Dysfunctionaliblog 1.5

The Answer

2009-05-20T00:51:00.002-03:00

I see some comments in the shoutbox asking if Webfroot Shoutbox has been updated at some point.

Answer: I really don't know. Fact is, I don't even use Webfroot anymore. Not for some time, actually. I'm using TimePiece, which is my own creation, and haven't updated in a long, long time. XD It doesn't even have an administration backend, so I can't really distribute it at all.

Just posting this answer today. I should really get to posting another entry soon...

The Downfall

2009-01-26T14:58:00.003-04:00

Hm, so what might this be a downfall of? Did I get hours cut? Did I get laid off? Did I not get laid at all?

The answer, my friends, is the latter. :P The layoff scare was just a scare. Nobody got sent home, and very few people lost hours, myself not included. I'm still working the same hours on the same rotation.

Right now, I'm referring to that girl I was interested in. I tried asking her out a few times, but she kept right on refusing. I finally asked her why the hell she won't go out with me. As friends, she told me she's constantly busy. That I find hard to believe, as she does go out with her girl friends *specifically* on days that we both have off. As more, and as I expected, she played the "age" card (for the fact that she's ten years older than me...bah), and also said that she just doesn't feel anything. Well, she could've given it *one* try. >:/

So here I am, still single, still with a stressful job. Which is apparently getting on people's nerves in my guild in Mabinogi. My guild leader recently told me that I "exude depression". That's nice, isn't it? He doesn't seem to think anyone but a choice few are good enough. Seriously, when he started this guild, he was a cool guy. I don't know what's come over him. Hopefully, it's just SAD and it'll go away when spring comes around. If not, I might want to take a look at other games x.x

Anyway, it's nearly time for work, so I gotta go.

"Drosselmeier had unwittingly exposed himself to an overdose of reality, and it had destroyed his reason." -- Angela Carter

The Panic Button

2008-12-09T00:21:00.003-04:00

Oh my dear my soul my poor little man, Kewlio's posting to his blog again. I bet you all thought I was lost in space or something. Well, fact is, between the time that I last posted and the time I'm posting now, very little happened that was of enough interest to post about. Quick recap:

In May, I took another vacation in Halifax, and hung out with my friends Sally, Robin, and Gina. Saw some places that I hadn't seen before. Went to the casino, and lost $20 on Blackjack. I cut my losses at that point. XD

Around July, they merged everyone at work into the same room. Since then, I've increasingly gained interest in a fellow coworker, and at this point, I have a huge crush on her. I've been trying to ask her out recently, but the holidays aren't the best time; way too busy.

During all this time, I've built myself a new computer...and built some for others as well! It's quite fun to customize your own system, and have it look and act like you want it to, rather than be stuck with the same case and logo on it as everyone else.

Now...oy. I don't want to be working at that stupid call centre at all. Way too stressful. However, the prospect of being forced to leave is way *more* stressful. Because of the fact that the call centre I work at is based out of the US, and because of GWB and all that, they're facing a huge economic depression, there are going to be some layoffs. D:

This is phase one of the cutback plan. People are being asked if they *want* a decrease in hours, or to receive a layoff. I refused, as did almost everyone...but the aforementioned girl I like accepted it. *sigh* Starting to seem like I'm not meant to have a girlfriend or something.

Needless to say, everybody is worried about everything. My main worry is whether I'll be keeping my 40 hours, and whether or not I'll be keeping my precious second-shift position (3:30 PM to midnight), or be thrown onto a day-night rotation, which would *seriously* screw me up. So yeah, really nervous about what happens next...

From the looks of it, one way or another, there's gonna be some reason to post for a while. I'll let you all know what's going on, then.

"My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there." -- Charles F. Kettering

The Call for Attention

2008-08-02T06:00:00.001-03:00

Why doesn't anyone poke me to update this thing?! XD

Someone remind me to update my blog. Can't right now, as I'm going to bed. :P

The Long-Overdue Update

2008-01-17T03:33:00.000-04:00

Hello there, ladies and gentlemen. I am Kewlio, and I will be your Kewlio for this evening. *checks his watch* Morning. *checks it again* Erm, whatever.

Anyway, I suppose I owe everyone who bothers to check on me an update. So all two of you, gather 'round.

First and foremost, unfortunately, the relationship you see below didn't go so well. Suffice it to say, sometimes, different mentalities and mindsets just don't sync up all the time, and may end up having a bit of a crash and burn effect.

In December, I finally got my first work vacation (hopefully, won't have many of these...the more I have, the more time I've wasted at that hellhole workplace), wherein I went down to Halifax to visit my friend Sally down there. She and her fiancé Robin seem to be doing well. Their apartment, though rather messy, was quite cozy, and its residents, highly hospitable. Most of my stay, we ended up watching anime and playing video games and stuff until the sun came up, and a little beyond. It kind of busted up my sleep schedule, but I got that all fixed up within a week of getting back to reality. A breath of fresh air, anyway...though some other friends felt left out, which I kind of regretted :(

Read on (New game experiences)

In all the time I haven't been updating, I've loaded up with a whole new arsenal of video and computer games:

Picross DS: Picross returns to North America for the first time since the original Mario's Picross, with about 350 puzzles of all sizes to bust your brain, and some fun little minigames to pass the time and potentially drive you batty.

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (DS): In the beginning, the Spyro series was all about exploring large worlds, finding secrets, collecting every single gem and everything along the way. That said, I'm ashamed at how fast this series has gone south since it left the hands of Insomniac Games. Blech.

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (WII): Just like its Sega Saturn predecessor, this game is a masterpiece for the eyeballs and eardrums. Also just like its predecessor, this game is frickin' hard. You'll find this game to be your best dream and your worst nightmare all at once.

Within a Deep Forest (PC): An innovative type of freeware platformer; you play as a ball who is the result of an attempt to create a bomb that will freeze the entire world. Said ball is venturing forth to disarm said bomb. This is a non-confrontational game; no fighting enemies, just avoiding them. Try it!

Knytt Stories (PC): From the makers of Within a Deep Forest comes another non-confrontational platformer. It comes with one story, in which Juni the knytt ventures forth to disable a machine which drains the life energy of the planet. A level editor is included, and a large fanbase ensures new Knytt Stories keep on coming.

Regnum Online (PC): This is an MMO which places you in the middle of a war between three kingdoms. You begin by gaining experience off monsters, like any other MMO, then head off into the Warzone for an intense PvP experience. Make sure your computer can handle it before you try it, though. Nearly exploded mine. x.x (Unfortunately, not playing anymore.)

The Caverns of Hammerfest (WEB): This Flash-based game takes Bubble Bobble and Snow Bros. and pulls them into the 21st century. Anthropomorphic fruits and veggies are taken captive and brainwashed by Tuber the Sorcerer, and it's up to Igor the Snowman to descend the Caverns of Hammerfest and save them.

Incidentally, if you're interested in trying the Caverns of Hammerfest, tell 'em KewlioMZX sent ya...apparently, I get some sorta bonus X3

In any case, that's about all I got for now. If I can think of anything else, I'll let you all know.

"Whaddaya mean, 'invalid parameters'?! 9,000 gigs of RAM and it can't answer a simple question!" -- Earthworm Jim

The Fox

2007-10-11T00:19:00.000-03:00

What d'you mean, I haven't posted since June?

...oh, yeah. I guess I haven't. Well, not much has happened since then, except recently: I'm in LOOOOOOVE! (again. :P)

Her name is Katie, and she's a fox. Like...really, a fur. A good start, I must say. And darned if she's not playful, too. We've spent pretty much every night for a good while playing various games, both with others and just between each other. Mostly WarCraft 3 and Battle of Wesnoth, but I did teach her how to play Uno.

I guess that one of the biggest issues is that, once again, she's in the US, while I'm up here in Canada. She does intend to move up here, funds ever permitting, and I hope to be able to help her out in that endeavour. But she's lots of fun, very affectionate, and just generally very warm. I'm definitely happy with her, and I make her happy as well, so that makes it even better. So, "LETS TRY FOR LONG RUN !!"

Now, she also pointed out that my blog is fairly riddled with large gaps. I guess I didn't really write it in a way for it to be read from start to end. :P So, if anyone has any questions about the outcome or continuation of any of my posts, do feel free to comment and ask about it. ^^

"Love isn't blind; it just only sees what matters." -- William Curry

The Price

2007-06-20T23:35:00.000-03:00

The time has come for us to meet: A new host on The Price is Right...come on down!

So, unfortunately, Bob Barker has retired from TPiR, having hosted for the last 35 years without fail, and previously, Truth or Consequences for 15 there. We might see him again for a while this September if they can't find a new host by then, but there will invariably be a new host. So, here are the current options.

George Hamilton. Well, it would fit in with the host of TPiR single-handedly increasing the average game show hosts' age. But after watching him get "toasted" with Ritz Chips, I grow annoyed of him. :P

Mark Steines. Current host of Entertainment Tonight, he's already received a fair amount of exposure on TV. However, there are different breeds of TV hosts; I think Steines should keep to infotainment.

Todd Newton. My favourite so far. He's hosted Hollywood Showdown as well as Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck on GSN, and he's proven to the world that he can be a wonderful host. Newton, for TPiR, will ensure a bright future.

Rosie O'Donnell. Oh, God no. Now, I have nothing against her personally, but fact is, she's just not serious enough to host the show. She acts too ridiculously on TV, and I also find she's too loud to be a game show host. (Never thought I'd say *that*.) I think O'Donnell would be TPiR's bane, sorry to say.

Auditions for new hosts are still running, so it might not be any of these four. Too bad I can't be the host. I think I'd do it fairly well.

Well, may as well update on myself while I'm at it. So, I'm still working at the call centre. They've switched me from hotels to roadside assistance and gift cards, which I hate even more than hotels. I'm hoping to find a way out of this place *very* soon. I'm pretty sure this place is having an adverse effect on my health.

Recently picked up a game called "Super Paper Mario"...perhaps some of you have heard of it. It's the third installment of the Paper Mario series; however, this one is not an RPG. It is a 2D platformer which is a 3D platformer. Yes, you heard me. For the most part, you play in 2D; however, sometimes you are required to "flip" into 3D using Mario's special ability to do so in this game. Talk about adding a new dimension to platformer games.

I've also taken up playing Puzzle Pirates. I've racked up a fair amount of experience in the games contained therein, including a very scary experience last night, involving the largest threat in the entire game, which shows up when you pick on ships weaker than yours too much. That was unpleasant. But the rest of the game is fun. Check it out; my name is Kewkew and you can find me most nights on Viridian ocean.

So, that's about it for now.

"HERE IT COMES! From the Bob Barker studio at CBS in Hollywood, television's most exciting hour of fantasic prizes; the fabulous sixty-minute Price Is Right!" -- Rod Roddy (until 2003), Rich Fields (since 2004)

The Eerie Fog

2007-05-26T13:25:00.000-03:00

The world has gone sepia.

Seriously, everything is yellow outside. I don't know what's going on. I can smell smoke on the air; perhaps it's a forest fire nearby? Well, I hope it's nothing serious... It's quite weird, though... x.x

No news from Alberta yet. I'm still stuck here. I hope it won't be for much longer; I'm quite sick of this call centre job. Not that it doesn't have its good moments... The last call I got yesterday was probably one of the best I've had at this job. The guy was super-friendly, and I was smiling for most of that call. He was also quite happy about the fact that he wasn't going to pay a deposit, as opposed to Priceline, which was going to charge the whole stay. He also saved all of $4. :P

I've been playing a lot of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance lately. (Mostly at work; nobody seems to care. :P) As a result, I've also started a game of Final Fantasy Tactics (the PSX original). I'm at the final battle in the GBA one; most of the way through Chapter 2 on the PSX one. I find the game quite enjoyable, mostly for the fact that you don't need to be on the game all the time, which is good when playing at work.

I've grown excited about a few new games that are scheduled to come out: A new NiGHTS game for Wii, a new "Puzzle League" (read: Tetris Attack) game for DS, and according to GameFAQs, there might be a new Final Fantasy Tactics for DS coming along as well. I'm also hoping to get Super Paper Mario pretty soon. There's also been the now-famous announcement for StarCraft 2 a week ago, which looks REALLY cool. As the cinematic trailer says: "Hell, it's about time."

I recently went on eBay to buy some additional RAM for my computer. I now have 512 MB of RAM, and my computer is running smoother than it ever has. Maybe someday, I'll be able to afford an all-new computer...

Anyway, that's about it for today.

"It is not how old you are, but how you are old." -- Jules Renard

The Un-wasted Day

2007-05-02T17:06:00.001-03:00

I woke up at 3 PM today. I was quite sure my day had been wasted. I didn't know what was going to be happening, though.

So, I was just about to start washing my stuff to make food when the landlady came knocking at the door, asking for the rent. 'Course, I didn't have that on me, so I went over to the bank to withdraw it, and since I was in that area, also to the post office, hoping to see my new RAM in my box. ('Course, that wasn't there, and I knew it wouldn't be, but sometimes, you never know.)

Anyway, coming back, I saw this lady poking out of her side door entrance. Didn't really know what was going on, but she was saying, "Come here! Come here! He's dead!" Well, who would I be to ignore something like that? I went into the house, and lo and behold, this old guy was sitting in his chair; though not quite dead, he was definitely headed in that direction.

Naturally, I asked where the telephone was, and called 911. I talked to those guys as best as I could (I didn't know these people, so I had to answer most everything they asked on the fly.) They eventually asked to talk to the lady, who would have a much better idea of what's going on. I ended up sticking around until the lady's daughter came around, and also waited outside until the ambulance to lead them to the side door where I came in from.

...So, yeah. Although I lost an hour of daytime more than usual (three hours more than I'd want to), the day has been rescued. (And so did that old guy.)

The Trip...and Fall

2007-04-01T18:39:00.000-03:00

Now might be a good time to mention that I'll be going to Japan in a couple of weeks.

I'm posting from work...so more on that later.

*Now* might be a good time to mention that this post was made April 1st. :3

I don't have so much as a passport or the money to visit any part of the Orient. So yeah, none of this was true. I'm stuck in New Brunswick yet. Happy April Fools'.

The Lost Plan

2007-03-27T23:58:00.000-03:00

The first post said that I was keeping a post-naming convention like the episodes in Seinfeld were... Well, nobody said that it was only one word after "The". Several eps from Seinfeld had more than "The" and one word. So, there we go.

I realize it's been a while since I last posted... As per the rules of Bestest Blog, I'm probably out of rotation now... Blah...

So I've been working at that call centre... Hating it... And I've also been planning a way out. This included my friend Gina.

On my "0th" day of work (the day before the first), my dad decided to tell me that, should I lose or quit my job for any reason, he would be throwing me out. I immediately decided to come up with a contingency plan for this. I talked to Gina, and she said I'd have a place to stay in Nova Scotia. I then started planning to go down there anyway, as I am sick of living here and dealing with this man.

Eventually, I was told that Gina would be moving to Alberta sooner than expected. (She was originally leaving in June or July, after Anthrocon '07, and now, after deciding for financial reasons against going, is moving out in April.) I was told that arrangements would be made so that I'd have somewhere to stay if I wanted to come along. I eventually decided that I would.

However, it would seem that no arrangements were made. We (Gina and I) talked to the guy at the place we'd be staying, who *today* told us that there is no room for me, and probably wouldn't be for as much as three months. So not only am I stuck here, but THEY (my parents) are making me move to St-Louis so I would be closer to my work and not need a drive as much, or at least as far.

This apartment is completely unfurnished. Not even so much as a frickin' bed. And I'm supposed to live in it. And pay rent. Waste money on a place I don't want to be in in the least. There's nothing I can do in the meantime, other than apply at other places, and probably have to pay rent there, too. I'm tired of living a life that's being governed by everyone *but* me. All I can do is wait for an opportunity that keeps flying away.

Minor Template Update

2007-02-24T04:07:00.000-04:00

It appears as though Uptime-Project is CLOSING FOREVER!!1!oneZOMG at the end of the month. Therefore, I've taken down the Uptime-Project image (which wasn't being updated anyway).

Quite a shame, really... In the past five years, U-P has logged over 10,000 years' worth of computer activity. I'll try to visit the site once more just before it closes, to get an exact number.

This being a minor update, it has no quote. Therefore, there is no spoon. (Wait, that's a quote from The Matrix. Dang it.)

The Twili

2007-02-24T03:33:00.000-04:00

Short update first: That whole thing about my friend and Twokinds? Really blown out of proportion, especially on my end. I caught up with the storyline, and everything resumed just fine. (For what I can see.)

So... I've finished Twilight Princess. Beautiful game. Scenic environments. Dramatic story. Climactic end sequence. Cinematic final battle.

Surprisingly gorgeous Princess of Twilight. (Play and finish the game (or just check out the article), you'll see. :3)

Yet again do I feel the sad (yet temporary) emptiness of finishing such a deep game as Twilight Princess. However, it's good to know that there's still much to do; from my last save point, I can easily backtrack to the full game world, and search for missing bugs, Poes, and Heart Pieces, as well as upgrade all of my equipment to the maximum capacity, and face the deadly Cave of Ordeals. (If you've played Paper Mario 2, it is comparable to the Pit of 100 Trials.) I'll probably do these once I get my own place and TV again, though.

So lately, I've been bugged to find jobs. (Nothing new here.) So far, I'm pending with Virtual-Agent Services in St.-Louis (blarg), noticed by Rogers in Moncton (for Internet customer service or tech support...meh), and sent off a resume to Spielo, through Dave (somewhat closer to my degree). Likely, *one* of these will pick me up.

However, interestingly, I've been invited over to Gina's in Dartmouth; mostly because she wishes to see me once more before moving to Alberta, but also to point out a few jobs in the area, and to introduce me to the two people she lives with at the moment, and see if I would be "able" to live with them. This, I would like; I could use the time away from this place, that's for sure. Main problem, of course, would be transportation, but this may be arranged if the plans follow through.

Here at home, I'm currently writing code to play the French card game of Mille Bornes...again. This is my third rewrite of the game; however, I keep coming up with freaky new ideas to make the code more readable and manageable. My Games Bot currently supports Mille Bornes v.2, Uno, and my dice game, Zero-D. Once I get this rewrite done, finish adding Uno variants, and add the ability to configure the bot, it shall be released as 1.0 on The Show.

On a final note, I notice I have a few more readers for Dysfunctionaliblog. Now, I don't know if there are people (other than friends) who check this blog regularly for updates, but I do know that people now look at my blog almost every day, now. Oddly enough, this also has proven to be a pageview booster for The Show; why this is, I don't know, as I don't update the darn thing that often anymore. I really should...but I guess it's not quite as easy as posting to a blog, when you're coding the entire page yourself.

Houba, what a long post. So, until next time, live long and...uh...stuff.

"Well? ...Say something! Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?" -- Midna, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The Comic

2007-02-03T04:05:00.000-04:00

First, I'd like to mention, I've opened *another* new blog, "'Cause I Thought So". Not only is it on the sidebar, but the five last posts all have direct links to them, way down at the bottom there. This new blog will be for musings and stuff.

Anyway... I'm pretty much feeling bad about today... In IRC today, the webcomic Twokinds was mentioned. Soon after, an important plot point about the lead female character was spoiled to me unintentionally. Now, at this point in time, I've since been told that this point is still in "rumour" phase. Regardless, this is a supposition I would've liked to develop by myself.

I immediately left the channel in question and went for a walk to try to calm myself down. (Quite balmy weather; looks like Shubenacadie Sam says "Early Spring" this year.) Regardless, upon my return, all I could do is ask (rudely) if they were done talking about this storyline.

I later learned that I had (though inadvertently) hurt this person's feelings, which is the last thing I ever want to do to someone I care about. It happened with Amy, and now it's happening again. When will it end?

So, yeah... I'm feeling mighty low.

Oh, and...before you click on that link to Wiki's Twokinds article... It has spoilers, too. I managed to avoid those, however. I'll make an exception to the new Wiki Policy this once.

No quote. (Yes, again. I'll start finding some when things pick up.)

The Hole

2007-01-31T19:02:00.000-04:00

Yeah, so, sorry about not posting the second part of The Yesteryear... Never got around to writing it, and most of those events are pretty faded from memory at this point... I've been having other problems.

First thing was, a few weeks ago, I received the dreaded "When can we expect payment" call from Visa Desjardins... I told them two weeks... And I did manage that...after borrowing $60 from Daniel, and $40 from JP. At least they don't charge interest, have a due date, nor can they force me into bankruptcy.

Now, today, I've received a letter from Aliant Mobility stating that if I don't give them $164 and some cents today, they're taking away my service, and tacking on $25 for reconnection, should I ever become able to pay any of this. I can't possibly ask for this money from my friends again... That's way too much... And I doubt if social services would be willing to help at all; they sure didn't help when I tried to apply for it back when I was in the Chi.

Biggest problem is that most of the resumes I've sent out in Moncton only have my cell number on it. Obviously, they'll be completely useless now. I just wish I knew *why* nobody has bothered to hire me yet. Am I doing something wrong? Do they just not care about where I am now? I need money, here, and I need it now... I don't wanna have to go bankrupt, or go to court or anything.

I don't know anymore...

(Do feel free to comment on any post.)

This just in: The Show reaches 1,000 hits; Dysfunctionaliblog reaches 1,600. Bestest Blog really knows how to boost traffic, I guess.

No quote.

The Welcoming

2007-01-07T23:01:00.000-04:00

At this point, I would like to welcome everyone from the Bestest Blog of All Time blog randomizer. I hope you'll find my blog interesting, and also direct your attention to the almighty sidebar on the right, hub to all things Kewlio. :P

Part 2 of The Yesteryear will be coming up soon.

The Yesteryear

2007-01-05T04:42:00.000-04:00

Chu-chu-churu chu-chu-chu-chuuuuru chu-chu-churu chu-chuuuuru-chu-chu...

erm... Yes. I believe I may have Katamari on the Rock stuck in my head. And just having gotten the track is not helping. ^^; I normally clear songs from my head by learning them...but it's proving difficult to learn a Japanese song. Oh well, we'll keep trying.

I know that the links I said were on the sidebar last time ended up not being there. That was an issue with Blogger's new template editor within Firefox 2.0, and has been fixed. Links now show.

My oh my, so much to recount. Shouldn't have waited so long to post it all. Oh well, we're gonna make this a Javascript Popdown post again. :P

Guess we can start with the 18th of December, my last visit to JP's place until the new year. It was a pretty standard visit over there. Hung out, joked around, and I got to play Trickster some. (I've a level 22 Cat now.) The big difference would be that I got to watch the test-run premiere of Identity. I found it quite interesting, and I think Penn Jillette (akf Penn and Teller) did a great job. I find it interesting how NBC is finding all the showbiz people that we've heard nothing about for a while and giving them game show hosting jobs. :P

The 19th...same ol' boring kinda day. Let's keep going.

Read on (Dec 20, Dec 22, Dec 24-Xmas)

Next would be the 20th, when I went to my friend Mike's place, in Moncton. I got to get back together with him and Aimé, and also meet Mike's girlfriend, AJ. (Honestly, I didn't really know what to expect, but that's a girl who has wits sharper than a diamond-cut sword.) This also gave me the chance to check out his living arrangements, computer setup (guy has TWO monitors, dang it >.<) and Wii. At this point, I thought for sure I would not be getting one for Christmas, so it was nice to try it out while I had the chance. Only really played the bundled Wii Sports game, though.

Later that night, we had to see Aimé go, as his friend had come to pick him up. (He was staying in Campbellton, three hours away, for Christmas.) It gave us a chance to step into EB Games for a while...where, of course, I saw Kirby: Squeak Squad...and couldn't afford it :( Aimé generously offered to pay about half of it if Mike were to pay the other half, but he didn't have any money on him for it. Blah. (I later asked my cousin Marcel, who's back in town from Afghanistan, to go get it when he heads up to Moncton, having passed him a $25 Walmart gift card and a Christmas $20 bill to get it.)

We headed over to this neat little pizza place named Zio's, situated somewhere not quite in the middle of Moncton, but nearer to it than I've ever been. We ordered two all-meat pizzas, chipping in a few bucks each. While waiting for them, we were treated to a free dessert, which was quite tasty. I forget exactly what was in it, but it definitely was nice of them to offer these. I guess we were at the right place and at the right time.

Upon return, we ended the night mostly by playing Nintendo Puzzle Collection's rendition of Panel de Pon. It has the most insane four-player mode I've seen; it's possible (though accidentally) to attack your own self with garbage blocks in this mode. Soon after, Blaster Master was mentioned, and we watched as Mike ventured into said game for a while. But people started falling asleep; that's about when I was sent back home after the funnest day I'd had in a while.

Read on (Dec 22, Dec 24-Xmas)

The 21st...was pretty much barren. Moving on.

The 22nd was the day of the family on my mom's side dinner. We used to do this directly on Christmas, but this is no longer possible, as my grandmother on that side died recently, leaving us with nowhere in particular to assemble as we did. So, it was our family, most of aunt Raymonde's, and my uncle Alvin's, at the latter's place, in Moncton. However, the first part of the day was browsing around stores. Not much fun when you're broke, anyway. Again saw K:SS on the shelves, slightly cheaper than at EB. I didn't have that gift card or $20 yet, though. Pass.

At dinner (where I was unwillingly made to eat turkey...feh), we engaged in conversation...well, more like listening. Alvin had much to say, leaving little time for anyone else. But it was all quite interesting, I'd say. He had much about how, since my grandmother died, there were many weird coincidences happening around him involving her in some way. After dinner, we received a couple of gifts; I got said gift card at this time, as well as a chocolate first letter of my name, and a picture of my grandmother and grandfather from many years ago, definitely the most meaningful gift I've had this year.

Read on (Dec 20, Dec 22, Dec 24-Xmas)

This post brought to you by Wikipedia. :P (I've decided to refer to it more, as it gives a neutral point of view, wherein originating sites would always be a direct invitation to the product.)

"Happy Fun Ball: Accept No Substitutes!" -- SNL sketch

The Emptiness

2006-12-19T01:46:00.000-04:00

I finally got back to MapleStory... I knew that it had changed... I knew that my guild was no more... But I didn't know how much it changed...

I was hoping a grand welcome from all my Buddies... Instead, I got nothing... Not a single buddy online... Watched my cash equipment disappear... I basically had nothing. It wasn't the same at all...

I don't know whether I'm gonna bother playing... I wanted to pick up my lottery again, but I wonder what's the point...

No quote, don't feel like finding one...

The Return

2006-12-16T23:44:00.000-04:00

I'm back, baby. :P

Turns out that it wasn't the RAM, it was the motherboard. The capacitors on it were pretty much burnt, and I probably couldn't have used that board much longer before it would've either completely burnt out, or the capacitors would've given way completely, shocking all my other hardware to death. I now have a shiny new ASRock board. And here's a tip for anyone who wants to build their own machine: DO NOT BUY AOPEN. Thank you. Moving along...

So, the last two months, I've been "adventuring" within Ubuntu Linux. I've gotta say, it's way more organized than Windows... Though it's true that I'm back in Windows now, (mostly because I want to get back to MapleStory and Linux's Windows emulator "Wine" doesn't support it), I quite liked Ubuntu. 98% of the software you'll ever think to download (as well as updates to them all) can be found in what is called "repositories". Think of it as Windows Update on steroids.

Also, 99% of software you'll ever need in Linux is free, most of which are under the GNU General Public License. Just think of it this way: For every piece of software that may cost tens, hundreds, some even thousands of dollars, there's always something you can find for free. Even on Windows. You just need to know where to look for it. For starters, try here.

As for the interface...well, you have so many to choose from. You've got your basic text-mode console (in fact, six of them are available to you by default). Then, where graphic interfaces are concerned, you have GNOME, KDE, Xfce, and a slew of others. Take your pick. (I recommend KDE myself.)

At this time, I would like to thank Thomas Fjellstrom, Vincent Povrik, and Kevin Stange for making my new motherboard a reality. Having no money of my own, I couldn't be back in Windows without you guys.

As for me...well, not much happening. I've just been living my everyday life as always... Hoping to get employment somewhere, but it ain't working >.< Been through Prison Break, Survivor, and the Amazing Race... No big thrills.

As for good news, it appears that my cousin Marcel will be back from Afghanistan soon to visit... Though not in time for Christmas, he'll be around somewhere between then and New Year's. It will be good to see him again. The last chance I had to do so was last summer, but my obsession with finding a job while I was still in Miramchi prevented that from happening. Truly, that time was, in no way, a good thing.

Finally, I add a new friend's blog to my sidebar, "Tomathan". He's new at blogging, but I'm sure he'll get the trick soon. I think his first post (after the "obligatory" introductory one) was pretty well detailed. As I always say... Check it out, it's on the sidebar. And so is Thomas's development site, StrangeSoft.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." -- Seneca

The Trouble

2006-11-04T04:58:00.000-04:00

Quick post, just to let everyone know what's going on.

Basically, my computer is screwed. I think the RAM is in bad shape or something. Windows will not boot up on this computer at all. So I've turned to Ubuntu Linux.

It's quite good so far... The important thing, it boots. Second important thing, I can use the Internet (though what an adventure it was to get *that* running...). Only real problem is that my applications keep crashing randomly. Sometimes, I can run apps for hours with no trouble, and other times, I can't keep my things open for more than five seconds.

I need a new computer, but immediately, I need RAM. So consider clicking on one of those nice, free ads on the sidebar of each of my blogs, switching to Firefox using the link on The Show, or donating by PayPal, also through The Show.

Anyway... 5:04 AM, time for bed. I can tell you more about myself later.

The Beta

2006-10-21T05:07:00.000-03:00

And now, I am also participating in the new Blogger beta. You may notice that the sidebar looks slightly different now. That's a result of the new template manager offered by Blogger. Sophisticated stuff!

I am also now tagging my posts. I may not always, as the Performancing Firefox extension doesn't have a tag thing on it. But I'll try to use the Blogger thing so as I can tag stuff.

Oh, and speaking of betas, the new Gaim beta is out. I recommend you guys all check it out an' stuff.

That's it...time for sleep. I'm using thing and stuff too much, anyway. :)

The Shoutbox

2006-10-21T00:53:00.001-03:00

To keep from going insane in this house, I've been a bit busy.

The old "Webfroot Shoutbox" PHP code was needlessly messy, and it was hard to style it right at all. As well, it originally only came with the ability to have one shoutbox for one set of code. That's a feature I had to add myself.

So, now that I have a lot more experience with PHP, I went ahead and created a brand new shoutbox. It is entirely customizable, not overly hard to use, and looks way better. I've implemented it so far on The Show and the Lil' Meso official site, and shall soon be implementing it on my other two blogs.

In other news, I've been off Maple for a few days... I really miss it, and wish I could go play it again, but not only do I need a new modem that won't disconnect me every five minutes when I try to play, I need to redownload the entire game because of the last patch. It sucks.

However, 1 Vs. 100 doesn't. It's quite exciting. I've watched two episodes so far. It's definitely the best new game show in quite a while. I hope I get to watch it often.

Well, for now, that's about all I have to say.

"Don't live for what others think you are; live for what you know you are." -- Kewlio (Yeah, me...is that a problem, pal? :P)

The E-mail

2006-10-13T23:38:00.000-03:00

Well, I realize that I haven't been posting anything here lately. And by "I realize," I mean "a certain birthday-girl told me that". So let's post something.

Opening for today, I've sent Strong Bad an e-mail today. It goes:

Strong Bad,

You must avenge my death. You are the last hope.

Alex

No, I'm not dying. :P I just thought of that, and decided to send it. I can't imagine what Strong Bad will do if he actually replies to this e-mail!

In other news, the Lil' Meso Lottery is starting to barely get noticed. Don't be sad for me, that's a good thing; it wasn't getting noticed at all before. :P The current draw has, I believe, 9 tickets sold, which is (sadly) a record. I expect to end up with 10-12 tickets for this draw. Soon enough, I'll have it set up so that people can buy multiple tickets. (I hope...)

Meanwhile, NBC is starting a new game show tomorrow, named "1 Vs. 100". It pits one average Joe against 100 brainiacs, including (but not limited to) school teachers, members of Mensa, and Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings. (I *still* think he should've been restricted to 5 wins.) I think that it works something like, when the single player answers correctly, whomever in the 100 answered incorrectly gets eliminated, and the more people eliminated, the more money the player gets. Something like that, anyway. It's on after Deal or No Deal on Friday, if anyone else is interested.

I got an interview at Crystal Palace today... Wheeee. I'll tell you if something happens. If not, well, I'll do what they do and never speak of it again.

Hmm... I think that's it for now.

"A dog is okay / On a sunny day / But a cat / Is where it's at" -- Paula Scher

The Elect

2006-09-19T00:43:00.000-03:00

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Election results are in... And Shawn Graham has taken power in New Brunswick! WHOO! Take that, Lord! Thought you were sooooo great... Hah.

This should mean that the dirt road out here where I live should get paved, and the other paved roads should be getting some attention, too. He wanted to do that last election too, but he never got the chance. I don't think the roads in this small town have been repaved since the Tories took over. I'm sure Shawn will do just as good a job as his father did. (Maybe even get rid of that crazy HST and put us back on the two separate taxes. That was Lord's bright idea...)

Read on (online gaming, Ranma ½, Cardcaptor Sakura)

In other news, I'm organizing a lottery for MapleStory. Official details about it can be found here, and there's also a LiveJournal community here for updates. In case any Maplers are reading, it *is* exclusive to Broa, the first tickets will be on sale the 23rd for 50 mesos each (1 per char for this first public draw), and the top prize is 50,000 shiny new mesos. ^^

I can also now be found on Second Life...well, kinda. I'm still only on dialup, so I don't really get to play very much. But I should be on every so often once I get on a faster connection. My character's name is Tsumoko Rojyo...wonder where I got that name, huh? :P I did, in fact, model him after my MapleStory character, Tsumoko. So...yeah :P

Read on (Ranma ½, Cardcaptor Sakura)

I've watched a couple of episodes of anime that Dave (from college) burnt off for me...back in college. :P I now wish I had watched them before, because then he could burn off more episodes. I WANT MORE!

Anyway, the first one is Ranma ½. It starts with this boy (Ranma Saotome) and his father who venture off to China. They find this secluded spot to train, but it's riddled with small ponds, each with its own tragedy and its own curse. As they begin to spar, Ranma throws his father into one of the ponds...then the attendant tells him about a panda who drowned in there 2,000 years ago. Sure enough, a panda leaps out, as the attendant explains that whomever falls in it becomes a panda.

Mr. Saotome then throws Ranma into another pond. The attendant then speaks of a girl who drowned in that very pond 1,500 years ago. Sure enough... Ranma is now a girl. Now, these are just temporary forms; if touched with hot water, they regain their true form. But if touched with cold water, they're forced back into their cursed form.

To make matters worse, Mr. Saotome was bringing Ranma to this dojo in Japan, where he would marry one of three girls. Everyone is completely confused when Ranma gets there as a girl, and Mr. Saotome as a panda, due to a passing rainstorm. Things get very interesting once Ranma goes for a bath (thus retaking his original form), and one of the girls, thinking Ranma was still female, decided to go for a bath herself... And that's just the first episode.

Read on (Cardcaptor Sakura)

Well, that's all I have to say today. Peace.

"I'm Ranma Saotome...sorry 'bout this..." -- Ranma Saotome (both forms), Ranma ½

The Story

2006-08-24T05:17:00.000-03:00

You know when you've been playing too much MapleStory when -
...in chat, you hit 1, 2, 3, or 4 before typing your message. (Sad.)

My character, Tsumoko, is now a Level 29 Swordman... And tomorrow night sometime, I intend to get him up to Level 30, so I can give him his next job. I'm still wondering which job that'll be... I'll have to read up on them in Wikipedia.

And now, News From Away.

I got two job interviews today... One at the San Francisco store in Champlain Place, the other at EB Games on Plaza Blvd. I really hope I can get that one at EB... ^^

Gaim has been b0rked for a while, now... MSN decided to shake things up by making some changes to the way a client logs in. For those technical-minded folk, MSN previously returned a string when you sent your login message. However, it doesn't anymore, and Gaim got rid of this string when it was done with it. Now, Gaim is trying to delete a null pointer...which, of course, results in a crash. Darn you, MSN >.<

bbInterface r0x0rz my s0x0rz.

Still no girlfriend. Not particularly happy about it.

deviantART v5 has been live for some time. Check it out.

And that's it for tonight. Be sure to check in tomorrow night to see...that I haven't posted again yet. :P

"There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who can count binary, and those who can't." -- Origin unknown

The Pope

2006-08-13T14:59:00.000-03:00

I have been sold a pope.

That's right.

A pope.

I don't know what they're the pope of. I don't know where, what, or even who this pope is. I don't know how much this pope cost me. I have no idea how to redeem my pope. I have no idea what to do with my pope, or how to use it, or what it actually does at all, if anything.

But I have been sold a pope.

By SimGuy.

Over IRC.

...Yeah.

Confused yet?

So am I.

The Impact

2006-07-31T01:25:00.000-03:00

And that's it... No job, no money, no living alone... And now...no girlfriend...

Amy's left me...

What am I gonna do now? I've got nothing...

The Fall

2006-07-30T02:22:00.000-03:00

What the hell am I doing anymore?

For one thing, I still have no job. Nobody wants to hire me. Nobody wants to give me an interview. I am down.

For next thing, now I have no money. Not in my bank account, not on my credit card. I can't pay rent. I can't pay my bills. I can barely pay for food. And I'm not eligible for social assistance because my rent is too high. I am depressed.

And now, because of all this, my girlfriend feels neglected. I haven't been asking about her problems... At least, not when she was okay to talk about them... She's talking to other people when she should (and probably would prefer to) be talking to me... I am totally dispirited...

I don't know what the hell to do anymore... I wish someone could come and help me... Magically make everything better or something...

What's wrong with me? Am I a bad person? Am I really that unemployable? Am I bad with money? Do I really not care?

I should hope that none of those answers are yes...

"you should care about the things you care about" -- Sally Wolf

The Traitor

2006-07-18T17:06:00.000-03:00

What some people won't do for some "skin", as it were...

I've been back home for the weekend. My cousin is back from the army, and I wanted to see him...but unfortunately didn't get to this time. Well, at least I still have a couple of weeks... And I did see JP. So I had fun.

However, I was greeted by a fairly bad surprise on my return... Chris, the other guy currently living in this house, told me about *his* weekend. He was bartending at the Irish Festival that just recently happened here, and he had decided to hit on some girl. He ended up taking her back home to...well, "do his thing". At the same time, he had decided to hit on another girl the next day, one who was staying here for the Festival. He wanted to have a repeat of the previous night with her, but she asked who that girl was that he was with last night.

And wouldn't you know it, he told her that that other girl was with me.

If I had been there, believe me, nothing would've happened that night. Whatever... He was talking about all kinds of money-making opportunities...but I refuse to work with someone who's willing to sell me out just to get some.

In more pleasant news, I've been playing MapleStory. It's a fun game... It is an MMO, but it's two-dimensional platform-style, so even people on dialup such as myself can play. If you'd like to contact me in-game, my character's name is Tsumoko, and I'm on Broa. I'll usually stray away from highly populated channels.

I've also been playing Zelda Classic... Imagine the original NES Legend of Zelda game...then soup it up and throw every idea from every other Zelda game into it. You have a game that plays like the NES Zelda game, but with everything; full colour tiles, later items such as the Hookshot, enormous environments, and even a full-detail map that can be used on the overworld at any time. And there are many quests available, both on the official website and on Pure ZC. The latest version is available for Windows and Mac, and the latest beta is also available for Linux.

The Lowest

2006-07-15T02:21:00.000-03:00

Ever had one of those days where everything is running against you?

For one, I got fired from that stupid BP some time ago... Manager there is a complete jerk... I'm extremely worried that this will mean I have to go back home and work at that crab shop, with low-brow idiots and sickening fumes and chemicals... Nobody will ever even acknowledge that I've applied for a job...

You try to cheer up, but nobody you talk to manages to do so... Hell, there's almost nobody to talk to...

It's not like I want to stay miserable like this...but what am I supposed to do? It just feels like whatever I try to do is completely useless. Has no effect on anything. I need a job... I need money... Nobody wants to give me either... I feel almost worthless...

No quote. Don't feel like it...

The Filler

2006-07-09T23:59:00.000-03:00

Anyone need a web designer?

Anyone?

No?

*sigh*

I need money...

The Show

2006-06-18T22:18:00.000-03:00

I've had this up for a while, now, but I haven't mentioned it to anyone publicly yet. So here it is; it's called The Show. Check it out, it's on the sidebar. This will be my sandbox for web development; Javascript, PHP, and CSS. It has a shoutbox as well, so feel free to leave me some comments about the site.

So, let us update. My job at BP is sucking terribly... I've worked the last three days... Friday night, followed immediately by Saturday morning...wonderful. And then again Sunday morning...which I was almost late for due to the fact that they had a planned power service outage that night. Lucky that I got up in time anyway...that is to say, lucky for them. It being Sunday, you wouldn't expect much business, but it being Father's Day...ay ay ay. I almost was stuck working overtime due to the heavy backlog of dirty stuff...

Gameshow Marathon has winded down to the last two episodes... And each show so far has been a magnificent recreation of the original set... The Price is Right's Contestant's Row (although they don't really need a recreation of it...), Let's Make A Deal's three doors and three curtains, Beat the Clock's (well...) clock, Press Your Luck's Big Board, and Card Sharks' card "table". Next up is Match Game... I expect to see Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly there. They're both still in action. (By the way... Did you know that Brett Somers was born in New Brunswick? It's on the IMDb...) Brande Roderick will be playing Family Feud... Who will join her? Kathy Najimy? Or Lance Bass? We'll just have to wait and see...

"I said name a time that most people get up. And being the Einstein that you are, you said morning. Our survey said... zip! Now if that wasn't bad enough, I then said name a time that most people go to bed, and you said, of course. Night. Our survey said... 2!" -- Richard Dawson, Family Feud

The Encounter, part 2

2006-06-02T02:49:00.000-03:00

And now...the rest of the story.

Monday came... I was awakened by a barrage of kisses, which is definitely the best way to wake up. :) We had some breakfast at the hotel's kitchen... Then we headed off to the Regent Mall. I have never before witnessed the shopping prowess of ladies with money. I was bewildered, and dragged every which way through the various stores. It was scary! :P

Eventually, we finally decided that we were hungry and thus should have something to eat. I had myself some pizza, then pulled out my pouch...the one where I stuff all my cards, like membership, identification, all that stuff. I noticed this one card that said "Cadillac-Fairview"... I asked the customer service lady if it was good at Regent Mall...and it was. So I bolted off to EB Games and bought "Brain Age: Train Your Brain for Minutes a Day" for DS... I didn't pay it off with my gift card, but it only cost $7.

Coming back, we passed by the theatre, and checked out what was playing... Me and Amy decided to go watch "Over The Hedge"...which constituted our first official date. Kinda cliché first date, but what the hell. The movie itself was great... If you haven't seen it yet, go see it before it disappears from theatres! And the date was definitely fun, too :)

So, we returned home... Deal or No Deal was on, so we watched that. Also watched some other various TV shows, and I also introduced Amy to the game of Su Doku, which is one of the games in "Brain Age". My smart girl, she figured it out fast :) And our night of TV, cuddling, and Su Doku soon evolved into another wonderful night together...

But it was followed by a fairly sad morning...when I had to get to the bus to head back home...My poor Amy cried from it, and I was there to hold her... Neither of us wanted it to end yet... But we definitely will be getting together again... I just wish I knew when. Hopefully soon... We can't be apart for long...

And that...was the rest of the story.

Other update... Gameshow Marathon... Best frigging idea ever. Six celebrities play the most popular game shows of all time... The Price is Right, Let's Make a Deal, Beat the Clock, Press Your Luck, Card Sharks, Match Game, and Family Feud. So far, the first two have run... And they've used the original music and sets (or at least, exact copies thereof) for each game. I am telling you now... If they use the original PYL Big Board, I am going to FREAK. If they use the original Family Feud music and board, I will FREAK EVEN MORE.

So...that's it for now. Needless to say, I am a happy person.

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." -- When Harry Met Sally

The Encounter

2006-06-02T01:07:00.000-03:00

Okay...so I said I was gonna post on Tuesday night. I lied. Sue me. :P

I wanted to post after Amy did...so now that Amy has, I'm gonna. :)

So, I left my apartment to head to Newcastle... That's an expensive cab ride, at least, compared to staying within Chatham... But I wouldn't have made it otherwise. I wasn't about to walk three hours to Newcastle with my bags :P

Bought my ticket, got on the bus... First inter-city bus ride, by the way... Wasn't too bad. In fact, I found some really nice scenes on the way... Note to self: Get license, get car, drive around, take pictures. :)

After three pit stops along the way, I finally got to Fredericton. Knowing that Amy was still about three hours away, I took a walk along Regent street... Just looking around, spending time. I ended up going to DQ and getting a large milkshake... That was a mistake. Those are *enormous* compared to anything I've seen from them before. I didn't finish it...which was a shame, because it was, like, $5. :P

Now, it *was* Sunday, so there wasn't exactly much open. I just had a look, then turned around and headed back to the bus station. Incidentally, I had brought my MP3 CD player... Played it for 5:40 hours without one song repeating. I just like saying that :)

Amy got off the bus...and I immediately knew it was her. I ran up to her and gave her a *big* hug... And we hugged several times right there :) She was with her friend Jamie, who I was also fairly glad to see, for the fact that she's the one who invited Amy to come to Fredericton with her.

So then we got to the Prospect Inn, got our rooms... I paid one night and Amy paid the other... We checked out our room, and dropped our stuff there... And I had my first kiss... Finally :) So, shortly after, we went to Jamie's room, and I met these crazy people that apparently Jamie likes to hang out with... I had no idea about them, and still don't, as I only saw them the one time.

It being fairly late now, me and Amy headed back to our room... I showed her a few things I brought along, and then we talked for a while... Talking turned to kissing... And, erm... Well... Let's just say that I left Fredericton on Tuesday without something that I went there with.

I'm gonna break this up into two posts, just to keep single posts from getting too long. I'll post the second half (be it my Monday and Tuesday there) a little later tonight.

The Overhaul

2006-05-28T04:02:00.000-03:00

So... I realize that Gamer's Day (my game review blog) had some problem with the style sheet... For some reason, the text on the left side only showed up at the bottom, below the right-side text. And so, I have grabbed another Blogger template, messed around with it and voila: Gamer's Day 2.0. Check it out, it's on the sidebar...and it looks fantastic :)

You will also notice that all of my blogs now feature a Shoutbox! I have found some web space in which to host the Webfroot Shoutbox, and am now using it, after some modifications to be able to have multiple Shoutboxes from one set of Shoutbox code. I'm learning PHP and CSS like mad lately :)

Time for updates, now...and the most exciting update today is that I shall be on a bus to Fredericton in less than 12 hours! I'm finally gonna get to see Amy :D I am extremely excited... I'll tell you more about that when I get back.

Today was the Grand Opening Party at our Boston Pizza... I'm glad I wasn't working. It must've been a maelstrom in the kitchen... I never could've kept up with *that* many dirty dishes... I'm off until Wednesday, so I can go to Fredericton.

And that's it for now... Talk to you guys Tuesday night :)

“I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it.” -- Rosalia de Castro

The Discord

2006-05-23T22:17:00.000-03:00

You may think that I'm gonna be talking about something bad in my life... Well, you're wrong.

I am going to be talking about Discordi...well, more like mentioning it. I can't talk much about a game that doesn't have enough players in it. Go check it out... I'd like to find some people to play with. One game requires at least five people...and the more the merrier. (At least, I imagine.) Let me know if you want to play...let's get a big group going.

So! Update. I guess the biggest one would be the fact that in less than a week from today, I'm finally going to be meeting Amy. YAAAAY! We're going to Fredericton... Unfortunately, we must arrive separately and leave separately, but the time between that will be heavenly. Plus, I can look forward to another phone call tomorrow night... I wonder how I could be so lucky?

Other updates... I have started my job at Boston Pizza...and I don't like it. I do not belong in a kitchen, people. Give me a job I can do! Anyhow...I have applied for a different job, but I doubt I'll get it... Assistant manager at our local EB Games. Yes, laugh if you will...but if nobody else applies, think of my chances :) At least EB has a fairly small staff, so it wouldn't be *too* hard to manage... And I talked to the previous AM (who, ironically, works at Boston Pizza as well, now) about the job...doesn't seem like something *too* hard, considering the title of the position.

Hmmm... S'about it for now...

"Now, kids, your father's just trying to spend time with his family. Or kill us. I'm not sure which." -- Lois Griffin, Family Guy

The Wanderer

2006-05-13T23:35:00.000-03:00

Just thought I'd talk a little about this fun toy called StumbleUpon... Interesting thing that allows you to visit sites and pages on the Internet that you never thought to look for. I've found various articles about games... As well as some fun Flash games and toys... Funny stuff... And, uh...miscellaneous. :P Try it out... The only requirement is that you use IE or Firefox...so Opera users, too bad :P

Updates! Woo... Well, I've recently received some good news. Very good news. Very, very, very--well, you get the idea. And it is...Amy may very well be coming to see me! It's so exciting... I'm not sure when it'll be yet, but one of her friends is going on a road trip that may very well have a stop up here. I'll finally get to meet this ever so lovely girl that I've known for a month and a half...and whom it feels like I've known for years, now...

Other updates? Well, this is the first time I use the Performancing extension for Firefox. (There's a link on the sidebar, under Powered By.) So, this is basically a test post as well as an update. Makes it easier to post, anyway... Something about the Blogger interface makes my Firefox crash. Possibly my various extensions coinciding with the Blogger quick functions or something. Plus, I don't need an entire tab to make a post... I just keep browsing and posting :)

Let's end on a silly note...

"A proof is a proof. What kind of proof? It's a proof. A proof is proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it is proven." -- The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien

The Impression

2006-05-06T04:47:00.000-03:00

My, my... I've recently experienced a surge of pageviews. Whoever is so intently reading my blog, I thank you all. I figure it may be due to my introduction into Amy's circle of friends... People may have followed the link from her LJ area to my LJ area, then to my blog itself.

So, just for the hell of it, I'm gonna let people peek at my statistics. Simply click "View Blog Stats" at the very top of the sidebar. The one-day record for pageviews so far is 39... Unique users is 25... Think you guys can beat it? (And no, I don't mean reloading the page multiple times...that won't help. :P)

Other news; thanks to your generous support, I've so far amassed 18 cents through AdSense. Woo! But let's go for more :P

More interesting news; I've been talking to Amy on the phone weekly, now... Third time was Thursday... I will not go into detail...but suffice it to say that we're gonna get along juuuust fine :)

I haven't used a silly quote in a while...

"Attention restaurant customers: Testicles. That is all." -- Peter Griffin, Family Guy

The Renewed

2006-04-30T15:46:00.000-03:00

Yes, I've signed up to AdSense. Evil. But the fact is, I'm a poor schmoe who needs some sort of financial boost. Gimme a click, if you don't mind.

However, I'll have you know I don't need an emotional boost anymore... Amy and I have called our relationship official; I now have a girlfriend again! Makes me feel great... I have someone to dedicate my life to again. And this time, I'm likely gonna be able to meet up with her :P I'd link you over to her LiveJournal, but unfortunately, its entries are restricted to friends. So...too bad for you :)

Still haven't found my source of income (not counting AdSense, which is gonna take forever, anyway)... I've got a week left to find something, or I get dumped into that stupid shop again. If I get sick working there, though, I am so not gonna stick around. And I know it's gonna happen... Happened last time, it'll happen again if I go back.

So, anyway... Just thought I'd tell you the good news :)

"Love is a sweet rhapsody of the heart." -- Lamar Cole

The LiveJournal

2006-04-28T14:04:00.000-03:00

I just recently realized I still had a LiveJournal account... I'm gonna be using it, but not as my main journal. I'll be stuffing things like quizzes into it. (Friends-only, though.) Dysfunctionaliblog Shed...check it out, it's on the sidebar.

The Potential

2006-04-21T03:32:00.000-03:00

Thanks to the miracle that is OkCupid, I have met a very sweet girl. And this time, unlike Serena, it has a *great* chance of working out.

In IM, we talk with a level of comfort that is usually reserved for serious relationships... I won't go into detail, but we are just *very* comfortable with each other.

We just had our first phone conversation today... We started very nervously, as we'd never actually talked to each other yet... But conversation happened very naturally.

We're hoping to get together soon...I really hope we can make it happen. I haven't felt this way since Serena...

And what a cute name too... "Amy"...

As for other news...there is none. Still hoping I can get a job before May hits... But it's looking pretty bad.

"You're only given as much as you can handle at any given time. Whether it's true or not, it gives you the strength." -- Gillian Anderson

The Hundred

2006-04-15T22:33:00.000-03:00

Just thought I'd answer these questions here... Got 'em off Sally's LJ (link on sidebar).

HAVE YOU EVER...
1. Taken a picture naked? No
2. Painted your room? Yes
3. Made out with a member of the same sex? No
4. Drove a car? Technically...
5. Danced in front of your mirror? I don't remember? :P
6. Had a crush? Yes
7. Been dumped? Yes
8. Stole money from a friend? W-ell... It's not like it was a lot...
9. Gotten in a car with people you just met? I've hitchhiked, I guess that counts.
10. Been in a fist fight? If I have, I don't remember.
11. Snuck out of your house? No
12. Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? Yes
13. Been arrested? No
14. Made out with a stranger? No
15. Met up with a member of the opposite sex somewhere? Yes
16. Left your house with out telling your parents? Well...not really.
17. Had a crush on your neighbor? No
18. Ditched school to do something more fun? No
19. Slept in a bed with a member of the same sex? Actually, yes. (Fully clothed, of course :P)
20. Seen someone die? No
21. Been on a plane? Yes
22. Kissed a picture? No
23. Slept in until 3? AM or PM? Constantly :)
24. Love someone or miss someone right now? Yes
25. Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by? No...I'd like to, though.
26. Made a snow angel? Probably. :P
27. Played dress up? I don't think I have.
28. Cheated while playing a game? What kind of game, exactly? :P
29. Been lonely? Yes
30. Fallen asleep at work/school? No...but nearly.
31. Been to a club? No
32. Felt an earthquake? No
33. Touched a snake? Yes
34. Ran a red light? Never drove on the street, so...no.
35. Been suspended from school? Only an internal suspension...
36. Had detention? Yes
37. Been in a car accident? No
38. Hated the way you look? Well, back in 6th grade...though I didn't realize it until the next year :P
39. Witnessed a crime? I don't think so...
40. Pole danced? No
41. Been lost? Yes
42. Been to the opposite side of the country? Opposite side? No.
43. Felt like dying? No
44. Cried yourself to sleep? Well, I was very young. (Not baby-young, but yeah.)
45. There is no 45 O.o
46. Sang karaoke? Karaoke, no...but it sounds like fun. None of my songs are availably karaoke-able, though.
47. Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Probably...I'd have to think about it, though.
48. Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? I didn't realize that actually happened :P
49. Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes
50. Kissed in the rain? No, but I would LOVE to.
51. Sang in the shower? Yes
52. Made love in a park? Never done it...sounds hot, though.
53. Had a dream that you married someone? Yes
54. Glued your hand to something? No
55. Got your tongue stuck to a flag pole? Licking flag poles is for idiots.
56. Ever gone to school partially naked? No
57. Been a cheerleader? What am I, a girl?
58. Sat on a roof top? No
59. Didn't take a shower for a week? Probably.
60. Ever too scared to watch scary movies alone? Yes
61. Played chicken? No
62. Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? Wacky things tend to not happen to me.
63. Been told you're hot by a complete stranger? Why would they? O.o
64. Broken a bone? No
65. Been easily amused? Sometimes too easily.
66. Laugh so hard you cry? Yes
67. Mooned/flashed someone? No
68. Cheated on a test? No
69. Forgotten someone's name? Yes
70. Slept naked? Never completely.
71. Gone skinny dipping in a pool? No
72. There's no 72 either. What's this about?
73. Blacked out from drinking? I don't drink.
74. Played a prank on someone? Uh...probably.
75. Gone to a late night movie? Yes
76. Made love to anything not human? Um, no.
77. Failed a class? Exactly one.
78. Choked on something you're not supposed to eat? No
79. Played an instrument for more than 10 hours? No
80. Cheated on a girl/boyfriend? No
81. Did you celebrate the 4th of July? Why? What happens on the 4th of July that's so special? :P
82. Thrown strange objects? Strange...? Such as?
83. Felt like killing someone? Ooh, I wouldn't doubt it :P
84. Felt like running away? Yeah, kinda
85. Ran away? Well...that depends of your interpretation of "running away".
86. Did drugs? No...don't intend to, either.
87. Had detention and not attend it? I've attended any detention assigned. I hate homework.
88. OMGWTFBBQ
89. Made a parent cry? Doubt it.
90. Cried over someone? For some reason, I'm unable to cry...but I've certainly felt like it.
91. Owned more than 5 sharpies? The hell am I gonna do with that many? I have two, and even that much is superfluous to me.
92. Dated someone more than once? Never went out with a girl in a serious way... :(
93. Had/Have a dog? Actually, yes, exactly one... But that was before I was officially a cat person.
94. Okay, whoever came up with this quiz is dimwitted. That's four missing already.
95. Own an instrument? Um...well, unless my computer counts, no. Would like to have something, though.
96. Been in a band? No
97. Drank 25 sodas in a day? 25? Super Sugar Rush, in'nit... O.o
98. Broken a CD? Yeah, mostly bad burns...
99. Shot a gun? No, and I don't intend to.
100. Had feelings for one of your best/good friends? Unfortunately, yes...

Anyway, that's that. As an update, I haven't found another job yet... However, I've found a potential new girlfriend (yay!)... I have received that Mr. Driller import; however I can't save my game (stupid thing)... Aaaand, uh... S'about it.

"We're constantly being told what other people think we are, and that's why it is so important to know yourself." -- Sarah McLachlan

The Presence

2006-03-26T02:11:00.000-04:00

Wow... Y'know, when you sign up to various websites, it really doesn't seem like that many until you put them all together, such as on the sidebar here. Two blogs, and accounts on eight other sites, six of which are active...

Wait up, that makes seven online services, doesn't it? 43 Things, Blogger, deviantART, Flickr, Last.fm, Trade Games Now, and Uptime-Project... Wow, I just realised I've completed one of my "given up" 43 Things goals. I'll have to update that.

In other news, no job yet... I've been lazy. I know, I'm horrible with that... Of course, today, I was barely aware of reality around me... I dunno, just very dull senses, I guess. Recovering from my previous job?

I just found out that a girl I was interested in is already taken by someone... Now, that really sucks. I had no idea, and I've known her for about half a year, now. So now, I have absolutely no prospects in the area of love. Stupid shyness and asocialism...

Still waiting for my Mr. Driller import... um... Gonna be vacuuming tomorrow... uh... Hmm... Oh, and I've added an Uptime-Image to my sidebar. Check it out, s'cool stuff.

S'about all I got for now. I'll let you know if anything good (or bad) happens.

"Presence is more than just being there." -- Malcolm S. Forbes

The Stretch

2006-03-20T00:24:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in, like, forever... Of course, not much to post, so I didn't really bother... Sorry if anyone's been expecting something.

Well, first off, I'm still single, and miserable about it. Whee.

I quit my job at the call centre last Thursday. I don't think I'll be working at one of those again... Too taxing on the senses. I could actually feel it dulling my reflexes and short-term memory. Plus, Bradford is a bit too, uh... "crafty" for my taste. What will I do next? Well, we'll find out soon enough...

Bought an import game, "Mr. Driller: Drill Land". Should've had it by now, but the guy forgot to send it...after, like, half a month. How lovely.

Sally's been all right...other than the fact that she got kicked out of her apartment, or so I gather. I wish she could come to live around here, I miss her presence.

I still haven't rejoined that channel from two posts back, even though the guy has left it. Since then, a new room branched off of it, and now I hang out in that new one. It's gotten kinda dull in there lately, though. Well, rather dull than rude.

I've decided to join Flickr. I put the link up on the sidebar. Take a look; whatever doesn't end up on deviantART may very well end up on Flickr.

Well, here's to waiting for ladies to be all up ons.

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward." -- Spanish proverb

The Forty-Third Chronicle

2005-12-04T23:00:00.000-04:00

A new blog has been created. It'll be solely to post 43 Things entries, and I might add a few extra points sometimes. Check it out. It's on the sidebar.

"Not all who wander are lost." -- J.R.R. Tolkien

The Antagonists

2005-12-04T02:51:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, I wonder why I even bother trying to talk to people.

The people on this one IRC channel are just 98% jerks. I just want to be a part of the conversation, and all they can do is attack me. I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't offend anyone. (At least, not that I'm aware of.) All I want to do is try to talk to people, and they just make themselves completely untalkable to.

Quote from said channel:
--snip-- >> KewlioMZX: you suck all the life out of the channel when you are in it. you have the sense of humour of a dead cat. you are incredibly annopying and pestering. you are infuriatingly stupid... i could go on and on and on and on and on...

I just wish I didn't have to be alone in real life... Then I wouldn't need to talk to these online jerks.

Other news... Had a job at a theatre. Had to leave it, couldn't pay rent. Now got a job at a call centre. That's all. Don't feel like leaving a quote.

The Visit

2005-09-07T21:18:00.000-03:00

OK, it's been a long time since I've posted. Here we go.

The biggest news I want to talk about is my visit to Halifax. It was so much fun, I really have no idea how to describe it! :P

I had told Sally that I'd be visiting her, one way or another, on her birthday. Now, that was quite a while ago, and I wasn't really thinking about it until the few days before I actually had to go. I was very nervous, as I ended up having to hitchhike. It took me 13 hours to get there, and I ended up having to take a taxi once I got near enough. Actually, two. The first got me to town, but couldn't find the place I was looking for, so I didn't have to pay. The second got me to Sally's place.

Once I got there, I was greeted by Sally and her friend Gin watching Police Academy 3. She was quite happy that I made it. And so was I, because (I forgot to mention) I had packed way too heavily for this trip. Anyway, I got to stay there for about four days, and I enjoyed every minute.

On the first day there, I was shown around the town a bit. I didn't see too much on just that first day, but it got me used to the hustle and bustle of Halifax. I went to see another movie at the house of one of Sally's friends. An independant film called D.E.B.S. (Look it up if you want to know more, this post is already gonna be pretty long.)

On the second day, I was shown around Halifax some more. We ended up at a place called Freak Lunchbox, which is a candy store. I didn't think those actually existed before I went there. It's exciting just to be inside! We also went down to the waterfront, and I got to (read: was dragged to) climb the big wave sculpture they have there. That night, I got my first taste of cuddling in bed. Nothing too serious, but quite divine nonetheless :)

On the third day, Sally and Gin brought me to see Merlin, who is a tarot reader. I got my cards read; basically, what I have right now, though it may not be very profitable now, will be later. There were, of course, several subtleties to the reading, but I won't go into everything. On this day, I said that if I had to hitchhike alone again, I'd probably end up taking the bus instead. That's when Sally agreed to come with me. Yay!

Gin left on the fourth day, and Sally and I ended up mostly playing video games. Nothing much to be said.

The fifth day was spent traveling back from Halifax to Miramichi. Took only 8 and a half hours that time, and it was certainly much less lonely.

The rest of the time, I may as well summarize in bulk, as nothing much happened. Miramichi is rather boring. In this time, we watched a total of five movies (one theatre (The Brothers Grimm), four DVDs), played some GameCube and SNES games, and other random stuff. She must've been bored out of her mind, really :P

She left today, at 1:30. I actually got the nerve to give her a goodbye kiss. It wasn't anything romantic, but I actually did it. I look back at that moment and smile, and probably will for a long while.

Anyway, here I am again, on my own... But not so lonely this time.

"No soul is desolate as long as there is a human being for whom it can feel trust and reverence." -- George Eliot

The Revolution

2005-07-30T15:14:00.000-03:00

No, this is not about the upcoming Nintendo Revolution console. Go drool over it here.

I'm talking about the deviantART revolution. This is happening because for some unknown reason, Jark (our fearless leader) got canned by spyed (our fearful backstabber leader). Yeah, deviantART is still running, but Jark, along with matteo, brought us deviantART, and all of a sudden, they get shoved overboard. Now, doesn't this seem suspicious to you?

This page shows a deleted journal entry which gives us insight as to why spyed did what he did, but still, only very few people know what actually happened. Doesn't this seem so much like something out of a TV show or video game? Well, now it's real. So, I suggest to everyone on deviantART to not submit any further deviations until this whole deal is settled. If you want to go even further, if Jark's not back before August 7th (deviantART's birthday), or if spyed's (hopefully eventual) explanation is totally unreasonable, delete deviations that are already on your account. (Yes, that's taking it a bit extreme, and I personally won't be doing it. Just a suggestion.)

I don't have much news about myself, except that I was not able to find a job in this cursed town, so I'll have to go home for the month of August. If only I hadn't failed that Stages of Stupid course...

As well as supporting Jark and matteo, do remember to support my friend Sally as well! (Check the sidebar.)

"The first duty of a human being is to assume the right functional relationship to society -- more briefly, to find your real job, and do it." -- Charlotte Perkins Gillman

EDIT: I've just been enlightened on a feature of deviantART I wasn't aware of; the Storage Room. Go here and hide your deviations instead of deleting them, when the time is right.

The Segue

2005-07-16T03:41:00.000-03:00

I never did tell you what I had gotten Serena as her birthday gift. It was a small plush Vivi doll. About as tall as a Nintendo DS is wide.

I haven't seen Sally online at all for over a week, now. Last I heard, she was moving over to Halifax. Most of her stuff was down there. I just hope she's still all right.

I've been looking for a job lately, but for every resumé I have sent, I have gotten absolutely nothing. No turnaways, no interviews, no anything. This really sucks. I may not be going to Oklahoma, but I am planning a short trip before college, and with no money, there can be no trip.

I'll probably be putting up some Deviations today sometime. If I remember to. I have several pretty clouds I could show the world.

There are a bunch of strangers staying in the house this week. I haven't seen any of them yet, I've been avoiding them. No particular reason, I just want to see how long I can avoid them. It's been two days. They've been weekdays, though, so I don't know how the weekend will turn out.

I've been playing lots of games and chatting lately. I've been in front of this screen so long, I'm probably getting a tan. I really have no life. I wish I had done more stuff with the college guys when I had the chance. But I guess I've chosen the life of G-Prime. And so...

"Don't you realize this is Star Wars vs. Star Trek? A band of rebel X-Wing fighters versus... I don't know, some Star Trek crap where they save a bunch of crap lousy whales." -- Justin "Gimpy" Taylor aka G-Prime, UnderGRADS

The Continuation

2005-07-03T23:26:00.000-03:00

Well...it is over. She's gone now, and I am single again.

However, I think it might have been the right thing. She did something I didn't have the courage to do, for a reason that I didn't have the will to think of (she says we'd both be happier). At first, I completely disagreed with it, but now I think she might have been on to something. I might have found someone else... I'll let you know when I'm certain. Sure thing is, she's much closer on the map than Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, I'll talk about the new people I've met lately, in a new channel on UnderNet, #maritimes. Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to stick (though I sure hope it does), but I've still met them, and that's the important thing.

First, there's Sally. She's a very interesting girl from Nova Scotia. She's a fur, a wolf to be precise. Unfortunately, life hasn't treated her well. She has several disorders, and to make things worse, she, uh... has the wrong equipment down there. Sure, there are those who think this isn't a bad thing, but most of them are guys and just don't understand what an encumbrance that thing is for them, to have what's just not supposed to be there. Anyway, I've put up a donation link for surgery to get it removed, as well as her full story and blog on the sidebar.

Second is Erin. A very fun New Brunswickan girl, who seems to be able to tap into a source of eternal happiness at first glance. Of course, this isn't true, but it sure looks like it. She came over to visit a short while ago, and I've found that she's very pleasant to be with.

There are others, but they're just plain not there enough of the time to mention. :P

Anyway... It's gonna be hard forgetting Serena, but I am still young, and already have found someone else, so I'm not lost yet.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." -- Seneca (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

Note: I've started a new blog, Gamer's Day. It consists entirely of game reviews. Check it out every so often.

The Cutoff

2005-06-24T02:40:00.000-03:00

I fear it might be over. No more Serena. She's always busy. I haven't given up, but she just told me she wants to.

That's all I got. If you want more, go look at my stuff on DeviantArt.

The Update

2005-05-07T20:55:00.000-03:00

Okay, well, I know I haven't been around for a while. Point is, nothing was happening. Nada. ...Okay, some stuff did happen. Such as this...

Serena's been extremely busy lately, but now that her finals are done, her free time should increase a lot. I did get the chance to tell her that I'd sent off her birthday gift. To say the least, she sounded quite surprised. I can't wait until I hear her open it :)

I got a new digital camera. It's quite a nice camera, too. 5.1 Mpx thing. I'm using it in my new course that has nothing to do with game design. (Need it to graduate; missing an elective.) We have an assignment which involves taking pictures with different aspects. Proves to have interesting results.

Demonic Psychosis is going along pretty good. We have the basic game structure down, and our resident genius is putting in NPC movement as I write this. It's getting quite impressive, for a seven-month job :P

I'm now an eBay seller. Look me up, why don't ya? User name is virtustar. You can look at my auctions by following the link on the sidebar, or searching by seller on the eBay website. Come on, you know you want to feed a starving college student...

I'm still waiting for that passport. Didn't get any news from the passport office, but I did notice the charge on my credit card that I had authorized to them. Hopefully, I can get it soon, I want to get my passport early enough to make sure I can get to Oklahoma...

Orange clouds are purty.

All right, well, I can't really think of anything else to mention now... I'll let you go with yet another quote.

"It must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays." -- Arthur Dent, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (movie)

The Passport

2005-03-24T01:36:00.000-04:00

Well, I've begun the process that will eventually get me to Oklahoma. I've filled out a passport application with all of the information I need...except my weight. So I fouled it up. Thus, I need to wait until it gets there, then through, then back again, so I can repair it. That's gonna take a while.

Meanwhile, only one day remains in this term, and it's basically just a two-hour class of looking at people's Pocket PC games and such that we made for one of our courses. Then, the term will end. Happy day.

This term, I've had no classes in the afternoon. Next term, all of them are in the afternoon, and I have all mornings off. That's going to be a relief... No waking up late for class.

Anyway, I should be going. Don't want to miss my last class of the term, now...

"That which does not kill you makes you stronger." -- Neitzsche

The Break

2005-03-13T00:31:00.000-04:00

Okay... Maybe that was a bit much... But seeing as one of them did make an offensive comment on Serena, I still do want an apology. Meanwhile, maybe I will do some work, especially now that I've talked to the project manager.

So, let's pick up on personal news, shall we?

March Break has just ended. That means I can call Serena again, right? Nope... Spring Break has hit the States. Thus, I have to wait a whole 'nother week to call. Sucky...

However, I do have a birthday gift for her. I'm not going to divulge that information, as she might be reading. I'm not sure if it'll be a hit or a miss, but there's really just one way to find out...okay, two ways, I could ask her, but if she's not around, I can't really do so.

Played a bit of Hold'em. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to hold 'em long enough. Of three games, I finished third of three twice, and second once. Bleh. I need more practice. At least we weren't playing for money. However, I may be soon, and I'll keep you posted.

I saw three kitties today. Mew mew mew.

...Seeing as that's the best I can do right now, I'm probably out of mews--er, news. Kitties.

"I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." -- Hippolyte Taine

Attn: Delusional Studios (if you do read this)

2005-03-12T01:18:00.000-04:00

If you are not of Delusional Studios, you don't need to read this post.

Well, it would seem as if some of the members of my college development team have stumbled upon my blog. It might interest you to know that until I get an apology in person from each of you except our project manager, I will not do any further work on our project. I don't care if that means I'm out of the group, I don't care if that means I fail Product Development. I have as much right as anyone to work in an environment of respect, and I've been disrespected by everyone in our group except the project manager. Think about that, and I expect to hear from all of you on Monday.

Quite frankly, I write in this blog because NOBODY LISTENS TO ME, or if they would, all they would do is laugh. I didn't intend for anyone I knew in real life to read this stuff, because this is exactly what I thought would happen.

No quote today.

The Birthday

2005-03-03T21:07:00.000-04:00

I'm now twenty.

Whee.

A Sunday night twenty years ago, I caught my first breath. Looking back, I haven't accomplished very much. Especially in the area of love. I didn't have my first crush until I was 16, and I didn't get my first relationship until 19. I haven't had my first kiss, never went out on a date, never anything. Granted, it wasn't a complete waste, but still mostly unproductive. Even my current relationship has and can have no physical anything, unless I can stretch my hands out two thousand miles...

No? OK...

I looked up trip prices on ITravel2000.com. They have a flight to Oklahoma, residence there, everything I need. Unfortunately, what I'm missing is money. I need $1,700 CAD and I have $625 in the Fund. Bit of a problem, is it? $1,200 is for getting and staying there for a week, and $500 is for entertaining Serena. It sucks.

Well... Let's hope that the twenty-year period between March 3rd, 2005 and March 3rd, 2025 is more productive than the last...

The Mystery - Update

2005-02-01T14:37:00.000-04:00

Little update... I just came back from the Post Office to "cash in" my Delivery Notice. So, I got there, passed it in, signed for it, and got a package. I opened it and it was...

It...was...

Iiiiiitttttt... waaaaaaaaaaaaas...

The most unlikely thing I thought would come in... Import Mr. Driller. (Great, now I have to walk backwards tomorrow...)

Regardless, I appreciated it coming in. I got the game, it works on my DS, and I even got a Mr. Driller pouch with it. I have to go game shopping in Japan someday... :) Anyhow, just wanted to let you wonderful readers know what I got.

The Mystery

2005-01-31T15:32:00.000-04:00

Oh, my, my, my. I got a Delivery Notice today. That means I may be getting some "lost mail" tomorrow. I'm waiting on two packages, if you recall; the big TGN trade including four GBA games coming my way, or Serena's Christmas gift. It may also be some yet upcoming mail, like the copy of Mr. Driller that I (finally) got ordered, but I'm hoping it's one of the former.

Let's have a recap... This Trade Games Now trade has been waiting for about two months about now. It contains Sonic Advance, Sonic Battle, F-Zero Maximum Velocity, and Gradius Galaxies. Both the trader in question and I are getting very impatient on the completion of this trade, and it'd be a great relief to see that it's finally done.

On the other hand, Serena is very special to me. I would love to have this Christmas gift she sent me, whether it's a picture or a set of blank CDs, it's her way of showing that she cares about me just as I do about her. Definitely, if only one of these packages should come in, I'd rather it be this one.

And then, there's Mr. Driller... Whee. The first Japanese game that I own. I don't think that it's this one coming in. It would probably have come in normally. If this is what's coming in tomorrow, I'll spend Wednesday walking backwards all day. Besides, it's certainly not priority. I already have North American Mr. Driller, and this Japanese game is certainly not as important as a gift from my beloved, or a two-month-late trade.

So, here I am, waiting by the clock for the package to get to the Post Office. What will it be...?

"The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." -- Eden Phillpotts

The Anger

2005-01-07T21:28:00.000-04:00

A whole week I've had to talk to her. She had no classes this past week. She was at home most of the time. She even said on Wednesday that on Thursday, she would be completely free. I hardly know what she meant by that. I haven't had two minutes to talk to her. Not even one minute. Nothing. And she's starting class next week, so that's even less time I'll have to talk to her.

PayPal has locked my bank account from my PP account. Why? I thought they hadn't given me those "small, less-than-a-dollar" deposits that they said they'd sent me. I tried to guess, and now they won't let me use my stupid bank account, which I need to buy an import Mr. Driller DS. I check my bank account after this guess, and there they were. Now what the hell was that? How was I supposed to know this info when I only got it after I could use it?

And I thought that being in college would mean more mature people. Hah. Everyone is still making fun of me, and I'm really beginning to get pissed off at these people.

In fact, right now, I'm angry at everything. Nothing is going right. I'm still waiting for that package from TGN. I'm still waiting for Serena's gift. I'm still waiting for Serena herself. I'm waiting for everything, and getting nothing but what I don't want. I want to do something about it, but there's nothing I can do. If I yell at the post office, they'll turn me away. If I yell at Serena, she'll cry and stop loving me. If I yell at the guys at the college, they won't care and probably make things worse. What the hell am I supposed to do?

Someone help me out here...

(no quote)

The Ripoff

2005-01-06T01:06:00.000-04:00

I am pissed.

Yet another case of Japan thinking we're stupid. At least, that's what I figure. I recently got "Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits" (NDS), which is a pretty good game by itself. However, there are so many missing features. Most importantly, they ripped out the best character in the game, Usagi (Rabbit).

Now why in the hell do they do these things? This is definitely not the first time they do this, and it sure won't be the last. They've cheaped us out of the Dristone stages, they've cheaped us out of single-cart multplayer mode, they've cheaped us out of the extra Mission Driller stage, and they've cheaped us out of Usagi. This is really getting old.

Now, if I want these extra features, I have to get an imported version of the game. That won't be fun. You don't find those just anywhere. So...yeah. If only we could do something to actually stop this cheaping out. But no, it won't happen.

Speaking of getting cheaped out, I still haven't received a package I was expecting from a user on Trade Games Now (which he supposedly sent about two months ago), and I still haven't received that Christmas gift from Serena. Stupid mail service. Well, let's hope either one gets here soon (preferably the latter).

(I know I've used this one before, but...)
"If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Angry Dome!" -- Professor Hubert Farnsworth, Futurama

The Xmas

2004-12-25T01:40:00.000-04:00

Yep, it's Xmas again. Or as you 21st century people like to call it, Christmas. It's just 1:24 AM right now, but I figure it'll be a pretty okay Christmas.

I've talked to Serena over AIM, and received her new Gmail address (which is why she never got my e-mails). I was happy to get that info. She has already opened her gift from me. I did mention that I wanted her to open it over the phone, but the important thing is, she really loved it. I will only get my gift from her after I return to my apartment from Christmas break. I'm sure that no matter what it is, I'll love it. It could be a plastic knife from a fast food place, or a new car, for that matter. It'll be from her, and that's all that really matters.

In other news, I have opened a couple of gifts so far today, including the Futurama Volume 1 DVD set. Very cool. I expect to get a Nintendo DualScreen later today, as well. Super cool. And I got $50 for my GBA (sold it, since I can play GBA games with the DS, and have a GBC for other games). Extra cool.

What's not cool is that Windows Media Stupid Player doesn't want to play my Futurama DVDs. I'm gonna need another program to play them. Anyone got any ideas? Leave a comment to this post to suggest stuff, and maybe also tell me how I'm doing with my Blog! And I mean constructive comments, such as not "Blech, too emo" or "The colors all suck".

Anyhow, I need to get some rest for the rest of this important day. Good nighty.

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Ho ho ho!" -- Santa Claus

The Lateness

2004-11-24T22:33:00.000-04:00

I am behind on so many things right now. So many assignments not handed in or even started, so much stuff I started that I didn't finish, so much time lost not talking to Serena... I must be losing my grip on reality or something...

Hell, it seems like sometimes, I kinda phase out of existence. I try to participate in conversations and either get ignored or ostracized. Most people seem to care less about me every day. I feel like I'm totally alone. I'm on an island, and nobody cares enough to get me off of it.

I've been trying to call Serena every day for a week. She's never there. She's always either busy with whatever play is going on at her college, or sick. I figure she'll be at her home tomorrow, it being American Thanksgiving and all, so I'll be trying to call her there. I really hope she's there, because I miss her beautiful voice so much...

The only thing that I seem to be able to concentrate on at all is C++ code. Other stuff does not interest me at all. I can't keep my mind on them. I figure I'm gonna get a counseling form pretty soon. I don't blame whoever it is who will write it up, but it's not my fault. I'm just tired... Can't think straight...

"Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to a man." -- Thomas Carlyle

The Gift

2004-11-18T01:21:00.000-04:00

Well... It's been a while, so I may as well post, why not?

So, what's up with Serena these days, you ask? She's no longer sick, but now she's working on costumes for her college's next play again. So, I don't get to talk to her. I haven't even heard her voice for a long time, now... It really sucks. However, she apparently has bought me a Christmas gift as well. So we have exchanged mailing addresses and such. I wonder what she possibly could have bought me...

I've finally received my student loan. Whee. In celebration, I bought "Kirby & The Amazing Mirror" (GBA). Also, I'm soon receiving "Kirby's Dream Course" (SNES) from a guy on TGN, and got "Kirby Slide" (ERDR) from a friend. That leaves two Kirby games to get; "Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards" (N64) and a replacement copy of "Kirby Super Star" (SNES) and I have a full set...except "Kirby no KiraKira Kids" [Kirby's Super Star Stacker] (SNES), which was never released in North America, so it doesn't count, and "BS Kirby no Omotya Bako Baseball" (BS-SNES), a Broadcast Satellaview SNES game which was never actually released in cartridge form. Those two are just extraneous; if I get them, so much the better.

Anyhow... I can't really think of anything else to say right now, so I'm just going to slink away quietly.

"I'M GIVE UP
YOUR APPELLATION'S
TECHNICAL MONKEY" -- Ending words, "Gradius III" (SNES)

The Re-election

2004-11-04T23:17:00.000-04:00

Well... Bush is president. Again. This is a bad thing, in a way. It's also a good thing. Bush will probably run the country into the ground, but it'll mean a huge boost on Canadian economy. USAiyans are going to come and see us, and with the decline of American currency value, our Canadian dollar will eventually peak over the American one. Still, I rather would have seen Kerry in the White House.

As for personal news... I'm kinda worried about Serena. She's all kinds of sick lately... I won't get into detail, but the fact is, she's very sick, and thus, I don't get to talk to her. Yeah, that sounded kinda selfish, but the fact is, I'm still very concerned about her health. I hope she gets better during the weekend...

I've played through the Japanese version of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA) during the last week. It's quite a nice game. It adds several new things to the world we've come to recognize as Hyrule. The Hookshot becomes the Vacuum Pot, which can't hook on to pots, but can suck them in, as well as many other things. The Shovel becomes the Mole Claws, which can claw through some walls, and can rip out bushes and grass from the ground, unlike its predecessor. It also adds Minish mode, which is Link...diminished. Shrunken. It'll allow you to get to very small places. You also have the Kinstones to take care of; you can find left pieces of them all over the place, and you match them up with right pieces that townspeople, both normal and Minish, as well as some animals have, to unlock various areas and events. It's a great game; I recommend buying it. Its release date in the good ol' North American region is January 10th, 2005.

So is anyone buying the Nintendo DualScreen? I expect to get it for Christmas. It's the great new system Nintendo is coming out with. As the name implies, there are two screens to this new system. It will support GBA games as well as new DS games; however, this is not the next GBA. This is a completely new branch Nintendo is starting. Who knows what the next DS will hold? Well, let's check out the first one first. Its release date is the 21st.

Anyhow... I've nothing else to add to that. Back to worrying about poor Serena...

"Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me." -- US President (again) George W. Bush

The Hijack

2004-10-13T20:45:00.000-03:00

Unfortunately, the GDRB didn't like the idea of having one-man groups. They feel that the whole point of this ordeal is not only to go through the game design process, but to go through it as a team. One person is not a team. So, maybe at some point, I'll give you Bumper Stickers, but it probably won't be anytime soon.

The one good thing about this... If anyone in our group screws up, y'know who's to blame? The project leader. And that's not me anymore! Yay. Anything goes wrong, blame it on the project leader. Poor guy, though :P

In other news, I am working on my own project anyway. It's called StarDust, and it's a game creation system for Windows. I've put it on SourceForge; if there are any files there, it means I was able to learn how to use the Concurrent Versions System (CVS). That's a pain to learn... It's one of those things in which nearly anyone you ask will answer with a big friendly RTFM. Well, TFM doesn't exactly do much for me.

Called Serena today... She couldn't talk because... well, she literally almost couldn't talk. She'd lost the better part of her voice to heavy coughing today... Though I use the term "better" loosely. What she had left of her voice sounded so sweet... Wow. I almost wish she always talked like that :D Unfortunately, her throat was hurting from the coughing as well, so I left her to recover for today.

And now, I leave you, reminiscent of that beautiful soft voice that Serena left in my ears...

"We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something." -- Sandra Day O'Connor

The Gaming

2004-09-28T22:09:00.000-03:00

My, my. It's been a while, and it seems like nobody's visiting my blog anymore. I'd better post, huh? :)

Well, Serena's been getting her sleep lately. Unfortunately, most of the time, it's been when I've been trying to call her. Well, at least I get to hear her voice. Frankly, to call her just to hear her talk is worth it.

How about some game news? I've received MegaMan Network Transmission from Trade Games Now today. Quite a fun game. Take the Battle Chip system from MegaMan Battle Network, and the sidescrolling system from MegaMan X, and you've got yourself a fine GameCube game. Just a note: If you've watched MegaMan NT Warrior (the anime), you might pick up some tricks you can use in the MegaMan Network game series.

Pikmin! ...Yeah.

Well, how about Inner Space? Pretty old game, but it's still commercially available. You play inside your computer, collecting icons for programs on your hard drive. Any DLLs or EXEs you have will be counted. If any of them have no icons, one will be made. You need to get all the icons as well as four secret upgrades to finish the game. Unfortunately, if you plan to finish the game at all, you have to buy it. Oh well.

I'm soon going to submit my game to the Game Design Review Board. Let's hope it passes. Until then, this is Kewlio, saying... "This is Kewlio."

"This is Kewlio." -- Kewlio (yes, I am this bored)

The Heart

2004-09-21T00:17:00.000-03:00

Ah, what a day. Didn't start so well, but got better as it went on.

First off, my Palm is now b0rked. It still seems to work, as I was able to HotSync it (back up all data to the computer), but it has no more video capability. I'll try to get it fixed. Maybe my friend Dave can fix it, I don't know.

But the day got better as I got to the college. I went in a couple of hours early, so I could see what my friends were up to. I caught Dave working on his graphics framework for PS2 Linux. He's trying to get more than one texture to load, but the PS2 crashes when he tries it.

I went to see Darren, our main Game Design teacher. He was in his office, playing Fable. I sat down, and watched the game, and he talked a bit about how it works and such. Very interesting. That's the nice thing about taking Game Design; playing any type of game can be educational! :)

We learned some various AI techniques and such today. Darren proved to us that people in "The Sims" series are dumber than a bottle cap. The game mostly uses "Smart Terrain", which actually gets objects to tell the Sims what they do and how to "invoke" them. That's how they got in so many expansion packs.

And I returned home, wasted about seven hours, and phoned up Serena once again. I unfortunately had awakened her from a nap, but it was still our chance to actually exchange our first spoken "I love you"s. It's quite nice. I don't know why I didn't do it before. Probably it's just the thing that I've never had anyone to say it to before, excluding my own family. It'll probably get easier to say it from here on.

Interesting news... The door from the bathroom here where I live actually broke today. I don't know what happened; I think the guy who was in there tried to open it in the opposite way that it should have been opened or something. Another guy from the house fixed it, but the point stands that we need a new bathroom door. Nobody likes the one we have now, anyway... I think the only issue is the small amount of room that the door would have to move in. A sliding door would be convenient.

More interesting news... Some guys from the college are conducting the third of a series we call "The Whopper Challenge". Quite intriguing business, that. A group of them will, this Friday, go to the local Burger King and order as many Whopper Jrs. as they possibly can in one single order. The first one resulted in an order of about 75 Whopper Jrs., and the second one went a bit over 100. This time, their goal is "Breakin' a Case" (about 230) of Whopper Jrs. I'm not participating, but I wish them luck, and certainly do support this endeavor :)

Oh, and lilmar has a chatterbox on her blog. Go check it out. I posted in it. :P

"At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet." -- Plato

The Everwaking

2004-09-17T23:20:00.000-03:00

I feel so sorry for Serena now... I learned today that she's become insomniac since a few days ago. I certainly hope that she can get over it, as insomnia really takes its toll on a person pretty fast. She's been under a lot of stress from her studies lately, and I believe that's what's causing it. So, I just told her that she needs to take it easy.

Oh, I just wish I could be there with her... It's probably just my being naturally caring and protective to the ones I love... And I do love her, very much...

In other news, I've seen Burnout 3 in play today. It's fun to play, just as fun to watch. Lots of crashes. Car crashes. That's what a lot of the game is about. Of course, you have the race modes too.

I guess I don't feel like saying much about it right now. I was gonna post and talk about it yesterday, but I didn't, and now I have this news about Serena. I hope she's all right...

"Nothing is so strong as gentleness and nothing is so gentle as real strength." -- Ralph W. Sockman

The Channel

2004-09-09T19:20:00.000-03:00

Well, I feel like posting, but have nothing to report upon. So, I've decided to talk about the regulars on #SimGames, the IRC channel on UnderNet that I frequent most every day.

Let's see... Let's start with Kevin Stange, aka SimGuy, the reason I go there in the first place. He's a webbie (webmaster), and the founder of #SimGames. I first met him through a now obsolete feature of ICQ called the ActiveList, which he also founded and maintained. He's an active member in the production of the Gaim instant messenger client. He is also co-developing SimBot, a Perl-based IRC chat-bot, with another regular of the channel.

FourOhFour is this other regular. He also has a website, with a seldom-updated blog. Sometimes, he's something of a wise guy, somewhat stuck-up, but most of the time, he's all right. He often assists in the kicking of the mischievous regular of the channel.

Steve Bularca, aka SteveB, is this mischievous regular. And quite frankly, the foulest mouth in the channel. He very often gets kicked by ops and half-ops, and occasionally banned for a few hours, for his "disturbing" views and overuse of bad language. However, when he calms down, he can be a good, mature person. He has feelings, just like anyone else :) Yet another webbie in our channel.

Rand Huck is pretty much the excitable one of the group. At least, that's what I get from him, judging from his reactions to the start of the weekly Friday Night Chat. ("FNC! FNC!") Can't seem to say very much about this guy, though. Can't think of a thing :P There's always that mysterious one, I guess.

Leons Petrazickis, aka LeoPetr, is, as far as I can tell, the one with the artistic soul of the channel. He is a Deviant, and has a blog (see sidebar), in which he usually will make HUGE posts at a time. They're quite something to read. There seems to be something between Leo and one of the female regulars, but I don't think it's anything serious.

Emily Mathison, aka lilmar, is this female regular. Quite the playful one, at that. Always fun to have around, and especially in our IRC chat. It's kinda too bad for her that she's still single at 24. Surprising that such a fun-loving woman would be alone. Well, I'm sure she won't be alone forever.

gleffler is. So is billobob.

These two guys appear rather sporadically, the latter more so than the former. It's fun to hear their random and usually pointless outbursts.

Marietta Hunter, aka etta, less regular though she is, still comes by every so often, to tell us the interesting stories of her life. I mean, maybe she doesn't climb the mountains or fly across the world to tell us stories from afar, but still, she most usually has interesting stuff to say.

goatz, our latest regular, is the real artist of the group. Her personal website is full of really great-looking artwork. She could practically make some money off commissions for this art. If you will look a couple of posts down (the first EXTRA post), you can find a link for a great picture she drew, based on some information I gave her.

KewlioMZX is, well, me. :P

So, that's about it for the regulars. If one of the aforementioned happens to read this and want what I said about you changed or removed, just tell me and I'll do so. I'll try to make my post pertinent to myself next time :P

"The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession." -- Mark Twain

The Insanity

2004-09-07T22:07:00.000-03:00

Well, here I am, last day without any need to do anything important. Except, of course call Serena... But she's already started her post-secondary studies, and she was too busy to talk today. I'm usually gonna try to call her up most every day, and if anything important (that is not too personal) comes up, I'll let you know.

I've spent most of the day playing Insaniquarium. You can find it at PopCap Games. Really fun Arcade-style game, in which you must feed fish. Sounds simple? Not so much. You also must fend off aliens that randomly and for no apparent reason appear in your tank. Run out of fish and the game is over. It's quite fun, especially the Deluxe edition. That one comes with a screen saver, for which you can buy fish and treat them as virtual pets.

As I was saying, this is the last unimportant day I'll have in a while, excluding weekends. The college will be open to all students tomorrow, and I must go and resume my Game Design work.

Tell ya what... I'm making a game in Game Design this year. Maybe I'll let you in on it, if I can find a place to put it. I only say "maybe" right now, though. If I don't, don't start complaining about it :P

Anyhow, still one hour of slacking before The Amazing Race. Go Karen and Linda! :D

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity." -- Albert Einstein

EXTRA: The Picture / The Summon

2004-09-03T18:14:00.000-03:00

goatz has finished making a picture of the "drawn" Serena I mentioned last time. Here is the link. Doesn't look that much like Thrie's rendition, but it's certainly a good job.

By the way, is anyone reading this blog? If so, speak up! Leave your comments ^-^

That is all. (Extras will have no quote)

The Return

2004-09-03T02:13:00.000-03:00

Hmm... Yes, I knew I was supposed to post yesterday. However, I wanted to post about my conversation with Serena, which had to be rescheduled due to high latency in my plans. But, I have talked to her today.

We caught up to each other, talked about our summers, and what's going on. She got this new online game, Lineage 2. She's doing quite well, already at level 37. Seems that Dark Elves have a bad name in this game, though. Many male players tend to take female Dark Elves and make them act like total...er...prostitutes, let's just say. This is a bad thing for Serena, as she plays as a Dark Elf. Well, as one of my friends might say, "People suck."

However, after all was said and done and she went on to complete her homework, I had forgotten to say "I love you". What an idiot I am. If I am to live up to these words, I must learn to say them. I also need to know if I will hear them back. It's easier to write some things than it is to say the same.

Hmm... I read the online journal of a friend of mine... It would seem that there was this one girl who he had befriended for quite a while... However, he started to feel something towards her. He acted on those feelings, but she apparently did not take these advances well. At the end, she just kind of turned her back on him.

I guess it just goes to show you, when it comes to love, you must be very careful. So far, it's been good between me and Serena. I was successful in telling her how I feel, having received a response in kind. But it might still be a long time before I find myself face to face with her. I hope it works out... But if she wants to break it off, I'll have to accept it.

Oh, and if that friend is reading this (you'll probably realize who you are), don't erase her from your life completely. If she tells you to stop this and that, do so, but otherwise, I suggest you not forget her, even after what happened.

In other news, I finally have my hands on Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (both PSX), which I have received through Trade Games Now (link on right). I've already finished Lunar:SSSC, but am playing through it again, after which I'll take a go on Lunar:EBC. Not to endorse emulation, but ePSXe seems to treat Lunar fairly well, despite a few graphical glitches. Heh, I'd use my PSX, but it's being mean.

~ Now all I need, <desperately> ~ Is my star to come... ~ -- Luna, "Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete" (singing "Wind's Nocturne" aka "The Boat Song")

The Eve

2004-09-01T02:04:00.000-03:00

So... Here I am, less than 24 hours before I finally get to call Serena again. Am I nervous? Hell, yeah. But I've been looking forward to this moment all summer long. I don't know what I'm going to say, but whatever it is, I hope I don't screw anything up. I have a tendency of saying things too fast, and not meaning exactly what I said. Well, we can only hope it'll work out for the best.

This, of course, means my return to Miramichi, the college city as it is, is also in less than 24 hours. This, in turn, means that I'll be connected to the Internet a lot more. :) Joy.

In other news, I have asked goatz, one of the regulars on #SimGames, to draw a picture of a character that I had designed. My friend Thrie was the first to actually draw her along with her boyfriend. Respectively, their names are Serena (total coincidence from the Serena I always talk about, I had designed this one long before I met her) and Azure. Looking at goatz' stuff, I'm quite interested to see what she'll come up with.

So...yeah. I'll post again tomorrow night.

"Brannigan's Law is like Brannigan's Love. Hard! And Fast!" -- Zapp Brannigan, "Futurama" (yes, again)

The Joy

2004-08-25T03:02:00.000-03:00

Well, I just figured I'd post about the very nice day I've had today...and also to let you know that I'm still alive and well :)

It didn't start out well, no sir. I had to work today, and work in a place full of something you're most probably allergic to is never fun. Especially not when you have to work longer than you usually do.

Things started to pick up when I got to the grocery store, where I always go before returning all the way home. I usually walk, but was able to find a drive home, giving me about a half-hour to finish up on the Internet before my dad got home. (He doesn't want me online while he's at home unless he's asleep, see.)

Now, yesterday night, I sent an e-mail to Serena asking when I could possibly call when I return to Miramichi on the top of September. What I wasn't expecting is for her to go on to tell me how much she's missed me this summer, and even that she loves me. Could I finally have found who I've been looking for?

Later that night, I headed over to the local ice cream shop, and met up with a bunch of very nice people. Usually I just get a milkshake and go, but I decided to join the chat, and it was quite pleasant. We pulled in the owner of the place and talked to half past closing. It was quite fun.

The neighbor soon after called about some internet connection problems, so I went to see. Apparently, Auto Update was downloading Service Pack 2. That'll give me something to do tomorrow :P

And then I closed up the day by watching The Amazing Race. In order to not reveal anything, all I'll say is that the team I'm pulling for did not finish last, though it was quite close.

So, that was today. Not a great first half, but a most excellent afternoon and evening. For once, I can go to sleep, truly happy of the day.

"Don't you worry about Planet Express. Let me worry about blank." -- Philip J. Fry, "Futurama"
Celebrating the release of the Futurama Volume 4 DVD set!

The Blah

2004-08-08T01:35:00.000-03:00

...Wow, that went well. And by well, I mean Gaim crashed just as I was finishing up this post. Blah.

Anyhow, I might want to explain why I haven't posted for a while. Reason is, nothing has happened during the whole week. At least, nothing noteworthy. I've watched lots of Futurama, played a few roguelikes (The Sword of Fargoal is a fun one), and otherwise sat around doing almost nothing all day for the last week. Some vacation week, huh?

Let's see... It's August 8th, and I go back to Miramichi on September 1st. That means about 23 days before I get to go back and finally call Serena again. I hope she's not mad at me or anything...

It also means only about two days until I go back to work. I've been taking allergy pills, so if I get sick on Tuesday (when I go back), I'm gonna have to quit my job. Not like I care much for it anyway.

Anyhow... There's not much else to say, so I'll be going.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be in the angry dome!" -- Professor Hubert Farnsworth, "Futurama"

The Isolated

2004-07-31T01:24:00.000-03:00

Have you ever wondered how many people actually care about you? Not that many people, huh? It only really happens when you're feeling isolated. Well, I am right now.

The kind of feeling where you think nobody really listens to you, or cares what you have to say. The kind of feeling where there never seems to be anyone to talk to.

I used to talk to Serena so often. Even when she was too busy to talk, hearing her say "I can't talk right now" was fine enough for me. Just hearing her voice at all would make my day worth it. But it's been close to a month, and I haven't heard it. I haven't even received any news from her lately. She doesn't seem to like online means of communication.

Still a month and a day before I return to Miramichi. I can't wait to get back and be able to call her again... Hopefully I'll be able to talk to her, anyway... If I don't, then it might turn out to be a very depressing second year in college, as I'll really be alone once again, and who knows for how long?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a shower.

"Ah, to be young again... and also a robot." -- Professor Hubert Farnsworth, "Futurama"

The Pain

2004-07-28T00:29:00.000-03:00

Well, I thought I was on vacation from the crab shop. Turns out...not really. The count gets knocked up by another bad day, too. I'm starting to think that I'm allergic to crabs. Because of that, I am taking off work tomorrow, and if I should be working on Thursday, trying an allergy pill and see if that'll help.

It's now been 21 days since I last talked to Serena, and it's still 35 days until I get to talk to her again. I miss her so much right now... She's such a great person to talk to... When we get to talk, I don't care if we don't even have anything to say. It just makes me happy to hear her voice.

And talk about a voice, too. It's like listening to rain pouring on a glass rooftop... Gah, I can do better than that...

It is a voice that I could listen to forever... I have also heard her sing... She says that she does not sing that well, but I think that she has a beautiful singing voice. She could sing a lullaby and it would have effect within a half-minute.

I hate having to be so far away from her... One day, I hope that we'll be able to get together... Until then, there's always the dream...

"If for any reason you're not satisfied with our service, I hate you." -- 7-11 clerk, "Futurama"

The Fund

2004-07-22T00:10:00.000-03:00

Some more personal information is in order, I suppose, to add reference to this story of mine.

Well, most of my money from work (a very high percentage, in fact) is going towards a savings fund which I intend to use to fly to Oklahoma. I so far have about $288, some of which from the remnants of my college loan (yes, I know, not a good idea), and the rest from my first paycheck for the summer.

Now, looking at my posts so far, you'd have to think that there's something bad about all this, right?

Bingo. I've been put on vacation until August 8th due to consistent understocking at the shop. Meaning, though I'll be having plenty of time to myself, I'm not getting paid, and this will get my fund nowhere. Plus, living in the middle of nowhere as I do, there's no way I'm gonna find a job while waiting for the vacation to end.

So, I'll be getting my second pay tomorrow, and for the next three weeks or so, I won't be able to stuff the fund any further.

Must there really always be some sort of problem putting itself between me and my goals? All I want to do is meet Serena in real life...

"I can't take his money, I can't print my own money, I have to work for my money. Why don't I just lay down and die?" -- Homer J. Simpson, "The Simpsons"

The Girl

2004-07-19T22:52:00.000-03:00

Let us talk about another source of unhappiness in my life.

There's this girl in my life... Let's call her Serena, for privacy's sake. (In case you're not following, this is not her real name.) Well, I've been talking to her over the phone for about six months, and I've grown very close to her.

This doesn't seem unhappy, you say?

Well, in that perspective, no. But there are two things to keep in mind... One, she lives all the way out in Oklahoma, while I'm stuck here in New Brunswick. With little money and no personal transportation otherwise, there's no way I'll be able to see her for some time.

Secondly, I'm only able to call her during my college time, when my phone bill is mine. Here at home, I don't have my own line, so I don't get to call anywhere but locally. It's been about two and a half weeks since I last talked to her, and I miss her very much.

So, yeah, that's what I meant by the stress at work. I am basically at loss emotionally because I've lost touch with Serena at least until September. I just hope she's not disappointed in me, and we can keep talking to each other come September.

"They put me on the 'Waiting to Exhale' waiting list, but told me not to hold my breath." -- Homer J. Simpson, "The Simpsons"

I'll soon be adding a section in my sidebar called "Reference Guide" which will allow you to see what I mean in future posts when I mention something happening.

The Count

2004-07-17T21:51:00.000-03:00

Well, now, let's keep a count, shall we?

First, I'm gonna have to tell you about my job. I work in this crab factory, doing random work, such as cleaning crates, storing stuff, and other jobs that I won't get into. (You don't want me to get into them, trust me.)

So, today, I was sanitizing the crates. But wouldn't you know it, the very first thing the boss told me was that there might be a bit too much cleaner in the water I was using. Didn't affect me before lunch, felt like hell after lunch.

That would be the third (this is the count) time in 10 working days where I come out feeling like a truck hit me. I've been to that shop for the last two summers (not counting this one), and I've never quite felt this ill this frequently. Needless to say, I'm not only getting sick of my job, I'm beginning to get sick from my job, too. Maybe it's the stress.

Yeah, with my job, thoughts of the hectic schedule of the upcoming college year, and other things, I've had the planet on my shoulders for a while.

Aaaand I just bit my tongue. Ow, ow, ow.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll get into the deeper stuff. I only feel like explaining one new thing today.

"Fine. I'll build my own space park. With blackjack. And hookers. In fact, forget the park!" -- Bender Bending Rodriguez unit 22, "Futurama"

The Prologue

2004-07-16T23:59:00.000-03:00

Hey, everyone! I'm Kewlio, if you don't know, and this is my new blog. Seeing as the Gaim plugin for blogger is in working order now, I'll be able to make some posts on here this time.

So, today, I won't be blabbing on about very much. Nothing happened anyway, I spent the day on Futurama and involuntary napping. Oh, what fun.

Don't worry, though, I have a lot to complain about, and I'll be starting tomorrow. I'm almost sure that something at work is gonna piss me off in some way. And it probably won't even be the fact that I have to work on a Saturday.

I'll be having some other recurring features too, which I shall not be getting into at this point in time, but don't you worry, it'll get there.

Anyhow, I hope that my misery can entertain you. :P Ain't entertaining me, that's for sure.

"It'll be all right, Bender. There's no such thing as two." -- Philip J. Fry, "Futurama"