My Life Thus Far

Today brings good news to all Super Nintendo RPG fans, including myself.  Chrono Trigger was officially announced by Square-Enix, and you can read more about the specifics on IGN:

http://ds.ign.com/articles/885/885741p1.html

The game will be released this holiday season in the US, making it the first release on a hand held system.  The original Chrono Trigger is hailed by many to be the best game of all time, only to be matched up with it’s biggest competitors; Final Fantasy VI and VII.  I personally follow the CT side, mostly due to the great art and fantastic multiple endings.

Chrono Trigger features a complex story line where you must travel through time to stop the destruction of the world.  Your party will visit everything from the ancient past to a post-apocalyptic age to prevent the terrible disaster.  The original version offered several endings, make the replay value one of the best of it’s time.  After completing the game one time, players are given the ability to go through the game again with all their current stats, making your characters feel as if they were invincible.

As a boy, I spent endless hours playing through this time travelling epic, trying to complete every possible ending.  The story never grew old.  Needless to say, I plan on picking up a copy as soon as it is released.

Square-Enix is making a wise decision in releasing the game on the DS, and I’m sure Nintendo is happy about the news as well.  I only wonder why it took them so long to re-release such a monumental game.

My life is interesting.  I say this because you can never really determine my current hobby.  Though a distinct few generally remain, most of the time I go through seasons.

In high school, while working at a local department store, collecting Hot Wheels sounded like a cool idea.  They were cheap, and I hoped to learn more about cars by starting a collection.  To begin, I bought a couple that were pleasing to the eye.  They mostly consisted of vehicles that could have made it into an early sci-fi movie, and were probably worth anything.  My collection stopped growing after about ten cars.

College was a time where I learned several things that could have been beneficial, but took up way to much time.  Knitting and crocheting is not as hard as it looks, at least as far as the basics are concerned.  After one scarf and a blanket, I became bored with it and put down my hook and needles for good.  Buying a blanket is much less work.

My love for music started during my undergraduate work, and has since been a part of my life.  It is a seasonal thing, however.  I go through months where I’ll just sit and look for new bands on Myspace or through magazine’s such as Paste Magazine.  Other times I will hardly put on an album and spend time doing other things.  It’s not that I do not like music at times, it’s just not a focus.

Sometimes I read non-stop, but recently I have barely touched a book other than my Bible.  Give me another week or two and I’ll be reading like Rory Gilmore. (yes, I watch Gilmore Girls)

Video game playing comes and goes as well.  Just recently I started playing with my Nintendo DS again.  Why?  It seemed like a fun thing to do.  The Nintendo Wii will be sitting, unplayed for a couple of weeks now as I try to raise a farm and defeat monsters on my handheld game system.

So what’s the point of this?  Nothing, really.  Just and introspection into the life of Mick.

Very few times an album is adequate enough that I simply must continually listen desire it to play.  Elvis Perkins, however, has managed to pull it off.  With vocals reminiscent of Neutral Milk Hotel, and music that is pleasantly presented in a vintage sort of way, Ash Wednesday has earned its place as an important piece of my music collection.

Though the album as been released for nearly a year and half, it’s popularity grows more and more.  The Modern Folk movement has really started to boom with artists such as Perkins, along with Jose Gonzalez, Ferraby Lionheart, Rocky Votolato, Robby Hecht, and many others.  The music industry will continue to be  endowed with artists who are striving for artistry rather than production.

This album displays an artist who values instruments long forgotten in today’s music.  A double bass, harmonica, kettle, as well as many others make their appearance, each adding its own unique flavor to the mix.

In a time where experimenting with new sounds, using MIDI, and pop vocalists, Ash Wednesday offers a change of pace.  Anyone looking for quality music and has an appreciation for musicianship will be happily satisfied with Elvis Perkins.

Now excuse me as I allow the vinyl to spin and sip my shade grown coffee.

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.  They offered free admission for the entire week, and I wanted to take advantage the great deal.  Who would not want to go to the world’s largest aquarium for free?  So we packed a lunch and heading to Chicago for a day.

After missing the exit and turning around several times, my party finally arrived to our destination.  Parking was still being charged, but we had anticipated the cost simply because it is Chicago and parking is never free.  So there was the first $15.  We arrived early, so the lines were short.  No waiting is almost always a good thing.  That is when we discovered the aquarium was not entirely free.  Only the first floor exhibits were free, which means we had to drop another $15 per person to see anything exciting.  The cost is now just under twenty dollars per person.

Twenty dollars is still not a bad price, in fact it will probably be the cheapest fee for admission that I may ever pay.  However, it was unanticipated and somewhat shrewd.  They really were just trying to get more people in the doors.  After driving and paying for parking, what else were we supposed to do?  I felt as if someone had just cheated me out of money, and that never feels good.

I will probably not be returning to the Shedd Aquarium until I have children and they are old enough to know what is happening.  The experience was enjoyable, but would probably be much more enjoyable if I had my own four year old running around telling his older brother all the awesome animals that are just around the corner… DWEW!!! DWEW!!! COME HERE DWEW!!!

As you can see below, I have started to work for Starbucks once again.  With the job comes an array of coffee knowledge and a taste palate trained for discerning notes in the drink.  You could compare it to a wine connoisseur who knows the in and outs of each brew.  It’s amazing how many different flavors you can find in a single cup of coffee.

My snobbery of coffee, however, is returning.  The coffee of which I am drinking this morning is not appeasing what-so-ever, and is actually somewhat difficult to gulp.  Canned coffee in a drip pot to fresh ground coffee in a french press is like Long John Silver’s to Red Lobster.  There is simply no comparison.

I am grateful that Rhonda makes coffee for the office every morning.  It is not her fault that this is not great coffee, it is just the nature of it.  In the weeks to come I hope to provide this place with some good, fresh ground beans that are palatable.

About two months had passed before I could get used to drinking non-gourmet coffee, and it seems as if I have entered into the same mindset once again.  It is something I both hate and love.  I hate it because this severely limits the coffee I enjoy.  I love it because I enjoy the coffee.  What is this world coming to?