Good morning.
I wrote something a little while back along the lines of, “I wish I could talk to more human beings and just learn about other people, but to meet every human in the world would take something like 250 years, to that’s impossible.”
I love talking to people and learning about their lives. It’s fascinating to me, to be able to talk to someone and start understanding where they come from and how their life has shaped and influenced their feelings, opinions, mannerisms, etc.
So as I poured myself a bowl of one of my favorite breakfast cereals, I figured I could use my blog as a platform to give that opportunity to you dear reader, to learn more about me. I think that’s one of the best things to see in a blog. The author being genuine, personable, and honest. I’ve been trying to put a little more of myself into my writing because I want people to know that I’m not a crazy, I’ve just had a series of experiences and education that has led me to be who I am.
I also have the remix of My Favorite Things by Julie Andrews from one of those car commercials on Hulu months ago, stuck in my head, which made me think to lay out some of my favorites.
Favorite Videogame: Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Why? Growing up, my first console was a Nintendo GameCube, and one of the games we got, was FF:CC. Now, I don’t remember getting the game. I don’t know if it was a birthday or Christmas present, or if I picked it out at a local EB Games (yeah it was a long time ago). At any rate, I played it single player and loved it, but couldn’t get very far because at one point, you need to use spell fusion (casting two spells at the same on the same spot) and I was too young to figure out how it worked correctly, but there was a multiplayer option. My dad and I looked into it, and you needed connector cables to connect a GameBoy Advance, to the GameCube, and luckily my dad and I both had GBAs, so we bought the cables and voila, we could play 2-player. I played with my dad, and then with my sisters once they were old enough. Years later, like at least 8+, my dad got my sisters used GBAs and cables for Easter, so we could play with four people, and man, we played almost all day. I have some of the best memories of playing that game with my family, and I loved games I could play with people I really enjoyed.
The game itself has easy-to-learn-hard-to-master gameplay, which was a little before it’s time. The music was stunning, the graphics were awesome at the time, with different models for weapon upgrades and flashy spells that behaved in unique ways (at the time), like casting Cure, and being able to walk into the healing cloud a half a second later and still benefit from the heal. I’ll reiterate the soundtrack, which we used to get up and dance along to at the Annual Festival. It was a whole experience for young me, and I love that game, now and forever. Luckily, it’s being re-released for Nintendo Switch, and PS4 sometime in Winter of 2019, so the hype train is real for me and the family for holiday season this year. Hopefully online play means I can play with me and my SO at home, online with my dad and sister at my folks house. It’s going to be unreal, and I may not be around to write for a few days.
Runner Ups: Halo: Combat Evolved, or as I like to call it Halo 1, was one of the really formative games for me as well. I was the only one of my friend group to have an original Xbox, and I had three other friends (the original four) who would come over to play Halo and drink Sprite into the late hours of the night. Halo remains one of my favorite series to this day. Yes, even four and five, and guess what? Reach was my least favorite Halo game. I know. #UnpopularOpinion.
StarWars Battlefront 2, the original one, not the abomination that EA created for the re-release, was another awesome childhood game. My dad and I would play galactic conquest on days when we were doing laundry because we could play two games in the time it took our washer to run a cycle and it was a perfect way to spend time between swapping loads. Also played this one with friends and it remains, to this day, one of the few First Person Shooter (FPS) games that had a standard mode that incorporated objectives well without changing the focus of the game to that of an objective type.
Finally, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, was a freebie on Xbox Live Gold a couple years ago, and I got it and played it in one afternoon and it got me teary. Really simple, but beautiful game with lots of interestingly designed puzzles and levels, and a simple but truly touching story, presented in an eloquent manner. Really worth checking out.
Favorite Animal: Sea Hare, Aplysia Dactylomela (The Spotted Sea Hare)
Why? Back in 7th grade, I had an opportunity to go to Andros Island Field Station in the Bahamas with my College Prep Biology class, and I signed up to go. I wasn’t the best swimmer, I didn’t like sun and heat, but it was a very cool thing to do and I wanted to have an adventure. I felt like going with friends and a teacher was pretty safe, and we’d get to see lots of cool stuff, which we did. The coolest thing to me however, aside from pirate loot caves we weren’t really allowed to explore, was the discovery of a large slug-like creature.
I think it was Gwen, a girl in the group who pointed it out and asked what it was while we were wading in some shallows around wherever we were on the island. Our teacher pointed out that it was called a Sea Hare, and picked one up. We all picked one up since there were like 20 of them in the area, and after a moment, one of the girls screamed and dropped it, because her hands were a reddish-purple, and she thought it had bit her, or that she had hurt it. Teacher explained that it was their defense mechanism, spitting out a rose-scented, thick mucous-like goo that would scare would be predators, and if some predator had it it’s in mouth, the mucous would clog the would-be killers throat and force them to cough/spit the sea hare out. He had me at rose-scented goo though. I held mine lovingly, and it still spit out the goo, and it did indeed smell like roses. You’ll learn that red is my favorite color here soon, but I was totally enthralled. I loved the thing, and I could hardly explain it, which to me meant that means it must be true love. It was like the ultimate gentleman prey (like me in middle-school/high-school) and it was so simple, and it felt so cool to hold. I’d have one as a pet if I could reasonably, but for now, I’ll admire these gorgeous creatures from afar.
Runner Ups: I have a bunch of other favorite animals but I’ll be quick about these. Wombats and Mongooses tie for my second favorite. Wombats because, just go look at a picture of one, they’re like chubby faced little puff bears. Also, when we went for hikes in the woods at my parents house (and at DisneyWorld) we’d use walkie-talkies and my callsign was “Wombat” picked by my dad. I didn’t know what it was as a kid and didn’t bother to look until years after, and I was not at all disappointing. As for mongooses, this spawns from the animated movie Rikki-Tikki Tavi which we watched a lot as kids for some reason, but as a kid, and still today, snakes remain my least favorite animal and mongooses are basically professional snake slayers. Love ’em.
Hummingbirds claim the number three spot for me, majestic, gentlemen birds who appreciate good flowers (maybe a theme here), and look damn beautiful. One of my best childhood friends drew me a hummingbird for a birthday present and that’s stuck with me also.
Finally, Otters coming in at number four. Another “gentleman” animal, who holds his partners hand while she sleeps so they don’t float away. My SO and I sometimes hold hands and one of us will say “don’t float away” and it’s pretty cute. They’re also pretty ingenious, opening shellfish on rocks they hold on their little tummies, being agile and slick, they also look pretty cute (and can look vicious when they need to).
Favorite Color: Red, with the shades Vermilion, and Crimson.
Why? Red is the color of blood and honor. According to color psychology it’s the power color, demanding attention, inducing feelings of admiration and love, and being warm and safe feeling (also anger but glossing over that). Crimson emerged as a result of the color name on the palette available in the Halo games. My spartan was often Crimson and Steel colored, and I later changed to a dark blue and steel because that blended in with maps easier, but I’ll never forget the Crimson days. Vermilion is interesting as a color I think. It’s kind of brilliant, it’s dusty, I learned it was made from cinnabar and that was a cool thing considering I didn’t know where other colors came from. There is a book called Vermilion by Molly Tanzer that was recommended by a podcaster named Scott Johnson who I’ve followed and respected for years, that I was gifted and read a year or two ago that is really great.
Favorite Book: The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne.
Why? My dad read a lot to me as a kid. He read me most of The Chronicles of Narnia, the first Harry Potter book, as well as The Mysterious Island. It was one of the best things that I was capable of imagining at the time. It was like a fantasy book (my favorite genre), strangers in a strange place kind of, but they weren’t strangers, they were civil war fighters. It was set in realistic history, and they didn’t have magic, although the science described felt like magic to young me. There’s so much in the book from the use of physics and knowledge to survive, to unlikely discoveries and the castaways invention of known things, and parts of the story revealed near the end really blew my mind as a kid. Really a tremendous literary work I recommend to anyone and everyone.
Runner Ups: The Redwall series by Brian Jacques was another important series for me as a kid. The first book, Redwall was gifted to me by my elusive and mysterious cousin Sean. He was, and remains, one of the most interesting people I’ve ever known. He was the one who gifted me and my sisters with the GameCube, and another time he visited he gave me this used, well-worn copy of Redwall and told me to just read it because I’d like it. I read the first page and didn’t like it, but I tried again months later and loved it. Birthdays and other gifts from then on almost always included at least one other book from the series. Serious in lots of ways, the fantastical animal world described within I think taught me a lot as a kid.
Finally, Malcom Gladwell’s books are some of my favorites in my adulthood, but aren’t as fun and enjoyable. They’re best for learning how the world works, and learning things you didn’t expect that make you ask, “Well, if someone has this figured out, why the actual fuck does everyone not understand this?!”. He also does a Podcast called Revisionist History, where he talks about things that were misunderstood or misinterpreted throughout history. Now, I’m not a history guy, but Gladwell makes it’s really approachable, and talking about ways that human beings have messed up is right up my alley. The first season is amazing, although it’s really disheartening to hear some of it. Some human beings really are scumbags.
Favorite Song: Lifetime Waiting List, by The PirkQlaters.
Why? The first time I heard this was on Pandora, and it was the only place it was available, until the album became available on Amazon music or whatever (I was a teenage, not paying for music). I had gotten super into Ska when one of my buddies introduced us all to Streelight Manifesto. While on a Ska Pandora station, this song played, and I loved it. There was a girl I liked throughout school who I tried to kiss once and she didn’t want to (I didn’t) and we dated a few times, but never stayed together even though at the time I thought it was destiny (man middle-school sucks). Anyway, there is a line in the song, “from your kiss, to your lifetime waiting list for me.” I felt like it was really speaking to me, and since moving on from that girl, I’ve interpreted the song to apply to any relationship, from the first kiss to the lifetime waiting list, there’s always something we’re waiting for, and maybe it’s sad, but the song is great, and remains my favorite.
Runner Ups: The Hymn of a Broken Man, by Times of Grace, is likely the single most applicable song for like, human beings, today (October 16th 2019). Especially living in the United States, the lyrics, “why do we live so blind, like a fallen angels eyes, torn inside, this is the hymn of a broken man.” I’ve written a bunch about how deluded Americans are, although I don’t know that I’ve really outlined all the ways that every citizen, whether they think it, agree with it, or see it or not, are being treated by the government/system, exactly as a battered woman is treated by her abusive husband. Seriously, look at the cycle of violence that psychologists have crafted to describe abusive relationships, and literally every American citizen is being abused by the system. Unfortunately, just like in cases of abusive relationships, the victim has been manipulated so much that they’ll defense their abuser no matter how much it hurts them. Why do we live so blind?
The Strength To Go On by Rise Against also falls under the “seriously applicable lyrics” especially the chorus intro, “What we are is the sum of a thousand lies, what we know is almost nothing at all.” Human beings think we’re so fucking smart and great, but if that’s the case why are millions of us suffering? Why does someone kill themselves every 11 minutes? We don’t know shit, and our hubris is one of the things slowly undoing us as a race (yes RACE, because having a different skin color doesn’t mean you’re a different race, the fact that people believe that should be mind-blowing and infuriating to anyone who gets it. Dwarves are different race, Elves, Trolls, etc. read a book jeez).
Favorite Breakfast Cereal: Count Chocula.
Why? I said that the beginning that this whole post was spurred on by me pouring a bowl of one of my favorites, Boo Berry. Unfortunately, our local Price Chopper has Boo Berry and Franken-Berry, but no Count Chocula for whatever asinine reason. Seriously, if you manage a grocery store, what in the world are you doing not carrying all the Monster Cereals in the month of October? It’s a serious profit loss. Anyway Count Chocula is easily the best breakfast cereal.
I had a discussion once about how much you could tell from someone based on their favorite breakfast cereal, and I think that there is some small amount of accuracy to that. I mean, you know someone whose favorite breakfast cereal is Cheerios (not honey-nut, but regular), is going to be different from someone whose favorite is Fruity Pebbles. I think Count Chocula suits me pretty well, although the person I was having the discussion with pegged me as a Corn Flakes person, so take from that what you will.
Runner Ups: Obviously any non-Count Chocula Monster Cereal is way up on the list, but Frosted Flakes come in second for me.
Life Pro Tip: Try Frosted Flakes with chocolate milk. You’re welcome.
I’d love to hear what other people’s favorite things are. Comment, or tweet at me @jmskoda5 to tell me about your favorite Game, Animal, Color, Book, Song, or Breakfast Cereal!
