The Crazy World of Angie Young

Why I'm done with gaming

2010-07-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

True I'm going into game and art design, but this is so I can do concept art, I never said anything about creating new games. In fact I think gaming today sucks. Games are too easy, or too linear. The stories are crap (for the most part) and I hate how developers are forcing online onto everyone, not to mention downloadable content. I don't mind paying for something that can extend my game for a few hours, but I'll be damned if I pay fifteen bucks just for a character or outfit.

Yes I hate online gaming, it's no secret, but I have my reasons. It may be the era i grew up in, or it could be the fact that other people tend to piss me off. Either way I don't play online. There are, believe it or not, other people like me. They still believe a game should be a personal experience or, if they are playing a multi player, would rather invite over some friends, break out the beer, and see who can play street fighter while drunk.

I also hate how companies are limiting competition by buying game franchises, or how games are measured by their graphics instead of how they play. I would rather go back to the golden era of gaming then continue in this one. In a way I have. My favorite console is the Wii because of its Virtual Console. I missed out on so many games when I was younger and I love that I have a chance to buy them. I also like the PS3, for the same reason, only on this console they sell old PS1 games. It's heaven for me.

Of course I still have a lot of my old consoles and enjoy getting the cartridges or discs for them.

The next frontier of gaming is 3D... but that's a whole other rant.

The Strangeness of Cats

2010-01-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

Anybody who has had the honor of a cat owning them is aware of one of thier particularly odd habits: Following you into the bathroom. I've seen numerous people comment on this, and no one seems to have an answer as to why cats are so interested in human bathroom behavior.
I've posted about my cat Nic before, but I don't believe I've mentioned one of his stranger traits. He likes to sit between my husbands legs while he urinates. I don't know why he is so interested in this, and I don't think he knows how dangerous it is for him to sit there. I've told my husband more then once he'll stop doing it after you accidentally pee on him. Nic will find out the ensuing chase, and bath are not interesting and will (I hope) stop sitting behind you while you pee.
Some more strange behavior: Nic likes to get into the bathtub after my shower in the morning, he also enjoys perching atop the toilet to observe me shaving my legs.
I am stumped as to why he behaves in this manner, but am certain he is collecting information to take back to our cat lords, so they can better understand how to keep their humans from ever rebelling.

A new year, a new Quarter

2010-01-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

I just started a new quarter of school, and I have to say it's pretty cool. All of the professors have a passion about what they are teaching. I'm taking an image manipulation course and a course called Intro to Game Design. The first course is an advanced photoshop course, the second is a class on game theory. It covers the history of video games and the process of conceptualizing a game from start to finish, what makes a good game and current and past trends in the industry. The professor in this course likes to get sidetracked as he teaches three other courses at the school as well.
For those who know me I went to Lincoln Land Community College before I transferred to The Illinois Art Institute, and i can tell a difference between the quality of education and the professors. I'm not saying Lincoln Land is terrible, I'm just saying find the school that fits you. I can say with pride that I've found a school where people won't look at me like I'm crazy for drawing a ten foot demon with a scorpion tail. It's actualy a pretty tame concept considering other things I've seen people draw.

My Cat Sir Nic

2010-01-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

Me and Andy always joke about our three legged cat Nic. He's a very clingy, dog-like cat, and I believe he is a bit schizophrenic. He likes to sit on my lap, all of the time, regardless of what I'm doing. Earlier tonight I was working on an Illustration in Adobe Illustrator, and he plopped down on my keyboard then glared at me when I moved my arms so I could continue working. Recently, I decided to take a peek at Andy's blog, and he hopped up on my lap again, this time he stretched his arm out and managed to somehow hit a combination of buttons that minimized Firefox. Of course, instead of thinking this out logically, I exclaimed, "I told you he knows how to use a computer!"
I guess here is where I tell my readers a bit of Nic's background. We found him, or rather my mom did. (After first mistaking him for a salamander.)Andy and I had went to my mom's house for dinner and on the way home I got a frantic call from her. A giant yellowed lizard was hiding under the lawnmower. My mom fears anything reptilian, so not being able to calm her down, Andy turned the car around and headed back to her house. I found my mom standing in the dog's yard with clutching a rake in front of her. Her two dogs, Yorkie-Poos, were barking like mad at the electric lawnmower,which sat on a concrete pad.
I asked my mom where the lizard was, and she pointed to the lawnmower. "It's hiding under the tarp! I saw it's yellow eyes!"
Well me being me, I got down on my hands and knees and lifted the tarp. "It's not a lizard, it's a cat." I told mom. "Go get a carrier. I think it's hurt." I removed the cat from its hiding place, and held onto it as it tried to get away. I still can't believe I wasn't bitten. We put the cat in the carrier and brought it upstairs. My mom called the emergency vet, and they said bring the cat in.
Mom had me and Andy go with her to the vet's office. The cat looked like it had been hit by a car, so we all feared the worst, and nobody wanted to hear that news alone.
At the emergency vet, they had to make sure the cat didn't have feline leukemia or feline aids. If it did then there wouldn't be any choices about his care, both of the diseases were a death sentence. The tests came back negative, and we breathed a sigh of relief. The vet examined the cat. The poor thing was skin and bones, but managed to purr and rub his head against my fingers. When the vet picked him up I was shocked. The cat's right back leg hung limply, and he had road rash up down his other one. Before I could say anything the vet took him for x-rays.
The cat's leg wasn't broken. It was shattered. Its pelvis was broken, and so was a toe. A claw had also been torn from his foot.

I'd like to take time out now to say "Fuck You, person who hit this poor animal. I hope you fall into a pit of cobras."

It was obvious from the x-ray that his leg couldn't be saved, and we didn't know how we would pay for the surgery he needed. The head vet, it's a pity I forgot her name, came to the rescue. She said she would donate her time and do the surgery for free if we fostered the cat as he convalesced. Of course we agreed. At this time we left him within the vets capable hands.
A day later she called and we picked up Sir Nicholas Boxington III. But the ordeal wasn't over, the vet had an interesting story for us, Sir Nic had died after surgery, and had to be resuscitated. After hearing the story and petting Nic, we were sent home with an armload of antibiotics and pain pills, plus a bag of special diet cat food.
We set up a sick room in our apartment for him, and for eight weeks we devoted our time to taking care of him. Andy came home on his lunch hour, and cleaned and fed Nic, and I took up the duty at night after classes. He ended up staying with us after he got better, instead of going to live at the APL. Andy always jokes that I'm the only one who grew attached to him, but I catch Andy petting Nic and rubbing his cheeks all the time so I know what he says is a blatant lie.
But about the computer thing, my husband Andy and our friend the other Andy have given Nic quite the back story. After Nic was fully healed and started to roam the apartment, we felt that it was ok to leave him at home with our two other cats. One time, (well several times), we went out to dinner with friends, to see a movie, go to best buy, ect. As we turned onto our road a cop with his lights on passed us then an ambulance, and this started the story of Nic calling the cops because we left him alone.
Now to the computer. Now I don't now how this got started, I guess it gradually evolved. Somehow Nic is a conservative Republican cat that listens to Linkin Park and writes to Bill O'Reilly on his personal computer which he hides in his pillow cave in the bedroom closet. Oh, and he has inserted a GPS tracking chip in one of my teeth. That's why the cops and ambulances are always around if I've left him alone for any period of time.
That's about all there is to Sir Nic's story. If any reader should need clarification or just wants to know something new about my cats, post something and I'll try to answer in a timely manner.

Hope You Guess My Name

2010-01-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

Andy got a chuckle out of this story I hope people who stumble on this blog will too.

Hope You Guess My Name
by Angie Young>

My story? You want to know my story? I guess I can tell it. It’s a long one, so I hope you’ve got some time on your hands. Me, I’ve got all the time in the world. On second thought, it might be a bad idea to start at the beginning. Nothing interesting happened then. Well, I fell from grace, but I’m sure you’re familiar with THAT story. Nobody tells it right anyway.

Let’s see, how does it go again? I didn’t want to bow to man? No, that’s not right. (This is a lie, but give me the benefit of a doubt.) I wanted to be God? Not true either. Maybe, a god, but I wasn’t the only one feeling left out. After things were created, there wasn’t much for us angels to do. Poker helped pass a lot of time, so did watching the humans, but I digress. If you get down to the nitty-gritty, I guess my fall happened because of a bet. (I did mention the gambling, didn’t I?) Thinking back on it, I was pretty stupid to take the bet. Watching Eve run around naked, and doing the nasty with Adam… Why did I ever think teaching them about clothes was a good idea? Damn Michael and Gabriel.

One particularly boring day, I was playing some putt-putt with a few close friends, and Mike and Gabe approached us with a query: How hard would it be to get Adam and Eve kicked out of Eden? I thought this question was posed just to pass the time. You know a little friendly philosophic debate. Boy, was I wrong. To be fair we did discuss it for a while, before they alluded to any type of challenge.

God had taken a vacation day or a personal day, I can’t remember which, and while God’s away the angels will play.

After a round of putt-putt and a few drinks, I formulated a plan. (Never do anything when you’re drunk. It always sounds like a good idea, but then the morning comes around, and it hits you; I should not have stolen that horse and ridden it through the mall.) God did plant a tree of knowledge. What if Adam and Eve ate the fruit? God had forbidden them from going near it. To this day I still think he used it as a clubhouse, and that was the real reason we got in trouble.

Later in the night I snuck into Eden and hid behind the tree. It was one of Eve’s favorite spots. So I knew sooner or later she would head over to it. I had almost nodded off when I heard a soft sigh. Eve had sat down on the other side of the tree, and began eating some berries out of her hand. I cleared my throat, “Why eat only berries when this tree bares all of this lovely fruit?”

She jumped a little at the sound of my voice, spilling her berries onto her lap. “Who’s there?” She looked around wildly, and what does she see? Not a great jungle cat or a sleek wolf. No, nothing along those lines, she sees a serpent watching her from a tree branch. What’s worse, she thought the damn thing spoke to her. Who in all creation can be so stupid as to think animals can speak? “Was it you who asked me why I don’t eat the fruit?”

I couldn’t jump out from behind the tree at this point, so I let her think she spoke to the blasted serpent. “Yes. It looks so delicious that I wondered why you only ate berries and nuts? If I lived in this grand paradise I would eat this fruit.”

“God has forbidden us to eat from the tree. I could get in trouble for being this close to it.”

“God cannot be so cruel as to deny you this bounty.”

“He said that the tree contained knowledge that would kill us.”

Now I was perplexed. God gave these people free will, so why was he denying them knowledge? He had to have a secret stash… “Knowledge cannot harm you. It brings enlightenment.”

“Will it bring us closer to God?”

I shrugged. “Yes, it will let you learn of things which only he knows.”

“Then I will take some for myself and my husband.”

The story should have ended there, with Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit, but it had some unintended side effects, and when God returned from where ever he had went I had the feeling that I was royally fucked.

The next morning I awoke to a horrible hangover. I dragged myself out of bed and brewed some strong coffee. No sooner had I got my cup ready, the Big Guy burst into my kitchen.

“I heard you visited Eden last night.”

I couldn’t remember what I did last night. I guess I could have. “Yeah, I think I did.” I got a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, the Big Guy was grinning, and not the nice guy here’s a shoulder to cry on grin. He grinned the ‘I knew it grin.’ “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

“I want you to come with me.”

The Big Guy led me to where I could see Adam and Eve. Sometime during the night Eve had fashioned herself a bikini of sorts out of some fig leaves. She had made Adam wear one over his crotch. I started laughing. The Big Guy did not. I stifled the rest of my laughter with a well-timed clearing of my throat, and tried my best to look solemn and serious.

“You are to be punished for this.” The Big Guy began. “They were innocent, and you have corrupted them.”

“Come on they just put on some clothes.”

“I am making them leave the Garden for disobeying my wishes, and you will be cast down from this land. You have given them sin, and so you shall be a god of sin.”

My mouth fell open. “Leave Heaven, where will I go?”

“I will make a world for you to rule and there you will remain.”

I know you’re not interested in the rest. Me packing my bags, watching Michael and Gabriel hide their laughter behind their hands. At least some of my friends came with me. Those who thought my punishment unfair. But I always try to look on the bright side of things. Sure I couldn’t come to family reunions anymore, but hey, I’m a god now. I have more important things to do. (Cue Fire, by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.)

Hello 2010

2010-01-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

I'm going to have to face it. Last year sucked. I was at a low point in my life, almost had a nervous breakdown, and thought I had to divorce my husband. Why all these things happened I don't know. The previous years weren't any better. In 2007 I had gotten infected by a mysterious blood ailment and almost died, and during the two subsequent years I developed kidney stones. Not a good time in my life.
Yes, the blood ailment is gone and the kidney stones haven't come back, but the doctors left me with a nice bill of twelve thousand or so dollars, that I will be paying down for the next twenty years. The moral here, if you are prone to the rare side effects of medication, do not take Topamax, because after my fiasco with this medicine, doctors learned that it can cause kidney stones in about one percent of the people taking it.
Alright one nice thing did happen in 2009, I got accepted into a college in Chicago, and moved out of Springfield. I also passed algebra. Fifth times the charm.
All in all, I say: Fuck You 2009 and Hello 2010!