Life in these United States

It has been easy to pick up where I left off in the US.  I am really happy about how welcoming my friends and family have been about my return.  It is almost enough to make me glad to be alive!

One of the largest cultural differences between the US and Benin that I am still readjusting to is the frenetic pace of....everything in the United States.  We are a culture driven by the clock.  We are always striving to be places on time, and we always need to find something new and productive to do if we aren't busy.  This mindset allows our society to be wealthy in terms of production and consumption, but at what cost?  Relaxation is an endangered practice.

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Onto a new topic; today's big thing is video game music.

As many of you know, I have always enjoyed a good video game; one of my favorite things to do is explore new worlds.  Naturally, the music of a game plays a critical role in determining how much the player can become immersed in the artificial environment.  Just like in a good movie, one should expect game music to enhance the feel of the external world and, ideally, project onto the audience the emotions of the story and the atmosphere of the environment.

For those of you who play games, there is a website every fan of video game music should be aware of:  http://ocremix.org/.  The overclocked remix community has been dedicated to remaking music from popular games for over 10 years now.  Their work is peer-reviewed to ensure quality, and the remixes span dozens of genres and involve hundreds of games.  Best of all, the work that is produced in free to the public!  If there is any game you love, be sure to check out the remix torrents at http://ocremix.org/torrents/  The links that start with "Overclocked Remix OCR0001" and "Overclocked Remix OCR1001" are the two archives of the collective work of the OC Remix community.  Enjoy the free music, and be sure to give credit to the community and support the artists if you appreciate the tunes!

Game over, man.

For those of you not in the know, I recently made an extremely difficult decision brought about my many days of mental struggle.  I am ending my service in the Peace Corps.  There were many factors coming into play, but at the forefront were concerns for both my physical and mental health.  I will leave it at that, and you can ask me in person for more detail if you are interested.

What is the future of the blog, then?  As far as I can tell, my life will not be interesting enough to make regular and poignant posts.  Then again, maintaining the blog might give me a chance to improve my writing - something I have frequently considered doing.

Only the future can say for certain.  Will my blog be the phoenix of intrigue, taking a load of buckshot to the face in July only to rise magnificently during the autumnal equinox?  Or will my blog be the smelly street pigeon, lingering slightly too long in your presence and occasionally delivering unpleasant reminders of its existence on your car?

At the very least, maintaining the blog will give me free reign to practice my metaphors.  My first goal is to produce more quality metaphors than "Nothing but the Rain."  Start with simple goals is the motto.

I apologize for the sudden notice regarding my termination, but I think in the end it is the decision that is best for my future.  I leave you all with the immortal words of Bill Paxton and the title of this post.

Game over, man.  Game over...

See you all stateside.  Moosebird out.