Lest you forget my geekish tendencies, I am pleased to report that I finally have finished Final Fantasy Tactics Advance the full way, getting the 'good ending' after the game is completed proper. Barring my getting other new Gameboy/Gamecube games soon, I anticipate spending no more time playing video games for quite some time (well, I might start playing brief games of Puzzle Bobble again, but that's always a brief thing.., not the kind of game that takes a month to finish). This is a good thing -- I'm starting to spend time learning about the research my new research group at work is doing. It is a good sign that I have yet to come across a paper that has failed to interest me. Yes, I actually anticipate doing research in the new job, and that's going to be cool -- while the AutonLab certainly did a lot of research, I only rarely understood it, and similarly, only rarely was it of interest to me. Of course, I think it was handy for them to have a 'systems guy' around -- I imagine it'd be easy for businesses not to realize how important it is to have the lubricating effect of that type around.

I've recently been thinking about the desire for salvation in a religious context, and the religious nature of forgiveness. I wonder if it is the result of universalizing of guilt, which itself is an extension of regret, which can be understood in terms of value dynamics. I further wonder if my push to understand everything in terms of value dynamics falls within the "continental philosophy" style. While I don't think that quite *everything* people do can be explained in terms of said model, I do think that the perspective is the strongest I've seen, and am optimistic that it's the strongest perspective that we have.

I've had a number of strange dreams recently, one of which gave me a new perspective on jealousy, and another which elaborated on a brief topic at dinner this last week, and made me realize that a certain other person is much kinder than I am, and like me, has suffered because of their kindness and willingness to swallow things most people would discard. It's funny how infectious certain kinds of personalities are, how some people have a natural charisma entirely independant of their looks (which might or might not also be good). It takes more than just goodwill to have that kind of pull -- some people are poisonously ill-disposed, and it takes special effort to maintain a friendship with them (although if they're cool enough, it's often worth it). I've known a few of these people.. then there are people who mean well, but are clumsy in social interaction (describes me fairly well), and people who mean well, and then there's this other category, which has something else added in that makes everyone like them. These latter people are pretty rare, and I'm trying to understand exactly what it is about them that gives them that characteristic, the origin of the impression.

Jealousy is a jealous emotion... eventually stealing the strength of all others. It is also a guardian against abuse...

Anyhow, today I'm going climbing with a bunch of friends. Running the last few days has made it clear that I'm completely recovered from the accident, and as an added bonus, my thumb injury is completely gone too (had forgotten about it).

Dynomite is much better than Puzzle Bobble. You can find it on Yahoo Games.