Black Snow

Looking back, a snowfall of any sort was a big deal when I was a kid. It arrived, often unexpectedly, then, just as quickly, it would be gone. For that short period, however, everything was beautiful and seemed perfect. Maybe it was the rarity of it or maybe it was the fleeting nature, but it was a special event. Maybe it was seeing it through the eyes of child, unfettered by the worries and responsibilities of an adult life.



Things seem so different now. Having lived through winters where the ground practically disappears for weeks or months at a time and the annual snowfall is likely greater than the combined snowfall of any place I lived for the first 20 or so years of my life, I no longer look at snow with wonder, but with a contempt bred of familiarity. When the first snow begins to fall, it is still beautiful, but the reality of life quickly sets in and before long, what was once pure and pristine is ugly and dirty from wheels and plows. Whatever snow life can't push out of its way gets driven over and ground down. The once white snow is a dingy gray-black that collects on the undersides of cars and on the soles of shoes. Its stubborn refusal to melt allows us to see only a tarnished image of what snow has become rather than what it truly was. The excitement of snow has worn off and everyone begins to long for Spring. But still it stays.



In the end, the rains come and melt the snow and wash it all away. And all that is left is a memory. A memory of that first moment when the snow falls and everything is beautiful and perfect again.

I (did not) Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet

Today's earthquake in southern Illinois was felt in various parts of the country including here in southern Michigan, but at 5:30 in the morning, I didn't notice a thing. We are about 250 miles from the epicenter, but you'd never know this by watching our local newscasts. This was a huge story on our news today, and rather than just acknowledge that it happened and that a few people might have felt something small, we had to discuss the impact it had on people here. They interviewed probably a half dozen people about their experiences which included things like "the papers on the fridge flapping ever so slightly." If nothing else, it reminded me of why I can't stand watching local news.

Who Says Video Games Aren't Educational?

I've been a fan of video games for almost as long as I can remember. I can remember playing games way back on our Atari 2600 and our very first computer (a Texas Instruments model which used cartridges rather than disks). I still play, and as games have moved online I have followed right along. Over the years, there are a few things that I have learned...gaming truisms you might say. It may not be everything I need to know in life, but I have learned a lot from video games.

• Cheat codes are forever: Once you get one of these things ingrained into your memory, it stays there long after you have stopped playing the game. (Who doesn't still know up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A? Or for those of you slightly younger: IDKFA?)
  




• Using cheat codes does not make you better at the game, but it can make some games more fun.




• Playing sports video games does not make you qualified to be a coach.




• Playing a video game which contains violence has never made me become or want to become violent.





• Repeatedly losing at video games has.




• It's annoying when someone stands over your shoulder and tells you how you should play.




• That also means it's annoying when you do it to them, but you're going to do it anyway.




• When a game has a highly repetitive theme, creating fake lyrics will not help get it out of your head.




• Point and click interfaces are much simpler than the early text command interfaces in which trying to figure out what to call that thing on the ground that you are trying to pick up usually ended up with an exchange that went something like this: "Get stick." "You cannot get the stick." "Get club." "You can't do that, at least not now." "Look ground." "It's covered in grass." "Get thing." "I don't see a thing." "Look on ground." "There is a staff on the ground." "Get staff." "You pick up the staff. You now have a staff." Great, now what am I supposed to do with it? "Look staff..."




• However, point and click interfaces have eliminated having certain things happen when you get desperate or bored and start trying commands that are obviously not what you are supposed to do, for example: (from the King's Quest series) "Kill (I think this may also work with "hit") monk" "Anyone who would kill a man of the cloth doesn't deserve to play this game. Therefore, we shall end it." *Player dies*




• The guy in your online game that calls you a "noob" is likely under the age of 15, or over the age of 30, living at home and relatively friendless.




• Actors in video games tend to overdo it a little bit.




• Combining that with Christopher Walken's innate over the top style yields great comedy.




• Video games do not make good movies.




• Typically, movies do not make good video games either.




• Video games based on children's movies tend to be impossible for anyone whose age is recorded in double digits.

• However, it is apparently possible to make a funny web series based on gaming.




• The most mundane of objects is probably vital to your completion of that quest. (A red iris flower? Why would I need that?)




• Trying to read after hours of Super Mario Brothers only leads to an imaginary Mario running along the tops of letters and jumping over the gaps between words.




• When in doubt, look online. Someone has probably already faced the problem you are having and has posted the solution somewhere.




• Some games have an eternal shelf life. Not only do people of my generation still remember minutiae about Super Mario Brothers and Oregon Trail, but many of us still go back and play versions of those games even now.




• Some of the most enjoyable games I have ever played were shareware. (One of my favorites was Chopper Commando, a game written by a 15 year old that even included wonderful misspellings like "helicopter destoryed.")




• The princess is most likely in another castle.




• And always remember when the game tells you "Warrior needs food, badly," you'd better listen.

I can't be the only one who thinks like this. At least, I hope not.

LOL-actica?

Just a brief post to get you ready for tomorrow night at 10:00 P.M.

Sometimes when you mix two different types of nerdyness you come up with unexpected (and seemingly contradictory) results.