Hiatus

I haven't done any programming in a while now. It's probably because the PSP plugin I was trying to make was totally pwned by another person's plugin.

The plugin is another attempt to allow a user to organize games and applications into folders on the PSP, and it does the job in a much better way both interactively and programatically, and I wave the white flag and now use it myself.

It's also because I can seem to find the time I need to really get into programming. I really don't want to break my time down for you in order to illustrate, but four hours of programming sometimes just doesn't seem to cut it in order to learn or make something useful.

Perhaps it's just that I don't have a focus right now.

So I've dropped programming for a while and now I'm going back to playing games.

Recently I've started playing Final Fantasy VIII again. It's one of the RPGs I've already finished, but more or less enjoyed enough the first time around to warrant a second playthrough.

The first time I played it, I was in college, and I only rented to play the game, so I didn't have much time to really get into it, nor did I finish it.

The savegame slept on my memory card until the day PSX emulation became feasible, and following instructions, I made a memory card reader out of a floppy disk connector and some instructions on the web.

The second time I played it, I between jobs and had so many games to play that I didn't really bother to spend the time to get to know the game that well.

I'm playing it on my PSP nowadays, more or less for nostalgia than the need to finish it. I could be spending more time on Patapon 2, but I've grown a bit tired of killing bosses over and over again in order to level up my army so I can go back to killing bosses over and over again.

Maybe it's my video card, but Resident Evil 4 gets me motion sick after a few minutes of play. Then again I was never really a fan of first-person-shooters.

I haven't touched Final Fantasy X in a while. I'm using PCSX2 to emulate it (I don't own a PS2), and fortunately my video card can crank enough polygons per second to make it playable.

It'd be nice to own a PS2 and play all those great games, but I can't bring myself to shell out some money to buy a second hand unit and some games with scratched or second-rate DVDs.

Maybe if someone sold me one for Php 4,000, I'd bite. But that's almost a new Inno3D GForce 9600 GTS DDR3.

Thing is, I'm not even much of an avid PC gamer.

*sigh*

Hitched!

After five years, we finally got married!

My dear Fransly and I tied the knot on February 28, 2009 at the Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish Church, at West Triangle subdivision in Quezon City.

My father decided to come late to the church, but I didn't let that ruin the day for me. The road leading to the front of the church was torn up for repairs/renewal, but I didn't let that ruin the day for me.

The cloudless day brought a heat wave but also gave perfect lighting for picture-taking. Hats off to the Ariel Javelosa team for grabbing such lovely pictures. Thank you Max!

Reception was held at the Gazebo Royale's Champagne hall, where we surprised everyone (photographers especially) by running down the red carpet to the front of the pavillion where we had our first dance that rocked the crowd and really set the mood. I have Donna to thank for coreographing, and Tina and Onchit for joining us in the dance.

Dinner was quickly served. We didn't get to eat much with all the photos being taken, but everyone seemed to enjoy the food served by Eloquente, while Seren8 played our choice of music.

After the AVPs, the games, and everything to everyone's surprise I sang "Beautiful in My Eyes" and though I botched it a bit at the second stanza, nobody seemed to notice.

The deal was, Fransly wanted me to sing either that or "Danny's Song" (I really didn't want to sing the part "I think I'm gonna have a son" because then people might interpret it literally), but wanted it to be a "surprise", so she didn't know when I was going to sing.

I would have wanted to sing "The Way You Look Tonight" using Steve Tyrell's version, which IMO is more jaunty than the original or Buble's, since I know the lyrics better, I might not have botched it. Oh well.

Hitched! provided us with on-the-day wedding coordination and lots of help hooking us up with the wedding band and other details we missed. We couldn't have done it without you.

Partypics provided the photobooth which doubled as our souvenirs.

Overall, it was the best wedding I could have wished for.

To cap it off, we spent another day at the Linden suites, which I didn't really get to enjoy all that much as I had a really bad cough.

Finally, I must thank my dear wifey for rubbing her nose against mine and stealing that kiss (I know it was you!) If not for that fateful day, none of this would have happened, and I wouldn't be as happy as I am now.

Last farewell

A faint sensation, not altogether unpleasant, a feeling of coldness deep inside, while bathed in the warmth of a setting sun, while looking out upon a tower white cliff to a golden orange horizon, with feathery clouds lost in the distance.

A sadness that resembled a deep yearning for something that would, now, be forever out of reach, threatening to drown me in a torrent of tears. I was borne aloft only by the unending beauty of all that I had seen and experienced in just my two visits to this world, and yes, this beauty also brought tears to my eyes.

I felt Aslan's hot breath upon my back as I gazed for one last time upon my beloved Narnia.

It was bittersweet... yet somehow... perfect.

The last sentence was paraphrased from an interview with Anna Popplewell, regarding the film Prince Caspian being her last for The Chronicles of Narnia, and was the inspiration for this entry.

A Sense of Accomplishment

I've been missing a sense of accomplishment that comes with the things I used to do. Things I rarely get to do now, because of work and the fact that I dont own all my time (i.e. have a girlfriend).

Sometimes I really miss doing things what others might consider wasting time, things like sketching landscapes and mecha and anime girls (usually in skimpy outfits), playing a musical instrument like a guitar or a piano, finishing an RPG, putting together electronic gadgets out of spare parts, writing semi-useless programs that have no real use beyond the esoteric, writing stories from imagination, reading countless books all day.

When it comes down to it, these things don't really mean anything to anyone in the long run and in the context of the real world can be dropped in favor of something more productive, like coding for profit, watching the news, or heck, catching up on sleep.

I guess I had a lot of time to do those things and I got used to doing them, and now I'm out of my comfort zone I'm just having to adjust all my priorities.

And sometimes I find I've replaced those things with something similar, but not exactly the same, like blogging, and reading articles and blogs.

Maybe it's all part of growing up, and sacrificing time for yourself for time for others.

Maybe I have a lot to look forward to, when I'm sixty, then my own family can let me have my own time in my "lab" with all those gutted electronic parts and half-assembled computers and books and magazines.

For now though, it's an accomplshment enough to get work done and come back home.

A Very Different Christmas

This year's Christmas is going to be the first I will spend in the city.


On top of that, I am gaining a new family, that of my would-be step mother. It's all very sudden as I have never even met her, and I'm quite sure my father has known her for only a few months.

It seems a bit strange, not going home for the holidays, but maybe in the coming years I will see this not as the end of my old life, but as the start of a new one.

UPDATE:
Well, they broke up. So much for that part of the "new life"

Something Rather Unexpected

I haven't had a crush like this since highschool.

Jade Raymond is seriously cute. She is so cute, you wouldn't even believe she has a computer science degree from McGill University, let alone believe that she is the producer of UbiSoft's Assassin's Creed coming out onthe PS3 and XBox 360.

I mean, where were all the cute chicks in Computer Science back in college?!


Jade Raymond. Gamer. Geek. Really cute chick.


I would buy Assassin's Creed because it's a Prince of Persia-type game i.e. has unique gameplay and amazing graphics, and because hopefully there will be a producers commentary in HD slipped somewhere.