How I'm spending my 'Black Friday'

So, it's "Black Friday" here in North America.

For those of you who don't live here (I should mention, by the way, that I'm not at all sure if folks in Canada or Mexico "celebrate" this day, too), "Black Friday" is both the day after Thanksgiving and the first day of the holiday shopping season in our neck of the woods.

In regards to the latter part of that description, retailers here tend to open their doors extremely early on "Black Friday" (as early as midnight) and also promote rather insane deals in order to woo customers into their establishments.

Although a good number of Americans are braving the crowds, traffic and weather today, I am not one of them. What will I be doing instead of shopping? Why, playing games, of course. (OK, so I'll probably do a few other things, too--like put up some Christmas lights and, uh, contemplate my existence.)

As for which ones, here's a little rundown for all who are interested:

* For starters, I'm going to spend some time rearranging all of the "Harvest" furniture I spent two hours obtaining from Animal Crossing's Franklin the turkey last night. I'll probably also write lurid love letters to my newest neighbors: Cousteau the frog, Savannah the zebra and Tangy the cat.

* I'm also planning to make a good dent (not literally) in the copy of Paper Mario: Sticker Star that arrived on my doorstep last week. I've only spent about two hours with it so far, but already I'm loving the writing, the soundtrack and, surprise, the sticker-centric battles.

* Should I still have a bit of energy left for gaming after all of the above, I may pop my copy of Style Savvy: Trendsetters back into my 3DS and give it a go, too.

* Finally, I'm itching to download UFO Interactive's just-released PSP dungeon-crawler, Elminage Original. Considering I'm a bit broke at the moment (more on that in an upcoming post), though, that may not happen this weekend.

How are all of you planning to spend this holiday (if you're in the States) weekend?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm not going to lie, this has been a really challenging year for me. The main reasons: Since 2012 began, both my paternal and maternal grandmothers have died (the latter this past weekend) and my dad had a stroke--as did a good friend (again, this past weekend).

Given that, you could be forgiven for assuming I'm heading into this Thanksgiving day with a rather large and cynical chip on my shoulder. Well, you know what? I'm not. Oh, I absolutely hate that all of these things have happened to people I love dearly, but I also think these terrible events have helped me realize all (or at least some) of the things that I should be thankful for today and every other day of my life moving forward.

For instance, I'm thankful that I was able to spend as much time as I did with both of my grandmothers while they were alive. Also, I'm thankful for all of the things they taught me about myself and about life during those precious moments we had together.

I'm similarly thankful that my dad and friend survived their respective strokes. My dad, especially, has been changed--he's noticeably weaker than he was before all of this happened, for instance--by the strokes he suffered earlier this year, but in every way that is at all important he is the same, amazing, hilarious, loving man he's always been. I'm pretty sure the same will be true of my friend when all is said and done--and if that isn't something to be thankful for, well, I don't know what is.



A few other things I'm thankful for: My health, my husband, our family and friends, our jobs, our house, our cat (even when she's being a pain in the ass) and everything--and everyone--else that helps make my life fun, interesting, secure and all that jazz.

That includes all of you, by the way. I guess it may sound a bit silly to mention this blog and all that's related to it after talking about all of the "heavy" stuff above, but it--and all of you, too--plays an important role when it comes to making my life a lot more enjoyable than it would be otherwise.

Anyway, I'll get off my Thanksgiving soapbox now. Just know that I hope all of you have a wonderful day today (whether you're celebrating like us North Americans or you're just enjoying a regular Thursday elsewhere) and that you have at least a few things for which you're thankful.

Note: The festive GIF above was found on, and made by the two gals responsible for, the DreamingSoda blog. 

Which games are you playing this weekend?

Before this holiday weekend began, my plan was to play a trio of games I've been meaning to finish for quite some time: Deadly Premonition, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light and Pokemon Black.

Instead, I've been playing a pair of old Famicom games, Chack'n Pop and Door Door (below), via emulation, as well as one other game I can't tell you about at the moment.

Door Door has some disgustingly adorable box art, doesn't it?

Actually, I could tell you about it, but I don't want to, as I'm saving its unveiling for a to-be-published-at-a-later-date post.

Anyway, those are the games I'm playing this holiday weekend. What are all of you playing (assuming, of course, you're playing games at all)?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it can be a bit annoying for folks to go on and on about what they're thankful for on Thanksgiving, especially given the holiday's history, but I'm going to do so anyway.

Along with being thankful for my family and friends, my health, my home and my livelihood, among other things, I'm thankful for everyone who has ever visited this blog. I'm especially thankful for all of you who comment once in a while and, as a result, help make this site feel more like a community than an electronic soapbox.

Now, get off your computer and go stuff your face with your family members and/or friends (if you celebrate Thanksgiving, of course).

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of the American gamers who visit this site: Happy Thanksgiving!

I know you're going to eat for most of the day, but are you going to play a few games too? I am! I'm going to start with Kirby's Epic Yarn, I think, and then switch over to Animal Crossing: City Folk.

Fingers crossed that I'm able to fulfill Franklin's (above) need for silverware while I also rid my town of all the weeds that (surely) have popped up since I last played the game.