#animation vs oregon trail

[brookston]

Holidays 2.24

Holidays

Central Excise Day (India)

Day of Stripes & Dots

Dia de la Bandera (Flag Day; Mexico)

Dragobete (Lover's Day; Romania)

Edwin Dickinson Baker Day (Oregon)

Engineer’s Day (Iran)

Flag Day (Mexico)

Forget Me Not Day (Disabled Veterans)

Full Moon [2nd of the Year] (a.k.a. ... 

Bony Moon (Cherokee)

Budding Moon (China)

Daeboreum (Great Full Moon; Korea) [1st Full Moon of Lunar Calendar]

Eagle Moon (Traditional)

Grain Moon (South Africa)

The Great Fifteenth [Lunar Calendar]

Hunger or Hungry Moon (Alternate)

Ice Moon (Celtic)

Little Famine Moon (Choctaw)

Naval Full Moon Poya Day (Sri Lanka)

Raccoon Moon (Traditional)

Snow Moon (American Indian, North America, Traditional)

Southern Hemisphere: Barley, Corn, Dog, Grain, Red, Sturgeon, Wyrt Moons

Storm Moon (England, Neo-Pagan, Wicca)

Trapper’s Moon (Colonial)

Gregorian Calendar Day

Honus Wagner Day

International EBM Day

International Family Drug Support Day

International Repetitive Strain Injury Awareness Day

International SCN2A Awareness Day

International War Animal Day

Loud Shirt Day (New Zealand)

Makha Bucha Day (Thailand)

Marbury vs. Madison Day

Mitch Hedberg Day

National Artist Day (Thailand)

National Dance Day

National Day for War Animals (Australia)

National Remembrance Day (Papua New Guinea)

National Trading Card Day

N'cwala (Thanksgiving; Zambia)

Nylon Toothbrush Day

Obnoxious Day

Osmon Roy (Osmanda Regalis) Day

Showza-Shinzan International Yukigassen Tournament (Snowball Fight; Japan)

Sweden Finns’ Day (Sweden)

Tourism Day (Taiwan)

Twin Peaks Day

Ukrainian War Anniversary Day

Voice of America Day

Wild Ginger Day (French Republic)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Caesar Salad Day

Defend the Donut Day

Gouden Carolus Cuvée van de Keizer Open Day

National I Hate Coriander Day

National Tortilla Chip Day

National Tortamali Day

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Day

World Bartender Day

4th & Last Saturday in February

Camellia Day (California) [Last Saturday]

Clam Chowder Cook-Off (Santa Cruz, CA) [Last Saturday & Sunday]

International Sword Swallowers Day [Last Saturday]

International Tongue Twister Contest Day [Last Saturday]

National Day of Terere (Paraguay) [Last Saturday]

National Library Open Day (UK) [Last Saturday]

National Pretty Brown Girl Day [4th Saturday]

National TRiO Day [4th Saturday]

Open That Bottle Night [Last Saturday]

Independence & Related Days

Iseseisvuspäev, Independence Day of Estonia (from Russia, 1918)

Territory Day (Arizona; 1863)

Zamboanga Sibugay Province Day (Philippines)

Festivals Beginning February 24, 2024

Annapolis Restaurant Week (Annapolis, Maryland) [thru 3.3]

Beer City Festival (Santa Rosa, California)

Chinese New Year Parade (San Francisco, California)

Chocolate Wine Trail (Hermann, Missouri) [thru 2.25]

Melodifestivalen (Eskilstuna, Sweden)

New York City Beer Week (New York, New York) [thru 3.5]

Orange Beach Seafood Festival (Orange Beach, Alabama)

Taiwan Lantern Festival (Tainan, Taiwan) [thru 3.10]

Feast Days

Æthelberht of Kent (1st Christian Anglo-Saxon King) [original date]

Ascensión Nicol y Goñi (Christian; Blessed)

Ayyám-i-Há begins (Baha’i) [thru 2.28]

Beard Day (Pastafarian)

Carthaginian Ghost Spotting Day (Pastafarian)

Charles Le Brun (Artology)

Day of the Abdication of the Sacred King (Pagan)

Feast of Vartan (Armenia; Saint)

Giving of Shoes (Shamanism)

Hammie Swinette (Muppetism)

Huey Newton Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lethard, Bishop of Senlis (Christian; Saint)

Lindel Tsen and Paul Sasaki (Anglican Church of Canada)

Lucan (Positivist; Saint)

Mattia Preti (Artology)

Matthias the Apostle (Christian; Saint)

Modest, Bishop of Trier (Christian; Saint)

Montanus, Lucius, Flavian, Julian, Victorious, Primolus, Rhenus, and Donation, martyrs at Carthage (Christian; Saint)

Pretextatus, Archbishop of Rouen (Christian; Saint)

Primrose Lore Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Regifugium (Flight of Kings; Ancient Rome)

Richard Hamilton (Artology)

Robert of Arbrissel (Christian; Saint)

Sergius of Cappadocia (Christian; Saint)

Sepandārmazgān (Women's Day; Zoroastrian Iran)

Shivaratri (Shiva’s Night; Hinduism; Everyday Wicca)

Winslow Homer (Artology)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Alamut, by Vladimir Bartol (Novel; 1938)

Buddy and Bowser (WB LT Cartoon; 1934)

Chips Ahoy (Disney Cartoon; 1956)

Cocaine Bear (Film; 2023)

Figure Eight (Multiplication Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1973)

Fleetwood Mac, by Fleetwood Mac (Album; 1968)

Frozen Feet (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1939)

Get Out (Film; 2017)

Help Me Rhonda, recorded by The Beach Boys (Song; 1965)

How to Ride a Horse (Disney Cartoon; 1950)

I Got Six (Multiplication Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1973)

Johnny Cash at San Quentin, recorded by Johnny Cash (Concert Album; 1969)

Kidnapped (Disney Film; 1960)

Lest Darkness Fall, by L. Sprague de Camp (Novel; 1941)

L’Orfeo, by Claudio Monteverdi (Opera; 1607) [1st Modern Opera]

Lucky Seven Sampson (Multiplication Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1973)

Misguided Missile (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1958)

Musical Moments from Chopin (Woody Woodpecker & Andy Panda Cartoon; 1947)

My Life as a Zucchini (Animated Film; 2017)

O-Solar-Meow (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1967)

Peer Gynt, by Henrik Ibsen & Edvard Grieg (Musical Play; 1867)

Philadelphia Freedom, by Elton John (Song; 1975)

Physical Graffiti, by Led Zeppelin (Album; 1975)

The Practical Pig (Disney Silly Symphony Cartoon; 1939)

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Film; 1969)

Putty Tat Trouble (WB LT Cartoon; 1951)

Rabbit Remembered, by John Updike (Novella; 2001)

Rinaldo, by George Frederic Handel (Opera; 1711)

Rock Dog (Animated Film; 2017)

Silk Stockings (Broadway Musical; 1955)

Space Kid (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1966)

Wanderlust (2012)

WhatsApp (Social Media App; 2009)

When You Wish Upon A Star, recorded by Frances Langford (Song; 1940)

Working Class Dog, by Rick Springfield (Album; 1981)

Today’s Name Days

Matthias (Austria)

Goran, Modest, Montan, Sinerot (Croatia)

Matěj (Czech Republic)

Mattias (Denmark)

Madi, Madis, Mäido, Maido, Maidu, Mait, Mati, Matis, Mats, Matti, Mattias (Estonia)

Matias, Matti (Finland)

Modeste (France)

Matthias (Germany)

Elemér (Hungary)

Edilberto (Italy)

Diāna, Dina, Dins, Gatins, Gatis, Kurbads (Latvia)

Gedmantas, Goda, Motiejus (Lithuania)

Mats, Mattias, Mattis (Norway)

Bogurad, Bogusz, Boguta, Bohusz, Lucjusz, Maciej, Piotr (Poland)

Ioan (Romania)

Matej (Slovakia)

Modesto, Sergio (Spain)

Mats, Mattias (Sweden)

Taras (Ukraine)

Maddison, Madison, Madisyn, Madyson, Mateo, Mathew, Mathias, Matt, Mattea, Matthea, Matthias, Mattias, Mattie, Matty, Modesto (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 55 of 2024; 311 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 8 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Nuin (Ash) [Day 7 of 28]

Chinese: Month 1 (Bing-Yin), Day 155 (Wu-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 15 Adair I 5784

Islamic: 14 Sha’ban 1445

J Cal: 25 Grey; Foursday [25 of 30]

Julian: 10 February 2024

Moon: 100%: Full Moon

Positivist: 27 Homer (2nd Month) [Lucan]

Runic Half Month: Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 66 of 89)

Week: 3rd Week of February

Zodiac: Pisces (Day 6 of 30)

Calendar Changes

Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) [Half-Month 5 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 3.10)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 2.24

Holidays

Central Excise Day (India)

Day of Stripes & Dots

Dia de la Bandera (Flag Day; Mexico)

Dragobete (Lover's Day; Romania)

Edwin Dickinson Baker Day (Oregon)

Engineer’s Day (Iran)

Flag Day (Mexico)

Forget Me Not Day (Disabled Veterans)

Full Moon [2nd of the Year] (a.k.a. ... 

Bony Moon (Cherokee)

Budding Moon (China)

Daeboreum (Great Full Moon; Korea) [1st Full Moon of Lunar Calendar]

Eagle Moon (Traditional)

Grain Moon (South Africa)

The Great Fifteenth [Lunar Calendar]

Hunger or Hungry Moon (Alternate)

Ice Moon (Celtic)

Little Famine Moon (Choctaw)

Naval Full Moon Poya Day (Sri Lanka)

Raccoon Moon (Traditional)

Snow Moon (American Indian, North America, Traditional)

Southern Hemisphere: Barley, Corn, Dog, Grain, Red, Sturgeon, Wyrt Moons

Storm Moon (England, Neo-Pagan, Wicca)

Trapper’s Moon (Colonial)

Gregorian Calendar Day

Honus Wagner Day

International EBM Day

International Family Drug Support Day

International Repetitive Strain Injury Awareness Day

International SCN2A Awareness Day

International War Animal Day

Loud Shirt Day (New Zealand)

Makha Bucha Day (Thailand)

Marbury vs. Madison Day

Mitch Hedberg Day

National Artist Day (Thailand)

National Dance Day

National Day for War Animals (Australia)

National Remembrance Day (Papua New Guinea)

National Trading Card Day

N'cwala (Thanksgiving; Zambia)

Nylon Toothbrush Day

Obnoxious Day

Osmon Roy (Osmanda Regalis) Day

Showza-Shinzan International Yukigassen Tournament (Snowball Fight; Japan)

Sweden Finns’ Day (Sweden)

Tourism Day (Taiwan)

Twin Peaks Day

Ukrainian War Anniversary Day

Voice of America Day

Wild Ginger Day (French Republic)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Caesar Salad Day

Defend the Donut Day

Gouden Carolus Cuvée van de Keizer Open Day

National I Hate Coriander Day

National Tortilla Chip Day

National Tortamali Day

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Day

World Bartender Day

4th & Last Saturday in February

Camellia Day (California) [Last Saturday]

Clam Chowder Cook-Off (Santa Cruz, CA) [Last Saturday & Sunday]

International Sword Swallowers Day [Last Saturday]

International Tongue Twister Contest Day [Last Saturday]

National Day of Terere (Paraguay) [Last Saturday]

National Library Open Day (UK) [Last Saturday]

National Pretty Brown Girl Day [4th Saturday]

National TRiO Day [4th Saturday]

Open That Bottle Night [Last Saturday]

Independence & Related Days

Iseseisvuspäev, Independence Day of Estonia (from Russia, 1918)

Territory Day (Arizona; 1863)

Zamboanga Sibugay Province Day (Philippines)

Festivals Beginning February 24, 2024

Annapolis Restaurant Week (Annapolis, Maryland) [thru 3.3]

Beer City Festival (Santa Rosa, California)

Chinese New Year Parade (San Francisco, California)

Chocolate Wine Trail (Hermann, Missouri) [thru 2.25]

Melodifestivalen (Eskilstuna, Sweden)

New York City Beer Week (New York, New York) [thru 3.5]

Orange Beach Seafood Festival (Orange Beach, Alabama)

Taiwan Lantern Festival (Tainan, Taiwan) [thru 3.10]

Feast Days

Æthelberht of Kent (1st Christian Anglo-Saxon King) [original date]

Ascensión Nicol y Goñi (Christian; Blessed)

Ayyám-i-Há begins (Baha’i) [thru 2.28]

Beard Day (Pastafarian)

Carthaginian Ghost Spotting Day (Pastafarian)

Charles Le Brun (Artology)

Day of the Abdication of the Sacred King (Pagan)

Feast of Vartan (Armenia; Saint)

Giving of Shoes (Shamanism)

Hammie Swinette (Muppetism)

Huey Newton Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lethard, Bishop of Senlis (Christian; Saint)

Lindel Tsen and Paul Sasaki (Anglican Church of Canada)

Lucan (Positivist; Saint)

Mattia Preti (Artology)

Matthias the Apostle (Christian; Saint)

Modest, Bishop of Trier (Christian; Saint)

Montanus, Lucius, Flavian, Julian, Victorious, Primolus, Rhenus, and Donation, martyrs at Carthage (Christian; Saint)

Pretextatus, Archbishop of Rouen (Christian; Saint)

Primrose Lore Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Regifugium (Flight of Kings; Ancient Rome)

Richard Hamilton (Artology)

Robert of Arbrissel (Christian; Saint)

Sergius of Cappadocia (Christian; Saint)

Sepandārmazgān (Women's Day; Zoroastrian Iran)

Shivaratri (Shiva’s Night; Hinduism; Everyday Wicca)

Winslow Homer (Artology)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Alamut, by Vladimir Bartol (Novel; 1938)

Buddy and Bowser (WB LT Cartoon; 1934)

Chips Ahoy (Disney Cartoon; 1956)

Cocaine Bear (Film; 2023)

Figure Eight (Multiplication Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1973)

Fleetwood Mac, by Fleetwood Mac (Album; 1968)

Frozen Feet (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1939)

Get Out (Film; 2017)

Help Me Rhonda, recorded by The Beach Boys (Song; 1965)

How to Ride a Horse (Disney Cartoon; 1950)

I Got Six (Multiplication Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1973)

Johnny Cash at San Quentin, recorded by Johnny Cash (Concert Album; 1969)

Kidnapped (Disney Film; 1960)

Lest Darkness Fall, by L. Sprague de Camp (Novel; 1941)

L’Orfeo, by Claudio Monteverdi (Opera; 1607) [1st Modern Opera]

Lucky Seven Sampson (Multiplication Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1973)

Misguided Missile (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1958)

Musical Moments from Chopin (Woody Woodpecker & Andy Panda Cartoon; 1947)

My Life as a Zucchini (Animated Film; 2017)

O-Solar-Meow (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1967)

Peer Gynt, by Henrik Ibsen & Edvard Grieg (Musical Play; 1867)

Philadelphia Freedom, by Elton John (Song; 1975)

Physical Graffiti, by Led Zeppelin (Album; 1975)

The Practical Pig (Disney Silly Symphony Cartoon; 1939)

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Film; 1969)

Putty Tat Trouble (WB LT Cartoon; 1951)

Rabbit Remembered, by John Updike (Novella; 2001)

Rinaldo, by George Frederic Handel (Opera; 1711)

Rock Dog (Animated Film; 2017)

Silk Stockings (Broadway Musical; 1955)

Space Kid (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1966)

Wanderlust (2012)

WhatsApp (Social Media App; 2009)

When You Wish Upon A Star, recorded by Frances Langford (Song; 1940)

Working Class Dog, by Rick Springfield (Album; 1981)

Today’s Name Days

Matthias (Austria)

Goran, Modest, Montan, Sinerot (Croatia)

Matěj (Czech Republic)

Mattias (Denmark)

Madi, Madis, Mäido, Maido, Maidu, Mait, Mati, Matis, Mats, Matti, Mattias (Estonia)

Matias, Matti (Finland)

Modeste (France)

Matthias (Germany)

Elemér (Hungary)

Edilberto (Italy)

Diāna, Dina, Dins, Gatins, Gatis, Kurbads (Latvia)

Gedmantas, Goda, Motiejus (Lithuania)

Mats, Mattias, Mattis (Norway)

Bogurad, Bogusz, Boguta, Bohusz, Lucjusz, Maciej, Piotr (Poland)

Ioan (Romania)

Matej (Slovakia)

Modesto, Sergio (Spain)

Mats, Mattias (Sweden)

Taras (Ukraine)

Maddison, Madison, Madisyn, Madyson, Mateo, Mathew, Mathias, Matt, Mattea, Matthea, Matthias, Mattias, Mattie, Matty, Modesto (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 55 of 2024; 311 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 8 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Nuin (Ash) [Day 7 of 28]

Chinese: Month 1 (Bing-Yin), Day 155 (Wu-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 15 Adair I 5784

Islamic: 14 Sha’ban 1445

J Cal: 25 Grey; Foursday [25 of 30]

Julian: 10 February 2024

Moon: 100%: Full Moon

Positivist: 27 Homer (2nd Month) [Lucan]

Runic Half Month: Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 66 of 89)

Week: 3rd Week of February

Zodiac: Pisces (Day 6 of 30)

Calendar Changes

Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) [Half-Month 5 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 3.10)

[glittertomb]

Do you play video games?

With varying intensity, yeah, since I was a babe. My dad was a video game nerd so I started on weird Atari games and old pc games like commander keen, pinball, ones I can’t even remember the names of... maybe geck? Then my parents went on a big, “video games are bad, but educational games are cool” kick, so I played 4 different Oregon trail games, 3 different Carmen San Diego games, 2 magic school bus games, and an assortment of random ones like spooky haunted witch teacher who hid the students unless you solved puzzles, girl gang vs plants taking over the world, samurai actor teaching you Japanese, biking through Aztec ruins, or kids who could transform into animals exploring history, myths, and monsters.

Then my parents divorced and had a “Christmas war” so my dad got a Dreamcast and my mom 1-upped him by getting a PlayStation... lots of sonic, Ecco the dolphin, crazy hp and Disney games, kingdom hearts, Klonoa, Raymond, Mario kart, cookie and cream, star fox, crazy taxi, wacky racers, Zelda, etc. Then my mom got anti-video games again and I would secretly sneak out to play Spyro and Kirby and Pokémon and the sims (to live out my wild lesbian fantasies).

Then in college I got into seiken densetsu, final fantasy, spore, fallout, and lots of indie humble bundle games like aquaria, limbo, bastion, sword and sworcery, too many to remember. Then I was too busy for a bit so I would play phone games in my spare time, but later got into Skyrim, the last of us, animal crossing, Katari damashi, nino kuni, Witcher, and more indie games. And recently I’ve played moving out, hitman, eufloria, stardew, the gardens between, trine, hades, fe, moon hunters, spiritfarer, deltarune, earthbound, a short hike, evil tonight, dragonquest, trials of mana remake, super crush k.o., acnh, and ori. Plus so many I can’t remember in the moment.

But a bro will be like, you don’t play elden ring? You don’t play smash or halo or call of duty? Then you don’t game, bro.

So no, I don’t play video games.

[sandssavvy]

My guide for online media bingeing

Podcasts:

My Brother My Brother & Me - With 500 episodes of upbeat content, this is perfect for people stuck at home.

Welcome to Night Vale - time for those good spooky queer small town vibes.

Stuff You Missed in History Class - Much more interesting than my high school history class. Episodes are about interesting events and people.

The Adventure Zone - There are multiple campaigns. I reccommend starting at the beginning with TAZ Balance, but if you want to start with the McElroy family playing DnD in the ongoing campaign TAZ Graduation is only up to Ep 12 right now.

Web Series:

Critical Role & all of Talks Machina:

Seriously this D&D rpg live game made up entirely of super talented voice actors is the best, and it is a crazy amount of content. Talks Machina, the cast Q&A show tends to be hilarious.

All Work No Play - Liam O'Brien and Sam Riegel are two best friends trying out activities ranging from: Ghost hunting, black smithing, goat yoga, and chainsaw art.

Monster Factory - Griffin & Justin Mcelroy make horrifying characters in various video games. This is the origin of Final Pam.

Ruining History

Puppet History

Buzzfeed Unsolved

The Try Guys

Kittysaurus: Cute cat shenanigans.

Polygon - Unraveled (Brian David Gilbert)

College Humor -

Dimension 20's (college humor folks)amazing D&D campaigns:

- Escape from the Bloodkeep (includes Matt Mercer & Erika Ishii)

- Fantasy High

- The Unsleeping City

Free TV:

Leverage: One of the best TV shows of all time! A group of criminals works to take down evil CEOs, corrupt politicians, and Wall Street criminals etc. And become an epic found family. If you havent seen it you have to try it. If you have seen it, rewatch it!

Schitt's Creek - Season's 1-5: Fantastic funny heartfealt. Including one of the most endearing mlm couples on tv.

Black Books: A hilarious British comedy

Paranormal Home Inspectors - People who believe their homes are haunted get visited by 3 inspectors 2 believe in ghosts and one is a building inspector. I love the building inspector.

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

Forensic Files: The best true crime show I've ever seen. It's not over the top, it's just a factual exploration of a criminal case from beginning to end. There are 14 Seasons to watch for free!

Peep Show: David Mitchell and Robert Webb's comedy series.

Q.I. : The famous British quiz show.

Kingdom: Stephen Fry plays a small town barrister. It is surprisingly good and upbeat.

Spaced: A fantastic British comedy show with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

Tubi shows & movies can be watched for free on a phone app or your computer.

Movies:

But I'm a Cheerleader - Classic queer film which has a happy ending (despite the conversion camp).

Those weird Mythica movies Matt Mercer was in.

All Dogs Go to Heaven

Secret of Nimh

Hulk Vs. (One of the funniest Deadpools in this animated film.)

Penelope: A Christina Ricci & James Mcelvoy film.

Treasure Island: Eddie Izzard plays Long John Silver and it's very good! Elijah Wood plays Ben Gunn.

The crunchyroll website and app are great for watching anime, jdrama, & foreign films for free.

Online plays/musicals:

Starkid Productions!: the people who made A Very Potter Musical (and it's sequels) eventually made a bunch of fantastic musicals.

Twisted (The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier)

Holy Musical B@man!

Trail to Oregon!

Firebringer

Starship

The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

Black Friday

Little White Lie

[zealoptics]

The Tides: Riding the Ups and Downs on the Oregon Coast Trail

By Henley Phillips

I’m in a Safeway parking lot in Lincoln City trying to set a new supported fastest known time on the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT). I didn’t plan to quit when I sat down, but the combination of chair and lapful of Dairy Queen is drawing me down into a comfortable state that I haven’t felt in 139 miles. I do some quick math for the next section - 4 mile wrong turn earlier in the day, 270 miles left to go, 18 miles still left for the day, it’s 5PM, I’ve eaten all the chicken strips, no way I can do this. ** **

Am I quitting?

So far I‘ve covered the miles out of pure excitement and adrenaline, but now I feel well out of my league. I decided to do this just 6 weeks ago. My longest run was only 32 miles; the biggest week a mere 42. This was just to get a taste of what this FKT world is all about. I get it. It’s hard. I don’t want hard. I want a relaxed summer with my wife on the Oregon coast. 139 miles is pretty damn good. 

Am I quitting? I think so.

When you attempt something like a fastest known time, your mind is constantly calculating the gains and losses of the experience to regulate and preserve your physical well-being. In fact our brains work in this mode every day with almost every task. It’s basic survival wherein your mind and body work to maintain a safe equilibrium of pleasure and pain. I think it’s fair to say for most of us, myself included, we do a good job of making sure the scales tip to the side of pleasure more often than not. 

On my first day of the trail I ran in a state of almost pure bliss for 14 hours. The northern terminus of the OCT was windy and cold that morning, the ocean and sky a blur of blue and gray with waves crashing somewhere unseen. The trail had it all that first day - serene beach running all to myself, road miles through Seaside with its tourist trinket shops, enchanting singletrack over Tillamook Head and Cape Falcon, and then the quiet miles of a sleepy highway 101 at the end of the day. That night we stealth camped at the baseball fields in Nehalem. My wife made beef stir fry for dinner. I inhaled it, scrubbed my legs in a community faucet and went to bed like nothing happened, 52 miles later. Pure pleasure. 

Day two. Katie asks how I feel first thing.

“Everything... feels intact.” I do a stupid dance to show it’s true. 

The OCT is unique for two reasons - towns and trails. It’s less of a wilderness route like the word trail conjures up, so towns and resupply come easy. You also have to time the beach hiking just right or else you’ll be caught in high tide with no route off the beach or left with an unexpected road walk. Today the goal is to hit one of the main estuaries at low tide to avoid a 4-5 mile road detour. 

Near the end of the day, trudging up Cape Lookout and nearing a cumulative 100 miles, my mind begins that gain vs. loss calculation - pain developing in my feet and knees, hips tight, stomach still good but then there’s the hamstring. I topped the climb as the sun was setting, and the thrill of making the estuary crossing at night took over. Headlamp, food, layers and a towel in case I had to swim the crossing. I dropped down to Sand Beach and covered the 4 miles to the estuary outlet under a sliver of moon and the beach to myself. 

I sensed the outlet before I could confirm it. In the pitch black of 10:30PM, my headlamp beam was simply swallowed up by the ocean to my right and the now empty space of the estuary void to my left. No low-lying beach topography to bounce light or give perspective. Deep black on either side and moving water underfoot. 

The water quickly rose to my chest on the first try, and I half-panicked and almost threw myself into the flow to swim across, dry clothes be damned. Luckily I took a quick glance across and saw a high, steep bank on the other side, which meant deep water and no easy way up. Trying again further up the estuary, there was no steep bank; in fact, there was nothing at all, which I chanced to mean shallow water rather than endless water.

The water is cold, up to my chest halfway across, but I feel in control, safe. Without thinking, however, I start chanting ‘please’ out loud. Please don’t let me have to backtrack now. Please don’t sweep me out into the dark ocean. Please let there be a safe way out of this channel. Finally my foot hits the bottom a little sooner, the water drops to my stomach, and I spot a level bank to exit the current. I let out an animal sound of satisfaction and relief but immediately realize I’ve crossed too high. Now I have a stagnant tidal lagoon to cross, the remnants of the estuary not carried out at low tide.  

My phone battery is very low, so I forgo using Gaia to navigate and instead head towards where I think the beach should be, which is the other side of this lagoon. Compared to the relatively clear water of the first crossing, this stuff is a muck of seagrass and shoe-sucking sludge. I can’t see the bottom and have no way of judging depth. As I whip my headlamp around in all directions, tens of little fish jump silver streaks out of the water. Then I notice palm-sized crabs floating in the tops of the seagrass, right at chest level. Do crabs bite humans? 

Twenty minutes later I’m back on the beach and running the last two miles to where Katie is waiting. The adrenaline quickly fades. I’m ice cold, and all the pain starts welling up after a day of 58 miles.

In anticipation of the building fatigue and inevitable pain, I quit on day three at the Lincoln City Safeway after a measly 28 miles. The third day was going to be tough, I knew, but my mental focus had already shifted from enjoying the Oregon coast to desperately calculating my next rest and meetup with Katie. I ended the tracking on my inReach and sent a message to my family letting them know I had quit, and to my surprise, I felt a choking, welling tightness in my chest and throat. 

“I think I’m crying about this,” I told Katie.

Sleep came quickly that night, and I went to bed without dinner. We drove further south down the coast to where I was supposed to have ended my day on foot, tucked the van into a side road, and that was the end of my FKT. 

In the morning I woke feeling better than expected. I stretched and jogged a little and figured I should be feeling a lot worse if I’m going to quit. We had a leisurely morning together drinking coffee with a quintessential Oregon coast view. Turns out the record was still doable, and my one-woman crew was still down to keep going. 

I devoured miles for the next five days - 44, 52, 50, 50, 53 and then a casual 20 on the last day into Crissy Field and the California border. 408 miles in 8 days 5 hours 2 minutes. 

I had assumed the most critical moments of a fastest known time attempt would be the cumulative minutes lost or gained during breaks, or, specifically for the Oregon Coast Trail, hitting the river outlets and tides at just the right time. Turns out the key decision for me was quitting on the third day when I thought that I’d had enough. 

The important thing about quitting is that it immediately calls into question your tenacity. The moments directly after you pull the plug on something can be so illuminating and provide deep-gut feedback on the decision. In the past several years the concept of vulnerability has become quite popular, at times creating a culture and mindset of easy outs. Quitting has been flipped and is now strong, follow-through less important and rephrased as stubbornness. What’s worrisome to me about quitting is that the immediacy of relief can sometimes overshadow those moments of truer clarity directly after. Surely there are moments when quitting is the prudent, safe decision, but how often is this truly the case? Or is it more likely that your resilience, grit and ruggedness are simply being called into question?

Don’t hit the damn button. Keep going.

[activesgv]

Gautam Raja

43, Freelance Writer and Editor, Azusa

1) Describe your relationship with your bike.

I started out as a roadie, I used to train with a group. I’ve always wanted to go on rides with my dog. As soon as I heard about Larry vs. Harry, I decided to get one. I have a lot of fun going out with him on the bike.

I was looking and there was Splendid Cycles in Oregon--- they’re a dealer. I was looking for cargo bikes and I stumbled upon it. I really like how the Larry vs Harry Bullit cargo bike looks. I also wanted the cargo area on the front. I had these plans of being more car-free and doing groceries and all that but frankly, the only thing I’ve been doing is going on rides with him. He loves it so much.

He’s 6 years old and he actually came out with us from Bangalore, India. When we lived there, he was abandoned by a highway. We think he’s a Labrador but he’s basically a mix with Rottweiler. He was just pushed out of an SUV and when we heard about this story we adopted him. He was about a year old. We got the chance to come back to the U.S., so he essentially came from India. He got on a plane and they basically had him as excess baggage on the plane. They zip-tied him in. We just got a second dog who won’t get on the bike. 

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations?

It used to be for training, going fast, Strava, heart rate, and all of that. But now, I’m just really having fun connecting more, and I love the mountains. I try and get up there as much as I can. I just love being on the bike train and I do want to use the car as little as possible. I am slowly using the cargo bike for other things.

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

I remember I had one of those banana seat bikes when I was young in India. The first bike I remember being really excited about was when mountain bikes first reached India and there was this bike called the Hero Ranger. I asked my parents and I saw them whispering so I knew I was going to get it. I lived on a farm outside of Bangalore, so we used to ride quite a bit. Not huge distances but we spent days, whole days on the bike. The rule was come back before the sun sets.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

I always end up on Glendora Mountain Road. I really, really love it. But frankly, my favorite ride which I haven’t done in a while is to just go up to Crystal Lake. I really like the climb from the East Fork onward. It’s just a brutal climb. I haven’t done it since I’ve put on a bit of weight. I call myself, post-roadie now but I really enjoy that trail. I love the mountains.

I’m always on the river trails; the San Gabriel River trail just going to the dam. Again, I haven’t done it in a while, but just going down to Seal Beach. That’s another favorite of mine.

5) What do you envision biking in the SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?

Traffic density isn’t high here but when I ride around, the roads are just so geared to cars and high speeds. For example, I took this cargo bike to Home Depot across that way and the area around there is so dangerous. I’m not shy about riding in traffic since I spend a lot of time on the road but I actually hesitated to go down there. I really want to see both infrastructure and a lot more people on the road.

I’m on NextDoor and there are really strong anti-cycling people. People are so upset about the Montrose ride that comes through for a minute every Saturday morning. The rest of the day, your kids can’t even get on the streets. Essentially the street is a race track.

When I first moved here I thought I was hearing the Irwindale Race Track but then I realized it was just Highway 39. People drive like crazy over here. Everyone and all the sports cars and bikes are basically heading up Highway 39. So to be so upset to be held back by a cyclist for 15 seconds at a stop sign versus people being run over in residential areas: that really needs to change.

Weirdly, you’d think that the traffic in India is horrendous but drivers there are used to seeing all sorts of traffic on the road. You see fewer of them now, but you’ll see carts, animals, bicyclists, and all sorts of things going on. Though the traffic is bad, you actually get a little bit of space. I often feel more unsafe here because of the speeds, people going pass you with 2 feet, and angry people. On the whole, at the same time people are really nice at stop signs and wave you through so it’s a bit of a mix.

In India, I was part of a racing team so there is a roadie type of culture. It’s really hard to be out with kids on the road but it’s cycling has become more popular. There’s a lot of bicyclists.

[bitmapdreams]

I think I've heard you say you enjoy turn-based games before, and you've posted bioshock infinite fan art, but I've never seen you talk about games before. What are your favourite games? (Or really just tell us anything about you and gaming!)

TL;DR: Yes I play games!

I haven’t been so active ever since I graduated school and started working, because… 9 to 5 job… raising a kid as a mother… but games and video games have always been a big part of my life!

It was the 90s so my mom was against violence in video games so I watched my elementary school guy friends play things like Street Fighter 2, Sonic, Tomb Raider, KOTOR.. but never picked it up.

I eased into computer games through puzzle games like Myst, and Humongous Entertainment (Pajama Sam, Spyfox, Backyard Baseball), and edutainment games like Oregon Trail 3 and Where in Time is Carmen San Diego. I always played with my sister! My neighbor and I also played this Indiana jones top-down adventure game a lot. I also loved things like petz, sim farm, sim tower, sim city, and roller coaster tycoon, and the sims and sims2, oh and this game called “creatures”?

My family are big card players and board game players, and I grew up playing a version of speed solitaire that only exists in my family. In 4th grade I somehow played online poker via America Online…? And when someone asked my age I lied and said I was in 5th grade lol. My sister and I still love playing board games, especially Serenissima and Clueless (a version of Clue we came up with where you play without a notepad). a few friends in high school played Warhammer so I watched that a bit.

In middle school I got into TCG’s, mainly Pokémon and Magic the Gathering.. I had a solid Armadillo Deck in high school.. I used to play with this education tool called Interactive Physics in the computer lab a lot. Also loved this website called Orisinal, which come to think of it has informed my aesthetic a lot. I got a gameboy color and played Pokémon Blue, Kirby’s Tilt n Tumble, Conker’s Pocket Tales.. I got into DDR for a hot minute, Marvel vs Capcom, King of Fighters, Guilty Gear..

My first console was a translucent orange N64, I loved games like Harvest Moon and Hey You Pikachu, Mario Party 2 (the best), beetle adventure racing, tons of games rented from blockbuster, and I would watch my guy friends play StarFox and Smash Brothers. Before it came out, I ran emulators of Pokémon Gold on my computer and tried playing through it in Japanese haha. I super got into the Japanese emulator for the Pokémon trading card game gameboy game!

When I got in high school I finally got a PlayStation, and I fell hard for Final Fantasy. My first was 9, and I went back from there. It’s hard to go back from 9 to 8 and then to 7. In the end I lost interest in 7 and never finished it. Also followed the squaresoft road and really loved Legend of Mana! I watched G4 and cosplayed as game characters at anime cons and stuff. Got my PS2 to play Final Fantasy X, loved the core Kingdom Hearts games, Katamari Damacy.. odd titles like Magic Pengel.. doubled down with X-2, HM:BTN.. not a lot of ‘violent’ games or shooters. (My family all played our Wii Sports to pieces, etc..) I watched my friends play a ton of GTA, and I loved just listening to the radio!

I spent a ton of time playing Ragnarok! I got to the Monk class, had some pretty rare headgear, which was so fun. In college I got my PS3 and played a mess of stuff, some tekken and Soul Calibur, but really just got busy with uni and then work.. I lived in Tokyo though so I would go to TGS and soak it all in. I saw Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb taping a segment there one year! But my interest was mostly on the peripheral, I checked out of it as a hobby for a good amount of years until I got an iPhone and then started watching let’s plays on YouTube!

I got back into following games as a medium through being interested in the development of Bioshock Infinite. During college, when I went back home for the summer, I spent a night hanging out in a park with my high school friends listening to them talk about how cool this game called bioshock is. Sounded too scary for me, but I plot searched the hell out of it online much like I do when I’m interested in scary movies but don’t want to watch them…?

So when I heard a new one was coming out I casually followed it through its development, then watched lets plays of it when it came out in real time, and just got super into it because I had been studying the history of math and science in college, and so I was studying about the history of quantum theory and stuff right at the time. then because of all that I got into watching gaming related stuff on YouTube, watched a lot of rev3 et all, gamergate happened, yeah..

But I still play games on muh lonesome, and still watch let’s plays of games I don’t have the skill or time to play! I think I’ve watched let’s plays of most of the major games for 2013-2016 in the process! I really liked Firewatch! Watched through Lots of older ones too. I really got into watching videos of the Arkham series, and from that I started watching deep dives on US comics by people on YouTube, etc… also found MBMBaM via games!

So I don’t think my story is unique but I’m sort of more of a spectator of what you may call your classic video games, and the ones I do play are either strategic, or laid back.. usually turn-based. But looking back I certainly have experienced more than someone who doesn’t!

Nowadays I love Civilization 4 with a passion, retroactively played through the Bioshock Series while I was on maternity leave (my first time playing a shooter!) which was an important touchstone for me as a person for many reasons.. separate from my opinion of the game itself, but either than that though, I haven’t picked up a controller since Splatoon. ..well that’s a lie, my toddler *loves* wii-u party. But, still haven’t gotten around to buying a PS4. Or a switch. But ive played through Riven and Exile on my iPhone, recently played Oxenfree, um let’s see, I backed We Happy Few, and it freaks me out to play but I got pretty good at playing one of the earlier versions! I listen to a lot of video game podcasts, too, though I think it’s more from a companionship stance than anything.. I still live in japan and most of my social circle doesn’t speak English, and all these people remind me of my high school friends. Good times. That kinda thing.

Yeah, that’s me and games!

[redtha]

You're a stronger person than me when it comes to TTG. I stopped after "Pirates" and wanted to get back in then "Rocks and Water" happened. If you have any recs of eps to definitely see or avoid please let me know! I remember there was one ep that was pretty much an 80s punk anime music video &one where the girls team up which seemed like the one ep they were nice to Terra.

I’m not stronger, I’m just sturbborn. :P

Damn, let me see if I remember the eps well enough to suggest some. I’ll go from after Pirates.

The one right after Pirates, Money Grandma, I think I remember that being amusing. It’s Robin vs George Washington.

I can’t remember if Brian was good or not but they annoy Brain and the birdarang and paint bot and others save the Titans so it’s at least different.

Cool School was good. It was the first ep Rose was in.

Operation Tin Man is a CyJinx ep.

I can’t remember if The Hive Five is a good ep or not but it’s more about them than the Titans and I do like seeing more of them.

I think 40% 40% 20% might be the 80s thing you meant.

I don’t remember Grube's Fairytales but they do their own twist on fairytales so it could be good.

Two Parter had them dress up as the Justice League and fight Weird Al. That’s all I remember from it so I don’t recal if it’s good but it’s Weird Al so probably is.

I don’t really remember How Bout Some Effort? but it’s CyJinx ep.

Obinray has the team speaking Pig Latin so Robin won’t understand. i don’t remember it too well but the concept amused me.

I don’t remember if I liked Wally T. or not but it was made for someone from the Make A Wish foundation so I at least appreciate that it exists.

Operation Dude Rescue is the girls team up two parter so watch those.

History Lesson is the same as Grube’s Fairytales but obviously with history.

Oregon Trail basically has the Titans live out the game. So it’s good if you want to remember the game if you played it.

The Cape is funny. It dubs the 03 TT ep “Divide and Conquer”.

I think Booby Trap House was the ep that felt pretty CyStar like so it’s good.

That should catch you up. There’s probably more but I don’t remember them all.

[savetopnow]

2018-03-12 19 GAME now

GAME

Attack of the Fanboy

Phil Spencer Wants Xbox/PlayStation Cross Platform Play in Fortnite

NieR:Automata’s Contentment in Purposelessness

Fortnite Going Cross-platform With Xbox and PlayStation, Separately

Monster Hunter: World Boost Makes PS4 Sell Out in Japan

PUBG Creator Explains the Origin of the Game’s Most Notorious Item: the Pan

Brutal Gamer

The Walking Dead 811 “Dead or Alive, Or” Recap

Q&A: An Interview with Gorogoa Music Composer Joel Corelitz

Toy Fair 2018: Playmates goes back to the 80s with classic Voltron

Looks like Toys R Us might be completely closing by next week

One of the greatest X-Men runs of all time is getting an Artifact Edition from IDW

Game Banshee

Titan Quest Console Release, Collector's Edition Details

Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition Steam Launch Date Announced, Livestream Recap

Paranoia: The Official Video Game Announced

Dungeons & Dragons Online "Bringing Ravenloft to Life" Trailer

No Truce With the Furies Renamed to Disco Elysium

Game Informer

Artist Uses Nearly 25,000 Domines To Depict Donkey Kong

Report: Bluepoint Working On New Remake Following Shadow Of The Colossus

Humanity Is A Bizarre, Unsettling Game About Crowds

First Three Tomb Raiders Receiving Remasters On Steam, Free If You Own Originals

Black Panther Surpasses $1 Billion Worldwide

Game Watch

Stellaris Gateway Construction Guide

Cities: Skylines ties in to Surviving Mars with free SpaceX homage

Battlezone: Combat Commander Review

Immortal: Unchained Preview

Final Fantasy XV Armiger Unleashed - Here's where to find it

Gematsu

This Week’s Japanese Game Releases: Attack on Titan 2, Gal Gun 2, more

Metal Max Xeno first PS Vita screenshots

Final Fantasy VII Remake level planner job listing provides development update

The Snack World: Trejarers Gold debut trailer

Inazuma Eleven Ares debut trailer

IGN

Monster Hunter World Armor Skills Guide

Where to Find Every Animal in Sea of Thieves

Sims 4 Jungle Adventures Guide: Jungle Temples

Don't Miss Any Secrets With Our Complete Bloodborne Walkthrough

Every Gold Bolt Location in Ratchet and Clank

Niche Gamer

Survival City-Builder Frostpunk Launches April 24

Mary Skelter 2 Announced for PlayStation 4

2D Action-Platformer Brave Neptunia Announced, Made by Quebec Dev Artisan Studios

Akihiko Sanada and Morgana Character Trailers for Upcoming Persona Dancing Games

Kingdom Come: Deliverance Patch 1.3.1 Is Now Live For PC

Nintendo Life

Switch Parental Controls App Update Suggests Firmware 5.0.0 Isn't Far Away

Feature: A Kirby Retrospective: From Game Boy To Nintendo Switch

Review: Guilt Battle Arena (Switch eShop)

Talking Point: What Games Are You Playing This Weekend?

Random: Join Us As We Do Our Best To Guess The Super Smash Bros. For Switch Roster

PC Invasion

Steam Top Sellers week ending 11 March

Fortnite v3.2 now live with 20v20 mode – Patch Notes

Far Cry 5 Arcade is the evolution of the map editor with extra assets

State of Decay 2 release date and pricing revealed

Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition causing issues for some gamers

Playstation Blog

The Drop: New PlayStation Games for 3/13/2018

Flash Sale! Save Up to 60% at PlayStation Store

Share of the Week: Gran Turismo Sport

How to Play Bloodborne in Co-Op

Hello Neighbor Comes to PS4 This Summer

Reddit Gaming

Doomguy vs. Master Chief.

Best impulse buy I’ve ever made! Hand held Oregon Trail!

Was in a art rut, decided to draw super mario meets dark souls. Enjoy!

Link's Motocross

Rate my setup

Xbox News

Inside Xbox News Recap

Embark on a Sea of Thieves Journey for Real Treasure with The Quest for the Golden Bananas

New Preview Alpha 1804 System Update – 3/10/18

Next Week on Xbox: New Games for March 12 – 18

Darwin Project Available Now via Xbox Game Preview

[sazorak]

What I Thought Of Every Single Game I Played In 2016

I played a bunch of games in 2016. Here's what I thought about them, in a ranked order! This is my list, and if you have problems with me putting games released in previous years on it: fight me.

[2015]

Honorable Mention: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - DS - ★★★★★ - 2011

Apropos of nothing, I replayed Ghost Trick this year. Man: Ghost Trick is still reaaaaally goddamn good. It's got style, it's got charm. Its bypasses the miserable scavenger-hunt aspects of traditional adventure games by focusing on self-contained environments with limited, obvious points of interaction that put the focus more on sequencing and logic than "well, I guess I'll use the banana on the duck." You spend a lot time thinking about umbrellas, how to knock umbrellas around, and the different shapes umbrellas can take. It made me understand why people like dogs that bark all the time.

This replay has definitely cemented it as my all time favorite adventure game. It's a shame we'll never see another of its ilk. It's some small consolation that the lack of interest in making a sequel prevents Capcom from ruining it with an ill-advised, poorly constructed follow-up. Let them keep milking Phoenix Wright half to death while their masterpiece rests on its mighty laurels. Oh Nick, your poor, poor teats. You don't deserve that kind of treatment.

Coast Guard the Video Game - Steam - ★ - 2015

I have never been so disappointed in a video game.

I admit: this may seem a bit extreme. No one in their right mind would have any kind of expectations for Coast Guard: The Video Game. It's a bottom-of-the-barrel budget release created to capitalize on the fact that there's been literally no other game about the Coast Guard – the point where they literally were able to call the game "Coast Guard." A bunch of Germans made it on a shoestring German-game budget, and sitting on the title screen for longer than 30 seconds causes the whole thing to go haywire. I knew all this going in, and it filled me not with antipathy, but hope.

All I wanted was a game that was not only shitty, but also stupid; I wanted something that would be worthy of showing my pal Chorocojo, a member of the US Coast Guard, so that I could get some real good goofs. It didn't need to be good; it just had to be entertainingly bad and on topic. I just wanted to recapture the kind of inane shittiness that we I loved about Man vs Wild the Game.

The Man vs Wild game was bad. It was cheap. It was stuuuupid. But Man vs Wild was structured in a way that fit the experience. It's a budget title created by a team that knew that even budget titles need some bare minimum of production and gameplay. It doesn't waste your time. Coast Guard, for its stupid story and writing, has absolutely no respect for your time. It suffers the ultimate sin of media: being not only bad, but also plain boring.

Fuck this game.

Sayonara Umihara Kawase - Steam - ★★ - 2015

I picked up the latest title in this reel old series of fish-avoidance fishing-pole-platformers because, frankly, seeing the older games on Game Center CX piqued my interest to see where they've taken the franchise in the intervening decades. Turns out? Not very far. The game is almost identical in every way to the older titles, just rendered in a more modern 3D engine. But boy is this package rough.

The controls are a nightmare. It crashed on me several times. I literally could not figure out how to beat the first boss. You'd think a platformer whose only point of interaction with enemies is "use fishing pole" would have a relatively simple to deduce first boss, but man, you got me. I tried hooking the thing, I tried going over the thing, I tried jumping the thing, I tried pulling the thing. After a half an hour of trying, I realized I really did not care for the game anyway so why bother? There are better uses of my time.

#19: Death Road to Canada - Steam - ★★★ - 2016

Death Road to Canada is... OK? It has some neat procedural design. It has the varied, challenging gameplay you'd expect from a zombie-shooting rogue-like. It's real goofy and doesn't take itself seriously, which is really the only way to handle zombie-apocalypse themed games in 2016. But man: I do not like how this controls. The two-dimensional sprite character look neat, but with how combat operates on a three-dimensional axis, it's frustrating. The forced perspective made it hard to just hit enemies directly above my character, and I fell prey too frequently to damage that arose less from misplay on my part as from an inability to predict how hit boxes work on what feels like an inappropriate aspect angle.

I think part of the issue is that I came to this game less from the perspective of "Hey, I like zombie games!" or even "Hey, I like roguelikes!" (though I've been known to enjoy both of those) but more "Oregon Trail II is a fucking dope game." I think what I wanted out of this was less "2D zombie loot brawler with Oregon Trail II" themes, and more "Another Oregon Trail: I guess there's zombies an anime in this one?" Wait, shit, someone should make an Anime Oregon Trail. Or an Oregon Trail Anime.

Never Alone - Steam - ★★★ - 2014

I appreciate what Never Alone is trying to do. Conveying the folklore of a culture an artistic video game is a brilliant idea, and the atmosphere that they create is fantastic. There's also a lot of interesting documentary material built in.

Problem is: the actual platforming isn't all that fun. Kind of frustrating, really. It's like a low-rent version of Brothers. What they've done is admirable and fine as an experience, but as a game it ironically left be rather cold. Worth experiencing if you're interested in the folklore side of it, but not really otherwise.

#18: Fire Emblem Fates - 3DS - ★★★ - 2016

I'm beginning to suspect I don't actually like Fire Emblem that much.

Here's the thing: My first entry in the series was Awakening. I enjoyed the tactical combat well enough, and the notion of managing the interactions of a really diverse, anime-ass cast was like a weird, omnidirectional relationship magician was neat! Combat scenarios were challenging but not too bad by and large, and the characters and writing were fun— if somewhat shallow. I managed to get through the combat with judicious reloading to keep everyone alive (which I blamed on my inexperience), though I was rather frustrated with just how little they actually managed to do with the cast. The way they had so many characters but none of them really interacted with each other unless you were setting them up to bone down— and none of them really had anything to really do with the ongoing plot beyond being another interchangeable unit in your altogether too oversized army.

After playing through the entirety of Birthright and most of Conquest, and with them really doubling down on the elements I didn't really like in Awakening, I'm really beginning to doubt what I thought I liked about this series. The difficult of combat scenarios are so dependent on minute variations of motion-capability and enemy movement which seem utterly unpredictable without either tons of iterations (ie, retrying a scenario over and over) or by plotting out actions with painstaking detail. The sheer amount of damage that can be done in a single turn is absurd, a reality made trickier by the game's love of introducing enemies in such an unpredictable way that you can be royally screwed if you don't know it's coming. Oh, you left a healer over near this tree? Surprise idiot, apparently a dozen wyvern riders were living in that tree! Birthright swung wildly between trivially easy / too simple missions and frustratingly badly constructed ones. Conquest had more interesting mission design, but they rewarded less tactical expertise and understanding of the systems than the constant-reload mindset required to keep everyone alive – and to ensure your party got enough experience to keep everyone alive down the line.

The writing for Fates is real fucking bad. The story is the most generic, milquetoast-ass warring kingdoms plot, and the way they attempt to throw a twist at is so surface level obvious that the existence of it was baked into their damn marketing campaign. An evil dragon is up to no good and causes a king to go do evil shit and there's literally nothing else it. Not a single twist along the way. I don't need deep literature here, but they need to do SOMETHING with the story beyond what they've been doing. The two games having diverging takes of the same story could have been interesting if it weren't for the fact that it's constructed on so flimsy a framework that in order for it to work it requires the cast to be biggest most stubborn morons imaginable— which really doesn't make me like them at all.

And boy do they really, REALLY struggle from their character's own mortality. Because any character— bar a few crucial exceptions— can die, characters cannot have any writing devoted to them outside the missions where they're recruited, certain character-specific missions, and their ten paragraphs of support dialog in the castle. Because everyone can die at any given point, writing conditional dialog that may not be used would be a waste of the developer's resources / potentially alter the plot- meaning no one actually has any time to build any real character. This is made all stupider by the fact that the game for whatever reason also maintains Awakening's children-generating mechanic, which is spuriously supported in this game by using fast-time bubbles your children are raised in so that they can fight in your army within a day of you getting married / them being born. It's fucking stupid, and they refuse to even tip the tiniest hat to acknowledge it.

The sad part is, I don't think there's much hope in much of this being changed going forward. Permadeath is considered a "core feature" of the Fire Emblem series that grognards love to argue about, and the fundamental combat system has become increasingly more frustrating the more and more I learn it, rather than the other way around. This whole series and paradigm feels like it could learn a lot of what BioWare has done with its own relationship-heavy RPGs, and maybe dial the cast back a bit and put a bit more time into increasing the quality of the writing. Not going to happen though.

Azure Striker Gunvolt - Steam - ★★★ - 2015

Here's a secret about me that you may not know: I like anime. Quite a bit, actually. I've watched a lot of anime. I devoted perhaps too much mental energy during crucial years of my life towards anime. My brain is irreparably wired for it. I cannot escape it. I am anime.

And as much as the anime ideal in my head differs wildly from the style of Azure Striker Gunvolt, I don't dislike having a really stereotypical-ass neon-colored anime romp now and then. That being said: Azure Striker Gunvolt is not an especially good one of those. The story is Mega Man meets X-Men meets Idol music numbers, with very little of what would make all of that any good. The bad guys you face somehow have less character than even ostensibly mindless Mega Man bosses, and the story is way too sparse (and no good) for as much weight as it wants to give it. The music numbers are pretty OK though.

The tag-and-zap system of Gunvolt and its interplay with platforms and dodging enemy fire is interesting and certainly more complex than Mega Man's old run-and-gun, but it's ultimately Gunvolt's downfall as well: it actually requires a bit too much deliberate thought and action to work well. Mega Man, across so many of its platforming-focused instantiations, has been less about precision and more about flow. While the platforming may occasionally be very precise, and they are definitely not mindless games, you still ultimately spend most of your time just holding right and dealing with challenges as they come. It's platforming by gut and feel. Gunvolt rewards precision and punishes slack. It rates you at the end of every mission and basically yells at you if you can't maintain a combo and dodge fire the entire mission. The game expects you to replay the missions and aim for perfection, but I don't feel the mechanics of Gunvolt are good enough to even consider putting that kind of time of mine in. Good for those that do, but nope.

Also, for some reason the US version had a bunch of story shit cut which makes the game even more incoherent. Bizarre.

#17: Worms W.M.D. - Steam - ★★★ - 2016

It's still really fun to import art into Worms and then blow it up. WMD isn't substantially different from Reloaded (which I also liked well enough), but it has enough quality of life improvements and new features that I still enjoyed my time with it playing against my friends. This is about all I want from it. Congrats Worms, you managed to make it this far just from "I enjoy fucking around with my friends".

Transformers: Devastation - Steam - ★★★ - 2015

One of the weird twists of a kind of strange, sort of shitty year was me being exposed more to and getting really into Transformers. I really like the Transformers. I used to not give a Cybertronain shit about these guys but man I get it now (thanks entirely to IDW's great line of Generation 1 comics). Transformers: Devastation is just a big ol' fanservice send up to Transformers from Platinum Studio's B team. Luckily for me, I really like Bayonetta and similar titles from Platinum's menagerie, so a Transformers game with those mechanics sounded pretty great!

And for what it is, Transformers: Devestation IS pretty great. But that "what it is" really just amounts to a budget tie-in game that slaps a mediocre weapon looting system and a simpler version of the Bayonetta combat onto the old generation 1 Transformers license. If you're willing to accept that for what it is and march through four hours or so of somewhat-repetitive encounters so that you can have Optimus Prime punch Megatron in the face in low-earth orbit, it's a good time. It's not exactly something I'd recommend to anyone not into either Transformers OR character action games, but if you like either (both?) of those things, this is a decent enough.

Theatrythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call - 3DS - ★★★ - 2014

I liked the previous Theatrythm Final Fantasy game for the 3DS well enough. The Final Fantasy series has catchy tunes, playing through them in a vaguely Ouendan manner is fun. This game adds a whole heap of new songs from across the series that wasn't in the previous game, and adds another heap of new characters for exploring the expanded RPG elements (particularly, their quests). The music and rhythm parts are fine, no real objections with those. My big problem with this game is that the RPG elements still have no purpose. Yes, they allow you to get "further" through enemy sequences, get more points or prizes, or stumble through badly performed sections longer - but to what end, really? The major driver for the game when you get down to it is the desire to unlock the characters from across the different series by collecting colored crystals, but there's not a lot of point to this past a desire for completion or to see your favorites. I got my favorites rather quick, and after that the act of actually using and improving those characters felt... empty? It's rather shallow and short lived because they don't really do anything. Each character's unique traits and skills don't serve any other end beyond the numbers getting bigger and bigger, or allowing you to hobble your way through higher difficulties that you may not be able to keep up with.

The RPG aspect is a tacked on element to make their rhythm game more "Final Fantasy", when the game would have been much better served as an RPG that integrated rhythm-based execution of songs into its combat / navigation structure. Their quests play at this kind of idea, but don't actually implement the mechanics in such a way that makes it anything beyond just another way of presenting a randomized sequence of the three different rhythm mini-games— and those mini-games just aren't nearly as well executed as the kind you encountered in Ouendan or Elite Beat Agents in the first place.

Steamworld Dig - 3DS - ★★★ - 2013

Steamworld Dig has a very simple but effective draw: digging deeper to get materials to upgrade your tools to dig deeper to get materials to upgrade your tools to dig deeper to get materials to upgrade your tools is a fun gameplay loop. It's a huge part of what makes Minecraft and its ilk appealing. It targets the weird portion of our lizard brains focused on letting us know that even menial labor can be appealing if you feel like you're slowly accomplishing something.

Steamworld Dig is a great example of how that loop can play out, but that's about it. Its plot is essentially a placeholder, and while it has a mild amount of platforming mechanics for handling its occasional puzzle side levels, none of it really helps it get past being just a digger game. But for a short, cheap game, it's good enough.

#16: Forza Horizon 3 - PC - ★★★ - 2016

It's good to drive a car now and again. I'm not really into these sorts of games much for the racing; it is fine, I don't dislike doing it. Driving faster than other cars in a loop and getting ahead because I drive like a fucker is good. But really I just want to drive around a world far-too-fast and just look at it. Forza Horizon 3 is pretty good for that. The driving feels real good, the cars are fun, and the environment is diverse and interesting.

... but unfortunately, given what I wanted out of the game has less to do with racing and more to do with the environment itself, it is a bit lacking in terms of the longer-term appeal. It actually didn't take long to see all of what they had going on in their tiny Australia; while the environments are diverse, they're actually pretty small. I guess I just wanted something bigger. Forza-style driving in a The Crew-sized world would have been amazing, for example. The big attraction of Forza Horizon 3 is its online features, but frankly I don't have any real interest in that kind of thing; I'm here to treat it as basically a podcast game.

As a side note: the special unique racing events you unlock over the course of the game are actually not that great? As it turns out, racing a train, or some boats, or a helicopter really isn't all that different; they're just time trials with some neat set dressing. The fact that they're basically your reward and motivation for winning a bunch of races is kind of daft. They could do better.

#15: American Truck Simulator - Steam - ★★★ - 2016

Speaking of liking-to-drive while zoning out: man is it fun to drive a truck around the southwestern United States. As I talked about last year with Euro Truck Simulator 2, it's good to have a low-impact simulation that you can just load a podcast or some music on and drive. Problem is: there's way too little of it! If you want me to enjoy driving around you gotta give me more of the country to work with.

Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition - Wii U - ★★★ - 2013

I really wanted to like Guacamelee more than I do. It's a Metroidvania, which is possibly my favorite gaming genre. It has a great aesthetic. I fucking adore Mexican culture as an aesthetic for fantasy, and Guacamelee has that in spades with its luchador hero-myth, its underworld cast, and its overall world design. It's just got a great, unique feel that jives great with their combat system.

But I REALLY dislike the writing in the game, especially their attempts at comedy. Apparently this is the version where they toned down the amount of meme-y billboards and game references, but holy shit are there still WAY too goddamn much. It feels like nearly every single screen has a reference to old video games taped to the wall, and every single time it takes me completely out of the experience. Games NEED cohesiveness to sell you on their world, and each element should ultimately serve that cohesive whole— or at the very least, not detract from it while doing their own thing. The sheer amount of constant reference-based humor combined with overall just generally mediocre writing, made me cold on the experience.

While the combat was certainly unique and it worked overall pretty well with their arena combat, it just didn't feel all the way there. After a while it just got dull, and instead of varying my moves I started to just rely on tried-and-true combinations to get it done. This was in part due to a number of mechanics being introduced which, while certainly making the combat more dynamic, weren't actually all that fun in the actual flow of things (looking at you, dimension hopping bad guys). Towards the end it began to remind me of the Wolf Link segments of Twilight Princess, which isn't the most ringing of endorsements.

The game as a whole is decent with glimmers of brilliance—, it's just a real shame that there are so many weird inclusions that prevent it from achieving a truly timeless greatness. As a side note: the requirement for getting the "best ending" was stupid and, ultimately, really not that fun to do. Then again, the bad ending is arguably a better one than the "best ending", so that may be beside the point.

#14: SteamWorld Heist - 3DS - ★★★★ - 2016

It's absurd that this game works. The very notion of a 2D XCOM-like just seems like a bad idea? Or just be too simple? SteamWorld Heist is not a super complex game, but what's there is actually incredibly fun. The different class-based abilities paired with the weird guns and hat-removing laser-sight-aiming combat us super interesting. The story and world were pretty forgettable, but the actual combat and missions were varied enough and interesting that I had a good time with it. The hat collection mechanic is such a stupid good idea; the risk reward of "wow that's a different hat, do I take a turn off to shoot that hat off to try to collect it while I'm being shot at?" is both goofy and an interesting complication to the tactical combat.

#13: Inside - Steam - ★★★★ - 2016

Inside has a very effective and affective atmosphere. It's dark, it's mysterious, and while playing it I had absolutely no fucking idea what was going on. Hell, after finishing it I still have no fucking idea what was going on, and I'm usually pretty good at sussing out this kind of thing. While it is nominally a puzzle-platformer, the puzzles and platforms really only exist to sell the mood and setting and get you asking what's going on, until you reach the final twist where they really throw the whole thing for a loop. It's a good, self-contained experience, though I did not find it nearly as affecting as others did.

The final twist seems like it'd be more impactful if you are particularly susceptible to that style of horror; to me it was mostly just a cool thing that ended a bit too soon, with too many answers unanswered. A microcosm of the game as a whole, really.

#12: XCOM 2 - Steam - ★★★★ - 2016

XCOM 2 is... weird. In so many ways it's XCOM But More, which sounds great. The increased customization in terms of character designs, loadouts, and team composition, and the increased variability in mission-style, enemy types, and the overall flow of combat should have made it just an immediate total improvement on XCOM 1. But the story as executed really wasn't different enough (or interesting enough) compared to its predecessor, and the overworld strategic element ended up being more frustrating than I think they intended for.

The real crux of this seems to come down to their focus on ticking clock elements to solve the gameplay problems of the first game. There are just too many time-based fail states, both in and outside of missions. I get why they're there: to force you to keep moving forward and take risks rather than playing it totally safe and defensively, as the game's mechanics would otherwise encourage you to do. The natural inclination when you can be surprised at any given moment and lose valuable soldiers is to play it careful and wait for the enemy to come to you, so making that not an option by forcing to keep moving towards the exit is a great idea in principle. But the actual result is so punitive if you fail to adequately perform due to any number of XCOM-esque unpredictable events ("SURPRISE YOU WALKED INTO AN AMBUSH OF 20 DUDES", "Surprise you got bogged down and lost your whole team before you could evacuate", "Surprise you misjudged the arbitrary overworld clock and just lost the whole game!") that it narrowly misses the point of XCOM. XCOM is supposed to be punishing, but XCOM is more about coming back from the brink than it is supposed to be about avoiding punishment. You're supposed to keep soldiering on. The timer-elements put too much focus on punishment avoidance than on just pulling through the constant struggle. It addresses people playing too safe by forcing them to play risky in order to play it safe. The end result is that gameplay is often times stressful, and not necessarily in a good way. Which is a shame; the actual improvements to base XCOM are by and large GREAT. I had a fantastic time playing XCOM 2, but I am not exactly itching to go back for another run like I was with XCOM. If they had just made some different design decisions, and had more time to polish the game and bug-fix, I could have seen this game much higher on my list.

#11: Firewatch - Steam - ★★★★ - 2016

Firewatch has some very interesting character writing and storytelling, but it mostly made me really want to go camping. It's a great representation of what it's like to be in the wilderness around Yellowstone National Park, and just what it's like to hike around and just look at beautiful nature general. I really want to go back to the area now. Damn it.

People give a lot of guff towards these "walking simulator" style narrative-driven games, but I like them an awful lot. They're an interesting approach towards interactive storytelling, and the effect it has on immersing you in the role of its characters is interesting. That being said, Firewatch struggles between making Henry an established, known character, and you "playing" at being Henry. Henry makes a lot of decisions and conclusions that I, personally, would never do. He comes across as a real fuck up at times. Which is fine, I like flawed characters. But when I'm expected to deal with the repercussions of his decisions from a first-person perspective where I even have some amount of dialog choices, it's a bit weird. That's the nature of the medium, to be sure; you can't just let me decide to not go into the wilderness in the first place because then there's no game. But there's still this struggle between the narrative and our place in it that I don't feel like Firewatch necessarily gets wholly right. The contextual handling of decisions is crucial for Firewatch to work (turtle adoption included), but it seems in conflict with the story that they're trying to tell.

I enjoyed the narrative ride by and large, but the ending is abrupt on multiple levels. It feels deliberate and intentional, but I just didn't care for it. Some of that stems from a desire for more closure, but I also think their technical limitations may have caught up with them as well.

#10: Titanfall 2 - Origin - ★★★★ - 2016

Titanfall 2 is a lot of fun, but the experience is in many ways emotionally shallow.

The campaign has an abundance of really interesting design. Bouncing from the shooter equivalent of Powerhouse to committing egregious technochronomancy to what is in essence a HL2 gravity gun sequence to LOADING AUTOAIM DOT EXE, you can tell that the chapters were probably conceived independently of each other. While this might seem like a risk to a coherent overall flow, it results in a varied experience that doesn't dwell too long on any one idea. Mechanics as specific as "time travel" and "AUTO GUN" are introduced, explored, and then discarded before they can grow tired. It's a neat outcome of what must have been several teams prototyping a variety of gameplay designs, then building a framework to tie them all together. And it works!

The unfortunate side effect of this is that it was hard for them to layer a good, well-written, and evocative story over it. Because the game is haphazardly structured between these different extended sequences, there's not a lot of room for its cast and the narrative to breathe. The quality of writing leaves a lot to be desired. You'd think, "Weird gimmick mercs in giant robots challenging you one by one", Snake Eater meets Gundam, would write itself, but the game's refusal to take the time necessary to develop the cast makes each encounter emotionally empty. The lead is a shmuck best defined by being good at shooting men with robots, and his robot body is underutilized and then killed off.

The gameplay, both in singleplayer and in multiplayer, is challenging and fast without being too hectic, but it doesn't achieve the kind of flow I want in a shooter. I suppose that's what you get from a game that's essentially a Super CoD when all things are said and done. Still, I can crush people with a robot from orbit, which is pretty great.

#9: Rhythm Heaven MEGAMIX - 3DS - ★★★★ - 2016

#8: Overwatch - Battle Net - ★★★★ - 2016

Say what you will about Blizzard. Maybe they always play it safe. Maybe their writing is always terrible. But man can they polish the hell out of a game. Overwatch is an immaculately well-polished team-based shooter. Each hero plays and feels really good and different. Where writing fails them, art and setting design triumphs. Blizzard has some of the most killer creative and art designers in the business.

While they certainly deserve the praise they get for the way they mesh TF2 and MOBA-style hero mechanics, I don't think they get nearly enough attention for how smart they are avoiding the feel-bad elements of those games. The way Overwatch lauds praise on players without surfacing negatives, even in defeat, is a fascinatingly effective bit of smoke and mirrors. Relentless surfacing individual successes without even showing the FPS standby of the kill/death ratio works to the game's benefit, and I can only imagine it has a lot to do with their success in shepherding in a more diverse audience that may not have a background in shooters.

Personally, I got a little bored with it after putting a few dozen hours in, but that's a pretty reasonable amount of time from a multiplayer shooter in my book. It's good. D.VA #1.

#7: Stellaris - Steam - ★★★★ - 2016

Stellaris is so close to being a truly great 4X game. The UI is phenomenal, the writing is good, and the varieties of weird things that can happen and that you can do are great. It's easily the most accessible game Paradox has ever made; as someone who has bounced off Crusader Kings 2 and its ilk every time, I easily picked up Stellaris and have put well over a hundred hours into it. As they continue to increment on it, I can see myself putting over a hundred more. The baseline gameplay loop is just VERY, VERY GOOD, and it's caused me to 4X time travel an embarrassing amount of times.

It's so close to being truly great, but there are a number of major issues Paradox still needs to address. Ship combat needs refinement; there's no real tactics, and barely any strategy. War is a slog; the current war goals mechanic makes it painstakingly slow to eke out a victory, even with an overwhelming power disparity. The game needs to support more variety in its playstyles; after a certain point it's kind of rote. Politics, both inside and outside of one's empire, are paper-thin; factions just don't matter at the moment. My xenophilic empires of weirdo alien delights are not nearly weird enough yet; let my race of dirty nasty boys give the xenophobes something to really hate.

I guess I'll have to live with it being a mostly great 4X game for the time being. This is one I'm in for the long haul.

#6: Abzu - Steam - ★★★★★ - 2016

Like Endless Ocean before it, Abzu is one of the few games that really captures the experience of diving; not so much the technical, grounded experience (which Endless Ocean, while quite fantastical itself, embodies more) but more the emotional experience of experiencing the majesty of the oceans. Abzu is an experience. While there's not much to it beyond just moving forward and looking at fish, the moving forward feels good, the fish look great, and there's some real good visuals and music throughout the ride.

I'm not entirely sure what all happened in it, but it was a relaxing time that made me want to dive more. Good work. Now I've spent hundreds of dollars on new diving gear.

#5: Drawful 2 / Jackbox Party Pack 3 - Steam - ★★★★★ - 2016

I get the feeling that some permutation of Jackbox Games' party games will exist on my favorite game lists for the remainder of time, just because I really enjoy joking and drawing with my idiot friends. These games are fantastic if you hang with a crowd with like-minded senses of humor. The actual content of Party Pack 3 is a bit hit-and-miss, though TKO is such a standout that I don't care. The drawing ones typically are.

#4: Dark Souls 3 - Steam - ★★★★★ - 2016

It's kind of funny: one of my biggest complaints about Dark Souls 2 was how it didn't give a due amount of respect to its predecessor in its setting and story. Dark Souls 2 made the events of the first game into just the first in what is apparently an indefinite cycle of people-turning-into-assholes as death loses meaning and the world going haywire. I think part of my distaste stemmed from how it completely cast aside the religious undertones of the first game. I enjoy stories of gods and men, men stabbing gods as the world ends, and then men beginning a new dark age with really tall serpents with too many teeth. As far as I was concerned, that was the canon ending for the first Dark Souls, and Dark Souls 2 didn't really explain how we got from there to, well, Two.

Dark Souls 3 does a much better job playing tribute to its origins, through a lot more explicit explorations of the nature of the world, the mechanics of how the setting works, and the place of larger-than-life figures in it. Where Dark Souls 2 felt like Dark Souls More, Dark Souls 3 feels like Dark Souls Chapter 2: This Time It Ends. And end it does.

Thematic stuff aside, it's also just a good Souls game. There are some really fun location designs and boss fights. It doesn't have quite the absurd amount of interconnectedness that Dark Souls 1 had with its locations, but it was still kind of mind-blowing to come out of a swamp after a few hours and realize I'd looped back to the first area of the game again. I found myself also enjoying the very explicit Dark Souls 1 cameos, though it got a bit stupid in a few places. If you've played the game, you'll know the ones. Knights of Catarina continue to be great, though. Shine on you dullard onion sons.

If there's one real problem I have with the game, it's what they did with the poise mechanic. Whereas in the past it was a viable strategy to wear heavy armor, wield heavy weapons, and go to town because there was an invisible "poise" meter for resisting stagger (offsetting your own slowness to a degree), now EVERYTHING staggers. Fast weapons and low armor are the law of the land and the correct way to play. Their new invincibility-frame interpretation of poise outright sucks, and being Estoc'd to death again and again is a miserable way to go.

Tabletop Simulator - Steam - ★★★★★ - 2015

I don't actually have a lot of first-hand experience with tabletop games of any kind. I've certainly played the occasional board game, but I never really ran with that crowd for most of my life, and my parents have never been much in the way of the game-playing type beyond Scrabble. My exposure to tabletop gaming has a lot to do with my current circle of friends, and I've enjoyed them an awful lot.

Tabletop Simulator's strength is that it is any tabletop game that anyone takes the time to import into its engine. Which includes a lot of really, really good tabletop games as it turns out. It's a bit cheating, but that's the strength of it: it's hundreds of brilliant games in one, so long as you have the friends to play it with.

A lot of goofy improv, card games, and trivia have gone down in Tabletop Simulator for me over the last year. It's probably the game on this list I want to revisit the most, too, as it's a sure-fire way to have a real good time. I really want to play more Snake Oil. Snake Oil is a very good game.

#3: Final Fantasy IX - Steam - ★★★★★ - 2016

Final Fantasy IX is REALLLLLLY GOOD. Like yes, I had heard this for ages, but it was never on a platform I owned. Finally it has come to Steam, and finally did I play it. And man: real good!

The gameplay is pretty standard JRPG fare for its original era. It's serviceable, but rather unchallenging and doesn't have much in the way of mechanical depth. But the quality of the characters and writing in the game make up for it in spades. I really enjoyed the main cast an awful lot, and liked how much more playful it was than its 3D predecessors (and successors). It's got a sweet love story, meaningful explorations of mortality, loss, and sacrifice, and you at one point save a tiny rat prince from a rather pissed off antlion.

The only thing I really dislike about the game are the oodles of strategy guide hooks that still remain and don't have much meaning in 2016. There are so many weird hidden things that are essentially impossible to divine without a guide (or, in my case, a helpful friend). None of them are mandatory or even crucial, but many of them are actually pretty interesting to the point where missing them would kind of stink. It's bizarre that beating the extra super boss (which admittedly I didn't do) rewards you with an in-game version of the strategy guide that just sits in your inventory as a final fuck-you note of "THERE'S ON WAY YOU'D HAVE MANAGED ANY OF THIS IF YOU HADN'T LOOKED IT UP HUH, THANKS FOR P(L)AYING".

I also could go the rest of my life never having to play Chocobo Hot-and-Cold again because man. MAN.

#2: Pokemon Moon - 3DS - ★★★★★ - 2016

Pokemon Moon is one of the best games in a franchise I adore. It, like its predecessors, is not a particularly challenging RPG. But building a team of weirdo goofball monster friends, raising them up, then doing battle with them against my friends, is really fun!. I am also the kind of weirdo with sincere opinions on the quality of Pokemon storytelling; namely, I want it to be really good AND really stupid.

Pokemon Moon diverges from past Pokemon games by dropping the badge-and-gym system and replacing it with a series of combat-adjacent trials. The switch allowed them to explore alternate ways of presenting Pokemon-based challenges while better using the gym-leader-stand-in trial captains and kahunas, who are all great. The fire island-challenge made me cry laughing. The cast is phenomenal, easily my favorite in the series.

The plot is not nearly as goofy or weird as some of the previous games (to be fair, it's hard to top X & Y's insanity), but the cast is sooooo much better and more likeable that it's hard to really care. The new faces are a diverse, eclectic bunch, and the cameos from old faces are also fantastic. I did not expect to find Grimsley, amateur Dracula, waiting on a beach wearing a kimono so he could give me a shark.

Mechanically, there's also a ton of quality of life improvements that eliminate much of the lingering frustrations that the series has been carrying with it for years now0. The elimination of HMs, the streamlining of breeding and IV stats-checking, and other minor improvements to the interface and menus make the game so much better than its predecessors.

Really, my only complaints about the game are tied to some issues with post-game grind, a much worse online interface system than the deeply integrated one in X&Y, and the fact that the Battle Tower and Battle Royale continue to be imbalanced, poorly structured, and huuuuge cheating pieces of shit. That's Pokemon for you.

#1: Doom - Steam - ★★★★★ - 2016

DOOM is power.

DOOM is flow.

DOOM is violence.

DOOM is finding yourself surrounded by thirty dozen demons, each more capable of killing you than the last, and then just tearing them apart. DOOM is the lizard brain, the id, knowing how to murder everything around you while the ego is just barely hanging on for the ride.

DOOM gives you the tools and the means to take on everything that they put before you, and then says "Go." The cycle of killing enemies with your arsenal, using the melee takedowns to regain health, and then using the chainsaw to get ammo when you're running dry is beyond satisfying, it is... complete. It is mechanical perfection. Everything is as it is; everything is as it should be. It is combat as a dance, it is violence in motion. The music blares, it screams. The bass is your heartbeat.

Who would have thought DOOM could have a great story? That they would take one of the oldest, most generic franchises in history and turn it into something wonderful? It's the tale of a soulless corporation making the very logical decision to frack Hell so as to provide Earth with clean energy, turning their corporate infrastructure into a cult before awakening the DOOM Marine when it's far too late. The DOOM Marine is re-imagined not as some shmuck with a gun but instead a divine avenger, violence incarnate. The demons write scripture about your coming. Imps tell their kids scary stories about you. Hell announces your arrival on its infernal doorsteps with a rumbling, simple message on the dimension-wide intercom: "He's here." DOOM revolves around Hell doing ANYTHING to try to stop you, not because you can stop their plans, but because you will stop their plans. And that feels awesome.

I don't give a shit about their multiplayer, I don't care about snapmap. DOOM is the ultimate power fantasy. Play it on Ultra-Violence. Demonic presence is at unsafe levels, and we've got the double barreled shotgun needed to make things right.

[gethealthy18-blog]

THM Year in Review 2019 [The Final Post of the Year!]

New Post has been published on https://healingawerness.com/news/thm-year-in-review-2019-the-final-post-of-the-year/

THM Year in Review 2019 [The Final Post of the Year!]

Like every other year I’m going to start this post with “OMG where did this year go?” But honestly, how is 2019 almost done? How is this DECADE almost done? Turning 30 was easy but living in the 2020s feels surreal. It’s like something out of a sci-fi movie. I still remember Y2k and thinking the world was about to come to an end. Now it’s 20 years later and we’re very much still here. Excuse me while I have a “what is life?!” moment over here.

But in a seriousness this year has been a total whirlwind full of big changes, small wins and another year of experience in the books. Though certainly stressful and tumultuous at times (such is life!), this year felt much less chaotic and far more stable than 2018. For this I am so so grateful. And as with every year since the beginnings of THM I’m dedicating this post to a year in review and what went down for me personally and professionally in 2019.

FYI: here are the previous year’s year end reviews:  2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 <–apparently I didn’t do one in 2013!

Big Changes in 2019

Personally this was a big year for me…I turned 30! While a number certainly doesn’t change anything, I did take a new decade as an opportunity to look back on the past, take what I’ve learned and what has served me while intentionally choosing to let go of the thoughts and habits that don’t. TBH I got a little tired of my own BS and what better than a birthday to decide to release it from my life? Personally this has been a big win.

Professionally this year has seen a lot of change. They say every 7 years big changes tend to unravel. Well here we are in THMs 7th year and that certainly is proving to be true. In some ways I am back to my roots doing exactly what I always intended to do with this space: share helpful resources for you guys to live your own version of health and wellness. In the beginning there was a lot more of me and my journey and while that remains to be true in the sense that my voice and perspective is infused into everything I share here, much less of my personal life is being shared. The older I get the less I want to be so open and vulnerable with every aspect of my life. It’s also not always the most valuable for you. Helping you guys pick safer candles, find the best natural mascara or whip up a healthy and easy dinner is my passion, and what I ate for breakfast this morning or the hike Curt and I did this weekend feels like a far departure from that. I’m so grateful you have all been so supportive through this process.

Here were some of the bigger changes in 2019:

Back to blogging – I’m sure you guys have noticed but there’s been a lot more posts around here. As I started to eliminate the parts of my business that weren’t filling me up, I found myself reconnecting with the things that did. It’s honestly been so fun being able to share 5-6 new blog posts each week and hopefully help inspire you in the process. Something that you may have noticed is that older posts are getting some makeovers and fresh photos. I have over 1000 blog posts on here but many of them are stuck in the past needing a refresh. So yes, not all content being shared is brand new but it’s all been vetted, tested and a resource for you.

My break from Instagram – Almost 4 months into this Instagram experiment and honestly, it’s been so so nice. I will likely be back sometime soon but there’s still some things I’m still sorting through mentally before that can happen. It’s a huge change and risk to take as a blogger but I have zero regrets and highly encourage all of you to take a social media break.

Ending the podcast – This one has truly been the hardest decision to make and come to terms with. I have learned SO much from the podcast both personally and professionally but if I’m being honest, my heart isn’t in it anymore. The podcasting and wellness space looks very different now and I truthfully don’t feel certain that the podcast is adding that much value to your lives. If it has I am so grateful for you tuning in. And if any podcast has touched you in some way consider this my PSA to reach out to the person running it, send them a note, write a review etc… cause we need to hear these things! It can feel like crickets out there sometimes. No one asked me to start a podcast but a lot of work, time and money goes into producing one and in this day and age we take a lot of free content for grated. Remember to thank and support the people who show up to create that content…off my soap box now 😉

Teaching Yoga – okay well it’s technically not new in 2019 but I did start teaching a regular studio gig. I absolutely love teaching my prenatal mamas on Tuesday night’s and subbing in when my schedule works for it for regular vinyasa classes. Getting to teach at my favorite studio in the world (and where I did my training!) is a dream come true and I feel lucky and grateful to show up each week. Come join me at The Pad Studios!

Coming up in 2020…

We’re moving homes the first week of January! We’re staying local in the Bay Area but Curt and I are moving to a house and while I’ll admit the whole process is very much stressing me out at the moment, we’re excited to get more space (a yard!) and enter a new decade with a fresh start. Our current apartment has been so good to us and I’ll be sad to leave it, but onwards + upwards!

Some big changes to THM. If you listened to the final podcast this week you’ll know there’s some big changes happening for THM. All good things that I can’t discuss quite yet but let’s just say it will be a new iteration of what you already know and love about this space but hopefully just serving you guys as best as possible. Stay tuned!

Small wins in 2019

This year hasn’t just been about the big wins. There’s been some small ones too. Many of these are personal but they’ve had a huge impact on my life and I’m so proud of the progress I’ve made.

I started driving (!!!!!!) – if you know me you know my greatest fear in life is driving. Yes, I have a driver’s license (and if you want a great story feel free to ask me how) but it’s always been a huge mental blocker for me. I’ve also always lived in cities where driving was never necessary. While you can certainly live in San Francisco without a car, it can make getting around a lot easier and more affordable. For 2 years I exclusively took public transit and lyfts but then certainly things came out that weren’t accessible by public transit and lyfts were getting insanely expensive. So in January I made it my mission to start driving our car. I’m thrilled to say I am so much more confident and have worked through a lot of my driving fears. It’s possible!

Bodhi is a certified Animal Assisted Therapy Dog – It only took a year but Bodhi officially passed his test and we will begin volunteering in January. 2 courses, 2 tests and an orientation and we finally made it! so proud of my big baby.

I finally got my finances in a row – I’ve always been a saver and pretty good with money but setting up a formal structure, 401ks and investing has always intimidated me. This year I made it my goal to get smart with money and really start understanding the system. I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface but we have an incredible financial advisor who has helped us with investing, saving for retirement and making smart financial choices. I officially feel like an adult.

I found a dentist I actually enjoy – guys…this is actually a big win! I hate the dentist. Like truly loathe it. Well this year I found a new dentist who has been so much more understanding with my dental fears and makes me not mind going. If you’re in SF I love Integrative Dentistry.

Travel in 2019

Although I didn’t share nearly as many posts about our travels as I have in the past, this year has not been short on travel. We were able to make it out to New York, Minnesota + Toronto for weddings as well as a trip to Arizona to spend some time with my family. We escaped to our favorite place in the world (Mendocino, California!) more times than I can count as well as many weekend trips to Sonoma and even a whirlwind trip to Vegas to see Lady Gaga for my birthday. I never talked about this but I also treated myself to a 5 day solo trip to Miraval Austin for my 30th birthday. One of the best trips of my life!

Here on the blog I shared some travel guides to hopefully help inspire some travels of your own:

–Our US Southwest Road Trip (Utah, New Mexico, Arizona) –Cariboo Gold Rush Trail Travel Guide (British Columbia, Canada) –Pacific City, Oregon

2020 is already looking busy with several trips for weddings and a long-awaited bucket list trip to New Zealand in March. Can’t wait to share more about it soon!

My favorite posts of 2019

Each year I share my favorite posts of the year and this year was by far the hardest. There’s been so many posts this year covering a wide range of topics. Narrowing it down has been difficult but on first glance here are the ones I really loved and have stuck with me:

Wellness

-All the Clean Beauty 5 x 5 posts (check out my Best of Clean Beauty 2019 post for the full recap!) –Announcing the Green Beauty Shop! –What is Sustainable Clothing + My Favorite Sustainable Clothing Brands –Gua Sha vs. Jade Rolling: What are they and how do they compare? –How to Find a Therapist that is the right fit for you? –I Switched to a Menstrual Cup – here’s why! –How to Style Curly Hair w/ Natural Products –The Best Natural Deodorants [ I tried 20+!]

Recipes

–Tahini Date + Cinnamon Smoothie –Healthy Kimchi Fried Rice –Roasted Cabbage Steaks with Chickpeas + Creamy Herb Sauce –Pumpkin Spice Blondies –Double Chocolate Cookies [Grain-Free] –Matcha Protein Bars –Warm Lentil + Sweet Potato Salad

So there you have it! It’s been quite the year. Given all the changes coming in 2020 I have a feeling it will be equally, if not even more exciting. As always, this is the last post of the year so the team and I can have a little break over the holidays. Here’s to facing your fears and being open to change. Deep breaths. I’ll see you in 2020!

What were some highlights from your 2019?!

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[theliterateape]

Your Life Is Not Like the Movies Part 2

By Don Hall

A couple of years ago I penned a piece that broke down some basic ways movies distort our version of ourselves because, face it, like most storytelling, movies are made of lies we really want to be true. Looks like it’s time for another take on this idea:

Real Life is Far More Complicated Than a Movie can Possibly Depict

As affirming as it is to see racists as unbearably evil monsters, people who are uncomfortable with gays, and CEOs of Mega-Corporations as the Spawn of Satan life is just not a binary proposition. Black and White, Good vs. Evil thinking is that of children who aren’t capable of understanding context, perspective or the complexity of adulthood. 

Could Green Book depict the events of that road trip with the viewpoints of every possible aspect of history? Sure, but it would be eighteen hours long and completely unwatchable by any paying audience. BlacKkKlansman was mostly true except for the part that painted the police as allies against white supremacy and its protagonist as a Freedom Fighter despite his infiltration of Black Power Movements in order to destroy them from within but Christ, that’s an entirely different movie and you didn’t make it, did you? Vice was about a human being in a system of government not a golem made from malevolence infecting a pure and clean democracy. But it was directed by the guy who directed Anchorman so pipe down, pedant.

Hollywood is there to sell movies and morality tales that boil all of our complicated reasons and choices down to that of the Jedi vs the Sith are the movies that sell. If you’re looking for movies to expose the truth as you see it, as you want others to see it, or as your college gender studies textbook tells you to see it, you’re barking up the wrong tree. The truth never fills the seats.

Your Abs Will NEVER Look Like That

Unless you starve yourself and workout ten hours a day, every day, with a paid personal trainer hired to torture you into submission to crunches and egg whites, that Brad Pitt stomach in Fight Club will never be yours. Even Chris Pratt gets a pudgy dad-bod when he’s not filming a Guardians film so calm the fuck down and enjoy your Oreos, fatty.

We Do Not Love the Outside of the Box Thinker

There are countless movies made celebrating the outlier, the person hired to shake things up, the “Think Different” Steve Jobs wannabe, the guy who invents the thing that changes the world but reality tells us that we pretty much hate that guy/gal. The only movies that demonstrate our built-in resistance to the Person With The Grand Ideas with any kind of fealty to how it really goes are along the lines of Tucker: A Man and His Dream” Requiem for a Dream, and the movie stocked with the premise that the only way to pull oneself out of the bureaucracy and System is to lose one’s mind, Brazil.

The teacher that challenges the system gets squashed by it. The politician who makes a stand gets destroyed. The activist who defies the government is assassinated. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to be like that person but know in advance it probably won’t go so well for you. We say we like you but we never do. You challenge our notions of ourselves and the vacuous waste we’ve made of our lives — why would we?

The Police are not that Science Friendly

First, looking at the conviction rates across the country do not support the brilliant policing and sleuthing shown on film. Second, the science behind things like CSI is fictional in such a way as to be almost Marvel comics made-up. 

The fact is that most police officers rely on fax machines, the hope that the badge will cow suspects into compliance, and brute force to get the bad guys (and the occasional innocent guy) along the road to jurisprudence and protecting and serving. Cops today are far more like substitute teachers in a high school than secret agents or indefatigable detectives.

Animals are Generally not Cute and are Psychopaths If They’re at All like Humans

If your cat was the size of your Volkswagon, it would fucking eat you like it does a bird on the sidewalk. Dogs routinely eat their own shit. Your pet fish has a brain the size of a BB. If the movies showed animals as they are rather than anthropomorphized laugh riots or inspirational figures with the voices of top-notch comedians, they’d all resemble the insane homeless with multiple fetishes and obsessive disorders.

Now, that’s a Pixar movie that I’d pay to see and would stunt your child’s growth!

Nature is not Our Friend and Having More Babies is What is Killing the Planet

“Save the World!” we cry. “We’re Destroying the Planet!” we proselytize. 

Have you seen the planet? I mean, outside of your paved cubicle of SELF Parks and highways and Taco Bells? It’s fucking BRUTAL. Nature gives no shits about us and, in the nonstop cycle of birth and death and disease and creatures designed to eat us from within, from without, and in every manner someone could be digested, it is hellbent on our individual destruction. Ever played The Oregon Trail? Goddamn!

For every Ferngully fantasy, there is a Day After Tomorrow so you’d think that the movies have it right in their dystopian depictions of planetary destruction but you’re wrong. The planet is going to be fine… without us. The more realistic demise is not of the rock we live upon but the species we inhabit. It won’t be because we burned too many fossil fuels or forgot to recycle plastic. It will be because we can’t stop making more of us.

It took over two hundred-thousand years of human history for the world's population to reach one billion; and only two hundred years more to reach seven billion. You wanna get to the bottom of Climate Change? Add mandatory abortions to that Green New Deal and you’ll be accomplishing something. Plainly put, we’re going to die of hunger. And disease. And exposure. Imagine an orange with a couple of ants. Now imagine the same orange with 1,000 ants. WE ARE THE FUCKING ANTS. I suppose, in the rubric of movies getting it right, Thanos had the right idea by snapping his big, purple fingers and wiping out 50% of every living thing because that’s the only thing that’ll save us.

[gigawaya-blog]

Wii

Bold = currently playing

Strikethrough = finished

Baroque

Bleach Shattered Blade

Create

Endless Ocean Blue World

Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

Harvest Moon Animal Parade

Little King’s Story

Metroid Prime (part of trilogy collector’s edition)

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes  (part of trilogy collector’s edition)

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption  (part of trilogy collector’s edition)

Muramasa The Demon Blade

Nights

Oregon Trail

Pandora’s Tower

Pirates Vs Ninjas Dodgeball

Rygar

Sin & Punishment Star Successor

Sonic and the Secret Rings

[eathealthylivefree]

Oregon Road Trip Highlights

This post highlights points of interest on our five day Oregon Road Trip. Oregon is a hidden gem in the Northwestern U.S., with stunning landscapes, from mountains, trees and lakes to coastal views.

This summer, we decided to do an Oregon road trip as part of our family vacation. Many of our friends had puzzled faces when we told them we opted for an Oregon roadtrip over a California coastal roadtrip. Originally, I wanted to do the Big Sur drive from San Francisco down to Monterey and Carmel. However, some of the roads are currently closed on that route due to recent landslides.

There were several other reasons we chose to do an Oregon road trip:

The Oregon coastline provides stunning views, including lots of interesting rock formations on the beach.

The redwood forests in northern California are actually closer to Portland or Eugene, Oregon than San Francisco. The drive to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park is about 4 hours from Eugene, Oregon, versus 6 1/2 hours from San Francisco.

Oregon has tons of waterfalls that can be seen by car or by hiking. We went to Silver Falls State Park (which has 10 waterfalls in the park, including South Falls that you can walk behind) but there are also waterfalls within a 30 minute drive of Portland (Columbia River Gorge which features Multnomah, Latourell, Bridal Veil falls).

Crater Lake National Park in Oregon features the deepest lake in the U.S.

Pacific Dunes is the #2 public U.S. golf course. My husband is an avid golfer and was the designated driver for our road trip, so this was the highlight of his trip.

We had only five days to drive around, and we wanted to pack in as many different sights and outdoor activites as possible, e.g., hiking, golfing, coastal views, waterfalls, redwood forests, National park.

Our youngest son is a huge Oregon Ducks fan, and wanted to stop by the University of Oregon to check it out.

Oregon has two main airports you can fly into: Portland and Eugene. We flew into Portland (PDX) because it was less expensive and there were more options for flight times, but Eugene is a great option if you want to be closer to the redwood forests.

Our 5-day Oregon road trip went as follows:

Day 1: Flew into Portland; drove down to University of Oregon in Eugene, and toured the campus. Enjoyed delicious dinner at Novo Modern Latin Table and ice cream at Prince Pucklers, and stayed overnight in Eugene (2 hour drive).

Day 2: Drove to Crater Lake National Park (2 1/2 hour drive) and hiked down to Crater Lake (Cleetwood Cove Trail, East Rim – hike took about 1 hour). The boys jumped off the rocks into the lake. Unfortunately, due to some fires, West Rim was closed and the lake visibility wasn’t great and it smelled a bit smokey. However, the views down at the lake were still spectacular. Note: the hike is pretty steep, especially the section right by the lake, so pace yourself going back up due to altitude changes. Stopped at Taqueria La Guacamaya for an delicious, authentic Mexican meal (highly recommend for homemade salsa/sauce selection) and stayed overnight in Grants Pass (1/2 hour drive).

Road to Crater Lake

View of Diamond Peak on the way to Crater Lake

Jumping into Crater Lake

Day 3: Drove to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (1 1/2 hour drive). Hiked Boy Scout Trail (enter the park from Howland Hill Road – the road is a bit rough in the beginning so drive slow, but the tree-lined drive is beautiful). Stopped in Brookings for lunch at Superfly Martini Bar & Grill, then continued our drive up the Oregon coast to Bandon, OR (2 hours). The views along this coastal drive were spectacular so grab a seat on the left side of the car if you can. We rented a house near Bandon beach. My husband and one of the older boys golfed the short Par 3 course at Bandon Dunes. The rest of us went to check out the rock formations at the beach (e.g, Face Rock). Late dinner at Edgewaters. Note: the weather in Jedediah and along the coast of Oregon was significantly cooler than inland (50 degrees vs. high 90’s/low 100’s in Portland/Eugene due to a heat wave).

Howland Hill Road driving into Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

Views on the way to Bandon

Day 4: My husband and older boys golfed Pacific Dunes course. My younger son and I went to West Coast Game Park Safari and downtown Bandon (lunch at Tony’s Crab Shack – food was average). The safari was a pleasant surprise – much larger than it looked from the outside and a frenzy of animals that aggressively followed anyone that would feed them.

Sea Stacks at Bandon Beach

Face Rock in Bandon

Day 5: This was our longest day of driving, so my husband got up early to play another round of golf. Picked up coffee and bagels from Bandon Coffee Cake (recommend the Yonkers lox and cream cheese sandwich). We continued our drive up the coast to Florence (1 1/2 hours) and stopped for lunch at Maple Street Grille. This second leg of our trip up the coast did not have as many ocean views as the first leg, but was still very pretty. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we did not make it up to Yachats, but I understand the drive between Florence and Yachats is supposed to be beautiful. We then drove inland to Silver Falls State Park (2 1/2 hours) and hiked down to South Falls and Lower South Falls (hike took about 1 hour) The drive to Silver Falls took us through farmlands and up windy roads, but it was worth it as we have never been able to stand behind waterfalls. After our hike, we hopped back in the car and drove to Portland in time for a late dinner Lechon (1 1/4 hours).

Views on the way to Florence

Lots of hay stacks on the way to Silver Falls

Trees and farmland on the way to Silver Falls

Lower South Falls at Silver Falls State Park

Day 6: Flew out of Portland (PDX).

Have you done an Oregon road trip? Please share your experience below in the comments. I’d love to hear.

    The post Oregon Road Trip Highlights appeared first on Jeanette's Healthy Living.

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[rayalez]

The Anti-Vaxxer Sisterhood — I

Presently I am standing outside the door of a three-story walk-up which houses 7 women and 16 children on New York’s Upper East Side. I call it a three-story walk-up, but I quietly imagine it as a modern-day convent, only featuring a rambunctious flock of kids, of course.

The mothers in this home share one thing in common, an absolute — some might say fanatical — opposition to the practice of childhood vaccination. Not surprisingly, most of the children in the home are unvaccinated. The few vaccinated ones were pricked before their mothers’ spiritual conversions.

I ring the doorbell and hear the scampering of dozens of little feet, bounding behind the door like ricocheting asteroids. After a few seconds the door is opened by a sweet looking 12 year old girl with curly brown hair and light freckles just under her eyes. She’s obviously one of the older kids. A toddler and a 5 year old cling to her leg. One of them has recently been crying. Just past the foyer in the distance scampers another toddler and an 8 year old close behind, taking a not-so-subtle look at me. I feel as if I’m in a spaceship overrun by alien creatures, darting from porthole to porthole as they size up and test their prey.

“Are you the reporter?” asks McKenzie, the 12 year old, with some glee.

I tell her I am and shake her hand, which I can tell makes her feel a bit awkward.

Just then a lean blonde hair woman with a no-frills pony tail and a long jean skirt makes her way down the hall, a kitchen towel thrown over her shoulder. She gives me a smile that feels a little out of sorts with the zealous intensity scheming underneath.

Her name is Mara, the 5th mom to have joined the women of 1889 Houston Avenue. Mara welcomes me and briefly introduces some of the kids, before instructing McKenzie to take the little ones upstairs. I’ve been here 30 seconds and I’ve already seen 6 children. I’m somewhat afraid to ask where the other 10 are.

I follow Mara into the kitchen where she’s preparing a communal spread of sandwiches and vegetable slices. “Lunch,” she says.

Mara tells me she’ll take me on a tour of the rest of the house soon, but first she needs to finish up. “But go ahead and ask me some questions,” she says, licking organic peanut butter off her finger tips as she organizes the sandwiches on a plate.

Mara and her 3 daughters, Clara, Janey, and Teal, came to the house three years ago from their home state of Nebraska. She misses the pace and panoramas of prairie life but always wanted to move to a big city and can’t imagine not being around other true believers, the “sisterhood” as the 7 moms call each other. She’s no stranger to the communal life, having grown up on a farm with brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles and a menagerie of farm animals and hired hands. Where it use to frame an oak tree standing resolutely in the waving tall grass of western Nebraska, her window now looks out on a bodega and hipsters passing by. I imagine if some days that’s the biggest difference between her old and new lives, though I know it can’t be true.

She stops organizing the sandwiches when explaining what compelled her to uproot her kids and move thousands of miles to be in New York City with a bunch of strangers.

“When I came upon Deb’s online stuff,” she says, referring to the “founder” of the sisterhood in whose three-story she now resides, “this spark just appeared in my heart and I just knew I had to immerse my children around others who believed just as passionately. This place is really a safe zone, away from the conformists who taunt and persecute us,” she says, staring out the window and gesturing as if her hands are waves undulating over and over from her chest.

I take her gaze out the window as a reprieve. Mara has the uncomfortable tendency of making almost unrelenting eye contact when speaking with you. The funny thing is, though, when you look back into her eyes, it’s almost like she’s not there. There’s an otherworld quality to it, like she’s trying to be polite, but really looking through or beyond you. In another life, if she had been born in LA or Portland, she may have become a new-age yoga instructor. As it is, her farm roots, coupled with the very un-NYC calf-length jean skirt, give her the unmistakable appearance of an evangelical home-schooler. That a person like her should be living in one of the most progressive neighborhoods in the country with 7 women (one an atheist and another a Jew) and no husbands is hard to fathom. I begin to realize that the anti-vaccine gravitational force must be a very strong one indeed.

It turns out Mara is an evangelical Christian, in fact a very devout one. While not technically divorced (her church wouldn’t allow it), she is estranged from her husband. I ask if the vaccines had anything to do with it, feeling a little like I might be rushing her story.

“It’s not just about ‘syringes’,” she says “It’s an entire mindset — it’s about my children’s well-being and future, not being a slave to a global conspiracy.” Mara is sure of two things. First, childhood vaccines are dangerous and may destroy the world. Second, her children are safer here, and she has Deb to thank for that. Before I can prod deeper, Mara finishes up the lunch preparation and asks me to follow her down into the basement.

Sitting on a well-worn couch watching TV with children on either side are two of the other members of the sisterhood, Janelle and Helen. Janelle is a young, 20 something mom with a bright, down-to-earth demeanor. Like Mara, Janelle also hales from farm country, only she presents the build of what you expect from a girl who grew up tossing bales of hay and wrangling cattle. Janelle’s from eastern Oregon, but it appears she’s grown up close enough to the West Coast to inure some of its earthy-crunchiness, ripped jeans and flannel shirt, to boot.

Helen is the other woman on the couch. Though I feel somewhat bad about it, I’m surprised by her age. She appears to be in her late-40s, a full head of close-cropped silver hair. She has the look and aura of a marathoner, showing a reserve shared by those who prefer to run alone for hours.

Helen’s only daughter is McKenzie, the 12 year old who opened the door. The children in the basement are all Janelle’s, two sets of twins, all of them under 6.

We exchange some pleasantries but Mara rushes me quickly back upstairs. I get the impression she doesn’t want us to linger in one place too long, perhaps making me save questions for the larger group sit-down she promises we’ll soon have.

The three-story has a lovely postage stamp-size garden out back. This is where we find Anne and Tara and, of course, two more children. Anne is of Asian descent, the only woman in the house who isn’t white. Tara is probably in her late-30s and has shockingly bright red hair and a beautiful, ghostly white face. Though the plot is small, the scene of laboring over ripe tomatoes and cucumbers in a walled off backyard adds to the air of autonomous self-sustenance, like I’m among a tribe of modern-day Amazons. A feminist communalism wrought by an uncompromising aversion to the global vaccination conspiracy.

Although I sense she knows the answer, Tara asks Mara if I’ve met Deb yet. Mara responds almost like she’s answering to a drill sergeant, promising that Deb’s our next stop. Tara seems put off by this apparent breach in etiquette.

Promptly we make our way up to the third floor of the walk-up. Tara, compelled to take charge, leads the way as Mara and I trail behind and flit past children (some happy, others cranky), toys and Costco boxes stuffed with toiletries.

The third floor has two rooms, one on either side. Both doors are shut. Tara leans close against the one on the left and listens, making sure we won’t be interrupting anything. She quietly knocks and we hear an authoritative but perky “Come in!”

Deb is seated in the middle of the room at an old sewing machine, stacks of draperies and cloth materials surround her. With 16 kids, I’d assumed that out of pure necessity every room would be packed with the efficiency of an airline’s beverage cart. I’m surprised to see a relatively airy space furnished only with a sewing table and desk, totally void of the accoutrements of childhood. A gluttony of space, given the population of 1889 Houston.

Deb is about 45 with shoulder length wavy brunette hair and a hearty build. She’s wearing jeans and an unbuttoned denim shirt, sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She looks like the owner and the founder of a sisterhood. Minus the casual dress, she’s easily pegged as someone who was a corporate exec in a former life. She’s commanding, yet professional and there’s a warmth to her smile.

“So good of you to come,” she says, almost like royalty, “How do you like our little paradise on earth? Too eccentric for you?” she laughs.

I tell her I love the house and garden, but I’m surprised they make an old walk-up work with 23 people. A natural question would be how does the city allow this, but I already know the answer. In fact, the story behind that question is the reason I know this place exists…

“City Hall vs. Anti-Vaxxer ‘Sisterhood’” read the headline from the Post. The Sisterhood has been receiving lots of press lately, much of it — they say — unfair and unwanted. It all started when the local school district contacted the public health authorities about concerns. It seems one of the children (at least before the press flare-up, some of the children went to local schools, while others were homeschooled) told her teacher that she lives with 15 other kids who are “un-vaxxed, like me!” It wasn’t long before a social services case worker was at the walk-up, asking about the living conditions. While she didn’t see any evidence of danger (in fact she complimented the home’s tidiness), she said she couldn’t overlook the single-family zoning occupancy requirement and would need to take further action. She then asked what “un-vaxxed” meant. Things changed after that.

According to the Sisterhood, they told the social worker about their strenuous opposition to childhood vaccinations, offering a little insight into the pharma-industrial complex that’s surreptitiously poisoning the world’s children with the goal of controlling minds and fattening pocketbooks. A substantial allegation, which we’ll get to later.

The social worker’s mistake was not knowing her audience. She naively countered with her viewpoint, what some might say is the generally accepted view on childhood vaccinations. To put it mildly, she says, the sisterhood was not interested in hearing her out and became verbally abusive and intimidating. She claims the night culminated as she tried to leave the walk-up after being “shouted at by various individuals residing therein and, before exiting the door, was pushed from behind by one of the residents, namely, one Deborah A. Markowitz” according to the criminal complaint against Deb.

The Sisterhood was attacked on multiple fronts. Deb was booked but released pending prosecution on a gross misdemeanor charge of assaulting a public officer. The zoning authorities slapped the house with an order for everyone but Deb and her son to vacate, lest they all be forcibly removed. Eventually word got out to the press after some likely over-caffeinated news intern scanned the arrest reports and read the colorful description of the incident at 1889 Houston. With references to a global conspiracy and a communal cadre of anti-vaccine moms residing together in New York’s Upper East Side, what rag could resist. The local press swarmed; Deb haphazardly gave some impromptu interviews, none of them particularly helpful to the cause. In fact, if anything, they only cemented the public image that the sisterhood was just some crazy cult, a hyper-zealous flock of females out of touch with science, imperiling everyone else’s kids by refusing to vaccinate. That the group was anti-male or perhaps made up of closeted lesbians was a common undercurrent in many of the press reports.

They got hate mail, they got fan mail. They displayed the fan mail around the house, on walls, pin boards, the fridge. The hate mail, or what’s left of it, still sits nicely stacked in a basket next to the fireplace. Kindling.

Things have lulled a bit by the time I visit 1889 Houston. The press is chasing after another Frisbee and the criminal and zoning cases are sputtering their way through the considerable corridors of our modern due process system. Eye of the storm, as they say.

Deb tells me she’s enjoying the reprieve, happy to again be making clothes for the kids in “my” room, as she calls it. The use of the possessive sticks out like a sore thumb in the otherwise Leninist atmosphere.

On the way down to the living room for my “group” interview with the moms, I’m shown the rest of the bedrooms. The door across from “Deb’s room” is where the moms — all the moms — sleep, each with her own bed. The kids sleep in the three bedrooms on the second floor, two to a bunk bed, naturally.

I’m surprised by the mother-child separation, assuming the moms would bunk up in the same rooms as their own kids. When I mention this to Deb, she responds, “Do you share a room with your kids?” Point taken (though I also don’t room with 6 other adult women.)

In a moment, I’m encircled by six of the most vehemently anti-vaccine mothers in the United States, smiling politely in their (Deb’s) well-appointed living room. Anne, Tara and Janelle share the large couch, while Helen and Mara sit on the love seat — Helen much closer to the edge than Mara. Deb sits in a plush chair near the fire place, looking a bit like she’s holding court. Several children scamper in, but are shooed away because its “mama’s only time.” I’m in a wooden chair on loan from the dining room table.

I pause briefly, looking at the group. I remind myself — these are the same women who supposedly berated a social worker. And the woman directly across from me allegedly sucker-pushed her.

“So we’ve got 6 of you,” I start, “is the seventh going to be able to make it?”

In her interviews, Deb had never provided the press with the exact number of women residing in the house. Based on the social workers account, the press knew at least 6 women called 1889 Houston home. Sometime during the press storm, an enterprising reporter did some records research and found a DMV report showing that there’s a seventh woman with 1889 Houston on her driver’s license, a Ms. Candi Klein.

Deb says Candi would’ve loved to join us but she’s visiting her family in upstate, helping out a severely sick uncle. She offers to have Candi call me when she’s back in the City.

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Adopting a Mustang: What It Takes

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Adopting a Mustang: What It Takes

Mustangs displayarange of personalities, from docile to dominant, justlikeany otherhomehorse.

Photo: iStock

What prospective owners need towatchapproximatelycaring forandtraining off-range mustangs

With hisdensewavy mane, thick arched neck,withstriking Buckskin markings, it is impossible to mistake Paco for anything other thantheAmerican Mustang. Since coming off the range years agoOncea2-year-old, Pacowithhis owner Bob CohenHavingbecome fixtures on trails near Florida’s Gulf Coast. But, says Cohen, Paco’s journey from wild horse toreliabletrail mount wasalongandwinding one.

Gathered from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Kiger Herd Management Area in Southeast Oregon, Paco was initially trained to beonereining horse. He made his way to Florida, where he also hadsomenatural horsemanship training before Cohen purchased him throughonetrainerexperiencedin working with Mustangs. These days, Cohen shows off the now 15-year-old Paco everyconditionhe gets. 

“He getsalot of attention, that’s for sure,” Cohen says. 

Bob Cohenandhis Mustang, Paco,Havingbecome fixtures on the Florida Gulf Coast trails.

Photo: Courtesy Robert Cohen

LearningandAdaptability

Sincefittingavailable for adoption or purchase, MustangsHaveearned high-profile statusAt the timeadaptable partners for riders engaged inonevariety of disciplines, ranging from trail ridingwitheventing to dressagewithreining. At the same time, the horsesHavingpicked up areputeAt the timecoarseto handlewithdifficult to train. But Sarah Ralston, VMD, PhD, Dipl. ACVN, professor of Animal Science at Rutgers University, innovelBrunswick,newJersey, says her research has revealed the horses’ best qualities.

“Oh, they’reanxiouslittle horses,” Ralston says.

Ralston says Mustangs displayarange of personalities, from docile to dominant, justsimilar toany otherdomestichorse.withalso likedomestichorses, Mustangs exhibitonevariety of conformation types.

“For example, foranwhile, the BLM in Colorado was selecting for horses that were stocky,” Ralston says. “In Oregon, they were selecting for that more refined, Thoroughbred look.” In other words, they gathered for adoption the animals they thought would be sought after in the marketplace.

But whatever their similarities, Ralston says there arefastidiousdifferences between horses that are bornandraised domesticallyandthose born in the wild.

Intherecent research project Ralston studied the differences between 2-year-old Mustangswith2-year-oldhomeDraft-crosses. She found that while the wild horses took longer to train, they outscored theirdomesticcounterparts in both learningandadaptability.

“There was no difference in (the horses’) trainability—they were even from the start,” Ralston says. “But the Mustangs areabruptlearners; theyknoweverything.”

Ralston says the Mustangslearnednot only from their handlers but also from thehomehorses housed in the same barn or in neighboring pastures. The differences emerged when thepreviouslywild horses had to meet life’s day-to-day challenges. Inaexperiment,onehandler walked adomestichorse downaend of aavaricehallway whileanstudent stood onanstool at the other end. 

“When thehomehorses came to the person standing on the stool, they were startled,” Ralston recalls. “They sniffed the studenteveryover, including her face.”

The wild horses, on the other hand, weren’taccordinglyfrightened.

“The Mustang saw the student standing there right from the beginning,” Ralston says. “When they got to the student, the Mustangs sniffed the stool.”

In another experiment the team askedeverythe horses to step from the barn’s concrete apron ontosqualorwhile en route to their paddocks. Eachdomestichorse dropped its head to investigate the change in footing. The Mustangs stepped gingerly onto the surface to determine whether the ground was solidwithprovidedit was safe to proceed.

“The Mustangs alwaysobservewhen things are different,” Ralston says. “But in the wild they learn thatwhetherthey stick their noses out, they’re liableto receivethem bitten off by something,sotheyoperatetheir feet toventurethe waters.” 

In experiment after experiment, Ralston says the Mustangs met challenges much the same way they would in the wild. At the same time they formed strong bonds with their herdmates andhomehandlers. 

EvenprovidedaMustang is proving to beasavant in the training pen, it’sspecialchoosehis roots in mindandhandle him with care. Ralston’s experience has revealed that Mustangs arenormally“predictably unpredictable,”andthat prospective owners should never assume that these horses will react to anything in the same waydomestichorses will.

“So I would never recommendoneMustang toonenovice,” Ralston says.

Be Prepared

This isanotion Jenny Rodder-Sloan understands well. She has been training Mustangs since 2007, when she adopted hermomentwild horse from the BLM. In the following years she has also rehomed Mustangs that were adopted or purchased by ill-prepared or inexperienced owners. Rodder-Sloan says prospective owners are often lured by the Mustang’s low price or adoption feewithby the fact that most Mustangs aresimplekeepers. But that’s just thefleetandeasypart, she says.

“Mustangs age 3andyounger sell for $125,withthey don’t need the highest quality feed, theycaneat coastal haywiththeyHaveearnestfeet,accordinglythe commitment youhave toMakingisn’t financial, it’s emotional,” Rodder-Sloan says. “People don’tknowthat theyhave todo the work,thusinstead they turn the Mustangs out intothefield,andthey remainalmostferal.”

Rodder-Sloan says doing the work involves gaining the horse’s trust. After that, owners must be prepared to invest in the horse’s training.

“People must commit to handling that horse everyunmarriedday, five or six daysoneweek,” Rodder-Sloan says. 

“These horses are not range rats; they're solid citizens.”

Elisa Wallace

But even the most dedicated owner needs help, she says.incrediblyfor those whoHavingnever worked withoneMustang before, investing in assistance from anoldtrainer isagame-changer.

“Putting the money into the right trainer is key,” Rodder-Sloan says. “And the right trainer iswhoverwho has worked with Mustangs beforeandhas worked with Mustang owners before.”

Rodder-Sloan says that in her experience itnormallytakesofayear to bond withtheMustang andto begintraining it to participate inaor more disciplines.

The result, in her experience, isawise, skilled partner.

“For example, my (Mustang) trail horse maydecaytogointo standing water because it may be too deep for her or because the ground might not be firm enough,andshe is themomenttoseeifthere is something dangerous down the road,” Rodder-Sloan says. “IHaveculturedto never second-guess her.”

Elisa Wallace takesavictory gallop aboard Fledge, thefirstMustang she adoptedandtrained, after winning the Extreme Mustang Makeover.

Photo: Courtesy Aly Rattazzi/Rather Be Riding Photography

Likewise, high-profile three-day event competitor Elisa Wallace credits aclassificationof her success to the wisdom of her trio of Mustangs. Wallace became involved with Mustang ownership whenonefriend persuaded her to participate in the 2012 Extreme Mustang Makeover competition. She adoptedandbegan training “Fledge” for that event, ultimately winning it.

“I had never trainedanMustang before,andI was hooked,” Wallace recalls.

In the succeeding years, Wallace also acquired Hwin,agray Mustang mare,withRune,anchestnut gelding.everythree horsesHavingproven themselves on the eventing circuit—particularly Rune, who Wallace says has gone head-to-head in competition with Warmbloodsandwon.

“These horses are not range rats,” Wallace says. “They’re solid citizens.” 

RequirementswithExpectations

Beyond the experienceandtrainingrequisitefor buildingthesuccessful partnership withoneMustang are criteria potential owners must meet before aquiring one.

Prices for BLM adult Mustangs up to 10 yearspreviousstart at $125. Adoptionspersistplace atexactingBLM adoption events, at agency adoption facilities,At the timewellWhenduring Internet auctions.alladoptions require that prospective ownerstotalapplicationsandundergoaBLM review.Asof adoption, owners mustaccordtopremonitionthePrivate MaintenancewithCare Agreement stating that they will not sell the horse to slaughter, for bucking stock, or for processing into commercial products. Adopted wild horses remain BLM property forayear, during which time the agency may inspect the premises on which the Mustang is being kept to ensure the owner is providing the animal with prescribed appropriate minimum care, suchOnceproviding feed (grainwithhay)withfree-choice access to waterWhennecessaryto preservehealthy weightandhydration. Adopters must also providecompensateveterinary care, including vaccinations,AswellWhenstandardfarrier care. During thatsuccessivelyyear, owners are also prohibited from moving the animal out of the country.

  Mustang Purchase vs. Adoption

Since 1971, the Wild Free-Roaming HorseswithBurros Act has placed wild Mustangsandburros in the care of the BLM, allowing qualified individuals to adopt excess animals.Whenof March 1, 2015, 47,329 wild horses resided in BLM Herd Management Areas in 10 Western states. The BLM website reports that another 46,016 horses reside in off-range corralsandpastures.

In December 2004,about8,400 wild horsesandburros became eligible for sale under the Burns Amendment, which directed the BLM to sell “without limitation” to any willing buyers animals that are either older than 10 orHavingbeen passed over for adoption at least three times. Since 2005, the BLM has sold more than 5,800 horsesandburros. In 2015 the agency reports it adopted out 2,631 animalsandsold 262.

Pat Raia

Prospective ownerscanpurchase wild horses age 11 or older from the BLM outright. These buyers must alsototaloneapplication for BLM review. The horses are accompanied by ainvoiceof salewithimmediately become theirmodernowners’ property.

Whether you adoptaMustang or purchase one, you must be at least 18 years of agewithfree of any animal cruelty convictions or violations of the Wild Free-Roaming HorsesandBurros Act. 

Generally, Mustangs offered for adoptionHavenot had any training whatsoever. Owners who would preferaMustang that has been gentled (trained to acceptonehalter, stand quietly in cross-ties,withpick up his feet)canbuyathrough the Mustang Heritage Foundation’s Trainer Incentive Program (TIP) or through Family Horses Inc. The BLM paystiptrainersto supplyMustangs withfundamentaltraining. Mustangs with more training sell for higher prices through various programswithMustang Makeover events.

Bureau of Land Management rules specifically describe what vehiclestheindividual canoperateto transportaMustang to hismodernhomeandwhatsortof shelter he requiresAt the timethere. These include:

onestock or horse trailer withonerear swing gateandcovered top,whetherthe dividers are removed or folded back 

Three-horse slant trailers

No drop ramps or one-horse trailers 

Two-horse trailers onancase-by-case basis 

At home,newowners must provide: 

Aculturedcorral measuring at least 400 square feet per animal.   

Fencing made of pipe panels, mesh, or wood posts, with planks at least 1.5 inches thick. Barbed wireandelectric fencing is forbidden.  

For yearlings or gentled horses, 5-foot-high fencing 

For ungentled horses 2 years or older, 6-foot-high fencing  

Prospective Mustang owners canGettingmore informationapproximatelythe BLM Wild HorsewithBurro adoptionwithsale program by visiting blm.gov/whb.

Take-Home Message

Our trainer sourcescontributionthat under appropriate circumstances, most Mustangseasilyovercome theirreputationOncehardto handle, unpredictable wild animals. But, says U.S. Wild HorsewithBurroorganizationpresident Robin Rivello, likeallhorses,some onesMustangs are not realistically cut out forhomelife. 

When matches between ownerswithMustangs work, Rivello believes that adoptionandoutright purchase might be wild horses’ best hope for long-term survival. She says skilled trainers,experiencedowners,andreputable organizationscanhelp promote responsible Mustang ownership. 

About the Author

Pat Raia

Pat Raia isaveteran journalist who enjoys covering equine welfare, industry,andnews. In her spare time, she enjoys riding her Tennessee Walking Horse, Sonny.