The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

I’ve had a root canal.

This is always described as the worst dental procedure one could have done. Since it’s the only real surgery of any kind I have ever had done, I was extremely nervous about it, but in the end, it went fantastically well, and now you get to read about it, I guess.

All the people at the Endodontist’s office were quite nice. They were extremely informative on what was happening, what needed to be done, and what I should do in the future, but they also weren’t persecuting me for needing dental work done. This is something I had kind of worried about. I was really embarrassed by this whole tooth thing, and I didn’t really want to be embarrassed more. I wasn’t. I appreciated that.

Basically, the procedure consisted of me getting three shots in the mouth to numb me. I had never been so numb before: later, when drinking a beverage to take more painkillers, I could only feel half the rim of the can, which was creepy as hell. Still, what they gave me worked perfectly. I didn’t feel any pain at all during the procedure. It was really awkward and kind of boring sitting there the whole time, but it didn’t hurt. It was just time consuming. They even mentioned that they have a lot of people fall asleep on them while they were doing this, and I could see why. I nearly did at several points. You’re laid back in a comfy chair and have nothing to do. Napping is easily.

The worst part of the whole experience was the smell, really. I don’t know if it was because of infection, or if that’s just what it normally smells like, but oh god, the smell of drilled tooth was horrific. I felt it linger, imagined or otherwise, all day, and it made me feel kind of ill, more than anything else. I survived it of course, but man. It was that, not any pain, that was the problem.

I was told to take a ton of painkillers, and that would deal with any soreness. I followed that advice, and it actually worked to, which surprised me. Besides dealing with a bit of a numb feeling on one side of my face for awhile after, there was really no bad effects from this procedure. They apparently know their stuff at Cape Endodontics.

I’m glad it’s over with, of course. Not having my tooth hurt is a good thing. But I was just surprised by how much of a non-issue most of the thing was. Apparently dentistry techniques have changed a lot or something, for the stories to have been this bad and the experience to have been this good. Now it’s done. One more thing done, I guess. That’s good.

Yesterday was pretty horrible for me. Maybe sometime I’ll tell you about it. Not today, though. Not now. Not now.

However, it is my Mom’s birthday, and that’s something. Happy Birthday, Mom.

I recall a story about my mother not being sure if she should go to the hospital to have me because she was watching a March Madness game. Thus, it seems relevant (Okay, not at all relevant, shut up) to point you towards something to read today that has something to do with Basketball. That, of course, would be Kalir’s fucking amazing LP of Tales of Game’s Studios Presents Chef Boyardee’s Barkely: Shut Up And Jam Gaiden: Chapter 1 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa. I think this game is amazing, as you can see. It’s so awesome, and Kalir has done an amazing job of documenting it so you don’t have to play it. Give it a read.

I’ll try to give you something to read tomorrow. Maybe about Dentistry. You never know.

I don’t think I can afford to buy a new copy of Kirby’s Epic Yarn.

For some reason, this is kind of a big deal to me. I feel like I’ve cut down my game purchases a lot. I only really buy maybe one game a month, if that, instead of the three or four I used to buy. Sure, I supplement that with a few cheap iPhone games, but mostly, it’s a net gain. I made hard decisions not to buy stuff all the time. But there was always this idea that, because I was making these hard decisions, I’d be able to have no problem playing the games I really wanted to play. I could still support my favorite franchises on day one, I just wouldn’t waste money on the filler stuff I used to buy all the time. I’d not buy the random chance games that my whims told me to. I’d just Gamefly those. It would work.

I’ll still get to play Epic Yarn. Hell, it’s going to be a short game with limited replay value. I probably SHOULD just Gamefly it. But Kirby is one of my most beloved series. I love the SHIT out of Kirby. I want all the Kirby I can wring out of Nintendo without ruining the charm the series has. Kirby Super Star has to be one of my most replayed games of all time, probably only topped by, say, Space Channel 5. I love this shit, I love the new art style, I want to be a fan and get it day one, even when others wouldn’t. I really do.

In the big scheme, it’s not like it’s a big deal. I’m working on big deal things, you know? That’s why I don’t have any money for such purchases. Maybe it’s just part of growing up, having to start making these choices. Maybe I should just deal, and move on. In fact, I know I should. I don’t have enough money for VIDEOGAMES, for fuck’s sake. I’m not starving or anything. I’m doing fine.

But there’s still something lost there, even if it’s just a tiny little thing that I’m being too emo about. That feeling that, if I work my ass off, things will work out… it’s just a tiny little example of how they won’t. I’ll work hard, and I still won’t have money for all the games I want to support, even if I cut it down to the bare minimum. If I can’t have a stupid disc with a program on it, what else am I going to miss?

Bleh. Should really just get over myself.

Driving home from St. Louis, I stopped for a beverage, as I often do. In town, I know the exact energy drink stock of every gas station, but when I commute, I find it interesting to see if there’s anything I haven’t tried or that looks good. Popping into a QT I hadn’t visited, I noticed cans of Rockstar Recovery. The attractive-looking cans triggered something in my tired mind, and I thought for a moment. Then I recalled: Jeff Gerstmann of the Gigantic Bomb tweeted about drinking one of those a few days ago! He is a crazy man who knows his energy drinks, I thought. He tries everything. Surely if he had picked this for his morning routine, it must be pretty solid.

So I bought two.

I always do this. I can dodge Buy One, Get One sales now, but something about “buy two for less than the cost of two” sales always get me, especially with energy drinks. I’m always going to need another one, right? Might as well get two now, and stash one at the office or something. I suppose I have worse habits.

If the title didn’t tip you off, Rockstar Recovery is completely disgusting. I cannot remember a worse beverage experience since I tried my first Red Bull. It tastes like incredibly watered-down lemonade kool-aid with a strong, plant-like aftertaste that makes me want to puke. Seriously, just recalling it to describe it for this post is making me feel kind of icky. After trying this and being amazed at how bad it was, I noticed one of the ingredients listed proudly on the can was “Milk Thistle.” What the fuck. No wonder it had such a horrifying aftertaste.

Jeff Gerstmann, you have failed me! At least in the purchasing drinks department. Still enjoy your work at Giant Bomb. But yeah, now I have a second, unopened can of this crap. What am I going to do with it? I have no idea.

I had a Dentist Appointment Monday. I hadn’t been to the Dentist in years. Like, seriously, a whole lot of years. But I have a tooth that’s giving me hell, so I knew I needed to go. It would probably need some sort of surgery, and I was worried as fuck. I haven’t had anything even vaguely like that done before. No surgery of any kind. Plus, I knew it was going to cost a lot, but I didn’t know how much. My mother was nice enough to promise to pay for it, but I still feared how much it would set her back, and being a burden. I was sick to my stomach until my appointment, really.

Showing up, things went pretty straightforward. No lectures. No real problems. Of course, what I needed done was obscenely expensive. It would blow through all my savings if it was on my dime, and I felt like shit about her covering it. My mom was trying to tease me playfully and get me to relax a bit, but her teasing about all the things she could spend the money on just made me feel worse. Maybe these things were partially true, and that’s why she was teasing, but I could tell she really did want me to calm down and she didn’t feel like this was a waste. A stressor, maybe, but not a waste.

In any case, I made another appointment for another person to look at my teeth again next week. Then I get to make another appointment for surgery if the first appointment goes well, then after that another appointment for more dental surgery. I had kind of hoped to just put a stop to that whole particular problem that day, but of course nothing is that easy. Now the stress gets to be drawn out over the next month, on top of everything else I have going on. I am super-excited by that.

Gods, I have so much shit to deal with. That’s why I totally fucking slacked off for the rest of Monday. But more on that some other time.

Still, the appointment wasn’t for nothing. I got some antibiotics, because I was told that the tooth was hurting because of an infection, and that the infection was draining when it stopped hurting. This made perfect sense to me, as I’ve been sick and coughing up stuff that could easily be that drain: it would make sense that that ick would be making me feel worse. Hopefully those antibiotics will kill two birds with one stone that way. That’s a benefit, right? Or something similar?

Eh, just like everything, it’ll be fixed in time. But fuck, I’m tired of things taking so long. Really am.

I’ve been playing Lost Planet 2 with Kale. We’re going to finish it, so more on that when that occurs. However, he wanted to play it on PS3, so I rented it for that. The result was… less than optimal.

It just kind of amazes me how much better the Xbox is in a lot of ways.

Just trying to set this game up, I have had to update firmware at least twice, and install for a long time once. It’s quite a lot of time just to play this game. It was pretty silly. I know it’s been beaten to death, but, you know.

Also, this has been my first time really using PSN to play online, and man, it’s kind of a trainwreck. It took a long time for us both to figure out how to do simple things like invite each other to games and accept invites. It’s in really weird places in Lost Planet 2’s menus. Of course, since it’s not standardized, if I were to try to play something else online, it would be in different places there, too. Basically, the pointless half an hour, at least, that it took us to figure out how to get a game set up more than justified the price of Xbox Live to me. Making a standardized system is the way to go. Thank you, Microsoft.

Finally, I was just struck by how awful the Dualshock 3 is for shooters. I mean, the Dualshock 2 is one of the best controllers ever made, don’t get me wrong. But damn, the Dualshock 3 just fails at today’s games. Most of today’s games, sadly enough, are shooters, and it is just not laid out for those in the least. The 360 controller is. It’s fantastic. The triggers and bumpers work perfectly for most games. However, the R2 and L2 buttons, as default, such on the Dualshock 3, so they’re not used for shooting. However, I put those trigger adapters on them, so they’d be better for shooting. The game, however, doesn’t support putting “shoot” onto R2, though, because the controller as per normal is so horrible at using R2 and L2 for anything.

After a few hours of fighting with the controls and the PS3, I did, of course, eventually get over all this stuff. However, it was kind of ridiculous, and just shows me that I do the right thing by making the 360 my console of choice. I appreciate having access to PS3 exclusives and whatnot, of course. I’m glad I have the system, and I’m sure for someone without a 360, PSN is not that big a deal and is certainly useful. But I’m not just picking the 360 for achievements. There’s a lot of reasons why it’s a better console, at least for me.

Okay, so there are two health meters: Physical and Mental. The main problem is that a lot of the healing techniques for each use up the other meter. For example, to free myself of stress would help to refill that Mental meter, but it comes at the cost of the Physical meter, because I have to go out and work, probably, to fix things, and I get tired. Same with Physical. I could lay down and sleep all day, and maybe I might actually feel rested in the end. However, it’s at the cost of that Mental meter, since I’m going to be worrying about all the shit I’m supposed to get done. There are quick fixes, too, of course. I could eat some candy to help keep my Mental stats up, because that’s enjoyable and relaxing, but that’s bad for my Physical meter. I could drink a bunch of caffeine to keep my physical side working fine, but that can potentially do something to my mindstate. In addition, there are plenty of activities, such as, say, homework, that eat up both meters. There’s lots of interacting gameplay systems at work here.

Life is kind of a back and forth fight between those things. There are more wants and desires than you can ever comprehend. You just have to do your best to feed those desires and make them work. Somehow. However, I’ve always taken a firm anti-physical stance. Since I hate my physical form, it was easy to destroy it, and keep my mental abilities and feelings in tip-top shape. If you just fuck over one, hey, you have half as much to worry about. You can make it work easily.

Basically, I guess what I’m saying is, I never really realized how difficult it is to attempt to deal with both meters. Giving a shit about things like my appearance and health for what may be the first time in my life is incredibly taxing. Of course, I also chose to start doing it at a time where I am already very stressed attempting to deal with mental issues and things. I’m doing all sorts of stressful work. Really good planning on my part, I know!

I know none of this is new information. It’s just, as I sit here, having to schedule time to sleep in between work and commutes to St. Louis and grading and denistry, I realize how hard it is to make it all work. I’m having trouble with it, that I never had before, and it’s because I’m giving so much of a shit. That’s a good thing. Caring about myself was the goal. But damn, that’s hard, especially knowing that I could remove all this stress from myself

At some point, I decided I was going to post here daily.

It’s days like these where I kind of regret that decision. I’m bleh, and I barely have time for the work I have to get done, much less my blog, which is kind of optional.

However, I’ve come up with some solutions for these days. One of them is trying to write many posts in advance. (Didn’t happen this time!) Another is the linkdump. I often refuse to close random cool things just because I feel I should do something with them, but don’t know what. Now I will share that with you.

Here are the six tabs that have been open in Chrome for awhile.

Jeff Green is now working at Popcap, and in celebration, someone on twitter drug up this GFW Radio clip. It’s funny. GFW Radio was awesome.

I’ve also watched the latest Ok Go music video. It has cute dogs! The song is pretty neat too. You’ve probably seen it, but if not? Here.

This is one of my favorite recent Fake AP Stylebook tweets. Great stuff.

Kale asked me what a fox sounded like. I told him. Then he sent me this video for reference. It’s kind of completely adorable.

This may be the best Professor Layton comic ever created.

This isn’t particularly awesome, but it is a tab I had open! I was looking over the DVD and Blu-ray release information for Scott Pilgrim vs The World. I will be buying that, I’m sure.

That’s it!
“But wait!” you say, “Don’t you have the blogging tab open to write this?”
To that I say, “ha HA, Bitches, I use two different browsers! That one’s open in Flock!”

I bet I’m late to the party on this, but…

Oh. My. Fucking. God. Sprung may be the most amazing game of all time.

Every page of this LP of Sprung, I am laughing my ass off. It’s well made, but it’s not just that. The entire game is so mind-blowingly, hilariously bad. I’ve only read through Brett’s story, but I’m working through Becky’s too. It’s what I’ve been doing instead of writing this blog post.

You owe it to yourself to check it out. You really do. You will be amazed this game exists, and you will laugh.

Oh yes. You will laugh.

I kind of wanted to not write about more doom and gloom. I’m too much that recently. But fuck. I had no time to write a blog today, so this is what you get. Sorry! But hey, you could always watch this video Val shared with me of a dog dancing if you want something more positive to do with your time. Go dog go!

Anyway.
Today sucked!

I was booked the entire way through. On top of that, I hadn’t really slept. I felt sick for most of the night before, and didn’t really rest, and as the last blog post says, I was already really tired. So I was working on no sleep and no energy, and I was feeling really depressed. I sent my mom a pointless depressed text that I instantly regretted, but I was making it through.

Then my phone broke.

Nothing gets me more angry than technology that doesn’t work. I was out having lunch with Cara, but I was angry. I was feeling disconnected, and I didn’t really have the money to buy a new phone I really wanted. Things were bad. I went to the AT&T store, and they were useless, as expected. I got on the phone for two hours talking with people. To their credit, they were very polite, but I ended up having to escalate the call. See, maybe this is selfish of me, but I didn’t want another Blackberry Bold 9000, because it would be my 6th one or so? The construction quality on them sucks. Since I was out of warranty, I didn’t want another one that was just going to break. Eventually, I got them to send me the new model Bold instead, the 9700. That’s something, at least. One problem solved.

However, due to the tiredness, I had expected to use those two hours on the phone doing my homework for class. I then had to rush to get that done. I finished literally a minute before class, thankfully. But it was sub-optimal.

Also, during the break at class, Cole borrowed a dollar and we both went to buy a soda. We went to the only machine not marked “Use Exact Change” and he got a soda… and I said “You know, with my luck today, that was probably the last bit of change in the machine.” And I was right. It was. Yay.

Now I’m home and writing a depressing blog post. I hope something goes my way soon. That would be super nice!

I’ll try to write something more fun tomorrow. Wish me luck.