am I the only one who played this?

Well, after much consideration and analysis, Mia and I have decided to try our hand at brewing our own beers. The first beer recipe we're trying is a peach wheat beer, followed by an Imperial Pale Ale. Tasting will be in a few weeks for anyone interested. All bottled beers, regardless of the designated flavor, will be under the label "Kir Bir" [pronounced keer beer].

Please go download and play Braid so you can feel elitist (like the 5 people who played Psychonauts) and so you can support independent game developers.

Oh, and we got a new L-shaped couch finally. We've been having sleepovers on the couch so the District Maddy doesn't have to sleep alone downstairs. Not the best night's sleep, but the dog loves us for it!

Under Rule 16, a law student is able to litigate and practice as a barred attorney under certain qualifications; you must have taken Professional Responsibility and Evidence, for example. In addition, the Rule 16, or baby lawyer, must work under the direct supervision of an attorney who basically makes sure the kid doesn't screw things up too badly. This whole process, run through the law school, is referred to as a clinic. The clinic spots go quickly, through a lottery system, and are offered in fields like Family Law, Mediation, Civil, Appellate, Tax Law, and of course Criminal. I was lucky enough to win a spot in our clinic this fall, and I was lucky enough to get my first choice placement; for the remainder of 2008, I will be working as a Public Defender representing juveniles in the city of Baltimore.

Yes, yes, I do look a little bit like Sandy Cohen ...

Anyway, wish me luck. This should be an amazing experience, and litigation is what I want to do when I grow up to be an actual big boy lawyer.

In other news, I've been having chest pains. They were severe enough that I had to leave work on Monday and couldn't go in on Tuesday either. My doctor ran an EKG(?) and said its not a heart issue. Phew. I was embarrassed, thinking maybe it was just gas pains or something, but the doctor gave me a list of potential causes and none were "you ate too much spicy food." More information as it comes in.

I find doctor's office visits really disarming these days. The whole process is very cold and unfriendly. Doctor Sabundayo is a wonderful physician, the best I've ever had, and he takes notes on my personal life to remember to ask me about things the next time I come in. But then the nurses or PAs or NPs come in and start poking and prodding and making me take my shirt off and I am reminded of Eliott's unnervingly cold hands.

After hearing a second interview with Brunonia Barry on NPR, I finally went out and bought the Lace Reader. If you have read it, let me know so I can have someone to discuss it with when its done. Why haven't we all started a book club yet? If anyone else is interested in reading this book, I could host a meeting in a few weeks. Just remember to bring meaty treats for Maddy!

Kenji reminded me of the many means of keeping in touch with my friends besides actual face-to-face contact, and urged me to join Twitter and start updating this blog again. As many of you know, life has been a whirlwind these past two months, including getting engaged, getting a job for when I graduate, buying a house and adopting a new dog. I'm completely ready for life to calm the eff down after this upcoming Saturday. I sincerely miss some of my closest friends and I yearn for the idle summer days of reading a good book or playing my DS on the beach.

In the meantimee, I have very little free time atm and want to fill the void with some kind of casual-enabled game. I downloaded Stubbs the Zombie on XBLA as well as the Puzzle Quest expansion (including a Rogue class, who I named Maddy :). Hope the dog doesn't mind). I have also been contemplating re-entering WoW, especially since its quiet right now. I've been really jonesing for some good Hunter play, and the pic I saw of the Engineer motorcycle mount makes me want to grind out some Engineering levels before WotLK hits.

Been watching a lot of TV recently too. We just worked through Jericho, which ended in a disappointing entire second seaosn, including outrageous over-the-top deaf-girl-shotgunning scenes and an abrubt change in tone and direction from the Season 1 finale. Now we started Alias, and I don't think I've ever been so impressed with a show's first episode. Alas, I hear Alias falls apart somewhere after the 4th season as well.

The dog is named Maddy, btw. She's half Norwegian Elkhound, which is an awesome breed of sled dogs and moose hunters. MOOSE HUNTERS! I had never seen one before, but when we took Maddy for her morning family coffee walk today we saw that the neighbor actually has a full breed Norwegian Elkhound right around the corner. Maddy, quite the timid little army-crawler, was not as excited as we were. I will have to take a nap with her on the couch to make it up to her :)

Hope people are still reading Vox. Look forward to some of my famous Potato Salad, soon-to-be-famous Buffalo Chicken Dip, hot dogs, burgers and beer. And please, bring anything you might want to eat/drink/do at the house. Also, pray/hope/bribe someone to prevent storms, or we'll all be huddling together in a hot house with not enough seats!

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Another review for an Atlus game, Super Robot Taisen is a strategy RPG that basically rips off Fire Emblem but uses giant robots. That can be seen as either a great thing or a meh thing ...

In just a week now, a game so universally panned by critics and fans alike releases, and I couldn't be happier. Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus is a third-person shooter using the RE4 camera style and starring everyone's favorite almost vampire, Vincent Valentine. Thus begins the FFVII suite of games that triumphantly herald the not-yet-announced but constatntly-hinted-at remake of FFVII for the PS3.

(editor's note: for those not versed in the lore of games, Final Fantasy VII represent a sort of pinnacle, a genesis of modern video games, and an epic moment in the life of one Jon Novak, though the reference has this universal meaning to all gamers. consider it the equivalent of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' or 'The Godfather' in terms of meaning to its medium)

Right now I find solace in XBLA and the tepid competition between my lady and me versus Andrestin Rudmont for domination of the Gamer Score (we're winning). Yet the games in my collection right now seem mostly empty for the moment. There's only so much online Uno or the suprisingly disappointing SFII that I can play before desiring more substance. Oblivion needed a break, Ghost Recon presents a challenge to the Nth Degree (in which N stands for "Not Fun in Any Way") and the remainder of the 360 fare doesn't appeal to me for now.

The real kicker is, I start orientation and classes next week, the idle days of free time drifting away while the fall schedule looms heavy with Squenix goodness (Rocket Slime, Children of Mana, FF3 DS, FFXII) and hot times for the 360 (I'm looking at you Blue Dragon and Rainbow Six: Las Vegas). But for now, all I can think of is a return to Midgar.

Dirge of Cerberus will most likely not be a great game. But I wanted to mention it because this is a huge part of the video game experience that I think people miss; anticipation. I often say that Secret of Mana is my favorite game of all time, which it is, and yet here I am practically losing sleep over the idea of once again seeing what life is like in a town I knew so well in my youth.

... to everyone who made it up for Mia's gallery opening. For all intents and purposes, she is now a professional artist (though not a big-headed one, as you can imagine)

It was wonderful to have the support of so many friends and family members for this moment in Mia's career and in our lives. Thanks again, especially to those who came back and rocked out afterwards.

The show is still up, and will be for another month, so please let us know if you want to come up and visit and see it.