My Trophies

Livin it up

Lets see, what can I blog about……

I went to Rock on the Range in Columbus a few weeks ago with a couple friends of mine.  It was really awesome.  Out of 30-some bands that were there, only Korn had I ever seen live before.  Most notable for me was Saliva, Alice in Chains, Slipknot, and Motley Crue.  Korn was amazing too, but I expected that from them already.  I was also really impressed with Shinedown.  Hadn’t really gotten into them before but they put on a really good show so I may check them out more.

Alice in Chains was especially special for me since I’ve been a big fan of them for a long time and never thought I would ever get to hear them live.  It was so cool to hear songs like Man in the Box and Rooster in person!  The new lead singer looks like Lenny Kravitz and definately looked out of place up there with the other three band members with their old-ass faces and long hair, but he had the vocals and sound down pat.  It was really awesome.

Unfortunately, the hotel room was quite a dump.  Complete with holes in the walls, a bug on the ceiling, stains in the bathroom from I’d rather not know what, and to top it all off, a trapdoor in the ceiling that conveniently hid a homocidal midget just waiting to stab and eat us in our sleep.  The beds were clean though, as far as we could tell.  It didn’t really matter much to me at that point anyway.  After being awake for 40 hours straight I would’ve slept almost anywhere.  We hope to go again next year.  From what I could tell, they change the bands up completely year after year so it should be hella cool.

I also had an amazing night out wednesday night.  Me and my friends from Denny’s all went to a goth club in Bowling Green.  It was a brand new experience for me, but it turned out to not be all that different from any other club I’ve been to.  I hadn’t gone to a club in about 5-6 years and I had forgotten how fun it is.  I was a little nervous to dance at first, but once I got comfortable, found my groove, and started just enjoying the music and getting lost in it, it came pretty easy.  It felt good to get away from everything for a few hours and I didn’t want the night to end.  The music was great, the dancing was great, and for the first time, I did something I never thought I would do.  That part was a little underwhelming but I’m not really sure what I was expecting anyway.  Overall the night was outstanding and I would love to go again.

It feels so good to meet different types of people with different personalities and backgrounds, get to know them closely, do new things with them, and just live life.  As corny as it sounds (trust me, I know!) I feel like my life right now is like the high school/college experience I never had.  I never talked much back then, didn’t have any real friends, and didn’t know how to socialize so I missed out on all that my first time around, so now I’m making up for lost time.  I am building memories and friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime.  One of the reasons I didn’t have much to add to a conversation in those days is because I didn’t have any experiences or memories to tell or talk about.  Well that is all changing for me now.  I am becoming quite an active person and will never look back.

Also, as I continue to get closer to my newest friends, I continue to learn and grow.  Each of them have personalities and backgrounds that are unique in their own ways and are in some ways different than anybody I have ever met, which says more about the number of people I’ve met in my life than it does about them in particular.  But that is a great thing!  I enjoy learning about them, laughing with them, being there for them, and trying to help them with their problems as they do the same for me.

Not to mention the people who I talk to regularly on twitter!  In addition to talking to the people I know personally, there are 2-3 people that I have met and talk to only on twitter.  Its cool to be able to learn about someone in another part of the country (or even another part of the world in one particular case) 140 characters at a time.  I know that people have been doing this for years on MySpace and Facebook but this is the first time I’ve done it.  They are real people with real problems and real lives and real emotions.  Its awesome to know that a group of people can help each other and be friends and get to know each other even though you’ve never met the person and most likely never will.  I’ve had conversations with my personal friends as well as my twitter friends that are just as meaningful, funny, insane, and emotional as a live conversation, all in 140 character exchanges.  Thats freaking cool!

My friendships with my current friends are changing a little too, but also in a good way, as I am able to have fun with them as my own person and have the freedom to explore any opportunity that might come up with them.  There are several events planned in the next month or two that I am very excited for just to be able to have fun in a way I was never confident enough to before.  And through MySpace and Facebook I am able to keep in touch with all of my friends even without seeing them for a while.  Thank god for technology!

So all in all, this should be the funnest (funnest? Is that a word?) summer I’ve had in a loooong time.  Its already been an amazing spring so far and I hope to make the fun last as long as possible.  If theres any of you out there that I haven’t talked to in a while, doesn’t matter how long its been, give me a call or email or message or something and say hey!  Lets hang out!

Gay rights

I am reposting a blog by a friend of mine because frankly, I feel strongly about this and that these beliefs bear repeating until no longer necessary. I don’t really need to say much else because it pretty much speaks for itself.

1. Being Gay Is Not Natural

And real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning, tattoos, piercings and silicon breasts…

2. Gay Marriage Will Encourage People To Be Gay

In the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3. Legalizing Gay Marriage Will Open The Door To All Kinds Of Crazy Behavior

People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract. Lamps are next.

4. Straight Marriage Has Been Around A Long Time And Hasn’t Changed At All

Hence why women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5. Straight Marriage Will Be Less Meaningful If Gay Marriage Were Allowed

And we can’t let the sanctity of Britney Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage be destroyed.

6. Straight Marriages Are Valid Because They Produce Children

So therefore, gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our population isn’t out of control, our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.

7. Obviously Gay Parents Will Raise Gay Children

Since, of course, straight parents only raise straight children.

8. Gay Marriage Is Not Supported By Religion

In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.

9. Children Can Never Succeed Without A Male And A Female Role Model

Which is exactly why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10. Gay Marriage Will Change The Foundation Of Society; We Could Never Adapt To New Social Norms

Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Also, this reminds me of a video I posted back when Prop 8 passed in California. I am posting it again because, again, these things need to be repeated until people stop acting like ignorant, close-minded fools.

The end of an era

Haven’t had much time to blog in a while.  Haven’t had much time to do anything really in a while.  My life has basically become a perpetual 7-day routine of sleep-work-sleep-work-sleep-work-work.  I’m pretty tired these days but I’m still young and feel pretty good overall.

Moreso than work though, my life has pretty much been turned completely upside down in the past month or so by one specific thing that we are just now being open about. Little hints have been around for a while and a few people have been told, but for the rest of you, Devon and I are going through a separation. Nothing has been filed or made legal yet, but right now it looks like we will be splitting up for good.

First of all, we are still on friendly terms and plan to remain friends. We do not hate each other, there was no drama, no fighting, and no adultery of any kind. I still care about Devon greatly and will likely do so for the rest of our lives. After almost five and a half years together how could I not? She is a wonderful person and her family and friends (who are now my family and friends) have been amazing as well. They accepted me into their lives and hearts and I will consider myself extremely fortunate to remain friends with all of them. But for the time being, I have moved out and am staying with my uncle. It is a convenient arrangement since his job takes him out of town and I can watch the house for him while he is away.

That being said, it is a little weird, and even a bit scary, to be alone for the first time in five and a half years. Especially since I am still not very good at meeting people and making friends on my own. I will say though, that I have never been more confident in myself and who I am as a person. My relationship with Devon was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. Not only for the relationship itself, but for me and how I was able to grow as a person. Since meeting her, I have learned to come out of my shell, be comfortable with the person I am, and interact confidently in social situations, especially around women. Before meeting her, I was a shadow of the person I am now. And while there are still situations and times that make me uncomfortable, thinking about how I have grown gives me confidence that I will be able to overcome my fears. I heard a saying recently, “don’t be sad that its over, be glad that it happened,” and that really stuck with me. Now to be clear, I am not saying that I am not sad. I have been through very few things in my life that have made me sadder. Anyone who has ever had a loving relationship end will understand the cacophony of emotions that flow through you. But the point I think is that you must look at all the good things that came from your experience, remember how fortunate you are to have had those good experiences, and use them to be strong enough to face whatever the future may bring. I cannot express with words how grateful I am for my five years with Devon and all the people and memories and love and strength that those years have brought me.

My plan right now is to stay with my uncle for a while, pay off bills, save money, and eventually get my own place on the east side. Hell, I may even be starting to consider myself an east-sider (gasp!!!). I still love the west side, but I have been on the east side for so long now that almost everything and everybody that means something to me is there. If I could take back one thing, it would be moving us to Lakewood. Given the possibilities at the time, it was a risk that seemed perfectly reasonable, at least to me. In hindsight, it was the worst thing I could have possibly done. There is nothing I would like more than to go back two years and start over with the knowledge I have now, to have another chance at happily ever after. But no amount of wishing will undo what has been done, and so I must acknowledge, accept, and move forward.

Understandably, it will be quite a while before I am ready for another long-term committed relationship. I am basically living for myself for the time being and looking to have some fun. Given my newfound inner strength I am finding this easier than I expected. This whole thing has really driven home how lucky I am to have such amazing people around me. Being as shy as I have always been, I don’t think I have ever truly understood the whole “friends are family” thing. Up until a few years ago, I never had any friends I was that close to. To say that my eyes have been opened would be an understatement. Seeing my friends want to continue talking to me as just Travis instead of Devon’s husband, hearing their concern for us, and spending time with them, I haven’t been this socially alive in…..forever. I have not spent one single day alone since I moved out. I continue to talk to my friends from Chase, even if only occasionally. I have been invited out with some friends I met through Devon more than once. I continue to see a good friend from Progressive who doesn’t even work there anymore. My mother in law wished me a happy birthday yesterday. When I get home now I check MySpace and Facebook before checking any video game news sites (and if you know me, you know how significant THAT is!). And even though I only work there 2-3 days a week, I talk to my friends from Denny’s every day and see them on average twice a week outside of work. It is these things that have made it possible for me to find happiness again and get through one of the most painful and emotionally draining experiences I have ever been through.

I will always look back fondly at my relationship with Devon. She was my first real girlfriend, my first true best friend, and will always be special to me and the one person I can talk to about anything. I can only hope she looks back on our relationship with as much joy as I will and hope that I brought her as much happiness as she brought me. I look forward to many years of friendship with her.

For the first time, I have no concrete plans and have no idea what will happen in my life from here on out. But also for the first time, I feel like I am capable of handling myself in whatever other curveballs life has in store for me. And when you look at it like that, considering the huge piles of shit that have been tossed my way for the past 15 months, that is not such a bad place to be.

“It’s only after you’ve lost everything that you’re free to do anything.” – Tyler Durden

Darth Vader Thriller

Fucking-A! Starts at about the 3 min mark but the rest of it is pretty cool too.

Bert and Ernie gansta rap

Just found this, hilarious.

Long time no blog

Where do I begin?  This post will probably just be a mish-mash of stuff as it comes to me since I’ve been so busy since the move.

First of all, the move went well.  It turned out to be on one of the shittiest days of the year, but we had some awesome friends that were willing to deal with the weather to help us out, so thank you!!!  In addition, with Devon being out of work and me working two jobs to try and make up for it, we have had a lot of help in getting us situated in our new digs with food, company, and help unpacking.  (Sappiness warning)  A few years ago I never imagined I would have such great friends.  I was never very close to anybody before I met Devon, and since then have met so many amazing people that have accepted me into their lives and taught me how to socialize and be a part of their circle.  Sometimes it still floors me.  A huge thank you to everybody out there who has been a part of my life, no matter how big or small!  I know I will do my best to return the kindness.

Ok, now that the mushy stuff is over with on to other things.  Work has made things hectic, but everything is unpacked, electronics all set up, pictures and art hung, and that has allowed me to start living normally again.  I really like our new place and am glad to be close to the majority of my homies again.  I know Devon feels the same, even more so actually.  She just started a new job and seems to be fitting in nicely.  I don’t really know how long I’ll keep the 2nd job, but now that things have calmed down a bit I am starting to fall into a pretty good routine.  The extra money makes it worth have a little less spare time and sleep.  I guess its just something that I will have to think about as I go along.

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I have pretty much done a 180 and started Twittering.  Since previously stating my bewilderment with the service, I have learned that there are in fact many ways to make updates and check other people’s updates and have found it strangely addictive.  I think Jeff Gerstmann said it best (and I’m paraphrasing); its like everything that makes text messaging awesome combined with the pretentiousness of making public comments for everybody to see.  At first, I thought that joining the Twitter community was in contrast to my self-proclaimed masturbatory nature of my blog due to its boldness.  What I’ve come to realize though is that its as much for my own satisfaction as anything else.

As most of you know I’m a pretty big techno-phile.  I love technology, am constantly amazed by the things that are possible, and I try to keep informed about it as much as I can.  Encompassing more than just video games (although they are definately the biggest part), I am very enthusiastic about DVD, Blu-Ray, computers, iPods, TVs, podcasts, RSS feeds, and pretty much anything else digital or electronic.  I’m not very good with the technical aspects of computers (more on that in a second), but I try to maintain a knowledge of all the latest technologies.  Twitter is merely one more facet of my desire to constantly stay in-the-know.

Speaking of my lack of technical skills, I just recently (as in the day before yesterday) got our computer back to normal.  Better than normal in fact.  Before we moved, our PC had fallen prey to some pretty crippling spyware, to the point where it would bring the system to a crawl and the pop-ups would come almost faster than we could close them.  Once everything was set up in our new place, I decided that the best solution would be to save a copy of everything in our My Documents folders and just reformat the entire hard drive, completely erasing all music, files, programs, and spyware from the thing.  Being that this was the first time I had ever done this however, I didn’t have the foresight to make sure I had my driver disc before wiping the drive.  After several calls to Dell, several trips to the library, and a call to Linksys to help me update the firmware on my router, I was able to download the drivers I needed and get everything running again.  The next week and a half or so was spent re-installing all the programs, music, and files that I had backed up.  Not something I ever want to do again, but its good that I know how to do it now should the need arise in the future.

The good news in all this is that I am being smarter this time around.  I have installed some good anti-spyware software that was recommended to me, reorganized my nearly 15 gigs of music, and generally kept things a lot cleaner than before.  I was even able to figure out how to get my music to stream to my PS3 so I can listen to it all from the comfort of my living room!  Just another step to rounding out my technology knowledge base.  And since I updated my router firmware, my Wii no longer has any problems getting online.  Yes, I am definately looking forward to things returning to normal.

BTW, is anybody else out there on Twitter???  If so, let me know.

Where’s these guy’s medals!?

These guys are mad talented.  You gotta love creative nerd fandom at its finest!

You can tell how big of a nerd this next guy is just from his enthusiasm and the awesome shirts he’s wearing : )

What I’ve been playing

Since my last post I’ve played kind of a lot of stuff.  I finished Resistance 2, got a whole bunch of trophies, and had a lot of fun with it.  I tried going back and playing it on hard, but started getting frustrated when I couldn’t beat the huge spinner boss, so I don’t think I’m going to commit to it, just like what happened with BioShock.  I don’t know how the hell I managed to get up the motivation and drive to beat Uncharted on the hardest difficulty setting.  Maybe I was just excited that it was the 2nd game I played for trophies.  Anyway, I started playing online, but didn’t really get into it like I thought I would.  Granted, all I’ve played so far is competitive multiplayer so I haven’t even tried co-op yet.  I may really enjoy co-op, so we’ll see.  So far its just confirmed that I’m really not very good at multiplayer deathmatch type of gameplay.  I still really enjoy playing Call of Duty 4 multiplayer, but I don’t think I would have as much fun with R2, which disappoints me a bit.  I guess I’ll find out for sure once I get around to playing co-op.

Also, I’ve been playing a lot of PSN games.  The most significant of which is Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix.  It looks amazing and plays nice, but like R2 its only cemented the fact that I’m really not very good at fighting games anymore.  This saddens me too, because I really really want to play and be good at fighting games and online shooters.  I loved playing Street Fighter 2 Turbo back in the day and was disappointed to find out that I had serious trouble doing well when playing the computer AI on medium difficulty.  Even after I switched to easy, I was still using up continues on almost every character I fought.  If I can’t even beat the computer, I won’t be able to even phase a live opponent.  Its to the point where I don’t even known if I should play Street Fighter IV because I won’t be able to do it.  I’ll spend more time with HD Remix but I fear I will never be very good at it.

The rest of the stuff I’m playing can be listed quickly:

Super Stardust Portable – This turned out better than I thought it would!  The lack of another analog stick forced the developers to use the four face buttons in a pretty creative way.  You can basically move your finger over the buttons like it was a joystick and the game can interpret the movements into a relatively decent facsimile of the smooth aiming movement.  And if you tap the buttons quickly in a specific direction, it automatically sprays your shots.  Its still no match for an actual analog stick, but it works better than I thought it would.  Also, the PSP could not handle showing the full 3D world, so they flattened out the playfield somewhat and made it loop around on itself so you still get the freedom of movement and layout of a 3D globe to fly around.  Its nice that they took the time to think about and address some of the limitations of the system, and it seems like their effort has paid off.

Age of Booty – Downloaded this when it came out but haven’t started it yet.  Want to though.  It sounds fun.

Blast Factor – I was enticed to try the demo once I found out it had been patched for trophies.  Its really awesome!  Its wierd playing a dual joystick shooter in a confined space after playing so much Super Stardust, but I really like the variety of the enemies and the presentation.  It gets really hard though.  Although, any dual stick shooter worth their salt gets insane after a while, so I guess its ok.

Soldner-X – This is a pretty cool side scrooling shooter.  Way hard, but cool music and cool weapons.  It reminds me a lot of Einhander, which is not a bad thing at all.  Einhander was awesome.

Prince of Persia Classic – I like this game but its way harder than I expected.  Probably won’t play it too often, but its fun for when I feel like playing that kind of game.

I also downloaded The Last Guy and Commando 3, because of Sony’s $5 sale.  Cool games, but not a lot of substance to either one.  $5 is just the right price for them.

Oh, and I checked out the latest issue of Qore due to it being free, and I gotta say I’m not that impressed.  I’ve been wanting to check it out but have not been willing to pay for it.  Its ok, but there’s nothing in an issue of Qore that can’t be gotten for free online.  I’m not willing to pay for it just for slightly different interviews and a few free demos and themes.

So far the only new retail games (this holiday season mind you) I have but haven’t gotten to yet are LittleBigPlanet, Dead Space, and Valkyria Chronicles, so I’m pretty proud of myself.  Next up is Age of Booty and Dead Space.  Plus I figure I’ll try R2 co-op.  I have to give it a chance.  Maybe it’ll blow me away?

Back to the old stomping grounds

The economy and the pay cuts I’ve taken in 2008 have finally forced me to do something that I was hoping to not have to do.  In order to make up some of the salary I’ve lost and to try and pay down some of our bills, I went and put in an application today for the Mayfield location of the company that sadly, still remains my longest single employer.  That’s right, Denny’s.

I have stayed in contact with the GM there because my old store in North Olmstead trained him and one of his other managers for their positions.  Every time I would go into the restaurant and see him, he would offer me a part time job.  I was always careful to never turn him down outright, saying that if the need ever arose for a 2nd job, I would let him know.  Well, I finally took him up on his offer and put in an application with him.  He called me back the same day and scheduled an orientation for the following night.  I figure once we are moved back to the east side it will be convenient that our home, Progressive, and Denny’s will all be within a few blocks.  Also, I am still able to every job in the place except cooking, which I am more than willing to learn if he wants to teach me.  Basically, I’m going to tell him that he can train me in several different job codes and use me where he needs me week by week or day by day.  He is familiar with my work ethic and that I was able to fill several roles at my old store so I don’t see him having any problem with it.  As lame as it will be to serve again, it has always come easy to me, I’m good at it, and its not a skill that ever leaves you.  Besides, I can honestly say that the most fun jobs I have ever had were serving jobs.

With this, hopefully we can start 09 on better footing and keep stable for a while, something that hasn’t really happened in a couple years for us.  2008 effectively kicked our asses, with setbacks coming pretty regularly throughout the year running the gamut from job losses and unexpected bills to failed housing arrangements and even the passing of close friend.  Part of our situation is undeniably our own fault, and I’m perfectly willing to acknowledge that, but much of it is simply due to bad luck and the economy.

That being said though, we are not the only ones going through hard times so we are far from being as bad off as some other people in the country.  Indeed, there were some really good things that happened this year.  A lot of which has to do with the great people in my life, friends and family alike.  Devon’s parents have been extremely understanding and helpful throughout the year with things like helping us with groceries and such.  I’m not sure how they feel about having to help their married daughter and 28-year old son-in-law, but they deserve a lot of credit for helping us out.  They have been able to weather the economic storm way better than us and I am very grateful for them and all of the other friends and family in our lives for their support, be it emotional or physical.

Also, I was able to help plan my high school reunion and reconnect with some people that I hadn’t talked to in years.  Devon and I had a really good first year of marriage and I was able to have a LOT of fun on my first motorcycle.  And I am thankful that while I don’t talk to them near as much as I used to, I am still able to keep in touch with all of my Chase homies from time to time.  And to top it off, we had a great election and I got a job at a great company that has some real long term potential.  Now we just need to get Devon a job and things will be back on the road to cool beans!