Minecraft.

www.minecraft.net

This game was made by one guy.

It costs around fourteen bucks.

It has 8-bit graphics.

There is no story.

There are no quests.

There are no bosses.

There are no spells.

There are no skill points.

There is almost no music.

And I can't stop playing it.

Let me try to explain. Minecraft dumps you on the shore of a randomly-generated 8-bit 3D world made entirely of cubes. There are trees made of cubes, mountains made of cubes, sand, water, lava, grass, snow, and precious metals like iron, gold and diamond.

"It is morning, I can tell by the giant square sun low in the sky. I have nothing, no weapons, armor or tools, not even a tutorial. What am I supposed to do?

"Hmm, I know I would feel a lot better if I had a weapon. How do these games usually start? I seem to be able to dig up blocks of sand and dirt with my bare hands and keep them, lets try it on that tree.

"Ahh now that I have some wood, what do I do? There's a crafting pane! Putting the wood in makes wood planks! Making a pole shape with the planks makes a pole, or a handle. Putting the planks in a square shape makes a work bench! Hmm what if I use the pole as a handle and put the wood planks in a sword shape


"Bang! Wooden sword! What else can I make? It would be nice to get some better materials, wood is pretty weak. What about a pick axe shape?

"Pow! Pick axe! Now I can get some stone. Let's make a stone sword, how 'bout some stone armor! Stone pick axe seems to work much faster and last longer, I think I'm getting the hang of this.

"Ok it's starting to get dark, how am I going to see in this dark? I got some coal while picking the stone, ah I can make torches, good deal. What are those noises?"

Gurgling...

Moaning...

Whispering...

Footsteps...

"Oww an arrow wtf? A skeleton! AHH he is killing my ass! SWORD QUICK AHHH! Ok I'm dead... ugh I dropped all of my stuff and I'm back where I started, and it's still night!

Day 2

"Ok, after a night of repeatedly dying at the hands of zombies and skeletons I've learned a valuable lesson: if I'm going to survive, I need to get a shelter built pronto. I light my new house with torches, make a door, some glass windows using the stove I built and some sand and now I'm pretty well protected. Whew!

"During the day I find a cave. Let's follow this down, I'm going to need a lot of torches. It gets dark fast, I can hear monsters in the dark. Delving deep into the earth I come across precious metals, endless passageways, lava, and even a dungeon full of enemies and treasure! This world is huge! It's scary and full of discovery! I feel like a kid again! Like I'm in my fort keeping the monsters at bay!

"My shelter becomes a house. My house becomes a becomes a castle. I build an elaborate mine cart system. I have switches that control far away devices, huge traps that kill the monsters for me and collect their loot. I grow crops, decorate my citadel with bookshelves and colorful paintings, and craft diamond weapons to slay my enemies. I even build a magical gateway that takes me to a terrifying nexus world!



"How long have I been playing this?

There is no story.

There are no quests.

I am alone.

This is incredible."

Reverie Vomit's ten of '10

I wanted to take a crack at the whole "top ten" list thing, so here are my top 10 games of 2010. I actually played more games from 2009 than 2010 this year, some of which would place higher than many of the current year's titles, but hey, you have to draw the line somewhere.

Disclamer: I neither had the time, nor the budget to play everything. For instance, I have yet to play "COD: Black Ops", or "Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood", or any Xbox exclusives for that matter (looking at you "Limbo"), so please take my list with a grain of salt. That being said I would love to hear any recommendations you have for your favorite games of the year!

Next to the title for each game are the game-style, platform, and developer, respectively.

Here we go!

10. Bit. Trip Beat (Rhythm / iPhone / Gajin Games)

"Bit. Trip Beat" is "Pong" meets Paul Oakenfold in this retro-trippy, rhythm game. More than a little difficult, I spent hours being punished only to return for more. The music is fun, thumping, 8-bit fair that sets the old-meets-new tone for the game. The stylistic graphics, matching that of the games music, make this a challenging and fun title I must recommend to gamers looking to reminisce about their early days of gaming.

9. Rimelands: Hammer of Thor (RPG / iPhone / Diceworks Games)

"Rimelands" is a marriage of modern dungeon-crawler gameplay and classic D&D elements. Much like the previous years "Dungeon Hunter" (Gameloft), in most ways "Rimelands" is a "Diablo" (Blizzard) clone; this is a good thing. The combat system, however, is decidedly unique. A set number of dice is rolled to determine hits, misses and defense. I found the system quite enjoyable and the variety of spells and tactics to be fun and challenging. Now, if only it had an ending...

8. Game Dev Story (Time Management / iPhone / Karisoft)

Ever want to run a game company? Me neither! "Game Dev Story" makes it seem super fun. And wow is it easy to make millions of dollars in this industry...apparently. This game has the most rewards-per-minute I've ever experienced. Couple that with the pitch-perfect pacing and you just don't want to put it down. You start as the director of a small game company, choose what type of game you want to make, higher the personnel necessary to make the game, make sure everything is on budget and finally release the game to public scrutiny. Sounds fantastic doesn't it? Trust me, you have to play it to get it. Definitely one of the most smile-inducing games I played this year.

7. God of War 3 (Action, Adventure / PS3 / Sony Computer Entertainment, Santa Monica Studio)

"GOD OF WAR"!!! This game is HUGE! It's MEAN!! It's TESTOSTERONE INCARNATE!!! BOOBIES!!!! Santa Monica has really gone all out with this title. The game play is highly satisfying, the pacing is spot on and the game design is wonderful. It is truly a sight to behold. The boss battles, the enormous set pieces, this is a Hollywood blockbuster on steroids. I found the ending to be somewhat implausible from a character standpoint, but the ride was absolutely thrilling.

6. Plants vs. Zombies (Tower Defense / iPhone / Popcap)

I know, this game is actually came out in 2009, but I'm not reviewing that version (which I did purchase for the PC back then). This is a review of the 2010 iPhone version! "Plants vs. Zombies" really shines with touch controls. This one of only a couple of games my wife will play over and over. The graphics and game play are super fun as you try to defend your home from a horde of ravenous zombies! This has something for all types of gamers.

5. Star Craft 2 (RTS / PC / Blizzard Entertainment)

Let's just admit it, "Star Craft" is the king of real-time strategy, and Blizzard is possibly the king of game developers, they're definitely the most profitable. The production value of this title is through the roof. Everything from the voice acting to the multi player maps are polished to a fine sheen. I found the campaign to be well paced, fun, and beautiful to behold. Its obvious merits withstanding, I would have preferred that the cut scenes were pre rendered, rather than using the in-game engine with my getting-quite-old graphics card. Also, the learning curve, especially in the multi player ladder system, is quite steep. It seems unbalanced when you can defeat multiple NPC opponents on high difficulties, but don't stand a chance against the lowest of human counterparts. I had a lot of fun and equal frustration with this game, mostly due to my own ineptitude.

4. Heavy Rain (Interactive Fiction / PS3 / Quantic Dream)

Man this game is heart-racing! "Heavy Rain" broke so many barriers, it was an experience that changed what I thought games could do. You decide how the story plays out. There is no "game over" screen. If a character dies because of your choices, that character will not return in the rest of the story. This also creates a myriad of different endings and plot twists that make re playability high. I have yet to revisit "Heavy Rain" because the experience was freaking intense! I guess I'm still deciding if I want to put myself through this game again, haha.

3. Mass Effect 2 (RPG / PC, Xbox 360,(PS3 soon) / Bioware)

Bioware is currently my favorite developer. Their stories are so well told, and finally in "Mass Effect 2", unlike the previous installment in the series, the game play has been brought up to match. The choices you make, the incredible graphics, the thrilling design, this game is phenomenal. You learn to love your team, making the final battle exciting on a level rarely achieved in any medium. I played through this game twice back-to-back in order to experience the extremes of the story telling. As a paragon, I was able to save the lives of all of my crew, but as a renegade, I lost one. While my first play through had a somewhat underwhelming ending, I must say losing the crew member really gave a deep emotional impact to the overall story. This marks the first time I have played a game and have been glad for the mistakes I had made. In any case, there are many ways to experience this deep and highly entertaining story. "Mass Effect 2" will top many lists this year.

2. Minecraft (Open-world RPG / PC / Mojang Specifications)

This game is like fourteen bucks (the price is in euros, I forget what it was in dollars). There is no story. There are no quests. There are no bosses. There is almost no loot. The graphics are 8-bit. There is almost no music. And I haven't been addicted to a game like this since WoW. This game makes me feel like a kid, a kid who is afraid of the dark. A kid playing legos hiding from invisible enemies in the dark. If you would like to read more, I go into greater detail in a post. Do not miss this game.

1. Red Dead Redemption (RPG / PS3, XBox 360 / Rockstar San Diego)

"Red Dead Redemption" made me LOVE a genre I hated as a child. I won't go into a full rave about Red Dead, as I've written a post previously, but man, what a rich and wonderful world Rockstar has re imagined. I could play this game forever.

What a great year for games! What were your favorites?

On the docket for next year: Old Republic, Portal 2, Uncharted 3, Oblivion 5, Arkham City and Dragon Age 2, to name a few! Where will we find the time?! What are you most looking forward to next year?

Experiencing Red Dead Redemption

I hate Westerns. Always have.

Until now.

What an experience this game was! Red Dead Redemption puts you in a world so lively, gritty and beautiful, it sometimes feels more like an MMO than a sandbox RPG. Rockstar has raised the bar again with this haunting take on the old west. I didn't want this game to end, but when it did, what a great end it was.

The main elements of this game were all there. Pitch-perfect storytelling, fun and intuitive game play, interesting and quirky characters, and beautiful vistas. Besides a few graphical bugs (rocks floating, people getting stuck in scenery), the whole experience was engrossing and entertaining.

I call it an experience rather than a game because you are truly in control of your own journey. You can spend hours simply wandering the countryside, encountering people who put the "strange" in stranger, hunting boar, picking flowers, breaking horses, killing bandits, herding cattle, anything you can think of that is associated with the old and wild west. Hell I spent a good portion of my time just playing poker. Not to say the story isn't excellent, it's just that the rest of the world is so full and exciting, I really wanted to take my time to experience it all.

It's 1910. You, John Marston, are an ex-bandit tasked with killing your former compatriots at the whim of corrupt government men holding your family hostage.

Hilarity ensues.

Ok, it is by no means hilarious. It is often dark, sad, political, intriguing, but with a nice dusting of charm and comedy. Someone said earlier this week that a good game story is made true by its ending, and I think that fits the bill nicely here. I kept trying to guess the plot, and I was happily never correct. Just when I thought it was over, there was so much left to do. Even now that I've completed it, I will be going back to finish some of the many challenges Red Dead offers up. Like I said, I didn't want it to end and I still don't.

That was the cursory story, the one Rockstar wrote for you, but where the real experience was, the things people talk about, were the personal and unique adventures each had. I've heard tell of flying villagers on mountain tops. Galloping across a Mexican plain into the sunset while stirring guitar played the soundtrack. Climbing the highest peak to find a majestic bald-eagle perched atop, and swiftly blowing its head off with a shotgun. Watching along a roadside as a Chinese man cries over his dead brother. Saving a woman being strung up by bandits by shooting the noose from her neck.

And the horses.

You know, if these were cars, I wouldn't care the slightest when they finally gave out. In Red Dead, your horse is an extension of yourself. My first horse was one I had seen in the distance against a stormy sky, lassoed, broke and rode him through hell and high water. While searching for cannibals in the hills above Armadillo, out of no where, a mountain lion eviscerates my steeds belly, nearly killing me in the process. As I'm mourning the loss, a pack of boars rush me from either side and I once again barely escape with my life.

Hey nature, give me a second you jerk!

I had similar stories with the following horses, and each left me staring at the body of my fallen friend, trying to process what just happened. My final horse died in a very similar way to my first, cougar attack. I had had it with cougars at this point, and Moby-Dick'd their asses into extinction.

Hmm I see why that is not a popular phrase.

Red Dead Redemption not only gives you a wonderful story, but a deep and engrossing world full of individual stories, ones that vary widely from person to person. Its world is so full of character and wonder, I could spend hours living within it. What other medium can do this? Roger Ebert, have anything to say?

Batman: The Game, The Comic, The Legacy

My game of choice the past two weeks has been the 2009 Game-of-the-Year-nominee, "Batman, Arkham Asylum." Gamefly sent me this gem while I was in the opening stages of "Red Dead Redemption", and because I want to get the most value for my Gamefly-dollar, I took a break from cattle-russlin' to do some Joker-russlin'. I wasn't disappointed.

I have always loved Batman. His dark past, his interesting and colorful foes, his genius detective skills were all very appealing to a young man of 10. So hearing so much praise for this game I was more than a little excited going in. Because of Batman's rich history in movies, television (I loved the cartoon as a kid) and comics, this game had a lot to live up to.

One thing I think Arkham Asylum really did right was giving the game it's own original story and universe. I was happy this wasn't another movie rip-off, although most of the voice actors were from the cartoon and video series, staring Mark Hamil as the Joker. By the way, he is fantastic in this. All of the voice actors are lively and perfectly matched. They jumped off of the screen, and often brought a smile to my face.

The game play and combat were very satisfying. Punches felt solid, your acrobatics seemed natural and amazing, and the gadgets were fun and inventive. My only gripe, albeit small, was the save system. Maybe I'm and idiot, but I couldn't figure out how to manually save, and the game never tells you when you have reached a checkpoint. Turning off the game I was always wondering just how far back I would have to start tomorrow.

As the challenge of Arkham Asylum ramped up, a deeper sense of the Batman universe opened as well. Unlockable bios and back-story for many MANY characters were revealed. Who ever heard of "Calendar Man"? What a stupid foe! But there he was, debuted in a 1985 comic. Some of the villains went back to the mid 1930's and I really found a deep story that spans over 700 comics.

Batman is OLD!

I've never been all that interested in comics. I know, it's the missing garnish in my nerd salad. This game, with all of it's deep history attached, more than any other Batman I've encountered, made me want to discover this worlds history, to read the comics and see Batman in his original element. I downloaded the comic reader for the iPhone and read thru a few later that night. The artistry and story were nothing less than jaw-dropping. I'm so glad I finally have an "in" to this missing part of nerddom.

Did anyone see "The Dark Knight"? That movie freakin' rocks. Every time I see it I get something new.

Sure Batman has had his dark times, the 70's show was pretty lame in my opinion, the second thru fifth movies were terrible, "Tonight, Hell freezes over!". Ugh I couldn't even make it to the end of that one. But Batman, it seems is going thru a Renaissance, a rebirth into what we always wanted him to be: a gritty, grounded, genius detective with solid action and compelling story. It is such an exciting time to be a fan of Gotham and the Dark Knight, I can't wait to see what's in store for the Caped Crusader!

/Highfive Chris Nolan!

The Studio

It started with an empty garage. Mixing in a small bedroom dependent on my sons sleep schedule told me right away I was going to need something better, somewhere I could track and mix whenever I needed. I drew up a plan, bought the studs and PT plate and went to work.

Phase One: Framing

I've worked with my father in finish carpentry for around ten years, so it only made sense to do most of the work myself. Beginning in mid April, my father, Dean Ivester and I knocked out most of the framing in one Saturday.

Phase Two: Electrical and Duct

I hired a licenced electrician to run the wire, as I have no experience in this. He did the whole thing in two evenings. Track lighting, sconces, two separate 20amp breakers for the control room and live room, and dimmers.

The duct was going to be too expensive to hire out so my Dad and I tried our best with it. A friend who was a professional in the field inspected our work and signed off.

Phase Three: Insulation

Did this myself over a week period. Very boring, but I did catch up on an audio book I had been meaning to listen to.

Phase Four: Soundboard and Sheetrock

Although I did most of this phase myself, I was fortunate to have some great friends come out and help. Dean Ivester, Michael Nelson and Lucas Adams all helped me get this phase completed quickly. First we covered all walls with 1/2 inch Celetex (sound board). This stuff is a pain to work with, very dusty and fibrous. Next we put up the sheet rock and we were ready for mud.

Phase Five: Mud

I hired a long-time family friend to do this step, as I have no experience with it. Over the course of three days, he mudded and sprayed the walls for texture. The texture was added only in the control room in order to match the existing walls.

Phase Six: Paint

I hate painting. Again I did most of this myself over three days, but I was happy to have the help of my wife for several of those evenings. She also helped my pick out the colors, as I am colorblind, maybe that's why I hate painting. Everything got two coats of primer and two coats of color, however, the control room took four coats of primer because of the existing wall color.

Phase Seven: Doors and window

My Dad installed all of the doors during times I was unable to help. The three doors are exterior solid-core as to allow the minimum sound transference. Weather stripping works wonders for keeping sound out.

The first thing I had ever bought for this project was the glass for the window between the control room and live room. It was custom made, vacuum-sealed with two different thickness as to not transfer sound waves. We put weather stripping on the stops and sealed it up tight.

Phase Eight: Floors

The floors went down so fast I couldn't believe it! I went with an oak laminate. Now I don't really like oak, I would have much preferred maple, but it was on sale and less than half the price of the latter. Thanks to my Father-in law Joel Huffman, and Michael Nelson, we knocked this out in about two hours!

Phase Nine: Finish

My Father pitched in again and we had the casing and base complete in couple of days. I caulked them all to insure no air or sound would escape. Foam insulation was applied to seal all gaps in the doors and window.

Phase Ten: Diffusors

I build some frames and purchased fabric to cover them. Inside, I used the last of the insulation and attached them to the walls. I was able to reuse my store-bought diffusors in the live room and along the back wall of the control room. This, however, was not enough to cover every space needed, so a further diffusor purchase will have to be made.

Phase Eleven: Move in!

Breaking down and hooking everything up again took about two long days. Ryan Saari helped me move in the couch, woo hoo thanks Ryan! I ended up being short one patch cable, and a DVI cable went bad on me, but otherwise, everything went very smoothly. Below is a quick tour of the control room and live room.

Today I put up the pictures and performed the final cleaning. It feels so good to have a space to do my work again! The addition also makes our house feel much bigger. I couldn't have done it without the hard work and charity of my good friends and family.

Final Fantasy XIII: Japan, It's Time for Something New.

For the past 3 weeks I've been playing Final Fantasy 13. Tonight, I finished it. I am a long-time veteran of the series so I was excited going in to this experience. With Square-Enix's long track record of quality and innovation, I was quite surprised to find an uneven and stagnant game that took hours upon hours to get good.

First off I must say, this is the most gorgeous game I have ever seen. It pushes the PS3 to its technological limits. You often can't tell the difference between the pre-rendered and live-action cut scenes. The character animations are flawless and the big set pieces were just jaw-dropping.

But this is a video game, some of that is to be expected. Beauty and technological artistry are simply not enough to make a good game. An RPG, like Final Fantasy, requires a compelling story, likable characters and fun and innovative game play. Sadly, these were lacking.

Let's start with the story. Wait, who is that guy? I think I remember him from 10 hours ago. He looks like a tranny. The story was convoluted to put it lightly. You are thrown into a world with many strange names and customs, I mean really strange. Don't get me wrong, I love a complicated and intricate plot, I just had a difficult time finding concepts to ground to, ways to bring myself into the story. You have long conversations with little comprehension of the topic, and are expected to remember, for example, the difference between a "Fal'Cie" and a "L'Cie", 30 hours after discussing it. The story did make sense by the end, but boy was it a strange journey getting there.

To me, the clearest suffering in the plot was the exclusion of one key device: an antagonist. Ok, that's not fair, there were a couple throughout, but all were completely forgettable. The Big Bad Boss reveals himself eventually, but I had no attachment to him nor did I understand my motivation to defeat him. In fact, it seemed that the best course of action to "save the world" was to do nothing. I guess that's a new one. The story jumps around a lot, and when it did come together in the end, I was indifferent.

Ok, I didn't like the story. What about the game play?

Some aspects of this I liked. I liked the paradigm system and the roles. The leveling mechanic was fine. These, however, were overshadowed by irritating developer choices. The weapon and item leveling system was a mess. The layout of the first half of the game is, as one reviewer described it, "a conveyor belt of enemies." You basically run in a straight line, defeat one group of enemies, watch an often pointless cut scene, and repeat. This is for the first 25 hours(!) of the game! I almost quit many times, but it's Final Fantasy! I HAVE to see this through! Right?

Ugh...

The light at the end of the... conveyor belt. Around hour 25, everything opened up. You could move freely, choose your own party, customize your characters attributes, take on missions and set your own pace. Once I found a good mob to grind (I actually looked FORWARD to grinding at this point), I was a happy camper.

I believe all of this comes down to one larger issue: Japanese game-developers have lost touch with the western gamer. This game felt old. Excluding the battle system, it didn't do anything new. Bioware and Bethesda have innovated the RPG space so thoroughly, it has become a whole new genre. We want choices! We want a clear and, at least, mildly grounded plot structure.

I fear that one of my favorite franchises may have lost a devoted fan for good.

Maybe its me. Maybe games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout, Heavy Rain, and Fable have changed how I view RPGs. Am I alone in this view? I hope Japan can learn from these new game styles and bring Final Fantasy back to the forefront of RPG experience and innovation.

Also, what was with all of the sex noises?

Technology doesn't enhance everything?

I just finished "The Eye of the World", a novel by Robert Jordan, and the first in a series of fantasy-style books dubbed "The Wheel of Time". It was recommended to me by a group of like-minded friends that insisted I MUST read this series. Let me start by saying that I did enjoy this book, the world it created and the characters especially. But something hindered my loving of it, as I initially assumed I would.

If there is one they teach us Americans, it is to cram as much as we can in to every possible second of existence. It's called multitasking, and I don't feel like I am truly a good, productive citizen if I am not doing it at all times. Right now I am watching Batman Begins (again) while I type, just to have something else going on in the room. Isn't the typing enough? Or the movie? This was my quite-logical reasoning in approaching this book, the same as approaching anything else.


But books aren't meant to be multitasked. They require focus. They require a dedicated time and place.

So enters the Audio Book. I have enjoyed them in the past, what better way to pass the long hours of a solo drive down I-5? This became my preferred method of ingesting this story, which my friends so dearly loved. "Hmm, I need to build a studio in my off hours, why not listen to that book I keep meaning to get to?" Needless to say, my brain wasn't fully in it.

The Audio Book. Besides the lack of concentration needed to appreciate a story like this, you are forced into the voice actor's interpretation of the names, places, inflection, and emotion. They did a great job, but the reading communicated their feelings about the story, not mine, and it became a much less personal experience.

But hey, look how much shit I got done!

In the end, I feel like I didn't give this story the respect it deserved. Sure it was slow through big sections, some of the characters were grating and transparent, and the plot was derivative at times (I have yet to find a fantasy-style story that isn't), but I cheated myself out of the full enjoyment of a wonderful story. The highs in the story were very high, from Rand's first fight with the Trollocks, to Shadar Logoth, and the final confrontation with Ba'alzamon. I found myself dropping my hammer, sitting down and straining my ears with anticipation.

This is the valuable lesson I have learned: books deserve respect. Respect them enough to take some time from your busy day, quiet all of your racing thoughts and soak it in. I'm looking forward to continuing this series, but from the warm glow of my nightstand light before sleep.

The Finalies

I like most things. Most stories. I love creativity. I love how a good story can pull you in, make you genuinely care about someone or something that, in reality, doesn't even exist. This, to me, exemplifies humanity, sets us apart: the power of our imagination.

The Lost season finale has brought back emotions that I've had a number of times in my life. The feeling of loss, satisfaction, heartbreak and exhilaration of leaving something you have truly loved. When a story holds you so tight for so long, it becomes a part of you, and when it finally lets go, it feels like that part of you is missing.

I'm remembering other stories that have given me this same feeling of loss and humility. As I think of these titles, they seem trite, unimportant and silly. But when their stories intersected with mine, they became a part of my own. Stories like Battlestar Galactica, the first time they found Earth. When Golem takes the Ring back from Frodo on Mt. Doom. When Jim finally tells Pam he loves her. When Han is frozen in carbonite. When Areis dies. When everyone bows to the Hobbits. Our defeat of Yogg-Saron. The Sopranos, Journey. Returning to Galaxies to find a statue dedicated to me. The Story of B.

The first time I played Elgar's Nimrod. The loss of my friendship with Jon. When my son was born and every day since. My first kiss with my wife.

I'm being melodramatic and obviously divulging too much, but it is cathartic. Processing.

The Lost finale went through a similar reflection of itself. The way it showed the best and worst times of the characters lives together on the island, when they finally touched their friends again and remembered their story. Maybe it was cathartic for those involved in Lost too. I guess as viewers, we all were.

I will miss Lost, as I have missed these other great stories, these friends I had the privilege of spending some time with. But I do feel oddly satisfied, as one does at this kind of parting. I look forward to discovering a new story, making a new friend, one that can hold you in only a way that the human imagination can.

Man its hard to find the time...

We have a two-year-old. My wife, Erika, a choir teacher, works days, while I, an engineer, work when she is home in the evenings. Unfortunately, everyone wants to do everything in the evenings. Parties, dinners, birthdays, briss, the list goes on. We're not Jewish.

Taking on the responsibility of raising my son during the days, although very rewarding, really leaves no room for personal ambition. In the evenings, I find myself at the mercy of social and family obligation, and what suffers is my work, my ambition. Time and again it is pushed aside, residing on the botom of our life's list of priorities.

This Friday is "Date Night". We have rescheduled and rescheduled and rescheduled, meanwhile, I am behind on my deadlines. Where do we give? What to we give? I know the answer.

The bottom line is: having a family means diminishing your ambition and settling for "the best you can". Its a cold fish to swallow. Is that a saying?

Maybe all new parents go thru this, maybe I'm just complaining.

Hey I made a BLURRGH!

You know, social media is great and all, but sometimes you just want to break the limitations. I like to type, I like to get my ideas out there, and I don't think everyone should be forced to read them.

The purpose of this BLURRGH, or Blog as some may call it, is to elaborate on those titles posted to Twitter and Facebook, but not to force anyone to read my rants. It's mostly for my own edification, and I doubt anyone will read this with any regularity, but that's fine! I just want to vomit ideas, as this BLURRGH title implies.

My main goal is selfish sure, but I would also like to foster conversation and deeper interaction. I know that I may not have the most insightful or revolutionary ideas, but I do like discussing them, and to hear the ideas of others. I will be honest and transparent, as most of my interests are pretty shallow, and I hope also to entertain more than annoy (lofty goals, I know). So sit back and grab a spoonful of Reverie Vomit!

Ok that's gross. Its supposed to be a metaphor.