When you live in a city like Boston, your heart hardens to many things that would shock other people. A recent trip to Paris resulted in some stunned gypsies at the Eiffel tower when I orally sucker-punched them.

At the Eiffel, there were lots of Gypsies that claimed to have a relative with a critical illness. They all had the same piece of paper, written in English, that begged for money for medical aid. The next day at the Arc de Triumph they were begging using a completely different con involving spirituality (it is difficult to describe them prostrating themselves before us).

To every Grifter, no matter what they asked, I said no.
"Do you speak English?"
"No."
When you reply in an obviously American voice that you do not speak English and thrust you hand at them palm-out, they get upset. But you know what I felt? Nothing. I'm from Boston. I work downtown. Every day I see the same people on the same streetcorner begging for money from the same commuters. At least rotate your begging spot, sell Spare Change newspapers, or provide some entertainment. Do something to earn my pity-money.

In Monmartre there must have been 50 or more artists asking to sketch my wife and I; not that I can blame them for wanting to capture such beauty. I am willing to pay for a service and donate to the arts, so this was okay. What was not okay was the number of artists that asked.

And this is why I have the blanket rule: Never donate to any charity that solicits you, ever. At work I tell my coworkers that I will not donate to their charity walk/children's fundraiser/celebrity golf tournament/whatever. If I donate to one charity, and snub another, it creates tension with coworkers. So I donate to my own charities at my own time and without solicitation. Otherwise it just encourages them to ask for more. Any charity that I donate to that sends me junk-mail for the next year also gets blacklisted, because they just spent my donation on junk-mail. If I want my picture sketched, I'll come to you.

There are genuine situations where people need charity to get back on their feet. There comes a point where people need to take responsibility for themselves and pick themselves up. I will not toss my money down to you on the ground, but I will give you a hand up off it.

Does anyone play RTS games anymore? If they did, maybe the newer Dune would have been profitable, Battle Realms would have caught on, and Ground Control would have gone on to make a third sequel. As it is, I can't wait for Supreme Commander.

These are the games that simply cannot be ported easily to a platform due to control limitations. The same goes for World of Warcraft and flight simulators.


I'm stuck with the Wii until I can afford a new PC.

Someday you will realize that you too are boring. You might have been fun and exciting in college when you were drinking with friends. Maybe you were exciting in high school, gossiping about classmates. Or maybe you were only exciting in early childhood, when everything was exciting to everyone. The color purple was exciting. At 28, I feel that I have become boring.

Sure, I was a crowd favorite in college, getting drunk and performing various acts of idiocy. Then I fell in love and everything was new and fun because I was doing it with someone I loved.

Then you graduate, get a job, and realize that you can no longer fall back on mom & dad. Maybe this happened to you after high school, and I pity you if it happened before then. For me, it was not until I purchased my first home that I realized I was boring.

I no longer have stories to tell about the crazy things I have done, or what might have happened to friends and acquaintances. Instead, I work 8:30 to 5:30 every day. I pay bills. I perform maintenance on the house. Sometimes (for a bit of excitement) I go to a museum, out to eat, or visit family. Times sure are crazy.

In my spare time I will play video games, read, watch movies, work on the house, paint, or create other artwork. At one point I was working towards an advanced degree, but this was a full-time job in and of itself, and left no time for chores and my wife (who is a job unto herself, albeit a job I love and elected to take on).

I lament that I do not skydive. I do not bungee jump or go whitewater rafting. I will go hiking, weather-permitting, but it is not the thing to tell stories of, as we do not live in the developing times of Ansel Adams and Theodore Roosevelt. We have walking trails and bed & breakfasts nowadays.

So now my wife and I discuss when the best time to have a child might be and I wonder if I am considering a child because I have always wanted one, because she wants one, to give myself a sense of purpose, or if it’s just to have something to talk about with others. “Look, my baby’s walking.” or “My baby’s talking.” become the only things to discuss, and then I am truly resigned to the background. Unimportant; then again, maybe I always have been, there are over 6 billion of us, after all.

Someday, you too will discover that you are bored. Maybe it will be a mid-life crisis. Maybe it will be as you walk down the aisle. If you’re lucky, maybe you will not realize it until your ticker begins to sputter. But in the end, it feels like it’s all been done and we’re just going through the motions.

Even this post feels boring. Back to work.

My PC is so old (1999) I am unable to run any game newer than 2003. As a result, I have not bought a new computer game in years. I will not buy a new computer until my current computer either 1) dies or 2) is unable to run a web browser. But someday I will play Company of Heroes!

95% of what I and most people do is on the internet. Further, even ancient computers can store MP3s and view video. But games require more horsepower than I and many other gamers have to spare. I am part of an aging gamer base that grew up on Nintendo (that's right, 8-bit baby) and now has less time and disposable income to spare on frivolties like PC gaming, which can be a costly hobby.

I want to play more advanced games, but the Wii - a gift - has to tide over my gaming desires (and an Ignition dance pad hooked up to Stepmania). Are you listening PC gaming industry? I want to love you, but you are out of my league!!!

Sony needs a change in mentality. The firm repeatedly introduces technologies that nobody asked for and, once released, nobody wanted. Typically the firm trys to use its size to push failing media formats onto consumers (I'm talking to you, Minidisc). Consider the following:

1. Betamax
2. Elcaset
3. Minidisc
4. SACD
5. Memorystick
6. UMD (Universal Media Disc)
   
7. Rootkit DRM
8. Blu-Ray

I own a Trinitron television, but I'll get my LCD big screen from Sharp. Integrating Blu-Ray technology into the PS3 doubles the cost of the unit. Further, the developer platform is reportedly more cumbersome than that of Microsoft or Nintendo. I believe that the PS3 is Sony's Dreamcast.

Maybe with the decline of the PS3 Namco, Square Enix other developers will consider Nintendo and Xbox 360 as viable for RPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior.