You can see anything you want

Okay. Looking back, I only published three articles last year. Ouch. All-time low there. Well, four, technically, but I’ve only gotten to putting up the article version of the 23 Days of Materialism 09, even though it was written and posted in it’s entirety last year. So that one could go either way. The worst part is that I had planned to write twice as many, but they take so long to research and write that it’s really hard to put aside the time to actually do them.

So what I’m thinking here, is that maybe from now on I need to concentrate on writing shorter, more focused pieces. I used to be really proud of my word counts, but in complete honesty, a really embarassing portion of those huge counts are padding. I’m like a JRPG developer, adding in a bunch of extra fluff to justify that “70 hours of gameplay!” bullet point on the box.

…

You know what I mean. So yeah. So my new year’s resolution (which I just came up with this morning) is to write at least 10 articles this year. Not that anyone reads them or anything. Which begs the question of why I even bother. Well, hits are decent right now, but last year’s have taken quite a dip from 2008’s numbers, which is a bit different from the comic, which peaked in 07 and is spiraling downwards as we put up more and more filler each week.

On an interesting note, the highest concentration of hits for this site come from Facebook users.

So yeah. I’m hoping that 2010 will be a good year for my websites. Of course, that’s what I hoped last January and then things just went to Hell. It doesn’t bode well that my first post of the year is thirteen days in, either. Oh well. Fingers crossed!

A dream of sweet illusion

Okay, I’ll admit it. I blew it. On the last damn day too. But hey, it was Christmas Eve, and I had absolutely no time to do any blogging. So let’s just be happy that we got a solid twenty-three Days of Materialism. I did a lot better than the last two years anyway!

Christmas was pretty rad too. Aside from the ginormous day-before snowfall and subsequent driving through said snowfall, of course. I got most of the stuff I wanted, and tons more because I’m a spoiled little shit. But I spent more than half as much as I received (probably) so I’m thinking we can call it even maybe? The main thing to consider here is that I got Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, and it’s everything Tomm promised it would be. Well, maybe not in the way I perceived it would be, but it’s still awesome! I also got The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, but I haven’t played it yet because I’m finishing up my second playthrough of Phantom Hourglass, which I don’t hate nearly as much as everyone else. And I bought Pokémon Rumble with the one (shame, people!) Nintedo Points card I received, and the full version is even more addictive than the demo! Hooray! And finally, Z sent me Zombies Ate My Neighbours, which is still great, but I need someone to play it with.

Also I got a shitload of clothes and a bunch of movies and a sweet RC helicopter, but those don’t really fit the theme of this blog, which has been “talking about a video game once a month” lately. Sad. Here’s hoping that this new year will bring back the variety, creativity, and volume of content that this stupid site used to have before I started dating.

She moves like the wind

So I finally saw New Moon last night. And I’m using “finally” in the “I finally ran out of ways to avoid it” sense, not the “I’m so excited we finally saw it” sense. It was not nearly as awful as Twilight, but still pretty bad. Robert Pattinson and Kristin Stewart still can’t act, and the Bella character is the stupidest fuckwit I’ve ever seen. But Taylor Lautner was atually quite good! I was surprised, to say the least. Also the fact that the werewolves were all Hulk-out rather than full moon was neat. A little sketchy, but it allows for a lot more werewolf than the full moon mythos allows. Anyway, it’s still basically two hours of whining, so I don’t recommend.

Any love is good love

So I opened TE at work today, just to take a peek (not to update at work or anything… that would be wrong), and it turns out that at least there, the site is horribly broken in Internet Explorer. Now, if it weren’t for not having any alternatives at the office, I wouldn’t touch IE, but them’s the breaks. Quite unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I would get a scolding if I installed Firefox or Google Chrome.

We all live downtown

So a while ago I discovered that somebody ripped the entire soundtrack from Super Smash Bros Brawl, made it all into MP3s and put it in a torrent. I can only assume this happened ages ago, but HOT DAMN I am excited. Whatever noble soul is behind this triumph of goodwill is my new hero. I seriously looooove the Brawl soundtrack. I wish Nintendo would release a 20-disc compilation of it. I love having physical copies of things. And we’ll talk even more about that later into the month. But I do have some other music to get all smooshy over tonight though! Avast!

You can’t be too careful anymore

Ugh. Sometimes I forget just how wonderful medication can be. I’ve been down with the sickness for the last week (and not changing my routine at all to compensate for it), and today my boss finally forced me to head over to the walk-in medical center. I’m now doped up and… well, not feeling great yet, but that shit really does take the edge off. I don’t get sick very often, but when I do, it really wreaks havoc on my physical self. I also finished Christmas shopping for my girlfriend today, which has been a three-month long endeavor, so woot on that.

Bada ba bada ba ba da

I don’t know if you keep up with Penny-Arcade, but I like to click over every once in a while and read the funny comic strips they occasionally put up there. Last week was amazing though, as they put up a two-part series about working at Toys ‘R’ Us. As a used-to-be TRU worker, these strips touched something very tender in my heart, resonating with my soul in a way only fellow TRU slaves would understand. Also, I’m kicking myself because my own TRU parody strips aren’t nearly as good.

Anyhow, read! Part 1 and Part 2.

I really have nothing more important to say today. Or all month, apparently. There’s cool stuff happening, but I’m saving all my product reviews for, you guessed it: The 25 Days of Materialism! Coming soon to a shitty blog near you!

Heroes in a half shell

Good news everyone! Well, incredibly delayed good news, anyway.

Remember all those weeks ago where I was complaining about how I wanted the re-releases of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys? Well, just about a week before I left Toys R Us, they finally got them in, and luckily I was there to see them put out and was able to pounce on them, acquiring all four turtles, just as I had planned.

Ahh, aren’t they beautiful? Such retro goodness, and for a reasonable price, as opposed to the hundreds of dollars I would have paid for them on EBay. I’m at a loss of whether I want to open them or not though. I know that as re-releases their worth is significantly less than the originals, but I still don’t think I could bear to even possibly spoil their “mint-on-card” status.

I’m a little disappointed that there weren’t any Shredder figures, but that’s okay. It’s a few bucks saved for me, and I think that if I had gone even one figure outside my original plan, that I would end up buying the whole line, and that’s an expense I really don’t need. So I’m happy enough that I got all four turtles. That really has been more than enough to soothe my swollen nostalgia gland. At least for now…

Excuses, threats, and alibies

I handed in my resignation at work today. I’ve worked at Toys ‘R’ Us for just over three years now, and it was time to call it quits. Fortunately, I do have a new job to go to, so it’s not like every other job I’ve left where I just quit to be an unemployed bum. Also, it’s a really good new job! So no more retail/fast food for ol’ Ryan!

The weird part that even with all the anxiety all the interviewing and waiting and worrying about being able to do this new job, I think I was most nervous about leaving TRU. Not because I especially love it or anything. It’s not a bad job, but after three years, it’s more than worn on me. Anyway, what I believe the butterflies in my tummy were all about was leaving my safe place. Like I said, I’ve been there three years now, and it’s something I can do. I might be so brash as to say that I’m really good at it. It’s not great pay, but it gets me by, and I know they may not say it all the time, but they do value my hard work. And now I’m cutting away that wonderful little safety net, and taking a plunge, hoping that there’s a bigger, comfier one somewhere farther down the gorge. Or wherever that metaphor was going.

I’m sure everything will work out okay, and if somehow I’m just awful at the new job (highly unlikely) I suppose they won’t mind taking me back. At severely reduced pay of course, but at least I’ll have a job. It’s been many, many years since I’ve been this scared, since about the time I got my first job at Tim Horton’s. I’m playing in a whole different league now, and while I’m sure I’m up to the challenge, I’m having a very hard time convincing myself of it.

Oh, and if you’re my new employer and are reading this, disregard that whole lack of self-confidence thing. That’s just for dramatic effect.

You call this a good time? I just call it a trend

Having spent a little bit more time with Wii Fit Plus, I can safely say that my first-night impressions were pretty spot-on. I’ve played all the new games now, and they range from totally rad to pretty fun. The obstacle course is the clear winner, being an adrenaline-fueled race to the end of a curiously Mario-esque course of platforms and hazards. The sonwball fight and skateboarding are pretty awesome too, and even the hip-shaking math game is a blast (particularly when watching others flail around wildly). Yeah, best $20 I spent last week.

Or, well, maybe not so much. It’s hard to say. The girlfriend and I also went to see “Zombieland” last week, and it was mind-blowingly epic. Everything about the movie was totally lovable, from the slow-motion zombie mania intro credits to the special guest cameo (who I will not spoil if you haven’t seen it yet). It was a barrel of laughs from start to finish, and it didn’t get all serious and depressing at the end like “Shaun of the Dead”. I mean, tensions did reach a height at the climax (durrr), but the laughs didn’t leave to make room for drama. They shared. And I think that’s the lesson that the movie wants to teach us. Sharing is neat.

The thing that kind of threw me off for a bit though, is that I could swear that when I saw the trailer it had Michael Cera. And then I started watching the movie and I was all like “hey, that’s a different dude!” And I’m not saying I’m disappointed or anything, because honestly I think Jesse Eisenberg did a better job than Cera would have. I’m just a bit surprised that I could confuse the two like that. They’re maybe a little similar-looking I guess, but I’m pretty sure my brain is missing and/or replacing bits of information here and there on purpose lately. Oh well.

Basicaly, what I have to say is this: go see “Zombieland”. If you like funny things, you won’t be disappointed. Unless you’re the kind of person who thought “Land of the Lost” was hilarious, in which case I’m going to punch you in the throat.