So i had a great time this afternoon with Michael, catching up on old times, trying to keep up with him on our pitchers of hard iced tea, and revisiting all the old corners of Berkeley. Turns out they've put an EB on Telegraph between Bancroft and Durant, so i popped in and popped out with Unreal 2. Upon returning to Fremont i dashed upstairs to try it out. Installation was a bit lengthy, but completed with no problems. The game loaded up nicely, and all the video and audio options seemed to be in order. After starting a new game though, that's where it got interesting. Despite the introductory menus having a nice backing soundtrack, the sound was completely absent after starting a game. Also, right before the first conversation between the main character and his superior, the game crashed with a general protection fault. So i started the 2 hour process of installing a variety of drivers for my graphics accelerator and sound card. I was able to rectify the crashing, but the sound was nowhere to be seen ... ahem, heard. After causing a multitude of other problems with my system, i rolled back to the original video and audio drivers and threw my hands up in frustration. Perhaps this was my conscience's way of telling me that i have several pressing Stanford-related issues to attend to. F$@&in' shame, because the game looked incredible. At least my system appears to be back to normal, as i was worried after i noticed a sound driver update caused pops in the audio output.

Listening to Rooney, basking in the 80 degree weather, about to head to Berkeley for a few hard iced teas with Mike K ... this is California.

Spent most of the last few days house hunting. Veronica and i saw a few apartments and condos, but they basically served to make me realize that i want a house. I'm tired of rude apartment neighbors, shared washer and dryers, and upstairs parties. We've seen a few nice house rentals, including a gorgeous 3 bedroom right off Skyline Blvd. in Burlingame and another 3 bedroom just a few blocks from Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo (watch out, here comes Veronica!). My parents and i did a 3 hour tour of Burlingame, San Mateo, and Millbrae with a realtor yesterday that turned up several nice prospects as well. Veronica has been down in L.A. since Friday in order to attend Michelle's bridal shower today. She'll be back tomorrow to resume our quest for a house.

I've managed to catch several movies in the last few days as well. Veronica and i watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on dvd with my parents a few days ago, that was decent. Call me blasphemous, but i'm pretty burnt out on the whole Harry Potter phenomenon. I've seen the entirety of XXX by catching parts of it at different times on cable. As Veronica says, it's a powerhouse action flick that rewards those who don't think about it too much. I went with my parents and their friends to see The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen last night. Another movie that you shouldn't think about too much, and by too much i mean at all. It was entertaining though. Stuart Townsend as Dorian Gray was a stretch. If Townsend was a poor man's Lestat in Queen of the Damned, he's the filthiest homeless beggar's Oscar Wilde here. And he's a superhero no less ... essentially immortal since his portrait absorbs all damage. I overheard two teenagers on their way out talking about how they'll have to read The Picture of Dorian Gray. Hope they're not expecting lots of scenes in which he absorbs gunshots and stabbings. It was strange seeing Naseeruddin Shah as kung fu master and submarine chief Captain Nemo the day after seeing him in the wonderful Monsoon Wedding, which my mom made me watch on cable Friday evening. That made me cry repeatedly, and had several great scenes with Shah as well as fantastic cinematography. I'm getting teary just thinking about it. Yeah, Ted's a softie, what else is new.

Other than that, i've been playing with my computer, which the movers dropped off Friday morning, and the new speakers i ordered from Amazon for my birthday. Need to go pick up a PC game or two to play ... Unreal 2 perhaps. And learning to play dominoes with my parents.