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I have done the impossible! I have uninstalled Counter-Strike… and replaced it with TeamFortress 2. It’s different, but still fun in its own way. Regardless, hopefully I can finally shed myself of CS. It’s been long enough; it’s time to move on.

It seems that I have once again been binging myself on anime. I’ve already gone through Desert Punk, Rune Soldier, and Madlax. Before the weekend is over, I might be finished with Outlaw Star too. I have plenty more lined up after this, but I think I will have my fill soon enough. If nothing else, I think I have begun to embrace the excesses of my life. There are certainly worse things that I could be doing, and so even what I would consider an excess for myself might still be considered tame by many standards.

It is already mid-September, and the TeamFortress 2 beta starts soon. I have to wonder, will this be the game that steers me away from Counter-Strike? I can only hope that is that case. Even though they have radically changed the game, I still have nostalgic memories of the old days when I used to play QuakeWorld TF. While I am probably too busy these days for league play, I have high hopes that it will still be fun enough to entertain me. Now that the weather is cooling, I might have a reason to start using my computer again.

One thing that I will probably have to do soon is get a new pair of glasses. It’s been a long time, and my vision has deteriorated quite dramatically since the last time I went and got a new prescription. It’s such a mundane task, but one that I seem to have been too lazy to do. Alas, I know that I should go ahead and just get it taken care of. Sometimes, it truely is hard to motivate myself to do certain things even when they don’t require much effort on my part. Sometimes though, I think that it is not so bad that I choose to see the world as a blur instead of an object that is in focus.

Now that things are settling down, my days are starting to more stable again. I’ve once again started to feed the anime need. I’m basically queueing them up again and I’ll probably be hammering them down for a while until I’m satiated again. Life is relatively simple once more, and I am finding it easier to relax.

Looking ahead in the short term, I am basically only have a few simple goals. I need to eat healthier, eat more, continue exercising, and practice. At some point soon, I will also need to work on a certification as well, but I can probably put that off for at least a few weeks. Either ways, I’ll see how far I can get.

I had a walk through of my future home-in-progress earlier this afternoon. It’s almost hard to imagine how it might look like once there are walls and furniture instead of just wood frames. Maybe part of the problem is that I had no original intention of furnishing the place. They are still a ways off from completion, but I hope to be in the new place either at the end of this year, or early next year. My spot is rather centrally located, so most of the important areas are actually relatively close from my entrance. I’ll probably be less ambivalent about this once I have to start packing my belongings and move in. For now, I’m sure the whole thing has yet to hit me.

I have so much to say, but I’m too tired to say it. If I can find a way to reconnect with my current mindset tomorrow, then I will write something. Until then, I am totally exhausted.

There was way too much walking going on today. Some friends and I went out hiking for practically a third of the day. I’ve never gone hiking before, but it was a lot of fun and I think I’d be willing to do it again at some point in the future. We also spent some more time walking along the Golden Gate. There was definitely way too much walking going on. My legs don’t feel too bad yet, but this may change by the time I wake up tomorrow. It’s strange, I’ve lived in California for over twenty years now and today was the first time I had a photo taken with me next to the Golden Gate.

And just an FYI, but the Golden Gate is supposed to be red :p.

The entire past week appears to have gone by like a whirlwind. Looking back, I already can barely recall what has happened. There was many highs and lows throughout the week, and once again, there is a transition phase approaching. I believe that part of my “memory loss” was due to the whole week being a bit non-standard. Hopefully, things get back on track to a more regular sense of normal starting this upcoming week.

All things considered, I’ve had a lot of fun recently. Unfortunately, I know that it’ll calm down soon though. I will have to re-focus and resume the goals that I have set for myself. This really isn’t an entirely bad thing. However, until then, I hope to squeeze in as much fun as I possibly can. In many ways, the time I am spending now is the vacation that I’ve been looking to take since I’ve started working.

So earlier today, I finally received my harp. Tuning it was an interesting experience and taught me that plucking strings can wear on the fingers. I’ve also somewhat learned how to use an electric tuner. Regardless, the first tuning attempt took probably close to two hours. I hope from this point forward, it will not take me quite as long. After getting it relatively in tune, I tried experimenting with it a little. Even though the tuning wasn’t perfect, the instrument still sounded good.  I hope with both practice and persistence, I can start doing something useful. Otherwise, if nothing else, I will probably become rather proficient at tuning the harp since I need to do this once a day for a month.

Talk about a completely unproductive day. A cycle of eating, napping, and listening to music pretty much sums up the entire day. I try to generally conserve energy, but sometimes I think I go a little overboard. If nothing else, at least I am sure that I am ready to start doing stuff again. Too much rest leads to atrophy.

I need to slow down on learning music theory until I get my instrument. Going through some general theory is very slow and painful right now. I can already feel it sucking the life out of me. I think it will become much more interesting once I am able to get some hands-on time and play while learning. I find it a little strange that I am so hands-on now with most of my projects. I remember when I was much younger and in school, I used to always go through manuals and go over theory first before ever touching anything. I guess maybe I’ve learned enough theory that I feel confident that I can pick up the theory as I progress through reality.

I am so ready to start experimenting. Even though I have no official ETA, it should arrive at some point this week. I pretty much have just about everything that I think I will need to get started. However, I am missing a stand. So, that is something I will have to rectify soon. The anticipation will only continue to grow as the week goes on. I can’t wait to get cracking! There will be pain involved; but what doesn’t kill me only serves to make me stronger.

The past few days have calmed my slightly frayed mind and body. It’s been nicely quiet and without any major jolts. I’ve been able to keep any strenuous activity to a minimum, and so my senses have had time to rest and recuperate from all of the activities earlier in the week.

It makes me wonder if the remainder of my weekend will also be this relaxed, or if there will be more physical and mental tests applied to the body and mind. If so, I will have to make sure I have enough energy in my system to appropriately handle it without getting tired. For sure though, I will make sure that I am able to get some rest Sunday evening so that I can be properly ready for the upcoming week.

I’ve definitely been more disciplined this past week about feeding myself than the latest couple of weeks. This is a positive sign and will only help reinforce my ability to continue this trend once I need to re-focus again. This should serve as a reminder to myself that, despite all things, some personal time is a necessity for the overall health of the numerous goals that I am trying to achieve.

The upcoming week will temporarily be the last of having plenty of time to spare. I believe that in the following week, I will be very busy with training and work. I am also sure that soon after training is completed, I will be expected to push through a new implementation of the ticketing system at work. I can already tell that it probably won’t be much fun, and potentially very tedious, but it will probably make the system more tolerable to use. I still actually have to prepare for it this upcoming week by going through the rest of the user manual first. Ugh. Work really does never stop.

Overall, it has been a rather interesting summer so far. There has been progress on many major fronts, and I believe that things appear to generally be headed in a positive direction. Even though it is not over yet, I am confident that once it has passed, and I am able to reflect upon the memories, this summer will be seen as a period of time that I succeeded in finally getting the ball rolling where I wanted it to go.