The future's in the air

♫ Alestorm – Pirate Song

"The wind of change blows straight
Into the face of time
Like a stormwind that will ring
The freedom bell for peace of mind"

Wind of Change by Scorpions. A fine song, and those lyrics might suit this moment. However, I'll quote the song I'm listening to at the moment:

"And if I could go back and make my amends, I'd make all those mistakes again."

This said, I apologize for  the lack of updates, I've been "busy". Don't know exactly with what, though I've been looking for a new apartment – and now I think I've found one, although I don't yet have a contract. Yet it was promised to me already, and it's nice, and in the city center.

And today I graduated! Woah, had a hectic spring (and pretty much a whole year) but I guess it was worth it, considering that I managed to graduate in time. (Though... not that it'd matter much. It's not the pace but the quality or something.)
In other words, I'm a Bachelor of Culture and Arts now, i.e. a media artist specializing in visual design. And life goes on, on Monday I will go to work like I did yesterday, the day before yesterday...

I won't be celebrating much today. I've been thinking of organizing a party for my friends once I've moved – a combined graduation and housewarming party. I promised my parents they could visit me tomorrow. (And I feel a bit bad for not inviting them to today's ceremony as they would have liked to be there. However, I wasn't sure I'd go myself either – but then I figured I have to, because otherwise I would have had to go get my diploma there on a weekday, and I couldn't have done that because of work. If the party had been held at my school campus, I would gladly have invited my parents there. Now the ceremony was rather umm... a waste of time, at the school's main campus (a building I don't know) with lots and lots of people I didn't know and only a handful of such that I did know. No important teachers and only two "class" mates...)

I hope I will soon have more time to write, although moving will be time-consuming for sure. It's not that I'd be running out of ideas, not at all! I'll most likely go see Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides soon and write about it then. And I've been about to write a post of Sleepy Hollow too. I have some clothes I want to babble about, and maybe with all the moving I'll get to home decor too. Though I can barely take any photos of my current apartment anymore, there's already a big cardboard box on the floor, filled with my books... Bloody hell, at least I won't be carrying that box anywhere! So long!

Stand up and look into the light

♫ Army of Lovers – Carry my urn to Ukraine

I sort of apologize for not updating for a while, it seems I've been busy. I found a post draft here and forgot what I had been about to write...

Turisas was awesome live! I also got to hear the awesome song Hunting Pirates which I mentioned in the previous post. The following photo probably describes how great fun I had.

Oh well, actually the photo isn't particularly good, I hadn't thought I'd have to use the lens I had for such. Too bad...

I'm afraid I've got nothing particularly interesting to write about. Yesterday my thesis work got accepted, which might mean that my graduation is getting closer. Otherwise I've been working, looking for an apartment, doing this and that... Been busy. Went to a hairdresser's yesterday and and... What else.

When it comes to another topic, cheap accessories can be truly annoying. The necklace or pendant which I showed in the previous post is already losing paint off its chain! Having taken it off yesterday, I noticed a brown line around my neck, and then I realized the grey metallic texture in the chain had also begun to turn brown! Bloody hell. I know such things happen to cheap metallic (and "metallic") jewellery, but it's so bloody annoying when it happens so soon! Does anyone have any tricks to slow down the process, or to prevent it altogether, or maybe some ideas what to use to repaint the piece? The last solution may only work well for matte items, but that's what the necklace in question is. I'd like to try something...

Full sails ahead, oceans painted red

♫ Turisas – Hunting Pirates

Yarr again. I think pirates really do make my life somewhat epic.

A few weeks ago I went grocery-shopping on one Sunday... The nearest grocery store is small with a relatively narrow selection. I was packing my groceries and hadn't paid much attention to a small platform next to the (only) checkout with a few board games on it. Then the shop assistant told me that if I'm into gaming, I could take a board game for free... I was quite confused, but turned my sight to the platform where two guys were choosing games. Once they had left, I took a closer look and noticed there was one clearly pirate themed game left. I didn't even have to think twice which game to choose, I immediately jumped at the chance to get a piratey board game! :D
And really, I don't know why they were giving out board games since no such things belong to their selection anyway. Wouldn't have wondered that much in a big mall. Anyway, the game seems quite interesting!

The situation was simply absurd. :D I haven't yet had the chance to play that game with anyone, but I've read the rules and it seems it could be a nice gameplay experience. Piratey at least. There's one ship called Evita, which is the name of our first, late Dachshund.

Epic indeed.

Today I also sent my thesis project out to be printed, so basically... I'm completing things. And I could cite a piratey song and say: "And if I could go back and make my amends, I'd make all those mistakes again." I shall probably talk more about that song later...

And now, it's about good time to relax for a few days on Easter. On Friday I shall go see TURISAS live with a few friends! I'm looking forward to it! I'm not their huge fan, but I've sort of rediscovered them this year. I've seen them live once in 2004...

I hope we'll get to hear this awesome song live as well. :D

Grr, Youtube and Firefox are not playing together today. -_-; Soon I'll start using Chrome more... (I haven't yet figured out how to link Youtube videos as music players. Working on it.)

Some time ago, along with the skeleton hands, I bought this necklace. I was slightly disappointed since the ahm.. piece of "black glass" is very much see-through, only slightly smokey. I guess it's still credible enough.

Oh, and on Monday morning I went to get some ear piercings. I already had 1+1 like the usual way, but I suddenly wanted a few more. Now I have 1+3. I had forgotten what it was like, and thus, it hurt much, much less than I expected. Barely hurt at all... Photos may follow later on. Now, I should well... Oh well, I may play for a while, then go to bed so that I can get up early enough to pack the rest of my stuff for Easter... Until then, so long, and yarr!

Running through my memory...

♫ Rainbow – Street of Dreams

Exhausted, exhausted, exhausted...
I turned in the written part of my thesis yesterday, but I haven't got any response whether it was alright (on the surface only, of course). Oh, but the hell's not over, I still have to finish my designs and wish for my supervisor to $¤%#*@ reply to my messages.
Today I was at work at first, then I went to set up our exhibition, and thus, kept going for over twelve hours straight. Now I'm tired, but well, work tomorrow again. I was supposed to go vote today, but it took me too long with the exhibition...

Let's peek at what I've been working on?

Believe it or not, I actually went through the trouble to edit my blog code to remove the border from that image. Or it doesn't matter whether or not you believe it – I barely do. It took me a while, I guess I'm too tired to think – it's not that I didn't know how to, it's a part of my job after all...

I've been listening to Street of Dreams ever since I got home, so maybe for an hour now. Both Rainbow and Blackmore's Night versions... And then I keep dreaming. Right now I'm dreaming of a vacation, a real vacation. I want to get abroad... Maybe to Berlin. I will truly consider going if I ever have some free time...

It's been an exhausting spring, and it's not over yet... But if you're going through hell, keep going.

I maimed the Funnybones

♫ Ultravox – Man Of Two Worlds

So I joined the skeleton gang and purchased a pair of Kreepsville skeleton hand hair pins. Ha! I don't care much if they're somewhat popular among certain scenes at the moment – however, they're bizarre and piratey enough to my taste.

Since those were not the only thing I purchased at the same time, I shall probably continue about this later...Right now I'm either too busy or too lazy to take many photos, especially any good ones. And the following picture, which shows off the pins though, also demonstrates why I shouldn't be photographing random items...

So yeah, I look like an exhausted graphic designer and funnily enough, that's basically what I am at the moment. I suggest you don't ask what I'm drawing there, although I can say it's related to my thesis work. :D (It may not seem credible, and I'm afraid it won't seem credible to the examiner either.)

Although I didn't create this blog for personal ranting, I feel like stating that... uh, I'm so very exhausted. And have been for a while too. My thesis work is making me wither. It's been busy at work too – I'd say it's just good, but this is the worst time for me now. On Wednesday I was at work for eleven hours! (And I have to point out it was a client who'd screwed up things...) It may be almost normal for some people – I guess my father's weekend shifts are always at least that long. But probably not equally hectic all along. The thesis work stress is making me particularly vulnerable to any other kind of stress, which I could endure rather well otherwise.

Enough with that. Who is familiar with the Funnybones I mentioned in the headline? It's an awesome cartoon! I used to love it when I was a kid! The opening theme is epic! :D That'd be something all goth parents should make their children watch.

Although I'm busy and almost screwed, I'm going to an 80's party tomorrow. It is, after all, my favourite event in the city, and I guess I need and probably deserve a few hours off this stress. It'd be easier to enjoy it if the worst stress was already over, but well... It cannot be helped now. Though, if everything goes well, I may have something nice to look forward to after most of the deadlines... And finally, one good and danceable song from the 80's – something that I'd wish to hear at the party! Divine – You think you're a man!

"I'm afraid not," Howl said. "You've had your time."

Today I heard some unfortunate news; Ms. Diana Wynne Jones passed away on March 26th, having suffered from lung cancer for a few years.

Diana Wynne Jones

16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011

So, one great fantasy author fewer in the land of the living. Fortunately her stories will live much longer. However, it's sad there will be no more stories featuring my dear Howl Jenkins, who's simply an awesome fictional character. Ever since I read an interview with her in which she said she might still write yet another story (after House of Many Ways) I had really been looking forward to it. I would have loved to read something with Howl as the main character again.

But time's our enemy, so rest in peace, Diana.

Howl's Moving Castle is the only book that has ever insprired me to write even remotely good fanfiction. Genereally, I neither read nor write fanfiction remarkably often, but a few years ago I started writing a HMC fic, which exploded from a planned two-shot to a long story with 13 chapters and 20k+ words. And its success has really surprised me. o_O I still keep getting email notifications when people add it to their favourite stories or whatsoever. I kind of promised to write a sequel – but yeah, it's been a year and a half already. I've been so awfully busy, and I don't even enjoy writing so much. However, I've had an idea all along. Maybe I will, one day (after graduation?), write that short story, just to honour Ms. Jones' memory and keep my promise to my readers?

And last but not least, one of my favourite Howl quotes:

"I give up. I see no point in living if I can't be beautiful."
— Howl

Withdrawal symptoms

♫ Trans-X – Living on video

I've been working on my thesis for the whole day and I would have loved to relieve my stress with my favourite pastime, roleplaying, but obviously I won't... P&P or table RPGs would be perfect, but that won't do without a lot of planning – besides, I don't have company for such at the moment (haven't had for a long time). Instead, I roleplay in mmorpgs and forums, but right now one mmorpg is patching, another one is suffering from server failures and my rpg forum is down too!

So basically, I was pretty much forced to write this blog entry. I had been planning it for a while now anyway.

A few years ago I discovered a great game artist called Mateusz Skutnik. Now I've played quite a few of his point&click (and quite room escape like games), or such games in which he's been one of the developers. Room escape games are not really targeted for people who lack patience – like me, but Skutnik's games are fascinating.

Submachine
The Submachine series comprises several chapters, probably nearly a dozen? Point&click games, like already stated, pretty complex puzzles, nice drawings and such audio tracks that create a nice atmosphere. However, this series is not my favourite one. The picture is from Submachine: 32 chambers, which can be found behind the link, as well as the other chapters.

Daymare Town
Daymare Town is a very interesting game because it's black-and-white. It's an interesting solution for any kind of graphics that are supposed to be used. Basically, complex user interfaces rarely work well without highlighting color. However, since Daymare Town is a game, creating it in black-and-white is a design solution, not a flaw! (And to be precise, it's not white but beige.) Anyone with an interest in bizarre things and creatures and nightmarish things in broad daylight should try this one! The image is from the first chapter, which you can play here.

 


Covert Front
Covert Front is my Skutnik favourite! It's also the first one I ever played: back then, roughly two years ago, when only two chapters of the game had been released so far, I took a game design course and wrote an analysis of this game with two friends. Anyway – still point&click with a strong room escape feeling, and with an interesting plot! You're a secret agent / spy investigating intriguing conspiracy issues in the early 20th century Europe (which is not in-keeping with actual reality). Audiovisually very fascinating, exciting and what not! I truly suggest trying! The best thing for people like me is the fact that most solutions make at least a little sense – whereas I've played such room escape games in which the things that need to be done in order to solve the puzzles are totally random and ridiculous. So far Covert Front comprises three episodes – still looking forward to the fourth and last one! Oh, and the episodes contain nice cut-scene animations. A very interesting story! This image is from the first episode, All quiet on the covert front, which is also available behind the link.

Fog Fall
Although this game doesn't have Skutnik's art, but Maciej Pałka's, the style is somewhat similar and very nice! And I like this one a lot too, the settings are epic, like the name of the game probably implies... Two very interesting episodes. Start with the first one here.

However, I've already played all those... I haven't completed the third episode of Daymare Town, but to be honest, I lack patience. :D Perhaps I'll just keep dreaming of getting back to roleplaying (won't happen tonight) or... Well... go to bed? So that I can spend yet another interesting thesis day tomorrow. Or no, it's past midnight – today. So long!