Title

I have trouble coming up with titles to my posts - something that is catchy yet relevant to what I'm writing. It's especially hard when I'm writing about nothing in particular.

I installed the Dark Messiah game. It disappointed. It seems like a great game, however they changed from the old school Might and Magic feel and adopted the much too common now Oblivion/Morrowind feel. While it's a "yay!" for all the guys out there, it's a big "boo" from me because I get motion sickness from first person mouselook games. So I only got so far as the end of the tutorial before I had to lie down and hold onto the floor while it was spinning out from under me. Sure, your game looks great, and you can incorporate many interactive controls into it this way (Parry! Attack! Kick! Pick up that crate and throw it!), but you forgot about the poor un-co geeks out there (i.e. me) who can't coordinate three button presses at the same time, and get queezy even just looking at the new and improved graphics. After the rigmarole of copying nine gigabytes of .rar files, and extracting them into a giant ISO, and then installing the game, and then running it, and sorting out the optimal settings for it to work, this is rather disappointing. But my boyfriend loved Oblivion, and still plays it when WoW servers are down, so I'm sure he'll enjoy the newest Might and Magic.

I found a website that gives detailed instructions on how to train a bird, so I've been trying to apply the techniques to Piggy the Budgie. I knew all these tricks all along of course (thank you Psyc 122), but somehow seeing it written down by someone else makes it a more viable resource and thus I find the patience to stick with it. So far, I've got him eating out of my hand. But he still gets vicious when he gets sick of me, or when I try to pat him. Angry angry little bird. Suppose takes after the owner :P

Saturday

Nice day today. Went to post yet another job application. This one could be good - it's right in the middle of the city. Bought a copy of The Office - the American version - turns out it's just as crap as the British one. Boohoo $30 down the drain. The awkward silences are just a bit too much, although the actors are mildly more attractive.
Watched the latest episodes of Boston Legal and Heroes. Both fantastic shows. And next week House is back from the three week break. Yay more TV goodness. Love binge-watching TV shows, I do.
Played the beta of Supreme Commander, really hoggy and not very easy to play because of it, but was fun for a little while. Installing the Dark Messiah Might and Magic at the moment, looking forward to playing that.

Heroes the TV show is actually so good that it even has its own blog, written by one of the characters. Great integration of fiction and reality. When orcs of Orgrimmar start having blogs, I'll surrender my life to the fiction of fiction. Viva la Internet!

Friends with Money

Went to see Friends with Money tonight. Real cool movie. The type of movie that leaves you feeling nothing. Not excited, not motivated, not sad, not happy, just numb and just relaxed I guess. It's really a movie about nothing. It's sort of like panning in to someone's life, watching for a bit, and then panning out again. It reminded me of Closer - another movie that I really enjoyed, but most people around me said "what on earth was that about?!". Don't know why I like them, just feel so serene afterwards. Perhaps because they sap all the worries out of you, like watching the ocean - just waves rushing in and breaking, and rushing in again. Or realising that other people have the same crazy every day things happen in their lives too. The dialogue really makes the movie. Both movies, actually. It could, of course, be to the fact that they both have a lot of famous actors in them. Who knows...

Gosh, I really wish I had more money though. The "more" is redundant there actually, because technically I have none. L-O-L

By the way, the new Firefox 2 is awesome because it has integrated spell check with custom inbuilt dictionary, so just like Word but everywhere.

Two exams next week

So instead of studying I turn to Blogger. Naturally.

This weekend has been more of a yo-yo than my little mind can handle. The Saturday morning saw perfect blue skies, and since then it has been "Gusty winds" and "heavy rain warnings". Been to the WF LAN, got really tired, met a lot of people, played a lot of WoW.

The interpersonal relationships have been down, down, and really low down. Then a period of recovery proved that not all is lost. I shall try to be good from now on, consciously so. I'm lucky to have the second chance really. Is that cryptic enough? To people that know me, I bet it's as clear as every other time the same kind of thing happened. But I'll make sure everything is good this time. I really will try.

I found the blog of Scott Adams, the guy who is the maker of Dilbert. I've put a link on the left there. Because it's awesome. In fact, I'm going to try affirmations he mentions as soon as I convince myself to get out of this warm cosy bed.

Also The Cute Overload blog. Photos, no mental substance, but great funnies to look at.

I made a perch for my bird out of a big carrot. He seems to enjoy it. He can sit on it and eat it too.

I have links to cafepress at the bottom of the page, but I really want to be making my own designs for people to buy. Any suggestions? I'm usually good on implementation, but short on arty ideas. Nut and Bee, however, now that's some talent (linked on the left too).

Gosh, this post is just full of plugs. Perhaps karma will repay me with some more visits to the site!

First day of Summer Holidays

Do I still get to call it Summer Holidays if I'm not planning to going back to study next year? I guess I'm undecided on that part.

Yesterday I had a lab report due, so couldn't really relax. Today the plan was to blob and have a first day of break (before starting to study for exams). But instead I ended up fiddling with Blogger and various other websites to make my blog look better. Maybe if I posted a bit more, it'd make itself look better.

I've now put a few links to websites I frequently visit, and I also have a "I'm currently Reading this book" link on the left there - just in case you want something to read and/or maybe discuss.

I haven't heard from the MAF job still, nor any of the other jobs, but at the same time I haven't been declined from any either, so still hoping.

There is a LAN for my WoW Guild this weekend, so that should be good I hope, barring any e-drama and e-wrist-slashing.

The game

So I received the game I'd won on the radio - MediEvil Resurrection. It's a PSP game, I don't have a PSP. What do I do with it now?

Technology and Laziness

So instead of programming this silly VB.NET assignment, I'm browsing podcasts and contributing to blowing our monthly traffic cap.

Let's talk comedians - it's damn hard to find good comedy on the podcasts selection. Most of the stuff is video now. I want just something funny in the background while I do my assignments, not something to look at - I have plenty of TV episodes to watch later.

Sunday Star Times has the best comedy I could ever ask for. Raybon Kan. Somehow, every Sunday he writes something I was thinking about that very week. Even the "Why do we have cemeteries?" this week. How odd. Today I found out he has a myspace account. Oh Shame. Everyone knows that Blogspot or your own domain blog is how it's meant to be done. Myspace is for emo kids, along with livejournal. Also, Raybon Kan's myspace account doesn't actually have any entries - just a description and a bunch of friend links. Well at least from there I found out that Bic Runga has a blog too. Even though it says on her MySpace account that it's maintained by her marketing team, it's still nice to pretend that she writes some of the entries herself.

So yeah, I wish Raybon Kan was more "accessible". I'm a really big fan, but sometimes you realise that the celebrities only care for the pay and ratings, not the actual fans. Them's the breaks I suppose. They get tired of all the attention I'm sure.

But then again, there's Opinionistas and Dooce that have reached a celebrity status and are still accessible to the general public - they reply to emails and meet people. I guess it's really because they were bloggers first, famous second.

So far on my podcasts selection I've got Penny Arcade Downloadable Content, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, Hope is Emo, Jamie Oliver, Penn Radio, and USA TODAY's Pop Candy, and Futures in Biotech. I had Comedy Central: Stand-Up (Video) - too short for a video, Happy Tree Friends - too much to download, and I think I had some other cartoons but couldn't be bothered.

Now, did you know you can download current TV shows on iTunes now? Stupid iTunes store and its "Not available in your Country" message. At two dollars per episode, I'd be so keen to download them. It just seems so much easier than torrenting.

Only a week to go!

Monday begins the last week of my University study. The last week of lectures, ever. Amazing isn't it. Kinda sad too - hard to leave something so interesting and fun behind. But I'll feel all much better about it all when I can finally go a week without worrying how I'll pay my bills.

I've applied for a job at MAF Biosecurity in Wallaceville. I got shortlisted and had an interview. Apparently I'm up against five other people. Nervous. It's a four months contract to cover someone's pregnancy leave, and in that respect, the job is perfect - good experience over summer, while still giving me the option to go back to University to do Honours. And if I stick with working, it's yet another entry on my CV.

The interview was quite scary - 17 pre-printed questions, the panel members went in circles asking them, three at a time. Very strange, but I guess it is a government department. Seems like a very nice team too - everyone is young, and they all seem quite chirpy.

Would be good if I get it. If not, I guess I can stick it out with the old folks for a bit longer. I suppose I never posted that I am a care provider for the elderly now. Just a part time job - useful because I can work around my lecture times. Frustrating at time and the pay is awful, but at the same time it feels good to be needed by someone. I have three clients - one I just vaccuum her house, another I take shopping and to the hairdresser, and the third, hmm not really sure what I do with him - we clean the house and he brings in more stuff the next day.

The pay is so bad that in the two months that I've been working there I earned less money than my boyfriend earns in one week. I suppose doesn't help that my hours are sporadic - 13 one week, two the next.

My exams are on the 31st, 1st, and an Open Polytechnic one on the 16th. But no lectures as of 16th of October, so plenty of time to work and study. If I get the Wallaceville job, I can study on the train/bus - one hour trip each way every day.

In fact I should writing a project for the Open Poly assignment right this minute as it's due on Monday, but I saw that Blogger now has a new fandangly interface and just had to check it out.

Oh oh, I won a PSP game on the radio today. Woot!