i am thinking of ideas for my tournament
i want to have expert tech, intermediate tech (for Basic players), and freestyle

THEN

i want to have the fun division. So far i have a gametype where you try to put on as many shirts and shorts as you can during a song
and then one where you try to beat the other player up with noodles and balloons , and still try to score well.

i need more ideas halp plox

July 4th through July 7th, 2006 are probably the four most vivid days in my memory, at least the most vivid four in a row. Alex and I spend the fourth at her house, eating barbecue that her dad made. We watch The Omen, which genuinely creeps me out, and then we head over to the Capitol for the fireworks. We mostly spend the time kissing on a park bench, but the fireworks do look nice.

We head back to Alex's house. We are kissing a lot. This is past the point of decision, we are going to make love to each other, it's just not decided when and where. We can barely resist each other, and we end up scaling the fence to the park across from Alex's house. We're both pretty nervous, though, about getting caught, and about the act itself, and we can't go through with it. On the way out, people are passing by and it's hard to get back out, and Alex's friend Hillary gives us the strangest look as she passes by.

We go back into the house and watch the rest of the movie. Her parents never suspected a thing.

July Fifth. I get off work and my Alex is waiting for me. We head over to say hi to Cedric at Banna Strow's, and then head over to Claire's to buy each other a necklace. It's sort of meant to be a promise ring, but not a ring. We just want something to show our love for each other, and to everyone else. I buy her a pink necklace, and she buys me a blue necklace. (It has left my neck twice since I bought it, once because I lost it for a good two weeks and Vaughn found it while he was cleaning my room, and another time for one day on January 15th of this year- drc)

We then head over to the video store and rent Zoolander, because Alex tells me it's a must-see. We watch it, and it is excellent, though not quite as funny as I would have expected. We are kissing by the end of the movie, and Alex is looking into my eyes with the deep, soulful look only she can give. I lead her to my bed and begin kissing her. We kiss and caress for a while, and I ask her if she would allow me to make love to her. She says she wants me to. My brain cannot wrap itself around the fact that the girl who once told her friends that she hated me because I tried to play her round of DDR after she quit playing a song was now letting me get closer than anyone ever had to her.

I go and grab the condoms out of my car. I am so nervous. I lay down with her. I move so slowly. I am so frightened that I am going to hurt her, and I want her first time to be magical. I want it to be much different and much more meaningful than my own. I move as slowly as I can, and ask her probably half a million times if I was hurting her.

It is amazing. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever done. I made love to the girl who I wanted to marry. The only girl I ever want to be with again and the girl I want to be with for the rest of my life. She looks at me with the most adoring, trusting, beautiful eyes I've ever seen and I know that she loves me with all her heart. We lay there together afterwards, holding each other close. I take her home later that night and I slept like a baby.

July Sixth, Alex and I are going to the midnight showing of Pirates 2, but first, I have Math class. I go to take a test. I recall acing it, and it being because of Alex's expert tutoring. She can make problems that I could previously not even look at seem like the simplest thing, all the while being so patient with me when I took a long time to grasp what she was telling me.

She and I go to Wal-Mart, to buy me a coffee machine (which I still have never used- drc), as I think it'll help me to wake up in the morning, and some candy for Alex and I during the movie. We get the stuff, and then go back to my apartment. We have an hour and a half to spare before the movie, and we spend it cuddling and kissing and... everything. We go to the movie, it's amazing, and then I take her home finally, at about three in the morning. We generally park in the parking lot next to Hillary's house and fool around. We go there, and are about to have sex again. We're kissing on the side of the car, when Alex suddenly drops to the ground, I catch her as she's falling, and lay her down with her face up. I am about to start to give her CPR and call 911 when she suddenly wakes back up, looking at me like, "What the hell are you doing?" She gets up, and I explain to her what happens. We go ask her mom if she has ever had something like that happen, and she says once when she was like six months pregnant with Alex, but not otherwise. I chalk it up to be too much salt from the popcorn and not enough water.

The rest of this month is a blur. Alex and I spending countless days together. We spend nearly every day together, and every night on the phone, until we fall asleep, and sometimes wake back up still connected. We're inseparable. We're insatiable. We cannot get enough of each other. We argue over stupid stuff, ideals that seem important to either or both of us at the time. All my life, it's the only thing I ever wanted, and now it's mine. It's love. It's perfect.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This chapter is pretty short. It seems like it's just a prelude to the next one. Sorry it's so late. I've been busy.

At last, we're together. Alex and I can finally do whatever we want. This of course includes us parading each other around. We are excited. We go on lots of dates. We spend every Friday and Saturday night at Laser Tag playing Pump and every Saturday at the mall hanging out.

As I start summer school, Alex dubs me Lord Math-A-Lot. I'm finally doing well in an algebra course. She is so proud of me. She helps me out a lot, and my teacher was very good at explaining things as well. Alex pushes me to do well, and encourages me to get my work done.

I go over to Alex's house every day I have school between my classes. Alex lands a job at Smoothie King, so I go pick her up from work most days and bring her back to her house with me. She helps me with my math, and then we watch TV together and snuggle. It's hot, but such a perfect summer.

Alex and I start fooling around a lot more during this month. Yes, I mean "fooling around". I'll spare you all the gory details (unless you want them, in which case you can PM me- drc), but just know that good-byes at night out by my car got a lot longer during this month. As a matter of fact, during this month, we began to talk a lot more about sex. We had always talked about whether or not it would happen, and Alex and I both knew we wanted it to happen, we just are not sure as to when.

One day, my parents gave me this new bed, so all of my friends were over that day helping me move it in, and rearrange my apartment. I mean, [b]all[/b] of my friends. At one point Clemo and I went to the store for something. I told Clemo that the day was getting close when I thought we would do it for the first time. He told me that it was a bad idea, but then said, "Do whatever you have to." I bought condoms on that day.

I was nervous. I felt I had jumped the gun with Melanie, and didn't want to rush into things with Alex, who was someone who I felt I could spend the rest of my life with.

Speaking of spending the rest of our lives together, Alex and I start talking about that way more also. It seems like such an easy decision. Alex even mentions it to her mother, who thinks it's too early in her life to be thinking about such things. Alex's mom is worried that she'll marry me and run off once she turns 18. Alex and I talk frequently about how mature the both of us are and how we wish people could understand that we do know true love from puppy love.

With the month coming to a close, Alex and I have never been closer, have never been more in love, and as usual, the love and closeness just seem to be growing. I'm nervous because of all this, I've never been in a relationship this close or good before. I've never had anyone understand me or connect with me like this before.

"It's just I don't know how to be single..."




May should have killed me. It should have struck me dead where I stood. But instead it was one of the most pleasant months I can remember. Blue skies, cool nights, perfect sunsets. That's really all I can remember. Nothing like May 2007, I can assure you.



Toward the beginning of the month, Melissa and I were still hanging on by a thread. Everything she said or did, I would shut down, however, and she eventually gave up talking to me unless spoken to first. Her wonderful attitude and amazing ability to hide her emotions never failed her, htouhg, and every time I saw her, she would treat me like I was the king. Once, she came over to my house and got in my bed with me I wanted to kiss her so bad, but I was with Alex by this time. This was toward the end of the month.



Alex and I had a connection that I was sure was too good to be true. But I was falling deeply in love with her all the same. It seemed like everything I could say was the right thing, and everything she said would bring a smile to my face. We were spending every weekend together, and most week nights were spent at Barnes and Boble cuddling and walking around, perhaps looking over the bridge into the water, perhaps holding each others' hands in the store, perhaps listening to music in Alex's car.



One day early in the month, Alex and I had a fight. I kissed Melissa. I made her cry, and I didn't want her to think I was giving up on her. I had, but I guess I didn't want to admit it to myself or to her. I knew I wanted to be with Alex, but I just couldn't let Melissa go. It was easy to be annoyed with her when we weren't together, but when she was with me, it was those eyes... they could see right into my soul. I kissed her, and I told Alex it had happened.



Alex was furious. She said, "Well, it's her or me." I was too blind that night to see the irony of that situation, but I knew that I couldn't keep up the charade. I never kissed her again. To this day.



Alex, meanwhile, was going through something with Chad that I couldn't understand. He was ignoring her, and she was in love with me... why was she still hanging on? They were broken up by mid-month, but Alex would only mention it when I asked. She was so pained by it, and I did my best to talk to her about it. I offered advice. I offered her the option of staying with him. I genuinely meant it. I would have let her. I guess I knew that she was going to choose me, in the same way she knew I would choose her.



She felt like Chad was simply using her for sex and for a status symbol. I knew she was dating Chad for a status symbol, and that their relationship was no deeper than a middle-school crush. This was further reinforced by the fact that Alex told me that once, Chad said that to him, their relationship was nothing more than a "meaningful high-school relationship". This was so unthinkable to me. How could Chad disregard a girl who gave me so much and spent so much time and effort on me in such a little time?



On May 25, our Celebration Station wristband obsession went a step further. I asked Alex to be my girlfriend, and she accepted. I knew that we were dating from the day we'd first kissed, if not before, but I felt like I was doing someone a favor by allowing her, what, two weeks to get over her breakup with Chad... I don't think she ever even changed her "Relationship Status" on MySpace. That was how quickly it happened. Did you notice the quote at the top of my page?



With Melissa and Chad out of the picture, Alex and I had only one obstacle... our own friends. My "weekend crew" was getting in the way of Alex and I having any time to spend at my apartment by ourselves. I knew that Vaughn and Randall would have never understood such a request. "Hey, could you leave me and Alex alone for the evening?" "Why? What could you two possibly want to do alone?" And Alex was the same way. We were sort of trapped in a predicament where we had to spend our "alone time" with other people, at Barnes and Noble, or sneak to my apartment and hope noone showed up. The "robots" were successfully doing us in. A mainstay in our conversations was how annoying the two of them were, and how it was amazing that people like Kevin could better understand sentiments like those than Vaughn and Randall, and Kevin had never even been out in public before.



I was so in love with Alex. I wish I could properly convey how happy I was, and by the end of the month, when we could finally hold hands, kiss, tell everyone that we were together, I was even happier. I was ready to never look back. Honestly, I probably never would have.

As April starts, my new best friend and I are connecting in new ways every day. Spending more and more time with Alex is putting me in the happiest of moods. Spring is rolling through, the skies are clear, and my life is wonderful.

Melissa and I grow farther apart as I distance myself from her and she seems to take it all in stride. She can't talk to me, of course, who would she be to say anything to me? I made her who she is. I introduced her to everyone she knows. What could she say?

Randall, Vaughn, Kevin, and Wayne spend every weekend over at my house. I don't mind feeding them, giving them drinks, letting them stay over any amount of days they want. They're my crew.

On the fourth, I actually spend time with Ethan and Clemo, one of the few times I can remember spending with them throughout that spring and summer. I don't know exactly why I stop hanging out with them. I suppose it's because when you find something new to do that you like to do, you want to do it. Why stop?

This night is the first night I met Jordan's future girlfriend Mariel. Jordan and Mariel and Alex and I go to Wal-Mart to grab some food and some beer for Jordan's get-together at his house. After Alex leaves, Wayne and I go over there. The food was excellent, and Stephen shot a BB through the window!

That was the first night I heard "Good Googly Moogly" by Project Pat, which was later released on his album (which came out eight months later!!)

I ended up getting trashed, and everyone drew on me with permanent markers. My arm was a patchwork of colors, and all over my chest and face were drawn various symbols and pictures, including penises and swastikas, among other not-so-attractive things. At around four in the morning, Jordan and Clemo washed all the stuff off of me with fingernail polish remover.

I vaguely remember stumbling around in the front yard much to everyone's amusement and seeing Jordan and Mariel leave, and yelling out, "My nigga Jordan's been getting it on!!" and then to Mariel, "Later, bitch!" I don't know either of them ever talked to me again... :)

The next day, we were all supposed to get together for a pool party at my apartment. Mom called early in the morning and told me that her car had been broken into at the YMCA. Alex and I went over there and comforted her and Mary, and the cops took forever, but finally showed up. It was a cloudy day, which put a damper on the pool, but it was still fun, though Alex lost a lens of her glasses in the pool (and miraculously found it later!!)

We went later to Great Wall and ate. It was a great time for everyone... the table felt divided from where i was sitting, because I was on one corner eating with Alex, and it seemed like everyone else was far away from me. I know Clemo and Melissa were on one end saying what a huge jackass I was for not talking to them. I couldn't, really, but I know I should have.

April continues with more and more of Alex and I hanging out. Actually, that day was sort of indicative of how every day would go. I would hang out with Alex, first and foremost. That was just the thing I wanted to do the most. I guess because we'd never really gotten to spend time together like that before.

On Sunday nights, eating with my dad, I would tell him how much she meant to me. I remember telling him I was pretty crazy about her.

One day, at work, I was listening to Speak Easy, by 311. I started to send Alex a text message with the words in it, as I knew she would Google the words and then get the song. As I was sending the message, I receieved one myself. She had sent me a message with the words to the same song! I couldn't believe the connection we had. It made me so happy to know that someone thought along the same wavelengths as me so often.

April 27th is the day when the picture you all know came from where Alex has the horrified look and I'm grabbing her boob. That was taken in the Barnes and Noble parking lot. Our Sunday morning get-togethers there had evolved into "As many days of the week as we possibly could" get-togethers there. I'd get off work and go over there and spend the evening with her. We'd just sit in B&N and she'd study and I'd read. We'd just hold hands and enjoy each other's company. Then, she'd get done studying and we'd go over to Jason's Deli or to Moe's and eat. Then, come back to the car for kissing and cuddling until she had to leave. She'd usually leave with few minutes to spare and speed home. Then, she'd call me and we'd talk all night.

I'm not sure why, but I figured Melissa was just going to forget about me. I never thought I meant much to her. I never thought she meant much to me. One of the last days of the month, Alex told me that Chad confronted her about them not talking and asked her if she wanted to break up. She'd responded that it would probably be a good idea. They didn't quite do it yet, but it was up in the air for a while. Exes are such a bother, aren't they...

Bring on the summer.

March sort of kicks itself off. As a matter of fact, the rest of 2006 sort of flowed fast. Really fast. This was because I started looking forward to things at this point. I start looking forward to everything at this point. Each new day meant new things for me to look forward to.

The first day of March, Alex and I spend the evening after work at Barnes and Noble, and we have such a great time that night. I actually don't remember anything about the night, or why it was so great, but I do rememember sending this text message to Alex after she left: "OMG <3<3<3". It couldn't have been bad.

One night, Alex had to be up for school at 6:00, and I had to be up for work at 7:30, because Chad, Darius and I were going to the Cane's in Slidell to give them some help. Alex and I stayed on the phone until 5:00 that morning, and I end up getting up late, but fortunately it didn't matter, and neither of us regretted the conversation. I think it was that night when we managed to dig ourselves deeper into the romance that we have budding.

This year, 311 was to play in Memphis instead of New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina, so there was no 311 show to go to. Instead, Clemo, Ethan, Cedric and I went to Grand Isle on a fishing trip.

We have a great time, of course, just hanging out together and doing a little bit of fishing. Of course, I'm not the most devoted fisherman in the world; I tend to get frustrated or would rather just sit there and soak up the sun or talk. Cedric wasn't fishing much either, I think we did a pretty good job bringing the first black guy to fish in Grand Isle at all!!:P

Grand Isle is completely trashed, by the way. (It is not much better one year later as of 3/17/07, when we went again- drc) One day, we're all out fishing, and Alex and Melissa are both trying to call me. Life is good, but confusing. In fact, there is a picture of me sitting outside of the room on the phone, undoubtedly with Alex. I still like Melissa... but Alex is just completely stealing my heart. She tells me on the phone that I have a letter waiting on me when I get back. I almost can't wait to leave to read it.

On the way back, Clemo, Ethan, Cedric and I have one of the most unforgettable moments of all time... we're leaving McDonalds right outside of Grand Isle, and Clemo just totally falls over this curb that separates the drive-thru traffic from other cars in the parking lot. THe bad thing was, he tripped over the curb and seemed to fall in slow-motion. Like he could have caught himself at some point, but was just too lazy to. Ethan and Cedric almost sprinted to the truck to avoid laughing, and I was close behind, and Clemo picked himself up in super-fast time and ran after us. The drive-thru line was absolutely full of cars, and we just SKIRTED out of the parking lot. It was beautiful.

When we get back to Baton Rouge, I go over to Barnes and Noble to see Alex. She is so sweet to my sunburned, sore self. Then, when I was close to leaving, something happened that neither of us, I think will ever forget... we were talking on the back of my car, and she was sitting on it, and I was standing on the curb next to it. She was shaking, and we were very close to one another. She was looking right into my eyes, a look I later grew to know very well... I said, "I wonder if we will regret what is about to happen?" She said, "I don't know". My judgement was such that I didn't exactly know what to do, but hesitation has always gotten me in trouble, and still does to some extent, so I just went for it. I leaned in and I kissed her. As far as first kisses go, it was awkward, and Alex and I both didn't know what to think at the time, but it was certainly the start of something.

As a matter of fact, we considered the 12th of March our anniversary later on. Indeed, from that point on, we definitely began spending more time together. Our every Sunday encounters were soon to become every Sunday and every Friday. Alex soon began to be able to come hang out and play Pump with all of us on Friday nights, and I believe I took her home for the first time some time around now. I don't remember, though.

I do remember the first time I talked to her mom... I was terrified. I don't remember when this was, but I took her home and her mom came outside and talked to me. Alex told me that her mom noticed a change in her; that she was happier and more interested in doing things with her friends again, whereas she usually just hung out with Chad at their house or at Chad's. Her mom came outside on their front porch and asked me some pretty typical questions, I told her that i had been considering going back to school during the summer semester, told her about our friendship and how we all shared the same friends and whatnot. Her dad at that point wouldn't even come outside to meet me. He'd found out that Alex had been hanging out with an old guy and didn't even want to meet me. I understood.

The weekend after the fishing trip, we held the first DDR tournament at Citiplace theater. It was a cloudy overcast day, and anyone who knows me knows that I don't do well with those. I was completely out of sorts. Everyone else was too. Before the tournament began, I was playing on Standard mode and some kid asked me if I could play on Heavy and whether I could compete in the tournament. In the tournament, Vaughn was eliminated by Chad, and I beat Chad on our first meeting, and our second meeting was the final round of the tournament. Our first match was won by one great on Holic by me (our third song), and our second match came down to the random of Higher, which I won 7 greats to 6 and a miss. Chad claimed that it was pad, though, so we just split the winnings, and I got a Superman poster and some movie passes out of (which I still have, if any hot girls want to go to a movie with me. XD- drc)

By the end of the month, I was still insisting to Melissa that we were together and that I wasn't going anywhere, though I know she was worried by then. She went on this vacation during the middle of the month, and I know that during that time, Alex and I got way closer. Melissa was simply getting old at this point. I cared for her too much... she gave me everything I asked her for, and I didn't want to let her go. I was still doing a pretty good job of juggling the both of them by this point, though. Alex and I were having the late night conversations, and Melissa was coming over the next morning to wake me up.

Prelude to Februrary: A Few Notes:



Just thought I'd mention that by the beginning of this month, and even before it, a few things were in motion. The Baton Rouge Bemani scene was in full force. Kevin was quickly rising as one of the top Beatmania players in the city, and Ashley was already passing 321 Stars [a]. Kevin, Vaughn, Randall, Cedric, Wayne and I were spending every weekend at my house, hanging out and playing Bemani games all weekend long.

I was hanging out a lot with Melissa. She would come over on some mornings and just lay there with me, sometimes we'd just look into each others' eyes. Then, in the afternoons and nights, we'd kick it at my house, watching movies and just hanging out at my house and playing Guitar Hero at the Mall with Neal, then hitting up Burger King.




Chapter Two: February



Looking back on February, I notice a lot more changes than I expected. February is a very transitional period.



It starts with the biggest DDR tournament since NOISE II at Boomtown Casino. In fact, the number of people who still play DDR or Pump that can remember that tournament can be counted on one hand.



Gameware's first DDR tournament has a turnout of 22 entrants, and many more onlookers. It brought people from all over Baton Rouge, and as far as New Orleans, Livingston Parish, and even Fort Polk. The Perfect Attack division is very exciting, with the rules involving modifier matching, and a number of very close showdowns between top players. The tournament was won by a small margin of Greats by Chad Lee, who emerged victorious over Vaughn.



The day arguably culminated in a match between myself and a DDR player named Amber, who I somehow convinced (along with Gameware's staff) into playing the song with each of our shirts off. I joke about how many of the people in the room were likely remarking, "Oh, so THAT's what they look like in real life". Amber looked good, I'm not going to lie; I felt like a pimp.



Of course, Melissa there (and not happy about the topless round). Neither was Renee, but hey, it was all in good fun. (I talked to that girl once since that day- drc) This is typical of Melissa. She is absolutely addicted to being around me. Perhaps I am unable to appreciate the way she doesn't mind sitting in an arcade for hours at a time, but I don't seem to notice her devotion. I also feel as though she doesn't want to be in a relationship with me, as she never makes a move to ask me to be her boyfriend, and I presume she wants to keep it that way.



I meet a girl at Laser Tag one night playing Pump It Up, Savannah. She is hot. It turns out Wayne knows her from school. We set up a date, and the night of the date, I leave work in a hurry so Melissa won't be able to catch me and ask me what I'm doing. Turns out, Vaughn hears about the date from Steve at Gameware, and tells Melissa about it. He didn't mean any harm; I'm sure he didn't notice that Melissa and I are "interested" in each other, but she doesn't even confront me about it. I tell her she has nothing to worry about. I go on a few more dates with Savannah, and indeed, we seem to have no chemistry, and I stop seeing her.



Alex and I continue to get closer, and spend more time on the phone. A simple "Love you!" we'd exchanged online once turns into little "Less Than Three"s exchanged in text messages and "I love you"s exchanged more frequently. As I begin to spend more time on the phone with Alex, it becomes more and more apparent to me that we will end up together at some point, and most probably a lot sooner than we'd originally talked about. She and I begin to text each other frequently, and by the end of the month, the small fire we'd lit came to a boil.



Baton Rouge's first Pump It Up tournament was held at Laser Tag. This tournament was absolutely huge. Many people come from New Orleans, one kid even came from Kentucky (though he showed up seven hours late and couldn't participate; that must have sucked). Randall and Vaughn slept over the night before, and Melissa came over at eight in the morning and we all ate breakfast. Melissa had finished a paper she had to write far in advance to come to this with us. We headed up there and had a very long Hard division, which Randall won by a small margin against Vaughn and a very inexperienced (at the time) Daniel (Great White Hope). Vaughn and Randall then leave.



My dad shows up to show me some support before Hard Division even starts, which was wonderful of him, and Stephen, Clemo, and... maybe some other people show up during Speed to cheer me on (if you were there for me too, I'm sorry I didn't remember you!!) Melissa, Wayne, the Laser Tag crew, and most of the New Orleans crew cheer me on the whole time, they were all wonderful. I played brilliantly, and outscore most everyone in every round we played on Crazy. As the tournament enters the Nightmare rounds at the end (which is where you play on both sides of the pad at once), Ryan decides to allow players to use the bar. This of course gives everyone a huge break, and gives me a disadvantage because I did not train to use the bar. I end up in fourth place, though not disappointed. I always enter every tournament with the sole goal of beating one person, and having fun. I certainly did both of those.



Melissa, at one point during the tournament, drove back to my house to get my peanut butter and jelly so I could make myself a sandwich, and she sat there with me for twelve hours watching me play Pump. At around seven, after Speed was over, Alex and Tah Jah came, and I don't remember much about that, other than the fact that I forced Alex to play Pump, and she enjoyed it, but said she was too lazy to ever want to play the game. She quit halfway through Mexi Mexi CZ.



On the 27th of February, which was a Monday, Alex and I finally came to grips that we were not going to last as long as we thought we were in holding off our relationship. I remember feeling like I knew that we were going to be together very soon, though neither of us would say it. In fact, the way we spoke about "what we had" was by referring to it as "nothing". That was just another way we were able to keep each other on the edge of our seats.



I remember also around this time, becoming annoyed with everything Vaughn, Randall, and Melissa would say. Of course, Wayne always thought of Melissa as a robot, and Wayne, Alex, Tah Jah and I would frequently talk about how robotic Vaughn and Randall were. I did like being around them, again, but they were robotic.



Coming into March, I am having second thoughts about continuing my relationship with Melissa. I feel as though it's childish. I feel like Melissa might not even want a relationship with me; like she might just want me to hang out and not for anything serious or to be tied down to. I feel like Alex has a better grip on what the future holds, and that it would make more sense to pave a road to it with her sooner than later. That one pesky problem remains though... the fact that she has a boyfriend, who knows nothing of this, of course. He is oblivious completely. As a matter of fact, the two of them talk so little, at times he would call to say goodnight to her while we were on the phone, and she would pretend to be sleepy, and then come back to the phone with me.



Ahh, popular, making money, caught between two beautiful women, both of whom are trying their hardest to be with me... what could be better?













The world is far from perfect

but so am I

same old story:

and there's this boy...

he makes my world seem beautiful

and my smile brighter...

makes my day right with an off-hand comment

my heart skip with one look

and I call him

[amazing]

because he takes my breath away

<3



-Melissa Doss

Prelude to February: A Few Notes:



Just thought I'd mention that by the beginning of this month, and even before it, a few things were in motion. The Baton Rouge Bemani scene was in full force. Kevin was quickly rising as one of the top Beatmania players in the city, and Ashley was already passing 321 Stars [a]. Kevin, Vaughn, Randall, Cedric, Wayne and I were spending every weekend at my house, hanging out and playing Bemani games all weekend long.

I was hanging out a lot with Melissa. She would come over on some mornings and just lay there with me, sometimes we'd just look into each others' eyes. Then, in the afternoons and nights, we'd kick it at my house, watching movies and just hanging out at my house and playing Guitar Hero at the Mall with Neal, then hitting up Burger King.




Chapter Two: February



Looking back on February, I notice a lot more changes than I expected. February is a very transitional period.



It starts with the biggest DDR tournament since NOISE II at Boomtown Casino. In fact, the number of people who still play DDR or Pump that can remember that tournament can be counted on one hand.



Gameware's first DDR tournament has a turnout of 22 entrants, and many more onlookers. It brought people from all over Baton Rouge, and as far as New Orleans, Livingston Parish, and even Fort Polk. The Perfect Attack division is very exciting, with the rules involving modifier matching, and a number of very close showdowns between top players. The tournament was won by a small margin of Greats by Chad Lee, who emerged victorious over Vaughn.



The day arguably culminated in a match between myself and a DDR player named Amber, who I somehow convinced (along with Gameware's staff) into playing the song with each of our shirts off. I joke about how many of the people in the room were likely remarking, "Oh, so THAT's what they look like in real life". Amber looked good, I'm not going to lie; I felt like a pimp.



Of course, Melissa there (and not happy about the topless round). Neither was Renee, but hey, it was all in good fun. (I talked to that girl once since that day- drc) This is typical of Melissa. She is absolutely addicted to being around me. Perhaps I am unable to appreciate the way she doesn't mind sitting in an arcade for hours at a time, but I don't seem to notice her devotion. I also feel as though she doesn't want to be in a relationship with me, as she never makes a move to ask me to be her boyfriend, and I presume she wants to keep it that way.



I meet a girl at Laser Tag one night playing Pump It Up, Savannah. She is hot. It turns out Wayne knows her from school. We set up a date, and the night of the date, I leave work in a hurry so Melissa won't be able to catch me and ask me what I'm doing. Turns out, Vaughn hears about the date from Steve at Gameware, and tells Melissa about it. He didn't mean any harm; I'm sure he didn't notice that Melissa and I are "interested" in each other, but she doesn't even confront me about it. I tell her she has nothing to worry about. I go on a few more dates with Savannah, and indeed, we seem to have no chemistry, and I stop seeing her.



Alex and I continue to get closer, and spend more time on the phone. A simple "Love you!" we'd exchanged online once turns into little "Less Than Three"s exchanged in text messages and "I love you"s exchanged more frequently. As I begin to spend more time on the phone with Alex, it becomes more and more apparent to me that we will end up together at some point, and most probably a lot sooner than we'd originally talked about. She and I begin to text each other frequently, and by the end of the month, the small fire we'd lit came to a boil.



Baton Rouge's first Pump It Up tournament was held at Laser Tag. This tournament was absolutely huge. Many people come from New Orleans, one kid even came from Kentucky (though he showed up seven hours late and couldn't participate; that must have sucked). Randall and Vaughn slept over the night before, and Melissa came over at eight in the morning and we all ate breakfast. Melissa had finished a paper she had to write far in advance to come to this with us. We headed up there and had a very long Hard division, which Randall won by a small margin against Vaughn and a very inexperienced (at the time) Daniel (Great White Hope). Vaughn and Randall then leave.



My dad shows up to show me some support before Hard Division even starts, which was wonderful of him, and Stephen, Clemo, and... maybe some other people show up during Speed to cheer me on (if you were there for me too, I'm sorry I didn't remember you!!) Melissa, Wayne, the Laser Tag crew, and most of the New Orleans crew cheer me on the whole time, they were all wonderful. I played brilliantly, and outscore most everyone in every round we played on Crazy. As the tournament enters the Nightmare rounds at the end (which is where you play on both sides of the pad at once), Ryan decides to allow players to use the bar. This of course gives everyone a huge break, and gives me a disadvantage because I did not train to use the bar. I end up in fourth place, though not disappointed. I always enter every tournament with the sole goal of beating one person, and having fun. I certainly did both of those.



Melissa, at one point during the tournament, drove back to my house to get my peanut butter and jelly so I could make myself a sandwich, and she sat there with me for twelve hours watching me play Pump. At around seven, after Speed was over, Alex and Tah Jah came, and I don't remember much about that, other than the fact that I forced Alex to play Pump, and she enjoyed it, but said she was too lazy to ever want to play the game. She quit halfway through Mexi Mexi CZ.



On the 27th of February, which was a Monday, Alex and I finally came to grips that we were not going to last as long as we thought we were in holding off our relationship. I remember feeling like I knew that we were going to be together very soon, though neither of us would say it. In fact, the way we spoke about "what we had" was by referring to it as "nothing". That was just another way we were able to keep each other on the edge of our seats.



I remember also around this time, becoming annoyed with everything Vaughn, Randall, and Melissa would say. Of course, Wayne always thought of Melissa as a robot, and Wayne, Alex, Tah Jah and I would frequently talk about how robotic Vaughn and Randall were. I did like being around them, again, but they were robotic.



Coming into March, I am having second thoughts about continuing my relationship with Melissa. I feel as though it's childish. I feel like Melissa might not even want a relationship with me; like she might just want me to hang out and not for anything serious or to be tied down to. I feel like Alex has a better grip on what the future holds, and that it would make more sense to pave a road to it with her sooner than later. That one pesky problem remains though... the fact that she has a boyfriend, who knows nothing of this, of course. He is oblivious completely. As a matter of fact, the two of them talk so little, at times he would call to say goodnight to her while we were on the phone, and she would pretend to be sleepy, and then come back to the phone with me.



Ahh, popular, making money, caught between two beautiful women, both of whom are trying their hardest to be with me... what could be better?













The world is far from perfect

but so am I

same old story:

and there's this boy...

he makes my world seem beautiful

and my smile brighter...

makes my day right with an off-hand comment

my heart skip with one look

and I call him

[amazing]

because he takes my breath away

<3



-Melissa Doss

Characters to Introduce-

Melissa- a girl I'd been seeing for a while. She and I had been courting and getting close since some time in December. I was pretty crazy about her.

Clemo, Ethan, Stephen and Samantha- my Homewood crew. The kids I grew up with, minus Samantha, who has been around for long enough anyway.

Vaughn and Randall- two kids I didn't know very well, but who played DDR and other games with me, and who had come and hung out and spent the night a few times.

Alex- a girl who I'd known for a while, but never really hung out with much until we suddenly hit it off on one particular day and began talking.

Chapter One: January

Hi, my name is Ralph Caffery. I am 21 years old, as of September 9th. I'm the most popular guy in the Mall of Louisiana. I'm confident, and fun to be around. I like to hang out at Gameware, a store in the mall that sells games and has an arcade, which luckily has many games in it at which I am proficient.

My girlfriend Melanie broke up with me in mid-November, and I am pretty torn up about it still, though through my friends from Gameware starting to come over a lot and play games with me, I'm slowly recovering. Of course my mind is reeling from the actual break-up, but my heart knows that our relationship really only lasted three months or so and that healing won't be that far out of reach.

When I was 20, I'd moved out of my parents neighborhood (for the second time, PM me if you don't know about my episode at Jimmy Swaggart- drc) and so my friends from the neighborhood and I started getting together every Sunday night. We like to just sit around and talk, play some NAACP '06, and just sort of kick it.

As January continues, I start to see Melissa more. I think because of what happened with Jenny and Melanie, I am being more cautious about getting so attached too early to her, so I am keeping her as just seeing her some days of the week; kind of at arm's length mostly, but we were still getting close. Cutesy pet names, long late night AIM talks, sometimes late night phone talks. I am also slowly getting physical with her, we went from the nervousness of being about to go for the first kiss, but each backing down, to one kiss on the cheek one night, to the actual thing, the most wonderful first kiss I've ever had, one night when I was going back into work from spending my break with her.

At the same time, I am also starting a completely new path, a new friendship. A girl who I previously only knew in passing and I had recently just seemed to hit it off one day in the mall and started to talk online. Alex never liked me; in fact she thought I was unattractive and annoying. However, on January 1, 2006, something clicked, and at the mall together, we found some common ground.

Alex and Tah Jah come up to me after I get off work that day and tell me that Vaughn is in Gameware being sad about how he is lonely. This seems accurate to me, though I don't know much about Vaughn's situation. Alex and I decide that we were going to call each other later and talk more, and suddenly, our inside joke (which I can't remember how or when it started) that we would have to get married if we ever talked on the phone was suddenly very much coming to the forefront.

Of course Alex has a boyfriend, which makes me feel uncomfortable. I didn't want him to feel like I was trying to move in on his position, but I do enjoy being with her, and figure there is no harm in that. Also, Alex insists that he wouldn't be able to spend the time we were spending together with her anyway, as his parents don't want them to be together but on one day a week.

Talking to Alex is a nightly thing, after I get off work, I go to the laundry room and get on the internet and look at my Bemani-related websites and talk to people. She and I were simply flirty at first in a friendly sort of way, but the more me talk, the more things are taking a serious route. Alex and I are noticing that we have lots in common. Lots more than we'd thought.

At some point in January I start spending Sunday morning with her at Barnes and Noble. Sunday was her and Tah Jah's day together, and they would study there. I just happened to be invited for one of them and it turned into something we did frequently. This is the start of many things, including one of our favorite jokes, with this penguin picture book and giving silly captions to the pictures.

All this spending time together and talking has me thinking about things. Firstly, Alex and I both seem to both be able to agree on what we want for the future: someone who is sweet and caring and loving, and that we will probably be perfect for each other at some point down the line. Melissa and I feel the same way about the future, but it is starting to seem to me that Melissa isn't taking things as seriously as I am (perhaps this was due to my own inability to open my heart up quite yet- drc). Alex and I are also able to talk about certain things that I just don't feel comfortable talking to Melissa about, perhaps this is because I see Alex as more of a good friend to talk to than a girlfriend prospect (at least in the present time).

It also makes me uncomfortable that Melissa has to lie to her parents about where she is when she's with me, though I understand that since I'm so much older and since they are so strict, that we might not be able to hang out at all otherwise.

Melissa's main weapon is her eyes. Big and blue, and sort of swallow you up when she looks into yours. That, coupled with her kisses, which were simple and full of love I knew we shared, made me want to stay. The way she hangs on my every word and seems to adore and be fascinated by everything I say really blows my mind. Her beautiful, smooth hair, soft touch, and the way she would come over for an hour in the morning just to wake me up and lay with me before I went to work are some of the sweetest moments we shared.

Plus, why worry? At the time, I would have let Melissa see anyone else she pleased, and I was attempting to keep my options open too. I figured she was seeing other guys.

Going into February, I am coming out of my depressed rut. I am gaining a foothold on some new friendships which I feel will still be there when I'm much older. And I'm seeing an amazing girl who I feel an amazing connection with. Starting the year off right.

I'll be posting all of my recent story here on LiveJournal in an attempt to expose it to more people and perhaps find a better way of blogging than Myspace. If anyone can tell me anything about "getting the word out" about a blog, or any communities that people from Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas frequent, it would be greatly appreciated.

I'll be posting one chapter from the book every day until it's complete. Then, I don't know what I'm going to do.

Date:	2006-02-05 15:01
Subject:	Gameware DDR tourney- major success!
Security:	Public
Mood:	calm
Music:	311- Misdirected Hostility

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who came to this tournament. Y'all showing up was all I wanted, and you gave me that. Thank you so much. I saw more people today than I ever expected, people playing and people just coming to watch. DDR for me, it's just not fun if I don't have A.) My friends there with me to hang out, and B.) A big crowd of onlookers to cheer me on and compel me to do better. Y'all made my day.
The tournament was very heated toward the end, with lots of very close matches between some people, and the fact that there is still noone around here who can beat Chad in straight up perfect attack, so there were a few matches where some nasty mod combinations were pulled out. For instance, Chad pulled out Bag 1x flat on me, I made him play Paranoia Survivor Max Oni on 1.5x Reverse, and Vaughn made him play Paranoia Survivor six optioned, at 1.5x (that means boost, shuffle, flat, hidden, reverse). Also, there was Chad's match against Jeffito (an amazing IIDX and DDR player that is stationed by the army at Fort Polk, Louisiana who came down), which was a PA battle of epic proportions. I mean, it was like 3 greats to 6 greats on Do You Remember Me and very close on the rest of the songs, too.
My favorite part of this tournament, just like the Houma tournament was that while the spirit of competition was there, it was mostly about having fun with your friends and just playing some damn DDR. My first match was against Chad. Chad is better at DDR than me. I knew this, and he knew this, so we decided that messing around and acting as stupid as we could would be the best policy. We played Butterfly as our last song, and freestyled the whole thing.
My most memorable match of the day was against a girl named Amber, whom I'd met before but hadn't talked to in quite a while and didn't remember her. We really hit it off today, talking alot, and I said that when we have to play each other, we should be as moronic as we could. So, we agreed to play It's Raining Men and i feel..., and play them [i]topless[/i]. I went and asked Steve if it was okay if we played with our shirts off, and he said yes, and i said, "Well, what if my opponent is a girl?" and he said yes again... so we did it! While boobies in Gameware was nice, it was even better to make a new friend, especially one who feels the same way I do about not taking yourself very seriously at a tournament.
Actually, the only matches I lost were the ones against Chad, which makes me feel better that the only guy I lost to was the guy who won... our second match (the one where I played PSMO Extra Stage style against him) was even worse than normal, because our 3rd song (chosen at random) came out to be The Legend of Max. If you know me, you know that Legend is my worst song in the game. I totally suck at it. And, if you know Chad, you know that it's his BEST song in the game. Like, really. He can get like 30 on it, I think.
Oh, and if I ever have to hear V again that many times, I'm going to shoot myself in the head. I mean, really, Konami puts it on every IIDX Style they come out with, we don't need to hear it in DDR.
Once again, I'd like to thank all the people who came out today, especially those who came from WAY THE HELL FAR AWAY (like four freaking hours, some of them), and made this thing happen. I hope to see all of you again very soon.

[size=24][color=darkred]One last very important note. If any of you saw someone take, or took by mistake my purple Gameboy Advance SP from the side of the DDR machine, PM me. I would like it back. Thx.[/size][/color]

Date:	2006-01-23 22:39
Subject:	Like a sack of moldy... TANGERINES.
Security:	Public
Mood:	annoyed
Music:	DJ Yoshitaka- Niji Iro

Today, I walked into Quiznos for work, to find my name off the list of employees. When I walked up front, Jill gives me this guilty look and says, "Oh, I have to talk to you about something."
Yeah. Fired. From the store that I made. From the store with my name in the title, Ralphnos. From the store that wouldn't be running if it weren't for me. Really, I think it's gonna be like getting dumped. You don't think about it for a few weeks, and then it creeps up on you and you get all depressed. At least, that's what happened to me last time I got dumped, and the times before that.
Apparantly, I'm "Not the kind of employee they're looking for right now".
Fortunately, Canes was very understanding about it and have offered me all the hours i could want. They were all very sympathetic and Charles even was gonna let me have the rest of the day off, but when someone offered me their shift, I couldn't turn it down. I need the money, especially since last week, since Quiznos only gave me 12 hours, six of which I worked, I got like 26 hours last week instead of my normal 40 or so.
Thank God for Jalapeno potato chips.

Date:	2006-01-03 00:00
Subject:	her.
Security:	Public
Mood:	lethargic
Music:	Terra- We Are

it was like i just couldn't stop thinking about her... when i woke up, it was already a bad morning.... sleepy, not too much sleep.... wish i could ever get more....and then thoughts of her started coming into my head.... on the way to work, during work, all i could keep doing was replaying all our times together through my head. i'd start from the beginning and work my way through.... where did i go wrong? I kept asking myself this... but i can't realy find the moment i messed up. i know i didn't ever hang out with her friends. i know i don't like her type of music. but that should n't matter. we were perfect. it seemed so much so... i finally felt like i'd found the girl of my dreams. one who wanted to take care of me and be sweet to me and appraeciated a guy who did the same for her. One who liked that i was a hard worker and could provide for her. one who thought that i was the shit. didn't mind that my claim to fame is that i am "That awesome ddr guy from the arcade that one time!!!!!11!11one!"
I know that if i talk to her, i'll just disappoint myself more, i know that it's not good to dwell, i just can't help it. From her coming to NO and hanging with me after the tourney, to surviving the hurricane together, to all the things we 've told each other , to ..... shit, just everything. she used to let me drive her car when i wouldn't drive mine, if she was going to work with her sister. she and her sister used to come over and spend the weekend and cook for me and generally treat me like a king and loved being around me, or so i thoguht. now i get hte impression from a phone call to her sister that she doesn't really need me around anymore, new boyfriend, and i guess she doesn't either. She didn't from the end of it, which was some time in november, and she doens't now.

Tonight, work was just blah, didn't feel like being there, i went and played ddr at citiplace tonight, it wasn't the best, but damn, 4 songs for 50 cents... i was just having trouble finding four songs i wanted to play. I did get to talk to a manager about itg and letting me fix the 2p side's right arrow, which would be nice, since the 1p side feels late. Tomorrow will be better.

well, i spent the day in lafayette with my cousins and then came back home and hung out with melissa and trang at don carters for a bit, and played some ddr... i was there with a girl on each arm, but i didn't really feel like playing ddr much... then i hung out with ethan and all them at my apartment, and had lots of crazy times... thoguh not as crazy as me and the guys' party!
Me, Kevin, Vaughn, and Randall were all ready for a late night party at gameware, which didn't end up happening, so we just went to my house for listening to Bemani music, playing Halo (though I could only find two of my controllers), and the Disney version of Sorry! It was such an intense and masculine new years eve party, i wonder how we managed to contain ourselves.
Oh, and 4 misses and a good or something on Paranoia Survivor Max Oni with bar. I just randomly played it with the bar the other night and did really well on it! Getting there with MaxX extra stage no bar. Pump machine is broken.... grrr. i need that thing back NOW. I can't stand only being able to play ddr. I need some other game! God, we need ITG here.

Date:	2005-12-24 22:40
Subject:	Finally, the holiday shopping is over...
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired
Music:	Turbo Remix

...and now to have to deal with the aftermath. Ugh. Maybe this next week I won't be completely exhausted all the time again. It's not a good feelin at all.
I've been making pretty big strides in PIU and DDR, getting ready for February's PIU tourney. I'll be in it big, I hope. I played an entire set of Paranoia Survivor Max on Oni, using the bar, and can now pretty much beat the song no bar if I'm good and warmed up.
I've made much more progress in Pump, I got 68 greats and 10 misses on Solitary 2, passed Dignity no bar (something like 120 misses, lol, that's around what I got on it the first time I ever played it), also beat Dignity Full FS without much trouble my first time through. Been playing lots of different songs on Nightmare and trying to get better at spinning on songs like Love is a Danger Zone CZ and NM, Banya Classic Hard and Dignity Full Mix Hard, where the spins are difficult for me to see and have you turning halfway around. Speaking of Banya Classic, I got one freaking miss on that stupid thing. I was so mad. I WILL unlock Dignity Full CZ, and I will beat that thing. I've seen the video, and I know I can do it.

Date:	2005-11-15 23:28
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired
Music:	Pop'n Music 11- Cleartone 2

Tonight, i was feeling really stressed out at work. Like, wanting to start smoking and drinking stressed out. So, instead, I went to LTG and played some Pump.
---All no bar
Ba Be Lo Be Ra NM
Shake Your Booty CZ
Hatred CZ
U NM
Then, once they closed, I headed to Don Carter's for some DDR. It turns out, after all these years, they finally unlocked their machine! WTF!?!?!?!
PSMO 9 goods, 9 misses.
Failed fucking Sorrow again, on Tears again. Bitch.

Oh, and to any of you who care, I'm single again. Melanie broke up with me.

This is the worst bullshit I can see, so I decided that, in the words of the great Skynyrd, all I could do was write about it.
We waited all day at Gameware to install Steploader on the DDR machine. At around 9, Gameware closed, which is when Steven told us we'd be able to install it. I had the files ready. Vaughn, Randall, Kevin, Lauren and I had all been waiting. I asked Steve if it would be alright to begin installing it.
It was at that moment when he decided that it was an opportune time to inform me of this: "Oh, I called the boss, and he says he doesn't want anyone going inside the machine, so you can't do it. Sorry."
I had no idea what to say. No emotion entered my mind. I just said, "Oh, well, can't go against what the boss says." I then motioned to Lauren, and told her we were leaving. I said goodbye to everyone, and me and a small group of people left.
I will not be returning. I've decided that a company who, not only does not appreciate my business, as evidenced by Steven's telling me so, and also will not allow anyone to improve or maintenance its machines for its own good, and jacks up its prices while not offering any more than any other arcade in the city (save for Guitar Freaks, I can play Beatmania at my house, and the sole GF tournament was won by me anyway...), is not worth visiting.
I will be purchasing Guitar Hero... from another store, and will be hanging out with the Gameware crew. I still love the store and think of it as my second home. All the current Gameware employees are my friends, not just people I see in the mall, and the new employees (who were all hired recently, I've been told, though I was never informed of Gameware even starting hiring at all, and friends of mine who applied were reportedly sort of snided and brushed off) I am sure, will be knowledgeable about games and their gameplay.
On a lighter note, here is some progress, this is one reason I regret not updating this journal more frequently, for progress tracking purposes, though I do feel as though I improve at both DDR and Pump every time I play.
DDR
Nearly finished PSMO no bar, I had the stamina in the 3rd run, but I got ahead of the beat...
Unlimited no bar, A
300- 40 greats, various non-combos
Finally figured out what was messing me up in Tears 1x... will probably give Sorrow a try again soon.
Pump
Solitary 2- 11 misses, finally getting it back down to what it once was... funny that I was better at this song when I was less seasoned at the game.
Wax no bar- 7 misses
Winter no bar- some misses, under 10.
LIADZ NM- Passed. 108 misses, I think.
Canon D Full 1x- Passed. Lots of misses. I picked up some random girl's game that she started and left.
New Personal High Score- 8.3 million. Wax, Conga, Street Showdown, Greenhorn. Justin's highest score on the machine is 8.8 million... I'm coming for you, buddy!!

AAed Max 300, beat Maxx shuffle and broke 100 greats on it... gotta keep at it.
Ralphnos is on the way to destruction... it is looking as though we have no time to survive and should probably make our time, gentlemen...

Date:	2005-08-21 02:06
Subject:	LJ at Ralph's!!
Security:	Public
Mood:	good
Music:	Pop'n Music 11- Ukelelian

Well, I'm making this entry because I can... from my apartment! Cedric's over here until school starts up again for him, so he's got his computer, so we tapped into someone's wireless internet, and we are now on right here! Wayne's playing Pop'n 11, and Ced's watching... I think I hurt my left middle finger today while I was playing, so I'm taking a break.
Today was awesome, it was me, Vaughn, Alex, Randall, Wayne, Ced, and probably a bunch of other people I forgot, at the mall, playing Pop'n, broken ass DDR, and some new guys moved into town, they're going to LSU and they are from Marerro, and play at Boomtown, with Chad and people like that, and this one dude Anthony of them was pretty cool.
Yeah, so one day I'll get a better computer than the one I have (no offense, Michael, I love the computer, bro!), and get on these wonderful internets all the time! WOOOOO!!!
Oh, and I passed Maxx Unlimited double on DDR, and on Pump It Up, I got an A on I'll Give You all My Love Nightmare (45 misses, most of them stupid mistakes that I don't normally get), Full-Perfect Comboed U on Nightmare (I was FREAKING OUT), and got 76 misses on Dignity Crazy (I GOT A B ON THAT SHIT!!!) So, I obviously rule. WA-HA!!!

Date:	2005-08-02 14:45
Subject:	Oh, man... what a weekend.
Security:	Public
Mood:	good
Music:	311- Hydroponic

This weekend was the Pump It Up tournament in Houma. It was incredible. As I went up for my first round in the tournament, I realized, it didn't really matter to me whether I won or lost, just that I was having the most incredible time, playing DDR and Pump with the best players in the United States, getting along and becoming friends with every one of them, and having all of them cheer for ME when I went up against this guy... And to my surprise, I beat him! Then, my second round was against this dude who'd come with his mom and dad from Kansas, and he was a really nice guy too, and when I beat him, his mom told me about how they're trying to have a tournament in Wichita, and how I could stay at their house if they did... even though I'd just beat her son! Totally nice people, all of them.
In addition to all this, I also played DDR for like 7 hours that day and schooled everyone there except Red Viper and Chad... I really hope that some day I can be as good as the two of them. Simply INCREDIBLE players with just LIMITLESS stamina. I really want to improve myself now that I've gone to the tourney and seen what people like them and Justin, Smidget, and BotD can do.
Also, I'm going for a world record of six days of knowing this girl Melanie and having her not hate me yet. She's so nice, and we've been hanging out alot lately. She was actually in New Orleans when we'd come back to NO from the tournament, so she came and hung with all of us. BTW, if you're ever there, never ask anyone for fucking directions. I must've walked for two hours before I found where I was going to find Melanie. Last night, me, her, and her sister went to the levee and just walked around for a while out onto this abandoned pier and looked at the water and the cars on the bridge. It was pretty neat. Last night, she came over and we watched this movie called Four Rooms... what a movie! It was a total trip!
Also, I've made a MAJOR improvement in IIDX... one night, I just randomly attempted Xenon, and boom! Passed my first flashing seven! Then, I went on to nail Spiral Galaxy, Colors Eurobeat, and Dual Control, and then last night, I got DXY!, and also beat a BUNCH of seven star songs I'd never cleared before. I don't know what happened, but I sure like it! I think Mel's my good luck charm or something, because my meter never went below 80 percent when I cleared Sync last night, and I border bonused DXY!, like, on the last freaking note! It was really something else.
DDR hasn't been improving much, though I did pass PSM Oni again at the Pump tournament (and everyone was like holy shit), and last night when I wasp playing Pump, I cleared Dignity (with 97 misses, lol, a D), and Canon D... but I've passed that with a better score before. I was just not really warmed up last night, and eager to go home and see Melanie.
That's that, gotta go to work.