One Man Left

Well, it's been a while since I've written, and with good reason.

- I got hit by the most deathly of sicknesses this past weekend. From Saturday morning on I was stuck in bed with: a splitting headache, so bad it felt like each hemisphere of my brain had its own massive headache; a delirious fever which gave me the single worst work-related nightmare I've had; a wet hacking cough; one sumabitch sore throat, and I should know as whenever I get sick it's ALWAYS with a sore throat; aches all over my body so I could really only lay on my back or stomach; chills, needed to have three blankets on me to stay warm; and the slightest bit of a runny nose. Saturday through Wednesday I was feeling this way, and as it didn't clear up by work on Tuesday, I went into the doctor's office that day. Got a preliminary look at, some antibiotics, some chest xrays, and orders to check back in a couple of days to see if the results were bronchitis. So needless to say, I had the most unfun MLK weekend ever.

- I've actually watched some sports lately! Two weeks ago I watched some of the playoff games for the Superbowl: San Diego vs Indianapolis, and then New York vs, I think, Dallas. It was exciting to watch these games with some friends in the apartment complex here, and I love yelling at little men on screen when I'm drunk too. Both games were big underdog games, which helped, where I followed along with being impressed that the longshot teams won.

- Oscars look to be very boring this year. I haven't really seen any of the movies that are up for nomination; I do need to see There Will Be Blood while it's still in theaters.

- I got 3:10 to Yuma in my latest Netflix batch. Just as good as I remember it, and the amazing soundtrack by Marco Beltrami is definitely a big part. I love well done Western soundtracks; it's the instrumentation. Something about the choice of using a lone, bombastic, wailing trumpet to represent the lone, hard gunslinger.

- Before I recently tried to go on a bit of a videogame diet, I've been playing tons and tons of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a first-person shooter with an alternate reality theme, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the near future and causes strange changes in the area around it. You play a man who's awoken not knowing who you are, only with a tattoo on your arm, and the name and picture of a man you're supposed to kill. You wander the post-apocalyptic wasteland scavenging and hunting to get by, barely escaping rogue military elements, mutants, and lawless bandits. You can either take on side missions to hunt down people, retrieve goods, or eliminate a band of enemies, or you can simply travel around, living in the wilderness as you will, only returning to the vestiges of society occasionally for supplies. I really love the atmosphere and mood of the game. It's so intense, I found myself adopting very cautious tactics, and constantly watching behind myself ingame, to make sure I wasn't about to be ambushed. If you've ever had a postapocalyptic fantasy, this is a great place to live it out.

- I've been really getting into, and have almost finished Flight of the Conchords. It's really one of those series you have to get into the rhythm of. Aside from the occasional hilarious song, I had to watch about seven or eight episodes before I saw one that just made me bust up laughing because I expected the characters to act one way and they totally blew those expectations away. I hope they get a second season, and I recommend the show to anyone who's a fan of silly songs.

- Evan got me House of Leaves for Christmas, and I started reading it while I was sick. Very Blair Witch Project-y, which I like.

- I'll most likely be posting tons of YouTube videos up here now, as this is my main distraction at work and I rarely get to share it. Plus I've found some funny ones.

- I've drank more orange juice and green tea in the past week than I think I have in the past three months.