Will History Repeat Itself?

Ask most of my friends and they will tell you that I often look at statistics and patterns and the World Cup is often oozing with both. On the other hand, this World Cup in South Africa has seen more trends/patterns being broken rather than continuing. With three of the four remaining teams left in the World Cup playing in UEFA, the likelihood of a European Team finally winning the Trophy outside of Europe seems very likely. We can't forget that this is the first World Cup that the host team (South Africa) has failed to go beyond the group stage.

Another broken trend: this is the first World Cup that ends in a 0 (excluding 1950 which was only the fourth ever World Cup Final) where the final four teams were not previous Winners (1970 = Brazil, Italy, West Germany, Uruguay & 1990 = West Germany, Argentina, Italy, England). In the past, there has always been at least one team to finish in the top four that has never won the title before.

As you can see, there are a lot of patterns when looking at the World Cup and there are two more in particular that should be worth noting.

The first revolves around all four of the remaining teams. The last time a team lost a match in the group stage and went on to win the World Cup was 1978's Argentina; they lost a meaningless match against Italy (at that point both teams were already advancing to the next stage)before going on to lift the trophy. Since then, every team that has won the World Cup has along the way either won or drawn their matches. With that trend, the likely winner of this World Cup would have to be The Netherlands who are the only team without a blemish on their record. (We could also view the Dutch as playing at home considering the historical connection they have with South Africa)

But the other interesting statistic and the one that this Post is about, is the connection Germany and Serbia have in World Cup matches. For the following, we are looking at all iterations of both countries (eg. West Germany, FSR Yugoslavia, FS Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro) as FIFA still connects West Germany's matches to Germany and Yugoslavia's matches to Serbia.

• 1954 - Quarter-finals - Yugoslavia v West Germany 0:2 - Germany Wins World Cup
• 1958 - Quarter-finals - West Germany v Yugoslavia 1:0 - Germany finishes 4th
• 1962 - Quarter-finals - West Germany v Yugoslavia 0:1 - Yugoslavia finishes 4th
• 1966 - Yugoslavia fails to reach World Cup - Germany Loses in Final to England
• 1970 - Yugoslavia fails to reach World Cup - Germany finishes 3rd
• 1974 - Second Round Group Stage - Yugoslavia v West Germany 0:2 - Germany Wins World Cup
• 1978 - Yugoslavia fails to reach World Cup - Germany does not progress past the 2nd Round
• 1982 - Both teams reach World Cup but do not meet - Germany loses in Final to Italy
• 1986 - Yugoslavia fails to reach World Cup - Germany loses in Final to Argentina
• 1990 - Group Stage - West Germany v Yugoslavia 4:1 - Germany Wins World Cup
• 1994 - Yugoslavia is banned from the Tournament - Germany loses in Quarter-finals to Bulgaria
• 1998 - Group Stage - Germany v Yugoslavia 2:2 - Germany loses in Quarter-finals to Croatia
• 2002 - Yugoslavia fails to reach World Cup - Germany loses in Final to Brazil
• 2006 - Both Teams (Yugoslavia is now Serbia & Montenegro) reach World Cup but do not meet - Germany finishes 3rd
• 2010 - Group Stage - Germany v Serbia 0:1 - Germany TBD

At present, these two nations have met seven times with Germany winning four of those matches. Of those four victories, they have gone on to win the World Cup Three times, with the only blemish being in 1958 when the Germans lost to hosts Sweden in the Semis. Germany has only ever won the World Cup when they have defeated Yugoslavia en-route, as evidence with losses in the Finals in 1966, 1982, 1986 and 2002. In three of the four times Germany has reached the finals and lost, Yugoslavia failed to reach the World Cup.

Now with these two nations having met a few weeks ago, the Serbs recorded their first win against the Germans in a World Cup match in over 50 years; what does this mean for Germany and the quest for glory? If the trend is to continue, the Germans should either lose their upcoming Semi-final match against Spain or in the Finals to either The Netherlands or Uruguay. Or could we see this, like so many other trends, see both trends being broken? The answer to our question could be a few days away.

Emotional Connection to a Video Game

Fine, Video games may never be viewed in the same light as music or film in terms of art but they can still have a connection to us in more than one way. One of the most talked about games of the year so far has been Heavy Rain. Regardless of what people say, your experience in the game will most certainly be different than someone else's. Some love this while other feel that they would rather have a streamlined experience that doesn't stray off the beaten path.

Because I am also a contributor at a gaming site and was responsible for the site's review of Heavy Rain, I didn't want or could read other reviews of the game as to not dilute or affect my own thoughts on the game. Now after posting my review I have begun to think what connection people actually had with the game's subject matter.

As most people know, Heavy Rain is based around death and more specifically, the killing of children. This is a very touchy subject since death/killing and children in video game form is typically not dealt with. Just like Genocide and Rape, there are certain subjects that we may never get to experience in any sort of first-hand nature because of the controversy it would most certainly cause. Developers have purposely avoided such topics because they know that more harm and backlash would follow. Before Heavy Rain, it was Modern Warfare 2's 'No Russian' that broke the boundaries by putting us in the role of a 'terrorist'. Yes, we can argue for hours on if got the message across or if there was even a message in putting you in the role of a taking the lives of innocent people.

Now in Heavy Rain, you might not be directly killing children but it is the action of one man, a father, who ultimately decides the fate of his own child. Anyone who knows the basis of Heavy Rain, there is the possibility of either saving your son's life in the end or letting him die. This is not a spoiler but essentially the main plot of the game on the whole.

When reviewing Heavy Rain I had a number of different emotions go through my mind. For starters, I have a strong connection to death. I lost my father at a very young age, so I have lived most of my life without a father figure to support me. In this game, the role is reversed. It is a father who has already lost his first son and now is put into a position where he could also lose a second one. There is certainly a lot of pressure put onto a parent when they have already lost so much and could lose even more.

I wonder how many reviewers/critics of Heavy Rain have been put into a similar situation? I don't necessarily mean they've had someone kidnapped but have had to deal with a loss, specifically either they at a young age losing a parent, or losing a child. Better yet, how many of them are parents with children similar in age to the victims of the Origami Killer.

What started this thought process were comments made by Penny Arcade's Gabe who stated that after playing through portions of Heavy Rain, he was compelled to go to his son's bedroom and to give him a huge hug. The fact that a video game, of all things, made him so compelled to show off his emotions is something incredible. It may not seem like much at the moment and most certainly his child wouldn't understand the implications of why his father is randomly hugging him, but for a father, that moment means something that childless people probably would not understand.

Everyone is talking about the clearly evident plot holes and the limitations that Heavy Rain has but no one has bothered to bring up the emotion that Heavy Rain offers. I am really interested if that every crossed someone's mind while playing or have we become so separated that we are able to put a line between reality and entertainment. Love it or hate it, Heavy Rain does succeed in putting you in a position of controlling the life and death of more than one person.

Where to go next

It has been one heck of a week for me and thankfully it's slowly coming to a close. I have had to deal with a number of issue this week, one especially that I wish never came to fruition. I am still in a lot of 'pain' over the falling out between me and the girl. I have spent the last few days (Wednesday and Thursday) talking to numerous people, reading stuff online and trying to get at grasp of the situation and it still feels awkward and I am unsure what to do.

I have never been in this situation before. In the past, when I girl didn't like me I knew it and I never put too much investment into it. If I thought there was hope, there were still signs that protected me. In this situation, it just came out of nowhere and I never expected her to react the way that she did.

The question now for me is where do I go from here. When talking to my guy friends they are telling me to move on and to just forget about her. If she is meant to be, we'll still connect down the road.

I'd love nothing more than to avoid her for a few days but we work together. I have already walked past her desk twice this morning and while we didn't make any sort of contact, I know it will happen soon.

When I talked to females, they told me I should try to fight for her but within reason. The consensus there is that considering out history, it's impossible that she just all of sudden thought this way and that she more than likely has something else on her mind and doesn't want the drama of having a boyfriend (or a male friend) in the way. I completely agree with this view.

I want to talk to her but I am just worried that I'm trying to fix things too quickly. I know that if I act too pushy it will only cause more problems but I am also worried that if I don't approach her, this might confirm her fears that I was never actually serious about all of this. I want to make things right, so hopefully I will figure out what to do. Maybe just putting the effort will be enough. I know I can't just sit around and expect things to fall into place; I must put as much as I can to show her I want her and that she needs and wants me.

...this is the end...

Only hours after writing my last blog post assuming and fearing the worst those realizations have come to fruition.

This afternoon, after I finally manage to get some time to chat with the girl after the events of last night she finally dropped the bomb that I was deep down fearing for the last week or so and was expecting after last night's debacle.

She finally admitted to me that she doesn't view us as anything more than friends. She stated that while she thought there was something there, the prospect of seeing us as something more was not in her sights. She stated time and time again during the conversation that she is not looking for any kind of relationship at the moment; she reassured me that it was not just me but in general.

As I have stated in the last two posts, I was worried that there was a problem in all of this. It just felt too good to be true when it looked like there was as the potential for something more than just being friends at work. The fact that the BBM sessions were few and far between, the distance she was putting should have given me the signs but all of the positives, the BBMs that were so good, the flirting and the open nature she had with me made me think otherwise.

What hurts the most in all of this was the nature in which this all came to be. The fact that there was our fight last night only puts me in the position that it was that which put her over the edge. She says it wasn't but how do I know that. Before that I did absolutely nothing to garner any sort of idea that there was something wrong. I can't for the life of me think of what I did, didn't do, said or didn't say that could have her conclude that I wasn't the one for her.

Where did I go wrong? Did I try too hard to impress her? Did I make her feel uncomfortable at times? There are so many questions I have but she just could not answer them for me over BBM. That is what also hurts, rather than saying this all to my face, she took the opportunity to do this via Messenger. I think that is the worst possible way of doing this, so informal and it doesn't give me the fair understanding of the situation. I wanted to see her look me in the eyes and tell me everything that she said, that way I would at least know that what she says is true. The eyes can give off messages that words can't say. If her eyes matched what she was saying to me on paper, then I would certainly feel a little bit better, I'm still heartbroken but I would understand where she is coming from.

Now we're left in a tricky situation. Where do we go from here? She stated that she wants to be friends still and while I like her a lot, I know that at least for the next week or so I will still see the girl I was falling for. I want to try to avoid talking or seeing her for the next while but that is next to impossible considering the fact that we work together. In my eyes, I think if I avoid any sort of contact, I will be able to better handle this. I am also worried that if we make contact, then I may say something I will later regret.

She also stated that while she doesn't want a relationship right now, she didn't say she never wanted one. Maybe sometime down the road there is the possibility of us actually taking that next step. I want to believe that and I swear that I will do everything in my power to get her to change her ways about me.

I still very much like her. I have never felt this way about a girl in my life. I have never been successful with members of the opposite so this is nothing new to me; I just thought this one would have been different.

Now I don't know where to go now. I have all this pent up energy right now and I don't know where to put it. I'll definitely hit the gym in a bit, hopefully that will get my mind off her. I also hope that my poor run of luck with women finally ends.

Can I be any more stupid?

Just when I thought I was breaking ground I decided to do something completely stupid and now I think I may have ended any chances I had with the girl I like.

For the last week or so (specifically since January 11th) the girl I like has slowly become quite distant. At first I thought it was because of something I did, it was only the night before that she watched me play soccer for the first time. We had lunch that day and everything seemed alright but that quickly disappeared as her open nature with me all of a suddenly disappeared. I began to worry that there was something I did but I didn't actually go so far as to ask.

One morning at work she and I began chit-chatting and I discovered that there was in fact a problem, but it had nothing to do with me. You see, a previous crush of hers, a married man, was trying to reconcile with his wife and he wanted my 'girl' to be involved in the healing process. While she wanted no part in this, she was being constantly pestered by the married couple and it clearly seemed to bother her.

I took the fact that my 'girl' was so willing to talk to me about this as a sign that she viewed me more than just any regular friend. I felt good in this regard but I still had the sneaking suspicion that there was a lot more to do this. Over the week she continued to act distant; I would try to organize something with her but she was always preoccupied with other matters. It was never to the point that it seemed like she was purposely avoiding me but it certainly did not feel like before.

Her preoccupation with other things also affected our once normal and daily BBM sessions. She was no longer sending me funny messages or getting angry that I never sent her a message. Believe me, I absolutely wanted to send her messages but as the moronic guy that I am, I worried that being too pushy would only make me look desperate.

Fast forward to this Monday (Jan 18th) and this is where I did the stupidest thing I could ever do.

She continued to mention that she was still not feeling her normal self, I asked if it had something to do with the Married couple, but she reassured me that it wasn't. When I tried to find out what it was about, she told me she didn't want to discuss it. At first I understood, but I once again let my mind take things into its own hands and started to suspect what it could be.

Was she Pregnant? Was she sick with an illness? Was there something deeper? I was concerned and I cared but I didn't think it was right of me to be all pushy and straight up ask.

I saw that she was unhappy so I tried to use my humor to help her out. I began sending her e-mails from work in the hopes of cheering up, which even included a slew of different jokes I collected. I even went so far as to find an article that mentioned how January 18th is considered the most depressing day of the year (for various reasons).

That didn't help, she continued to act distant and my worries expanded. I was convinced it had something to do with me and I was hoping to find out. This fear was finally settled when I sent a joke message telling her I was no longer interested because she didn't like the city of Vegas. I was clearly joking, but rather than playing along, her one word response was 'Ok'

Because it was the end of the day I took this the wrong way and on my ride home from work I had prepared this long BBM message saying that while what I said was a joke, I wanted to know that if she wanted me to leave her alone,. I would. I didn't want to put her in an awkward position and if there was something personally wrong that I was there but a the same time. I wouldn't put any pressure on her.

Well I didn't actually send it because my own personal drama arrived in the mail.

Back in October/November, I was preparing my application to the JET Programme. The Japanese Exchange Transfer Programme was run by the Japanese government where people from around the world would work as either an English Language instructor or government liaison for a year in Japan. I visited the country in 2008 and quickly fell in love with the area, I also wanted a change of pace and environment and I felt that I was more than qualified for the role.

Or so I thought. I got in the mail the dreaded rejection letter and I just got so angry. I knew right away when I saw the thin letter in my mailbox that bad news was attached to it. I didn't even wait to read it in my condo, deciding to open it in the foyer area. When I scanned through the letter seeing that my application was denied I did what any normal person would do, I began to scream, cry and get emotionally upset.

Just like so many other people, my new year has not started off on the right foot. On top of the issues with the girl I like, I have had my own drama. I had a bad time with my sister visiting with her boyfriend for the first two weeks of the year, my soccer team lost our first two games of the year, both in disappointing and hard-fought losses and so many other small things were putting me in a dire position. To have this fall into my lap just gave me the idea that absolutely nothing was going right for me.

When I finally got to my condo, I threw my bag on the ground, continued to yell at myself and I instead of trying to calm down, I automatically sent a message to the girl exclaiming that while she might be unhappy, I was still the 'biggest loser' around. I wanted her to know that even though she was unhappy for whatever reason, I too had serious problems.

I still don't know why I turned to her first, I think it was because I wanted her to realize that her problems might not be that serious and that at the same time, even in my own drama, I saw her as someone I could turn to.

In our year or so of 'friendship', I was never afraid to go to her for advice or 'support'. When I had a short-lived attraction to another girl at work, I turned to her for advice. It was clearly the bad call, but this was at a point in our 'relationship' where she had moved onto someone else and I thought she could help. I was really wrong. Last summer when I was really into another girl (not at work), I did go to her to ask for tips and to help me gather signs on if there was actually something there.

Because I turned to her, I was hoping for help. To some degree looking back at the texts from Monday night, she was trying to be supportive but it wasn't what I was necessarily looking for. I was complaining how I had no one and that I was destined for complete failure. She tried to calm me down by saying the right things but I just didn't see it or realize it. Then I took it too far and began getting her involved.

I was saying how my friends would not understand and that I couldn't turn to them. I responded by mention that even my addressing her sudden distance she has shown to me lately. I went so far as to inquire as to why she can so openly talk to me about the problems she had with the married couple but refused to tell me about her latest problem.

This was definitely not the thing for me to do. I was using my own frustration over my own recent anger and lashing out on her. In my lifetime I have never, ever done that to someone who was not in my immediate family. If there was ever a personal problem I had, the first person to hear about it was almost always my sister. Since I didn't have her around, I took out my anger out on the one girl I really cared about.

We 'argued' over BBM until she had to leave and she sent a friendly 'ttyl' but me, still being an ass responded with 'maybe'. That was essentially the nail in the coffin.

After a few hours and some time to reflect on my problems, I realized how much of an asshole was to her and I knew what I did was very wrong. Around 21:30 that evening I sent her a fairly long message clearly apologizing and stating how wrong and mean it was of me to involve her in my problems. I made sure not to make direct mention of her own personal problems, wanting her to know that this was clearly a problem on my end. I ended it asking for her forgiveness.

Now it's Tuesday and while I know she has read the message (thanks to BBM's R markers) she did not respond with any sort of acknowledgment. I was hoping for something, anything to put my mind at ease. I really want to know what I should do next with her and it hurts me so much.

If she responds with a 'I hate you and I never want to talk to you again,' I will whole heartedly understand and I will stop right then and there. But if she responds with 'I understand and I don't take what you said too personally' then at least I'd know that she wasn't that offended.

The fact that she has responded means that she is certainly angry with me but I don't know what I should do next. At the time of this post, she has to leave work for a Doctor's appointment and I don't know if I should send a message of support or just leave it be. If I send the message it shows I really do care but if she's angry with me, then any sort of contact will only get her more upset.

I have even gone so far as to purposely avoid walking by her desk in the hopes of not getting her angry. I am so upset with myself right now. I just wish I knew what to do. Again, I like her so much so my next move could be the last straw. I have had a bad feeling in my gut all night and this morning and I want to approach her but I really don't know what to do. She I just go talk to her, try to text her to see how she reacts or should I just hold off and give her some time to breathe.

Considering the fact that she is about to go see a Doctor for some reason, I don't want to add any more unnecessary stress. I think the best thing to do right now is to stay as distant as possible. I may send a message of encouragement in regards to the Doctor's visit but I won't say anything more. Hopefully she will make an attempt to talk to me; if not then my quest to win her heart has failed and I am the only one to blame.

My biggest challenge

While I hate to admit this, I am extremely bad at attracting members of the opposite sex. Since High School I have not been able to hold onto a girl for a long enough period of time. I've certainly dated a fair share but none of them have ever been that serious.

Back in October of 2008, there was this girl at work who was really interested in me. She thought I was really cute and she was constantly trying to go out with me. I was always hesitant on dating someone at work because I feared the consequences commonly associated with work-place relationships. From witnessing others try and fail in this regard, I didn't want to have the same thing happen to me and this girl, especially since while we did not work in the same department, we interacted on a daily basis.

Our situation got really complicated when one night in late November of that year we actually 'hooked-up'. It was an alcohol based connection but it both put it us in a weird situation that never resulted in anything more. While I believe we both liked each other to some degree, it was my hesitation and worried nature (not only because of work) that resulted in us never taking things further.

In the months following that one night, we continued to stay friends but that same spark that we might have had was quickly disappearing. I suddenly became interested in another fellow co-worker and my dilemma of not dating anyone at work was being challenged yet again. On her end, she began to show interest in a number of different guys and was dating on and off. While my attempts at the other girl at work failed miserably I still tried to pursue other women, including one during the summer that seemed like it was heading in the right direction only to hit a wall around September (of 2009).

Even though my attraction to the girl at work was on and off, I still thought of her as a really cool person. We still chit-chatted on and off but it never seemed like there was something pushing me towards her. That quickly changed last November when we really began socializing in various capacities.

It started when I invited her and her friend to my Slava (Serbian Religious gathering where we honor a family's Patron Saint (mine being Saint Demetrius)). She was a hit with my friends and I began to see just how much value she had in my life. We continued to hang out, she would invite me and my friends to join her and her friends at various places and my friends began to question why nothing ever materialized between the two of us.

Since my friends began to question it, I too thought to myself 'why haven't I ever tried to get with her again?' If I had others saying they saw something then why didn't I? Then it hit me, I actually do like her...and I like her a lot!

At first, I was extremely quiet about this. I didn't want to pounce on her and admit that I was attracted to her. It was me who initially pushed her away so turning around and professing my infatuation with her would almost seem desperate. We continued to do our practically nightly BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) sessions, which often lead to some very interesting topics of discussions. We talked about all sorts of topics both PG and non-PG. She even went so far as to send me a picture of her in the bathtub. It was just a shot of her legs but I took that as a sign.

I slowly began to tell her my interest in her I tried to be as subtle as possible. I did not want to scream it out loud but I wanted her to know that I had her in my thoughts.

Because of our regular socializing, our BBM sessions and occasional lunch dates eventually led to her wanting to watch me play in my Fall Soccer League. While the match was canceled due to snow, we went to the Movies together. I had a really good time with her and I think she did as well.

A few days later she came over and to my surprise, we spent the evening playing Video Games. She was over for about 4 hours and that entire time we spent playing Dragon Age: Origins on the PS3. While she did all the playing, I enjoyed sitting there beside her watching her. During that time together my initial thoughts were confirmed, I really like this girl.

That same night I gave her a Christmas Gift. Considering I do not celebrate December 25th as Christmas (we Orthodox people celebrate it on January 7th), I wanted to show her my interest in her and I went the creative route in giving her a gift. I went to Lush and spent close to $100 on various Bath materials as I knew she loved taking baths on a regular basis. On top of that, I even covertly asked her what her favorite Jelly Bean flavors were and added that to the gift. It was all nicely wrapped in a basket which I gave to her just before Christmas.

She loved the gift but I still wasn't able to win her heart. I had no intention on 'buying' her love but I wanted to show her just how genuine I was and that I cared about her. I eventually came out saying that I was actually interested in her and I kind of regret it. While she responded positively in return it was coupled with a lot of 'buts...'

You see, because of our past, she has a hard time trusting me and I believe she fears I will only break her heart again. Since we never actually got to sit down and talk about our past neither knows how the things went down over the last year. I could never explain properly why I treated her the way that I did and I never understood what I did that made her change her view

Although both are clearly related, my being a jackass at times most definitely pushed her away. I also believe that when I began to discuss my attraction for another co-worker it got her mad. But, in my defense, by the time I was doing that she had already moved on to two different guys and was not shy about boasting about it. She was clearly doing that to make me jealous and while I never admitted it to her, I was.

Since Christmas, we have hung out a few times. The first was for my Birthday on December 30th and that evening, while incredible, didn't amount to anything as I spent most of it drunk or getting drunk. An interesting fact on that night is that when I was sober, I tried my hardest to impress her any way I could. I was constantly filming her with my video camera because I can honestly say that I think she is so beautiful.

With the new year, our friendship has put me in a real weird position. I am constantly thinking about her to the point that I often feel uneasy about it. If I don't talk to her it feels like I am missing something. I became so accustomed to chatting that when I don't I worry that there is something wrong. I haven't become jealous, but I am worried that I may eventually.

I think the problem is that I still have no idea how she really feels about me. While she says that it's only trust and the views of people at work that are holding her back, I sometimes think there is something more.

When my Christmas came a few days ago, she actually tried to impress me by wishing me a Happy Christmas in Serbian by using a translating program. I had invited her over to spend the evening with me and my family but she could not make it. I understood since she had a family emergency and family is always first.

But then she hit me with a big confusing situation. She actually came to one of my soccer games. Not only that, she had the opportunity to meet my sister and her boyfriend who were visiting Vancouver from Ottawa. I really put this in the position as wanting to be a part of my life. The fact that I invited her and told her that she'd meet my sister did not detract her.

I was really nervous for that day and luckily it seemed like she enjoyed herself. It was a wet evening but she toughed it out and said that it was fun. It even worked from the other side as my sister and her BF also thought very positively of her. I consider this a really good thing but again, I still don't know where we actually stand.

Since she has stated she wants to take this slowly, I can view it from two perspectives. The positive and more understandable situation is that she wants to see if my sudden interest in her is just something short lived or actually what I say it is. I completely understand her in this regard because of the past. The other and more negative view is that she is maybe waiting for something else (meaning someone else). I highly doubt this is the situation as she would have told me otherwise but I still have this doubt in my mind. I hate having it but I should never assume things are going according to plan.

The next 30 days will be extremely difficult and I believe will ultimately determine if anything moves forward. I want to try to involve her in the things that I do over the next month but the fact that Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I think any shot I have with her will occur by that time.

I am clearly looking for a relationship this time around, not just to 'hit it and quit it'.

I have tickets to the Olympics and I would love nothing more than for her to join me for at least two of the three events I will be attending. I have already invited her to join me on Tuesday, Feb 16th (I haven't told her the event (Woman's Snowboarding Cross Prelims and Finals)) and I hope she will join me. I honestly view that if we haven't established where we stand by then it will be the last factor in determining if there is anything between us. I'd love for us to have things settled before that but that date is the one I view as the point of no return.

Essentially the next move is hers. I think she knows where I stand so I need her to act as Ground Control and to lead me in. If she wants me, I essentially need her to give me the 'permission to land' directive. Yes, it sounds very cheesy, but I view it as if I do anything to 'force' myself onto her (in any way) that I could mess this up. If I can see it in her eyes that she is open to me, I won't be afraid to pounce. At the same time, if those eyes show no chance for a landing, I want to pull away before it hurts.

In the coming weeks I hope to post updates on our situation. I won't go into every detail but I do expect to write about what I've discovered between us. It highly doubtful anyone is actually going to read this and I am certain that she will never see this but I want to use this opportunity to get this off my chest. Since I have no one to really talk to about topics pertaining to love, just being able to project myself might be a bit of a relief. It also goes to show just how much I actually care for her. I have never felt this way about any girl before so I know that even if things don't go accordingly to plan, I never gave up and I put up a good fight. On the other hand, if I succeed, I know I will feel something that I have never felt before and I think it would make me a better person.

My Dreamcast Retrospective

The 10 year anniversary of the Sega Dreamcast is close approaching and I wanted to go back and reflect on my own saga with the system over those last ten years. To be honest, although the system only was in production for a few years, I have had quite an interaction with it. Since it was a part of my life over this last decade I wanted to share those memories with everyone.

When the Dreamcast was first made playable to the public I was hooked. I remember going to the EB and Compucentre in the local mall in my hometown (the mall was Rideau Centre in Ottawa, Canada) and see crowds of teenagers hovered around the console's kiosk. Both stores had the system on display and both had different games for people to try out. Although Compucentre used a specific Sega Cabinet, the guys over at EB decided to set-up theirs on a separate TV and would often change games every few days to show off the variety of games available for the system.

At the time, I was working at the Pizza Hut/Taco Bell combo restaurant at the mall so I often was able to spend the 10-15 minutes before work attempting to play whatever was on display. I clearly remember watching kids gawk over Ready 2 Rumble, Sonic Adventure and Soul Calibur and even challenging with the Fishing game which now escapes me. It was so nice as the system was clearly better than what else was available on the market. I really wanted to get the system, but of course as a high school student buying one was very difficult.

At that time, the Cdn dollar was really poor in comparison to the US dollar. The Cdn dollar was worth about 65 cents US so that essentially meant that stores in here initially sold the system for roughly 299.99, a hundred dollars more than the US 199.99 price tag. Because of that high price point and the fact that the PlayStation had dropped to a much more affordable price of roughly 199.99 (this was when it was roughly 129.99 USD), I decided to go that route and buy Sony's console instead.

I never regretted my purchase of the PlayStation, but that didn't stop me from still playing the Dreamcast whenever I had the opportunity to. Although none of my friends owned the system, I still had all the videogame stores focusing a lot of attention on the system. Whenever a new title was released, from Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Metropolis Street Racer and others I always had the opportunity to try them out and think to myself '...if I could afford this, I would buy one.'

It wasn't until one random day sometime in 2001 (pretty certain it was late in the year) when I finally managed to purchase a Dreamcast. This was already at the time when the system was slowly dying away and stores were reducing the price to get rid of them. While walking through a Future Shop (Canada's original Best Buy) I saw them selling the Dreamcast with 3 games for about 99.99. It was a Sports Bundle, but not the Black Dreamcast one, and considering I am a sports fan, it wasn't a hard sell for me.

I didn't bother to purchase anything else at the time since I wanted to just take the system home and give it a spin. During that summer I had saved up a crap load of money and traded in my PlayStation and nearly all my non-essential games to get the heavily expensive PlayStation 2 (bless that horrible exchange rate at the time). This was also the first time I was the owner of two systems at one time (now I own every current system), so I was a little eager at the idea and unsure how I would juggle the two. Once I decided to simply connect the Dreamcast through my VCR, I was set and began playing. It did not take long for me to fall right back in love.

Although I couldn't save my games at the time, I was playing as many games of NFL and NBA as I could. I absolutely loved the way both games felt. NFL was really enjoyable but it was NBA's weird free throw mechanic that I still remember today. For those unfamiliar, what Visual Concepts did at the time was have you gently press on the controller's trigger buttons to line-up two arrows over the basket. It was weird at first, but if you were steady, sinking free-throws was a breeze.

After falling in love with what I had in my basement, I went hunting for games and other items for the system. It started by purchasing a VMU so I could save my games and then I began trying to buy games. Although the system was affordable, games had become hard to find. I went all over the place trying to find games like Ready 2 Rumble, Phantasy Star Online and others but unfortunately I couldn't find any of those. Generic games and those that did not satisfy my taste buds but were readily available, but I wanted a game that was deemed 'A Must-Own Dreamcast' title. After all my searching, there was only one key Dreamcast title I managed to find and buy and that was Shenmue.

I know Shenmue has gotten its fair share of slack over the years, but I still remember it fondly for what it was...a game unlike anything else at the time. Yes, some aspects of it I didn't like, such as the relatively short time in the day to do things, but it was still a blast and a game I will never forget.

Even with my love for the system, I was still relatively young and dumb and wanted the best that was available. I would later trade in my Dreamcast and the small collection of four games to help me purchase an Xbox, which was impressing me at the time with Splinter Cell and the Jet Set Radio Future/Sega GT bundle that was on sale. I didn't think the trade would affect me, but deep down I regretted getting rid of the system.

I knew I was 'heart-broken' when in late 2004 I began to reminisce about the Dreamcast and how much I really enjoyed it when I owned it. I was making 'good' money at my current job so I began to spend cash more freely. I was able to afford school still and had plenty of expendable cash so I thought about looking to buying the system yet again, but finding one was now a problem. No stores carried them and even those places that did offer used systems were often in really poor condition or over-priced. Thankfully eBay existed and I began looking online for people selling new and used Dreamcast units.

Before buying the Dreamcast, I never purchased anything from eBay. I created an account years before with the thought of maybe one day buying or selling something, but that day didn't come until I won a bid for a Dreamcast. Being so glad that I 'won' I didn't bother to check all my vitals and simply paid using PayPal to get the system.

When I first registered my eBay account I was living at one address but at the time of the purchase I had moved. I completely forgot about this fact until it was nearly a month and I did not get my Dreamcast. When I e-mailed the person I bought it from and he sent me an shipping confirmation I noticed the address he shipped to was wrong. I began to worry that the people who now lived at my old place would either refuse the package or 'steal' it.

I drove to my old place and explained the situation. They promised me that nothing had arrived but that they would contact me once they did. I was relieved but still a little concerned. It was already a month and regardless of the seller shipping from the Seattle area to Ottawa it should not have taken as long as it did. Thankfully, the people who now lived in my old place dropped by our new home and gave my sister the pick-up slip. I quickly drove to the local post office, paid the custom brokerage fee and was finally the owner of a Dreamcast for the second time.

When I knew I was getting the system I went out and started hunting for games. During this time I only managed to buy four games: Crazy Taxi, Tony Hawk 2, Resident Evil Code: Veronica and of course, Shenmue. It was nice to be able to go back and re-enjoy the games that I loved for so long. I was a fan of Crazy Taxi in the arcade while Tony Hawk 2 was over-played by me when I originally had it for the PlayStation. I continued to hunt for games to get but finding ones in good condition in Ottawa was a tough request. I wanted to buy games through eBay, but often the prices were too high or the added shipping costs made a worth while purchase seem like a rip-off.

I moved to Vancouver in 2007 and when I did, I could only manage to fit a PlayStation 2 Slim in my luggage. Because of that, I was forced in leaving both my Dreamcast (which I did play with from time to time) and my 360 with at my mother's place. While I ended up replacing my 360 with one purchased here, I always wanted my Dreamcast back in my possession. It wasn't until 2008 when a family friend, flying to Vancouver, managed to bring it with them. It was pretty funny since the suitcase that they had for me essentially only contained the Dreamcast (in it's original box) and a few bottles of alcohol (I had quite the collection back in Ottawa). I really thought getting it cross-country would be a problem, but that was not the case.

I still have the Dreamcast to this day but unfortunately I have not given it the attention it deserves. I have been tempted to plug it in and play a quick game or Crazy Taxi or experience Code: Veronica again, but due to time constraints I have not. At the time of this writing, my Dreamcast is still in its original box, neatly put away in my closet. It wouldn't take me long to un-box it and start playing.

The Dreamcast has been a part of my life for a good part of the last ten years and I can honestly say I still love reading related content and often head over to eBay to see if any tempting purchases are available. I always wanted to buy something that would allow me to either play non-NTSC games (eg. Shemue 2) or games that are affordable online (eg. through places like PlayAsia and/or eBay). I am planning on take it out of the closest in the lead-up to official 10 year anniversary and playing it for a bit, I might even go back and play through Shenmue from start to finish.

I didn't want to go back into the history of the unit itself as it's already been done time and time again, but I wanted to show just what its affects have been on me. I hope this leads others to reflect on their experience with the system. Do you remember the launch date and struggling with FF VIII fans at your local game store? Were you like me and ended up buying it twice? Are you one of those few people who continues to play their Dreamcast on a regular basis? There are certainly great stories out there. Let's remember the good days of this once great system; hopefully at the same time, those who never experienced the Dreamcast will understand why exactly it was such a cult favorite.