As The Fall Approaches

It's been about two weeks since I posted anything and let me tell you, I'm drained.

Work has been a mentally exhausting exercise. I haven't enjoyed walking in the door very much, but lately it's been getting back to normal and a normal pace is returning. I've also spent the last few spare hours resealing the asphalt driveway at home. It's not a very hard home maintenance item but if you've never done it before, be prepared to lose a pair of jeans and sneakers. And to clean black tar out of your fingernails. Multiple times.

I took a night off and went to a metal concert at Guzman's in Harrisonburg. It's a small Mexican restaurant on the edge of town that is part small restaurant, part huge concert hall. I don't know how people could have enjoyed a meal next door to August Burns Red, but I know I could have used a nice burrito during the concert. I don't know how they book an evil metal concert between nights of karaoke, but money is money in the hand of a venue I guess. And I got in free, so I'm not complaining about it one bit.

So where does this put me in video game terms? Way behind schedule.

I have about 9 days to finish Metroid Prime 3, which I'm really, really enjoying. Halo 3 is dropping and I'm not sure how the two will clash when they enter the arena of my gaming hands. Both are stellar titles (I hope). But I know if Halo 3 goes into the Xbox 360, the amounts of dust that will envelope the Wii will hopefully not break it's warranty. So I better play it safe and finish (not complete) Metroid. But who knows, peer pressure should never be underestimated.

A quick look at the gaming calendar shows me a busy, busy fall. But I also know we have the next two weekends out of town, a birthday here and there, and the ever-possible trip to Cairo in November. But motorcycling will be over soon as the weather chills (I love the cold and all, but seriously...) and Harrisonburg Tennis Patrons will move indoors soon after the first of October, at which time I will take my winter sabbatical.

I'll switch to mobile gaming during the long trips and time away from home. The Nintendo DSs we carry around will keep both Nicole and I entertained in the late evenings and car trips. I'll finish Hotel Dusk. Nicole will continue to balloon her high scores in Yoshi Touch and Go.

Gaming becomes a huge part of my life in winter and it's practically all I do. A cup of warm hot chocolate and a controller by my side, a cat in my lap bundled up in a blanket.

I can practically feel the memories before they even happen.