- The 2nd half of the Staycation that I wrote about went pretty well. I did a lot of reading, some video game playing (but not as much as I thought I would), and did a little homework to keep my 2 classes on track. The definite highlight of the vacation was meeting up with a good friend from high school, Tiffany. Us, her husband, Jake, and her brother, Anthony, all went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Come Back Inn.
Anthony picked me up; we had some conversations on the way over, as we had only run into each other maybe twice in the last 5 years. We met Tiffany and Jake at Comfort Inn. The atmosphere was pretty good and the food was outstanding! We spent a little over an hour there, chatting about everything from old high school memories to life to me possibly being a supervillain.
It was the highlight of a better-than-expected vacation!
- School is going decently. While I missed a Discussion Board assignment in my Java class, I’m doing pretty well with everything else – programming assignments and exams. My On Demand class, Systems Analysis I, is going pretty well, also, now that I’m finally going in it. The tuition payment issue (that lasted over 3 weeks) was cleared up between Western Kentucky University and Northrop Grumman. Let’s see if I can keep the momentum going past Spring Break.
- Speaking of Spring break, I didn’t know that this week was actually Spring Break. Online professors don’t really put ‘breaks’ into their weekly class loads.
- So, there appears to be an upcoming Civil War in the Democratic Party: those who have backed front-runner Bernie Sanders, and the “Old Guard” who have not only thrown their lot in with Joe Biden, but have convinced multiple presidential candidates to drop out and support Biden. Between the determination to NOT let Sanders be the party’s nominee and the arrogance of a lot of Sanders’ supporters, I am once again glad that I unofficially changed to ‘Independent’ in 2008 and officially filled out the paperwork in 2010.
- I have now watched 8 episodes of DC’s animated “Harley Quinn” show… I love it! I especially like the new interpretations of Clayface and King Shark. Clayface is now an aspiring actor, who loves to sound overly dramatic; King Shark is a techno-expert and hacker, who is pretty mild-mannered, unless he sees blood or someone makes a species joke… at which, he becomes a killing machine. It’s a very fun cartoon but it is NOT for kids or those who are easily offended!
- I will write more about this in a separate post but the intro and game play for Baldur’s Gate III was released a few days ago. It looks amazing!! The introduction definitely gets your attention. The dialogue is a little unusual but something that I can get used to. The game play looks smooth, can take place horizontally AND vertically, and is turn-based; not really a turn-based fan, though. All in all, I am even more excited about a game that I’ve been hyped about for years!
- Speaking of game play, I saw and played a few minutes of the demo for the Final Fantasy VII Remake, via ‘Podicus Wrecks’ co-host, J.R.. I have only played a handful of minutes of the entire FF series, previous.
The demo seemed easy to play, control-wise, on the PS4. Basic attacks were all under one button (the Square button, I think), while spells and special attacks were under a menu with the ‘X’ button, after they had powered up. The game play itself was not as easy as you would think (I played on ‘Normal’). The music was unbelievable – it fit the animations and mood perfectly! I am seriously thinking about getting FF7 Remake when it comes out!
- George R.R. Martin is still sticking by his personal deadline of having Book 6 ready by the 2020 World Con (this Summer). I’ll believe it when I see multiple people at the Con holding copies of the book.
- I am in two Dungeon and Dragons groups.
The first one meets on the last Friday of the month and is a “Dungeon In A Box” group: random adventures are in a box, for the Dungeon Master (“DM”) to pull out and use as he/she fits. Our DM – Scotty, the host of our weekly ‘Game Nights’ – has it where anyone can join/play/sit out at any time, as long as your character is ready to go, at the appropriate level. Right now, there are 5 characters: a Human Bard (played by J.R.), a Warforged Druid (played by Eric), a Tabaxi Fighter (played by Jill), a Bugbear Ranger/Barbarian (played by Evan), and my character, a Warforged Artificer (an Alchemist, once we play again). Right now, our group just survived a bar fight (started by Evan and Eric) and a chase through the city of Greyhaven and are heading towards a magical tower and a meeting with an ally.
The 2nd group meets on Saturdays, every 3-4 weeks. We are a more ‘traditional’ campaign, set in Eberron. This one is run by J.R. and has 4 players: a Drow Artificer (played by J.R.’s wife, Jenny), a Changeling Artificer (played by Evan), a Human(?) Rogue (played by Scotty), and me, an Aasimar War Cleric (an Aasimar is a half-Angel, half-Humanoid). Our group is working as spies, patroned by a group that’s loyal to the King. We just safely delivered a guy (and an important spell stone) to the Capital city, after a train fight. Our next session sounds “murder-y”; we’ll see how it goes.
- And the final thing: IT’S MARCH! That means warmer days, longer days, and March Madness, my favorite time of the sports year! Let the Madness begin!!
The Nexus 