Before Chell, Pie was one of the few test subjects who managed to escape the vegetative state inflicted by Wheatley's comical neglect. Pie succeeded where Chell failed though; discovering Wheatley's closely guarded secret at his mysterious wall panel. He always did seem to be the type that would be fun at a party.

When Portal went up on Steam for free last month, I was very quick to pounce at the opportunity. I've been lusting after it for a long time as it was one of the great games that evaded our collection. I own the original Half-Life bundle, but when the legendary Orange Box came out I was way too short on time to justify the purchase. Finally being able to experience the classic was a huge treat, and the game ended up being so compelling that I had to break down and get Portal 2 immediately afterward.

Portal 2. Portal 2. Portal 2. Damn Valve, why do you have to be so freaking awesome? The humor, environments, characters and storytelling were all top shelf. I would have enjoyed a bit more difficulty in the stages, complexity in puzzles, or action-based puzzles, but the entire presentation made me gloss over any quibbles. I have to say, the series deserves all the attention and recognition it gets and should occupy a spot in everyone's collection.

On the shirt front- still a little bit of work to do there. I was really hoping to be able to close the deal on the last trip, but our test prints didn't quite turn out. There were some issues with the method being used, a process called Direct-to-Garment, which we were attempting to use in order to get a softer feel where the print is placed. The process is wonderful on light shirts, and great for certain designs on darks, but not so much for what we want to do. So although the process didn't produce the desired result, the printers, Pie and I have a much better idea where to go from here. So good news there, at least!