What I'm Up To

First of all, I got back from sumo last weekend, and it was AWESOME! It's an incredibly fun, interesting sport. I'm trying to learn more about it now, but I hope I get a chance to go back before I leave Japan.

Otherwise, I'm really into westerns right now. That includes both fiction and films. I'm an enormous fan of Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove." (yes, we're somehow distantly related) It's an amazing western, both the novel and the TV miniseries, with Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall. I highly recommend. I want to find the time to read it again soon, but I've got about a million other books to read. What ignited my interest in Westerns was a short western story by Elmore Leonard in a collection of genre fiction. To help my current infatuation with westerns, I've watched Unforgiven, ordered Leonard's complete collection of western stories, rented The Magnificent Seven, and am seeking out as much information about the genre as I can.

As far as games, I've actually been playing a lot of Picross lately. I finally finished up the normal puzzles. The last set were all Mario themed, and were easily the best of the bunch. Now I'm on to the 'free' puzzles, which are much harder because it doesn't tell you when you've made a mistake. Super Metroid finally came out on the Virtual Console here in Japan. So with enough time, I can knock that great game off my list of games to play. And I'm trying to get back into playing Final Fantasy VI, because I want to finish it so I can move on to other games.

Lastly, I want to recommend a website. Check out Eyezmaze.com. It's a series of 'grow' games. They're real simple, but very charming and entertaining. You basically see a small world of some sort. Below this world are 8 or so buttons to press. You have to figure out the correct order to press the buttons to fully level up everything. Each button may have some sort of influence on the others. It's easier to just see for yourself. I especially like the RPG grow. Loads of fun.