:P
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Update
I finally finished my report and subsequently high school. I will be starting college very soon (I'm staying local), so I guess I won't be a "Catholic Homeschooled Teen" anymore. Maybe I'll rename my blog to "Catholic College Adults".
:P
:P
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Trip to New Jersey
Well, after a long nine hour plane trip thanks to Continental Airlines, I am finally safe and sound in New Jersey!
Yay!
Now to get into the gritty details of my endeavors to arrive here.
So, on the 14th, I headed to the airport, ready to fly off into the blue skies by myself. I had printed my boarding pass online before I came there so I was all set and prepped. I checked in my baggage, went through the security guards/football tacklers, and found I was 2 hours early. Not a big deal.
So I wait...
and wait...
and wait some more.
Finally, they begin to board the airplane at around 7:00 PM. As we are taxing on the runway and preparing to take off, the pilot tells us via intercom that one of the engines wasn't starting and that we would have to go back to the gate to have maintenance look at it. On the bright side, the engine didn't fail while we were in the air. We might've gotten stuck otherwise.
Anyways, the flight was delayed until they could get it fixed. They let passengers off the plane while they checked it out. It took them until 1:00 AM to tell us they couldn't fix it and they canceled the flight.
Yup, that's right. They canceled it. I had been at the airport for nine hours by that time, and I had to stay longer in order to clarify what was going to happen with my flight and any arrangements I needed to make. They gave some people, including me, taxi vouchers to get home, and hotel/food vouchers for everyone else who didn't live on the island. They told us they were going to create a new flight and rebook everyone. Ok, I guess that would have to do.
So, weak from exhaustion and lack of food, I used my voucher and took the taxi home. The taxi was a great experience. I believe it was Charlie's cab or something. The taxi I took was very clean, the ride home was completely smooth, and the taxi driver was very friendly! I would suggest that company if anyone in Hawaii needs to take a cab.
By the time I collapsed in bed it was already around 2:00 AM. I woke up five hours later because I needed to confirm what was going on with my new flight. Thankfully, they had already rebooked everyone for a flight that left at 1:50 PM and no further action was needed on my part except to get to the airport. I went through dejavu motions to the airport and got on the plane. This time it didn't fail. It wasn't without its near miss moments though. The gate was changed before boarding, which made everyone move. Then, it was announced the flight was delayed AGAIN, which prompted a groan from many of the passengers. The flight wasn't actually delayed, it was just accidentally announced or something. It left on time.
I must take a moment to mention the professional attitude of the Continental workers at the airport. Despite being under tremendous pressure from upset passengers and time constraints, they were able to get everything sorted out. None of the workers lost their cool, they remained polite, accommodating and very helpful. Kudos to them.
So, what of the plane ride? I guess it was basically what anyone could have expected from a nine hour plane ride. I slept about half the time and watched some movies the other half. I talked to the friendly guy sitting next to me a couple times. I listened to some music. I got a window seat so I was able to see the ground sometimes (although it was pretty dark/boring most of the time).
The two movies that were available for viewing were Inkheart and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. PB: Mall Cop was about a fat, bumbly, but dedicated security guard who has to save his mall from organized criminals. It was a decent movie with a lot of funny moments. Inkheart was a fantasy movie about a guy who had the ability to bring what he read to life. It started off well but it got confusing and boring by the middle.
They DID feed us pretty great meals on the plane. For dinner there was some spicy chicken sandwich with salad and the works. For breakfast there was an absolutely delicious chocolate chip muffin with fruit salad. Mmmm. Who said airplane food wasn't good?
Well, that's enough details for now. If anything interesting happens I'll be sure to post about it.
Yay!
Now to get into the gritty details of my endeavors to arrive here.
So, on the 14th, I headed to the airport, ready to fly off into the blue skies by myself. I had printed my boarding pass online before I came there so I was all set and prepped. I checked in my baggage, went through the security guards/football tacklers, and found I was 2 hours early. Not a big deal.
So I wait...
and wait...
and wait some more.
Finally, they begin to board the airplane at around 7:00 PM. As we are taxing on the runway and preparing to take off, the pilot tells us via intercom that one of the engines wasn't starting and that we would have to go back to the gate to have maintenance look at it. On the bright side, the engine didn't fail while we were in the air. We might've gotten stuck otherwise.
Anyways, the flight was delayed until they could get it fixed. They let passengers off the plane while they checked it out. It took them until 1:00 AM to tell us they couldn't fix it and they canceled the flight.
Yup, that's right. They canceled it. I had been at the airport for nine hours by that time, and I had to stay longer in order to clarify what was going to happen with my flight and any arrangements I needed to make. They gave some people, including me, taxi vouchers to get home, and hotel/food vouchers for everyone else who didn't live on the island. They told us they were going to create a new flight and rebook everyone. Ok, I guess that would have to do.
So, weak from exhaustion and lack of food, I used my voucher and took the taxi home. The taxi was a great experience. I believe it was Charlie's cab or something. The taxi I took was very clean, the ride home was completely smooth, and the taxi driver was very friendly! I would suggest that company if anyone in Hawaii needs to take a cab.
By the time I collapsed in bed it was already around 2:00 AM. I woke up five hours later because I needed to confirm what was going on with my new flight. Thankfully, they had already rebooked everyone for a flight that left at 1:50 PM and no further action was needed on my part except to get to the airport. I went through dejavu motions to the airport and got on the plane. This time it didn't fail. It wasn't without its near miss moments though. The gate was changed before boarding, which made everyone move. Then, it was announced the flight was delayed AGAIN, which prompted a groan from many of the passengers. The flight wasn't actually delayed, it was just accidentally announced or something. It left on time.
I must take a moment to mention the professional attitude of the Continental workers at the airport. Despite being under tremendous pressure from upset passengers and time constraints, they were able to get everything sorted out. None of the workers lost their cool, they remained polite, accommodating and very helpful. Kudos to them.
So, what of the plane ride? I guess it was basically what anyone could have expected from a nine hour plane ride. I slept about half the time and watched some movies the other half. I talked to the friendly guy sitting next to me a couple times. I listened to some music. I got a window seat so I was able to see the ground sometimes (although it was pretty dark/boring most of the time).
The two movies that were available for viewing were Inkheart and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. PB: Mall Cop was about a fat, bumbly, but dedicated security guard who has to save his mall from organized criminals. It was a decent movie with a lot of funny moments. Inkheart was a fantasy movie about a guy who had the ability to bring what he read to life. It started off well but it got confusing and boring by the middle.
They DID feed us pretty great meals on the plane. For dinner there was some spicy chicken sandwich with salad and the works. For breakfast there was an absolutely delicious chocolate chip muffin with fruit salad. Mmmm. Who said airplane food wasn't good?
Well, that's enough details for now. If anything interesting happens I'll be sure to post about it.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Oh noes, a blackout!
No, not a real one! I just haven't had time to update my blog. I do apologize for not having written a thing since Easter. It has been a busy time for me! I am finishing up my homeschooling (I still have to write a report on Roe Vs Wade) and am getting ready for my annual trip to New Jersey.
Please pray for me and my schooling! My teacher demands A's. :)
Please pray for me and my schooling! My teacher demands A's. :)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Easter Everyone!
I hope everybody had a great day. I sure did. Keep in mind that the resurrection of Christ is in the creed we say at Mass every Sunday (or Saturday night). It's an important part of our Catholic faith!
PS: I had steak today.
PS: I had steak today.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Oh, the places you'll go...
...and the strange people you'll meet. I'm not as good at rhymes as Dr. Seuss, as you can easily see, but this pretty much sums it up. Today I was walking the dog in a little grassy area. Some guy carrying two gym bags suddenly stopped on the sidewalk and started making kissing noises toward the dog. He wandered back and forth doing this for a minute or two. This obviously distracted the dog and kept her from performing her...duty (not to mention creeped me the heck out) so I left. I guess from his smoked out point of view the dog was a gorgeous redhead...or maybe not. Either way, it was pretty strange. The puzzling thing is when I walked past him as I headed back, he didn't even seem to notice the dog. I guess he got over his crush.
Speaking about the dog, the idea of picking up the dog's waste seems a bit backwards to me. I mean, if there were aliens watching us from some invisible spaceship, what would they think if they saw a human picking up a dog's waste and treating it as if it were a delicate valuable?
Speaking about the dog, the idea of picking up the dog's waste seems a bit backwards to me. I mean, if there were aliens watching us from some invisible spaceship, what would they think if they saw a human picking up a dog's waste and treating it as if it were a delicate valuable?
Monday, April 06, 2009
Palm Sunday Adventures
This Palm Sunday I had to go to Saturday evening mass by myself. I had my schedule all set in my mind: At 5:00PM I would get dressed and I would leave the house at 5:30PM. If all went according to plan I would arrive 10-15 minutes early for the 6:00PM mass.
Unfortunately for me, my plan had "epic fail" written all over it. At around 4:57PM, I checked the church's website to make sure that mass wasn't at 7:00PM. After all, I didn't want to arrive too early and look all holy and devout. The good news was that it wasn't at 7:00PM. The bad news was that it started at 5:00 PM.
Oh deers!
I immediately went out the door dressed in street clothes. Yes, my attire wasn't very suitable for mass, but this was an emergency! I walked as fast I could to Church wishing all the way that I had bothered to get my driver's license. I tried to hope against hope that I would make it to Church before the consecration began. Amazingly, it was if time had slowed because when I got there I had only missed the blessing of the palms and the first reading! The church was packed so I had to stand at the back, but I made it!
This is where I noticed some very unusual and somewhat saddening things. Some people actually left Mass before Communion, the most important part! What's up with that? From my vantage point I also saw many people leave immediately after receiving the Eucharist, before mass was ended and without even pausing to pray! I can't think of many good reasons to not wait 5-10 minutes for the end of Mass. The sheer volume of people leaving early made it seem as if the Church was on fire! Ok, that was an exaggeration, but a good 15-20 people definitely left early and I am sure I didn't smell any smoke. Granted, maybe they did have good reasons to leave early, but I highly doubt all of them did.
So, have you readers ever left Mass before it was over? Did you have a good reason?
Unfortunately for me, my plan had "epic fail" written all over it. At around 4:57PM, I checked the church's website to make sure that mass wasn't at 7:00PM. After all, I didn't want to arrive too early and look all holy and devout. The good news was that it wasn't at 7:00PM. The bad news was that it started at 5:00 PM.
Oh deers!
I immediately went out the door dressed in street clothes. Yes, my attire wasn't very suitable for mass, but this was an emergency! I walked as fast I could to Church wishing all the way that I had bothered to get my driver's license. I tried to hope against hope that I would make it to Church before the consecration began. Amazingly, it was if time had slowed because when I got there I had only missed the blessing of the palms and the first reading! The church was packed so I had to stand at the back, but I made it!
This is where I noticed some very unusual and somewhat saddening things. Some people actually left Mass before Communion, the most important part! What's up with that? From my vantage point I also saw many people leave immediately after receiving the Eucharist, before mass was ended and without even pausing to pray! I can't think of many good reasons to not wait 5-10 minutes for the end of Mass. The sheer volume of people leaving early made it seem as if the Church was on fire! Ok, that was an exaggeration, but a good 15-20 people definitely left early and I am sure I didn't smell any smoke. Granted, maybe they did have good reasons to leave early, but I highly doubt all of them did.
So, have you readers ever left Mass before it was over? Did you have a good reason?
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
World of Goo
I don't often blog about video games because I know my readers probably won't be too interested in violence and bloodshed in the virtual world. However, I cannot keep from at least mentioning this game (which contains no violence or bloodshed). First of all, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm sure a video is worth much more:
The game is called "World of Goo". It's an ingenious 2d puzzle game on the PC and Wii. Basically, you use little gooballs to try and build to a pipe where they get sucked in. You advance from level to level by collecting enough gooballs for that specific level. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it wouldn't be much fun just to build from one area to another (actually, it is) so in order to spice up the game the producers added different types of gooballs along with many different "environmental impediments to progress" (henceforth called "obstacles"). There are gooballs that can float, catch on fire, avoid fire, be reused, and even not "die". These are used to pass the obstacles that litter each level. In one level you might have to build a bridge across a chasm while making sure that it is properly supported (or else it would fall into the hole). In another you may have to build a structure around and over a fire using extremely flammable goo. The obstacles and various gooballs add an extra challenge to each level and makes the game feel unique and satisfying to play.
I'm not saying that without these obstacles the game would feel bland and average. Far from it. The art direction and music alone is enough to make World of Goo stand out like a lighthouse in the endless sea of generic games. The background and environment art is absolutely stunning and memorable, even when crudely drawn at times. Each "world" is also unique in its art and atmosphere. The music in the game is, in one word, awesome. Their soundtrack is available free and legally for those interested. All I can say is that this game was able to make me smile during the very first loading screen (I have never smiled before during the very first loading screen [or any loading screen for that matter]).
There is a plot, but I really didn't understand it. All I know is that there is a corporation involved that is turning the gooballs into products such as skin cream and drinks. Really.
The game also contains many great additions and elements that add to its value. The ability to skip levels if they are too difficult (up to a certain amount) is an excellent addition and should be included in every puzzle game. Helpful (although not game breaking) hints and humorous anecdotes are available on signs strewn throughout the levels. The ability to branch to a different level, on occasion, is also very welcome. On many of the levels there are bugs you can click to go back one move. Having an undo button is extremely useful in a game like this.
There are also "OCD" challenges that you can aim to achieve. They include collecting a minimum amount of gooballs, finishing the level in a certain time period, or using less than x moves to complete the level. This just adds to the replay value of the game.
World of Goo is not without its faults, however small they may be. It is rather short, even with 5 worlds and over 45 levels (not including a sandbox level). An occasional gooball may glitch and force you to retry a level. A simple misclick while grabbing a goo that is clumped may cause your structure to fall. When you meet the minimum requirements to pass the level, you can no longer use the bugs to undo a move. Accessing the menu is not possible after the minimum requirements have been met unless you click on a sign. Although these are not as evident during a first playthrough, if you are attempting to complete the OCD challenges they can become a pain. (Yes, I know I am nitpicking here.)
All-in-all, World of Goo is an amazing and unique game which can guarantee at least an hour or two of entertainment (assuming you only play for an hour or two). Play longer and you might just dream about becoming an architect and using little goo balls to save the world.
World of Goo's website (demo available here):
2D Boy
Soundtrack is available here:
World of Goo Soundtrack
The game is called "World of Goo". It's an ingenious 2d puzzle game on the PC and Wii. Basically, you use little gooballs to try and build to a pipe where they get sucked in. You advance from level to level by collecting enough gooballs for that specific level. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it wouldn't be much fun just to build from one area to another (actually, it is) so in order to spice up the game the producers added different types of gooballs along with many different "environmental impediments to progress" (henceforth called "obstacles"). There are gooballs that can float, catch on fire, avoid fire, be reused, and even not "die". These are used to pass the obstacles that litter each level. In one level you might have to build a bridge across a chasm while making sure that it is properly supported (or else it would fall into the hole). In another you may have to build a structure around and over a fire using extremely flammable goo. The obstacles and various gooballs add an extra challenge to each level and makes the game feel unique and satisfying to play.
I'm not saying that without these obstacles the game would feel bland and average. Far from it. The art direction and music alone is enough to make World of Goo stand out like a lighthouse in the endless sea of generic games. The background and environment art is absolutely stunning and memorable, even when crudely drawn at times. Each "world" is also unique in its art and atmosphere. The music in the game is, in one word, awesome. Their soundtrack is available free and legally for those interested. All I can say is that this game was able to make me smile during the very first loading screen (I have never smiled before during the very first loading screen [or any loading screen for that matter]).
There is a plot, but I really didn't understand it. All I know is that there is a corporation involved that is turning the gooballs into products such as skin cream and drinks. Really.
The game also contains many great additions and elements that add to its value. The ability to skip levels if they are too difficult (up to a certain amount) is an excellent addition and should be included in every puzzle game. Helpful (although not game breaking) hints and humorous anecdotes are available on signs strewn throughout the levels. The ability to branch to a different level, on occasion, is also very welcome. On many of the levels there are bugs you can click to go back one move. Having an undo button is extremely useful in a game like this.
There are also "OCD" challenges that you can aim to achieve. They include collecting a minimum amount of gooballs, finishing the level in a certain time period, or using less than x moves to complete the level. This just adds to the replay value of the game.
World of Goo is not without its faults, however small they may be. It is rather short, even with 5 worlds and over 45 levels (not including a sandbox level). An occasional gooball may glitch and force you to retry a level. A simple misclick while grabbing a goo that is clumped may cause your structure to fall. When you meet the minimum requirements to pass the level, you can no longer use the bugs to undo a move. Accessing the menu is not possible after the minimum requirements have been met unless you click on a sign. Although these are not as evident during a first playthrough, if you are attempting to complete the OCD challenges they can become a pain. (Yes, I know I am nitpicking here.)
All-in-all, World of Goo is an amazing and unique game which can guarantee at least an hour or two of entertainment (assuming you only play for an hour or two). Play longer and you might just dream about becoming an architect and using little goo balls to save the world.
World of Goo's website (demo available here):
2D Boy
Soundtrack is available here:
World of Goo Soundtrack
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