In just a few minutes (or maybe twenty) I'll be hitting the road with my roommate since I'm spending Thanksgiving break with my older sister and her growing family down in Utah. If no one hears from me until late next Sunday, don't panic. If you don't hear from me well after late next Sunday, then you can panic!

Ciao for now, all!

I haven't been able to decide whether it's a good thing or a bad thing how some of the roommates react to my random knowledge. Most recently, we watched Hercules today (I'm watching the ending now) and "M" came home, saw us watching and expressed how much she loved it. She was trying to place Phil's voice though (Danny DeVito) so I told her, then she had to know what other animated Disney movie he had been in. She kept thinking he voiced Dodger in Oliver & Company even though I kept telling her he was voiced by Billy Joel, then she and "Mi" jumped to All Dogs Go To Heaven...which of course had the main (male) characters voiced by Dom DeLuise and Burt Reynolds. (For the record, All Dogs Go To Heaven is a Don Bluth film, not Disney - altough Don Bluth once worked for the Mouse.) "M" looked at me, honestly shocked with her mouth hanging open and asked, "How do you know all of this?" (I then had to back up my claims with the wonders of the internet so she'd stop thinking Danny DeVito had voiced a dog in a Disney movie.)

I definitely didn't pay attention to voices when I was a child (I cannot tell you who voiced Cinderella or even Jasmine), but as I got older I developed an interest in random things like who did voice work. I do understand that not everyone shares my passion (said passion greatly extends to anime, I love when I recognize a Japanese voice actor!), but it's still weird having people look at me like I'm freakish somehow for thriving on things like that. Plus....I guess it's the whole interest in movies/entertainment. I like knowing who voiced what and where since sometimes it makes for really fun realizations...like the day I realized that the voice for Meg (Susan Egan) later went on to be Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, then did the voice of..that one woman in Spirited Away... More recently, our buddy Ed Asner who I recognize first and foremost as Hudson from Gargoyles, voiced the old man in Up. (And soon Keith David, formally Goliath in the same series, will be the voodoo villain in Princess and the Frog!)

Anyway, embrace your natural curiosity. You'll get more joy out of life. (And thanks to those who don't mind my rambles. You're all wonderful!) ^_-

We need to turn in the mockup for our Flash site ideas today, so even though I've been thinking about it all week, of course I didn't throw it together until just a short while ago. I really do think I'll go with a 'D&D for Beginners' site, even if I'm not going to actually call it that. I think the most fun I'll have is to design the look of the pages. I'm aiming for everything to have a hand-drawn look to it:

( Here's the mockup )

I really need to play in Flash more, I'm really liking how easy it is to tweak things. Since this wasn't the real deal I put everything on one layer, so that meant having to click on each and every single line and filled area for Jacki and Percival just so I could move them slightly. After I had done that, my background color behind them was gone, so I used it to my advantage to put in a drop shadow. Pretty cool! I need to figure out how to get textures and such into my images though. I really ought to crack open that book I bought... And yes, you better believe I drew in the d20 as well! I had to stare at one of mine intently to get it to look right. Thank goodness for references! I ought to draw the rest soon, since I want at least one section to cover the names for the dice, and what they're commonly used for.

I fear encoding this thing though... I almost wish we were working in teams so one person can handle the look while the other person handles the function. Oh well, this will be good for me. (NOOOOOOOOOO!)

Too bad I can't pack the iMac along with me to Utah on Sunday! It's so much faster than my poor old MacBook. Oh well, I'll have to make do, I guess. So much homework is stacking up on me for next week's break. XP

So here's a nice reality check, courtesy of my Media Law & Ethics class: using someone else's wi-fi is illegal in some states (like Michigan) and you can serve jail time if you get caught! o_O My teacher showed us a case where a man in Michigan did just that, driving to a coffee shop but not actually entering the shop when using the wi-fi. A cop finally got suspicious of the daily ritual and it just went from there.

Kind of freaky! I was quick to dig up Washington's law on the matter, and so long as I don't hack someone's computer or mess with their information in any way, I should be in the clear. Still....kind of freaky! I've been borrowing unprotected wi-fi since I got a laptop able to access such things. More recently I borrowed the neighboring apartment complex's internet when mine was down, but hopefully that won't come up again. I still can't believe someone serving jail time just for using an unprotected wi-fi connection though! o_O

All the more reason for people to secure them...

Yep, I sure did pick up my copy this morning between classes (since I also needed food stuffs and Winco is near Gamestop) but I didn't get to play until just a short while ago. "C" was around so she joined me, even though she has little experience with video games...certainly not Mario games. This will factor in in a bit.

What do I think of the game so far? NOSTALGIA! The map setup is straight from Super Mario Bros. 3! Also returning from that game is the ability to use items on the map screen in preparation for a level. The airships are back as well, and with them? The Koopa kids! Larry, Iggy, Roy, Wendy, Ludwig, Morton, Iggy, Lemmy! Bowser Jr.'s along for the ride as well, but I'm more excited to face off against the original troupe of Bowser's offspring, to be honest. We just barely finished the first world and the fight with Larry was very similar to the battles in Super Mario Bros. 3. Anyone who gained skills from that game, you can apply them here!

Other games are represented as well, including Super Mario World (Yoshi!) and Yoshi's Island. Those dratted red coins are back! But there's incentive to get them since getting all of them can earn you a power up. A definite plus! A lot of the original sound effects have returned, including the spin jump noise from Super Mario World all the way back to the death sound in Super Mario Bros. I've yet to get a Game Over screen though, so who knows what awaits me there.

Multiplayer mode is pretty fun, too. It throws me off a bit since I'm not used to having someone else sharing the screen who can potentially collide with me and send me flying into a Thwomp, but it adds a new level of challenge, that's for sure! It won't take me too long to get into the game since skills gained from previous titles have already served me well (even wall jumping from Super Mario 64), but "C" is coming along nicely..even though she keeps running out of lives... Oh well, she was actually able to master picking up things long before I could, so even the new gamers have something to teach the old. Also awesome: that same ability can be used for one player to pick up another, and as long as you keep holding down the button ('1' if you just play with the Wii Remote, 'B' if with a nunchuk as well) you can carry the other player around. That's really nice when you have to traverse dangerous areas. I did just that while helping "C" get through the first fortress. I think she enjoyed the lift. ^_-

We've only just scratched the surface with this game, but I'm really excited to keep playing! I do love that they retained all that was awesome from the original Mario games (well over twenty year's worth!) and presented them in a shiny new package. Also, listening to Mario cry, "Help me!" when "C" has died and revived in a bubble is great. :D

I checked my voice mail earlier and listened to what started out as the usual, "This is so-and-so from blah-blah-blah calling on behalf of something-or-other" but I wasn't paying much attention until he said, "But you might know me better like this," then went into this whole spiel on my copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii being available on Sunday...in the Mario voice! Charles Martinet making a call for GameStop? AWESOME! I was having too much fun listening to it that by the end I couldn't delete it. His Mario is always so fun and cheerful, I couldn't help but respond in kind!

Definitely subjecting the loved ones to this later. I just need to wait until Monday now to get my copy of the game (since I respect Sunday as a day of rest, I don't go shopping). Exciiiiiitement! ...I just hope I can choose which character to play as. :D

My grandpa just forwarded this to me and I'm posting it here because it's really sad how far we've come as a country, where once people came here to practice freedom of religion, but now there's a war being waged to remove any and all traces of religion from this country. What are we becoming?! Anyway, I'd post more, but my Case Studies class is about to start. So read, reflect and respond if you so feel inclined:

This is a statement that was read over the PA system at the football game at Roane County High School , Kingston , Tennessee, by school Principal, Jody McLeod.

"It has always been the custom at Roane County High School football games, to say a prayer and play the
National Anthem, to honor God and Country."

Due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, I am
told that saying a Prayer is a violation of Federal Case Law..
As I understand the law at this time, I can use this
public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it "an alternate life style," and if someone is offended,
that's OK. I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity,
by dispensing condoms and calling it, "safe sex." If
someone is offended, that's OK.

I can even use this public facility to present the merits
of killing an unborn baby as a "viable means of birth control." If someone is offended, no problem...
I can designate a school day as "Earth Day" and
involve students in activities to worship religiously and praise the goddess "Mother Earth" and call it "ecology."

I can use literature, videos and presentations in the classroom that depicts people with strong, traditional Christian convictions as "simple minded" and
"ignorant" and call it "enlightenment." However, if
anyone uses this facility to honor GOD and to ask HIM to Bless this event with safety and good sportsmanship,
then Federal Case Law is violated.

This appears to be inconsistent at best, and at worst, diabolical. Apparently, we are to be tolerant of
everything and anyone, except GOD and HIS Commandments.

Nevertheless , as a school principal, I frequently ask
staff and students to abide by rules with which they do
not necessarily agree. For me to do otherwise would be inconsistent at best, and at worst, hypocritical... I
suffer from that affliction enough unintentionally. I certainly do not need to add an intentional
transgression.
For this reason, I shall "Render unto Caesar that
which is Caesar's," and refrain from praying at this
time.

"However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and
thank GOD and ask HIM, in the name of JESUS, to
Bless this event, please feel free to do so.. As far as I
know, that's not against the law----yet."

One by one, the people in the stands bowed their heads, held hands with one another and began to pray.

They prayed in the stands. They prayed in the team huddles. They prayed at the concession stand and they prayed in the Announcer's Box!

The only place they didn't pray was in the Supreme Court of the United States of America- the Seat of "Justice"
in the "one nation, under GOD."

Somehow, Kingston, Tennessee Remembered what so
many have forgotten. We are given the Freedom OF Religion, not the Freedom FROM Religion. Praise
GOD that HIS remnant remains!

JESUS said, "If you are ashamed of ME before men,
then I will be ashamed of you before MY FATHER.."

No, seriously, he is. I finally got to take part in the group discussion, where only eight students from the class (of many!) attend class so we can have a more personal class discussion. Our teacher likes to name the groups usually on teams and the like, but he named us the Founders because he wanted us to give him input on how to go about the last few weeks of class. We actually started Judaism this past week, but we've been catching up on student Power Point Presentations so we've not really covered much at all. He really wants to cover Islam and actually give it more than just a rushed presentation, so we got to decide if we should keep Judaism and Christianity both to a day (not the same day) so that we can spend the last couple of weeks going over Islam.

Personally, I was completely agreed with him. He felt it even more pressing to cover Islam what with the recent Fort Hood incident since so many Muslims have been getting a bad reputation thanks to the radical groups. Everyone else was agreed as well, so the last few weeks should be interesting.

The whole discussion got me to thinking on a lot of things though, mainly the doctor I had as a child. He is Iraqi and I never felt anything but love for the man, which is saying a lot considering he is a doctor and all, but he was always so kind... Even years later when we run across him as we shop, it's nice to see how he's doing. From what I understand he no longer practices his religion, but at the core he is a good person, and I can only imagine there are millions more Muslims just like him. I really do think it's important we really understand just what is going on in the world right now and why, and how to approach those of a different religion. I'm not blind to the radical groups and what they have done, but it's really important to understand that what they're doing is not in accordance with what their religion is truly about.

After all, we have Christians killing people in the name of God as well, so we're not any different from those radical groups.

(I will be a little sad Judaism won't get much coverage. I was a bit shocked and surprised that a girl presenting on Hanukkah the other day had no idea what a Menorah was, or even how to pronounce it properly. Are people really being raised under rocks?)

..they blur the image... I think I'm finally totally and completely done with the clay creations. Totally, and completely. Which means my headache brain fog has finally gone away! I actually slept well last night and felt pretty good all day. Maybe it's because snow's on the way and the sky's looked like it wanted to dump snow all day anyway. I digress. One of these days I'll get some more paint so I can get these guys (and gals) all properly painted, but in the meantime:

( Blurry images ahead! )

Speaking of, I finally dismantled my work station in the living room (just a corner table with my cookie sheet on it to keep the clay from ruining the wood) but my roommates were sad to see the little clay creations go. It's been decided that when I finish them, they have to take up residence in the living room again. I guess this means they've missed having Mira on the television set as well... They all do lend a bit of fun and tenderness I suppose. (Or maybe the tenderness is from me being able to see how the finished wolves will look, and knowing where all the gazes will be directed.)

Love him, hate him, be apathetic toward him, I was visiting JibJab yesterday and came across this gem. It amused me so much I had to share.

Classes went well, I took my Textiles test (I just don't care to study for that class...blargh!), then I came home to try out drawing in Flash. Ha! I like it better than Illustrator! I have clean lines, yet they respond more to pressure from the tablet, so it looks more stylized and personal. I should say that I doodled some simple character and monster designs during my classes today, so I had something to strive for in Flash:

( Doodles and rambling, a deadly duo! )

Creativity has taken hold for too long! I need to eat before I pass out from sheer hunger. I want to keep drawing instead... XP

Whoever gave me their insomnia can take it back now. Again I went to bed at a decent hour (before 11 p.m.) and again I spent most of the night not sleeping. When my alarm went off at 6 a.m. I turned it off and tried to go back to sleep...with mixed results. I'm missing my first class right now, in fact. I was just too tired...and I still am, technically, but I have a lab and my binder due in Textiles at 10:15 a.m. so I need to attend that class at least. This perpetual headache is also getting annoying! I wish I knew what was causing the trouble with sleep and the headaches. I have to wonder if the weather constantly fluctuating from the upper 50s to the lower 30s is to be blamed. Idaho's weather is just too erratic for me!

The insomnia wasn't a total waste, in any case. When my head wasn't pounding so much I schemed out actually making my final Flash project an introduction to D&D, complete with drawings of my characters. Since I don't draw people well I decided I ought to try for a very cute and simplistic approach:


This is just a test, obviously. I quickly sketched it out on Photoshop, then drew a cleaner version. I'm really going to go for super simplistic for the animals as well. The best part is that I have a wide range of characters here with me, so coming up with depictions of D&D races and classes will be easy! I'll just need to get serious about starting this soon. They'll all be colored as well so they'll stand out in the Flash site.

Time to get serious about breakfast so I can get out the door on time. Somebody want to take this headache away from me while they're at it?

It took most of my weekend, but at last I finally found the faulty coding that was making the dratted forward button on my Flash slideshow not work properly! I'm DONE! And with an hour to spare before class... All things considered, I'm not that happy with my Flash project at all. It is cool what can be done with Flash (the potential really is a lot of fun), but it's not very friendly toward people not fluent in Actionscript at all. It's really pathetic that I spent at least ten hours this past week just to get a single BUTTON to behave. Oh well, at least I got it before class started. Here's a picture of what it looks like. I did everything myself:


There's a lot of blue and white since those are the colors often used to represent BYU-Idaho. Plus, they look cool. If this were the actual .swf, you could actually click through twenty different pictures, each with a caption that took FOREVER for me to get to work. Figures that's the one minor detail not covered in class, but through sheer tenacity and too much trial and error I figured it out.

Speaking of trial and error, this has seriously fried my brain. I haven't really been able to focus on much else..like the Textiles lab due tomorrow (I still need to stare at 100 swatches of fabric to identify the type of weave....waugh!), and the Textiles test I need to take no later than Wednesday. Wednesday is starting to look really ideal. My brain's fried but didn't get the message that it needed to shut off. I went to bed at a decent hour last night (sort of) but I couldn't sleep until well past midnight. I don't even want to know what time it was. I did wake up at 6:45 a.m. when my roommate did (I usually get up at 6 a.m. anyway, even though I don't have to on Mondays) and even when I tried to let myself sleep in until 8 a.m., my body would not have any of it. I made it through my German class at least (with a lot of self-deprecating humor since my brain could not comprehend language, so when I mentioned it was kicking my butt today, Brüder Schwartz told me to bend over. He was joking of course, but I think he understood what I was getting at. He's such a great teacher.) but I feel so spent...


Can I just not participate in the rest of the day? -_- Good thing is that I have plenty of leftover stew (and pie!) from last night so I don't need to cook anything today, but I will need to do laundry after my Flash class later. Man, I hope I can stay awake in Flash class.

In other news, I really want to write - I just don't know what. My brain was going everywhere and nowhere last night, which only made it harder to settle down for sleep. (The subject isn't something I want to post about here since it's rather...odd. My brain likes to ponder over the oddest things! Ask if you want, but I might not answer unless it's over a private chat. This is so your fault, dragonhealer00! Even though you don't know it!) Fanfics to be finished... D&D ideas to play with..characters to convert to Pathfinder! Maybe that'll be a good place to start. Staring at some shiny .pdfs sounds like a grand thing to do while I eat some lunch before class...

Bwa ha ha! It finally happened! We did make our pumpkin stew (which I got way too much meat from...I really do not like big chunks of chewy meat), and afterward I was able to get some of the roommates engaged in making pie. Keeping in mind this was the first time we ever did it from scratch (if at all). Excitement:

( Of pies, pumpkin guts, pecans, and munchkins! )

I'd forgotten how many in-jokes Munchkin has to D&D and roleplaying games in general. It would be soooo tempting to run an impromptu game for the roommates to understand what D&D's all about...but that's probably hoping for too much. They were really fascinated by all my dice though!

I was good and worked on my Textiles lab earlier today, but after staring at fabric yarns for so many hours one tends to go a bit loopy...no pun intended. Stupid terry cloth... Aside from that, whenever I have to work with all those fabric swatches I start to feel weird. I'm not sure if it's mental, or if some of the fabrics are treated with something I'm reacting to. I'm really looking forward to tossing that binder of swatches (sans the binder) away. $80 down the drain...

After I'd have enough (and rescued "H" from town) I moved into the living room where "Mi" was watching Animal Cops on Animal Planet. I love the Animal Cops shows (even if many are heartbreaking) so I happily watched while working to get rid of my leftover clay:

( Here there be wolfish folk )

Time to let the growing family dry while I work on making some pizza for dinner..

Highlights from last night's D&D session:

Setup: we've been in a city filled with doppelgangers that continue to attack us. Seems there's a hit list with all of our names on it, which is not good. The group found a missing dwarf worker from a nearby temple tucked away in a warehouse, learning that this supposed same dwarf was coming to the warehouse for a meeting. Putting two and two together, we lay in wait to attack. Soon after the doppelganger dwarf and his posse came into the warehouse (escorted by our party's dwarf disguised as a guard) my Seeker attacked the main target, knocking him prone. And then...

Dane, the Cleric, standing up high making himself glow in the darkened warehouse in an attempt to intimidate the main bad guy: "BEHOLD, THE POWER OF PELOR!"

Larua (me), the Seeker: "That might be more effective if he wasn't deafened." (Her attack's effect leaves the target prone and deaf for a full round)

Doppelganger: (Utterly confused as he entered a dark warehouse only to be knocked down and cannot hear anything.)

Dane: "......"

Last night was a lot of fun though. Out of character chatter continues to be interesting. One of the guys was talking about one of his checks, claiming, "I have a four!", but one of the other guys misheard him and joked, "I thought you said, 'I have a whore'," to which more of the guys jumped in with, "If you ever refer that way to your wife again, I'll have to hurt you!" They were all joking of course, but seeing how all but one of the guys in the group is married, it was a bit amusing. It's not often I hear a guy defend his wife (or even a friend's wife).

Speaking of wives, earlier in the evening one of the guys had his wife and little girl stop by to deliver dinner (we game in an apartment complex where most of the gamers live), which was adorable since the little girl is so sweet, but the little girl escaped her apartment twice more to come visit her dad. The mother was always right behind her, standing in the doorway waiting patiently. What's more amusing to me is that the little girl is almost the right size for a Halfling, so it brought back memories of my Halfing, Jacki, being mistaken for a little girl. Memories...

Oh yeah! Last thing! After the battle where over ten enemies died:

Zorn, the Rogue/Assassin, looking to our wizard, Venahl: "How long will it take you to use Prestidigitation to clean up all this blood?"

Larua (me), the Seeker: "Just move all these crates to cover it up."

Dane, the Cleric, to Larua: "See, this is why we hired you!"

(Larua was hired as a bodyguard to protect Dane, but she's seeming to become the voice of reason for the group as well. Before the ambush last night everyone debated forever on how to lure everyone in. It was Larua that suggested the dwarf, Thade, disguise himself as another dwarf we had just taken out. He wasn't up for that, but we were able to disguise him as a guard, so it all worked out...somehow. Larua's got an average intelligence so it's fun to point out what's obvious to her but seems to escape the rest of the (smarter) party.)

I missed gaming so much! ^_^

My mom knows me too well. Even though I still had plenty of her soap for school, last time she came to visit she packed along two bars of peppermint soap. I decided to use one this morning since I'd used up a bar of soap...and man, did it put me in a good mood! It probably doesn't hurt that we finally changed all of the burnt out lightbulbs in the apartment so everything looks cheery and bright, but regardless, a dose of peppermint scent in the morning does wonders for a person!

And sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself still in regard to the roommates. Never have I been in an apartment when people want to actually cook and bake! I'd barely gotten out of bed this morning when "H" poked her head in asking if I really did have a recipe for whole wheat pancakes (we came across them the other week while in pursuit of waffle recipes) so I pulled out the recipe then let her have at the wheat flour my little sister had given me. We recently tasted it to make sure it wasn't deadly (its past the use by date) so I've been encouraging her to use it. One shower later, "H" was busy making pancakes in the kitchen, and they were gooood....

I'm getting excited for this weekend, too. "C" still has her large pumpkin she brought from home that she's allowing to be sacrificed for a worthy cause (since we never got around to carving our own pumpkins), so this weekend we're going to make pumpkin stew. I've been wanting to make it since the last time I tried it, and this time I'll have roommates willing to help me eat it! "H" wants to make some rolls from the wheat flour as well, and we still need to make that pumpkin pie (and pecan pie, if I have my way!) so I'm getting really excited! Cooking and baking are already fun by themselves, but doing it together with friends is so much better! Also awesome, "Mi" didn't grow up doing a lot of cooking or baking, but she's been quick to pick it up from us. Already she's excited to go home and show her parents what she's learned.

Life is good. ^_^ (And Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming! I can't wait to see the new nephew, then later friends from back home!)

Still no internet... I came home to find a note stuck to our wall saying that we all have to scan our computers for viruses. EVERYONE in the complex has to do it before we get our internet back. Of course the places we were told to go to get anti-virus scanning software is Windows only..but a quick search and Apple's seal of approval later I found Avast!, and my computer's been getting scanned since. It already came up with two viruses, but they're Windows viruses so nothing for me to fear. I just hope it finishes soon, and I hope the rest of the complex gets their computers checked as well. I'm tired of stealing the neighboring complex's slow wi-fi!

Anyway, the dragon project has been finished for a bit now (Mira's seated by my computer being a far more studious student than I) but I still had half a block of Das clay. "No problem," I thought, thinking it would be the perfect amount to make the wolf version of my bard. So I started the other day on her and just did most of the stabilizing today. (After my sister chewed on me for not using a skeleton for the dragon, I used toothpicks for the legs and to stabilize wolf Alya's neck and tail.) ...and I still have most of the clay left. Bah!

Next plan of attack is to keep running with it. Wolf Alya's turned out better than I expected, so I'll try for Amranath next. And should there still be clay after that, I'll appease my roommate and make the pups. But all in due time. I ought to finish touching up Alya first, and at the moment she needs a day of drying before I attempt to do anything else. I am really happy I sacrificed $10 to get a clay-modeling tool kit at the bookstore though. Given Alya's quite a bit smaller than Mira, they've been a real lifesaver!

(And just so people don't think I've been playing all afternoon, I also changed all of the burnt out lightbulbs in the apartment, plus cleaned off the light covers that were still filled with fried insects. My room and the living room are so much brighter now!)

Edit: "C" decided to watch more Lost tonight, so I got impatient and worked on Alya anyway. I think she's 99% done:

Oh, the things you'll see... We continued talk on libel (slander, defamation, etc.) in Media Law and Ethics today, and the subject of a "YouTube video with missionaries" came up. Most everyone but another girl and me knew of the video, so the teacher thankfully educated us. What I'm about to link is a bit of a tough subject for me since it touches on things both personal, and also because it has to do with the dreaded Prop 8:

( Don't tell me no one targeted the LDS church )

What's not okay: They actually depict (although poorly) LDS missionaries entering a home uninvited to literally take away someone's rights. The 'missionaries' even say, "We're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". Missionaries cannot enter any home without being invited, nor would they search someone's home to find and destroy their rights. I know why it was done, but it was going a bit too far. I'm really tired of people tagging the 'Mormon' church with raising funds to take away same sex marriage in California. People seem to forget that the church is nothing without its members, and the members are of course United State citizens (note: within the U.S., we have members of various citizenry all across the globe) who have every right to vote according to their conscience. EVERY citizen of the U.S. has this right. (In fact Maine just had something similar where again the voice of the people was heard, even if it wasn't the voice of all the people. This is how a democracy is supposed to work.)

Plus, there's the small fact that they smear the reputation of the LDS church when many churches banded together to stand up for their rights. So rargh! If you don't like how a vote turned out, fight (figuratively, be polite about it!) to get whatever it is on the ballot again, and in the meantime win people to your side through truth and love. Hate and fear tactics only work for so long...

Okay, that aside, we ended class with this silly video. I had tears in my eyes from watching:

( The Red Sparrows )

And in completely other news, the 'wolf man' and I have become something akin to friends, as I hoped we would. He even had to tell me a really bad (not tasteless) joke during class. It's almost a shame he recently got married, he really is a decent guy. Just very opinionated. Much luck and patience to his new wife in living with him. ^_-

EDIT: Still no internet in my apartment. I'm posting this up on campus between classes.

I bought this game at its launch in September, but I've been slowly picking away at it when I've had time...which hasn't been very often. Courtesy of the day of mass headache and not having much farther to go today, I finally beat it. It was awesome. :D

For those not in the know, this is the third Mario & Luigi game, the first, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, being for the GBA. (And someday my copy will find its way back to me.) The second, Partners in Time, was for the DS. All are akin to the Paper Mario games in that they're RPGs, but the game doesn't use the 'flat' mechanic as is done in the Paper Mario games. Instead this one is all about team battles. The first game being about Mario and Luigi, the second about Mario, Mario, Luigi, and Luigi (play and it'll make sense), but this last one introduced something completely new: Bowser has finally been added to the roster!

But it's not that simple. I won't go into the full story, but early on Bowser gains a new ability (via being duped!) which he uses to crash Princess Peach's meeting, inhaling all present. This includes Mario and Luigi, who are now, for all intent and purpose, in Bowser's gut. You run around as Mario and Luigi inside Bowser, his body a mass maze of platforming goodness, not to mention a ton of globins! Do you globin me? At certain times they'll come across something that will impact Bowser's actions, sometimes with hilarious results, other times being vital to surviving a boss fight. And there will be boss fights...

Combat itself is pretty interesting. Typically if the combat starts with just Mario and Luigi it will end with Mario and Luigi, but since you also get to play the game as Bowser (who walks around punching first, asking questions later) Bowser also gets his own piece of the action. Due to his new ability to inhale enemies, at times he can do just that, then the battle switches to Mario and Luigi fighting inside his gut. It was always a mite disturbing when enemies would flee the Bros., only to be spit out by Bowser. It made for a cool battle mechanic though. Also, at some points in the game Bowser will be supersized to take on massive enemies, including his own castle. These are Bowser battles, and only Bowser battles, but they are a lot of fun! You flip the DS on its side and use the touch screen to punch, breathing into the mic when you want to breathe fire. Anyone who ever wanted a taste of what it's like to be Bowser will love these special combat sessions.

Overall the game was awesome, and it had great moments. I really love how all of the characters have so much character. Bowser especially, who we get to see in dealing with enemies and minions alike really isn't that smart, but at the same time he's endearing in his own way. Mass amusement when he's finally called on his rudeness and has to practice being polite. Like any Mario game, he gets trounced royally by Mario and Luigi, but there's a twist at the ending that was just too great. I won't spoil it here, but it really touched me. It's nice to know that after so many years of Bowser kidnapping Peach only for Mario and Luigi to give chase, in the end they all have a very odd but somehow working relationship.

If my kid sister has not played this game, she really needs to. Any fan of Bowser will love this game. I just have one question: will we ever see Fawful again?