🐢

There's a line from Book I of Virgil's Georgics that really spoke to me. Depending on the translation, it goes something like: "The first rule of farming is to never expect an easy way". On the surface, the Georgics is a dusty old poem about farming instructions, but it's secretly a book about dealing with the inevitable misfortunes of life. You know, some things are just out of our control. You can do everything right, and a storm can still barge in and tear it all down. We can't control the weather, but we can control how we respond to it. The Georgics have a lot in common with the much more recent Serenity Prayer. Maybe you've heard it: "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference". Both are about the importance of knowing and accepting our limits and having the resilience to press on through life's many challenges. Also, if you just want to know what type of wood to build your plough out of, Virgil is your guy!

If you're still with me, thank you. I think you're pretty cool. You numba one :-)

This desk has just been sitting in the carport for over a year now. I declare it my office! It's a nice little outdoor place to sit, read, do whatever. Just needs some tidying up.

*My cat is not an alcoholic. That's Kool-Aid in the wineglass, and it's for me.

"An Angel at My Table" is a wonderful 1990 motion picture about the extraordinary life of Janet Frame, a celebrated New Zealand writer. It explores the trials and triumphs of Janet Frame's life, from her challenging upbringing to her literary success. What a nice movie. And you know, before now, I didn't know this movie, or Janet Frame, existed. Heck, maps can't even agree on whether or not New Zealand exists. In any event, I had a wonderful time, and I'm glad I watched it. Check it out!

I have a lot of respect for onions. I like to use them in cooking all the time. People have been eating them for thousands of years, and there's a whole lot to love—low calorie, very nutritious, lovely flavor, good cooked or eaten raw (if your stomach agrees with them), and they have an interesting cultural history. I'll just say it: an onion is a nice snack. I like to chop 'em up and sauté them with just a tiny bit of butter and pepper.

To minimize the tears when cutting them, you can try refrigerating them overnight, cutting them under running water, or using your sharpest knife to cut them (or wear those clear safety goggles you had in chemistry).

This concludes my onion appreciation post. Onions are truly second to nonion.

I've got a genuine basketball autographed by "Spalding." I don't know who that is, but he or she is probably amazing 😌

Nothing major. I just wanted to say I'm still around. There have been ups and downs, good days and bad days—all part of the journey. Some days I just feel so hopeless, but I have to remind myself to count my blessings. There have been many good things this year: I spent time with a dear friend, finished a bunch of old songs, played a heck ton of good Switch games, I'm getting back into writing, and I've welcomed a new nephew. Hey, that's not too bad. Even so, I guess I'm just going through a lot. I'm sure this too shall pass.

Eh, sometimes I feel better just sharing these rambling thoughts. I guess we all have those days from time to time. Maybe I'll share more soon. In any case, thank you for being here. Have a lovely day, person.

The 8BitDo Pro 2 is great. Sturdy, comfy, excellent D-pad, gyro controls, analog triggers, a couple of programmable macros on the back if you're into that—it's an all-around great controller. Out of the box, it works with Switch, Windows, Apple, and Android, and a handy toggle on the back makes it very easy to swap between them. I do prefer asymmetrical analog sticks for most modern games, but if you're playing a D-pad-focused game like a platformer or 2D game, it's hard to go wrong here. The purple model here comes with little rubber thumb grips you can wrap over the analog sticks, but it's totally optional. I didn't think I'd like them, but they're actually quite nice.

That's about it. If you're in the market for a new controller, this one gets high marks from me. I've been using it for a few weeks now and have nothing but nice feelings about it.

Well, I finally beat Sonic Free Riders, a Kinect racing game that's actually a grueling exercise program in disguise. Your body is the controller, and you're at the whim of the Kinect's camera to read your movement. It was a journey, and I am thoroughly deceased. I've been pushed to exhaustion multiple times trying to get through this. You'll be leaning left and right, moving your arms around, ducking, jumping, spinning, kicking, punching, shaking an imaginary soda can, and awkwardly failing to navigate menus on your way to besting one of the strangest racing games ever made. For all its flaws, I can't say it wasn't a unique experience.

Now it's on to Sonic Colors :-)