It's been way too damn long since I posted here. That goes without saying, though. The last few months have been quite rewarding for me. Why is this? For the first time in my life I have completed a semester of school of which I can be proud of, and it feels great. Like that feeling you get after playing Metroid Prime for a long time, marveling at it's beauty, and thinking, "Wow. This is a damn good game. I'm having a lot of fun." Evidentally, working hard at school wasn't as hard as I made it out to be. The move of my computer to my room probably helped this a lot.

So, one semester down. One more to go. Then three more years after that. Can I do it? You bet.

So... what does this mean? Probably nothing, except I did really good, and I can be proud. That's all there is to it. Oh, and I regain a bit of trust from my parents, as I don't have to hide my grades from them, even the (not so often occuring) C. This is because there's nothing to hide.

That's my own gift to myself this season. As for Christmas itself... well, it's been good. It was a TAD disappointing, but that's mainly because the "big daddy" of my gifts was given BEFORE Christmas, so what I get on Christmas almost makes it seem like I got jypped. No, no. I'm not being ungrateful, far from it, in fact. I'm quite happy. It's just that pre-Christmas gift getting that sometimes makes Christmas itself seem disappointing, even though you got a really super cool gift before hand, and some assorted cool things on Christmas itself.
Of course, this isn't the true meaning of Christmas. We all know what that is. However, I'm only human, and admit it. It would be pretty boring hearing me rant on and on about the true meaning of Christmas instead of posting what it was that made Christmas worthwhile and fun, which is why this other stuff was added to our various modern holidays; So people would look forward to celebrating these events instead of being bored to tears. Kind of like an incentive.

I've rambled enough. Here's my haul, order which I received them.

PRE-Christmas gifts (take a guess what this means).

1. Best Buy $75 gift card, from my Grandpa Allen in Houston. Yes, he treats me well. Seeing as I don't see him often, he's really great in compensation. I really wish I could see him often, as he is a cool guy. Big thanks to him. No doubt, I'll probably use this for Metroid Fusion and maybe one other game tomorrow.
2. A pair of Bugle Boy jeans that need to be hemmed, and a Christmas ornament. This is a typical present from Aunt Marie. After the church service each year, it's a (hated by me and my dad) family tradition to go over to Aunt Marie's house and have a little social time. Me and my brother usually get some article of clothing and an ornament. No matter how many jokes I make along the lines of, "I wonder what it is..." I still get the "glare" from my mom. The one that says, "Stop being rude." The one that makes my spine shiver with the feeling that if I don't shut up, I'll get a LONG lecture in the car. I avoided this lecture. In any case, the rest of last night went well. I mainly played Tetris on my GBA.
3. Archos Jukebox 20 Gig MP3 player, from my grandparents and my parents. I love this thing. I'll get it to work soon. God knows how long I've wanted this. No more CD player batteries. No more 20-200 song limits. 20 Gigs of musical bliss. BIG thanks to my grandparents and parents for this gift. Once it begins working, I'll adore it. The fact that I did good in school probably contributed to my relative's willingness to get it. Oh, and the cheap price tag. Just so you know, I try to play out my Christmas list strategically, so price is a factor when making it up.

Christmas at HOME!

1. First gift I opened was from my parents. I got three Strathford sketchbooks and this Derwent sketching collection. It has some stuff like graphite and water color pencils. I'll probably give these a whirl soon.
2. Second gift was also from my parents. This was a bag of clothes. What I got were these red ... I think nylon pants. They have these zippers halfway down the leg. There was also two plaid over shirts, and this jacket of sorts.
3. Probably my second favorite gift from my parents. Anyone who has the aforementioned MP3 player knows the headphones with it SUCK. I was disappointed when I didn't get my desired headphone type in the jukebox, thinking I WOULDN'T get them the next day. I am happy I was wrong. I got a pair of Koss headphones. These are the ones that are sans a headband, and just attach to the ear. I'll get used to them soon enough. I can already tell I love them. Go parents.
4. A new pair of sneakers. My parents got me Nike Airs. They are a tad... odd. I liked my old (weed-cutter hit) sneakers better. Oh well. I hope I get used to these, I really do.
5. Bag of stuff from my great-grandmother (Grandmom) in Houston. There was a sweater-shirt, some mittens, and some other stuff. This other stuff included a scope. Like a unocular (is that even a word?). It's weird. It took me a while to figure out what it was. She should really label it next time. The other thing in this bag was a Christmas card with $10 inside. Wee.
6. Lastly, I realized there was stuff in the stocking. I swear, me and Robert couldn't tell. AT ALL. There was a bag of three graphite crayons, "kneaded rubber" (eraser), one big mechanical pencil which supported different lead thicknesses, different containers with lead of different thicknesses, and some blending stumps (for graphite/charcoal stuff). More art. Wee.

Over the unplowed roads and through the traffic, to grandmother's house we go!

1. The one gift I get to open early. The stocking. Inside was a box of Lifesavers, a bunch of Lowrey's Beef Jerky (I LOVE THIS FUCKING STUFF), and a package of Twix single bars. Grandpa knows what I like.
2. Then when everyone comes, I go to the living room and we open presents. Well, I was waiting for a bit. Only the little kids and Uncle Lawrence were in there. We were waiting for everyone else to come. Uncle Lawrence gave me his present a bit early. It was, indeed, cool. It was the GBA version of Link To The Past, appropriately titled The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past and Four Swords, one of the GBA's killer apps. A remake of one of my favorite SNES classics. Finally, my GBA will get some attention.
3. OK, now we begin opening presents. My first gift was from my grandparents. It was a box. What was in the box...? PAIN!* PAIN! in the form of a few-sizes-too-small blazer jacket. Oh, and a pair of pants.
4. Next gift was cool. My Aunt Jennifer/Uncle Jimi/Cousins gift to me was the two CD set of Orbital II and In Sides, both by the (very excellent) group, Orbital. I highly suggest you check these guys out. It was funny, though. About a week ago, she was on AIM, and I sent her a revised Christmas list, with some new CD's I wanted. She told me today that as soon as I linked her, she clicked the link and purchased this one. I can't wait to hear this. Big thanks to her and her family. I finally own an electronica CD. Two of them.
5. Next gift was from my grandparents. It was a Kung-Fu hamster. It's nifty. I take Tae Kwon Do and all... I think it's pretty cool. It's basically a hamster in a gi which moves it's little hamster body with a ball-and-chain to 'Kung-Fu Fighting," originally by Carl Douglas. You know how those toys are, though. The songs usually a bit remade. Like, shortened to the most famous lines in it then resung by a more appropriate voice. It's still cool.
6. I liked this next gift. It was a wooden rack. It wasn't just any, though. It had a picture of a generic person, probably portraying me, as a little gold figurine on it, doing a sidekick. It said "Tae Kwon Do Stephen" on it. Below the main part were many long strips of wood, with different colors painted on them. Each color represented a seperate belt rank at my Tae Kwon Do dojo. You can clip old belts on them. This is great. I've been needing one for a LONG while. Big thanks to grandpa. He KNOWS what I want.
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7. SURPRISE GIFT! JUST NOW! Grandpa just pulled three more gifts from behind his back! Number one was this Metroid Prime/Fusion neck thingy. Like a necklace. But with a strap. This was cool. Next is this limited edition Metroid Fusion Cell Art, 2484 of 6000, with the purchase of Metroid Fusion, which brings one final thing to the overall haul. Metroid Fusion for Game Boy Advance! WHOO HOO! I love this Christmas! These three gifts have topped the entire day off perfectly! He told me how he got these. Great GOD, they are COOL! Today has been a much more joyous day than I've said above, or will say below. Now, I can get yet ANOTHER game of my choosing with my gift card! Whoo!
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8. $5 from Granny.

That's it. Pretty good haul, eh? I'll probably take pictures soon.

Some other notes to add.

On Christmas Eve morning, it snowed. It snowed all day. It snowed until the night. It was beautiful. I love the snow. It feels so tranquil. I love having snow on Christmas Break. I can savouir the mood instead of going to school and freezing my ass off at the bus stop. I do hate the snow, though. Shoveling it. Around 3 to 4:30 PM, I shoveled the driveway. I took an hour break, and when I come back, the all I shoveled was recovered. I gave up, and continued playing Flash Flash Revolution. Soon, we went to service. I had to scrape off the windows of the car and warm it up. I hate doing that. I really do. I discovered I hadn't fully turned on the car. One more thing. I don't know what we're paying taxes for if they don't plow Clayton or Manchester roads. AT ALL. I know, I don't pay taxes, but my family still does. We had to drive all the way to service on unplowed roads. They began plowing AFTER the snowing stopped. Pshaw, I say.

On a happier note, Justin's birthday party was fun. Justin Horner's, not Wandell's. We mainly played lots of games throughout the night, and saw Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers the following morning. He was a bit freaked by Metroid Prime, however. Ah well.

Speaking of which, Metroid Prime is probably my new favorite game of all time. Very deep, very innovative, and a huge kick in the face to those who doubted Nintendo's original decisions. I loved every minute of it. My first time through the game I beat at 20:38, with 98% item collection. I'm trying to get the last Missle pak so I can see the best ending. Then I'll need to find and scan four unscanned enemies and one unscanned research. My best guess what the research could be would be the Phazon Pool in the final battle. That thing rules. I don't know, though. Don't tell me. I'll find it on my own.

Life's been going good for me. Very good. You can see this so very evident. I'll be practicing new drawing and writing styles soon. I'll be trying to post here ore often. I'll try and play some good new games. I will also keep up with school. This makes me feel so good.

Looks like Charlie posted a bit himself. ... And I disagree. Then again, I'm not too informed about the situation and avoid politics as it is. From what I DO understand, I highly disagree with Lott's stance on stuff. Segregation is crazy, in my opinion. And it might look the republicans look bad, but think about it this way. How many republicans do think like Lott these days, anyways? People should be able to decipher the difference between Lott and other republicans, anyhow. I'm glad he was noble and stepped down. He saved a bit of dignity for himself, in my opinion.

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So, what's it like altogether? REALLY great Christmas! Probably the best one I've ever had, hands down. Probably the best semester of school I've ever had, hands down. Probably will continue to be that way. Things are REALLY looking up in my life as a whole! I love this school year, I love my life. Great God, things have NEVER looked or been this good in my entire life. Music, games, and an ambition for school. Sorry if this seems like I'm overzealous. It's just so damned true! Looking back a bit, I really think this could never be truer. Not only that, I think it will get better. I'm not saying everything before this year was bad. It's just been the highest point in my life so far, I think. Well, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE! Have a great one! I know I did, and nothing's going to ruin it.
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