Here are two less-major ones I’ve had recently:

+ The setting is a sorta 50s/mobster era, a generic sidewalk adjacent to a generic large intersection & building overlooking everything. I’m walking with my mom, she’s part of a police group conducting a sting operation for some big-named mobster. We stop walking once we can see the front of this building overlooking the large intersection. She gestures to the building’s steps, explaining that her & the police group expect the mobster to meet his contact at the building where they plan on arresting him. In the middle of this explanation, said mobster arrives to the building in his car, but instead of stopping the car, he takes notice of my mom and I. He hastily drives on, closing the distance between us. Within 20 or so feet from us, he stops the car and gets out. Him and my mom both draw guns and fire repeatedly. My mom is hit in the torso and falls, he is hit a few times in the face and falls. In shock, I approach the guy as fellow officers swarm around my mom to help. I see the guy’s badly damaged face, it’s basically falling apart as he dies. I turn back to my mom and say “You got him, he’s dead!” I see her weakly acknowledge me, then curl away from me (hiding her face). I awake from the dream, unsure of her fate. I had this dream on a night before she came to visit me.

+ The setting is my Haslett apartment. I’m talking to Michele, discussing ground rules for her and Kyle (her real-life current boyfriend). We’ve since agreed to live together. Gesturing at the couch, I say “Could you also please not fool around out here?” to which she replies “Alright, but could you make sure you don’t login to Kyle’s online game account?” I awake from the dream. This dream doesn’t make sense for multiple reasons. Kyle can’t stand my closeness with Michele, so living together would be a terrible idea. He doesn’t play games, I wouldn’t have anything to do with said games, and I had this dream long after I signed a lease for my new place (so having anything to do with the Haslett place is also very unlikely). Oh, and living with Michele under non-emergency conditions is also really unlikely.

Bethany has visited Michigan every couple months. Each time, her biological dad has contacted me to arrange times to pick her up. And you know what? It’s been awesome spending time with her.

I’ve lost weight. Been consistently walking 2 miles a day, eating less food, drinking more water, etc. I feel pretty fricken proud when others take notice. More progress means more noticeable changes.

Financially, I’m doing much better now than when I was in a relationship. No longer living paycheck-to-paycheck and I’m consistently able to pay the less-strict bills too. I’ve wanted a healthy savings account since I started at LW and now it takes little effort to keep one thriving.

I’ve got a lot of relationships that I’m extremely grateful for. Ones involving babes, even. I’ll have to ‘yadda yadda’ the benefits of those ones.

I’m good at my job, enough so because I’m sought after for advice from n00bs as well as senior folk. Feeling useful is more valuable to me than being paid more.

As of last month, Michele & Bethany have been gone a year. Dating aside, Michele and I have been together since we were 15. If this wasn’t bad enough, I’ve spent this past month cleaning out our old apartment.

Zero, literally zero of my local guy friends were willing to help me move. Even the guys I’ve helped move, or offered similar help to. It’s so cheap that they’d quickly dismiss a friend in need. Hired movers, screw ‘em.

My birthday came and went, same group of friends didn’t care. Two years ago, friends threw me a friggen awesome party. This year I didn’t even get an acknowledgment from most.

A sweet job opportunity came and went. It’s been in a ‘any day now its gonna happen’ status for months, then reverted to a perma-backburner status.

Unrelated to the aforementioned fail, many friendships have dissolved around me. For the most part, they seem uninterested/preoccupied. One of the more-important ones involve unexplained strife and denial. However, I acknowledge that until recently I’ve been unavailable for spur-the-moment invitations.

So my shipment of fail has been docked in the harbor. But you know what? All this is a series of hurdles. Nothing I won’t survive. New apartment, new opportunities for income, new relationships, I can send my shipment of fail onward.

My QQ post is up. Lets move on.

And you know what? Unlike the $14.95/mo customers that LW has, my downtime didn’t cost me thousands of dollars. Whats my secret? Zero cost, zero profit. I should write a book.

1) Computer parts. Mainly lots of CD-ROM and floppy disc drives (the only parts I never manage to reuse).
2) Mementos. There’s srsly tons of ‘em. From middle school all the way up to a few months ago. Every note passed in highschool, too.
3) One of Bethany’s baby socks. Not intentionally saved, even.
4) Evidence dust. From a semi-recent break-in, the police dusted for prints. In my side-bedroom closet there is still some remaining. Maybe I should leave it behind for the new tenants?
5) Bits of every game I’ve ever owned. Boxes, game manuals, (Nintendo) cartridges. Even some systems.
6) Books! Calvin & Hobbes, Zitz, etc. Old gifts I can’t part with.

Meh, this seemed more interesting when I thought to post it.

Wow, just realized my subject line could be misconstrued. I was quoting Homer Simpson when he fantasized about two women slaving for him. Instead, it could be taken as pretty grim.

Pros
- Satisfying. The game makes it easy to pull off cool feats. Even if it takes a while to get the hang of it, your fail looks awesome.
- Forgiving. Fatally botching a leap, getting raped in combat, or n00bing up a mission will result in a minor setback called getting “Desynchronized”.
- Animations omg. The sequel includes even more impressive maneuvers and executions than the original. My favorite part of the game is pulling them off without having to plan on it.
- Non-stupid puzzles. Though some are fairly simple, there’s been a few that took me a while. Its nice to find a game that doesn’t spell everything out.
- Nicer pacing. You’re less interrupted with the dual plot than the original game. The not-an-assassin time has kept itself interesting by shaving off unnecessary frequency.

Cons
- A little TOO forgiving. Retries, item replenishment, and currency are easily accessible. Not much is at stake if I neglect resources.
- Accept or Deny? Why pause gameplay with a confirmation prompt if I just deliberately entered a cutscene that introduces a mission?
- Guards are mere pawns. Your frequent adversary is hordes of anonymous guards that bravely defend their post in a city plagued by an unstoppable assassin. Nobody seems very troubled over the high body count, nor can they remember the assassin’s stylish description once a few Wanted posters are removed.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a12e3iKzqlw

A cheerfully energetic 20-something hailed me in the parking lot. After a few initial questions (probably to consider whether or not I was a rapist), she asked to have a longer conversation inside my car. I obliged because, after all, it had been ages since I shared such beautiful company without them being bound & gagged.

Her: “I’m in a Public Speaking class and our assignment is to approach total strangers. It’s so we can get used the social challenges that’d help prepare us for talking to groups of people.”

[She asks about my interests, I insert some humor into my responses, she laughs and says I'm awesome, etc]
[She explains that the points she earns talking to strangers go toward a contest. The grand reward is a trip to Fiji. She then takes out a big card containing items with varying point values]

Her: “You pick out what magazine subscriptions you’re interested in, and then I put them on this sales order, and at the end of the day I get the points printed next to the ones you pick. Heh, earlier some guy bought *10* of them, but it’s totally cool if you don’t–”

[My puzzled look catches her attention]

Her: “Did you have a question?”
Me: “Sorry, I guess I’m confused as to how magazine subscriptions relate to public speaking…”
Her: “Oooh, no problem. They’re to show proof that I actually talked to the people I approached.– but yeah, don’t feel pressured to get 10 subscriptions like that other guy.”

[She continues on for a bit, then takes out a small receipt/form thing and asks for my address & full name. She writes my first name but before I give her anything further, I pause things]

Me: “I want to think this over at home before buying anything… (jokingly) I’m pretty indecisive”
Her: “Ah sorry, the thing is- you have to order now. It’s how it works; my rules are to get orders on the spot”
Me: “I don’t like making rushed decisions, I’d only consider buying something if I can think it over on my own terms.”
Her: “But.. (pause).. I already have your name on this receipt. I lose points for voiding. Look, just getting ONE magazine will avoid setting me back and you’d only have to pick one. Can’t you pick one?”
Me: “Sorry, I can’t do this. I-”
Her: (cutting me off) “You want to help me, right? I really want to go to Fiji..”
Me: “No. Sorry.”
Her: (dropping the act. Not angry, but not friendly now) “Fine. I’m really sorry to have disturbed you. If anybody else from my class approaches you, just… tell them you don’t want to be bothered and not to waste your time.”
[She packs up her sale papers and whatnot, adding similar comments]
Me: “Do you try to put guilt trips on /everybody/ that doesn’t buy your magazines?”
Her: (jaw drops, then says) “If you’re feeling guilty, that’s on you. It’s nothing I did.”
[She steps out of the car]
Me: “Good luck. (sarcastically) Have a nice day!”

No visible damage, we couldn’t determine what broke or shifted out of place. Cautiously, we completed our trip to Taco Bell, made it home, and wrapped up the night.

The timing of this sucks. Today I’m suppose to be driving to Grand Rapids to see another friend, its the fourth of July and businesses will likely be closed until after tomorrow.

But on a plus side, last night was pretty awesome. Even trade? Anyways, just trying to glean some sympathy from yall. I’ll check my car later to see if I’ve received enough for it to magically fix itself. Don’t forget to use a duck (or goose, if one isn’t available) to boost your sympathy signal.

I think seeking him out would be disrespectful, but is the only reason I don’t consider achieving such a goal.  His reluctance from the public eye has made him intentionally difficult to communicate with.  Still, it’d be such an honor. 

Family, bunches of social networking folks, and a couple friends wished me Happy Birthday.  They’re awesome.

Also awesome, I got a call from Bethany in the wee morning hours, she took it upon herself even.  <3

But overall, the whole event was pretty depressing.  The highlights of this poo sammich:

-  20 minutes into the day, a close friend elected to ask for tech support prior to the acknowledgment.

- The one person that spent time with me to celebrate the milestone, received some harsh news that abruptly ended things.

- I was complimented for my superior gift selection from a friend on their birthday, but on my birthday they neglected to even acknowledge it.  Even worse, they congratulated somebody else that they’ve openly spoken ill about.

- Even the people I talk to the most frequently had forgotten, they heard about the upcoming day a mere 4 days prior.

As a couple disclaimers,  I’ve become a hermit lately so I can’t expect people to hold onto my day with breathless anticipation.  Plus I’m guilty of forgetting birthdays too.

Its not like I’d want gifts or a party, no material perks at all.  If a birthday is somebody’s ‘next lap’ in their life long run, then I’d want an occasional cheer from the audience to know they’re still watching.