We Now Continue Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Following my lack of blog posts this summer, we now continue with our regularly scheduled programming. Also known as rambling on about things that interest me, and hopefully interest the literature buffs/students such as myself out there.

Classes have begun this week, preceded by several things, which I will describe in a small amount of detail. My job at Wal-Mart ended the second week of August. The strange thing about that was that a part of me was sad to go. Of course, that kind of job is physically tasking as well of mental, and although I learned a lot, it is not something I want to do as a career. I could say more about what I think about Wal-Mart, but I'm not going to speak out against it.

The week before classes started (last week) I attended a leadership conference through the college; mostly aimed towards "student leaders" in charge or putting together student organizations on campus. I learned a great deal from the conference--honestly more than I thought I would. As I said, there was a lot of emphasis on how to keep a club or organization together; the subjects discussed were recruitment, event planning, and knowing how to keep the leadership going after you graduate. I attended all of the recruitment ones, because my friend and I are desperately trying to keep the campus's English club staying afloat. That will be a challenge this semester.

Speaking of campus and academics, I'm taking several classes that I'm really excited about. I'm taking three sociology classes; sociology of gender, individual and society, and research methods. All three of these classes seem pretty promising, and I'm enthusiastic about them. But the two classes that I'm really excited about are Journalism and Contemporary British Literature. I have a feeling I've already fell in love with both of the professors. The professor for Journalism is brand new to the college and to the area, but she has a really great, friendly attitude about everything. I think I'm going to really like her class. As for Contemporary British Literature, the professor is crazy. But the awesome kind of crazy. A lot of English professors and teachers have this kind of crazy, where you think, "You are weird but awesome! Where can I sign up?!" Those are my favorite professors--those not afraid to speak their minds.

So, in conclusion, I am pretty pumped for everything that is going on in my life.

Ramblings from the Peanut Gallery

It's been a busy week. I have been mentally preparing for my worker's orientation at Wal-Mart for some time. As it's tomorrow, it's finally coming to a head and although I am nervous as hell, I think I am ready. I did get several sets of work clothes (here and there, thrift shops are my best friend), so I am ready in that respect. I also got my bicycle fixed today so I can bike the two miles to work whenever I need to come in.



Other than the work stuff and running errands, it's been pretty chill here. I'm attempting to knit slippers (though when it hits 90, my hands sweat too much, I found) and after that I'll be probably trying my hands on a hat or a scarf. We'll see. I will knit bookmarks for anyone--I've been getting really good at it. I found that knitting is just like anything--the more you practice, the better and more skilled you're going to get.



Something else I've been doing is reading--my newest favorite author is a thriller writer named Nate Kenyon. I think he's fairly new on the market, as the book I am currently reading was published in 2008. At any rate, his writing is amazing—the descriptions of things and people in the book make you fall right into the writer's world. The characters are life-like and not static in the least. The way he describes things makes you want to turn the pages faster and faster so you can find out what happens. The best way to describe Kenyon's writing is that it's better than watching any thriller/suspense movie on the market. It's simply so real—the character's backgrounds are revealed ever so slowly, and one can tell that Kenyon carefully picks and chooses his scenes and words. He works out the plot like a master, and I'm really glad I stumbled upon his work. I want to use his technique and style in my own writing—hopefully some of his style will rub off on me. Oh, the book I am reading currently is called “The Reach,” by Nate Kenyon. I will write a book review when I finish it.



There is something I am going to rant about today, though, and if you don't want to hear it, please stop reading. I am very irritated over something that happened on Facebook today. I won't go into details, but nevertheless. So I posted a picture that said who I was going to vote for president in the fall (I am old enough to vote in this upcoming election). Some people were obviously butthurt over my opinion and caused a shitstorm on my page. Needless to say, I am subsquently annoyed at some people's immaturity and am actually afraid to post political things like that in the future. I should be able to post what I want on facebook without people having a cow about my opinions. Come on, people, we are all mature adults here. Just because it's the interwebs doesn't mean that that rule ceases to apply. Everyone is going to see what is on my page, and I was not immature at all. You don't like my opinion? Don't make a huge freaking deal about it. Agree to disagree, guys. Ugh.



Now that's off my chest, I am going to wish everyone the best of weekends. It seems like a busy weekend for everyone—I'm going to be busy all day tomorrow, my sister will be going to a wedding on Sunday, and my boyfriend is going to be busy himself toying with his newest obsession. It all sounds like a lot of fun for everybody.

Awesome Postcards

I thought I would take a break from rambling on about myself (not that anyone reads this) and show some awesome postcards I have received from Postcrossing, and have an update at the end of the post. If you don't already know what that is, it's a site where you can send postcards back and forth to and from users around the world. It's a very fun hobby, and I've learned a lot about different cultures through it. Postcrossing is very fun, indeed. However, there is only one drawback to this fun, free project--international stamps have really gone through the roof. The price of postcards themselves isn't much better, and it's awfully hard to find good ones, sometimes.

This is one of the very first postcards I received. It's from the Czech Republic, and I received it mid-February. A couple people I showed it to were a wee creeped out--however, I found this postcard to be adorable. These puppets are actually Czech puppets from a famous puppet show called "Spejbl and Hurvinek." Intrigued, I looked up videos on youtube to see the puppet show. Alas, I found none in English or with subtitles.

This is a relatively recent postcard, I received it a couple weeks ago from Belgium. For those of you who don't know about TinTin, it was a comic written by a Belgian artist named Herge from the 1940s to the 1960s. It detailed the adventures of a young reporter/adventurer named TinTin, his dog Snowy, and his friend Captain Haddock, as well as others. This postcard in particular is the comic book cover of the last TinTin comic book Herge ever wrote (the book published posthumously does not count). Having actually read some of the comics myself and being urged to watch the movie (The Adventures of TinTin, 2011), I am truly fascinated by the fandom in general and absolutely loved this postcard.

Not too much to say about this one--it's an Alice in Wonderland postcard from Russia. Not very dark, but a very fun postcard, overall. The writing on the top is the very first paragraph of... You guessed it, Lewis Carroll's famous novel, Alice In Wonderland.

This postcard is actually one I really like a lot--mostly because of the history behind it. I received this just a couple days ago from Belarus, a country bordering Russia. I was boggled for some time because I didn't know who the man on the postcard was. The description on the bottom left of the postcard explaining who it was was unfortunately completely in Russian. Also cool about this postcard--the person who sent it had placed a banana scratch and sniff sticker on the back. Funnily enough, it still smelled like bananas after traveling over half the globe.

Anyhow, I messaged the user asking him who the man was on the postcard. He told me the person was "Vitovt, an ancient king." Well, I looked up the name, and actually found out Vitovt was the Rusyn (a dialect of Belarusian I believe) for the apparently very famous ruler of ancient Lithuania, Vytautas the Great. He ruled Lithuania (Then called The Grand Duchy of Lithuania) and other countries during the late 1300s and early 1400s.Vytautas has apparently become a legendary hero among the people of Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine, and other countries. I was amazed at the amount of knowledge about ancient history I got from just one postcard.

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I have a few updates about life and what you could call personal things. I just got hired at Wal-Mart and will be going to the hiring appointment and interview bright and early tomorrow morning. I'm glad I got a summer job--I can save the money for a car or an apartment when I finally move out of the college dormitories.

Also, I can see again, as I got my frames and lenses yesterday. It's pretty amazing how much of a difference they make. Apparently my eyes are bad enough that people were worried that I was driving without them. Unfortunately, I don't have neither a license nor a car--but I wouldn't drive without glasses anyway, as I could cause a serious accident or get fined if pulled over without them.

I have also been writing different things. If I feel daring enough, I'll post excerpts on this blog in the near future.

Possible Job and an Injury

As I said in my last blog post, I have been very very gung-ho about getting a job for the summer. I've applied online, I've harassed nearly every store employee, I've went door to door. Until yesterday, however, I was quite dejected because nearly no one is hiring and I was practically at the end of my rope patience wise. Then I received a phone call requesting an interview for a job at the gas station a little bit out of town. I went to the interview, and it sounds very promising.

Now about the injury that I mentioned in the title--the day before yesterday, I sprained my ankle riding my bicycle. I wasn't being very smart on my bike, but I suppose I got what I deserved after all. Of course, that didn't look very good at the job interview--despite being presentable clothing-wise, I was on crutches, and she did ask about it. However, there isn't much I can do. If I get the job, that will be awesome and I will be able to FINALLY say, "I worked this summer," when people always ask that question, "So, what did YOU do this summer? (expecting a miraculous answer)" If not, I'll keep on trying. I won't give up on a job for a while; after all, my experience working at food service during the school year looks good and I can say how awesome I was dealing with nasty, impatient people on a regular basis.

I remember vividly how rude my fellow students were to me when I was making them sub sandwiches; the snide glares, the stuck-up air... I am not ashamed at working food service. I have to work somewhere. What really makes me mad is when people complain to me, "I can't find any part-time job anywhere!!" I reply, "Why not work at PACES? It's better than nothing." At that point, they metaphorically stick their nose up and say, "PACES? Ew, I would never work there." The conversation peters off, and I am standing there thinking, You're just not desperate enough.

Random, needful rant over, I guess that's all I have for today. I suppose there is one more thing I could mention...

I now know how to knit AND crochet. Having been personally taught how to knit, I took it on myself to learn crocheting... Crochet for Dummies, did its job fairly well. Unlike a person, a book has unlimited patience... That is in all jest, of course. I would take people over books any day.

That being said, once I get better at crocheting/knitting, I want to try my hand at anigurumi... There are many books on that in the library, but that's going to wait until I'm fairly decent at crocheting.

Musings

Again, it's been a long time since I've written in this blog. Finals week was very stressful, but that has been over for a couple of weeks now, and now I'm officially a junior in college. Yup, a junior in college. When did that happen? Another school year has passed me by, and I've been on summer break for about a week or so.

So my plans for this summer include (trying) to get a job. Also on the to-do list is getting my creative juices flowing, as well as catching up on things I usually don't have time to do--like reading, playing video games, and watching movies. To those who actually read this blog, if you have any suggestions about any awesome games/books/movies you have watched/played/read, please let me know and I'll check them out.

The job search has been moot so far. I have went on several trips to go job hunting, and it turns out that very few places in town are actually hiring. I filled out a few applications (I fear in vain), but the reply I kept on getting was "No, we're not hiring. Do you want to fill out an application?" There's no point in filling out an application if you guys aren't hiring. This is only a summer job... Anyways, I suppose that this is a testament to the fact that the economy still really hasn't recovered since 2008. If I don't get a job, it won't be the end of the world, but it would certainly be a good thing.

In other news, I've been trying to re-read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and of course it's proving as difficult as the first time (as I have only read in full the first novel in the trilogy). My boyfriend gave me the whole set as a gift (his attention span couldn't handle the dry, boring parts of LOTR), and I've been trying to tackle the novels ever since. My favorite character is either Frodo or Gandalf, I can never choose. Gandalf is awesome in his mysterious superiority, but Frodo is the real hero of the series.

Also going to read some manga this summer. Got out some InuYasha and Full Metal Alchemist from the library today. I have read FMA before, but that was a few years ago, and it will be fun to re-read it again. I remember that it does get darker and more sadistic as the series goes on, but the awesome art and main characters mostly stay the same.

As for my creative side of things, I plan on working on some new comics with my sister, as well as working on my characters, Victor and Oliver. If you don't remember them, I did place an excerpt from a practice concept that I had here. It's very hard to develop Victor because he originally was a dark hero. Then, coming to a realization, I split Victor into two characters--the original Victor is now a bona-fide evil, evil, antagonist. The character that split off, Oliver, is now the light hero. Of course, coupled with my sister's characters (Jelar, a vampire, Celia, the former lover of Victor, and others), we plan to write several stories, or even perhaps a novel together. That will be fun, and I'll keep you posted on that.

Game Review--Blackwell Legacy

Hello, all those in the blogosphere! I have for you all today a game review on the first game in a series--the indie PC game series known as the Blackwell series. Being extremely bored over March break, I bought the whole series on Steam. I have NOT regretted it--I fell in LOVE with the series, and just finished the last game a few days ago (having stayed up until 2 am to finish said game). So as I review the four games in the series, I will post the reviews here as well as on deviantart. So, the first game in the series: Blackwell Legacy.

Awesome game, of course. Having seen the Youtube trailer for the game before buying the bundle, I was expecting a lot. And I got everything I expected, and more.

Summary: Rosangela Blackwell, a young freelance writer living in present day New York City, makes a startling discovery after her aunt's death. The appearance of her spirit guide, Joey Mallone, makes Rosa aware of the fact that she is part of a family legacy of mediums. With Joey's help, Rosa solves the mystery of a teen suicide.

Art/Graphics/Music: The graphics in this game are what can only be called as “retro”--they give the player a classic feel while playing the game. There are portraits for each character while they are speaking, and the art for those portraits is done very well. The music for this game (in fact, for the whole series), is a jazz type music, which is suitable for the dark themes that keep popping up in the storyline. Overall, the graphics, art, and music for this game were done extremely well for an independent company, and there are few glitches to be found in the game.

Plot/Storyline/Characterization: The Blackwell series is mostly plot-focused, so I won't be revealing too much of the plot in these reviews (to minimize spoilers). However, the plot and the storyline of this game was very smooth, the transitions in the plot line not too slow. The plot was fast at times, but as this was the first game, I was not too insulted by that. The characters in the game were very thought out and very well characterized. I immediately fell in love with the character of Joey; his wit, sarcastic charm, and mysteriousness gave the game some much-needed humor. Rosa, too, is an essential, unique character that is the center of the plot and has plenty of focus throughout the game—after all, she is the only character you can control (in this first game, anyway). Even the minor characters of Rosa's next door neighbor and the people she interviews at the college were not unnecessary at all and gave the storyline what it needed to be a very good game.

I did not find very many cons to this first game; however, if there was one thing I could improve on Blackwell Legacy it would be to just add a little more game play to the end of the game, perhaps include one more puzzle to solve for Rosa and Joey. However, perhaps this is what the producer intended—for the reader to be begging for more adventures.

Also a kudos to the voice actors—they really personified the game in a way I would have never thought possible. They did a really good job and this game series wouldn't be half as good without them.

 

Overall Themes: Death, suicide, afterlife, college experiences, loss.

Extras: Two commentaries by David Gilbert can be activated while playing the game. However, this is not advised while playing the game the first time, as spoilers are revealed.

Conclusion: Overall, “Blackwell Legacy” was a really fun game to play and is a great beginning to a nicely thought out video game series. The retro style and some of the themes of the game may not appeal to some players. However, as this game is classified as “indie,” it is expected that only a certain niche of gamers would enjoy this. The storyline, characterization, and music of this game is overall appealing, and generally leaves the player wanting a sequel.

Credits: 

 

Publisher and Developer: WadjetEye Games

Designer/Producer: David Gilbert

Format: PC

Type of Game: Indie/Graphic Adventure/Point-and-Click

Release Date: December 23, 2006

Voice Acting: Abe Goldfarb, Sande Chen

Also, the trailer for the whole gaming series, which I advise to watch:

Have a good one, everybody!

 

Life and a Game Recommendation

Didn't really know what to title this thing, so I just decided to come up with some lame-o title.

Of course, my life has gotten increasingly busy (as usual), what with work, classes, clubs, and the crunch that everyone is feeling as the end of the semester starts to catch up on everyone. I barely have time to breathe at the end of the day--especially yesterday, when the student government had to pass their budget.

Apparently, the college student government budget is a horrid, enormous thing that happens once a year in March. It gives the funding to all of the clubs from our Student Activity Fee. Then the members of student govt (treasurers of clubs and representatives from the dorms) vote on every single club's budget. It took seven hours over two days to pass the budget. There was a lot of tension, and as I have never been a part of student government, this was a surprise and a half. I still have a headache from part two, that happened today.

I'm actually surprised I have half a second to write in this blog. It truly has been quite insane, especially with my plans for this summer, which are continuing to loom over me kind of like a dark cloud. If they are implemented, I will probably write a whole separate blog on the events surrounding it. But for now, since these plans are not in solid stone and may change, I think I'm going to keep it under wraps for now.

I do have one awesome thing to discuss though. Over my Spring break (a couple weeks ago), I was really bored and looking for games on Steam. While looking for good adventure/RPG games (my favorite), I stumbled upon the Blackwell series. Although this series has so-so for graphics, I instantly fell in love with the characters and the storyline. You can find a trailer for the whole game series here. The trailer is just as awesome as the games, but the series is so intense. I'll probably have a review once I finish all of the games. I'm on game number three now, so be sure to watch out for that soon.

Until next time, also known as when I have some free time to write about my life.