A clean well lighted place

I have a lot of things to say today, and some of it quite funny too. I just don't know where to start, so I'll go ahead and do as they say: begin at the beginning.

Yesterday night, roundabout 2 o clock, I had just got off the internet after going through random gaming articles and found I couldn't fall asleep. I was hungry and I couldn't get to sleep and half an hour later found me at the kitchen making noodles of all things. I woke up the entire household by doing so. I'd wanted to go for coffee...coffee has a way of dulling the hunger down enough, but lately I've started disliking that drink. Blasphemous I know, especially with someone like me.

So anyway, after noodles, I didn't feel sleepy one bit. So I did what I do best: read. I read Zora Neal Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God...almost all the way through (just a few pages left) and a good book on a full stomach is good. And Their Eyes...is a good book indeed; I'd read The Color Purple 2 months back and Alice Walker had written that she'd been influenced most by Hurston and I can see how. I also finished Native Son a day back and comparing the two I found several interesting things to mull about today: Native Son is written by a man, and Hurston's book is a marvelous vacation compared to his. The sheer optimism in Their Eyes... seems almost non existent in Wright's narrative. But then they are two very different tales.

I finally fell asleep at 5 30. Hurriedly woken up at 9 o clock. Classroom cleanup! Fled to college, got off at the market, bought a broom, a big one, and went to class. A few friends pitched in, and soon took over, and we were done in an hour or so, and the classroom looks a lot cleaner and healthier.

Throughout I was extremely sleepy, and by the time the eds started, I was ready to drop. Which was a shame, because the cinema eds of late have been thoroughly brilliant. And thats one of the reasons I forced myself to stay awake...almost.

Back home, I took Baghu for a walk. He must have been surprised...I normally don't take him out before 9- 9 30 at night. But I'm glad I did, because Baghu met his neighbourhood gal-buddy Sarah, who seemed extremely pleased to see him as well. And even though Baghu couldn't 'see' her technically, he had a lot of fun running around and the both of them chased one another and had a blast.

Ratchet and Clank is winding up. I'm probably at the last level....the difficulty feels a little too steep a little too suddenly. Its not a bad game at all. But I just wish there was a little more platforming in it, especially since it was marketed as a 3d platformer with shooting elements. It seems more like a straight out action game with platforming elements thrown in. Which makes for some brilliant gameplay, true, and there is some strategy in it as well...with so many weapons at your disposal, you can think up really exciting ways to get rid of your enemies. The visibomb is literally a blast to use.

It had its moments, the game did. I don't know if 10 years down the line, it will be hailed as the classic people are calling it. But then again, this is the first game in the series, and the sequels I've heard are way better. I'm just a tad disappointed because the true platformer, as a genre, has almost completely lost out. There is no true platformer that's been released in a long time. Klonoa perhaps, but what else?

When it comes to gaming, I'm always a generation behind. If it weren't for my sister, I'd be two generations behind. She was the one who got me the ps2. I've always oscillated between pc and console gaming, and if you ask me now which one I like best, I won't be able to answer. On the one hand, the pc controls seem to me the most accessible and I'm definitely more at home with the pc, but on the other, the extreme lack of variety in pc gaming is appalling. I'm not a fps junkie, and a non fps player would be a fool to invest a lot of money in a new gaming rig. I'm not exactly a console-limited player either. In my all time favourite lists, the best looking and fun to play games are mostly console specific titles, while the most absorbing and moving have been pc ones. So taking sides would not do either side justice. And just for the record, I am not a graphics nut. This has several reasons behind it: not owning a 3d gaming machine till very late in my teen years, the burning of a brand new 8600gt not even a year old at that, before I could try Mass Effect out on it, a childhood love for drawing and anything 2d...the reasons are endless and I shall not proceed further.

I was thinking to myself today how little of my actual thoughts I reveal here. This being a public blog and all. In fact, I generally don't like it too much when people get too personal on their blogs nowadays. I've always held that barring a few exceptions, really REALLY private stuff lose their value and meaning when you post them for all the world to see. Because they really aren't meant to be written down to be read by everyone...they don't read well at all. Either they sound terribly pretentious, or terribly gloomy or too artsy for their own good. But that's just me. Your inner feelings and needs, prejudices, opinions...stuff you feel too deeply about to even trust yourself with, if you get what I mean....merely translating them into words is like...I don't know, taking a painting and then having someone describe it to you instead of seeing it for yourself. And unless you're a very trusted someone, a very close friend, you can't ever see it for yourself!