So yesterday plus today and tomorrow are my first actual days off work while living at my new home! I'm a little surprised it took over a month before I took a day off work, discounting a day I took off because I went to see a concert. I can get used to this.

I finished Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time earlier this week, netting my first Platinum trophy along the way. The only thing I didn't do, which I usually do while playing any R&C game is upgrading all the weapons and netting as many skill points as possible. Weapon leveling was tougher this time around, so we'll see if I make a run at that or not. As far as impressions, well, its Ratchet & Clank. Of course I loved it. But also, having heard the rumors that this may be the last R&C, I believe I can safely say that this may only be the last R&C game for PS3. The game finishes in a way that, to me, they're adventures are far from over. Still, it will probably be awhile until another game comes out, so here's hoping that maybe we'll see another Ratchet: Deadlocked kinda game in the meanwhile.

I just started up Dragon Age: Origins the other night. I was worried because it froze on me within 10 minutes after starting a Mage's origin. But after playing more yesterday, its okay. I finished the Mage origin story and put that game on hold to play the Dwarf Noble origin story. I really like this setup. Once I finish a game, usually that's it. I very rarely replay games. So to have other stories be at the beginning is great for me, as I'm pretty sure I can find time to play all 6 origin stories, then pick the one I liked and finish the game. So far, its tough to say. Reviews have been very good, so I'm sure it will be good. With any RPG, its hard to get a good grasp on everything after a few hours.

After playing thru Uncharted 2 & R&C, and even starting Dragon Age, I finally got back to Brutal Legend late last night. I guess what really drew me to BL was Tim Schafer/Double Fine. I'm not a big metal fan, although I do like Jack Black most of the time. I think Penny Arcade was right on their analysis of Brutal Legend. I forget the exacts, but I did have similar feelings. The gameplay didn't quite have that great hook that I felt Psychonauts did, or any R&C game does (for me anyway). So after a lengthy absence, I finally started it again and will continue to see if I can finish it prior to getting Assassin's Creed 2 next week.

In other pursuits, I've been working my way thru Bill Simmons' book, The Book of Basketball, which has been very good thru over 400 of the 700 pages. Will go down as the longest book I've ever read when I finish it. And I don't count textbooks for that.

And I'm not sure what else to say here. I need to get cleaned up.