With Love from Texas

So I've been here for quite a while now I suppose, and once again I am glad I do not live here. I have accomplished just about everything I hoped to while here.

I have played and beaten New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS. Not quite difficult enough I say.

I have purchased, played, and beaten The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Nintendo Gamecube. Also easy, but everything I suspected it would be.

That was pretty much all I planned to do. Now I have a whole other week and so many days to do other stuff.

And now for a story about the Nintendo Wii. On my second full day here, my mother had me wait outside of Target for 11 hours so I could get one. It wasn't so bad, and I got very comfortable while waiting. The end.

Wii Sports is a lot of fun. I have a Wii Fitness Age of 24. Rockin. I'm pretty good at the golf and tennis, ok at bowling and boxing, but less than spectacular at the baseball game. Alas.

Well, that is pretty much it.

Live from Saint Paul in Building 1, it's Monday morining!

I've got some busy times ahead of me for the next two weeks. First, but certainly not foremost, is the Christmas Party. As much as I am able to help provide for it financially, there is still the matter that I'm not allowed to keep food in my room under any circumstances, and I would hate for them to find and confiscate it. It is out of my hands quite literally, but I still wish I could do more to contribute to the Small Group.

For those of you who got the obvious reference that this entry's title makes, I will say there is a reason for it. I've recently recieved the opportunity to go to New York City to get an interview with Amtrak as a Clerk Typist. I'll be going out to inverview for this position on the 12th, which perhaps means that I will be missing out on House Church :( . This position is nearly perfect for me, since it requires all the things that I happen to be good at in life (i.e. Microsoft Office and typing fast). While I am no longer feeling anxious about whether or not I should go, I am still rather concerned for my safety and ability to survive in such an environment such as that. I think I will be ok in the long run though, assuming I do get the job (and since there will be at least four other people going for it, there is a decent chance that I will not).

I wish that was the only crossroads that I am at in life, but it is not. There is also a potential offer from my ever-generous Uncle to return to Texas and attend college with him paying for it. This possibility is especially tempting because it means being with my family again. However, it is also especially noxious for the exact same reason.

Furthermore, I have my first ever graduation coming up on the 14th, which is a bit exciting I guess except for all the potential work that has to go into it. Then again, I'll be in New York for most of it, so I guess it doesn't matter that much. Exactly one day after graduation I'll be flying on yet another plane home to Texas where I will spend the next two and a half weeks getting to know the people I am closest to genetically all over again. I'm looking forward to playing New Super Mario Bros. and having unlimited Internet access.

A minor and unnecessary review of last week

I've done a bit in the last week or so with the copious amounts of free time that I tend to have.

First and perhaps foremost, the RPG I am running seems to be going pretty well, and by that I mean I've only heard complaints about the one time I made them climb the impossible wall.

I also actually wrote a bit of fiction recently. Nothing too spectacular, just your basic human-learns-something-no-human-should-and-goes-bonkers short story in the form of a personal journal kept by the main character. My biggest (and only) fan insists that it is great and that I should write more, but I really don't know.

As it turns out, I'll have to get my siblings real presents this Christmas. Apparently knives are not appropriate for a child, nor is a cutting board appropriate for anyone except perhaps my father. Hopefully I'll come up with something before Christmas Eve.

My professional life remains stagnant, which is to say that I have no such thing.

Christmas Shopping: Five birds with one stone

Or steak, rather. As it turns out, Omaha Steaks is running a mildly sweet deal for the holidays; buy their overpriced merchandise and you get it for half off AND you get free gifts.

For my mother and father I purchased six 6 oz. "Top Sirloins". For my sister who lives at her own place is the first free gift; six 1/4 burgers (maybe. I might just make that a more generalized family gift and get her something else). The free gift of a 6-piece cutlery set goes to my dear little brother, because I am obviously not sane enough to think of a good reason why an 11 year old shouldn't have his own knives (seriously, though, I think he'll like it). And for the second of my sisters is the third and perhaps most astonishing free gift of all; a small cutting board. I'm sure she won't find it utterly infuriating. Unfortunately, I have three sisters altogether, but I've already picked out a CD for the third one.

All in all, a good Saturday.

Iron Heroes

For those who do not know it, I am an avid fan of tabletop roleplaying. For those who don't know what that is, basically I like Dungeons & Dragons and play it whenever possible. So two days ago I get a book I ordered in the mail called Iron Heroes. It is like Dungeons & Dragons (same basic ruleset), but it focuses very heavily on the combative side of roleplaying and very little on the magical side or the conversational side. Like any good video game, the primary purpose is to kill monsters and megalomaniac villains and take the treasure that they have somehow gathered in their lives.

Last night I actually ran a game, and I would like to think that it went pretty well. The berserker tended to steal the show, but that is what happens when you speak softly and carry a big stick (and use it on gnolls, evil dryads, and the zombies that were formed from the bodies of said evil dryads). I like to think that I am pretty decent at this, and hopefully I'll have a chance to do it again some day.

Websense how I loathe thee

Being as these are computers owned and maintained by the government, it is in their best interest to keep us from doing anything whatsoever. This means web filters that are close to preventing me from viewing ANYTHING except my email, and I doubt that will last forever either.

Fortunately, I have a small window of opportunity in the mornings, because the filter doesn't actually activate in full until 7:30. So that is when I have to write in this blog thing. I would really prefer more, though.

=IF(ME>GOOD WRITER,VISITORS,NO VISITORS)

Well, here I am. With a blog. For some reason. The trick, I suppose, is having something to actually write about. Fortunately, I am literally spewing ideas in a vomituous fashion (I am also making up words as I go along).

Writing about my day could become a decent staple. I do things in my day from time to time, such as grade papers, do papers of my own (and then grade them), and read things from the Internet. I occasionally go on walks as well.

Writing about things and events could also work out. I have very strong opinions about public schools, pandas, and space exploration. I assure you only one of those is made up.

I may even decide to make anyone who reads this suffer by posting poems and short stories. It's been a while since I have written anything, though, and I doubt I will start again anytime soon.

Well, I'll let you all know as soon as I think of something.