Last night, our instructor gave the word: "Commence programming!" Coding and testing for our projects this term begins as of now.

All I can say is, "It's about time!" All this planning, designing, coming up with testing protocols, scheduling... it's been like waiting for Christmas. All the build-up for what I want to do has been very draining.

Time to have fun! Programming is like a game to me: it's a combination of hide-and-seek ("Guess where you hid the logic error in 200 lines of code!"), jigsaw puzzles ("Piece A might go here... or here..."), and wrestling (not much of that, actually... I can't afford to wrestle much with the hardware, and body-slamming my laptop might violate the warranty :lol: ).

It's also going to be time-consuming, so if my posts/updates/etc. become sporadic and rare, blame it on school (I've said it before, but I'm sure I mean it this time).

It seems like evry day, a few more people appear on my contact list. I don't mind (socializing is part of what GS is all about, right?), but I am puzzled. At least two names are unfamiliar to me, and seem to have no connection to any games or unions I'm a regular at. (I tried to put it down to my magnetic personality, but my ego just isn't big enough to accept that explanation... :) )

I finished the new Harry Potter book... [spoiler] Yeah... Like I'd give anything away... [/spoiler] ...and I must say, I was mildly disappointed. It seemed to me that Rowling just lost the fire that drove her to start the series (10 years is a long time), and with the extreme hype surrounding Potter's finale, it was like going to see "Titanic," and sitting through "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" instead (a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much).

Still, don't wait for the movie: by the time it comes out, some bonehead will spoil it for you, and another senseless murder will shortly follow.

I've taken a bit of a break from Diablo 2; I'm almost back to where the Necromancer was before Bob took over (*shakes head at bad naming choice*), so I felt a need for a break. I'm currently playing Dungeon Siege 2; the original was a lot of fun, and the sequel is just as crazy.

It's also got me looking forward to Space Siege (hope the name changes before release), which looks like Dungeon Siege plus Cyberpunk (an old PnP RPG where characters cybernetically enhanced themselves... at the cost of their basic humanity).

Symphony X. "Paradise Lost." If you're into progressive metal, buy the CD. It's incredible.

Until next time, have fun, be safe, and don't feed the trolls...