Piercing the heavens, one day at a time

I've resolved to drink more water and less soda recently. I think I've gotten a little dehydrated, unfortunately, but now I'm working to prevent that. Yay healthiness!

Pokemon Yellow is going slowly because I'm playing a lot more Digimon Dusk, but it's still fun, if not a little more difficult. Perhaps because it's still early and I don't have any really strong Pokemon? Well, I should say I didn't, as I only just evolved Spearow and Rattata. Having an underleveled Venonat along with that, not to mention a Sandshrew with only two damaging attacks (I'm keeping him anyway, I've grown attached and I like Sandslash) and a fragile freshly-caught Diglett doesn't help either. Oh, and the starter Pikachu, who will likely be boxed. Finally, there's that waiting-to-be-resurrected Helix Fossil. Omastar will surely pierce the Elite Four with his Spike Cannon. Or something.

If I were capable of making hack games (and spriting), I'd make a Pokemon game where Simon of Gurren Lagann is the true final boss. His Pokemon would include Beedrill, Omastar, that big mole with the drill attack in Black and White, possibly Rhyperior, and... I'd have to think about the rest, but a drill/spiral theme would be awesome. AND THEY WOULD ALL KNOW HORN DRILL.

I talk about Gurren Lagann a lot (Pokemon too, but that's not relevant at the moment), but I genuinely like the ideals the show promotes, at the heart of it believing in those who have faith in you, but more importantly believing in yourself. In the last few weeks I've really come to understand how important that can be. My emotions, self-esteem, confidence, and general attitude about life have improved greatly. Remember a while back when I posted a link to an English fandub of the show's opening theme? I've been listening to that quite a bit lately. It's pretty much a good summation of how I'm feeling, and for real this time. I always liked the sound of the Japanese version (well, versions, I think I have around six renditions of the song now), but now that I can understand and personally comprehend the meaning of the lyrics, it's become much closer to my heart.

"We evolve beyond the person we were a minute before! Little by little, we advance a bit further with each turn! THAT'S HOW A DRILL WORKS!"

I'm on the road to Viridian City!

Yesterday... I found a copy of Pokemon Yellow. And it was awesome. IS awesome, I should say. I started playing it, and I've just beaten Brock and am just out of Pewter City. Current team: Pikachu, Spearow (here to stay!), Mankey, Rattata, and Butterfree. Oh, man, this brings back memories. Especially of how dumb I was back in the day. Also, Yellow's sprites are so much better. Gone are the days of horrific Golbat and Exeggutor! Back sprites are still a little iffy, but hey, it was first-gen! They got better!

Also, I've been playing Digimon World Dusk (cue gasps). Yes, a Digimon game. Actually, I've always loved both, but Pokemon's had a stronger presence and has been there more consistently, and has overall better games, so it has the top place in my heart. But man, I love Digimon. Just... so many options. Dusk is a decent game too, and now replaying it I actually have a clue as to what I'm doing, as compared to Dawn version where I was winging it whilst still in Poke-mode. Unlike in Pokemon, no clue what team I'll have. Again... the options. Dear lord.

I recently had a bit of an epiphany, about who I am and what my place in the world is. I was thinking about a certain girl, wondering if she's still hurting, and wishing so badly I could see her just to make her smile. I was a jumbled mess of thoughts at the time, and also thought about my comics and how people loved them, how they told me how funny I was and how I brightened up their day- then it hit me. I have a great gift, and it's great because I can so easily share it with others. I can find the joke in any situation, always come up with some amazing quip or pun, I impress people with politeness and caring, I have so much imagination, love and compassion, and making other people smile is one of my greatest rewards in life.

I have the gift of laughter and sunshine, brightness and smiles, and I can extend that to others in the form of my words and ideas. I'm the guy who makes things better. I make people better. There's not really much else you can aspire to, is there?

I've finally gotten it. I know where I belong. And that's wherever I'm needed most to bring light back to someone's dark day.

Back to witches and wizards and magical beasts...

I finished "A Very Potter Sequel" today. Just... fantastic stuff. I also stalk- er, follow, most of Team Starkid on Twitter now. Hopefully I will know ASAP if there's a sequel, or another show or something.

Ugh, I really want to be in a musical again now. It's a lot easier to watch than perform, though. A theater major's work is never easy.

I'm getting ready to go back to Central. I'm looking forward to it, and to meeting my new roommates and seeing old friends. I've been practicing New Super Mario Bros. Wii a bit, and I'm getting better at it. I'm at World 3 and haven't had to continue once yet, so that's a good thing. I less than three Copter Caps, incidentally.

I have a lot of gaming to do. Besides the Pokemon games I already have to finish, I have a few more to start as well now. I also got a copy of Digimon World Dusk, since I had the other one since quite some time ago, so I think I have... seven games to play now? At least? Sheesh, I need to just finish up one at a time and not switch back and forth.

As of late, things seem to be going my way, for the most part. It's just... a really positive feeling. I'm growing more and more, evolving past the person I was a few months ago... and I don't think it's going to stop. My confidence and self-esteem are soaring, and I wonder who I'm going to be once I finish this metamorphosis?

It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool.

I think someone is screwing with the timestream because I could swear I posted just yesterday. Ugh.

Anyway, got a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, two used Wiimotes, a GCN/GBA connector cable, and a GBC connector cable that was falsely marked as a GBA one. So yeah. Anyway, I'm going to be redoing Pokemon Ruby, LeafGreen, and XD eventually. I came up with a plan- use Squirtle in Ruby. It'll be funny. Also frees up room on my Black team. I'll use mostly the same teams for LeafGreen and XD. Let's compare the current vs. the planned changes:

LeafGreen: Venusaur, Raichu, Kadabra, Lapras, Aerodactyl, Dragonite (changed for... I dunno, Dugtrio or something)
XD: Espeon, Ampharos, Houndoom, Walrein (changed for Cloyster), Salamence, Tyranitar (changed for Ursaring)

My Ruby team will consist of Blastoise, Camerupt, Cacturne, Dodrio, Aggron, and Wobbuffet. I like Wobby, he's pretty cool. I almost used him once, in Sapphire, I think. Time to remedy that.

Also, Doctor Who finale again. I would love a fez for my own, especially for my Eleventh Doctor costume. Can't wait for the Christmas special, I really hope it's going to be the implied "Egyptian goddess on the Orient Express IN SPACE" story. That would be so cool. Dumbledore's gonna be in it either way, so that's pretty nice too.

Totally awesome!

"A Very Potter Sequel" came out tonight.

Talk later. Hilarious musical parody now.

Schedule keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future...

Blarg. Forgot to post again. OK, it's been a stressful couple of days, to be fair- my grandma was in the hospital from Sunday afternoon up until noonish today. We visited her yesterday, and almost went Sunday after a long day trip, but long story short: she wouldn't be moved from one hospital to the other until late Sunday night so Mom and I went yesterday. I won't go into the details because it'd bore you and thankfully she'll be fine.

I've been getting urges to play or replay about four Pokemon games now. Besides Red, which I've mentioned in the past, I want to get Yellow, and also replay Ruby and XD Gale of Darkness. I'm gonna need to buy some new stuff if that's the case.

Found out that I'll have two roommates this semester. Did I mention? I'm bringing my Wii and N64. Perhaps I should consider getting some more Wiimotes and New Super Mario Bros. or something like that... I've wanted to play NSMBW for some time now, but doing it myself doesn't seem half as much fun. I should probably ask them about it.

Still waiting for my LEGO shipment to come, but it's arriving from Germany so I'm not getting impatient yet. It's more of anticipation than anything.

KA-ME-HA-ME-.....whaaaaaa?

So we saw "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" today. Very fast-paced, entertaining, action-packed movie. I loved it, but I couldn't help but notice that the hand position for firing their "plasma blasts" looked like... well, a certain famous anime move.

They couldn't have made movies like this when I was younger, with all the CGI and the like... it's mind-boggling at the thought of what they may be able to do in another ten years' time.

I watched the final part of the Parody Rangers movie today (if you don't know what Parody Rangers is, it's a series of Flash cartoons spoofing Power Rangers. Not suitable for kids but it's hilarious, look for it on Newgrounds) and thought, "hmm, maybe I could draw a parody like that of my own for Graphing Mercury." Just what we need, a team of Super Sentai knockoffs! With Pokemon Megazords!

Actually, I do need to get back to drawing eventually. Maybe I can do that tomorrow, if we don't go somewhere for Dad's birthday. He's 59 tomorrow.

Yesterday, I checked online about the LEGO collectible minifigures. They're sold out, even on the online store. AND THEY'RE NOT MAKING ANY MORE. But wait, there's a happier ending! I registered on a LEGO-buying/trading site called Bricklink earlier in the year just in case, and I managed to buy a complete set from a very reputable vendor in Germany (over 2000 reviews and not a single negative one), so within a week or two I'll start getting impatient. Ha!

Oh, and since I didn't see your comment until recently (I've gotten lax checking my email), good to hear from you again, garnetash. I'd missed hearing from you! And thank you, I really mean it.

Upgrade complete

So. Positive feeling. Definitely here to stay. Excellent.

I have been searching for those collectible minifigures for some time now and still don't have any. They're even sold out online. Well, isn't that just dandy? It'd be really nice if I could find some soon...

Besides that, I feel optimistic. Exuberant, even. I'm beginning to understand the "you have to learn to love yourself" advice I got. It may have sounded cheesy, but that wisdom was pretty gouda.

...if you leave now I won't blame you...

Anyway, it's like I've made a real advancement for once. I think I may be able to actually get the girl for once. It might take a while, but I know I can do it. ...I do worry about her, though. She broke up with a jerk of a guy, but although I don't understand how she ever liked him I know that she must be hurting right now. I know all too well what it's like to be rejected by someone you don't automatically realize isn't good enough for you... If there was a way for me to be there for her right now, I'd do it, but I can't think of anything her close friends couldn't do better. It's them that she needs right now, not some other guy who wants to be with her. She needs to heal, and I have to respect that. So I will. I've waited a long time to find someone like her, I can wait a while longer. Then I can work on doing things the right way this time.

Some people might say that I don't need to look for a relationship now, that there's no harm in waiting. Those people don't quite understand... I've spent a lot of time being alone. I refuse to deal with that anymore. Living for just myself isn't fulfilling for me... I see and understand so much on a level different from other people, and I want to share that with someone. Nowhere does it say I need to wait thirty years for that, because I'm not going to. I'm as good as anyone else, in fact, there are a lot of people that I'm better than. They get their chances, well, it's time I got mine.

An era of sadness, self-pitying, and loneliness is over, and good riddance to it. It lived long past its welcome. I've finally stopped holding myself back unintentionally. Nobody's seen what I'm really capable of yet, because even when I tried my hardest before, there were always those black clouds on the horizon, but no more. It's clear sailing ahead. This time, I'm going to live my life how I want to. I have the power to improve my life, and I'm the only one who can do that- nobody else chooses for me.

Right here, right now, is the perfect time for this new life to start. The path to tomorrow is the one I choose, not the one anyone else does. Trust me. I've finally got it figured out.

And it feels good!

So our enemy is an MI5 operative? We're screwed

I dunno if you read, friends, but we have clearer scans of recent Pokemon magazine info. It's pretty cool, too.

So, main points, in order for me to not ramble the whole time:
*Two rivals, a guy named Cheren and a girl named Belle. You get given starter Pokemon as a gift from the professor, who asks you share them with the other two, your childhood friends.
*An antagonist named N. Yes, that's his name. His goal is to separate humans and Pokemon altogether. Why? We don't know yet. But hey, an improved storyline is definitely acceptable.
*More Pokemon, including an evolution of weirdo-pink-thing Munna which looks much cooler, new moves and abilities, another character or two, and some info about the games connecting to the computer.

It was a good haul, and the eagle that we're getting looks very nice indeed. The last week or two have been good, not just game-wise, but just life-wise. I'm pretty content where things are at right now...

Just another Pleasant Valley Sunday

I feel content right now. Everything seems to be the way it should be.

Life is good right now.

"Draco was banging his goblet on the table. It was a nauseating sight..."

So I've been playing LEGO Harry Potter over the past few days. I actually got it earlier but put off playing it for whatever reason. And... it's pretty fun. Exploring Hogwarts with a giant world hub is pretty cool, and fans of the series would definitely appreciate all the continuity nods. Sometimes the puzzles are a little unintuitive, but not so bad as the Batman game. Seriously, some of those puzzles made no sense at all.

My only problem is that you really have to get deep into the game before you can truly explore. Among the things you need for a lot of puzzles to get 100% are a character with a key, a spell to destroy metal, and a character that can use dark magic. I'm partway through Prisoner of Azkaban's story and haven't got any of those. The spell and the dark magic character? Can't get any of those until Goblet of Fire. A character with a key? Only one, and you need that metal-destruction spell... ugh.

The character select is huge, I haven't played every LEGO game, but this is the biggest one I can remember since the combined Star Wars cast... and a lot of those slots cycle through variations of characters. Yeah, it's pretty big. One gripe, though, is that most of the characters I've unlocked are... boring. Lots of generic stuff like "Hufflepuff Prefect" or "Ravenclaw Boy" or just the generic "Boy" and "Girl." Huzzah. When do I get Dumbledore and the interesting characters? Oh, and they forgot Lavender Brown. You can get nearly every named character except for her. And Luna, who isn't until the fifth book (this game is only over the first four), but I really say that because, as I've said before, I have a massive crush on Evanna Lynch like every other reasonable person on the planet.

Perhaps it's something about a geeky, smart, head-in-the-clouds, yet incredibly pretty girl that hits the right buttons. That... that actually sounds about right.

It's our problem-free philosophy

...okay, I'm really bad on the updates. Sorry about that. Though I had a good excuse last night. My dad came down with some serious back pain and was really ill, so at around nine my mom decided to take him to the hospital. Result? Kidney stones. Yeah. They got home at around one o'clock, and I figured it would be late, so I stayed up for them.

Dad slept most of the day. He's been quiet so I'm not entirely sure how well he's doing, but he's making an effort to get better. It was a big sleeping day for me too, got up around eleven o'clock. I'm glad college taught me about self-reliance because she needed the rest too.

Despite the tiredness factor, I've been feeling pretty good lately. Chatting with, and getting along with, people I'd never met whilst watching the Nuzlocke Livestream was a good experience, and certainly confidence-boosting. I have a feeling next year will be pretty good (and I just got my rooming assignment, I have two roommates. Should be interesting), especially if/when I got to London.

I was thinking about the girls who hurt me in the past, and how I thought I wasn't good enough for them. Then I turned it around: I can do better than them, but they can't do much better than me, not where it counts. And thinking that felt good.

When you lose everything that matters, if you're broken and bleeding on the ground, that's the worst time to give up. Keep fighting, and claw towards the future like your life depends on it, because it does. If you give up, then it was all pointless, but when you keep going, you can make things better, and only then will the suffering have been worth something.

I'm not weak because I fail. I'm strong because I keep trying. Sometimes people give up. I know, I've seen the results of people who surrendered everything. There's something different in me that keeps me going. I don't know what it is yet. I think I'll find out once I finally succeed.

Gotta catch 'em all... by buying both versions!

I found my old copy of Pokemon Red a few days ago. I want to replay it for the fun before Black and White get released, and I'm working on a team. Going with solely first-gen guys is pretty interesting, or at the least a challenging prospect given what we have to work with now. Snorlax or Tauros, hmmm... how to decide...

The concept of nostalgia is a curious thing. I saw Toy Story 3 yesterday, and I can't ever remember being moved to tears in such a way while in the theater. It was a great movie, and a great way to finally close the series. Also on the summer viewing shortlist: Despicable Me and The Sorceror's Apprentice. Both of them look like they will at least be funny, and the latter's special effects and action look fantastic.

For the first time in a Pokemon game, I won't use a starter... I'll use Squirtle as tribute to an egg that I will send over to use in Black, but my final team will include Fearow, Exeggutor, Gyarados, Dugtrio, and... well, not sure yet. Tauros and Snorlax look likely at the least, and I'll figure something out for sixth. I always do.

Mom gave me a pill to help me sleep. I'm fighting off the drowziness to finish this post. I have stuff to do still tonight, and plenty of random stuff to sift through...

I never mentioned this before, but she's single. I found out from a friend who told me that the jerk in question is now listed as single (and still is, I checked for myself). This is... good. But I hope she's doing okay. Especially working all the time and away from college... maybe I'm overthinking. One day at a time, then. That's easy enough.

That's all for tonight, in between sleepy and lack of bad stuff to complain about. Things are pretty good right now. Let's hope it stays that way. I feel a bit more like I'm going to make it to the end of this race somehow. I need to grab hold of that and never let go. So, I'll see you all next time. Hopefully on schedule, but let's be honest here.




Hmm, Venomoth, perhaps...? Oh, wait, I forgot Jolteon was a top pick... grr...

I really gotta keep on a better schedule

That, or do this earlier. Electricity in town got cut off last night, so... yeah, can't really help that, but it stopped me blogging.

I don't really have a lot to say anyway. Although I am currently watching some live Nuzlocke runs online. They're doing it over three days (yesterday through tomorrow) and it's for charity. It's fairly entertaining, especially for a boring Friday at home. The one I was on yesterday was really good but the whole electric shutoff thing interrupted it. Alas. Still, apparently it's recorded online so I can still watch it! Huzzah!

On Sunday we'll likely be going to see Toy Story 3. I look forward to it. I hear The Last Airbender wasn't too good, though. Shame about that.

Two months until Black and White come out. Man, I can't wait to hear all about them. These games are going to be great...