BLEEAARGH

A less eloquent title than I have previously conjured up, but a title nonetheless.

That aside, tomorrow is Christmas Eve. In the minds of many others, this may not seem as important an event as the day to follow, but for those of us whose family origins lie on Bohemia, it is a prestigious affair. Well, not quite at that level, but it's definitely my favorite day of the year. This is not only because it includes my favorite meal of the year (baked salmon, four-cheese penne, and poppyseed kolackies), but also because almost the entire maternal side of my extended family comes to my house for a shindig.

There are Christmas carols and an abundance of presents, due to the grab-bag of gifts for the ten grandchildren. Each person draws a name nears the beginning of December, and then he/she gives a present to their selected person on Christmas Eve. It was suggested, however, that this be abolished since most of the cousins are above the "child" age, but the suggestion was violently opposed by even the oldest of us (my sister, who is currently twenty-six).

But my favorite aspect of the evening, by far, is the ridiculous amount of Super Smash Bros. that will be played by all of my male cousins...and me. I am also quite proficient in teh gamin', which means that I can pwn a bunch of my cousins with great pleasure, and the power of Toon Link. Oh yeah, I use Toon Link.

Don't Let Congress Break the Internet

Today I write not to vent my displeasure at the imperfections of the world, not to provide trivial review on the events of my own life, but to address an issue that concerns anyone who is reading this, or anyone who uses the Internet at all: censorship.

Two acts are at risk of being passed by Congress: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT-IP (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property). SOPA may, and probably will, be passed this week, unless we spam Congress with emails and phone calls protesting this. This is a real issue that needs rectification NOW; if either of these bills are passed, they will be infringing on free speech and greatly hindering the greatest engine for ideas that America has right now, which is the Internet.

Here's a video by Fight for the Future, a group rallying people to protest against PROTECT-IP and SOPA. It outlines more of the facts and technicalities regarding PROTECT-IP. 

https://s3.amazonaws.com/fftf-actionkit/Protect_IP_Act_Breaks_the_Internet.webm

And if that still isn't enough to motivate you, take it from Hank Green:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Keg6it0g2wY

Please take the time to make a call, write an email, tell your friends, or whatever you can do to contribute to this effort.

Awaiting Snowfall

It occurs to me that this may be somewhat of a failed experiment. I was updating regularly (a post every two days or so) for a little while, but then I guess school happened. Not sure why I feel the need to address this issue; it's not like this is being read by anyone. Pretty much the only purpose it serves is as an outlet for whatever random thoughts are going through my head at the moment I happen to open my laptop.

In any case, it only seems appropriate to review the current events of my strange existence:

Today marks the first day of the last week of school before winter break, which I would most likely find far more inviting were it not for the impending storm cloud of doom hanging over my school-free days: studying for finals. Why in the flying purple hell must they take place after winter break? It sort of negates the purpose of a "break."

Looking even unnecessarily further ahead, Christmas is in less than two weeks. Holycrapwheredidtheyeargo. At least I managed to narrow down my nerdy t-shirts wishlist from eighty-six to thirty items. And the only person who I have even the slightest clue of what to get is my brother.

We also haven't even put up the lights on my house yet, which is ironic seeing as last year we got lazy and left them up until mid-April. Oh yeah, we're cool.

The Advertising Industry vs. Real Time

Good God. I haven't posted on here in more than I month. Well that makes me appear rather flaky, doesn't it? Guess it's time to get this train wreck a-rollin'...

It's December now. To me that means I'm allowed to me mad at the weather for lack of snow, and that I become slightly more tolerant of the disgustingly consumerist advertisements that presently disease our television sets. It also means that tonight, I'm going with a few friends to my town's Christmas Walk, which is basically when all the shops in our very small "downtown" area open up to give out wintery treats (some even do it for free), and holiday musical groups are scattered about spreading their seasonal cheer. Personally I find it too early to "get into the spirit," or whatever those crazy young hooligans call it these days. Still, I'm not one to back down from free food and proof of the existence of my social life, so there you go.

In perhaps more important news (meaning that I meant to say this first but I'm far too lazy to go back and edit it in at this point), SKYWARD SWORD WAS RELEASED. HELL TO THE YES. I can honestly say that I am thoroughly impressed with this latest addition to the Legend of Zelda family; the art direction, orchestrated OST, and storyline thus far have made me begin to forgive Miyamoto for making me wait this long. Seriously; I've had this thing on pre-order since last Christmas.