25 years of Zelda official play through day 1

I've had a goal ever since I played the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time for the N64 back in the 90's, to play and beat every Zelda game ever made on their original consoles. Today I have started 'The Legend of Zelda' for the NES.

First thing's first, you gotta have a sword if you're going to save the Princess. In the first cave you see there is an old man with a wise warning, "It's Dangerous to go Alone! Take This" as he just up and hands you your first sword (well that was easy). There are a lot of neat little side secrets in the over  world before starting on the true quest too. I found 3 heart containers (no pieces of heart in the original) and the blue ring which upgrades my tunic and enables me to only take half damage. I also found the white sword, which is the first sword upgrade making ones sword more powerful (naturally).

As I stumbled into the first dungeon I discovered a strange little glitch, Easter egg, or whatever you want to call it, I call it the first of many Zelda Secrets.

1. Zelda secret number one!! - - - The rumor is that in many of the original Zelda games you can walk into a dungeon and see a locked door, if you leave the dungeon and then reenter, the door is unlocked!
1. I did actually try this to see if it would work and I can confirm that it does. :)

As I was going through the dungeon the old man appeared again in a black room with strange thing to say. "Eastmost Penninsula is the Secret" (yes peninsula is spelled incorrectly in the game) The reason I bring this up is that it is extremely vague and many have come to believe it to be a loss of translation. I took the liberty of looking it up and according to  the folks at Zelda Pedia http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Eastmost_Penninsula it is referring to the location of the first piece of triforce which is in the dungeon. On one of the video walk through I found the man said he thought it refereed to a secret in the over world containing 100 rupees.

So at this point I've played for about 45 minutes but most of that time was exploring the over world. The dungeon itself was very easy and the boss battle was against the dragon-unicorn hybrid Aquamentus. Basically just swing your sword at him, and if you're at full health you can do a ranged attack with your sword. In the dungeon I found the boomerang, and the bow, however I can't use the bow because it doesn't come with arrows (Lame!!) I will have to buy them from a cave outside. 

Biggest problem with this game is that I can't save!! The only way to save is to die and have the option of Save, Quit Retry. I tried a lot of the little 'outsmart the machine' maneuvers such as unplugging the control to get the machine to say 'hey! why did you do that?' but no instead I froze the console and had to re due the first dungeon as well as collect my super awesome extras from before. ugh... New goal! Die on Purpose.

Waiting for Godot, Looking back at the Sun

The past few months have been very hard for Paul and I, as steady work as not come so easily, luxuries such as paper towels are now obsolete, yet I'm not upset by this. I'm going to take a moment to list what I'm grateful for because it has been so depressing to be me lately I need to see the brighter side.

First I am grateful that Paul and I have been able to be so frugal, when we first got married our monthly expenses were $3,000 or more a month, mostly eating out, going to movies and buying video games, but now we have learned to cut out all UN-neccessary things and are able to keep our expenses to under $1,000 a month. I was really embarrassed when we couldn't take care of ourselves and provide for our less fortunate friends. Paul and I love being the people that others turn to in times of need, despite the face we have no money we are still that way. In the past month we have helped 6 people move, clean, and rearrange their lives not asking for anything in return. Being busy is better than being depressed and a hermit in your own apartment. Although the stress of helping everyone but myself in the past few weeks wore down on me so much that I couldn't function, I was so overwhelmed and so sad I didn't know what to do. THANK GOODNESS FOR GUINEA PIGS!
(This is my favorite guinea pig photo this week)

Second, I could not of asked for better friends, Heather and Josh Groves have become like family to me, sweet and very reliable, whenever I needed to talk or help with computers there were there at all hours. Kirk is a second father to me (not because he's old!!), because he is so wise I can think of him as a comfort and someone who will always be there. {Thank You for listening and coming to my graduation and for celebrating accomplishments with me Kirk. :) }. Kim, has been wonderful, I am glad she moved in with us because I need girl companionship, I admire how strong she is and am so grateful she turns to me when times are hard. The world needs more people like Kim, she makes me feel strong. Jenna, James and Amelia Dilts are the sweetest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, I never thought that visiting teaching would be a gateway to making a wonderful friend who has looked after me in our time of need. I love how positive James and Jenna are they are wonderful examples of perseverance, spirituality and compassion. I'm excited to be apart of their lives and to see Amelia grow and develop, since I'm not ready for babies of my own I'm glad to play with Amelia whenever we see them. :) Thank You!  Matt and Shanna Rose, have been so generous and look after Paul and I in more ways than I could of ever imagined, I'm sorry for being stand offish at times, depression comes in waves and wears down on a person over time. Matt and Shanna have been our friends for years now and Matt especially has been by Paul's side  for a long time. Longevity maters! Thank You. Finally Michael Thompson, was the first person to catch on that Paul and I were doing so poorly financially, that we are in a stage of waiting, each little thing he brought with him was a blessing, giving me the opportunity to work and spend time with him has been wonderful. We finally found the perfect addition to our D & D campaign. Thank you for watching over us your generosity has saved us. Each of our friends as given one major gift to us, that is a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, opportunities to work, and food in our stomachs. Thank You

Third is my family, without which I would of lost hope after the first stumbling block, whenever I go to visit my parents I am able to recharge my batteries, it is like a day spa for the spirit there. I am grateful for the support, and recognition my family gives us. I have grown up to be like my mother and I am so glad that I have my mom and not someone else. We are more alike then I would of ever imagined and she understands all these hard times, I know I can always turn to her for advice in my marriage, advice in finances, advice in cooking and advice in everything, I'm glad I can also be there to give he a hug and talk about her problems too. I would not trade the relationship I have with my mother for anything. My Dad is such a positive person and helps me to think logically and make plans, back up plans and when all else fails plans. He gives the best advice I've ever heard for the job market. He is honest and critical about my work, which I appreciate because that has taught me to be honest to myself. He also is wonderful at calming me down when things go wrong, I'm grateful for spiritually minded and supportive parents. I am also grateful that Alex and I have stepped out of the phase of brother-sisterdom that involved fighting and bickering, he is my friend and I love him more than I can express. Some of my favorite memories are with Alex, I love the Legend of Zelda games because we played together, and I love anime conventions because he came with us for my first one. I remember a time when we were young and I woke up from a nightmare where he had died or was in trouble, I would be crying and I remember racing into his room to give him a hug, he told me it's okay and would pat my back. Alex, I will always be worried about you and I want you to live for a long time. Please take care of yourself so we can share each others lives for a long long time, I love you!

Now I've saved the best for last, my husband and eternal companion, Paul. Paul may not always have the right thing to say, but he always knows how to show he cares. Paul loves so much and so deeply I could not of asked for a better companion. He is a bit 'quirky', 'strange', 'easily excitable' and 'fun', I know he listens, and always cares, because when I'm sad or upset with him or something else, out comes the guinea pigs! I can't be upset when two loving creatures snuggle up to me and a loving husband looks with such deep and caring eyes. I love you Paul, thank you for listening and for making life both fun and bearable, I am so happy with you in my life.

I had a lot to say but it's all true I hope to continue to have these people in my life and I pray for all of you to have success in your lives.

Cassie