nintendoh | Recent Entries

YES NUMBER 1:
So about two weeks ago I was talking to a college student and we found we were music buddies cuz we both love Base Ball Bear. I had to admit to him that I've been a terrible fan and am totally behind, but that inspired me to check their youtube account and turns out they are in the middle of a set of successive singles, to be followed by a new album in November. THEY ARE GREAT. Here's my fav or the two so far:

"Base Ball Bear - 「それって、for 誰？」part.1" (Watch on YouTube)

GOD YES. Took a few listens but now I am hooked.

YES NUMBER 2:
In relation to Base Ball Bear, as well as that Perfume album and desire to slightly catch up with Rin Toshite Shigure I went to Tower yesterday then realized I actually no longer had the ability to read/rip/play CDs (2015, WHAT ARE YOU) so I left unable to buy anything. I researched portable USB CD/DVD drives and checked out an electronics store on the way home and was able to get one on the cheap. Yaaaaaay.

YES NUMBER 3:
Got home from work today post-pre-Tokyo Game Show Playstation Conference and caught up with the news over beer and holy yes. Cool stuff announced and/or dated AND PS4 is getting a price drop in Japan next month? Heck YES! I was mentally/monetarily preparing for a PS4 by year's end assuming Persona 5 is still coming by the end of the year, but this makes it a bit easier. Also with other awesome stuff being dated for late 2015/early 2016 (Gravity Rush remaster, Star Ocean 5, that project Setsuna thing!). NEAT.

So my last two entries were not about current going-ons at all. There isn't a whole lot to cover, though. It was an easy work week, but goddammit everyone around me was sick. I've been fighting falling into legit cold space for the past few weeks, but they pushed me! Started feeling crappy Friday and Saturday I just kinda physically collapsed after work. Stayed in all evening and all of Sunday, don't have a lot of hope for today either.

...BUT ONTO SOME SILLY/FUN STUFF:

( Disneyland! Netflix! Gremlins! Fire Emblem! )

If you comment here with the words "I wanna play" I will assign you a number from 15-30 of facts about yourself to post about yourself in your journal.

torachan gave me 22!

( Beware. This got loooooong. Not really checked for errors, so I apologize. Might go back and fix later, may not. )

For those new to my journal, these facts might be a good way to know certain things about me, but you can also check my intro post tag for one recent intro, and also one old, outdated, tl;dr one.

Yesterday Katsushi and I headed over to Donna's place to discuss our Tokyo Disneyland trip. We've basically locked down the period we want to go, we just need to decide the exact arrival and departure dates. There's still a bit of indecision about the length of our stay, but once that is settled we should be able to make our reservations.

Also got a nice tour of where Donna lives now. She's lives in a share house, which is not a super common thing here. It's this huge, kinda old Japanese style house with a really quirky layout. It's got tons of personality and for a Japanese house is actually quite spacious. I have to admit I was a bit jealous when I saw it. I mean, I am content with my living situation now, but I wish I could have found a place like that in my earlier Japan days when I was still living on my own.

( My parents want to move...? )

The week progresses! I've been having fun, mainly with silly things. First off, WE NOW HAVE NETFLIX IN JAPAN. Service was supposed to start Wednesday, but they let people start signing up and watching Tuesday night. Best part is they are offering a free month! Sweeet! Katsushi and I have been watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and it has been awesome! The selection is still on the small size, naturally, but they have a pretty good lineup considering, so I am hopeful it's gonna turn into something great.

Other than that, I've been starting to plan my upcoming vacations!. I started collecting Okinawa tips from students the past few days, as it seems like most adults have been there at least once. Think that's how I'm mainly going to be deciding what I want to do. But also I'm pretty sure we're going to pick a very basic, vanilla tour plan for my first time. There are so many islands in Okinawa, but I think I just need to start on the main island and do the typical touristy things so that next time I'll be able to explore other islands.

And then there are my Tokyo Disneyland plans. ( Disney trip planning rambles )

Perfect storm of events recently. I guess. The past week has been terrible and wonderful all at the same time. Had an unexpected medical thing come up all of a sudden last week and I was on medication and in relative discomfort, and stress from that incited heat rash or something similar (in Japanese it is called 汗網. Katsushi pegged it and the doctor at the clinic confirmed) ALL OVER my legs and lowerback and/or stomach and/or waist and since Sunday have been feeling like I may or may not be catching a cold. So you could say that physically I have been fucking out of it. Sorry for that f-bomb, but it's been an f-bomb sort of week.

I was pretty miserable at work last week, but my main medical thing seems about done and I'm finally out of meds, so even though I have the threat of a cold I am feeling pretty good and am celebrating with a beer, cuz I REALLY wanted a drink over the weekend but couldn't. Katsushi is conveniently having dinner with his family tonight, so along with the beer I am blasting Perfume and will probably do similar with old KPOP because I am a gay boy with needs.

Oh, but the perfect storm. The perfect storm! Despite the constant physical discomfort, life has been pretty good otherwise. Katsushi and I, along with my friend Donna, managed to get to the Yoshitaka Amano exhibition on it's last day at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe. The exhibition was amazing. AMAZING. Naturally there was a whole room dedicated to his Final Fantasy art. Got to see the original painting of the iconic cover to Final Fantasy VI, which was almost overwhelming. But his other work was so impressive. I never realized how detailed and layered his paintings are. I bought a book with every piece (plus extras!) from the exhibition that I will treasure forever. Only the final room was okay to photograph, and I posted the main piece of art displayed there (that was the central piece for the branding of the exhibition), on my twitter for those interested. The museum was surprisingly awesome, too, and in a few weeks they are opening an exhibition on manga, anime and video games, and yeah NO WAY I AM MISSING THAT.

After the museum we went out for lunch and had some delicious Japanese food and then tea and cake at a Fujiya (cake shop/restaraunt owned by the people who make Milky candy!) and talked a lot. And as a result of all our chatting Katsushi, Donna and I (and anyone else we can find) are planning to go to Tokyo Disneyland early next year! YESSSSSSS! With this, my America trip under my belt, and my tentative Okinawa trip coming this fall, seems like my 30th celebrations will be lasting at least half a year. BUT WHO CARES. YOU ONLY TURN 30 ONCE AND I AM DETERMINED TO MAKE THE BEST OF IT.

Monday was a down day, cuz DAMN THAT PRE-COLD LETHARGY. But I got to relax at home and play video games and such so all is good. SPEAKING OF GAMES, Dragon Quest VIII arrived Saturday and I've been enjoying it quite a lot. Not graphically up there with the PS2 version from what I've seen, but I never played it so I don't really care. It's fun, and it's been a great companion (along with FEif, which I will probably continue to plod through in the background over the next couple of months) during my rest/brain dead time.

Anyway, here we are. It's Tuesday, and I am sitting by myself sipping beer and listening to old Big Bang (THE KPOP IS HERE) and getting excited. After work I stopped in at Umeda and picked up an English language book ALL about traveling through Okinawa (NEVER THOUGHT SUCH A BOOK WOULD EXIST, BUT IT DOES!) and a Japanese book of tips to survive the Tokyo Disneyland experience. There are 66 tips, which is kinda funny, but hey, it's not a taboo number here so whatevs.

Finally took the pictures off my phone. X_X Managed to upload a trip photo album to facebook this morning, but haven't started working on entries here yet. I will get to it! Sorry that this is taking even longer than than expected, but it's been a week. IT'S BEEN A WEEK. Have some icky stuff going on, but I really don't want to focus on that right now. So, FUN/SILLY DISTRACTION TIME (hopefully next distraction will be vacation stuff. I do honestly want to talk about it):

I didn't really get up to much last weekend. Just walking around the surrounding neighborhoods and such. On Sunday Katsushi showed me a cool park in Esaka that has a cute little library in it. It was so cool! Monday after my family Skype chat I wandered around. I went to Umeda by myself and later went to a big electronics shop that had a Ness amiibo(!!!). I don't know how much I like the amiibo thing, but I know I adore Ness and wanted one since the beginning, but I thought it had basically sold out in preorder. I wasn't going to give the amazon eshop resellers the satisfaction of paying more than retail price, so I had given up on the idea of having one. So happy to have found it!

This weekend we're going to go to a Yoshitaka Amano exhibition in Kobe! So glad I caught an article about it this week, as Sunday is the final day. SO STOKED. I love his art and can't wait to see what's on display. Also keeping my fingers crossed for a neat print of some FFVI art or something in the gift shop.

The Dragon Quest VIII 3DS remake came out yesterday. My preorder is in the mail and should be here tomorrow. CANNOT WAIT. I've been in DQ hype mode for a while. At first just waiting for this game, but then also getting stoked about the DQXI announcement that happened while I was on vacation. Both the 3DS and PS4 versions look really good.

I've been playing Fire Emblem if still. Finished Birthright over the holidays and am now going through Conquest. Just S-Ranked/gay married Zero last night. It was...alright? Playing through Birthright made me aware I'm not really into the game for the coupling and other side stuff so much (I really just like the battles), so maybe that killed some excitement for me. I dunno.

Still haven't taken any pictures off my phone. @_@ Sorry, everyone. I think I will try to make it a weekend project. I don't think I've ever successfully shared stories and photos from my trips home since living abroad, which is really a shame. I always say I will and never do, but I really want to try this time. If nothing else because this was my first chance to really try and take pretty pics with my new phone. The difference in quality between my previous phone is striking, and there are a couple pictures I'd really like to show off.

I have been surviving my first few days back at work, and even after only two shifts my butt has been kicked fully back into Japan time. Work really is the best way to get over jet lag. I am still sad about going to work, though. I don't want to believe that this is actually my life. Post-trip home blues are awesome.

( Discussing the site I'm planning, and also about my first bit of translation for it! )

Today is the day I have to go back to work. Not looking forward to it, but it will probably be the only way to come back down to reality. I've spent the last few days since getting back to Japan getting out and walking around, reading, playing some games, spending some time with Katsushi, and fighting jetlag, but after three days I still feel like I'm floating through some half-reality.

Though walking around with your head in the clouds is probably a pretty accurate description of the experience of jetlag. Or, more truthfully, walking around with a cloud in your head. I dunno.

I haven't even taken my pictures off my phone yet, and there are too many clouds in my brain to really look back, process, and put into words the experiences of the past few weeks, but I do want to write something.

So, how about this: While on vacation and pooping around on twitter, pretty much the only social media I posted on (albeit at a normal rate for me, which is to say not all that much), I saw that some people are planning to launch a new, cartridge based "retro" system. Not something that you can plug your old SNES or Genesis games into, but a new system that plays its own games. The RetroVGS (Video Game System. Creative, yeah?). The Kickstarter should be up in about a month from now, and we'll see what they can do to convince people this is a good idea. I mean, it sounds nice in theory. A kind of hip, retro-ish system made and supported by fans that will be mainly (/all?) indie titles. Could be cool, but considering how limited in run it and its games could in all likelihood be, I could also see it turning into a system with a cult, yes, but elitist following made of mostly serious collectors. I could also see games selling out quickly and/or being preorder only, resulting in with crazy resale prices afterwards.

Hopefully I'm wrong about that last part, but that's all gonna depend on how successful the thing is. If the system and it's games stay reasonably priced and accessible, the RetroVGS could be an interesting system with a lot of potential. We'll see! I'll be following the kickstarter and press surrounding it closely, so I'll expect I'll be writing about it here again in the near future.

Well, I got back from the States last night. Sorry about the long absence! I thought that with my new phone being as easy to use as it is, I might actually bust out an entry or two while abroad, but obviously that didn't happen. I love breaking away from my normal habits and routines while on vacation and I just couldn't get myself to log in.

Disneyland was super fun (albeit hot and PACKED), Lake Tahoe super relaxing, and cats super soft. The food was super delicious and wine was super...flowy? I am feeling refreshed and really motivated to just, I dunno, do things to better myself. This was part one of my I'M (ALMOST) 30 celebrations and I had a lot of things to ponder over and was able to do so in a largely positive way.

As per normal, it hasn't really sunk in that I am back. I've got till Wednesday to sort of chilll, and I'm pretty sure I should be making a point to get out a bit and feel 1) the city and 2) normal rhythms of life.

I feel like there is so much to talk about, from vacation happenings to personal junk to REALLY EXCITING NERDY STUFF, but that will have to wait until later. I hope you all are well!

I. AM. FINISHED. WITH. WORK. All in all it was a slow last week. Our normal kids were gone in place of a week of summer intensive classes, but I didn't have to teach many of them.

I went out last night with some coworkers from one of my schools last contract. That school had a really good year when I was there and got some money as a prize from HQ, so they took us out in celebration. It was only five of us in the end, so they decided to take us to a premium yakiniku (Korean BBQ, basically) place. Our course was 7,000 yen per person. 7,000 YEN. Never would have gotten that on my own cuz I am too cheap so hooray for going on someone else's dime. The meat, as you can imagine, was otherworldly.

Afterwards we went to Karaoke for an hour and a half or so. I can't even remember the last time I went to Karaoke...but it was at least two years ago. It was fun! Got to sing Utada Hikaru and Shiina Ringo and Judy and Mary, but that's all I really sing in such situations anyway I guess.

So anyway, I am mildly hung over today. Just need a shower, some water, and a good poop and I should be set though. It's that kind. Which is good, cuz I got stuff to do! Today I need to do laundry, buy souvenirs, PACK, and do silly but important preparations like putting more music on my phone and perhaps some books on my kindle. Also promised Katsushi we could go out to lunch, cuz I dunno, I'll be gone for a while and feel like we should do something special.

And as a closing note I most def had a dream I was friends with benefits with Seungri uhhhhghghgh. I don't really care about Big Bang much anymore, but still kinda love dat boy.

Less than a week until I'm on a plane to California! I am excited, but at the same time it still isn't really feeling real?

We went to see the new Pixar movie, Inside Out, on Sunday as it had just come out. Loved it and definitely cried on two or three occasions. Also had NO idea Amy Poehler was voicing Joy beforehand, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Monday I got new glasses! Got one weak pair with "PC Lenses" (aka lenses that cut supposedly harmful blue LED light) for computer/games/general around the house time, and a stronger pair at regular strength for work and being out an about. The weaker pair is in this style in black, which is a bit of an image change for me, but they look good on me. Makes me feel a bit older? My stronger glasses are in this style in brown. Similar to what I've been wearing over the years, but the lenses are a bit bigger than usual (same with the weak ones, actually). So a slight image change, but not as major.

Katsushi and I have been watching my favorite Japanese drama, Suika, over the past week or so. Tonight we will watch the final episode. Watching it is a summer tradition of mine and this is Katushi's first time with it (last summer they released books of the script and I read those instead of watching, so he didn't have the opportunity our first summer living together) and he loves it as well. Glad to be able to share the love.

Speaking of Suika, over the weekend I picked up a collection of essays by Kobayashi Satomi, the lead actress of the show. I'm planning on reading it over vacation. Should make for perfect lake-side material!

Couldn't really enjoy my sick day like I was hoping, because honestly I felt worse than I thought and experienced another bout of fever. Sick days aren't really supposed to be fun anyway, just my past handful of them were related to me losing my voice during a cold, making it impossible to teach but feeling fine otherwise. Got used to that sick day = I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT sort of mentality, but that all goes away when you have a 100 fever and can't sweat. But whatever, I am actually okay now. Back at work and feeling normal.

My recovery was sped up a bit, perhaps, by a typhoon blowing through and cooling things down a bit. There was lots of wind on Thursday and a downpour on Friday. Felt like a nice break from the heat.

I ended up backing Shenmue III on Kickstarter yesterday, finally. Knew I would do it. Haven't actually finished the first OR second one, but oh well. Maybe I'll get back to them (from the kickstarter looks like I have about 2.5 years to do so?), but if I don't the game is supposed to come with "cinema shorts" summarizing the first two, so we are probably all good. The Kickstarter is into its final two hours, so I've got the countdown twitch stream running in the background hoping they will do something interesting (NO LUCK SO FAR THOUGH).

Just one more shift at work until the weekend! Can't wait! Unlike the past few weeks I don't really have any social plans, but I'm looking forward to it. Just want to rest up. Inside Out came out today in Japan and I want to try and see that, but otherwise I just want to lay low and relax. Oh, and I should probably get on my trip preparations because OH YEAH I LEAVE FOR THE STATES IN LIKE 10 DAYS. Still haven't been able to fully process that yet.

Monday after I updated, Katsushi and I went to the movies to see Bakemono no Ko (Official English title: The Boy and the Beast), Hosoda Mamoru's new film. Katsushi and I both weren't sure we would like it from the trailer, but Hosoda is a solid director that we both enjoy and we should have just had faith, because it was a pretty decent movie. Definitely exceeded my expectations. Doesn't hit hard emotionally like Wolf Children does, but still a fun, summer-y kind of movie.

After work on Tuesday I started to feel really bad. At first I thought it was food poisoning or something, but turns out it was (mild?) heat stroke. This is the first time it's ever happened to me and man, I need to make sure it doesn't happen again because I felt pretty damn miserable.

I am feeling better than yesterday, though. My body is back to correctly regulating it's body temperature, but I slept terribly and my body is still mildly achey, so I canceled my Japanese lesson for this morning and called out sick at work (as soon as the words "heat stroke" crossed my lips the people in personnel were like "STAY HOME STAY HOME"). Just gonna stay inside my air conditioned apartment all day long and rest up, because today is supposed to be another scorcher.

This is my first sick day in a good, long while. It's terrible but I'm also kind of looking forward to it. Time flows differently on sick days, don't you think? Have no idea what I'm going to do with myself.

First off: WE GOT TICKETS TO THE MARIO 30TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT.

Secondly: Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, has passed away. Really sad, but it makes the events of the past few years make sense. He was obviously seriously ill, despite the fact it was never talked about directly to the public. Sad news. I really liked him. Rest in Peace, Iwata-san. (Just heard about this as I was finishing up the entry, but thought it should be mentioned. Perhaps I will write about this more later when I have the time to organize my thoughts.)

Saturday night I took some staff members at one of my schools to my local Okinawan restaurant. It was a lot of fun! The food and spirits were amazing as usual, and I got to hear a lot about what goes on behind the scenes.

Sunday Katsushi and I went to Costco with Melissa and her husband Keita. We both had Costco memberships in the past but let them expire, and recently decided to just share one (since each card allows two additional guests, it works out pretty well). Didn't get much, but all of what I did get was exciting. Split some brownie bites and Pace Picante sauce (I KNOW IT'S TRASH SALSA BUT I DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER CHOICE. FRESH IS HARD TO COME BY HERE) with Melissa, then got some pretzel rolls (UNF) and...HUMMUS! HUMMUS! THEY FINALLY CARRY HUMMUS! I have been waiting so long for this. SO LONG.

The rest of Sunday was spent kinda just lazing around and eating and playing games. And talking about games, can I say what an anomaly Persona 4: Dancing All Night is? Feels like a game that shouldn't exist, but I am really glad it does. The contrast between the uber poppy, anime visuals and the legit electronic remixes (they got a bunch of well known Japanese DJs to contribute tracks) is so over the top and ridiculous but also awesome? This is a game fully aware of how campy it is, and that makes everything SO MUCH BETTER.

( Cut for MUSIC! )

Current Mood: tired but happy

I read Earnest Cline's first book, Ready Player One, a couple years back and thought it was fun, summer-blockbuster-ish fare. Nothing deep, but silly and enjoyable. Perfectly paired with popcorn, and maybe a notepad so you could look up some of the 80s stuff it was referencing afterwards. He has a new book coming out in a few days, and ohhh man, this review kinda rips it apart for overbearing nostalgia pandering and glorification of "gamers". It is a fantastic read and I suggest that you check it out, even if you aren't interested in the book. Love the conclusion: ( Ouch )

Oh, nostalgia. How I love you, but how damaging you can be. I have definitely spent some time thinking about this before. Nothing is wrong with nostalgia in theory, but how much is too much? How to we define what is simple appreciation and enjoyment, and what is just trying to recapture what can't be recaptured about our youth? Where do we draw that line? I want to appreciate the past and not be stuck in it, but I think I often am. How do we keep that appreciation while not letting it hinder us moving forward?

In other silly news:

1) WEATHER. We had a hot May, a cool June, and a cool first week of July, but as of yesterday we are officially into the icky part of summer. It's hot and the humidity is so high it feels like we're all swimming through the air. And when I took the trash to the curb this morning I heard the cry of the Cicadas for the first time this year. SUMMER IS HERE. *cries*

2) Last week Nintendo had a sale on refurbished 2DSes on their online store, and the price was so good I ordered one. I'll pick it up when I'm on holidays. Got a Crystal Blue model, one of those very game boy-ish, semi-transparent plastic models they released over the holidays. I've been thinking about doing this for a year or so, and am so excited! Now I can finally play US region, English 3DS games! Gonna have to stock up on Adventure Time and indie eShop games when I'm home in the States! Anyone have any suggestions? We don't get, like, ANY of the western indie titles here. What do I need to check out?

3) So completely out of the loop that I didn't know Depeche Mode and Kate Bush had new albums out? And by new I mean released in the last 5 years, sorry. I don't know how to music anymore. Anyway, gotta look into getting those!

4) I have icon'd my favorite Estelle face. ALL IS WELL.

So the day has passed both here and in the homeland, but better late than never. To my MERCAN friends, Happy Independence Day! Hope your day was full of fireworks and BBQ sauce and FREEDOM.

We had a pseudo-celebration at home after I got back from work on Satuday. Made awkward, fake tacos (no taco shells so we baked gyoza wrappers, no taco mix so we used tandori spice mix) and salsa and pizza and MEAT and beer. Then afterwards we watched one of my favorite movies, Addams Family Values. LOVE THAT MOVIE SO MUCH. The cast is just too perfect. UGH.

My Sunday was mostly spent out of the house. My rich private student on Tuesdays invited me, another teacher, and five staff members to her house and we were treated to A FEAST. Had super fancy bento boxes (not normal fare, but Kaiseki level stuff), somen, sukiyaki, and homemade umeshu (plum wine). For desert there was watermelon + other fruits, ice cream topped with espresso, and a variety of cakes and cookies. It was a bit awk at times and I couldn't quite fully relax (YAY BOUNDARIES BETWEEN WORK AND PRIVATE LIFE), but the food was amazing so I can't really complain, can I?

Tomorrow is my work-sponsored health check, which is why I am still up and writing a journal entry at this hour. I can't eat before and my appointment isn't until 2pm, so my goal is to stay up late so I can sleep in tomorrow and minimize hungry-time.

In a mix of excitement for my upcoming trip back home and perhaps just feelings of over saturation with Japanese pop culture/interests (this has been happening to me on occasion here. It's just so readily available and everything becomes an excuse to improve/keep up my Japanese that sometimes I find myself in too deep and in need of relief), I've been craving a bit of western pop culture. Mostly the movies of my childhood (SUDDEN NEED TO WATCH SISTER ACT) and, like, Depeche Mode.

I finished up Trails in the Sky Second Chapter tonight, and the ending was just so damn cute. I love Estelle so much. Second Chapter was overall better than First Chapter. AND DEAR LORD WAS IT LONGER. Why is almost every game I'm playing this year like 80 hours? DX Still have Third Chapter to tackle, but I need a break. I am all Trails in the Sky'd out for now.

SOCIAL/FOOD/WEEKEND STUFF SUMMED UP SUPER QUICKLY: Saturday went out straight after work and ate Thai food with Melissa and our new friend Preeti. We went to a little Thai/Malaysian place Preeti and her husband go to all the time and the food was fantastic. FANTASTIC! The next day I went with a mutual friend to see my friend Akiyo and her husband. We went to their house and had Oden and chatted and drank wine for hours. It was so nice. SO NICE. Monday Katsushi and I walked to Esaka and had Korean food for the first time in AGES. Had avocado and cheese bibimbap that was AMAZING.

Been thinking a lot about life. Reminding myself of the perhaps cliche but true saying that people are a sum of their experiences. Using my approaching 30th as an excuse to reprioritize, I want to work on this more. I am a homebody and naturally introverted and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I feel like I need to work on balance.

Also been thinking more about my future as far as work goes. I thought about this too much last summer, to the point of depression. But last time I was focused too much on the traditional meaning of success ($$$) and what other people would think of me (status?), but this time I want to avoid that at all costs. I guess that is tough, but I dunno. Somewhere in the past 3 months I actually have seen the seeds of interest in something just kind of come out of nowhere, completely from within myself. Maybe it was always there, I just never gave it the attention for it to flourish? All I know is that it is completely mine and uninfluenced by anyone (this part is extremely important for me). I haven't talked about it to anyone yet (not even Katsushi), but it might be a topic to breach when I am home over the summer holidays. It would involve more schooling, for sure.

Put my name in for the pre-order raffle to this 30th Super Mario Brother's Anniversary Concert. Send me your good vibes, everyone! I'd love to go, but have no idea how popular this is going to be and therefore don't know my chances of landing a ticket. Thought it might be nice to celebrate my 30th with Mario, and they are hinting at a guest appearance by Mr. Miyamoto, which would be AWESOME.

GAMES GAMES GAMES: I got my preorders of Fire Emblem If and P4: Dancing All Night In. I've played them a bit, but not enough to make solid impressions. FE seems good and if nothing else the music in P4 is phenomenal, but I don't know much about the games yet. First I need to focus on finishing Trails in the Sky SC. I'm in the final dungeon and need to finish that first! Not in too much of a rush, because I am pretty sure these two new games will keep me busy for a good long while anyway. Who cares if I have to wait another week or so?

Slowly warming up to the new Big Bang stuff. Let's blame my emotional state this weekend after the gay marriage thing. Because that makes sense. Somehow. But really it does. I was recently thinking about my general lack of gay role models throughout my life, and how in my early to mid twenties these boys somehow became a kind of replacement for that. Weird, but it happened.

I've been looking at houses back home since my mom sent me that link. Depressing torture, perhaps, but I can dream, right? I'd love to have a home (or something that really feels like it?) of my own someday. Just don't know where it would be or what shape it would take.

Feeling like I want to cut back on internet use lately. Feel like I waste a lot of my mornings just bumbling around the web doing nothing. Like, I'll get my laptop to browse/check things while eating breakfast/drinking coffee at 8:30 or so and then suddenly it will be 11:30 and my morning will be gone. I need to give myself better things to do in the AM and should be more vigilant about making sure lazy internet time is limited.

Going with this line of thought, I decided to get off my ass and sell my Wii and old 3DS this morning! I was putting it off because I knew I had to set up the Wii one more time to revert it to factory settings (I'd soft modded it to play imports and emulators, so I needed to erase the evidence) and just couldn't be bothered, but today I was like NOPE JUST DO IT. Took them both to my local shop afterwards and bam! Gone! Unfortunately Wiis aren't worth much anymore, but I did get a pretty fair price for the 3DS. Now I have another thing crossed off my summer to do list and little extra money in pocket. Hurrah!

In other random news, a friend tagged me in a "Top 6 Album" meme thing on tumblr and I have no idea how to handle it. 6 is a weird number and my music tastes have changed so much over the years and so have my favorites. How do I even answer? 6 influential albums over the course of my life? My 6 favorite right now? I have no idea how to choose and honestly I'm kind of in a phase of life where I don't really think about music in that way. Don't really want to rank stuff, so maybe I should just skip it. But the person who tagged me is a person I really liked from the the LJ days and we've sort of been falling out of contact since she went tumblr-only. I really appreciate that she thought of me so I kind of want to do it just so she knows that. ~Dilemma~

Also, I guess same-sex marriage will be an option in the new Fire Emblem game. Pretty cool, but when you read the article it seems it is actually pretty limited. There are only two gay characters you can partner with. One guy, one girl, and they are in different versions of the game. Better than nothing, and it is nice that Nintendo is acknowledging the need for this, I just worry that the characters will be the kind of yuri/BL tropes/stereotypes that are not actually representational of and made for queer people themselves, but rather made to cater to the fantasies of straight young people (side note, but this is why I usually don't touch yaoi). Anyway, gonna hope for the best and take the gay marriage routes anyway. Hopefully the gay characters will prove popular and create more demand for such options.

I was super exhausted after work on Saturday. Don't think it was an exceptionally tough week, more a result of not so great sleep thanks to a mix of humidity and E3 excitement (on that note I am SO GLAD it is over).

Sunday we had ramen for lunch. After that Katsushi went back to his mom's house for a bit and I stayed at home and rested a bit and played some Splatoon. Trying not to play the game TOO often so that I can enjoy it for a long time. Biggest achievement of the day was getting myself to a high enough level so that I could buy my avatar glasses like in my icon. YESSS.

Sunday I did some errands in the morning, heading to Esaka so I could drop in at Uniqlo so I could get some shorts and cross something off my summer to do list. When I got back we ordered take out pizza for lunch! Saw a really tasty looking summer Dominos special on a TV show last week and had to try it: a cajun chicken and tom yam kung half and half! (link to my twitter, sorry. Too lazy to upload elsewhere right now) It was SUPER GOOD.

After that I went out for a bit again. No point this time, just wanted to get in more steps. Ever since I updated my phone I've been checking the pedometer on the health app and feeling like I should walk more. Most days I average at 4,500ish, but yesterday I was like NO, YOU WILL DO 10,000! And I did (11,500 actually). Best part was that I totally ran into Melissa on her way home from grocery shopping! We chatted for a bit and then she took me to the place she and her husband just moved into. It's so nice! Really made me want a bigger place. I also saw she had a bunch of Terry Pratchett books so was like "Oh, are you a fan of his? I've never read any of his books" and she just looked at her collection, grabbed one, and was like "HERE. READ IT." So now I have a book to read!

Back to work this morning. Here's to hoping it's a decent week. Work aside, I have expectations for the rest. This week two games I've had preordered for months are getting released, and I've got some fun stuff planned for the weekend. Yay!

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