Hello All,

Been a bit since I have slung something out onto this chunk of webspace that cnet has foolishly allowed me the use of. So I guess I will give a bit of insight into some of the many happenings in my life, things have possibly slowed down a little bit, but my life is honestly still akin to a rollercoaster in a land without laws against endangerment or indirect murder. :D

First off, a bit of gaming news I think would be warranted.

I've been a gamer for a small bit of time now, about the entirety of my life, but my family has only a spotty history of gaming. Therefore, it is my sworn and solemn duty to convert them to "see the light, and hear the siren call, of gaming." ;)

Its gone well, what with my brother following in my footsteps (when he gets a little older I'm introducing him to shooters so I can take him online and laugh as he pwns n00bs :P) and my dad liking the Mechwarrior games. But still, imagine my surprise when I get an email from my folks, saying that they are trying to buy a Wii and cannot find one. :shock:

I, obviously, braved the stores of Northern California to find them a Wii...which was mostly a losing battle since they sell out within minutes at most stores in my city. But, I have connections, and eventually tracked down a Wii in another nearby city. So, for this week, I've had a Wii sitting in my apartment for "quality assurance testing," alongside Super Mario Galaxy. No, I didn't think they would be broken...but could I still be a card-carrying gamer if I had NOT offered to test it? I think not! 8) By the way, if you have a Wii, get Super Mario Galaxy, it is a GOOD game. ;)

Hmm, school...I'm very happy about one thing in my Russian History class...it will soon be over. The text is pretty much garbage, and the teacher...lets not even go there. :| As for grades, they've been the normal kind for me, so my GPA of 4.0 is going to stay intact. (For those unknowing of what I mean, GPA is an American measure of how well you have done during your entire career at a school, 4.0 is the highest and means nothing but top marks on all final class grades.) I also found out that, by some insane bit of luck, I got the very last room in the college dorms...means I will be moving again, but also means I'll be shelling out less rent, and won't have to drive through rush hour to get to class.

Now you might wonder what the singing up there in the title is...my dad tossed a box of old computer junk at me, and I found a wee little microphone in it, and I might be taken by my special sense of insanity and end up singing ya'll a Christmas carol...yes it is a threat. :P On a side note, do people normally know what they sound like personally? Because whenever I hear a recording of myself, I barely recognize it.

I also just picked up a book, "Horus Rising" for all you 40k'ers out there, its a Sci-Fi novel that had gotten allot of acclaim from those I've talked to about it. I was skeptic even with their support, as the few Sci-Fi novels I've seen have normally been *insert bad word here*. However, this book was very skillfully crafted, and entertaining enough that I finished the 412 pages in the evening I bought it. May have to get the next in the series now, then again, I have always been much more interested by good books than most other forms of entertainment, including games...

On the last note of insanity, I just got my picture taken with Santa for Christmas. :P

Hope you all have a good one, I'll be back to stalk the comments eventually, and maybe add things I totally forgot. :roll:

-John