Me and two of my friends have been working on a music CD this winter and we're starting to record some demos of the tracks. We play mostly blues and rock with a little funk thrown in.  I made a purevolume page today that has two of our songs; let me know what you think of them.

The Fishwives

I finally dusted off Metroid Prime today.  I promised myself that before the end of this vacation I would give it one more shot, because back when I bought the game I played it for a whole 41 minutes before getting bored.  So, I was craving an adventure game and Metroid seemed to fit the bill.

I can't believe I didn't like this game when I first played it!  Next thing I knew, four hours had passed and I wanted to play more (I took a break for dinner.)  It's funny how experience changes you.  I don't know, I guess I thought it was too hard when I first played it.  I love it now, although my one complaint is that it's hard to see my way around because the game is so dark.  I'm not sure if that's a problem with my TV or if the game was made that way; I'm thinking that it's a combination of both.

You gotta love music. I'm Billy, I play guitar, I love listening to blues, classic rock and jazz, and I generally am a huge fan of music in general. Nothing makes me happier than sitting down with a guitar and just playing whatever comes into my head.

My GS hiatus is finally over.  I haven't updated this blog in ages!  I guess the forum change-over kinda turned me off for a while, but now that I'm on winter break, I'm starting to devote some more time to getting used to this place again.

I'm not sure how I feel about the new website layout.  The new profile is pretty cool, but I miss being able to browse through UCBs...where did that feature go?  Also, Complete users kinda got ******* upon, but hopefully we'll get some more benefits in the future.

It looks like the stronger UCBs still have a following, which is good to see.  Unfortunately, I left my UCB, Langauge Central, out to dry, but I'm going to put an effort into reviving it (even though it'll probably be in vain). 

Well, 'till next time.

It's August 20 already! Where did summer go? Jeez, I can't believe school is starting in about two weeks.

This summer I have been working at a small bike rental shop. I live in a very popular vacation spot, so bike rentals are popular (especially since the roads are completely flat). Anyhoo, before today I only worked the mornings, from 8:45 to 1:45, on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.

However, today I had my first 8:45 to 5:00 shift. At first I was kind of worried that it would be really boring. Luckily, my co-worker is awesome, so I had a good time. Also, we had barely any customers today (I guess everyone was at the beach), so we basically just sat around and talked all day. I'm lucky that I'm having an easy introduction to working...though I bet my future jobs won't be so easy. I better keep this job while it lasts.

I've been trying to start up a "langauges" union to coexist with/replace my UCB, Language Central, but I've had a hard time finding officers. I figured the people who read my journal would possibly be interested, and it would save me the trouble of PMing all of the people in my friends list. So, do any of you want to be an officer for my union?

P.S. I already have two people down I want to invite: awesomeusername and Three_Banditos, because they're both mods on my UCB. So this message doesn't really apply to you guys

I've always wanted to pick up Meteos, and I saw it in the store today so I picked it up. Boy, is it addictive. I love the simple gameplay, but I also really enjoy the complex strategies needed to succeed in the game. I can see myself playing this one for a long time to come.

One of the biggest faults I find with myself is that I'm shy. Around my close friends I'm a loose cannon, but when I'm around strangers I really keep quiet. Even on these message boards, when I read a thread I rarely make a comment; I'm simply happy with just seeing what others have to say.

Maybe that's an admirable quality, because I know there are more than a few forumites who abuse their posting priveliges. But, for some reason, I have this feeling of restraint inside when I come up to a situation where I "have" to share what's going on in my mind. I usually like to think of myself as someone who doesn't care about other peoples' views of me, but I guess the fact of the matter is that I really do care.

I wish I could change this somehow, but I don't see it going away anytime soon. Whenever I try to make an attempt to break out of my social shell, it usually ends up in failure. For instance, I attempted to talk to a girl (scroll down for more info about that situation, under "Girl of my dreams...slipping away") because I had a big crush on her, but in the end I wimped out. I had no reason to believe that she hated me, nor that she liked me, but for some reason my instincts told me that I would feel better if I didn't do anything than if I did. Well, I feel pretty crappy right now, and that whole deal happened about two months ago.

However, I just can't bring myself to go out and do something outrageous, especially if I think somebody will form an opinion of me because of my rash action. Another example: we have a pond at school that we're not supposed to swim in. So, of course, at student function right near the pond one of my friends shouts something to grab attention and then proceeds to jump into the pond, much to the delight and awe of the surrounding classmates. That same friend always feels comfortable talking with anyone. He'll grab a girl's ass. He'll pull a prank in class. Heck, he jumped out of a 3-story window into a pile of snow...four times.

Now, I know you may think he's stupid, but I bet he's having a much better time than I am in this stage of my life. None of that stuff appeals to me at all. I would never jump out of a window voluntarily. I would never grab a girl's ass. I would never do any of that kind of stuff. Why? Because inherently inside my body, something says, "no, that's just dumb" or "no, that's dangerous; don't do it." So, I pretty much remain secluded with my friends when I'm at school.

Oh god, don't even begin with the summer. Where I am now, there are quite a few teenagers hanging about. I'm in a relatively small beach town, but large enough so that pretty much everyone is a stranger. Here's the typical routine of a teen here where I stay for the summer: you wake up at noon (at a friend's house or with friends in your house), go to the beach for a few hours, come home, eat a quick dinner, then hang out at the local outdoor shopping "village" until the curfew. You wear stylish clothes, hang out with at least 4 people in a group, and chances are you make out with someone before the night is done.

Well, here's my schedule. I wake up at 10, watch some Sportscenter in the morning, eat lunch at around noon. I'll go outside and take a bike ride by myself until about 2:30, then I'll go to the beach until five, with my parents and sister. After the beach, I come home, shower, eat dinner, and go on the internet/watch baseball games for the rest of the night.

Now, I know, this is the typical "nerd" situation. Who knows, maybe I am a nerd. I get good grades in school, I don't do drugs, and I've never had a girlfriend. Those are all typical nerdy qualities. However, I don't know random facts of information and try to impart them on every surrounding person, I don't have a pocket protector, I'm not in a graduate-level math course, and I don't have a kick-ass gaming rig. (Sorry, I was just trying to be stereotypical there.) So, I don't really consider myself a nerd. I'm just reserved, quiet. When I get to know someone I'll totally let loose and be loud, funny, and outgoing, but when I see a pretty girl on the beach the last thing I would do is go over to her and say, "Hey, what's your name?" In fact, I saw a guy do this on the beach the other day. For that moment I really wished that I could be him.

Because who knows, maybe if I ever did go up to a girl and asked at, she would be interested. But for some reason, I automatically assume that a girl is too good for me, and that it's not even worth the trouble going after her. I've even had friends tell me about a girl who really likes me, but I still didn't do anything. Is something wrong with me? Why can't I just ask a simple question? I guess it's because I'm afraid of the resulting, resounding "NO" that I expect will come. Maybe it's because I'm not very fit (i.e. I'm a bit pudgy), and I think a girl will just look at me and think, 'No, I wouldn't want to hang out with him, he's not good looking.' Even though I know for a fact that there are plenty of girls that would rather hang out with a non-model fun guy than a glassy, empty "hottie," I still refuse to give myself a chance.

On the other hand, I have no problem with going up on a stage and
playing my guitar in front of hundreds of people, which I do
occasionally when I'm at school. I really don't understand why I can do this; maybe my guitar gives me some kind of protection...it's not really Billy the human being up on the stage, it's Billy the guitarist. I get that feeling often.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you've enjoyed reading about my main worries in life right now. No, it's not about the AIDS epidemic in Africa, nor the recent fluctuations of the stock market. It's about that girl over there on the beach who I really want to talk to, but can't.

I really love the taste of nice, cold, clean water. Though, I have met quite a few people that don't like water so much (of course when they're thirsty, they really like water). Do you like water?

Well, it's starting to look like I will have a video game-less summer. The TV in my grandmother's attic (where my Xbox will be residing for the next 5 weeks) doesn't respond to its remote. Well, I went out and bought a new universal remote, but it still doesn't work. Why not just push the buttons on the TV itself, you may ask? For some reason, the TV does not have a "tv/video" button to swtich to the Xbox's input. So, it seems like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Oh well, more time for me to watch baseball and waste hours away on Gamespot!

First Gamespot, then MP3.com, now this! This site has a whole lot of potential! Hopefully it'll become like a second Gamespot.

Wow, this show is awesome! Now I see why all of these publications are calling it the best drama on television. Seriously, give it a try; this isn't your standard Star Trek rip-off affair. It's on SciFi channel on friday nights (it's actually on as I'm typing_.

For some reason, whenever I'm in the mood to order pizza, I've found that recently i've been craving white pizza more than regular pizza. Curiously, my sister has been too. Is this the beginning of the end for tomatoes as we know it?

Ricotta rules!

on blogger.com. I'm focusing it on music. Hopefully it'll become a good little project for me. Here's the link.

Humbuck Coil

edit: fixed link

Recently I've been developing a crush on a girl in my school. My affection for her has grown pretty large. However, I'm so shy that I haven't even talked to her about it yet (I talk to her, but just regular friendly talk). I don't know her very well, but I know that I want to start a relationship with her. Sadly, I don't really know how to get anythings started.

Also, I've heard that she may not be coming back to my school next year. This just devastated me. I tried talking to her about it today, but I never had the opportunity (or so I thought). My emotions are swirling right now...I just feel really lost. I know that if I don't say something now I may not ever be able to do it, because I may never see her again after this year. There's only a week left in school, and all of next week will be devoted to exams, so chances are I won't see her very often. Damn, I just feel so empty inside.

It's been so cloudy outside recently...I don't think I've seen the sun in three days. Today during the afternoon the wind chill made the temperature outside feel like 40 degrees (Fahrenheit), which is very cold for my area at this time of year. Right now the wind is beating against my dormroom's window so strongly that it feels like a hurricane is going on outside. What's the deal, Mother Nature?

We read this book for about a month for English class...jeez what a damn long story. Very melodramatic = very boring (to me). I can't believe I have an essay about it due Friday

Well, I bought it on Amazon's marketplace a week ago, and it just came in today. It has all the original synthed music from the game, with a total of 82 tracks (most of the songs are pretty short...it literally has everything). Wow, the memories flow right back after listening to some of these songs, especially the Ocarina warp songs...man I love OOT. It's amazing how much the music from the game sticks in your mind after playing it.

They're always the worst for me. The worst part is actually just starting the paper; once you get going, the writing process gets easier. However, I still haven't goten over the hurdle of getting my bum out of bed and starting this damn thing. Well, at least the book that I have to write about was good. Ahh, procrastination at its finest.