blakerson.com

After a long time off, I'm finally starting to enjoy gaming once more. After last weekend's lan party at Nick's house, I, along with several other people, feel inexplicably drawn to having another party to play lots of Quake and Wolfenstein. All in favor of organizing a 4th weekend party? Let's get the ball rolling, this could be a really cool thing if we throw in some 4th-style celebration.

After all, who else could flip us the bird from outer space?

Last night's gaming party turned out pretty well. The addiction of the night was Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, and though the learning curve was huge, it turned out to be much fun. It was a happy memory to hear the Axis voiceovers hootin' and hollerin' whenever we all did something cool like blow something up. It makes me want to have another party to play the original Wolf, because it's really good in multiplayer.

To people who weren't there, this is probably the most boring post ever. It's not helped by my total lack of brain function, either. Oh well, guess that's how it goes whenever you're not there. Time to play Lost & Found, though.

-I have someone's black power cord.
-I left behind my curly 15' blue LAN cable. I need it.

So my car thing is temporarily resolved. I'll be without my beloved Camry of Serious Hardcore Action for roughly three weeks, but in the meantime I've got a brand spankin' new Altima that's really a pretty nice car. It's virtually the same car as the Camry, but the stereo sounds a little better, has much better braking ability, and it has steering wheel audio controls, which I've always thought are hellacool. So, I can at least leave my house and go see my friends. And it's better than driving a rented Taurus around until mid-July, which I assumed was going to be the case.

But, I'm still quite out of money. So no going to the movies or buying male hookers for Soph or any of that fun stuff until I pay off my debt and accumulate some real money after that.

All in all, though, life is pretty good being poor. It's fun to stay at home every now and again, and getting things like new games and music for free is always a huge help.

I think I'm going to move my computer over by my TV so I can play from my couch.

So on the way to work this morning I cranked up John Mayer's live album Any Given Thursday. It's insane to hear the crowd on that recording. There are screams and yells at the start, but when Mayer takes the stage, the place goes ballistic. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have that kind of response just for appearing somewhere. I think I'd just get overwhelmed and confused and freeze up on stage. Hell, I lost concentration doing karaoke in Padre. Some people started laughing in the crowd and I for an instant forgot that they were just drunk because I wasn't used to hearing laughs when I sang.

I think I'm really starting to get addicted to performing. Every time I think about being on stage it starts to feel better and better now that I'm free from high school. Maybe something cool will happen in Austin.

I really wish I could play guitar and sing at the same time. Or maybe play piano and sing at the same time. That might work. I should try that.

I've decided that I have to lead an occupation where I have fans. I'm not doing the vain thing and saying I need to be famous. Even if it was just a small group like a bunch of coffee shop regulars liking me as a musician, or readers enjoying my writing. Fans give two things: appreciation and inspiration. Whenever you reach a stumbling block in your work, fans remind you that you're appreciated (something not everyone can say about their careers) and that you have a responsibility to keep those people happy. I had fans before, when I worked as a gaming writer. It was really cool to see the comments I'd get from people I had hardly talked to who were really affected by the latest article or the comments made behind my back on other sites. I guess that's what got me hooked.