Author: jrlsage

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

I think one strong belief that taking time for good sleep ultimately make you most productive.

Now, a few of my friends may believe that, but growing up, my family was a family of late bedtimes and early risers. A lot of my friends, even now, prefer to maximize the night into the day.

I think my body wasn’t ever one to buy into that whole routine. For that, I ended up late, and maybe missed out on some serious oppertunities by trying to “maximize” my day.

These days I made a pledge to do my best to get 8 hours of sleep a night. This is harder than it seems, because for most people, going to bed at 10 PM seems extremely early.

Although I have slipped on this a few times (South Park and Tosh.0 make this difficult) when accomplished this goal, my days after have been much more productive. I get a chance to see more of the big picture, and a lot of that time that I “missed” never really happens to be that important at all.

I want to press on this, and maybe push the clock back even further, once I get this 10 p.m business down. I feel a lot of my creative juices are at the peak, and I know I am making serious progress at work and my other pursuits.

And at the end of the day, it feels like its more about the minutes you maximize than maximizing your minutes. 

Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. The force of character is cumulative. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

With today’s heat, the best offense is a great defense.

We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I write this post with 15 minutes left. I have a timer, sitting next to me. Thats how time centric I could be. I have an egg timer letting me know when my time is up. I am betting that with 5 minutes left, I will cease to write, and simply edit. I find it hilarious that with such a short amount of time left I am more conscious of how this is left instead of how much I leave.

It is quite odd that I sit here with writers block. usually, catch me on a subway or an elevator with some free time and people I like, I can craft stories at will. I feel like it was a gift of mine, to bring in an audience. Perhaps thats why I always had love for stand up comedy.

When I was young, I gravitated towards making people laugh. Every family has the one kid that spent his time standing up in front of everyone, hoping to get the best laugh out of everyone. What is odd  about me however, is that when I wasn’t doing this, I was silent.

This led a lot of people to assume I was shy when I was younger. This became a self fulfilling prophecy. By the time I was 7, I was much less interested in becoming a childhood comedy prodigy and more interested in just being left to my own devices.

I transferred my love for making people laugh from my own actions, and started studying those who did so professionally. I don’t quite remember who was the first stand up act I saw, but I do remember the comedian. It was Dave Chappelle in Men In Tights. I was into it because of the personality he brought to the meeting.  I didn’t know what he was, but how his gravity spoke to me.

It wasn’t until later years where I discovered just how funny he was in his own space. My father happened to be on vacation, and I was left to my own devices. With my mother being a bit less strict on bedtimes, I got a chance to watch Chappelle in Killing Them Softly.

The way he constructed his stories, used the people and the places around him, spoke to me, and even now, years later, have a hand on how I craft my bits when I go on stage.

I spent my last minutes writing about stand up comedy. Hilarity. Now I edit this with hopes its clean before I go.

Maybe it is fate.

I just wrote a peice that just got swallowed by Tumblr for whatever reason. There are two alternatives, one of which I am obviously not going to take. I could have quit, and forgot it ever happened, or press on.

I suppose I should press on. 

Anyway, given the destruction, I ought to replicate my point. If it was honest, it should flow just as the one prior did.

I need to write more. 

The passion I had for it waned over the last few months. My grandmother died, and it caused me some pain. My passion was extinguished, and for that, I suffered the consequence of not letting my fingers walk anymore. Even this second peice now feels as flawed as those writings.Maybe it is an excuse.

I don’t really know how to combat it, but I think the answer lies in the fact that I was forcing things. Even before her death, my writing felt routine. Every review, interview, and editorial felt like an exercise that has been done often.

Diminishing return.

I started reading my first pieces. The passion in them is undeniable. The grammer isn’t as sharp, and the points were as pointed, but you could tell the person behind them was looking for himself and poured it on the text. It excited me to read them. I missed that guy when he got in front of a word editor.

It inspired me to really get into making things right. I am locking things up for my own selfish reasons. I turned into executive, trying to maintain a charge in the boardroom and left the pen with dust.

For a while, it has worked. The Gamer Studio  is now in a better place than it was a year ago. I have promoted some forward thinking aspects and I think I have a staff that is prepared to do the legwork necessary.

Writing is there for everyone else but me.

But there is the fun in this writing thing. It’s letting this stuff pour out. when you let the passion do the writing for you, its a wonderful thing.

I suppose I ought to use this as a vehicle to do it more often.

I honestly am suffering from writers block.  A block that pretty much grasped me… for a good while.

I think it consists of several parts, some of which are/were in my control and some are/were not. 

It is like, when I sit in front of a computer, in front of a peice of paper, in front of anything that looks like I need to explore creatively, there is a block that jumps right in front of me.

Every time I want to conquer it, it hides. From there, it takes on the form of laziness and guilt.

Even with The Gamer Studio, as I edit, it stands there, looming.

I want to break it. It is a force that contains me. Rejumping this Tumblr may be the secret behind it. So… Lets give it a shot. 

Standards can be quite tough. Especially when the standard is so high, it seems impossible to overcome. This dilemma is squarely what Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty faced. It only was slotted to be the sequel to what many would call the most balanced and heavily played real time strategy game of all time, Starcraft.
Luckily, the developer is Blizzard. For those who have chosen to stay away from the computing gaming arena, they are one of the few developers that don’t rush production on their games, and tinker away in the shop until the product is done. It is because of that, and the fact the their previous games, namely World of Warcraft, produce so much profit for the company, they can allow numerous years to develop a title to avoid the sophomore slump. In few words, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is a rightful heir to the throne.
Like all Blizzard games, Starcraft II does a great job capturing you with its imagery. For those who have powerful machines, you get a chance to see the leaps and bounds given by the powerful graphical settings. It is stunningly powerful to see a wraith in its full graphical glory, especially after seeing it for years on the original game. Even the terrain is a wonder, giving the player plenty of time to take in the the rolling fields, the stern metal platforms, and even the lava terrain that the game provides. Even if your computer isn’t all powerful, the game on low is still pretty good on the eyes, although the comparison to high isn’t fair. Only calling this the best looking RTS’s out to date gives it the proper justice.
The single player campaign mode’s presentation has grown leaps and bounds from the first game. Instead of simply seeing voices on the screen, you are presented with full FMV of the story unwrapping right in front of you. If that isn’t enough, between missions, you have the ability to talk to the others and get even more backstory. It makes it extremely easy to get involved with the characters involved, and feel for the struggles they face.

What a day…
The campaign also gives you choice. Unlike the first game, there are choices, whether it is research, upgrades, or the sides you take on missions themselves, that can dramatically change the way you play, and how you attempt to get through missions. It tailors itself to your play style. For the brave, this means you could replay the campaign and make completely different decisions to see how it would change your thought process.
Whatever decision you make, the game is no walk in the park, especially on the harder difficulties. This game gives you more interesting missions than most RTS, with a variety of objectives to conquer, like resource gathering, and surgical strikes, instead of the simple defend and attack missions. With that flexibility comes difficulties in choosing how to proceed through the missions, and it never helps that the Zerg or Protoss (and once both) are incoming on your position.
You even have the ability to play as the Protoss, however these missions, especially one in particular will find yourself stretching yourself. It also demonstrates the change in playstyle that you feel between the races. That in itself shows the beauty of Starcraft, the balance that each race has. You may have a strategy for expansion and defense with the terrans, that will get you slaughtered in the Protoss missions.
The multiplayer is just as addictive as ever. Not one to rest on their lauerals, Blizzard rebuilt battle.net from the ground up just for this title. Gone is the static screens of the previous title, and in its stead is a whole system that grows organically with your single and multiplayer experience. Things like achievements from singleplayer are carried over, and are attached to accounts permanently. No more jettisoning that account because you have way to many losses for your liking.
Oh yeah… You thought the battles were insane before…
The lessons learned from W.O.W make themselves known. Players are now able to talk via microphone during the games. This allows people to focus more on the gameplay at hand, and communicate more efficiently attack strategies and coordinate defense.
For those used to the Terrans of the single player, prepare for a bit of a shock. Some of the units you are used to wont be there. Don’t worry, you can still mass Loki, but getting nurses and Goliaths for support are gone. You have new toys to play with the Zerg and Protoss too. All those annoying units that stop you from cruising to victory are at your disposal. This allows for frenzied battles, and new strategies.
With all of its improvements, Starcraft II doesn’t lose the original thing that made it fun, and that is its addictiveness. The singleplayer is extremely solid, and shows just how much the team has learned in crafting a story. The multiplayer still has it’s charm, bringing constant balanced battle testing the best of field generals. The wait time, along with the promise for more make this title a worthy successor, and one we may be playing for another decade, just like its predecessor.