On being 14

The difference between being 14 and being 13 is simple: Proof that you have survived another year in this world. And the fact that you have a PS3. As well as the fact that, as a surprise, Dad got me the full second season of The Mentalist If you haven't heard of it, google it. It is one of the most awesome shows on right now. Veronica Mars was pretty cool too, but it got canceled. Anyway, so yeah. One year older. I think I remember something about not wanting to date until I was like, 14 when I was 8, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Games I hope to get for the ps3

Today, I get to blog about what games I want for my birthday.

White knight chronicles: Custom weapons, custom skills, turn-based combat, and the ability to make your own town. Total awesomeness heaven for someone who wants high levels of customization, like me.

Valkyria chronicles: awesome combination of RTS and turn-based strategy RPG. Need I say more?

Star ocean: the last hope: It's in space! I can make my own weapons! I can make my own attacks! I can sneak up on enemies! Hooray!

Disgaea 3 absence of justice: It's Disgaea. It has passive abilities. Win.

Cross edge: Comboing, has Etna, can put costumes on characters to change their abilities. Awesome.

Blazblue: Continuum shift: Awesome fighter, large amount of characters, fun.

EDIT 9-30-10: I realized I totally forgot about one game, so here it is:

Final fantasy XIII: It's Final fantasy. Its graphics look awesome. It has a lot of customization of your characters' skills. You can be two classes at once.

Hello, all.

Once again, Mom does not yet have a schedule up for us, as far as I know. So once again, I have no idea what I am supposed to blog about. So I will blog about my upcoming birthday, as well as how orchestra went (Because, as I am someone who believes in non-violince, there can be no end to how much I can pick on the violins).

After all, the violins cannot play loudly. I mean really. There were 23 people there. 12 of them were violins. Mrs. Lim wanted us to play Fortissimo. Which basically means really loud. The violins were managing a Mezzopiano. That means medium-soft. There were 12 of them. Then, the 2 Violas were doing it, and they sounded louder than all of the violins combined. The cellos were sitting there laughing at the epic failure that was the violins, while the two people sitting in the front (Federico and I, because Joey is mad for not sitting first this year and Daniel was not there). I know that we had maybe a total net loudness of four cellos with the six of us (Federico and I each counting as a cello and a half). Yeah. It feels like the ones sitting behind us don't make all that much sound.

New post

Today I need to make a new post. But I have no idea what to post because Mom never got a schedule done. I am not, however, going to complain, after all, Mom did get a ton of laundry done yesterday. A lot more than normal. So, I won't. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Today.... I have no idea.

It's not that I have fee choice or anything, it's just that on my schedule does not show what subject I am supposed to write about today. So I honestly have no idea what I am supposed to be writing about. So I won't. I won't just go into a long rant about it.

my favorite DS game

Today I am supposed to blog about my favorite DS game. I normally would do something smart-aleckey, and then end with something like "I don't have a favorite, mostly because there are so many other good games." Which, while basically my general opinion, is not allowed. I have, apparently, exceeded my smart-aleck limit for the month. So, instead, I will blag about what my current favorite game is. Because my favorite game is whichever one I am currently playing. That is to say, I currently enjoy playing most out of all games whichever game I am playing, because I am playing it. How can you enjoy a game that you are not currently playing, after all? So right now, my favorite game is Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness, because that is what I am currently playing. Previously, it was Custom Robo Arena, because that was what I was playing before.

Endon then and now

My assignment today is to write about Endon, my favorite out of all of the characters in my fantasy universe. What he was at first, and what he is now.

He was originally just a mix of two other guys, very heavy and hard to move around. He had limited power over earth and fire. Not too long later, he was rebuilt, and I gave him an energy sword. Still earth and fire. I later added on a different sword, and wings, and gave him fire and darkness, as well as making him half angel and demon. That was fun for a while. He then developed into a more monstrous form, with claws and wings at the backs of the claws, as well as new powers as the god of nature. His most current form is basically the same as the monstrous claw form, but with a double-bladed staff instead of claws.

Nerd Pod Etiquette

The etiquette of the Nerd Pod is wrapped greatly in tradition and goes as follows:

Thou shalt not have your headphone's volume too loud, or Mom shall worry.
Thou shalt not listen to anything without wearing headphones- it annoys those who have headphones and are listening to something.
Thou shalt always turn on the fan for Mom when she asks- this may only be avoided by having a cat that is curled up next to you, in which case the job may be delegated to Dad, but only if he does not have a cat. If he does, you are just hosed.
Thou shalt not disturb another's cat.
Love thy cat.

And, always remember, the most capital of all sins is to disturb the Nerd Pod.

My birthday

So, my birthday is coming up in ten days. I have been told to blog about how I feel about that. I am excited. Very excited. I am turning 14 in ten days. I can't really wait. I wish that I was born a few days earlier, just so that I would not have to wait as long. It really makes me feel excited about it, for some unknown reason. Mostly because, for the first time ever, I actually want a console that Nintendo did not make- a PS3. The Dreamcast that we have doesn't count because we have had it longer than I can remember. My Mom says that we got the Dreamcast ten years ago, when I was four, but I cannot really remember a pre-Dreamcast time. So yeah.

I am also excited about my birthday because it brings me one step closer to being able to drive and go to college.

To catch a kitten

Today, we shall document the capture of one of nature's most elusive creatures: the kitten. The kitten in question is small (although he has recently been getting more chunky, despite popular rumors that has not made him easier to catch), black, and fuzzy. Very fuzzy. In the early days, before he got smart, it was as simple as closing all of the doors upstairs and then chasing him. Or getting him to run into a bathroom. Both of those were pretty much guaranteed to catch him. Now, however, it is a much more difficult maneuver. Even with him trapped in between two people bent down, you still may not catch him. The best way to get him is either when you get him trapped behind a couch, or when you catch him sleeping. Otherwise, be prepared for a lot of trouble.

Free choice day

Today I get free choice about what to write about. Actually, the exact statement was "your choice". Which means that I am going to have trouble figuring out what to write about, because the whole point of having assigned subjects was so that I didn't need to come up with a bunch of Ideas, and I am not one to talk about my day yesterday because it would go something like this:

Got up. Wrote a blag entry. Ate breakfast. Did literature until a half an hour after I should have had lunch. Got dressed. Had lunch. Did math. Went out for a walk. Knee started hurting. Went back home. Did flash exercise. Sit in the nerd pod for a couple hours. Agree with Mom to order pizza. Wait two more hours for pizza to arrive at 9:00 p.m. Ate pizza. Sat on the nerd pod for almost another anime episode. Brushed teeth. Went to bed. Fell asleep.

Which, while interesting the first few times (maybe), gets boring after a while.

Cats of the nerd pod

In the nerd pod, cats are important secondary companions to the natural phenomenon known as "nerding". The nerds in their natural habitat are happily typing away at their computers, and depending on the mood of the cats, one or more will be curled up on one of the nerds. A highly elusive situation is the "triple-cat pod", which is when each of the three nerds have a cat. It is highly elusive because one of the cats tends to only curl up for about ten minutes straight, as well as the fact that it often signifies that one member of the nerd pod must leave for the night.

Orchestra

In orchestra yesterday, the basses successfully demonstrated that yes, they were there to screw off like last year and prove that they are the drummers of the orchestra, the first violins demonstrated that yes, they are competent, the second violins demonstrated that no, they are not as competent as last year, the violas demonstrated that they really were really bad violins playing viola who liked to rush. Oh, and the cellos showed that they were very solid (consisting mostly of people who were there last year) and that they hated (almost) all violins. We got some music from Pirates of the Caribbean, which is almost entirely fun (except for the blood ritual), and is reminding me that I should probably go re-watch those movies. The other pieces were fun, although I got stuck sitting next to Simone in sectional. She is the single most annoying person in the universe, and we have the same part in our cello group, so I am stuck with her. :(

Dispicable Me

So on Saturday, for the first time since Mom's surgery, we went to see a movie. So, after a 2-1 vote, we went to see the movie Despicable Me. It was a fun movie. The minions were absolutely hilarious, as well as a lot of the character's reactions. It had just the right amount of warm fuzziness and humor that you would expect from a kid movie, but still fun to watch. The minions tend to act like little devils, however, and most of their antics have to be seen to be believed.

Nerd T.V.

Nerd T.V. is an activity that takes place upon the nerd pod, a family gathering. Nerd T.V. is the connection of Dad's laptop to a 23" computer monitor, as well as a connection to the speaker system we have in the living room. We then go online to watch free shows at whatever network site it is that has the show that we want to watch. Fox.com for the next episode of Bones, for example. We then watch and enjoy.

D&D

I am blogging about D&D. I honestly see no reason to do so because all of my readers already both know how to play and know what kind of character I do. So instead, I shall talk about Death & Destruction, because I feel like it.

Death is when you die. You are dead. You are nothing besides worm food. Or maggots. Or anyone of a number of things' food.

Destruction totally erases something from existence. Boom. You are gone. The end.

Playing Cello

So, it appears that I have been told to talk about playing the cello today. Playing cello is about coordination between your left hand and your right. It is about learning how to move your wrist without moving your arm.

Probably the first thing I had to do when learning the cello was gaining enough strength in my left arm to actually be able to hold down the string when playing the notes. After that, it was important to develop enough control over my right arm to not sound really wispy or crunchy when playing my notes.

After a little while, I got to the point of consistently being able to hold the strings down in first position, and being able to kinda-sorta read the notes when there was a finger above it.

And that was when I was put into GGP. I could not read any of the notes on the music. I was stuck. It took me a good couple weeks to get used to it. After three more months, I finally managed to get a good grip on intonation so it did not sound really bad whenever I played. I do, however, have a long way before I can play this.

LARP

So I went to the LARP for my first time ever on Saturday. I found it to be a lot of fun. We voted on missions, and I remember going after one guy with my trusty spear. He was wielding a bow that had blades on it, so he could use it a bit like a sword, and I was running towards him with my spear. He had one arrow left, and he threw it at me, and missed. It went harmlessly by my foot, missing by a couple inches. He looked at me, sighed, and said "I hate Spears." It was one of the coolest parts of my day. It's funny. After a little while, a lot of the players just started to run away when they see a spear going after them.

Game night

Game night today was essentially a long game of Dominion. Everyone rushed to buy treasure maps, so they were the first to go. After that, we all enjoyed buying large amounts of cutpurses. It annoyed Jon to no end, which is a very good thing. He kept on threatening to do mean things like bite us if we did not stop playing them. We ignored him and did it anyway. Most of the rest of us had lighthouses, so we were totally unharmed.

The nerd pod

The nerd pod. After all of us had laptops, it became a family tradition. It is a simple thing, really. Every evening, each of us sits on our respective spots on the couch, causing a large concentration of nerds in one location. We each as well get a cat, curled up on one of our arms. This causes an optimal concentration of cute restfulness among cats and nerdiness among humans. That is the nerd pod.

Language lab

So, in the end, language lab was nothing more than going there and look at what we got assigned at the lab last week and doing that, as well as learning a bit of pronunciation for Japanese. I have a decent ability to pronounce Japanese already, so it was not all that difficult.

This morning, after I had taken my shower, I found a spider crawling around in my armpit. It was quite startling, and so I flicked it off and ran away. It was a average sized spider, one that we call a "Spike".