Baby Z, originally uploaded by cafechimp.

Zahra Shirley Kearns
Born Feb. 5th 4:08 PM
8 lbs 2.4 oz
21 inches

Koosh told me first, but Amazon practically spammed me second. Book 7 is due to arrive in July:

And, according to Amazon, there are two versions, standard and deluxe, but I can't figure out what makes the deluxe so deluxe. And is this seriously the cover art?

I'm a big geek:

New Lappy, originally uploaded by cafechimp.

It was time to upgrade, and Dell and the folks at SkinIt suckered me in. I'm not 100% sure how Samus got past their "copyright censors", 'cause I was fully expecting this to be denied, but it arrived, and looks just as great as I expected.

I love the new featured item, Steak Grilled Taquitos:

Please make this a permanent addition to the menu!

Project 51 Productions Ltd. is proud to announce that it has acquired the worldwide animation and related rights to the classic video game series “Castlevania” from Konami Digital Entertainment.

[ Project 51 Productions Ltd. ]

I hope for something with the feel of Vampire Hunter D, but much better updated animation and the Castlevania world plot. Hopefully they aren't too tied to just the Castlevania III story, and can work in elements from the entire timeline.

And that problem is Grocery Stores. How many do you visit on a weekly basis, here's my list:

• Giant - close by, self checkout, has basic traditional American products
• Safeway - sometimes we're in that neighborhood, much like Giant but more Organic selections
• Whole Foods - lots of Organic cruelty free type stuff, and great cheese selection
• Trader Joe's - just has things no one else seems to carry
• Kam Sam - Chinese Grocery right around the corner for basic Asian products
• Asian Market - Farther away but with better Indonesian selection
• Grand Mart - Korean supermarket way up in Gaithertucky, but really great produce
• Shah & Patel - Indopak groceries that no one else carries
• Lezzet - Turkish dry goods, only they have the super awesome sour cherry juice that I'm growing to love
• Rockville Gourmet Halal Meat Market - super butcher even if you aren't Islamic in your leanings

And those are just the regular spots, then sometimes we'll stop into a specialty market like

• Yekta - Persian grocery
• The Italian Store - just found out they carry Illy pods

Where do you shop?

Can I pay to keep more of my photos on Flickr?

Absolutely! Upgrade to a Pro Account for just US$24.95 a year. Here's what you'll get with a Pro Account:

• Unlimited uploads (10MB per photo)
• Unlimited storage
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Unlimited photosets
• Permanent archiving of high-resolution original images
• The ability to replace a photo
• Ad-free browsing and sharing

Compare that to what you get with a Free Account:

• 100 MB monthly upload limit (5MB per photo)
• 3 photosets
• Photostream views limited to the 200 most recent images
• Only smaller (resized) images accessible (though the originals saved in case you upgrade later)

[ Flickr: Help: Free Accounts, Upgrading and Gifts ]

This site used to have a gallery, but those photos only just made it up on my flickr. They are pics of my daughter so I restricted it to family and friends, so if you are family or friend but a lurker, it's time to tell me your flickr info so I can add you as family or friend.

Still no Wii. Everyone is out of them. And I refuse to pay more than retail, or seek the assistance of the underbelly of society. So what to do while waiting?

My plan was to load up with a ton of great DS games:

• Mario & Luigi Partners In Time (almost done)
• Yoshi's Island DS (barely started)
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 March of the Minis (yet to start)
• Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (done once, almost a 2nd time, playing as alternate characters as well, can't get enough)
• The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (delayed - preordered)

And even a PSP or PS2 game:

• Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (not out yet - in the GameFly Queue)
• Final Fantasy XII (in the GameFly Queue)

But what I didn't expect was that I'd get in a Castlevania groove that I just didn't want to end. Then, I think it was Nate who mentioned, I find out that XBox 360 is getting Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in it's arcade section. Now which one was that, oh yeah the PlayStation one that I never played because I didn't have a PlayStation. What's this? Everyone says it could be the best ever? And it's selling for $50-$100 on eBay even 10 years later! Oh how I have to play this one.

Enter serendipity. Stopped at the GameStop and asked if they had it. They are all like "dude, we just stopped carrying PlayStation games" but then "wait, what title? I think I saw that in the back, dude" and "I'll go see if I can find it, hang out at Trader Joe's it may be a while" quickly followed by "dude, you got a dell game!". Only $25, not bad. And he didn't actually say dude once, I don't think.

So is it the best ever?

I'm partial to Aria of Sorrow and now Portrait of Ruin. But to be honest, I didn't realize that much of what I liked, that is so different than say Simon's Quest, was all introduced in Symphony of the Night. AoS has the cool soul stealing, and the new co-op play in PoR is cool, but otherwise SotN is totally it. The question should be, though, why didn't Sony push Konami to do a conversion to PSP? That is the sort of thing that is pushing DS out the door, and the only title that I even care about for PSP is Ratchet and Clank, otherwise most games have been mediocre (Untold Legends) to disappointing (Loco Roco, Me and My Katamari, Tokobot) with very few exceptions (Mega Man: Powered Up, Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins) and those all seem to be remakes anyway.

So I guess I have even more to keep me occupied before I can get my Wii, but it better not be too long, spoilers for Twilight Princess abound!