OMG!! THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM IS SO FRIGGIN' AWESOME!! YES! I have fallen prey to the lure of the Elder Scrolls series of video games. It started about two years ago with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, so last year when Bethesda Games announced the next installation, Skyrim, I've been going nuts ever since. I mean, come on! YOU KILL DRAGONS IN THIS GAME!! Not some cheesy animated ones either. THE MOST LIFELIKE ONES I HAVE EVER SEEN!! The world graphics are AMAZING and the detail in mundane things like weapons or even just a bottle sitting on a table is enough to make even the most seasoned graphic artist cry. Plus, the "Kill Cam" function is cool too. (I love seeing my blades stab right though my enemy to the other side. And don't get me started on shocking my opponent with lightening until they are nothing but a pile of ash. Not to mention hearing a full choir chant/sing loudly every time you steal a dragon soul or level up is a nice touch. VERY empowering. XD ) But what I love most is the soundtrack. Jeremy Soule has always been one of my favorite game composers, right up with Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu and Mana's Yoko Shimomura.

SOOOOOOO that's where I've been the last few months. I swear, in between Oblivion, school , my new Intel iMac and now Skyrim, I'm probably going to FAIL this semester, go insane, or both, (Thanks Bethesda. I love you). I am such a loser. I was at the GameStop Skyrim Midnight Launch Party with 150 other nerds wearing Viking Helmets, (YES! VIKING AFICIONADOS REJOICE!! THE NORDS, OR DENIZENS OF SKYRIM ARE VERY MUCH LIKE VIKINGS!!), drinking beer, discussing how I'm set to kill every NPC that looks at me the wrong way, while worshipping Sithis as the Dark Brotherhood's Listener of the Black Hand, all the while waiting in the freezing cold just so I could play my game a few hours before everyone else. Oh but it get's worse. . . I actually spent over $200 just so I could have the COLLECTOR'S EDITION of the game that comes with the "Making of" Blue-Ray, Art Book, game, and 14 inch statuette of Alduin the World Eater, the Main Quest's final Dragon Boss. Plus, I spent an additional $40 on the Collector's Edition Game Guide that is 600+ pages of insanity. (The game has 244 quests to complete and if you are hardcore, 1000+ playing hours and infinite replay value because of it's Creation Engine/Radiant Story program that makes it never quite the same game twice). Some of the flippin' dungeons can take you over two hours to complete!

Okay, so that's my rant. I have to stop now, because I'm going through Skyrim withdrawl and need my fix now. OH! And you are probably wondering what the hell my journal's title is all about. Well, "Fus Ro Dah" means "Force, Balance, Push" in Draconic, the language of the Dragons of Skyrim. It is part of the Dragon Shout "Unrelenting Force". In Skyrim, your character, the "Dovahkiin" or "Dragonborn", a chosen mortal with the soul of a dragon foretold by the Elder Scrolls who would appear to save the world, can learn these shouts and they do different things like summon a storm to smite people or freeze your enemy. Unrelenting Force knocks things/people away from you. It's awesome!