Busy April

As winter comes to a close I’m prepping for a busy April. We’ve got multiple trips out of town planned. The Columbus Crew season is in full swing. The weather is nice enough that I can start working in the garage again! I’ve got a library hold placed on Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act that should be ready soon and I’ve been working my way through my first read of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.

We saw The Dungeons and Dragons movie. I was not too keen on going after all the crap that has happened with Hasbro - see my blag on Identity - but all of my friends were going. So I ended up going anyway. It was good, but something felt weird about it that I can’t put my finger on. Maybe the pacing? A few of the jokes didn’t land. I was proud of the show runners for making it through the whole movie without a d20 reference. There was a decent amount of what I assume is nostalgia bate for things that I don’t have much nostalgia for. Outside of the Baldur’s Gate games I’ve engaged with Faerûn very little. All of my DnD campaigns have been in custom or generic settings.

My long processing of Questlove’s messaging about curation in Creative Quest continues. I’ve gone through and set aside some things for removal from my various collections. I’ve also continued to cull items from my to do lists that I’m no longer interested in. It feels good to increasingly be surrounded by and plan for things that fit my sense of self more closely than before.

Games

As part of the curation process I’ve been slowly removing games from my collection by setting them aside for sale. Recently I’ve added Scooby-Doo Mystery for the SNES, X-Men 1 and 2 for the Genesis, and X-Men Gamesmasters (yes that’s spelled right lol) Legacy for Game Gear to that pile. The X-Men games are all simply too frustrating - limited power usage, limited lives, slow movement. While the Scooby-Doo title is not the adventure game I had expected, but rather a kind of weird side scrolling thing. The Genesis game by the same name is so much better!

My best friend and I finished Raft this weekend. It was great but I am glad it is over! Item durability really added nothing to the game and just made things more frustrating. I felt that there wasn’t enough opportunity to automate away early tasks to free up time and attention for higher level problems. The main story islands were great though and I did enjoy working to personalize the raft.

I’m still working my way through Baldur’s Gate 2. This game is loooong. I’m 50+ hours in already. It feels less like something that can be finished and more like a lifestyle choice at this point. However I am on chapter 6 of 10 (including the expansion), but I’m currently bogged down in side quests. I do enjoy it when I’m playing, but I really want to move on to other things.

Anime

My girlfriend and I finished Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill which was great! It came to a good inconclusive conclusion at the end of the season. The story was light and fun.

We also finished The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady although I paid more attention to this one then my girlfriend did. It was very melodramatic at times. I think there are some ties back to tropes for a genre I’m not too familiar with yet.

Reading

I’ve been slowly making my way through a library copy of The Artists’s Way by Julia Cameron after the jaymo recommended it. Like him I’m reading it first without actually doing most of the exercises. It looks like a big commitment to do the whole thing, but I think I might try to do just that eventually. I’ve given the core practice - morning pages - a try a couple of times. I’ve found that I have a lot of difficulty getting up in time before work for the 30-60 minutes it takes to do.

I read through the first 4 volumes of Even Though We’re Adults in quick succession having missed them on initial release. I’ve loved everything I’ve read from Takako Shimura before and this is good too. It is possibly more difficult emotionally than even Wandering Son in some ways.

I picked up the first volume of the manga version of 7th Time Loop and instantly fell in love! I bought the second volume the next day and also ordered the first volume of the light novel. With Magical Revolution, Magic Artisan Dahlia, Even Though We’re Adults, and this, I guess I’m on a kick of stories about women leaving bad relationships.

For future acquisitions, I’m considering buying Creative Quest. I reference it so often here but I don’t even own a copy!

In terms of curation, I’m getting rid of Witch Hat Atelier. It was always probably too dark for me, but I convinced myself that I liked it by ignoring those bits, in part because the art is so good! Unfortunately those dark touches in the story have become more and more the focus in the later volumes. I chose to remove it from my pull list a while ago. Now I’m moving forward with getting rid of it.

I’m also considering selling my complete series of Kiss and White Lily manga. The main characters were fun but the overall series just never really clicked for me. It’s 10 volumes and would open up a lot of space on my shelf. Kind of on the fence on this one.

In the non-fiction space, Getting Things Done, Martin Fowler’s Refactoring, and Design Patterns Explained are all possible future sales. GTD specifically gave me one piece of advice which I highly treasure - pick up tasks by considering context, time available, energy available, and priority. Beyond that I don’t think the overall method works for me. I tried to do the whole thing and there are simply too many moving parts and fidly bits of paper everywhere. Meanwhile both Refactoring and Design Patterns Explained have examples that are a bit out of date, making them hard to casually refer back to.

Sports

My sports fan life has been great! The Columbus Crew have had a wonderful run the last 3 games scoring 12 goals to 1. The stadium has been cold and loud. Unfortunately we had to leave the Atlanta game early due to the combination. I always wear ear plugs but it has been a lot even with them.

The World Baseball Classic was also incredibly entertaining! A fantastic final with wonderfully close games. I think the pitch limits helped keep the games close by limiting the damage from a starting ace. I’m not sure how I feel about the early termination rule, but it certainly kept things flowing. Since the tournament ended, I’ve been trying to catch some Blue Jays games but have only managed to watch highlights so far. Watching more baseball has been part of my goals for this year since January. I really like the rhythm and routine. It keeps me calm.

The Journey Continues

This year is ramping up to be a great one for me! I’m excited, but also want to be careful not to take on too much. I want to curate not just my stuff but my activities as well, ensuring that I’m doing the things I really mean to. Intentionality across the board. I hope that you can find a way to do the same for yourself. Until next time!

Stay chill and enjoy