I don't know why we call it 'Black Friday,' but it sure wasn't 'Black' for me. The day after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year, is called 'Black Friday' by my family because there's always so many people on the roads and in the mall to contend with - it's a day you don't want to be shopping. Well, last year I decided to break that tradition and get my family to go shopping.

This year was no different. well, it was, uhh... Yeah, Dad and I definately went out at 6:45 am to go shopping for the early bird specials; Dad to Staples, me to Gamestop. They were having a sale that gave a $10 gift card w/purchase of some games and a buy 2 used games, get 1 free sale. With my 10% off used game card, I was instantly hooked. To make a long story short, 2 trips and $99 later I had the following games:

Steve- Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal

Jon- Command & Conquer (the 5 game pack)

Jesse- SW: Knights of the Old Republic

Greg- Luigi's Mansion

Me: Spider-Man (PS2), Medal of Honor: Frontline (PS2), & Legaia 2: Duel Saga

To top it off, the family happened to pop into Circuit City for a few minutes and I found Rainbow Six3 (XBOX) for $10 for Ben. That takes care of all my shopping for friends except Josh; he'll get a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card b/c he's more into books than video games. I'm also planning to spend about $40 dollars on CBC apparel for my parents and grandparents. This all boils down to one thing: I'm definately going to have to start donating plasma when I get back to Springfield :^D

Ahhh, it's a wonderful morning to wake up and realize how awesome it is to be alive: Stayed up 'til 3, slept in 'til 9, get to watch the first snow of the season gently fall to the earth just to dissipate as if it had never been. In less than 2 hours I will be sharing company with my grandparents, who I adore, and eating a Thanksgiving feast. I am so fortunate. I do recognize the fact that I am in the upper, like, 2% of the world that can say they apply to that category today. wow. speaking of which...

Did you ever stop to think about the word Thanksgiving? Yeah, just the word. The etymology really isn't that hard and this isn't even Greek or Latin. It's a compound word from "Thanks" and "Giving." Of course I could rearrange the order and say it means "Giving Thanks," but there is an entirely deeper significance to it.

Thanks- Gratefulness, Appreciativeness, Praise, often expressing fulfillment of a debt or deficiency.

Giving- Offering, Extending, to make a present of, often in a sacrificial manner.

In short, it is offering sacrificial praise for a deficiency. Now when we look back today and think about all the deficiencies we've had in our lives and how incredibly blessed we are for the fulfillment of those needs, we can offer up our praise to God for where we've come from and how far He's taken us.

This is what Thanksgiving means.

Hallelujah! I am now sitting at the home at which I grew up, and am sooo thankful to be there. I got in last night around 10pm EST after my flight from Springfield to Memphis to Cleveland. Flights were very good and I had good travelling partners both times. The first was an elderly woman visiting her newborn 1st greatgrandchild. The second was a 28 yr old Psych major complete w/masters in the field. Good convos ;^)

Well, I got a chance to play MGS 2: Sons of Liberty today from when I picked it up on Friday from Gamestop used for $4 bucks. Man, that's a deal, praise Jesus. I hadn't ever played a MGS game, so it was a lot of fun. I've played Bond and Mission Impossible, so that was similar. I know I own Splinter Cell, but I honestly haven't played it yet ;^Þ I was working on Prince of Persia that I picked up in the pack with it - another great deal!

ANYWAYS... that was fun. But I had a painful time trying to beat that first boss. My problems were: (1) I was getting used to the controls. (2) I didn't shoot those blingin' lights out. That caused problems. But I finally beat her and had a hilarious amount of fun running around the ship in that cardboard box. I don't think I've ever had so much fun with a cardboard box b4! LOL

ok, I'm gonna get a jumpstart on the paper due next week, so this problem of last minute will not happen again!

Argh! Here I am at 11:37 at night, the night before my big paper is due... well, one of two on the semester. So far I have 3.5/8 page minimum. I have the background point done, but the Analects exegesis and the application are still to come... and not to mention the intro, conclusion, and works cited page.

moof.

*sigh* Well, I'll do a little more forums, and I might play some SCII before I hit the paper again.

JESUS HELP ME!!! :cry:

Man, I spent 8 hours yesterday playing Xenogears, just trying to get to the end of it. I should have been writing my 8-page paper, but instead I have to do it all today. I finally managed to get to the 2nd disc, though, and the Omnigears are really starting to develop. This is, by far, the most complex story of any game I've ever played. I do hope Xenosaga II and the rest of the series live up to the standards set by this game.

Oh, and I like the shift in the 2nd disc gameplay. It changes to a storytelling type of play, where I do little or no walking, and just the really cool battles. The few hints on animé and CGI are a nice touch, too.