I think it's time for another Vegas trip. I know, I know....I'm addicted. :) The funny thing is I'm not addicted to the gambling. I guess that's not so funny, it's actually a perk. Cause I can go to Vegas and not have to worry about losing my shirt at the tables or a one-armed bandit. Don't get me wrong, I do gamble whenever I go, but I only spend like $20...if that...over 2 day period. My primary motivation for going to Vegas is just to see everything. Vegas is such an unreal place to visit. The architecture is amazing. I find it fun to just walk the strip and "People-Watch". Another reason I love to go is the road trip. I love driving....so therefore I love road trips. :) And the scenery you see when you drive is amazing. And I've done this enough times now, to know that you can't do it in a day. I'm know because I've tried. :) If you leave at like 9am you don't get to Vegas until about 5 hours later. And you can't possible see everything and still have the energy to drive home later that night, besides if you don't get to Vegas until 2pm, you will probably stay until 11pm, thus not getting home until 4am. And that's a VERY long day.

Look at the times of the last few posts....can you say SLACKER? :)

I might post the latest version of the level in ZIP form soon. It needs some serious texture work done on it, but the basic object creation stage is pretty much finished. Janell seemed to like it anyway. :) Of course that's probably only because I put in one of her favorites...the gimongous exploding chandelier. :) She loves to whip out her Sig and blast it to bits, which is no easy task considering that there are approximately 30 panels of illuminate, translucent glass that overlap to create the huge hanging giant.

I'm finding that Texturing is probably the hardest part about map creation for CounterStrike. I can't really find good textures for the walls or floor of my new level. And I really suck at doing that type of drawing. I guess I need to partner with someone, where I create the basic level layout, and someone else does the texturing. So if anyone knows someone who is great at texturing in WorldCraft or Hammer, but can't build walls for shit, lemme know. :)

I'm gonna need to rework the music section soon. Ever since Launch was bought...or should I say assimilated!...by Yahoo, they've been dropping features like hot potatoes. The way LaunchCasts are played now is different. You can't link to a specific video anymore through a link, and it automatically dumps you into other videos when your's finishes playing. Sometimes I think Yahoo IS the Borg! You know, Resistance is Futile, and all that crap. They're the Microsoft of the internet...why bother creating our own stuff when we can buy someone elses? eGroups, Launch, even GeoCities hosting has fallen to Yahoo. Or maybe just create something that someone else already does...like Maps (MapQuest), Auctions (eBay), or BillPay (PayPal). I mean really, have they come up with an original idea since they launched that search engine so many years ago?

I chatted with my friend Paul last night. He used to work with me at the computer stores I'm still at. He's left though and is now back to selling Jewelry, which he did before he joined with us. But he finds the hours long...not quite as long as what we used to pull..and what I still pull....but still long and tiring. He thinks I should move on like he has, but I'm not sure. I mean the job market really isn't the greatest right now, and I doubt I'd be able to come anywhere close to what I make here now! But the idea is a tempting one...I'd love to go into business for myself...maybe as a web designer...or graphics arts of some kind. I've dabbled in so many things in my time though that they all are interesting. I've worked with an architect for a couple years, drawing houses, businesses, you name it. Then I did some graphic design work on my own, for friends and previous workplaces. I've worked in libraries, in circulation, cataloging, and a couple other departments too. Started getting into web design, and actually have a couple sites for businesses under my belt. But most recently, I've been in computer retail, which I enjoy a lot...but probably not as much as I have other projects in the past. I do enjoy being able to see the new stuff when it comes it. But thanks to our current company make-up, it's really hard to get certain days off...since we really don't have employees to cover my absence.

I never realized how much until recently, but our perception of New York has been forever altered since that horrible day in September. I've been watching a lot more movies recently, and the towers show up in almost every movie set in New York. If you wanted to show the audience the setting was New York, you could just show the skyline. I recently stayed at New York, New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and above the reception desk is a huge mural painting of Manhattan's skyline, with those two giants anchoring the left end. My room had a picture in it too....of those towers. And on the New York website, the towers are an integral part of their logo...the skyline...now forever changed. Those two towers defined New York. And now that clean-up is ending, and reconstruction is beginning, it's hard for me to imagine anything else on that site, other than those two towers. Will it ever be the same? Probably not... Is it good that it isn't the same so we never forget?