Yay for exercise videos that aren't obnoxious!

Yesterday Melissa came to Edmond and we went to see Crazy, Stupid, Love. I loved it! I loved the characters, especially Steve Carrell's and Emma Stone's, and JOSH GROBAN had a small role, too! Ha! I did not expect that. He was really funny! The whole movie was. The climax reminded me of a Shakespeare comedy, the way everything was drawn together with secrets exposed in a flurry of confusion. It's definitely one of the best romantic comedies I've seen in a few years. One thing that makes it so satisfying is the realism of the characters' pain, which the actors all pulled off. Definitely as good as Love Actually (to which it is similar), if not better.

Last week I bought the new downloadable content for Dragon Age II. And I actually finished it the next day. It was quite fun. There were new locations, which was nice, since the main game reuses the same caves and warehouses over and over. And the new plot stuff was interesting, too. I love the Dragon Age writers. I'm ready for them to make another game that has the awesome combat of II with the more extensive plot of Origins. Then I can go back to wiling away the hours sitting at my computer!

Speaking of sitting, I didn't do much of that today! I had planned to get up at 8 this morning to go on a walk before it got too hot, but didn't get out of bed till 11. BUT... I decided to check out a work out video from the library. It's called "Fit in Your Jeans by Friday" with Kim Kardashian and her personal trainer. Lol. I don't care about Kim Kardashian at all, but the description on the back of the case made it seem interesting, so I tried it. I liked the trainer a lot! She was encouraging and helpful without being really annoying and overly energetic. And the background music isn't obnoxious, which is a plus. The video, which focuses on abs and upper body, had some hard bits, but it was mostly pretty easy. I'm gonna see if I'm sore at all tomorrow and if I am, then maybe I'll use some of the stuff in the video to create my own workout routine. I think creating a routine of my own would be good so that I can strengthen what I want to and do exercises I like. Listening to my own music would be nice, too.

I've started drinking tea again the last few days. It's nice. I should really keep it up, 'cause tea is good for you and it's yummy and it relaxes me. It also kinda reminds me of being in Ireland.

Doop dee doo...

It's been a while since I've posted. Because... well... I'm obsessed with Dragon Age: Origins.

It's my first RPG and I freaking love it. The fighting is fun and all that, but really, my favorite part is talking to the characters. I tried playing World of Warcraft a while back, but I didn't get into it because it's all fighting--if you interact with anyone, you're just reading text. Dragon Age has speaking roles, and legit voice actors. Your main character has a group of up to 9 people he/she travels with, and you can talk to them to make them like you, or dislike you. You can even give them gifts and go on special quests for them to gain their approval, and with high approval, you can start a romance with one of them. Ha! My favorite character is Alistair, voiced by Steve Valentine. He is endearingly awkward and loves to make silly jokes, which I tend to laugh out loud at while I'm playing.

The writing for this game is spectacular! And it's so fun to be able to choose what kind of person your character is by the kind of responses you give--wise cracks, flattery, compassion, pragmatism, etc. The game takes around 80 hours to complete and I finished it in just over a week... my first time around. By now, I'm on my 4th character, which means I've completed the game 3 times and it still fascinates me. Not only are the stories slightly different depending on your race, class, and gender (my favorite class is Mage--with the Arcane Warrior specialization), but also depending on what choices you make through the game--who you choose to be nice to, who you choose to support or piss off. Apparently the game has nine novels worth of text, and I seem determined to go through as much of that text as possible.

I will also say that the excellent writing is well acted, too. The voice acting REALLY impressed me--it's better than in some animated (or live action) movies. It makes interacting with the characters that much more fun. Two actors I love from Star Trek: Voyager are also in the game as minor characters: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway) and Tim Russ (Tuvok).

The game is a bit pricey at $50, but it's one of those you can play over and over without it being the same. I already feel like I've played it enough for it to be worth it, and I'll be creating more characters yet. The only bad thing about it for me is that it helps me procrastinate on homework and other things I don't want to do. :P I won't be surprised if I end up buying the extention, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, fairly soon.