(disclaimer: not a paid advertisement for raptr, just wanted to spread the word about this cool service)

i’m one of those geek chicks who likes to display every damn thing she does on the web somehow, and i’m always looking for sites to do just that.to me it’s fun to see how far i’ve progressed in a game and show that stuff to other people as well.

i’ve tried a few sites, but i’ve only found one that seems to work consistently, and does all that i want it to do, and that site is raptr!

raptr is a desktop client and website which allows you to track your gaming history, and it can be used as an instant messenger replacement which also allows in-game messages in most games (not unlike the built in functions of steam, or the xfire client). but what i really like about raptr is that i can announce my gaming on my twitter and my facebook! people can see when i unlock new achievements and what game i’m currently playing. i think that’s pretty cool and that’s one of the big features i was looking for.

i’m sure there are other cool things about raptr but to be honest that’s all i’m using it for! i don’t really need a messenger program, as i do not like to talk while i’m gaming but i guess it would be nice to have for some situation in the future. the stats on the website are very cool and it even catalogues your games so you can see every single game you own.. (and wow i never realized i had so many games O_o)

summer is winding down and around here that means its time for the local gun show. every year they have a big flea market and gun show which is pretty cool and good exercise if you are up to walking the span of the whole town. you can find anything from a new lamp to a holster for the new gun you picked up in the gun show.

when i first started going to the flea market part of the event, i always thought it was odd to see people just walking around with guns slung over their shoulders but apparently that’s just fine and legal and i don’t think i remember ever seeing any trouble coming from it either. still its kind of strange to see people just walking around with guns.

my biggest interest there wasn’t really the gun show. sure i like guns but when i went i was more interested in the videogame tent, as well as a tent called "dead people’s stuff" i don’t know if that tent is still showing up there anymore but its always full of weird eclectic furniture and knick knacks bought from estate sales. its been a few years since we’ve visited the big sale but i might see if mom and my brother are interested in going this year.

my mom has slowly been asking me how to do certain stuff online. its kind of funny to sit and teach her things that i think are so easy. she wants to know how to pay bills online and use sites that accept credit card payments, since she has a card with her bank account, but hopefully she’s not going to go spend crazy on me! i know having access to my money from paid blogging has been pretty tempting for me. i’ve bought a couple of videogames, but for the most part i’ve been trying to hold off on my spending because i still have a few things that i need to buy for the computer that i have been putting off.

it has been interesting trying to teach her about the net. teaching her internet safety is kinda funny though… usually its the parents teaching their kids to be safe online or on websites, but here i’m having to teach her what not to do with she’s online. what do look out for on sites and stuff like that. thankfully she’s not really interested in social media and stuff, so i don’t have to worry about her joining websites and giving out too much information!

now if i could just get her to realize that you don’t type a url into the yahoo search box…

a while ago i signed up for the weblogit challenge on daydreamz.net because i need more ideas on stuff to blog. this week’s theme is things you hide from people and honestly, i’m not too comfortable with this topic because well.. if i hide things i don’t want to talk about them! but i didn’t want to be a douche and back out on the first prompt so lets see…

i hide my identity. not fully, but partly. you might get to know me a little by my blog or something you see on a social network, but i try to do the best i can to keep people from knowing enough about me to show up at my door. its kind of annoying because there are so many sites that want full names or addresses and i am always worried that this information will somehow become public. its why when i first signed up for facebook, i used my second life name because i wanted to be able to connect with second life friends as well as online friends and real life friends, and not have my real name out there for all to see. now that i’ve been forced to change it to my real name or face deletion of my profile, i find myself connecting less because i have to hide. i can’t push the like button on people’s blogs because i worry about my name being there. i freak out enough when i go to people’s blogs and see a big sidebar application showing where exactly i came from (town and state). that bothers me… i’ve also had times where i thought information was private and then sites come back later and change settings on things and suddenly info is out there in the public. this frightens me and if i find it i change it as soon as possible. i’ve even gone so far as to put an address i don’t live at currently in order to combat this sort of crap.

why do i hide this so much? well honestly the internet is full of fucked up people. yes that is a paranoid statement but we live in a pretty messed up world. there are people out there that can do serious harm to you and yours and personally i just don’t want that to happen to me. so while you might get to read about my daily adventures in boredom, and hell even see my ugly mug grace this page once or twice, you’re not going to know my name (unless you’re a really good friend) and you’re not going to know much about where i live. i have met some really nice people by being a part of forums and websites, and of course second life, and i’m not saying you’re all blood crazed maniacs, but i’d rather not take that chance.

i don’t really hide much else that i’d want to actually blog about, so this blog is pretty much fail sorry.

this is not a sponsored review, i am doing this because i love games!

i’m not a fan of race games unless they are crazy. something with crazy tracks or insane crashes definitely catches my attention. lucas and i are always looking for games to play together (and i’m sure i’ve mentioned that previously) and i’m always looking for stuff i can play that i don’t have to buy (because i’m cheap :p) so i was pretty excited to try trackmania nations forever. this game is available on steam and yes it is completely free! its not just a crappy demo with a couple of tracks either. this game provides both multiplayer and solo tracks with full stats and even the ability to create your own tracks and host your own server if you are interested in that sort of thing.

the main appeal for me of this game was the insane track designs. not just a boring track where you turn left, or one with a few curves here and there. these tracks require a massive amount of skill as you try not to slam into sudden walls, fling your vehicle though the air and pray you land on the other side, and speed though upside down loops that can go on forever.

now while this is the main appeal its also the main thing that makes me stop playing the game. because I SUCK AT DRIVING! yes even though i do enjoy driving games that are crazy, i really don’t have the skill to play them, so i end up rage-quitting after only a few races.

barring that, i really did enjoy this game. i haven’t tried the track creation part of the game but i love when games give you the added bonus of an editor to play around in. there’s also the ability to mod your car (which i also need to do). the game is split up into different countries and areas on the map so you can compete with the entire world, or just people in your state, that part was very cool.

overall i say this game is pretty bad ass and i will continue to play it (and rage quit) for a while i’m sure.

you can check out trackmania nations forever on the steam website.

i love music that gives me pretty pictures in my head. that made me sound crazy but that’s how i listen to music. when i hear it, and i shut my eyes, sometimes i can see characters from long lost stories playing out scenes, and if i do, that means its a good song.

recently lucas introduced me to a band i’d forgotten about. i’d heard one song by them that had received some popularity in earlier years but i’d never really taken the time to listen to them (i didn’t even realize they played that song lol) he told me to watch a concert with him on youtube and i was kinda ehhh about it but i watched it anyway, and i fell in love with this band.

arcade fire is the name of the band and yeah i’m probably late to the fan wagon but i’m sold on them now.

here in recent years it has become so hard for me to find bands that i actually like. yeah i might latch on to a song or two but nothing seems to speak to me anymore. i dunno if that’s just me being a music snob or if bands have lost their ability to paint pictures in my head but its rather disappointing. arcade fire however, ignited some long dead writing sparks and that was a real treat.

i cannot even describe how beautiful their songs are. but here are two that i am really loving at the moment:

i hope that if you’ve never heard this band before that this lights something in you as it has in me. youtube has the entire concert cut up into videos that you can check out on this site.

it seems like when august rolls around summer finally dawns on me. yes i know summer starts way before august but around here august seems to be the vacation month. i’m not sure why anyone would want to be stuck on the highways in cars and rvs in this heat but i guess they have air conditioning so its not so bad.

my mom and i were discussing how she used to take my brother and i on road trips every year right before we went back to school. it was always right before my birthday too, kinda like a week long birthday gift. we would always go visit my grandpa and uncle up north, but she also took us to the rock and roll hall of fame, washington dc, and several other really cool places that were in nearby states. we’d always have really neat stories to tell our friends when we got back to school.

when we got older the trips stopped. partly because my dad got sick, but also because i guess mom just ran out of places to take us. we would still go visit my grandfather and uncle up north but we wouldn’t go anywhere on the side. there was one last gigantic trip to florida before dad was ill, which was probably the best summer i ever had.

mom expressed an interest in going to washington dc again and i told her i’d love to go as well. so now we’re saving up a little to go! i’m excited because i haven’t been there since i was a kid, and i really want to re-visit the museums again.  we most likely won’t go during the summer though, because its just too damn hot and neither of us really enjoy wading though giant crowds of tourists anymore. still i hope we go, because i would love to have another adventure.

so i gave myself a little while to breathe after my last post which i have now privated for sanity sake, and i have to say putting it out there made me feel a little better. i still have a long way to go and a lot to try and fix, but i will keep trying as best i can, to change the way i am and fix the mistakes i’ve made with my life.

at any rate its back to business as usual for me. today i would like to say that i am proud of myself for losing a massive amount of the weight i have gained over the years. i am just 2 lbs shy of being under 200lbs and that’s really awesome. i’ve cut out a ton of the junk food i usually eat and i don’t really even miss it anymore. sure i still have a burger here or there or maybe some fries, but i have found so many healthy foods that kick ass that i’m not even craving the junk i used to eat constantly.

my newest food love is wrap sandwiches. i am making them all the time now instead of normal sandwiches with bread and they are super awesome. i’ve never really been a fan of bread to begin with so it wasn’t hard to switch at all!

i do still need to force myself to exercise but i guess i’m never going to really enjoy that part of things. i’m not an athletic person, never have been. so to me sweating and exerting myself is just not at the top of my list of things i enjoy.

i’m not really sure what i am talking about right now so i’ll just shut up for now