New Camera!

So! This Christmas I got a lot of good stuff: jewelry, clothes, room stuff, $$$, etc. But one of the best presents I got was one I bought for myself (hehe), after saving and working hard this holiday season I knew I needed to get a new camera, since I broke my old one. Stupid me stopped taking care of it, didn't get a bag for it, and the button used to zoom in & out and take pictures broke off. I could still take a picture but could not zoom in and out, and it was only a matter of time before the camera would not be able to take pictures. Me, being the camera whore that I am, needs to have a camera.

So I went to Best Buy after Christmas, the parking lot of course was packed and the line to return items was a mile long (not really lol), and looked at some of the cameras they had on display. I immediately fell in love with this one:

only to discover that it sold out! The customer service person told me they should be getting a shipment in two days, so you better believe that I was there two days later (same person; she remembered me hehe). So that day, I left the store with my new beautiful camera, card reader, rechargeable batteries, me smiling from ear to ear, the whole shebang. I brought the camera to work and was playing with it before I had to go in, and I discovered that my camera takes amazing pictures:

-This is my coworker, Damian. He's also a movie & technology geek, so he supported me playing around with my new toy by posing for a picture that came out awesome.-Like my old camera, I'm very happy that this camera doesn't require flash in order to take pictures that seem like I'm still in the room.<3>

Then I brought the camera to my friend's New Year's Party and played with it even more before the party started:

-So my camera has this feature that I can highlight one color and make everything else black and white.. and wouldn't you know that it chooses the color green--my favorite!

-This picture came out great; I love how my camera is able to catch like every single detail in the fake flowers. Can't wait until spring when I can take pictures of real flowers<3

I am verrrrrrryyyyyy happy with it ^_^

-Me & Lisa at the party!

-Me & Dave at the party! (There are more pictures from the party that I cannot/don't feel like uploading haha)

FAQ of my Non-Existent Readers:

1) Hey, Lauren. Where have you been?

Busy. Working 30+ hours a week at Barnes & Noble; spending time with family, friends, & the boyfriend; sleeping; twittering; playing video games. I haven't felt like, nor had the time to blog =/

2) But I thought you promised to blog frequently, even after the semester ended & the only reason you blogged was for your class?

Me too. Apologies. I know you've been dying to read my thoughts.

3) What're you gonna be blogging about? Video games?

Whatever I feel like! I have a couple drafts saved that I have to finish up. Of course I'll be blogging about video games, since that is a small aspect of my life. But I'll probably include work situations (such as, dumb people I'm forced to interact with), fitness video games, recreational video games, interesting links I come across, my favorite shows, any good books/movies I have seen, etc etc.

4) Are you gonna keep this promise?

I'll sure as hell try. I keep up with twitter more, and I'd like to think my tweets are funny and/or interesting. Check it out. Follow me. =D

5) How was your New Year? Any resolutions?

My New Year was pretty good this year; I had a lot of fun at the party I went to, and hot to use my beauutiifull new camera! =D

This is Phil, Lisa, Me, and Dave. =)

Resolutions?.. um, lose weight? (like everyone else in the world.) I'm not abnormally obese or anything and I'm actually pretty comfortable with myself. But I like to say that I always have potential to be hotter. So that's what I'm gonna work towards.

6) How?

a) Dieting? (lmao.) No, I have tried to eat healthier meals at work & not snack as much.. but the damn candy machine calls to me -_- I like to eat. Sue me.

b) I bought myself some Wii Fitness games that I'll discuss in a future blog. As of the past three days my bed was calling out to me & I was unable to get up early enough to work out =/

7) I can't think of anything else.

Me neither.

Talk to you soon. =)

I See No Point in 3D Technology

Never did. Don't think I ever will.

But that seems to be the wave of the future, not just in movies. But also with video games.

This article from G4 I came across (thanks to twitter), discussed how 3D is the wave of the future, it's spread to video games, and how Avatar seems to be the forerunner.

"3D is the new thing, if you're to believe the gospel of movie director James Cameron. His latest action epic, Avatar, was filmed under the premise 3D is going to revolutionize all forms of entertainment. Games are included under that umbrella. Avatar: The Game will be the first console game to support stereoscopic 3D, but it's not the only 3D game available, especially if you're talking about the PC."

I don't know, I really never saw a point.

When I was a kid, whenever my family would go: "Let's go on 3D rides! It'll be a fun adventure!" I'd go "Okay.. I'd rather go on an actual ride," (for the most part). I just don't get the thrill and excitement of a hand reaching out at me and my seat spraying water on me to give me the illusion that I'm getting splashed by water. Unnecessary..

But this seems to be the wave of the future. Movies are being released in 3D format (which I have no desire to see), and now video games are being released in 3D? Is it even going to be successful? The article continues:

"Just as 20th Century Fox is banking on Avatar opening big at the box office, Ubisoft is hoping that translates into a video game blockbuster. Ubisoft has pushed the 3D angle for Avatar: The Game since E3, giving the press its first glance at Avatar: The Game in front of a massive 3D television. The 3D was certainly impressive, but once you realized most will never experience the game that way, it's somewhat diminished. At least with the movie, most consumers can head to the movie theater."

I feel that people aren't going to want to make the transition of 2D playing games to having to get a more expensive TV or PC that's compatible with the 3D technology, it's just not necessary to have that with gaming to me.

But who knows. Maybe I'll be proven wrong in a few years.

I did hate DVDs when I was a kid. I was very content with my VHS tapes and felt that DVDs were unnecessary. Oh, how wrong I was.

Cow & Chicken

I used to LOVE this show. And while browsing YouTube I just happened to find this clip:

So funny.

I wanna find out what episode this was from and the context of this clip, but it's still great on it's own.

I wonder if this is gonna be the future of virtual reality, where kicking something and getting hurt or getting crushed by a steamroller in the game, would actually happen to the player. Who knows, it's possible...

But I'd much rather play a game where I'm a sword-swinging elf in Hyrule as opposed to kicking a can..

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

I just finished reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and that quickly has become one of my favorite books.

Yes, it's a children's book.

Yes, I'm nineteen years old.

Don't judge.

I used to.

Working at Barnes and Noble, I have been surrounded by the books ever since I started working there. I never really picked up the books, but thought it was good that it got a lot of kids to read, even if it is a "novel in cartoons". But then my coworkers read the books, people who were my age or even older, and exposed me to the material in book three, probably one of the funniest moments in this book:

And one day recently, I was bored and decided to pick up the series. I fell in love with it.

The story basically follows Greg and his (mis)adventures in middle school. It's like.. I don't even know where to begin describing the book. I think the first page speaks for itself:

So the book has become a major success, which makes me happy because it's a great and entertaining story told in a different and fun style. And after seeing this video and how the author, Jeff Kinney, really looks out for his fans, it gave me a greater respect for him.

Watch CBS Videos Online

What I love about the character of Greg is that he's NOT a hero. He's a kid who goes through everyday problems at home and school and even though he's a wimp, he has a very high regard for himself and his potential.

But in addition, he just represents a normal kid, who doesn't want to go to military school, be on the swim team, do homework, do chores; but instead make money the easiest way possible and just sit at home and play video games.

There's several references throughout the series of Greg just wanting to play video games, all the time, but I don't have the books (yet--I actually plan on buying these instead of just reading them when at work) and this is the only reference I could find online.

Overall, I recommend this book for all ages: kids and adults can easily relate to it and it leaves a lasting impression on one wimpy kid who represents a vast majority of kids these days.