Just three months ago, we were getting ready to move in. We were still at my old bedroom in my parents house, all of our necessary stuff crammed in there with us; all of our less necessary stuff was crammed in a storage unit. Because I’ve been here every day, it seems like progress has been slow. Looking back at the pictures helps me realize that this has all happened pretty fast, especially considering I’ve done a lot of the work myself. I’m not bothered by working alone, as this has become my full time job. I have had help from family and friends, but only at their insistence. They usually appreciate being able to try out some home improvement project at our house before attempting it at theirs.

Again, I most often work without help because I see this as my job, and I will get paid for the work I do when we sell it. However, those renovating to improve the comfort of their home should never be without one thing: help. Sure, it can be done alone, but it sucks. The help of one person is great, three people is probably ideal. Even if there’s just someone there to get tools and watch for unexpected issues, that’s a great help. If you’re not a bit manic (and even if you are) the extra effort required to lift, hold, assemble, and just plain do everything alone can quickly become exhausting. I will work feverishly to get something done, spending 14 hours a day for a few days, then upon completion realize that I am broken. I take a couple days off before the next project, but if I had a job to go back to the next day, it would be disastrous. At our last house, I remember trying to do projects while also working. I tried to paint the kitchen cabinets in two days, and naturally I barely finished and did a horrible job. They stayed like that as long as I was employed, because there was barely time to do them, let alone re-do them.

Anyways, here are some three month pictures from the house, along with a done/to do list. I’ll take more official pictures after I clean up the house this week. No room is completely done, which is sort of depressing… but they are all getting close!

Done: new appliances, new flooring, new light fixtures, renovated fireplace, new paint, new blinds and curtains, new vent covers
To Do: new countertops, wall art behind couch, paint cabinets, add new hardware, molding around island, caulk moulding, trim around fireplace, clean or replace fireplace spotlights, hang something over fireplace, add molding at door thresholds

Done: New flooring, new lighting, new paint, new blinds and curtains
To Do: reattach door molding, caulk molding

Done: New flooring, new paint, new blinds and curtains, new thermostat
To Do: decorate bookshelf, add light switch, caulk molding

Done: new flooring, new paint, removed carpet, painted stairs, installed cabinets over laundry, new water heater, new lighting
To Do: Caulk molding, add design to stair risers, sand front lip of stairs, replace bathroom mirror, paint new light and mirror area, add quarter-round by front door

Done: new flooring, new lighting, new towel bars and toilet paper holders
To Do: paint ceiling and walls, fix shower, paint vanity, change vanity top (maybe), floor molding

Done: new flooring, new paint, track shelving, new vent cover, mounted TV, new blinds and black-out curtain, new sconces
To Do: add regular curtains, possibly move in mini-fridge, add lights to closet

Done: new flooring, new paint, new vent cover, additional closet shelf, new blinds and curtains
To Do: organize closet and desk, hang wall art behind sofa

Done: new paint, new lighting, new flooring, new vent covers, blinds and curtains, headboard wall art
To Do: outlet covers, re-patch wall, hang art

Done: new lighting, new flooring, new vent cover, new blinds, new towel bars and toilet paper holder
To Do: molding, paint ceiling and walls, install storage above toilet, paint cabinets, new vanity top, add tile above sink, investigate possible sewer smell :(

I would have picked out a particular series, but I think the basic principles apply to all of them. Street racing games, often referred to as Arcade Racers, are high octane thrill rides taking place in city streets. The responsible ones will warn you that street racing is both illegal and deadly, then go on to spend hours glorifying it. But anyways! Here are some tips for playing these game successfully.

1. Forget Physics
A common frustration that gamers face regarding arcade racers is the independent interpretations of physics. Though differing slightly in each game, removing the rules of physics makes for a better race. You will be going faster than you should, turning faster than you should, and overall defying logic and reason while taking little to no damage. It’s freeing, really.

2. Never Use the Brakes
This is an overstatement, because occasionally you may want to tap them, in order to slide around a corner. Because of the lack of physics, you don’t have to be concerned that you are turning an SUV while going 90. It may seem like the right choice to slow down to a reasonable speed while threading between cars on the digital interstate, swerving from lane to lane as you race toward that glowing yellow smoke, but resist. No guts, no glory.

3. Use Walls to Turn
This sounds counter-intuitive, and it’s not the best way to race, but it can work in a pinch. The way that the cars take damage and accelerate allow you to gun it on a straight away, turn hard but wide, hit the wall, accelerate and stay in the lead. A better strategy is to use a rival car to turn. They are going to (probably) turn responsibly, and they won’t slow you down as much as a wall. Turn tighter than a rival car, sideswipe them to knock your car into the right direction, and speed ahead. It works very often.

4. Crash Early
This is an inconsistent rule, but it’s worth a try. In my experience, older games will have a better success rate. If you flounder at the beginning, running into things and generally sucking, it can slow down the AI of the other cars. This is true in other racing games like SSX as well. Sandbag at the beginning, then race as solidly as you can till the end. I came across this strategy accidentally, as I would be racing so perfectly that the AI seemed impossible to beat. If I happened to crash early on the same course, I found myself winning by a wide margin. Maybe this is coincidence, but it works for me.

5. Don’t Spend Your Money
You’re going to have a lot of it, and a lot of options. Usually you start with a crap car and slowly race against better cars, and therefore require better cars. Regardless of the specific set-up, try your best to avoid buying any cars or upgrading your car until you absolutely must. I have often poured money into a car only to realize that I will need to buy something completely different to succeed in the next race.

…Did I Mention Forget Physics?
I can’t stress enough that you need to boldly try anything that seems vaguely possible, no matter how improbable. Smash through glass walls to take shortcuts through buildings, try pieces of concrete that almost resemble ramps, drive anywhere it will let you drive. Cut through parking lots, parks, and, in Midnight Club 3 Dub Edition, run into trees. You would think this would slow you down, but instead this is the secret to success. The most important rule in street racing is to go fast and win.

Ruth Heller is an award winning designer and artist. I can’t say I’ve read any of her books, but she had a series called “designs for coloring”, and the two geometrics entries are favorites of mine. Essentially, they are grown-up coloring books. I first discovered them quite young, and bought a 50 pack of super tip crayola markers to color them. I have recently bought one of the geometric books again, to color again but also display in my house in some sort of artful way that has yet to be decided.

I found out today, after a quick Google search, that she was married and widowed twice, paid her way though college by being a secretary, and pursued art as a lifelong dream. Her first art job wasn’t until she was close to her 40s, and her first book published a few years later. The ones I enjoy so much weren’t published until she was in her late 60s.

Post originally published in a previous blog on 6/12/11

I’m not saying they are the best games, but there’s a nicotinian quality to Elder Scrolls. Maybe it’s because you can play for 20 hours without realizing you haven’t done anything for the main story line. Maybe its the inherent random feel of the environment, glitches and all. Maybe it’s the inner hoarder, stuffing cabinets and dressers with every imaginable variation of every item. Whatever it is, Elder Scrolls has it. I purposely stopped playing Skyrim because… well, Its hard to imagine why now, but I know it was the right thing to do. I still saw my family and all that, but I did bring it to Thanksgiving. And maybe Christmas. Anywho, I say all that to say this:

There will be an Elder Scrolls Online. I don’t know when it comes out, I don’t know what it’s about, I don’t know what I will have to pay to play it or how good or bad it will be. And I don’t care to know. Because it doesn’t matter. I don’t care if its not a logically viable decision in hindsight or even foresight, because this is how I feel about the announcement:

A few thoughts about Portal 2:

I never played the first Portal, but never heard anything bad about it. Portal is often referenced in discussions about gaming as the good example to model from. After deciding to get Blockbuster’s game pass, I scanned my local store for a game to rent while I wait for fall releases. I saw Portal 2 on the shelf and decided it was time.

I was a fool to wait so long. The premise of the game allows them to legitimize a very linear story, but that story is exceptionally crafted. Though you can listen to the voices narrating to you, the scope and history of the story can be discovered in posters and the decaying lobbies. There is a crafty indirect way that you are told the story in the beginning, and my only disappointment is that it seems a little too direct as the story progresses, but even that can be legitimized within the framework of the game.

Because there are few voices in the game, and you travel through different parts of the facility that is now abandoned, it can feel very lonely. I moved at a pretty good clip, but the loneliness of the quieter parts of the game pressured me to look for walkthroughs, hoping I would meet with some companionship again. That’s a kind of sissy thing to say, but its true nonetheless. The mood in the game is very effective, and very lonely.

Edit note: I wrote this a while ago but didn’t publish it, so the date is inaccurate. This was from last year.