Update

Wow. I can't believe how long it's been since I've last updated this blog. Sorry for the lack of updates; I added a new theme to my website called "Desert Rose." It's a Middle Eastern theme. I'm probably going to redo the layout for this blog since I'm not that happy with the way it currently looks.

Also, if you go to the site's entrance page, there's a new flash intro there. I'm currently learning a bit of ActionScript in order to make simple flash banners. Anyways, over and out for now.

---

Mass Effect 1 - 3

Mass Effect. I love this game....a lot. For those of you who don't know what this game is about, it's a science fiction game set in the year 2148. Here is a bit of information about the back story. Also, if you don't feel like reading the text below, here's a brief explanation of what happens in the game.

You are Commander Shepard, an Alliance soldier aboard the Normandy SR-1 (and later Normandy SR-2 in Mass Effect 2 and 3). Alien beings once believed to be extinct known as Reapers are preparing to wipe out all of civilization -- humans and aliens; your job is to unite the entire galaxy and stop the Reapers from destroying the universe.

Discovery of Mass Effect Physics
In 2148, human explorers on Mars uncovered a long-ruined Prothean observation post, with a surviving data cache that proved Protheans had studied Cro-Magnon humans millennia ago. While religions tried to assimilate this discovery into their doctrine, a global rush began to decipher the petabytes of data from the outpost. Discovering information on a mass relay orbiting Pluto, explorers managed to open the Charon Relay and discovered it led to Arcturus. With the help of the fledgling Systems Alliance, humans expanded to other systems, opening any mass relays they could find.

The First Contact War and Expansion
Humans first came to the attention of the galactic community after a brief but intense conflict with the turians, known by humans as the First Contact War, begun in 2157. The conflict began when the turians attacked a human fleet attempting to activate a dormant mass relay (illegal under Council law) and then occupied the human colony of Shanxi.

Led by Admiral Kastanie Drescher, the Second Fleet then launched a massive counter-attack, which caught the turians by surprise and expelled them from Shanxi. The conflict caught the attention of the Citadel Council, which wasted no time brokering a peace, thus introducing humans to the galactic community. As a consequence of the Alliance's swift and decisive action during the First Contact War, the Alliance became the representative and supranational governing body of humanity. Since then, humans have rapidly risen in prominence.

In 2165, humanity was granted an embassy on the Citadel in recognition of their growing power and influence in the galactic community. The timing of this achievement, less than a decade after first contact, caused some friction with other Citadel races who had waited decades for such recognition.

Humanity continued to expand to unclaimed star systems on the edge of Citadel space, which eventually led to competition with the batarians. When the batarians tried and failed to convince the Council to declare the Skyllian Verge "a zone of batarian interest", they closed their embassy and withdrew from Citadel space. Viewing humans as the cause of their fall from grace, batarians frequently came into conflict with human colonies, especially batarian slavers. Tensions between humans and batarians persist for decades.

The Eden Prime War
“This mission just got a lot more complicated.” — Spoilers for Mass Effect follow.

Humans were caught off-guard by the geth attack on Eden Prime, humanity's most prosperous colony, in 2183. Systems Alliance forces and the legendary Commander Shepard were involved in several operations against geth incursions into Alliance territory. The conflict between the Systems Alliance and geth later became known as the Eden Prime War, and culminated in the Battle of the Citadel, where a massive invasion fleet led by the flagship Sovereign tore through Citadel defenses. With the timely aid of the Alliance's Fifth Fleet, the geth were defeated. Depending on Commander Shepard's actions, the Council is saved and the Systems Alliance granted a Council seat, or the Council perishes and the Alliance forms a new Council. Thanks to their efforts in the Battle of the Citadel, humanity rises to a new level of prominence in the galaxy. -- back story taken from the Mass Effect Wiki

When I first got this game, I couldn't get into it. I didn't have enough sci-fi interest like I used to; but a friend of mine said that it was only $10 on Steam and that I had no reason not to get it since it was so cheap at the time during the Steam sale. So, I went ahead and bought it; at that time, I had just bought a brand new graphics card and power supply to put in my computer so that I could play another awesome game -- Jade Empire. I created a custom female Shepard who has the following characteristics: Spacer, War Hero, and Soldier. Anyways, one of the more interesting subplots in the game (for me) was the romance option. As femShep, I could romance either Kaidan Alenko (human male biotic) or Dr. Liara T'Soni (monogendered - female - alien scientist). I decided to pursue Kaidan; I love how this character shares the same voice actor (Raphael Sbarge) with Carth Onassi in "Knights of the Old Republic."

Unfortunately, there comes a point in the game where you are on a planet (Virmire) and you have to decide which team member you are going to save during a heavy battle -- which means you have to choose who lives or dies. I had to make the decision between my soon-to-be boyfriend (Kaidan) and human soldier Ashley Williams; that's right folks, Ashley Williams is dead in my Mass Effect games. Sorry Ash! I wish there was some special option where I could save both her and Kaidan, but there wasn't. Anyways, I beat Mass Effect 3 earlier this year, and the original ending(s) made no since; thank God that Bioware replaced those endings with the Extended Cut DLC. I'm looking forward to more single player DLC and hopefully new full games; also, I'm buying some of the games that I like on Steam Summer Sale 2012. I bought "Prince of Persia: the Forgotten Sands" and "Sam and Max: the Complete Pack."

Anyways, I'll be back later. I'm sleepy. Goodnight.

---

Letter of Thanks

---

Plans

Hello again,

This is going to be a short post because I'm busy doing some stuff. I'm planning on blogging more about the following interests of mine:

• Video Games
• The Positive Aspects of Multiculturalism
• Web Design/Development

I'm still updating my personal web site. I'm currently not 100 percent happy with the way two of my themes ("Marie Antoinette" and "Paris Nord") look; I want to make all of the themes look different, meaning that I don't want all of them to be colorful or monochromatic (too dark or too light). I'm trying to strike a balance in all of the themes where users can pick and choose whichever theme they like the most. Also, I'm working on boosting my programming abilities; currently, I have to figure out why some of my user controls work on my local server, but not on the online server. I've made sure that my coding has the correct credentials. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe my web host just doesn't like having certain user controls; I know for a fact that they don't recommend SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). There's one other thing that I'm planning on posting in the near future: a thank you letter to all of the people who have helped shape me and my career goals.

---

Updates

For starters, sorry for the lack of updates to this blog. I've been fairly busy lately. Alright, here are some interesting updates. I got this game (that actually came out in November 2011) called "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim." I had been hearing so much about this game from friends of mine that I decided to try it out; all this talk about "I used to be an adventurer like you, until I took an arrow in the knee" to AngryJoe talking about helping a talking dog during a quest peaked my interest.

So I got the game and created a Redguard character named Manyara who came from the land of Hammerfell. I decided to make her a mage since I like characters that can cast magic spells; plus one of my friends plays as a mage, too. Originally, I thought this was going to be a very comical game thanks to watching videos by Angry Joe and Two Best Friends , but now I realize that it can be a very dark game with only some instances being comical; I'm probably going to come off sounding like a big baby for this, but there were moments where I got so depressed that I just turned the game off.

For example, while doing a quest dealing with finding a stole flute, I stumbled across a lighthouse where an entire family had been murdered inside; and I, the Dovahkiin (Dragonborn -- aka hero in the game), had to find the source of the murders. It's odd, but I just remembered that it's technically my fault for thinking that this game would be funny/amusing...especially since in the very beginning of the game, you (the player) witness a character getting decapitated in the very first part of the game. There's even a quest where you get to sacrifice a priest to a god named Molag Bal...who's basically Satan; if you complete the quest, you get a special powerful mace. There's also a quest line that allows you to join this group of assassins called "The Dark Brotherhood." They kill people for money no matter how ridiculous the "crime" that the target supposedly committed (e.g. you kill a bard who can't sing, a cook who can't cook, a girl getting married, a mentally ill man who is grieving his sister's death, etc.); although this is just a game, I can't bring myself to playing the part of an evil character -- no matter how "fun" some of my friends say it is.

I also finished the game "Mass Effect 3," which is currently my favorite game of this year. I'll blog more about that later because I feel that this game deserves a post of its own.

Anyways, I've been working more on my online portfolio making changes here and there such as taking away themes, changing background colors, adding more programmable features, etc. I'll be back later with more updates as they come.

---

Cultures, Languages, Religions

I have always been fascinated with learning about other cultures, languages, and religions ever since I was a child thanks to "Sesame Street." My favorite language of interest was Spanish, but I also was intrigued with the Chinese and Japanese culture. I think what started my interest in Japanese culture was "Big Bird in Japan." I liked the story about the Bamboo Princess and the Japanese song "One, two, three means Ichi, Ni, San." As I got older, I took a strong interest in learning Japanese on my own -- it was very hard since there were no Japanese classes where I lived nor could I find any books on learning the language; I scrambled through Internet articles, tour guide books, and what not in order to be able to continue learning how to read and write in the language. Anime was also a big help; I used to watch anime such as "Sailor Moon," "Dragonball Z," "Gundam Wing," "Paranoia Agent," "Neon Genesis Evangelion," "Full Metal Alchemist," "Ghost in the Shell" (the movie and the series), and a lot more.

Japanese Culture: I got into Japanese culture due to my love for anime. I was watching some anime with English subtitles and began thinking that it would be great if I actually could understand the language without having to read the subtitles; I actually managed to learn hiragana, katakana, and a bit of kanji...I remember some people at my school thinking that I was odd for wanting to learn a foreign language such as Japanese because it is rather difficult to learn; but I loved every second of it. I studied the geisha culture, work environment, school environment, and so forth. I even had Japanese penpals.

Chinese Culture: Chinese culture is another culture that fascinated me. I always liked the mythology such as "The Weaving of a Dream," which is rather a male version of "Cinderella." The video game "Jade Empire" renewed my interest in China...rather mythological China, that is. I shopped on YesAsia.com and bought some videos such as "Avatar" and "The Shadow of Empress Wu." There's also a young Chinese woman by the name of Amoura Rose who sparked my interest in wanting to be a Web Designer when I was studying Business in college; she really is a great designer and can use Photoshop very well.

Indian Culture (Not to be confused with Native Americans) and Middle Eastern Culture: After playing "The Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time," I began watching Bollywood movies (thanks to the character Farah) and listening to Middle Eastern music (thanks to the Prince). I accidentally confused Persian culture with Arab culture at the time, however. The first Bollywood movie that I saw was "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai," and my favorite Bollywood actors are Shahrukh Khan and Kajol. My favorite Desi singer is Vasundhara Das. Occasionally, I'll watch "Koffee with Karan," which is a talk show about the actors, actresses, and movies in India. Also, I used to collect bindis and jewelry made in India. As for Arab music, my favorite singers are Amr Diab and Nancy Ajram; I like other singers such as Sherine Ahmad, Ruby, Tamer Hosny, Waed, Mohammed Hamaky, Mohammed Mounir, Elissa, Ranin, and many more.

Religions: I've studied ancient Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and a bit of Buddhism. I don't know much about Buddhism -- I only know of the story of its founder, Siddhartha Gautama. When it comes to religion, I try to understand why people feel the way that they do and how religion helps shape their lives. I also try not to look at people from a bigoted point of view when it comes down to religious beliefs. For example, when 9/11 happened, a lot of Muslims experienced discrimination based on what some extremists did. From my perspective, if a person is going to call themselves Christian and persecute someone who isn't Christian -- he or she should remember the following: "Judge not lest ye be judged by the measure that you judge others." Last I checked, didn't Jesus associate with people such as prostitutes, the poor, and tax collectors in order to teach them the right way to live their lives. As for Islam, yes there are extremists just like there are in all religions; but just because some evil, insane people did terrible things doesn't give anyone the right to label an entire group of people who haven't done anything as bad people.

Whitney Houston - One of My Favorite Childhood Singers

Whitney Houston -- The Voice -- was one of my favorite singers as a child. My favorite songs by her are "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "How Will I Know," "So Emotional," "I'm Every Woman," and "Heartbreak Hotel." Despite all of the negative press that she got in her life for the past twenty years, I didn't keep up with any of the bad things. I choose to remember her the way that she was during The Bodyguard Era. I really wish she was still alive today and had never went the route that she did; she would have been one of the best singers -- a singer who didn't have to take her clothes off and dance sexually on stage. Her voice proved that she had more talent than most of the so-called female singers out there today.

Rest in Peace, Whitney Elisebeth Houston. You will be missed.

Gamer Girl: Part II

Playing video games is one of my favorite hobbies ever since I was a young girl. The first video game I console I played was the Super Nintendo, and my favorite game at the time was Super Mario World -- which I absolutely loved! I remember Yoshi hatching from his egg, and I made my character Mario climb onto his back...then we'd go to Iggy Koopa's castle, and jump on his head! Despite the fact that the graphics were 2Dish at the time, it was a great game; I used to buy lots of video game magazines, which would give readers tips on how to play the games and win. I had the following games for the Super Nintendo:

• Super Mario World
• Star Fox
• Paper Boy 2
• Joe and Mac
• The Wizard of Oz
• Street Fighter II
• Super Street Fighter II
• Mario is Missing
• Mario Paint
• Spiderman and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge
• F-Zero

I may have had some more, but those are the main ones that I remember; I'd go to Blockbuster and would rent games to play on the console. Then along came the PlayStation. I bought Final Fantasy VIII, Sim City, and Darkstalkers. I loved the graphics in Final Fantasy VIII where you play different characters such as Squall, Rinoa, Zell, and Selphie. The FMVs (full motion videos) were stunning; now I mostly do my gaming on the PC -- just much more convenient for me. Sometimes I play Michael Jackson: the Experience on the Wii...but that's purely for dancing and exercise (for me, that is). I've got so many games on the PC, it would be too many to name here. My favorites would be the following:

• Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time
• Jade Empire
• Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3

Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time got me interested in three things -- East Indian entertainment (Bollywood) and culture thanks to the character Farah, Arab entertainment (I made a mistake and thought that the Persian Prince was Arab at the time), and the software program Alias Maya. SoT (Sands of Time) had lovely graphics. Check out the trailer for SoT below.



Jade Empire Trailer



Mass Effect



And my favorite: Mass Effect 3 (FemShep trailer)

At the moment, I'm playing L.A. Noire, which is a detective game set in 1940's Los Angeles. It puts you in the shoes of Cole Phelps, a rising private eye, who has to investigate grisly murders, car thefts, and drug trafficking cases. I love this game; the only thing that I don't like is having to choose whether a suspect/witness is lying or telling the truth during investigations. From what I've been told (and from what I've read on sites like IGN.com), you have to look at a person's face to be able to tell which choice to choose: truth, doubt, or lie. Also, I love the face motion that was put into this game. The characters' faces move so realistically. It's like watching a movie.

I started back playing Mass Effect 2 just to see how things would be different now that I have some of the DLCs (Kasumi Goto and Zaeed Massani). I lost some crew members -- Gabriella Daniels and Kelly Chambers to be exact. They died in ME2, so they aren't present in ME3. I'm considering replaying the last two games just to keep those two alive. I'm not really sure if I'm going to do all of this, however. I don't care much for Mass Effect 2 like I do for Mass Effect 3; it may be because most of the original crew members from the first game aren't present in the second game.

---

Fashion

Whenever I go somewhere(e.g. work, night-out, special event, etc.), I usually like to look my best by dressing up. I mostly like to wear pantsuits, especially when I go to work. In recent years, I've taken an interest in designers such as Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, and Christian Dior. I've bought a lot of perfume and some watches by them, and I've also subscribed to their mailing lists in order to check out the latest fashion tips.

Sometimes, I watch videos about fashion on YouTube just to see what others have bought while out shopping. Here's a video from the LuxeBabe, who is one of my favorite fashionistas.

By the way, remember how I said in my last post that I was watching "Marie Antoinette?" This movie shows loads of beautiful gowns worn by French women in the 1700s.

---

Marie Antoinette

I'm currently watching Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" movie. I'm enjoying the costumes and palace settings for this movie; I'm really watching it because I'm getting ideas for more graphic designs. It's getting to the point where I'm finding it easier to learn Italian more than French with the Rosetta Stone.

Vocabulary:

French: boy - le garcon
French: girl - la fille
French: to drink - boit, plural - boivent
French: to eat - mange, plural - mangent

Italian: boy - un bambino
Italian: girl - una bambina
Italian: to drink - beve, plural - bevono
Italian: to eat - mangia, plural - mangiano

English: The little girl is eating.
French: La fille mange.
Italian: La bambina mangia.

The sentences above are basic vocabulary words. I hope I can find some really good photoshop brushes for Italy to use in my next designs; I've already got a ton of French brushes.

---

Quotes

"Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love." -- Khalil Gibran


Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/k/khalil_gibran_5.html#rkAz7ppRUvuur0SG.99

The above is a quote that I ran across while browsing YouTube videos for the video game "Deus Ex." I'm planning on doing some blog posts on video games and multiculturalism soon. It will explain my love for video games and studying different cultures; then I'm going to pick out three of my current best entries that mean the most to me and display them in my work portfolio.

I'm currently out of ideas as to what else I can add to my work portfolio at the moment besides more artwork. I'll think of something soon, however. I gotta start working on my future blog posts. Ciao.

---

Josephine Baker -- My Inspiration

Josephine Baker was known by many names such as "The Bronze Venus," "Black Pearl," the "Creole Goddess". She is someone who I strongly admire. She was an African-American who moved to France and became a world-renown entertainer. She started out as a dancer at Harlem's "The Cotton Club," but because of her skin color (she was brown-skin but darker than the lighter-skinned chorus girls) she was given comical roles where audiences would laugh at her goofy antics; she ended up leaving the United States and headed to France with Caroline Dudley Reagan's team of singers and dancers to star in "Shuffle Along." Josephine loved France so much because she did not have to face racial discrimination there, and she broke contract with Reagan and stayed in France.

She learned to speak French fluently and starred in the movies "Princess Tam Tam," "Zou Zou," and "Sirene of the Tropics." Her outfits were designed by Christian Dior, and many artists such as Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway admired her. Baker went on to show the world that racism is something that is learned and taught to children as they grow up; she took a stand against racism by adopting twelve children from around the world as a way to show that people of different races can live together in peace. She called the children her "Rainbow Tribe." Josephine even spoke out against racism during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s with Martin Luther King, Jr. She even went on to spy for the French against the Nazis during World War II earning her the Croix de Guerre. When she died, she received a full military burial complete with a 21-gun salute.

I admire her because she reminds me of the quote by Rabinadrath Tagore: "I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can't make it through one door, I'll go through another door -- or I'll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present." She made her own door when there was none; instead of letting racism or discrimination stop her, she sought another alternative. In order to make it in life, sometimes you have to leave where you are and go where you will be accepted for who you are. I've bought at least four books on Ms. Baker, and they are the following:

• Josephine: the Hungry Heart
• Jazz Cleopatra: Josephine Baker in Her Time
• Josephine Baker in Art and Life: the Icon and the Image
• Josephine

I've also ordered some of her albums such as "Vive la Paris," "En La Habana," and a few others. I've got her movie collection and "The Josephine Baker Story" starring Lynn Whitfield as well. Unfortunately, all good stories of struggle and success can end with a downfall. Josephine eventually ended up with hardly any money to keep her home -- Chateau de Milandes -- and her adopted children. Social services came and took her children away, and she was evicted from her home; her friend, Princess Grace of Monaco -- whom she had met during a fallout with Walter Winchell and the restaurant staff (who refused to serve her because she was Black) -- loaned her money for a villa to stay in. Josephine eventually made her comeback in the 1970s when she returned to the United States; the times had changed, and she received a standing ovation and glowing reviews of her performances. Baker would then die of a heart attack. She was found lying peacefully in her bed surrounded by newspaper articles giving positive reviews of her performances; she was buried in Monaco where the streets were flooded with her fans who turned up for the services.

Josephine Baker - "C'est Lui," from the movie "Zou Zou"

"Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul; when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when understanding breeds love and brotherhood." -- Josephine Baker

---

Search Engine Now Fully Functional

I finally got a search engine up and running on my website. Rather than try to hand-code the site myself, I found a nifty little software package by Keyoti called Search Pro for ASP.NET that would allow me to integrate SEO into the site. I tested the software on my localhost, and it worked like a charm. The problem is that it wouldn't work when I uploaded the files (e.g. dlls and so forth) on to my web server. I think the reason for that is because I was using a trial version of the software; instead of paying $500 for the Search Pro version, I decided to go with Google's SEO customization instead since it's free, and I am dealing with a rather medium-sized website. The Lite version was around $300-310 (I believe); that's a bit too costly for me at the moment, especially since my site (www.anaarora.com) is not a large corporation-owned site.

Anyways, for anyone who wants to try out the Search for ASP.NET software by Keyoti, go to the link below:

• http://www.keyoti.com/products/search/dotnetweb/index.html

I'm planning on adding some more images to my site -- mainly to the "Blog" and "Search" pages.

---

Contemplating

Right now, I'm trying to come up with new ideas or new sections to add to my work portfolio website. I always like to create big sites with lots of information, yet make it where it is easy to manage. I already have sections displaying my work, information on me, a contact page, and so on; I still have to code the search engine page...but then again, I don't really need a search engine for my site since it is not that big.

I also need to get back to studying French and Italian with the Rosetta Stone. It's a hobby of mine to study different languages; I've studied Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese -- but I've never actually studied long enough to be able to speak any of the languages fluently. I chose to study French and Italian this time around because of the following reasons:

• I like the French culture (e.g. Marie Antoinette, Versailles, Paris, Josephine Baker's story, Louis XIV, and so on).
• I also like some French music by Vanessa Paris (e.g. "Joe Le Taxi") and the French actor Vincent Cassel.
• As for Italian, I like the way the language sounds and some of the movies (e.g. "Malena," "The Godfather"). One of my favorite Italian actresses would probably be Monica Bellucci who is married to Cassel.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue updating the layout of this blog until I'm satisfied with its overall look.

---

Music - 1980s

It's not a secret that I'm a huge fan of 1980s music. My favorite artists from that decade would be the following: Michael Jackson, Sade, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, Janet Jackson, Huey Lewis and the News, Peter Gabriel, and so many more. I just saw a clip that someone uploaded to Youtube for the "Miami Vice" TV series. It was a tribute to the character Sonny Crockett, and the song playing in the clip is "It Hurts to Be in Love" by Gino Vannelli. I had never heard of this song until hearing it on the clip, but I love it; here is the video for the song below.

---

Business Cards

I made three personal business cards for my website (www.anaarora.com) today. I used the program Adobe Photoshop -- which is one of my favorite programs -- to do so. I may make some more later in the future, but I really need to get back to the development aspect of my website and focus on getting a search engine functioning; I really don't need a search engine, but it would be good if I had one.

Here are some pictures of the personal business cards below:

Also, I re-did the header image for this blog as you can see above. I simply added a section to the right of the header that says "Ana Arora" followed by the link to my work portfolio.

---

Gamer Girl

I'm back for another post. One of the things that anyone learns about me is that I absolutely love video/computer games. I've been playing video games ever since I was little, and the first console that I used was the Super Nintendo. I mostly play games either on the Nintendo Wii or PC (as of now). I typically like RPG/Fantasy/Sci-Fi games; the two games that I am playing at the moment are "Alan Wake" and the "Mass Effect Trilogy." I've already beaten the "Mass Effect Trilogy," but I'm replaying ME3 again on Insanity Mode (the hardest level).

Take a look at the video of "Mass Effect 3's" trailer.

I tend to spend late nights and weekends playing games as a way of relieving stress when I'm not working. Also, I'm actually very particular about video games meaning that there are only so many games that catch my attention and make me really enjoy them; for example, the "Mass Effect" games are the only games right now that really interest me. Before that, it was "Jade Empire" and "Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time."

So, yeah, I'm pretty obsessed with Mass Effect right now, and I can't wait to get my hands on the new DLC (downloadable content pack) that comes out this week. It's a multiplayer game that lets you play with other players; my new character is going to be an Asari Justicar. Anyways, I'm out for tonight.

---

Welcome

Hello, everyone. This is my first post for this blog. The reason that I've created this blog is to talk about personal interests of mine such as music, movies, and just random thoughts. This blog is a branch off of my work portfolio site; feel free to look around as I update this blog.

Also, my original goal was to host this blog on my domain using BlogEngine.NET. Unfortunately, that plan doesn't look like it will go into effect any time soon. The reason is because I recently found out that BlogEngine.NET 2.5 (the version that I have) can't be integrated into an existing web site; the only way that I can get the site to run properly is by leaving it inside the root of the application. My only other option would be to revert to version 2.0, but that version is for ASP.NET 3.5. I'm using ASP.NET 4.0.

So until I can find a way to use BlogEngine.NET 2.5 with my existing website, I will be hosting my blog here. Also, feel free to browse my online portfolio: www.anaarora.com

---