PixlBit

Well, I was informed I was let go from my full-time adjunct position on Monday. While I was still searching for jobs lightly in May "just in case" when I was told it looked as though I'd be coming back for Fall (faculty hiring freeze, uncertainty on the part of administration etc. all played a role I won't go into), it still came as a bit of a surprise given the circumstances and the way things were communicated to me.

The Garmin VivoSmart 3 smart watch I had my parents get me for my birthday was an $86 bust, but I'd waited more than a month to return it, so I could only get store credit yesterday. 

I was listening to Black Dahlia Murder's "What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse" earlier (title is a Castlevania II reference) and it got me thinking about what songs I like that are inspired by video games. 

Or so I've been telling everyone. What I've actually done is ask others if they've seen any offers and try to whittle down my grading pile while I'm still teaching. 

So, while Yakuza 0 quickly became one of my favorite games of all time when I rented and eventually bought it last year, the remake of the original Yakuza  game, subtitled Kiwami (meaning "extreme" in Japan) really brings attention to and intensifies some of the issues I had with the former game. 

I came to my office to post midterm grades, but apparently the university's website is down for maintenance, so I guess it'll have to wait. 

I started Yakuza Kiwami recently and I don't know if I like it as much as Yakuza 0. Part of it is I lived through 2005 and it's no 1988. Part of it is I haven't done near as many side missions/activities five chapters in as I did in 0 only two chapters in. 

It's Wednesday. Two more days and I'm done for SPRING BREAK. Sometimes I think I enjoy this more as a professor than I did as a student. 

I will admit to consulting a guide on Clossus #3 in Shadow of the Colossus. This one I felt kinda bad about, because the answer was fairly obvious, but I got tired of the hints constantly saying to knock off the guy's armor and me saying, "I GOT IT! I HEARD YOU! I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW I DO THAT!" I learned later you can shut those hints off, which, thank God. 

Sometimes after BaD, I'll do my own little thing where I just log any gaming I did during the week and call it Game Log a Day. Almost no one participates (I think coolseltzer did a year or two, but I'm not remembering who else) and it doesn't have the cool history behind it BaD does, but I do it.