doug nelson: DISENGAGE!

This is largely a lunchbreak distraction for me:

1) Christmas. Was spent doing laundry and eating badly-sauced pasta with Mele. It was g r e a t .
2) Cats. The two cats have become, if not friends, at least roommates. They lounge around, play with the same toys, eat out of their own bowls, and yes, occasionally punch eachother in the face. I had to return JTT for the weekend, as I don’t have the setup to leave him unattended for three days, but I will accept him into my life anew next week.
3) Gamez (this section is too heavy, and I know you don’t care, I’m just bored at work. Skip over).
3a) Medal Of Honor: Frontline. It’s just like being in World War 2, except you can’t aim at stuff and all the Germans are stupid! This game’s high points are the incredible Omaha Beach recreation (incredible for PS2, anyway…don’t tell console gamers about BF1942) and the tense, cinematic Market Garden battle. Sadly, the game is only 10% war, and 90% solo-Wolfensteining crap, where the dodgy controls pit you against individual Nazis in a terrifying race to Finally Aim At Your Opponent (often 5-10 seconds long).
3b) Giants: Citizen Kabuto. “Play as footsoldiers, siren, or the huge, destructive Kabuto!” Wait, we meant, play 40 mind-numbing hours as footsoldiers, then get frustrated before you even SEE Kabuto, let alone control him. I’m all for varied gameplay, and Kabuto gets points for making you do something crazy and different every five minutes, but it loses points for not making any of it FUN.
3c) Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time. Why can’t other games be as simple to play, beautiful to look at, and rewarding as SOT? The atmosphere is incredible, and the control is easy enough for anyone who got through a few levels of Mario 1. Plus, the time-dagger is one of the best elements a game like P of P could ask for: This is a game where you fall to your death hundreds of times, and there’s nothing more satisfying than tapping a button and saying “Nope! Take THAT, linear chronology!” and watching yourself rise back onto the platform you took a bad jump from. Combine this with the super-frequent save points and you have something that feels very difficult, yet moves along quite quickly.
3d) Monster Hunter. I mentioned previously: I am screwed in this game. The solution is to go on a dozen lame-o missions until I have enough to money to replace my “terrible, terrible purchase” sword with a “moderately bad purchase” sword. The main thing spurring me on the ‘endgame:’ unlike in WoW, MH’s baddest beasties are TERRIFYING; hundred-foot lizards that move five times your speed, stalk you from map to map, and kill any player with a single bite. So, I’m naturally curious as to how a team of players baits, traps, and subdues something so insanely overpowering. Hrm.
3e) Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. My quest for a decent two-player/co-op game on the PS2 (The “I’m not a Gamecube” system!) led me to what I am repeatedly told is one of the best of all time. Jenn and I took a break from our movie-rentin’ and sushi-eatin’ two years ago to play a good billion hours of Gauntlet on the PS1, just running around and smacking stuff and yelling “Get over here, you need this food!” I’ve ordered DL, and I am effing EXCITED. Still, it’s frustrating that a reasonably simple game like this is going to have tons of booming voices, scantily-clad heroines, and super-bombastic string scores…the Gamecube appears to be the only platform willing to entice nongamers into playing fun, multiplayer games without feeling like they should be waring wizard hats or something.
4) Movies. I Heart Huckabees was a lot better the second time. War Photographer was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while, and it makes me want to change professions so badly. Koyaanisqatsi was fascinating. We watched all three of these New Year’s day, heh, in a ROW.
5) Presents. My dad called me last night asking for instructions on how to return his. Translation: Never ask Mom what Dad wants for Christmas.
6) Parties. For NYE, I went to Mele’s commune with some other ex-communers. FASCINATING. I learned things about cheese-making that make me uncomfortable about eating cheese. Yet, I left hungry for cheese.
7) Tea. On top of finding and mass-consuming genmaicha, I’ve acquired tons more of Teavana’s signature Mate Vana, on top of a great plum mix that a coworker got me and an oddly dusty-smelling “lavender lemongrass” (packaging: pink, covered in flowers, uses the word ‘essence’) from the parents. My goal is to get through this lemongrass stuff as quickly as I can (which won’t be hard; you need to use a handful in order to get flavor out of it) so I can get back to my Vana/Maicha now-staples. And, coming in the mail: NYE’s discovery (thankkkkkks Mele/teahouse!), yerba mate, along with gourd and bombilla, all of which indicate I am entirely losing it.
The Movie. While I’ve enjoyed being onset, it’s starting to wear a little thin as days drag on and more and more calls are made (more than I signed on for, anyhow). The breaking point was finding out that this weekend-a weekend when Captain Girl is off work and in Arlington-will be 8-10 hours of onset time each day. And we’re discussing a good four or five shots I’d actually be in, maybe 30 seconds of film total. I’m negotiatin’.
9) The Hipster PDA. After going (A LOT) off-budget while moving, I entered a state of ‘budget-debt’ that was too phenomenal to use as leverage against spending. Yesterday, I put it in a separate column, and reinstated the Monthly Budget, something that’s already led to a host of well-made decisions. ADDITIONALLY, having a monthly budget is nice because you end up buying things you actually WANT, instead of putting them off and buying piddly little things because you feel like you’re ’saving.’ I got a ton of groceries, several new CDs, and ordered the yerba mate stuff without an ounce of guilt, because it’s coming out a stable, numbered fund that should be more than enough to cover small expenses, gas, and food until February. The only remaining Things I Want are Tiger and either DQ8 (SO CUTE but. But. 120 hours to beat? Seriously?) or RE4 (like I need the nightmares), but they’re things I won’t really USE this month, so I can just wait for prices to go down.
The PDA has also been a nice way to track gifts this year, which helps when it’s thank-you card time (which I have put off like five times now, but will attempt this afternoon).
10) That Girl. It has been three fantastical weeks, that, despite distances, have been nearly 50% togethertime. Which is not enough, grumble grumble.
11) Thank You Cards. I guess I should go do’em.
12) Design. Ohh, I just got a fun new freelance project. Joy of joys!