Life Marches On

I'm afraid this blog is quickly becoming more of a video gaming journal. (Because honestly, no one wants to hear me complaining about life.) Anyway, I've updated my Final Fantasy collection: I am currently playing III, IV, VI, VIII, and XII: Revenant Wings. I have beat VII, VII: Crisis Core, VII: Dirge of Cerberus, X, X-2, XII, and XIII. I have also beat Assassin's Creed I, II, and Brotherhood, as well as Devil May Cry 4. As for Kingdom Hearts, I currently have every single game (including the newly-released Re:coded), but have only beat II.

In real life news, the horses are doing well, and I start at Rice University in the fall. Yay.

CLICK THE EGG!!! Thank you!!

Yeah, I'm Still Alive

I didn't die... yet. But I did not post for seventh months. Or is it eight? Ehh, whatever. I did a lot of cool stuff this year:

- Went to Hawaii, went scuba-diving and didn't see a 12-foot-long tiger shark (I really wanted to see him, but we couldn't find him), went scuba-diving at night, went scuba-diving with manta rays... lots of scuba-diving!!

- Got thrown from my horse (stupid me for not wearing a helmet) and ended up with a concussion

- Got a sexy car (it's a manual red A4 Audi Quattro...yum)

- Was accepted to Rice (YAY!!!!)

- Played Assassin's Creed (amazing!)

- Begun watching Psych (Lassie's my favorite), White Collar (Neal is YUMMY), and Burn Notice (in which a lot of stuff blows up :D)

... And I think that's all the coolest stuff.

Speaking of cool stuff, I've been on a Star Wars kick recently. Specifically, I've been obsessing over the Commandos in the GAR. (That's the Grand Army of the Republic for all you non-Star Wars fans. You know, the clone army?) I went back and re-read Hard Contact and Triple Zero twice...each, and Fi is still my favorite commando!! I really want to play the game (w00t, Scorch and Sev!!), but I don't have an X-Box or a gaming PC (the one PC in my house is slower than that pet snail I had back in second grade), so...*sigh*...

I'll play it someday. Or I'll get an emulator for my Mac, lol. I have been watching the gameplay on YouTube, though, so I'm entirely familiar with the storyline. BEST LINE EVER: "No terminal can match my l33t hax0r skillz!" - Scorch

And for all of you wondering, yes, he actually says that, and, yes, the subtitles actually spell his line "l33t hax0r skillz". It was wonderful.

Going back to the whole "I love the GAR" thing, the Republic Commandos series has gotten me quite interested in the Mando'a language. I've actually started swearing in Mando'a instead of English. It's quite entertaining to see the various looks you get when yelling, "Get your shabla head out of your shebs and stop being such a di'kut!" (Those of you who have read the series are cracking up right about now.)

So I've begun to learn Mando'a. It's actually a fairly simple language, much easier to speak and write than French or Spanish or German. The only real issue is learning the vocab (of course) and the fact that you can combine words and drop letters to make your sentences flow better. That's a challenge. But it's not going too horribly. I can understand the song/war chant Vode An ("Brothers All") sung in the Republic Commandos video game.

And it's late and I'm tired, so I'm done for tonight. Two last things: in case anyone is wondering, Ordo is my favorite character in Republic Commandos. He is AWESOME. (How can "instant death on legs" coupled with Ordo's straightforward nature and fierce loyalty NOT be awesome? Plus, he has a kama. And it's hand-washable, lol.)

And so I'll leave you (especially those of you currently struggling with school or work or life with this: K'oyacyi! -- "Hang in there!"

~~Kami Strife

I Know, I Know

Yeah, I haven't posted since March. Or was it May? Well, whatever. You know the drill. I completely forgot about my blog, blah, blah, blah.

But that's beside the point. I am leaving for Peru soon! Yay!!! I haven't packed, and I just went shopping today for some clothes that I need... And I leave tomorrow. *shrugs* Well, I always did have a habit of procrastinating. Anyway, I'm leaving my computer at home, and thus will not be on here or Facebook for at least eight days. Oh yeah, I got a Facebook. My name's Kami Strife; look me up.

VIDEO GAME ALERT!!!!!! I had to return FFXII before I finished it, but I plan on buying my own copy. Reddas just joined my party. Normally, I would cheer because I now have someone to help me beat the tough marks, but he's making it very difficult for me to level up. And I don't trust him. There's something not quite right about that guy...

On a happier note, I'm playing FFX-2 through again, just because I like the fighting style. And the good ending. I'm definitely making a Black Mage and a White Mage outfit before the end of the summer (for cosplaying, of course), and my designs are loosely based off of Paine's Black Mage outfit (and the White Mage outfit from FFIII). I tried to come up with something that was pretty and decorative, but also reflective of the various Mages. And simple.

That's it for now. If you have to contact me, I'd suggest leaving a message on my Facebook wall (I can access that on my cell.) or sending a text message. I may not respond, because texting is expensive in Peru. Peace!!

~~Kami Strife~~

I've Neglected the Blog Once Again

I really seem to be getting really good at it, don't I?  Well, this is going to be short because I have four or five hours of homework left.  And I've been working on it all weekend, too.  Crazy teachers.

UIL is this week.  I'm doing the Current Events (which I haven't prepared for.  At all) and the Science (which I've been studying like crazy for), both on Thursday.  Whoop de freaking doo.  (Yay, Red Versus Blue line!)

VIDEO GAME ALERT!  I finally beat that guy in FFXII.  It took quite a bit of leveling up, but I did it.  And subsequently got thrashed by the monsters in Giruvegan.  Looks like it's time for more leveling.  But not for a while, because I have way too much work to do before I can play any games.  It'll be a few weekends, probably.

Which reminds me, all of my stories are on hold.  I'm not writing any more of the Zerith or the Yuffentine stories until school is back under control.  The same goes for the revising and typing up of the one about Tsume.  Sorry, everyone.  Just be patient; I'll get back to them... eventually.

I love you all, and I'll be back when I can,

~~Kami Strife

I Certainly Have a Habit of Getting Sick

And at the most inconvenient times, too.  It's kind of annoying.  Anyway, midterms went well.  I scored the highest in our class on the AP Chemistry one, so that made me happy.  And I did well on Pre-Cal, too.  Those were the two that I was worried about.

So the week after midterms was fairly normal, except for the fact that the Saturday after midterms, Pistol kicked my foot (not stepped on - kicked) and broke the small toe on my right foot.  It was all swollen and black and blue and purple.  It would have been a nice, pretty color... if it hadn't hurt whenever I tried to walk.  So I did homework and rested on the couch playing video games all weekend.

This past weekend was good, as well.  I played a lot of Final Fantasy XII and Rock Band 2.  However, I woke up feeling awful Monday morning.  I was so dizzy that I couldn't even sit up until 1130, despite the fact that I woke up around 930 or so.  I dozed off and on for most of the day, played some FFXII after the dizziness went away, and then went to bed early.  Tuesday wasn't as bad, but I still didn't feel the greatest.  I went to school today, but it was probably not the smartest thing to do, because I felt pretty icky.  (Is "icky" even a word?  My computer recognizes it as one.  But still...)  So I'm either staying home tomorrow or going in late.  Either way, I get to sleep.  Yay!!

VIDEO GAME ALERT!  I've decided to start putting that at the beginning of my paragraphs about video games.  Sure gets the attention.  Anyhoo, I finally got to Giruvegan in FFXII, only to have my butt handed to me THREE TIMES by that stupid guy by the gate crystal with the sword and the name with a lot of vowels that starts with a "D".  That was a long sentence.  So, I'm wandering around Ivalice now, hunting a few marks and doing sidequests.  I hate leveling up in that game.  It's so much more difficult than the other Final Fantasies.  My levels are kind of embarrassing, too.  Vaan, Basch, and Fran are around 44, Balthier is 25, and Penelo and Ashe are 22, I think.  I don't use Penelo and Ashe in battle very much.  I just plain don't like Ashe very much.  Maybe it's because she sounds too much like Shelke from Dirge of Cerberus.  (Well they do have the same voice actress.)  I CAN'T STAND SHELKE!!!!  Ahem.  Sorry.  Won't happen again.  Not in this post, anyway.

Hello to Julia and Steve, if you're reading this.  I heard that you guys were sick, too.  It sucks, right?  Especially when you're not even feeling well enough to enjoy having the day off from school.  Get better soon!

It's getting late, so I'm signing off.

Love you all,

~~Kami Strife

Midterms Are Fast Approaching

And I'm nowhere near ready.  A mile or two away, maybe?  Anyway, I need a break from studying, because I've been at it for an hour.  And eight hours yesterday.  I'm barely hanging on to whatever shreds of sanity I have left.  (By the way, doing homework for eight hours straight only works if it's something that you're very interested in.  Fortunately, I spent most of that time on a history project that is counted as our midterm.  We get to create our own religion!  Haha, mine is oriented around Final Fantasy VII, naturally.  But it's very confusing.  Email me if you're bored and want to hear about it.)

Moving on, AP Chemistry is going to be the worst, I think.  I love my teacher, but she confuses us more often than she teaches us.  And I happen to hate thermochem with a passion, though I'm not quite sure why.  If there is anyone out there who knows thermochem inside out and upside down, please email me.  I need help!  I'll send you virtual cookies!

Okay, I'm done complaining about midterms.  I watched The Dark Knight (again) on Friday.  Great movie.  Heath Ledger was amazing.  I reread the entire Twilight series over the past week, and I re-realized that that series is the best series in the entire world.  If you haven't read it, go do so.  Now.  Come on, how can you not love gorgeous vampires?  (And if you haven't read it because you don't want to do what "everyone else" is doing (*cough* Julia! *cough*), just shut up and read the books.  You're being an idiot.)  I haven't been up to visit the horses in about a week (schoolwork tends to get in the way), but they get put in a paddock during the day, so I'm not too concerned.

Final Fantasy XII has been put aside for the past week, as well.  I plan to play it some tonight, though, after I finish studying.  I started FFVII last night (this is the third time now), because my dad wanted to watch me play it.  Haha, I've gotten my dad hooked on Final Fantasy.  He doesn't like playing it, but he likes watching me play.  He's watched about two or three hours of X (which I had a really strange urge to play last night, but a friend is currently borrowing it, so I couldn't play it) and through the first bombing in VII.  So far, I've gotten my little brother hooked, and both of my parents interested.  Now to move on to my extended family... *evil laugh*

Well, it's back to studying for me.  This post has been primarily about school, so it was probably pretty boring.  Sorry.  At least I remembered to post again, right?

Good luck to those of you who haven't taken your midterms yet (like me).  If you already have... you suck.  (Just kidding.)

~~Kami Strife

Happy Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year... Did I miss any?

My last post was halfway through July.  It is now January.  Of next year.  I'm very sorry.  I won't waste your time with excuses.

Well, I guess I owe you an update about junior year... yeah, we'll come back to that.

So, it was the first day back at school from our 2 week (and 4 day) Christmas/ Holiday/ Winter/ Whatever Break.  I was sick for a week and a half, though, so it seemed much shorter.  I "officially" got my new iPhone (they rock, by the way), since my old cell phone stopped working the day before Thanksgiving.  I also got Batman Begins and The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray (because my PS3 plays Blu-Ray Disks - which are awesome), Stephanie Meyer's "The Host" (almost as good as the Twilight series), and tickets to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert.  They are my new favorite band.  (Andrew Ross, one of the singers is amazing.)  If you haven't heard of TSO before, Google or YouTube "Wizards in Winter".  It's the best Christmas song in this world.  Anyway, I went with my family and Joey, and we had a lot of fun.

New Year's was pretty cool; I wasn't sick, at least.  Well, I was a little, but my illness was mostly gone.  We stayed up late, saw the ball drop, and watched The Phantom of the Opera.  Good movie.  A little boring, but fun.  I'm still lamenting the fact that we couldn't make my friend Neil's New Year's party.  (If you're reading this, Neil, I've very sorry, and I'll call you to apologize over the phone... once I get the SIM card out of my old phone.)

Backing up a bit, Thanksgiving was enjoyable, as well.  I finally played Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core.  (Thank you, Kendra, for letting me borrow your PSP.)  It took me 22 hours to beat, but only 4 days.  That's definitely a record, especially considering that my parents don't like me playing more than an hour or two every day.

That reminds me, I'm playing Final Fantasy XII right now, and it's driving me insane.  I mean, I've played it for 37 hours, and my highest character is at level 36.  For an FF game, that's just embarrassing.  I beat Crisis Core at 22 hours and my level was in the upper thirties!  If anyone has played XII, HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU LEVEL UP?  It's really annoying.  Especially because the game isn't mine, and I need to return it.  I also have to start playing Metal Gear Solid 3.  And try not to rekindle any of the debates at my old school of whether Dante or Snake is better.  But there's really no problem, because we all know that Cloud is the best... unless Mario gets involved, but we won't go into that.

So, here I am, prepping for midterms... er, that's what I'm supposed to be doing, but I decided to post instead.  I think my poor blog felt neglected.  Now that I finally have wireless internet in my house, though, I'll be posting a lot more... if I can remember.

Email me if you're ever bored.  I love to talk, and I can check my email from anywhere with my iPhone.

Love, as always,

~~Kami Strife~~

No Electronics

I haven't been ignoring you guys.  My little brother spent almost an entire day playing video games, so my dad decided to forbid the use of ALL electronics.  For the entire family.  Crazy old man.  Anyways, I'm posting this quickly, before my parents get back from whatever it is that they're doing.  I hope you're all having a wonderful summer, and I'll post again the next chance I get.  Which will likely be the next time my family leaves the house without me.  Which is happening more than usual because my (newer) horse, Pistol (the guy weighs 1220 pounds) stepped on my foot and ripped one of the nails off.  I haven't been to a hospital yet, so I don't know if it's broken or not.  Either way, I can't wear closed-toed shoes, so I can't run.  Or horseback ride.  Or do anything really fun.  It sucks.

Parents are almost home. Gotta run!!

~~Kami Strife~~