Remilia Scarlet

Last weekend, I kinda had an unfortunate event happen with my DDR pad (or, if you prefer, you may read that line: "Andrew can't bridge a DDR pad worth crap"). So, since it would no longer work, I had to go buy a new one. I went over and got a Mad Catz pad instead, and so far I like it better. However, since I had to trash my old pad, and the vinyl covering holding it in place on the ply wood, I no longer have a hard pad. So, I guess I need to go get some more plywood (larger, this time), more vinyl covering, some foam (since the plywood, I found out, was shredding my pad), some tape, and some ice cream (for afterwards).

Even if I am using a soft pad, which I normally am horribe with, I was able to get some real good practice in with Paranoia Rebirth (190bpm) on maniac. I can nearly pass it with a C, now that I've figured out a few tricks on the song, like the foot switch around measure 30. I expect to pass it, at full speed, within a few weeks.

Also, got WarCraft II Battle.net Edition and C&C Renegade. WC2 BNE is great! I've been playing a little online, using a few StarCraft strategies. So far my record is like 3-0-0 or 4-0-0. Soon...those will increase :)

Speaking of StarCraft, I'm defintely getting better at that game on Battle.net. I've been playing $$$Fastest Map Possible V5$$$ a lot, and find it very enjoying. My friend Viet (who goes by likuid_killer or likuid_kid on Bnet) has been working with me, teaching me stuff.

Btw, I'm known as "Misato_K" on Bnet.

Renegade is also a pretty cool game. Runs just a tad bit sluggish on my computer, but I think it's mainly due to a bad CD-Rom, messed up chip somewhere inside, and the fact that it's on a firewire HD. As soon as I get my new Alienware, however (which will be Tuesday!), I'll definitely be playing this one more. Graphics aren't too good, and it pisses me off that I can't assign "attack" to ctrl, but oh well.

Also, why is it that when I start trying to loose weight by eating less, excercising (lots of DDR), and drinking less pop, I gain five pounds rather than loose five?

So, my mom and I went and saw Watanabe Yoishi do a taiko drum demonstration at the Botanical Gardens here in Denver when I got off work. Those drummers were very impressive indeed! It was cool to listen to, as I've never really paid too much attention to taiko drumming. But, after tonight, I see that it can be very difficult to master. There were alot of complex rhythms (for two hands, that is), complex movements, and some great imagery going on. I even met Watanabe-sensei afterwards and got his autograph. Very nice man indeed.

It was kind of interesting going both to and from the event. Last night, my friend and I were kind of window shopping online, checking out clothing we'd like to get. Or, in my case, clothing I'd like to get after I move out of the house in about two or three years. Such as this dress, this dress, this skirt, this skirt, these pants, these pants, these pants, and this collar. Obviously this is quite a bit different from my normal style of dress. So in essence, once I move out, it's like I'd like to rebel against my mom a bit, start clubbing a little, and start dressing in a gothic/cybergothic fassion. As well as a little light bondage, and a few other interesting adventures.

However, at the same time, I'd like to maintain my current style, move to Japan, and try to become a successful business man there. Get into the habbit of dressing in a suit, nice trousers, button-up shirt, and such. Getting married to a nice girl, and basically living a nice, good life.

At the same time, I wish to basically maintainw what I'm doing now, maintain my current style, and focus my life around anime, videogames, and computers. As well as get married and have an interesting, fun marriage.

From my point of view, these three can't coincide together. #2 and #3 can, and #1 and #3 probably could to a degree, but all three can't. Maybe I'm wrong, and if so, please slap me with a big trout and show me this. I guess I'm having a small little identity crisis right about now.

Maybe it's all related to the music I listen to. I love Japanese pop music, with people like Utada Hikaru, Sakamoto Maaya, TM Revolution, Kazumasa Oda, and Hayashibara Megumi. Yet, I like trance, techno, underground dance music, gabber, happy hardcore, and stuff like that. At the same time, I'm finding myself more interested in bands like Evanescence, Rammstein, KMFDM, and Megaherz. And yet still, I have a deep love and appreciation for classical music, as well as jazz. I guess I fear of loosing my Jpop/classical/jazz side to the obviously darker rock/metal/electronica side. And it's playing out in other areas of my life.

Ok, rant's over.

(EDIT)
Now that I've gone and got some gas for my car, and thanks to the_Danarchist, I've realized I've forgotten a few parts.

For me, it's not whether or not I'm trying to fit into any cliques or anything. It's just finding personal identity that I'm having trouble with right now. Figuring out who I am from a personal standpoint looking inward. I could care less if I'm in a clique or not. I have my group of friends, and we have tolerance for everyone. So, it's not about being in a clique, but rather self-identity. I can't figure out who I am, and which self I'd like to be internally.

Lastly, I'd like to point out that, while it may seem like it at times, I am not a Japan-Otaku/Japanophile/Wanabe-Japanese-Person. I've been having issues with this for the past few months, as a few people seem to think I am. Yes, I have a t-shirt that translates, "I want to be Japanese", eat Japanese food nearly every day, have haiku in my sig, watch loads of anime, listen to loads of JPop, am learning Japanese, want to live in Japan, read up on Japanese news, and have all these other things in my life related to Japan, but it's not to the point of an otaku. Those aren't the only things in my life, and Japan isn't the only thing. One must realize that, since I do wish to live in Japan, I should probably learn the language. What's the best way to learn it? Immerse yourself in it. And it's probably this that helped me communicate to Watanabe-sensei earlier this evening after only one year of class, and have a near-perfect accent. I'm surrounded by Japanese things so that I may learn the language, and because I am interested. NOT because I want to somehow change into a Japanese person. I'm not an otaku (in the Japanese sense of the word).

I just got done playing some hard DDR here at home. Recently I kinda messed up my old pad which was mounted to a piece of plywood, so I had to go and buy a new pad (this time a Mad Catz pad). So, I've been playing on a soft pad that has the ability to slide. Not the easiest thing to do. But, I was still able to pass Paranoia on maniac with a C, nearly pass Matsuri Japan with a C (I usually do...but I'm out of practice, heh), and actually do some very simple freestyling. But now, due to all this, my legs are about to fall off my torso.

Earlier today wasn't as fun, though. My mom, who recently not only joined a new church but also has had a religious revival, forced me to go to church with her this morning. While I have nothing against religion, I don't like it when people try to force their religion on me. When I'm ready for religion, I'll be ready for it. 'Till then, I wish my mom'd leave me alone.

Also, here's some random songs to check out:
1. Theme to Tron by Wendy Carlos (formerly Walter Carlos)
2. Die Forelle by Franz Schubert
3. Nocturne In E-Flat Major for Piano by Chopin
4. The Seven Cities by...some artists. Look on George Acosta's "Touched" cd or Paul Oakenfold's Essential Mix cd.
5. Symphony No. 94 "Surprise" by Haydn

Only about 16-17 days before I get my Alienware. I can't wait! I'm so excited. First thing I'm going to do is play Solitare!

Speaking of computers...wouldn't it be cool to have Lain's computer? The custom one she made, that is...

So, I got back from QuakeCon late Monday night. Spent yesterday resting up and running some important errands, and today I'm back at work. It doesn't even seem like I was on vacation.

QuakeCon was great fun, though. Got some cool rounds of Quake3 and UT2003 in, as well as some jDoom. heh, I totally pw0n3d the dudes I played on jDoom. As I told my friend besides me, "Don't f*** with someone from Doomworld" (my opponents didn't know of it). I also found out that I greatly love playing Generations Quake 3 (as the Doomguy, of course). I almost owned my friend at that, but I got a bit too cocky near the end, lol

Here's a few pics of me at QuakeCon:

http://www.du.edu/~ahunt/ddr2.JPG
Me on DDR. I H.A.T.E.D. those pads, btw.

http://www.du.edu/~ahunt/jDoom.JPG
Me playing jDoom.

Dallas was a cool place to be in. Except that we couldn't stand the highways/drivers there. But, it was a cool trip. I especially liked travelling through New Mexico. Though, by the end of the trip, my friend Matt had thouroughly gotten on my nerves.

I'll be ordering my new Alienware Area 51 comp today. Can't wait to get it!

I just got done trying out the multiplayer demo here at QuakeCon of Doom 3. There are no words to describe how unbelievably cool it was, but I'll try to find some.

So, it starts out with us walking into the same chamber that it was used at E3 (except, it has four like cubicles inside). Once there, we are told to configure our controlls and then told how to get into multiplayer (by Keven Cloud, none-the-less...who's hand I got to shake!) Then, the fun begins.

The level was definitly a military base on Phobos. Lots of grey-blue, but also some great reds, greens, browns, and other color (just the right balance, too). It was a very technological level. There were glass panes to shoot out, lights to shoot, and a special hellish-area with a hanging body to test out the amazing rag-doll physics that it has. In the center was this laser beam area, where every two minutes, well, you didn't want to be there. However, when it wasn't glowing red, you could go down the center, where huge semi-circles were rotating. At the bottom, you could pick up a berzerk powerup and then go through the teleporter.

That teleporter ride, btw, is AWESOME. It's like a fire/lava style wormhole with this hellish-human screem.

The berzerk pack was one of my favorite parts. The screen begins to wave and blur, similar to the effect used in Metal Gear Solid 1. You run around faster than normal, your fists held up, and just pummle opponents. Also, when you see someone with the powerup, their upper torso is this skeleton with red burning flames around them. über cool stuff.

The weapons on the map were fists, a pistol, shotgun, machine gun, plasma gun, and rocket launcher. All were standard, except for the plasma gun. This time, the bolts of plasma move just a tad bit slower. Oh, and the rockets aren't quite as powerful as the first game, but as Keven Cloud pointed out, they're working on weapon balance now. I never did get to find a rocket launcher, but tried the rest.

So, that's it for now. I'm sure I forgot to mention something.

Oh yeah. THIS GAME ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I finally made it to QuakeCon. Been playing some Quake3, UT, and StarCraft so far. If anyone is here with me, the handle I've been using is Andrew[UDA].

Also, I'm close to stage area in the BYOC area. If you face it, I'll be to the left, third row. Look for a laptop w/books on it :)

No pics yet, as they aren't uploaded.

OMG, I leave for QuakeCon tomorrow morning. I can't believe it's finally here! I'm going to have to go to bed way early tonight (like 9:30) just to get up in time (3:00am). Which means I'll have 3 hours when I get home from work to eat, clean my car, wash my car, pack my bags, get my computer ready, and do all that other fun stuff related with a trip.

I'm going with two other friends. One of which is a guest, but thinks that he's more than such. He's been stressing Jon and I (the original two planners of the trip....it's our trip), but I think we're all fine now.

I'll have to take plenty of pictures and update my blog regularly now, let you all know how many tens of thousands of frags I accumulate ;P

Anyone else going that I could possibly meet there? I wanna meet a real Doomer in rl for once, lol, something I've never done.

In my group of friends, we have what we call "Matthew's Law". It states the following:

All the girls we like and are nice/good are either:
1. Taken
2. Don't go out with guys

And here's my corallary:

Andrew's Corallary
The ones who are left either:
A. Look like nice/good girls but aren't
B. Are psychotic
C. Are sluts
D. Aren't real

So I had to go into work for a few hours today (where I am now). It's not so bad. I finished volume one of the Ranma 1/2 manga so far. But it's like all I do is sit here...my co-worker is doing all the work. So why come in?

And wouldn't it be fun to be cursed like Ranma is?

Looks like I'm getting my Alienware as soon as I get back from QuakeCon. Speaking of which, I finally found a way to get my laptop to work correctly. For a bit now, it's been totally freezing up whenever an OpenGL program runs, and often freezes when a Direct3D program runs. To combat this, I originally took and put a pencil under one corner. But now...I've got it working even better. I take a CD-R spindle, place it over my touchpad, then place a world atlas book I have on the cd spindle. All while keeping the pencil under one corner. Somehow, this works. Then I just hook it to an external monitor, and I'm ready.

I've been working hard at getting ready for QuakeCon all week. And so far, my work's paying off. My skillz have doubled to trippled, and I've even gained a little bit of initial skill in StarCraft (taking on seven comps, oh yeah). I'm going to practice DDR this weekend...just incase ;)

Yep, heard that famous old quote on TV.

So, what's been happening...Well, I've managed to emulate a TB-303 (Square and Saw) extremely well on my JV-1010. And with my new patches, I've been working on some oldschool acid house. The only thing that isn't emulated is the Envelope Modulation, but I'll have that in it soon enough.

Also, I joined a different UT2003 clan. I'm now in Unreal's Deadliest Assassins, and am known as Andrew[UDA]. It's all thanks to the girl I had met in UT2k3 (whom I'm actually starting to like very much...) Since I can never make the -=AU=- clan's practices or meetings due to schedule conflicts, I think it's for the best. I'm enjoying UT2k3 alot online, and play it nearly daily.

I finished my first AMV! It uses clips from Evangelion (episodes and "End of Evangelion"), and uses the Rammstein song "Mutter". I think it turned out really well for my first AMV. I especially like how Misato is shown protecting Shinji at the end of it. And incase you're wondering, I used a dual-processor G4 Mac and Final Cut Pro 4 to do it. We have a nice one at work, heh.

Our QuakeCon trip is all planned out. And, I might not be bringing this laptop with me down there. I applied for an AlienWare credit card, and if I get it, I'll be getting the Area-51 Extreme, and just in time for QuakeCon.

Other than that...here's a few songs I've been hooked on this week:
-"Born to Synthesize" by Mona Lisa Overdrive (On DJ Micro's "My Frequency 001" disc)
-"Trauma" on Christopher Lawrence's USA Trance cd thing
-Track 8 on Christopher Lawrence's "Around the World" cd
-"Revolution (Alphazone Remix)" by BK on the same DJ Micro cd as above
-"Someone" by Ascension (original mix)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/albumofweek.shtml

Went by the bookstore at school yesterday (after receiving some news that I should) and found some cool free stuff sitting out front. I now have a new 10base-T 3Com NIC card (old, yes, but better than nothing, especially since I'll only use it for hubbing my comps at home in a very simple way). And I also picked up a free copy of Turbo Pascal 7.0 by Borland. Unfortunately, it's on four 3.5" floppies, so I'll have to wait 'till I can put them on CD to install it. But, looks like I'll be learning Pascal and Turbo Visual now. Yay, another programming language to learn!

This week was an odd week. Since I worked with Chuck last weekend, I had Monday and Tuesday off, meaning that I went back to work on Wednesday. Now I'm off again, and it just doesn't feel right. I'd rather be working, actually. On top of that, Thursday I started working on my first AMV, combining Rammstein's "Mutter" with Evangelion clips. I was so into it that day, I actually missed lunch. Which, for me, is very strange indeed.

I'm about 1/4 of the way finished with the AMV. I get to do it on a dual-processor Mac G4 with dual monitors and Final Cut Pro 4. Heh, so cool to be using this stuff...I've got the first section of the song done, and about half of the second, as well as the little quiet section of the song where it has all those strings and the guy yells "Mutter!" I found the perfect section from Evangelion for that!

Somehow...I haven't played DDR since last weekend. Maybe that's why this week feels strange. I did get an adapter in the mail to hook my PSX pad up to my computer through USB, so now I can practice more songs at home finally. Like...Dam Dariam, When The Saints Go Marching, Sakura, and Paranoia (all on maniac, except Sakura on Oni).

QuakeCon is getting near, and I'm getting more excited. We never did find a fourth member to go, so it looks like it'll be three of us. And we're probably just going to use our own cars rather than rent one. Which I have no problem with. After all, I've got subs to keep me entertained now!

Though, I think I'm starting to loose my hearing because of them. I bought the Evanescence cd (which I absolutely love...and Amy Lee's hot as hell), and this has kinda put me back into a hard rock/metal sort of mood. This week, I've pretty much only listened to them and Rammstein (a little Linkin Park thrown in there as well). And I listen to it so loud, I think it's affecting me. Best turn it down, especially since I need my hearing to record stuff. Now lets see if I actually follow through with that.

I think Becca's going to be having her surgery soon. I hope everything goes alright for her. I'll be thinking about her and hoping the best.

I have no idea what's up with the subject line. I hate subjects...

Yesterday, Chuck (this guy who works in the office next to me) and I spent the day playing DDR on my PSX and watching anime. At work. I passed Paranoia on trick with a B, as well as nearly passing it on maniac. My legs just couldn't take it and I let a whole slew of notes go by(and I was only like 8 bars away from the end!) He did good, too. We found a way cool song called...uhh...whatever that one with the blue logo is on Konamix.

The anime we watched was "Otaku no Video". Wow, those people are obsessed! Some were sad, and I almost felt bad for them (like the 2nd one interviewed). The animation was cool, though, and was quite hilarious. I like Kubo, he's cool. And Ueno was hot, as was Sato. Too bad they're cartoons (or...wait...Anime, sorry :P). I'm going to go buy myself a copy tomorrow to help watch for symptoms and apply medication as necessary :)

Also qualified for a UT2003 clan this weekend. I now have to be known as "-=AU=-T|Misato" on servers, lol. I just need to reinstall UT2003 and all those updates (good thing for DSL here and a T3 at work), and then I can start practicing with them.

Oh, and here's a pic (jpeg) and movie (Quicktime format, 11.2 megs) of me doin' DDR. This was the song "Era" on Maniac on my home pad (which are harder, imo. Much better in the arcade). Passed with a B:

http://www.du.edu/~ahunt/andyddr.jpg
http://www.du.edu/~ahunt/andy_ddr.MOV

At least the king here at my work place...

I have just passed Sakura on maniac (10-foot) with a C in StepMania (DDR emulator). Hell. Yes. Time to get the A now...

Choose a face.

I got my new 120gig, 7200rpm Western Digital Special Edition hard drive today. Installed it in a Bafo external box and hooked it up via firewire. Wow...I've never had this much space before! So happy...

Linux is now working fine. I usually boot into that, save for the occasional boot into Windows to view vids, use MSN, and play some games. I'm liking Gnome very much, and am finding Linux addicting.

I get to work all this weekend :(. But, Sunday, Chuck also works, so /me and Chuck are playin' DDR with my pad :).

An über-hot Chinese girl came into work today to see if she could use a printer. Normally, we don't let them, but...it amazes me what men do for women. Damn, should have asked for her name and number ::hits head with hand::

MUSH-wise, we had a private Mush going until someone came up with the idea of a treaty between Shoreside and 8Bit. Some 8Bit-ers came over, started acting like they owned the place, tried to do their little "civilization" thing on us, so we asked them to leave/stop. They didn't, so we tried banning them. No luck. So then, 8Bit declared war on Shoreside. Great, now I'm in the middle of a war, and my job on the mush is the night club's DJ. What am I going to do, throw records at them and try to stab them with my needles? ::shakes head:: But, in any case, Chuck wants to try the Mush now, which will be cool. Wonder if his char will be a male or female...

I installed Topologi Linux yesterday. It's very close to Slackware Linux, except no partitioning is needed. It runs on the same partition as Windows. So far, I like it. I run Linux most of the time, and when I need to, I just reboot into Windows XP. So, no real problems, except...

When I first logged in as root, I used the GUI KDE 3.1. Nice GUI, but after a while, I logged in as myself (andrew) and switched my GUI to GNOME. I like this one alot better. Unfortunately I can't seem to get root to switch over to GNOME. Any suggestions?

And anyone know a good MUSH/Muck client for Linux? I downloaded one for GNOME, but I need root permissions to compile it :(.

Other than that, I was looking through my drawer the other day and found $300. Heh, I forgot that I had kept it in there for safe keeping. I think I'll go buy a huge firewire hard drive now. Like the 120gig range. And a new double keyboard stand for my synth stuff.

Hmm, interesting weekend...started off on Thursday actually. The lights went out at work, so we were all forced to leave at about 1:30. So, I left and headed straight for the mall, and subsequently the DDR machines there. While I was there, I passed Kick the Can on maniac, first try ever, with a B, as well as got two ladies who looked to be in their late 40's to mid 50's to try it. They actually loved it, and were still playing by the time I left. It looked like they had two granddaughters there with them, one of which looked close to my age. But, she didn't take notice to my semi-1337 DDR moves... :(

Then, yesterday,got a haircut at my godmother's salon. My normal barber, as it turns out, is closed July 4th through the 26th. So, I went to the person whom I still call "Godmommy". After that, I went to the mall with my friend where I bought Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball and The Thing. The Thing I'd played before, and it's quite a good game. DoAXBV...well, it's actually unusually addicting, and not because of the women in it. I actually enjoy playing the volleyball matches, as well as in the casino. And somehow, I enjoy collecting things in it that have no value whatsoever.

We then went to the Westminster mall, where, of course, more DDR was played. This time, I passed Kick the Can on maniac with a B, but I was literally one step away from an A. I missed just ONE STEP, with like 63 or 67 greats and the rest perfects. I think I stepped a bit too far out of one box...

And then came today...I found $300 in my drawer which I didn't know I still had. So, I'm going to go buy a digital camera this week. And I finally washed my car's outside.

Well, my cd and vinyl of the new Kraftwerk single "Tour de France 2003" arrived today. My thoughts? Kraftwerk are gods.

Upon first listen, I could already tell that this was Kraftwerk. After all these years, they're still in a league of their own, and still sound unique. The lush and amazing sounds they have forged for this release are breathtaking and fit the song perfectly. Many different effects and filters were obviously layered onto these aural pieces of candy, and all are carried out in a precision that only they can achieve.

And talk about danceable...I can't stop grooving to it! Amazingly rich in the rhythm area for a bunch of 50 year old German guys.

I may try rearranging one of these tracks. Possibly Version 1 or the Long Distance Version.

Lyrics, info, and all that other nice stuff is at http://kraftwerk.technopop.com.br

Kraftwerk...well done!

Love this song. Going to do an AMV of it, probably with Eva.

WOLFEN (DAS TIER IN MIR) by E Nomine
(c) 2001 (I think)
Taken from their website, enomine-germany.de

Dunkle Wolken und finstere Gedanken
die Vollmondnacht zerbricht meine Schranken
in mir kommt die Gier auf Getier
das ich massakrier'
ich spür diese Lust, den Blutrausch jetzt und hier
tief in der Nacht die funkelnden Sterne
ein süßer Geruch zieht mich in die Ferne
Hab acht, wenn ganz sacht in der Nacht
meine Glut entfacht

Fremde Gedanken, wilde Gelüste
das Verlangen nach zartem Fleisch von Brüsten
will reißen, will beißen, zerfleischen, zerfetzen
bei lustvoller Jagd meine Beute hetzen
glutrote Augen folgen deiner Spur
die Witterung führt über weite Flur
ich mutier' zum Tier, bin ein Geschöpf der Nacht
ich bin der Jäger des Mondes, bis der Morgen erwacht


Es ist das Tier in mir
es weckt die Gier in mir
hab dich zum Fressen gern
kannst du mein Verlangen spür'n


silva in lumine
lunae arcana est
domus mea
silva in lumine
stella rum est

Translation, thanks go Google:

Dark clouds and dark thoughts
the full moon night breaks my barriers
in me comes greed on Getier
which I more massacre
I feel this desire, the blood intoxication now and here
deeply at the night the sparkling stars
a sweet smell pulls me into the distance
Have eight, if sacht completely at the night
my glow kindles

Strange thought, wild Gelueste
the demand for tender meat of chests
wants to tear, wants to bite, zerfleischen, zerfetzen
rush my booty with desireful hunt
glow-red eyes follow your trace
the weather leads across far corridor
I mutate ' to the animal, are a creature of the night
I am the hunter of the moon, until the morning awakes

It is the animal in me
it wakes greed in me
like you to the food
you know my demand spuer'n

silva in lumine
lunae arcana est
domus mea
silva in lumine
stella rum est

http://www.gamespydaily.com/news/screenshots.asp?id=5257

I just noticed this, not sure if anyone else has. I want to buy one simply for the collectability. Not that I'll ever wear one, lol.

I decided to go and read my Ex's LiveJournal this morning for no reason except to see how she was doing. I feel bad for her now, as it looks like she's going through some real hard times. At the end of the school year she had messed up her knee real bad. And now I guess they've found some stuff that's going to require multiple surgeries, and will prevent her from studying abroad next quarter in Germany. She was extremely excited to go, and now she can't. I sure hope something works out for her. It's too bad all this is happening.

The somewhat ironic thing is that she was the one who introduced me to DDR, and she was damned good too. Doesn't look like we'll be playing together anytime soon :( (though, I doubt she'd want to play DDR with me anymore, though I was wanting to show her how far I'd come, and thank her for helping me when I first started).

I don't know what is with me these past two months or so. It's like my creative side has been fragged and is lying there bleading while the side that houses my abilities is advancing instead. I haven't been able to turn out a new Doom level in two months, which isn't good for Kill obviously. Hell, I haven't even been able to get out much music or even some good poems. I dunno what is with me or what to do. I just have a horrible creative block in my mind right now.

On a lighter note, I bought a 2nd XBox and game yesterday. The game's called "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter". It's an ok game, not sure how much I'll play it. It's an average FPS with a few controller issues and plot issues. But, it'll keep me entertained for the time being.

But now that I have a working XBox, I can finally get around to buying games like Hitman 2, Red Faction 2, Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball, and MechAssault. I already preordered the the new DDR game for it ;)

Went to the arcade yet again tonight. Poured all of $5 into DDR. And accomplished alot. Under the suggestion of my friend, I decided to try Double mode, and found it quite fun. I passed three of the four songs in my game with B's, and maybe one C...(Afronova beat me, but I was getting wore out by then).

Also attempted Max300 on trick. I would have done good, but the second run of 8th notes...well, I forgot they were there and paused..killing me. I'll try next time, as I'm pretty sure I can pass it. It started out very well.

I did manage to pass Matsuri Japan on manaic finally, though. That has to be the best part of tonight! Gallops and long 8th note runs...DDR is now my bitch. And I like to stomp on new bitch.

Other than that...I met a girl through an online game of UT2003.

In my free time lately, I've been trying to come up with the meaning of life. For some reason, I keep getting 42.5, so somewhere, I'm have an error in my calculations...

Our pool is, finally, almost fixed. All that's left to do is for the pool guy to finish off some minor repairs at our filter and pump, put the carpet back, and for me to clean it out. In the end, he had to break up the concrete decking in three different places around the pool to find the leak. It was finally found in a small plastic elbow joint at the corner near the fence. So, we should be swimming by next week! I'll see if I can get a picture of it when it's fixed.

Went and did some DDR again last night. I'm definitely improving, as I can now pass Max300 with a B. Also did some other stuff, like passing Era yet again on maniac, Kick the Can, Candy, and other cool songs. I actually never did do Healing Vision on maniac, which is strange. I almost always do that one, since I can get a B on it.

Got the new Kraftwerk album on preorder now. Once again on cd and a 2-vinyl package. Also, if you go here, you can view their little advertisement/sample of their single.