Sunday, February 28, 2010

Sunday nights

So, I'm going to keep this one short, because my blogs just always end up to be pages and pages. It is just so hard because when I'm talking about something I love, I have to say lots and lots about it. But I'm not going to do that right now, just an update on my Sunday.

Yoga- I'm not 100% sure about this class. It feels good sometimes, and I feel so relaxed after. I get my best sleep on Sunday nights, no easy feat here at IC. But the teacher is kind of weird, like I don't know, I'm just not inspired. I'm happy though, because that along with my Pilates and working out almost every day are really making a difference. I feel healthier, and my body isn't as sore when I do things like Pilates (which is really tough, not gonna lie). I think my abs are getting stronger and more defined. Bonus!!!! I'm so proud of all of us for keeping up the workout routines (for the most part). We're doing great!!!

Best thing of the day-Firefly. Sarah is introducing it to me because I will be introducing her to Final Fantasy (and Alysia loves it too. So since they both love it, it must be awesome). And it has Nathan Fillion in it, so I'm sold. It was pretty awesome, and I can't wait to watch more. It's nice to have something to look forward to watching, because usually in my free time all I do is play solitaire, which gets pretty mundane after over 1200 games...

So yeah, that's about it. I'm just gonna eat some Mac and Cheese (Gromit! haha) and study a bit, read a bit then turn in. 10 class days left til break!!!!!

Currently listening to: John Cudia & Jennifer Hope Wills- The Phantom of the Opera

Procrastination- Sorry it is a long one again, Liz...

So yeah, I should be doing my homework right about now. I mean, I'm done with most of it, but I really need to keep up with studying verb tenses and vocab in Italian, cause it is really easy to fall behind. And Italian is the ONE class I WILL NOT slack in. So basically that means I have to study that and stats, the class that is going to mess up my 4.0 most likely (but I decided last night that it didn't matter- grades aren't everything) and do some stupid highlighting stuff for International about Toyota and Hyundai. Yes, we've been talking about cars for the past like 4 classes. So. Boring.

So instead I thought I would update my Blog. Again. I'm still trying to think of a better name for it, but I can't come up with anything wonderful from either Phantom or Final Fantasy. The former because there are so many good lines that either don't apply or I just can't think of them (I think this one that I have is a bit too long... Though I like it...) And the latter because I a.) Don't want to spoil anything for my friends who will be playing, b.) Don't want to confuse the people who haven't and probably won't play and c.) Again, there are soo many epic things I could put in here that probably wouldn't make sense or apply to a blog. So yeah, I guess it's staying like that for a while.

I think my plan is working. I've been listening to my Final Fantasy music nonstop, and although Phantom is perpetually on my mind, I'm not only listening to that for hours on end, nor am I watching endless videos of it. I'm only watching my favorite Final Fantasy cutscenes now, since that seems to be my current kick.

In my love and adoration of Final Fantasies VII, VIII, and X I seem to have forgotten to mention IX and XII. We won't be playing either (nor VII, I just can't handle the graphics anymore) because we don't have the time to play either. We have to beat VIII by the end of the semester, and hopefully X and maybe kingdom hearts by the end of next fall semester before London. Perhaps i can bring KH2 over for us to play, I don't know (I may end up buying my own PS2 after all, but for now I can just borrow Andrea's). And XII took Cesca and I AGES to complete, it is just a longer and denser game, and it was good, just not the best. Though on that note, I think it won't be that hard to beat VIII by the end, because Sarah and Alysia can advance the plot, and I can do the mundane side quests that seem pointless (like ultimate weapons, hidden summons and items, etc) but they will help us DOMINATE in the end. I can do those in the off hours when someone is busy and we can't go any farther. It's gonna be sweet.

Anyway, we're starting out with VIII because it is my favorite, though X is a reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaally close second, and also because it is for the original playstation, and as such, the graphics (while good for their time) aren't up to par with any games for PS2, so if we played X first, I don't think they'd be able to handle the inferior graphics and that's a shame because the game is soooooo good. You can see the difference between the graphics in the opening FMVs of both, though I like VIII's better, both are equally confusing until you play the game!

Final Fantasy X


And Final Fantasy VIII




I think that VIII's is actually better, even though it is more ambiguous. Neither one actually tells you much about the game, although VIII's integrates into the story whereas X's is just the beginning part of it. And the music is more smooth in VIII's I think, I don't know, I like it better. But both games have some AMAZING music. Like, gorgeously wonderful music. I can't legitamately compare the endings, because the stories and such are so different it's like apples and oranges (though, in my defense, I don't actually eat apples and oranges, so neither makes a difference to me...) And they can't either cause I'm the only one that plays, so we'll just have to see!

So yeah, watch and enjoy. If you're Alysia and Sarah, you'll be enjoying the full awesomeness of both of these games in mere weeks time, and if you aren't playing with us, well, those won't make much sense, but they're still cool videos. I'm actually really happy to be introducing more people to the games, and I'm glad I'll be able to explain some of the more confusing plot points along the way, cause the Japanese make some complicated plots that can take a long time to understand. I've been playing these for over 10 years, so I'm pretty well versed in their storylines. I'M SO EXCITED!!!


Currently listening to: "Suteki da Ne" ("Isn't it wonderful?") from FFX. I recommend waiting to hear the song til we play the game, cause if you look it up on youtube, there's major spoilers and that's no fun. PLEASE don't spoil the games for yourselves, it is soooo much more meaningful when you find things out along with the characters and live their journey with them, I PROMISE it is worth the wait. I'm trusting you guys!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Italiano no è facile

I'm too lazy to find out how to type the accents onto the computer, although I could just find an Italian site and copy and paste... never mind, I found the codes, although I doubt I'll be able to remember them...

Anyway, I'm updating this rather frequently and I know that's odd but I'm bored and just finished most of my homework... I'm sure I won't do this that often when I get busy, but right now I like the venting thing. It seems we won't be watching Hamlet today, and my ride to the Relay for Life hasn't contacted me, so I might have to text her in a few... I just get nervous talking to people I don't know that well, but she seems really nice and sweet. So...

Alright, back to the Italian. I started learning Italian by myself seriously in my senior year of high school, and now plan on having it as my minor. I have no idea why I love Italy and Italian so much, but hey,most dreams are kind of random and unexplainable right? I bought the Rosetta Stone for it using my hard earned BK money maybe a year ago and I'm about halfway through the program. I could be done, but I'm too nervous doing it when my roommates or family are around cause its kind of weird to be talking to the computer saying things like "Il bambino corre. Le bambine corrono" while people are in the same room. For the record, that means the boy runs, the girls run. Making things plural in Italian takes a lot of memorization as well, but I won't go into that- it just is way harder than adding an s...

Anyway, I'm posting this because I was just doing my homework in Italian, and it is starting to get REALLY complex. Like they have a different verb form for EVERYTHING. Past, repeated past, future, conditional (I would like... I could...) present progressive (I am doing...) past progressive (I was doing...) and they're not that hard, except the newest one I'm learning just doesn't seem to fit in.

We are learning the conditional, and I'm cursing the snow, because it always makes sense when she teaches us in class. Granted, I know part of the form (the io/I) because I learned it from watching Disney movies and listening to phantom in Italian. Basically, its the same as the future tense with different endings, but these endings don't seem to fit. Italian usually flows so nice and beautifully, but for some reason, these don't sound like it, and are really going to annoy me.

For example, to say I would like something, you say Vorrei qualcosa (literally I would like something haha) but to say you want something its Vorresti qualcosa, he/she is Vorrebbe, and that just sounds weird. And the loro (they) form is Vorrebbero. And it just doesn't sound like la bella lingua to me.

I may have to spend some time practicing with Professoressa Cozzarelli before our next test, cause it just isn't sticking... I mean, I love Italian so I'm totally committed to learning it, I'm just finding it un po' dificile at the moment.

Maybe it is because we've had about 5 weeks of classes with no breaks (unless you count the ONE delayed day a break). I really want break to come. Cause that means our Final Fantasy Adventure will begin!

On that note, I usually on my old blog used to like to post what I was listening to. Usually in my life this would be Phantom, but on this particular day I am so excited to be playing soon that I am listening to my mixed list of Final Fantasy music, which is seriously some of the best music I have heard. A few minutes ago it was a piano song from FFX, but now its epic music from VIII. I. Am. So. Pumped.

Seriously, Spring Break can't come soon enough. Especially since stupid International Trade will be over with...

Currently listening to: Final Fantasy Mix: The Landing (Before that was To Zanarkand)

Meh

I'm slightly bored as I sit here this fine, snowy Saturday morning. I know it is going to be a good day- breakfast with my friends and Hamlet with David Tennant. What could be better? I'm nervous about going to Relay for Life with the Peer Advisors, because I'm not sure how to get to know them, as they're mostly upperclassmen and I'm a lowly freshman... Sort of. My whole credit thing always confuses me. And I'm made I forgot to mention in my interview how I had a lot of credits and can help those who have the same problem. Shit. Gosh I hope I get that job... I love BK but I don't think I can take 4 months of working there for 30+ hours a week.

Besides BK and maybe Orientation, the only other 2 big things I have planned for the summer are the Ren Fest in Sterling (which I still need to complete my costume for, if I don't feel like going as a pirate again) and GOING TO SEE PHANTOM!!! The Cleveland stop is like the 3rd or 4th to last of the tour ending in November =(, which means I HAVE to be there. That's the closest it will ever be to me. So yeah, me, Cesca, Ronnie and Lauren (and maybe Ronnie's sister Katrina) will be heading there in July because they all have to see it live (Cesca has, but 7 years ago.

On a related note, the NYC trip for honors is next week and I can tell it is going to be awesome- first, because we are going to see the Tim Burton exhibit at MOMA, and my love of Tim Burton, especially The Nightmare Before Christmas, is well documented. Then, at night, we are going to see La Boheme, the basis for Rent, another one of my favorite musicals. Extra points because it is in Italian. Maybe I can get a bonus from my Italian professor? haha

What I'm most excited about though, is the free time. Sarah and I are going to walk to the Majestic Theater (barring any major interruptions or disturbances) so I can try and meet John Cudia again. Seriously, I was a giddy mess last time and didn't articulate how much I love the show and how awesome he is, so I want to try again. This time, I'll try not to be so starstruck. I'm a bit sad I can't see the show again, but in a way it is good, since I need to be saving my money for London (and then I can see it on the West End!!!)

Also, last night was really awesome but ended badly. We watched Mulan, which I love, then I showed them Battle Royale- its a great albeit gruesome movie about testing the bonds of friendship and such. I recommend it- its a Japanese film not commercially available in the US, but its on youtube and I have a copy...

Then we skyped Casey, who I miss a lot, and then I was showing my friends the most memorable scene in the Final Fantasy Series- Aerith's death (FFVII). Cause if you're gonna game with me, you have to see that scene. EVERYONE who plays FF KNOWS that scene. Unfortunately, as soon as it started, I felt ungodly hot and feverish, plus weak and nauseous. I have no idea why, so I had to leave the room. I felt really bad, but I was shaky and weak the rest of the night and ended up just going to bed soon after. I cannot wait to play VIII, though, seriously, it is so good. And I have played it enough that we can't really eff it up, since I know how to do most of the stuff. I REALLY want to finish by the end of the semester, so we have about 7 weeks (we begin after break). I'm confident we can do it, even if it means me doing all the mundane yet necessary side quests in the wee hours of the morning. Or playing less solitaire. When I have nothing to do, that's what I do... I can make it more productive!!!!

So yeah, I'm trying to lessen my Phantom fanaticism right now, cause I've been listening to it nonstop for a couple of months. It's time to give some of my other obsessions a chance to shine, especially given that the stupid sequel is upsetting me a lot and I need to get my mind off of that...

So yeah, I woke up early and was bored (though I'm feeling MUCH better) so this is what you get. Bored rantings of a video game/phantom obsessed chocoholic. Seriously, I go through AT LEAST a pound of m&m minis a month, plus more hershey's chocolate. I might have a slight addiction...

Friday, February 26, 2010

Final Fantasy VIII

Well, this is the opening FMV for my favorite video game, although it doesn't make a ton of sense until you complete the game, then it makes COMPLETE sense... So ya'll should play the game with me and you'll see why- it would be too hard for me to explain the plot and make it make sense.

And I don't know why I said ya'll... I'm from Western New York (which is why the snow doesn't bug or surprise me) and I'm so close to Canada I might as well be saying eh? at the end of my sentences. Anyway, here's the link to opening cinematic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd5KLb7RQjE


Don't watch any of the other scenes or read the comments. They'll probably spoil things and that's not cool.

God I love this game... It even has pretty good graphics for being old school playstation (it came out in like 1998)

Well, I felt like doing this

I used to do this a lot when I was in high school on greatestjournal and such, but that was a bad phase of my life and was just a place for me to whine. I'm not going to do that here. I am just going to write whatever, though it is kind of weird cause I have a journal that my favorite English teacher sent me (his name was Mr. Spero- LOVE YOU SPER!!!) so this seems a little redundant, but that one is just for me, and this one is for everyone. That cares. Which is probably like 2 people. That and Andrea, Alysia and Liz have them, so I thought I might as well join in. I have a lot of free time on my hands and lots of thoughts, so why not?

Anywho I had my interview for Orientation Leader today. I think it went well, but we'll have to see. I'll know by the end of March, and considering February is almost at an end, well, that's pretty darn close.

Epic snowball fight today. Nothing else to really say about that, because you can't get much better than epic.

Anyone who knows me (which you must in some way, I'm assuming that's why you're reading this) knows how OBSESSED I am with The Phantom of the Opera. I've been ranting away for months about how stupid the sequel is, so if you're curious about those, they're on my youtube account. My Username is animelover13579 (I made it when I was an anime geek ok? Though I do like a good anime now and then) so check them out! I think they're awesome, if I do say so myself.

This is the news that I'm most excited for: Sarah and I are going to play Final Fantasy VIII. I am SO excited. It's an old Playstation game, for those that don't know, because in my youth I was a pretty avid gamer, and RPGs (role playing games) were my favorite. Final Fantasy games in particular, and of those, especially VII, VIII and X (although X is for PS2 and obviously has better graphics and actually has voiceovers, the story of VIII is so awesome). So anyway, since Sarah is such a sci-fi fantasy geek and we like pretty much the same everything, I figured these games are something she has to play. And then we can play Kingdom Hearts!!! Gah, I'm so excited, I've been watching cutscenes for the past week. What's awesome is that the Playstation 3 is out now, making the playstation 2 very readily available at cheap prices!!! We split the cost, I have the game and an old playstation memory card plus the strategy guide and BAM! We got ourselves a game! Seriously, I am beyond excited for this. My other friends are welcome to join, but I don't know if video games, especially long, complicated and complex video games are really their thing, which is why I don't mention it that often. It makes me seem like a dork, haha.

That's about it for today. Nothing special this weekend, unless you consider David Tennant in Hamlet special (which I do) I'm not really doing much. Just some Italian and studying for stats, and another godforsaken assignment from International, the worst class on the face of the earth...