My Awesome Day

It's been a while since I've posted!

Today was a really good day! It started out much like a typical Saturday: I woke up slightly later than usual, watched some cartoons (Yes, I still do that), checked FaceBook, etc.

But then, my wife and I went on a walk to the nearby mall. There's a Whole Foods market on the premises, so we got what has become one of my favorite things there: freshly ground peanut butter. It's really good. It's just peanuts, and maybe a little salt, and the best part is that it doesn't have much of a difference in cost compared to "regular" peanut butter! After we got home, we split a peanut butter and jam sandwich (homemade strawberry jam, to be precise).

On our way home, we saw another grocery store, Trader Joe's, that has great pizza crust. We decided that we would be having pizza for dinner. I didn't know it until we had decided that, but I was really craving pizza.

Later, we went to get one of the toppings that we needed for dinner (pepperoni). While we were there, we noticed that clementines were on sale for about half their usual price. We got some. Clementines are delicious.

As we left to do this shopping and other errands, we noticed that California's oldest theater, which isn't usually open to the public, had its doors wide open as part of Monterey's "Christmas at the Adobes" thing that they do each year. We mentally crossed our fingers, hoping that it would still be open when we got home. It was. Apparently, you're supposed to sign up for a tour or something, but we explained to the volunteer that was there that we always pass by, and we've always wanted to see the inside, and he said something along the lines of "Just walk in like you belong there. No one will know the difference." It was pretty awesome. Apparently, they did plays there as recently as 10 years ago. They allowed people into the lobby area, but the theater part itself is currently too dangerous to allow anyone to enter. Apparently, it would cost around $4 million to repair, according to the volunteer that told us, and the state just doesn't have that kind of money. It was still a great experience.

When we got home, I helped make the pizza. I sliced the mushrooms and shredded the cheese. It was so delicious that, even though we were both not hungry anymore after two pieces, it was hard to stop eating it.

I also got to spend the entire day with my wife, which is always a good thing.

Thank You, Day 7

Today is not my last day to be thankful, but it is the last day, for now, that I'm going to explicitly mention my thanks here on my blog.

Today, I'm thankful for everything. Yep, that's right. Everything. I'm mostly thankful for the good, but the bad has its place in life, too, if only to help us appreciate the good and help us grow.

I am thankful for, among other things: Dad, Mom, older brother and his family, younger brother #1, younger brother #2, younger brother #3, baby sister and her hubby, my wife, my in-laws (mom-in-law, cousin-in-law, great-aunt-in-law, you name it), my ancestors, my future progeny, puppies, everything I've mentioned so far this week, hamsters, bats, cats, rats, cockroaches, brooms, grooms, mushrooms, peppers, salt, trees, fish, jellyfish, seals, modern medicine, death, life, love, sorrow, joy, pain, healing, Jupiter, the sun, Chile, Russia, Japan, board games, video games, card games, chairs, music, musical chairs, noise, silence, whispers, laughter, tears, cheers, birthdays, anniversaries, art, clocks, time, Eternity, pi, water, dihydrogen monoxide, the past, the present, the future, the possible, the impossible, the improbable, the world, calculus, statistics, computer programming, computers, you, me, him, her, them, pronouns, adjectives, demonstratives, phonetics, semantics, spell check, language, the five senses, the sixth sense, religion, truth, error so that we can learn from it, wood, metal, earth, wind, fire, knives, chopsticks, and having a place in your life.

Thank You, Day 6

Today, I'm thankful for food.

Anyone who knows me well at all knows that I love food. It's necessary for survival, and that in itself makes food something to be thankful for, but food is also good! Taste is a very fascinating sense, and it's only through nourishment that we get to fully explore it.

That being said, I am even more grateful for healthy food that tastes good. If all you eat is meaty, greasy, cholesterol-ridden stuff, it may taste great, but it defeats the main purpose of food. Instead of nourishing, it kills slowly. I'm trying to make sure that I don't ignore that food is to help you, and that tasting good is a bonus.

Now I'm hungry...

Thank You, Day 5

I could say that today, I'm thankful for the feature that lets me mark posts as happening on different days.

While I am thankful for that, it's not what I'm going to feature. Today, I'm thankful for fantasy.

Imagination lets you put a new perspective on life by escaping it to a degree every once in a while. A big homework assignment is nothing compared to evil wizards trying to take over the world, for example.

Besides, would we have any of the wonderful things that we enjoy if it weren't for imagination? Internet? Computers? Television? Electricity? Cotton candy? Cars? Worcestershire sauce? Running water?

So, yeah, I'm thankful for being able to imagine things.

Thank You, Day 4

Today, I'm thankful for my wife.

We've been through a lot together since we got married 5 1/2 years ago. My little brother died just 5 months after we got married, and that was a defining point in our marriage. My wife was always there to strengthen and support me, and she still is.

Now, she's strengthening and supporting me as I finish up my Master's degree. After that, I imagine she'll be supporting me as I transition into the life of a non-student.

Years from now, whatever I'm doing, I know that my wife will be there, helping me through it as I try to help her through whatever she's doing.

Thanks, honey.

Thank You, Day 3

Today, I'm thankful for a positive attitude.

Almost every day, one of the managers at my internship asks me, "How are you?" My answer is habitually, "Awesome."

One day, this manager asked my why I was awesome. I told him, "Because I have no reason not to be awesome," and that's the truth. When nothing's really going wrong in life, though the stress is still there, and things can be hard sometimes, why not be awesome? Even the little bumps in the road of life smooth out eventually.

Next time, I think I'll answer, "Amazing!"

Thank You, Day 2

I'm dedicating today's post to the women in my life:

• My mom, who raised me, taught me how to cook, and showed me how to treat others.
• My little sister, who loves to live, lives to love, and is all-around awesome.
• My wife, who supports me, loves me, and has helped me through a lot. I may even devote an entire day to her.
• My mother-in-law, who considers me one of her kids and treats me like one of the family.
• My wife's sister, who's like another little sister to me. She totally rocks!
• My brother's wife, who takes good care of my big brother. For that, I am very grateful.
• My niece, the newest little woman in my life! She's too cute for words!

I didn't grow up with a lot of women in my life. Now I have plenty! They have taught me a lot, and they are awesome!

Thanks guysgirls!

Thank You, Day 1

My sister-in-law decided that during the week of Thanksgiving, she would post something that she's thankful for each day on her blog. I may not be as eloquent as she is, but I've decided to do the same because, like everyone, I have a lot of things to be thankful for.

Today, I am thankful for friendship. About a year and a half ago, my wife and I moved away from everything either of us knew so that I could get my master's degree. Her great aunt and uncle and the family of one of their kids live out here, but other than that, it was all foreign.

That didn't last long, however. We soon became friends with other students who, like me, had moved away from the familiar in the quest for more knowledge. We also made friends in Church, and, thanks to technology, we've been able to keep in contact with our friends from before we moved.

Surrounded by all of these friends, the unfamiliar became not just familiar, but pleasant. So thank you, friends, for being so friendly!

Change of Purpose

"Throughout history games have been used to simulate and/or exaggerate real-life situations. This blog attempts to map my real-life situations to certain game/gaming characteristics."

That is what the top of my blog used to say. It's true that there are many real-life-to-game parallels, and I might still mention them from time to time, but I don't know that I'll be focusing on them anymore.


When I first created this blog, I wanted to make it a blog about my life. That's not because my life is particularly interesting, or that the information will be of any real use to anyone. It's more because, I don't know, because I want it as an outlet for my rantings, I guess. I'm finding it difficult to really verbalize it. Oh well.


So anyway, from now on, my blog is about Dale's life, just like the title says, and has always said.

Low HP

Last night, as my wife and I were out buying some armor, potions and other things, I must have run into an enemy using stealth or something, because out of the blue, I got debuffed. My HP got lowered, and I got a big headache and chills.

When I woke up this morning, some of the debuff seemed to have worn off. The chills were gone, but the headache was still there. I stayed home resting, so that I wouldn't get the rest of the Church congregation sick.

Hopefully by tomorrow my HP will be where it's supposed to be. Anyone have any buffs to counteract my debuffs?

Blah

I don't know what to post today, and I'm a bit sick. Not only that, but it's not really "today." It's "tomorrow," but because I forgot to post today, I told the blog to say that it was today.

Time travel.

HP recovery

In Mario games, you "eat" a mushroom to grow bigger and stronger, so that it takes one more hit to take down a life. In Zelda games, you drink potions to restore health (In one, you can eat apples, too). In RPGs of several varieties, there are potions, foods, etc. that you can use to recover your health.

Ah, food. Apparently when I was a n00b (when I was a baby), I would associate food with pain. I've since gotten over that. Now I enjoy my HP recovery time. Tonight we had a small potluck with some friends. There were chicken wings, guacamole, pizza, curry, wraps... It was great.

:)

There's an app for that.

Today in my software localization class, we had "iPhone app localization part 1." For those of you who aren't familiar with the terminology, localization = translation of software and websites.

And the app in question? A simple game that tests reaction time. I got 142 milliseconds on one run through (It's called "luck").

Next week is part 2. And then I can say that I officially know how to localize iPhone apps. Nifty.

Why games?

Why am I blogging about games vs. life?

Games are a representation of several aspects of life. Some were a way to train for war. Others a more peaceful alternative to war. Still others were religious ceremonies. The Olympics honored Zeus, for example, and a truce was put into place so that Olympians could travel safely¹.

Games can be a way to bring people together. I still remember family sessions of Monopoly, Yahtzee, and Boggle, not to mention The Game of Life. (If ever there was a game that simulates life, The Game of Life is it).

Why else do people play games? For the same reasons that they do a lot of things. To escape. To divert. To socialize. To pretend. To relax. To test their skills. To acquire skills. To train their skills. (You know those flight simulation video games? They use similar games to train pilots.)

Games are an unavoidable part of life. Some people have their football, soccer, chess, solitaire, etc. I have my RPGs and other video games. Yes, I stick to my preferred format and genres, but all games have come to form a part of society.

Stats part II: Strength, Constitution, HP

In games, strength has to do with... your physical strength. Guess what the real life correlation is?

Constitution (sometimes referred to as stamina) affects your HP level and thus how much damage you can take before you have to rest. I like to think of this as in-game endurance. You can run all-out longer.

HP is your total health. Keeping yourself healthy is essential for a good gaming and living experience.

Yep, this is as "in-depth" as it gets for this.

I mentioned before some of the moral obligations of a Scout. Right up there in the Scout Oath is the promise, "On my honor, I will do my best... to keep myself physically strong." It doesn't really matter how smart you are (and you're not proving yourself very wise) if you don't keep up your physical health.

I also mentioned that one of the main things that I am is an active Christian. I can't serve God and my fellow men if I don't keep my body, referred to as a temple in the scriptures, in good shape.

It's not as though it's very hard to keep in shape. For most people, all it takes is a healthier diet and a bit more physical activity. I've found myself slacking in that a little. I hop on the computer in the morning instead of doing a light workout. Maybe I'll have to devote some of my training to my strength and constitution stats in the future.

AFK

Yes, I was going to post about some more stats today, but I was pretty much AFK most of the day. "AFK," for those of you who don't know, means "Away from keyboard." In my case, today, it just means that I was super busy with classes, homework, etc.

And that I forgot to post earlier when I did have the time. I guess my mind went AFK for a bit, too...

Stats part 1: Int, Wisdom, MP

In an RPG, your character(s) have a set of stats, which define who they are, at least in part. Over the next several days, I plan on discussing some of these stats in depth and how I personally relate them to real life.

 First off: Intelligence, wisdom and MP.

In an RPG, intelligence usually refers to the strength of your magic. Basically, the smarter you are, the more exactly you can cast your spell. In life, intelligence is an important asset. We live in a world that's rich in information. If you have that information under your belt, or at least if you can understand it and know where to look for it, you can go far. Often, a mage or wizard with a lot of intelligence is the one that can cause the most damage to the bad guys in one hit, with a spell. If you're smart and have a lot of information, you can overcome several obstacles fairly easily, because you'll know how to resolve them.

Ah, but what is intelligence without wisdom? In games, wisdom often affects how much MP you have. The more MP, the more spells you can cast without resting. In life, wisdom refers to knowing how to apply your knowledge (intelligence). It lets you use your intelligence more efficiently. In games, wisdom is also often closely tied to the more spiritual classes, like clerics (priests). You can heal better with more wisdom. If we apply that aspect to life, it can come to mean your spiritual knowledge. How well do you put things in an eternal perspective?

MP is how much you can apply your intelligence and wisdom. As mentioned earlier, the wiser you are, the more you can use that wisdom. If linked to the secular side of life, MP could be considered your brain power. How long can you work on a problem before you just have to take a break? If linked to the spiritual side, it could be considered your "spiritual reserve," to put it one way. How strong are you, spiritually? How well can you take what life throws at you, still trusting in God? How well can you face trials and temptations?

In my life, I try to focus on intelligence and wisdom. When I'm done talking about stats, I'll probably start talking about different classes, and try to define my own class. Whatever it is, it will be one that relies heavily on these two attributes. Being an Eagle Scout, as well as an active Christian, mental, moral and spiritual strength are important to me. As a Scout, I promise that "On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God..., to keep myself... mentally awake and morally straight." As a Christian, I pledge to keep to the straight and narrow path, righting my way if I find myself going astray.

These goals have me increasing my secular and spiritual intelligence and wisdom so that I can face life head-on, so that I can be who I want to be, regardless of the bumps in the roads that I take.

Probability

I'm currently taking a statistics class at school right now, and we're studying probability.

Probability is, of course, essentially how likely something is to happen. It's used a lot in games, as well as real life.

The other day, I went to McD's to get some food and try my hand at their Monopoly game. I got a 10-piece nugget meal, large sized, but with a medium drink. That maximizes the number of game pieces in one meal: 2 on the nuggets, 2 on the medium drink (I checked with an employee, and they said that the large didn't have game pieces, which is why I adjusted my drink's size), and 4 on the large fries. That's 8 game pieces. The advertised odds are that about 1 in 4 are winners. That means that I should win... twice, right?

No. Not one was a winner. Now, I know that since there's a limited number of game pieces, that if I got all of them, the odds would hold out.

That's not necessarily so with infinite. If you flip a coin, there's a 50/50 chance that you'll get a tails. Mathematically, if you flip that coin infinite times, half of those will be tails. However, you could theoretically flip that coin infinite times and get all heads. Or all tails.

Skills, spells, etc. in games all use probability. Whether it hits, whether it hits critically, if the secondary effect happens. You could have a spell that hits 99% of the time, mathematically, but not have it hit at all.

There. I related it. Honestly, though, I just had a bit of writer's blogger's block. But I've been posting every day since I started, and I didn't want to skip a day. So there.

Pokémon

This is my first post that mentions a franchise! Huzzah!

Actually, the only reason I'm mentioning this game is that for Halloween, I'm going as a Pokémon trainer. It's great. I just need normal clothes, a DS with a Pokémon game for a Pokédex, and the nifty crocheted Pokéballs that my wife made for me.

Yeah, I know, this post doesn't really compare games to life. Or does it? Halloween is a great time to blur fantasy and reality, isn't it?

Parties

When the mobs get tough, and you just can't get past them, there are people that you can turn to in an MMORPG. Those people are your party. When it comes to a party, the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts. Through cooperation, parties will provide buffs, healing spells, and other forms of support to help you succeed, and you'll do the same for them.

Five years ago, my family suffered a great loss. We were able to band together, and others came to offer their support as well. Because of that, as well as our beliefs, we were able to become closer as a family.

So I offer my sincere thanks to anyone who has ever been part of my party. It's thanks to you that I am where I am today, and that's a good thing.

Terminology explained

I just realized something. Some time in the near future, I'm going to probably share this blog's URL with my mom, and she may not understand some of the terminology I use (Love you Mom!). So here is a list. It's likely not complete, and I may add to it here or in another post in the future.

Most of the things I discuss in my blog will likely relate to RPGs, since that is the genre of games I usually play, as well as one of the genres that closely mimics real life (albeit in a fantasy setting). So here is my (likely incomplete) RPG termbase.

RPG: I should probably define this first, since it's the term I used first in this post. "RPG" stands for "role-playing game." It is sometimes shortened even further to "RP." When I use it, it usually means a video game, but it can also mean anything from a couple of friends telling a story together to D&D-esque dice-rolling games. Really, taking a loose definition, any "game" where you "play" a "role" could be considered an RPG. Hey, even your job could be considered one. Wow, that's deep.

MMORPG: Massively multiplayer online RPG. These are RPGs (of the video game variety) that people play online with other people (thus the "multiplayer). Usually a lot of people (thus the "massively). Video game and real life blur in this realm, as the characters you are playing with are real people. If you're not careful, you can spend many an hour hunched over your keyboard playing these games.

PC: Player character. In single player games, they are characters that you play, can play, and/or can choose to play. In multiplayer games, especially MMORPGs, they're characters that are played by real people.

NPC: Non-player character. Logically, the opposite of PCs. They are the quest-givers and shop keepers of games. Sometimes they exist to give information. Sometimes they're just there for comic relief. Sometimes they're there so a town won't look abandoned. I've referred to NPCs in at least one of the few blog posts before this one. In fact in yesterday's post, I mentioned that we bought our ice cream from an NPC. In this case, it simply means that it was store-bought. (Not that the employees aren't real people).

Quest: Speaking of quests, what are they? A mission with a purpose. In games, sometimes it's "Kill x monsters in n time." Sometimes it's "Bring n such-and-such items to x place." Sometimes they're timed. My current quest: Finish this blog entry.

HP/MP/SP: Hit/Health points, Magic/Mana points, Stamina points. These are all health/energy indicators. HP tells you how hurt you are (the lower the HP, the more hurt), MP lets you know how much magic you have left in you, and SP lets you know how many physical skills you can use. In some RPGs, there is no SP, and physical skills use up MP instead.

Mount: In RPGs, mounts refer to an animal you ride, or in some, a vehicle you ride on/in. These usually come with a speed increase, and in some cases, a special ability, like the ability to fly if it's a bird, for example.

N00b(ie)/Noob(ie)/Newb(ie): A new player to the game. It can be used in a derogatory way, but has come to be the general term for new players.

Mob: A group of monsters/bad guys.

Party: A group of players/characters that band together for training, a quest, etc.

Class/Occupation: What your character does. Sometimes you can have both (for example: an archer class with the occupation of tailor), but a lot of times, these terms are used interchangeably.

FAQ: Frequently asked question (list). In gaming, it's seen as a type of guide to the game, though there are also walkthroughs, which are step-by-step instructions.

Cheat Code: Some way to let you cheat in a game. Invincibility, level selection, unlimited money, etc. are attainable through cheat codes. Cheat codes are often used by game testers in testing certain aspects of the game, and are sometimes left in the final product. Some are there just for fun, like making the characters appear more cartoony or whatever. Some are even made publicly available by the company. Using these is considered by most to be cheating, obviously, though some see it as perfectly fine, as they are part of the game and intentionally left. Cheat codes may also refer to using some sort of hacking device to bypass the intended programming, which achieves some of the same result as "normal" cheat codes. Using these is obviously cheating, though many gamers do it. I even have my old Game Shark for the original Gameboy system. Other cheats include exploiting glitches in the game's programming. These last two (hacking the game and exploiting glitches) may also cause damage to save files.

Alchemy

My wife is a great alchemist. Just the other day, she took ground beef, sausage, oatmeal, flour, and some other ingredients and turned them into delicious Swedish meatballs! She also made some grilled zucchini.

I know a little alchemy myself. That same night, I took rice and water and turned them into cooked rice! Amazing, huh?

For desert, we had another taste of my wife's skills as an alchemist: apple pie. It was delicious with the vanilla ice cream that we got from the NPCs.

We formed a party with a friend and her fiancé to enjoy the results of some great alchemy together.

Yesterday we took the Swedish meatballs that were left in our inventory and had them for lunch. That was some good HP replenishing!

Mount Maintenance

It's a fact of life. Sometimes, your mount's durability goes down, and you have to go to the stable and get the NPC to fix it.

My mount is very reliable, but its scheduled maintenance check came up a bit ago, and I had to sacrifice the gold needed to have those NPCs look at it. Unfortunately, it still needs some work. The tires are wearing thin, and we need to go buy some more... If only those mounts didn't eat up so much gold!

But they do. That's why, in games, I usually don't bother. I just walk everywhere, or use teleport (Huh. "Teleport" isn't in my browser's spell check. Interesting.) scrolls that I get from random drops.

Unfortunately, with the distance I have to cover most days, walking is impractical, and there are no scrolls that will 'port me there. I have a somewhat slower, 2-wheel mount, but it's got a flat right now, and besides, sometimes I need the extra storage that my regular mount offers. I have yet to find a bag with enough "hammerspace" to not need my mount.

Press Start to Continue

Pick a video game, any video game. Now, think back to when you first took that game out of its packaging (or downloaded it, or went to its internet site, or whatever).

Now, think about when you turned on the system, or double-clicked that icon on your computer, and the game started. Sometimes you have to wait past a lot of credits or loading time. Anticipation builds up...

And then there it is. The game you've been waiting for. You've heard that it's good, but now you get to find out for yourself.

And then you press start.

It's like that every time you start something new, isn't it? Every choice you make is like pressing start on a new adventure. A little over a year ago, for me, it was the decision to start graduate school. (I'm winning. Just under a year's worth of play time to go). 5 1/2 years ago, it was the beginning of my life as a married man. (I must have a lot of cheat codes enabled for that one, because it's the BEST GAME EVER).

Today, it's posting this. I'm not sure how it will go, but if I get stuck, I can always look up a FAQ or something.