This is my blog; I hope you enjoy it..
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• 2Sep 08

  Why **** SCHOOL!!! will be my permanent catch phrase until I graduate

  So, I've already been too busy doing schoolwork for the past week even though school hasn't started. *Did he say week?* Yeah I said week - that's what happens when you're gifted and have to put your talents to good use. Literally half of my time at school this year will be in AP classes, 3 of my 7 classes are APs (one is a double-block so it meets every day instead of every other day). 1 of the remaining 4 is an Honors class, and luckily, the other 3 are non-Honors, including Photo-shop (so I can actually make avatars, banners, and sigs), and Gym, which doesn't really count because everyone has to take Gym.

  That first paragraph might lead you to believe that I'm just a whiny little ***** who doesn't appreciate his talents, but the only two reasons I'm this frustrated right now are the following:
  1) Summer is supposed to be for relaxation and fun, not ****ing schoolwork and stress.
  2) I'm not taking cIasses I *want* to take, (with the exception of AP Psychology), but rather cIasses I'm *supposed* to take to help get into college.

  College is a much different story. You mostly take cIasses that you *want* to take, (with the exception of some general 1st year cIasses that I probably already tested out of), there is no such thing as schoolwork in the summer, (unless you want to take a summer cIass which I would never do - the summer is mine, damnit! - internship maybe, cIass no), and the scheduling is more flexible so you don't have to get up at 6:15 and be in cIass by 7:30.

  That's why high school can kiss my ass and college can bring it on. I've been taking college level courses since my Freshman year, but without the college environment and lifestyIe it's just adding to the workload of the hell that is high school.

  The only bad thing about college is getting accepted - there's a ****load of work to do regarding applications, letters of recommendation, scholarships, financial aid, etc ... which just adds to my stress level and lack of free time - as if my actual schoolwork wasn't enough.

  So, don't be surprised if I disappear for weeks at a time - it won't be because I went anywhere or because I'm dead, but just because of ****ing high school. But hey, this is my last year of high school which means it's also my last summer with schoolwork - and that mean next summer is going to be the greatest ****ing summer of my life ... or else!

  Anway, I won't be completely gone for the school year - but my presence will probably consist of random commenting, random short blogs, and hopefull a few *real* blogs from time to time so I don't go completely insane. I've also saved up a few blogs that I wrote during the summer and will post them randomly throughout the year.

  Now to wrap up my end-of-summer gaming endeavors. Remember when I said I'd finish MGS3 before summer was over - I lied - either that, or I meant next summer because I still haven't started it yet. >__>

  As I expected, War of the Lions has been eating up my free time - I've already poured in 75+ hours into that game. The last time I was addicted this much to any game was FFTA for the GBA a few years back, so I expected this to happen.

  Now if this blog doesn't break the record for angry emoticons, then I'm just going to have to find something else that pisses me off even more and do another rant. With that said, I've got to back to my summer assignments.

  **** SCHOOL!!!

  - Patrick

  • Posted Sep 2, 2008 11:36 pm GMT
  • Category: Rant
  • 11 Comments
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• 31Aug 08

  ***EDIT*** Enter the Great Egg White Challenge for a chance to win $500!

  If you haven't heard yet, Dunkin' Donuts is having a promotional sweepstakes for their new Egg White flatbread sandwhiches, and you can enter for a chance to win $500, (the winning store/employees also get prizes as an incentive to spread the word). All you have to do is go to http://greateggwhitechallenge.com/consumer.aspx and enter in your information. Enter the number "336904" where it says "Code indicated on your "Buzz Card"".

  Then, scroll down next to where it says "Name of Crew Member listed on your "Buzz Card"" and select my name - if it does not appear initially, click "Submit" after entering the six number code but before you've entered all your information. The site will then prompt you to finish entering your information, and then the scroll down list should appear. Please make sure you enter my name as I won't get any credit if my name is not selected. Finally, just check the box that says "I have read and agree to the Sweepstakes Official Rules," leave a comment about the sandwhich if you've tried it, (if you haven't tried it, just check one of the boxes below), and click "submit" for a chance to win $500.
  
  The deadline to enter is September 8th so make sure you do so before then. If you don't want to enter yourself, you can just PM me your information and I'll do the rest for you. The information I need is your first name, last name, address, city, zip code, phone number, and e-mail address - so just PM with the information and I will enter you in myself. You can enter several times using the e-mail accounts and information of your family and friends to increase your chances of winning, but just keep the deadline in mind.

  That's all for this blog - I'll make a proper blog about transitioning from summer to school the next time I get a chance. Just expect a general decrease in activity from me starting from now pretty much until school ends as this is an EXTREMELY busy year for me.

  - Patrick Abdelmessih

  ***EDIT***
  Apparently I forgot to read the rules and mention that this is only for people living in the Tri-State area (New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut), because apparently Dunkin' Donuts hates the rest of the world.

  • Posted Aug 31, 2008 1:58 pm GMT
  • Category: Other
  • 17 Comments
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• 18Aug 08

  My first gaming shopping spree!

  If you can even call this a shopping spree that is. Now this is nothing on the level of say Dan (aka nyc05), but hey, it's pretty respectable when you consider I've only been working a minimum wage job for the past 2 summers.

  So, in the past week I've gotten the following:

  PS2:

  • Devil May 5th Anniversary Collection which inlcudes Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 2, and Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening Special Edition, all for $29.99! I had planned on getting this every since I heard about, and just finally decided to get it at the mall earlier today. I know some may say that I should have just gotten DMC1 and DMC3, but I hate skipping games in a series and would always prefer new rather than used games whenever possible

  PSP:

  • Final Fantasy Tactics: the War of the Lions for $19.99. I got the Daxter pack for the PSP last November, and haven't gotten a single other game for it until now. I have a list of several other games that I want for my PSP, including MGS, Killzone, and GTA, but this is the game I was in the mood for the most. The price drop also influenced my decision.
  • Nyko Charger Grip (external battery) for $29.99. I basically just saw this at Gamespot and thought "why not?" It makes the PSP much more comfortable to play on and essentially doubles the play time for it as well. $30 did seem a bit expensive for me, but it's worth it if it means I'll get more use out of my PSP.

  PS3:

  • Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for $54.99 (new) at Target! If you read my previous blog, you know I won't be playing MGS4 until I have finished MGS3 and have an HDTV to play on. The only reason I bought it now when I don't intend to play it for a while is because Target had it on sale (sorry, but it ended on Saturday). I'm guessing that by the time I'm ready to play MGS4, it will still cost $59.99 for a new copy, so I figured I'd save $5 and just get in now on sale.

  Gamecube:

  *... what!? I didn't know abdel had a Gamecube!?* Well, I do and I don't. I recently traded my PS2 to my cousin for his Gamecube since neither of us actually needed it anymore. I play my PS2 games on my PS3 and he plays his Gamecube games on his Wii, so I thought "why don't we trade" and of course, he agreed. So now I have a Gamecube until he decides he wants to trade back for whatever reason. He also gave me Super Smash Bros Melee, Soul Calibur II, and True Crime: New York City and I let him borrow some of my games as well.

  • Used Gamecube wired controller with extension cord for $16.98. My cousin only gave me one of his three controllers because he still uses two of them for Brawl and other games, so I just got another controller in case I have company, which I actually do. My dad's cousin's family from Egypt has been staying with us for the past few weeks.

  Wii:

  *... what!? I didn't know abdel had a Wii!?* Well, no, I don't ... at least not yet. While I do plan to get one eventually because I have far too many non-gamer friends that I need to entertain, for now I just play with my cousin's Wii. *insert dirty joke here*

  • No More Heroes for $29.99. Since it was my cousin's birthday recently, (and by recently I mean June 24th), and I still hadn't gotten him a present, I decided to surprise him with this game a few days ago. I told him I would get Super Mario Galaxy which he inexplicably still does not own, but I opted for a cheaper game that I knew he still wanted. I also wanted to surprise him and I knew this would be a great game as well.

  That just about wraps up my first ever gaming shopping spree. I bought a total of six games and two accessories for a grand total of $181.93 + tax. Again, it's nothing on the level of some serious spenders like Daniel, for whom this is a normal week of spending, but hey, I've never bought this much stuff in such a short period of time, so I'm calling it a shopping spree damnit! Let me have my moment!

  In other news, I still have not started MGS3 yet. These new purchases will probably prolong me from playing for a little while, although I do plan to finish it before school starts.

  And on that note, **** school!

  That is all.

  - Patrick

  • Posted Aug 18, 2008 4:02 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
  • 23 Comments
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