I will be mourning the death of Aaliyah all this week while training to be a better leader.

These last two days: nothing. Well, mostly nothing. Yesterday I went speaker shopping during the day and found a pair of Paradigms I really like. They are expensive so I'll have to do some serious saving this semester. Since I have two jobs it shouldn't be too tough. The way I see it is that speakers are something that you use constantly and hold onto for a very long time, so they it's worth it to spend a little to get a lot.

Tomorrow I leave for this leadership conference. I have mixed feelings. It will be nice to get away and relax my brain a bit before school starts. Free-time will probably be tight but I don't have to worry about the apartment, classes, work, spending money or going out with friends (I love going out with friends but it's nice to take a break--the whole 'you appreciate them more' thing). Also, I might actually gain some leaderlike qualities while there, but we'll see. On the downside, I don't know anyone going, I don't really know exactly what we'll be doing, it lasts 6 days and I'm going to have to sleep in the same bed as someone else. As you can see, the scale is pretty well balanced with pros and cons. Bottomline is that it is a week without paying for food or any other entertainment and that will bring me one step closer to the speakers.

Finally, I would like to welcome Kara's sister Erica to Madison. Good luck kid, it's a wild ride.

[side note: I think it is fun to end posts with horribly passe phrases. Then again it might get annoying. Ce la vie.]

Microsoft is caught sending fake letters in support of them to the Utah Attorney General. Poor saps. Read about it here at the Seattle Times. Oh, did I mention that some of the fake letters they wrote were from dead people? Yeah.

Ok, so I was royally annoyed by their behavior towards Napster (although for some reason I never noted it in this blog--I checked) and I think they have taken this "I am rich and I love money so give me more!" thing a little too far. Today I read a story on sonicnet that said they were suing a tire company for using their name for a tire. Come on rock stars. Give them some slack. Maybe I am overestimating the intelligence of people but I don't think many folks go looking for tires and say, "Firestone, Goodyear, woh! Metallica tires! Now my car will rock hard!" Well, I guess people who are buying Metallica tires might not be too bright, but that's not the point. These guys have made huge amounts of dough in their time. HUGE. There is no reason for them to sue anyone because the name Metallica will not get any better or worse than it already is. People have made up their minds and sh*tty tires are not going to change anything.

Today was another day of nothing. I watched tv, I ate eggs, I watched tv, I ate ice cream, I watched tv, I listened to speakers, I watched tv. Yes, the life of an underachiever. One fun bit from today was when a cop stopped in the middle of an intersection to talk to a guy on the street and just stayed there while the other side had a green. He never noticed. He just sat and felt like a tool when his turned green and he realized where he was. Model citizen--phpt.

Just so you know. I will not be blogging all next week. I am going to be on a leadership retreat and will have no access to internet. It's going to hurt me a lot more than it's going to hurt you.

Titanium PowerBook price drop

Yes, Tenacious D is coming to Chicago in October. Oh man, do I want to go. I think it would be one hell of a show. Wanna come?

Normally I'm a fan of the reviews from Pitchfork, but today I am not. One of their reviewers just took it too far and put his elitism into overdrive. Yes, Spoon and Tortoise and Vandermark Five are great, but sometimes serious rock and roll is needed. Balance my friends, balance. So that's why I have no respect for Ryan Schreiber's review of Jimmy Eat World's new record, Bleed American.

Yes, he makes the point that the record is not groundbreaking and the lyrics aren't exactly epic, but is that what is required for a great album? I think it can make a great album but you have to have some fun. I like listening to Sonic Youth sometimes, but I wouldn't say it is "fun." I don't pop it into my CD player and sing along to every word like I would with the new Jimmy Eat World record.

Bottomline is that people need to be more openminded when it comes to music. The variety of music today is what allows me to appreciate everything a bit more. Listening to N*Sync enhances the new Matmos record. As my dad might say, variety is the spice of life.

Ah, when you are addicted to the internet, like myself, a week without a cable modem is near torture. It has arrived though and I am feeling much better. Man, that makes me sound like a nutjob.

Well, now I am going to go sit down and watch digital cable until my eyes bleed.

September 67's Lucky Shoe. It is a quiet girl-rock album that was an obsession for a period of time. I suggest you head over to awarestore.com and check out Shannon Worrell's (the lead singer) latest incarnations. You won't be dissapointed (or you will if you don't like it).

The Cubs have lost a ton of games in a row and are 2.5 games out of first. If they drop more than 5 out I will start wearing the rally cap.

I think not. If you're in Madison right now then you know why, if not, it's raining. I'll probably still make burgers, since I bought meat, but I'll just use the trusty George Forman Grill. It's a lifesaver.

... and it isn't Robert Sledge. Oh well, at least he was in the running. I'm sure this other guy will be good too.

Nothing else to report really, I only woke up an hour ago.

I am trying out a new system called blogBuddy that works in a windows interface. Basically, it means you don't have to open up a website window to blog anymore. I think this is going to be my new way to update. It is uber-convinient. Ok, now bed.

I would like to mention that on the frontpage of AOL is a link to "she-mullets." AOL is going down the tubes my friend. It is fine to talk about mullets on wonky pages like this, but I expect a bit more from a monolithic company (is monolithic a word)?

And by the way, the webpage for The Royal Tenenbaums is up (it's Wes Anderson's new movie).

Tonight I watched Se7en for the zillionth time and realized that David Fincher walks the thin line between amazingly creative and certifiably insane, kind of like the main character in the movie. Hmm, self portrait? This was followed immediately by pasta, the classic college dish. Then, Jannelle and I went to Four Star Video to pick up some movies. We got:

+ Titan A.E.
+ American Job
+ Usual Suspects
+ Traffic
+ Yi Yi

We watched the first two tonight. As you may have guessed, this is the beginning of "movie week." I will be renting/watching movies ALL week long. I've noticed this happens at the beginning of every school year. I end up with an assload of time on my hands and chose to catch up on watching movies I love and movies I've missed. It's a good time. Speaking of movies I loved, American Job was really good. It was described as a mix between Office Space and American Movie and that was pretty right on even though it was drier than I expected. It is a more accurate portrayal of jobs, as opposed to the glorified nature of Office Space. You should see it, unless you are cool, then avoid it.

Well, time to fall asleep reading Mao II by Don DeLillo. It's funny, when I don't have cable I start to read intelligent books. I miss cable.

I never knew David Mamet was from Chicago. That makes him even cooler. (Random thought courtesy of recent movie rental)

Elizabeth found the new Jacko single here. I am downloading now...

Someone is blasting Christina Aguilera in their car right now. My bedroom window is right on a fairly major intersection so I get a lot of music coming in from various cars. It has been entertaining so far and will probably be a nice distraction when I have things to do.

So there seems to be a lot of news cropping up now about the album. It seems as though there will be a new BFF DVD coming out, which will be amazing and I will certainly buy it. Even more exciting is that it's rumored that Robert Sledge (bassist of Ben Folds Five) is auditioning for Mikey's currently vacant slot in Weezer for the coming tour. I think he would be perfect but I don't think I have much of a say.

In other news, the phone is fixed and my apartment is gaining more and more floor space, which is what I'm going to work on right now.

Check out coudal.com; they are having photoshop tennis. You have to go there to see what I mean. [from evhead]

Today was the yearly obligatory trip to IKEA. Every year I have lived somewhere aside from home I went to IKEA to get something. This year me and roomie went together. We spent about 3 hours there--an hour on each floor, 20 minutes eating and 40 minutes finding our furniture, paying for it, and loading it. I was pretty pissed I forgot my camera because there were some great moments there. It is the perfect people watching spot since it draws such a diverse audience. Nelly and I figure it is because it is cheap (draws the less fortunate) and trendy (draws the urban professionals), which makes it a great mix. Still, places like IKEA and Target make me a little queasy. Whenever there is mass consuming around me I just start to think about all the money that flows through the world to totally worthless things. IKEA's stuff is usually worthwhile, but it is the mass spending that gets to me.

Now we are putting it all together. If you have ever bought IKEA products you know how annoying/rewarding it can be. Lots of pateneted screws and turning devices. This I might take pictures of.

Tomorrow will consist of me finishing the unpacking process. Here's what the list sounds like now...

Things that need to be done:
+ unpack CDs
+ unpack clothes
+ get cable
+ fix phone
+ buy bookshelf
+ buy A/V rack
+ decorate

So I'm almost there. Can't wait.

So I made it to Madison safely and eveything I own is inside my apartment. Unfortunately, it is not all in its right place yet. When it comes to vacations I never unpack right away, but once I move into a new place I really like to make sure that everything is setup quickly so I have nothing to worry about as soon as possible. I'm on my way.

Things that need to be done:
+ unpack CDs
+ unpack clothes
+ get cable
+ fix phone
+ buy bookshelf
+ buy A/V rack
+ decorate

After that, I can truly relax. I will take some pictures of the new place once I have everything up and goin'. It's nice, you'll see.

My next blog will be in Madison. Time to pack up the computer. I can't wait to be done with moving in/out.

Today over at The Obscurestore there are some great headlines. Here are the highlights.

Check out this great article about teen web cams. It talks a lot about how teenage girls are using cams to get money and gifts from strangers and how the whole thing ties into their developing sexualities. Interesting.

Before they were just annoying, but now they're nuts. shellen.com tipped me to their new horrible ad that involves a camera and the insides of your pet. Check it out.

So I gave StorTroopers my little guy to post and check out what they put instead. That's not me. I'll have to let them know they're messin' with the wrong guy.

I've been busy packing up all my shizzasm for the big move. It's no fun at all. My CDs took up 3 boxes and it makes me feel a combination of pride, disgust, excitement and embarassment. After tonight I will just have to pay guys to move my stuff for me, which is definitely more appealing than not.

Last night I saw one of my newly appointed least favorite movies, American Pie 2. It was pretty worthless. If you like movies like Waiting for Guffman, Rushmore or Election, then DO NOT see AP2. You will cry. The only reason I made it thru the movie is because nelly kept me entertained with her commentary. But if you do go then you'll probably laugh a few times, I did, but it isn't worth the brain cells. Save them for Osmosis Jones or Ghost World, two movies I need to see soon or I will cry.

And now I am going to go back to helping out with the design meeting I am in. I would like to note that Ashley, who signed my guestbook, used the phrase "hot mess" and I am going to start using it from now on.

This time, I'm not bringing my computer. It's a shlep and I'm going to be busy packing up my apartment anyway. So I might post but it will be intermittedly and from the library. Yes.

Recent searches ending up on my site, and their corresponding posts.

Search #1: "geri halwell" --> 6/22/01 - Notting Hill Arts Club

Search #2: "uses for ear wax" --> 6/26/01 - Shrek

Search #3: "broke both my arms" --> 6/22/01 - Daniel Kitson

Unbelievably, all three posts are right next to each other.

This is my StorTrooper, created by me and looks as much like me as possible considering what I had to work with. I would say this is more of a winter storTrooper though. Go play with them and make your own--they're fun.

Today I went downtown to meet my grandparents for lunch with my sister. It was a good thing to do since my grandma just had a facelift and she was having some complications. I was pretty nervous to go down and see her but she looks a lot better than what I had imagined. The whole thing was a little sad though because my grandpa had a stroke about a year ago and although things are much better they're clearly not the same. He just seems older. What made the afternoon a little brighter is that they had three really small puppies who were just dying to play with us. I don't think there is anything cuter that puppies. I dare you to think of something. So that made things all right.

Now I am just sitting here doing nothing. I would love to get some dinner now. Do you want to come with?

Have I mentioned how amazing the new Ben Folds album is? Oh, I didn't? Well it is amazing. Man, I was a little nervous as Ben Folds Five was my favorite band while they existed so this album had a lot to live up to. It just shows that although I have love for Sledge and Jesse, Ben Folds is the mastermind. You should try to download Annie Waits, Gone, Not the Same or Rockin' the Suburbs. These are the best songs, I think.

Today I have been a lazy ass. I woke up at 1:30, watched The Mexican, which I liked despite its critical disappointment, and then played video games until about 10pm. Then I watched Spinal Tap with Dan and Justin who had never seen it, somehow. A blast as usual. Now I am playing video games again.

I love summer.

New Bio. It was time. My last one was too whiny and I was bored with it anyway. It didn't hurt that Matt Rodbard said I complained about not getting laid. Granted I did, but at the time no one was reading the site, so it didn't matter too much. Either way, it is more entertainment for you. Oh, and thanks for the heads up Mr. Rodbard. Much appreciated.

I don't know if you heard about the Cubs game, but it was amazing. I went to the game tonight with Will and we just had a ball. We had this crazy drunk couple in front of us that were hysterical and the game was spectacular. Then, after the game we went to a bar and then to Andy's house to play some PS2. I didn't know what I was getting into, but when I got there I was all a glow. Tonight I learned the beauty of FIFA 2001. It is the best game and we played it from 11:30 until, well, about now. I am not even tired. I wish that Blockbuster were 24 hours so I could go get one now. Oh yeah.

I am officially delirious. I should probably turn of the computer now.

Although I didn't mention it, after Great America I went to a movie with my mom. We went to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which we had seen together in NYC a year or two ago. The movie was rockin'. I was curious to see how it would turn out because the live performance was so moving, but they did a great job. I don't really want to tell you any more because the story is much better when you can see it unfold for yourself. But I do recommend you go see it when you have the chance. It is fantastic. Afterwards I cam home and Ali came back over to watch one of the greatest movies of last year, Best in Show. I love that movie, and you should remember that.

Today I went downtown to meet one of my old high school teachers for lunch and some CD shopping. Whenever we go out shopping together we both ending up buying at least $100 worth of music. Things were no different today. We started out with lunch at Leo's Lunch Place on Division and went directly to Dusty Groove, a great store that focuses on just soul, funk, jazz and latin music. Check out their website as it will have anything in these genres you could ever want. While I was there I bought:

+ Marvin Gaye -- What's Going On (expanded 2CD set)
+ Booker T & The MGs -- Green Onions
+ Kid Koala -- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
+ Caroline Now! -- The Songs Of Brian Wilson & The Beach Boys (Check this out, a great collection of artists)
+ Del The Funky Homosapien -- No Need For Alarm (I got this one new for $5. Sweet.)

Fortunately/Unfortunately, it didn't end there. After that we went to Reckless Records, which usually means trouble. Today though, I managed to keep my wallet fairly happy. I got:

+ The Stone Roses -- The Complete Stone Roses
+ Pinebender -- Things Are About To Get Weird
+ Low -- Things We Lost In The Fire
+ The Webb Brothers -- Maroon

I think it was a good day and I picked up a lot of good records. And lunch was tasty. Mmm.

As I mentioned this morning, I made a trip to Six Flags Great America today. I love rollercoasters and GA has plenty. I was accompanied by my great friend Ali today and she helped me learn a bit about myself and rollercoasters.

1. I, in general, do not like huge drops but instead prefer a lot of loops, twists and turns.
2. Although rollercoasters are great, after about four I get incredibly nauseous. (The low number is a result of the extreme heat today)
3. Waiting in line would be unbearable on your own. (A thought about herself, but something I agree with. It would ruin the fun.)
4. The most entertaining part of the ride is when I scream uncontrolably in an attempt to amuse others and because I am a nutcase.

Even though we only were able to stomach four coasters, they were still rocking. If you would note fact #4, I would like to tell you a bit more. See, rollercoasters by themselves are a lot of fun, but I could also have any number of my friends spin my around by my limbs or just do an absurd amount of cartwheels and get the same effect. In order to amuse myself, and every one around me, but mostly myself, I like to scream really loudly. It's often about how scared I am or how I can feel the vommit in my stomach rising, although none of it is true (usually). I think it is partly a way to mock small children but also a way to heighten the fun factor by 10. Just imagine your best friend screaming violently next to you because he can and because it is funny.

Hmm. I just realized that what I am saying makes no sense whatsoever. Basically, I just described myself as this huge manchild who also happens to be a bully that annoys his friends. Not a pretty picture. At least we took some fun photos.

His column is one of the few I read regularly, along with Savage Love. Joel Stein's wit never ceases and I love him for it.

Yes, I'm heading to Great America right now. I haven't been on rollercoasters in a while, so I'm excited. I'll give you a run down of how it turns out at the end of the day.

Check out this awesome site. It's 'new media.'

Why do people take so many pictures of them?

I had a bad dream last night for the first time in 7 or 8 years. It wasn't that scary but I still woke up with my heart pounding and sweating a little bit. It was weird, I was supposed to be taking a shower in this small room because I was going to the airport. As I walked into the room it was all dirty and disheveled with a washing machine and dirt all over the ground. Then I walked out and walked back in and the room was empty with just the shower there. I got really confused and worried about that, wondering how the hell it changed. I woke up for a second at this point, since my dream was confusing enough to warrant it, but when I went back to sleep is when I got all hot and bothered. As I said, I was supposed to be going to the airport and when I went back to sleep it was like I had just woken up (in the dream world). When I 'woke up' it was 2 o'clock but I couldn't remember what time my plane was at and I was all disoriented. I was even more flustered and the person who was with me, I don't know who it was, wasn't helping. So I think it just got worse and worse until I woke up because I had to pee. At this point I was sweaty and my heart was pounding. It was a bit odd.

Well, if you have any thoughts about it then tell me what you think.

The Cubs, although losing two games in a row, are supposedly the team to bet on for sports betting. Tonight, while at the Bears game, which they won (he he), I overheard a guy saying that the Cubs had 2-1 odds to win the world series and 9-5 odds to win the pennant. That is obsurd/awesome. I just love the Cubs and the year 2K1.

Another good ape article. This time it's from Salon.com. Although I enjoyed the film, like I said, this article made me realize that this movie could have been so much more. There were a lot of subjects, specifically the sex one, that were not broached.

Also, I had no idea that the girl from Fight Club is the same one who played the girl ape in the movie. Oh my, that reminds me. She must have lived in the same area where I worked in London because I saw her there twice walking around Belsize Park. When I first saw her I didn't think it was her, but then her mannerisms were very similar to some of the ones used in Fight Club. So if you have some reason to believe I am right or wrong, let me know.

I will now start posting digital photos whenever I feel like it. Go.

Honestly, I think every time I go to a jazz show Jenny sets up I have a new favorite jazz group. Last night was a new trio formed by a saxaphonist in Vandermark 5 called Triage. I don't know if I would necessarily call them free jazz, well, actually I will them that since I don't know what else to call them. The saxaphonist was unbelievable. He made moving up and down scales and changing octaves look as easy as breathing. I was thoroughly impressed.

Afterwards Jenny and I went to the Orpheum to hang out, since they have a bar there. It's her favorite and it is definitely growing on me.

On the ride home today I saw a big, red Lincoln Continental with the license plate, "COMIX." Also, the guy driving was pretty old and had grey hair. The first thing I thought was, 'Stan Lee.' I mean, what other old guy would have a license plate that says comix if it wasn't Stan Lee. A better question would be why is he driving by himself between Madison and Milwaukee. So I sped up and moved next to him to see if it was indeed Stan. It was looking promising because he was about the right size and looked like he did make comics (I don't know what that means), but I knew it wasn't him when I saw he wasn't wearing any sunglasses. Since just about every time I've seen Stan Lee he is wearing sunglasses, I figured it wasn't him. But it would have been quite a story, eh? Unfortunately I was never really into comics as a kid. I was sucked in by baseball cards and videogames--I didn't have time for comics as well. I think it is probably for the better as I am enough of a nerd as it is. So I stuck to mainstream comics like Garfield and Calvin & Hobbes to keep the bullies at bay.

This really cool blog site, ukazu.com, linked me and I love it. Linky love makes my day.

Being a resident of Chicagoland I always felt snubbed by MTV for not bringing real world to my home. Everyone knows Chicago rocks and would be a great place to live. Are 7 twentysomething pseudo-actors too good for my favorite city? Not anymore.

Unfortunately, now that it's happened I'm not as excited. I think I just wanted the world to know how great Chicago is, if they don't already. I've come to realize that although the Real World will show that Chitown rules, it will be showing the wrong people. I don't think I want a horde of loyal Real World watchers gentrifying Wicker Park any further. Fortunately, I'm not the only one. It seems like a few weeks ago some residents of Wicker Park staged a protest against the Real World. They got everyone there by handing out flyers that asked people who wanted to be extras to come down in front of the house at a certain time. Then, they started chanting and throwing things at the house. I'm not typically a fan of violent protest, but if it's against the Real World I might be able to let it slide. The link above gives a good account of the tale.

Although I seem to be all anti-establishment here, well, I pretty much am. Still, I have watched, and enjoyed, the Real World on a few occassions. It is truly a guilty pleasure since the show is glorified and gross. One of thing things about the Radiohead show I didn't mention was the Beta Band's lambasting of MTV for homogenizing teen audiences all across the globe, and he's so right. Shows on that channel today tell us what to think and how to think it. They tell us what to buy and where to buy it. I honestly think I went out and bought Dave Matthews one day while in a trance after watching TRL. The channel is evil, when you come down to it. So it is funny watching MTV celebrate 20 years on the air when the last 10 have been funded by the devil himself. Yeah, I like Tom Green and I still watch MTV2, but when it comes down to it I think that kids would be better off leaving MTV alone from ages 12-18, or maybe just forever. Well, I'm going to go play NFL 2K1 now.

That will be what tons of 15 year olds say after they download American Pie 2. Apparently, the file is a French porn with shots from the upcoming movie spliced in. "I don't watch porn mom, honest!"

So I decided to come to Madison this weekend. I had planned on it for a while but never told you, the loyal reader. Odds are you already know since half of you, or something, saw me tonight. My only complaint is that I have no AC here. Gughhh. It's so hot in my apt right now. I don't think I'll ever get to sleep. It's fine though because IM is keeping me awake.

I have realized I am not always the best at mentioning things on this blog that are upcoming in my life. For instance, going to Radiohead last night and coming to Madison today. Sorry for the lack of effort and I'll now give you my report of the radiohead show.

Wow.
I like Radiohead a lot but I was skeptical about this show as there were supposed to be 25,000 people in Grant Park. And there were. Still, I was really impressed with their crowd control and general set up of the show. The only major complaint I had was with their Woodstock prices ($4 for water). About the show. Radiohead had just a fantastic set. They played all the best stuff from their five albums. There wasn't a whole lot from the Bends, but everything else got its turn. I thought that Paranoid Android was probably the best in terms of sound and performance. They also managed to translate the newer stuff into a live show much better than I could have imagined. I think it helped that the sound was spot on, which is impressive considering it was outdoors and a huge area to cover.

Although the sound was great and the set was great what won me over was the video screen. They had about 10 cameras set up around the stage and they obviously had some cinematographer/videographer at the helm in the sound booth because it was breathtaking. All of the shots were perfectly crafted and they would blend two together in a mid-fade kind of way. The two best camera angles were as follows: 1. The camera that was setup on Thom's piano that was right next to his microphone. You were looking right at him. Every now and then he would make faces into the camera. I bet everyone thought they were looking right at him/her. 2. The one attached to the drum kit. That one rocked because everytime the drummer hit the drum closest to the camera the whole kit, and camera, shook. So, the shaking was in perfect time with the music and it ruled. Bottomline: The video was worth $45 alone.

That's my review. Yeah.

Oh, and check this out. It's the video for Tenacious D's new song. So hillarious.

I thought I have heard a lot of different kinds of aural art (music) but this pushes the limit beyond anything I've ever experienced. Check out dictionaraoke.org. Oh, and make a point to listen to the Nine Inch Nails track. Woh.

I don't think I've ever really talked about how much I love video games. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I don't think I've discussed it in depth. When I was just a wee tyke my dad decided to get me my first video game system, it was a Commodore. I'll be honest, I don't remember which system it was since I was about 2 and a half at the time. The first system in my conscious memory is the Atari 5200. Again, I was quite young when we got it, but I do remember having it. I remember my dad taking it apart trying to fix something and it not working. Still, I have visions in my head of Space Invaders and Pong. The first system that made a lasting impression in my head is my NES, Nintendo Entertainment System. And boy, did it entertain. I honestly believe my parents bought me video games when I was little so that I would shut up. It worked. I think I played Nintendo more than I watched TV when I first got it. Visions of level 8-1 from Super Mario Bros. is still bouncing in my head. There is one jump that you just need to have perfectly timed to make and it took me forever to master it. Well I'm just rambling now. The point is that I've had video game systems as long as I can remember and they are still a part of my life.

Video games have gotten a bad rap because they're violent or they're addicitve or they're just jeuvenile. Politicians claim they are the root of all evil and parents struggle to pull kids from their controllers for dinner (These are the same parents claiming their kids have ADD. Don't they understand that school is just boring?). I think people just need to give these games a shot. They're more immersive than television or the movies because you're in control of the story. It's more active than watching TV since you're constantly improving your hand eye coordination. Also, they're just damn fun. When you play NBA Jam or Mario Kart with 4 people or when you spend days trying to get the last few stars in Mario 64. As you can see, video games put me at a loss for words. There is just something unbelievably immersive about them. You sit down and you get lost. It's something that I would like to better convey for you but right now I am exhausted and am wishing I hadn't started this now. Ta ta.