Well, yesterday was a very productive day: finalized my group project in Theoretical Game Design (at least in pitching the idea to the publisher), bought the frame for my wine poster at Michael's, dropped of an old modem at my local cable company... and then went to shop at Office Max, Barnes and Noble and Wine Plus on a whim.

Met with my classmate Anna in the afternoon. Our current assignment was to create a game that a developer would want to publish (like, selling our souls to EA or Blizzard/Activision or something). My group liked the idea that I had in mind: it's a psychological suspense/thriller ala Silent Hill and Heavy Rain combined. Now, I won't get into specifics for now but this is an ongoing project and my instructor will be having us proceed with other aspects of video game designing/publishing in the next two months. We had to pick two countries that we think will receive this game and make a good profit out of it. We chose the US and Japan (pretty much the most logical choices as far as regions to market this game).

The Japanese CERO (US equivalent of ESRB) has a more lenient rating system so Horror/Psychological-based games may get an "M" (Mature - 17 years old and over) here in the US but may only get a "B" (15+) or "C" (17+) in Japan (well, that's just a rough outline since it gets tricky when you add other elements into the game).

And a couple of hours later, we decided that we had enough research to back it up so we filed it and went on our separate ways and proceed with our other plans.

Dropped off the Modem at the Cox Cable building since they were charging my Mom $500 for the DVR Cable and Modem if she doesn't return it (I took over her account pretty much when we moved into our new place last January). My brother returned the DVR but forgot to bring the Modem so I finished the whole thing up.

Stopped by at Michael's to buy a frame for my 36"x12 " Alphonse Mucha poster of Moet Chandon in which I will hang it in our wine room this week.

I got what I wanted, and since this is my first time in this place I decided to check their Art Supplies area.

They have a good selection as far as pencils/canvas/papers go but not as diverse as Blick's (for obvious reasons)... hmm, speaking of Blick's, I do need to buy those mannequin thingies that you use for references. 

Bought a new candle warmer for my room (it was on sale with three big-ass scented candles included).

I stepped out, went to my car and dropped off the stuff. I turned and looked around the shopping complex deciding where to go and saw that there's an Office Depot store not too far from Michael's. Since I needed to buy an arm lamp, I decided to get one as well. 

Since I was there, I looked around for a comfy looking chair for my next month's purchase and they have quite a good selection here. Seems like the real good ones (the ones where you can sit comfortably for 8 hours) starts at $220+. My friend Sean said that I should "skimp on the tables but DO NOT skimp on the chair"... so I made a mental note on which one I will purchase next month.

Bought the lamp for $15... pretty sturdy thing but we'll see. When I was on the counter paying for this, I saw someone walked by with a Barnes and Noble plastic bag and I thought "there's a Barnes and Noble bookstore around here?".  I guess I spoke it loudly than I intended since the counter chick said that it's a short walk from their store. 

Made a beeline to that store and when I stepped in, I felt like that I was a kid in a candy store again.

I LOVE the Bargain Shelf. So many nice books to choose from n_n

Got two books to add on my collection (mostly military-related, science and art books)... I will take a picture of that once I assemble my new book shelf.

Since I was on a roll that day, I decided to drive around the shopping complex (it's my first time in this area) to see what they have.

Lo and behold:

Hellz yea!

Grabbed three different kinds of beer (Shock Top, Don de Dieu and Chimay) and a bottle of Italian Amarone.

Was pretty much pooped at the end of the day, but was happy with my purchases. Oh yea, pain in the ass driving while raining on my way home and you have these maniacs driving around like crazy... no wonder insurance here in Vegas is higher. Good grief.