Weekly Meh. and other news.

So after doing this for a whole month now... I think I've come to a conclusion.

My life is boring. Sure I do Airsoft when I can afford it, and there are the occasional RPG's with my friends, but the only real thing that I do on a consistent basis is play around on the internet. This has been on my mind a lot lately because of my poor grades. So I have come to the conclusion that I need to turn my addiction into a healthier thing. I want to start a rant that gives a shout out for my addiction of the week. Each week I will be showing some love to the game/comic/website that consumes the most of my time. I have not decided wether I want to do this here, or on another blog. I do want to keep up a semi personal journal along with this weekly project. I could also start a website...

While I mull over the possibilities, this week's "Time Consumer of the Week" award goes to Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. I do not understand what it is that makes this game so addicting. I think part of the appeal lies in the fact that it is reminiscent of all the puzzle video games I use to play as a kid. You know, Tetris, Doctor Mario, Yoshi. I spent hours upon hours playing games like this, and I can honestly say that these puzzle type games are among my favorites these days as well. Another addicting factor in the game is that it lets you compare your score with everyone else that you are "friends" with that plays the game. This gives it the competitive edge that it needs so that you don't get too bored playing it. I don't know how many times I've said to myself "Just one more go." or "This is the last game I swear." and the next thing I notice I receive a message saying that I've played 40 games in a row. So here's to you Bejeweled Blitz. Thanks for making my dull hours only slightly less dull.

In other news... In exactly 6 weeks from now I will be well on my way to seeing my baby in China. In the mean time I am living off of Ramen Noodles so that I can afford the trip. At this rate the rest of the semester is going to creep by so slow I think I can already see a snail passing by and giving me the finger...

Self exposition: Procrastination

Ok... It's been a few weeks. Time to see where my ramblings will take me.

I've been doing good with my exorcise schedule. It's not quite a schedule since it keeps getting adjusted, but it is still happening. This week I did a mile run twice and a day at the gym. The last few days were spent desperately studying for a Chinese test that I ended up almost failing anyway.

Procrastination is the bane of my existence. The thing that tends to provide my procrastination with the opportunity to present itself to me is the internet.

I play a game called Evony. It's a fun game that lets you build a city, build defenses and attack other cities. It's so simple that you can play it at anytime anywhere without to much distraction because most of the game is sitting around waiting for your buildings to be built. It gets addicting because you end up chatting with other players online, and if you put yourself in a good alliance, it becomes fun to help out the other players in their goals as well.
Since you can attack others, it's only natural that you can be attacked as well, and there are some pretty tense moments when a large alliance sets their sights on your city or your friend's cities. This constant checking to see if you need to do something to prevent an attack can lead to many distractions when you are trying to be productive.

Reason #2 that the internet leads to procrastination: Webcomics.

I've expressed my love for this art form before. I love how people can tell stories with pictures and words. I don't even mind a crudely drawn story if the comic is really well written. Take the comic XKCD for example... the comic is nothing but stick figures. It doesn't even tell a story. However, it speaks volumes to the geek inside of me. It causes me to ponder about the random things it talks about. Last night after playing Vampire with a couple of my friends, I spend over 4 hours reading this comic. Then I was up the rest of the night pondering how I could implement a 28 hour day into my schedule, or how I could modify my mattress so that it would be actually comfortable to cuddle with my soon to be wife after we get married. This kind of comic is especialy dangerous to my productivity because I love things that make you think. My favorite animes are Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop. They are my favorites because they force me to think about the message within and look at the world around me in a different way. That is what XKCD does for me. So yeah... it's more addicting than Megatokyo, FANS, and The Devils Panties combined.

To make the webcomic thing worse is that because I read them so obsessively (I follow about 18-20 different titles every day) I will read one untill I catch up with everything the author has done. Sometimes this takes 10 minutes. Sometimes this takes 10 hours. Sometimes it take days or weeks. Once I'm finished, I look for another one because I hate to be bored... It's like Fat Bastard once said in an Austin Powers movie: "I eat because I'm depressed, and I'm depressed because I eat. It's a vicious cycle."

Reason #3 the internet leads to procrastination: I love to know stuff. It doesn't have to be anything I will remember, or need to know. I just like reading up on random things. I'm not a news junky. I don't like reading that depressing crap. But articles on Asylum or the Chive can keep me busy for hours. If I ever tapped the full potential of Wikipedia, the internet would officially become a black hole and suck in any kind of productivity that I may be able to muster out of my life.

Do I need help? Yes. Do I want it... Hell No. It's a problem, but one I can live with. Right now, I have what's important to me. I've got a beautiful fiancee that loves me. I've got friends that care about me. I've got a family that looks out for me the best they can, and I've got a killer internet connection thanks to BYU's network. All I need is a plan to keep my hobbies hobbies and focus on the more important things in life... like actually having one... Or I can find a way to turn my hobbies into an income source... if anyone has got a good idea on that one, I'm all ears.

Ok... I want to say more, and I want to explore other avenues of thought today, however, I need to start on that plan on keeping hobbies as just hobbies. I need to get ready for church, and start studying for the upcoming school week.

So zai jian for now!