I will still be stopping by here to post whatever is not MH related.

This week I am focusing on finishing up old adventures and perhaps starting new ones!

WII

If you were to look in my Wii right now you would see Monster Hunter Tri. I am currently in the process of NOTHING! I have this game pretty much complete! I am Hunter Rank 69 with awesome weapons and armors. I might go back and work on an equipment set here or there but for now I just hang out with my sister online and do random quests.

I plan to start playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess very soon. Yes, I know, I am very late to that party. Hopefully it is as good as the reviews claim it is!

PLAYSTATION 3

Fallout New Vegas is in my PS3 at this very moment! However, if you read my last blog you would know that I am currently stuck in a casino thanks to a freezing problem my game seems to have. (Thanks Bethesda, patch please.)  I have been rocking out on Rock Band 3 for some time now.  Great addition to the Rock Band series, though it would be better with more keyboard supported songs and if you could play guitar, bass and keyboard online with friends all at the same time. (Big fail there! Fix it!) Also, waiting 30 days longer than the 360 crowd to get the new Freezepop DLC is not cool. I have mastered “keys” (NOT pro keys) up to hard and I can still play guitar/bass on expert. Nothing has stopped me…yet. Singing and drums I save for my band mates!

I plan to start playing Last Rebellion very soon, especially since I may not be able to go back to Fallout New Vegas. LB has gotten HORRIBLE reviews, but I am still curious about it. Expect a future review of my own for this game.

XBOX 360

Fable! Fable! Fable! That is all the action my 360 has gotten lately. WAIT! Not true, I did play Geometry Wars a bit last night. I love that friggen’ game and I still have hopes on getting a high score of a million some day. I am currently stuck at about 550k!

As I mentioned above I have been cracking down on Fable: The Lost Chapters and I am getting damn close to the end , which is good because then I can finish up Fable II, which will lead to me starting Fable III! I have so many unfinished games on my 360 that I can hardly justify starting another one…which is why I am making myself beat 2 games before I start another one. That is progress…

…right?

NINTENDO DS

Though my DS has not been played in a very long time, if you were to look in it you would see Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift. Why did I stop playing this game!? Just writing about it makes me want to go back in finish it. MY ARMY SHALL RISE AGAIN! Aww, cute little moogles.

On the topic of the DS, I was in Toys R Us this past weekend and they had Phantasy Star Ø for only $20! Talk about tempting. I am STILL thinking I might go pick it up. Why didn’t I!? GAH! It was the last copy! What if it is gone now!? Crap.

PSP

Metal Gear Solid: PeaceWalker has been in my PSP for some time now. I have watched the intro and have “kinda” started it but not yet. Why? Simple, I think of PeaceWalker, then I get to thinking about how it has a whole Monster Hunter side quest or something in it. Then I get to thinking of Monster Hunter. …then I start playing Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. It is quite the vicious cycle.

THE END

So there you have it. The games I have been playing. I plan to go into more depth on a few of these games in future blogs throughout the week. Until then, thanks for reading!

**Since this is my very first Currently Playing please let me know what you thought of it and if I should make this a weekly type thing. I am trying to come up with a better, less boring title, LOL! Also feel free to let me know what games you have been playing, and any other comments/suggestions below!**

I have been playing Fallout: New Vegas for some time now. It is the has the same great addicting game play that Fallout 3 had however…

I saw on FaceBook and in a few reviews that it had technical issues, glitches, freezing and all the other random issues we have come to expect from Bethesda game. I figured I just got lucky as I have had very few problems. Sure there were a few quests I could not finish because of some glitch but nothing completely game breaking. Then I decided to start gambling, I got kicked out of multiple casinos for winning too much! Hahaha, my luck stat is at 8, which pretty much means I win the jack pot within 10-20 turns of the slot machines. (Finally got enough money to get all the implants!)  I was running out of casinos when I decided to hit up the Ultra-Luxe and the freaky White Glove Society.

I walked into the casino and instantly looked for the slot machines…which I could not find. So instead I wandered the hotel. I came across a few quests and figured I should give them a go while I was there. I don’t want to spoil anything but one of these quests really caught my attention. I was running from hotel, to casino, to restaurant, and back, all over the place to get more information for this quest. I was getting close to the end of the quest and I needed to decide if I was going to side with the “good” side or the “bad” side. The final confrontation was approaching!!!

…then my game froze.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. Luckily the game had auto-saved not to far before that. I restarted the game and accidentally messed up by attacking someone I was trying to save, without me noticing the game auto-saved.

…then my game froze.

I restarted my game to find myself being attacked by the person I was trying to save. Insta-death or at least it would have been instead…

…my game froze.

I had to go back to my save from about an hour ago and try the quest over. So I did that, back to all the running around and gathering information. I was kinda happy I restarted the quest because I was talking to more people and getting even more information. Finally I got to the final confrontation again!

…then my game froze.

I tried maybe switching my armor. Thinking somehow that might help.

…my game froze.

I tried changing my weapon.

…my game froze.

I tried going into 3rd person.

…my game froze.

I tried walking very slowly, not bringing up any menus and taking my time.

…my game froze.

I tried to fast travel away, unfortunately I was in a building so I had to make my way out of it first.

…my game froze.

I tried blowing on my game disc and restarting.

…my game froze.

Finally I came to a solution. I turned off my PS3, turned on my 360 and played some Fable!

I must say I am disappointed and I want a fix NOW. Why must Bethesda release broken games!? I am hooked on Fallout NV yet I cannot play it. I tried to get past that quest again this morning and all I got was a frozen game so I am stuck. Unless anyone out there has any ideas on how to get out of the Ultra-Luxe? I will come back and finish the quest when they release a patch or something…

Right now if you looked in my PS3 you would see Fallout: New Vegas. Excellent game. Should I be good or bad? Should I join this faction? Should I kill my partner to finish the quest or kill the quest giver? Should I get those implants? (LOL)

In my 360 right now is the original Fable. Should I be good or evil? Should I just focus on the main story or check out the side quests? Do I want to get married or buy a house?

Decisions, decisions, decisions! I love these games but I have one problem with them. Open world RPGs STRESS ME OUT! What if I make the wrong decision? What if I piss some game character off and miss out on something completely awesome!? What if I accidentally kill someone who I was not supposed to kill? Or, like I did in Fallout 3, what if I explore too much and miss a giant chunk of the story?  I get so overwhelmed with “What Ifs” that I get to a point where I do not want to continue because I have this fear I might do the wrong thing.

Why do I care so much!? Most often I tell myself I will play the game a second time, be evil, and explore all the “What ifs” but that is only if I make it through the first time! THE STRESS IS SO INTENSE. It makes the games addicting, but I hate laying in bed, falling asleep and wondering….Should I trust this faction, I mean I might be able to use them in the future. I may want to just kill them though in case they turn against me for some reason, that way they are already dead. Maybe I should just ignore them all together? What if I leveled up and got my speech as high as possible, could I get everyone to get along? Screw that, I will just kill them all. Holy balls, I am insane.

I will blame all my mental agony on excellent writing and the game developers creating worlds I actually care about. I don’t want to see my characters or allies die! I don’t want to see the world destroyed! (…at least on my first play through.)  I want to do everything right, but it is not black and white (Well,  Fable kinda is…) it is grey! How do I know what the “right” thing to do is!?

So now, I am stressing about all my stressing, LOL! Anyone else feel the same? Have you ever stopped playing a game just because you did not want to make the wrong decision? Am I just crazy and take it all to seriously!?

I have talked about my mom and our somewhat complicated relationship in the past. However, I have rarely mentioned my Dad. So what about him?

He makes my mom look AWESOME, LOL! See, I love my Dad. He is a total goofball. If you are my friend on Facebook, you may have seen his posts. No, he cannot spell. Yes, he types in all capital letters, not because he is yelling but because he cannot see. “LEAVEING MONDAY DEER NEXT EAT MY ARROW” is a typical status of his. (Yes, I did just copy and paste that.) He breeds chihuahuas. He has a chihuahua named Bear and a Chihuahua named Peanut. They had a puppy. It’s name is Beanut. That is just how my Dad rolls. Oh and he gives his chihuahuas mo-hawks.

You might be picturing in your head a typical stereotype father. Well replace that with a little Mexican man, in snake boots, a cowboy hat and a DENIM EXPLOSION! (Yes, that is denim jeans, denim shirt, and denim jacket.) …that’s my dad!

So those are my parents, I got to thinking about them and wondering if I would ever be like…that. It happened while I was looking for something to wear in my dresser and instead I found 3 big boxes of candy. My secret stash! I have no idea when I got this candy or why I hid it. It is just something I do.  It is something my Dad does. He hides candy everywhere! Under the couch cushion, in the bathroom, in the car, in the freezer, everywhere! He used to go to the store just to get more “N-R-N-R-P.” What the hell is N-R-N-R-P? Yeah, I used to wonder that as well. N-R-N-R-P is code for candy. He couldn’t just say “I am going to go to the store to get some candy.” because then he would have 4 kids begging to come with and get some for themselves.  I remember him saying N-R-N-R-P and me trying to figure out what the heck he was spelling or what each letter stood for. I eventually realized it meant candy but that took years!

As an adult I don’t really view my parents the same way I did when I was younger. My parents are just people, very odd people, but people just the same. I do not think I will follow in their footsteps and live they way they live, however, I do believe that over time I will pick up some of their “dorkyness.” (That is, if I already haven’t…) My parents can still teach me things despite the fact that I am 25. My dad goes hunting and uses a bow. How cool is that!? I would love to learn how to do that. My mom, umm, well I honestly can’t think of anything could could teach me. I suppose you could say she has made a lot of mistakes in her life and I have defiantly learned from them. I know what I do not want to become and that is thanks to her. That sounds harsh, but I believe even she would agree.

So I ask you, are your parents dorks? They say we turn into our parents, do you see that happening to you? Are you already a dorky parent?

*looks at her hidden candy and her awesome lawn gnome*

…oh crap.

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,500 times in 2010. That’s about 8 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 4 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 39 posts. There were 8 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 4mb.

The busiest day of the year was June 2nd with 156 views. The most popular post that day was Dagger’s Moving! No, It’s Not Deja Vu!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were astardly.wordpress.com, jane1981.wordpress.com, 1jmac.wordpress.com, facebook.com, and niac.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for monster hunter tattoo, monster hunter, monster hunter tattoos, monster hunter cosplay, and c++ is awesome.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Dagger’s Moving! No, It’s Not Deja Vu! June 2010
13 comments

Monster Hunter Tattoos! July 2009
14 comments

C++ is Awesome! October 2009
12 comments

Plastic Stars February 2010
9 comments

Home Sweet Home July 2010
12 comments and 3 Likes on WordPress.com

Puck Warning!

We started the night by riding the metro (Not as scary as I expected) to Chinatown. We got there rather early and spent a good majority of the time just walking around. There was a sea of red everywhere you looked. At one point there was a swarm of grown men in red dresses running down the sidewalk, that was quite the scene, LOL! I wish I would have taken a picture or two but I just stood there completely stunned.

China Town before the game!

After wasting some time walking around and eating a little delicious sandwich snack we headed to the Verizon Center! I did not know what to expect at all, when we got to our seats I was surprised how high we were! Not being a fan of heights, it made me a little nervous. I have pictures but you cannot really tell how high it is in them.

Great view!

We got there about 40 or so minutes early. While waiting for the game to start I sent in a text hoping to get my message on the big screen. It was awesome when I saw it! Awww!

Awww

The game started and it was perfect! The first period did not go so well. However that just made us truly appreciate the amazing 2nd period! (4 GOALS!) Then the 3rd period, HOLY DAMN! It was all going well. The Capitals were up 7-2. The Devils did not like that much. At around 5 minutes left on the clock it was fight, fight, FIGHT! The announcer did not even have time to announce who was involved and who got a penalty before the next fight broke out, right off the face-off!

LOL! No, they are not giving eachother hugs! Look at all those gloves!

It was amazing, fans yelling, gloves on the ice, coaches yelling at each other, this really was a once in a lifetime game! I have only been watching hockey for about a year but this was the first time I had ever seen anything like this and I was there, IN PERSON! YES! We could not have picked a better game to go to!

7 Penalty minutes! LOL! One minute for each goal the Caps scored!

After watching the game and being there, feeling the energy and excitement, I am so hooked on hockey. Growing up we were not allowed to watch sports. (Though my Dad would sneak and watch boxing or WCW, LOL) I never thought I would ever like any sport, I was brainwashed not too. Hockey is not just a sport though, it is an experience. I know that sounds so so so ridiculous, but I can trash talk with my buddies (Hi George, how are the Fail Whales doing so far this year? Penguins lost last night, can’t say I am surprised. Should be noted the Caps won…again!) and I can sit next to Seth on the couch and scream at the TV like an idiot and have a blast! LOL! Though, I do not think I have gotten quite to the screaming at the TV level…yet. Though when games are tied, like last night, I might get a little carried away. LOL! I can barely watch it is so stressful!

So yeah, I am now a hockey fan. I want a Knuble jersey, I have my fantasy hockey picks before each game, and I say words like “biscuit,” “zebra,” and “deke.”

Go Capitals, eh! LOL!

For more pics, or to see those ones bigger you can check out my Photobucket or Facebook!

Sadly living here has cost me a few good friends. They see me as being selfish, doing what I want to do with my life, even if it does not include them. For the most part they are right, but living here has just been amazing, I am happy and I have a feeling it will continue to feel this way for a very long time. Perhaps someday they will understand that I needed to be selfish in order to grow up and take a different path. I needed to do it on my own. I am happy with all my decisions and regret nothing I have said or done. My hope is that they feel the same.

My days consist of interviews, applications, playing MH with Scout, talking with the cat, sneaking into my secret candy stash, doing household junk like dishes and laundry, but mostly waiting for the minute Seth gets home. I lived in my apartment all by myself for 5 years and never noticed what I was missing out on. In fact, I never thought I would be able to live with anyone, but Seth and I are so much alike we both want to do the same things, I never feel like my time or space is being invaded. We have not fought about anything. (…yet? LOL) Sure there has been some outside stress, but nothing we haven’t be able to handle. I help out financially where/when I can and we both talk each other out of buying new games on our trips to GameStop.  I watch him cook, in hopes that one day I will be able to make HIM dinner. We have coffee every morning and ice cream every night.  We go to sleep together, we wake up together. Our relationship just works amazingly well and I could not ask for more!

His kids have pretty much gotten used to me being around. A few days ago for the first time it was just them and me for an hour and a half while Seth was at work. I spent the time kicking their butts at checkers and chess. I *think* they like me, even though I did not let them win. (n00bs, LOL) They defiantly are a handful but rather entertaining!

I am very much looking forward to having a job. You can only sit around so much before you go crazy. Plus I cannot help but feel guilty while Seth goes to work every day and I do not. He says I shouldn’t, but I just do! I try to distract myself with house work and job interviews/applications. I could just play games all day and work on my backlog, but that, to me, is just not fair. I probably over think it all like I do a lot of things, lol! Thankfully, yesterday I had a GREAT interview. It was for a part time job that mostly consists of Clerical/Admin work with very good pay! I lucked out on the interview when I found out the person interviewing me was from Sioux City, IA! I passed the typing test with 99% accuracy and was given a tour of the building! The interview lasted over an hour and a lot of that time was filled with chit chat! It felt really comfortable and I have high hopes that I will have this job by the end of the month! I was told my start date would be the 26th of July, IF I get the job that is. I have not stopped with interviews/applications though and I will not until I am employed.

The good thing about having interviews, besides the potential jobs,  is they  force me to have to drive in this area. Thank God for GPS on my phone as I get lost every freaking time I am driving. I had to find the DMV, which is 1.6 miles away, 3 simple turns. It took me about an hour to finally find it, LOL! I am starting to recognize street names and landmarks though and each time I venture out I get more comfortable with the traffic. One day I will probably not even notice and traffic in VA will become like being stuck behind tractors was in IA. You just get used to it.

I hope everyone is doing as well as I am and has a great 4th of July weekend, unless you are Canadian…then just have a good regular weekend, LOL! Aww, my first real holiday in VA! I bet they have awesome fireworks here!

Now that I am 24, I rarely buy lemons or yogurt and I don’t really like gum anymore. I also drive a silver car and live 30 miles away from Kylee! However the biggest change is, instead of living on the West coast I will be moving East!

“What!? Dagger’s moving!? …yeah, we have heard that before…”

LOL, all of you shush! I know I was going to move before, but I had a job which was hard to leave and I decided to start working on my Computer Science degree. Well, as off April 16th I have been laid off and school…well… To be honest I am not happy with the school here. I LOVED my first semester! I was learning, it was a challenge, it was new and it was exciting, but my second semester was a joke. We started about a month late, due to my instructor being ill (I know not his fault, but I still had to pay for that month…) we also ended 2 weeks early (Yep, still paid…) out of pure laziness on my instructor’s part. They felt we were “done.”  In class we did nothing. Sure sometimes we worked on codes and whatnot, but most of the time it went something like this:

Go to class.

Start working on a code.

Half the class gets confused. (Literally the left side of the room just did not get it and did not try to understand.)

Instructor helps out the confused people instead of leaving them to, I don’t know, READ THE CHAPTER.

Rest of the class plays games on Facebook.

Repeat.

Or we would have the days when our instructor would go on tangents and get completely lost. We would spend our class time looking up stuff on google because he would start some code or script that was way beyond us, confuse the hell out of the left side of the room while the right side of the room tried to figure out what the heck he was saying, only for him to end the class with a “You don’t really need to know this right now. We’ll cover it next year.”

I did  enjoy my web programming class, but the expectations in that class were so low it was silly. Same with my graphic design class. I probably went to graphic design 8 or 9 times total. I turned all my work in the last week. The instructor replied that she loved it all, good job, yadda yadda. Well I looked at what I had sent her and I accidentally zipped completely EMPTY folders with NOTHING in them…I had a %133 in that class for a final grade.

I know I was going to a community college, which is not even on the scale with a University, but, wow, that second semester was such a disappointment. I feel like I wasted my time and money. Yes, the credits are good and yes, a 4.0 looks awesome, however when I transfer to a REAL college, will I be ready? I will be expected to have learned 2 years of Computer Science, and so far that has just not happened. I am not going to give up on getting my degree, I will be transferring to Northern Virgina Community College (NOVA)! I just hope I can keep up with the other second year students! I did not sale any of my text books (Except Elementary Algebra) so I can use them as a bit of a reference if I get lost!

As I mentioned above I was laid off as of April. The job market here is just sad. There are no jobs. Period. None. Especially now that the high school kids are taking over the gas station/McDonalds/WalMart type jobs. Not that I would want to work at any of those places, but if I stayed here those would be my only options and I would be forced to suck it up and just do it and hate it, everyday. No thanks, I will pass.  (Not putting down anyone who works a job like that. I know how shitty it is, I have done it.)

I have looked into the job market in VA and have applied for a few jobs! I got a call back on 2 of them, however, once they found out I could not come in for an interview because I lived over 1,000 miles away I got the usual, “We will keep your application on file. Feel free to call when you are settled in!” LOL! Still that is more then I would ever get here!

Moving to a new school and moving for better job opportunities are both good reasons to move, however there is one even better reason: Seth. Awww shucks, I just made myself blush like a little girl….damnit! I have been in a long distance relationship with Seth since the end of August/beginning of September and it has been amazing. You have probably seen me spend hours on PSN playing Sacred 2, Resident Evil 5, Borderlands, Dynasty Warriors…all games I have spent hundreds of hours on. Not because they are amazing games, but because I am playing them with an amazing person. It may seem at times like I have fallen off the planet, because every chance I get I just want to talk with him. Wouldn’t you want to do the same if you met the love of your life? I have spent the last months getting to know him, meeting his kids, and falling deeper in love with him.

Being apart has been insanely difficult, but it has also allowed us to build our relationship around communication and trust, both of which I have had trouble with in the past. The thought of living with him is just to good to be true. After all this time apart I know we will never take our time together for granted. Even if it is just me sitting on the couch next to him playing Monster Hunter while he plays Battlefield. The fact that we are just in the same room sends me soaring! I am pretty sure I will have a permanent big giant goofy grin on my face for a very long time.

I am also not completely naive. I know living with someone is a huge adjustment. Plus, boys have cooties and that is a big concern of mine. I am going to have to get a few of those mini cans of Lysol so I can keep them with me at all times. Seriously though, I have said it before and I still know it is true, if I stay in Iowa I will do nothing with my life. I am finally ready to say goodbye to my family, it will be tough, but it is time I started to live my own life.

Seth is flying here on June 5th, he is going to meet my family and then June 6th we are driving back to Virgina together!

So, wow, I have not posted here in forever. School, work, games, and the best boyfriend ever have been keeping me busy. Everything has been pretty awesome…well mostly. This week has been…ummm. Two weeks ago I went to the Dr  and she told me not to lose any weight. I went back to the Dr on Tuesday and I had lost 8 lbs, I am also 1/2 an inch shorter. Crap. I was told to start taking calcium and monitor what I eat until I go back to the doctor. I have been trying to eat healthy, but damn, that is expensive.

I still have no explanation as to why I am wasting away because my Dr was more concerned about something else she found,  6 tumors in my cervix. Holy damn. I also tested positive for HPV (Genetic, not STD) which increases the chance of those tumors being the C word by about majillion. (That means a shit ton)  On the 2nd of March I go back to the Dr to have them removed with …ACID! Holy damn, ouch!!! The 15th I go to a specialist and get and utlrasound done as well as other tests to see if anything has spread or if there are any other tumors.

So that was all dropped on me on Tuesday. I thought I was fine with it all, but I was pretty much a walking wreck. I feel better about it now. I mean, why worry about something I can do nothing about? Besides I have other things on my mind now…

Yesterday I got to work and was instantly told to go to my bosses office for a meeting. I went down to her office and saw the president of our company there. …oh balls. I sat at a table with My boss, the president of our company, and me. That is it! Just us three. (Yeah, I was damn nervous) It was then I was informed that our office in Sheldon will be closed down in April. I was being laid off. Crap. So come April I will have no job and probably a ton of medical bills and no insurance…yay. I will be able to collect unemployment but I am not sure how that whole process works since I am also a student. I have no idea of what to do about the medical bills. That is a tad stressful, but even if I still had my job my medical bills would be far to expensive for me to pay.

Surprisingly I am rather chipper about it all. Worrying will get me no where. Seems likes someone is trying to tell me it is time for a change. Plus, I get to drink these super tasty awesome fruit smoothies and protien shakes! (Really they are GOOD!) I also am going to VA in March and I cannot wait!

On an extra happy note school is going awesome. Keeping my 4.0! w00t! Web Design is a ton of fun as well as Linux and Data Abstraction and Structures! I seem to be breezing through them all and I can’t figure out if it is cause the classes are cake or if I am just EXTREMELY SMRT! (LOL!) I am going to go with the cake thing…