One of the Guys

Chilly

chibivega — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:45:09 +0000

Its getting chilly outside, which isn’t bad. It just means I need to get my two leather coats out and hide my sandals so I don’t go prancing outside with them on.

I’ve been helping Grendal and his father with their business. Don’t know if I mentioned it but they now have a Facebook page for it(Ryall Way Woodworking is the name). We’ve had one inquiry about canes, which is good, but nothing more. Take a look at it and if you know people who like handmade wood items, send them thata way! Seriously. Grendal’s father had been doing this for 30+ years I believe and Grendal has been working on it for some time himself too.

Speaking of Grendal, he and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary yesterday. Nothing special but we enjoyed ourselves.

Wandering around on Bungie’s website I stumbled on a site called 2Old2Play. It’s a website for the 25+ year old gamers out there that, well, want to play with other people their age. The group seems pretty nifty and are all over the place when it comes to what they play. They’ve been around for some time and do charity work and what not. Looking forward to playin’ with these folks. Funny thing is, out of my usual Friday night gaming buddies I’m the only one old enough to join. XD

Oh! I’m going to be playing Delta Green for a while rather than D&D. Its in honor of Halloween but I have a feeling this will go on for a little while, which is awesome. I love Cantropos’ games. I won’t be able to play my previous character, Nora(a cartographer), but I have an interesting character in mind. He works for NRO as a System’s Engineer(if Cantropos allows it) if not he’ll be an Intelligence Analyst for either FinCEN or INR. He’s not gonna be as nutty as Nora but still kind of out there. And instead of being obsessed with movies(which came in handy) he’ll be all about the computers and games. I just need a name for the guy.

Oh the Mutilation

chibivega — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:15:28 +0000

I know, I’ve been gone for a while but life is hectic. I’ve been searching for a job but the market up here sucks even if the ‘kids’ have all gone back to school. Right now I have 200$ to my name but I’m lucky enough to have Grendal and his supportive parents watching over me. Grendal and his father have been doing some projects and makin’ a little bit of money. They just finished their 2nd out of 3, which is an 8ft tall bookcase for a family member in Chicago. That means we have to go out there this weekend and give it to them, after lugging it up two flights of stairs to the apartment(it’s in 2 pieces so it isn’t too bad). After that they’re making a bar for Grendal’s older brother. Here’s to hoping that the people will spread the word so this wood working business can get off the ground. That and hopefully they can get a website up and running to let the people of the interweb know about it. XD

I’ve been doing battle with some depression because of my lack of a job but Grendal is there to help lift my spirits. I’ve also been slowly working on hemp/macrame necklaces and what not, and I’m trying to make some simple chandelier earrings. If I ever get decent at this I may see if people are willing to purchase them for cheap. Right now money is money, and I have a future bill looming over my head that makes me worry.

To add on to the problems that township has decided that our street finally needs ‘proper’ pluming and sewage. So our street and the street next to us are going to be ripped apart so all of that can be done. The bad thing is that the property has to have a lot of the trees torn down so the pipes can be laid. Grendal has/had a beautiful yard. Lots and lots of trees, making it a perfect place for bonfires and spooky Halloweens. Now with the trees torn down on one of the tree lines it lost that spooky factor. Sure the yard looks bigger but it doesn’t have that nice, woodsy feel. To make matters worse it’s going to cost about 16k to hook up both properties to the systems. :\ Looks like we’re staying with well water for now.

But yeah, things aren’t all that bad. Not this coming weekend but the weekend after will be the 6 year mark for Grendal and I. It’s pretty amazing and we still love each other. We act more like little kids(okay, I act like a little kid) than the adults we’re supposed to be so I think that is what keeps our relationship healthy. That and the fact we support each other.

Okay. That’s it for the update! I have some work to do and I’ll hopefully be back later.

30 Days of Truth: Day 2 & 3

chibivega — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:00:57 +0000

(playing slight catch up with this thing….blarg)

Something You Love About Yourself

I love my imagination. It entertained me as a child and still does, as well as providing endless ideas for my stories and gaming. I love the fact that I saw so much of the US growing up, thanks to family vacations to national forests and museums. I love the fact that I find beauty in some of the weirdest places. I also love that I am still highly entertained by card tricks, to such a degree that I turn into a child again.

Something You Have to Forgive Yourself For

I guess the biggest thing is my first relationship. Looking back on it I can’t believe how stupid I was and that I didn’t notice the fact that it started out on a bad note. He was abusive. Not physically….I could easily over power him if it ever game to that(he was a string bean and I was taking martial arts classes). No, the abuse was emotional and mental. Its not as bad as it could have been. He accused me of cheating on him multiple times which I never did. He didn’t like it if I hung out with guys when he wasn’t around or if they weren’t his friends, though he could hang out with whom ever he pleased. He had pressured me into sex and then demanded it when ever we saw each other alone, using the line “if you really love me…”

I have to forgive myself because I was young and this was my first relationship, but it wasn’t his. I managed to break free and never looked back, and even though he hurt me in many ways I never said one horrible thing about him(even though I could have). I wasn’t weak, just new to the whole experience and I’ve gone on to have better relationships. If it wasn’t for those 3 years I don’t think I would be reaching for 6 wonderful years with Grendal.

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Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.
Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.
Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.
Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.
Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.
Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.
Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.
Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.
Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.
Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.
Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)
Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)
Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.
Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.
Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.
Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 21 → (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?
Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.
Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.
Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)
Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today.
Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

30 Days of Truth: Day 1

chibivega — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 03:34:51 +0000

I stumbled across this ’30 Days of Truth’ around here and decided, why the hell not? I’ll probably learn something about myself and possibly grow. It’ll also give me something to do when I need to calm down at the end of the day. Here goes nothing:

1) Something You Hate About Yourself

There is more than ‘somethings’ then I care to admit. I hate the fact that I have to prove myself to my friends in the gaming world, and its probably because I’m a girl. I hate the fact that no matter what I do, I can’t seem to lose 10 pounds. Sure I really don’t NEED to, but I think it could do me some good. I hate the feeling of being the black sheep of my family and that it seems like my mother has nothing good or nice to say to me. I hate that it seems like I’m going nowhere in life.

Above all else, I hate that I stop myself from telling people my religious beliefs because I’m afraid that THEY won’t accept it and that THEY will leave me. I shouldn’t deny my faith for anyone.

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Good Housewife

chibivega — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:50:27 +0000

Even though I’m not a wife, Grendal says I’m being a good housewife. XD I take no offense to the statement, though I may have 10 years ago(hot damn, that made me feel old even though I’m not). I’ve been cooking, cleaning, and doin’ laundry around the house the past few days even while juggling playing Halo: Reach!

Today was filled with more cooking! The first day of autumn can’t go by without special foods. While the main bit of dinner won’t be all that special, some seasoned fish, it’s the side dish and the dessert that I am most proud of! I’ve made a nice blackberry pie that Grendal is excited to try out because he’s a fiend for blackberries. It’s been years since I’ve baked a pie but here’s to hoping it turned out right. The side dish is a squash and apple bake. Again, something I’ve never tried but it’ll be a nice addition and it’ll hopefully get that autumn weather here quicker.

Other than that not much else has been going on. Saturday night Grendal and I had dinner with my parents and younger sister as a birthday celebration(my sister turned 23 on Monday and I’m turning 26 on Friday). It was nice and I didn’t leave feelin’ crabby.

But yeah…..nothin’ to report. Now, if you don’t mind I’ll be off to check on my dinner.

lol.

Halo Reach Review

chibivega — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 04:53:51 +0000

There is nothing like starting a game when you know how it all ends. Being a big fan of the Halo universe, books included, I was thoroughly looking forward to playing the game. Not only because it was another Halo game but because it is the last one Bungie is doing in the foreseeable future. That and I really wanted to see how they pulled this game off.

Without a doubt the graphics in this game is a wonderful step-up from both Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST, though not in the same way Halo Wars is. The characters seem gritty, which works well with the game’s environment. You can’t have clean and pretty soldiers and make the player believe that they’re in a war zone.

Another wonderful thing is the capability of picking and choosing your armor. In Halo 3 you were able to do this to some extent, Reach has expanded on the idea by including a credit system in the game(NOTE: Credits are earned in nearly every mode in this game, not just matchmaking. I’ve talked to some people who didn’t know this and I just need to put this out there in case some readers didn’t know). Now a player is able to choose, and buy, a plethora of helmets and the possibility of accessories for those helmets, shoulders, chest pieces, knee guards, visor colors, different wrist attachments, and attachments for the legs. Not to mention the ability to buy voices and have them available during Firefight modes. Nothing like seeing a female Spartan-III speaking with SGTMAJ Johnson’s voice!

Another fun purchasable item, albeit expensive, are armor effects! If you love getting headshots on grunts and watching confetti fly, why not give yourself the ability? Or how about a clod of flies and odor surrounding your body or even electricity? And my personal favorite, hearts flying away from your motionless body. While it is nothing more than flavor items, it provides players with some funny moments and may even through them off guard.

Reach’s story played out in the way I had expected. You essentially fight with all that you have only to be taken down with the rest of the planet. The dire feeling of fending off an invasion is obvious from the first moment you see on of the Covenant and soon you have a feeling of dread as you see just how massive the invasion is. While all the games in the Halo series have been serious, this is the one that I think weighs the heaviest; I loved every moment.

The characters are another wonderful aspect. While you only get really close to the others of Noble Team, there are others. Dr. Halsey was a character I was looking forward to finally seeing after reading about in the books and with the cameo of Buck from ODST, things just seemed right. I was a little sad that I didn’t hear or see Johnson or even Admiral Hood, it was understanding from the story stand point.

Now, I’m not sure if it was due to the doom-and-gloom story but the gameplay seemed a little lacking. While many of the missions seem familiar in ways to the other games in the series, things didn’t seem get far. It may have been the fact that I knew that it was all for nothing, in a sense, but the moment I finished the game and watched the ending sequences I sat there with an empty feeling. I wanted to defeat the Covenant, just like Master Chief, but there was no way it was possible.

Even though the game has only been out for nearly a week the multiplayer games are running at full throttle. The matchmaking for campaign mode is slotted to be out in October, which will give more people the chance to get through the higher difficulties if they can’t manage on their own just yet. All the classic game types are there but I found it difficult to find a game of Big Team Slayer, Big Team Battle in this game, without any of the ‘fancy’ games(I wasn’t in the mood to steal anyone’s flag, I just wanted to shoot them). In Halo 3 it was more often then not that you found regular slayer over something like Territories or Assault, while in Reach it’s just the opposite. While it is a personal preference, I would like to see Big Team Battle as a choice every time.

Next up is Firefight. This was my favorite part of Halo 3: ODST and I was happy to hear it was back for this game. In Reach there are 7 different types of Firefight, not to mention the ability to customize your own type of Firefight mode. My only complaint about Firefight is the fact that the only way to make credits in this mode is through the matchmaking. If you make your own Firefight and have your friends try it, they won’t be making squat. If you want to play by yourself, the same thing happens. Not everyone wants to play with others or go through matchmaking and I am hoping that Bungie will update this to give solo players a chance to rack up the credits.

All in all the game is a good one. If you are an avid fan of the games you will like it. If you’re like me and are an avid fan of the games and books, you’ll like but have some complaints….but that’s in a totally different realm and a different discussion. If you love the series, I would recommend getting the game.

Score: 8.5/10

Awesome

chibivega — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:55:03 +0000

I had entered a small little contest, here on wordpress, that was held by a blogger by the name of Kiwidutch. To put it plain and simple, she is very annoyed when people post in the forums “Read my blog!” and then don’t describe what their blog is about. I can understand and thought it would be nice to enter her little contest. The prize was a review of the blog on her own blog, which gets a lot hits it seems, and thus get some hits yourself.

I didn’t win, congrats to the guy who did, but I did get a little mini review. She said the following:

chibivega in her blog “One of the Guys, An account of a chick’s time as one of the guys and keeping up with life” is an insight into being a Gal in a very non-Girlie pass-time, Computer Gaming. She gets her kicks, punches and shots quite literally out of the computer or TV and will either kick your butt or talk tactics if you wish to take her on.

Kiwi’s Conclusions: Naturally she has her gentle side too.. and like all good action hero’s and heroines, a sidekick too. Hers is called Grendal and we are all sure he’s a secret Viking in disguise. Being a Chick in the mostly male dominated genre of Gaming probably means that sometimes you have to muscle up to hold your own. Even to someone as Gaming illiterate as me, it’s instantly clear from her posts that she knows her stuff and probably has no problem blasting past much of the opposition. Her WordPress theme suits her blog perfectly. Ka-Bam! she’s good!

Made me happy to get that much! She has other such reviews for the other participants and a nice big review for the winner, Ramblings From a Bass Fishing Enthusiast.

So yeah. Happy, happy. In other news, I’m off to the doctor tomorrow to have my ears checked out. Don’t need another ear infection.

My Own Bucket List

chibivega — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:36:36 +0000

(I know, I know; I am WAY behind on this but I never bothered with the movie and, well, thought it a little too blah at the time. Stopping to think about it, though, it doesn’t seem too absurd. I mean, I like lists and having something written down and staring me in the face would be great. Besides, this means I can keep this stuff fresh in my mind and, hopefully, begin crossing things off! This list is in no particular order, and forever updated.)

Visit the Forbidden City
See the Grand Canyon
Return to the Crazy Horse Memorial
Spend no less than 1 month in Japan
Visit the Great Pyramids
See Stonehenge
See the Paris Opera House
See the Notre Dame de Paris
Go through the Louvre
While in the Louvre, find the statue entitled ‘Winged Victory of Samothrace‘
Witness the Northern Lights
Be a published author
Make an offering to Pele
Visit Salem, Mass.
Visit the French Quarters in New Orleans
Bathe in a stream, no matter how cold the water is
Spend 30 minutes in a Sensory Deprivation Tank
Watch a meteor shower
Stargaze, far from city lights
Visit Delphi
Spend time at the Temple of Apollo(while visiting Delphi)
Return to the redwood forest
Try surfing in Hawai’i
Once more be the proud owner of a Boxer(I love them dogs!)
Build a snowman
Make a snow angle
Have a snow ball fight
Carve a pumpkin and set up for Halloween
Go to Bristol RenFair in my Merrick costume
Learn Japanese
Learn the basics of the Hawai’ian language
Watch a sunset on a beach in Hawai’i
Treat Grendal to REAL shaved ice in Kona, Hawai’i
Be in the audience at the Merry Monarch Festivale
Knit a hat(I have a pattern for one that I soooo want to do)
?

Slow on the Uptake

chibivega — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:24:28 +0000

It seems there is a 50/50 chance that I’ll either be ahead of the game, or way behind it but it seems like I’m behind it more often then not. Last week, while I got in the last bit of TV I could, I was watching Adult Swim(shush, guilty pleasure that is no longer there) and they made a comment about the music they were playing in the background. It was something about a Justin Bieber song being slowed down 800% or something. I didn’t pay much attention to it because, well, I didn’t really pay much attention to the stuff they flashed across the screen anyway.

Well I was looking around i09.com and came across a title of an article: Classic Science Fiction Theme Tunes Sound Even Spacier Slowed Down. My love of classic SciFi and odd sound music compelled me to take a little look-see at what the article was about. Come to my surprise it made mention to the Justin Bieber song before showing a collection of SciFi songs. I was honestly surprised and enjoyed the SciFi tunes as well as the Bieber song(slowed down, mind you). So what do I do? I follow the links, download the program, and start messing around with the tons of music that I’ve collected over the years. Let me tell you this: The Beatles and the music from the Halo series is pretty interesting slowed down!

Just thought I would share that in-between cold recovery and picking out my next tune.

4 Days, 2 Weeks, 3 Days

chibivega — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:54:25 +0000

Odd title, I know, but it’ll make sense in a moment.

Its been nearly 3 weeks since I’ve washed my hair with shampoo. It’s going nicely and I must say that it’ll be cheaper than having to buy shampoo and conditioner so much….especially since Grendal and I both have long, curly hair and mine is thick to boot. My hair doesn’t seem so nice right now, though. I’ve been sick with a sinus cold for about 4 days now and I’ve noticed the change in my hair, which is odd. Someone else doin’ this little hair change mentioned the same thing so it must not be too odd.

The bad thing about being sick right now, besides the fact that my ears are now clogged and its like listening through cotton balls, is the fact that we have no cable. I am so used to curling up in bed and watching endless TV while moaning about how I want my cold to be over. We didn’t forget to pay the bills or anything, we decided to toss cable out the window in order to save some money and that’s been out since Monday(3 days). Honestly a lot of the stuff we watch we do so out of boredom and any of the educational stuff we want to see we can catch online or find a paper on it. We also have a whole mess of DVDs we need to get through and some files on our computer that we need to watch. The upside is that we don’t veg out infront of the TV. The downside is now Grendal and I are playing more video games. Wait, that isn’t bad actually. Ha!

I’ve been making dinner for the family for only a week and I hadn’t realized that I’ve already been delegated the cook. Monday we had take out and last night we had dinner around 830 because, well, no one realized the time and I wasn’t about to cook while hacking and coughing up goop. Not a very pleasant thing to hear while someone is preparing your dinner.

So while I am nearly over this cold in record time for myself, my ears are clogged. I have a little vertigo because of it and I have to pay close attention to what’s going on with them. Last thing I need is another ear infection and a trip to the hospital, or something. This is what happens when you had chronic ear infections as a child. Blarg.

Ah well. I need my rest. Hopefully the cat will leave me alone for a moment, but I doubt it. :p Oh! And my review for The Signal should be up on Games, Gold, and Glory at some point. Woo. Okay, I seriously need to rest.