Yay, April Updates

[kent_allard_jr]

Life has been a little busier than usual, so I've had less time for LJ. Here's a summary:

• I'm back to work for the State Senate. It's full time, but only temporary, and instead of a six-person staff it's just me, alone in the office. Nevertheless money is good, and I'm happy to get out of the house.
  
• I spent last week in federal jury duty on a banking fraud case. I'd never been part of deliberations before, and it was a heady experience, something everyone should be part of at least once. Too bad that in New York you're permanently indentured and I've been told I'll called back every two years, grumble grumble. (Once is fun, a lifetime not so much.)
  
• Kimberly and I will be in the Aegean for our "real" honeymoon in late May. This was a compromise: I wanted the history and Kim wanted a cruise (she loves being pampered and taken care of, something I don't like much at all). We'll see parts of Greece I missed in '09 (Crete in particular), and this time I'll go full Indiana Jones, bring a flashlight, and get to the bottom on the cistern at Mycenae, damn it!
  
• Gaming: After loving Saints Row 2 to death I couldn't resist Saints Row the Third. I enjoyed it a greatly, and LOL'd out loud at the brazen wackiness a few times, but it was a lot easier than its predecessor, and that made it a little less satisfying, as I finished the main storyline in about one-third the time.
  
• I finished Mass Effect in about the same amount of time (15-20 hours), and my reaction was ... meh. Maybe I was spoiled by SR3; after running around naked with a rocket launcher, a standard strait-laced SF RPG failed to excite me. It wasn't bad, and the basic premise was intriguing, but I found the combat and general gameplay a little dull. Maybe it's just me.
  
• After Mass Effect I turned to Spellbound Caves, one of Vechs' "Super Hostile" Minecraft dungeons. I just finished it this morning, and overall I had a blast. If you've downloaded Minecraft but it didn't engage you, I'd recommend trying it again with one of Vechs' maps. Challenging but a lot of fun.
  

The picture, by the way, is by the great Phil Foglio from a old Dragon. I wish I had the Photoshop skills for a more elegant editing job (it might help if I used Photoshop instead of Corel Photo-Paint, too), but I don't.