blueswede

do something here or go someplace else

It's almost 12:15 A.M. on Friday night as I begin this, and
guess where I am? That's right, wasting away at home, as I
have been most weekends. Actually it's not too bad, since I
had no real motivation to head out tonight. Plus I went out
for dinner with my parents, so it's not like I've been home
all day and all night.

I've lately spent the vast majority of my nights sitting at
home, listening to music, and writing in this when the urge
strikes. It's not the most productive of ways to pass time,
but at least it's not harmful or dangerous. Still, my habit
of being at home most of the time is starting to get to me,
as it has in the past. It's not so much that I'm at home on
weekend nights, but rather that I'm really not doing much of
anything with the time.

Amazing that I'm actually getting to the main subject of the
entry within the first couple of paragraphs, isn't it?

Anyway, I've decided that I either need to find someplace to
hang out, a haunt if you will, or start on a project of some
sort. I'm thinking some sort of programming project should
be about right for the summer. Basically, I either need to
attempt to enhance my social life, or enhance my skills and
maybe have fun at the same time.

There's a coffeehouse not too far from me which has become a
fairly popular nightspot, mainly with those who can't go to
bars yet. It's a nice place, good coffee, good food, pretty
sound decor, and jazz playing in the background. Right now,
it seems like it might be an ideal place for me.

However, the potential there is both good and bad. There's
some likelihood that I'll run into people I knew from high
school, which could be good or bad, given the nature of the
people who frequented that spot. They were a decent crowd,
but not really on my wavelength. And there's even a slight
possibility of meeting girls there, though once again, that
could be either good or bad. The biggest inconvenience is
that I'll need to have something to do there if I'm just by
myself, because otherwise I'll get bored so fast you'll be
able to see the enthusiasm drain right out of me.

I don't really know of any other places, though. Last time
I checked, which was never, there weren't any under-21 clubs
or anything around here, and I don't pack fake IDs. Even if
there were such clubs, they probably wouldn't be a whole lot
of fun; blaring rap music, lots of people, and bad lighting
remind me of frat parties sans booze. None for me, thanks.

As for a programming project, I'm not sure what I could take
on. I'd like to do a game of some sort, but I'm short some
important skills, like graphics programming and whatnot. I
do have plenty of ideas, which I'd like to think are pretty
good, and it would be nice if I could implement them in some
fashion. The key is learning how.

My programmer friends have recommended a few books for me to
look into, and there is a fair amount of material available
online for me to study, but I'm having a hard time figuring
out where to start. My only real graphics experience is in
Java, and that's probably not fast enough for the things I'm
wanting to do.

Still, I'm thinking I might just be able to create something
halfway decent by the end of the summer, or at least a demo
of what I want to do. The trick is learning what I need to
know, because doing it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
After all, even when I'm not particularly creative, I can do
grunt work without much trouble.

Ultimately it becomes a question of what I really want to do
with all this time I have on my hands. I can either attempt
to expand my social horizons, or I can try to create a game
and actually make something of all these ideas I have in my
head. Success in either would be great, so I guess the real
issue is, which would yield greater personal satisfaction?

Of course, there's always the option of doing neither. And
given my previous track record, there's a pretty good chance
I'll end up with that choice, even if it's not what I want.

As always, feedback is welcome.

This is Dave, signing off.