I track various things I do and consume by month.

May 2025
  • ๐Ÿ“š Completed reading Perelandra by C.S Lewis
    I've read this book many times, as it is one of my all time favorites. Being on a SciFi kick recently, Iโ€™m struck by how dominant the humanistic & atheistic worldviews are in this genre. Itโ€™s as though God cannot exist in space. As a result Lewis' christian perspective is a breath of fresh air. Being a believer myself probably helps with that, though even I am stretched by the 'Space Theology' presented! I will always love the floating islands of Perelandra, Ransom, the Green Lady, and all the other inhabitants of the new Eden. I can only pray that no one tries to ruin this story by adapting it into some trash movie.
  • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Completed playing Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order by Respawn
  • ๐Ÿ“š Started reading Dracula by Bram Stoker
  • ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ Completed listening to The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One: Arc 1 by Worlds Beyond Number
  • ๐Ÿ“š Completed reading A Profound Waste of Time Issue 2 by Lots of people
  • ๐Ÿ“š Started reading Daggerheart Core Rulebook by Daggerheart team
  • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Started playing Playdate: Season 2 by Panic & friends
April 2025
March 2025
  • ๐Ÿ“š Completed reading Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
    The 2 stories in this book act as a foil to the first foundation books near religious myth of Hari Seldon and his Psychohistory. It explores the limits of what we can predict about humans, and the power of an individual's actions. In general I think this makes things more interesting, and more grounded. The characters in this book are also in many ways like I was as a reader. We had expectations about Hari's grand plan, and Asimov exploits that for some really cool reveals. I was genuinely surprised at the ending of part 2, and wish I had others I could talk to about it! Unrelated, while reading this book I had the realization that it (along with the first foundation, and the father brown short stories) consisted of almost entirely conversations. Action was talked about, but rarely happened in the scene. It's amazing what good dialog can do. 8/10 Psychohistorians would sardonically recommend this book.
  • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Completed playing a Hat in Time by Gears for Breakfast
    Thereโ€™s not much new for me to say about this one. Itโ€™s a super fun platformer with unique ideas and a camera that likes to get in the way. The way you unlock new 'Worlds' before you fully complete all the events in the previous ones keeps things super fresh. It reminds me a lot of Super Mario Galaxy, which is a really good thing! I would recommend skipping the 'Seal the Deal' DLC, as its new world is by far the weakest. Also, I did not go into this game expecting a good story, but even what's there doesn't make a ton of sense. Ah well.
  • ๐Ÿ“š Started reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  • ๐ŸŽน Completed composing a song called 'Islands of Forgotten Spirits'
  • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Started playing SIFU by Sloclap
  • ๐ŸŽน Completed composing a song codenamed 'Winter Walk'
  • ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ Continued listening to The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One: Chapter 1 by Worlds Beyond Number
February 2025
  • ๐Ÿ“š Continued reading Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
  • ๐ŸŽน Started composing a song codenamed 'Winter Walk'
  • ๐Ÿ“š Abandoned reading MicroPython on Raspbery Pi Pico by Gareth Halfacree, Ben Everard
  • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Completed playing Ratchet and Clank 2016 by Insomniac Games
    This game is the perfect example of how you can have great individual parts that don't come together. The graphics are pretty, gameplay is fun chaos, and there's some really witty writing. However, it's how these elements are tied together... or don't... that just makes the whole game feel like I skipped an important cutscene. Maybe its the loading screens right after playing Uncharted 4, or how you just get dropped into a level, or how they very clearly just jammed in some clips from the movie that don't line up with the actual gameplay, or how the bosses are just big boring damage sponges. Its fine, and I finished it, but I honest don't know how this game got such good reviews. Maybe the new one is better?
  • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Started playing a Hat in Time by Gears for Breakfast
  • ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ Continued listening to The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One: Chapter 1 by Worlds Beyond Number
January 2025
  • ๐Ÿ“š Completed reading Starting Forth by Leo Brodie
  • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Completed playing Mind Over Magnet by GMTK (Mark Brown)
    On face value this is a straightforward and short puzzler. What makes it special are the 3 years of development videos by Mark Brown. The game becomes better after watching them. Plus, the hint system is genuinely great. They're actually hints!... instead of just the solution.
  • ๐Ÿ“š Started reading Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
  • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Completed playing Selfloss by Alex Goodwin
    Selfloss suffers from what I'll call 'double vision'. Multiple classes of mechanics are doubled up, or just redundant. There are 2 health bars and 2 ways of healing. In a game this light on combat you only need 1. There's a run button that never gets used mechanically.. just make the character run faster by default! This is really noticeable since the default walk speed feels like moving through molasses. Almost all the puzzles and combat focus around the old man's magic light staff, great! But for some reason there's also this melee sickle attack which frankly feels bad to use. Get rid of that sickle! The game as a whole I think would be better if it simplified and focused on fewer mechanics. This would probably help with the game's general lack of polish. Stuff like scene transitions, animations, and story feel incomplete.
  • ๐ŸŽน Planning on composing a song codenamed 'winter walk'
  • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Started playing Cave Story by Pixel
  • ๐Ÿ“š Started reading MicroPython on Raspbery Pi Pico by Gareth Halfacree, Ben Everard
  • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ Completed playing Uncharted 4: A Thief's End by Naughty Dog
    SPOILERS AHEAD! The standout part of this game for me was the full Madagascar sequence. It had that wide linear level design I love so much, with a crazy bonkers chase sequence ending that left me and my wife laying awake in bed with an adrenaline high. It had puzzles, platforming, and action all perfectly balanced together into peak 'Uncharted'. Those 3ish hours alone are worth the price of entry. I also really liked the plot point of Nathan lying to Elena. Its refreshing when main characters make bad decisions, deal with their consiquences, and learn from them. Also props to the writers for portraying a strong 'for better or for worse' marriage.
  • ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ Started listening to The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One: Chapter 1 by Worlds Beyond Number
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024