New to the series or certain you’ve missed a chapter? You can find the introduction Here and the table of contents Here.
Continue readingMonth: April 2023
In Time
A thousand idle dreams
Race through my mind
In the time it takes
To change lanes
And I fly down the highway,
Windows open,
As the stereo blasts
A melancholic upbeat tune.
Meandering Thoughs About Apartment Hunting And Moving
As I’ve buried myself more and more deeply into apartment hunting (a task that requires daily effort given how quickly places are getting snapped up), it has been interesting to collect data and try to figure out the trends that I’m seeing. Sure, I’ve only been at it for about two weeks as of writing this (which is hardly a conclusive amount of data), but most of this stuff has held true throughout, to the point where I’m already making decisions based on it and seeing those assumptions pay off. Not in a huge way, unfortunately, since I still haven’t found a place to live, but in ways that are validating of my process and that make my life a bit easier (since it largely amounts to having an easier time winnowing the chaff). Now, I can get a decent scan of new apartments and an evaluation of which to contact in about fifteen minutes, across my four main sites.
Continue readingChuck Wendig’s Wayward Felt Too Realistic To Be Called Hopeful, But That’s Still How I’d Describe It
Just as a note, there will be heavy plot spoilers for Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers since this blog post is about the sequal, Wayward. There will also be some spoilers for that, but not as many. The final end and major plot points of Wanderers will definitely come up, but I’ll be avoiding most of the plot of Wayward except for a few non-specific mentions here or there.
Continue readingA Bite-Sized Gripe About Capitalism
These days, there seem to be a lot of signs that capitalism is ruining the world in ways both big and small. Most of the big ways are so large and complex that it’s difficult to tie systemic failures and the designs of capitalism together unless you’ve spent time learning the ins and outs of the systems connecting them. The idea is nothing new, of course, since activists of various affiliations have been pointing it out for decades now and we’ve seen a recent surge of attention to this fact as capitalist society continues to rot from the inside out in a way that makes it more and and more difficult to ignore unless you are emotionally or financially invested in pretending that this sinking ship of an economic theory is actually good for people. Still, that’s a little difficult to appreciate and far beyond my scope as a writer to discuss at length (due to a lack of expertise in economic theory, not skill at witing), so I’m going to narrow my scope to a common frustration that I’m sure we can all relate to: scalpers.
Continue readingOnly 18 Days Left To Finish My Challenge Run of Breath of the Wild on Twitch
I’ve been at this whole streaming thing for two weeks now, but I’m still having a great time playing Breath of the Wild again. It’s a lot of effort, streaming six days a week (for a total of 45.5 hours streamed since April 9th), but I’m enjoying it. It makes the solo activity of playing a game like Breath of the Wild more fun when I’ve got at least a couple people hanging out in chat while I play. The amount of interaction tends to vary a bit, peaking when my sister shows up in stream since she’s big on interaction and tends to more actively respond to whatever I’m rambling about or actually prompt me with stuff. I’m still working on getting better at monitoring chat while playing the game, but everything is moving slowly enough that it’s never much of an issue. It’s not like I’ve got hundreds of people watching. I’ve got maybe 5 core people, all friends, who watch most frequently, and that’s more than enough for me. It’s not like I’m trying to make a career out of this or anything.
Continue readingInfrared Isolation: Chapter 17
New to the series or certain you’ve missed a chapter? You can find the introduction Here and the table of contents Here.
Continue readingDreaming of The End
A Protein Most Fowl Fuels My Apartment Hunting (and Workouts)
Between all the streaming and trying to get back into the swing of daily life after my trip to Spain, I’ve spent most of my free moments either hunting for a new apartment, figuring out how much it would cost to buy a house, or trying to continue improving my workout and dietary habits. I’ve had the whole working out and going on vigorous walks thing down for one and two years respectively, so now I’m trying to incorporate some more healthy diet decisions. Nothing as (personally) anxiety-inducing as counting calories or following any of the recent fad diets. I’m just trying to make small, incremental changes that will help me live a longer and happier life.
Continue readingThe Marvelous Work of Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona, Spain
As you have no doubt read by now, I went to Spain last month. That’s why I took that break a few weeks ago, so I could go and have a good time without feeling the need to do a bunch of writing while I was dashing around a new city, trying to take in as many of the sights, sounds, and tastes as I could before I had to leave. Honestly, it was a pretty exhilerating trip, beyond the reasons I already wrote about in my two previous posts. There was so much good food, so many interesting buildings, such interesting history, and the infrastructure of a country that seems to actually care about it citizens is something I miss most of all. A functional subway system with timers until the next trains, a city full of cops who didn’t harrass people just for existing (at least not that I saw in my many nights about town, though I’m sure it still happens plenty), and roads that weren’t full of potholes. Most places in the US tend to feel like they’re beginning to crumble the instant you step out of the expensive, high-end neighborhoods, but even the literally crumbling buildings in Barcelona looked like someone was attending to them.
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