Bastard A.I.

I love Mario Kart 8. It's really fun and silly to play. The customization in picking your vehicle, wheels and parachute is awesome and just straight out dorky. I just barely unlocked a pirate ship and I can't decided if that's my favorite vehicle or if it's the teddy bear.

Another cool feature is that you can have different wheels, some huge and some really small. It makes both your character and vehicle look really funny.

The one thing that annoys me is that the A.I. is competitive as %#@! in the hardest mode 150cc. Obviously this makes sense, I just get annoyed cause everyone tries to win and it creates this barrage of attacks you need to be on the lookout for. Regardless, it's loads of fun and I'm going to just keep playing and hopefully improve so that I can beat those suckers!

Few Opportunites

In a few weeks I get to be in charge of my department for a week because my department lead is going on vacation. In my head, this is the one and only opportunity that I have to demonstrate to my managers that I have what it takes to run the area in the smartest and most efficient way. I'm mentally trying to prepare as well as learn as much as I can so that I can do the best job I can. Maybe I'll succeed or maybe I'll fail. But dammit I'm not going down without a fight.

Te Quiero Como Un Hit

Randomly some songs just popped into my head that I haven't heard in years. The first one was called "Tu Necesitas" by a guy called Aleks Syntek. It was a popular Spanish pop song released like 10 years ago and super catchy. I heard it in Mexico and thought it really good. Randomly like 5 years ago when I went to Knotts Berry Farm, the guy who performed the song just happened to be performing and I just happened to be passing by the stage as the song was starting. Coincidental timing.

The other random song that appeared was a song called "Murder on the Dance Floor" by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Both of these songs were released during a similar time frame and were pretty popular on MTV in Mexico (which is how I discovered them). Why these songs popped into my head, no idea but they're still as catchy as they were back then.

Strength

A picture that made a lot of rounds today was that of Ivory Coast player Serey Die crying during the national anthem of Ivory Coast vs Columbia today. Die was crying because his dad wasn't there to see him play in the World Cup due to his father passing ten years earlier. Playing in the World Cup is one of those achievements every soccer player works to obtain and to not have one's parents to witness this achievement can understandably be heart wrenching.

Traffic Jamz

I was stuck in traffic on the 405 recently and brought along Dimmu Borgir's Death Cult Armageddon and The Black Dahlia Murder's Everblack with me. To be clear, I think both are really good albums, it's just that it took me a while to realize this.

In Death Cult Armageddon, there is this song called, "Eradication Instincts Defined" that has this awesome symphony sounding intro (which is later recreated with samples) that just sounds doomy but catchy at the same time.

In Everblack, when I first bought it, only In Hell Is Where She Waits For Me had stuck to me, but thanks to the power of Los Angeles traffic, I realized that its a very solid album. The two that have really hit me are:

Bloodmine

and

Every Rope A Noose

To the Female Version of Me

This is my 600th post and I'd like to dedicate it to you whom I miss so much. I miss seeing your smile, laugh, kisses, hugs, cuddles and sense of humor that directly leveled with mine. I miss waking up next to you and not wanting to get out of bed. More than anything I just miss being with you. You're sweet voice and smile somehow made any rough day great. Who else am I suppose to eat noodles with? But it's ok because I know I'll be seeing you soon. I love you and you mean the world to me.

For Bloodbath Is On Your Doorstep

"Satan was there
Satan was real to me
Satan called himself...God"

The Hurdle

Well I'm done with college, now it's just time to see what the next step is. I've had my ups and downs, made friends and lost some, and have met people that have forever changed me both positively and negatively. While I do regret some things in the past, they have shaped me to be who I am today. There are a handful of people for whom I wouldn't be where I am today without them, especially one in particular. Hopefully I can get into a graduate program next year and continue the journey.

oh well

In the end, I guess it was a good thing I wasn't optimistic about grad school. I need to start researching schools that have an emphasis in what I would like to do. But then again, maybe rejection isn't too bad. Maybe it will be as far as I will go.

A Year In Review

The year is over and its time to sum it up.

• I grew closer to the girl that I love and hope to take many more trips and adventures with her
• Saw Mastodon and Norma Jean for the first time
• Fractured a bone in my foot
• Saw Blink 182 for the first time since 2009
• Did the Crash Marathon Race
• Got a Wii U and PS4
• Did not get hit by a car
• Bought a bunch of awesome cds