Break from Blogging Continues

BUT to let you know, I made it home safely. Also, anyone wishing to catch up on Heroes can watch all the episodes on their site.

Also, if anyone's curious, I regularly use Skype to keep in contact with people. It's a messaging program, but it allows for voice chat, so its like a telephone. And, you can even pay a subscription fee to call local and long distance phones.

A Break from Blogging

Since I'm coming home in a couple days, I probably won't have any blogs for a few weeks. After all, I'll be in regular contact with most of the people who read this.

To conclude this semester, it is awesome to be able to go to school for something I love. This semester didn't have especially challenging material, but this is just a catch-up year anyway. I won't be taking the real masters classes until next year, and when that happens, I'm sure I'll be well-challenged.

Seattle is a cool town with lots going on. Though, it is not a night city compared to most cities I hear. That is, things close earlier, as opposed to people wandering around bars til dawn. Fine by me. Seems to be a city of professionals, as well as free-thinkers. But, I've also only been here a few monthes, we'll see what I have to say as time goes.

Ok well, I'll sign off til January. Though, here's a picture I made for Facebook using their simple paint program thingy. Happy holidays from Aku and Jack!

Newspaper Taxis

Ok, well Seattle has had some weather problems, though none have really affected me. There was a good snow earlier in the week, and everyone liked that. But the next couple of days had more rain than usual, and I guess there was flooding and mudslides and stuff up north. My area was perfectly fine, though I think one of my professors had a flooded lawn. He cancelled class to clean stuff up.

All my projects are completed! With any luck, I'll be able to post videos of them on Youtube. Just got one final left, and I don't think it'll be horrible. We're also gearing up for next semester's game. It will rawk! Besides that, I just have to make it sure that I get home. Goat House will have it's first Reunion Party, though it is a half-year reunion.

If my dad doesn't mind, I may invade his new computer with game-making software so that I may work over break. I will also bring home a few things to keep me occupied, including Samurai Jack, Avatar, and a new movie by the FLCL people called Dead Leaves (it's crazy!). Also, has anyone been watching Heroes? Holy cow! Syler got some spinach! WE'RE IN TROUBLE. I am eager for the next season and the bonus Heroes : Origins, whatever that will be. Though, things are still delayed until the writer's strike is sorted out. I support the writers and everything, but this is difficult for us too.

Lego Star Wars Rawks

My battle mech is walking. My levels are rotating. A demo for next semester's game is complete. Gotta fine-tune some graphics, and get the ball rolling on a barely-started project. Tonight after class, I'm going to play Smash Bros with some people, then maybe go to an Irish Pub some others. Saturday I gotta work hard. Sunday I'll do some holiday shopping. I am currently at the peak of the semester, where the completion of my projects are within sight. Oh and next semester, my group is making one of my game ideas, because I am a game design genius.

So, winter break I actually hope to stay busy. We have a lot of design to do on the next game, and it'd be cool if we got a head start on that before classes start. I also want to work on personal projects, including some software I want to make and some of my own games. Aside from that, I should look into summer work opportunities (It is possible I'll be testing games at Nintendo), as well as getter better at the ukulele, and hopefully read a book or two. Of course, my priority over the break is to hang out with familes and friends, so it's quite possible I won't do anything else.

Oh yeah, so summer work. My preference is to stay in the area, since I'll be paying for the apartment anyway, and I'd like to spend some more time getting to know Seattle. That limits me to only a few companies that offer interships, and my only opportunity at Nintendo would be testing, which doesn't count towards my degree or anything. Still, it'd be awesome. I'd buy so much merc. However, if I get a job somewhere else (Cali has many jobs), then I imagine I'd need someone (Sam?) to fill my apartment for the summer. And, even if I am working in town, if someone (Sam?) wanted to stay over the summer to look for jobs or something, I have too much room in my apartment. We'll see what happens!

If you like games, look at this!

Turkey is murder!

And I likes it! Hope everyone fed themselves well. I baked some banana bread and ate with my cousin's family. I'll be home for winter break though (it turns out I'm flying, bussing over the holidays is too expensive, and my brother says it's not worth it anyway). I'm spending the rest of the weekend powering down some code, with frequent breaks for beach walks and cartoons. I also have eggs for cooking and a big bowl of pudding.

So my mom sent me a tapioca kit via shipmail, but she recommended I list some things people could randomly send me. I don't by any means need these things, or are in a hurry to receive them, but people could send them if say they had too many of these things or maybe wanted to test a shipping system. On this list is of course puddings, particularly tapioca or banana. Also, beef jerky, candy, granola bars (the chewey kind is best), random video games, Wii points, books, spaghettios, other snacks, etc. I also might like any fancy appliances I don't have yet, like a rice cooker, or a blender for smoothies. That's all I can think of right now. I guess if you think of something you think I'd like, just send it anyway. Or buy it for yourself and rub it in my face.

Ok, this blog is kind of a waste. My brain is pretty fried from academics, so there won't be a whole lot of blogging energy. Looking forward to unwinding in Springfield. THREE WEEKS.

Windmills do not work that way!

This is another project I finished! The background mountains and sky is a real picture, but I made the windmill and trees and ground and shanty. This one's actually an animation, so the windmill moves and the car drives around. My next project is a walking battlemech. It should be crazy! I also just finished a clipper for my renderer (it cuts off things that aren't on the screen, slightly cool and boring at the same time).

And, most importantly, I made a level editor for a 2D platformer engine I'm working on with my game group. The project isn't a finished game, just an engine by the end of the semester. I'll let you know how that goes.

I haven't talked about it yet, but when I first started biking, I accidently starting losing weight REALLY FAST. You put 10 years into a gain weight diet, and it all goes down the drain in a few monthes. And now my legs are lumpy with muscle, which I hate. Muscles are gross. But, if you are into losing weight and things like that, biking isn't a bad plan. It was really hard at first, and would even make me lose my appetite. I remember biking to my mom's over the summer and being too exhausted to finish my birthday steak. I felt horrible.

Anyway, when school started, I probably biked around 100 miles a week, but then I cut it down to about 60 miles a week. It was tough, but after 1 or 2 monthes, I could do it without being tired at all. Now I do about 40 or 50 miles a week (8 to 10 hours?), which isn't bad. The trick is to bike someplace you need to go anyway, so you don't have to decide to excerise, you have to. So, exercise bikes won't work, at least not for me. Too boring.

Geek Speak

Ok, I don't really have much to talk about this week. I just finished several projects, and am getting ready for the final wave before the semester is over. SO I'm just going to talk about geek things.

It's been a while since I've had a cartoon to rant about, but there's a new one on Cartoon Network called Chowder that is AWESOME. It is innocent, imaginative, and hilarious, three things that are difficult to combine. I think it is by someone who has had his hands in SpongeBob and the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Anyway, it's about a chubby little kid named Chowder who lives in the magical city of Marzipan where he works as an apprentice to a legendary chef. If you're into cartoons, check it out! If not, read a book!

Mario Galaxy is a lot of fun. I've been trying to take it easy, but I'm already close to the end. It's kind of like the bonus levels from Mario Sunshine, where you jump around to different platforms and do cool things. Only, you run around on tiny planets in space, and jump between them so your gravity is switched. It feels like playing in 3.5 dimensions! Moving around can be frustrating sometimes, but I think the rest of the game makes up for it.

Ok well, that's all I got for now, laters!