Taylor's Blog

Atypical ramblings

Happy Halloween!

It’s Halloween! 4 months since my last post! So what’s going on?

Well, my 6-month anniversary at Monster has come and gone! I’ve been enjoying the job and learning new things every day. Our company also was acquired by Randstad – a Dutch human resource consulting firm. I’m not sure what the future holds, but I’m unabashedly optimistic.

I’ve started seriously working on an Android course through Udemy.com. I want to create some cool phone apps, maybe even a game one day. The course is run by this guy named Tim Buchalka and I really like it so far. It’s a great course in my opinion because he is always keeping up on the latest developments in Android studio. When something changes, he’s quick to address it so that students don’t become lost. I just finished a calculator app last night, so I think the course is going well!

I started playing the guitar again! I convinced my wife to let me pick up an electric guitar and I’ve been playing it pretty regularly for the past two weeks. I bought the Epiphone Les Paul Electric Guitar Player Pack from Guitar Center for ~$200. It came with everything I needed to start playing and I’m enjoying it a lot. I’ve found JustinGuitar.com is really the best site for beginners. Tons of free content by a really competent teacher. In addition, nothing beats just picking one of your favorite songs and learning how to play the more energetic riffs. I’ve found that Marty Schwartz is another really awesome teacher for learning songs. It’s really surprising how easy to play a lot of famous songs are. I’ve been messing around with Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground by the White Stripes, Brain Stew by Green Day, I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash, and Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison.

I’ve also taken a break from video games for a bit. I want to focus more on productive things like learning guitar and programming. I’ll be starting up my winter classes soon, so I need to get back into the swing of things with serious study habits. Now that I’ve been at Monster for half a year, I can apply for tuition reimbursement which will really help out my finances.

That being said, I have been slightly distracted by upcoming video games. There’s a number of games I’ve been interested in for a variety of reasons. I’m mainly looking forward to a good MMORPG. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to spend some time exploring, but I haven’t found the right one yet. However, there are a few upcoming ones that have caught my eye:

  • Star Citizen – I’ve bought an early adopter pack for this game as it already has a playable Alpha.
  • Camelot Unchained – I’m mainly intrigued by the deep crafting system this game promises and how everything in the game feeds the Realm vs Realm warfare.
  • Crowfall – This game seems to promise a lot and looks very polished in its current state. I hope they open beta testing soon!
  • Chronicles of Elyria – Another game that may prove decent, but it’s really too early to tell.
  • Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen – Don’t know much about this game, but it’s supposed to be true to classic MMORPGs like EverQuest.
  • New World – A game from the new Amazon Game Studios. Not much is known, but since Amazon is backing it with their near-limitless funds it has great potential.

Luckily, I’ve got a good amount of time until any of those games are released, I think. Probably for the best, considering school is starting soon!

Updated: November 2, 2016 — 10:16 pm

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Taylor's Blog © 2015