I am on the prowl for my next big journey into adulthood. Where I may go no one truly knows. Often the standard from which maturity is quantified is defined by raw age. In reality most everyone knows that age is a weak indicator of maturity. It seems as though that age of wisdom is always at a distance. Perhaps the distance is even growing as I get older. There's so much knowledge, and I know so little of it. There are so many specializations, so many opportunities, but are they real? Currently, I am in that uncomfortable transition from college graduate to free agent. Employment, it can be both surprisingly easy and, simultaneously, extruciatingly difficult. It's even arbitrary. Efforts toward productivity are dwarfed by the game of egos and wit. But wandering does have its advantages, its freedom, and its price.

A wanderer of sorts that remains in legends may exist in abundance, but one such character comes to mind; Musashi Miyamoto. A legendary swordsman from Japanese history. While clearly skilled he was also very ruthless. Well, on to games yes?

My girlfriend spent some time visiting New York City recently and I must admit I was somewhat jealous that she got to visit the Nintendo World Store. However, she did bring me back a souvenir so, hey, I was there - sort of- right? Well, seriously, I was kind of surprised she went to it because she doesn't have much interest in gaming. I guess she just went there for me, how sweet!

I have been slightly annoyed by my local gaming electronic stores. They seem bent on making me buy a certain product despite obvious shortages and unavailability.

I wanna play!

Last night SoS (Sultans of Sebring) kicked off their fifth series on Forza 2. All past champs were in attendence (that includes Chazz, Schmoo, and I with two championships) from the last four series. This series host, Blackfoot, is really on top of things and has done an impressive job getting things set up (the previous 4 host were CrushDub, MtMullins, PsychoHunter, and I). I, dissappointingly, struggled last night finishing 4th, 5th, and 6th. Luckily, the answer to my misfortune lies simply within the poor vehicle I chose to try and compete in. I believe I have it figured out now and hope to be much more competitive next week. Hey, we all have our blunders here and there. In addition to the online Forza league, I am looking at running in a NASCAR 09 league with a different group of fellows. I plan on participating in a couple of practice runs first before I commit of course.

Now as far as local gaming goes I am close to finishing up one adventure. I am nearing the end of Okami (Wii) and it's really been one great game. In addition to that I just started Final Fantasy IV (DS). I typically like to have one online game, one local console game, and one handheld game. That usually means that I never get bored. Lately I haven't been doing a lot of gaming though. That's one reason why I struggled with last night's races.

One ring to rule them all...