on drinks

lately, i have been trying to cut down on my diet coke intake. after years of drinking it, going back to regular coke did not seem right. as an alternative caffeinated beverage, unsweetened iced tea has been a good fallback. additionally, there is a new drink that i recently tried that was pretty good, monster: rehab. normally, i am not a fan of energy drinks, but this one stands out. it is basically an arnold palmer with all that energy drink crap. if you are a fan of iced tea and lemonade, i would highly recommend trying it out.

another beverage i cannot get enough of is metromint water. while it does take some getting used to, it is still pretty enjoyable. i think a friend of mine said it tastes like someone spit gum in your water bottle, which i understand is not the highest compliment you can give. however, the drink itself really grows on you. if i could, i would drink it all the time, although it does bother me that a 20 oz bottle costs as much, if not more, than a bottle of coke.

on puzzle games

i do not think i have ever played a game that made me want to throw my controller across the room more than puzzle quest. in the wake of finishing 999, i started playing puzzle quest on ds, and i seriously wonder if the game was meant to be so frustrating. it seriously feels like the game is rigged half of the time. in contrast, might and magic: clash of heroes is a more balanced game, although not as fun. at least in puzzle quest, there is a sense of progress that is not really found in other puzzle games. being able to level up as well as customize your character adds a lot to the replay value of the game. personally, it has always irked me that i suck at bejeweled type games. earlier this year, i tried to get better at them by devoting a full hour each day playing bejeweled blitz for a solid month. sadly, i cannot say that i have improved at all.

i wish that clash of heroes allowed a more in depth system in which you could customize your units. perhaps if each level you gained would allow you to upgrade a single unit versus the current system where using them leveled them up instead. it would make the multiplayer aspect of the game better in my opinion, although without friends with the game, it is hard to say.

i think before going, i would like to comment on 999 a little more. while it was an excellent game in the first playthrough, each subsequent replaying was a bit boring. while the true ending wrapped up the game nicely, i found most of the other endings much more interesting, with the deaths of your fellow crew members especially poignant. also, the lack of a proper time constraint reduced much of the tension that builds throughout the story. but other than these small complaints, an excellent game that i think more people should play. much more fulfilling than the professor layton series, although i did enjoy those games as well.

on 999

holy crap. this game was amazing. i started playing nine hours, nine persons, nine doors last night at around 3 am yesterday, thinking it would help me go to sleep. instead, i played through the entire game, eventually sleeping at around noon the next day. although the text rolled a little slow for my tastes, the unfolding of the mystery kept me up all night.

one thing that really caught me off guard about the game was the violence/gore. i am usually pretty ok with those sorts of things, but the inclusion of those themes in this game was unexpected and brought with it a sense of suspense that the game really benefits from. looking at the box, i now realize that the esrb was m for mature, but honestly, this is one of the first games i have played that the label feels appropriate. i am anxious to play the game again, because my first playthrough opened up a lot more questions than answers.

on a side note, a king egg roll opened up near me and i think i gave myself a stomach ache from eating too many.

on stress

this past week, i have been feeling pretty antsy about everything. i am not really sure why, but something in the air has been setting me on edge. like a small, but steady pressure on my shoulders. i guess you could call it stress, but i cannot think of the cause. i thought i just needed a change of pace, but that has not really helped. it is very unusual for me to be too worried about anything for too long either. although, on a side note, a lot of people around me are pretty tense about all sorts of matters. work, school, business, relationships... maybe that stuff just lingers after they go.

i have always felt that if things are out of your control, it is pointless to worry. however, most people around me do not share this point of view. they fret and think and drive themselves crazy without taking a step in any direction. well... most. some people decide on something and then take steps to making it happen. they have my admiration. i sometimes wonder whether my patience is a sign of maturity or one of laziness. regardless, i am where i am because of myself, although it is way too easy to blame other people. i guess that is just something i will have to get over.

anyhow, i cannot seem to shake this foreboding feeling, so i guess time will tell. see you on the upside.

on movies

despite enjoying movies, it is rare that i go to a movie theater to see one. instead, i tend to binge watch movies on tv and dvd for a week straight about twice a year. personally, i do not think i have bad taste in films, but a majority of my good friends refuse to see movies based on past recommendations. a few examples perhaps? vulgar, ghost world, punch drunk love, barfly, and l'iceberg. sure, these films are not everyone's cup of tea, but the worst movies they have ever seen in their lives? i find that hard to believe. and yet, when i do come across something great, they just say, "remember ?!?"

granted, i have seen a lot of bad movies, and i do mean a lot. usually when i use netflix, i try to find the worst sounding movies to watch, because, sometimes they surprise you. i think it has to do with the time dedication. a movie takes roughly two hours to watch, and if you think it is terrible, it can seem to drag on forever. i guess i just have a lot of patience for entertainment. i especially enjoy slow burn (ones with build up) and murder mysteries, which i understand not everyone enjoys. still, it would be nice to hear a critique about a movie instead of "worst film ever".

on moving

moving really is one of the worst experiences. leaving a familiar place is always a rough, remembering the good times you had there and so on. but even if you hated the place you used to live at, there is always the physical aspect of moving to bring you down as well. i do not know about you, but i tend to accumulate crap at an incredible pace, and packing all that stuff is an enormous task. a few years ago, i had decided to live a sparse lifestyle, trying to never own more than i could carry in my car at any time. as a result, i tended to buy lots of portable things (my decision to buy a cot for example). living life on the go like this has its ups and downs, but for the most part, it is pretty nice. having fewer things really does cut down on a lot of the headaches of living. also, the purchases you make tend to be a big deal, as i try to get things that cover several bases at once. but, like i said earlier this week, the problem is that you miss out on a lot of luxuries that you do not miss until they are gone, such as furniture.

actually, one luxury that i do make an exception for is books. i tried the whole electronic book thing, but there is something about having a book in your hands that makes them that much more enjoyable. unfortunately, books take up a whole lot of space, and moving them around is a difficult task. still having a mobile library in your trunk is pretty nice, even if it makes getting to your spare tire a pain.

but i guess in the end it is usually worth it. eventually things will settle down and boxes get unpacked and life goes on. you make new memories and fill the space you call home. but for now, moving still feels like compression and depression.

on the cot

so far so good. i am not sure what all the fuss is about how uncomfortable sleeping on a cot is. personally, i think rolling beds are the worst place to sleep ever, but that is just me. also, earplugs are awesome, and i have never realized it before. this week has been on the up and up, with me being able to actually get some decent shut eye, although waking up is still kind of a problem. something to work on i suppose.

i guess i have never had the opportunity to appreciate it before, but furniture makes a huge difference on how things in a room feel. maybe because i have been surrounded by office furniture for so long, but a dining table finally makes sense. someday, if i ever get to have my own house, i think it would be nice to make all the furniture for it. true, the only experience i have with woodworking was two years of wood shop in junior high, and most of my furniture will suck, but that does not matter. there is something to be said about creating things with your own two hands. it just adds a sense of accomplishment that i think people lack these days. well... someday. hopefully.