November 2013 Entry

November has come and gone. For some reason it felt like a long month.

- A friend and I drove to Dallas on the 15th to try out a Korean spa called King Spa. We actually took her dog with us who was very well behaved in the car. After a smooth 4 hour drive, we dropped the dog off at a dog shelter before heading to the spa a few minutes away.

Shoes off and into the locker room to get nude for the bath/shower/hot tub area (mandatory in the bathing area). I remember the talks about going to this place, the big concern was the nudity. It was a couple minutes into the locker room before I saw someone nude and I was over it. It's just like any men's locker room pretty much. Yay, public nudity. Showered up and then soaked in the hot tub for quite a while. It was tough to leave the hot tub since it was so relaxing.

Met up with my friend in the main area. The main area had plenty of seats, couches, and recliners to relax in. You could watch TV (I recall seeing Barefoot Friends and Heirs playing), jack into their internet spots, eat in the food court area, and partake in the many different saunas. We went through all the saunas throughout the day (except one that was out of service). I'll just list the order we/I did things as best as I can remember it.

Yellow-Soil Crystal Room (nothing special, but a good starter)

Infrared Room (even less special, people were snoring in there)

Ice Room (it's like a freezer you see at a convenience store)

Pyramid Room (warm, ceiling goes up to a pyramid point)

Salt Room (warmer)

There was 1 other sauna that I can't find the name of (progressively warmer)

Bul Ga Ma Room (even hotter)

Oxygen Room (the air really was good in there)

Base Rock Room (very warm where you can lie down on the heated bricked areas)

Pine Salt Room (very simple and warmer than the Base Rock Room)

Fire Sudatorium (extremely hot)

I did get a scrub while I was there before going to those last three saunas (I think). The scrub was done in the shower area. Basically I had my skin (all of it) scrubbed by a scrubber using a certain type of glove. It really did get the dead skin cells off as I could feel them coming off. I even saw them laying in a few clumps on the area I was laying on. Took a bit for me to relax because...well, I was nude having a dude scrub me. I just started singing songs in my head while relaxing. Overall it was very good.

After that hour, I met up with my friend who was relaxing in the recliner area. I scheduled a Swedish Massage and then I went to eat since she already did. I just got spicy ramyun, nothing special (next time I'll get something different).

We tried the 3 hot saunas. We did make friends with a couple in a previous sauna and re-met them in the Pine Salt Room. We asked about the super hot room and we were told "hold your breath before you go in because it will suck the breath out of you." They were not kidding. We stayed in there for less than 10 seconds...twice, ha The first time I think we were just in shock. She ran out right away and I walked all the way in and back out seconds later. Crazy hot. We decided to try it again and make one lap around the tiny hot room. We did that, but my goodness...that was extremely hot. Anyone that visits the spa needs to just experience that at least once. I made a pit stop at the Ice Room to run a few laps and cool down.

We did check out the movie room. Different times were scheduled for different movies. We went in when they were showing Super 8. By the way, there is a kid room for parents to drop off their kids. Not much in there. We then split as my friend went to do her scrub. Minutes later I went for my Swedish Massage. Very relaxing hour. I did get a voucher for a free massage. It was for a few weeks after and I knew I wouldn't be going that soon again (mailed the voucher for a friend to use that was planning on going).

I seemed to be the only person wearing my key around my ankle, ha.

One final shower and hot tub session for me before changing back to civilian clothes and waiting for my friend. We had been there from noon to 7PM and it was incredible. Definitely going again. I recommend it to anyone that needs to get away from everything and just relax.

http://kingspa.com/index.php

- The following weekend, that same friend and I participated in the Via Colori Scavenger Hunt. The Via Colori event was where artists were drawing great works of art in chalk along the sectioned off streets. The weather had unfortunately brought on a late start and even causing some artists not to show up the first day.

We took a look at the scavenger hunt card and just kept a few things in mind while making our first trip around the area. I think when we discovered our first item (a granola bar booth), we got excited and started to specifically hunt things down. I suggested we also take photos of everything we found just for memories. We ran into another group of friends that were there and they didn't do that well. They had 2 items while we had 7-9 by that time.

After a few more round within 3-4 hours, we decided to call it a day after finding a third of the scavenger hunt items. Ended up meeting another friend after a stop at the grocery store, had dinner at La Olla (which ended with a great piece of flan), a trip to Walmart, and then chilling.

Day 2 of the Via Colori event included 2 more friends. We first met up, ate at Brunch Cafe, and then headed out to the streets of Via Colori. More of the artists had made it and more of the art work was nearing completion. We went around once for the other 2 to see what was going on before looking for scavenger hunt items. Our list was nearing completion after a few hours, but we unfortunately could not find 3 of the things on the list. We still turned it in anyways. A lot of stuff happened and a lot of the art was amazing. My friend took a lot of photos of the street art. You can see some of them via the following link.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.759828827376664.1073741835.727155707310643&type=1

We ended the event eating Pho and then splitting after retrieving our cars. I ended the day watching Survivor Series.

- A coworker received a job elsewhere for much higher pay and to do what he likes, editing videos. I actually let him have my toy championship title for his last week and even brought my Rated R title on his last day.

 He also arranged to have drinks with some of the guys after work. I joined up with them at the Flying Saucer. I had myself a Big Sky Moose Drool. I remember asking a couple coworkers how they proposed to their now wives and those were good stories. And as we were all leaving one by one, we were wishing our former coworker well in his new job and that he deserves it. Congratulations, Brandon.

- I did get a lot of gaming in this month. One game that's not on this list of reviews is Senran Kagura Burst. I didn't beat it because it came out right before Mario and Zelda did and those 2 got priority. But I'll properly review that game when I do finally beat it and make mention of watching the anime series beforehand.

And I also downloaded and beat Contra III: The Alien Wars. It was re-released  on the Wii U's Virtual Console so I got it at the discounted price. By the way, the ability to link and save Miiverse photos is gone now so I won't be posting those anymore unfortunately.

The following are the reviews of the games I beat in November. Click on the links to read the more detailed reviews.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destines (3DS) - Review

I very much liked this game. It just felt great jumping back into the crazy world of Ace Attorney. The DLC was good too.

Sonic Lost World (Wii U) - Review

Did...not...like...this...game...at...all. Waste of money. Don't waste yours.

Wii Fit U (Wii U) - Review

Kind of odd to review since it's a fitness program/game. But I am using this as my main means of exercise. A month later, I feel better. Slowly losing a few pounds (yes, I've gained weight) and I'm slowly regaining flexibility and mobility in my back thanks to the yoga exercises.

Super Mario 3D World (Wii U) - Review

Such an incredible and fun experience. There is so much to like about this game. If you have a Wii U, you need this game.

- And in honor of the Korean girl group SES celebrating their 16th year, one of my favorite songs of theirs.

- November was pretty good. 2013 is almost over. Kind of crazy. Let's have it end on a nice note.

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care. DFTBA.

October 2013 Entry

October will mainly be about 2 things. While other things happened like a baby's birthday and a few games I played (I beat Wind Waker HD), the following 2 things were the most important.

 

- Two friends finally got married to each other on the 19th. I met them both at UH and they've been together for at least 10 years. It was great to see them finally get married. The ceremony was nice and short. There was actually a 4 hour gap in between that and the reception. So I just went home to relax.

I did go to the reception hall a couple hours early to set up video cameras. It was there that I met the bride's aunt who was coordinating the reception and established a good communication line. It didn't take that long for me to finish setting up the video cameras, but it was a good thing I was there early. The bride's aunt needed extra help outside of all the help that was already there so she asked me to assist her. I ended up being a liaison between her and the newly weds and became an usher helping another attendant showing people where they were to be seated. That was draining, but I was glad to help out and be a bigger part of this event.

Once everyone was seated and the wedding party made their entrances, I then sat with friends even though I wasn't assigned to that table. Good food, good talks, good dancing, good fun. I actually was asked to provide the speech for our table even though we voted between me and another guy at the table. But when they finally came to our table, the photographer (bride's uncle, coordinator's husband) gave me the mic while I was tying my shoe, ha. I still involved everyone else at the table anyways.

I also caught the garter...again. That makes 5. I'm going to stop catching them from now on.

As the reception was winding down, some of us made plans to continue the party. I was hesitant to go, but it was good to hang out with some new people and friends I had not seen in years. Trying to reconnect with a few of them.

I also volunteered to drive one of the groomsmen home since he lived closer to me than the best man. Unfortunately, the best man's car got towed and we had to search for it. I will say that that was the best towing line I've ever been a part of. At least 5 other people (some with friends) were there to get our cars and everyone was just complaining and then having fun making jokes and anything to just not feel horrible. It was great. We got the car back, split ways, I dropped the groomsman home, arrived home around 4AM, drank a lot of water, and went to bed around 5. I did wake up 3 hours later and was tired all day. Good thing I didn't have anything to do.

Congratulations to my friends for getting married.

- In last month's entry, I mentioned how I learned about my high school Japanese teacher, Yoshiko Brotherton, passing away last year. My emotions were all over the place ever since finding out about this and it was hard to control at times especially when I was alone. Me typing this out is for therapeutic reasons as well as to honor her.

I spent the last couple weeks of September trying to contact as many of her former students as possible. I told them about Sensei's passing and that I was going to arrange a date for us to visit her.

There was one week where I called the funeral home where she was buried at. I mainly called to figure out visiting hours, but I ended up asking other things. The woman on the other end was very consoling, which I imagine she gained lots of experience having to deal with many families over the years. I think she could tell in my voice that I was having a hard time talking at points. She enlightened me on the private ceremony that was held the year Sensei passed and even searched for her obituary for me. I had to call again the next day since I didn't receive it. The same woman answered and also answered a few more questions I had. The next day I spent emailing those I contacted with information on when and where we were going to visit Sensei as well as send them her obituary. It was a nice read and spoke very highly of her so I figured they needed to read it as well.

Throughout the month...I was just emotionally out of it. I'd go from happiest of times to depressed thoughts over and over again. As much as I could, I would just mask myself and just continue on as normal, but there were days I just couldn't. There was one day that I was crying on the way to work. There were many nights I couldn't sleep. Any time I wasn't doing anything, I almost immediately thought about Sensei.

I had to do a few things to help myself not get sad all the time and (to me) honor her in some small ways. I had to stop listening to Japanese music. I was okay for a while until I watched the latest Girls' Generation Japan tour. They sang 2 sad songs back to back and I couldn't help but cry and think of Sensei. I tried to avoid other Japanese related things if I could. I also wore black hair ties on my arms the whole time like how I've seen wrestlers wear black arm bands when a wrestler has passed. And I dedicated every 100th tweet to Sensei.

I did talk to a few friends about this just to vent and get some advice. Honestly, learning of Sensei's passing made me think a lot about my life...and how it's not what I wish would be. I pictured myself talking to Sensei and thinking of what I would be talking to her about my life. Most of it boiled down to things I've tried that didn't work out. While some have pointed out that I have done some great things, a lot have still ended in failure.

And with thinking about this, I chose to cut out a few things in my life. I left The Game Fanatics on the 13th. While it was great working with them, the end-game goal was no longer there (for me). I can recall previous posts this year asking for you the reader to stay tuned. I don't recall if I ever said what it was (although I've told people in person), but that's not happening anymore. Not only that, but it became increasingly stressful and I didn't feel the appreciation for all the hard work I put into it. Ever since leaving, I felt a big weight lifted off me. The door is open for me to return, but that's not in the foreseeable future at this moment.

There are other things I cut back on, but I'm in the process of trying to figure out what else I should do in terms of business and relationship. Sensei's passing has woken me up to the fact that I just change things for the better.

A few of us went to visit Sensei's grave on the 26th. She passed last year on the 23rd so this seemed like a proper time to visit her. Unfortunately a lot of her former students could not make it for multiple reasons. I have offered to go with those a separate time whenever they're able to. In the end, there were only 4 of us there. I also called one of her former students that is teaching in Korea and he gave a few kind words over the phone. Myself, I just stood there thinking. It really hit me seeing her name there. I almost broke down right there. Eventually we all started sharing stories and had a good time reminiscing over the great times we've had and the fact that we're all friends because of Sensei. And that's what I wanted to happen with more of us there. Most of us that became friends through her class are still friends today. That's over 15 years of being friends. It's amazing and it's all because of her. It was really good to visit her.

On the morning of October 29th, I had a dream where a friend (another former student of Sensei's) came to visit her. Although I ran into him at a parking garage and he was dressed oddly, not his usual style. I gave some greetings to him and was making fun of how he looked when Sensei came from a door and said hello to us. I told her why I was laughing and asked how to say "punch him" in Japanese. She and I ended up laughing and sitting on the ground. She then pulled me in for a hug and said "thank you for visiting me." I started to cry in that dream and I immediately woke up with tears streaming down my face. I took a nearby towel and cried into it for about a minute thanking Sensei for visiting me in my dreams.

I can go on and on about Sensei. I seriously could and I know I'm not saying everything here. She is without a doubt the best teacher I've ever had. I considered her another grandmother and actually planned to invite her to my wedding whenever that were to happen. She's an amazing teacher, a wonderful woman, and I'm sure a great wife and mother/grandmother. I thank her for teaching me, believing and encouraging me to do what I want to do, and for being the catalyst for some of the great friends I've ever made. Arigato, Sensei Brotherton.

- And that is it for October. One of the more emotional months I can remember having. I can say that my heart and my mind are more at rest after visiting Sensei's grave, but more so after that dream I had. While I still am in a wandering stage, I'm hoping for something to properly lead me in the direction I need to be going.

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care. DFTBA.

September 2013 Entry

Right off the bat, I just want to say that this September wasn't that great for many reasons. I won't divulge all the reasons why. Last year in general was a bad year, but September 2012 was better.

- Thank you to those that remembered. The number is getting smaller, but it is better than no one remembering. I did nothing to celebrate. I was asked to keep the day free, but then that person became busy...so I didn't bother doing anything. I did watch the Gyakuten Saiban live action movie though. I had been holding off on that for a good day to watch it.

- This does mark the first time in many years that I didn't film anything recreational for a month. I did film an episode of The Game Fanatics Show, but that's it. That episode had...issues, but I was able to mask the majority of it.

And while we're on the subject of The Game Fanatics, all the PAX Prime 2013 videos are up. I made 16 videos in 5 days worth of time. I haven't been told "thank you" for that. A short conversation with an older neighbor reinforced something I already knew; video is a thank-less job.

I'm attaching the playlist for all of PAX Prime 2013. Side note, the majority of the preview images for the PAX Prime videos are all with the interviewee doing some odd gesture or looking odd on purpose. But if you really want to make me feel good, then just watch the interviews with StarSlay3r (Ciji Thornton, pro gamer) and Miss Habit (Amie Lynn, cosplayer). Those were 2 interviews I set up and wrote questions for the TGF crew. Had I gone, I would have been the one asking the questions.

I'm currently thinking of how much longer I want to continue doing videos...in general.

- The only game I beat this month (09.29.13) was The Wonderful 101. I had been slacking on it and ended up devoting most of that weekend to beat it. I just wanted to have it finished before Wind Waker HD comes out. You can check out my thoughts on the game via the following link.

https://www.facebook.com/WingedVoX/posts/516275065127165

 

- Work has been okay. Although one day in particular made me want to leave. And by "leave" I mean "quit." It just involved an argument between a couple of coworkers and then zero appreciation from them when trying to solve a totally different problem they had. It was...horribly negative and reminded me of a big reason I left the first time.

- 2 separate days of the month I helped a friend move. I know I'm not the biggest or strongest, but I like doing physical activities like that. Plus considering how my health isn't that great, it felt good to be able to do this at least. It hurt afterwards, but at least I know I'm capable of doing something physical.

And I was able to find time to hang out with some friends who I had not seen in a long time. Bonding and catching up is always good.

- And in some odd set of coincidences, a lot of things involving Japan happened. Some of it was good like getting a couple items shipped from Japan arriving. People I knew and people I follow went to Japan for the Tokyo Game Show. I myself virtually walked around Japan via the Wii U street thing. My copy of the Girls' Generation Girls & Peace Japan 2nd Tour blu-ray (great concert) and Galaxy Supernova single arrived. But sadly...I found out that my Japanese language/culture teacher from high school had passed away. The last couple weeks of September was spent reaching out to former students to visit her grave in October. That...was a tough process...and that's all I will say on the matter now. I'll type up something in her honor next time. Sensei, you are missed. We will visit you soon.

- I honestly can't remember much else from September so that's all. Like I said in the beginning, this September wasn't that great. October...(as of typing this) hasn't been that great either so far...more sad than anything because of Sensei. I'll get a sense of closure when we visit her though.

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

 

Take care.

August 2013 Entry

I've said it in the last couple of entries, but things have been busy. August really felt like it just went by. Trying to recall it makes it seem like a lot happened, but in some aspects not much actually happened, at least that's how I see it.

- Anime August happened. I was very good at keeping this schedule going and only slipping up a couple of times especially in the beginning. I first watched the 2011 Thundercats anime. I really enjoyed it and was disappointed that they were cancelled especially since it was left open to continue. Highly recommend it especially if you were a fan of the original series.

I also watched Ano Natsu de Matteru (Waiting In The Summer). Nothing special. A highschool love story with summer fun and an alien. I don't really recommend it either way. It's not bad, but it's not horrible.

Last series was Black Rock Shooter. Definitely an odd one, but I liked it. The colors really popped. I recommend it if you don't mind watching a strange anime every-now-and-then.

During this month I bought the High School DxD blu-ray pack. That really was the series that kind of pushed me back into wanting to watch anime more often. It's definitely one you don't take seriously, but I really enjoyed it.

- Work at the part time job has been draining. The biggest project I actually did this month involved me rearranging the supply closet. That thing was very disorganized the first time I worked there and probably before I came on. I was offered over time and a time frame of 2 weeks to complete it. I remember thinking about it for less than a minute after I was told that and told them it would be done by the end of the week.

I do have a knack for organizing things. While my original game didn't carry on as planned, it worked out better in the end. I wish I had a before picture to show. Just imagine this small space crammed with miscellaneous junk from top to bottom without the shelves.

Ever since organizing the closet, I've just been doing miscellaneous stuff that needs to be done. Other than that, I've been customizing my office more. I have screen shots from games (posted on Miiverse) all over the room.

- A friend of mine opened up a macaron shop this month. I'm not big on macarons myself (I'll eat them, but they're not my go-to pastry), but I highly urge anyone that is to go visit the store. I've gone there a few times to just see how she's doing and to make sure she's alright. So if you're in the Houston area, get your macaron fix at Bite Macaron.

- I played a lot of games in August. Didn't realize it until I started typing this out. Definitely have been playing more games than I used to a few years ago. I'm surprised I beat 2 RPGs in one month. Plus I've been getting more downloadable titles than ever. Some 3DS or Wii U prepaid cards would make for great presents (hint).

EarthBound (Wii U VC) - 08.10.13

I completely understand why so many people love this game and why it's a cult classic. I enjoyed it a lot.

Ducktales Remasterd (Wii U) - 08.13.13

My childhood was super happy playing this game. It was actually tougher than normal, but that's okay. I felt like I was watching/playing a lost episode of the cartoon.

Runner2 (Good Friends DLC) (Wii U) - 08.17.13

I played through the game one more time on the toughest difficulty switching between the DLC characters. My favorites to use were Spelunky Guy and Raz from Psychonauts. Invisible Commander Video was extremely tough to use and I used him throughout the whole final area.

(no picture)

Street Fighter II (Wii U VC) - 08.22.13 (Ryu)

I still remember the computer AI patterns after all these years. Classic.

Street Fighter II Turbo (Wii U VC) - 08.23.13 (M. Bison)

I actually forgot that the Capcom code removes all special moves from the main game. So I beat it with Bison without any special moves. I still haven't redownloaded it to remove the code. There's no other way to do it.

Super Street Fighter II (Wii U VC) - 08.24.13 (Cammy)

After thinking about it, I think I played Super the least of the SFII titles on the SNES. Not that it was bad. I probably just had more time to invest in the other two.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS) - 08.29.13

Charming the whole way. I will say that Dream Team is my least favorite of the Mario & Luigi series.

The Legend of Zelda (Wii U VC) - 08.31.13

Beat it in one 4 hour sitting by memory. Probably my best run I've ever done. Pretty proud of that.

- The Game Fanatics has had a steady stream of videos released in August, but the majority weren't even filmed during that month. We actually had not filmed anything for a little over a month. That was a long hiatus.

And some of the TGF crew just got back from PAX Prime. I was originally supposed to go, but couldn't in the end. Even if I did, I would have missed 2 weeks of work and spent more than what I would have earned in those 2 weeks. Why 2 weeks? Because I would have had to take a train back and forth. It takes 3 days each way. Plus I'd be stressed as hell. I really did wish I went because I set up 2 interviews with people I Follow and Like. I'm glad those interviews still happened.

Be sure to check out the videos from PAX Prime and the ones that went up all August long. Those videos take a while to make so every view makes me happier that my work is being watched. Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/TheGameFanaticsTV

One that I'm particularly proud of was our Spoilers Ahead: The Last of Us spoiler video. Other than the usual on-screen talent that did well, I collaborated with someone that is a big fan of the game for all the game clips used. She was great and was very specific about where to use what clip, which made it easier for me. Everyone needs to write helpful, detailed, and understandable emails like she did. Plus I got permission from a cosplayer I like to use her Clicker cosplay photos in the video.

- Since we didn't film much/at all for TGF in August, I had more free time. Obviously you read how many games I beat, but I still made time to catch up with friends. I think I saw someone at least every Wednesday. It was great catching up with them, some of whom I had not seen for months. I also had a few random outtings with friends, stories, and fun. One night had 4 of us realizing it had been 5 years since that combination of us 4 were together and the other ended with us guessing and reliving great 80s and 90s theme songs.

I also did help a friend at his church. He was in charge of taking care of the kids for a couple weeks so he had the idea to have them film some skits to make a "movie." So I brought a camera and filmed the kids "act," ha. Child actors, they are not, but they all had fun doing it. I ended up helping more with the kids since some other volunteers didn't show up. Some of those kids were dang adorable. I didn't see what the reaction was to the video the week after. I have to remember to ask about that.

- Happy 6th Anniversary, Girls' Generation.

- And that concludes what I can remember that happened in August. A lot of it went by in the blink of an eye. Some for the good and some for the bad. Just have to keep chugging along.

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care.

July 2013 Entry

Very much busy, but I'm finding some time to do non-work and non-TGF things. Working at Digital again has been fine. Not much to say about it, but it is the reason I've been busy and I have a back log of things to catch up on.

- Went to a friend's apartment who threw a get together for July 4th. The majority of the people attending I met for the first time that day and they were fun. Started off with a coming-of-age-gay German movie, Creationary, Game & Wario, Mahjong, Indian Poker, and fireworks. Hours and hours of fun.

- Went fishing on 07.06.13. 3 of us went out early in the morning (2:30AM I think) and were out there till 9-10AM. The water was high and rough so it was almost impossible to do any crabbing. And we (excluding me) managed to catch 4 fish towards the end of the trip. I was super tired since I stayed up the whole night. I fell asleep on the rocks in the sun and fell asleep on the ride back. We have a strategy for next time.

- I won tickets to a premiere screening of Pacific Rim...or at least I thought I did. What I won was the opportunity to attend the screening and so did tons of others making it overbooked, which apparently happens all the time. My friend and I arrived late and were given vouchers to the screening of The Conjuring, which I gave to 2 other friends who were also late for the screening, but they didn't even get vouchers. So we met at D&B and eventually split. Went around and played some games to kill time. I enjoyed playing the 4D shooter and playing against 2 other guys that challenged us to Daytona USA. I also won another animal from the crane game. I felt I was going to get one and I did. Lee Soon-Quack now resides in my office at work.

I eventually saw Pacific Rim for a friend's birthday after eating sushi on the 15th. Sushi was good, service was bad. Pacific Rim was great. Worth the wait to see it. I highly recommend it.

- The last video for the last series of WingedVoX Adventures has rolled out and that will be the last WingedVoX video for a long time. I have one left, but that will be posted later this year. After that...who knows. Been too busy to do any extra videos lately so this will either move to one-offs or just no more videos. We'll see.

http://www.youtube.com/user/WingedVoX

- Lots of stuff for The Game Fanatics were filmed this month. 2 episodes of the TGFShow, a new batch of Fanatical Fives, building the Fanatical Rig, a Fanatical Tech segment, and our first spoiler episode (has yet to be edited). Many hours filming and tons of hours editing. If you haven't subscribed to us yet, please do. You'll know I edited the video if you see my Mii at the bottom right of the screen.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGameFanaticsTV

- Gamewise, I've only been playing 2 games in July. EarthBound came out as a surprise on the Wii U VC. Unfortunately I haven't put much time into it since I was trying to beat Project X Zone. I finally did on 07.30.13. So much time was invested in that game, but I really enjoyed it. 4 out of 5.

 

Now that Project X Zone is over, I will concentrate on EarthBound and hopefully beat it before the 11th of August when the new Mario & Luigi comes out. Even that will get put on hold when Ducktales Remastered comes out 2 days later. Ducktales can be beaten quickly so I'll take care of that first.

I also downloaded the 4 new Mii Plaza games for the 3DS. I do like them as they extend the life of Mii Plaza beyond the original 2 games, but it does take  up more time to check now. But that's just casual play.

- Finally saw Wicked with friends on 07.21.13. Amazing musical. The singers and actors were all wonderful and the story was not what I expected. Fans of musicals and The Wizard of Oz should definitely watch this if they haven't yet.

- July 19th...I think it was good I forgot this date. But it's hard to believe it has been 2 years now.

http://forevergracefulimpact.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html

- I did however remember this date, July 28th. It's actually the anniversary of 2 things. One was the last time I attended (not taught) a dance class. And the other I wrote a post on titled "One Year of Not Drinking."

http://forevergracefulimpact.blogspot.com/2013/07/one-year-of-not-drinking.html

- On the anniversary of me not drinking for one year, my friends got married.

I filmed the wedding for them. Nothing fancy, but afterwards I wish I did more. The ceremony was short and sweet and reception was tons of fun. I was actually nominated to be our table's representative and give a speech when the bride and groom came by. I was nervous, but came up with something nice.

I also had a some fun with the garter retrieval. They blindfolded the groom and sat the bride down. However, I took the bride's spot and hilarity ensued, ha. Funny enough, I ended up catching the garter. I didn't even try that hard. Literally just held my hand out and grabbed it. That makes 4 total I've caught.

My wonderful ex-girlfriend was my date for the evening. She came all the way from Austin/Kileen. I didn't tell the groom she was coming. When I introduced her, he literally did a double take. A priceless reaction. He was very much surprised to see her after so many years.

After the wedding, she and I met up with other friends and had drinks at Ra. We kept saying it throughout the night that the night felt very reminiscent of when we were dating. Great memories.

- The next day we hung out all day (took the day off). It was fun. And I saw her mom after so many years and it was great to see her. She took us to her work place where she just happened to be the student of one of my coworker's wife. Small world. It was funny seeing her mom introduce everyone to her daughter as they all said the same things; "she's so pretty" or "she's so tall." She then treated us to lunch at a Colombian restaurant. We went back to her mom's to pick up her dog that she brought with her, Nib-nib.

I met Nib-nib when I initially met up with my ex before doing stuff with her mom. Oh...my...gosh. It didn't take long for this puppy to win me over. She is very affectionate and very smart for being 6 months old. If you follow me on Twitter, I tweeted out multiple pictures of her.

We took Nib-nib to my house where she took a long nap while I caught up on stuff like exporting the wedding videos while taking care of Nib-nib. I took Nib-nib outside and just ran around with her in the backyard for a few minutes, so fun. I also found out my mom has a phobia of dogs. I thought she just didn't like any animals (which she doesn't), but she really can't stand being around dogs. Nib-nib is tiny and my mom got scared, ha.

Afterwards, we met back up with my ex's mom. They started Facebook video calls with family in Colombia that I had met 7-8 years ago. They all remember me and remembered them. That was a fun experience. I also met her older brother. I met her younger brother in Colombia, but her older brother was now living here in town with her mom. Cool guy.

I took her and her mom to Korean Noodle House for dinner. Dropped her mom off and we ended up hanging out with a friend at her apartment. Before I left, we bought some drinks from 101 and then split for the night.

The next day at work, I spoke to my coworker whose wife I saw the previous day. Apparently they had been hanging out with my ex's mom a few times and I had been mentioned, but not by name. He figured out everything after his wife mentioned meeting us so it made sense to him.

After work, I had a couple hours to relax before meeting my ex at her mom's again. We hung out for a bit and I got to play with Nib-nib a little more. And after that, she and Nib-nib went back home. Thus ends my July with great fun and more memories.

- I've been enjoying f(x)'s new album lately. It has a good variety of styles and the girls are more seasoned as singers and performers.

- That does it for this month. August will be busy also. Throw in more games and Anime August, I hope I can find more free time. Anime August starts with season 1 of the 2011 Thundercats anime. I saw some of it when it first aired, but not all of it. Very excited to watch it again.

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care.

One Year of Not Drinking

One year ago today was the last time I drank alcohol. While it was a fun night, I wasn't keeping track of how much I was drinking and the night didn't end well for me. I've been drunk before, but this was the worst. I am very thankful to those that did help me that night. I haven't forgotten that. Although I felt bad to those that I might have left a bad impression on and for my parents who had to see me like that.

That night I vowed to not drink alcohol for at least a full year. I wasn't by any means an alcoholic, but I was drinking a lot more in 2012 as it was a very stressful year. And I know I'm not divulging a lot of details, but I felt so bad that I wanted to stop drinking altogether. I found it shocking that some people I knew said I shouldn't stop drinking after telling them why I was doing it.  Regardless, I turned down plenty of drinks offered to me and made it through one year without drinking.

I am very proud to have done this. While I could continue doing this, I'm open to occasionally drink socially. I am planning to have my first drink in celebration of 2 dear friends getting married. I'm glad that these 2 things coincidentally are happening at the same time.

Thank you for reading.

June 2013 Entry

- And now to talk about what I did in June 2013. I really am more busy than ever.

- A friend came from out of town to go fishing. A few others were to join us, but it just ended up being us two. We went a little later than usual. Normally we go when it's still dark and flashlights are needed. This time we saw the sunrise as we rode the ferry to Galveston.

The wind was blowing roughly, which was good and bad. Bad because it splashed the water on the rocks onto us a lot. Good because it did deter the heat. We didn't catch any fish, but we caught the most crabs ever. 14 total with 9 caught by me. I was very proud and the crabs were delicious. By the way, I'm typing this out after another fishing venture. Tease for next month, ha.

Oh, I also finally got to meet his baby boy. I briefly greeted him as I was all dirty and exhausted from fishing/crabbing. He's a chubby one, ha. I also did give the parents a gift for their boy, a jade dragon with a Cintamani (a wish-filling jewel) in its mouth. I found it very appropriate since he was born in the year of the dragon.

- New WingedVoX Adventures have gone up throughout the month. I was actually bad at remembering to upload them at noon, but some new things that I'm part of have delayed those as well. That's okay, this series is almost done. Unfortunately, it seems like this has been the least popular series I've posted as it has the lowest view counts of any videos I've posted. Oh well.

- E3 2013 happened (by the way, this starts a large chunk of video game talk). That was a fun one. Some of the TGF staff were actually there, which was cool. Hopefully I get the opportunity to go some time. I am going to PAX later this year. Excited for that.

I did have an E3 experience since Best Buy had their Wii U Experience at one of the local stores in Houston. Unfortunately, it wasn't that great. I actually wrote an article for the TGF site about it. Please check that out (click the following link).

http://thegamefanatics.com/2013/06/15/my-best-buy-nintendo-experience-week-of-e3-2013/

- Speaking of The Game Fanatics, we finally started season 3 of The Game Fanatics Show. It was also the first episode with the new crew. To make it short, the first episode of season 3 was the most stressful episode for me.

1. We filmed using the Kube's equipment. It took time for me to get used to (still not used to it yet). That did make the exporting process longer as I had to stay afterwards longer to transfer the footage to an external instead of me taking my cameras home and exporting them while doing other things.

2. We used the green screen for the first time. It took time to properly light it. It also tripled the process during editing since keying out the green screen and rendering out backgrounds took a long time. Not only that, I couldn't key the green out well enough with my editing tools (I've upgraded since then). It's obvious if you saw the episode.

3. There were too many chefs in the kitchen. Too many were giving suggestions and corrections when that was supposed to be what I do as well as facilitate them. But I couldn't because before I could say anything, others already have. When I direct, it's to make it easier for them and myself and to make the end product work. I appreciate help, but I don't like it when it is forced upon even if the intentions were in kind. I'd rather you ask if I/we need help instead of imposing your help.

4. There was A LOT of time wasting in between takes/mistakes. I even mentioned beforehand that it's okay to joke around, but don't do it too much. We started at 7PM, didn't finish until close to 10, and I didn't leave the studio until 11 since I needed to get the footage.

It really took its toll on me and I was incredibly frustrated. While it was good to finally shoot with the new crew, I am not proud of that episode. The next episode was easier to shoot since we went back to the old backdrop from season 2. But that had horrible audio issues. Again, I'm still not used to using the Kube's equipment, audio equipment included. Another episode I'm not particularly proud of. Thankfully the following episode (July 2nd) went incredibly smooth.

Anyways, the rest of the Comicpalooza videos went up throughout the month. Please check out the vendor videos, interviews, the cosplay contest, and more. Those were definitely less stressful to put together (15 videos total).

- With how busy the month has been (haven't mentioned it all yet), I'm surprised with how much gaming I've squeezed in.

I beat both of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons for the 3DS VC. Great adventures. That just leaves one Zelda game I have yet to play and beat.

Since Mega Man was announced to be in the next Smash Bros, Nintendo released Mega Man II, III, and IV on the Wii U VC. I already had them for the Wii so I paid the extra dollar to have it for the Wii U. Played and beat each one of those. Mega Man III is still my favorite of the classic Mega Man NES titles.

 

I downloaded the DLC for New Super Mario Bros U, New Super Luigi U. I give it a 4 out of 5. It was a good platformer, but I wasn't a fan of the short timer. I realize it makes it more of a challenge, but I would have enjoyed it had it just been a regular adventure and not a rush to get to the end while trying to find everything. I also thought it probably should have cost less, at least by $5. But I do recommend it.

Game & Wario came out in June. I thought it was supposed to be months later so it snuck up on me. And they weren't available at Best Buy on release date. Had to go to GameStop. Regardless, 3 out of 5. The single player lacks a little and isn't as chaotic as previous Warioware games. Although Gamer stands out as the best game on the disc. The multiplayer shines and is great for parties. I recommend it especially as a party game.

Vegas Stakes, an old gambling game on the SNES, came out the Wii U VC. I had to get it since that was an favorite game of mine for the Super Nintendo. It didn't take long for me to achieve the 10 million dollar game goal. Good times.

And the game I was looking forward to getting this month, Project X Zone came out for the 3DS. This game is so awesome. So many characters from so many franchises in a convoluted story, excellent. Although it is getting a bit long since the fights get longer and longer (most clocking in at least an hour now). I'm still enjoying it especially when new characters are introduced. I'll speak more on it after I beat it.

And a couple more game related things, got me a new plush. That Hello Kitty M. Bison is so awesome. I preordered it almost half a year ago and actually forgot about it until I got an email reminder. I'm glad it's finally here.

 And I bought me some new art from Angela Song. I had bought one before when her store opened. She put one of Final Fantasy VI and I immediately bought it. I actually bought it after one of the stressful TGFShow episodes. It's amazing. She had done some FFVI art before and I knew if she put one up for sale that I'd try my damndest to get it. Check out her store and her Twitter for her daily drawings.

Angela Song Art Store - http://angelasongart.bigcartel.com/

Angela Song Art Twitter - https://twitter.com/angelasongart

- Got around to seeing Man of Steel at the end of the month with some friends. I give it a 4 out of 5. I understand the criticisms people had with it, but I enjoyed it overall. My favorite parts were actually the scenes with Ma and Pa Kent.

The downside of the experience was the family that sat behind us. They were fine until one of their kids joined them (probably coming from another movie). The boy kept asking questions and the father kept responding...loudly. They spoke through almost all the quiet non-action scenes. They also stood up multiple times looking for other family members. It got to the point that 2 of my friends got up and moved farther away from them. I did turn around and give them death glares, but those didn't work since they were in their world and the rest of the people in the theater were non-existent. I don't mind children in a movie theater as long as they were taught theater etiquette. I appreciate it even more if the parents have proper theater etiquette.

- I've also made time to catch up with a few friends. It was just great catching up with them and sometimes exchanging awesome hugs.

- Mid-June, a friend asked me out to lunch out of the blue. I figured there was a reason behind it and there was. He asked me if I were interested in working part time at the company I left 3 years ago. He did a good job of letting me know how the company has changed and really surprised me by actually saying he loves his job. He wouldn't not have said that 2-3 years ago. After lunch, I dropped him back off at the office and then made my rounds to greet everyone since it had been a long time. And...it was different. The job was pretty much mine if another guy didn't want the position, which he didn't. I started the week after.

My title is Operations Assistant. Didn't have a previous title before since I did way too much back then. But I'm pretty much an IT assistant. I'm not the most tech savvy, but I'm being taught well. I do have more tasks than IT, but I've been adamant in telling them I don't want to do a ton of tasks like before. Otherwise they'd have to pay me more. I'm actually making a few dollars less than when I used to work there and I'm only working part time, 20-25 hours a week. Thankfully I am allowed to be flexible with my schedule. The standard schedule I set up for myself is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9-2, 5 hours a day. Friday is the only mandatory day and I asked for Wednesdays off so I can edit the TGFShow if we film on Tuesdays. The biggest draw back is that I have less time to devote to games I really want to play, ha. Minor things, not that big a deal.

It's strange being back there. I'm not even there that long a day to feel acclimated there. It's good to see all the positive changes that are in effect, but I still see some of the negatives. Honestly, had they not asked me to come back, I probably wouldn't have especially if nothing changed. But the timing is good because I'm unfortunately low on funds due to other ventures and plans not panning out.

- Sistar!

- That's all. I'm busy, but I'm still trying to make time to play some games to relax and catch up with anyone if they're available.

Thank you for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care.

May 2013 Entry

- Last time I said April was a busy month. May was as well. And this is late because June has been busy. Hopefully I can remember a good amount of May.

- I saw Iron Man 3 and Star Trek: Into Darkness. I enjoyed both a lot. Iron Man 3 had its moments, but I think it's my least favorite of the 3 movies. Star Trek was great. I'm not a huge Trekkie, but I did get some of the references and variations/changes of references. Definitely suggest those to anyone.

- A friend who became a teacher called me up for some video help. Since he was a first year teacher, the board wanted proof of how well he does in teaching. So I went to his school and sat in and filmed his first 4 periods of the day. A couple things I took from it.

1. Some kids have no respect. There really were a handful of kids that I could not imagine having as classmates when I was in high school.

2. The ones that really caught my eye were the ones that actually were interested in the subject matter and gave a lot of input. They had genuine interest and you could tell they wanted to learn. While they outnumbered the bad kids, those bad kids were awful.

And afterwards, I edited the 4 hours down to about 10 minutes. I went back to the school the next day to give my friend the video. My guess is that his superiors liked what they saw as he is teaching his first summer school session soon.

- The Game Fanatics had been trying to set up a tryout session for a few people we liked that were interested in joining the podcast team. We had them read some Fanatical Fives from the teleprompter to see how well they could do that. In the end, the tryouts were just a formality as we knew ahead of time we were going to add them to the team. They weren't all at their best, but like with Ryan and Charles, more experience will definitely show their strengths and qualities. The Fanatical Fives we filmed were still used for real videos. Not all are up as of typing this, but all have been introduced by now. Thank you to Kimberly, Walter, Rochellie, and Lance for joining the local TGF crew.

- It was a good thing we gained new TGF members when we did because we covered Comicpalooza. I have no idea how we would have been able to do any thing we planned without them. We were there all 3 days (24-26).

The first day, we were missing 3 members. And for the most part, we really had 3 since one came very late. AND for a good part towards the end, we only had 2 since one had to help man the Extra Life booth. Regardless, we got a good amount of interviews done. Unfortunately for me, my feet were dead halfway through the day. I walked a lot that first day. I was literally limping around the convention. We also had no idea how we were to go about doing the celebrity interviews we scheduled. I had quite a bit of frustrations that first day. At least it ended with some cool NWA live wrestling. Not bad for an indy promotion.

The second day, we were all there. We also learned that the scheduled celebrity interviews we wanted were not organized so if we wanted to get any, we were to approach them ourselves. That didn't work out since the few we tried told us we were to ask their managers or come back later or they wanted to research who The Game Fanatics were before being interviewed by us. Understandable. My feet were still killing me, but I did walk around a lot. I eventually ended up helping at The Kube's booth while trusting the others to get more interviews on their own. At the end of the day 2, I spent it resting my feet by helping at the Extra Life booth while the rest were covering the cosplay contest.

The final day was a little more chill. It did start with me and 2 others doing filming duties for a couple of friends getting married at the convention. That was definitely a great way to start the day on a high note. I'm a sucker for weddings. Congratulations to the newly weds (that's 1 of 3 weddings of friends I'll be attending this year). After that, it was back to work as 2 more joined us. It was a little easier since things were winding down. My feet were still dead so I sent the others to get interviews. I did some b-roll filming on my own, but retired to the Extra Life booth to rest. We ended the day filming the destruction of Cardhalla, a section next to the Extra Life booth where people built towers/structures out of used/donated Magic The Gathering cards. That was fun to watch. That lasted a couple hours. The clean up of all the cards took a couple hours itself. I volunteered to watch the Extra Life booth while the rest were cleaning up. When we were taking the booth down, I accidentally cut my thumb with a pair of scissors. So I limped to the first aid office and got that taken care of. Shortly after, I realized I lost my car keys. I went to 2 different lost and found offices and neither had it. Oh well, it will be replaced. Good thing I carpooled so it's not like I would have lost my car that day. Ended up eating at Auntie Pastos with Ryan and Jill after dropping off my stuff at home and getting the spare car key. On the car ride home, I actually felt good. Exhausted, but at ease.

Honestly, I didn't really enjoy my first convention. I was in work mode too much. I didn't take any pictures or spazz about anything. Plus my feet were just killing me. I need shoes that aren't flats for future conventions. It took almost the whole week after for the swelling in my feet to go away. There were great moments that happened, but I remember worrying and stressing a lot.

I did have one celebrity encounter on the final day. As I was going up an escalator, David Yost (Billy from the Power Rangers) was coming down the other side. I pointed at him and he greeted me back.

Me: Are you leaving?

David: I'll be back. Just going to get something.

Me: Alright. Cool. See you later.

And that was it, ha. But that weekend was so busy and crazy. I did edit the videos afterwards. There will be 15 total. Only the last one hasn't been created (as of typing this), but I gave myself a buffer of time since I scheduled them out nicely. Please check them out. I put a ton of work into it and the whole staff did great in getting interviews and footage.

- Super Metroid was available for 30 cents on the Wii U VC. Of course I picked it up and beat it. I was planning to do a 100% run, but things got busy. I had not played it since it originally came out on the SNES and it still holds up. Definitely one of the greatest classic games of all time.

I almost downloaded Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts since I was going to have a gaming drought. It's super tough, but I did enjoy playing it back in the day. I was debating between that and doing the 100% run for Super Metroid, but like I said, things got busy. I might buy it later (or will graciously accept it as a small gift, ha).

And I downloaded The Legend of Zelda: Oracles of Ages/Seasons (3DS VC) at the end of May. I started with Ages (figured to go alphabetical) and beat it in June. I also downloaded Mega Man X and beat that for the millionth time. Despite being busy, I cleared a few hours to beat the game again in one sitting.

 

I'm not a fan of the Kingdom Hearts series. I played and beat the first one, but it didn't catch my attention like I thought it would. However, I will suggest for people to watch the GT Timeline of Kingdom Hearts. It explains everything, ha.

http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/g84vkz/timeline-kingdom-hearts

- I started uploading new WingedVoX Adventures videos. Like I mentioned last month, I'll probably just be doing one-shots for now on. I'm too busy with The Game Fanatics to do any extra editing. I did finish one a while a go (even before Season 3 of WVA was created) so that might be the last one you'll see this year.

- BoA!

- And that's it. Like I've said plenty times before, keep up with The Game Fanatics. We're growing and getting better.

Thank you for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

Take care.