back on that wagonne

Welcome back. It sure has been a while. Much has happened while you were away, which I'm not sure that I can sum up entirely here. But I shall try. Most notably, I have a new girlfriend, Mary Jean. Things are going well, really well.. what can I say, other than she's awesome and I'm incredibly lucky that she isn't repulsed by my hideous visage. So much of my time has been shared with her, every hour delicious, every day brighter.

The birthing of Automa Arena
Back in February, Jenning and I participated in a boardgame design contest, Board Game Jam Toronto. Though I wasn't entirely happy with how the event was run (judging process and prize allocation patently unfair), I had a lot of fun and I think we created a damn good game. We somehow managed to stamp out an interesting, straightforward, yet rich mechanic in about a day, and the process brought me back to my university days; brainstorming and talking ideas through, trimming here and adding there.

I haven't been to karate at all this year, a feat I'm not particularly proud of. It's just.. my Saturdays are precious, you know? It's true that I fritter much of my time away on games and the like, but my weekends are taken up with MJ or friends or family, or some combination of all three. And unfortunately karate suffers. For now, at least.

Mimi and Monkey
Work is much the same, a daily grind dulling the mind, an easy routine of not enough sleep and stressful mornings. I do now wear earplugs so that I may sleep uninterrupted at night -- it was stupid of me to not think of it sooner. No more grinding streetcars, or squealing cars, or cat ruckuses to wake me up in the middle of the night -- I am dumb to them all.

The cats are well. After another upsetting episode, I've decided to try to spend more time with them, and to be on top of keeping their litter box tidy. I do somewhat lament the damage to my furniture though, my new Ikea furniture no less. But they are kittens still, and it's unfair that I should ever feel resentment towards them.

On Lake Ontario
My latest and current time sink is Hero Academy, a turn-based iPhone game. It's a good blend of strategy and luck, and I am finding it extremely addictive. I generally find the time to sneak in a good hour or two of my day into it.

This first half of 2012 has really zipped by for me. A good zipping, on the whole. And hey, Mary Jean and I are travelling to Berlin in a couple weeks! A short trip, nine days of German summer.

Talk soon, ja?

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