Adrift

It’s amazing how void I can feel sometimes.  Right now, I’m listening to Hoobastank (which I know I like now) and all I can think about is Version 2 of Heroes of Ivalice.

For those of you who don’t know, HoI is an online sim of the game Final Fantasy Tactics, which takes place in the land of Ivalice.  The whole system for HoI is based on posting in a message board.  There’s lots of things to do, the first of which is to create a character.  And the basis of your character (mechanically speaking) is your job.

I’m just so happy that they revamped the Squire class, as it’s just about my favorite class in FFT (which, coincidentally, is just about my favorite game ever.)

I could go on and on about how I love the job system of FFT and HoI, and how I’m going to have a Squire/Geomancer/Blue Mage, or how I love mastering classes and seeing *MASTER! next to jobs in FFT…but I wouldn’t want to overload anyone with game jargon.

 Instead, I’ll just wait for Hoobastank to finish and then watch Akira.  Finally, I’ll get to find out what all the hubbub is about.

 ***

Psyche!!!  Ho ho, you thought I was going to watch Akira, eh?…Well, so did I.  However, as of a minute ago, I was approached with the alternative of sharing Memento with des Bakers, and that is what I’m going to do.

Woo-hoo, Memento!

I don’t feel I’ve really expressed this properly yet, so let me get it out in the open: I am a video game enthusiast.  Particularly, Role-Playing Games, and within that category Final Fantasy.  Some might call me a fanatic, but I picture fanatics as people who lock themselves in their rooms and do nothing but repeat “Final Fantasy” or “Metallica” or “Salami” ad nauseum and to the exclusion of everything else.

The reason I want to lay that out there is because I feel that the video game medium, as a whole, gets very little intellectual credit.  I get the feeling that when people say those words together, they envision pale, teenage, white males staring at televisions or computer screens with blank stares on their faces, blowing up countless hideous creatures – or worse, human beings – until the wee hours of the morning.  All while writing insults and sw3@Rz in l337 SP33k.  Even I mentally cringe at the thought of saying, “I like playing video games.”

But the thing is, there are so many different kinds of video games.  To say that all video games are the same would be the same thing as saying all books are the same, or all music.  And, in my opinion, a truly good video game is just as rewarding and cultured as a truly good book.

The ultimate example of this, I believe, is Final Fantasy VII.  The effects of that game and the emotions it instilled are still with me; it is at once the most wonderfully endearing and the most crushingly grievous experience I’ve had.  It’s…powerful.  I’m not sure I’d be who I am today if I hadn’t played that game, along with Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger.

And Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.  Wackiest, most hilarious game ever.  And it still manages to be cool.

So, really, I just wanted to voice my feelings about the public interpretation of my (hopefully) future occupational area.  Then again, perhaps my perception of everyone else’s perception of video games is biased.  Perhaps I only see the outdated stereotype created by mainstream media, and thus my reaction to it as part of the criticized party makes me more prone to being defensive. 

Really, the whole division of those who play video games and those who don’t is a blow to me; I think I have some sort of sub-conscious idea that people who don’t play video games view those that do as less than people, or at least as less intelligent or courteous ones.

Of course, I haven’t really done a whole lot to justify my position.  It’s just that, there’s a degree of separation between experience and the relating of experience, and I wouldn’t do the original justice.

And with that, I urge you all to experience FF VII yourselves.  And have a good night.

I got to sleep in today.  This is a joyous occasion.  However, in accordance with not knowing whether or not I’d be able to decipher the Saturday bus schedule this week, I got up a bit earlier than I might otherwise have done…well, I also wanted to play more Maple Story…

Anyways, as I was sitting on my bed (and turning on my computer), I noticed an odd little ball on my blanket.  Obviously, ’twas some fuzz or lint that had inexplicably ended up on top of my bed.  Out of paranoia though, I decided to prod it with a kleenex-clad hand.  Upon leaning in closer, I noticed it was brown with white spots, almost mottled white you might say.  Intrigued, I touched it.

I never saw more than the little legs starting to sprout out of it before I encased it in white death.  I’m not kidding; one second there was a round ball, and the next there’s thousands of little legs coming out of it, and I couldn’t tell from where.  I was looking right at it and I couldn’t tell.

I imagine there’ll be a blockbuster horror film five years from now with those things in it.  It’s only a matter of time before Hollywood reads this post and finds out they forgot to capitalize on this little nightmare.  *shudder*

None of this little episode, however, has anything to do with the title.  That is a whole other subject, namely: today’s popular music.

Popular music (read “popular” “music”) is a rather broad generalization, I admit.  So, for the sake of clarity, I will define it as, “The music that plays over the sound system at JCPenney.”

This is not a put down to JCPenney, as much as I would like to work in a non-retail environment.  Nor is all popular music bad; two of the bands that play are Evanescence and Smashmouth, and they’re rockin’ awesome in my opinion.

But as for the rest of the noise that filters into my eardrums, I could really do without it.  Just about all of it falls into the two convenient categories of love and hate.

I say love, but the tones of these songs suggest three letters. For example, one song goes along the lines of, “I drove all Niiiiiiight, to make luv to you…is that alright?”  And yes, there’s an alternate 3-letter spelling for luv too.

Another song talks about something fast as lightspeed and stronger than gravity.  Actual love fits here, but again, I think they’re talking about something a little different.  I make this statement based on one line that I have a hard time deciphering; the singer’s either saying “sensuality” or “sexuality”.  Either way, supernova now has one more interpretation than I would prefer.

The other category, hate (in case you forgot), deals with exactly the same subjects as the others, but at a later point in time.  It’s kinda like Wheel of Fortune in that respect.  Love and Hate, Before and After.

I can’t stand hearing either one.  The “love” songs stir the less savory sections of my psyche, and the hate songs tear at my soul with their harsh, venemous emotions.  Most all of them have annoying singers or sound effects too.

It just makes me wonder whether or not there are millions of people who don’t want to think past procreation.  Because really, that’s what all of these songs are about.  Was Freud really right?  I’d like to think otherwise, but there seems to be a lot of evidence to the contrary.

…And now for something completely different…

There’s a party tomorrow!  Er…today!  Woo-hoo!

As I was riding on the bus to work today, I realized: I need to learn how to draw.  There are just too many character ideas in my head not seeing the light of day.  I can see them in my head; it seems so obvious.  And yet, were I to attempt it, they’d turn out…yeah…

So that got me thinking, what else do I want to do?  Well, I want to play the piano well enough to do Final Fantasy music justice, I want to finish Drakyr (a book I started), and I hope to bring my game to life.  And maybe compose a great piece of music.  Heck, while I’m at it I might as well add singing in a band to the list.

 …So I have a few wild dreams.  Who doesn’t?  Of course, I’ve taken 7 years of piano lessons total, and what have I done with it?  Not much.

I think maybe that’s one of my major problems: lots of ambitious ideas, very little motivation to finish them.  Or even start them sometimes.  So I end up dreaming about all these great things.  Which, really, is what I’ve been doing all my life, it seems.

 Anyhow, on a more immediate note, dinner was excellent!  The Yasdanis (I hope that’s correct spelling…) held a meal for students, and they graciously offered to give me a ride out to their house to join everybody.  Persian food, fondue, Hoopla, wonderful people…I’m so grateful I was let in on the occasion.  Just don’t ask Sam to draw Marilyn Monroe…you…trust me, it’s better that way.

Billy has set up me the blog.  Make your time.

 …*Ahem*…

 So anyways, yeah!  I have a blog now; we’ll see how interesting I can make it.  I think I’ll try to keep up a daily posting, so as to challenge my skills of a writer.

Oh, and as a warning, it is quite likely that I will slip in references from things like, say, Strong Bad, quite frequently.  Just look at the end of the previous paragraph.

…And I tend to make lots of little paragraphs.  Which is something I feel I need to work on.

So, check back in from time to time…for great justice!!