When You're Fighting Upstream Against Everyone Else, You're Probably The One Who's Wrong.

When you're fighting upstream against everyone else, you're probably the one who's wrong.

Overheard from someone at school

Presented Without Commentary: Someone's Rendition of Sonic Unleashed

Loljk: A new concept

In my day-to-day proceedings throughout my lifetime, I have noticed some peculiarities about the way, during usual cafeteria table conversation, that "logic" can be used to prove a sarcastic point or mess with people's heads. It has almost turned into an art of sorts, much like standard rhetoric has, except that this rhetoric is used in a joking manner. Using colloquial terms of my day, I have devised a name for this new art: Loljk.

Don't leave yet, I have my reasons.

I chose "loljk" because the terms "lol" and "jk" are most often used after such discourse, and because it sounds like "logic" when pronounced correctly. By observing the phenomenon carefully, I have also derived a definition for it:

Loljk is the attempted use of flawed logic wherein there are an unusually large number of fallacies (e.g. post hoc, ergo propter hoc), untruthful statements (especially those that almost pass as truth), or things that are just plain wrong. It is used extensively when making jokes or trolling, and is often used by people who have no idea what they're doing, occasionally stretching to even the smartest of us when used without thinking first. It is related to, and in most cases synonymous with, troll logic.

The uses of loljk are many and varied. Its main use is to prove untruthful statements, useful for creating nonsense, deriving unrelated objects, recreating history, proving the unprovable, or making one look smart when one has no idea what one is doing. Other uses include humor, getting out of sticky situations, horrifying teachers, or earning blank stares from one's friends. It is known to be extremely useful on tests.

Spread the word. Hopefully awareness will breed understanding, and understanding will breed new talent in this new art of loljk. Rhetoric has successfully evolved for a new generation.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Oh, that's right, I have a blog now. I've been too busy playing the new Paper Mario to remember!

Speaking of which, Paper Mario: Sticker Star is a fun game, but I don't think it's quite a Paper Mario game. I've played through and enjoyed all three of the other games at least twice each (10 times for TTYD); I think I'm qualified as an expert in this field. So when I say that it's not much of a Paper Mario game, that means something is wrong.

Let me be clear: In its own right, PM:SS is outstanding. The battle system works quite well (even if there's no incentive to battle at all), the levels are expertly designed (help where's that darn fish hook), and the music is catchy (why don't we jazz everything). There are thought-provoking puzzles, there are clever boss battles, and there are little things thrown in everywhere that make me smile. The paper art style works well with the 3D effect. It's Mario with RPG gameplay and papery stuff, and that makes it a Paper Mario game.

But I played Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door first. You could say I'm spoiled. When I think of a Paper Mario game, I think of badges and partners and Flower Points and the audience. None of those are here. The levels are the generic NSMB tropes missing the flair of the interesting TTYD designs. The plot is an aside, replaced exclusively by the subplot and NPCs, who do a good job, but don't quite capture the feel of what I'm used too. It's not a Paper Mario game.

Again, and let me make this very clear: It's a Paper Mario game, not a Paper Mario game.

That doesn't disappoint me. PM:SS pleases me in other ways. I like Mario games; maybe that's why I enjoyed Super Paper Mario. That and the story, anyway. Since I'm looking at a Paper Mario game, of course I'd enjoy it. But in this case, there's always that piece of me thinking "this could be better."

Or maybe it's just Super Mario RPG.

I give it an 8/10. TTYD still holds my lone 10/10.

Tomorrow's forecast shows that there's a chance for extra salt in your breakfast.

Today is Easter and tomorrow is April Fools Day. How did the second best and second worst holidays get put together like this?

Speaking of which, I hope you had a good Norther - um, Easter (I always get those mixed up) - and that it was filled with candy and bunnies. Not the other stuff that the holiday's actually about, though. That doesn't exist, right? Right?

Also, good luck keeping on your toes tomorrow from unexpected pranks. Always check the top of your salt shaker to make sure it isn't unscrewed. And make sure to Google a site and get a site preview when going in to make sure they didn't do something dumb.

Finals

I haven't left... Life happened.

First up, finals are coming soon. So I've had to prepare for that.

Secondly, I forgot I had this blog half the time. I was working the other half.

Third, I should warn my tiny following: To me this blog is almost like a journal. Sort of.  The problem is, I've tried keeping a journal before, and it didn't quite work out. Each of the five or so times I tried, I ended within a month. Except one, which I managed to keep up for four months. Either way, things don't look good for me keeping this up.

I like to think I can change that. At some point, I will figure this out.