Video Games (WFMAD Day 21)

As you may have already noticed, I am a huge nerd. (Or a geek. I've never been too sure on the difference, to be completely honest.) Part of my qualifications for being a nerd (/geek) is that I love video games.

I've never really been a hardcore gamer, per say. I never played first-person shooters like Halo or Call of Duty or God knows what else is out there. I never played online multiplayer games, or really any of the more popular video games. Most--if not all--of the games I got into playing were from the Nintendo franchise.

I love Nintendo. Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Mario...I grew up with these games, and playing any other system--like PlayStation or XBox--just feels weird. I had a PSP at one point--it lasted for all about two seconds because I quickly discovered that I couldn't play my favourite games.

My favourite video game series, I would say, is the Legend of Zelda series. (Okay, so maybe it's also tied with Sims, but I digress.) I have been in love with these games for years; ever since I used to play A Link to the Past on our Super Nintendo.

Ocarina of Time is especially a favourite of mine. Not only is its story one of my personal favourites, but it's also the first Zelda game I actually completed, entirely (okay, almost entirely) by myself; so it has a special place in my heart.

My favourite thing about video games is the way they tell their stories. They don't just tell you what's happening; you experience it. You're the one who rescues the princess, defeats the bad guy, saves the world. It's not just a story anymore; it's your story.

Until later,

- Justyne

Getting Lost (WFMAD Day 20)

"Life is a journey, not a destination."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are a few things you can count on when my friend Kristen and I get into a car together:

1. She will be the one driving

2. I will be riding shotgun

3. We will probably get lost

And that is where we found ourselves tonight, at 9:30, after dropping off a friend at home. Lost.

We drove into the city today, to go shopping and visit a few friends. After hours and hours of fun, we decided to run through a McDonald's drive-thru before heading home.

That was our first mistake. McDonald's.

In our defense, neither of us had ever really been to that part of the city before. Our friend directed us as to how to get back on the main--and more familiar--road before we parted ways, but that didn't really help us when we came out the drive-thru into a massive parking lot with virtually no sense of direction whatsoever.

Leave it to us to get lost in a parking lot. 

Instead of panicking, though, or debating routes and looking up the directions to where we wanted to go, we started laughing. And by laughing, I mean tears-in-your-eyes, exploding-bladder-inducing, breathless-and-shaking laughing.

That is by far my favourite kind of laughter. It's the kind of laughter that lingers; that still has you giggling to yourself a good half hour later (as we were).

Moments like these are definitely embarrassing, but they make for good stories to tell.

They also give me something to blog about.

Until later,

- Justyne

Two Adventures with my Driving Buddy (WFMAD Day 19)

So earlier today, I asked my driving buddy (AKA my close friend Allison) what I should blog about. Her suggestions weren't exactly helpful, so instead I'm just going to share stories of a few of my favourite adventures with her.

1. Something you should really know about my driving buddy and I is that we go to Wal-Mart. A lot. Not quite sure why, to be honest; it's just our thing.

Anyway, last month we were on one of our many Wal-Mart adventures. We were sitting in her car, just down the street from the store, and there was this car driving in front of us. The car goes to turn left--a good meter or two before the actual curb. You'd think they'd stop, or swerve to avoid the curb (and the sign sitting on top of it), right?

Nope.

So the two of us watch, rattled, as whoever was driving the car honest-to-God MOWS OVER THE FREAKING CURB, driving over it AND the sign sitting on it like nobody's business, and calmly pulled to a stop in the parking lot across the street. The sign that had been placed legit bounced right back up after they passed over it. 

In retrospect, we probably should have stopped to check if the driver was okay--and God knows they wrecked their car doing that utterly pointless stunt--but we just kinda kept going and pulled into the parking lot, all the while laughing and freaking out over what we had just seen.

2. This next one dates back to our good 'ol middle school days, before we (read: her) could actually drive, therefore before we were actually driving buddies.

We were famous (read: not famous at all) for going on bike-and-scooter combo rides. Basically, she would ride her scooter, and I would ride my bike, because I was lame and didn't have a scooter.

For whatever reason, she had just recently developed an irrational fear of trains. Not exactly sure why, but either way she was terrified that some evil mastermind would drop a penny onto the train tracks and said penny would cause an incoming train to flip out and derail itself. Or something. \

So one day, we just happened to be down by the train tracks near our houses when we hear the whistle of an incoming train. Allison, freaking out, desperately tries to push her scooter away. Unfortunately, we were (for whatever reason) sitting in gravel / rocks, so her scooter would not push through them.

So instead, she lifts her scooter up over her head, and goes running down to the smooth pavement, screaming all the way.

Meanwhile, I am left standing in the dust, unable to get back on my almost-too-big bike and almost peeing myself because I was laughing so hard.

This remains my favourite story, like, in the history of stories.

Well, I hope you enjoyed these random stories of mine.

Until later,

- Justyne

10 Things You May or May Not Know About Me (WFMAD Day 18)

(I'm stumped and bored okay.)

If you know me in real life, you probably already know the majority--if not all--of the following facts. If you only know me through this blog, though, you might learn something.

1. I live off of chocolate milk. (If you are my friend and didn't already know this then I am severely judging you right now.) Seriously, though, if I ever became lactose intolerant, I would cry. And then get sick, because let's face it, lactose intolerance would never keep me from drinking it.
2. I am a nerdy, geeky, dorky fangirl. I watch anime and play Pokemon and get way too emotionally invested in television for my own good. (I think I already mentioned this but whatever.)
3. I love buying scratch tickets. Scratching scratch tickets is fun, okay? I promise that I don't have a gambling addiction.
4. The song Call Me Maybe is MAH JAM! One time I heard it start playing on the radio at the other end of the restaurant when I was working and literally ran down there to dance to it.
5. I have a slight addiction to painting my toenails. I'm actually about to paint them right now. I'd paint my fingernails, too, if I was ever allowed to have nail polish on at work. (The downside to working at a restaurant, I guess.)
6. I am not built for running. And by that, I mean that I'm lazy and hate anything that involves physical movement.
7. My favourite colour is purple. You can easily figure this out on your own when you see my bedroom.
8. My favourite food is macaroni and hot dog casserole. KD and hot dogs and sauce baked in the oven. IT IS A GIFT SENT FROM GOD.
9. I love Wal-Mart. Don't ask me why, I just do. I also have some fond memories of Wal-Mart adventures with a certain driving buddy of mine~
10. I built an office chair all by myself. Like last month. Or the month before or something. I consider it as my first real step to adulthood. (Aside from, y'know, graduation and all that.)

Can you tell that I was really running out of facts by the end?

Until later,

- Justyne

YouTube (WFMAD Day 17)

I have a slight addiction to YouTube. (And I think we all know just how "slight" my obsessions normally are.)

I've had an account on YouTube for quite a while now, but I've never been quite so hooked on it as I am now. I made a couple videos--really really bad videos that have since been deleted--back in middle school, but I haven't created anything for the website since. Instead, my addiction lies in watching videos.

This is a fairly normal addiction, really, as I'm sure everyone at some point has gotten hooked on watching viral videos for hours on end. But it's not necessarily just watching viral videos, though. I have found several different YouTubers--Jon Paula, Kristina Horner, Rooster Teeth, to name a few--that I have been following religiously for probably about a year now. They produce awesome material that I love to watch, and as of late I have found myself refreshing my YouTube news feed constantly, hoping that they've uploaded something new for me to watch.

I just love YouTube. Like, a lot. I love the ways that new stories emerge from it; how people are constantly discovering new ways to entertain everyone. Web series like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, personal vlogs from people like Kristina Horner, video game playthroughs from gamers like Jon Paula. Every time I log on to the website and see their videos, my heart soars; I love watching these videos, even if I probably spend way too much time doing it.

I'll be honest, a part of me has always wanted to make my own videos. I've had a blast making any videos I've produced in the past--no matter how cringe-worthy they may have been. I've never tried making a vlog--video blog, for those of you not up-to-date on your internet terminology--and it looks like fun. I mean, it's basically just taking a blog and turning it into a video, right? How hard can it be?

(Well, really hard, if you're trying to film with your crazy roommate in the room. Judging from my past experiences making school projects, anyway.)

I doubt I'll ever actually take the chance and film a vlog. I've got my hands full enough as it is; do I have time to spend painstaking hours editing weekly videos?

Well, that, and I look dumb on camera. I think I'll stick to my trusty old blog.


Until later,

- Justyne

Deadlines (WFMAD Day 16)

Let's face it: the only thing that could ever motivate me to finish my homework was the looming arrival of the test or assignment due date. (And if I'm being honest, even that didn't motivate me a whole lot this past year.) Deadlines, it seems, provide great external motivation.

The problem, I find, is that I suck at applying deadlines to my own personal projects. I tend to overestimate my abilities, and how much I can actually get done in a set amount of time. So when I do set deadlines, they pass easily without my project or goal being completed, which leaves me feeling frustrated and dejected and even more unmotivated than I was before.

The only exception to this, it seems, is this blog.

Aside from the brief period of time after the school year (in which I seemed to be unmotivated to do anything other than play Sims), I've been really good at updating this blog. I said I'd update every Friday, and for the most part, I've nailed it, every time. Even now, in the midst of a blog-a-day challenge, I have yet to fail. (Unless you count posting after midnight failing, which I don't. Cut me some slack!)

So what's the difference between this, and my other projects? Why can't my deadlines be as successful for everything else?

Maybe my other projects are simply too big. Maybe my deadlines are unrealistic; the work too big to complete in the given time. Maybe I need to develop a new routine, or a new method to working on my projects.

Or maybe, I just need to dive right back into it.

I'll be honest; now that I'm taking a break from school, and working mostly full time, the pressure is on. To make real progress on my writing, my art, and other creative projects. Before, with my focus always on school, this had always just seemed like a hobby.

It's not just a hobby anymore.

So maybe, despite all the times I failed before, it's time to give it another shot.


Until later,

- Justyne

Mornings (WFMAD Day 15)

(We have officially reached the halfway point for WFMAD! Woot!)

Mornings are the bane of my existence.

I'm not a fan of mornings. At all. I don't like getting up early, leaving the warm comfort of my bed and, you know, sleep, in exchange for having to stumble through a groggy state and actually be productive. Because let's face it: the only thing we ever want to do first thing in the morning is sleep, regardless of how many hours you've already gotten.

(Unless you're a hardcore morning person, in which case, you suck. No offense.)

The problem with mornings is that, without them, I get nothing done. During summer last year, and the year before (and probably the year before that), I developed a steady routine of sleeping in until noon every day, and staying up until 3 in the morning (normally watching anime or playing Sims). Aside from going to work and occasionally hanging out with friends, I got little to nothing done AT ALL, and it was the most frustrating thing ever.

I know what you're probably thinking. "Why, Justyne, if you wanted to get work done so badly, why didn't you start setting your alarm and going to bed earlier?" Well, smart guy, I tried. I set my alarm for 8. I set it for 9. I set it for 10. I had three alarms going off at one-hour intervals, hoping that at least one of them would get my sorry little ass out of bed.

Nope.

The thing you should realize is that there are two versions or sides to my personality. There is my normal, everyday, totally perky self, and my morning self.

The perky side of me is the one who is overly happy, always optimistic, who makes to-do lists and schedules and deadlines and who plans to go to bed by midnight and get up by 8:30 because hey, it's not so hard!

The morning side of me is the one who wrecks all of those plans by sleeping in three hours later than planned; whose first reaction when the alarm goes off is to hit the snooze and go back to sleep; who says, "Screw you, this is impossible" to the formerly optimistic plans made during the day.

It didn't matter what lengths I made to ensure that I wouldn't sleep in; I still would, without fail, until the day came when I had to start getting up at 6 am for school.

This year, though, things were different. I jumped into summer with the knowledge that I probably wouldn't be going back to school come September, and thus my one incentive to adapt a decent sleeping schedule would be null and void. I knew that this year, if I allowed myself to fall into my same old, messed up sleeping schedule, I would be stuck in that rut of unproductivity...forever.

(Okay, so maybe that's a bit dramatic. But we all know that I'd have a hard as hell time getting out of it again.)

So when I got home from PEI aaaaall the way back in April, I made a decision. A decision to get up at 8:30 am, every day. (Yes, even on Saturdays.)

I'll be the first to admit that I don't always follow through on this decision. Some days I sleep a little longer; some days a lot longer. Some days I wake up at 8:30, only to crawl back into bed and watch Netflix on my phone for a couple hours. (These days have been happening more and more frequently as of late.)

But for the most part, I've been pretty good about keeping my sleeping schedule intact. I've been good about not staying up too late (please ignore the fact that I posted this at one in the morning), and about starting my day BEFORE the sun reaches its highest point in the sky. I've been good about starting to get stuff done earlier, and as a result, have been getting more and more done during the day. My frustration is decreasing. And you know what?

I still hate mornings.


Until later,

- Justyne