Easter Sunday 2010

And what am I doing - studying this beautiful afternoon. In my little office at school, with posters on the wall and books (textbooks and board review books) scattered across my two tables. I opened the window, and am letting the sun and fresh air waft in - not as fully as it should, considering my office is half-way underground.

Worried about boards (a little over 2 months away). But I am pressing onward. USMLE World qbank - my study weapon of choice.

I got a really nice easter present from my current gf - a basket full of sugar free candy, a stuffed chicken (to go next to my valentine's stuffed dog) and a grow your pet out of an egg. Nice start to my afternoon. I called and left a message telling her thank you and asking her to call me back.

Beautiful Easter. And about the picture? Cadbury Cream Egg - a symbol and one of the best parts of Easter.

So... where do I find myself today?

So... where do I find myself today?

10 years ago I was prepa

ring to go to Auburn School of Pharmacy. Today I am finishing up m

y second year of med school. 10 years ago I was 20, 199 lbs and unable to gain an

y weight. Today I am 30, 214 lbs, and have to work to keep off the weight. 10 years ago I had no idea I would one day be in medical school. I only wanted to be an pharmacist and make lots of money.

10 years ago the PS1 was all the rage. Final Fantasy, Xenogears, Crash Bandicoot, and a new game about to come out - Chrono Cross. Today PS3, XBox 360, Nintendo Wii dominate.

I am becoming reminiscent, because I just finished playing a round of Chrono Cross, the great Playstation RPG that I never played. It is two generations old, an

d I finally broke down and purchased it Friday. I also purchased a memory card, and a strategy guide (both used) for the game, on Amazon, where over 10 years ago I also purchased Xenogears. At this time 10 years ago I was in the process of beating Xenogears - they don’t make ‘em like that anymore.

Playing C

hrono Cross (and bein

g sick with this bad cold) makes me a little melancholy - and reminiscent. When I first started AUSOP it was so exciting, I was making many wonderful new friends, and having the time of my life. Playing a classic PS1 RPG takes me back to those times.

I often wish that I had kept a journal of the past 10 years. Today, I would enjoy looking back on it and seeing how I had changed and grown over the years. So I have decided to begin keeping one. I have taken some very, very big d

etours along the way, and things certainly didn’t turn out the way I thought they would; but they have turned out better than I could ever have imagined, despite bumps in the road.

So, my first entry is going to be about video game RPGs. I really consider the late 90’s, and early 2000’s the golden age of video games. Think about it, can anything really compare to FFVII, FFVIII, Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Chrono Cross, Legend of Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon Saga? I started to lose interest in RPGs wi

th Kingdom Hearts; I didn’t like that I couldn’t control everyone the way I once had. The last video game where I could truly do that was Xenosaga III. Star Ocean, Till The End of Time was a lot of fun, so I didn’t mind that I couldn’t control everyone.

Anyway, I remember my roommate at Auburn playing Chrono Cross and myself being fascinated with the premise of so many characters. I read through his strategy guide, but I didn’t have time to play, I was busy going out, g

oing to parties, making friends (not studying). I didn’t have time to lose myself in a world of make believe. There was too much good, exciting stuff going on around me.

Now I find myself making time to play a classic video game once again. There is still lots of wonderful stuff going on around me, but hey, I am sick with a cold.

Starting with FFVII, Squaresoft became expert in making RPGs with surprise multiple twists. You start out playing the game with the expectation you were going to face off against a certain enemy, and end up fighting someone or something very far removed from your original expectations. The story lines had several major plot twists; this technique was furthered in FFVIII and really extended in Xenogears (where you initially did not even have a major

enemy).

The graphics in Chrono Cross were considered very good on the original Playstation (in fact, the game is one of the few to receive a perfect 10 from gamespot.com), and today they hold up reasonably well, considering they are from two generations ago.

I am playing Chrono Cross on my 42” plasma HDTV, and I get the impress

ion that the colorful graphics were designed for the original tube tv, where the lack of definition could be better disguised. I am catching on to the battles system, and cheating by reading a classic online guide to help me find the elements and characters that I would miss otherwise. Despite the graphical shortcomings and PS1 sound, I find myself getting caught up in the storyline, and wanting to go downstairs at 5:30am to play some more and see where the game is heading.

But, I am a med student, and have some studying to catch up on (BOARDS!). I will go study, then come back home later, nap, and play some more.