An Indepth Look Into A Geek's Soul

Looking outside, I can hardly tell that I'm on my glorious summer vacation.  I think that the weather of Northern Michigan right now is pretending to be jolly old England, what with it's wet, clamy self.  It's really been all over the place to be completely honest.  There are days when it is nice as anything and days like this when you wouldn't want to take two steps outside.  But hey, weather is weather, and there's nothing one can do about it when you live up north.

The break has been a pretty sweet one so far.  I've had plenty of time to just relax and not worry about work or school or anything really.  I think that this is what I've been waiting for all school year.  It is supremely nice to just lay around the house, not doing a single thing.  I can lounge and read, play some Pokemon, ignore this blog, things like that.  Those are all things that you should be able to do all the time.

I think the greatest thing I like about this summer is the fact that I get to be with my girlfriend, Megan, almost constantly.  It's awesome.  This girl is simply amazing.  I may have fallen for other people in the past, but it is nothing at all like I feel for Megan.  I really do think that she's the love of my life.  Every time that I see her, my heart skips a beat.  I've never once had this happen in my life.  She makes me happier than anything else, even happier than playing some Dungeons and Dragons game.  With any luck, we will be together for a long, long time. 

Peace Out.

So, with all this crazy stuff going on in the world today, I have decided to start following the news more closely.  I'm hoping to look at the news fairly, which means going to more than just the usual Yahoo news site that I'm normally reading.  No, I'll actually go out and look at other things that the web has to offer.  For the moment I plan on reading foxnews.com as well as msnbc.com.  I figure that way I'll get the widest possible range of news.  Hopefully I'll be able to put together the most truthful version of events, though I know I'll be stuck sifting through all the bias each site has to offer.

I'm not sure why I've suddenly decided to get so interested in the news. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that there is a lot happening on the national arena and I'm not totally sure of the facts.  I would like to enter into conversations with people about these kinds of things and well, not knowing all the facts and figures is never a good thing when trying this kind of thing.  Just thought you all should know.

Peace Out.

There are many things in my past that make me wonder what I would have been like if I had never been involved in it.  The biggest thing right now would be Magic.  It's a simple card game at the core of it, yet at the same time it's wonderfully complex and I don't think that anyone could really ever be considered an expert at it, no matter how good of a deck they manage to build.  A game like this really only comes around once in a long while and I am glad that I was able to jump onto this bandwagon at the age that I did.

I think that I first started the game in fifth grade.  If I remember correctly, it was right before I got into the whole Pokemon card thing as well.  I could be wrong, but oh well.  I remember opening my first pack, Stronghold, and being sucked in by the one card in specific:  Flame Wave.  It was flashy, it was big, and it had a guy riding a surfboard on a wave of flames.  Tell me how that is not cool?  Plus, I think people just like red spells to start off with, and boy was Flame Wave red.

My first deck was a green one.  It was fueled by Llanowar Elves and was pretty much  just built around getting out the biggest creature possible and hoping for the best.  Back then, it really was the best too, as far as my group of friends was concerned.  The backbone of the deck came in the form of a 7/7 brute by the name of Thorn Elemental.  To this day, it is still a card that I look foundly upon, even if it's not the best card out there on the market.  It led me to such amazing victories that I could really care less if it wasn't the greatest out there and people would rather play Rhox instead.

It would take me until high school to get my friends addicted to the game however.  Joel was the first one to fall, becoming completely addicted to Magic during the time that Mirrodin came out.  I don't think I've ever collected so much of any one set before.  Between the two of us, I'm fairly certain we had the majority of that one set, if not the entire block.  It wasn't long before he became a better player than me either.  The kid has some insane skills when it comes to the game, skills I will never really have.  His Angel deck was something to be admired, while his Slivers completely dominated me.  The only way I ever stood a chance against those decks was when I played my Zombie deck.  Being pure black and already dead does have it's advantages.  I think it is still my best deck to this date.

I remember playing some crazy multiplayer games during free period in my senior year at high school.  There was a group of about five of us who would go to our physics room and just play at the table for a solid fifty five minutes.  We even kept a tally of who was the worse player there (turns out it was Ankit) and overall it was a lot of fun.  I was sad when I left, because my pool of players decreased by a good 80%.

However, it decreased to zero when I first moved up to Michigan.  No one up here wanted to play and the guys at the card shop all were those jerky, elitest kind of players that I rather dislike, so I wouldn't play with them either.  In fact, I hardly touched my cards for over a year.  It wasn't until I started working at the Writing Center that I really started playing again.  I had to teach the whole crew all the rules from scratch, and we don't play the current edition.  I figure that is just far too much work, especially because I don't know the new rules too terribly well.

I guess the real point of this story is just to see how my life has kind of changed around Magic, and how Magic has changed around my life.  I think no matter what happens, I will always been into Magic, even if there are a few sets I'm not terribly huge on.  While most of the other guys that I know of stopped playing Magic when they were in eigth grade, I don't plan on stopping until my grandkips are in their eigth grade.

Peace Out.

Man, a lot has been going on since I've last updated.  I'd say the biggest thing that has happened is that I've found this crazy new game on Facebook called Warstorm.  It's freaking sweet.  Think of Magic, but without all the skill involved.  Basically what you have for a deck is a leader and then 6 other cards.  These other cards can be anything ranging from foot soliders to mages, to spells and artifacts, and even some rather powerful dragons.  Instead of using mana, like inMagic, or energy, like in Pokemon, you actually use time itself!  Only that makes it sound a bit cooler than it actually is.  Every round the casting cost of the card goes down and when enough turns have passed, the card is automatically played.  If you guys are familiar with it, think of the whole Suspend mechanic from Magic during the Time Spiral block.

Anyways, beyond that it's been mostly work and school, or school and work, or schoo, work and work.  Some combination of that.  It's kind of a drag, but hey, it's fair and honest and something that I think the majority of people go through at one point in their lives.  Tonight is another bowling night of course, being Tuesday, and while my chances dont' look good, I look forward to some kick ass times with Collin.  The kid makes it easy to live up here at times.  Other times, I just want to hear about something other than the newest indie comic to hit the market.  And not indie in the good way either. 

Anyways, I think this might be all for now.  I'm trying to back into the groove of things.  Hopefully things will develop at a pretty good clip, though who the hell knows.  Sorry again about the huge three and a half week delay betwween any real writing.  With any luck, I won't screw this up again.  Also, look forward to a rather large announcement in the coming months.  You'll all be shocked at what is going to hit the fan.

Peace Out.

Hey guys, just tuning in to let you know that there will be no Top Ten List this week.  I've been rather busy last week and have absolutely no time to prepare for it this time around.  I apologize for any disappointments this may have caused.  In good news, you will be treated to a Top Ten next week, and I'll let you guys know that we'll be tackling my top ten favorite animals.  It's bound to be a good one filled with outdated thoughts on animal biology!

Other than that, there has been a lot of stuff happening this week, both good and bad and mostly all secret.  The one piece I can reveal to you know, for the first time ever, is that my grandpa broke his hand.  He slipped on some ice out back and WHAM! broke that sucker.  He's hand is in this cast now.  It's crazy.  So not used to it.

Already, weak update.  I'm out of here.

Peace Out.

I've been thinking a lot about the future.  What does it hold for me?  What does't it hold for me?  Will I ace my second try at college? Will I get married?  Will I be successful at life?  Will I ever haveanother job as freaking sweet as the Writng Center?  And, perhaps most importantly, why am I even thinking about these kinds of things?

I guess I'll start with the last question, as it's the only one I havethe ability to answer with some degree of knowledge.  I think I may have finally grew up.  Yeah, I think it snuck up on me somewhere between going to school and trying to manage my bills.  I think it doesn't help that I've been reading this new web comic, which seems tobe all about this guy's past.  He doesn't seem to be too much older than me either.  Maybe 28 at the oldest?  I'm sure I could find out rather easily, I just haven't done so yet.  But anyways, the point is,he's only a few years older than I am and yet he has done what I consider to be a rather big thing.  He's publishing his own web comic. I would imagine it's reaching a fair amount of people, seeing as how Ifound about it about from my boss at the Writing Center who must have either met him somewhere or was told about it from someone.  What the hell am I going to be doing at 28?  I wish I knew.

But really, what would I do even if i did know?  Like, what if somehow I had a glimpse of what my life will be like when I'm 28?  Would that change the way I live?  I think I almost would.  Or I would like to believe I would at least.  I mean, if I knew I was still alive at 28,then I could take any risk I ever wanted and it wouldn't phase me, because I knew that I wouldn't die.  However, on the flip side, if I knew that my life was in shambles, that I was broke, stuck in a deadend job, and still alone, I think I would also just give up on life completely.

This of course, leads to what came first:  my future or the reaction to my future?  If I didn't know that my future was going to be a living hell, would I still end up living it, even if I tried my hardest to have a fantastic life?  Of course, this would only be a valid argument if the future itself is unchangable.  Which is a whole 'nother blog.  Sorry for the tanget guys.

Peace Out.

So I was on the way home tonight, randomly thinking of X-Men and it got me wondering what mutant power I would love to have.  And I'm talking just one.  No Xavier, no Wolverine, no someone who can do a billion different things.  Just one single power.  I think the power I would choose to have would be telepathy.  I think it would super awesome to be able to read people's minds without them knowing about it.  Just think of the implications.  I could be the worlds greatest spy, and no one could stop me.  Heck, they wouldn't even know that it is me.  I would have so much demand for my skills that I wouldn't have to worry about working every again.  Of course, I'm sure I could use it for some other purpose that would be easier than spying to make money, but I still like being a spy.

Something tells me I would use it more as a tool to keep my ego in check.  Knowing myself and the fact that I alawys want to know what people think about me, I would probably just use it mostly to find out what exactly they thought about me.  Do they really think I'm funny?  Is that chick really digging me?  Do these guys even want to hang out with me?  This is without a doubt totally unethical in my mind, but I know I would do it.  I have this intense desire to know what's going on around me, but most of the time I'm too shy and weak minded to just ask.  It would be a constant battle for me to have this power and use it for good and not just for further my own agendas, as is human nature.

I think whenever anyone answers a question like this, they are offering up an a look into one of their greater flaws.  They are trying to cover up for something that they dislike about themselves.  I mean heck, why wish for something that you already have a great amount of?  So what do you guys think?  Have any mutant powers you wish you had?  Leave em in the comments below.

Peace Out.

Hey guys, thanks for tuning in.  Tonight, I'll be talking about some changes that should be coming to the site here in the coming week or so.  They might even be coming this weekened.  I don't have to work and I don't think I'm doing anything, so why not do something like revamp the site?

The revamp won't be anything huge, just some actual additions to the other categories besides this one.  I think The Geek willd definitely be updated.  Might do a review of his new CD I got too.  Heck, if I get really bored, I might even go and changed the whole lay out of the website here.  I don't know if it's happening to you guys, but the little picture that's normally up at the top of the page hasn't been showing up for me. You should definitely let me know if that's happening to you as well.

I think I'll be adding a new section or two to the line up as well.  The one I know I will be adding is a place to throw all my links to the sites I go to all the time, and to just plug a bunch of my friend's sites as well.  Speaking of which, if you guys want to be included on there, just let me know and I can probably make this happen.  Also, if anyone knows a good place to learn HTML out there, let me know.  I know I could just look for stuff online, but I want something that you guys have tried out.  I've always have wanted to learn the stuff, just never have been able to do so.  Mostly because I am scatterbrained.  Kind of like this posting!

Peace Out.

You know, I think it's time to delve into a fantasy word.  What exactly is my fantasy world?  I'm not sure.  I always imagine that it takes place in some high fantasy type of place.  You know, it would have the typical shinning castles with a grand moat, soaring towers, and a beautiful princess waiting for me with its mighty walls.  It would sit in the middle of a sweeping valley, high amoung snow peaked mountains.  The weather would be fair all year round.  The world around it would be fairly safe, too.  Sure, you would have the occasional monster attack:  a dragon attacking the peasants, goblins beseiging the castle gates, a zombie horde rising from their graves.  Of course I would beat back the threat.  It is me after all.  All and all, it would be very much like a cross between the Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons.

I think there would also be a very strong element of Pokemon thrown in.  I would have my Venusaur of course. Heck, he might be my only pokemon too.  Kind of like how in the games and show how most trainers only  have two or three guys?  I could totally do that.  Who else would I really need?  Venusaur could give me rides, use his vines to let me climb up to various places, and generally just be cool eveywhere that we go.  Would he have a nickname.  I'm not sure.  I normally don't nickname my guys, but if I had to do that, I think I would call him something awesome, like a Lord of the Rings name.  Maybe Treebeard, or Skinbark.  At any rate, we would be inseperable.

But what about you guys?  What would your fantasy world be like?  Go ahead and tell me.  Either right it in your own blog and post the URL to it as a comment or just post the fantasy as a comic.  I'm looking forward to reading what you guys come up with.

Oh, and there would be bacon.  Lots of bacon.

Peace Out.

So yeah, if you guys don't want to hear me be mean to myself, leave now.

Being all caught up in this whole "Year of the Jon" thing has just gotten me into one giant clusterfuck.  Me and my cocky attitude has blown right back in my face.  I should have known that it was going to.  It's not who I am.  I'm some stupid little guy pretending to be something he's not.  I'm not some cool, suave, sophisticated stud.  I'm just some loser of a geek who sits at home all day thinking of new DnD characters or how to put together a new Magic deck.  No wonder I can't get a damn girlfriend.  What kind of normal person would want me?  No one, that's who.  I'm just going to die alone, but fuck, what else is new?

Hell, I can't even win a damn match of bowling anymore.  I've won what?  Maybe 5 out of the last 25 games that I've played?  Pathetic.  What happened to the days when I could beat Collin with both my hands tied behind my back?  It's like he gets better every week and I just stay in this same old suckfest that I've been in since I left Maryland.  I was terrible back then, and I'm terrible now.

And yeah, to Carlee, I fucked up.  I highly doubt you are reading this, but I'm really sorry for everything that happened today.  I wish I could take it back.  What I said was really stupid, and I'm sorry if Carlo is giving you a hard time.  I'll just try to stay out of both of your guys's ways.  I'll just hunker down in my corner and let you guys pass by me.  Sorry for being an amoral jerk.

Peace Out.