Well, I was going to get up and take a shower, because I *do* still smell like whiskey, but my cat has decided to take up extremely adorable residence on my lap, and I don't have the heart to disturb him, so I guess this is as good a time as any to delve back into BlogLand.

I feel like my writing devolves when I don't use it for long periods of time, and that's not cool.  I'm not saying I'm exactly Shakespeare, but I flatter myself to think that I can usually string together words in a not-altogether-clumsy way most of the time, and maybe someday I can get some real use out of that.  Until then, blogs ahoy.  Plus, I'm sure my gentle readers are foaming at the mouth to know what's happening lately!  (Psssh, yeah.  Like I have any of *those*.)

I guess the biggest change of late has been that as of about two months ago, Mick and I are no longer together.  I don't think I really want to write about that, though, so I won't.  Suffice it to say that it happened.  Odds are, if you care enough to read this, you've already heard me talk about it anyway.  At length.
 
Better news is the fact that in about a week, I'm going to start teaching English classes again.  It'll be at Mercer County Community College, and while it's only going to be two classes (meaning I do have to stay on full-time at my other job), I still feel like this is a step in the right direction.  I'm considering going back to school next fall to work on my PhD, but I haven't made a definite call there yet.  I guess I've got some time to muddle that around. 

Other than that, it's pretty much the same old same old around here.  I'm still buried under more books and video games than you can shake a USB mike at, and I'm still compiling more way faster than I'm playing/reading them.  I also still smell like whiskey.  The cat's distracted by food, so I better run for it.

As some of you may already know, I like to play video games.  (I know, *GASP*, right?)  What I find pretty humorous, though, is the extremely stark divide between the games I'm currently playing (all of which I'm enjoying.... but man, they're really different). 

First, there's GTA, which is the prime example of everything critics will gleefully tell you is wrong with video games.  It's horrifically violent, for starters (I just spent over an hour repeatedly shooting one of my coworkers in the face), and I hear there are ladies of the evening available for your entertainment, although I have yet to meet one.  So.... sex and violence, which is really all the Thompsonites need for utter condemnation.  Peachy. 

Then, there's Okami, which, in the world of video games, is about as far from GTA as you can get.  You play a wolf, who is actually a god, and you essentially run around the country restoring the life to it through your magical paintbrush-wielding powers.  Sounds a bit silly, but in addition to it being a beautifully presented game (I love the art style), it's actually really fun.  The Wii controls are a bit touchy at times, but the interface allows for a pretty generous amount of do-overs, so that part is little more than an annoyance (at least, so far).  It makes more sense to me to have it done this way rather than on the PS2, which is where it was originally released; I remember hearing rumors long ago that it was originally slated for release on the DS as well, which would have been even better, but it's entirely possible that I just made that part up in my head.  It's been known to happen.

I am also playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness for the DS, and I am a Chimchar, and you can just SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW.

So yeah, I can't really think of two games that would be any farther apart than these two, and yet, I'm really enjoying both of them.  I don't know whether that says more about me or about the hobby in general, but it certainly says *something*...... of that you can be sure.

It's patently ridiculous that something like a video game store really has busy seasons (and otherwise) but by god, we do.  Mick thinks it's hilarious that my job currently revolves around video game releases, and I can't help but agree a little bit.  At any rate, that's pretty much why I haven't been around here a whole lot lately.  Nothing really ever changes anyway, as fatalistic as that sounds.

I never thought I'd do it, but peer pressure finally made me crack and buy a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, and you know what?  It's actually pretty good.  This has never really been my kind of game before, and I don't think I'll be making a habit of them, but I'm definitely glad I joined the bleating herd on this one.  The visuals are fantastic, the characters are believable (and even likable, which in itself is pretty impressive), and the story is engaging.  And, you know, I can boost cars and run people down with them.  That's pretty cool.  When it becomes clear that I'm losing a mission, or I just get frustrated, that's pretty much what it devolves into.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  I haven't gotten into the online play yet, but I'm told that's even better than the actual storyline, so I'll have to go there soon.  Poor, neglected Mario Kart would have probably been really fun, if I'd actually played it more than twice before this towering behemoth of a game showed up.  Maybe it'll get the attention it deserves someday.  That really was kind of a stupid decision on Nintendo's part, though.

This time of year is always pretty tough for me, because the constant assault of pollen on my poor, mistreated sinus cavities means that I don't really stop sneezing.... ever.  Right now, for example, I have my windows open, enabling me to hear the sounds of grass being mowed.  Is this really a smart thing for me to be doing?  Well, no.  But it's *nice* outside, and therein lies the difficulty.  Antihistamines help, but then I get all jittery, and I can't sleep.  This actually happened last night, and just when I thought I was going to finally drift off (about 4 AM), some asshole took it upon himself to alarm-lock his car right outside my window.  Twice.  Seriously, dude.  4 AM?  Is this really necessary?  Perhaps a nap is in order.

Aww, I just realized that the "now playing/reading/listening to/whatever" feature has apparently been disabled.  That's a shame.

The more things change...

We took KG to the vet a few days ago, and thankfully (odd to think of it that way, but still) she does appear to have some kind of bladder infection, which, although it's not good for her (or for us, as we now have to administer antibiotics twice a day for the next three weeks), should still be much easier to deal with than if she was just pissed off at us about something.  Pun intended.  She's wising up to my tricks already, though... she used to come running in the morning when she'd hear me putting their food down, so it was easy to snatch her up, give her the medicine, and let her go again.  Now, though, she's starting to get the idea and hides until she's sure I'm away from the food before she pokes her little head out.  I'll have to adapt, I guess.  It's sad that the cat can outsmart me.

On a whim, I decided to look around at a couple of things online today to see if there might be any teaching opportunities I might be qualified for in the area, and there does in fact appear to be one; as before, I'm trying not to get my hopes up, and as before, I'm failing miserably.  This does sort of hinge on Marshall being non-dumbass enough to send my transcripts, so that right there could very well be a problem.  I guess we'll see how that goes.  Hopefully it will go WELL.

Finally, another resolution update:  I am failing.  Horribly.  HORRIBLY.  I did finish Zelda, and turned right around to trade it in towards Lost Odyssey, but then a few days later I purchased *four* more games (or possibly six, depending on how you count it.... I'm being nice and saying four).  The new arrivals are Furu Furu Park for the Wii, the Devil May Cry anniversary boxset for the PS2 (which is where the two extras would come in), Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus for the PS2, and.... Pokemon Pearl for the DS.  Yes, I went there.  It's hopeless. 

I am channeling some of my nerddom into art (of a sort), however; Jessica and I used to have a coffee table with a glass top, and underneath the top, we made a collage of pieces of old strategy guides for games we didn't have anymore.  It was awesome, and I miss it, but it was, after all, HER table.  There's this huge blank space on the wall behind our couch, though, and I've been trying to figure out what to do with it for some time.  Mick suggested that I sort of recreate the table by using cardboard as a base and making it into a mural of sorts.  I thought this was great, so I've been trying to collect up Final Fantasy guides (don't want to ruin my good ones, so I'm picking up more), which I'll then glue to the only piece of cardboard I could think of that would be large enough for my creation: a Rock Band box.  I think it's only fitting that such a geeky thing should be formed on the gutted shell of the Best Game Evar.  I haven't started the actual creation process yet, as I don't have all the guides I want, but I'll be sure to post pictures when it's all done.  That is, if I can find a USB cable for my damn camera.

I think I need to put at least a temporary hold on my borrowing of games from work, because I have so much other stuff around here that I almost never get to actually play them for more than a short while, and when I do, it almost invariably ends up with me buying them.  Right now, for example, I have Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles out, and have had it out for about two weeks, give or take.  I haven't touched it once.  I took it out with good intentions (I mean, that zapper has to be good for *something*), but I just keep forgetting it's over there.  I may give it a quick go before I have to take it back today, but after that, I think I'm done getting things out unless they're not for me. 

Link is being really weird lately (weirder than usual, that is).  I have no earthly idea why, but he appears to have taken a liking to the bathroom as his new favorite place to hang out.  We've started keeping them out of the bedroom entirely, in the interest of NOT having cat pee all over our stuff, but I would think that even if he couldn't get in there, he'd... I don't know, take up residence on the couch or something, somewhere where it's warm.  Wouldn't the tile in the bathroom be cold?  Apparently he either doesn't think so or doesn't care, though, because he just loves to hide behind the toilet (which can be extremely unnerving if you don't see him before you shut the door).  Maybe I'll ask the vet what the hell could be the problem when I take KG.  I think he's just being a little freakshow, though.

The clogging continues!  I think they've moved over a roof or two, because they're not nearly as loud as they were, but I can definitely still hear the soft echoes of giggling handymen, chasing each other eternally over the network of apartment roofing...

This is a moderately hilarious story about my apartment complex that I forgot to mention earlier.  For Christmas, my mother made a beautiful wreath for us to hang on our door.  While it is Christmassy in nature, it's not really overtly so; it could just as easily serve as a more generic "winter" wreath, and so I thought I'd leave it up a bit beyond Christmas, because it makes things look all pretty (almost like real people live here!).  In fact, I didn't think anything of it at all until we received a letter from the management here stating that they had "noticed during the property inspection" that we still had our Christmas wreath up.  They were kind enough to include a date by which it should be removed.  I really couldn't believe this.  They're seriously worried about this enough to not only pay someone to drive around looking for wreath violators, but then to waste the time writing a *letter* to us about it?  Seriously?  They didn't include any sort of penalty that would be imposed should we fail to meet this most serious of deadlines, but I took the wreath down anyway.  As much as it tempts me to buck the (very lame) establishment and leave the damn thing up until July, it's not really worth the hassle.  Makes for an amusing story, though.

Speaking of amusing stories, apparently the International Clogging Championship is taking place on my roof.  Really!  I can't imagine what the fuck else they could be doing up there.  Actually, it was yesterday, not today, and I believe they were retiling the roof.  Why exactly this had to start at seven in the morning, I'm not sure, nor do I have a good answer as to why they had to apparently run back and forth across the roof a few hundred times (Mick suggests that they were just running and giggling, and now I can't get that image out of my head), but I think they may be done now, or at least I hope they are. 

I really do like my apartment, lest it sound like I don't.  There are just some... interesting quirks about it.

After watching several chapters of gametrailers.com's "Final Fantasy Retrospective," I decided, all other games aside, that I really needed to play FF7 again.  So I am.  I'm only about two hours in, but already Aeris is starting to annoy the piss out of me.  It's a great comfort knowing she gets cut in half before too long (zomg, spoilerz!). 

I've finished watching the third season of Lost, and I have to say that I'm still pretty drawn in by the whole thing, despite the somewhat mixed reviews I'd heard of the series as it advanced.  In fact, we had a very nerdy literary debate about how the whole thing seems to be taking a Miltonian turn, which lends itself well to detailed discussion, but sort of falls apart when you realize the creators of the show have apparently dismissed the idea that the characters are actually in Purgatory, or Hell, or whatever.  Still, I'm looking forward to the next season, and wishing like hell that I had TiVo.  Or at least cable.

Oh, and as of yesterday.... seven YEARS.  Wow.

It seems like half the time when I finally get a day off, it's as busy if not busier than the days I actually spend at work.  Today, for instance, I had planned to take my car to the mechanic to be inspected, as it was overdue by a couple of weeks.  This normally wouldn't have been a problem, except that when we went to leave to do so this morning, I discovered that I couldn't find either my current registration or my current insurance card.  I knew that both were up to date, I just couldn't find the actual documentation.  So, I had to run around (after making Mick late for his train) and get duplicates/have them faxed in order to set everything in motion.  Then, while I waited anxiously (I was very sure that *something* expensive was bound to be wrong with it) for the work to be done, I did masses of dishes and laundry, a fair portion of which was soaked in cat pee. 

KG, you see, is still having whatever behavioral problems caused her to soil my boots before.  We're going to make her a vet appointment to see if anything is physically wrong, and also to ask them if there's anything else we should be doing if, as I suspect is the case, there's nothing actually wrong and she's just being crazy.  I really hope that we can get her back to normal, whatever it takes, because if not, I'm afraid we'll have to get rid of her.... I don't think I'd be able to take her to a shelter or anything like that, but (and I know this sounds like a euphemism, but I swear it isn't) taking her back to the farm would probably be the more realistic solution.  I still don't want to do that, as I'm not cool with losing my baby kitty, but I'm also not cool with having things peed on.  Not cool. 

Anyway, there isn't anything wrong with my car, although, as is the way of things, the inspection itself was still relatively expensive.  It's done now, though, so I can sit back and.... well, and do more dishes.  Oh well, at least I'm not at the mall.

I hadn't had a Mountain Dew in years, literally *years,* because I didn't want to even try to drink that much caffeine at once.  Last night, though, I had one, in what would prove to be a moment of extreme stupidity.  I don't know for certain that it was the Dew that made me awaken at about 5:30 this morning with a VERY ANGRY stomach, but if it had been related to other foods, it probably would have gotten Mick too, and it didn't.  I gave up trying to sleep around 7, and played a bit of Zelda, but my DS is in need of charging, so that didn't last long either.  It's a shame I feel so awful, because I actually have the time to make yummy breakfast this morning, but absolutely no inclination to do so.  I even bought fancy coffee last night.  Stupid stomach.

Update!  I have progressed in all of the games I'm currently playing, but not enough to actually finish any of them yet... and I added Geometry Wars Galaxies and LifeSigns (both for DS) to the pile.  I think this may be a hopeless proposition.

I realized, while playing Rock Band this morning, a mildly distressing thing: I'm probably not going to ever play Guitar Hero 3, because Rock Band is so damn much better.  This led me to promptly return the game (as it was still sitting, shrink-wrapped, on my Bookshelf of Shame) and pick up Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness (which is a goofy name, but oh well) instead.  So, I did add a new game to my backlog, but I got rid of an old one, so I suppose it all balances out.

Work has died hard and fast; it's pretty amazing how a mall that is SO busy through the holiday season can, in the space of only a few days, become a deserted wasteland.  It's nice on one hand, because it means I can get things done, and maybe start to chip away at the mangled corpse of a store Christmas left in its wake, but on the other hand, things do go much more slowly when there's *no one* around.  I think I'm willing to make that sacrifice for the sake of my sanity, though.