So... I'm kind of a bad shot.

I recently started playing Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, the spin-off game from that little game with the spiky-headed blonde guy ;) I had been reading the game's manual for ages to get a feel for the controls, then went through the game's tutorial (never again!!!), and then began the actual game. I have come to some realizations about me and Dirge of Cerberus:

1. I can't shoot. No, seriously, I can't. Granted, I'm getting better, but I'm still pretty crappy at the gameplay. Final Fantasy VII was a turn-based RPG, so going into a game where you're shooting and melee-ing your enemies instead of the 'my turn, your turn' system is a bit daunting.

2. Manuals are not always complete. I had to find a walk-through to figure out that you can break open boxes with melee. Why wasn't this in the manual? (For the record, if anyone needs a good site for walk-throughs and hints, I highly recommend GameFAQs . The walk-throughs on that site have saved my skin umpteen times, and they have just about every platform listed there. I can't guarantee that they'll have pages for every game, but it's a good starting point.)

3. Vincent looks damn good in a suit. Seriously, play through the tutorial and check out his suit. It's lovely. Although, I'm not so sure I like his haircut in that get-up.

4. Configuration changes everything. If you're a bad shot like me, tinker with the weapon settings. I changed the sight to 'automatic' and slowed down the camera speed, and I'm happy with the results.

Okay, I need to be doing something more constructive. Later!

edited to add link for easier-ness.

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday

Saturday was not only the season finale of Saturday Night Live, but also the finale of Kristen Wiig - it was her last episode of SNL. Before watching SNL the next morning (we PVR'd it), I had no idea it was going to be her last show. I think I teared up a little during the ending, when they did the musical send-off.

I loved Kristen's skits on SNL, and I loved her in the movie Whip It! in which she played a roller derby girl named Maggie Mayhem. I loved her in Paul as well. And then there's Bridesmaids: while there were some scenes I wasn't entirely keen on, it was still hilarious (especially her scenes with Jon Hamm ;D Note to under-eighteen readers, the movie is R-rated). I loved her characters, like Gilly, Kat (of Garth and Kat fame), the Target lady, among others. If they put out a 'best of Kristen Wiig' SNL DVD (and they had better do that, or fans might be pissed off), I would probably buy it.

I heard on the news that she has six movies in the works right now. Even so, I didn't want her to leave SNL. I had this childlike feeling during the cast's tribute to her, this feeling of "But I don't want you to go! I love you! Why can't you stay?" I guess she's been my hero all along, but I just didn't realize it. Watching that tribute, though, I think she had a hard time saying goodbye, especially to the cast member that had started around the same time she did. It was heartbreaking to watch.

Thanks to the musical send-off they gave Kristen, I don't think I'll be able to listen to the songs "She's a Rainbow" and "Ruby Tuesday" without crying.

Blue Screen of Death

Remember the old days, when every computer error resulted in your screen turning a glaring shade of blue, and you wanted to rip your hair out? Nowadays, most errors just flash up an annoying box that yells at you to fix something, but today my computer actually crashed temporarily. Thanks, games that use Flash...

I was having difficulty getting some Facebook games to work, and when I tried playing Angry Birds my computer put up a Blue Screen of Death and rebooted itself. I screamed. No, really, I screamed. This is why I hate computers sometimes, but alas, we rely on them too much.

Now that everything's working again, I think I'll avoid the Flash games for now. They seem to bring nothing but trouble - and procrastination, of course.

"I'm not dead yet!"

Hello! Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been crazy busy.

Allow me to explain: I'm taking a night-school course, so my week is occupied by assignments. I haven't posted for so long that I got freaked out by Blogger's new look - it took me a minute to find the 'new post' button. Clearly I need to post a little more often.

I haven't gotten much knitting done, but I hope to start something for the Ravelympics in July. I'm thinking of making a pair of socks, since I've never made socks before (and thus it would be a good challenge), and they're easy to store in a bag. Also, I could use an extra pair. My feet eat socks. I wish I were kidding.

On the reading front, I started reading The Hunger Games a month or two ago after much insistence from my friend. However, I'm not adding it to my Goodreads reading list, because I don't want to get caught up in keeping track of my page number and getting bogged down because I haven't been reading it very quickly. I think I read faster if I'm keeping track of my page number. As of today, I've read the first two chapters (yes, I read slowly :p), and I'm loving it so far.

That's all for now. Hope to be able to post again soon :)

edited to fix an error

What I've been knitting, what I've been doing...

So apparently I lack the ability to remember to blog! ;P

I finished my brother's hat just in time for Christmas. I wound up not using the Brangelina Hat pattern, because the brim turned out to be twice the size it needed to be - I'm not sure if there was an error in the pattern or what, but it was gigantic. My mom helped me to re-do the hat by measuring my head (because my brother and I have similarly-shaped heads), measuring the gauge, and casting on enough stitches to the measurements. It turned out great, and he loves it. I might make him a Jayne hat next, when I get a chance to buy the right colours of yarn. A Jayne hat, for those who don't know, is a hat from the series Firefly, worn by the character Jayne Cobb and knit by his mother. I'd forgotten all about the hat, since I hadn't watched Firefly in a while, but I found the clip where the hat appears on YouTube...





I think I've seen some Jayne hats made in Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, so I might make one out of that for my brother - that way it'll be plenty warm. I made his toque out of Thick & Quick, so I know it works good for hats.

I also made an earwarmer for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup (otherwise known as HPKCHC). It turned out to be a bit tall, but I may try shrinking it in the wash. Either way, it covers my ears, and it can double as a cowl, so I'm not too worried - I'm just a little bit disappointed that it turned out that tall.

I was hoping to knit another object for House Cup, but I'm not sure if I have enough time. I might just work on my Ravenclaw scarf - I'm close to finishing it anyway.

In other news, Christmas went well for me. I got a drop spindle and some roving (yay!) from my parents, as well as sewing books, a book and DVD on spinning, sock-knitting DVDs, the sixth season of Doctor Who, and other lovely things. My brother gave me a PS2 and two PS1 games, and he's letting me borrow some PS2 games until I can buy my own. My sister gave me an aromatherapy bag that she made herself, some books, and some LUSH products.

And so, I draw this post to a close. Hopefully I'll post again soon :)

One of those days...

I'm having one of those days when somebody is causing havoc, Christmas stress is growing in the back of my mind, and I have "Gatekeeper" by Feist stuck in my head. I suppose it's less of an earworm than "Prince Charming" by Adam and the Ants...

Anyways. I went to church today, and had a nice time. It was the holiday Music Sunday, which was lovely - I always like Music Sundays. I still feel a bit odd about going to services: since I'm no longer part of the youth group, I feel like there's an empty space I need to fill. It also doesn't help that I'm still bitter about past events, but I digress.

I decided on a different pattern for my brother's hat, because I don't have the right needles for the pattern from DROPS. Instead, I decided on Laurie Perry's Brangelina Hat. I haven't started it yet - I know, I'm lazy - but it's made with super-bulky, so it should knit up quickly. It should also be fairly wind-proof, which is handy.

Well, I'm off to catch up on Emmerdale, one of my favourite British serial dramas. Happy blogging :)

"What's occurring?"

So, I'm still alive ;D I haven't been posting because NaNoWriMo was eating my soul. For those who may be reading this for the first time, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, and that takes place in November - which is the reason for my absence.

I've not done much knitting, but I did get an extra skein of blue yarn for my Ravenclaw scarf. It's going to be very, very wide - I'm hoping it'll tighten up once it's washed. I probably should have gone down a needle size, but I was worried that the scarf would be too stiff. It doesn't matter too much - it'll be warm, and my ski jacket is loose enough to accommodate a thick scarf. I'll need a thick scarf in case we get dumped on with snow in January.

Also, I'm seriously considering making my brother a hat for Christmas. I have a skein of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in a gender-neutral colour that's been kicking around in a yarn bin for a while, so I should put it to good use. He could use a spare hat, anyway. I've been looking at patterns, and I found this one by DROPS Design. I keep forgetting that DROPS has lots of nice patterns in super-bulky yarn, so if you have a lot of that weight of yarn, take a look at their patterns.

I still have a ton of Christmas shopping to do, and it's making me slightly batty. I've got ideas for the people I need to shop for, but I feel like I'm running out of shopping days, even though it's only the fifth of December. I like getting my shopping done early, though.

Anyway, that's what's been happening lately. I'll try to make a habit of posting more often. Until next time...