Plaidophile

I think we should just realize that people have their specialties, and when they know what they're doing we shouldn't waste time debating with them.

— James, in response to Antoine spending about two hours arguing with me about a window-drawing mechanism he couldn't wrap his mind around

I've suddenly gained a lot of respect for him — he actually does know where his knowledge is lacking, and actually does want to learn!

I will be really happy when the primary dev cycle is finished, because I'm getting pretty sick of 10-hour workdays.

At least I finally got my travel/hotel/etc. reimbursement today so I can actually start buying furniture.

I finally decided to get off my ass and see some of the live music that NYC had to offer. On Craigslist I found a thing for a mashup of Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of the Moon, with the twist being that DSotM was to be played live.

The whole time I've been here I have been on a quest to find a good hamburger.

I have finally found a good hamburger.

My plan for today was to try to leave work early and then move into my apartment afterwards. But then I got so heavily into DS programming and got a great handle on programming the main screen, but then discovered that I had to change like everything to get the second screen going (thanks to the excruciatingly messy memory mapping). But it's not that big a deal all told. But by the time I was done discussing that with Antoine (mostly just trying to explain what I'd found about the memory mapping issues) and also going over the animation compression with him some more, it was like 7:15 and I was pretty wasted.

So I emailed Antoine and told him that I'll be coming in around noon tomorrow so I can move in to my apartment. I'll probably buy some furniture too. Since having a place to sleep will be rather nice.

Sometimes I can't help but wonder how much truth there is to a certain saying.

So, on the first day of my job, I have already managed to become the de-facto audio lead (in addition to platform graphics lead), thanks to having a great idea on how to take advantage of the first game's design (and the design of the Nintendo DS's audio engine) to drive the music as an integral, emotion-enhancing experience rather than just being the add-on that it would normally be. (I strongly feel that games which make the music part of the game are always going to have a deeper emotional impact and just plain be Better.)

Also, I was extremely lucky to get this job — not just because of the "OMG I'm a game programmer!" bit, but because of the chain of events which led to me getting it.

Grumble. T-Mobile lets you change your phone number, but they don't provide any sort of forwarding/notification on the old one — it just gives callers a "This number has been changed" message.

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I've noticed a pretty disturbing trend with a lot of the music being played on the radio here, which I'd noticed starting back when I stopped listening to the radio to begin with: A lot of so-called "remixes" of popular songs where they've just taken the existing song and dubbed in a crappy hardhouse beat loop.

I mean, I already have a pretty high standard for what makes a remix worth listening to, and this is just way below that standard. But it seems like this is the only way classic rock is played on the radio here. Do people just have specific expectations for the percussion and EQ of a track nowadays?

I have a job

I have come to the conclusion...

It's pretty obvious that I have the job if I want it. But I have only four hours to make a decision whether I want it or not. (Yes, I do need to decide.)

Today is the day I get a job.

Wish me luck.

4:55 EDT Back at the hotel room.

I almost had my first bit of culture shock. I needed something to drink, and I headed to the corner market to pick up some Negro Modelo.

Which, apparently, isn't so easy to find in New York. (It turns out it's 2,000 miles away from Mexico. Who knew?)

Fortunately, Corsendonk, a Belgian ale I'd never heard of (I was attracted to its champagne-esque packaging, to the point that I didn't notice the $7 pricetag for a pint and a half), is plentiful here — and tastes way better.

I just had the best bagel ever.

Or at least the best bagel I'd ever had.