Lego Everywhere!

So, I'm sitting in my room at home attempting to come up with a blog idea. I am not in my usual blogging environment, so we'll see if I can still come up with something if I'm not sitting in Starbucks.

Have you ever played a Lego video game? Like, Lego Batman, Lego Star Wars, Lego Harry Potter? They are some of my favourite games. It's ridiculous, 'cause they have been made to appeal to children, but the games are just so fun! And addictive!

I think I've mentioned before that I have a thing about collecting things, and these games definitely play to that part of me. I've been playing Lego Batman for a long time now. I've beaten the main story to the game already, but every level has a bunch of things to collect, and I have to get all of them. There are pieces of special mini-models I every level, plus a person needs to be rescued from bad guys, and there's a special red brick that can be found, bought, and when activated give you special abilities in the game. There are also a ton of characters to be unlocked as you go that you can then use in levels afterwards.

This is the basic premise in all of the Lego games. Plus, the fact that its on the Xbox means there are achievements to be unlocked, which is another huge pile of things to unlock/collect. So far I've only managed to beat two games to 100% completion. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7. Both I have gotten all of the stuff in game, as well as all of the achievements. I'm nearly there with Lego Batman. But then I've got Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Star Wars, and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean to beat, plus Lego Lord of the Rings just came out, and Lego Marvel Super Heroes comes out this fall, so I've got my work cut out for me.

And that's just the Lego series of games! I've also got all of the Assassin's Creed games, Dragon Age II, Bioshock 2, Fable II and III, Skyrim, and so many other games to get through, PLUS all of the games I've got for other systems. I could probably take a year off from work and do nothing but play video games, and STILL not get through them all. Oh well. There are worse addictions.

New Year, New You?

Alright! It's 2013! First blog post of the New Year! Woohoo! ...Yeah, it's not really that exciting. Sorry. I'm tired, and apparently excitable in my writing.

So! It's a new year, which is when most people make a bunch of silly resolutions to do things that they break within a week or two. I don't believe in resolutions, but I do believe it's good to set goals for the new year. Nothing too crazy, nothing necessarily finite, but general goals about lifestyle.

For example, last year, I set a few goals. I knew I needed to make some sort of decision in my relationship status, and that happened. I also decided I needed to be more active. And while I didn't turn into an Olympic level athlete, I did greatly improve my activity level. Started going to the gym and took up running.

This year I'd like to build on that goal of being more active and be more consistent with my activity levels. I need to get back to the gym, and try to push through this wintery lethargy. I had a sudden burst of energy the other night and did a bunch of push-ups and abs exercises. I was feeling pretty frustrated at the time which is always a good motivator for me, but I've been longing for the snow to disappear so I can go for a run outside again. Find a playground and do some pull-ups. I really just need to go to the gym. That's what the facilities are for.

Anyway. A lot more important of a goal for me this year is to try to be a better friend. I hadn't really realized it was happening, but I've drifted away from many of my friends, including some of the most important people to me. I hope it's not too late to fix things, but I've never been good with confrontation, so I'm not sure how to go about approaching the problem. I guess the best way is to just talk, and hope she'll listen. I probably shouldn't talk about it here anymore, but it's on my mind and I really can't stop thinking about her.

Uuuh... So where was I? Goals? There's a few other goals I have. Be better with my money. Visit family more. Be more productive. All vague things with no finite measurable levels of success. Also, I want to figure out exactly what I want to do with this blog. Right now it's basically just my little outlet of nerdiness, but I want it to be more than that. I'm not exactly sure how to make that happen. But I guess I'll just keep plugging away and I'll figure it out eventually!

Oswin?

I FINALLY watched the new Doctor Who Christmas episode last night! The Snowmen. Sounds menacing doesn't it? ...No? Oh, well you should watch it then. 'Cause those snowmen are scary.

There were so many exciting things about the episode! Right here is your spoiler warning. Read no further or be spoiled. Once again... warning...

It was interesting to see this version of the Doctor go into his angry depressed companionless state. We haven't really seen the Doctor without a companion since the David Tennant days, but Matt Smith does the part well, even if it does seem totally strange to see him like that. But watching his progression back to happy Doctor was pretty cool.

Also, anyone else have a nerdgasm at the new TARDIS? I loved the old version, but it seems fitting that the TARDIS should go through a major change post-Ponds. (Also, I just have to say, I'm impressed that my phone autocorrects TARDIS to caps for me, my phone is as nerdy as I am apparently.) Also, I loved Clara's comments, "It's smaller on the outside!" and "Is there a kitchen?" and the Doctor's reaction.

And I REALLY can't wait to see what's going to happen next. Clara Oswin Oswald. Soufflé Girl. What the heck?? We've met her twice now. And she died both times. And then she shows up at her grave again at the end. I NEED to know what the heck is happening there. If she hadn't died BOTH times, there could be some way she's a time traveller, but that doesn't explain it this time. Huh.

So when is the next episode? Not soon enough, for sure. I can't wait to see where this is going.

Uuuuuh WTF?

So! Here we are back to our regular schedule. Except... I am getting sick. So I'm not really sure I'm up to this. Lets see if I can ramble coherently long enough to make this work. Also, let's see if I can go long enough without being interrupted to get anything done. Seems like everyone I know is coming in to Starbucks this morning. Anyway, enough commentary, time to get started.

I had this whole post half written on the new Marvel NOW! titles spinning out of AvX, but I got bored, so here's attempt number two. I'm thinking maybe Ke$ha isn't the best music to be listening to for creative inspiration. Oh well. So what do I feel like talking about then?

Avengers Arena! This week a brand new comic launched, and I've been a little bit wary of this one. The whole idea of it is basically the Hunger Games with 16 of the Marvel universe's teenage superheroes. Classic X-Men villain Arcade has kidnapped a whole bunch of Marvel kids and trapped them in Murder World, where he is basically a god, even against some extremely powerful super kids.

The characters are about half and half new and old. There's Nico and Chase from Runaways, Mettle, Hazmat, Reptil, and X-23 from the recently ended Avengers Academy, plus Darkhawk and maybe some others from random places, and then a bunch of new characters apparently from the Braddock Academy, the British version of Avengers Academy or the Jean Grey School. There are no young X-Men characters, which is mentioned in the story as Arcade says "Wolverine's school has better security" or something along those lines.

The first issue is mostly setup, Arcade explaining who he is, what's going to happen, letting them know only one will survive, and all the usual exposition to let the reader in on what's going on. And then the issue ends with a total WTF moment. Arcade tells the kids he'll start the killing, but they have to pick one of them to die. No one says anything, but Hazmat goes ballistic attacking him, so he picks her, but at the last minute Mettle says he's the weakest so it should be him so Arcade points at him... and he EXPLODES! Blood everywhere, all over his girlfriend, Hazmat. Dubya. Tee. Eff. Just messed up. I HATE when the kid characters die, 'cause they are my favourites, but I am entirely hooked on this book. Ugh!

Anyway, work time! Hopefully this was acceptable. If not... too bad. I'm sick.

Failed Blogger

Sorry guys. I'm a failed blogger. What's it been since my last post? Oh wow. Over a month! Worse than I thought! Oops.

I have excuses! My usual Saturday posts have begun to be harder to manage. USUALLY I catch the bus to work on Saturdays, which puts me there an hour early, so I blog in Starbucks before my shift. But my wonderful roomie/bff changed her schedule around so she works same time as me and gives me a ride.

The other excuse is that I've been out of town two of the last three weekends. A certain handsome man has kept me more than a little distracted, so once again, blogging has suffered. But really, I think y'all (yes, I just said y'all) want me to be happy so getting my romance on is probably an acceptable excuse.

So what have we missed out on? Probably plenty. Marvel NOW! is officially rolling out, and the changes are pretty exciting! I'm particularly enjoying All-New X-Men, and Uncanny Avengers is giving a lot of WTF moments and it's only two issues in. I'll try to do a post giving a rundown of the new state of Marvel comics soon.

I've also been obsessed with the new Nintendo 3DS game, Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Paper Mario is one of my all time favourite game series, and this new game does not disappoint. I was concerned at first, but like I said, I've been somewhat obsessed with it, so it's gotta be good. There's a collecting aspect to it, which automatically hooks me.

I've finally started reading again too! I finally finished The Serpent's Shadow, which I started forever ago, and I've read the three e-book companions to the I Am Number Four series, and FINALLY started Mark of Athena. Mmmm Greek/Roman mythology. My favourite!

So yeah! That's the basic rundown. I'll have to do a proper review of something soon. But for now, work time!

Wintery Optimism

It's November! And you know what that means! It's Christmas time again!

Even though it's a month and a half away, all the stores are getting their Christmas on in a big way. My favourite place to go over the Holiday season: Starbucks! They've changed all of the signage and displays to that wonderful red colour and start promoting my personal favourite drink, the peppermint mocha. And this year, they have a great little Advent Calendar that I've just been convinced to buy.

Winter can be such a depressing time with the cold weather and the departure of the sun for long periods of time, but there's always that shining light of hope to hold onto when you know Christmas is coming. Of course, after that you're screwed if you live here in the North, 'cause you've still got four more months of winter to make it through. But hey, there are worse things right? (...right?)

The other thing I'm looking forward to this winter is potentially learning to snowboard! I've never given it a shot, but I think this is the year to get it done. The last bunch of years involved a lot of waiting around for a certain jerk to actually want to do something with me. This year, I'm single, so if friends want to do something, I'm in!

See? I've managed to convince myself that winter is a great time! At least until the next big dump of snow...

Now onto a little bit of bad news: I failed. I set myself a goal to go to the gym, and I didn't go. I had every intention of going, but video games won out. So now I'll reset my goal and try again. This time next week: gym time will have happened. Or there will be some sort of consequence. I'm not sure what that will be yet. Maybe no Starbucks for a week? That would be pretty sad... Aaanyway, I'm gonna leave it here, with a picture of my morning coffee! That's fun right?

Athletic Update

I haven't posted anything lately on my athletic efforts! And there's pretty good reason for that. I am a giant failure in that department lately.

So, about a month or so ago... Maybe longer? Anyway, a while ago, I hurt my foot while running. I have no idea what I did, but it hurt pretty bad for a few days, then went away, so I tried running again. Came back worse. And didn't really go away. It started out just feeling like the heel of my foot was bruised. But then it became a tightness right across my foot. Not a happy feeling.

By now, I really should go see my doctor about it. I've had a couple people tell me what it probably is, and how rolling my foot on a soup can or similarly shaped object would probably help. A professional opinion is probably a good idea though.

Anyway, that's my excuse for not running. But I really need to start doing something again. I'm worried that all the work I put in before will fade away, and I don't want that. So it's time to kick myself in the ass. Screw the cold, that's what the nice heated gym is for! My awesome gym buddies are all busy when I'm free, so it's time to motivate myself and just go.

It's odd how difficult it seems to make myself go. I enjoy the gym, so why don't I like going TO the gym? Once I'm there, it's all good, but getting myself there is always a problem.

Well, I'm gonna set myself a goal. I'm going to the gym at least once, preferably twice, before next Saturday's blog post. I'll report how things went and set a new goal. And maybe throw in something nerdy as well. Wish me luck!