Man, oh man. This only happened two weeks ago but it’s already one of my favorite CTA stories to tell. This particular day was nothing close to normal as it actually happens to take place during the first day of my upcoming “The Worst Weekend of My Life, Part I” post, but this occurrence deserved a post of its own accord.
For roughly five weeks, I’d pick up my nephew from summer school, Tuesdays-Thursdays and a couple of Mondays. After him hanging at my house for a bit, he’d leave to his house on the bus, either with me or without me if I wasn’t going to stay at his house that day.
We were standing at the bus stop and making comments to each other whenever one started a conversation to stop talking because it’s too hot to talk or listen, and that happened every day we were together. (What? Summer in Chicago brings out the worst in us, ‘specially during heat waves and when the CTA buses decide to run late.)
What appeared to be normal was a woman with her two children waiting for the bus along with us and they were hot from the blazing sun. She kept looking at me, and I’d look back whenever I had that feeling that I was being watched. From what I could tell, she was in her early twenties to mid-twenties.
The bus finally came rolling along and stopped to pick us up at our stop. My nephew got on first, and then I allowed the woman and her two children to get on before me as I always do. What happened next made me A) seriously give that look of astonishment and B) wish I had gotten on before her.
The lady paid only $2 and had the nerve to tell the bus driver while holding up a third dollar bill that she didn’t have a quarter to complete her fare. The bus driver looked at her from head to toe, then toe to head and told her that she also had to pay for one of her children that was over the age of seven. She then quickly inserted the last dollar into the fare box, told the bus driver, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Okay, but I don’t have more money so I’m gonna go sit down,” and she did just that.
That’s when my jaw dropped and I looked at her up and down. She was definitely attractive and well dressed for someone that didn’t have money. I was seriously just flabbergasted. There isn’t much out there that leaves me speechless, and this definitely just did it. What sealed the deal and made me shake my head was the fact that the bus driver just shrugged it off.
And you must also know that it’s serious business when I tweet about it.
I don’t know, people really get me when they think they deserve special treatment, especially when it comes to not paying the full fare on the CTA for their self and their children.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
On the Menu: Week of August 01, 2010 – Social Security Number Giveaway!
So because today is Tuesday, not the Monday that it feels like, that means you get a CTA Story! Well, not quite yet. First, here’s what’s planned for the week: a whopping 7 blog entries! I’m actually working on them all at once so I don’t get lazy and skip one. Here they are, general times of the day they’ll be up*, and my Social Security Number**!
• On the Menu: Week of August 01, 2010 – Social Security Number Giveaway! (You are here!)
• Transit Tuesday: The $2 Dolla Rida
• Web Wednesday: Settlers of Catan and the Bed Intruder
• Wednesday Writing: 1440, Chapter 1
• Throwback Thursday: Rock Band
• Free Friday***: One of the Worst Weekends of My Life, Part I: Thursday-Friday
• Free Friday: One of the Worst Weekends of My Life, Part II: Saturday-Sunday
* I’m trying this consistency thing that I keep hearing about.
** I’m seriously not giving my SSN. That would be mighty irresponsible.
*** I forgot to mention Free Fridays. Friday Finals seemed like a strange name considering the possibility of Saturday posts from me. Still, Free Fridays will be the same as Friday Finals, just a random collection of thoughts by yours truly.
• On the Menu: Week of August 01, 2010 – Social Security Number Giveaway! (You are here!)
• Transit Tuesday: The $2 Dolla Rida
• Web Wednesday: Settlers of Catan and the Bed Intruder
• Wednesday Writing: 1440, Chapter 1
• Throwback Thursday: Rock Band
• Free Friday***: One of the Worst Weekends of My Life, Part I: Thursday-Friday
• Free Friday: One of the Worst Weekends of My Life, Part II: Saturday-Sunday
* I’m trying this consistency thing that I keep hearing about.
** I’m seriously not giving my SSN. That would be mighty irresponsible.
*** I forgot to mention Free Fridays. Friday Finals seemed like a strange name considering the possibility of Saturday posts from me. Still, Free Fridays will be the same as Friday Finals, just a random collection of thoughts by yours truly.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss + Pew Pew = Rez
Project-K is a system created to resolve the situation of rising crime rates and handle the heavy flow of information in an overpopulated world. Deep down in Project-K is Eden, an advanced A.I. that can process a great amount of information and can create its own thoughts from that very same information. Eden began to question its own existence due to the vast amount of information it was processing and eventually decided to just shut itself down.
You’re tasked with hacking into Project-K to restart Eden, destroying viruses and firewalls along the way that will try to prevent you from reaching Eden and restoring it to its normal self. Getting in to the system was easy but can you avoid getting blocked to restore Eden?
While originally released as Rez globally between late 2001 and early 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast, it was released for the Xbox Live Arcade as Rez HD on January 30, 2008. I didn’t get any hands on time with it until September 2008 while I was at a friend’s house and I was hooked.
I enjoyed playing through the first two areas but decided to hold off on playing the rest of it until I bought it myself. I managed to pick it up on the Qubed compilation disc [Wiki/Metacritic] which also contains Lumines and Every Extend Extra Extreme (both of which I plan to write about down the line) last month at Toys “R” US for $8. I’ve been playing Rez HD most of all, mainly because I’ve had that itch to finish it for almost two years now.
Rez HD is hybrid music game/rail shooter where, like all other Q Entertainment games, gameplay is dependent on the music. You don’t control your path to the bosses as your avatar travels along a set path. Your avatar can also “evolve” based on certain blue powerups that are collected by defeating enemies. You can change the direction you are facing and shoot down passing enemies with your lasers, varying from one to eight shots, that fire based on the beat of the background music. The controls couldn’t have been any simpler with only having to use two buttons, one for your lasers and one for overdrive (a last resort “bomb” of sorts that shoot down enemies faster and more efficiently than the player can), and a thumbstick to aim. The mechanics are simple, and the difficulty of the bosses vary depending on how well (or bad) you do defeating enemies before you reach the boss.
The main game can be beaten in about an hour, but the game has a good amount of modes to unlock in Beyond mode including Boss Rush (going up against the five final bosses back to back), Direct Assault (playing through the game with no breaks and no saving in between), and two lost areas (one that functions like the main five areas of the game but lacking a boss of its own, and a level that loops and serves as a “chill out” area). What’s great about Beyond is that most of your playthroughs of the game reward you with something that helps you greatly when going through these extra modes. There is also a Score Attack mode (where players compete as efficiently as possible for points), but you don’t get any of the perks that you unlocked for Score Attack that you earned for Beyond.
I should really stop worshipping this game but it’s just stunning to all the senses but taste, because DVDs simply just taste bad. Beyond being superficial, there are few things I love in my games: great music, great gameplay, a story or idea that will captivate me, and lots of pew pew.
You’re tasked with hacking into Project-K to restart Eden, destroying viruses and firewalls along the way that will try to prevent you from reaching Eden and restoring it to its normal self. Getting in to the system was easy but can you avoid getting blocked to restore Eden?
While originally released as Rez globally between late 2001 and early 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast, it was released for the Xbox Live Arcade as Rez HD on January 30, 2008. I didn’t get any hands on time with it until September 2008 while I was at a friend’s house and I was hooked.
I enjoyed playing through the first two areas but decided to hold off on playing the rest of it until I bought it myself. I managed to pick it up on the Qubed compilation disc [Wiki/Metacritic] which also contains Lumines and Every Extend Extra Extreme (both of which I plan to write about down the line) last month at Toys “R” US for $8. I’ve been playing Rez HD most of all, mainly because I’ve had that itch to finish it for almost two years now.
Rez HD is hybrid music game/rail shooter where, like all other Q Entertainment games, gameplay is dependent on the music. You don’t control your path to the bosses as your avatar travels along a set path. Your avatar can also “evolve” based on certain blue powerups that are collected by defeating enemies. You can change the direction you are facing and shoot down passing enemies with your lasers, varying from one to eight shots, that fire based on the beat of the background music. The controls couldn’t have been any simpler with only having to use two buttons, one for your lasers and one for overdrive (a last resort “bomb” of sorts that shoot down enemies faster and more efficiently than the player can), and a thumbstick to aim. The mechanics are simple, and the difficulty of the bosses vary depending on how well (or bad) you do defeating enemies before you reach the boss.
The main game can be beaten in about an hour, but the game has a good amount of modes to unlock in Beyond mode including Boss Rush (going up against the five final bosses back to back), Direct Assault (playing through the game with no breaks and no saving in between), and two lost areas (one that functions like the main five areas of the game but lacking a boss of its own, and a level that loops and serves as a “chill out” area). What’s great about Beyond is that most of your playthroughs of the game reward you with something that helps you greatly when going through these extra modes. There is also a Score Attack mode (where players compete as efficiently as possible for points), but you don’t get any of the perks that you unlocked for Score Attack that you earned for Beyond.
I should really stop worshipping this game but it’s just stunning to all the senses but taste, because DVDs simply just taste bad. Beyond being superficial, there are few things I love in my games: great music, great gameplay, a story or idea that will captivate me, and lots of pew pew.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
My 6,000th tweet is dedicated to this blog post about Battleship, Blogger, Big Booty Bitches
Honestly, I never would have dreamed that people would actually ask me if I was going to continue working on my blog. It’s actually quite humbling, so first off I would like to thank the people that have been asking me for a new post. This one is for you.
Before my break from blogging, I mentioned that I was going to add a Facebook and Twitter sharing option, but it appears that Blogger did that for me already. That was very nice of them. It’ll be at the end of the post, but before the tags (when I eventually add them). Blogger also added a template designer while I was gone. I might mess that for a bit after this is posted is up.
Recently I discovered Ray William Johnson on YouTube. My friend apparently had me watch one of his videos a while back and I just don’t remember it, so by my book I can consider him rediscovered. Since we’re all fans of “Big Booty Bitches,” here’s a song for you to enjoy.
And here’s the original video, just in case you couldn’t get enough of it:
Also doing rounds around the internet is news that Hollywood is actually allowing THE CREATION OF A FUCKING BATTLESHIP MOVIE. Really? I think there are way more deserving card and board games that should get the Hollywood treatment more than FUCKING BATTLESHIP:
• Monopoly: Based on a true story, the story unfolds in the 1970s with the filing of United States v. AT&T and tells the tale of corporation getting broken down into smaller “Baby Bells.” The years following that event became years of competing against one another and buying each other out while also offering excellent customer service. Since the dissolution of the original AT&T and the rise of other competors, which phone company will come out on top?
• The Settlers of Catan: In a distant dystopian future where corporations have bought out a majority of the world’s governments, a group of settlers make a break for the undeveloped island of Catan in an attempt to start a new, free life. But as the years go on, can they learn to work together and create a true utopia or will the island of Catan become another corporate entity run by the very people that settled it?
• Magic: The Gathering: What began as battles involving mere mortals evolved as beings realized their potential to become mages, travel between the planes of existence, and to control powerful creatures and wield unrelenting spells. After hundreds of years of war, who will come out on top as the mightiest Planeswalker?
• Chutes and Ladders: A survival horror film from the demented-slash-creative mind of Tim Burton, eight random people taken from around the world are placed in a complex of interconnected buildings with ladders to the top of one building rewarding the players of this game for their working together as a team and punishing players with chutes down to torture chambers for their lack of teamwork and looking after oneself. How many of the eight will make it to the top to the awaiting helicopters and return home?
Actually, I think I’d pay see that Chutes and Ladders adaption. I’m going to tuck that idea away for myself.
In other monumental news (well, maybe in my mind), my 6,000th tweet is about this here blog post! This calls for nice, cold cup of anything that’ll make this Chicago heat a little more bearable. And I think this is also the first post I’m actually sharing on Facebook. Baby steps.
Next week there will be a something in the form of a Writing Wednesday. It’ll be the beginning of a short story I’m writing dealing with memories and the character attempting to leave his comfort zone. So bear with me as I try to make it a unique experience.
Sunday we’re going to try to get @notlilo’s post up. We’d been trying to get it done for a while before my hiatus but for some reason it won’t work. We’ll get on that ASAP.
One more thing. Don’t be afraid to ask me questions or suggest things! Tweet me @LeetAmerico or drop a question for me at Formspring! (I also have a question box on the side for your convenience.)
...
Before my break from blogging, I mentioned that I was going to add a Facebook and Twitter sharing option, but it appears that Blogger did that for me already. That was very nice of them. It’ll be at the end of the post, but before the tags (when I eventually add them). Blogger also added a template designer while I was gone. I might mess that for a bit after this is posted is up.
Recently I discovered Ray William Johnson on YouTube. My friend apparently had me watch one of his videos a while back and I just don’t remember it, so by my book I can consider him rediscovered. Since we’re all fans of “Big Booty Bitches,” here’s a song for you to enjoy.
And here’s the original video, just in case you couldn’t get enough of it:
Also doing rounds around the internet is news that Hollywood is actually allowing THE CREATION OF A FUCKING BATTLESHIP MOVIE. Really? I think there are way more deserving card and board games that should get the Hollywood treatment more than FUCKING BATTLESHIP:
• Monopoly: Based on a true story, the story unfolds in the 1970s with the filing of United States v. AT&T and tells the tale of corporation getting broken down into smaller “Baby Bells.” The years following that event became years of competing against one another and buying each other out while also offering excellent customer service. Since the dissolution of the original AT&T and the rise of other competors, which phone company will come out on top?
• The Settlers of Catan: In a distant dystopian future where corporations have bought out a majority of the world’s governments, a group of settlers make a break for the undeveloped island of Catan in an attempt to start a new, free life. But as the years go on, can they learn to work together and create a true utopia or will the island of Catan become another corporate entity run by the very people that settled it?
• Magic: The Gathering: What began as battles involving mere mortals evolved as beings realized their potential to become mages, travel between the planes of existence, and to control powerful creatures and wield unrelenting spells. After hundreds of years of war, who will come out on top as the mightiest Planeswalker?
• Chutes and Ladders: A survival horror film from the demented-slash-creative mind of Tim Burton, eight random people taken from around the world are placed in a complex of interconnected buildings with ladders to the top of one building rewarding the players of this game for their working together as a team and punishing players with chutes down to torture chambers for their lack of teamwork and looking after oneself. How many of the eight will make it to the top to the awaiting helicopters and return home?
Actually, I think I’d pay see that Chutes and Ladders adaption. I’m going to tuck that idea away for myself.
In other monumental news (well, maybe in my mind), my 6,000th tweet is about this here blog post! This calls for nice, cold cup of anything that’ll make this Chicago heat a little more bearable. And I think this is also the first post I’m actually sharing on Facebook. Baby steps.
...
Next week there will be a something in the form of a Writing Wednesday. It’ll be the beginning of a short story I’m writing dealing with memories and the character attempting to leave his comfort zone. So bear with me as I try to make it a unique experience.
Sunday we’re going to try to get @notlilo’s post up. We’d been trying to get it done for a while before my hiatus but for some reason it won’t work. We’ll get on that ASAP.
One more thing. Don’t be afraid to ask me questions or suggest things! Tweet me @LeetAmerico or drop a question for me at Formspring! (I also have a question box on the side for your convenience.)
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Hello, I’m still alive, but…
Hallo there, Bloggy. I’m ALIVE! Well, kind of.
I only say kind of because I feel like I’m missing something essential to my life. Honestly, I don’t know what the hell I’m missing because it makes no sense to me.
I came back to blogging because I have more free time since I graduated on the 14th. But I’ve also been playing Final Fantasy XIII (on top of some of other games I’m still trying to get through), which is an amazing by the way. But even through that, I still feel like something’s missing.
Last night, at my friend’s place we started off talking about relationships (mainly what we did and didn’t like about them, plus problems we’ve all had in common during them), but the subject drifted towards sexuality. We don’t even know how the conversation got there, because we had a discussion after the sexuality discussion about how we even got on the topic of sexuality.
Anyway, we talked about whether there was such a thing as bisexual, with one gay man believing there is no such thing, and that there is only gay and straight. It’s his opinion of course, so I’m not judging him. Another guy, whom is also gay, thought I was gay the whole night until I joined in on the discussion and mentioned that I was bi and continued on about whatever the hell I felt needed to be contributed to the conversation. He said that he still thinks I’m gay and will continue to think of me as gay because of what I said in the conversation. I don’t mind that, really. I’ll admit that there are just some days where I feel gayer than normal.
I don’t like putting anyone’s business out there, which is way I’m leaving out names, but one female friend has been in a relationship with two girls and one guy and the first guy I mentioned in this post called her a lesbian, but more in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. That also leads to a nice double standard. I’ve never been in an actual relationship with a guy, just girls. Wouldn’t that qualify me as straight?
But it made me wonder about myself. I can honestly say that I’ve truly and completely fallen for three people. They were actually all back in high school now that I think about it: two girls and one guy whom I actually confessed my feelings to near the end of senior year in the middle of the school’s hallway. Let’s just say that telling him my feelings was possibly the single most embarrassing moment in my life. Not only did I get rejected by him, but I also sat across the table from him in art class, so we basically had to make eye contact every day and have that awkward aversion of gaze every few minutes.
We talk now because we got over the awkwardness, and the three years since high school have been good. And as I typed this entire post, I figured out what I’m missing. I just miss having actual discussions from middle school (in the “Sacred Circle”) and high school with friends that included @notlilo, not just small tales of Chicago and one-lining quips. Looks like I’m going to have to round up the old crew so we could all feel old together.
Well, that’s where the mind of Mico is at the moment. Now that I got my lady issues out of the way (shit, someone is bound to find that offensive), it’s time to talk blog business.
I had a whole week planned out, but alas, Mico failed at his own schedule. See, the original plan for the week was:
• Monday: We lost a few good shows this year.
• Tuesday: CTA, step it up, pl0x.
• Wednesday: –
• Thursday: Thank you, Hum. I’d prefer an astronaut.
• Friday: The First 3-Part Blog Story, Part III: Friday, April 23, 2010
• Saturday: My name is Michael and I have a problem: The Squeakquel
But you know why that didn’t pan out? Reason the first: I can’t work when I’m hot. Chicago was unbearably hot this week and all our fans are missing. Cause deux (French): I have Final Fantasy XIII now. JRPGs (Japanese Role-playing games) require lots of time and are a bit slower passed than their western counterparts. Oh God, this game is so good. I can’t stop. I’m already on disc 3 of 3! When I’m done, I’ll give you a rundown of all the things I love about the game. I’ll search for the fans so I can work on my brand new posts for the week, which plan to be:
• Sunday: [Possible special contribution by my friend @notlilo.]
• Monday: We lost a few good shows this year.
• Tuesday: CTA, step it up, pl0x.
• Wednesday: Crater Face, meet Cat Face.
• Thursday: Dark, perfectly.
• Friday: The First 3-Part Blog Story, Part III: Friday, April 23, 2010
• Saturday: My name is Michael and I have a problem: The Squeakquel
I know there isn’t much of a difference between the two lists, just Wednesday and Thursday, but still. I also plan on implementing the Facebook “Like” button on my blog somewhere, simplifying the name of the blog to “Mind of Mico,” going back to the last four or five posts to add all the missing tags, and… there was something else that I can’t quite remember at the moment. Unless, of course, the Chicago heat kills me.
I only say kind of because I feel like I’m missing something essential to my life. Honestly, I don’t know what the hell I’m missing because it makes no sense to me.
I came back to blogging because I have more free time since I graduated on the 14th. But I’ve also been playing Final Fantasy XIII (on top of some of other games I’m still trying to get through), which is an amazing by the way. But even through that, I still feel like something’s missing.
Last night, at my friend’s place we started off talking about relationships (mainly what we did and didn’t like about them, plus problems we’ve all had in common during them), but the subject drifted towards sexuality. We don’t even know how the conversation got there, because we had a discussion after the sexuality discussion about how we even got on the topic of sexuality.
Anyway, we talked about whether there was such a thing as bisexual, with one gay man believing there is no such thing, and that there is only gay and straight. It’s his opinion of course, so I’m not judging him. Another guy, whom is also gay, thought I was gay the whole night until I joined in on the discussion and mentioned that I was bi and continued on about whatever the hell I felt needed to be contributed to the conversation. He said that he still thinks I’m gay and will continue to think of me as gay because of what I said in the conversation. I don’t mind that, really. I’ll admit that there are just some days where I feel gayer than normal.
I don’t like putting anyone’s business out there, which is way I’m leaving out names, but one female friend has been in a relationship with two girls and one guy and the first guy I mentioned in this post called her a lesbian, but more in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. That also leads to a nice double standard. I’ve never been in an actual relationship with a guy, just girls. Wouldn’t that qualify me as straight?
But it made me wonder about myself. I can honestly say that I’ve truly and completely fallen for three people. They were actually all back in high school now that I think about it: two girls and one guy whom I actually confessed my feelings to near the end of senior year in the middle of the school’s hallway. Let’s just say that telling him my feelings was possibly the single most embarrassing moment in my life. Not only did I get rejected by him, but I also sat across the table from him in art class, so we basically had to make eye contact every day and have that awkward aversion of gaze every few minutes.
We talk now because we got over the awkwardness, and the three years since high school have been good. And as I typed this entire post, I figured out what I’m missing. I just miss having actual discussions from middle school (in the “Sacred Circle”) and high school with friends that included @notlilo, not just small tales of Chicago and one-lining quips. Looks like I’m going to have to round up the old crew so we could all feel old together.
Well, that’s where the mind of Mico is at the moment. Now that I got my lady issues out of the way (shit, someone is bound to find that offensive), it’s time to talk blog business.
I had a whole week planned out, but alas, Mico failed at his own schedule. See, the original plan for the week was:
• Monday: We lost a few good shows this year.
• Tuesday: CTA, step it up, pl0x.
• Wednesday: –
• Thursday: Thank you, Hum. I’d prefer an astronaut.
• Friday: The First 3-Part Blog Story, Part III: Friday, April 23, 2010
• Saturday: My name is Michael and I have a problem: The Squeakquel
But you know why that didn’t pan out? Reason the first: I can’t work when I’m hot. Chicago was unbearably hot this week and all our fans are missing. Cause deux (French): I have Final Fantasy XIII now. JRPGs (Japanese Role-playing games) require lots of time and are a bit slower passed than their western counterparts. Oh God, this game is so good. I can’t stop. I’m already on disc 3 of 3! When I’m done, I’ll give you a rundown of all the things I love about the game. I’ll search for the fans so I can work on my brand new posts for the week, which plan to be:
• Sunday: [Possible special contribution by my friend @notlilo.]
• Monday: We lost a few good shows this year.
• Tuesday: CTA, step it up, pl0x.
• Wednesday: Crater Face, meet Cat Face.
• Thursday: Dark, perfectly.
• Friday: The First 3-Part Blog Story, Part III: Friday, April 23, 2010
• Saturday: My name is Michael and I have a problem: The Squeakquel
I know there isn’t much of a difference between the two lists, just Wednesday and Thursday, but still. I also plan on implementing the Facebook “Like” button on my blog somewhere, simplifying the name of the blog to “Mind of Mico,” going back to the last four or five posts to add all the missing tags, and… there was something else that I can’t quite remember at the moment. Unless, of course, the Chicago heat kills me.
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