With the spring semester in full swing now, I don’t have much time to be messin’ around in video games. Not that I’m using the phrase “messin’ around” to imply my gaming is a waste of time, I’m just tryin’ to say that homework takes up a lot of my efforts. The hilarious detail that comes with complaining about a lack of time on a blog is that this blogging is using up time; amusing, no? Anyway, onto my life.
As it seems to go with me, I’ve come upon a new “natural” way of doing things for myself, which is to say I go to school, I contribute when I feel able, I come home, then I get to my two favorite pastimes: reading and gaming. The reading usually has to do with my schooling, but the gaming is always for pleasure. I’m going to contradict myself immediately by saying that I still make a concerted effort to read for pleasure (I dropped something like fifteen bucks on an interesting-sounding book by Mark Twain when I went to a local bookstore – this book has nothing to do with my classes, at least not directly) and I’m still plugging away at the stack of books that Ellen lent to me. I’ve only got one of those “free-reading” books to go, actually, and the greatest pleasure of being a “big-picture” person is noticing that despite my categorization and separation (school books versus pleasure books) I still find that most of the stuff I read can be analyzed and critiqued and connected in an academic fashion. That’s my roundabout way of saying I dig academia and I look forward to turning just about everything I consume into a point for essays in the future.
But what does this have to do with, you know, games? The thing I’m supposed to be blogging about most of the time? Well, I’ll let you folks in on a secret: it’s my most fervent wish to become some kind of lecturer or teacher one day and to research the literary themes and merits of video games. I’m developing an all-inclusive and all-encompassing perspective of the media and entertainments in my life and I’m realizing that just about anything can be connected if you look hard enough. I love reading, I love thinking, and I love gaming – why shouldn’t I try to mix all my interests together in my own wacky way and develop my purpose?
To that end, I’ve been getting in some video game time when I’m not absolutely pressed to do homework. I’m still following my daily Animal Crossing regimen, which, luckily, should be shortening soon since I’ve collected all the ski resort furniture (no more snowperson bingo, huzzah!). I’ve decided to dedicate myself to 100% completion of Devil Survivor Overclocked and I’ve got two more endings to earn as well as the big-ass superboss to defeat/fuse before I can say I’ve done everything in the game. Those are my two biggest gaming concerns right now, although I have to admit that I’m eagerly awaiting February 13th because I’ve loved Majora’s Mask ever since it was first released on the N64 and I’m way stoked for Majora’s Mask 3D on that good ol’ 3DS. All this homework and my dedication to games means I’ve got a goal: I need to complete Devil Survivor Overclocked before Majora’s Mask is out for the 3DS. I will continue working toward that goal while I keep up with college and enjoy myself in my own deliberate fashion.
So there you have it – things are different but all in all they’re just about the same. I’m still reading, learning, and gaming; they’re the things I love to do when I’ve got time and they keep me feeling fulfilled. Here’s to the coming months and the great games they’ll bring! Keep on gaming, folks.
The Opportunistic Poet 