My Week

• This week was a bit better for me than before. Managed to move the needle on some side projects. Hung out with some friends. Went to a quiz night. Wrote a new Marvel run blog post. Entertained some new family members dropping in from abroad.
• However, I did receive a bit of family-related bad news, nothing super serious, but it made me a bit sad.

A Photo I Took

My mom finally finished Jigsaw puzzle no. 2 after 4 months!

I didn't help a lot with this one after the initial framing. Also, my mom insists the structures on top are ruined buildings, I can't convince her they're some kind of red rock formations.

(Click photos to view full-size)

My mom finally finished Jigsaw puzzle no. 2 after 4 months! I didn't help a lot with this one after the initial framing. Also, my mom insists the structures on top are ruined buildings, I can't convince her they're some kind of red rock formations.

1_20230506_114951.jpg May 8, 2023, 3:08 a.m. Close

Media Diet

• Gaming:

  • Single player: Playing a bit more of Witcher 3 this past week, kind of just passing time until Tears of the Kingdom comes out. I also tried starting Pentiment, but couldn't really get into it yet, might try again after a while.
  • Online: Magic Arena, Eternal and Marvel Snap daily grinding continue as usual. Still struggling with March of the Maching drafting.

• Reading: A bit more than halfway through Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Nevin. Still reading comics, although have pushed off the next Complete Marvel Run update for a couple of weeks now, hope to get it done this week.

• Watching: Still watching The Blacklist S10, working my way through it slowly. Watched Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3!

Walking

This past week (Sunday thru Saturday), Fitbit says I walked a total of 70,205 steps and burned 25,095 calories.

Some Links of Interest

• (Youtube) Designing 'MARVEL SNAP': GDC talk by Ben Brode

• (Youtube) Star Wars by Wes Anderson

• Do we misremember Eternal September? Kevin Driscoll / University of virginia – Flow: Eternal September -> gatekeeping

• We're Living in a Scroll-and Swipe Doom Loop Culture: > "In other words, the web is turning into the online equivalent of the Las Vegas strip. As soon as you leave one casino-like platform offering intermittent reinforcement, you walk into another. The games are almost the same everywhere—with the same loser’s payout—but you have an illusion of choice."

• The Internet Isn't Meant To Be So Small | Defector: > "... the internet wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be six boring men with too much money creating spaces that no one likes but everyone is forced to use because those men have driven every other form of online existence into the ground"

• Erin Kissane - Blue skies over Mastodon: > "If we want more people to enjoy what we believe are the benefits of something like Mastodon, it’s on us to make it delicious and convenient and multi-textured and fun instead of trying to shame people into eating their soysage and unsalted soup."

Check out the linkblog for past links!

Musings

• Bluesky: Some people are feeling FOMO over the new invite-only social media platform, but I find it difficult to be interested because (a) I still remember Dorsey thinking it would be a good idea to sell Musk to Twitter; and (b) it seems to be mobile app only at this point and no web access, which is a non-starter. I will admit they are doing something right with the whole invite-only exclusivity thing though.

• The Writers Guild of America is on strike. If I had a nickel for every time the WGA has gone on strike, I would have 2 nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice in my lifetime. I still remember the 2007 strike and how badly it affected US TV shows. (Heroes had such potential!) Solidarity with the writers of course, but if it goes too long at least I get time to catch up with all my backlogs.

• MTG: Steam version of Arena is released, is unsurprisingly not available in SEA. This past weekend there was a Pro Tour in Minneapolis; I haven't followed the competitive scene too closely since Grand Prixs stopped coming to SEA, but I will admit it was nice seeing old pros on Twitter posting about their Pro Tour adventures. The weekend also included some previews for upcoming sets, including a LOTR "tempted by the ring" mechanic that's weirdly all-upside. Despite not being a Commander player, I will admit to being a bit tempted by the Doctor Who commander decks. Oh also apparently Standard is becoming a 3-year format!

This coming week (and beyond)

Tears of the Kingdom comes out this week! I'm hoping my preorder isn't delayed in any way.