Keeping my quota

It seems that my "bare minimum" in blog updates per month so far has been two posts - I had eight the first month, then two in March, two in April, and now here it is May, and this is my first time updating this month. Guess I'll have to crank out another one before June. I thought my updating speed would pick up as soon as the semester ended, but this is honestly the first time since finals that I've really felt like it. We'll see, though. Maybe I'll even put out two more updates before the end of this month. Oho.

Anyway, much has happened since my last update in mid-April. Most obviously, as I mentioned, the semester at WCCC ended a couple of weeks ago, and I managed to get through finals alive. Augusta and I studied together for the biology final, so we both did really well on that. The psychology final was a take-home multiple choice exam (a hundred questions in all) that we got a week before the due date, so that was extremely easy - a little tedious, perhaps, but definitely not something that would be easy to screw up on. My computer applications final was in basically the same format as the other two exams in that class, except that it combined the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access in one big project. Not hard. And I suppose you could consider the final for my art history PowerPack class to be part of regular finals - that one was actually pretty challenging, but I got through okay. Overall, two A's and two B's. Very pleasing.

Augusta did really well too - she got three A's and one B. One instance where I do love being able to say "I told you so." She always stresses out and worries so much about her college work and her grades, but she always does awesomely in the end. Of course, she'll attribute her success TO the stress, claiming that it spurred her to work harder, rather than seeing her success as proof that she doesn't NEED to stress about doing well. Silly girl. Her GPA is higher than mine - 3.8 versus 3.5 - and I think that I do really well, so frankly I don't think she has any business worrying about the things she worries about when she always does so great anyway. Ah well. She'll have to recognize her own brains at some point, I figure.

So finals ended, and then I spent a week or two just hanging out. We got Mario Kart Wii, and in a bizarre twist, we've finally found a video game that the entire family can play together - yes, even Mom plays Mario Kart. Usually as Bowser. Go figure! So the four of us in my family spend a few nights each week racing one another - Mom and Dad have actually improved quite a bit, moving from 11th and 12th place on average to 3rd or 4th behind David and me, sometimes even beating us. I spent about a week refining my racing technique down to a fine point in order to earn star ranks and beat staff ghosts, finally unlocking all of the playable characters.

I also finally gave Metroid Prime 3 some quality time, and actually beat that game completely two days ago. I can't decide if Corruption is easier than Echoes was, or if I'm just better at it - due in no small part to the gloriously intuitive and comfortable control scheme offered by the Wiimote and nunchuck setup. Either way, the game was an awesome experience overall - unlike with Echoes, I never felt stuck or lost for more than a few seconds, and I think that helped to make it a much better game, in the end. I was quite pleased when it didn't take me several months just to figure out how to DAMAGE the last boss in Corruption, à la the final fight against Dark Samus in Echoes - that one was just frustrating, and it sucked a lot of the potential fun and cool factor out of the battle. So yeah, bottom line; Corruption was put together a lot better than Echoes, and it was a lot more fun to play, so if Echoes frustrated the hell out of you (like it did most people) and you decided not to even bother with the sequel, let me tell you, it's safe! Don't miss out!

Eventually I'm going to play through Corruption again on the harder difficulty setting, but first I'm taking a retro nostalgia trip through Super Metroid. I downloaded it from the Wii Shop Channel to the Virtual Console a month or two ago, but I never really got to it until now. The game is just as fun and atmospheric as I remember it being, though. There was a little upset Friday night after I beat both Crocomire and Phantoon, obtained the grappling beam, the wave beam, and the x-ray scope, and then proceeded to die without saving. Nonetheless, I plan to get back to Super Metroid later today, and hopefully it won't take me too long to make it back to where I was before my little mishap.

I also picked up a copy of the PC version of Assassin's Creed after trying it out on Augusta's 360 when they rented it, and was pleasantly surprised to find a game that lived up to its hype. Few things are as fun as leap-stabbing an unsuspecting guard, slaughtering his comrades with my mad short sword skills, and then finishing off those still clinging to life as they writhe on the ground, all to "save a citizen." Look, citizen, I'm glad I helped you out and all, but honestly? I didn't really do it for you. I'm withholding a more thorough review until after I've actually beaten the game - I'm up to the last fight, but I've been putting it off for several weeks now. I just don't want it to end! Maybe I'll pair it with that mythical Sins of a Solar Empire one I mentioned last update.

Gaming aside, Augusta has finally deemed it warm enough to ride around on the ATV, so we've been doing that a lot lately, which is great fun - before now, I've only had the chance to drive it myself on rare occasion, but I can confidently say that it'll be happening a lot more from now on. I might even start driving it around on my own, just for sport. She also borrowed the first Indiana Jones movie from the library, and we spent an afternoon watching that in preparation for the new one that's going to be released soon. Our one-year anniversary is this coming Friday, as well, so I'm really looking forward to that. We've got it mostly planned out, and I think it's going to be a great day. Once that's over with, I'll no longer have an excuse to not be going back to my job at Shop Rite, so I'll probably be doing that sometime next week. Probably.

And finally, yesterday was my graduation. I've got my degree, and I am done with WCCC. It's kind of sad and happy at the same time, you know? Knowing I'll never be going back there, I mean. Although half my family (aunt, uncle, two cousins, and my only surviving grandparent) dropped out on me at the last second, and Maxine was unfortunately unable to hitch a ride, I was still really happy to see all the people who did make it - Augusta and Michael, of course, and Georgia, as well as Pilyon, Amanda, Aaron, Andrew, and the mythical Bob. The weather was gloriously cooperative, and it was a wonderful day, all in all - the ceremony went off without a hitch, and we all went to a massive lunch at a local Mediterranean restaurant afterwards before coming back to our house and just hanging out. Even got a good game of Halo in involving Mike, and I'm happy to see that his PC skills haven't rusted up on me - he's just as good a competitor as ever. Hell, I was happy just to see Mike at all - it seems like it's been forever since I've talked to him. Turns out he has e-mail, so hopefully he'll keep to his word and I'll be getting his address from him soon so we can keep in touch better. Augusta stayed for several hours after everybody else had left, so we cuddled and watched several episodes of the Japanese version of the Death Note anime (with English subtitles) together. What a perfect pair of lovestruck nerds we are.

Not only did I have a great day and get to see everybody, but to top it off, I actually got exactly what I wanted for my graduation present - a brand new, ultra-powerful gaming laptop! With Vista, no less. Looks like I'll be having to pick up a copy of Halo 2 for the PC, finally. Argon MK III is in the mail on its way as I type, and I can't wait to see it. Or touch it. Or use it. Parents, if you're reading this, I am oh-so-grateful. Georgia, Liz, Mike, and Ed also got me a MASSIVE amount of non-perishable food, a water filter, and Mike's old mini-fridge to keep me sustained at Rowan, so that should be great. With every sip of clean water and every spoonful of ramen, I'll be thinking of them, heh.

So that should pretty much bring you up to speed on what's been going on since last update. Right now, I need breakfast something fierce. I'll be back soon!