It's been a while. It's been almost a month since I rolled up my sleeves and wrote something of substance. Life has its changes and its rollercoasters, and that's when one's allegiance to gaming is really put to the test. Some ignore what's most pressing in favor of long gaming sessions, while others stop gaming altogether to get their life in order.

I've always considered myself to be neither, but rather something in the middle. Living by the motto "everything in moderation", I spent a good chunk of my formative years finding inventive ways to play games when I was busy, but it seems to get harder and harder as we get older.

Perhaps the lack of updates on HDRL could be construed as a metaphor for the amount of gaming I'm actually doing. I do not think it's a secret that I'm not really playing that many games right now. Unlike the unending cascade of game releases the average Japanese gamer has to deal with, summer is a dead time for games. Trickles here and there provide little sustenance, and most gamers find July the best time to trim down the backlog or pick up games they missed the previous year.

One could argue that it's a good thing that things are slow, with things getting in the way, but most gamers would agree that those are the times when games are most important. Those short moments in between hectic work schedules and dizzying social engagements are the most potent. That chance to sit down with your best friend, a bottle of Killian's and BlazBlue are immeasurably important at these times.

It is at exactly those times that I really appreciate the hobby of gaming; not for its ability to entertain and kill time through long boring stretches that we often affectionally name as life, but for its ability to squeeze small, special moments of coal into bright shining diamonds that liberally pepper our lives.

Moderation is the key, then. Gaming, for me, is not at its best when I'm drenched, absorbed and covered in it, but when it rears its head for those great moments. In these quiet times, then, some measure of ingenuity is required to fill one's gaming plate.

After finishing Flower, Sun, and Rain for the DS just a few short weeks ago, I thought it was time to take a break from handheld gaming, and delve into my home console library. Blazblue was something I reserved for group gatherings, and it seemed excessive to pick up another retail title with Dragon Quest 9 looming on the horizon. Instead, I turned to downloadable content and games, if only to pad the schedule.

I will not deny that there is possibly something pathologically insane about padding a gaming schedule with more games, or about having a schedule in the first place, but us gamers are a strange breed of man that has been growing like weeds between the cracks in the pavement of an increasingly boring and mundane modern society.

Despite our abilities to shrug off the yoke of societal expectations, we seem to have little problem with gleaning tried and true elements of such a society in our own pastime. There is, I suppose, little difference between our methodical insanity and that of a comic enthusiast, whose thursday involves a regular trip to the store to empty their pull box and inquire about future releases. Perhaps the lack of a mainstream analogue to both maddening hobbies makes these otherwise normal and banal activities into some sort of circus sideshow for the average eye.

Meandering posts like this one rarely have a point, or a purpose, or even a goal, but it exists. And as long as it does exist, let it be a testament to my hobby; let it be a public decree of its invasive qualities. Let it be known that even in my busiest times, I still take the time to write a 700 word article about my connection to my hobby, and to its people.

I've been gone too long. It's nice to be back.