Various things to post.
I'm feeling better every day. Ankles don't hurt, just a little sore in the morning. Knees doing better. Hips don't hurt. Only new thing is some random heart-racing and random bouts of dizziness when shifting position, i.e. standing. That's new as of yesterday. I see 2 docs this week so I'll see what they say. Otherwise doing better and getting better and feeling better.
I'm reading Laurell K. Hamilton's 'Incubus Dreams' now. I'm almost 400 pages into it and going fast. The first 200-250 pages bothered me 'cause it was mostly about relationships and about half-a-day in the main character's life. Now the book is picking up and it's getting more interesting. And yes, this one most certainly is vampire pr0n. No doubt about it.
After I finish that book, I have a Terry Pratchett to read. Can't wait.
Back when I 'began' studying for the Feb. bars, which you will recall I am no longer taking due to my prolonged illness, I stopped playing World of Warcraft (WoW), my game du jour for the past year+. WoW was all-consuming for me. I spent *way* too much time in/on it and it just ran over everything else in my life. One problem is that it's rather hard, when you reach the end-game (level 60), to spend less than a few hours in the game and make any headway. I.e. To find/join a group, do an instance, and have a shot at getting better gear takes at least 3 hours, if not more like 4-5 hours+.
So I stopped WoW for studying. I'm maintaining the WoW-outtage as it frees up my life quite a bit to do other things, like read a book, watch a movie, or anything really. Kind of nice. It's an extended break. The WoW expansion is due out this Fall so I don't honestly expect this to be a permanent break. However, if I can maintain it until after I sit for the Patent, CT & NY Bars, I could be golden.
In the meantime, I've picked up other games to fill the 'void' I have. Playstation 2 (PS2) games that is. As in games I can play for 15-45 min, make progress and stop playing (save my game). I have 3 new games (and an accompanying new memory card).
I picked up Dragon Quest VIII 'cause the reviews were so good on it and Grandia III isn't due out 'til the 15th. DQVIII is good but a bit cartoony for me with the graphics and system. I've put 5 hours into it so far so not a bad investment but I'm not sure if I'll play it through. It's just not quite my taste in RPGs. I anticipate Grandia III is more my style, even if it's gotten slightly worse reviews. I may pick it up in a while, like a few weeks or a month. ('Cause I have 2 other new games to keep me occupied.)
The second game I got is Castevania: Lament of Innocence. Man is this one good!!! It's engaging and the system is well-done. I've made progress on the first board (of 5, before the final boss) and put in ~2 hours or so. Very good game. I will likely play this one through, but not until I finish...
God of War!!! I'd read some excellent reviews on this one. It came out about a year ago and did incredibly well. Unfortunately, Sony stopped publishing it recently so it's hard to find (and impossible to find a new copy). They may be working on a Best Hits version with extra content, who knows. However, I did manage to find a used copy (expensive at $40 for a year-old game) at Electronics Boutique. Snagged it and loaded it up yesterday. Wow!!! *SUCH* a good game! If you have a PS2, GET THIS GAME. I've put ~2.5 hours into it so far and I'm absolutely loving it! In fact, once I finish this post and poke around online reading about God of War, I'm gonna go back and play more. The battle system is great, there are tons of 'hidden' things to find and it's really just very engrossing and forgiving. There are some frustrating parts but they're doable with a little patience. Really just an overall, amazing game. I read somewhere that it has ~17 hours of content or so. Pretty cool length in my opinion. Enough to keep me busy for a while but not enough to be insane like Final Fantasy VII's 70-100 hours. (70 hours for my friend, not doing everything, first time through. 100 hours for me, with manual, doing everything.)
To put the hours in perspective... My main character in Dark Age of Camelot, my original and first MMORPG, had over 18 days playtime invested (18 days * 24 hours = +432 hours). My main character in WoW has over 24 days playtime (+576 hours). And I have a second level 60 who I would otherwise be playing. Don't know her playtime but I'd bet it's over 10-12 days (+240-288 hours). See what I mean by 'all-consuming?'
Anyways, it's snowing outside and I'm inside. Stay warm. Cheers!