Birthday shenanigans

While not quite the "weekend o' selfishness" that was one of the high points of 2006, today's lazy B-Day was a good recharge, and recapping it is kind of interesting to me. While the activities don't define me as a person anywhere near in totality, there are some things for me to consider, and for me to look at down the road to see if I feel like the same guy.

Might have been more exciting if I took a whole 4-day weekend like I'd originally planned, but Friday is our planned company-wide celebration for our Gamebryo LightSpeed product launch, and given how much of my life that sucked in, I'm not going to miss that, and not going to miss celebrating the folks who made it happen.

Anyway, here's the B-Day blow-by-blow:

Got up late, after desperately trying to sleep in. "Late" being 9 o'clock, as after about 8ish I start feeling lazy and squishy.

Read a few comic books -- notably the Sub-Mariner and Captain America number 1s, part of the Marvel's 70-year celebration, and Captain America: Theater of War / Brothers in Arms. I'm a Captain America fan (if you don't know that, you haven't been paying attention), but anytime Paul Jenkins writes him, I grit my teeth. Jenkins has got poorly veiled political views, and while I think he's a phenomenal writer, at times he Chuck Austen's his biases inappropriately on a character. His last Cap book was phenomenal, and this one was pretty good, though his biases showed through a few times, which for me is irritating by itself, but it hurt the flow of the book, so there were creative impacts. Still a worthwhile read, and Jenkins does raise some important stuff. There are also some good panel layouts in the book.

Then it was breakfast with my incredible family. Great food, coffee, and mealtime silliness, followed by running around too soon after eating too much, and some focused Flintstones re-enactments.

I grabbed the Nintendo DS and plowed through another chapter of Dragon Ball Z: Origins, which I still like as a franchise fan, even if the game implementation still irritates me (the non-skippable start-up sucks, and keeps me from swapping carts in and out).

My foot fell asleep during this play session, which made me think about character acting and believable affectations, so I spent some time working on a limp, a la The Usual Suspects, and realize I need to get some focused character acting coaching help.

I went back to comics with one of my other favorite characters, Beta Ray Bill, in the BRB: Invasion Aftermath one-shot. Brit writer Kieron Gillen does an interesting job in what could have come across as a heavy-handed tolerance and redemption tale, and pulls it off. I think he would have done better if he wasn't so vocally dismissive of the genre. But he sets up the upcoming new Godhunter BRB limited series well. And I'm glad Bill is getting some Marvel Universe love.

Then I dug into the art book and behind the scenes DVD content for Gears 2. I like the game and the franchise it's becoming quite a bit, know several of the folks who made it happen, and enjoy looking at the art and craft of bringing it together.

Then it was responding to several too-kind birthday wishes and notes (many via Facebook, to which I've recently fallen), as well as several Biz communications that I don't want to lag, despite today being my "day off". I don't think I ever want to take off from the Biz, and my current self-induced slump in response to a series of larger life happenings has gotten untenable. I also downloaded a bunch of free music from Amazon at the same time, to expand my musical palate (and maybe palette; but not pallet, unless metaphorically).

Then, It was off for a quick 3-mile run, which could have gone better if I A) hadn't eaten so much at breakfast; B) hadn't been sedentary typing beforehand; and C) North Carolina humidity wasn't so stifling. Still, a good run, and got the blood and creativity flowing.

Got back and did a quick spin through the house to do some minor chores (set up shelves in the garage, replace light bulbs, filters, and the like, etc.).

Then back to some me-time to take product picts and unbox several toys with which I've been delinquent in doing something (I really need to figure out a shelving display system for my new office). I watched the episodes of Marvel Super Heroes: What The --?!, then sent a quick note to the folks I know over at Marvel involved with the gig to see if I can be part of it. Must ... be a part ... of ... it.

Then a fantastic dinner / dessert / presents, where I got a pair of Sennheiser HD-280 headphones for my voice and production work. Been looking to get some decent professional 'phones for some time. Not sure if I'll keep them or swap for the Sony Pro MDR-7506, but regardless, I'm sooo grateful for the giftage.

Then, a bunch of long phone calls with the fam (the important stuff), before cider, TV, and Sweetie quality time.

Then Wolverine comics (Switchback from a South America team) and the Xbox 360 game; after a re-do of my theater setup (which did not go as smoothly as I'd hoped, but it's all good).

So I'm blessed six ways to Sunday, and had my first genuine day off in I don't know how long.