Books

Oh, hey there readers.

So, as I have been on summer break, I have had an inordinate amount of time to do whatever I wish. During the year, I had less than a proper amount of time to read as much as I normally do. 

This post is also a mildly brief summary of my summer . . . it mostly involves sleep.  Mostly

 

 

At odd hours, like 3 AM to like 12 PM or variations thereof . . . even with attempts to fix my internal clock. Anyway, back to my point about my reading habits. I spent most of the month of May doing the above (see: the picture) and as such, didn't read AS much or as often. June was when I started reading more and looking for more books to read, and boy did I find myself some good books, at least in my own opinion. 

After hearing such wonderful things about The Hunger Games series, I decided to pick it up and see if it was everything everyone said it was. Oh my Jesus. They (there are three books in the series) were fantastic reads and I couldn't put them down. 

Unfortunately, I had about a week and a half between each book; I didn't want to spend all that money on a series I might not have liked. In between each book, I decided to read something else, one book was part of a series and the other was a one-off. I started the Harry Potter series, again, and then picked up a brilliant little book, Th1rteen R3asons Why (Thirteen Reasons Why); it was . . . very moving. 

I thought it was a fantastic concept for a book, and after reading the questions to the author at the end of the book, it made so much sense and I thought it made the book even better, knowing he put the thought into why he wrote it the way he did. 

I know that eleven books isn't much, especially considering the way I read, but I've shifted my attentions to other things . . . my priorities shifted as did my attention span. I did the whole reading thing, but it's difficult for me to do so when I have no real place to go that's nearby and quiet so I can spend hour upon hour reading in peace. I also have responsibilities around the homestead that increase as my siblings disappear for the two weeks that they do. 

On the other hand, I have a list of books that I'm working my way through, slowly but surely. I think I'm reading through six books (I don't have an exact number), and one of them is the start of the series, of which I have the first three, and then I'm thinking of rereading another series that I have at home, so there's another seven right there. Long story short, I won't be at a loss for books anytime soon.

That's all I really have in the meantime that's related to the title of the post. 

In unrelated news, I have had my flesh tattooed, 

 

 my other ear punctured, 

I have a sweet job, 

and I have an awesome bike. 

Back to the original topic, I may or may not decide to write up summaries or reviews of the books I've read or something. It's another one of the decisions I'll flounder around on.

Well, with that, I suppose that's all I've got. 

Until next time, sleep tight.

Pokémon

Greetings and salutations. I have a fun story for you, whoever you are, and I hope you enjoy it.

The year was 1998. I was a wee six year old little boy. It was Christmas, and as a wee six year old, I was incredibly excited for Santa Claus to visit my house and bring me presents. Christmas morning came and I could hardly contain myself. I wanted my presents, and I wanted them right away. I tore open my presents. Okay, not really tore, I was a very clean child, I didn't make many messes and whatnot. Anyway, I opened my presents and there it was. A Game Boy Color. 

 

I was incredibly excited and was very proud of my very first personal gaming device. But at that I didn't have any games . . . yet. I found my way to two smaller wrapped boxes. Under the decorative wrapping paper, I found amazing wonders, 151 of them. 

I was super excited to go on an adventure through Kanto with the very first 151 Pokémon. I remember going through the gyms, having trouble with the first two because I picked Charmander as my starter in Red Version (and Squirtle in Blue Version), taking down the nefarious Team Rocket, defeating the Elite Four and raising an amazing team (rather, amazing teams, since I had both versions) of Pokémon. I don't remember every Pokémon I caught or my exact team, but I still had an amazing time. 

Over time, I left my teams behind as I just stopped playing the games. I never did play Yellow Gold, Silver, or Crystal, the next games in the series, I did manage to get a hold of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, the "reboot" of the series. I remember those games significantly better because they were only six, seven years ago. I didn't enjoy those as much as the first games, but they definitely had playability. 


It would be another few years when I would revisit my beloved Kanto. I received one of the remakes of the first generation, LeafGreen . I again found myself playing through the gyms, the caves, and those scoundrels of Team Rocket. I managed to build the best team ever, at least in my opinion; I had all three starters, Alakazam, Dragonite, and Pidgeot.

Sigh, good times, good times. 


Now at nineteen years old, I have again begun another adventure with the newest of the Pokémon. While Black is pretty fantastic, it won't hold the same place in my memories as the originals,  but it is a very solid addition to the series. I even went and purchased SoulSilver, which is the remake of Silver, and Platinum, just to indulge my inner six year old. I have no regrets in doing so, it makes my summer interesting and gives me something reasonably productive to do. That and reading, but that's another post for another time. 


So, a quick recap, using pictures! Pictures are very useful. 


I have played the following Pokémon games: 

And I regret nothing. I have had plenty of fun with these games, it was definitely worth investing my time and effort into these games. 


So, until next time, sleep tight.