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...