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[burstfrenemy]

I finished Borderlands 2!

I can't wrap up for the night without mentioning something important - the Steam Deck's sleep mode allowed me to do what I never managed on the Vita...I finished Borderlands 2, and one DLC as well!  It may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but it feels great to me!

I have a long history with Borderlands 2, specifically the PlayStation Vita port.  At the time, years before the Switch, it was incredible that such a big AAA game, and its DLC, could be fit onto a portable console.  Unfortunately, the Vita had serious technical limitations. One of the character classes was completely broken.  The game ran consistently below 30 FPS, and big battles would make the framerate drop further.  And like many other games, the Vita's lack of clickable thumb sticks and shoulder buttons was a nuisance. Loving the Vita and loving portable AAA gaming, I started and ‘bounced off’ it many times.

But on the Steam Deck, those Vita port problems aren't problems at all.  In fact, I just re-mapped Select to L4 to more easily access the inventory screen.  I could just focus on staying alive, finding better loot, and completing quests.  The final boss gave me a hard time before I leveled up a bit and focused on learning from my deaths.  Maybe, I’m getting better at pushing past frustration too!

I had so much fun I'm tempted to keep going through more challenging missions and the varied DLC.  But life is short, and my backlog is long!

[burstfrenemy]

Game 1 is chosen!

Its Disco Elysium.  After yoga.

[burstfrenemy]

Back to “Work”

I've once again fallen off the wagon.  No guitar for weeks, no drawing, no film study, no blog posts.  Maybe only 2 nights per week of yoga on average.  But now I'm back to do better.  

I've decided to go back to the beginning, where I started nearly a year ago.  I'm ready to move on from the tinkering phase of Steam Deck ownership and finish some more games!  There were 20 games on my original list last summer, and some of my favorites are Deck-ready.  

The original list:

1. Mole Mania (GB) 2. Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) 3. Uncharted 2 (PS4) 4. AC Odyssey (PC) 5. Mario Maker 2 (Switch) 6. Donkey Kong 94 (GB) 7. Doom (93 and 2016) (PC) 8. Hades (Switch) 9. Pac Man (Arcade1Up) 10. Monster World 4 (Genesis) 11. Hatoful Boyfriend (Vita) 12. Disco Elysium (PC) 13. Half Life Alyx (PCVR) 14. Psychonauts (PC) 15. Halo 1 (XBONE) 16. 2D Castlevania (DS or GBA) 17. Starcraft 2 (PC) 18. Luigi's Mansion 1 or 2 (3DS) 19. GTA5 (PC) 20. Game Builder Garage (Switch)

I'm going to focus only on Steam Deck PC games (no other systems/no emulation for now).  That narrows the list to AC Odyssey, Doom, Disco Elysium, Halo, Psychonauts, and GTA V.  I'm confident I can finish every one of them within a reasonable timeframe - AC Odyssey is the only one that intimidates me due to its sheer scale. No rest until I’ve finished them all.  And no games until after yoga.  That’s my commitment.  I'm going back to the wifey-randomizer - stay tuned!

[burstfrenemy]

A New Kind of Fun

My plans for three reviews in three nights was a wee bit ambitious, but I’m not stopping this blog. I have progress to make! So, without further ado…here’s a review.

I was a bit of a poser as a kid - I was drawn to the popular skater aesthetic but I was neither athletic nor cool enough to actually own a skateboard. I pored over the CCS catalog for hours, picking out tees, wheels, trucks, and deck designs. I purchased a few t-shirts from CCS in middle school and wore them with pride. But by high school, I realized I wasn’t fooling anyone. Life moved on and traveling by car became more important. And like most people, I started to associate skateboarding with immaturity.

Fast forward to 2022 and I’m through with maturity. Then I stumbled on the OneWheel Pint - It’s a motion-controlled, gyroscopically balanced, all-terrain electric skateboard thing. It weighs 23 lb and rolls on a repurposed go-kart wheel. I decided I needed to have one. It was the idea of ‘carving’ like on a snowboard that drew me in. I soon realized that the outdoors store down the road is the only OneWheel retailer in Wisconsin. My excitement took over and I bought one as an early Father’s Day gift to myself. It cost about $1000. The wife was thrilled, of course. As a gesture of my appreciation, I chose a fender in sensible, mature gray.

The day I got it, I was utterly driven to learn to ride.  After the kids went to bed, I taught myself in the basement to mount it, steer it, and most importantly, STOP it.  I bailed a lot.

That’s the trickiest thing to learn: the Pint is controlled only with your front foot. There are toe and heel pressure sensors. To start rolling, there must be weight on both sensors. To dismount, there are two options: lean back or lift your front heel. If you start to lose control, you MUST take your front foot off the board, or the wheel won’t stop as you fall off.  If you develop that muscle memory, you are good to go.

Once rolling, you lean forward to speed up, lean back to slow down. If you lean forward too far and reach top speed (15 mph), the OneWheel begins to push you back towards horizontal.  And there’s a beginner’s setting which 

I have had an absolute blast on the thing. It’s thrilling to take off and reach top speed on a residential street (15mph feels plenty fast). I love the challenge of maintaining balance up and down hills, over uneven grass. I love low-speed carving on walks with the kids. I’m gradually learning to ride revert (opposite leg forward).  I’ve turned my neighborhood’s driveways and bike paths into quarter-pipes.  

I love my Pint. I want to ride every day.  I think I’m finally graduating from poser to skater.

[burstfrenemy]

[burstfrenemy]

Little.  Yellow.  Different.

Less than two weeks after my Steam Deck arrived, I received my OTHER handheld gaming device - the Playdate by Panic.  

Panic is a Mac software company from Portland, OR (ofc) who value their quirkiness and independence.   Starting in 2011, the team at Panic envisioned a trinket to give to their most loyal customers - like maybe a cool clock or something.  Then one of Panic's co-founders discovered a unique one-bit (black or white) LCD panel from Sharp.  This screen inspired a decade-long quest to create the Playdate, a sort of alternate-history Game Boy successor.  It’s a fascinating story that Panic is proud to share, if you're interested.  

Their final product is a tiny yellow portable console with that monochrome screen, a couple of buttons, an accelerometer, and a CRANK that folds out from the side.  The crank acts as a control method, not a charger.  The screen in unlit, so it relies on environmental light like in the good old DMG days.  The Playdate purchase includes its first "season" of games, 24 in total.  Once your Playdate is activated, two new games are released each week for 12 weeks.  The games arrive via Wi-fi, and owners can also 'side-load' their own software.  

I can't claim to be a Panic loyalist from the start, but I kept tabs on the project for the last year and was one of the very first in line to pre-order.  In fact, that moment (on the mini golf course) was exactly when my guilt and impatience inspired this very blog.  

My experience with the Playdate is emblematic of my media consumption in general.  I coveted the device and gobbled up as much information as I could.  I avoided any info about the games themselves, to retain the element of surprise.  I had grand ambitions to create my own Playdate game by the time mine arrived (a sad story for another time).  But with the Playdate in hand, I love to look at the game list as much as I love to actually play the games.  I seem to be addicted to the fantasy of play.

I don't have anything remotely interesting to say about the games so far.  Whitewater Wipeout is a riff on the surfing minigame from California Games.  It’s probably my favorite so far, because I have genuine nostalgia for California Games on the NES.  And it’s the easiest of the games to pick up and put down.  You turn the crank to steer your surfer and try to string tricks, racking up a high score.  Three tries, then Game Over.

The other Playdate games are each intriguing in their own ways, but so many different things seem to intrigue me right now.  That seems to be my curse.  I have brief, shallow but all-encompassing interests.  Is it the result of personal weakness?  Is it the internet?  Is it ADHD?  I don't know, but it makes me feel like an island.

I'll leave you with a quote from the fictional author Susan Orleans - "I suppose I do have one unembarrassed passion.  I want to know how it feels to care about something passionately."

[burstfrenemy]

Surfacing from the Depths

I've always described myself as "never bored" - meaning I always have more interests than I have time.  For the next three nights, I plan to explore the realms between contentment and excitement in my psyche, through reviews of my three latest toys.

The Steam Deck is not just another handheld gaming device.  It is also the most ambitious hardware project from Valve, the PC gaming powerhouse responsible for Portal, Counter Strike, and Half Life.  The Bellevue, Washington company also operates Steam, the leading PC game digital storefront.  It’s important to note that Valve has faced increasing competition for digital game sales, from huge publishers like Epic, CD Projekt Red, Ubisoft and EA.  Valve is gambling on the Deck and its Linux-based operating system to keep the company on top.   The Deck runs SteamOS 3, a version of the open-source Linux OS.  Valve has invested for years in Linux, with the goal of gradually unshackling PC gaming from Microsoft Windows. Valve has been developing Proton, a software that translates Windows instructions into Linux instructions.  As new games are released, Valve employees update and optimize Proton constantly.  In doing this work, each game's unique way of interacting with Windows can be replicated in SteamOS/Linux.  

So, the Steam Deck aims to (eventually) play the whole Steam catalog (over 50,000 games!), although most were never designed to run on any OS than Windows.  For now, a fraction of Steam's games have been tested and "Verified" as compatible with the Steam Deck.  To be fully "Verified", a game needs to have full controller support, readable text at 1280 x 800, an easy to use launcher, and a compatible anti-cheat solution.   Unlike a closed system like the Nintendo Switch or iOS, SteamOS isn't locked down to only the games that are "Verified".  The Deck is a unlocked PC, and its Proton system can be used to run any game out there.  Some Steam games are merely marked "Playable" while others are denoted as "Unknown" or "Unsupported".  

Which brings me to my review.  The device is BIG.  I wasn't surprised by its proportions or thickness in person, but the wide separation between your hands is unlike any other system I've experienced.  Its way too big to be pocketed, but still much more portable than a laptop with a controller, of course.  The controls are generally solid - it feels very much like a PS4 or Xbox controller, so in that way it's a huge step up from the Switch. The trackpads are well-placed and have a good feel as well.  The weakest aspects are the Steam and Menu buttons at the bottom - they are not raised significantly from the body, which is a shame considering how important they are.  And the on-screen keyboard is bad, and the vibration is a joke.

The experience of actually playing games on Deck is wonderful.  Valve's own verification system has worked flawlessly for me so far.  I have been able to download and play over a dozen Verified and Playable games.  I've had success with numerous "Unknown" games, and even two great "Unsupported" games, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Bioshock Remastered.  My go-to Steam Deck game so far has been Borderlands 2, which plays and looks miles better than its Playstation Vita counterpart.  That comparison alone has made the Deck worthwhile for me.  But I've also been floored by brand new AAA games like Mass Effect Legendary Edition and Deathloop.

On the other hand, I've had more confusion than fun with games from other storefronts (namely Epic Games Store and GOG.)  I've run a third party launcher called Heroic as well as the official Epic Games launcher.  Bugsnax is a prime example.  I was able to log in, download and launch the game through Heroic.  But no matter what graphics API I chose, no matter what Proton version I chose, I couldn't get in-game visuals to appear.  I even factory reset my Deck in the hopes of undoing whatever mistake I made.  But in the end, I got Bugsnax to run fine by launching from the Epic Games Launcher.  The game Control, also from the same store, only worked for me through Heroic.  So I'm stuck with keeping both launchers installed, and trying to remember what cocktail works for each game.  

So my first two weeks of the Deck were spent in both awe and frustration.  Its my favorite kind of frustration, though - modifying a gaming device to maximize its potential.  I did the same with my Game Boy Advance in undergrad, my PSP in grad school, and my Vita more recently.    Now, the novelty of this device is already wearing off, and my mind is shifting back towards finishing games, not just running them to prove that I can.  Maybe I’ll circle back to Psychonauts and Disco Elysium first?  Or maybe I'll power my way through Borderlands 2.  Who can guess, these days?

[burstfrenemy]

The Wait is Over!

Today was a very special day.  That most coveted of gizmos, the Steam Deck, has made it safely into my hands.  If you recall, my eager anticipation for the Deck was the catalyst that set off this whole self-improvement project.  And now the wait has ended.  Almost...I'm writing this as a final self-discipline practice before I soak myself in the glow of the hallowed device.  

I'm just going to give a run-down of my progress in the past two weeks.  I've mentally given up on the treadmill and Cosmos combination.  I've really given up on dedicating each evening to a specific leisure task as well.  I did watch one more Cosmos episode, about the ubiquity of of environmental lead and a scientist who dedicated his life to addressing lead's public health risks.  I haven't stepped onto a treadmill, but I am planning to begin biking for exercise once weather permits.

I have been more adherent to my guitar practice, and I'm really starting to get a feel for what I'm doing.  There's a high degree of manual dexterity and muscle memory to attain.  Both hands are very busy, and your eyes can only help one hand at a time.  It's nothing like the trumpet in that regard!

I have also continued to watch Coen Brothers movies, and I only have a handful left!  When I finish, it will be the only complete filmography I've ever watched.  I really got a kick out of The Ladykillers - Tom Hanks should play evil characters much more often!  I also re-watched The Big Lebowski for the first time in about 20 years.  Still extremely quotable and hilarious.  This time I really noticed Walter and The Dude's odd bromance.  The way they bicker is like an old married couple, resigned to stay together, but apart in so many ways.  

And gaming has continued. (shocked?)  I did complete The Order: 1886 over Remote Play.  It wasn't a great game, honestly.  It was very pretty, especially for 2015, but the gameplay was merely serviceable.  Lots of bog-standard cover-based shooting, and I couldn't read any of the hidden collectible notes on the Vita screen.  But importantly, I finished a game.  Since, I've started up Persona 5 (Remote Play!) and have progressed a bit every night lately.  

Enough writing, my Steam Deck awaits!

[burstfrenemy]

Lent is over, and I did much of what I set out to do.  I have relearned some guitar songs and picked up some lessons on music-making.  I watched about half of the Coen Brothers Filmography, and came to understand their style.  I watched six of thirteen Cosmos episodes, and re-familiarized myself with core concepts of evolution, physics, and astronomy.  I’ve even been more conscious of the time I spend on Reddit.  I’ve read more for leisure.  I’ve used Remote Play on my Vita, and stuck to one game (despite buying more.)  And I’ve continued to write this blog.  

However, I fell short on running and drawing.  Given my long days and desire to unwind once the kids go to bed, it was consistently hard to muster the motivation for those tasks.  I can’t imagine I have added any stamina, nor have I become a more adept artist.  

The good news is that I’ve built good habits during the last six weeks.  I could see myself finishing the Coen Brothers filmography on Tuesdays and Wednesday nights.  I could see myself continuing to practice guitar on Thursdays.  I could continue my pursuit of broad scientific knowledge, through Cosmos and beyond.  While I continue to wait on my Playdate and Steam Deck, I’ve got nothing to lose by continuing down this path.  

[burstfrenemy]

Week 5

Movie:  No Country for Old Men - a film I first saw this one on a laptop in a dingy apartment in Lima, Ohio.  It’s a great suspense film, but I’m not sure that it’s anything more than that.  The antagonist, Anton Ciguhr, makes for a great horror movie monster, with his uber-cool weapons and stone-cold swagger.  However, he bears no resemblance to any real person I’ve ever encountered.  He’s more like The Terminator, if The Terminator felt compelled to voice his nonsense philosophy before killing his target.  

Rewatching it this time, the overarching theme seems awfully thin as well.  As Tommy Lee Jones makes clear, every generation is appalled by the ones that follow. Hence, where he resides is No Country for Old Men.   “It ain’t easy being old” is about all I took out of it.   

Guitar:  I got two solid practice sessions in this week, the second one earlier this evening.  I learned Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers, and practiced all the songs I’ve learned thus far.  The cool part is that I can feel myself moving past the phase of “Oh my god, I’m actually playing notes on a guitar!” To “OK, how can I make this sound better?”.  I’m fine-tuning my finger placements, strumming, and building up some muscle memory.  I got into a really pleasant flow state tonight, just replaying segments and noticing every detail.

Treadmill and Cosmos:  I skipped the treadmill entirely, since we took a grueling trip up to see my parents Friday (the kids were out of school).   I did watch a Cosmos episode featuring the discovery of the electromagnetic spectrum.  Kind of like with the guitar, I can feel myself starting to ‘know’ the science I learned all those years ago in college.  It makes me want to keep going, so that I can think and speak from a place of scientific understanding again.  

Drawing:  Last night, It just didn’t happen.  I played some more The Order: 1886, and watched some Curb Your Enthusiasm with the wife.  I’ll need to figure this part out.  Just like with the guitar, I know I have to practice consistently in order to progress.  

[burstfrenemy]

Week 4

First, the vidya games that filled my week:  I’ve continued to enjoy The Order: 1886 over Remote Play to my Vita.  It's not knocking my socks off, but it’s held my attention.  I plan on finishing it, in fact, since I like short, story-based games.  Maybe I’ll write more of a review when I’m through…

My excitement for Remote Play has not waned.  In fact, I purchased some cheap PS4 games to pad out my collection and play from bed.  I got the Lego Marvel Collection, which The Girl has enjoyed so far.  I also grabbed Watch Dogs 2, Final Fantasy XV, Darksiders III, and Persona 5 (all for about $6 each.)  While I was at GameStop, I also nabbed a $15 new copy of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for 3DS.

The big kids received their long-awaited Bugsnax plushies. A Strabby for The Girl and a Bunger for The Boy.   They continue to play both Bugsnax and Kirby heavily.  I introduced The Boy (and myself) to Euro Truck Simulator 2, and I’d bet he’ll log some more hours ‘on the road’ this week.  

I screened True Grit (2010) and was touched.  I’m no expert on Westerns, but I was struck at the unwavering goodness of the protagonists.  Haley Steinfeld was terrific as the 14-year-old Arkansas farmgirl coolly seeking justice for her murdered father.  Jeff Bridges was gruff but loveable as Rooster Cogburn, the drunken U.S. Marshall reluctantly helping her.  And I had completely forgotten about Matt Damon since I first saw the film upon initial release.  He plays a boastful Texas Ranger, in an uneasy alliance with Cogburn.  Like Marge and her husband in Fargo, The Coen Brothers really succeeded in making me cheer for the good guys.

For guitar night, I practiced the prior lessons a bit, then got accustomed to playing ‘finger-style’ for Ain't No Sunshine When She’s Gone.  I definitely need to keep up the practice if I’m going to get anywhere, but this process of relearning forgotten lessons is still pleasurable.  

I watched my fourth episode of Cosmos on the treadmill. It covered the concept of space-time which still challenges my little old brain.  I’ve also watched a few more physics videos from the Dr Becky Youtube channel.    I’m excited to pull out The Boy’s telescope this summer! 

Speaking of exercise, I pushed myself surprisingly hard this week with yoga.  Feels good!

Drawing practice actually happened too.  Inspired by my Remote Play success, I sketched my OLED Vita, using my iPad.  I’m not completely unhappy with the proportions I managed, but my shading and expressing light/dark needs some serious work.

For more than six months now, I’ve chosen to treat my leisure time as a sort of chore.  And I like it, somehow.  I have chosen a few of goals for myself, and I’ve learned much about moving forward one step at a time.  

[burstfrenemy]

Week 3

First, I’m going to note the video games I’ve played this week.  On the PC side, I started Loop Hero and Knights of Pen and Paper II. The kids continue to play Bugsnax, and were inspired to spend their own money on Bugsnax plushes from Fangamer.  Today, the girl asked to play “Greece Game” again - which is Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s non-violent Discovery Mode.  The boy asked for Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, but I only had access to it through GamePass, so he had to settle for Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe.  Oh, and I actually pre-ordered Kirby and the Forgotten Land.  It’s quite good!  

Last but not least in the week of games, I accomplished something I had long thought impossible…

You may recall how I described the PlayStation Vita as my favorite console of all time.  Well, part of my Vita dream has always been to stream PS4 games to my little OLED handheld.  But I’ve always struck out.  I’ve tried new routers, WiFi extenders, and a power line adapter.  I’ve even sat with my Vita right in front of the PS4, with the systems set to connect directly.   But it would just never work.  I always thought it was just a limitation of the Vita’s 2.4 GHz wireless chip.  

A new Ethernet power line adapter was the secret sauce I was missing.  So now I’m very excited, believe it or not, to try as many PS4 games as I can.  I started with Uncharted 2, because the disc was still inserted from November.  I played Zen Pinball (with minimal lag), and today I ran The Order: 1886 for the first time since 2015.  It may seem silly to the rest of humanity, but Remote Play is a highlight of my week.  

Now onto the tasks at hand…

Movie:  I picked “Hail, Caesar!” this week, for no special reason.  It was clever and quirky, but felt disjointed.  It felt like the Coen’s wanted to express their nostalgia for The Golden Age of Hollywood, and the plot was an afterthought.  There are musings on Communism, an extended dance number with no relation to the plot, and story threads left unresolved.  If I didn’t revere Hollywood like the Coen’s do, I probably wouldn’t care for “Hail, Caesar!” much at all.  

Guitar:  I re-learned Ooh La La by Rod Stewart - that’s the song that goes “I wish that I knew what I know now…when I was younger”.  It was a fun challenge, and worth working towards perfecting.

Treadmill and Cosmos:  I ran/walked for about 35 minutes, and learned about the unlikely trio of Hooke, Halley, and Newton.  I was only three when Halley’s Comet appeared last, and I can’t imagine where I’ll be when it shows up again in 2061.

Drawing:  I completely fell off the wagon this week.  I had an especially busy Saturday (taxes, errands with the two year old, bowling with the big kids, etc.  And to top it all off, I misplaced my phone for the better part of an hour.  I’ve come to realize that drawing represents the biggest mental hurdle because it requires a bigger mental shift that anything else I do during my daily grind.  I’m still determined to grow in that area, but I’ve got to optimize my strategy somehow.  Maybe next week…

[burstfrenemy]

Week #2 all over again...

I managed to stay dedicated to my goal again every night this week! Film:  I watched all of Fargo Tuesday night, with a totally new perspective 20 years after my last viewing.  The goodness of Marge Gunderson stands in such obvious contrast to the amorality of the rest of the cast.  The relationship between Marge and her husband Norm is extremely sweet, even maudlin.  But the Coens genuinely seem to revere the pair's deep caring for one another, and their simple ambitions.  

Guitar:  I managed to complete two more practice sessions from the same AndyGuitar series.  I re-learned Three Little Birds by Bob Marley as well as Wild Thing by The Troggs.  It’s not new ground, but it’s good to be re-building the muscle memory again.  I've definitely got to keep touching the guitar more than once a week if I'm going to get anywhere.  I have to train myself to strive towards clean performances - in the past I've just been content to play a tune at all.

Treadmill and Cosmos:  I watched Episode 2 on the treadmill, and it was good.  The selective breeding of wolves into domesticated dogs is such a powerful lesson when trying to understand natural selection, and the writers of the series do a phenomenal job.  The evolution of the eye is another wonderful segment, with its simulated underwater perspective shots.  I've noticed some clunky transitions though, like moving straight from the evolution of the eye to the Halls of Extinction, and then onto the possibility of life on Saturn's Moon, Titan.  

In other science-related news, I stumbled upon the YouTube channel of Dr. Becky Smethurst, an Oxford astrophysicist.  Her unbridled geeking out about the James Webb telescope was infectious and inspiring.  I subscribed! Drawing:  This week, I feel a bit short here.  Late last night, I read about ten more pages of The Idiot's Guide, but I only completed one small drawing exercise.  I learned the idea of examining your surroundings for a few moments, then forcing yourself to immediately re-examine them in order to practice gathering finer visual details.  I plan to start doing that this week, whenever I have a few brain cycles to spare...

Writing:  See above.

Music appreciation:  I took my two big kids to the library yesterday, and I picked up three CDs for a buck on impulse.  One of them is 2112 by Rush, from 1975.  Progressive Rock is my jam, but I've never gotten into Rush - I've been turned off by the odd time signatures and Geddy Lee's vocals on their later albums.  But 2112 hits different.  I've been able to follow the rhythm easily while still appreciating the harder feel compared to my usual fare.

[burstfrenemy]

[burstfrenemy]

Another Week #1

I managed to bat 1.000 this first week, so I'm feeling prett-aye...prett-aye...prett-aye good.  

Monday: I can't recall what I did but that's okay.  

Tuesday:  I watched about 30 minutes of Barton Fink.

Wednesday:  Finished Barton Fink - very complex film I won't try to dissect here.  I appreciated the portrayal of anxiety through sound though.  

Thursday: Practiced guitar from 'square one' and made solid progress.  I re-learned the E, A and D chords, plus the "Born in The USA" riff.

Friday: Ran/walked 2.5 miles on the treadmill, while watching the first episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.  That program is something else - the CG and hand-drawn visuals are so gorgeous compared to the old VHS tapes I watched in school.  The best part isn't the audiovisual presentation, though - it Neil Degrasse Tyson presenting the human side of scientific inquiry.  When he shared his first meeting with Carl Sagan at 17 years old, I was moved to tears. 

Last night I began drawing again using the book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Drawing by Lauren Jarrett and Lisa Lenard.    The authors describe the contents as a college-level Drawing course at a high-quality art school.  There's a lot to digest over the weeks to come, but I'm eager to learn!  

Without any specific guidance, I drew a sketch of a toy monster truck.  The drawing is undoubtedly ugly, but I did manage to perceive shadowy areas in a new way.  I had never really appreciated that a dark corner is darkest at its center and that light sneaks in across a gradient on each face.  I’ll share my drawings on here eventually, but I'll save the monster truck for a future demonstration of my progress.

That's it - Week One is through, and I'm feeling proud.  

[burstfrenemy]

[burstfrenemy]

The games I’ve haphazardly sampled in 2022

Deathloop, Sable, While True: learn[],  Chicory, Bugsnax, Baba is You, Wilmot’s Warehouse, Final Fantasy X, Fortnite, Inscryption, Vampire Survivors, Baseball (GB), Super Mario Land (GB), Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, and Yoshi’s Crafted World (finished with the girl!), probably more...

Fortnite immediately introduced the boy to cursing, so we had to turn off all chat and re-evaluate his access to the game.  But this week, the big kids and I won two consecutive Victory Royales in Trios.  Pretty good for a 38 year old, a seven year old, and a five year old!