Brave Story for the psp

I have the Japanese version of this game, because I thought that it wouldn't come out for the psp here in the US. Anyway, I haven't opened it yet, because I wanted to read the book before I started to dive into it. But yeah, Brave Story is apparently a good story written by this Japanese author. I'm having trouble reading the book as there is a lot of vocabulary in it and I can't totally understand everything in terms of the grammar and how people talk.

Anyway, if you're interested in the psp game, you can find it on ebgames here.

If you want to check out the trailer, you can find it on gamespot found here.

Anyway, I've been playing Final Fantasy 12, the Japanese version I bought in Japan. It's been good so far, but I can't understand everything in there, so I just glance over the stuff I don't understand and read the stuff that I do understand. I can get a jist of what's going on though, so it's good up to a point.

Last night, I fell asleep while I was playing the game. Granted it was 1am, but how often does that happen to anyone? I at least usually am able to make it into bed, but this time, I was so tired that I quit my game, laid down for a couple seconds, only to wake up to the introductory screens and music that I heard for about 1 hour while I was dozing. Yeah, I left my ps2 on.

Oh well...

One conversation went like this today.

I went outside to walk the dog and I see the mailman driving toward our mailbox holding a white package in his hand.

"What the heck Jon?"

"What?" I reply. I didn't look at the box as the mailbox was blocking my view.

"Aren't you a little old for Harry Potter?"

I've been a Harry Potter fan since 1999 when I entered college. I mainly started that book because I was going over it with one of my friend's friends from Japan. Very hard book for Japanese people, because there's a lot of vocabulary in it.

Anyway, it was in a white box...different from the regular brown boxes from Amazon. Specifically made for this book.

I still have to read the 6th book, but a lot of it was spoiled for me yesterday at work by someone who already read the book. So now I have to read this book (#7) really quick before she does. Man...why the heck do people always like to tell other people about the plot storyline? grrr...

So yeah, maybe I'll try to spend some quality time with this book over this week...but most likely, she already read the whole book last night when it came out.

It has been somewhat of an unproductive week this past week. Man, I'm so tired...

Anyway, it was a combination of a lot of things. I'm just glad that I have this weekend to recover.

I showed up late to work almost everyday this past week...except Monday I think...Craziness started on Monday...

I have to pick it up next week, or else I could be looking at unemployment in the near future...we'll see though...

Anyway, I am glad that this week is over...as I feel so drained...

My dog has been waking me up at 5am almost every morning. So I'm not sleeping very well...and he's interrupting me when I'm getting my best sleep. I really don't know what to say...maybe I won't get a dog in the future, unless I get married and have kids. It's always good for kids to have a pet of some kind, unless they're allergic to animals. Dogs and cats are good companions and can make things a bit better for anybody. But it takes responsibility and a lot of patience with taking care of a pet. Or else, the pet could die.

It's not as simple as it sounds...as my dog could take around 15 minutes to 45 minutes for his walk. And waking me up at 5am to go outside is not helping me to wake up on time. I'm very tempted to yell at him, but I never yell at my dog or anybody in general...but he's trying my patience, especially when I'm really cranky.

I don't know how to take care of a dog besides how my parents take care of him. Chow chow dogs are really high maintenance, or at least my dog is. I think we raised him as a spoiled dog, but he does have a good spirit in him. All I know is that he doesn't listen to me as he usually does to all of us in our family. But we all love him.

I'm looking forward to playing video games this weekend. I should really try to beat some of my old games that I played halfway through. But most likely, I'll try to start up the FFXII that I bought from Japan and stopped, because I couldn't read all the characters. Hmm...maybe I should postpone that and read Brave story...man...that book gets me really frustrated. But I think that it'll help me to understand Japanese even better. Yeah...so Brave story this weekend...

Oh yeah, Brave story came out for the PSP in Japan as a rpg. And it'll come out here in the US too. One aspect of a good rpg is its story, and Brave story as I've heard has that. But I still haven't played the game as I don't want to spoil the story for me. Anyway, brave story was also an anime too based upon the book.

I woke up today early...It's only 8am right now, but I need to be at work early today. Anyway, since I woke up early, my dog also woke up too...and when I took him immediately for his walk, he was really happy.

I guess I take it for granted that I could go to the bathroom at almost any time, but my dog has to wait until I come home or when I decide to walk him.

My dad likes to say that "animals are smarter than people." Animals don't judge people by how they look, and most of the time, they're pretty accepting.

Anyway, my dog has been a good part of our family for awhile. I think that maybe we should have gotten another dog to keep him company, but there's no way that we could take care of two dogs. One dog is a handful, especially our dog.

Anyway, got to get going...not sure what is going to happen for the rest of the week...but I'm hoping that I'll be responsible enough to get everything I need done done.

Sunday madness

So today, my dog wakes me up at 5am, so I walk him at that time...I figured, since he probably won't be quiet, I might as well walk him since I need to make it to church and stay up.

Today was both a good and hard day. I apparently made some people angry when I was going only 70 mph down the highway. It's 60mph, but some people were in a big rush and one even made motions to me to move into the right lane and got really pissed off. That sort of threw my day off, but I account my day going in a weird direction from my lack of sleep. Anyway, the people getting pissed off is not a big deal, but I kind of lost it today...

Anyway, I also saw Transformers today with my friend CA. I was expecting the movie to be better than it was...maybe I set my expectations way too high after hearing the people rave about it. But it is a good movie...really good action flick, but not too much in terms of storyline. I guess there's only so much you can fit into one movie...hmm...hopefully the next movie will have a little more storyline. But yeah, it was a good movie.

Anyway, my friend and I were one of the last people I know to see it. I think that in terms of conversation, I am not the best one to talk to about a movie. I think that I'm losing a lot of brain cells nowadays. But oh well...I was expecting to die at a young age anyway. Who knows if that'll happen...but yeah, it'd be nice to see what the world becomes later on in my life. Still...not liking what I'm seeing right now in terms of changes happening. But nobody knows the future and sometimes we've got to keep on plugging and moving forward.

Anyway, it was good that I made it to church...but still...going to church is one step, I need to take it several steps further.

I don't know how I'm going to do tomorrow, but I feel that things will be alright...anyway, people have their own choices to make in their lives, and so do I. I don't think that I'll be a person who will influence that many people...but definitely I need to know what is right and follow that...

So last night was a board game night...my friends played this game called Caylus...took them like 3 hours to get finished with it. heh. Anyway, they were already in the middle of the game when I got there, so I had fun playing this game for the DS called Osu tatakae ouendan! It's basically the game that came out before Elite Beat Agents. It's the Japanese version of that and Elite Beat Agents is the remake for the US.

Anyway, how it goes is, you're a male Cheerleading squad assigned to help out those who are struggling to succeed by cheering on the beat. If you haven't played it before, the game plays kind of like dance dance revolution, only that you hit the touch screen when the circles close around the hit circle. It's a really fun game and has some humor in it too.

What's cool about this is that you don't even have to understand Japanese to see what's going on...but it does help and make the story more interesting if you do. I have both Ouendan 1 and 2...still have to beat 1 though...

One example of one person or character that you help is this horse struggling to win a race. He's lagging far behind everyone else. But then the news announcer says that there's a thief on the track racing away with the money that people bet. So you have to cheer the horse on so that he's run faster. Depending on how well you do, the horse will either succeed at a cut scene or fail...basically two scenes for each cutscene...maru (circle), or batsu (x). Depending on how long the song goes, there could be anywhere from 3 to 4 cutscenes in each song.

Another point is, I can't seem to figure out how to reset the scores and erase all the data, just in case if someone else wants to play the game and unlock the things for themselves...and get their own high scores...so my two cents, if you don't read Japanese, then I'd suggest buying a new copy of the game. Or, if you know me and want to see the game, then let me know. But even if all of the songs are unlocked, you can still replay them, so it's not really that big of a deal...I still have to figure out how to reset it though...there must be some way...

So we went to Applebees afterwards and ate there. I think that I have to work on being nicer when I'm tired...I felt like I was really mean to the serving staff...ugh...I looked angry...

One thing that I learned from one of my friends was that tipping educate is that you pay the tip based on the regular price of the food, not the special price. So I think that the woman there was pretty happy with her tip. heh. Man, nice people there though...

Yup, they did it....Sony redesigned the psp and it is way cheaper than the original one I bought about 2-3 years ago. Man...that kind of sucks for me...but I do think that I got some good game playing time out of my valkyrie profile lenneth for the psp.

Anyway, if you're interested you can check out gamespot at this link found here. Or go to www.gamespot.com and type in psp redesign in the search...I found it on the main article page today because it's new news, but if you're reading this way later, then search for it.

Anyway, you can use your old psp batteries for a longer extended playing life...but you can't put the cover over it...Sony is currently working on a new cover for the old battery. (Taken from the article.)

I guess I'm content with my old psp right now...maybe I'll buy a new battery though...Man...maybe I should wait on buying a ps3 until later...Anyway...I'll most likely buy the new psp so I can play music at work...but still, it's pretty long and big to fit in my pocket.

With all the new touchscreen technology for the apple iphone and nintendo ds, I'm sure that Sony will create a new portable console that uses a touchscreen. Hmm...anyway...

I'm wondering exactly what it is I want out of life. I don't know what I want, and I don't think that I'll ever know. Some people say that life is a journey and that you'll see things on the way. The analogy of Jesus taking the driver's seat comes to mind...while I'd like to believe that God has great things in store for me, I do think that we're given choices to make when we're given the cards we're dealt. Choices choices choices...one of my friends told me that he makes a lot of sacrifices for the things he does in life. He's so busy with film projects for soccer camps or ministry or weddings in addition to ministry that he has to choose what is the most important thing for him. He's still single, so he doesn't have to worry about anybody else in his life. So am I too, probably for awhile as I don't think that I'll find a girlfriend anytime soon.

Anyway, some of us went to a Japanese restaurant tonight after work. Not a bad place...tried the Victoria roll...Fried salmon, monterey jack cheese and some other things in a sushi roll. Cheese always has an interesting mix to the sushi...I liked it, but it wasn't he best sushi I ate... Anyway it's nice to try things you haven't had before. Esepcially when they're fried. heh

I'm starting to wear down...my friend was telling me that sleep is important because your body regenerates when you get sleep, so to avoid sickness or even injuries in sports, it's important to get enough sleep. Yeah, I'm finding that I need to sleep earlier.

Anyway, been thinking more on my way to work...I think that from now on, I'll probably drive with the radio off...been more relaxing to drive when that's so.

Gotta be more responsible nowadays...people are waiting on me to get things done.

"Actions speak louder than words"

I babble a lot on this blog. I mainly get a lot of things off my chest, but I know that somewhere, unless I go out and actually do something...that's all it is...just talk. My life doesn't speak of what I've been talking about.

I've changed quite a bit as I've seen at my time at work. My old graveyard shift job kind of changed me in some sense, but I think being in Japan also did that too. Both were great experiences, but I think that maybe not spending enough time with God and not being grounded in the word kind of led me to pick up some things with my speech.

Anyway, I'm still the same person I was way back when, but a little different. I look at some of my friends who are living for God and see the results of their choices in their lives and it is good. But I look at my choices, and I see the results and I say, "That kind of sucks." Oh well...there are results for your actions and choices. And they will lead to different things in your life. I know that God can do great things...

God will let me choose my own life...but what I become will depend upon my faithfulness to Him.

Don't tell me what I need to do, as I've heard it all before...I know what I need to do...I just need to be committed to it and I won't get that from someone telling me what to do.

Anyway, I have choices to make still...my life is not over yet.

4th of July

Right now, a lot of people are lighting up fireworks in my neighborhood. I can hear the pops and bangs and whistles mainly all right behind my house from the neighborhood kids. And of course, the occasional ka-boom! I remember liking the fourth of July a lot when I was younger. It was nice to see something explode and to make bright lights. I haven't done that for awhile now...I'm thinking that maybe I'll just stay inside this fourth of July. I'm getting old...heh

My friends went to the park to watch the fireworks, but since it was pretty late (7pm) and there was 6 people in our group, and I didn't feel like going to the park...I decided to go home and be a lamer. I guess I could have driven myself and went with them, but I've seen the fireworks at that park for about 3 years now. Not too long, but I don't know...there's other things that I could do with my time.

I guess I've been leaving early and not spending as much time with everyone...maybe I'm getting old...but I can't stay up all night when I have to drive home. I can do that when I'm home, but I can't do that when I have a long distance to travel.

I live pretty far from everyone else. Everyone lives up north...I live down south...and I'm one out of two. The 2nd one since moving down to my area doesn't meet up as much anymore.

i feel like an odd man out after being away for a long time and also after not being able to spend time with everyone after church because of my old graveyard shift. They're good people, but I just don't feel comfortable there after they have spent so much time together. I don't feel like I belong there after some things...

Anyway, what I was thinking as I was coming home...was that, "You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family." I understand why people do not want to associate with me...maybe it's all in my head, but I do feel like people will never understand me at all. I'm not that different, but I don't say a lot and maybe that's why people just don't know who I am.

Anyway, the only people that I ever close to were my family...and maybe G-sak, because he understand quite a bit about people and me. Maybe GC too and CA...maybe Simo too. Anyway, mainly my family and my bible study are the people that I feel closest to...Anyway, I can see why people choose their friends carefully...time is the most precious thing you have and you only have so much of it. And most of the time people don't want to be around people who are downers. heh.

Anyway, back to my point, you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family. They are who they are...when I think about the family of Christ, two types of families come to mind...the dysfunctional family and the close family. The dysfunctional family doesn't get along and doesn't know how to communicate and will not be a family that will look after each other and help each other.

The other one, the close family, I feel that it's not the case that just because you're Christian that you're accepted into the family...but that there is that commonality of Christ that brings us together. I've seen some people who claim to know Christ and yet are people who I feel don't know him at all. But regardless, Christ is someone who loves all people, and differences aside, will accept everyone no matter who they are, or what they have done. He'll meet you where you are without judging you and will let you be part of the family.

I think He's the only one who can do that, because He knows you already...whereas people don't know each other and like a brother who was separated at birth from another brother and raised by a different family, they'll take time to get to know each other and build that relationship.

Anyway, all that I've been told in the Christian faith is that it's about a relationship to God and relationships to people. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and strength. And the 2nd is like it...love your neighbor as yourself...That's basically what it is, a relationship with God and relationships with people.

I know this, but I have trouble doing this. I guess that's why we have the Bible...God gave us these words so that we can learn from Him and learn how to be better disciples and followers. I guess maybe that's what I need to put my time into right now...and maybe if I do that, God will help me to be a better brother to my brothers and sisters in Christ, and also be able to treat them as I would like to be treated...the renewing of my mind needs to be done everyday I guess. But yeah, it'll take some effort from me too...

That's why I have a blog...so I can think my thoughts out and really see what I need to do.

Yeah...so back to what I was thinking earlier...I believe that God really does love everyone, because He created everyone and knows everyone. They are part of Him...but the reason why we're here is ,(as I've read from a purpose driven life), is for Him and to know Him. And for friendships with other people.

Anyway, maybe I need to stop writing so much and start reading some more. anyway, kind of weird post to post on the fourth of July...but yeah, I think that it's good to think sometimes and let things off your chest.

Fable 2

I saw on Bestbuy pre-orders for Fable 2 for the XBOX 360...which led me to a gamespot preview which you can find on www.gamespot.com and by typing in fable in the search engine, or you can find it here.

It has some things about what the game is about, but has some interesting things that the creator of the game said. One of the aspects of this game is, "Unconditional love." And one aspect of it is found in a pet dog that will fight beside you.

Anyway, I don't like the facts that you can create families in this game and quite possibly, own every building in town if you have enough gold. While that's an A for freedom it kind of makes things a little ridiculous sometimes...I mean...do we really want some things in a video game that we all desire in real life? I guess some people do play video games to do things that they'd never do in real life, but call me old fashioned because sometimes I feel that we shouldn't encourage some crazy things in video games. But that's just me.

Anyway, parents, don't buy Fable for your young kids as it could encourage them to learn some bad behavior. heh. If I marry someone and have kids someday, I think that I'll sell my copy of Fable. I'd kind of like to raise them up on some cool board games that are coming out nowadays.

One cool store site that my friend emailed me was this one

www.housefullofgames.com

It's a home business run by a family, but since they have so much experience playing games, they know which games to stock. Anyway, check them out if you have a chance. The only thing that I don't like is that they use UPS shipping and that's really expensive...but at least if anything is damaged, you should be able to contact the website and tell them if anything was damaged and maybe get a refund...but I don't know. Anyway, one reason why a lot of people use UPS is that they have insurance up to $200 I think on packages, but don't hold me to that. Most of the time, packages are unharmed...but once in awhile, they get beat up.

That's true with any service you use, but yeah, if it's important to you or the customer, make sure you pack it well. If you have any questions about packing, check out this website...it's dhl's website. They have some pretty good tips on how to pack things.

Anyway, yeah, I'm still up...it's like 3:18 am and I'm feeling pretty good.

Late night babblings

I'm wondering exactly where the heck I'm going in life. I don't know where I'll be, but I feel that I could be like some of those guys I saw in Akihabara in Tokyo...40 year old nerds still playing video games. heh...well, I was thinking when I was there..."Am I going to be like that?" And I'm thinking....yeah...probably. heh.

Anyway, I'm thinking that I'll most likely someday go back to Japan to teach again...but this time, I'll go with a different company...I thought that maybe someday I'd go back as a missionary, but I don't really feel a strong passion for God right now. I'm kind of wondering if I would actually go on a mission someday. I don't think that I could survive being a full time missionary...I don't have that passion (ie long suffering for that goal.)

For me, I feel like I'm going to be in the working world for most of my life...there are some people who never hear the gospel there, but I don't think that I'll share it with them unless I really get to know them and they get to know me. I don't believe that people will listen to anybody about the gospel until they see your life everyday and they can converse with you about your life and see the goodness inside of you. I just don't know how to share the good news with someone, other than actually just building a relationship with them. I'm not one who is known easily though...

Anyway, I don't feel called to missions or vocational ministry...mainly because I wouldn't be ready for it if I were called...but I know that we're all called to be representatives of Christ...those who know Christ...and to show people that He and we love them. But I do have my doubts now...I don't know...anyway, it's late and I'm babbling on...

I think that I mainly keep this blog because I'm bored. I like to write and express what I'm thinking...but in real life, I can't really do that that often, because I am so random.

Today, as one of my friends was walking towards me, I poked him in the stomach with my finger like the pillsbury doughboy. Hmm...that seems kind of weird now. But yeah, I do random stuff like that and people cannot follow my thoughts as there is no trail...it's like I warp here and there in whatever I remember.

Anyway, happy 4th of July to everyone at home. I am glad that I have this time to think...but yeah, I probably should have went with my friends tonight to see a movie and go to the Kwik-E-Mart, but I didn't. I kind of just wanted to go home...it's been a long day.

Tomorrow, I'm most likely going to sleep and just enjoy the time I have off...I really want to play video games, but I just don't have time for them. One planned hour of video games becomes 4-5 hours.

Another note, one of the shopping malls in the nice area now charges parking fees I can kind of see why they would do that...there's almost no parking ever in that area and probably people use the mall garage as a free parking zone...but man, that just means more money down the drain to go out. Anyway, I should go to sleep...

Spending money...

I saw an article on MSN about how stores place their inventory and different departments and restrooms in strategic spots so that people who may not intend to buy a lot do. It also has a list of how to make sure that you don't fall into that trap.

You can find the article here.

I must say that whoever thought of these things is pretty smart and probably made a lot of money for his store. I guess I took those things for granted when I was growing up and even now. Impulse buys are not good.