Hard work and guts (or neither)

Sunday, August 10, 2008

So I'm 26 years old. Doesn't feel that different from yesterday, when I was 25. My interest in blogging appears to be waning steadily, as with my other passions. I have an alternate design for this site that I'm technically working on, though I don't seem to be in a hurry to be satisfied with it. Frustrating. I feel like I'm mirror Rincewind, whose life is a succession of wonderful events. When you do whatever you want every single Sunday, how special is your birthday? Is that the day to burden yourself with responsibility? I failed at that.

Some thoughts:

• Final Fantasy IV on the DS is bad. I love the original more than anyone, but they've done terrible things to it. It's in 3D now, which means the charming hand-drawn art is replaced by blocky polygons. The frame rate is unacceptable. Combat is hard: not because they've ramped up the encounter rate or monster durability, but because the timing has no rhythm. Even the inferior port on the Game Boy Advance was better than this. Plus, the dialogue is awful. You can complain all you want about the voice actors, but they're forced to recite some horrific Renaissance Fair wannabe garbage. At least the superior plot is still intact.
• Gunbuster is excellent. There's two series, six episodes each, and they form a wonderful arc. The second Gunbuster is directed by the FLCL people, another of my favorite shows, so I'm in hog heaven. Giant space robots, absurdly epic battles and perfect imperial marches from the original Gunbuster? Oh, kill me now, people. The ending had me crying, it was such a beautiful shock. I get misty even thinking about it.

Moving next week. What do you do with bulk garbage if you're in an apartment? I've got a dozen bamboo logs I don't want to carry around anymore, plus posters and other junk. Will Goodwill really take anything you give them?