feeling... exhausted...

It's been a little tough adjusting to longer days at work, but i'm getting the swing of it! i'm just pretty worn out, but the endurance will come back with time. I guess I got a little spoiled at the candy store. this new place is a lot more demanding, but in a good, challenging way. I'm also loving being back with my crew.

i've been thinking a lot about what i want to do next career wise, but i'm kind of in an interesting transitional period where I live. i'm hoping to get cross-country by next year, so it's a little scary to think of trying someplace new > a boss i've worked pretty steadily for almost 6 years. it can be hard to break out of a groove. I guess we'll have to see, but i think i'll have some more time to consider it anyway.

back home I finally had my RF modulator arrive so I've got my CRT working with my monitor set up! i currently use it for YT/TV watching, and i've got my RetroArch and a few other pixel style games routed to use that screen for vid and audio output. it's so satisfying to have!

I can't get over how GOOD things look with it and how color-corrective needs aside, the fluidity is super nice. Even watching newer stuff on it like Digital Circus (was a huge help when fiddling with colors to get them as accurate as i can to things, what a richly saturated show lol) was a blast. I'm looking forward to trying out new things on it, though any word legibilty is already tough, I don't think I'll do much reading on it anytime soon.

and... pretty proud of myself!

I went with my sister and brother and some of their pals to a theme park! this place was a childhood favorite of mine, but I haven't been back in a few years, so it was really fun to see what changed and what mostly stayed the same. Thankfully only a few of my favorite coasters got retired, and the ones the replaced them with are pretty sick. I tried to ride everything I could!

I'm actually super proud of how many things I rode I used to be too fearful for. I love rollercoasters, but there were a few at the park I never had the stomach for when I was younger. It was really great to give them a try and love them!! i screamed my lungs out!! i even rode the latest one (that i took the pics above of!) which was 180 feet up and a 96 degree drop!! HORRIFYING!! but the end felt like flying. that's the best part about these things! i always start screaming and end giggling. Its a great release to shoot to the bottom and into corkscrews or spins, i can't control that a laugh bubbles out. I love that about roller coasters, they're so freeing! we eventually got rained out and I went home to sleep for 15 hours after all that walking, but i had a great time

feeling... glad...

welp, my week off is officially over. i go back to my old job tomorrow. I'm really glad I had some time away! It was really good to recharge physically and mentally. I got to spend so much time with online friends and my partner, it's been a real blast! I really treasure getting to goof around and have fun with the people I love.

my friend Star made a Spectular, custom tailored game for our crew for Summerween (every player got a unique personal copy!) and their art was so great, I was in tears T^T, its really beautiful to reflect on the little crew with have, i am so proud to have the talented pals I've got!!!!

On top of that, ive been a total MACHINE getting stuff done for impjack, it's been really fun to make, even if it feels like unity is resistant to how i want to create, lol. going from 2d works to 3d stuff is HARD, especially when its not just point and click (my other game projects exist almost exclusively in UI function, getting things to animate in a 3d space was tricky!). I think I'd like to experiment with godot for my next project.

and... happy!

I also got to catch up with my close irl friends for a buddy's birthday!! I can't believe i've known zach and jade for almost 10 years, what a beautiful blessing to have pals like I do. every time we get together I get the same joy as I did the day we met. it's truly so great to know them!! we went for smokes and hung out at our local arcade (it's nice, they do a 21+ after hours structure, so we got to have a blast past midnight playing games!).

my partner's stupid good at pinball, it was crazy watching him play!! plus I had some solid luck (after some near tears) on the crane games, bringing home these absolute cuties! they're apperently from a brand called Wawa, the team consensus on names were Cosmos (the astronaut) and Polaris (the prince)!

feeling... pretty happy!

last day of my real weekend!! it's been really awesome to game so much with friends lately.

i got to finish LNII (i'm really excited for the third one!), start penumbra, reach the Profaned Capital in ds3, and have a lot of goofy fun drawing some ugly mspaint doodles for some multiplayer games!

on top of that, got some good quality family time in (and ate too many brownies)

and even MORE, i got to make a lot of progress for my narrative map for Everlast. I hope to have some pages coming up about that project eventually, so keep ya eyes peeled >_>

and... sleepy...

i did a lot of tinkering to get some stuff streamlined between my computer and neocities for actually coding this site!

part of that was a huge pain because all my images corrupted re-exporting back from neocities, but i got it all tidied up lol

I'm actually writing and testing this code locally now!! and i can upload it straight to neocities (which is how yall will see it!) Its pretty cool! i hope i can keep making it easier to keep updating things here, I really do like making this site

feeling... beat...

we're getting to the tail end of operations at my job for the closure and i've been more physically and emotionally drained from it than I have been in months LMAO

still, it'll be nice to have some time off soon. I'll be taking a paid leave transitioning from this place back to my old one, and I'm looking forward to some time away to unplug and work on some things

getting some time for games with pals has been nice, but ive been too tired to go long >< it sucks actually to have to stop doing the thing youre Wanting to do because your brain and body hurt. alas how it goes

but... glad!

Something else cool recently was getting to catch up with my little brother! we went for post-bday lunch and to see a buddy of his who sells refurbished consoles. ended up snagging the perfect little CRT TV for my desk setup thanks to him! he's such a cool kid (though i shouldnt call him a kid anymore lol, he's in his 20s, but he'll always be a baby to me)

my present from him: a vinyl of one of our fave games growing up (i couldn't believe they sold this on Fangamer!):
snowboard kids for the Nintendo 64!

i feel like my little brother's got a real knack for presents, this is an immediate favorite in my collection. My favorite track on it's always been Sunset Rock give it a listen!

feeling... IN AWE!

MY AMAZING FRIEND CraftWorks MADE ME A 3D CARD!!!
ITS SO CUTE!! Thanks Craft!

and... HYPED!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 2 ME!! < 3

talk about a good one! I went on an arcade and dinner date with my partner and we had a blast!

danced my ass off to the undertale rhythm tracks and ate so much shrimp pasta lol

26, please be a kind year ><