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My Wisdom Teeth Extraction: Day Two

May 5, 2009

Remember how I closed my last blog post? How I said I was going to try to get a good night’s sleep? Yeah…that didn’t happen.

At 3:30 AM, I woke up to intense, throbbing pain in my jaw. Seemed the painkillers had worn off in the wee hours of the morning, just in time to disturb what had previously been a good rest. As I lay there, half asleep, still partially dreaming, I saw myself as a member of a biker gang. It was strange. I don’t remember much, but we appeared to be in some sort of junk yard. We were having an inane sort of conversation (about what, I can’t remember) as the throbbing pain continued. I couldn’t ascertain what was causing the pain, so I rode my bike around, looking for some sort of clue. A clue I never seemed to find.

That was the extent of the dream, as I finally woke up and realized something had to be done. It was too early to take another vicodin but fortunately, I could still take an Ibuprofen. I walked into the bathroom and swallowed one of the pills. They had been strangely effective in lessening the pain prior to my surgery and they were once again effective. But still, I had to sit there, on my bed, in the dark as I waited for the pill to take effect. The dream returned and I found myself riding around the junk yard aimlessly. There was no method to the madness and shortly, as the pain vanished and I laid down for sleep once again, the dream slowly faded into obscurity.

The day went along smoothly. My diet of yogurt, soup, smoothies and Slim Fast shakes was nothing special, as expected. In fact, I began to wish I hadn’t had the surgery, if only to have the ability to eat solid food. You know those commercials for fast food, fancy restaurants and the like that you never seem to pay attention to? It’s amazing how much they stand out now…

Man I’d kill for a burger right about now…

So far so good. Pain has been minimal at its worst and there has been no bleeding or any other complications. Here’s hoping this will blow over quickly and I’ll be back to normal soon.

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My Wisdom Teeth Extraction: Day One

May 4, 2009
dentist

Okay, it wasn't quite as horrible as this...

So…I had my wisdom teeth removed earlier today. This is something I’d been dreading for years, ever since they came in. Having heard a bunch of nasty stories of impacted wisdom teeth, which essentially entails your wisdom teeth not coming in properly, or not even exiting the gum line at all (see the picture, it isn’t graphic). Fortunately, my wisdom teeth came in properly…or, what appeared to be proper for a few years. Maybe I should briefly explain what lead up to this to give you a better idea as to why I suddenly had this procedure done.

Friday night, after feeling no signs of any sort of pain, I went to sleep. Later that night I awakened to a strange pain in the side of my face. I didn’t know what it was; all I know is that I couldn’t get to sleep for any measurable period of time afterward.

The following morning, I awakened, groggy and thoroughly exhausted due to the lack of sleep that night…the day of an important final no less and I immediately noticed the pain in my jaw. I went into the bathroom and checked my teeth in the mirror. Nothing appeared to be wrong with them so I took a pain pill and went to class. The final was easy enough but unfortunately, the pain persisted through the class and for quite some time after I’d finished and left and when I say “quite some time” I mean the rest of the weekend.

For two days, I had to deal with soul-crushingly intense pain, staving off bouts of intense pain with my good friends Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Sure, the pills managed to lessen the pain somewhat for a couple hours at a time but it always came back with a vengeance and nights became impossible to sleep through. Monday, the pain reached a head and I decided I could put this off no longer; it was finally time to visit the dentist…and you can probably guess what happened next.

I was a tiny bit apprehensive about going under the…er…tongs, as I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about surgery but all these feelings melted away as the pain reached its peak as I sat in the waiting room, feeling like it was going to drive me insane.

I’ve heard that tooth related problems/injuries can be among the most painful you’ll ever feel. After what I’ve felt in the past couple of days, I’m very much inclined to believe that. Now I see why teeth are targeted as methods of torture.

The entire process wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it would be getting my teeth pulled, in fact, I probably suffered more waiting for the dentist and his assistants to finish up the paperwork and knock me the hell out. I was thoroughly sedated with shots of Procaine (Novocaine) and whatever else was in the IV they set me up on and they got to work. I don’t even remember falling asleep though and I could swear I was at least partially aware of what was happening as I saw (or, at least, thought I saw) the dentist pulling at least one of my teeth out of my mouth.

Afterwards, I woke up to the sound of the dentist’s assistant telling me to bite down on the gauze they’d previously stuffed in my mouth to keep me from bleeding. I was still fairly out of it but surprisingly enough, I was at least able to stand and walk without assistance before being driven home.

Now, as I sit here at my laptop at 12 AM, writing this for your viewing pleasure, I can feel a slight twinge of pain. Let’s just say I’m not exactly looking forward to the next couple of days in my recovery. I feel great now that the constant stabbing pain (seriously, it felt like I’d been punched in the face several times after chewing broken glass and gargled with a bottle of sulfuric acid, all on the right side of my mouth) is finally gone and knowing that I won’t have any further problems due to my wisdom teeth is a huge plus. Plus, my dentist gave me some Vicodin to help manage the pain (don’t worry, I’m no abuser) so I should be able to keep the pain down to a minimum.

Well, that’s it for now, I think it’s high time I head to bed and get some much needed sleep. After four straight days of getting very little sleep, I think I owe it to myself.

PS: I’m still a bit loopy from being sedated so if anything in the above paragraphs looks a little off, please forgive me. :)

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The Art of Creating a Vigilante

March 2, 2009

writing_tablet

Hmm…I’m having a sort of dilemma in my writing. First, a little back story to get you up to speed on what this post is about. I’m in the process of writing a book from scratch. I’m also in the process of rewriting a book I started back in the eighth grade. What these books are about…well, that’s a story for another time. Anyway, in the story I’m writing from scratch, the main character eventually becomes somewhat of a vigilante after a traumatic experience early in the novel (very much unlike the traumatic experience that happened to Bruce Wayne, so it’s not a rip off of that and that’s not where I found my inspiration). What I’m worried about is…in today’s fiction, vigilantes and anti-heroes in general seem to be done to death. I honestly don’t know if I can portray the character properly or at least different enough from the rest of the vigilantes out there to make an impact.

In my personal reading and internet research (basically glossing over Wikipedia pages and forums) it seems that the two characters that truly epitomize what it means to be a vigilante are Batman and Watchmen’s Rorschach. The two characters have very similar but at the same time incredibly different approaches to cleaning the streets. Both Batman and Rorschach aim to put an end to crime, but Batman has two rules that he will not break under any circumstances, the first being using a firearm and the second, killing the criminals he comes into conflict with. Rorschach, on the other hand, has no rules. This creates a distinct contrast between the two characters right off the bat. Batman can be seen as a sort of noble vigilante in the way he refuses to sort of lower himself to the level of the criminal underworld whereas Rorschach is totally uncaring and unflinching in his duty of punishing all forms of crime and corruption, severely, resulting in a character that seems to be likable, but at the same time you wonder if he’s hypocritical and insane (or insanely hypocritical). After all, he’s in effect crossing the line he punishes others for crossing each time he “punishes” someone for their crimes.

So, the question remains, how can one create a character that approaches the fundamental principles of vigilantism without making the character seem like he was modeled on one of these readily available archetypes? Can that even be done? It’s tough. This character of mine, he doesn’t have a sort of duality in his personality, like Bruce Wayne and Batman. He’s pessimistic, cynical and, well, angry. Now, I haven’t read Watchmen yet (I do plan on picking up the graphic novel before I see the film) but I’m worried that he might seem too much like Rorschach. I haven’t done too much research on the character of Rorschach (I ended up spoiling something for myself so I promptly stopped) but he seems a bit like that kind of guy I’m modeling my character around. My character doesn’t share Rorschach or Batman’s passion for eliminating crime from the streets and doesn’t know if he’s doing this because he believes it’s right or if he’s doing it for purely selfish reasons. I can’t delve too far into what those reasons are without spoiling a bit of the story but, let’s just say he has a sort of hunger for the job.

confused-full

To put it simply, I’m a bit befuddled by the whole issue. Character creation is paramount to a good story and I want to avoid the pitfalls writers sometimes fall into when creating this type of character. I don’t want my character to seem too similar to any current vigilantes or anti-heroes that are so popular in mainstream fiction, be it television, books or movies, I want him to resonate strongly with my future readers, leaving a lasting impression. This is where you come in. I know the people of the internet read, play videogames, watch television and/or watch movies and I could definitely use the help. What do you like to read? Do you like anti-hero types of characters? Do you think they’re overdone? Am I crazy for doubting my artistic ability? Do you hate me for subjecting you to this? Why or why not?

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Race Pro Impressions

February 27, 2009

race-pro-banner

Two days ago, I picked up Race Pro, a game I’ve been highly anticipating since its announcement in the form of an Xbox 360 version of the PC racing sim, GTR 2. This title hails from Simbin, a developer that has been heralded as one of the best in the business of creating racing simulators. This is their very first console racing title and the racing simulation community has been abuzz, wondering if they can replicate the notoriously hardcore PC racing simulation experience on a console with little compromise. After investing a few hours in the game, I can say with ease, they’ve done a damn fine job.

As I popped the game into my Xbox 360, I decided to jump into the game by playing it for the very first time with Microsoft’s official wireless racing wheel, which I’d purchased a little over a year ago for Forza Motorsport 2. It seemed fitting to play this title with the wheel in hand. If you own Microsoft’s official Racing Wheel, you owe it to yourself to use it for this game. Racing with the wheel, coupled with the interior view, feels incredibly natural. It can be tough going from racing with the controller to the racing wheel but undoubtedly, it truly is the best and most immersive way to play.

Onto the driving physics, there’s no doubt in my mind that Simbin has created one of the most realistic racing simulators ever, thanks in large part to the physics engine. Even driving something as seemingly mundane as a Mini Cooper (a highly modified version of a Mini Cooper no less) can be very exciting and trust me when I say the Radical SR3 is not to be taken lightly. I have yet to get behind the wheel of the Dodge Viper SRT-10 and Audi R8 (two of my favorite supercars) as of yet, two of the unmodified cars included in the package, but I did get behind the wheel of the Dodge Charger Super Bee, an exclusive download included in copies of the game sold at GameStop (don’t think of that as an ad…). Race Pro does an excellent job of simulating the high weight and power this car possesses, which makes it characteristically difficult to stop at the end of a long straightaway.

Race Pro is one of the rare racers on the market today that is able to blend accessibility with, at times, crushingly realistic physics. The instant you enter the career mode, it defaults to the professional difficulty setting, in which all assists are turned off. For the sake of accessibility, it’s nice that these settings can be changed to your liking. They can all be adjusted in varying degrees, from low, medium to high.

So far, the AI drivers generally make for fairly competent opponents but, on occasion, they exhibit some…questionable behavior. For instance, as the Autodriver lead me out to the track in my Chevy Lacetti, a sequence that you can’t override as far as I can tell, it nicked a barrier while exiting the pits and compromised my aerodynamics. I was essentially forced to restart the session due to my bent front bumper. Hopefully, this isn’t a common occurrence.

I’ve played a couple of online races so far and they all have been free of any perceptible lag, even with as many as ten vehicles on the track at once (the game supports 12 online). Despite the fairly limited options compared to other racing titles on the 360 such as Forza Motorsport 2 and PGR 4, it is nice to have the ability to take to the track in a practice session to play around with vehicle setups before beginning the big race.

Perhaps the only thing I don’t like about Race Pro so far is its incredibly basic presentation. The menus aren’t presented with any sort of visual pizzazz or flair and hardly go beyond the call of duty.  This can be somewhat off-putting, even for me, a person who appreciates what lies under the hood far more than visual aesthetics (which is why the Corvette Z06 has captured my heart more so than the far more visually appealing Ferrari F430).

Overall, after investing just a few scant hours into the game so far, I’ve very much enjoyed Race Pro. It has delivered exactly what I expected to, an involving and incredibly realistic racing simulator. Race Pro may be a little rough around the edges especially concerning the interface and overall presentation but it delivers where it counts. Stay tuned for the full review, which should be posted very soon.

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The Rave…A Short Story

February 7, 2009

rave-party

Here’s a short story I wrote as a bit of a personal challenge, having been given three story prompts to include.

  • A rave party
  • A bottle of Smirnoff vodka
  • A Piece of rope

I’ve taken the liberty of creating a separate page just for that story so in the future, it will always be easy to find on the sidebar or by clicking this link.

The story will be posted after the jump.

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Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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Auto Show 2009 Wrap Up

January 26, 2009

detroit-skyline-cropped

Well, the 2009 North American International Auto Show has come and gone and I, being the lover of all things with four wheels and an engine (no, this doesn’t mean I hate motorcycles) that I am, made a trip down to downtown Detroit’s COBO Hall to see what automakers had in store for us this year. Unfortunately, this year, the festivities seemed a bit…muted, compared to the 2008 show. There was still a show to be had just…less of one this time around. I imagine that this can be attributed to the failing global economy, which has caused automakers to cut back on the wild and flashy concepts and begin investigating alternative fuel sources and introduce more conservative designs. In a nutshell, this was the “theme” of this year’s Auto Show. Everyone is going green.

Check out the rest of my Auto Show 2009 coverage after the jump.

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Posted in Cars | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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PlayStation Home Beta Video Tour

December 6, 2008

Part 1

Part 2

I’ve taken the liberty to record some footage with my digital camera straight from my TV screen to give all of you out there a better idea of what to expect once the public beta launches. The video has been split into two parts and I’ll update this post once the second half has been finished and uploaded for your viewing pleasure. Alright, enough talk. I hope you enjoy this brief look into the PlayStation Home Beta!

UPDATE: Part 2 of the beta tour has been uploaded and posted for your viewing pleasure!

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