Spring is my favorite time of the year. I hate cold weather and I love warm weather, so I get excited when it starts to warm up again. I also like that people wear less clothing and I get to smell freshly cut grass again.
I was very excited when the weather got warm recently, but then it got cold and rainy. I think it’s supposed to get better for a little while this weekend. I can’t wait for a little stability!
I think 2008 was when I decided that I really wanted to go to San Diego Comic-Con at some at least once. I’m pretty sure I had heard of it before then, but I don’t think I seriously considered going. What changed? 2008 is when I started using Twitter. So many people I know on Twitter went that year and had a great time, so that made me want to go. For various reasons I put off going in 2009 and 2010, but last year I decided that 2011 would be the year that I went unless something major came up.
As of today, it’s pretty much a certainty. It would take something major for me to change my mind. I’m not going to recap the troubles of buying tickets. I’m glad that it’s over. Today I received confirmation of my hotel room and put down the deposit. I’ll buy a place ticket soon. I don’t think there’s any need to worry about every airline selling out, is there?
It looks like I’ll get to mark item #2 off my list. To me that seemed like the one that I would be most likely to change my mind on. Next year I hope to go to SXSW in Austin.
San Diego, here I come!
I love tech and I love getting new tech. I’m usually not one of the first people to go out and buy a new gadget. I’m not rich enough for that. Once the price starts to go down or a 2nd or 3rd generation of a device is released, that’s usually when I start to look into buying it. I ordered a new device recently (details after I get it) and that made me realize that I haven’t bought a lot of new tech over the last year or so.
Last summer I got a Roku to go in the bedroom. I realized that I was missing lying in bed and watching TV. It was going to be too much hassle and an extra monthly charge to get DirecTV to put a receiver in there. Buying a Roku would just be a 1-time cost. With Roku, I now have access to Netflix Watch Instantly, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and even TWiT and Revision 3 shows. There’s always plenty to watch on each. It’s definitely been a great investment.
After Thanksgiving I ordered a new Dell laptop. It was kind of an impulse. Dell has always been good to me, so I decided to stick with that brand. My 4-year old laptop was fine. I was running Windows Vista on it. It took a while for it to start up and shut down, but I wasn’t noticing any sluggishness during normal use unless I tried to play games on it. This new one made me realize just how old the other one was. This one, of course, is much faster with more RAM and more storage. It has a larger, HD display. It has Windows 7, which is much better than Vista. I can actually play new games on this and that is a plus. After having it for a few months, startup and shutdown is still so much faster than it was on my old laptop. I think my favorite new feature is the built-in webcam. I don’t use it yet, but I do want to start chatting with people. Another great investment.
I also got a Seagate 1.5 TB external hard drive and a cool Logitech USB headset, but those don’t seem like anything special.
I Am Number Four, Pittacus Lore. I read this because the previews for the movie interested me. I fall for hype easily. I enjoyed the book. It’s about 1 of 9 of young aliens living on Earth. They are hiding from a race that killed everyone on their home planet. Because of a charm, the kids can only be killed in the order that they are numbered. The story centers on Number Four, since his turn has come. The book moved very quickly. There’s a lot of teen romance stuff in there, but that isn’t so bad. It’s the first in a series. Even though I enjoyed this book, I’m not sure if I’ll read the next one.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller. This was very good. Even better than Batman: Year One. It tells the story of a future Batman that had faked his death and retired 10 years earlier. One of Batman’s old enemies goes back into crime and that makes Batman come out of retirement. It’s cool to see fifty-something Batman fight crime even though he’s not as strong or fast as he used to be. He even takes on a new Robin as his sidekick, but this time Robin is a girl. Year One and The Dark Knight Returns are two great Batman stories that show the opposite ends of Batman’s crime fighting career. Check them both out.
Towers of Midnight, Brandon Sanderson. I’m so glad I finally finished this book after stopping and starting for the past few months. It started out slow, but it got really good after about 500 pages. Some things happened that have we’ve been waiting to see happen for a long time. I was happy. Things were set up nicely for the 14th and final book, which should be out in about a year.
I’m taking a different approach to talking about what I’m reading. This is mostly because I start of lot of books, but don’t finish them until much later. For the past couple of months, I’ve been spending more time than normal reading. I’m a little proud of myself.Some of these haven’t been touched in 2011, but I plan on getting back to them this year.
Towers of Midnight, Brandon Sanderson. I’ve made it about halfway through the latest Wheel of Time book. I’ll finish it eventually. It’s going pretty slowly. I have the same issues with it that I had with the last one. There’s stuff happening, but there are long stretches of nothing happening. I do think the stuff happening in this book is more interesting than the stuff that happened in the last book. Rand wants to do what!?!?
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. This is the latest Sword and Laser pick. I’m almost finished with and I really like it. It’s about the end of the world. The forces of Heaven and Hell are getting their forces ready for the upcoming battle. It’s a pretty funny book, though some of the jokes don’t work. Maybe it’s a British humor (I almost spelled it humour) thing, since both of the authors are British.
Batman: Year One, Frank Miller. I really like this one too. It’s a retelling of the origins of Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Catwoman. I liked the Commissioner Gordon storyline more than the rest, but it was cool to see Batman learning to become Batman, making mistakes, etc. Not surprisingly, the storylines of all three characters intersect in the end. This makes me want to read more Batman stories, especially ones written by Frank Miller.
The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman. I started reading The Walking Dead last year in preparation for the TV show. I read the first 2 trade paperbacks, which is comprised of the first 12 issues of the comic book series. It’s so good! It’s about the aftermath of a zombie outbreak. Like everyone says, it’s less about zombies and scares than it is about how people interact with each other. Read the books and then watch the TV show.
The First Law Trilogy, Joe Abercrombie. I think I started reading The First Law Trilogy in 2009. It’s been about a year since I started on the final book, Last Argument of Kings. This is a great series for those who like fantasy series that are more adult than The Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time. If I were a recommendation engine, I would say something like “If you like George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, then you might like this series”. It’s a great read. I’ve heard that the last book isn’t as good as the first two. That might be the reason I’m not in a hurry to go back to it.
It’s been almost 7 years, but I have finally found another MMORPG that I can get into: DC Universe Online. It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s not weird that I like this game because the last MMORPG that I really got into was City of Heroes. I guess I like being a superhero.
I bought the PS3 version and it is taking time to get used to playing an MMORPG on a console. I pre-ordered this version before I got a new PC in November. My old PC wouldn’t have handled it well. I never thought to change my order. I don’t really like playing computer games these days anyway. I think the lengthy download that takes place before you can play the game might not have taken so long on the PC, but I don’t know that for sure. Menu navigation and chatting is awkward (even with a keyboard) on the PS3, but combat is as easy as any other game. I have heard about some issues that have caused them to have to take the servers down, but those seem to take place when I’m not playing.
The missions usually are “defeat x number of this kind of enemy” or “do this action x number of times”, but that’s pretty standard for this type of game. I just like going out and using my superpowers on people, leveling up, and gaining new powers. I did my first arena mission yesterday with 3 other players and it was a blast. I want to do some pvp stuff, but the wait time on those is too long.
I think the main reason I like this game so much is that it’s set in the DC Universe. You start out in either Metropolis or Gotham City. You also have access The Watchtower. I have a feeling they’ll add more areas later, but you have plenty to do as it is. I geek out every time I see a DC character standing around and it’s cool to fight alongside them.
I have two characters, both on the Crisis server. One is Heatstorm, a fire-based character. The other is Dr Destiny, a sorcery-based character. I think I’ll get a lot of play time out of this game. I might’ve bought a lifetime membership, but that option isn’t available on the PS3. Oh well.
I’m not going to lie. It is nice that people are noticing that I’ve lost weight. Unlike the last time I lost a bunch of weight, this time it’s happened all the right way (I think). I’ve had a few people ask me what I’m doing and my answer has been 1) exercise and 2) eating better.
Exercise
It always takes me a while to get in a good pattern, stop making excuses, and start exercising on a regular basis. For me this happened when I was on vacation around Labor Day of last year. Since then I’ve been doing cardio for 45 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Now I’m used to going 5 days a week. It’s part of my normal routine on those days. There are times when I don’t want to go, but I do and I feel good after I finish.
Eating Better
I refuse to give up any of the foods I like or count calories. I just have to keep everything in moderation. Even after I started exercising, I noticed that I was eating enough for 2 at dinner each night and I was eating too much junk at other times. Now I’m only eating enough for 1. I still get to eat my chicken, burgers, steak, pasta, etc. I don’t snack much throughout the day. When I do, I tend to eat peanuts, apples, or a small piece of candy. I used to eat 1 or 2 packs of Reese’s Big Cups a day, but now I might have 1 a week. I don’t eat fast food often these days. I rarely eat meals prepared outside home. This has been fun because I’ve learned to cook a lot of good meals. Also, I don’t drink soda much anymore and I don’t really miss it. I drink lots of water, juice, and tea instead. Saturday tends to be my cheat day. That’s when I’ll eat fast food with a Dr. Pepper and have a Reese’s at some point during the day. Another benefit to eating better besides weight loss has been the money that I’ve saved. I estimate that I’m saving around $150 a month on food. That more than pays for my gym membership.
So, that’s what I’ve been doing. It may work for everyone, but it’s worked for me. It’s all been worth it.
P.S. – The next time someone asks me what how I’ve lost weight, I’m going to say cocaine, diet pills, and cigarettes just to see their reaction.
I got my PS3 back today. It was supposed to be here yesterday, but I wasn’t home to accept the package from FedEx.
Sony sent me a new machine. They did return the 500 GB hard drive that I had installed, which confirms my belief that the hard drive failure wasn’t the problem. Since the hard drive is in a new machine, I had to format it to use on that machine. All of my data is gone. Oh well. Things could’ve been worse.
I’m happy to have my PS3 back. I got in back only 7 days from the time I sent it in if you don’t count the New Year’s Eve holiday and missing FedEx yesterday. I’m glad Sony returned the game that was stuck in the machine. I can watch blu-rays again and I can play DC Universe Online when it’s released on Tuesday. I hope this one lasts a lot longer than the first one.
I came up with a list of things I want to do in 2011. I hate to use the term “resolution”. I reserve the right to change my mind of any of these without feeling guilty. I didn’t do this last year, so I can’t whether I was successful this year or not.
I think these are pretty simple and very doable. Hopefully, I won’t forget to look back at these throughout the year and at the end of the year.
Happy New Year!
Update, 1/5/2011
The title originally said 2001 instead of 2011. Thanks to Morning Toast for pointing that out.
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel by Charles Yu. This was the Sword and Laser’s latest pick and I decided to read it since I haven’t read one of their selections in a while. The title made me think of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I don’t know if they have any similarities since I have read Hitchhiker’s Guide, but other Sword and Laser listeners are making that comparison, so I guess there are some.
The book is about a time machine repairman, Charles Yu, who is searching for his father who left his family and is somewhere out in time. You learn about Yu’s broken family and how Yu feels responsible for his father going away. To me, this book was just okay. It’s was interesting, sad, and funny in parts, but mostly I was just trying to get through it so I could get back to my Wheel of Time book. All the sci-fi references and jargon were cute at first, but after a while I got annoyed with it. Maybe if you liked Hitchhiker’s Guide, you’ll like this one more than I did. Or just wait until they make a movie out of it.
I said this was a 2010-2011 list, so I just deleted what I’ve already read and carried the rest over. I also added a few.
Book List 2011
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