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I'm starting to really get into this game. It has a lot of things that I would like to see out of an adventure game, such as in-depth customization and exploration. Granted, it's not done yet, but the direction the developers seem to be taking it is awesome. Might do some fanart of my Glitch character, Gallant, once I reach tier 10. Stay tuned. :3
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Thanks to Perks Week, I can make a blog post for no apparent reason! Thank you Perks Week!
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With the passing of the vernal equinox, a new season arrives to the blog formerly known as [siilivaara | Hedgehog Hill]. The venerable, memorable hedgehog theme, which has continued on these pages for precisely 33 months, is no more. It began on August 23, 2006, with the adoption of the self-deprecating title "The Hog Hole," which was soon changed to the ambitious "Hedgehog Mountain" and later morphed into the more modest "Hedgehog Hill." This entry bids farewell to a theme that has served its time well, takes a trip down memory lane, and, at long last, reveals the true significance of the hedgehog in relation to the member known as BCii. Here is our beloved mascot. The original photo was taken by me, in the summer of 2007. That was a magical summer for me, but also a blogless one, as much by choice as it was by circumstance (I had no Internet connection of my own then). It was the first time in my life that so many things were going my way. I had moved from the (quite honestly depressing) town where I was studying, to the (much more vibrant) city where my girlfriend lived. I had at least a score of awesome, close friends there, too, which was totally unprecedented in my life. I spent a lot of time with my friends, doing all kinds of fun stuff. I had a summer job at a building supply warehouse, which agreed with me nicely: serving customers, driving a forklift, being out in the open air most of the time instead of sitting in class. I rode the 10 km there and back every day on a bicycle, so my fitness level was at its peak since getting out of the army. I was also looking forward to visiting my family at home in Vancouver, together with my girlfriend. (We got engaged there.) It was our first and only summer together. (We met in fall 2006 and broke up in spring 2008.) Anyway, getting back to the Blog Mascot. I ran into him (or her, who can tell?) late one night in a pedestrian tunnel under the highway between my place and my girlfriend's. It was the most unexpected thing. And just by chance, I happened to have my camera with me. Also a small piece of blueberry pie. The poor fellow -- (Is "fellow" masculine? I'll just say "creature.") The poor creature was frozen, trapped with its back against the wall. I could sense its fear. I was fascinated by it. I wanted to get close, to touch it. I sent out warm, reassuring thoughts. I took a bite of the pie and offered the rest to the hedgehog. It sniffed the food tentatively and ate it. Then, very slowly, I got closer. I reached out. Very gently, I made to stroke its back. As soon as I made contact, the spines TWITCHED reflexively, startling me. I did not attempt to touch the creature again. I took pictures instead. All of a sudden, I became overwhelmingly, devastatingly aware of a deep spiritual significance in the encounter. The simplicity and purity of animalkind in contrast to the darkness and complexity of humankind. The brotherhood, the deep connection between me, this hedgehog, and all of creation. I wept profusely. It was a moment that has stayed in my mind clearly to this day. Perhaps most uncanny of all, however, is that on the very next evening, my girlfriend and I saw two hedgehogs cavorting in her backyard. I have not met another hedgehog since. In fact, I remember only one other encounter close enough to count, when I was a small child. Although, that time, the creature was in hibernation, I had the same sense of fascination then. But why the hedgehog in particular? I chose the animal as my blog theme long before the above ever took place. It's not because I've ever had a favourite animal, hedgie or otherwise. I love animals, but to single one out as a favourite is not in my nature. No, the reason is something else, less obvious but not too hard to figure out. In fact, you may see it already. The hedgehog happens to have certain qualities that I share -- and others that I admire. But seriously, joking aside... 1. Spines. Defense mechanism. Deters other creatures from getting too close. Protects the soft, vital, vulnerable parts inside. When especially threatened, the hedgehog raises its spines and curls up into a tight ball, completely shutting out the outside world. 2. Hibernation. When there is too little energy (food and warmth) available, the hedgehog goes into torpor. This can be likened to a human being living in a sleep-like state of mindlessness and extreme underachieving.Plain facts, people. This is me when I'm not at my best. So in all honesty, getting away from the hedgehog theme is purely a positive thing. It doesn't mean I'm suddenly a changed man. It's just turning the focus away from these negative qualities. As a little side note on human psychology in general, we have the Fox Vs. Hedgehog model. In short, the Fox knows many things, and the Hedgehog knows just one big thing. When I wrote the blog entry on this theory, I self-identified as a Fox. At the risk of coming across as conceited and/or a wishful thinker, I now venture to claim that I am both. It's an example, yet again, of a case where either/or, dualistic, black-and-white thinking doesn't do justice to reality. I'm not talking about just expanding the concept from a binary to a continuum. I mean, why shouldn't it be possible for one person to occupy both ends of the spectrum? I dunno, it seems obvious to me. Really. So.... We shall let the hedgehogs rest in peace. Thank you, Siilivaara Mascot, for your dedicated service through all these many months. Thank you, my lovely ex-girlfriend, for everything we shared. Thank you, O Maker of hedgehogs and humans alike, for the whole shebang. Thank you, BCii, for writing this. And, finally, thank you, dear Readers, for your wonderful attention. I will see you in the comments! ---------------------------------- Comment, rate, appreciate! If you follow this blog (a little or a lot) and haven't done so already, please add your rating. I also full-heartedly recommend using the RSS subscription feature to enable instant, unobtrusive updates straight to your browser bookmarks. For those hesitating to adopt a new, unknown feature, I will make a blog entry soon demystifying RSS. (Don't worry, it's Really Simple. )
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--> What do you think, is it an improvement? <o> <o>
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Lately, a most annoying bug has been putting a major crimp on my Internet experience. It's one that's been around since April and STILL hasn't been squashed, as far as I know. The lowdown: Mozilla Firefox 3 and Adobe Flash 9 do not play well together. Until I jump through some techy hoops to fix this, I may just have to watch my videos with Internet Explorer. *feels dirty* *because of IE, not the videos* -BC
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For those of you interested in typifying the human psyche, here's a delicious little theory for you: The Fox and the Hedgehog The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. Archilochus (7th-century b.c.e.) Despite my apparent deep-seated bias towards hedgehogs, I'm actually (le gaspe!) a fox. Snicker snicker. Bet you didn't see that coming. Which type are you? -BC
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I don't know, but we sure came close to running him down last night. My first live hedgehog sighting! -BC
