Whisper quiet.

I mentioned I had all the pieces to my new surround sound system. I didn't think I'd get around to setting it up, but at 9 PM last night, the mood struck.

First I pulled out the shelves and wires and clutter that had accumulated behind the TV. Then I unplugged everything, swept away the hair and dust, cleaned each wire, power strip and surface and moved our any equipment that wasn't going in the new setup.

Then I cut and stripped all the speaker wire, wired the speakers, connected all the consoles and plugged everything in the right spot. Then I double checked it all.

Finally, I booted up each system to make sure everything was A-Ok. And it was not...

At first I thought "Picture! Perfect, everything worked! But no sound? Hmm, oh, the volume is down. Ha."

But still no sound. So I flipped around the modes and settings. Nothing. Finally, I cranked the volume to the max, and there was sound after all! It was just whisper quiet, and only audible at the highest settings. Crap.

So I RE-re-checked all my connections, looked through the manual, re-wired the speakers and tried again. Still nothing. So I plugged in headphones. Same result. It's not the speakers. I had already been using them with my old system, so I knew they worked. And the headphone test proved it. It must be the receiver. Some poking online pretty much confirmed my suspicion.

At this point it's been about 3 hours since I started. Waste of time.

So I had to send it back. I first went to Sony's site, and filled out a customer support claim. Since I just got it, they would fix it for free. I just had to ship it to Texas. On my own dime. And I wouldn't see it again for weeks/months.

Hmmm. 1/2 hour later, I finished that process online, but then I had a better idea. Who did I buy it from? Who always impresses me with their awesome service and willingness to go above and beyond my expectations? Amazon!

Sure enough, I went to the site, looked at my past orders, clicked "I want to return" "defective product" and that was it. I got a shipping label (free of charge). No questions asked. They immediately sent me a replacement that should be here in two days. No questions asked. All I do is send the defective one in within the month, and it's a done deal. No waiting. No money. Nothing. Perfect.

So that calmed me a bit. I set my old system back up, and played a bit of Mass Effect 2 to relax before it got too late.

Hopefully I'll have the new receiver by Saturday, everything will set up smoothly, and I'll forget this whole pain in the butt.

Pieces of the puzzle.

I just picked up some speaker wire. If I have the ambition, it's time to set up my new home theater I've been slowly collecting over the past couple months. I've got 5, lovely new surround-sound speakers, a new, fancy 7.1 receiver (in case I ever want to upgrade with a couple more speakers) with more component, optical and HDMI inputs than I could ever fill and finally a new big ass sub-woofer.

The sub was the last piece to the puzzle, so now that I have everything, I can start thinking about hooking it all up. I do enjoy that kind of thing, actually. But I'm sick and tired.

Yeah, I am still kind of sick. But I am back at work. I took both Monday and Tuesday off, mainly because I was very ill, but also because Lindsay was coming home from L.A. on Monday and needed a ride, and Tuesday she just wanted to hang. Although I didn't see her much, in reality.

I already mentioned that Lindsay had to teach about 2 hours after I picked her up. And she was so tired that she went to bed as soon as she got home, and didn't wake up for 12 hours. So I spent the morning working upstairs at my desk. When she did finally wake up, she went to a meeting in New Hope until 3:30 or 4... So I might as well just have went to work and come home an hour early...

I did do a lot of work over the two days I was home, so it's not a bid deal. Once she did get home, we picked up Francesca and went to Yum! to work and eat. I did a little more real work, then spent most of the time working on my Fat Bird piece.

When we got home, I finally put in the last couple hours into Assassin's Creed 2. I was quite close to the end, but I was just waiting for Lindsay to come home because she was interested in the story. But then she ended up on the phone as the game was finally wrapping up and answering questions, so she missed it all anyway.

But it was good, and I'm done. I'm going to hand it off to some friends, but I immediately loaded up Mass Effect 2, just because I was curious. It looks like it's going to be amazing...

Sick for real.

So yesterday I was sorta sick. Today I woke up full-blow sick...

Maybe it has something to do with a terrible night of sleep. But the morning hit hard, and I felt awful. I called into work and went back to bed for a while.

I never did stop feeling like crap, but I had to do some work. So I went to Noodles to set up and draw for a while over a bowl of chicken noodles soup. Luckily it's less than a 5 minute drive away, and I was actually surprisingly productive.

I picked up Lindsay from the airport, and we hung out for a minute before she had to run to class. While she was gone, Ryan, Jesse, Sara and I gave Left 4 Dead 2 another shot and it went much better. It was still pretty freakin' hard, but we only wiped 2 or 3 times on the final scenario, as opposed to like 8 the night before.

Still, only one person made it out alive. And even then, just barely.

I worked on my 'Fat Bird' piece for the SAAC and I think I got a good drawing out of it. I've yet to post it, but it will probably be up soon. Unless I change my mind and decide it sucks too much.

Will I go to work tomorrow? I'm planning on it, but we'll see. Usually I always feel WAY worse in the morning and things clear up as the day goes on. If I had to guess, I would say 'yes. I am.'

Phooey.

Sort of Sick.

I have been sort of sick this whole weekend. 'Sort of' being the key words. My throat hurts, but not a ton. My head is a little stuffy, but I'm not sneezing and coughing. My stomach is upset, but it's just mildly uncomfortable. I just feel poor enough to slow me down, but not enough to prevent me from doing stuff.

What did prevent me from doing what I wanted to do (like going to the gym) was a painful back. I guess I stretched too hard (like, a wake-up stretch, not a pre-workout stretch or something strenuous) Saturday morning and wrenched my neck, so the area between my shoulder blades was hurting something fierce and preventing me from turning my head.

But none of that really stopped me from hanging out with people (who will now probably get sick). Ryan came over Friday night. We played The Beatles: Rock Band and Street Fighter 4. I'm pretty rusty at both. He was pretty wiped out, too, so he ended up leaving pretty early, maybe a little after Midnight. Which is why I ended up playing 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand until 3 in the morning.

On Saturday, I went to lunch with Chris C and Jessie, and then went back out a few hours later to meet them at the Tea Garden and work for a few hours.

Today I made it a point to stay in. I did some very strenuous Yoga, which seems to have fixed my back up pretty well. It also soaked my shirt to the point where it was difficult to remove. Gross. I also cleaned a whole bunch, and if you'd only look at certain sections of the house, you'd probably think it was livable.

I played Left 4 Dead 2 with Ryan, Sara and Jesse. That game is sooooo hard. It took us nearly 2 hours to complete ONE campaign on Normal, and we had to turn it to Easy to beat the crescendo event. And even then only Ryan made it out alive. Afterward, I had a headache afterward.

But it was still fun and stuck with me. A little later I went back and did a couple missions solo on Easy, and it was actually quite enjoyable. It seems slightly easier than Normal in the first L4D. But not much.



Now that I've at least seen all the campaigns, I've come to appreciate all the really awesome stuff that changed or added since the first game. Both gameplay-wise and stylistically. I was disappointed from my first impressions, but the more I play, the more I really like it. The changes are subtle, but they add up.

I just wish it were a little less brutal. I keep flashing back to my blind rage from earlier in the day, when it seemed like the 'Director' was just being purely sadistic.

It basically kicked us in the crotch until we puked blood, and when we were on the ground crying and vomiting, it drove a steamroller with wheels made of a million piranha's over us.

"Yo 50! There's skrilla in those crates!"

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is awesome.


this is pretty awesome.

It's violent, vulgar, stupid, and awesome.

Last night I was about to go to bed early, since I'm not feeling well, but I saw 50 Cent staring at me from the shelf, unopened. I had received it weeks, maybe months, ago from Goozex. I added it to my que on a whim. I had a surplus of points, and thought it would be a good laugh. It came sealed in shrink-wrap with the security tape still on it, so it's previous owner obviously never even gave it a shot.

And I almost didn't either. But I decided to just give it a look. And I was immediately having a blast. It's like a big, dumb, action movie with a premise so ridiculous you can't help but laugh.

50's playing his last show of the tour, in some unspecified, war-torn, middle eastern city. As soon as he walks off stage, he checks his phone messages, finds out the money hasn't been paid for the show he was performed, and marches into the promoter's office with a shotgun demanding his 10 million.

The promoter can't pay, but gives Fifty a diamond-encrusted skull instead. Obviously better. But once on the road, the crew is ambushed and the skull get's stolen. So of course Fifty (accompanied by his G-Unit member of choice - I stuck mainly with DJ WhooKid) has to murder thousands of people, and about 7 helicopters, to get it back.

The game is tonally so bizarre, with Fifty constantly switching between affable pop-star, hunky hero and cold, cold, cold blooded murderer. He's obsessed with killin' fools who cross him and with breaking crates that spew spinning golden rings, sonic-style.

The voice over's are amazing. Everything Fifty says is awesome, and DJ WhooKid is even better. He's obviously incapable of saying any sentence without starting it with "Yo Fifty...!"

"Yo Fifty! Over there!" "Yo Fifty! Blast them mother fuckers!" "Yo Fifty! There's skrilla in those crates!" "Yo Fifty! Jump over that big-ass ramp!"

And, maybe most importantly, the game plays well. It plays similarly to Gears of War, but obviously lacks the polish. But not as much as you might think. It's faster, more arcade-y and less depended on cover. I eventually just realized Fifty was a walking tank and marched forward with guns blazing unless things got really hairy.

I could go on about the ridiculousness of everything, from the deep-south, Colonel Sanders-alike final boss to the romantic interest who loves you, betrays you, and loves you again, despite the fact you never refer to her as anything other than "that bitch" through out the entire game.

It's a short, fun, hilarious little game, and I probably had way more fun than I should have. I started it last night at 1 AM, and despite sleeping in, doing laundry and going out to lunch with friends, I finished it today before 5. I couldn't stop playing, I just needed to see what would happen next. How many games can I honestly say that about?

It may not be the highest quality game ever but I knew that going in. It exceeded my expectations and has a ton going for it. I give it a hearty recommendation.

New toys.

I got a couple new toys for my camera this week. I got a Speedlight, which is a flash that bounces the light upwards to create more natural lighting. It gets rid of the harsh lighting and shadows that usually come with a using a flash. I also got a wireless remote. I got this to be a little more dynamic in how I can hold the camera, but mainly to take shots without adding the tiny bit of moment caused when you hit the shutter release.

So I should be able to take nicer studio-esque shots and just better photos at night. Which is when I take a lot of photos, since it's when I'm home...


amazed by technology.

I played around with it a bit last night, here's some examples. I'm still messing around with settings, and getting used to how the light works, but keep in mind these were all taken at night, in a house that has terrible lighting.


old man twink.


way to sit.


dislikes the pre-flash.


evil watcher.


something stinks.


sitting on my open laptop.


still evil.


deep thoughts.


snaggletooth.

So yeah. Hopefully I can do some good stuff. I need a tripod, but I'll have to search the house because I used to have a decent one.

I took Lindsay to the airport again today. This weekend she's in L.A. I am hoping to go to the gym a lot, clean a lot, and sleep a lot. And I'll probably read a bunch of The Walking Dead.

Mixed emotions.

Things are about to get pretty hairy at work for a week or so. Oh well...

Lindsay came home last night. I spent most of the night doing some design work and dishes, but I took a nice break to play Modern Warfare 2 with Adam G, Ryan and Chris C.

I just jumped back in the previous day after having been on a long break, thanks mainly to Borderlands and Assassin's Creed 2. When I booted up my first game in weeks, I thought "this game is too hard to get back into! this is boring! this game sucks!" But I was antsy and not in the mood. Coming back again the next day, when it was much later at night and I was ready to get sucked in, I had a totally different experience. It was exciting, fun and I was doing very well. Sometimes I did pretty amazing. So I was singing to the tune of "what an amazing game!"

Then I played with those guys. Ryan and Chris C are just shy of level 70. I'm level 46. Adam G is level 48, but he's Prestiged... twice. So I was thrown into a serious of games where I was seriously out-classed. And that wasn't much fun. But I had friends there, so it wasn't terrible, either.

I only ended up playing 3 or 4 matches, but I was getting whooped so bad it felt a lot longer. I decided to try out PixelJunk Shooter again. My poor PS3 games get so overlooked just because I always turn on the 360 first. Just to see who's on. and to check the indie games. And just because it has all the main games I'm playing.

But Shooter and Trine need to get some more love. But sure enough, as soon as I started Lindsay called needing a ride... some other day, Shooter!

It was great to have Lindsay home, even though it was late and we went to bed shortly after we got back. I will say this though; in our next house, we need to get a king-sized bed. Two people, two dogs, and two cats are too much for this bed. And there would be five cats if we left the door open...

Die 1,000 Deaths.

I went to Isara's birthday party Sunday night. It was held at my favorite restaurant, the 112 Eatery, so you know it was dope. I was sad Lindsay wasn't there, but Chris S and I talked video games with reckless abandon.

I had, or shared some of, the suck and radicchio salad, zucchini with chorizo, cauliflower fritters, steak tartare, sautéed sweetbreads in porcini & clam sauce and tres leches cake. Sounds like a lot, and it kind of was, but not really.

Here's a picture I took from Isara's flickr. I didn't have a camera, and she's a better photographer anyway...



I went home and played some Borderlands with the Chris I was sitting right next to in that photo! We're playing through the Zombie Island DLC, it's a nice change of pace. I only wish the full game offered as much variety.

Today at work I felt very sick, for a while I toughed it out and came home to do some P90X Yoga. It's good, but it takes so freakin' long.

I put together some artwork for my brother, and cleaned up a bit. I tried to play some Modern Warfare 2 but couldn't sit still. I cleaned some more, then played a couple levels of the Little Big Planet Pirates of the Caribbean DLC. It's cool. I really do like Little Big Planet. It was not as game-changing or widely successful as I was hoping, and for a while I was kind of disappointed, but now I can just appreciate it as a pretty good game with a great art style and some really smart ideas.

I only played for about 15 minutes, and get antsy again. It seems when Lindsay is not home, I'm more restless and I switch gears a lot. I ordered some stuff off Amazon, and then put in Street Fighter 4 and pulled out my Fightstick. Pure awesome. I always know that Street Fighter is the hottest shit around, but if I go for a while without playing, I forget about how perfect it is. I was instantly back into it, pulling off Akuma's 1000 Death's combo like nothing and scoring a few perfects (against the computer). The more I played, the more silky smooth it felt. That game is so awesome, and I can not wait for Super Street Fighter 4, even though I'm reluctant to fall back into the iterative loop Capcom was in during the 90's.

I just want Mecha-Zangief.

Chess-muster JIVE

Yesterday I ran to the gym but wasn't really feeling the groove. I felt it OK, I guess. I spent a lot of the early afternoon playing Assassin's Creed 2 collecting more stuff and upgrading my dude and playing some Chessmaster LIVE.

I learned how to play Chess in grade school and I thought it was fine. It was a part of the TAG (Talented and Gifted) program, so it was a nice to be able to go to a special room in the middle of the day to play games. But I wasn't enamored or anything.

My experience playing Clue on Christmas Eve with Chris S and Isara showed me that games change with time. What I thought was a simple game of moving around the board making guesses and doing detective work as a kid, was actually a game of trickery and deception as an adult. As a kid, I played my hand, as an adult, I played my opponents.

That, combined with the awesome job XBLA developers have done creating video game adaptations of boardgames (like Carcassonne, Catan, Ticket to Ride, Magic the Gathering, etc...). Specifically I appreciate the fact that the digital versions of these games eliminate the need for the expensive boxed versions, the hassle of setting up, the job of scoring and, best of all, the need for having 1-3 other people in the room just to get a game going.


So I figured now was a good time to relearn it. And I was right. It's fun and within 3 moves I was like "Wow, there are infinitely more factors and decisions to work with than I remember."

Right now I suck. Completely. The game has a hundred or more profiles of opponents, from beginner to expert, from aggressive to overvaluing Queens. It gives each opponent an Elo rating (the relative skill level) from 1 to 2,700+ and features a portrait to match. The highest ranked character is a wise old wizard dude. I'm playing babies and monkeys. And I don't always win.

But that's why I picked it up; to learn. Someday I hope to be a young, fresh and astute Asian teen.

Over the Border.

Hmmm. Lindsay's out of town for a few days. She went to San Fransisco to the Fancy Foods Trade Show, or something like that... She does a lot of food packaging.

She left Sunday morning, super early. She called me too early to remember what time it was, and told me the power kept going out on the plane while they were waiting to take off. She told me if she died, she loved me and the pets. I wasn't too worried, but when someone tells you something like that when you're 1/2 awake, chances are good you'll have bad dreams when you fall back asleep. And I did.

I also felt like maybe she should have gotten off. It's terrible to die in a plane crash, but it's even worse to have such a strong feeling of unease that you call your loved ones and THEN have it crash. Because then everyone involved will know that you had the chance to trust your instinct and just get off.

But she's fine. Huzzah!

I was in the middle of plowing through Assassin's Creed 2. I got pretty into it, but Lindsay is also interested enough to want to see what happens. I can't play the main storyline until she's back, so I've been running around grabbing Glyphs and doing side missions and getting Achievements. I might hit a full 1000, if I decide to go for the 100 feathers. Which I probably won't.

She did get to sit around and be annoyed while Ryan, Chris C, Chris S and I beat Borderlands. But it's an addicting game, thanks to the leveling, looting and cooperative elements.

It's kind of the 4 player co-op aspect that really makes the game, but it poses it's own problems, too. Unlike Left 4 Dead, which has a series of self-contained levels you can play and replay at your leisure, Borderlands operates more like World of Warcraft with a constant level progression and quest structure.

Which basically means, if I get left behind, I am quickly out-leveled and ineligible for quests... So everyone playing together means that all four of us have to make our schedule's align. Tricky, but we did it. It added a sense of urgency every time we played because we knew this was one of the few chances to have the 4 of us operating together.

Other than that I've been trying to savor The Walking Dead. I've resigned to buying the whole series, but I want to read it slowly and put limits on how far I get every day. Graphic novels are awesome, but they're expensive considering the speed at which you can blow through one...

So yeah. I don't feel well today. I am done writing.

Good Company.

I've been playing Battlefield: Bad Company again, like crazy. I loved the single player but skipped over the multiplayer for the most part. I gave it a try, but the 'Gold Rush' mode (the only mode available at the time), combined with everything else Battlefield games offer was a bit too much for me to take in at once.

I'd never played a Battlefield game, and the the huge maps, the choice of tons of vehicles, and a bunch of classes, each with separate upgrades made the learning curve too steep. Add in some destructable environments, and I died a lot. There was no place to hide. I had some fun, but it didn't stick with me.

A year or more later, and my perspective has changed a bit. I've played a shit-ton of Battlefield 1943, a highly striped down (in a good way!) version of Battlefield that is easily one of my games of the year. I've come to terms with the pace and play-style of the series, so coming back to Bad Company with that knowledge made the steps of learning the new classes, weapons and vehicles that much easier.

Plus, and perhaps most importantly, they added in the Conquest mode, which is Battlefield's bread-and-butter mode. So I was able to jump in, be effective, and have a great time.

Amazingly, tons of people are still playing, and I never had a trouble getting into full games, even when I would search for more specific types of matches. It's a great, great game and I wish I had gotten into it earlier.

Oh yeah, and I was motivated into going back thanks to the Bad Company 2 trailers that have been coming out lately.



I'm pretty excited. I'm actually looking more forward to Bad Company 2 than I was for Modern Warfare 2. Which will I play more? Maybe MW2, but that doesn't matter. BF:BC 2 is going to be the jam.

Also, I love this trailer. It pretty much sums up the Battlefield experience: you spend all your energy pushing through to one objective and as soon as you complete your goal, you realize you've neglected another base somewhere else and lost it to the enemy, and the whole thing starts again.



There are so many moments where I thought "Finally! We did it!" followed by "Oh sh*t!" 5 seconds later when I realize that there's more going on than my one isolated battle.

Solo works for me.

This week has been damn cold. Our house can't keep up, it's too old and drafty. So cold.

I've been keeping warm by cuddling up to play Borderlands. Ryan, Chris C and Chris S have been going through and playing some of the game together even though we are horrible mismatched level-wise. I've not leveled 3 of the 4 classes above level 15, and I've decided to stick with the Soldier. I'm convinced there's nothing anyone else can do that's more useful than the Soldier's Turret.

That's a lot of fun. I feel like I'm on the only person who enjoys playing Borderlands alone as well as in a group, but I do. I also enjoy playing World of Warcraft alone, so maybe that says something.

I also convinced Adam and Jesse to get Killing Floor during the final day of the Steam Sale. We've yet to all play together, but Jesse and I found time for a few matches and it was a blast. I still wish it was an Xbox Live Arcade game, but only because of the amount of friends I'd have to choose from, not because of the controls anymore. I'm learning my way around the WASD pretty good now.

I spent a long time on Sunday at the Tea Garden. I started by cranking on a project I was hoping to work on for a while now, and then I was interrupted by friends who needed files transferred and things explained and all that jazz. So I didn't finish.

But! I did get a chance to wrap it up last night, so check it out. I really like doing these photo/illustrator collages, and I'm hoping to do a couple more to make a series... I should peruse my vacation shots for any likely candidates.

I especially like trying to match the lighting and mood of the photo. I put a lot of detail into that worm-thing that gets lost in the shadows once I darkened it so far, but that's A-OK.

I was tricked.

So Saturday was a pretty laid back day. I thought we might spend most of the day chilling, and we did. I played a bunch of Operation Flashpoint 2 before Lindsay woke up. We made some food and cleaned a bunch, and I tried to work out even though I felt like crap.

Lindsay went to yoga, so I took some medicine to try to feel better and I played more Flashpoint. That was about it.

Lindsay had told me the previous day that she had made reservations at some new place downtown. I was kind of bummed out just because it's so freaking cold out I didn't even want to walk to the car, but whatever. I sat around all day, what could going out for an hour hurt?

We went to the restaurant and as we approached the hostess I noticed Becky sitting at a big table with a bunch of people. I sort of waved and prepared to say a quick hello, but then I realized I knew other people at the table: Adam, Ryan, Sara, Jessie, Chris C, Chris S, Eli, Bryan... hmmm.


color me shocked.

Then they all shouted "Happy Birthday" and I realized what was happening. I had been 100% tricked, which is not easy to do. I usually figure out any surprise well before it happens, much to Lindsay's chagrin.


dumbfounded.

But I totally didn't see this coming at all, and it probably showed. Instead of jumping up and down and squealing in delight like some people might, I didn't have anything to say and I kind of awkwardly sat down and stared at everyone. It took me a couple minutes until I could really engage in any conversation or anything.

But soon it was cool, and we had a good time, ate some food and opened some gifts...


so thoughtful.


ahhh, delicious butt paste.


there are two Chris' in the picture. one is hidden.


what's up there? up where?


achoo.


i think bryan's trying to force-push that flower.

After an hour or two, Lindsay let me know the second 1/2 of this birthday extravaganza was to go to the Ice Rink. So we did. I was really skeptical at first, since it was negative a billion degrees outside, but the ice rink is enclosed and relatively warm.

So that was great. I've only skated once, but I'd say I'm pretty good compared to some of the others in the group.


lace up.


beautiful, delicate ice fairies.


the cute couple.


so graceful>


shivering for effect.

We spent an hour or so at the skate rink, and then it was time to go home. It was fun and I'm still amazed Lindsay was able to keep such a big secret, even though in hindsight the clues were there...

Earlier in the week, when Chris C and Jessie were over, I picked up Lindsay's computer to check something and she snapped at me. She said to quit looking at her email and I said I wasn't. It was weird, because we are always using each others computer and it's no big thang. But when every message in your inbox has the subject "Re: Chris' Surprise Party" I guess it's a different story.

Lindsay had been on the phone for a long time with Adam earlier, and while Lindsay was looking at the internet, I asked if he was coming to diner, and she said "yeah..." Then she stopped and stared forward and said "What? No. Sorry, I wasn't listening to what you said. He's not going, it's just us."

And maybe the strangest of all, before we went out Lindsay told me to put on some Long Underwear. I was like "To go to diner? No thanks." But she was persistent so I said I didn't even know where they were... so she started to look for them in my drawers. I was like "even if you find them, I'm not putting on long underwear just to leave the house for an hour!" So she gave up. I'm just lucky that the ice rink was well heated and totally comfortable...

So that was that. I guess I can forgive everyone for my real birthday dinner that only one friend showed up for. And then he left when he saw no one else was coming...

Also, Ryan took some more pictures, so if there's any good one's I'll post them later.

A grand plan.

this is why I am bad at Modern Warfare 2. it's hard to snipe when this is going on right next to you constantly.


plus, I have to stop and photograph for posterity.

Random pics. This isn't about those pictures.

I wrote this earlier, as it happened on New Years Eve, but decided to save it because it's about video games and kind of drug down the New Years post.

After leaving work a bit early and taking a nap, I played a bit of Modern Warfare with Ryan. Ryan had the great idea for me to equip a tactical spawn and then let him kill me 25 times in a row so he could call in a game-winning nuke. I agreed. Whatevs. My kill/death ratio is already terrible and I wanted to see the nuke.

Lindsay came in the room and saw me respawn and let Ryan stab me over and over until there was a pile of bodies around him, and she just gave me the stink face and rolled her eyes.

That plan was easier said than done. First off, lighting a tactical respawn takes a good 10 seconds, which make this a tedious process. Secondly, finding a secluded area of the map where no one will bother your for 7 or 8 minutes is very tough. But we were able to find several suitable spots on different maps over the course of 5 or so matches. But the main problem was this one level 70 dude who would always ruin our attempts, every time.

At first I'm sure he just stumbled across us and didn't think anything of it. But he quickly realized what we were doing and started hunting us exclusively.

After 3 or 4 matches of shutting us down, he wrote Ryan a message that said "even when you cheat you can't win" to which Ryan responded "I could if you'd quit shooting me."

This dude was super good with a consistent kill/death ratio of 30/5 every match, so we gave up. Oh well.

Twenty Ten.

I am very tired. New Years Eve was surprisingly fun and packed with activity. Usually we might think about having a crazy night but then change our mind, stay in and play WoW or watch a movie or something. Which I totally love to do, don't get me wrong.

But this New Years we promised a few people a couple different things, and while we thought about backing out on everyone and just staying home for the night constantly for the past few days, in the end we followed through. Mainly to avoid being jerks.

But like always, getting out the door is the hard part and once we're actually out it's a blast.

Chris C and Jessie showed up with their two friends from Jersey, Chris R and Michelle. Lindsay had bought tons of craft supplies the day before, so we got out the hot glue and started to make Masquerade Masks. It was fun and they all looked really good, actually, despite our bumbling and terrible design choices.


makin' masks.


hot glue pro.


which feather? so many choices...


ba-kaw!


nice 'stache.


take two.

We probably spent an hour doing that, and once we were done we rolled out to hook up with Ryan and Sara at Moto-i. Someone Ryan works with had rented out the top floor, so there was a DJ and food and a bar. The room was split in two, eveyone standing around the bar, and no one standing on the makeshift dance floor. I got straight to dancing, of course, and Sara joined in immediately. For a while it was just us, but soon we had the eight of us at least doing a bit of shuffling.

The music was ok, some older 70's soul stuff with some 80's tracks like Prince or something every once in a while. I don't really care and made the most of it.

We weren't there for too long, maybe an hour or so passed before we headed to... someplace that I can't remember the name of... for a masquerade ball! We followed Chris C, who had the place plugged into his GPS, but it led us to a gated off road, so we turned around and it was every man for himself to find out how to get there. We split up but happened to arrive, from opposite directions, at the same time. Unfortunately we were trying to find a parking spot when the clock rolled over to 12:00. Oops.

But we went in and the place was packed and people were into the moment. It was more of a Gypsy Masquerade than a fancy one, judging by the music, people and atmosphere, which was pretty wild. We carved out our own corner of the dance floor and proceeded to boogie for about 2 hours. The music was all international, at first it sounded very eastern European in a Gogol Bordello kind of way, but then it became a Latin sensation.


i like to move it move it.


i think they bought their masks, no fair.


sabertooth.


watch that drink, dude.


i scream, you scream, we all scream at jessie.


almost too sexy to post.


stay back, she's on fire!


this one is too sexy to post.


beware the duckface.


beware!


um, beware again.


par-tay.

I ran to get the car (we had to park FAR away) and I took Ryan, Sara and Lindsay to Little T's to grab some late-night nachos.

We rolled up to the house at 3, full and tired. I finished up the last of The Walking Dead Volume 1 and hit the hay. I thought I would sleep like crazy, but I actually slept very little, and now my stomach hurts. I guess that's what you get when you basically work out for 4 hours straight and then eat nachos and then sleep.