The Trump Card

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to I/O Nightly News.

Over the weekend, I traveled out to Granville, Ohio, to look at Denison College, and I was able to tour and interview there. The campus was beautiful, and comparable to Villanova's.

The interview went very, very well. I hope my interviewer was impressed. I did the best I possibly could, but I stumbled in a few spots. I'm genuinely pleased.

Now comes the arduous task of writing essays, applying, playing the waiting game, and finally, picking where I'd like to go. At this point, Villanova and Denison are my top two, with Villanova barely edging out Denison. Let's see who can play The Trump Card.

I've also got 300 pages to go in Anna Karenin. I was able to read 150 pages today, so I'm on a roll, sort of. Chemistry homework this week, beach this weekend, and Cuckoo's Nest next week. Fun, fun, fun.

Organization, Books, and New York

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to I/O Nightly News.

First off, I finished Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox a few hours ago, and it really picked up towards the end, with a rather unfulfilling ending. I daresay that the series is becoming somewhat shaky, starting at the end of book three, Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code.

Still, they're great reads, and they're always a nice excursion from other drudging reads. Anna Karenin, for example. The book bores me to death. I simply can't stand it any more. I started on July 3 or so, and I'm only half-way through it. I'll try to get it done in massive chunks, being 75-100+ pages a day. Shouldn't be too hard, in theory. I understand the book for the most part, but some of it is rather pointless. I'm considering a new approach if I can't get it done in time, and just take notes on the basics for chapters and parts, with major quotes thrown in.

I'm not ecstatic about Anna Karenin, but I am very excited for my next read -- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It was recommended by my AP Psychology teacher last year, and the movie stars Jack Nicholson, so I'm pretty revved up for it. I just have to finish Anna Karenin first. Urgh.

I took time out today to completely re-organize parts of my room, and it has made me feel all the better. Everything is clean, I cane see a large part of my desk now, and I know where everything is. Brings a lot of relaxation, as I can quickly and easily find what I need. CD's and old papers were really what needed a cleaning.

New York Tidbit:
The New York Athletic Club is a prestigious institution in New York City, situated on 180 Central Park South. Very nice place, service was excellent, and the food was good.

The other patrons, however, were another story. A franco-german woman and a friend or daughter were making nothing short of a small racket over the better part of everything. They were loud, obnoxious, and nitpicky.

Then, of course, a college girl and her family come in, and they're having a nice time, at least until someone spilled water all over someone else. Then the older of the two ladies quickly snaps at everyone at the other table to have a waiter come and clean it up. She then promptly shouts for five or six waiters, for a spill that really needed three at the most.

I had a steack, cheese and onion sandwich, by the way. Not bad, but I should have had the steak medium-well.

Artemis Fowl -- Childhood Hero

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to I/O Nightly News.

Artemis Fowl, straying from the world of gaming and vacations, has been a wonderful read over the past four or five years for me. Child genius, pale kid, little exercise, the works. The plots are engaging and funny, characters are well-formed and settings are depicted very well.

The latest book, Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox is an interesting read that befuddles even one such as me, who contemplates this sort of thing regularly. What if you met yourself in the past? You'd move ahead in time to the point of your disappearance, then jump back, but then forward. You'd then interfere with your past self, which would toss an infinite loop, while your original self moved ahead as normal. Reminds me of Portal in a roundabout sort of way. Step in the floor, fall out the ceiling, and back into the floor.

And wash, rinse, repeat ad infinitum.

I've always liked Fowl because he's always there doing evil deeds, but there's a spark of good in him that really flourishes in later novels. Unfortunately, a love interest with a certain someone seems to be muddling things up a bit, and I'm not ecstatic about where things are going from here. I'm hoping to finish it by the time I leave for Ohio on Thursday, so I'll put up a mini-review.

As for Fable, things are progressing pretty smoothly -- I hit a major plot point but I had to abandon it halfway through, as I was kicked off to work on drafts for college essays.

If only everything was just a series of tests, with subtle hints from a robotic overlord. Living a Portal-able life would be nothing short of incredible.

New York Tidbit: Avenue Q was pretty cool. It's basically a parody of Sesame Street, with adult themes, collegiate humor, great characters, and a strange ending. Still, going to a show on its five-year anniversary is incredible. Highly recommended for anyone over the age of 15 or so. I'd give it a PG-13 at best, but I like going with games, so whip out those ID's or bring a parent, kids, because this number is rated M for Mature.

Legends, Fables, and Itineraries

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to I/O Nightly News.

I had a truly excellent time in New York City over the weekend, and I do intend to share it in the coming days. A brief few comments and itinerary tidbits:

The Dark Knight -- Pretty good, but some of it was a little impossible.
Avenue Q -- Stunning. Dirty puppet activities never seemed so funny. An excellent musical.
Dylan's Bar -- Candy in the floors. The floors!
Waterfalls -- Damp on the boat, downpour right afterward.
NYAC -- Good food and service, but I do not like the clientele much on Saturdays.
Best Buy and GameStop -- I purchased a copy of Fable here. First impressions below.

Fable is an RPG, and I'm hesitant to say it's a JRPG (Japanese Role-Playing Game), because it did not originate in Japan. Its artistic style pulls heavily from Japanese graphic novels and Manga. Everything is disproportionate, and everything takes place in Fantasy-Land, better known as the United Kingdom.

While a darker, more evil plot surround the game, there is a free-roaming, lighthearted aspect to it, similar to Morrowind or Oblivion, although not on quite a grand a scale, so far.

Characters are interesting, but somewhat shallow. Your own character is of primary interest, as you never really see what goes on in his mind. It's interesting and slightly unsetteling in a way.

Combat is beautiful, spells are quick and easy to use, archery is well-implemented, if slightly insensitive, and swordplay feels right at home.

Travel takes seconds, after establishing beam-gates and using your Guild Seal effectively. Leveling up is quick and efficient, and trading is well-implemented.

Morality irks me some, as does a romantic element. Morality takes a long time to move even a little to the light side, but it's very easy to fall to the dark. Romance is annoying in many respects as it's just another thing to keep track of.

Such is life.