Things, Stuff, and of course... Games,

I have been conversing with a young lady the past few days just for the sake of getting to know her as a person. It has been... an interesting task since her answers are quite straightforward and so to the point that there is little room for actual conversation; as it feels more like a test or an interrogation. But somehow this got me thinking about what it means to play by the rules. Now again, going back to some prior topics, playing by the rules is not only what is taught, but also provides what is to be expected in social situations. That is to say that when people do what they are "supposed" to do with regards to other people very much is left up to the unknown. However doing this will in fact doom you to an eternal existence as a meaningless nobody lost in the crowd. See, if you stand in line and follow the rules, you will be just like everyone else who stands in line and follows the rules and thus look and feel no different from them. Whereas if you break away and do something unexpected, slightly off, or just plain different you will stand out apart from the masses. Reading over what I just wrote could be grossly taken out of context so let me specify. When it comes to male-female interactions, simply following all of the rules will make you look boring and normal, so to get noticed one must stand out. This may mean holding the door for others (a long lost art), doing something unorthodox (kidnapping is not advisable here... that can wait for the honeymoon), or NOT doing something well used and bland like complementing her on how good she looks, or (big finish) just being yourself which is most certainly different from all those other guys who tried to be "that guy" since the popular idea of "that guy" is so generic and universal it no longer stands out. Make that first date ice-cream, not dinner, ask her about her favorite Disney movie, not if she "comes here often", and before it's all over, shoot her a good smile Indiana Jones like, but don't say anything, just let her think you're thinking something.

So In the past week I got a hold of the game "Mount and Blade" which turns out to be a lot more complicated than it ever seemed to be. I had to play through it for about 20 hours before I even understood how to use and manage all of its varying aspects, but despite this high learning curve and the meager graphics I applaud the game's complexity. Even though the current cut is without zombies it uses some innovative concepts (Which our team had developed four years ago) in good ways (a tracking system, motion based damage calculations, RPG/Strategy/Simulation mix). I recommend trying or reading about it if you have time.

In totally unrelated personal news sometime in the past two weeks a series of bumps appeared on my forehead. They look like zits, but they are small and numerous. At first I thought it was an allergic reaction to something, but after checking my routines and realizing that not much comes in contact with one's forehead I am left at a loss.