Getting back to the old days of gaming
With the price of RAM, GPUs, and storage reaching new heights, I think I found my solution: retro gaming. I bought an Analogue Pocket a few years ago and it mostly sat in a drawer doing nothing. The last few weeks have been heavily occupied with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. The game has really impressed me. I never played it back when it came out having never really been into the Castlevania series at all. Clearly a mistake on my part! I get why the genre is called Metroidvania. I honestly never associated Metroid and Castlevania at all.
Children of Time
Finished reading: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky đź“š
A friend of mine had recommended this book a few months back and I finally got around to powering through it in just a handful of days. Very quick read. Extraordinarily fun for sci-fi lovers, but you certainly have to be okay with spiders. So many spiders! I will have to see if the additional books in the series are worthwhile.
Finished reading: Greatest Hits by Harlan Ellison đź“š
Just finished this up last night and had a wonderful time reading it. I wasn’t familiar with his work, but he seemingly kept coming up in my wanders recently. I will have to seek out more of his work this year.
Somehow we’re already a week into the first month of the new year. If this is any measure of how the year is going to go, I think it may be faster than the last. Is that what I’m left with as I get older? Years just keep moving faster?
Finished reading: I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Se-Hee [백세희] 📚
This was a very interesting read for me. A lot of the author’s conversations with her therapist felt all too familiar to me. It pains me that she passed earlier this year at such a young age. She clearly was a brave sort putting something so bare and personal forward to the world. Something that so many try to pretend doesn’t exist or that isn’t shared by so many.
We live in a truly surreal time. While I was walking home the other day, the reality of the fact that almost anything is available at my fingertips really struck me. I know it’s not novel by any means, but it really sunk in. We clearly weren’t designed for this reality.
Finished reading: On Drugs by Justin Smith-Ruiu đź“š
This was an interesting read. Not sure how well I am designed for philosophy books, but I took one for a spin. Worth a read if you’re curious about psychedelics.
I have spent the last few nights doing that whole revenge sleep procrastination thing. Work has been a little too much the last few days and certainly last week.
Just picked up MusicBox for my Mac devices. I think this will be an interesting way to track my music listening habits as I try to migrate away from the Google Sheet I have been keeping for the longest time.
Finished reading: Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss đź“š
This was an interesting read as I start more of a meaningful spiritual… journey? Look around? Exploration? Whatever I’m doing.
I Heard It's A Mess There Too
I wrote earlier this year about how Aesop Rock had surprised me with an album so soon after his last.
Well, here we are in the same year, not five months later, and we have another new album from him. I won’t probably do a write up on it (at least not yet), so I think it should speak for itself. Check it out here: aesoprock.bandcamp.com/album/i-h…
The title seems all too fitting: I Heard It’s A Mess There Too. It is. It is everywhere.
I am probably five or six full listens in and would be hard-pressed to pick a favourite song or two. The album plays well front to back. It stands in pretty rich relief against Black Hole Superette in terms of production, but it is no less impressive.
If you enjoyed his last album, throw this on. Let it stand in contrast.
I find it personally interesting when someone you think of one way reveals something about themselves totally counter to your mental image of them. People are complex and can’t be summed up so easily. I think that extends to most, if not all, people.
Pretty rough day at work today. Ending the evening with a very late visit to the dog park. Bree was so patient as I toiled away today at the computer.
Just watched Good Fortune with the better half. Good movie with a great message. Lots of fun, laughs, and heart. 🎞️
Finished reading: Searches by Vauhini Vara đź“š
This was a random pickup from TPL. Amazing read. After a few chapters, I realized I heard an interview sometime ago with the author on NPR. Happy intersect running into it again.