Anniversary!

So today was Jerome and my 1 year dating anniversary. Even though we both had to work, it ended up being a great day. After work, Jerome surprised me with flowers. No, Betty, no ring, but chances are, I will probably have to ask him instead of the other way around. In fact, when we got together last year, it was because I had gone to his parents' house for Easter, and I asked him online later that evening how long he'd liked me, and he answered, then asked me the same question, which I answered. Then he awkwardly asked if I wanted us to "be together... or... something" and acted quite shy and embarrassed. This is why, if all goes well, I would probably have to be the one to propose. We shall see.

After the flowers, we went out to this great pizza place called Mama Mia's. I had Tri-Color cheese tortellini, and he had cheese ravioli, and we shared an appetizer of stuffed green olives and a piece of chocolate cake. He also got me some iTunes cash, and a copy of Pokemon Black.

Speaking of Pokemon, after dinner, Jeremy came by and wanted to play Pokemon, since he has Pokemon White. It was a long and difficult battle, but I came out the victor. Though I had 4 Pokemon in my reserves, they had all been switched out, and were near fainting. Obviously, being a competitive person, I was thrilled to win, but I was also happy to feel included. The fact that my boyfriend's brother feels like a brother to me, should be a good thing. Maybe it is a sign that some day he will be my brother-in-law. Or maybe I'm just being a silly schoolgirl. Who knows. Regardless, it was a perfectly euphoric day, and I'm sad to see it come to a close.

Too Old for a Quarter-Life Crisis; Too Young for Mid-Life...

Okay, so I'm obviously going through some kind of crisis.

If you read my last post, you would see that I've been thinking quite a bit about high school, the past, and my unrequited love for the sciences.

To make matters worse, I am now listening to a lot of podcasts. It's like I just keep trying to add to my knowledge base, things that won't exactly benefit me in my job. I have the most peculiar hobbies, I suppose. But then, I'm still doing the gaming thing, except... as a gamer, I am reverting to an even younger age, as I seem to have acquired quite a taste again for... Mega Man!

Yes, Mega Man. Anybody remember that game? I just bought the app for my iPod and Mega Man 9 on Xbox Live Arcade.

I'm all about the platformers, for some reason. It's been a while since I was into those type. I'm usually a huge FPS fan, and, don't get me wrong, I still am, but there was something last year that made me want a Nintendo DS, and then to get some Mario games and Kirby. Then, just a couple days ago I remembered Mega Man.

I called my grandmother last night, who is an old-school gamer who can't stand violence but loves those old games she used to play on probably a 286 or 386. It was funny because I reminded her of Mega Man (which, by the way, she introduced me to), and she mentioned a couple of games I had completely forgotten about: Freddy's Rescue Roundup, and Oil's Well.

To make a long story short, I think we're going to get those for her. Maybe next time I'm at her place I can relive a part of my past that has less regret tied to it. In the meantime, I'm going to go make a list of all the places I want to visit and all the skills I want to learn and knowledge I want to gain. And I'm gonna go listen to those podcasts for a head start.

Catching Up

You know, it just occurred to me that I haven't updated this blog since Bob Weir's birthday. Let's see... how to recap the past few weeks into one post?

In no particular order...

I bought Halloween candy for all my students. That cost a pretty penny. I then handed out candy to trick-or-treaters here in the 'hood. That was fun, though I'm not very good with kids.

Courtesy of a joint co-operation between some of my students and Urban Dictionary, I learned the gaming term "teabagging." 'Nuff said on that one.

I read four essays from students telling me that PS3 is better than Xbox 360.

And one that World of Warcraft is better than City of Heroes/City of Villains.

I made gnocchi for the first time. It wasn't the disaster I feared it would be.

Got observed for work. Same day, a student brought his guitar to class and played "Dust in the Wind." During the break, of course. That was pretty cool. Speaking of guitar, I've been practicing mine almost every night. Mainly Grateful Dead tunes, but I occasionally mix it up.

I bought my own video game system. Betcha can't guess what it was! I also bought a Blu-Ray of Woodstock stuff and a Grateful Dead scrapbook. Early birthday gifts to myself.

Having four (4) parties at school next week to celebrate my birthday. Two of the classes really got into it and seem really excited.

Finally watched In Cold Blood, Dead Poets Society, and the original Stepford Wives.

Anyway, my birthday is coming up on Tuesday. I'm sad to see 25 go--it was such a good year. Andre says that 26 will probably be even better. I hope she's right.

A Bit Under the Weather

Sorry I didn't post anything interesting today. I've been quite sick, though. During our Monday night group, my throat started getting sore, but I thought it was just because I'd been talking a long time.

Yesterday, I got out and had coffee with SC while I gave her some pointers on one of her assignments (I still feel like I tutor, only these days, it's not a paid job anymore). It was fun.

But later that evening (around 5:30, I'd say), my sore throat got sorer, and a massive headache accompanied it. I'm usually not much on taking pain meds (I guess the little feminist in me rares up at the thought of any sign of weakness), but eventually, after two hours of unsuccessful sleepage, something had to be done.

I noticed that RC had tried to call me, but I just didn't feel like talking. I really didn't feel like doing anything, but I scrounged around looking for some Benadryl. The best I could find was a couple of old ones, and I didn't know how effective they'd be, so I kept looking until I snagged some NyQuil in a kitchen cabinet. I then proceeded to take the only dosage of NyQuil in captivity.

But I still couldn't sleep!

I don't know how many times I got up to drink water, go to the bathroom, blow the heck out of my nose, and generally pace and worry before I decided to grab a pillow and blanket and take to the living room recliner. Even this did not work. Finally, I got the brilliant idea to take a dose of DayQuil, even though it was non-drowsy, because I thought my sinuses would clear and I could get some sleep. I mean, I literally could get no air through either nostril last night, and breathing through my mouth was difficult, thanks to the sore throat.

Apparently that worked, although I woke up insanely early, and then lounged around, finally dragging my sorry butt out of bed around 8:00. When I discovered that I didn't have to go to work, I was pretty much useless all day.

Yeah, I did some counted cross stitch, but I just wasn't feeling it. So then, I went to my room and played some Medal of Honor. It's been years since I played the old, obsolete Xbox. It was kinda fun... until I got stuck on a mission and lost interest. Then I had some soup and tried for a nap.

Though I was freezing under three layers of blankets, I actually managed a little sleep. I just got up from that nap about 45 minutes ago. Somehow I couldn't get the song "Comfortably Numb" out of my head. It was probably the fever reference. I'm not even sure I have a fever.

Anyway, I'm not trying to be a downer or complain, but if I don't have any thrilling or overly humorous posts for a few days, I'm probably still sick. I do plan on keeping up Word of the Day, though. Peace out, ya'll!

Movie Review--Max Payne

Let me start off by saying I have only seen three movies (that I can think of) that were based on video games: Tomb Raider, Silent Hill, and just recently, Max Payne. Tomb Raider, in my opinion, was nothing like the game, and it was pretty forgettable. Silent Hill was pretty decent and had some elements of the game in it. Max Payne, on the other hand, actually tried to explain some of the background of the game (things that you discover as you play said game). As always, I apologize for being elusive, but, you know, someone might want to run out and see it.

Anyway, some things I found a little unrealistic: Max's wife's murder has been a cold case for how long now? Was it three years? Why is it that all of a sudden another murder is linked to it years later? The persons behind the murders seem to come out of the woodwork at just the right times. Are we to assume that they've been quietly doing their own thing, evading the cops for so long?

Side note: You just have to ignore the fact that Marky Mark of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch plays Payne. Otherwise, you won't take the movie seriously at all.

Really, it was a pretty decent movie, if you like that sort of thing (and I tend to). I thought some of the fight scenes were a little overdone (as they totally are in the video game). And, as a purist, I always hate it when movies leave scenes out. There is some crazy navigating around on the tops of buildings that is in the game, but is underplayed in the movie. There are also several plot changes that, unfortunately, I can't really disclose. Plus, the ending was different. One thing the moviemakers hit head-on was the setting scenery. I know this sounds weird, but many of the scenes looked like they came out of the video game. And I mean this as a compliment. The cinematography was just really cool. Yeah, everybody wears black, and nobody seems to know how to turn on a light (but what can you expect--it's Max Payne).

All in all, it's a pretty good movie. I saw it on a Tuesday night discount ($5.50 for the show + free popcorn), and I completely felt it was worth it. Let's put it this way, though I had to go to the bathroom about halfway through the show, I sat in agony until the end of the movie. I didn't want to miss anything. If you like noir stuff, action movies, and movies based on video games/graphic novels, then I definitely recommend Max Payne.

But the Jason Bourne series still ranks #1 in action films, in my book.