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hello. I am in fact still alive and kicking. yay
Objectively speaking I haven't done A Lot since I last posted but that's okay! I've made a few more steps towards real adulthood and also done some fun music stuff. The biggest and most important news is that I bought a washing machine and a dryer so now I don't have to use my building's single coin-op machine that's broken half the time and in use the other or lug all my laundry to my parents' once a month. Thank you whoever invented sink hookup machines.
Sorry about the inconsistent spacing. Doing my best but I don't know how to fix it
I'm taking a break from writing right now. No ideas are really doing it for me and every time I try to write I end up getting really frustrated. I do get burned out really easily in general so I'm not gonna force it, but it's still annoying when I'd like to keep practicing and improving. Writing three fics in a month, two of them in two days each, was probably not great for healthy habit building, even if it was fun. I'll get back to it when I'm ready, just wish it would come faster.
In efforts to keep getting better even when not actively writing I've been replaying a lot of games whose storytelling I admire (and also have fun playing). Right now it's Zero Escape for maybe the fifth time, and with the official release of Ace Attorney Investigations I can finally play the second one without getting a virus from not knowing how to torrent (had to wipe my laptop after that lmao). After that it's probably time to replay the Layton series. Zero Escape especially has been really fun because it's been long enough that I don't remember all the exact details or most of the puzzle solutions, so it's as close as I can get to playing the series for the first time again. It's also cool coming at them from a different angle of not just wanting to enjoy the game but trying to take it apart from a writing perspective. should have paid more attention in lit in high school but alas I will keep doing my best
I've also been watching a lot of tv lately haha. I rewatched Kevin Can Fuck Himself, and I think I'm the only person on the planet who's ever seen it tbh. It's half sitcom half drama about a sitcom wife who realizes that her husband is terrible and pledges to kill him, and it does such a good job of exploring her character and her relationships with the women around her. I love it.
I didn't expect to like Interview with the Vampire anywhere near as much as I did but it's really as excellent as everybody says it is, and Claudia is one of the best characters of all time tbh. Both of her actors do such an excellent job and her story is so compelling. They're not gonna make it but she deserves her own show.
I've once again picked up my eight year long quest to watch every Detective Conan episode. I'm on 270. Almost there. I've also been meaning to get around to Princess Tutu for at least a decade- I started it on whatever streaming service it's on last week but it's available in dub only and unfortunately dubs rarely work for me, so I'll have to watch it a less legal way.
I have actually been doing things with myself other than watching tv and playing games haha. Unfortunately in order to feel like a person I have to, like, do stuff. ugh. I started volunteering at the local library for a few hours a week, cutting paper for the craft kits they give to kids. The program needs a lot of extra hands, and I remember how much fun I had putting together paper crafts at the library I went to as a kid, so it's nice to know that I'm helping.
Honestly, I kind of hate the work though. It's really warm in the back and I find myself watching the clock waiting until I can go home. But if I want to be a working adult someday, and I do, I've gotta be better at dealing with minor discomfort, and honestly there's probably things I can do to make it easier for myself. It would probably help if I ever remembered to bring water. I'm gonna keep sticking it out until at least the end of the calendar year, because it is important work and I could use the extra work on my resume besides.
I've also been trying to read more. I find myself struggling to actually sit down and read a lot of the time, but I have better luck when I check out books from the library because those have a due date and can't just sit on my shelf for three years before I crack them open. And since I'm at the library once a week now, I have at least a few out all the time. It's been a really long time since I've consistently read physical books, so it's been really great. Not having to pay for them means that I can take more chances with the books I pick up too! If I end up hating something then no big deal, it was free. (and I'm always looking for recommendations!) Obv these are not revelatory thoughts re: the virtues of libraries but it's been a bit so I'm rediscovering them for myself :)
Music stuff: I finished my guitar lessons. I think that if I were to pursue them again I would go for a different teacher- the one I had was really nice but mostly told me that I was doing good and I was more advanced than I thought I was, which was great for my ego but less good for fixing my bad habits from years of unstructured fucking around. I wish that you didn't need a different kind of guitar for classical lessons, because I think that'll get me closer to the types of skill I'd like to have but I don't want to shell out for a whole new guitar. Maybe someday.
I also played a little bit with some local musicians which was great fun. I met up with the band I mentioned last time and we had a jam session, but I'm pretty sure they all went home for summer break and I'm not sure that we'll be reconvening once the school year starts. The first day of school is this week, I think? so I guess if there's news to be shared I'll hear about it soon.
Last week I played with some other musicians which was excellent. We rented some time in a real life recording studio to practice and that was so cool. I wish I could have poked around more at the soundproofing and the recording equipment but I think the owner would have been unhappy if I did that lol. Last Thursday we did an open mic at a bar about an hour from my place, and it went fine, I think. I had fun. There weren't a lot of people there which was good because I get self-conscious. It's gonna have to be a one time thing, though. As much as I'd like to pretend otherwise, there's not a lot of skill overlap between opera training and yelling Nirvana. My voice is still fried and it's been, what, five days? It was great fun and I'm glad I got to do it but oof.
I also went to some fun concerts! Stardew Live and Bôa. The Stardew one was a lot of fun because I love live music but I wasn't too impressed with the quality of the orchestration. It didn't feel appropriately filled out and just sounded kind of empty and weak. My friend who went with me isn't a musician and didn't notice anything. Not my favorite show but still enjoyable. Bôa was great, though!! They're so good and their style slots so well into my edgy bitch tastes that I don't dislike a single one of their songs. I did almost pass out during their encore which was my favorite three songs, so that kind of sucked, but I didn't completely pass out so I'll count that as a win.
Objectively speaking I haven't done A Lot since I last posted but that's okay! I've made a few more steps towards real adulthood and also done some fun music stuff. The biggest and most important news is that I bought a washing machine and a dryer so now I don't have to use my building's single coin-op machine that's broken half the time and in use the other or lug all my laundry to my parents' once a month. Thank you whoever invented sink hookup machines.
Sorry about the inconsistent spacing. Doing my best but I don't know how to fix it
I'm taking a break from writing right now. No ideas are really doing it for me and every time I try to write I end up getting really frustrated. I do get burned out really easily in general so I'm not gonna force it, but it's still annoying when I'd like to keep practicing and improving. Writing three fics in a month, two of them in two days each, was probably not great for healthy habit building, even if it was fun. I'll get back to it when I'm ready, just wish it would come faster.
In efforts to keep getting better even when not actively writing I've been replaying a lot of games whose storytelling I admire (and also have fun playing). Right now it's Zero Escape for maybe the fifth time, and with the official release of Ace Attorney Investigations I can finally play the second one without getting a virus from not knowing how to torrent (had to wipe my laptop after that lmao). After that it's probably time to replay the Layton series. Zero Escape especially has been really fun because it's been long enough that I don't remember all the exact details or most of the puzzle solutions, so it's as close as I can get to playing the series for the first time again. It's also cool coming at them from a different angle of not just wanting to enjoy the game but trying to take it apart from a writing perspective. should have paid more attention in lit in high school but alas I will keep doing my best
I've also been watching a lot of tv lately haha. I rewatched Kevin Can Fuck Himself, and I think I'm the only person on the planet who's ever seen it tbh. It's half sitcom half drama about a sitcom wife who realizes that her husband is terrible and pledges to kill him, and it does such a good job of exploring her character and her relationships with the women around her. I love it.
I didn't expect to like Interview with the Vampire anywhere near as much as I did but it's really as excellent as everybody says it is, and Claudia is one of the best characters of all time tbh. Both of her actors do such an excellent job and her story is so compelling. They're not gonna make it but she deserves her own show.
I've once again picked up my eight year long quest to watch every Detective Conan episode. I'm on 270. Almost there. I've also been meaning to get around to Princess Tutu for at least a decade- I started it on whatever streaming service it's on last week but it's available in dub only and unfortunately dubs rarely work for me, so I'll have to watch it a less legal way.
I have actually been doing things with myself other than watching tv and playing games haha. Unfortunately in order to feel like a person I have to, like, do stuff. ugh. I started volunteering at the local library for a few hours a week, cutting paper for the craft kits they give to kids. The program needs a lot of extra hands, and I remember how much fun I had putting together paper crafts at the library I went to as a kid, so it's nice to know that I'm helping.
Honestly, I kind of hate the work though. It's really warm in the back and I find myself watching the clock waiting until I can go home. But if I want to be a working adult someday, and I do, I've gotta be better at dealing with minor discomfort, and honestly there's probably things I can do to make it easier for myself. It would probably help if I ever remembered to bring water. I'm gonna keep sticking it out until at least the end of the calendar year, because it is important work and I could use the extra work on my resume besides.
I've also been trying to read more. I find myself struggling to actually sit down and read a lot of the time, but I have better luck when I check out books from the library because those have a due date and can't just sit on my shelf for three years before I crack them open. And since I'm at the library once a week now, I have at least a few out all the time. It's been a really long time since I've consistently read physical books, so it's been really great. Not having to pay for them means that I can take more chances with the books I pick up too! If I end up hating something then no big deal, it was free. (and I'm always looking for recommendations!) Obv these are not revelatory thoughts re: the virtues of libraries but it's been a bit so I'm rediscovering them for myself :)
Music stuff: I finished my guitar lessons. I think that if I were to pursue them again I would go for a different teacher- the one I had was really nice but mostly told me that I was doing good and I was more advanced than I thought I was, which was great for my ego but less good for fixing my bad habits from years of unstructured fucking around. I wish that you didn't need a different kind of guitar for classical lessons, because I think that'll get me closer to the types of skill I'd like to have but I don't want to shell out for a whole new guitar. Maybe someday.
I also played a little bit with some local musicians which was great fun. I met up with the band I mentioned last time and we had a jam session, but I'm pretty sure they all went home for summer break and I'm not sure that we'll be reconvening once the school year starts. The first day of school is this week, I think? so I guess if there's news to be shared I'll hear about it soon.
Last week I played with some other musicians which was excellent. We rented some time in a real life recording studio to practice and that was so cool. I wish I could have poked around more at the soundproofing and the recording equipment but I think the owner would have been unhappy if I did that lol. Last Thursday we did an open mic at a bar about an hour from my place, and it went fine, I think. I had fun. There weren't a lot of people there which was good because I get self-conscious. It's gonna have to be a one time thing, though. As much as I'd like to pretend otherwise, there's not a lot of skill overlap between opera training and yelling Nirvana. My voice is still fried and it's been, what, five days? It was great fun and I'm glad I got to do it but oof.
I also went to some fun concerts! Stardew Live and Bôa. The Stardew one was a lot of fun because I love live music but I wasn't too impressed with the quality of the orchestration. It didn't feel appropriately filled out and just sounded kind of empty and weak. My friend who went with me isn't a musician and didn't notice anything. Not my favorite show but still enjoyable. Bôa was great, though!! They're so good and their style slots so well into my edgy bitch tastes that I don't dislike a single one of their songs. I did almost pass out during their encore which was my favorite three songs, so that kind of sucked, but I didn't completely pass out so I'll count that as a win.
ok see you all in either a week or four months
no subject
Date: 2024-09-24 03:49 am (UTC)From:Haha, it's been a (re-)revelation for me too, and everything else you mention in the rest of your paragraph! My library has been such a boon to start reading consistently again. Happy reading and happy all the things to you! :D
no subject
Date: 2024-09-24 04:01 am (UTC)From: