's nice when people actually know what the hell I'm talking about and can add meaningful dialogue to the conversation.

And even better is how the number of participants in said conversation grow.

I mean today I started talking to one person I knew, then someone else I knew passed by, heard the words "Meiji Revolution", and engaged in our conversation. He didn't think anyone else even knew about the Meiji Revolution, let alone use it in conversation. Moments later, another person who this time I did not know joined as the conversation shifted towards social hierarchy, linguistic relativity and degradation of language, and morality.

All together a very entertaining and interesting conversation that would have lasted longer if no one had class.

Just got to love art college. Never boring.

Umm...

...

Writer's block is a bitch...

...

......

Procrastination's a bitch, too...

...

......

.........


That's all I've got to say.

I Need Sleep

A quick warning to whoever may happen upon this blog.

Don't go to sleep at six in the morning, wake up around seven, go to class at nine, and expect to function normally.

It doesn't work.

I have learned this the hard way with trial and error. Mostly error. Less trial.

It sounded like a good idea at the time (around 2 a.m.), but ultimately that decision was made on an already sleep-deprived mind that has a tendency to rationalize bad ideas quite easily and goes through with them, even though it still recognizes it as a bad idea.

It's common sense that not sleeping will make you tired, but obviously my common sense, despite knowing better, has fallen off a cliff and is in a coma. I wonder if it really was an accident? Attempted murder or perhaps, suicide? That's a question for another day.

I say all of this so you may tell your children, your children's children, and your children's children's children about this, so they do not suffer from drowsiness like what I have brought upon myself. Do this, and perhaps humanity will be one step closer to a better world or maybe not. I don't know.

I... just... don't know...

I Don't Think Anyone Will Ever Read This

I seriously doubt it.

No one is ever going to know about this blog. I might tell some people, but chances are that I won't.

I mean I am not a very sociable person at all and am more of a loner. In fact, I try to avoid most social situations like the plague. Even though being somewhat sociable on the Internet seems like it would be easier than in real life since it's not in person, but so far it hasn't worked for me. Perhaps, it's just my general hatred of what the Internet has done to the English language or the endless depth of depravity, but it's not my cup of tea.

For example, I have joined several forums before, most of which I can't actually remember, and have had mixed results. One time it worked out pretty well, but I stopped posting when I lost my Internet connection for a while and never posted again. Another time I could not understand what the hell someone had typed. Learn goddamn English! On my last attempt, I made a post in a forum on a topic asking "What is your IQ?". I answered with 146, which is my IQ. Unfortunately for me, I was typing fast and didn't realize I misspelled one word. Within five minutes, I had been insulted about 86 times on how much of an idiot I was. I quit after that.

I hate MySpace, Facebook, and most of that other social site crap. I'm just giving it another chance with this blog even though there will be little social interaction overall.

So unless someone happens upon this blog for whatever reason, this will not be read most likely. Which begs the question,  

"What the hell is this all for?"

For the Love of All That is Good and Holy

O, God... what... have... I... done... what I think I just did ten seconds ago. I have created a blog.

I will repeat it again so it sinks in a little better.
I have just created a blog.

The ramifications of my action (or inaction) today may very well impact the entire human race or have no real effect in the grand scheme of things. Either one will work. Heads, the Apocalypse. Tails, absolutely nothing at all. It's a lose/I don't care situation.

May God have mercy on all of us or at least me. And I guess the people I actually care about and 5/8 of my family. Definitely not that guy who stole my Gameboy in the 3rd grade. He can suffer for all eternity for all I care. Bastard.