Post by: NWR_Lindy on June 07, 2009, 03:19:24 PM
As many of you know, the last couple of weeks were very special for yours truly. I got married to my longtime girlfriend Amy and we went on our honeymoon, two events that were unforgettable, incredible, and exhausting all at once. The wedding itself went off without a hitch, save for the fact that I was still recovering from a mega-hangover sustained during the bachelor party two days prior (all of my groomsmen were from out of town, meaning that that the first day they could all be present for my proper send-off was two days before the wedding). Ironically, the ceremony itself went better than the rehearsal, which isn't always the case. Everybody involved had a great time, especially us.
What makes a wedding so great is how it's one of the rare times you're able to round up all of your friends and family (even those that live far away) in one place for the sole purpose of having a party. Amy and I had friends coming in to Atlanta from New Jersey, California, Canada, and even Belgium! It was like the dream celebration that we all wish we could organize, but never actually have the opportunity to put in motion. It makes me want to throw a big party like that every year.
The honeymoon was a blast as well. We went to the Turks & Caicos islands (Providenciales, to be specific) and stayed right on the beach. The beaches and water are as advertised, which is to say they're absolutely spectacular. We didn't have any rocks or reef on our part of the beach, but you could still snorkel out a hundred yards off-shore and find live starfish and conch sitting there on the sea bottom. I've never seen that anywhere else, and I've been to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. In addition to snorkeling we also tried our hand at SNUBA, which is snorkeling with a SCUBA regulator and air tank instead of a regular snorkel. Amy isn't a certified diver, so it was a great way for her to get the scuba diving experience without having to spend time learning the ropes.
The only current drawback to Turks & Caicos is that there isn't much else to do outside of beach/water activities. A major hurricane came through last year and beat the islands to a pulp, meaning that anything outside of the resort area looks like a refugee camp. Everything is slowly getting rebuilt (I told a friend of mine that the whole place is one big construction site), but as is typical with most Caribbean islands, the first priority is to rebuild the resorts because that's where the money is. It's sad, but true. The Caribbean is truly a land of the haves and have-nots, where you'll see a condominium complex with $4.5 million properties on the beach side of the road, and locals living in a tin-roof shanty across the street. It's a very strange juxtaposition that Amy and I have never been able to get used to.
Still, I'd recommend Turks & Caicos for a honeymoon. If you're looking for island culture and hustle'n'bustle you can do much better (Puerto Rico, for instance), but if you want to get away from it all and turn off your brain for a week it's the perfect place to do it. The beaches are sparsely populated (my Best Man also went there for his honeymoon, and couldn't believe how few people there were around), everybody is really friendly, and the atmosphere is completely chilled and laid-back. As my Mom likes to say, "You have nothing to do, and all day to do it in". For us, that was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Of course, the NWR crew got a big kick out of me always being "around" to check in on their E3 coverage. They kept telling me to go enjoy my honeymoon (which I was), but what can I say? I just can't turn it off, especially during the biggest week of the year in video gaming. Our crew did an amazing job (which didn't surprise me in the least), had a great time from all accounts, and provided our readers with an absolute avalanche of news, previews, and impressions. I couldn't be prouder of both our E3 attendees and our home team, who banded together to get the job done. I think the fact that everything went as smoothly as it did without my presence is testament to the high-caliber team we've assembled here at NWR. It may also mean that I'm a superfluous figurehead, but that's why I get paid the big bucks.
Whatever the case may be, I look forward to attending E3 2010, putting faces to email addresses, and having a great time covering the show. I personally learned a lot from the planning of this year's coverage, and I'm sure those that attended learned a lot as well. Next year most of the staff will already have that first E3 under their belts, and we'll come out swinging for the fences. I can't wait.
Now that E3 is out of the way, our attention can also turn back to the site. We definitely have some improvements in store, and some long-simmering projects can now finally be tended to. The first six months of my stewardship of the site have been pretty crazy, with several major game industry events hitting one after the other. The summer will give us a chance to regroup and catch our breath before the holiday madness begins in September. Stick around, because you're going to like what you see.
Take it easy everybody, and as always, thanks for being part of the NWR community!
-Lindy
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on June 07, 2009, 03:01:06 PM
Post by: Stratos on June 07, 2009, 03:36:07 PM
Looking foreward to seeing the new things you have planned.
Post by: D_Average on June 07, 2009, 04:25:43 PM
Post by: Stratos on June 07, 2009, 04:50:34 PM
Post by: NWR_Lindy on June 07, 2009, 05:36:44 PM
Post by: Stratos on June 07, 2009, 05:38:19 PM
I looked you up. Your wife looks lovely. Can we refer to her as Mrs. Lindy? ;)
Post by: ShyGuy on June 07, 2009, 06:45:13 PM
Post by: Flames_of_chaos on June 07, 2009, 09:20:17 PM
Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on June 07, 2009, 09:36:54 PM
Post by: NWR_Lindy on June 07, 2009, 09:44:16 PM
I looked you up. Your wife looks lovely. Can we refer to her as Mrs. Lindy? ;)
Absolutely! In fact, she'd probably really get a kick out of that.
She's really not a gamer (she dabbles in Tekken), but we've discussed the idea of giving her a random game, letting her sit with it for an hour, and then having her write up her comments on it. She's an extremely witty writer, so she'd certainly have some entertaining opinions.
Post by: Caliban on June 07, 2009, 10:18:40 PM
Congrats Lindy.
Post by: kraken613 on June 07, 2009, 11:25:50 PM
Now we can one day play L4D!
Lindy "So what do you think of Motion+?"
Me "O **** TANK!"
Post by: Djunknown on June 07, 2009, 11:41:33 PM
She's really not a gamer (she dabbles in Tekken)
This string of words is made of LOLsauce.
Anyway, congratulations is in order.
Post by: Crimm on June 07, 2009, 11:43:21 PM
"Twittering Ubisoft conference from my cell!"
I should have called Jon right after I got my hands on NSMB Wii (before the show floor opened) just to taunt him.
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on June 07, 2009, 11:55:37 PM
I looked you up. Your wife looks lovely. Can we refer to her as Mrs. Lindy? ;)
Absolutely! In fact, she'd probably really get a kick out of that.
She's really not a gamer (she dabbles in Tekken), but we've discussed the idea of giving her a random game, letting her sit with it for an hour, and then having her write up her comments on it. She's an extremely witty writer, so she'd certainly have some entertaining opinions.
That could make for a good feature on the site. Gaming reviews from the non-gaming/casual perspective.
Post by: RABicle on June 08, 2009, 12:01:22 AM
Post by: Sundoulos on June 08, 2009, 12:33:49 AM
My wife and I are planning to go on a Western Caribbean cruise in late September. This will be my first time out there, so I'm pretty pumped.
The E3 coverage was pretty awesome; it seemed like there was quite a bit to cover both from Nintendo and third parties this year. It almost made me wish that I could go out there and see everything myself.
Edit: Cool. I never thought about NWR being on facebook. It looks like the groups are fairly inactive, though. :(
Post by: Skeeter8887 on June 08, 2009, 02:50:23 AM
Can you find out who of the NWR staff played cursed mountain, and also when they are gonna post their gameplay impressions?
I played it and it's one of the impressions I'm getting around to. Sorry for any of the delay. This graduating from college thing can take up more time than I want it to.
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on June 08, 2009, 03:45:38 AM
Nothing to really apologize for, it was just one of the few games that we had known about before hand that didn't have a preview or an impression posted. Just wanted to make sure that E3 didn't go by and everyone forgot to check it out.Can you find out who of the NWR staff played cursed mountain, and also when they are gonna post their gameplay impressions?
I played it and it's one of the impressions I'm getting around to. Sorry for any of the delay. This graduating from college thing can take up more time than I want it to.
Post by: Nick DiMola on June 08, 2009, 07:21:04 AM
But anyway, enjoy it man and congratulations again. Glad to have you back and hope you can join us at the next E3!
Post by: NWR_DrewMG on June 08, 2009, 09:20:17 AM
Anyways, congrats, good luck, and sorry you had to miss E3. Keep up the good work.
Post by: NWR_Neal on June 08, 2009, 10:20:13 AM
It was pretty fantastic.
Post by: NovaQ on June 08, 2009, 10:39:19 AM
Also, NWR's E3 coverage was awesome! I just hope some of the previews, impressions, and podcasts don't stay semi-lost in the avalanche of great coverage (I base this off of the few comments some articles have gotten so far).
Post by: NWR_DrewMG on June 08, 2009, 10:54:10 AM
Post by: Rize on June 08, 2009, 11:23:38 AM
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 08, 2009, 09:55:09 PM
Post by: Halbred on June 09, 2009, 09:03:05 PM
Post by: DAaaMan64 on June 09, 2009, 11:39:25 PM
Post by: NWR_Neal on June 10, 2009, 12:33:43 AM
The Twitter updates were my favorite features. Those were really thorough. Thanks.
That warms my heart, sir.
Post by: DAaaMan64 on June 10, 2009, 12:35:37 AM
The Twitter updates were my favorite features. Those were really thorough. Thanks.
That warms my heart, sir.
yup. I fucking read all of them. I was excited to get them, excited to read them. Had my phone with me, reading them in class. hahah
Post by: NWR_Neal on June 10, 2009, 12:02:45 PM
The Twitter updates were my favorite features. Those were really thorough. Thanks.
That warms my heart, sir.
yup. I ****ing read all of them. I was excited to get them, excited to read them. Had my phone with me, reading them in class. hahah
I am proud to have contributed to some kind of neglect of education.
Go video games!
Post by: NWR_Lindy on June 10, 2009, 01:32:12 PM
<a girl can dream>
Post by: NWR_Neal on June 10, 2009, 01:34:51 PM
It was like having a little Neal in my pocket.
<a girl can dream>
...And with that, I announce my official resignation from Twittering for the site...
Post by: Stratos on June 10, 2009, 02:19:01 PM
It was like having a little Neal in my pocket.
<a girl can dream>
Mrs. Lindy, is that you? Or has Lindy pulled a fast one over us this entire time and is actually a girl?
Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on June 10, 2009, 07:25:58 PM
Post by: Mop it up on June 10, 2009, 07:54:40 PM
Did anyone tell you that the wedding and/or the honeymoon are going to be the best days of your life? As great as they were, I wouldn't think that's true. The best is yet to come.
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on June 10, 2009, 08:16:55 PM
Post by: NWR_Lindy on June 10, 2009, 11:03:50 PM
Post by: Stratos on June 11, 2009, 02:58:16 PM
Post by: NWR_Lindy on June 12, 2009, 12:55:53 PM
MARITAL STRIFE
Post by: Mop it up on June 12, 2009, 07:37:04 PM
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on June 12, 2009, 08:45:37 PM
and she is going with you, its because
A) She secretly really wanted to go herself and is letting you think you are getting your way when she is really getting hers
or
B) She has something big planned in the future that you will not be able to say no to since she let you go to E3
and if shes not going with you, its because
A) She has something else that she would rather be doing(than spending time with you), and its best that you weren't around for it.
or
B) She has something big planned in the future that you will not be able to say no to since she let you go to E3
and in the rarest of cases for either(which is basically non-existant)
C) She really loves you and is willing to sacrifice something that is for the most part superficial to ensure that you are really happy becasue that is all that matters. You shouldn't have to single on specific day a year to let each other know that you love each other and can & should do that each & every day. BUT E3 ONLY HAPPENS ONCE A YEAR!!!
So I hope it C in either scenario ;)
edit: changed the word "artificial" to what I meant to type "superficial".
Post by: Stratos on June 12, 2009, 11:01:27 PM
Post by: Mop it up on June 13, 2009, 01:44:44 AM
Post by: Halbred on June 13, 2009, 03:07:49 PM
Post by: Stratos on June 13, 2009, 03:14:47 PM
There you go. Promise her Disneyland if she goes to E3, too. ;-)
I have two friends who just got married and they went to Disney World for their honeymoon.
It would be pretty fun to go there I think. Though the price probably isn't pretty. Australia or Scotland would be better for me, I think. DisneyLand can be first holiday or anniversary. Assuming I ever get married, that is.
Post by: NWR_Lindy on June 13, 2009, 07:17:01 PM
If there's ever an E3/anniversary conflict, I'll just do something ahead of E3. I'll work it out! LOVE WILL PREVAIL!
Post by: kraken613 on June 15, 2009, 11:05:06 PM
We need to play L4D!
I'm sure it will prevail!
Post by: Stratos on June 16, 2009, 03:50:06 PM
^
We need to play L4D!
I'm sure it will prevail!
Mmm, L4D. New computer at the end of the month means I can actually run L4D. I'll have to join you guys some time if that's alright with y'all.
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on June 17, 2009, 10:13:57 PM
Can you find out who of the NWR staff played cursed mountain, and also when they are gonna post their gameplay impressions?
I played it and it's one of the impressions I'm getting around to. Sorry for any of the delay. This graduating from college thing can take up more time than I want it to.
*checks watch*
*now goes back to staring at the clock on the wall while tapping my foot at a steady pace*
