On the bus home...

A week or so ago, on the bus home from classes, I saw this poem by Walt Whitman on the bus wall:

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,

When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,

When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,

How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,

Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,

In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,

Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

I'm usually not one for poetry, but I adore this one. All the stuff you learn about the universe, and how old it is, and how mind-bendingly big it is--it can make your brain hurt. It's nice to just sit and look at the stars every now and then, and just appreciate how beautiful and magical they seem.

Women and Gaming

When I saw this article on CNN.com, my first instinct was to roll my eyes. I thought it would be yet another condescending article telling guys that to get their girlfriend to play video games, all the had to do was get her "cute" and "easy" games, like Animal Crossing or Princess Peach, and help her with the bosses, because they would be too hard for her. However, it mostly dealt with how one group is trying to get more females into the game industry.

I remember getting so mad at the articles I saw in gaming magazines about women and gaming. They were usually accompanied by sexually suggestive pictures of women, and talked about women like we wouldn't know how to jump and hit a Goomba on its head. Ugh, I did a Google search trying to see if I could find any of those old magazine articles. Instead I found this crap.

I suppose I shouldn't get too worked up. I know some women that love the girly-girl games, and I'm just coming at it from a "I've been gaming since I could hold a controller" mind set. Not everyone can be as awesome as me. :-)