Happy commercialized holiday!

It doesn't feel like Christmas this year. There's no snow on the ground, and we didn't bother putting up a tree this year (we just had a two-foot stand-in on a table). Let's see what booty I got this year:

-New Canon 5.0MP digital camera (I might return it in favour of a smaller model, if I can find one at the same price. Quality is fine and all, but bulky cameras are no fun to carry around)
-Poker's Wild! (A game from the creators of Sequence. Might be fun every now and then)
-shirt and pants (love the pants, the shirt is ok)
-Battlefield 1942 (looking forward to play this via LAN, but not sure if I'll get around to playing it solo for a while)
-Yoshi's Island DS (yay!)
-Lego Star Wars 2 (I happened to burn this from a rental the other day, so I'm going to return it and get Okami for PS2 instead)
-large cash donation for me to buy things for myself (my mom wants me to get a Wii, but considering the lack of great games and my current backlog of games for GC, PS2, PC, and DS, I'll spend it elsewhere and buy a Wii later on in 2007. I'm going to get that video card which is now on sale at Future Shop for Boxing Day.)

I've also added Metroid Prime to my "to play" list. It's the top rated GameCube game, and third highest overall at GameRankings.com. I'm on the last chapter of RE4. For the first three days, I was able to play through a chapter per day, but the fourth chapter took me a long time. I should be done this game in a few days, and then I'll move on to The Warriors. I should be able to finish that in a week and a half, and when I get back to Waterloo I'll probably move on to whatever I'm in the mood for. In the handheld division, I should be done Megaman ZX in less than a week, and then I'll play my new Yoshi's Island DS.

Hugh says that by scheduling video games like this, I take a fair chunk of the fun out of it by destroying the spontaneity. I suppose that's slightly true, but I think that with games taking 20+ hours to beat, and with some games having pretty steep learning curves, it's too difficult to jump back into a game that you've already started and still take as much out of it as you would if it were still fresh on your mind.

So far Adam and I have played 5 (or maybe 6) games of Carcassonne. I think the game works very well with fewer players. There's much more of a "screw over your opponents" element. I played Settlers of Catan with Adam, Grant, and Chanel, and they all seemed to enjoy it. We had to cut it short since Adam had to go somewhere, and while we were playing, Martine and her boyfriend came over. I think we stopped with a three-way tie where Grant, Chanel and I all had 8 points. I'm sure they'd like to play again if the number of people fits. I still want to play with Sheena.

After Adam left, the five of us played Bang!. I started off by stripping a lot of cards out (character cards, more complicated action cards) to leave more of a basic game. After the first game, we added the characters and some more action cards and played again. My one qualm with the game is that it seems to take forever to kill anyone. After playing ten minutes, everyone might still be at full health. I think it would be better to play more rounds that are quicker to play. To remedy this, I think I'll take out some "Missed!" and "Beer" cards (which evade shots and restore health, respectively).

Well it's nearly time for Christmas dinner, so I'm going to go shower and put on my new clothes, then stuff myself with delicious goodness.

Listening to... Rage Against the Machine - Freedom
Link of the moment... Oh yeah, I forgot to talk about the new board games I've got my eye on. Lucky you.

Oh Phil, come back again!

Ah, good old Phil. It was more than a pleasure to hang out with him again. There was a point where we were laughing so hard I thought I was going to vomit. That's how I'll always remember Phil.

I have an urge to have another LAN party. I can't remember what the largest number of computers I've had in my basement was...not nearly 8, but perhaps 5 or 6. I hope to do it again next summer. I'd like to give Battlefield 1942 a try. The ever-changing control-point mode seems a lot better than multiple, short rounds as in Counter-Strike. On top of that, you can set an entire team of bots in 1942 to make it a co-op affair with large teams, whereas in CS, the best you can hope for is a 2v2 battle. One of these days, I'd like too see a 7-8 player match of Starcraft. I have a feeling there might be some bitter feelings on alliance betrayals, though. Oh! And I'd have some Super Smash Brothers going on the Wii on the bigscreen, too! Ah, what dreams I have.

Well, that speed dating hookup is definitely not happening. I still haven't received a reply, so I don't expect to get one anytime soon. In my mind, the Warrior Weekends staff was unable to read her email address and screwed it up, and she's thinking about me all the time, but I just tell myself that to keep my self-image up.

I signed up for Lavalife while I was at home, and sent a smile to someone today. I read a good quote that makes me feel a little less like a loser resorting to online dating: "Twenty years from now, the idea that someone looking for love without looking for it online will be silly, akin to skipping the card catalog to instead wander the stacks because 'the right books are found only by accident.' " (courtesy Wired magazine, 2002). Unfortunately, my actions are limited unless I feel like paying for services (not bloody likely).

The roommies are out at Oktoberfest right now. They'll get back in about an hour, then we party down and annoy the neighbours. Until then, I bide my time. I've done my marking, so I'm giving myself a little break with my blog. I plan to finish Physics tomorrow, and then perhaps graph theory and/or relaxing on Sunday. On Monday, I've got to update the euchre stats and website, but that shouldn't take very long.

I went to Nathalie and Steve's apartment the other day for lunch, before classes to get some notes. Man, her place is pimped out! They've got all new furniture, and the layout is nothing short of superb. Now I can't wait to get my own apartment! Of course, to do that I'll have to find a good job, so I guess I'll have to do this one step at a time.

I'm still very much up in the air about grad studies. For my own good, I think I'll make a little Pro/Con list right now.
Pros:
-Another year to 'relax' before finding real work
-Masters degree will get me a higher paying job (or so I'm expecting)
-Masters makes me look really smart, garners pride from parents
-Increases sense of self-satisfaction

Cons:
-Most friends will no longer be in Waterloo
-Must live in student housing one more year
-Difficult work, courses, and thesis
-Increases chances of going on random killing spree due to stress

Neither of these options really has an outstanding argument. I'm just not sure what I want to do yet. There are some aspects of studying mathematics that I enjoy, and some that I do not.

Listening to... Static-X - I'm With Stupid
Link of the moment... Soon to be regularly updated by me. I'll even throw in some strategy articles, if I have the time.