A week past the six-month mark, and… well, other than that particular milestone, it’s been a pretty bog-standard sort of thing.
- I’ve been having fun writing my Guide to the Cardpocalypse, and plan on writing the first one that actually covers games tomorrow or Monday–it’s going to be on trick-takers–so if you have Opinions you want to Express, now’s the time.
- A lot of reading this week, but not of the book variety. Instead I read through a couple of very good Let’s Play threads. For those unfamiliar, a Let’s Play is a playthrough of a particular game–in this case, early Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest games, along with the original Master of Orion–done by someone who is usually very familiar with that game. They show off the inner workings, interesting strategies, and hidden bits. Most modern Let’s Plays are done in video on YouTube; some huge Internet personalities like PewDiePie (ugh) got their start in the format. But the original form was a combination of text and screenshots in a forum (most famously the Something Awful forum, which I won’t link for… pretty much the same reasons I didn’t link PewDiePie above), and that’s the format I like the most. It’s easy to pick up and put down, and I read way faster than I watch video, even at 1.5x speed. If this sounds at all interesting to you, check out the Let’s Play Archive and find some game you’ve always been interested in.
- Also actually playing games on my own, mostly Let It Die, where I continue to delay my storming of the endgame for no good reason other than that I’m scared, but also some Dead Cells now that it’s out on consoles. Yeah, that means I bought the game twice, which is dumb, but I really like playing it on my big TV with my PS4 controller.
- Had dinner with friends not once but twice over the week, which was nice. Particularly since one of the meals was with someone who moved to Europe in the last few months–it was nice to catch up–and the other was with someone who is moving away soon; another opportunity to socialize with people before they leave is always nice.
- One of those dinners ended up being not-the-best for my diet, though, so I’ve been playing it tighter for the rest of the week. I’ve (sadly) gotten used to going to bed hungry, but it’s necessary to help get my “desire to eat everything under the eaves” under control, which (like all addictions) has a nasty habit of springing up with just the slightest provocation. I’m actually genuinely curious at this point as to how much I weigh now; I don’t know how much I had gotten up to, but I have a rough idea. I’m not going to seek out a scale, though. Regular weighing has been one of several things that has completely ruined my self-control due to over-correction.
- Other than some more time with Picross 3D Round 2, I didn’t do much in the way of puzzles… but I did finally get a lead on getting a bunch of back issues of a particular Turkish puzzle magazine that comes very highly recommended. (Don’t look at me like that. I already have a ton of Japanese puzzle magazines; why not Turkish too?) I’m waiting to hear back from the publisher/editor. The magazines themselves will be dirt cheap. It’s gonna be the shipping that’s killer.
The weather’s been uncommonly pleasant here in North Carolina, not but not crazily so, although the off-and-on rain makes it hard to enjoy. I’ll take it, though, along with the lassitude of my current lifestyle. It’s been a very different August than my last twenty or so, that’s for sure. And that’s a good thing.