Monday, August 16, 2004

   And so it begins....
I've taken Shinmaru up on his challenge to see who can post for the most consecutive days. The terms of this are still a bit gray, but the posts have to be of a decent length and worth reading, not just random space filling crap.

I feel like I've already lost. :p

So, having missed posting yesterday, today is Day #1 on the count of The Most Consecutive Days of Posting Thing.

I seem to have myself trained, oddly enough, to wake up somewhere between 12 o'clock and 12:30. I only wake up before then to shut off my alarm, which I usually set to 6-7 o'clock. Then, occasionally, somebody will wake me up for one reason or another and I'll wind up getting out of bed at 11-something.

While I'm glad that I won't sleep past the hour of 12, I don't like missing all of those hours in the morning. I find that going to the gym helped, as I was getting up earlier, and the exercise more than woke me up. My dad has been sick lately, though, and my mom hasn't been getting up early enough to take me.

It's partially my fault, as well. If I were to actually get up, shut off my alarm, and not go back to bed, then I could go and wake one or both of them up. Then we could go to the gym. But, alas, I've never had much luck with alarm clocks. At first, when I actually used the alarm, it would never wake me up. Then, when I set the volume on the radio all the way up and set the radio as the alarm, that woke me up. Unfortunately, I'd just turn off the music and roll over in bed. So I, in my infinite wisdom, put the alarm clock across the room, so I would have to get up, walk over, and turn it off or else wake the whole household.

But I, ever the evolving sleep-monger, have developed a sort of half-sleep doze that allows me to shuffle over to the clock, disable it, and shuffle back to bed without ever fully waking up. Curse me and my body's evolutionary perfection.

On a somewhat related note, I weighed myself today.


*dramatic pause*











I've lost 9.5 pounds since I started this whole carb-watching exercising-more lifestyle change. I was most surprised, and very happy. ^_^

It's sort of funny, because last night I pigged out on lasagna and garlic bread at my grandparents' house. I had cake and ice cream, even, since it was a birthday party. :D

It was not some huge lapse in my thinking, however. I set aside one day a week for me to eat quasi-regularly. I found that the healthier eating was easier when you have one day of splurging to look forward to. The sudden spike in calories must have gotten my metabolism going, I guess, and today, the day after, I'm lighter than ever. =P

I read Henry James's The Turn of the Screw last night. It's one of the stories/books I have to read before school starts. For a remarkably well-written piece of literature, it's also seems amazingly long-winded. Hardly anything actually happens in the story, with large sums of words in place to describe, well, what seemed like nothing at all. O_o

I'm sure my class is going have a heck of a time discussing the story when the school year rolls around. >_>

So, two down and a bunch more to go. I've started reading Flag of Our Fathers, which doesn't give me a headache to read like Turn of the Screw did. It's written in a somewhat easy-going manner, which makes it actually enjoyable to read. Hey, wow. Nice.

It's raining out, but it's a nice cool rain, so I might go out for a walk later. I need to get to the library today and turn in some second form of identification, like a copy of my birth certificate or something. As soon as that gets done, the paperwork will be processed and I'll officially be hired. w00t!

And now I'll leave you with an amusing insult, courtesy of the Mimbrate knight, Mandorallen of Vo Ebor.

"My Lord, I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offense against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fir which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possible that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?"
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Saturday, August 14, 2004

You want something interesting to watch?
Olympic fencing is on today. Give it a look.
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Friday, August 13, 2004

I said I'd do it, and so...
The Querulous Queries of Solo!

(Okay, so they're no querulous. I just thought the word sounded cool, particularly with queries.)

"Speaking of 'broken' cards, don't you think BLS-Envoy of the Beginning and the Chaos Emperor Dragon ought to be banned too? Certainly the CED is far more destructive than Raigeki."

Chaos Emperor Dragon is definitely more destructive than Raigeki, and much more game-breaking. I think the reason they're keeping it around for now is because so many people are running Chaos Decks with this card at their head. Besides, it only came out, what...two sets ago? I figure they're giving it time to get old before banning it.

"I'd play with the ban list enforced- it makes things much more interesting."

You know, I'd like to? But, John is too dependant on the cards that are banned and won't agree to it. Not to mention the fact that our opinions of the ban list are different. I was under the impression that the ten cards I listed and critiqued were being banned, he said something about a different list he saw in a card shop. It was certified by Upper Deck, I guess, and it was coming into effect in September.

Maybe you and I could play with the ban list enforced? =P

Solo Tremaine (08/13/04)
I miss fencing, actually. I saw some fighting a couple of days ago and it made me want to try it again. Although... I prefer the stylishness of non-tournament fighting. The more realistic stuff, heh.

And refereeing fights can be painful, metally and physically. I got a nasty whip across the knuckles by a foil tip once. Big big bruise.

Heh, a lot of times I find myself thinking: "Now, if this were real, he wouldn't be able to use that arm." :p

And directing....eh. I've never liked directing. I can never follow the actions and reactions quite fast enough and I always get confused. v_v


...and then some.

Arcadia (08/12/04)
You already told me this, but hey, congrats congrats, Ben darling! (still jealous, though.)

I want to learn to fence. Hmm.

I found out that my starting pay is $7.10 an hour. ^____^

And fencing is very, very cool.

Starbound (08/12/04)
HEy!
I just came across your site, very cool. Congrads on the job! I need a job, lol, I'm so broke its not even funny. Its good you got your workout in, i didnt go to the gym today, couldnt get a ride, lol. Well, just stoping by. You seem like a cool person, is it ok if i add you as a friend? bubye

Starbound

I'm glad people like my site. Now if only they would comment more. ~_^ Also, I've added you as a friend. I'll have to remember to stop by again sometime.

Mimmi (08/13/04)
You got the job ! *celebrates with stuff that won't disturb the strict dietness*

Nicely done Ben ^_^

I've decided now that Sundays are my "Free Day" and I can eat just about anything I want then. It makes the whole thing much easier when I have something to look forward to. *plans splurging for Sunday*

Juuthena (08/13/04)
Ahhh... Fencing sounds like so much fun. ^___^

Too bad I'd prolly take someone's eye out, though. ...and with my luck, it'd prolly be mine. @_@;

(Oh, and congrats for getting a job, by the way. ^_^)

Fencing is so much fun. ^___^ And everybody wears masks during the bouts, there's very little chance of getting somebody in the eye. Especially your own, heh; people on my team have tried. >.>

And thanks for the congratulations. ^__^

Today, w00t

I got up in the later part of the seventh hour of today. My mom and I went to the gym and rode those backed bikes again, which was simply marvelous. I was able to go for a half an hour today, as opposed to the twenty minutes I normally strive for. I was reading the whole time, and that alleviated some of the stress, I think.

After that, I went home and took a shower. After my mom showered and got dressed, we headed over to the library so I could fill out my employment papers and such. We went up to the front desk, and were led down the hallway that I always assumed was just that; a hallway.

But it wasn't. It was a gateway to a whole different world within the library. There were other hallways branching off from it, with many doors and empty rooms and offices and stuff that most of the general public has no idea that it exists. I had no idea that the library extended into this vast, hidden world of unused rooms and...well, stuff.

So, my mom helped me fill out the forms, and I presented one form of ID to the woman who was working there. Apparently, though, I'd need another, more un-forge-able form of ID before the papers could be processed. Heh, despite that, I was given a work schedule. I start the 24th of August. ^___^

I went home for a little while, and at 2 I had my workout appointment with Jeremy. We worked out my lower body today, doing leg extensions, calf raises, etc. I just have to emphasize again: Jeremy is a very nice guy. Because, he just is. You should all work out with him.

Eh...after that I came home, and did some stuff on OB and various web surfing ensued.

This evening, I walked down to Sacred Heart to get some pictures from her, taken at her graduation. I was in them, and so she had gotten doubles so I could have a couple copies for myself. Just before I decided to leave, however, it began to rain. So, I hung out for a bit down at school, waiting for Victoria's mom to finish working so she could drive me home. Which, she insisted, was no trouble whatsoever.

So, I'm home. I plan on playing some Unreal Tournament 2003, and maybe reading. That's about it for tonight.

Incidentally, though, I was just informed today that somebody anonymously donated $4000 towards my tuition. Now, I don't know who it was, or whether they did it on my behalf or my parents', but that cut about 2/3 of the balance off. It was very helpful, to say the least. I just wonder who would do it. 0.o;

Ciao.
Comments (3) | Permalink

   Right. So.
Let me just start off by saying that I had a great time at fencing last night. Amanda, Megan, and my coach were all there, and I wound up fencing all of them, too.

With the directions that Amanda gave me, my dad and I were able to find the community center this time. It was hidden back behind a mini-forest of trees, which explains why we could see it from the road.

He dropped me off, and I noticed Amanda and Megan were fencing. So, I walked over and said hello to my coach, who was glad to see me there. I got suited up and stretched out. Amanda was practically hopping up and down she was so glad to see me, and Megan ran away from her opponent for a moment to come over and give me a hug. Amanda insisted that I fence her, even though I hadn't fenced since, about March. So, I did.

^_^;;

My point control wasn't all that good, me having slacked off practicing in the off-season. So, Amanda will now have a lot of nice bruises all over her legs and torso. She said that she'd think of me whenever she wore a bathing suit. All those lovely black and blue marks everywhere. -.-;;

We fenced first to five points, and I beat her. She's been practicing all summer long at this club, and here I come, rusty and uncertain, and beat her 5-3. (I swear it was 5-2, though. =/ )

She was a bit irked, especially when other people at the club started poking fun at her. I came to her rescue a bit, though, and reminded her that I had an extra year's worth of experience. So, I was redeemed ever so slightly.

I got a drink of water, and then coach set me up with a first-year fencer. The scoring was very uncertain, as he kept giving me and him points without mentioning them. I'd be throwing a judgement out, while he'd be mentally logging it. It was...confusing. Several times, though, I swear I hit him, but he denied it. He didn't feel it, so apparently, it never happened. Well, you don't always feel the touches, and I told him so; he ignored me, I think. v_v

Anyways, I beat him as well. I think it was 5-3, again.

I watched Amanda fence out coach; first to ten touches. I noticed the same thing about her as I did when I fenced her. She does not attaclk. I mean, she'll move and react to someone attacking her, but she simply won't move in for an offensive. Coach went easy on her, I think. The end score was 10-6 in favor of my coach.

Shortly thereafter, I fenced my coach. Within the first few seconds of the bout, I had gotten a touch. Coach laughed, and mentioned that he "forgot about [my] speed". I got another five touches in, while he got 1. The score was 6-1, in my favor. Coach then showed me just why I had been getting those touches. Some were legitimately from my speed, he said, but others were given to me as part of a test. He was feeling me out, seeing how I reacted to various moves and the like. He basically knew my every move and reaction, and he exploited it to great effect.

The end score was 10-7. Coach won. =P

Heh, it was great fun, though. I can't wait until Monday night, when the club meets again. :D

After that I sat down against one of the walls and played Hangman with Amanda and Megan for a while. Just before I left, Megan and I fenced rather lazily, not really trying to score touches; just keeping oursevles occupied. My dad showed up outside in the car, so I said goodbye and packed up my fencing stuff. Several sweaty hugs and shouted "goodbye"s later, I was in the car on my way home.

I'd continue on to talk about today, but then no one would bother reading the whole thing. :p

I will update later. I promise.
And if the promise is broken, I will plug each and every person who has signed my Guestbook. So...I'll try very hard not to forget. >_>
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Wednesday, August 11, 2004

   Okay, so the update comes a bit late....
....and it's short. :p

I worked out today with Jeremy from 2-3:00, working upper body today. My back and shoulders were incredibly sore the first few hours after. After that, though, I was fine. A little tired, maybe, but still glad that I had gotten the workout done.

So, yeah. Stuff. I need to start putting more than Yu-Gi-Oh duels up here, I think. :p


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I nearly forgot to mention.

I GOT THE JOB AT THE LIBRARY!

Joe, the guy who was handling the whole applicant process, called me up this morning and asked me if I wanted the job. I found that sort of odd, considering I went through all the trouble of applying, nearly acing their test, and providing three references to speak well of me. I wasn't so impolite as to suggest any of that, though. I told him that I was, and we set up a time for me to come in an fill out some employment paperwork and figure out a schedule. That'll be Friday morning.

Other than that....well....I may go to fencing tomorrow night. I know I've said this before and I haven't done it, but this time I actually know where I'm going. =P

It should be fun. Let's just all hope I make it. I could use the exercise, and I'd like to see my coach again.
Comments (2) | Permalink

Bleh, I just don't get it.
I left a note in my doorway last night, telling my parents that whoever came to wake me up, I wanted them to make sure I got up. My mom got a bit of a laugh out of it, and then she and I went down to the gym. My dad stayed home, having pulled something in his back this morning. -.-;

So, my mom and I sat down on some exercise bikes and pedaled for a good twenty minutes. I liked the bikes we used today, as opposed to the one I used before. These bikes were lower to the ground, and they had backs. I just sat there in blissful contemplation as my legs pumped away for twenty minutes. My mom was prepared for this sort of leaning back, no hand bar freedom. She brought a book. =P

So, I watched the news and whatever else came onto the TV screens that they have overlooking the cardio area. When we finished, we drove home and took showers. She went off to work, my dad went off on errands, and my older sister at some point disappeared with her car. So, yet again, I am stuck with my younger brother and sister. Joy.

That is, I'm stuck until slightly before 2:00, when my dad will show up and drive me to work out with Jeremy, my personal trainer. He's an awesome guy, and he's been showing me how to use a bunch of different exercise machines the right way. After we finish out this week's sessions, I'll be seeing him about once a month to set up exercise routines.

Anyways, I made myself breakfast with my mom's leftover steak, some frozen shrimp, and some stir-fry vegetables. I cut the steak into cubes, defrosted and de-tailed the shrimp, and put the vegetables in the pan to cook. When they were no longer frozen, I put in the steak and shrimp. I put a couple spoonfuls of diced garlic in, along with a nice garlic stir-fry sauce. I let the vegetables cook through, and then let the whole mix simmer for a little while. When I deemed it ready, I turned off the stove and scooped some of the mix into a bowl.

I ate about half of the whole mix (which really wasn't all that much) and put the other half in a bowl for lunch. (which I will be eating right after this post. :p)

After lunch, I went back upstairs to find that John had been frantically IMing me for a duel.

*Incidentally, we did play the rematch yesterday, but it was a draw, because he had to leave. v_v

enricopalazzo24: BEN

Auto response from Legoboy1: I'm proving just how much I rock in the kitchen.

Be back later, when my hunger is satiated.

enricopalazzo24: SIGN ON
enricopalazzo24: HURRY UP
enricopalazzo24: I NEED TO DUEL YOU
enricopalazzo24: ANSWER
enricopalazzo24: COME ON HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO EAT BREAKFAST EVEN IF U MADE IT URSELF
enricopalazzo24: COME BACK NOW
enricopalazzo24: C
enricopalazzo24: O
enricopalazzo24: M
enricopalazzo24: E
enricopalazzo24: B
enricopalazzo24: A
enricopalazzo24: C
enricopalazzo24: K

So, I came back. And the duel commenced. My new Beatdown versus John's new Exodia Deck. His deck is chock full of very rare cards that he buys from B&C Collectibles. John is more of a fluid trader than I am. He'll trade away cards that could be useful in one deck, but not in the one he has currently. I'll save that sort of card for later, when I inevitably build that sort of Deck.

So, John gets pretty much all the cards he needs for whatever Deck he's using. Myself, I have hundreds of cards, simply because I'm too much of a packrat to get rid of them. And, they usually come in handy whenever I build new and different decks.

So, yeah, continuing on.

I played a monster in defense mode and a facedown Spell or Trap card. (S/T) John takes his turn by playing Pot of Greed, which allows him to draw two cards. He then plays Painful Choice. >_<;

He brings out three pieces of Exodia, a Gear Golem the Moving Fortress, and a Mystical Elf. Now, I had no monsters that could defeat the Gear Golem or the Mystical Elf, so I chose to let him keep one of the Exodia pieces. I figured he'd play it, so I could destroy it and he could bring out Exodia Necross later.

John sets a S/T facedown on the field. I activate my facedown Mystical Space Typhoon, which destroys his facedown trap, Mirror Force. :D

John curses, and then plays a monster in defense mode, ending his turn. I offer my facedown Witch of the Black Forest to bring out a stronger monster in facedown defense mode. With Witch's effect I take Mataza the Zapper and add him to my hand. Mataza can attack twice in the same turn, and I was hoping to move myself onto the offensive.

I used my Nobleman of Crossout to remove his facedown monster from the game, hoping it was the piece of Exodia I had given him. Alas, it was merely a regular defensive monster. I ended my turn. John started off his next turn by playing Raigeki, to destroy my monster.

enricopalazzo24: rigeki
enricopalazzo24: *raigeki
Legoboy1: >:D
Legoboy1: Different Dimension Dragon!
enricopalazzo24: ah

Different Dimension Dragon is immune to destructive Spell and Trap cards that do not specifically designate it as a target. In other words, his Raigeki was wasted. ^____^ I foresaw him doing something like that; he always does something like that, somehow.

Well, then he tries to get all tough and decides to destroy the Dragon with a monster. He summons it, and then realizes my creatures second ability: It can't be destroyed by monsters with an attack of 1900 or less. The monster he summoned had less, and so he took back his move. Normally, he'd have to live with what he did, but I'm a nice guy so I let it go. With a stern look.

enricopalazzo24: wait is ur dragon not destroyed in battle with monsters with attakc over 1900 hundered or less
Legoboy1: 1900 or less, it's not destroyed. :D
enricopalazzo24: uh oh
enricopalazzo24: ok
enricopalazzo24: scratch that
Legoboy1: >:|
enricopalazzo24: ill play a different monster in def mode
Legoboy1: *rolls eyes* Fine.

Then he plays Swords of Revealing Light to protect him for three turns. I had monsters I could use to build up an attack force to rush John when Swords left the field, but I didn't want to risk them by putting them on the field. So, instead, I played my Spirit Reaper in defense mode. John attacked it, nothing happened, since Spirit Reaper couldn't be destroyed in battle.

On my turn, I set my trap card, Magic Cylinder. John's next turn was the last one he would be protected by Swords of Revealing Light, and I wanted to be ready for whatever he came up with. I summoned my Giant Orc; I'd be ready to attack him on my next turn.

John used his Heavy Storm Spell card to destroy my facedown trap, and then, most unfortunately, John sacrificed two of the three monsters he had on the field to summon the mighty Dark Magician of Chaos. With its special ability, he brought back his Raigeki Spell card and used it to destroy my Giant Orc and Spirit Reaper. Different Dimension Dragon was again unaffected, which was a life(Point) saver. He attacked my Dragon with DMoC, and then attacked my LifePoints directly with his Mystic Tomato.

I play my Swords of Revealing Light to defend me for the three turns to come. I needed to stall him and gain more cards. I used Premature Burial (which my sister let me borrow) and brought back my Witch from the Graveyard. I sacrificed her to bring out Airknight Parshath, my favorite card. *cheer* ^_^

I attacked John's Mystic Tomato, allowing me to draw a card and inflicting 500 points of damage to his LifePoints. With Mystic Tomato's special ability, John brings out Sangan, a searcher card. When it's destroyed, he can search his deck for a monster with 1500 attack or less and add it to his hand.

On his turn he plays Dark Hole, destroying all of our monsters, including his Sangan and Dark Magician of Chaos. With Sangan's ability, he takes Exodia the Forbidden One. The card is one of the five needed to earn an instant victory. Two of the pieces were in the Graveyard, but I knew that he had at least two of them in his hand. One I had given him for Painful Choice, and he just brought the other one to his hand with Sangan. I knew that in a deck like that, John would have Backup Soldier and he was planning to get back the other pieces with it.

enricopalazzo24: it doesnt matter ill win on my next turn
Legoboy1: Maybe.
enricopalazzo24: set one S/T
enricopalazzo24: end
Legoboy1: It all depends on this draw....

I figured that he had three pieces in his hand, and he would play Backup Soldier to bring back the other pieces. If I didn't draw a card to destroy it, I was dead meat. But, come to think of it, even if I had drawn something to destroy it, he could have chained it and still won.

Legoboy1: It all depends on this draw....
enricopalazzo24: WAIT
enricopalazzo24: I FORGOT TO PLAY
Legoboy1: =/
enricopalazzo24: MONSTER REBORN
Legoboy1: You're trying my patience John.
enricopalazzo24: dont worry
enricopalazzo24: ill play it on gear golem in def mode
enricopalazzo24: end
enricopalazzo24: see no big deal

That was the second time I let him get away with an extra move. Next time I don't know if I'll be so forgiving.

He summoned Gear Golem, which has the highest defense for a four star monster in the entire game right now. Yeah, no big deal.

Jerk. >=\

I played my Archfiend Soldier in attack mode, and set a card facedown. I ended my turn, and John didn't do anything on his turn, so he ended.

I brought out my Exiled Force and offered it to destroy his Gear Golem. Then I attacked directly with Archfiend Soldier, bringing John down to 5600 LifePoints. On his turn, he plays Change of Heart to take control of my Archfiend, and then sacrifices it to bring out his Airknight Parshath. He ends his turn, and I activate my Dark Hole Spell card, destroying his Airknight. I summon Mataza the Zapper, and attack twice to bring him down to 3000. John decides at that moment that he'll just win.

Legoboy1: I'll summon Mataza the Zapper
enricopalazzo24: yep
Legoboy1: and attack twice for 2600
enricopalazzo24: hold on ive decided to beat u now
Legoboy1: Yeah, okay.
enricopalazzo24: i activate face down backup soldier
Legoboy1: Yep.
enricopalazzo24: takin back the last 2 exodia pieces descarded from painful choice
Legoboy1: *nod*
enricopalazzo24: i have all 5 pieces
Legoboy1: I know.
Legoboy1: I was waiting for it.
enricopalazzo24: i had one in my beginning hand
enricopalazzo24: i got one from painful choice
enricopalazzo24: i got one from sangan and the last 2 from bcakup soldier
Legoboy1: Yes, John. I know.

Hehehe, I couldn't just take a defeat lying down, though.

Legoboy1: You never would have beaten me head to head. :-P
enricopalazzo24: what do u mean>:o
Legoboy1: Without Exodia, you wouldn't have won.
enricopalazzo24: oh really do u want me to qiuickly assemble my semi-spellcaster deck and go again
Legoboy1: Sure.

His "semi-spellcaster" deck runs a couple of strong Spellcaster monsters. It's more of a battle-oriented deck, as opposed to his Exodia deck, which focuses on either drawing all five pieces, or dumping them to bring out Necross. I've never been able to understand how his decks work, with all of the unnecessary and off-theme cards he throws into these decks.

The next duel, I started out with a hand full of Spell and Trap cards. Not a single monster to defend me. Luckily, two of the Spell cards were Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity, which allowed me to draw more cards. I summoned the Giant Orc that I drew, and set two Trap Cards.

John tried to use Monster Reborn on my Newdoria, but I activated my facedown Imperial Order and negated it. No monster for you! >:o

He sets one S/T and one monster. On my turn, I pay for Imperial Order, so Spells continue to be negated. I set another monster, and I destroy his monster with my Giant Orc. On his turn, John sets another monster. I didn't pay for IO, so it was destroyed and we were both able to play Spells again. I activated my Raigeki and destroyed his monster. Then I flipped up my facedown Magician of Faith, which allowed me to take my Raigeki from the Graveyard and add it to my hand. I then sacrificed the Magician to bring out my Airknight Parshath. John's facedown card was a trap, though, and it destroyed my Airknight.

John summons a monster and destroys my Giant Orc. On my turn, I revive Airknight Parshath with Premature Burial, and then I summon Spirit Reaper in attack mode. I destroy his monster, and then attack directly with Spirit Reaper. John is forced to discard a card from his hand.

On his turn, John activates his Raigeki destroying both of my monsters. Then he activates Card Destruction, destroying my Harpie's Feather Duster, Raigeki, Exiled Force, and Change of Heart. Three cards ban-listed because of their potency, all gone. >_<;;

John sets a monster on his turn, and I set one on mine. I set another Trap, too. John plays his Change of Heart to take my monster, which he promptly sacrifices along with his own Sangan to bring out his regular Dark Magician. Then he activates Dark Magic Attack to destroy all of my Spell and Traps. Fortunately, my Traps are of a high enough speed to chain to his card, and both of their effects are resolved. My facedown Waboku prevents him from doing damage that turn, and my facedown Jar of Greed lets me draw a card.

I set one monster in defense mode and set one S/T facedown. It was a bluff; it was a normal Spell card that couldn't be activated on his turn. He attacks my monster with his Dark Magician. It's my Nimble Momonga, which lets me gain 1000 LifePoints, and then bring out two more Nimble Momongas in Defense Mode. Squirrel Wall! And, each time they're destroyed, I would gain another 1000 LifePoints.

I set a monster beside my Momongas and ended my turn. John falls for my Spell bluff and uses Heavy Storm to destroy my Last Will. The next moment was rather bad.

enricopalazzo24: ok now i play diffusion wave motion
enricopalazzo24: ill pay 1000 to attack all ur monsters and none of thier effects are activated
Legoboy1: dang

So, no 2000 LifePoints for me, and no Spell card came back because of my facedown Magician of Faith's effect.

I spitefully played my Dark Hole Spell card to destroy his monsters. Then I activated my Swords of Revealing Light to defend me while I recuperated. During those three turns, be both plays monsters and traps and the like, not really doing anything exciting. He has one S/T facedown, so when Swords are gone, I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon. It destroys his Magic Cylinder, which would have taken a chunk out of my LifePoints had I attacked. I offered my facedown Sangan for Dark Driceratops, which ran over one of John's defense monsters, inflicting 400 damage.

I ended my turn. John still had two monsters left. Enough to offer as a Tribute for a monster...

enricopalazzo24: hehe
Legoboy1: v_v
enricopalazzo24: i offer face down monsters
enricopalazzo24: mystical elf and giant soldier of stone for
enricopalazzo24: DARK MAGICIAN OF CHAOS
Legoboy1: Bah.

He took back Diffusion Wave Motion, which would allow one Spellcaster to attack all monsters on my side of the field and negate their effects. He didn't activate it yet, though. We passed a couple more turns, me setting monster and him removing them from play.

Then John revives his Dark Magician, fusing it with the Buster Blader in his hand to form Dark Paladin, another ridiculous Spellcaster that the odds are far against him summoning. v_v

We break from there into a short conversation about various cards, and he offers me things for my Skilled White Magician. When we finally get back to the duel, John destroys my monster with DMoC, and then I stop his Direct Attack with Dark Paladin with my Kuriboh.

On the next turn, I set my Hyper Hammerhead. John attacks it with his DMoC, and instead of going back to his hand, as Hyper Hammerhead's effect would make it do, DMoC's other effect removes the monster from play. In other words, DMoC was no longer a threat.

John attacks me directly with his Dark Paladin, taking a chunk out of my formidable amount of LifePoints. Blah blah blah, John attacks directly when I have no monsters blah blah blah, I'm down to 1300. I draw my Magic Cylinder trap card, and with a little bit of AIM acting, I lure John into attacking.

(I draw)
Legoboy1: CRAP.
Legoboy1: >_<
Legoboy1: Set one S/T.
Legoboy1: End.
enricopalazzo24: ok
enricopalazzo24: goodbye
enricopalazzo24: attack with dark paladin
Legoboy1: Magic Cylinder.
enricopalazzo24: SHIT
Legoboy1: :-P

So, John's LifePoints were reduced to 2100, only 800 more than my own. He then summons another ridiculous Spellcaster; Shinato, King of a Higher Plane. Instead of attacking with Shinato, though, and inflicting Direct Damage to me, the moron plays Diffusion Wave Motion, lowering his LifePoints to 1100, and attacks my defending Giant Orc. Had he attacked with Shinato, he would have won.

I drew one card. My last card. The card that would end the duel. A Trap. I set it, and ended my turn.

John began his turn, and I triggered my Trap card.

Legoboy1: Activate Ring of Destruction
Legoboy1: Die Shinato
enricopalazzo24: we both die
Legoboy1: Yep.

I detonated his Shinato, and we both took damage equal to Shinato's 3300 Attack power. The duel was a draw. John was not happy. I'll not repeat what he said at that point.

And then, the parting remarks.

Legoboy1: I told you you couldn't beat me head to head. :-P
enricopalazzo24: yeah but u didnt win either
Legoboy1: I never said I would.
enricopalazzo24: whatever
enricopalazzo24: i g2g
Legoboy1: Hehehe
Legoboy1: See you later

And that's it for the dueling so far today. I just can't understand why I haven't been able to beat John. The moves he makes stretch the probability possibility of coincidence to the maximum. In that Spellcaster deck, he had eight or more monsters requiring sacrifices. DECKS LIKE THAT ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK. >:|

Expect an update later on, with some good news. My hands are tired, though, and I'm going back to the drawing board to design a new Deck.
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Tuesday, August 10, 2004

   Frustrations abound...
John beat me again today (Monday). I was using a different deck, having had my Skill Drain deck beaten to a pulp...last night? The night before, perhaps? Whichever. I realized it couldn't cope, so I disassembled it and built two new Decks. Both Beatdown decks, but one with mostly Dark monsters, and the other with mostly Earth monsters.

I played John with the Earth Beatdown, and it just did not work out as I had intended. John was using his Exodia deck this time, instead of the Yugi-themed one he beat me with previously.

I started off the duel by summoning my Unfriendly Amazon to the field. On his first turn, John takes control of it and attacks me directly with my own monster, and then with his Sangan. By the time my second turn rolled around, I was losing by three thousand LifePoints.

I quickly repaid John for his villainy, and after my Amazon was destroyed by her own effect, I activated my Last Will Magic card. It allowed me to summon a monster of moderate strength from my deck to the field in the same turn that one of my monsters had been destroyed. I brought out my D.D. Crazy Beast which would negate Sangan searching ability when it was destroyed. I then removed my fallen Amazon in order to bring out Gigantes, a big brute of a monster. I destroyed his Sangan with my Crazy Beast and attacked him directly with Gigantes. John's lead had narrowed to 700 points.



Then begins the unraveling of my defeat.


John plays Painful Choice: and selects the Right Leg of the Forbidden One, Left Leg of the Forbidden One, Right Arm of the Forbidden One, Mask of Darkness and Backup Soldier. I give him the Mask of Darkness, and he has to discard all the rest of the cards. Three Exodia pieces were now in the Graveyard.

John sets a monster and then plays Raigeki to destroy both of my monsters. I summon my Witch of the Black Forest and I attack, almost certain that it will be his Mask of Darkness. It wasn't. Instead, it was a Giant Soldier of Stone, which caused me to lose 900 LifePoints by slamming into it.

On his next turn, John sets another monster. This time, I think, it is surely the Mask. I sacrifice my Witch to bring out my much more powerful Dark Driceratops. It has a Trample ability, which allows it to do damage even when it attacks a monster in defense mode. I powered it up even further, so that the damage would be that much greater.

But, if I attacked the mask, I thought, he will get back his Magic Cylinder trap card, and he can inflict a great deal of damage to me. So, instead, I attacked his Giant Soldier of Stone.

Big mistake. John flips up his facedown monster and reveals it to be his Magician of Faith, a monster that allows him to return one Magic Card to his hand. He chooses Raigeki, and he destroys my Dark Driceratops. He then summons his own Airknight Parshath. He couldn't attack, fortunately, because I had Swords of Revealing Light in play, which guarded me for the turn.

Then, I made one of the moves that makes me infamous in my local dueling environment. I summoned my Nimble Momonga, a monster with 1000 ATK points. When it is destroyed in battle, I gain 1000 LifePoints and I am able to summon up to two more Momongas from my deck to the field. I activated my second Last Will, and ordered my Momonga to attack John's Airknight.

My creature was destroyed, but because of it's effect, the damage was severely lessened. I actually gained 100 LifePoints from the attack. I brought out two more Momongas in Defense Mode, a small wall of monsters that had previously been non-existent. With the effect of Last Will, I summoned Exiled Force from my deck. Using its special ability, I offered Exiled Force to destroy John's Airknight. Whee! What a turnaround! If he attacks either of the Momongas, they will be destroyed and I will gain 1000LP. :D

Unfortunately, John doesn't bother attacking them. Instead, he plays Dark Hole to wipe out all the monsters on the field. I didn't get my Momongas special effect, and so my LifePoints remained the same. John summoned a monster, and then he used PREMATURE BURIAL to resurrect his fallen Airknight Parshath. If it weren't for my Swords of Revealing Light, my LifePoints would have been severely reduced.

I summoned my Mad Sword Beast in attack mode, so as to lessen the damage John's Airknight could do to it. It was John's turn. My Swords were gone, and he was free to attack at will. John played Graceful Charity, a card that allowed him to draw three cards and discard two from his hand. He discarded the final two pieces of Exodia.

And then he played Contract with Exodia, to Special Summon one of the most dangerous monsters in the game: Exodia Necross. Then he summoned another, weaker monster; just to get more damage in. He destroyed my Mad Sword Beast with his Airknight, and then declared a general attack with his other monsters. He claimed victory. I stalled him.


enricopalazzo24: attack u with necross and the others for game
Legoboy1: Scapegoat.

That's right, four little sheep tokens delayed my inevitable defeat at the hands of John's Necross and Airknight.

On my next turn, I drew and played my own Graceful Charity. I discarded two cards, and then Special Summoned my second Gigantes. As usual, I wasn't going down without taking something down with me. My Gigantes attacked John's Airknight, destroying itself and activating its special ability.

When Gigantes is destroyed as a result of battle, he destroys all Magic and Trap cards on the field, as well. Premature Burial was destroyed, and along with it John's Airknight. *spiteful smirk*

On the next turn he wiped out my final Scapegoat, and then my LifePoints. He signed off shortly after.

Ergh. It was just awful. I disassembled my two decks, not even bothering to try out the Dark Beatdown first. From them I forged a rough mixture of the two. I'd not tried a mixed Deck in quite some time. Several cards I put in I had not used in a long while, and others were remnants of the two Decks that I had ravaged.

I challenged John to a rematch this evening, but he had to sign off at just that time. "TOMORROW!" he said with dramatic fervor.

Yes, tomorrow.....



TOMORROW I SHALL WIN!

I'll be addressing Solo's comments later on, as well as giving an in-depth look at the three Egyptian God Cards (Egyptian God Monsters) for Aleia, and anybody else who happens to be interested.
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Monday, August 9, 2004

   9:37AM? Oy....
I can't believe that I'm actually awake at this hour. =P Normally I'd have another 2-3 hours of sleep coming to me. Instead, I've been up since 6:00. My parents and I went to the gym this morning, just like we said we would. I peddled one of the exercise bikes for a good twenty minutes, and by that time my dad was done and my mom had driven home in another car, as she needed to be at work soon.

We drove home, and I waited for the bathroom to be made available. My mom was in the shower, and then my dad took one, and while I'm downstairs getting a towel, my older sister goes in. v_v

So, during that time I made myself breakfast. Using up the last of the eggs and the last of the American cheese, I took myself one step closer to actually making an omelette. Today's creation was more of a egg & cheese taco. It was thick and folded in half with cheese in the middle. It tasted good and had protein, though, and that's what matters. :p

I did eventually get into the shower, and got myself nice and clean. I've got a couple of errands to run today, and I'm weight training again this afternoon with my personal trainer, Jeremy. Basically, Jeremy is just showing me how to use the weight machines and such so that when I go to the gym in the mornings, I'll have some idea of what I'm doing on the days that we do weight training.

That's at 2:00, so I'll have to be sure and remember that. Other things to do today are:

1. I have to go to the library and drop off a list of references for my job application. If I have enough time, I'd like to actually check out some books this time, too. I found my library card yesterday, so this is now an actual possibility. *gasp*

2. Go to the bank. My dad's already taken care of depositing my $22.

3. I need a haircut rather badly. My bangs are hanging over my eyes slightly, and the wealth of hair does not help much with the summer heat. (Which has been hiding recently. v.v)

4. Work out with Jeremy.

5. Go to fencing(?) If I'm feeling up to it after all the exercise I'll have done today, I'd like to go to fencing tonight. I'll have to find out how to get to the place, though. Last time my dad and I drove around for about an hour and didn't see anything that even resembled a community center.

Megan and Amanda have both been nagging me about going all summer, and I generally do enjoy fencing, so we'll just see.

Ben's Yu-Gi-Oh Report

Not much here. My sister may be trading me a Premature Burial:



This would greatly aid in my decks, as it would allow me to bring back any monster in my Graveyard to be used as I want. Special Summons are almost always good. ^_^

I offered her my Black Luster Soldier and the Ritual Magic Card to summon it. The trade is vastly weighted in her direction, but I just don't really have any use for BLS. I'd use Premature Burial infinitely more often, considering I've never used Black Luster Soldier.

I've been toying around with a bunch of new deck ideas, but none of them seem like they're really good. My regular Beatdown works very well, but I've gotten bored with it. I want to try something different.


.....and that's about it. For now.
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Sunday, August 8, 2004

   Anything better to do? No, of course not.
Mimmi asked about the ban list in her comment on my last post, and so I decided to do a bit of a review on it. Complete with linked images, because I'm really that bored. >_>

The ban list is designed to make the ever-changing Yu-Gi-Oh playing environment, or "metagame" more difficult. It is a true test of a duelist's skill when they are forced to play without a given number of cards that can turn any game around. Cards that can be used in just about every deck and contain these incredible effects are referred to as "broken" cards.

The ban list at the moment consists of ten cards. I have heard from reliable sources that the list will change, with other cards becoming banned, and having the previously banned cards come back into play. The ten banned cards at the moment are: Imperial Order, Harpie's Feather Duster, Injection Fairy Lily, Yata-Garasu, Raigeki, Change of Heart, Fiber Jar, Cyber Jar, Delinquent Duo, and Painful Choice.

The ban list is only enforced in specific Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments. The provider of the tournament will determine whether or not the ban list is in effect. This year's World Championships incorporated the ban list, meaning that none of the above cards were present, except for trading or perhaps in casual play.

Imperial Order: As long as this card remains face-up on the field, negate the effects of all Magic Cards. Pay 700 Life Points during each of your Standby Phases. If you cannot, this card is destroyed.

Imperial Order is a very good card, in that it can stop Magic cards, which are usually the most powerful cards in the game. If your opponent tries to power up one of their monsters, activate this and the monster loses the extra boost. If they try and bring back a monster from either Graveyard, activate this and they can't. This card can be activated in response to the activation of a Magic Card, meaning that if your opponent plays a card to destroy it while it's facedown, you can activate it and negate the effect of that Magic Card.

And, for the cost of 700 LifePoints at the beginning of every turn, you can keep the effect active for as long as you can provide the LifePoints. If you only want to use it for one turn, don't pay the cost and it will be destroyed.

Several of the cards that have been banned can be stopped by this card. In a pre-ban environment, this card is very helpful.

Harpie's Feather Duster: Destroys all of your opponent's Magic and Trap cards on the field.

The card's effect is pretty simple. Face-up or face-down, all of your opponent's Magic and Trap cards are destroyed. If you're afraid of attacking, because your opponent might have a Trap set for you, use this and all of your worries go away. Now they just have monster to be taken out.

Imperial Order, however, has a higher Spell Speed than this. Being a Spell Speed level 2 allows Imperial Order's effect to activate before Harpie's Feather Duster's does. So instead of wiping out all of their surprises, you've just wasted a card. v_v

Injection Fairy Lily: This card's effect can be activated only during the Damage Step of either player's turn. Pay 2000 Life Points to increase the ATK of this monster by 3000 points only during the Damage Step.

Injection Fairy Lily is a small monster with a puny attack of 400. But, with it's special ability, you can pay 2000 of your LifePoints to increase her attack to a whopping 3400, strong enough to overcome some of the most powerful cards in the game. You've probably heard of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, right? Lily can beat him, if she uses her effect. And if you manage to get a Direct Attack in, you're doing 3400 damage in exchange for 2000 of your own LifePoints. Most players will make that trade.

Yata Garasu: This card cannot be Special Summoned. This card returns to the owner's hand during the End Phase of the turn that it is Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or flipped face-up. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, your opponent skips his/her next Draw Phase.

This card is deadly, regardless of it's puny 200 Attack points and 100 Defense Points. If you can empty your opponent's hand, and attack their LifePoints with this card, you just about win. Yata prevents your opponent from drawing cards as they would normally during their turn. If your opponent has no way to destroy or stop Yata, the pesky little crow can eat away all of your opponent's LifePoints turn by turn. This is what's know as a Yata-Lock. Many a n00b at the game has accomplished this and actually won. -_-'

Change of Heart: Select and control 1 opposing monster (regardless of position) on the field until the end of your turn.

If your opponent has a powerful monster that is bothering you, just snatch it. It's yours for the turn. Attack with it, offer it as a Tribute to bring out your own powerhouse, whatever. Their facedown monster giving you worries? No problem, just nab it. Maybe even use its effect for yourself. Or do they only have one monster on the field? Take it, and use it against them. This card is deadly, particularly with all the power-ups running around. You can take your opponent's last monster on the field, juice it up and wipe out your opponent.

Whee....Imperial Order can stop it. >:D

Fiber Jar: FLIP: Both players unite all their respective cards on the field, in their hands, and in their Graveyards with their respective Decks and shuffle them. Then both players draw 5 cards from their shuffled Decks.

This card pretty much resets the entire duel, except for LifePoints. All of the monsters, magic cards, and trap cards that had already been destroyed or used, they all go back for a second round in the deck. Exodia decks sometimes use this to bring back pieces of the legendary Exodia that may have been unfortunately destroyed.

Using this card will also usually let its owner get a Direct Attack in. A person who attacks Fiber Jar has almost always used up their summon for the turn, so after the cards are reset, they can't play a monster down. Injection Fairy Lily makes for a good Draw after Fiber Jar has been set off.

Cyber Jar: Flip: Destroy all monsters on the field (including this monster). both
players then pick up (not Draw) 5 cards from the top of their respective
Decks and show the cards to each other. Immediately Special Summon any
Monster Cards of Level 4 or lower among them on the field in face-up Attack
Position or face-down Defense Position. The rest of the cards picked up are
placed in the player's hand.

Another card that practically resets the field. Say your opponent has five monsters, big, ugly, and about to tear your LifePoints to shreds. If you play this card down, and it's attacked, the whole field goes BOOM. All the monsters are destroyed, and you get to pick up five cards. Of those five cards, anything Level 4 or lower comes right out onto the field.

In a deck like mine, that uses lots of powerful level 4 monsters, this is an invaluable card to getting field advantage. Not to mention that you get any other cards that you've pulled out added to your hand.

True, this card also gives your opponent the same advantages, but it's not often that my opponent gets out more monsters that I when this guy's effect goes off.

Delinquent Duo: Pay 1000 Life Points. Randomly select and discard 1 card from your
opponent's hand. Your opponent then selects and discards another card from his/her hand.

This card works great with Yata-Garasu. You can thin your opponent's hand out to cut back their options to stop Yata. Or, if they only have two cards in their hand, you have a good set up for a Yata-lock.

Even without Yata, knocking off two of your opponent's cards gives them less options on what they're going to do. Exodia decks fear this card, because it can pick off pieces like fish in a barrel.

Imperial Order, yet again, can stop this card.

And finally, the last of the ten banned cards.

Painful Choice: Select 5 cards from your Deck and show them to your opponent. Your opponent must select 1 card and will be added to your hand. Discard the remaining cards to the Graveyard.

It may not seem like a very good card, as you lose four cards and only gain one. And, your opponent chooses the one card you get. This card is used, believe it or not, for it's discard effect more than getting a required card. You can dump a monster in the Graveyard with it, and then revive it with one of the many recursion cards. You can discard monsters and use them to Special Summon the almighty Chaos monsters, which can only be summoned by removing cards in the Graveyard from play.

Exodia decks can use it to discard pieces of Exodia, and then bring them back via special Magic and Trap cards. Or, if a player has Exodia Necross, they may want all the pieces in the Graveyard, to bring out the uber-powerful Necross. That's what I would do, if I had all of these wickedly awesome and rare cards. >.>

Heh, Imperial Order negates this card. XD

All sorts of combos that I can't even be bothered to explain are available to use with all of these ten cards. Game-winning combos. Tournament-winning combos. Cash/Prize-winning combos. 0.0;

Of these ten cards, I have: Imperial Order, Harpie's Feather Duster, Raigeki, Change of Heart, Cyber Jar.

And you'd better believe that they're all in my newest Deck. =P

So, now that I've thoroughly answered Mimmi's question (hopefully), I'll get to work on Aleia's inquiry about the God Cards. Next time.

Heh, maybe I'll put something about me later on today. :D
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   Ha-what?
John just beat me in a duel. ._.

He has a new Deck, and it works very, very well. He's got a bunch of new cards in it, and I simply couldn't compete when he got out two very, very powerful monsters onto the field. My new Deck I built last night works much like my other Beatdown, but it's just not built to cope with massive monsters.

The way my deck works, basically, is to get out several easily-summonable monsters with a high Attack power to plow through somebody else's easily-summonable monsters, which are generally weaker than mine.

On his fifth turn, John got out his Dark Paladin and his Shinato, King of a Higher Plane. Both on the same turn, both with killer effects.

I managed to destroy his Dark Paladin and prevent the damage he would have done, but because Dark Paladin and Shinato were both Special Summons, he could still bring out a smaller monster normally. So, he did. And when my field was clear, he attacked with that smaller monster. The whole situation just reeked of improbability, but I took it how it was.

I had only gotten John down to 6000LP when he beat me. It was just awful.

I challenged him to a second duel, and I silently screamed at the laws of probability to start working again. I guess they did, and his opening hand had no monsters in it. ^.^'

I managed to get an okay hand and gained control of the field. I had one of my easy-summon-very-powerful monster on the field. And my Trap card, Skill Drain, took away the usual catches to the extra power. I had my Newdoria on the field, and if he managed to destroy it, it would destroy one of his own monsters. In my hand was Kuriboh, ready to protect me from any sudden attacks.

My LifePoints were lower than John's, but I was in a good position, and I was sure I had good cards coming my way.

Heh. (Un)Fortunately, John surrendered.

His dad told him to get off of the computer, and so he forfeited the duel. Now, in the Rulebook, it says that all interrupted duels were to be declared a draw. John just came out and surrendered, so the whole Match was an unfinished Draw.

I think I'll redesign my Deck. Certain game-breaking cards are absent due to the ban-list, but nobody sticks to the ban-list in casual play. I suppose I will put my cards in and start kicking John's butt again. *nod*

*scampers away to continue Yu-Gi-Oh geekishness*








*comes back*

Geez. I totally have stopped reporting on my day-to-day activities. And I've been getting more comments as a result. XD

Well, let me just say this. I climbed the monument at Fort Griswold today. It was very narrow, the stairs were steep, and it was one very long spiral staircase to the top. 166 steps. They have them counted, and the uppermost steps are marked with their numbers. There are no windows, except for at the top, and they do not open. Very bad for air circulation. The climb got quite warm after a while.

When we (me, my mom, Emily, and Michael) reached the top, we got to see the wonderful view that the monument provides. We could see across the river, and most of the surrounding area. We could see the bank, which is just down the street from out house. We could see Washington Park, and the road that goes just past it. We could see the bridge over to New London. Geez, it was a great view.

And it was almost worth the 166 steps going back down. :p

My heel kept catching the back of the stair I was stepping down onto, since the step widen from the center out. Essentially, each step is a triangle, with the smallest angle on the innermost part of the staircase. I had to try and keep myself on the right side of the narrow staircase. The handrails they have are invaluable in the amount that they help. Without them, I would have surely fallen down all 166 steps. And that's if I was even able to make it up without the rails in place.

After that we headed over to my grandparents' house for a little while, with the original premise of going swimming to cool off from climbing the monument. The air conditioning did that instead, so we settled in and watched movies. I started to doze in a recliner, and then was woken up to go home.

I got my third reference today for the job I applied for at the library. I received the message from the library sometime last week saying that I needed to come up with three references and their numbers.

So, yeah. I have them, and I need to call them in or visit the library tomorrow.

But for now, that Yu-Gi-Oh geekishness has to be attended to. Good night!
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