Finished Reading Dark Tower I, ready for book II.

Finished my perfected Golden Sun 2 file – even with lvl 70 characters and all-out summons, some of the bosses were pretty damn hard. Lost twice before narrowly winning on the third try – and at one point only one party member was alive with 41 hp left! Good times…

Saw Pirates 3 today – really, REALLY disappointed with the ending. As are my parents. Really not the best plot, fiber or ending. A pirate movie with special effects and not much else. Watch if you’re interested in seeing for yourself or developing a different opinion.

Headlines going 1, 2, 3… didn’t plan it that way.

Well, the night is calling! Sweet dreams!

Started reading my first Steven King novel today. I know I know, how could I go this long without reading work from such a notable writer… I had other things keeping me occupied. Like WoW and the first 11 books in the Wheel of Time Series.

Starcraft 2 announced – looks a lot better than the previews last year. No release date yet, it looks like.

The WoW forums lost a Community Manager recently (actually about a week ago) – Tseric, the witty and well-spoken titan moderator has disappeared from the forums and Eyonix posted briefly saying Tseric had moved on to bigger and better things. Though I never witnessed a thread being closed by his witty comments, I followed his history and his commentary closely. Such drama – the CM’s still around don’t say much. Rumor has it he was fired.

Still waiting for a word on the possibility of visiting John’s place after July 24th. Still have a few months, but wanted to check in once in a while.

DotA patch is coming soon as well as the WoW 2.1.0 patch. A new hero is in the process of being finished and voted on – using the Faerie Dragon model. A new AI map is being worked on as well. I also dug up an April Fools’ map for 2007 – apparently to spook and trick players, IceFrog made a 5-lane map. It works just fine, oddly enough. Kinda weird. Lemme know if you wanna download it.

It’s nice to know Aidan and I are still in touch. Wishing him to get well soon over his flu. Instructions for a sketching of one of my favorite dragons will be in order once I hear well of his health.

Ever notice that more than half of the villains in science fiction, action and children’s movies have MUSTACHES? WTF????

~ Chris

Yo, J-man

My parents are thinking about giving me some time to spend with you guys in Chicago right after summer school this July. Looking like five days following July 24th, after which my parents will pick me up and our vacation in the east begins.

Let me know if visiting you and your family from July 24th till the end of the month will work for you, or if you need time to work things out. We havent chatted in a while, figured if we can’t work something out for the summer at least we can get back to talking.

Hoping finals are going well for you. Peace.

P.S. If Aidan reads this, know that I have faith in you and that I won’t forget you and our writing.

Homemade food and John Deers
So I’m home and devouring every bit of food in sight. I’m exercising three days a week at the Y and mowing lawns almost as often. Now it’s about 2-3 acres of open field that needs mowing and I’m doing it all with the familiar John-Deer.

Strawberry Milk, Peach Milk…. and yes, Root Beer Milk
Oberweis Milk from Chicago is hard to live without, but a local brand made in half-gallons is turning out just as good. They make a Peach milk and a Strawberry milk too, in addition to white and Chocolate. I guzzle that like my tractor guzzles gas. Good lord this summer’s starting out hot.

Becoming a diverse gamer
Playing three nights a week on WoW, starting to finally pull it back. Our guild is at a standstill progression-wise, and people are either getting on each other’s nerves or getting bored with the game. For once, I feel like doing something else for fun instead of playing WoW. DotA and D&D look like nice options now. Since my parents bought me a new iPod and sunglasses, I’m not getting a Wii anytime this year. That means no Smash Brothers this semester. I bought three new sourcebooks for D&D the other day: Races of the Dragon, Dragon Magic and the Player’s Handbook II. Will I ever get a chance to play with other people again? I miss our old Non-Sequitir campaign…

To be a gaming journalist…
I found my archived issues of Inquest Gamer again – got to thinking about my dreams of one day working there as an editor of sorts. Never did find out how to apply or find work there, or what kind of internship program hooks up with them. Now that I think of it, it’s because of magazines like Inquest and EGM that I went into the journalism business, thinking that a proficiency in the finer parts of writing, reporting and editing would give me a chance of nailing a spot in a magazine of my choice. Fat chance in today’s world. I play magic and not so much a variety of games as I should. Dropping WoW and picking up my diversity needs to happen this semester. I still think about becoming a Magic-shuffling, D&D-rolling editor some day… can dreams still come true so late in my college career?

Can I follow Relaeth’s lead?
Anyway, Aidan’s off to military service for two years in Singapore. I feel like half of my muse has been put to sleep. Fortunately the young man had the determination and faith in me to give me a swift kick in the shins to wake me up…. fuck. I catch myself now because it’s something I have said TIME AND TIME AGAIN. “Don’t worry, I’m finally back, and ready to start writing again.” And every time, nothing’s happened. Well, this fall semester will be so busy with things I will both enjoy and need to do that I won’t have time for occluding activities like Warcraft. I hope that with all my heart. I hope I still have friends after all this time.

Summer schedule up in the air
So I have some writing ideas. Later this summer, before the fall semester and after I finish summer school in late July, I’ll be taking a road trip with my parents to Buffalo, NY. We’ll be driving through Chicago, Indianapolis and the cities along the way. I intend to fit a visit with John and Audrey respectively sometime, though I’m not sure when or for how long just yet.

I don’t know how many people still read this. After all, I’m a hopeless gaming addict who’s lost all his friends and nearly failed all his classes. Who would stick around to stay friends with me after two years of nothing in return? Aidan was more a friend to me than I ever knew. I’d be raiding night after night and postponing our writing sessions, and he never complained. His good friend, Myst, on AIM, had a good point along with others who spoke with me – I wasn’t being a good friend. And Aidan stuck with me through it all, never losing patience or care for me. And now he’s gone for two years.

I really don’t know what else to say. I’m going to continue writing for a while. Someone still listens, apparently. Might be others. Anyway, I’m hoping I do still have friends, who don’t mind who I am or what I’ve done with my life until now. There are a lot of things yet unsaid about myself that would make good stories, and perhaps I’ll get to those sometime. Maybe post some of my poetry I wrote this last year, or some of the writing I’m trying to get to.

Thanks for sticking around, guys.
See you next time,
~ Chris