Reset

 Of the variant hobbies I've cycled through over the years, gaming is the oldest and most constant of them all. I've been gaming since...well, since I was pretty young. Nearly 30 years if I can make an estimate. I don't remember exactly when my father bought it, but we had a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) for some time. That was my portal into the world of video games. The system came packaged with a single cartridge, which was Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt. I don't remember what childlike awe I had for games, but I'm sure I was to some level blown away. Here was something I could see on my TV, but I could control it. I made Mario walk (or run) across the level. I made him jump. I made him swim. I made him smash goombas and koopas. I made him shoot freaking fire. What is cooler than that?

Later on my dad bought more games for the system. Batman, based on the 1989 blockbuster superhero movie of the same name, was really cool. At the time I was really getting into Batman, mostly because of the movie. In Batman I could play as the Dark Knight himself. I had the ability to punch enemies into dust. I could jump between walls. And of course, there were three different Bat-gadgets at my disposal. I watched my dad play it a lot because he was way better than me at the time. I feel like I kinda learned how to navigate and play an old NES game because I watched him do it. He died a lot, and watching as a kid, you learn a lot. 

As time went on, more systems came out with better graphics. I had the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), I had the GameBoy, I had the Nintendo 64. Later I moved away from just Nintendo and played Playstation and Xbox. The systems may have changed but my love for games remained the same. 

As I grew older, I wasn't sure if I continued to play video games because it was a nostalgic, comfort thing. Yes, that is certainly part of it. Is it that I could be Batman, or Superman, or Mario, or Sonic, or James Bond or that I could fight dragons, command armies, swing swords, shoot guns, drive fast cars, fly a ship, or save the world? Well, yes, that was part of it, too. Video games are immersive. Unlike books and other art mediums, I had the control. I controlled how the hero won, how the story played out. Games allowed me to sink into the world and escape for...many, many hours. And my "hard work" always paid off. The world was saved. The people were happy. I was thanked for doing the task laid out in the game. I was appreciated and recognized. 

The most overlooked, underrated feature to video games, however, is the "Reset" button. Stuck? Reset. Things not going your way? Reset. Need to change the game from "Medium" or "Hard" to "Easy"? Reset. On older consoles, there was an actual reset button. At any point, you could hit that bad boy. Didn't need to pause and navigate a menu, you could just hit "reset" and in seconds you were back at the title screen and you could start things fresh. 

I bring all this up because, probably like most anyone else, I wish life had a reset button. Reset and change the difficulty level. Reset and start over at your last save right before that boss battle. Reset and change the stats and attributes of your character. Reset just to play the easy first levels of the game just before it became unforgivingly difficult. It's been said, "Be careful what you wish for", but I almost wish I could hit reset on this year. Hit reset because, although it's been grueling and taxing on numerous levels, I still believe there were so many opportunities for me personally to be better. I did not take that time or effort in hindsight. I may have "learned" some things, but I didn't benefit myself or anyone else. This year could have been more of a victory than it has been.

So, what do we do? Try to do better. Try to apply what we've learned, which, as I grow up and grow older, have only realized I do a very poor job of applying. I also do a very poor job of remembering. This gets me into trouble, and then I wind up on a site like this and ramble for a few paragraphs about video games and how reset buttons are great but also metaphorical. 

2021 is in 3 weeks, and that'll be as close as I'll get to a reset button. Hopefully I can start applying and remembering, because I certainly can't reset and change my character at this point. 

Attack of the "Were-Nerd", and Something About a Velociraptor

Alright...ready...set....

BLOG!!

Baawepoirufhasdjfnsdkjf fjapsdio nfasdkdop sdkfjapsdoifja kfjapsoidfj;alskdjajsdf.   Gpasdoifjasdckjasjdpfi!

See you guys next month/week/year!

"Whoa whoa whoa...wait a minute."

Who are you?

"Blogging commissioner."

Oh.  Wait, seriously?

"Yes.  And according to the laws of Blogger, this isn't a full sized, regulation post.  You keep this up, we'll shut you down, and wind up in blogger jail."

Alright, that's preposterous.  There's no such thing --

"--As blogger jail?  Of course there is. Don't be silly.  See these blogging cuffs?  And this blogging billy club?"

Those look like a normal pair of cuffs and a normal billy club.

"They are.  Except they take you to blogger jail."

Okay, okay.  Fine.  I'll do this post for real.  No cutting corners in an effort to save time.  But only because you're annoying, and not because I fear any sort of  "blogger jail".

Hello everyone!  Long time no post.  Again.  My fault as usual.  See, I'm terrible at proratizing.  Thus, I end up devoting my time to things that are not the blog or running or really anything of great consequence.  There's a reason for that, though.  There's a reason I've been reading the same book for over a month when I should have finished it weeks ago.  That reason, aside from the inclination that I may have always had ADD, is I've been spending  a lot more time playing video games.  It's been a long time since I've seriously played video games, and I'm at it again.  Losing myself in game fantasy land and, as a result, losing my time. 

See, I was pretty sure I got over video games.  I continued to own and every so often play my Super Nintendo.  Once every couple months I'll play the Playstation 2 my dad bought five years ago and gave up on playing.  But mostly, I spent my time in other things: Work, reading, running, hanging out with friends, etc.  I became an adult.  A balanced, human adult.

Incorrect.  Below the layers, I am, and will always be, a nerd (and/or child).  The time just has to be right to strike.  First, it started with me buying Half-Life 2 online for my laptop.  I haven't really played games on my laptop.  Given, a few hours will be lost to Plants vs. Zombies (I freakin' love that game).  Mostly, I wanted the laptop for internet, music, upload photos and videos, and maybe write.  Didn't care much if it was a gaming machine.  But ever since Half-Life 2, I've been losing hours of time.  Sometimes I forget what day it is.

Now, for Christmas, my parents decided we each get a little bit of money and buy ourselves something.  My father, a few pedals for his guitar and a pedal board.  My mother, one of the Rosetta Stone programs.  Myself...an Xbox 360 bundle including Fable III, Halo Reach, three months of Xbox Live free, and a $60 gift card for Gamestop (Which I've used to purchase Batman Arkham City).  Of the litenany of things I could have bought, I bought a new video game system.  I've already spent many hours running around as Batman.

So, to answer your question (the long way) of "Where has Michael been?": Being Batman.  And shooting aliends in Half-Life 2.

But, how can you blame me? The graphics look beautiful!  These new games are mind numbingly awesome!  And I remember when Nintendo 64 was cutting edge.  Now it just looks like a bunch of blocks.

Now, to bring you up to speed.  Quickly.

I turned 25 finally last Thursday.  Which reminds me...Aunt Pegge?  Thank you for the card.  I loved it.  And don't fret about it's tardiness.  I do believe that I am LONG overdue on a response to a letter.  If I could just simply sit my butt down and get to it.  Obviously, I'm distracted by less important things.  It is coming though.

Also, Chalice Press (you know, the place with the window?) has decided it's within their budget to keep me on for another six months as a temporary employee.  I'm still part time, but they've bumped up the pay a bit.  Great news to hear, and with that bit of news I decided I don't need Teavana.  I still won't be making much money at Chalice, but I decided Teavana is no longer a place I need to be.  It's like Azkaban there.  You wind up there, and you're kinda stuck there.  Or at least I felt stuck, and working retail in a mall is kinda soul sucking.  Especially this time of year.  Basically, I can no longer justify being there.  If I don't plan to move up the corporate rock wall within Teavana, then I should probably stop wasting everyone's time (myself included) and find something worth while.  Time to move on, move forward.  Figure it out.  Hopefully.

I think that's what you've missed.  You should all be in the know now. 

I trust everyone had a spectacular Christmas.  New Year's is coming up, and I hope everyone has a great one.  Also, the blog is turning two in a couple days, if I'm correct.  He'll be saying "no" and running around pulling things off tables in no time.

Take care, lovely talking with you.  Keep in touch.  Newcomers, continue reading the blog.  I plan on not disappointing.  Except for the Velociraptor.  I totally got everyone on that one.  That was just to insure everyone would read this. Ha.

Peace.