| Happy Birthday, Unity Church of Central Massachusetts! |
[Aug. 5th, 2006|10:24 pm] |
The church that ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) vampyre_kitty & I go to, Unity Church of Central Massachusetts, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this September (24th). The event will be catered by the fabulous vampyre_kitty herself, which is cool. I'm sure she'll post about it on her LJ and possibly also over at our shared Geek Food blog.
While it's still, relatively speaking, a fledgling church (and we could definitely use a few more young folk and males, to be perfectly frank), the church has come a long way since its beginnings and I'm glad to be a part of it in this critical and joyous time in its development. |
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| Last Weekend - Fire, Food, and Family |
[Apr. 18th, 2006|11:15 pm] |
Yeah, it's been waaaay too long since I posted last. It's no secret that I'm nothing if not discrete in what I choose to post. I'm sure that I really should post more often, but what're you gonna do?
At any rate, I wanted to post a bit about last weekend since it was a lot of fun.
Vickie and I went up to NH to visit my sister and my Dad & step-mom, Jeanne, for Easter. We went up Saturday morning and went out for food and shopping which was fun. But the real feature of the day was that we gathered a bunch of dry wood that the high winds had knocked down and scattered across Jenn's lawn and when we got back from shopping and eating (well past dark) we built ourselves a nice little fire on her lawn and made ourselves some delicious s'mores.
It was Vickie's first time building a fire and she seemed to really enjoy it. We also figured out that it'd been a baker's dozen years since Jenn & I had built a fire together. 13 years -- the better part of my life! We really enjoyed it, too. I expected the smells to cause nostalgia for me, but interestingly enough they didn't particularly do so. Instead, I found that the smells make me feel exactly like they used to make me feel as a young boy. I guess that just goes to show how primal the attraction is. No matter how much I may change the feelings of building a fire will probably always remain the same in a sacred way.
Vickie was so cute learning to toast marshmallows. She's like many people I know in that she enjoys setting them on fire and then blowing them out and eating them all charred. Perhaps she'll one day develop the patience and refined taste needed to become one of the marshmallow toasting elite, of whom Jenn & I have long been a part. (Or maybe not. ;)
Another highlight of the weekend was our post-lunch game on Easter sunday. Typically, my Dad, Jeanne, Vickie, Jenn & I (along with any others who have remained from dinner) play a game of Trivial Pursuit. The problem is that most of us suck at trivia, so it's always been a merely marginally fun game for us to play. This time, however, Vickie & I brought up our new copy of one of my favorite games, Apples to Apples. It was a lot of fun for all the reasons that Apples to Apples is usually so much fun. We got to know little things about each other and sort of get inside one another's brains a bit while interacting in interesting ways. Incidentally, I won two of the three rounds we played, so I guess that goes to show that I know my family well. =)
Before I send this off and perhaps receed back into the Land of Bloglessness for a while, I'll tack on a few more catchy-upy things since for some of you this may be the only way you hear from me.
At lightning fast speed...
I'm really enjoying my new job. My work is really cut out for me, but it's all interesting stuff, I like the people I work with, and I like the product I work on. (and my skills and pay matches where I am in my life right now quite well... and I mostly feel appreciated all told)
Vickie & I are enjoying our life together more and more all the time. We're especially glad to get the chance to visit family (esp. Jenn!) more often and we look forward to beach and Water Country goodness this summer!
Er... I guess that's actually about it. All I do these days is work and spend time with friends, family, and especially Vickie. Besides that there's the ever-presence of games in my life, but I have a whole other blog for that part of my life! And with that, I'm out. =) |
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| Les Miserables! |
[Feb. 18th, 2006|11:32 pm] |
I don't really understand why they call it "les miserables." I mean, maybe this is just my American slant on it or something, but it seemed to me that everyone in that play were more miserable. In fact, they seemed to just get more and more miserable as time went on, with just a few romantic punctuations to liven it up a bit.
Weirdos.
But all silliness aside, it was a fun day. Vickie and I went out to see Les Miserables in Boston today, two tickets to which I purchased through WPI's Alumni Office before my recent financial troubles showed themselves. It was a 2pm show, so we stopped in at a nearby (and awesome) dim sum place called Empire Garden Restaurant. After that tasty and filling meal, we made our way back through the windy, windy street to the theatre.
The show was great, with a lot of memorable stuff. Mostly it was the actor playing the main character who made the whole show. That, and of course the great musical numbers. I once again enjoyed the song where the young man mourns the loss (for questionable gain) of his friends, which I first saw during a musical review on WPI Senior Week cruise a few years ago (when Vickie was a senior).
I also enjoyed, despite the ferocious winds, the streets that the theatre and restaurant were on. They were these cozy little one-way car traffic streets lined with buildings and very reminiscent of some of my favorite places in London. Very nice. I just wish the weather was more hospitable. It's okay, though, because we're definitely planning to go back to the restaurant again and I expect we'll see the theatre again sometime, too.
A few more words about the play....
On the way in to Boston I was musing with Vickie about how much plays are about lighting, body language, and dialogue (or in the case of a musical, musical dialogue). Les Miserables, as performed today, really demonstrated this well, I felt. Our seats were many, many rows back, so with my relatively poor vision it was almost impossible to make out any faces. Nonetheless, I feel that I was able to fully appreciate the greater part of what the show had to offer. Vickie offered that a great actor is one who can deliver the same effect to those in the back of the theatre as those in the front. I'd say it's a testament to the lighting design and overall direction of the play that I was able to get so much of the feeling of the play from so far away. |
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| Starting Worldview 3.0 With Straw Dogs |
[Jan. 23rd, 2006|12:58 pm] |
I've just finished reading Straw Dogs,
by John Gray (no, not the relationship therapist guy). It's a book I bought when I was in London (years ago,
that is) and never got around to reading until just recently. I bought
it because it sounded like a book that would thoroughly challenge my
worldview, and has it ever done so.
(It has.)
All I really need to say is this: go read this book as soon as possible. At least, if you have interest in challenging your worldview you need to go read this book.
I think you'll understand as soon as you start reading it why I'm so
adamant about this. If you are willing to be genuinely challenged, I think you're going to absolutely love the book,
and even better you just might hate it a few times too, as I did. (As
one of the reviewers on the back cover if the book says: "The more you
disagree with [the author's] main line of argument, the more you will
gain from him.")
How can there be play in a time where nothing has meaning unless it
leads to something else? In our eyes, Homo ludens lives a life without
purpose. Since play is beyond us, we have given ourselves over to a
life of purposeless work instead. To labour as Sisyphus does is our
fate.
But can we make our labours more playful? At present we think of
science and technology as means of mastering the world. But the self
that struggles to master the world is only a shimmer on the surface of
things. The new technologies that are springing up around us seem to be
inventions that serve our ends, when they and we are moves in a game
that has no end.
Much of what I've been strongly influenced by in Dogs is far
from new to me. I've often had discussions with certain friends of mine
(let's call them Moe,
Larry, and Curly)
that border or get right at the main issues and arguments that make up
the core of Dogs. The thing is that he's so damned convincing. And it's
not for a lack of brevity: Gray makes his points clearly and concisely.
The short end of it is that Gray has indeed pushed me over
the line to somewhere where I *must* rethink my worldview once again.
As the above quote exemplifies, one of Gray's strongest arguments is
about what he calls the "non-progress" of humanity and fallacy of our
thoroughly-embedded illusion that technology advances civilization in a
way that betters human life by allowing us to control our future.
(Read the full post on my general-purpose Blogger blog, "Against Doors" to find out how this book has affected me. Trust me, this is a good one....)
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| Cute Waitress at Nancy Chang |
[Nov. 14th, 2005|11:39 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | food, friends | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | None, but I think Resurrection is bouncing around in my head | ] |
This is just something funny that greatly amused me the other day. vampyre_kitty and I were at Nancy Chang restaurant celebrating our third-year anniversary since we first hooked up. (yay!)
Towards the end of our meal, one of our two waitresses (I don't get how they work there, it's very confusing since they don't explicitly team up but two people apparently serve you) came over and asked her if she needed anything else. Being the total sweetheart she is, Vickie just kindly said "No, I'm all set" giving a warm smile and a tone of contentment and joy. To me, this was completely expected -- she's always that nice. But to the waitress this was obviously quite extraordinary (not too surprising, really), and she felt compelled to share her elation, saying: "Oh, she's such a precious little sweetheart, isn't she?" or something very similar, as she gave Vickie an affectionate squeeze on the shoulders.
Uh, yeah, it's just not every day that you have a waitress so appreciative of a nice customer and so tickled by the general warmth of another's personality. And for her to actually show it like that! Who the hell dares touch a stranger these days? Well, I'm glad she did, and she should be, too, as that incident alone recovered their otherwise somewhat diminished tip (we were eating buffet and they were still very slow for what we needed them for).
So yeah, Vickie's a total sweetheart and dinner was great and that waitress rules. Oh, and in case it's not clear yet: the subject line refers to the waitress being teddy bear cute, though she was by no means unattractive, either. =) |
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| Go Monarchs Go |
[Oct. 18th, 2005|08:36 am] |
Last Saturday, Vickie and I headed up to New Hampshire to hang out with
our friends Jon & Meredith Graham. The focus event of the day was
going to see the home opener for the Manchester Monarchs as they took on the Springfield Falcons.
It was a very tense and exciting game. In case you're wondering why I'm was rooting for the Manchester team instead of the Springfield team (given I live in Worcester...), the reason is that I grew up just outside of Manchester in Goffstown, NH. So yeah.
The Monarchs scored the first goal early in the game and kept the lead
for a while until in the second period they decided to lay down and let
the Falcons push on them almost constantly. Towards the end of the
second period, it seemed all the Monarchs wanted to do was receive
penalties and play an only decent game of defense.
The score was still Monarchs 1, Falcons 2 with 4 minutes left in the
third (and final, for you non-hockey people) period and we were
starting to get nervous. With 90 seconds to go, the stadium roared to
life as the Monarchs snuck in a goal and tied up the game; sudden death
ensued. After 2 and a half minutes, right wing Petr Kanko scored the
winning goal after receiving one of the only passes made to a guy in
front of the goal of the whole game. To say that the packed Verizon
Wireless Arena (~10,000 people) exploded into shouts and cheers would
be an understatement. What a way to open.
This was the very first hockey game I've ever watched live and I certainly wasn't disappointed -- what a hoot!
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| Vance Gilbert, Once Again |
[Oct. 12th, 2005|08:56 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | music wpi | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Vance Gilbert - King of Rome | ] |
It was a real pleasure to attend Vance Gilbert's performance at WPI Social Committe's weekly CoffeeHouse event. I was lucky enough to go see him when he came last year. I really enjoyed the show and bought a couple of his albums (Edgewise and One Thru Fourteen). I enjoyed both albums, and I couldn't wait for him to come back. Luckily, I found out on Monday that he was going to be playing again.
It turns out that yesterday was his birthday. We all sang him Happy Birthday (twice, actually, since SocComm surprised him with a cake halfway through), which was really nice. I think he genuinely appreciated it. He also commented on our crowd being quite large compared to what he's used to. We figure he's been performing at WPI for at least seven years now, so it's practically a campus-wide tradition now.
So yeah, thanks Vance for performing for us on your birthday, and thanks for signing my CD (Unfamiliar Moon)! If anyone who's still around campus is interested in some good music I'll try to get the word out (assuming I hear of it) next time he's on campus.
Oh, and I love the way he ends his performances with an a cappella song. They are very beautiful and he delivers them with splendid magnificence. |
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| Playlist Poem for a Girl |
[Aug. 16th, 2005|02:15 am] |
Stupid girl,
All you had you wasted,
It always seemed like such a waste,
She always had a pretty face,
I wondered why she hung around this place,
It's been a long december,
And there's reason to believe,
Maybe this year will be better than the last,
All at once you look across a crowded room,
To see the way that light attaches to a girl,
'cuz you've got a heart so big,
It could crush this town,
And I can't hold out forever,
Even walls fall down,
Her friends all keep asking,
why can't she just deal,
She said: it's cold,
It feels like Independence Day,
And I can't break away from this parade,
But there's got to be an opening,
Somewhere here in front of me,
Through this maze of ugliness and greed,
We’ll run until she’s out of breath,
She ran until there’s nothin’ left,
She hit the end -- it’s just her window ledge,
I turn the engine,
But the engine doesn't turn,
And some things are over,
Some things go on,
And part of me you carry,
Part of me is gone,
Makes you laugh a little slower,
Makes you talk a little lower,
About the things you could not show her,
Don't believe in anything,
That you can't waste,
And if you spin fast enough then maybe,
The broken pieces of your heart will stay together,
But some things I've seen lately make me doubt it. |
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| Tempest 2005! |
[Aug. 7th, 2005|11:01 pm] |
An oddity of my video gaming past is that while I never owned a PlayStation or an Nintendo 64 system, I did own an Atari Jaguar system. This may go without saying, but absolutely loved Tempest 2000, with its pure and wonderfully paced action. So when I first heard of Shakespeare's The Tempest (referenced in Star Trek: The Next Generation), the name stuck in my mind, and my curiosity about the play has remained to this day.
I never did see or read The Tempest, however, until today. I really enjoyed the experience; Redfeather's production of The Tempest was absolutely wonderful. Anne Marie Shea's performance as Prospero alone will leave you spellbound, at times literally breathless. The dancing is downright titillating and serves to fantastically punctuate the scenes in a very pleasing way.
Overall, the roles are played with an unabating level of intensity that makes the scenes enrapturing and amusing, sometimes both at once. All the women in the show, in particular, are powerful and attractive in their roles. Somewhat ironically, Timothy Smith's rendition of the play puts females in the roles of all the powerful characters, something I personally enjoyed very much about the show.
One other thing I wanted to mention: I found the seating and lighting to be surprisingly adequate for a humble amphitheatre such as the one at Green Hill Park (in Worcester, MA), where the play is being performed.
I definitely recommend the play to anyone who had considered seeing it, especially if you know (and of course love) the wonderful Ms. Wu who excels in her performance as one of the faerie dancers in the play. |
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| Eating Less (and Feeling Good About It) |
[Jun. 6th, 2005|05:16 pm] |
I never thought I'd say this, but I am actually enjoying eating less these days. (Well, okay, I did think/hope I'd one day say this, but that's a longer story.)
For reasons to involved to go into right now (perhaps a post for another time) I'm making efforts to eat less these days. Mostly, this is a matter of reprogramming myself to not be such a slave to my habits. Unfortunately, eating has always been one of my strongest psychological addictions, and of course it carries with it significant physiological addictions as well.
I'm doing it because I want to have more energy... because I need that energy to follow through with the challenges I'm facing right now. Usually that's an uphill battle (indeed, it is). After all, it's a bit of a catch-22. You need energy to have the wherewithal to resist the temptation to give in to small petty pleasures and old habits rather than disciplining yourself to achieve the greater goals. But in order to have that energy you have to break your energy-zapping habits.
So it's quite a joy and relief when I find that I actually feel good about making these changes, even as I do it. Maybe what I'm feeling now is mostly the relief of not being so down on myself for NOT following through all the time. Maybe it's something more and something that will grow. Either way, it's a great feeling. |
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| The Smell of Flowers Through the Window |
[Apr. 18th, 2005|11:36 am] |
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The wind is blowing the smell of the newly blossomed flowers in a nearby tree through my window and to me. The birds chirp fervently. It's 63 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny outside. Damn, it's nice to have Spring back. |
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| It's Time to Count My Blessings... |
[Mar. 29th, 2005|02:06 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | grateful | ] |
For various reasons, this Easter is the first that has had a significant effect on me. Or at least, it's the first one that coincidentally or not-so-coincidentally has coincided with some profound changes for me.
I have recently taken the first steps towards realizing my full joy for the exploration of games as a medium. I am learning how to put things in stride in my life in general. I am making more an more friends every month, and I am learning to enjoy existing friendships in new and sometimes exciting ways.
I feel that in this time of "new beginnings" and "spiritual resurrection" it is most appropriate for me to start counting my blessings. It's way too easy to get caught in one's own drama and forget just how much they have in their lives.
A short and incomplete list of the many blessings in my life, in no particular order:
1.) My beautiful Mom, whose loving support and unfetteringly exuberant spirit for life is always an inspiration and joy in my life.
2.) My loving Dad, who always takes the time to spend quality time with me and with whom my relationship continues ever to grow stronger and better every year.
3.) My caring sister, one of the smartest and most dear-hearted people I know. Her journey through life certainly isn't without its significant challenges, but I know that she will find her way. It is a great blessing to be able to find myself and learn how to truly love unconditionally by the life we share.
4.) My darling, special Vickie. Our relationship is too rich and superlative for me to even begin to give it justice here. I love you, baby.
5.) My wonderful friends. There are so many of you; I am always overwhelmed when I think about all the blessings you bring to my life. Dave, who'll take a walk-around-the-block with me at the drop of hat, when needed. Mike, who's ambition and caring stand as a model for so many of us to look up to. Scott, Kevin, Tony, D, Emily, and so many others: your idiosyncrasies and personality perks are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the enrichment you bring into my life. Ryan, Ben, Aaron, Matt, and again many others -- I enjoy sharing insights into life with you and I'm glad we'll always be around to help each other when it's needed and support each other always. Darius, with whom my friendship continues to grow beyond what I ever thought possible. You and many others bring so many dimensions to my social and personal life. I'm thankful for Brad, Paolo, and several other new friends of mine. A year ago they were just anonymous (or fairly so) CS guys I passed in the halls. Now, I wouldn't trade anything for what we've gained in sharing our time together.
I'm thankful for the friendships I've started to form with several teachers at WPI. Many of them once seemed to be so far above me and separated by generational, educational, and age gaps. Now, we're coming to find our shared sense of humor, shared visions for WPI's future, and shared passion for academic research and industrial advances.
And there are always more... always more people with more gifts... people from the past and people just now coming into my near future -- I am thankful for all of you! What blessings!
6.) My challenging job. It probably goes without saying that a year ago I had no idea where I'd be right now. But lo and behold just when things seemed the most uncertain and strange opportunity came a-nockin' and I landed myself a great job. I get to develop my (previously somewhat lacking) C++ skills, learn how to work in tandem with a fellow programmer (who I'm also blessed to now count among my friends), and experience the joys and strains of working in an environment with frequently changing schedules and loose-one-moment, tight-another deadlines.
7.) My suitable finances. Well, okay, so I don't really have a lot of extra money. So what? I have more than enough to get by and to support my educational and professional pursuits. And really, that's all I ever ask. =)
Of course, this is not to mention the fact that I have much more money than the average person on earth and more support from my family than I hopefully will ever need. I'm also pretty darned fond of my apartment and greatful for the fact that I can afford to go out to eat, etc. with my friends, family, and S.O.
8.) My good health. Despite recent difficulties with my various dental conditions, and despite my recent putting-on of weight, I am most thankfully still in generally great condition. I am thankful to have such a capable and agile body -- and one that forgives me for being a bit too lazy for my own good. I'm working on it!
I will end this here post with one more thought: I know that I am forgetting things here. I know that I take so much (way too much) for granted. I am only beginning this process of becoming more aware of and greatful for all my joyous blessing I wake up and lay down with every day. I wish to learn further how to live with gratidute on a day-to-day basis and always focus on the bright sides of life.
Happy Easter, everyone. I hope some part of it has borne meaning for you, too. =) |
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| A New (Games) Blog Emerges |
[Mar. 28th, 2005|09:33 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | excited | ] |
Well, I've finally done it. I've decided to create a new blog, separate from this one, which will be dedicated to discussion of games and all the related topics and technologies.
Lately I have found a great desire to post thousands upon thousands of words on a great multitude of topics that I think about relating to games. Imagine, if you will, a post as long as (or longer than) my Half-Life 2 and Valve-related posts from late last year, but imagine them 4 - 6 times a month. I figured that would get a little tiresome for those who wish to simply know what's "up" with me in general. So I'm splitting it off.
The other reason I'm doing this is that I wish to have a place that I can (potentially) keep in the long-term as a focused place for all my thoughts about games. Since games are by far my greatest passion, it makes sense for me to give them their own special place.
Who knows, if I ever find an original idea or discover an outstanding way of communicating my ideas perhaps my blog will be of some use to others who enjoy thinking about and sharing experiences with games. So in other words, I'm also separating my game-blogging for the sake of those who only care about what I have to say about games. Savvy?
So without further ado, my new blog can be found at: http://designerscroll.blogspot.com/. The name "Designer's Scroll" (though I've sortened it to DesignerScroll -- one 's' -- in the URL) is one I've liked for some time and I found that it fit the motivation of the blog very well. Above all, I just want somewhere where I feel free to ramble on and on about games, from which I can link to things in context, and which I can ultimately use to start developing some of my ideas into substantial arguments. Hopefully, it will also help me organize my thoughts and motivate the design ideas I am attempting to implement (currently, in the Source engine).
Hopefully, I'll have some feeds and stuff going for it soon (if they aren't already). |
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| Changing Perspective on Games? |
[Mar. 24th, 2005|10:16 pm] |
Lately, I've been reading a fellow game designer friend of mine's
writing on his new personal website. He often mentions being "utterly
bored" by games he plays due to careless and naive game design. I've
been thinking about this idea of boredom with the games we see show up
on store shelves year by year... Most of the time, I tend to give
everything a fair shot at earning my esteem. I generally consider any
product, person, or event to potentially have some significant value on its own level.
For example, I like many types of music in many types of ways... each
has its own value in its own special way. Or else it just sucks.
These days, however, I'm starting to become more critical of games I
see. Partly this is no doubt due to how much opposition I see (in
different ways) to the ideas that need to be accepted in order for the
games industry to move forward and evolve such that its product become
things of true and full beauty. I guess that perhaps I'm feeling
backlash against the pretentious boy's club-esq attitudes that so many
game developers seem to have. "Our games are perfectly fine the way
they are and they should never really change" is one of those ideas.
"Game developers are hardcore martyrs who are willing to work for
ridiculous, unreasonable, and unfair hours to see their work come
together" is another. Oh, and did I mention the addendum to that last
one of "... and those who aren't willing to sacrifice everything to
make the same marginally good games over and over again aren't true game developers" or was it just implied?
Perhaps this is a good thing; perhaps it's merely a necessary part of
my growth as an intellectual thinker on the topic of computer games. On
the other hand, I'm afraid that in fact I'm merely becoming too
judgmental of others and starting to head down the road of jilted
curmudgeon that so many of my would-be heros seem to have gone down...
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 16th, 2005|09:37 am] |
Earnest Adams is coming to talk at WPI tomorrow -- wow!
It is such an honor to have a figure like him come and talk. He is a very interesting guy whose perspective on things I respect a lot. It's really cool that WPI has been getting some good games-related speakers in the last year or so. Now, we're even getting one whose name is recognized by game developers worldwide. Totally. Sweet.
In case anyone's interested, he'll be in Salisbury Labs 104 at 11am TOMORROW (Thursday) March 17th, 2005. The topic is "Exploring the Fringes: Interactive Entertainment for the 21st Century".
If I'm smart, I'll blog my thoughts that are inspired from his talk. |
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| Another Year in My Life |
[Jan. 2nd, 2005|03:34 am] |
And so another year has past. Every now and then, I find it interesting to look back and ask: What have I been through in the last year? What did I accomplish? What have I learned? What joy have I found and lived?
Ultimately, I'm considering who am I now in terms of who I was and how I have changed.
Often, I find myself asking such questions as "Who am I?" The trouble with these questions is that often it is in the very asking of the question that we fool ourselves into seeking the wrong kind of answer. In asking who we are, we most often seek classifications, character traits, and lists of accomplishments. In particular, it would seem, we wonder who we are in terms of where we stand relative to the rest of the world and what power we have over our lives and those of others.
And therein lies the fallacy: we think of ourselves as being defined by a set of descriptions and accomplishments. We "are", in a sense, merely a collection of boundaries/restrictions and our history.
If anything, what I have learned that is most important is that truly I am who I make myself out to be.
I learned with my MQP that things do *not* simply work out nicely by themselves. If I don't take the initiative to excel and succeed, I may not do so, even when it's very important.
Arguing with oneself over uncertain moral and emotional conundrums is all well and good, but knowing when to say "This is what I want -- and I must actively pursue it for it to be so" is absolutely critical.
Vickie and I would not have gotten back together if we weren't able to both say "Yes -- this is truly what we want" and then actively pursue that, despite the pain associated with it. And even there, we were lucky to have circumstances ease the transition for us. (Thank you, Susan Vick!)
This year I have come to realize more than ever that only time can tell what I will end up doing with my professional career and my serious pursuits in my spare time. The games industry, despite continuing to bring me a fair amount of joy as a gamer, is increasingly vexing for me as a designer. So much is on the line these days for the future of the industry -- and by extension the future of our culture -- and so few seem to have the vision to see the stakes for what they are.
More and more I wonder where my efforts would best be placed. I am trying to follow my heart on this, as there clearly is no one answer that is logically superior to all others. Yet, it remains a rather difficult challenge for me.
For now, I am trying to above all keep the scope of my short term ambitions at a low enough level such that at least my simple goals are attainable. I do not know how far I will go with my Half-Life 2 modding, by some very exciting possibilities certainly do exist there, and I look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate some of the core ideas I have for game play in general in a very effective way. With any luck, I will come up with at least a small mod that could possibly help illustrate some of my ideas and open a few eyes to the long-term possibilities of games.
Elsewise in my life, I will continue to extend and reinforce my foundations in general education, philosophy, and my personal life. In particular here, learning to pursue the things I enjoy most about life (such as spending quality time with friends) is of top priority.
So how have I changed and who am I now? Well, I'd say that in a nutshell I have learned more about how to balance... everything... in my life, and I've learned (the hard way) more about the necessity for me to remain proactive in my life and the need for me to act true to my heart at all times.
I now look forward to another year knowing that no matter what I may fear, no matter what I may hope, and no matter what I may expect the truth is the same: what will be will be. And for my part, all I can say is that I will make the very most of my part of it all, whatever that may turn out to be.
Here's to another year. =) |
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| Spirit Dance: The Words of Chief Hawk Pope |
[Dec. 31st, 2004|11:35 am] |
I think it's finally done!
(for now, at least...)
I've transcribed Chief Hawk Pope's narration for Spirit: A Journey in Song, Drum, and Dance. The narration is just so good, and the words are just so well chosen, that I felt it was worth it to transcribe them. Now, I will share them all with anyone interested. In particular many of my mom's friends on Kaua'i will enjoy them very much, I am sure.
Anyway, here it is, for those who may be curious:
http://www.gdc.wpi.edu/~darrent/Interests/Spirit-ChiefHawkPope.html
They (the people who did Spirit, many years ago) also have a new website:
http://www.spirit7thfire.com/ (Just as a warning: The site has audio enabled by default. It's from the show, so it's good, but if you're at work or something with a speaker you probably shouldn't go there right now.)
BTW, you don't really need to have seen the show to appreciate most of the narration. Just know that (in case it isn't obvious) the story is about a man who longs to leave the cold, mechanical business work he knows and reconnect with his spiritual side, much of which has to do with his (previously unknown) Native American heritage.
Enjoy. =) |
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