November 2, 20084:39 P.M.This is the day that I made my first pre-order. This is gamer history for me. For many of you video game lovers out there (I know who you are), this is a norm, but for me, it was a historic moment... Okay, so it wasn't really all that great. I gotta admit, too, I felt a little nerd-ish by it, but I think lately I've been embracing my nerdiness more (much to my parent's dismay). What game did I pre-order? It should be obvious considering what's coming out in the next couple days... It starts with a G and ends in War... actually it ends in 2, but either way you have it, yes, I pre-ordered Gears of War 2. The reviews so far are saying it's amazing and I don't doubt it. This will be the first time I've ever been able to get a game (on my own) on the release date. It's mostly because up until last summer, I was poor. I didn't have a job, so I couldn't buy anything. All summer long, I've been working two jobs and in the fall I've technically been working three jobs (although two of them have only been on one day of the week each). So lately I've been able to spend a little more money, which is the only reason I was able to get a 360 at all. And, oh my goodness, do I love it. After Gears, though I'm going to have to slow down with my spending. You see, one of my three jobs is refereeing football, but after this Saturday, I have no more games to ref. I'm both relieved (Yay! Sleep on Saturday!), and bummed, because that was a major source of my income... I've also been a little strapped lately because I just got Rock Band 2 (and, oh my goodness, do I love that, too!). One thing I have noticed with that game is that I hate the guitar controller... But I like it, too. It's so much different from Guitar Hero. I'm constantly fumbling to hit the right note and it ticks me off considering how good I was at Guitar Hero (I five-starred everything on GH3 career mode on expert except for Raining Blood. I swear Slayer just sucks...). I'm getting a little more used to it, though, and the little buttons on the bottom can be handy (I said can be. They aren't always...). So what's the point of all this rambling? I don't really know anymore. Hopefully, it's somewhat entertaining. If it is, leave a comment. If not, then... well, you suck... Just kidding (Unless you really do suck...)...Anywho, I'm pumped for Gears 2 and hopefully will be able to last online a little bit better this time around... See you online...

Ok, so I know I told you all before that I wasn't really interested a whole lot in video games anymore...But that kinda changed. I finally caved in and bought an Xbox 360 back in the beginning of August, so now I've been getting much more into games lately. I've kind of made a return to my nerd self, which is a bummer, because I was doing so good at being not-nerdy. Oh well...

But anyway, I did get an Xbox 360 and I've been pretty much addicted to it for the past month and a half now. I've found that it makes it very hard to concentrate on school and work, but it's fun to play nonetheless... I've discovered a few important things since I've gotten it.

1. Elder Scrolls IV is very, very addicting. Forty hours of my life have already been taken by this game, and I still have a ton to do in the main story line. It is an amazing game.

2. I suck at Gears of War online. I can barely survive more than a few seconds on it. There are definitely some hardcore players out there who know how to play and I am not one of them. Oh well, I guess I'll just stick to the main story where I can beat some of it on Insane...

3. I really, really want to get Mass Effect, Bioshock, The Orange Box, and a great host of other games out there. Rock Band 2 has really tempted me, especially with all the good DLC's that have been released, but I think I'm going to get Guitar Hero World Tour first, just because those drums look insanely awesome and I want to try the music studio. I may still be swayed, but it will be hard to keep two drum sets, so...

4. I'm far too poor to load up on big, awesome, new games. I really want to get Call of Duty 4, but chances are, I won't get it until Call of Duty World at War is out and then that will be the next big thing. I just got the first Rainbow Six Vegas. I haven't tried online multiplayer yet, but I can imagine most people have already moved on to the second one by now. Oh well. Such is life...

Anyway, I just thought I'd give you guys an update. I'll probably drop a blog occasionally to let you guys know what's going on. My gamertag is Rokker4Life. Add me as a friend if you want. Peace out...

Hey, y'all. Long time, no see. I told all of you that I left, which is true. However, I have been keeping up with some of my friend's blogs and decided I wanted to update you all on how my year's been. Note: This does NOT mean I'm coming back and am going to blog regularly. I just wanted to give you an update since I've left, both with my gaming life and more personal life.

I pretty much paid no attention to video games until about June, when I finally had the funds to get a PS2 and Guitar Hero 2. I eventually got Guitar Hero and then, when it came out, Guitar Hero 3. I have become pretty good at that game as I can beat all of Guitar Hero 2 except for Jordan on expert. On Guitar Hero 3, I actually had high score #22 for a short while on Miss Murder by A.F.I. Unfortunately, on Thanksgiving, my younger cousins were arguing over the guitar controllers and pulled my PS2 off the shelf. My PS2 still plays, but GH3 no longer works. I was ticked off to say the least, because GH3 had some amazing songs... Oh, well...

I've also kind of flip-flopped around on if I want a 360 or not. For a while, I decided I did. Then I decided I wanted a Wii and Super Mario Galaxy. Now I'm pretty much happy where I'm at. Besides, I kind of need to save my money for a couple reasons

On a more personal note, I've been doing great. I got a car back in October, and youth group has been amazing. Over this year, I've gotten really close to all the people I met last Christmas. One girl in particular. She became my best friend, because she was someone I could really talk to all about God. She has to be the most amazing girl I've ever met. Which is the reason why I finally told her I that I liked her over Christmas. She made me completely happy by telling me that she likes me, too. We have now been dating about a month and it's been amazing. I really like her.

I've gotten a ton more into music over the past year. I'm usually buying several CDs a week. Let's put it this way. I'm the BigC43 of music, lol. My favorite bands now range from Muse to the White Stripes to the Killers to Avenged Sevenfold, and the list could go on and on and on...

The point is, I'm loving life right now and, while I certainly don't want to put any of you guys off to gaming, but once I started taking my focus off of the next game I'm going to get and put it on the people around me and God, things just seemed to click and get much better. Don't get me wrong. The past year hasn't been all sunshine. But my life is so much happier now that I'm focusing my life on more than just things. It's not wrong by any means to like games. Even to love games. I love my music and probably spend more than I should on it, but I just try to keep focusing my attention on God continually. Just make sure you have you're priorities right. Meet some people, make some friends, get into your church. Just make sure you're not wasting away.

As a final farewell and a treat to you guys, I'll post a couple of pictures of my girl and me on our church youth retreat a couple weeks ago. Take care.

After the last few days, I've realized that I have lost interest in all of this. I just don't feel like doing anything on here anymore. This is kind of why I left the first time, but I have decided to do it right this time and tell you guys that I'm leaving just so you don't think I'm dying. I know a lot of you will try to convince me otherwise, but my mind's made up. I'm sorry if I'm letting some of you guys down, but I just have no interest in doing this anymore. Thanks to everyone who's ever become my friend, and a special thanks to a few of my best friends on Gamespot including...

    -BigC43: You were my first friend and we spent many a PM talking about Christian rock and the longest title we could find for a song It's been great knowing you. If I ever get Xbox Live, I'll contact you.

    -Gamespoting: Don't let the mispelled user name fool you This dude is awesome. His blogs are always cool and he's just a really cool guy. Thanks for being my friend and I will contact you, too, when I have XBL.

    -kellymae: The always-inspiring mom. I've always loved your interesting blogs about you, your family, and your gaming life. You've been a really neat person to know on GS, too.

...I know there are many others I'm forgetting, and I love all you guys, too. Please don't hate me for leaving. This just isn't something I really want to do anymore. So goodbye and God bless...

Long time, no see, dudes. I did leave for a while. I was kind of losing interest in Gamespot. I started to realize just how obsessed I was getting with gaming. That's one of the biggest reasons I left. I know this sounds really dramatic, but going on that Katrina trip and then a youth retreat a couple of weeks later changed me. I got closer to God and started reading my Bible more. I feel so much better after giving up the wants that would constantly fill my mind. I wanted a PS2 so bad that that was all I thought about in the coming days of the Katrina trip. I later realized just how selfish that was. God deserves more time than what I've been giving him. Sorry to be so preachy, but that's really how I feel. So I don't know if you've figured it out, but I didn't get a PS2. After the trip, I kind of gave that up. I thought it was selfish of me to pinch every penny I could to get it. I didn't even want to spend money on my dad for his birthday. Then, I knew I was going too far. So I didn't get it. Since then I've gotten more CD's and started loving music more. I've played my guitar more, I've listened to music more. It's just something that I really started to love. And to some people I know's dismay, I've become more of a metalhead I'm really starting to dig pretty much every band out of Solid State. I'm hoping to join the youth band at my church in a couple years. In time, if God wills it, I would love to be in a band and join a label. We'll see how that goes.

This may be just an reiteration of something you guys already know. I just thought I would give you the skinny about what was going on in my life. After I gave up Gamespot, I did check on periodically to check up on a few friend's blogs. Pretty soon, people started declaring me dead. I knew I had to say something to you guys. I'm sorry I didn't give you guys any warning about my leave of absence. I just wanted to give this up so I wouldn't get caught in the trap again of the never-ending want of more things. I hope you guys can forgive me. I don't know if I'll really use this site much more for gaming things. I've pretty near given that up (except for Guitar Hero. I'd still love to play that) I will use it for my personal blog, though.

Like I said, I hope you guys can forgive me for my unwarned absence. I just needed to get off for a while. I don't know how much time I'll spend back on here. I probably won't do much in unions, except for maybe the Christian Rock Union (Sorry, BigC. You can go ahead and demote me from everything except the CRU). If you guys have any questions, just PM me or leave a comment

Well... I'm back...