Running, Mojitos, Moving, then Traveling
10K destroyed, but at 10′
I’ve done this run twice in the past two weeks and have been absolutely amazed with it. As the gym membership comes to a close running is becoming more attractive as the anchor activity in my routine. I’m really interested in continuing to make these long 8 or 9 milers but mainly want to focus on hill runs in hilly Birmingham and fartleks to improve my 5k pace to something like 8′ over the next few months.
Cooking less..
but these are incredible. Here’s the recipe – I highly recommend you try it! Repeatable, impressive, cheap, and delicious. They taste almost exactly like a mojito.
Moving is making me insane
I have a few great friends to thank for babysitting my valuables and storing stuff while I’m transient for the next two months. But packing all this stuff and getting it where it needs to go is a painful chore. Throw in a sublessor who doesn’t reply to emails and a lot of stuff left in here ’til the last minute from my roommate and I’ve really been stressing!
Where to this summer
On Friday I hit the tarmac to go to Vancouver for Esvan and Richard’s wedding. Then I’m back to Chicago where the finishing touches go on the move and I hopefully get to enjoy the Taste of Chicago. Two days later it’s off to Birmingham where I’ll linger for two weeks, spending almost all of them catching up with family and relaxing with old friends. Chicago for three weeks, then Boston.
YEP! Boston. According to some guys on TLS Cornell has grossly over enrolled. I haven’t gotten any response other than “pending,” basically, from them, but that is info enough to stop the breath holding.
Chicago in June with some thoughts on MMO’s
The Waiting Game
Two waitlists, one committed accept ($$) and one reserve (huh?) still comprise law school results. I ought to hear from Cornell within a week or less and may visit Nashville early in July, but I will start planning concretely to move to Boston around July 15.
Law hasn’t taken up too much time thus far this summer. A History of American Law is still in the works but I should be finishing up very soon. A lot of it is interesting, some parts are spinachy. Most of my to-do list going in has more to do with habits and discipline than reading over subject matter, but I’ll definitely go for one or two more law books before August.
June in Chicago
Andrew has left and most everyone is working or studying, so things have been quiet this week. Earlier I raced Gilbert to 242 stars on SMG2 then, to fill a gap, chased down victory on Shining Force 2 off a tip from both him and my brother.
New Game List
All this gaming has inspired me to reorganize my favorite games, especially because what’s come out recently has started to shine like the old school hits. In molding and discussing it I found three key distinctions.
First, over a long time some games lose their appeal (Age of Empires, Cyber Speedway, Fifa World Cup 2002) while others do not (Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger). The properties of games and design decisions that go into them that ensure timelessness are very nebulous and can vary from person to person, time to time, and genre to genre, but personally, in the present they include some or all of these four qualities: 1) Sentimentally memorable or storyline-rich 2) Rich in shared personal experiences or meaning multiplayer episodes 3) Masterfully and memorably scored 4) Brilliant by toying with the boundaries of a genre or experimenting with new mechanics.
Second, getting started with the list pretty much revolved around my Final Fantasy order. I used some rough subjective input followed by averaging for the lower 60 games, and hand ordered the top 30 or so. VI (1), IV (3), T (4), VII (6), XI (12), VIII (15), I (24), IX (27), XII (59), XIII (82), X (83), V (93), II (99), III (100) was the outcome. X-2 didn’t make it.
Third, I had a tough time deciding where MMO’s fit in. Previously they were all easy to jam at the top because of my utter enchantment a la Everquest. At that time I had not fully plunged myself into one for an expansion or two worth of content. Now that I have they are no longer the greatest thing in the world as I have learned there are dire tradeoffs involved in playing.
MMO’s are thus demoted from the indisputable lead and enshrined roughly between the pantheon and the legendary games. During their peak I traded intellectual stimulation, job security, and amazing friends for a very satisfying gaming experience, the opportunity to be the very best at something, and another pool of amazing friends. Sadly, I must have judged that that trade was worth it at the time.
Now, years later, I have little to show for the gaming experience, realize that to be the very best at something that isn’t financially productive is a crushing mistake, and my pool of amazing friends has dwindled below where I wish it could be. That last one is the one that really matters, but I realized something when comparing COD4 and Halo 3 to MMO’s. All my friends from those FPS’es (finite, escapable console game) are still great friends and are doing fine or exceptionally in life. On the other hand, many from WoW, FFXI are either still involved and thus have no reason to talk to me, or have lost touch.
Based on my experience, then, I’ve really begun to think that MMO friendships built around hardcore play are illusory and ultimately destructive.
Anyhow
Check out the list and let me know what you think. Not sure if I’ll be writing extensively for each game like the last one but it feels good to have the new order hashed out.
Wrapping up SMG2
So that was that. Gilbert won decisively with a 5:30 AM finish on 06/08 followed by an 11:30 PM finish by me on the same day. I feel like I won a secondary victory by being hyper social during the race (this is not always the case, believe me) and still faring alright.
Playing with a stream up was very fun and actually afforded an opportunity to catch up with lots of people I hadn’t talked to in a while. My brother is working on a cut of my recorded final run which should be a whole lot of fun.
SMG2 is incredible. Green stars, an additional huge layer of challenging gameplay after you perfect the main game, definitely heightened the rush into gold status. The right amount of nostalgia was invoked and the gameplay span between the first and the second was perfect – i.e., good suits were reused, bad ones were dumped, and plenty of new creative ones went in. It has put me into a gaming mood – uh oh – but I’m probably going to quell it by throwing together a new top 25 or top 50 for 2003-2010 before really delving into anything new.
Time to finish cleaning the apartment, answering emails, and planning out REAL LIFE for the next few weeks.
SMG2 Marathon Milestone
So ends my second real session at 105 stars with the opposition at 111 (and going). While enjoyable, the end of the storyline both in terms of gameplay and dialog/cinematic were really weak. Even for Mario, in my opinion. What all this means is that one would NEED to play to perfection to get the Metacritic 98 that this game has.
I’m debating whether to split the last 135 into 1, 2, or 3 sessions. It will probably be a toss up between 2 and 3 depending mainly on how I feel mentally, how hard the last set of mystery stars is, how many offers to go out come my way, and how much my valuation of winning this contest changes over the next few days. Honestly, I don’t know if I want to win or lose but I’m going to keep going for win for now.
Pic is a bit old!
SMG2 Run
NOTE: My live stream will be up here when it’s running. Expect lots of activity from Saturday afternoon on!
John and I are embarking on a see who can get 240 stars in SMG2 first run as a way to 1) put the pressure on so as to enjoy a good game quickly 2) remind me what being a haijin is like so as to act as aversion therapy 3) prove who is the best (me) once and for all.
I’m going to make quick posts at the end of my sessions with some shots and impressions:
I got a bit done at Aronn’s house earlier today only to find out that our times were off. So I trekked home, quickly set everything up, negotiated terms, and set out.
Thus far the game is incredible. Music and gameplay already get 10′s and visuals is hovering right around 9; I only have AV cables so it looks kind of sloppy.
Some seriously difficult stars have already reared their ugly head (Flip Flop/purple coins most notably) and I feel like this contest will truly come down to skill. I’ve been trying to practice some of the Mario 64 speed run techniques from watching old videos in the past, but it’s not going all hunky dory so far because I’m just bad at taking risks in this game. At the end of Bowser 3, for example, I spent a good 4 attempts winning the fight only to fall in a black hole AFTER the star was spawned. You guessed it, DO OVER!!! Rage!
I’m giving it a rest to clean my apartment verily and cook some truly epic desserts tomorrow for Andrew’s going away party. Because of the whole haijinism lesson this certainly takes precedent over winning and must be pulled off perfectly. In the past I would have subbed regular milk for coconut milk in the rice pudding and chosen self over others. Instead, to Whole Foods it is tomorrow.
Going to sleep now (I’m doing pretty well at this!)
AT&T, just a customer now
Last weekend brought to a close my illustrious career at an AT&T store that was tucked away in a quiet Illinois suburb. I was pretty excited upon starting but quickly had my hopes deflated after learning some of the truths of the company. I’d have liked a more techy position under managers who were more genuinely interested in the welfare of the company, but overall for the ease of the work it was well worth the pay.
Now, as a customer, I wonder the following things:
Will 4G happen on schedule? A little late? Obnoxiously past due?
To outfit an entire network with new hardware seems like quite the feat and with both economic barriers to heavy investment and a past history of overly optimistic deadlines I’m pretty sure this will be obnoxiously past due. But on to the next one: who cares? Customers are not dissatisfied with speed right now.
Will it even make a big difference and will people care? Why not address head-on what users complain about most?
4G needs to boost more than just speed to even matter marginally to end users. If speeds go from 7.2 to 14.4 or 21 mbps, and that’s it, no real difference will be made. Dropped calls and patchy service seem like everything, and are directly addressed by capacity cell sites and new spectrum. It seems like the telcoms can easily control the former; maybe the government is to blame for the latter.
Can I please get rid of these voice minutes now?
AT&T, Verizon, and all the rest are in the business of providing us with a pipe. The magic happens when the pipe is kept leak-free and connects well with others. Certain features I saw come out over the past two years focused more on making the pipe pink and pretty, showing other people your pipe, or other useless stuff. Acknowledge this is what you do, charge me more for data and unify your services, and stop making me pay $40 for 100 minutes per month!
Returning to AT&T
Telecom lawyering appears to be a very engaging field with lots of potential over the next couple of decades. Despite its weaknesses, AT&T’s strengths are legion. I’d like to see them emphasize and advertise them more (our network pushes 8 petabytes/day vs FASTEST 3G NETWORK : – ), etc), but they’re there. Bottom line, jumping out for a while then coming back as in-house counsel 8-10 years down the line would be quite satisfying. So here’s to a good two years with great people, and here’s to possibly some more a bit later.
Mango and Coconut Rice Pudding: Done
You guessed it. Ramsay again. I’m obsessed! This recipe comes from his Thai restaurant episode in season five of The F-word. The video on that page, by the way, can probably help you reach the same bliss I felt when seeing it, a bliss which inspired me to make it within two days.
I decided to do everything exactly as the recipe called for. Shopping at Whole Foods seemed to really help here as they have the kind of variety required and allow you to get lots of odd ingredients in bulk quantities as you please. Bona fide vanilla elevated the flavor of the rice like you wouldn’t believe – just sniff a bean and then some extract once and you will see why – and organic mango etc hopefully added some quality too.
Challenges
After skimming the recipe I was most concerned with properly cooking the rice. Unfortunately, being nervous about the only real cooking step involved was not too promising. But toasting the coconut and the form on everything else, including using a very helpful mise en place with liquids and solids, went well.
The Simmer
I can’t ever simmer anything correctly. I either heat it up way too quickly or leave it too cool for too long. Rice, sauces, oatmeal, it all ends up having burnt liquid or not coming out tender enough or some stupid problem! Well, this time was no exception as the rice came out noticeably (but only by a little bit!!) tough on the inside. Still, being simmered in coconut milk, vanilla bean, sugar, and then having a bunch of heavy cream and other tasty ingredients added was all that the pudding needed to be as close to perfect as any dessert has come for me. I had no negative reviews except two people at work silently not finishing theirs, but most people noticed the rice was a wee bit tough. They all liked it despite it though, so 7/9 liked it 
I neglected to snap a picture of the dish beautifully arranged in one of my bowls at home, but I think these servings that I made at work were pretty cool too.
I’ve got my eye on some strawberry tiramisu next, but I think I should probably work a more savory, less carbolicious dish or three first.
Beef Wellington: Done
Three years ago when I discovered The F Word and watched plenty of episodes, my cousin Chris and I sat literally speechless after Gordon Ramsay demonstrated his Filet of Beef Wellington recipe.
It had been the haute cooking objective of my life for all those years, unattained as of last week. Then a nice opportunity to give it a shot arose: dinner party for one of the last times in Chicago with Chicago friends.
Most worrying by far was the puff pastry, with which I’d had absolutely no experience. So I tried my hand at a Baked Brie and made one Wellington the night before to make acquaintance with this devilishly complicated baking item. It turned out not to puff, probably because I put way too much water in the eggwash. Oh well.
I was also a little anxious about the beef: what was right? How can I make sure not to screw up such high quality, important meat? Am I rich enough to afford grass-fed organic triple-priced filet? What the heck do the British mean exactly by fillet of beef? Three Costco filets mignon and two Jewel ones (once I realized there wouldn’t be enough) made the cut. All were USDA Choice as opposed to Prime. I preferred Jewel’s but that may have just been due to my request for them to be butchered whereas Costco’s were prepacked.
Rehearsal
The night before went amazingly. Properly making the eggwash with yolks only made all the difference from the Brie. Rolling the cling wrap into a barrel and folding the puff pastry, the two hardest and most technical parts of the recipe, went surprisingly well. The only big problems were trying to use a blender to finely chop portabellos for the duxelles – my fault – and prematurely cutting the baked Wellington when it was still bleeding because the pastry was super puffed and super golden.
My guests absolutely loved it!
The real deal (x4!!!)
So a whole new set of problems arose when making four instead of one. The mushrooms took horribly long to prep and have motivated me to make a food processor my next big kitchen purchase for sure. Additionally sweating them all at once in a pan was a horrible idea and added some unwanted moisture to the final product. Time and space management was pretty hectic too, as it took me over twice as long to make the four.
Yet it went off pretty much without a hitch. Having Andrew’s meat thermometer for the oven phase was invaluable and facilitated a beautiful pink in two of the four rolls. Here’s how they looked:
And plated (kudos to Jenn for the sides):
Everyone, including six dinner guests and about six people at work, loved it. Vindication and victory for the lifelong dream! It’ll be a little while before I try to solo something else as ambitious
Leaving Chicago, aka home (what?), is becoming a reality
Someone is coming over to view my apartment shortly. Man, when he started talking about moving in I was hit with the truth that I am about to be out of here.
I’d hoped to have made it here somehow. To a fulfilling job toward a rewarding and productive career in industry. To a top 14 law school in one of the best cities on earth. I view the only partial accomplishment of these two goals as a sign that I will need to work a lot harder than I did to have a shot in the future. But what I have done, the people I have met, the places seen and food eaten and all that have really added a lot of value to my life. Inspired by nothing more than tall buildings, friendly advice, and the possibility that I could be on top of it all I turned an aimless post-bac college job search into a laser-focused effort at getting into law school. So I could not be happier with the reality of the situation.
Here’s what’s sorta strange
Seeking a sublet, my roommate moving out, putting in the two week notice at work all really bring it home that I’m outta here. Of course it’s a new page in a new chapter (THAT DOESN’T BEGIN UNTIL AUGUST I might add), but what’s really caught me off guard is that Chicago feels like home like no other place than Birmingham has. Even Tuscaloosa, where I lived for four years didn’t really evoke any sort of pull or longing when I had to leave.
Funny example: on the way home from a party recently on the bus, the CTA guy’s voice felt so warming when I thought of it in the context that I might not be back for a while. And now that I’m practically done with work and can FINALLY find the time to go out in the city, I’ve been meeting tons of new people, most of whom I’ve shared the awkward “leaving in three months” bit with. On the one hand that sucks and can be super awkward, but on the other I’m going to be pretty unrestrained and hope to have a lot of fun in a short amount of time.
Back for a career
Yes please. A lot of lawyers I’ve spoken with here have said there’s a sort of selectivity where you need some anchor here, like family, to perform well in the job market. While something has absolutely concretely built up here over two years, nothing as firm as that has materialized, and so I’m going to need a serious victory in a non-Chicago law school to make it back. It’s not like I’ll be heartbroken in three years without Chicago Biglaw, but it’s a very probable #1 choice.
The Blame Game
Once again some sources have told me that the guild is in disarray and that it will probably fall apart or change identities completely. Each of the five or six posts I’ve made in response to similar events in the past have been ones of emotion and strife. This one, however, will be more about freedom, overcoming denial, and a clear realization that MMORPG’s are wholly destructive.
Six years ago, here, when I was going through a rough patch due to my attempts to solve multiple integrals while healing and curing JP NIN’s from 1am ’til 8am, I would have blamed life’s problems on a lack of money, on a lack of parental support, on a lack of preparation thanks to my high school. These scapegoats all support the claim that serious MMO play is closely analogous to other more well known forms of addiction.
To further argue against my past position, that denial, as long as it lasted, stunted and even reversed my growth in so many terrible ways. Even after the worst of it was over a couple of years into college, the decay persisted as long as I dedicated any amount of focus on a fixed, daily basis. It wasn’t until Japan, until a forced withdrawal, that I finally, somehow, randomly realized how massively mortal these games had really been. Even at this point I had to deal with momentous opportunity costs in the form of lost credibility, stagnant growth in terms of finances, skills, and maturity, and on and on and on. A lot of damage had been done and to this day it hasn’t all been mended.
Recently, the ultimate manifestation of this damage is my crippled GPA, a full 0.4 lower than it could have been had I performed at the mean during my two “MMO” semesters, all else equal. This dampened my competitiveness for law school enormously. Lately, as I thought of retaking the LSAT to augment a potential fall 2011 application, I decided against primarily because my UGPA is a permanent scar.
Earlier today my brother and I discussed whether calculus was a legitimate prerequisite for linear algebra. He, at one point, said he wished he had paid attention in high school math instead of wasting time on WoW. His case, along with those of countless others who were under my tutelage in some form or another (I’m thinking guildies here), have at times brought on a serious level of guilt. I was wildly successful at motivating them to fill the wrong bullseye.
Other than these sad anecdotes I do not have much more of a compelling argument to avoid MMO’s and addictive gameplay in general. I’d bet large sums of money though that properly conducted studies could show eerie similarities between Keith Richards and Keith the level 85 high warlord.
For me, I’ve sworn MMO’s off and even taken preventative steps (traded away desktop, decided to buy blu-ray player sans PS3) so as to have no possible way to play FFXIV. My advice if you don’t play them, but know someone who might, is to forcefully encourage them not just to stay away but to find alternative time fillers as well. If you do, please stop. No matter what level you’re playing at you can spend your hours better doing something else. The friends I have kept touch with best are ones who have also kicked the habit, and the ones who haven’t just leave a sort of awkward barrier that is difficult to cross, even in simple conversation.
I’ve had dreams lately of being the lawyer who spearheads the movement to attach some level of liability or responsibility to game designers’ reward system manipulation. To make it a controlled substance of sort. Yes, libertarians, wince. While in reality I don’t think such delusions square with norms of personal liberty, especially the freedom to perform some sort of leisure activity, repeated publication of studies proving similarities to addictions to certain things that ARE controlled will at least advance the case for caution in participating in such worlds.
My big problem, henceforth
Over the last two plus years I’ve substituted a mix of law school application/preparation obsession, socializing with friends at various venues, cooking, and exercise, among other things, for the void left by quitting MMO’s. Not since high school have I been more constructive and since all the sundry sundering I’ve repaired quite a bit. Regrettably, a lot more is left, and at the same time I am left with an awkward feeling whenever I face free time.
What do I love now? What is my main hobby? The combination of nothing as compelling as games were then and trying to block out that past mess has created another kind of limbo, one with no real extracurricular or extra-professional focus. This is unhealthy and unhappy, but as with the other deficits I am slowly chipping away at it.
My advice is to stay away entirely and to preach that as loudly as you can. My objective assessment is that the choice is yours and yours alone but should you choose to play (defined as gun for any level of “success,” in the game’s terms) MMO’s, your other endeavors will suffer and possibly fail. Make MMO’s suffer instead. Try succeeding at life instead, try framing achievement points as dollars or the depth of your love for someone or GPA points or standardized test numbers or quality publications or something, just not achievement points. You will not regret it.