Hitsujiyaki!

Summer’s heading out, Fall’s on its way over

Filed under Day in Review

It’s kind of been a rough summer.  I’m not saying that it was all bad but for every high there was a definite low.  I’m in such a different place than I would have imagined myself being three months ago.

I got to travel during the summer and I’m always grateful that I am able to travel.  I went to Orlando with my mom for a week.  She was attending a conference for work which was originally scheduled to be in Nashville but was moved to Orlando when the city was flooded.  =(  We didn’t go to any theme parks but we went to Downtown Disney, the Universal Studios City Walk, and two different outlet malls.  We stayed at the Hilton Orlando and it was really nice.  We even got to stop at my aunt’s house in California on the way back home.

A month later I went back to California for the weekend.  My paternal grandparents celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.  =D  My entire family was there and it was a great day.  I have so many wonderful aunts, uncles, cousins that I don’t usually get to see.  We went to Disneyland on my last day and I came home to go to summer school and my parents continued their vacation by going to New York with my grandma and my aunts.

Physics over the summer went well.  My lab partner was awesome.  Fall semester starts on Monday and there are still a few undecided things up in the air.

My guild got to 9/12 hard mode kills in Icecrown Citadel.  We’re taking a few weeks off before we dive back into things.  It would be really awesome to have one of those Bloodbathed Frostbrood drakes that’s rewarded from the meta achievement.  Some would say that it’s just a bragging right, that it’s not really worth the time and effort so close to Cataclysm.  I think that based on the small, twice a week nature of our guild having one of those would totally be worth bragging about.  Anyone can accomplish something with twelve or more hours of raiding a week but it takes skill to do it with six hours or less.

I’d like to get serious about some weight loss.  I talk about it a lot but it’s time to start walking the walk.  Sometimes I feel that it’s difficult because I feel like I don’t have a support system.  If I’m honest with people will they be supportive?  My mom offhandedly mentioned taking family photos next year because I’ll be 25 and we haven’t taken a professional family photo since I graduate from high school.  I think that’s a really good reason to lose some weight in addition to the other obvious reasons.  I feel like I need some help but I don’t know who to ask.

I did some back to school shopping today, mainly clothes.  I bought new jeans because I currently have just one pair that I like to wear and that won’t do.  But while I was in Old Navy looking at jeans I made an impulse purchase because this jacket was calling my name:

It’s fitted and the side zipper is really cool.  It kind of looks like they took a leather jacket style and reproduced it in cotton.  It fits perfectly except that it’s a little tight in the arms but I like it so much that the jacket itself is motivating me to do what I need to do to keep it fitting on me.  Is it too cool for me to wear to school?  I would definitely wear it for going out.  And obviously it’s the perfect choice for riding on the motorcycle.

And yes that’s what Kimmie does when I lay out clothes, she lies on them.  It becomes a problem when I’m folding laundry.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Filed under Movies

On Saturday I was lucky enough to go to the movies with my friends and see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World!  I’m going to lay my cards on the table right now and tell you that I loved it.

We went to the Dole Cannery Regal Theaters.  Cody and I like to go to Dole because it’s usually less crowded than Ward which is the closest theater to the apartment.  You can usually see a movie at Dole on its opening day and not have to wait in line.  Dole was also the theater showing the DCI Quarterfinals earlier in the week that unfortunately got canceled due to a problem with the satellite feed.  I couldn’t go but I felt bad for those who were able to.  =(

As a courtesy to the invisible people who may read this, here is your warning that the following will contain spoilers.

I loved Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.  For some odd reason I was worried that I liked the movie a little too much but just like anyone else I’m entitled to my own opinion.  I was a little let down by the ending.  I felt like the movie had taken us on this wild ride of music, video games, sarcasm, and fight sequences just to come to a screeching halt, tell a lame joke, and say “And they all lived happily ever after.”  It’s good that Scott learns to grow up a little and it’s good that he gets the girl but is that really all there is?  This was slightly made up by the 8-bit Scott at the end of the credits but I was still a little disappointed.

Everything that comes before the ending was awesome.  The use of visuals alongside the live action in the movie reminded me of Zombieland but multiplied by a thousand.  There really is nothing else that looks like this movie.  I’ve never read the graphic novel but the whole thing felt like a loving shout out to gamers and I think I smiled the whole way through it.  The Seinfield/sitcom part in the middle was unexpected but still funny.  There were times when the transition between scenes seemed very short and abrupt but I thought that it was because the source material was a graphic novel.

There is a chance that I liked this movie because I am a member of its perfect audience.  Yes, the movie is chock-full of video game references.  Yes, the movie’s music is filled with the rock of Sex Bob-omb and synthesized video game themes.  Yes, Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim kind of feels like Michael Cera in some of his other roles.  Yes, the action is quick.  Yes, the movie as a whole is kind of geeky.  If combined these things sound awesome to you, you’ll probably enjoy it and you should really go see it.  If it doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, just don’t go and save yourself the money.  But if you’re like me (grew up with and/or love video games, enjoy geek culture) you should definitely see it as you’ve never seen anything like this before.

On a side note I think I have a crush on Stephen Stills…

The guitar playing, the singing, the pre-show freaking out, the stubble.  It’s all very awesome.  ^_^;;

Go see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World!  You will not pee due to boredom!

FPS makes me dizzy

Filed under Video Games

I recently started playing Borderlands with my boyfriend.  He bought it a few months ago for himself.  I decided to try it after listening to the ladies on Ladies of Leet praising it week after week.  I knew it was an FPS because I saw my boyfriend playing it.  I’m really not an FPS kind of gamer; I rarely ever play them and the camera motion has a tendency to make me dizzy.  Even WoW can make me dizzy if I’m running and twisting the camera in a different direction.  But I really wanted to try something new and my boyfriend was excited to have someone to play with.

My character is level 4 now.  I picked Roland the soldier.  He’s a big burly man but not quite as big as Brick the berserker.  I get to shoot guns and slash at things with knives.  My boyfriend is playing a hunter and he played with me.  There’s loot just like in WoW which is always fun.  I keep furiously smashing R in an attempt to reload my gun before something jumps on me.  It’s fun but…

I’m still getting so dizzy.  The mouse controls the aiming of the gun and the direction of the camera in general.  It’s so sensitive and I constantly find myself wanting to move the mouse when my arm becomes uncomfortable.  This motion doesn’t matter at all in WoW if I’m not holding down any mouse buttons but in Borderlands it moves the camera in all crazy directions and just makes my head spin.  I have to close my eyes, adjust my mouse, and then open my eyes again.

Is there anything I can do?  Aspirin or motion-sickness pills before playing?  Or is there no solution other than acclimation?  I really like the game other than the headaches that it gives me.  I want to keep playing with my boyfriend but I know we can only play in short bursts, unlike WoW which we can play for hours.

I think I’ll try again tomorrow.  I also want to play Portal which looks to present me with the same problem.