Today I ordered a copy of Tony Hawk's American Wasteland for the 360, so I should be getting that sometime next week (I hope). In addition to that, I bought a copy of Star Wars: Republic Commando off of Steam, along with Hexen II. I'd say that was a good way to spend fifteen dollars. And my good buddy Bruce got a birthday gift from me, in the way of Sacred Gold (Steam gift). So, yeah, today was fairly good in terms of gaining new adventures to play through...Alright, that was kind of corny.

-Gregg

For Independence Day, my family and I went up to my uncle's house at Lake George (huge lake in Upstate NY). Almost everyone was there, meaning about thirty people altogether. It was a fun day, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It was also the day after my uncle's birthday, so his grandchildren all got together and put on a "show" for him.

There was singing and speeches, and after all of that they said "If anyone else wants to say something, come up here". I did, considering I'm his godson. So, I wished him a happy birthday, along with everyone else (a couple of my uncles and an aunt had birthdays recently, whom were there).

And after that, the crux of my short speech was spoken: "My Uncle Lenny...He's the man. And I wouldn't want anyone else as my godfather. ...And that goes double for my Aunt Caroline, as my godmother". *applause* I should mention that about a year and a half ago, my aunt was diagnosed with leukemia, so at the last second, I added that in my mind and said it, because she deserves a lot of praise.

Anyway, that was my Saturday. Whoever reads this, let me know how your day went in the comments.

-Gregg

Today, my final grade was posted on the class I just finished. I managed an A with 964/1000 points, despite its seemingly daunting format. This bumped my GPA up to a 3.55 from a 3.50. So, already this week is going better than the last one.

Saturday, I spent a couple of hours with my ex-girlfriend, and even though I was kind of clammed up at first, overall the afternoon went fairly well. We picked up lunch at Burger King and brought it back to my house, and watched TV while we ate. The Lost Boys was on G4, so we caught the first hour of that, before she had to leave for work. The cheese-factor of that flick is undeniable, but the fact that you get to see Kiefer Sutherland with feather earrings and frosted, spiky hair hamming it up with "Bill S. Preston, Esquire" makes it worth watching.

After trudging through Return To Castle Wolfenstein on easy, and still getting killed every other minute, I decided to cheat my way through the rest of the game. It's still fun, but a lot less frustrating now. I've still got a ways to go in it.

I haven't played all that much of Morrowind, but that will probably be a game I go back to now and again for a couple of years. Kind of like FF IX.

Anyway, that's it for now. I hope you all have a great week. -Gregg

So, for starters, I bought Morrowind instead of Wolfenstein on Tuesday. But then I realized that Morrowind isn't the type of game I can just come to every day, so on Friday I decided to buy Wolfenstein, anyway. Here's a protip: Both games are F***ING DIFFICULT. Well, Morrowind is, at first, if you're not careful about where you go. Wandering off is a bad idea. Anyway, they're both fun though, despite the difficulty. Also, I bought them each through Steam for $19.99 per purchase. Not a bad deal.

And now for the other half of this blog's topics. As I'm sure all of you know by now, Michael Jackson died yesterday from cardiac arrest. It's a shame, really. I'm not going to get into the politics of his later years, but I will say this: He was one of my favorite artists, despite my affinity for punk rock and *certain* classic rock acts. Maybe it is because his music is just so easy to listen to (not to mention sing along with), but I just dig his stuff.

One more thing: If you don't like Thriller, there's something wrong with you. -Gregg

This Tuesday, I'm finally going to obtain a copy of Return To Castle Wolfenstein, albeit in digital form. I don't know if anyone has been watching the prices of certain older games on sites like Amazon, but Return to Castle Wolfenstein has shot up at least 20-30 dollars in the past few months. I've had it on my wish list for about a year and a half, but as these prices rise at online retailers, I'm quickly finding that Steam is a great option. They sell it for twenty dollars, though they do force you to buy it in a pack with Wolfenstein 3D and Spear of Destiny (I own both already). Normally, I prefer a physical copy, but I'm not going to spend twice or more for it. I'm finding that surrounding myself with supportive friends just isn't enough after yesterday's events, so I'm trying to occupy my time with enough gaming to forget all of it. And newer games would definitely help, as I've already beaten most of the games I own. I also don't think it will hurt to treat myself, just a little bit.

-Gregg