Better By Nightfall

Yesterday, for the first time since my vacation to Prague, I took a break from debate and reading and decided to play Shadow Hearts, SH. I bought the game off half.com and wasn't expecting to get it for another few weeks, but oddly enough, it arrived in the mail yesterday. Basically from the moment I got it to the moment I went to bed, I was playing the game. It's not that it was that addicting, I just think that it was because I haven't really allowed myself to have a break from debate, reading, and work since my vacation to Prague. I've been trying to keep with these "deadlines" that Marty issues, but since he doesn't e-mail me back about my ideas it's been a bit tedious and difficult to try and guess what he thinks about my work thus far. 
 
Erin, the assistant coach, has helped me so far. She e-mailed me back and said she liked all my research, pieces, and motivational link, except she didn't like my prose piece "Hunter" because it's "stretching to reach [the] point." I guess she's right, it does sort of overstate the obvious message I'm trying to convey. Though, I still want to have it because some judges may be retarded and not understand what I'm trying to convey. (Yes, some judges are stupid. ::Thinks back to Seattle tournament when, during a debate round, a judge cited "liberalism" as her paradigm. Too which I should've replied: That's not a fucking paradigm, it's a bias in debate you stupid bitch!:: Yes, indeed.) However, if Erin doesn't think it fits well enough, I'll scrap it and find something else if I can. I was hoping to get it finished this weekend and get started on my informative speech, but that might not happen now. Heck, I'm not even sure what I'm doing in that department without some feedback from Marty. Maybe I should just ask Jeff? At least he responds to e-mails.
 
I don't know. I'm not really worried too much, I just wish I had the oil to get the cogs turning better.  Playing SH yesterday allowed me to relax and not have to worry about debate for a day. I wasn't doing PKIs, focusing on my POI, or topic searching. I was just relaxing and enjoying myself. Shadow Hearts itself is intriguing: it's a basic RPG similar to Final Fantasy, throw in a fictional story about Japan after World War I, and a fighting style similar to Legend of Dragoon, but with a circle/wheel. The main male protagonist is Yuri, a non-human who can turn into spirits through a soul and he happens to be a bit psycho in the head. He's kewl though. The main female protagonist is Alice Elliot, an innocent, but naively powerful young woman who's the center of the story. Then there are some extra characters who I renamed: an Oracle who I named Akira, and a Russian Spy who I named Lacey. Original, huh? Anyway, for the gamer nerds that read my blog, I highly recommend this game. It's got a fairly original story and excellent gameplay. I love getting new souls/spirits and fighting the malice.  The graphics aren't too bad either. ;)

I can't wait to go home and play it. I have to promise myself not to go too crazy on it tonight though. We're having my favorite salad, the 7-layer salad, for dinner tonight. Plus, I do need to get back to doing debate...even if I'm not sure where to go for another prose for my POI or what exactly I'm doing for my Inform, and if I'm even going to do a fourth speech. The joy that is debate. 5 more weeks, right?