An open letter to my beautiful wife...

Dear Jennifer,

I know how much you love to dance. I wish that I could join you but I have two left feet. I apologize for taking you out to dance two years ago for your birthday and spending the whole time talking with my friends while you danced by yourself... but the fact is that I just can't dance.

Please watch this video as it demonstrates more to the point than I can express in words. I love you. Very much.

Sincerely,
Your dexterous husband,
Justin


P.S. I'm joking. I'm much better than these guys.

Zoo, zoo, zoo

So Jen and I took a visit to the Will Rogers Shrine this weekend and really had a blast. We also visited the zoo on a very blustery day and got to feed the giraffes, pet bunnies, and search for the otters (which have been relocated, I guess).

The Budgie Buddies exhibit was a GREAT let-down as the "feeding sticks" are just popsicle sticks with about (not exaggerating) 10 pieces of seed glued to the end. And, regardless of what the commercial shows you, you cannot go 'amongst them'. There are more birds in Memorial park than there were there. BIG let-down.

But Jen and I are planning on doing a "Colorado Thing" every month. Will be fun. I'll post pics of our zoo excursion tonight.


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Professor Layton, Myst, and Riven

So for the past several weeks I have been playing three games. One, for the Nintendo DS is: Professor Layton. The other two (for the PC/MAC) are Myst and Riven. I have really been enjoying them as I really like puzzle games.

All three are also games I never thought that I would like.

Professor Layton at first glance is a cartoony boring story game... but it, in fact, is filled with puzzles. ALL SORTS of puzzles! Playing five minutes into it got me hooked... and I knew it would become one of my favorite games on the DS. It is an adventure game with puzzles, murder, intrigue, mysteries... and great DS animation. Yes, animation.

Don't walk... RUN to get it. It is worth $30.

As for Myst and Riven... I love them both, but I can see why people don't...

For one thing, you are not told what to do. No rules, no goal. Nothing. So part of the game is trying to figure out what to do. That's actually not as hard as it may seem... it just takes time.

But Myst and Riven are both unforgiving in that they rarely tell you if you have done something right. You have to search and deduce... and many people have started Myst and never played too far into it for that reason. So I can understand being frustrated.

Luckilly, I LOVE puzzle games and am pretty good at them, and so I fell in love with the series. I have just started Myst III and was pleasantly surprised to find one of my favorite actors playing a role in it: Brad Dourif!

I would really suggest these games as well as they are thinking games that let you take your time and not rush. They're also fun games to play with others as you can all suggest ideas and wrap your minds around them.

To help you all play (those of you that never got too far out of frustration) I give you this help for MYST... without spoilers:

IDEA: You have found a strange book and have been transported to this new island. Inside of the library on the island are two books~ a red and blue one. Both tell you to find pages to add to them. There are other books that link to other worlds (called 'Ages') that you must find to get these red and blue pages... but you must find these books as they have been hidden around the island. Touch paintings, read journals, push buttons, be curious, and keep notes of everything you find. When something changes... look around. Something may be different and the island is small enough to discover even small differences without too much work.

The game journal I made during game play is below... but it is LOADED with spoilers.

SPOILERS ABOUND

MYST
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I didn't know what I would need, so I left room for as many Ages as I could. You can see that I didn't need all of it. That would change with the Riven game.

RIVEN
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I don't care what anyoe says. Mr. Rogers was wonderful.

Jen gave me a book when he passed away in 2003 and I still have it. This is my favorite quote from it, and I still try to remember it whenever I feel bad about myself.

"The toughest thing is to love somebody who has done something harmful to you... especially when that somebody is yourself."

The show aired 40 years ago today.

Curtains

Oh, draw the blinds
We can shut out the night
Pull up the blanket
Pull the blankets up tight

And there are angels on our curtains
They keep the outside out
And there are lions on our curtains
They lick their wounds
They lick their doubt

We watch it float away
With all the memories of the day

And there are angels on our curtains
They keep the outside out
And there are lions on our curtains
They lick their wounds
They lick their doubt

Close your eyes
Go to sleep

MP3

More great music from a commercial

Saw the Dell commercial the other day (well, several weeks ago)

...and finally found the song.


They also did a song from Mr. Magorium's Wonder Imporium (still a great movie in my opinion).

Some of you may have heard... and some of you may have not...

But Jen was in an automobile accident this Saturday. She's ok. She's fine, as a matter of fact, but the car is totaled.

Just to let you know the facts:

* I-25 in Castle Rock coming home from Denver
* @$$hole pulls out in front of her
* Car + concrete barrier = bad
* @$$hole drives away without a scratch or a care
* Nice people stop to help my pixie
* Nice people get @$$hole's car make and license plate number
* Father-in-law and Justin are pissed and wait to see if @$$hole gets caught

So there you go. She's really just fine... just a few scrapes. I'm just thankful it wasn't more.

On a lighter note Derek, Heather, Jen and I went to get some good German food at a restaurant that closed down a few hours later. No kidding. We were almost the last customers... and they had VERY good liver and onions.

And for your Music Monday...

Jojo Card Game Sleeve-Ready Translations

This is the supplemental video for the card game translations I have been working on the past several weeks.

I'm a plumber... not an electrician