Gluttony

I'm currently working on a 2D side scroller utilizing C++ and DirectX for rendering the graphics, and it's called Gluttony. I'll give a quick brief about it later on. It's an individual project required for my CSE 380 (Game Development) class and will be by far the biggest project I've ever worked on in terms of programming. I've drawn most of the graphics myself and so far the only thing I've been able to finish coding was my main menu - whoopee! That took me the course of an entire weekend. Phew, I wonder how people do it.

Granted, I'm not the most skilled codemonkey, but I still cannot believe it took me several hours to read over the source code and just try to figure out what everything in each class does. My second benchmark was due today, and I'm pretty sure that I didn't even complete the requirements properly. But for my first benchmark, we were to create a game design document and a storyboard, so I already have the idea for the game down pat.

Gluttony is a game about eating, with me as the main character (this was a requirement!)
Short backstory from my game design document:

"Upon falling deep into a food coma, Pam wakes up in a strange edible land. At first, she believes this is dream come true until realizing that seemingly harmless cotton-candy bunny rabbits and other odd food-creatures attempt to eat her. Guided by a mysterious omnipresent voice named Wage, Pam learns that the only way to survive in this world is by eating everything else in sight. It’s either flight or fight, and she will have to either eat or be eaten."

The game design needs to be constantly revised, but that's all I have for now. I'm very excited to get this game completed, but the class is so demanding, I'm worried I won't have time to do much else. Wish me luck!

Living Rich

Paying for college is expensive, with many students scrambling for every last bit of financial aid that they can get. Some people may work jobs to make ends meet while still maintaining status as full time students, others may be figuring out how they're going to pay back that lump sum of money they've borrowed. When we think of people attending university, we may conjure images of poor college students making their living off of ramen noodles and yesterday's leftovers. Yet, even though perhaps we are poor (money wise), it shouldn't stop us from having rich and fulfilling experiences throughout university.

Although many things in life would be easier if we all had money, there are a lot things that money can't buy. I know that half the fun of my college experience has been making do with what I had. Within the course of the last month, I've been able to work on my craftsmanship skills by fixing various broken objects in my dorm room using nothing more than everyday household objects.

For starters, my roommate didn't have a way to hang her full length mirror on the door. This was easily solved as I proceeded to plaster the borders with nothing but duct tape. Little did we know, this would only be the beginning of several things in our room that would be duct taped. She also happened to have a whiteboard that she no longer had the velcro strips for, and voila! Duct tape did the trick. Broken plastic hangers? Duct tape! Her boyfriend's broken glasses? No problem! Duct tape! Okay well, I didn't use duct tape. I used electrical tape because it was black and matched his frames. She happened to also break her curling iron, something that came apart and would not clamp together anymore. I considered duct tape, but a paper clip did a better job.

My roommate and I have shared many good laughs over these innovative creations. I doubt we would have tried such creative ways to fix these things if we had the money to purchase brand new ones or "proper" materials to resolve their problems. There are things that aren't tangible, and these experiences are just some of them.

How We Deal With Stress

Everybody has their own way with dealing with stress, some more productive than others. When I deal with stress, I have various methods to choose from. But sometimes it all becomes too overbearing to deal with, and instead of actually taking control of the situation, I break down. This often gets ugly. Last semester, I started having a panic attack. Palms sweaty, difficulty breathing, eyes red from tears. I had no friends on campus or nearby that I could talk to, and thus I called one of my best friends who lived back in New York City. Immediately, the kinds of stress that had been bottled up inside of me spilled out of me in endless supply. This is a worst-case scenario.

Otherwise, like this afternoon, upon losing my mind about the homework that needed to be accomplished, I simply laid down in my bed and hugged my pillow. I didn't say a thing to my roommate, and before long I fell asleep in exhaustion of these thoughts.

After I woke up more energized, I keep myself motivated and my stress levels down by listening to music. Uplifting trance and other electronic music usually elevates my mood. Something about music moves me really deeply, and it's always been my go-to thing when stuff gets rough. College isn't easy, and I don't know what I would do if I didn't have a constant outlet for stress.

REASONS TO STAY IN COLLEGE

The best bonding comes from the strangest situations. I worked in a hellhole for my first job. My boss sold weed from the back room, encouraged threesomes and alcohol at the Christmas party (yes, I was in high school), and called his employers "lil shits". I had some great times at that restaurant.

Two of my good friends worked at the restaurant we nicknamed TheBoy. We dealt with the mice running through the back room, emptying all the pepper into a container and then pouring it back in (which is not the most pointless thing on the hostess' work list), and cleaning up the floors with a broken broom after the vacuum died. We were miserable at TheBoy but honestly, I do get a bit nostalgic thinking about it. It was a small town and it felt very midwestern to carry around the decaf coffee for a top off. I used to laugh with my friends as we'd do impersonations of our boss's nasally voice. My friends and I would talk about how badly we wanted to get out of there.

When I went home over winter break to pick up my W2s, which of course my boss didn't send out, I went into the building I spent a year of my life at. I didn't miss it; the workers were new and middle-aged but I missed the time when I was working there with my friends. Reading the Detroit Free Press at 11:00 p.m. while I was waiting for my till to be counted was one of the things that solidified how badly I wanted to go into journalism. I wanted to escape my small town and write about the world; I wanted to get away from the minimum wage job at home.

Being back in that place, I really started to miss those times with my friends at TheBoy. I used to write cryptic poetry on the napkins about the customers. I started to miss the life I had. Then I saw my old boss-- I'm glad I'm at SBU.

Life A.D.D

Someone please me! I have severe Life A.D.D. I am very envious of people who know exactly where they are going and are following a track that will lead them to their success. No so much for me. One day I think high school teacher, the next its how am I going to get started preparing for LSATS? Last year I got certified as a Group Exercise trainer and now I am thinking I wanna become a Yoga Instructor. My friends and family get a kick out of my what my mother calls, "little adventures". Many people are even jealous at the amount of things I can juggle at once. Is it justified because I am in my youth? I am just trying to "find myself" right? Or am I just wasting my time...? I wish I could just act like a typical college student and feel satisfied with classes and attempting to find an internship. I worry I will fall short because of all the things I pile on my lap. Maybe I am at an advantage. Oh well, time will tell!