urg

I am trying to find a post I made more than six months ago where I talked about getting caught up in the setting and backstory, the history, of a map.

What a slow start :]

Thought review

So I write down a lot of my thoughts in my phone etc. Today I hope to go through a huge thought backlog and observe and note some of the important things.

Just thought I would pop in and say "hi"

You know. This is the kinda thing where I do that, every once in a while. I have been reading a lot of personality-type related stuff, trying to figure out how myself and others think, use their intuitions, and use their feelings. Also: work.

Incoming

I am gone for the next several days. I plan on writing some, so . . . updates incoming!

The Readers

Alright so I currently believe that nobody reads this site.  Well, I know of one person who does.  Most othere probably come by via some google search on Marathon, and move on again.  This is fine for now.  I think, this really is not about the readers.  If it is important, then I believe the readers will come eventually.  But I am not so sure it is important, other things are . . .

I released my first Far Cry 2 map yesterday, wgc_requiem.  My friend likes it.  I do well on it.  Overall, I am pleased.  It is of course named after a Marathon2 map, Requiem For a Cyborg.  I picked out 'Requiem' for other reasons, but that level in the game comes at a pivotal point in the game where the player (a cyborg) becomes less important.  More on that later I guess.  I am also making plans to visit an acquaintence-who-I-consider-friend.  That should be very good.  I want the mastodon whale as a tattoo as well.  

On dreams:  I had a variation on a recurring dream last night.  It was very interesting.  Normally this dream ends as I am physically battered by the forces of nature.  It is an upsetting, desperate dream.  In last night's dream, I did struggle but I escaped for the first time.  Not only did I survive but I  (along with the others present!)  was enjoying myself.  People were even fishing!  Very strange for a recurring death dream.  I am excited to sleep, and dream tonight.  

And from the Marathon manual, page 4: "Oddly , this is familiar to you, as if it were from an old dream, but you can't exactly remember..."

"Your father told you as a child to always fight with honor, but to always fight."

Food (!)

So I am off to McDonalds.  I am going to sit there as I eat, and think about mapping.  I have been playing Far Cry 2 the past couple days, and the game is fun but feels like absolute crap.  The point is, there is a solid custom map setup going on, and I want to get in on that.  I do not know why I am going to McDonalds to contemplate.  But I am.  And I will.  

Why this name?

Two of my earliest interests are Marathon and Dinosaurs.  I am not going into dinos today, but the name of this blog comes from a level in Marathon 2: Durandal.  Marathon, by the way, was a game made by Bungie in the late 90's.  It was one of the first games I played, and it is only fitting that I rediscovered the game at the beginning of my adult life and became really interested in its story.  I find much of the story text to move me in some way or another; this title is a tribute to that.  

Here is a link to the Marathon Story Page: 

http://marathon.bungie.org/story/

The first time I really named something was when I released my first map for the Obsidian Edge Far Cry modification.  I chose a Marathon map name, Ex Cathedra.  The same for my second map - Charon, from "Charon Doesn't Make Change".  Here I am, naming something else :]

'My' and 'Own' are pretty straightforward; this is my blog.  'Private' is not as simple, the blog is private in the sense that only I can post to it, though it can be viewed pubicly.  'Thermopylae', where the vastly outnumbered Spartans held off the Persians.  In a similar way I interact with you here, and there is only one of me.  

It is implied that the character in the Marathon trilogy (and beyond!) began life, or a new life, in a war regarding a certain Republic of Thermopylae.  In Greek, Thermopylae apparently translates to "warm gates", calling to mind birth and primordial origins of life.  So in a greater sense, this is My Own Private Beginning, the beginning of (a stage of) myself.  It is a way for me to record and later view my personal origins.  And finally I just reformatted my hard drive.  

backup complete

rage

So I was planning on posting a few nice words, as I very recently am moving in a new direction and am at peace more or less with this new direction. I was going to back up my drive and reformat tonight, so I had thought of that as kind of a symbolic turnover or change.

I came home this afternoon and was unable to find an important disc. And this disc of all discs, I was certain of the location I thought! I am in the process of re-burning it now, but that disc itself had some sentimental value. So I flipped out, tore my room apart and missed class, found the disc packaging (phew sentimental), and realized I could replace the disc. I feel better now. Pizza nommings incoming. And telepopmusik - Don't Look Back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ADiQ8aKSo&feature=related

see you after the wipe

O Hai

So I just made this. Time for a nap though. Enjoy the marathon GIF . . . more on that and the naming of this blog in a bit (origins, arrival? Oh my, lets have some parenthesis conversation. Both of those are Marathon related, as is this blog; Arrival is the name of the first level of Marathon, but in the Beta it was 'Origin'. I always wanted to use it as a name for something, but it never seemed fitting for a map. see link below). I am hoping to pick up some more Stone Imperial Russian Stout, 2009 release, for tonight.

http://marathon.bungie.org/story/whatsinaname.html