Cleansing Discoveries

So I cleaned my room today. As much as I loathed it, it feels good.
It's good that I did that, because a few discoveries were made over the course of the time spent...

1.) I have a floor.
No, seriously. I'm such a packrat that most people who venture into my room think it's a quagmire.

2.) Ferrero Rondnoir candies taste good.
Prior to today, I've only had the Ferrero Rocher candies. I think I have a new favorite now...

3.) I have an HTML book?
Hey, didn't I say earlier that I was planning on making this place look better? I think this book oughta help!

4.) There were Lego pieces I found that I thought were missing.
Which is great - I used it to modify one of my fighters. Now it's gone from a dual propeller engine fighter-bomber to a dual jet engine interceptor with a pseudo-bubble canopy.

5.) ...I don't think there was a "5."
So why am I continuing with this list, then?

Well, I think I'm done for the night, so I'll see you all mañana.

A Plan to... Not Do Stuff?

Well, I think I figured out what I could do over the course of this "vacation" of sorts...

I can totally edit the look of this blog!
I mean, I haven't toyed around with HTML in a while, and by doing that (and editing the look), I can make this thing look more attractive and not-so-bland.

That, and watch episodes of things I haven't finished or seen in a while (i.e.: Burn Notice and Hayate the Combat Butler).

Oh, and I can clean up my room! *insert Psycho theme here*

Well, it all starts tomorrow!

Impending Motivation

With the recent cuts in hours most everyone in the retail world have been experiencing, it's led me to wonder what my next week (with practically zero hours) has in store for my side-projects.
I mean, sure - I can hang out with friends and catch up on old times. However, at the same time I think I can get something jump-started...



Current Music:
Joe Hisaishi - "The Girl Who Fell from the Sky"
Laputa: Castle in the Sky Original Soundtrack

The orchestrated piece played during the opening credits of Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
It's one of my favorite Miyazaki films, and... well, if you know me, you know two things are central for me to look at: the story, and the music.
Obviously, the music delivered - otherwise I wouldn't have the soundtrack.


Frank Klepacki - "Hell March 3"
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Original Soundtrack

Anyone who's ever played any old school Command & Conquer game knows Frank Klepacki.
Back when the franchise was owned by Westwood Studios, Klepacki was the sole music guy responsible for every game's soundtrack, and he delivered.
But since EA took control of the franchise... eh. I like the music still, but it's just not the same.
Anyway, back to "Hell March 3."
This track takes the epic invasion-esque, guitar-pumped feel of "Hell March 2" and darkens the sound of it in a fashion that musically tells the Russians "Look what you just unleashed, you dolt."
If you didn't play any of the Command & Conquer: Red Alert games, I'll explain:
The original Red Alert explored the notion of time travel and alternate history. Albert Einstein creates a time machine and uses it to go back and kill Adolf Hitler. While this prevents the creation of Nazi Germany, it also allows the Soviet Union to become a powerhouse that isn't stalled by the Germans and lets them take over the whole of mainland Europe.
Red Alert 2 continues the story with an initially-successful Soviet invasion of the United States mainland and an Allied counteroffensive that ends up at the heart of Moscow.
At the start of Red Alert 3, the Soviets are revealed to possess their own time machine, which is used to go back and eliminate Einstein. This changes the alternate history so that Russia is once again able to conquer Europe. However, with the elimination of Einstein comes the elimination of technology derived from his research (i.e.: nukes), which means the Allies never drop atomic weapons on Japan... which lets the island nation (now called the "Empire of the Rising Sun") to become a rivaling powerhouse of its own and launch an invasion campaign on Russia.
Hence the "Look what you just unleashed, you dolt" sound. And the sound of awesome.


Gustav Mahler - "Quartet for Strings and Piano in A Minor"

(Oh, yes, I did just say I was listening to classical music. Awesome stuff, BTW.)
Quite a melancholic-sounding piece, but maybe that's why I was drawn to it.
While it possessed that depression-inducing feeling I recognize it for, it also carries with it an ambient, almost meditative sound.
I can draw some concentration power from this... so maybe I'll have this on the playlist as I type this out.
The fact that it has two of my favorite instruments (piano and violin) is a nice touch, as well.
OH. And to those of you who are wondering why I listen to classical music... or wondering if you'd ever listen to this... those questions will be answered somewhere down the road.
But if you've watched Shutter Island, you've heard this classical piece already - the scene where Marshal Teddy Daniels meets Doctor Jeremiah Naehring and first reflects on Daniels' experience at Dachau (that story involving the SS commandant's botched suicide) has this playing.





I wonder what the next six days after tonight will bring me.
The last time I had such an extended length of time off work, it was voluntary and in the form of my 21st birthday-slash-vacation.
During that time, I didn't really do much. I just relaxed, relaxed, slept, relaxed, had some alcohol (hey, it was my 21st), relaxed, and... well, that about wraps it up.

Now, while that sounds just wonderful in terms of getting away from work, it also means that I don't remember what I did when it comes to my side-projects.
Which probably translates into "I did jack squat for those things."
Project-wise, it was a stagnant vacation.

Ew. I hate stagnancy.

So I figured, hey - I'll try to work on something*. Been a while since I have, anyway, right?
Six days... enough time for me to make one major impact on something...

* = "Wait," you ask. "Didn't you say you were going to work on something of yours earlier this month?" Yes, I did. I probably spent a good five hours tops on stuff between then and now. Shame, huh?

...but what to work on?
I could work on sorting my music archives and getting myself to 10,000 songs (yes, I have enough music to do just that).
I could revise and work on one of my fan fiction stories (Unincorporated seems like my first choice for this one).
I could look up my old work for Shock Squad BETA and see if I can improve the characters any more than I already have (characters make the story, IMO).
I could find my old screenplay for that Screenwriting class I took and keep adding on to it (last I saw, I was roughly at 40 pages).
OR I could start something totally new - break out an idea, choose a medium to present it in, and add something different to my list of unfinished stuff.

The possibilities are quite endless, but unfortunately, six days... aren't.

Well, I'll probably come up with something while I'm at work. We'll see what tonight has in store for me...

Pay Day!

There's a certain eloquence that permeates my life every two weeks that brings sheer joy to my heart.

It's called pay day. And that day is today.
Doesn't everyone enjoy pay day?
That feeling of looking at their bank account and seeing that there's money in it... refreshing.
A brief feeling that lets people have a reprieve from their debt problems.

Well, after a short amount of time relaxing and sorting my music some more, I have to prepare for work.
I have to get money for my next paycheck, right?




Yes. I have to.
Words aside, I have a non sequitur thing to say: MONIES!
(Okay, so maybe that wasn't much of a non sequitur...)

Josh Blanco vs. the IRS

It's that time of year... the time where we adults have to file taxes with the government.
And I can actually say that I don't mind it so much.

To be honest, I have no idea how people stress out so much over this stuff.
Assuming you have all your documentation and what have you filed away properly, doing your taxes should be a breeze.

Of course... I didn't have much paperwork to burn through, so maybe it's just my situation right now.
Either way, though, I'm grateful for only having to use up an hour of my life filing this stuff.



Not much happening over here - but then again, that seems to be my trend these days.
Enjoying a much-needed day off and just killing time by sorting music I haven't had the time to go through.
Of course, the morning didn't look so neat.
Couldn't find my old paperwork and had to tear my storage unit up to find my old tax forms.

So, technically, it didn't take me an hour. Probably about one hour and 40 minutes... but it was worth it.

I'll leave the rest of you to relax or panic over your taxes. (Or worse: worry more if you don't have your W-2 yet...)

Something Tells Me Tonight Will Be...

...oh, I don't know. Interesting, that's for sure.
Seems that interesting things happen when I'm not supposed to be working...
...and I'm not supposed to be working tonight. Had it off, but I took a shift.

So, what does chaos* have in store for me...?



* = Now, by "chaos" I'm actually using the original definition. Not the "something bad's happening" one that present-day stigma has stuck on the term, no... but the "anything's possible" one that it should be used as.

The Master Manipulator

I had a weird day.
I woke up to a phone call saying I was covering a mid-shift.

On a Tuesday. On my day off.

Yeah, I'm probably over-exaggerating (yeah, I'm not), but that's not the point.
After I came home, I felt... compelled to look through some of my old things since I had the time.
So I stopped by my storage unit, grabbed a box of old papers dating back from God-knows-when, went home, popped in some old episodes of How I Met Your Mother and leafed through said box's contents with ambient, laughable background noise*.

And during that time, I came across an old poem I wrote back in high school. Granted, it's not my best work**, but... eh.
If anything, anything I post that dates back to this year can be used as a reference guide to show how I've either improved or stayed on the same plane between then and now.

It was a light poetry project where we had to throw up a poem. And I delivered. (I hope.)



* = And it's not just any background noise. It's totally legend-WAIT FOR IT.***
** = They say that an artist is their own worst critic. I subscribe to that theory.





"Life - The Master Manipulator"
By Josh D. "Whitey" Blanco


Life is the King of Dreams
pleasant, playful, perfect.
All about fun, success
faultlessness, friends,
love, contentment, power,
a care-free life.
We adore the King of Dreams,
for he rules us with
happiness, the light.

Life, however, is also the Queen of Nightmares
chaotic, cunning, confusing.
She makes you feel
worthless, alone, depressed.
She forces you to see
despair, destruction, death.
And darkness and dreariness
are what the Queen of Nightmares
rules this kingdom with.

I guess it could be said that
Life is nothing but a master manipulator
and we are nothing but mere marionettes.
Life tugs on our pull strings, lets us
achieve goals, find happiness, bring about peace.
But then Life pulls the other way
creating failure, grief, and bringing about war.
Life should just cut our strings and set us free...





Heh... well... I'll see you tomorrow.

Oh, wait; almost forgot...!

*** = -dary. LEGENDARY.

Watching Your Backs

Planning a game that will take place over several days... or weeks... or even months... can take some time.
But I can tell that it'll be a great thing once its managed and executed...

Anyway, onto the title and its meaning... and what this blog is about.

Assassin. It's a game. Look it up on Wikipedia if you're sounding paranoid.

And as I study the rules and figure out the rules and everything... anyone who intends to play (I'll be asking people soon) might want to start watching their backs... especially when it's game time.

Scheduling a Schedule

Trying to make plans with people when your schedule is horrible is like... well, ridiculous.
Doesn't matter. I'll come up with something somehow.

Maybe next week when I have zero hours.

We'll see, but due to my procrastination, I'll just... *goes off to watch How I Met Your Mother*

So... There's This Procrastinating Guy Named Josh...

...and he procrastinates on just about everything...
...including posting on a blog where he vowed to write things that people would love reading.

Of course, most of the time, he didn't have a legitimate reason, but today, he did.
And no, it's not related to work.

Oh, and in other news.. there will be something tomorrow.
Until then, expect me at work. Toodles.