BLOG (PERSONAL) -- What I've Been Doing These Past Months

So... I kinda just wanted to write this blog... just for the sake of blogging. I haven't really written any in the past couple months (my last real blog being my review on Pitch Perfect 2), and I feel this itch to write. But -- since I feel so behind on the things I wanna write about, I'll start with an "update" on what I've been doing these last couple months. I know -- I've mentioned some of these briefly in my monthly recap blogs. I just want to write a bit more about them. Some of the things will probably also show up in my upcoming recap blog.

So I'll just say that this entry may not be interesting for you. I just really wanted to write something -- and hope that I can eventually get back to my old routine of blogging weekly.

Watching Movies

As mentioned before, I've been watching a lot of movies these past months -- in theatres and at home. I partly "blame" my home movie-watching on Bay Street Video, the DVD rental place I mentioned a while ago. There are two reasons for this:

1. See... ever since Kingsman: The Secret Service, I've been trying my best to watch at least one movie with Colin Firth in it every week. That guy -- he is totally my kind of guy, hahaha (at least from the interviews I've seen with him). Anywho, instead of blindly buying all of his DVDs / Blu-Rays (something I would have done years ago), I figured it would be best to rent them first -- and then buy the DVD / Blu-Ray if I really liked it.

2. Bay Street Video has this promotion / service that a part of their collection is free to rent, usually falling under a certain theme. Every couple of months or so the theme changes, so another part of their collection becomes free to rent.

So... most times when I'm there to rent a movie with Colin Firth in it, I also rent two movies from that free promotion / service. And I am totally grateful that they do it!

Now... from the movies I've watched so far with Colin Firth in it (I still have a lot to go through), Kingsman: The Secret Service still stands out. And then King's Speech (oh my, that is such a good movie! And I'm not that big on history). Disappointing to me were the Bridget Jones's Diary movies. The humour didn't really click with me, and I tend to remember a number of close-up shots of Colin with this kind of deer-in-headlights face. I can only imagine that that was the director's desire.

Watching Anime

The only anime series I've watched in the past couple of months was The Book of Bantorra. Frankly, I really enjoyed the idea of the show. I think I would enjoy living in that world. But -- gee... the series can be so brutal to its characters. It's almost like it's screaming for a fanfiction to "right" its "wrongs". Even now I still think of the series and its characters. My favourite characters are Enlike, Noloty, Colio, Ireia Kitty, Mattalast, and Hamutz.

I just started watching an anime series today called Flowers of Evil. The first episode is pretty slow paced and the artwork isn't really like a standard anime (though it suits the series well). So far I am uneasy and unnerved... and intrigued. Here, take a listen to the creepy (yet oddly catchy) ending theme (if you so dare):

"Hana -a last flower" by ASA-CHANG & Junray.

Watching Criminal Minds

I think I mentioned this once in a blog, but I am kinda a big fan of Criminal Minds. I love the psychological angle of the show, and I love the characters in the BAU. For the longest time I had only watched up to the end of Season 5. I recently bought the DVDs for Season 6 and 7 and blasted through them, taking breaks every now and then.

While I love every character on the BAU, my absolute favourites are Emily, Reid, and Penelope.

Trying Out More Video Games

To stick to my New Year's Resolution, I've been trying to expose myself to more video games. This is to see if I want them in my collection or not, especially for my physical games. Of what I tried, I was intrigued by:

-Papers, Please! -- This is a PC game where you play an admissions officer and each day you determine who goes through the gate after sorting through each character's documentations. It doesn't exactly sound like fun, but there's just something about it that is kind of addictive. There are also multiple endings. I already got two, one of them being I didn't make enough money to support myself and gamed over after the 5th day. Never again! Hahaha.

-Fallout -- I have still never played Fallout 3, and I really want to experience the Fallout series from the beginning. I don't know when I would actually start playing this, but I did enjoy trying to create a character -- and then realizing I went to an area I shouldn't have and then running away from all the mobs.

-Senran Kagura Burst -- This is a 3DS game where its main selling "features" are chesty female characters and "clothes shredding". I just find it kinda funny for me to own it, since I'm probably not the game's target demographic. I gotta say though: from what little I've played of it, I do enjoy the gameplay mechanics. The game also retains its Japanese voicing which is a big plus for me.

My Sister's Bridal Shower

So last month was my sister's bridal shower / bachelorette and it was so much fun! We watched Mulan, a movie my sister wanted to watch for a long while now. We also had some bridal shower game going on where each person would take a turn writing a sentence for a story. The story was about how my sister and her fiance first met. The end product was quite funny!

Then we played my and my sister's rendition of Cards Against Humanity, this card game where players take turns reading out question / situation cards and everybody else submits an answer. The best answer gets a point. The player with the most points wins. A week before, my sister and I came up with questions and responses and we got it printed up. It was much tamer than the original Cards Against Humanity, but was more fun and personal to us.

All in all, it was a very fun time.

Playing Final Fantasy XIV's Expansion: Heavensward

Yes, Heavensward came out this month, but I spent the last couple months preparing for it. My main character still had to finish the main story quests. And a couple weeks before Heavensward's early access, I started queuing to clear Turn 9. I wanted to at least beat that before Heavensward came out. I know I could have cleared it wayyy back in December when I was trying on the old JP server, but after switching servers to Masamune, that drive kinda went dormant until recently.

As for Heavensward, I am totally overwhelmed by it, hahaha. Even so, I'm not in a rush to go through it all. If you saw how I played when I first started Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, I took my time leveling my Bard to 50, trying to level my crafting and gathering classes at the same time. I even had my crafting or gathering classes hand in some of the main quests so my Bard wouldn't get the experience from it, hahaha. I wonder if I could do that for Heavensward's main quests... hmmm...

Anywho, it's no different this time. I'm trying to level my crafting and gathering classes more than my Bard, while also trying to get my other classes to 50.



And that's it for this blog. Ahh, I feel so much better now. My writing bug has been satiated (for now). If you read to the end, thanks for reading! As always feel free to comment on anything or ask me any questions or anything.

Take care and have yourself a good upcoming week! :)