Hooray I'm graduating from high school...and I'm salutatrian, and as such I must make a speech. What do you guys think of what I have?

Good Evening,

It feels like just yesterday I walked into the high school, a shy, awkward freshmen feverishly anticipating the next 4 years of my life. I stand before you today, more or less the same person. Culturally, awkwardness is seen as a generally undesirable trait. However, the past four years have taught me to embrace it. I was ecstatic to find the school newspaper listed, and I quote, “You’ve witnessed one of the many trips, bumbles, and falls of Andy Gorman,” as the seventh way you know you’re in the graduating class of 2011. And while you might not suffer from a life long case of being unable to remain upright in a chair, we will all have to face some awkward times out of our comfort zone in the years to come.

Everyone here has had to be in an uncomfortable situation where he or she was forced to do something or be somewhere that was outside of there normal comfort zone. We will no longer have the same group of friends we have grown up with since the age of five. We will no longer have teachers who give extra credit to students who bring in tissues for a last minute grade boost before the end of the quarter. We will no longer be able to go home for our mom’s delicious cooking for lunch.

Many of us are off to a world where we will be living in the same room with someone we’ve never met. We will have to impress strangers to try and get a career, rather than relying on the life guarding job you were guaranteed from the neighbor down the street. We will be taught by teachers who may not have time to learn your first and last name within the first week of school, let alone take the time to try and decipher your indecipherable handwriting. We will be given an unprecedented amount of freedom for the first time in our lives, and be expected to manage it like we have had it throughout out lives.

No matter where are futures take us, change is an inevitable future for everyone here. Get used to it. In order to get that promotion you are hoping for ten years from now, you can’t just perform as you have grown accustomed to. You must be willing to put forth the extra effort, or do something you feel uncomfortable doing in order to be noticed and advance your career.

So while awkwardness is typically viewed as a sign of weakness, I have come to view it is as a strength. Whether we like it or not, we are forced into situations that are uncomfortable, awkward, and outside our comfort zones. Being able to deal with these situations can shape the rest of our lives.

So as you leave here tonight, celebrating the end of a chapter in your life, and the beginning of an exciting one, remember to do something that scares you, and abuse your comfort zone a little bit. You might just be surprised by what happens. And to those of you who put money on seeing me perform a spectacular trip on my way up here: I regret to inform you that you will walk away empty handed.

So too cliche...to tired? What do you think Giantbomb?

This is probably going to be come off as very angry and ranty, and perhaps even a bit pretentious, but fuck it. No place like the internet to whine about things that obviously everybody cares about right?  Well let me first preface this with a little background info. I'm an 18 year old high school senior, attending a white suburban small school of about 450 students. Next year, I will attend Washington University to major in probably computer science/comp. engineering with a minor in probably journalism or some form of English(basically because I dream of having Will/Norm's job.) 
 
I will now describe for you two scenes, which perfectly epitomize why I can't wait to get the fuck out of there. During Government class, the teacher used the word aficionado. Big fucking deal right? Well apparently my classmates seem to think so. Immediately half the class erupts in "OH MY GOD VOCAB WORD THIS WEEK", or something along those lines! Keep in mind this is an Advanced Placement  course. WHAT THE FUCK. I would expect fucking 14 year olds to do this...maybe, but 18 year old voting adults???? And these same people are furious that they didn't get accepted into the top college of their choice.  
 
Second scenario. Sociology: our teacher is getting really excited about the coup in Egypt, when he is interrupted to the question "Wait, people in Egypt don't live in pyramids? /facepalm. 
   
University students...please tell me it gets better... for the love of god please.

As I am only 18, and really only got into gaming when i was 14, I missed out on many of the Infinity Engine titles people remember so fondly. Some forum members have looked on me with disgust as I admit that the oldest RPG I have played is Morrowind, which remains my favorite game to this day ever. Period. The point I'm trying to make is that I had no absolutely no idea what this game was going to be. 

In the short two hours I played, the combat made me feel extremely stressed out. I feel like I have no clue how to tactically command my characters, and end up watching them auto battle, with an occasional random shield-bash placed at random. However, there is something about the game that remains extremely compelling to me. I LOVED the exploration and  dialogue in the town where I started. The codex entries really haven't interested me, but then again, I didn't even read them in the Mass Effect series either. I guess this impatience for reading explains my shitty writing style though.  Although it's been a little overwhelming, I think I'm gonna keep exploring this game before I put it on the shelves for good. 
 
Note: This is really my first blog type entry. I'm writing this at 12:00 in a hurried, haphazard fashion because I can barely stay awake. You might be thinking, "gormanator", why would you be writing this blog entry now then." If you're asking that, you're a much wiser person than myself, and I can't really provide an answer for you. I would, however, like your feedback. Writing regular posts on random shit I think about video games would be something I'm interested in doing, if it really does entertain enough readers. If it reads like a shitty ten year old ranting on the forums, then by all means let me know. I wouldn't want to subject anyone to that crap.

is this for real

Well the cat's out of the bag. Microsoft announces a price rise in xbox live subscriptions and the internet does not disappoint with their whining and bitching. However, this elevation in price made me realize the little I have been playing online xbox games. I no longer wish to play online competitive shooters, and co-op is really the only online gameplay I enjoy, apart from Starcraft 2's competitive multiplayer. However, for many co-op centric titles, Left 4 Dead 2, Borderlands, Castle Crashers, and such, I find me to be the sole person in my group of friends who plays these games. I think it's time for me to move on, and finally build that gaming PC I've told myself I'm gonna build for a long time now. So long Xbox live, may you continue to appeal to prepubescent cursing preteens forever.

Well, finally burnt through 2 more games in my backlog this weekend. Got through Shadow Complex and Bioshock 2. First, Shadow Complex, I've wanted a game like that for a long time. I'm not one to 100% games, and I only got 55% of the weapons, but i thoroughly enjoyed the exploration aspect of the game. The 2.5 d combat was done very well, I may add. Bioshock 2  I finished, well... not exactly. I got to the final scene where Eleanor was escaping to the sub with the little sisters, oh yeah, spoiler, and then the game froze on me. I got really pissed since I hadn't saved since getting into Inner Persephone, so I simply looked up the good ending on youtube, and considered it beaten. It was, as many reviewers say, not as good as the first, but still an enjoyable game. Also, the multiplayer was surprisingly fun, although I can only see myself visiting it a couple of times. At the beginnning all I could think about was how happy I was to be back in Rapture. That's all i got for today

my backlog is fucking huge