Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The human body in general is a strange and wondrous thing. MY body, however, is a abominable, uncontrollable creature beyond control. A few weeks ago I decided that my current eating habits for my diet were insufficient, in the sense that I wasn't eating enough. My lunch at work consisted of a can of soup with some crackers. Within two hours my stomach was aching and my legs were running towards the vending machine. At that point, I hadn't decided how to fill this gap in my eating schedule without burying me under a mountain of fat, sodium, and grease. The next day, some coworkers invited me to lunch with them. We went to a Indian buffet, which I didn't object to, but nonetheless felt guilty about. I tried to exercise some moderation in my eating, eating enough to feel I had a full meal without gorging myself. But by 2:30 I was hungry again. Just as hungry as the previous day. For those keeping track, I had an 18 ounce can of soup one day and a freaking all-you-can-eat buffet another and experienced no difference in satisfaction. Oy.

And with the weekend coming up, remember bj’s don’t count

I’m sorry, OK? I don’t know what I did to deserve this punishment. Any offense I have caused was purely unintentional and the powers that be, supernatural, ordinary, or epidermal, must relent. The acne must go. At this rate, my face will consist of a field of poc marks with a nose protruding out of it by the time I’m forty. I hate to whine*, but when you can feel no less than five places for potential zits to appear in addition to the monstrous one on your chin, you need an outlet.

In all my spazzing out about Star Wars, I failed to notice that the E3 expo was taking place in LA. Ironically, some of the new games I’m most interested in playing in the coming months are actually compilations of older games. Specifically, I’m waiting for Sonic Gems Collection and Mega Man X Collection. The former features Sonic CD, supposedly the best Sonic ever made, while the latter just kicks ass. Konami announced a special edition of MGS3 which boasts an adjustable camera, so certain people can finally finish the game. The Nintendo DS has some nice stuff on the horizon, including a new Castlevania, Super Mario Bros., and Mario Kart, so my interest is piqued enough to justify picking one up in the near future.

Speaking of everybody’s favorite space opera, I attended a midnight showing as you might expect and left the theater one happy camper. Lackluster performances keep the film from reaching its full potential, but the relentless action and overwhelming drama that transpires over the course of the two hours is undeniably engrossing. And the special effects WILL amaze you as they’re almost flawless in their beauty and ambition. One particular planet really caught my eye in its all-too-brief appearance.

*This is clearly a lie. I created this blog with the express purpose of bitching about the day-to-day inconveniences in my life.

There are fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world.

Even with a full plate this week, work still felt boring. It became pretty obvious to me two months into this gig that I wouldn't be doing it for the rest of the life (God willing), but the degree of my disenchantment is frustrating. Regardless of the friendly coworkers and excellent pay, at some point my life will have to move on to more fulfilling work.

I'm almost finished registering for classes for the fall, and my schedule is looking schweet. It looks like I'll be enrolled in three classes (this is all that's necessary to be considered a full-time student in graduate school) and all of them will be held on Tuesday and Thursday. In other words, FIVE days a week will be at my disposal from August til December. It's as though my current life has been inverted.

Mmmm.... this is a tasty burger.

The first reviews of Revenge of the Sith came out last week and they’re GOOD. Not only that many of them hail this installment as the best Star Wars film since The Empire Strikes Back. This is comforting, as I haven’t been able to stop reading every last spoiler-free story I can find. I can’t help but be a little put off by my obvious excitement for a film I was dreading six months ago. It’s all good though, everybody needs a hobby, right?

A couple of points about the reviews:
1.The otherworldly forces that finagled their way into the screenings confirm that not only is Anakin’s turn to the dark side believable, it’s perfectly understandable from a human perspective.
2. The total number of complaints about lackluster special effects total at an astounding zero. Comforting since I found General Grievous pretty ridiculous looking on the cartoon.
3. The acting is much better (people are raving about Ian McDiarmid), but Lucas still hasn’t wrapped his head around the concept of believable dialogue. Even so, the actors’ performances give the movie the emotional weight it needs.
4. No mention of Jar Jar. Sweet.
5. Weren’t the first four good enough?

I mentioned before that I’ve been dieting. Well, I’ve all but fallen off the wagon (or is it jumped on the wagon?). Either way, things have come to a stalemate. I’ve been hovering around 205-210 pounds for a few months now and I’m not budging. Sigh.

BTW, this image is hilarious:

I’m walking across the stage!

Well, seeing as today is even slower than yesterday, I’ve decided to grace you with yet another entry in my blog. O Blessed Providence! Unfortunately, nothing noteworthy has occurred in my life in the last 24 hours (or the last month), so I thought I’d share with you my thoughts on some movies and games I’ve seen and played recently.

Requiem for a Dream has found its way into my top 10 favorite movies of all time. Darren Aronofsky’s dark tale of four people’s descent into darkness only gets better every time I watch it. The many camera tricks at first seemed gimmicky and annoying, but now I find them inspired and riveting. Ellen Burstyn and Jennifer Connelly completely steal the show in this film, although the former gives the stand-out performance while the latter just drop-dead gorgeous. The young actress is no slouch either; by the end of the movie you just want to reach into the screen and give her a great big hug (among other things). Marlon Wayans puts in a good performance, forcing me to reduce my hatred for him from “complete and utter” to “mild”. But then I saw Scary Movie 2. And White Chicks.

Anchorman sucks. I love Will Ferrell and Steve Carell, but the movie is just weak. There’s no getting around it. The Ron Burgundy character works in theory (he certainly looked funny in the commercials), but the film fails to take advantage of the opportunities such a character should present. Christina Applegate functions as nothing but another pretty face (I think that’s all she’s ever been).

The Final Fantasy Tactics series may be the most satisfying, engaging experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of… er, experiencing. The principle problem with the battle system of most RPGs is that the intelligence requirement is pretty minimal. It’s obvious when a character needs healing, enemy weaknesses are mostly guesswork, and if you can’t win, it usually has more to do with leveling up your party than outsmarting your opponents. Tactics players can win by micro-managing each character’s abilities and carefully working to cripple their enemies. This is deeper than acquiring one item or technique (*cough*goldchocobo*cough*), as I usually teach certain party members specific skills to win a battle.

I doubt anyone read all that. Well, work sucked that bad today.

YOU'RE A DOG! YOU DON'T HAVE A SOUL!

Another slow day at work. Ugh, I hate days like this. I have absolutely nothing to do and my boss is being slow about assigning me some work. Internships can be great learning experiences, but only if you have stuff to do.

Let’s get philosophical for a second. Various studies have shown that rich people rate their level of happiness lower than poor people. Furthermore, catching back up with past lottery winners paints a dim picture of life after a sudden flood of wealth. The money becomes a creature in and of itself. When friends and family members constantly hit you up for money, there’s only so many times you can say “Yes”. Which leads (finally) to my question: if you somehow suddenly became rich, would you keep it a secret (assuming that was possible) or would you just immediately split the wealth with everyone?

I for one would keep it secret and would only reveal it to help out a relative who might be sick. I can think of several relatives who I wouldn’t trust with $20, much less $20,000. Secrecy would also avoid the deluge of fair-weather friends and distant cousins hitting me up for cash. Don’t get me wrong; I value my family and friends as much as the next guy, but a large amount of money will bring out the worst in anybody.