gamers get a bad rap

I think video gamers get a bad rap most of the time. Just because some kid decides to do something dangerous/homicidal and claim that a video game told him to, that doesn't mean all gamers are like that. Most games are really beneficial/have deep stories. For example.....

The Final Fantasy series - excluding a few of them, the stories are great. They really develop the characters and provide excellent backstories, even if the game is mostly about killing enemies and saving the world. Also, the few deaths that occur throughout the games are completely believable and necessary to the story, serving only to develop the characters further.

Mass Effect/Mass Effect 2 - the ability to choose how your character looks and interacts with people throughout the entire game really provides a depth of believability and the feeling that you are truly controlling the game, not merely going through the motions of a story.

Call of Duty - provides historical references and accurately depicts most WWII battles. Yes, it does involve people shooting each other, but the history lessons (and quotes included in Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2) allow kids to learn history even when they're not thinking about it.

Although I will admit there are a few games that have no benefit to society. Such as.....

Leisure Suit Larry/Playboy Mansion - 'Nuff said.

Grand Theft Auto - Yes, it's open ended, but it glorifies killing people and sleeping with hookers.

Well, that's all for now. I'm off to finish Final Fantasy 13 and most likely play some Oblivion/Fallout 3.

I am terrible at dreaming

Have you ever had any weird dreams? Would you like to know what they mean?

So would I.

I've had some strange dreams over my years. However, they're only strange in hindsight - I never thought they were weird when I was dreaming. An example: I had a dream that I was a mannequin at Sears, but I was self-aware (I could see people walking around and one kid stuck gum on my leg. That was depressing). After all the customers left, I had a rave with the other mannequins in the store. Now, this one I actually know what it means: I talked to my friend Aria about it, and she says it means that I was at an emotional standstill. No word on what the gum meant though.

I've also attempted lucid dreaming a few times - you know, where you control your dream. I am not good at this. I once, after several tries, finally made myself aware that I was dreaming, and tried to summon in dancing tubas. They appeared….and began attacking me. I guess my control of my dreams only turns them into nightmares. Because believe me, there is nothing more traumatic for a 12-year old than to be chased by dancing tubas across a tie-dye landscape in a dream. I also forgot I was dreaming when the tubas began attacking me, so that ruined all my chances for lucid dreaming.

I talked to a few of my friends about this and I've come up with a theory: People who can lucid dream will become superheroes later in life. However, the way they learn how to do it will influence the type of superhero they become. If they were born with the ability to dream lucidly, they'll be a superhero like Superman or Human Torch - born/created with the ability, requiring no skill to use. If they taught themselves how to lucid dream, they will be like Batman, using gadgets and training to fight crime. Those of us who can't lucid dream are SOL for becoming superheroes.

I suggest an alliance of non-lucid dreamers (the NLD or something). We shall band together and defeat this new menace of lucid dreamers. We shall slip into their lucid dreams and mess around with them.

Man, this turned into an anarchism speech rather than something positive about dreams. But looking back, I'm not sure how I could have turned it positive after I mentioned the tubas attacking me.

Comedians!

I've been watching Mitch Hedberg lately, and while I'm not dying from laughter, my main thought is, "Hey, I could do that! I could make witty observations about the world!"

However, I think that's the main point of comedy - to make things relatable. If comedians only talked about things that we couldn't understand (and some of them make a joke out of that) then we wouldn't like comedians. Also, comedians like Mitch Hedberg take that even deeper and provide a sort of stream-of-consciousness about whatever he's thinking about, much like you or I do in our everyday lives.

There's also the reason it's hard for new comedians to crop up - almost everything that can be talked about in a comedic form has been talked about. Airplanes? Check. Relationships? Check. Self-image? Check. Race/sex/almost anything that people would normally find offensive to talk about? Check. This is why I feel like i can't become a comedian - if I started, there would always be that group of people saying, "Hey, you're exactly like <insert comedian>! And s/he's a lot funnier!"

Heck, even doing this blog I'm not unique. I know there are plenty of other bloggers out there who are probably more responsive with posting and more alert and whatnot, so I'm probably low on the chain. But still - I'm glad you people (if there are any of you) keep coming back to me.

I won't promise that I'll start updating regularly again, but I will promise that I'll start thinking more about my blog and thinking more about posts.

p.s. This turned from a deep philosophical thought about comedians into another promise about blog posts. I really need to stop that.

p.p.s. I wrote this post in my Critical Thinking class while we were talking about terrorism.
p.p.p.s. I can't add AdSense until I turn 18. So you all get off until then.

Poetical License

Yeah, I've been absent. So what? I'm taking poetic license with it and calling it a break.

I've been going to all my classes this week and feeling like a responsible adult...and I know the cycle is only going to bring me crashing down. See, once I start feeling like I've accomplished something one week, I start feeling like I can slack off the next week. Then I feel bad, and work super hard the next week, and the cycle repeats until I die/the semester ends.

I've also been writing poetry lately (hence the clever title, HAHA!). If people are interested, I'll post a few of them online. However, first I have to write more than one.....

My parents also sent me a superfly top hat from Cirque du Soleil. I need to figure out how to post pictures on blogs, and then I'll upload one. If anyone knows how, leave me a comment and teach me. Please.