There’s still a couple days left and I’m curious to hear what others have been playing.

A couple standouts I’ve played:

Tropico 7: I’m a pretty big fan (~360 hours in 6) so I was very excited to try the demo. It’s more Tropico, which is what I’m looking for! Some of the gripes I had with 6, like managing buses, have been smoothed over and I like the better visibility of how much money each citizen makes. I’m looking forward to the full release.

Beastfolk Barber: I tried this more to recommend to a couple friends since visual novels aren’t usually my thing, but this game is so cute! Customers come in, you spend a minute getting to know them, pick out some haircut options, then chat more while cutting their hair. I like that no customer overstays their welcome before leaving, and a couple of them were really endearing. I likely won’t play the full release myself, but I know a couple people I may gift it to.

What have you been playing?

This whole post is just going to be me complaining, as I don’t really need advice, I just want to air the feelings I’ve had the last few weeks. There’s also a lot of talk about weed.

I haven’t drank alcohol for 25 months now according to this app I have. It feels good, I’m healthier for it, and I don’t plan to start any time soon. Over that time I have continued to consume/smoke weed. It’s not great as it fills a similar hole as alcohol, but at least it won’t kill me the way alcohol killed my dad.

I’m now a few weeks into a two month break from weed to clear out my system to maximize my sperm count to freeze my sperm so I can start HRT without reservation, and it’s been weird. I’ve had a couple dreams where I got through drinking part of a can of beer. I get through part of it, realize I have to reset my counter, panic and start to grieve a little, then wake up and calm down as I realize it didn’t actually happen.

But the craving for some sort of inebriation is there. I organized my fraternity’s Founder’s Day event last weekend, and of the 11 RSVPs (already the lowest count I’ve seen) only 7 showed up. That was stressful and I couldn’t help feeling guilt. All I wanted was to put back a couple so I wouldn’t be able to feel those feelings, but I didn’t.

The thought has kept crossing my mind that I hate being sober. I hate dealing with my life stressors “the right way.” It’s probably a sign that it’s a good thing that I am sober, but it’s annoying. The anhedonia from stopping weed has started to ease up, but there’s a part of me that keeps looking forward to that next hit.

At least for today though, I’m not drinking and I’m not getting high. If you got through all that, thanks for reading.

Last weekend I helped my friend pack to move back home for graduate school. Afterward, she pulled out a desk chair she wasn't bringing and asked if my other friend or I wanted it.

My other friend said I sit at my desk more so I could have it. As I considered spending the next couple weeks comparing desks I jokingly asked "Hmm, is it a Herman Miller?" She checked the bottom and reported back "Yep, it is!"

[CW: Momentary excitement] This unexpected pronouncement interrupted my train of thought. I asked if she was sure I could have it, she said yes, and now I have a fancy desk chair.

I was expecting it to be comfortable to sit in and maybe help my posture. It does feel good to sit up straight, but the thing I wasn't expecting is how uncomfortable it feels to sit with bad posture in it. It has increased the frequency at which I fix my sitting position. Overall, pretty neat.

Psionics involve the use of the mind to alter or command reality, typically through some understanding of a deeper truth about the universe or command over a fundamental law of reality.

It's pretty cool, but I have trouble thinking of media where it takes a prominent role. The few examples that come to mind are:

Star Wars - The Force Mass Effect - Biotics/Element Zero technology Stellaris - Spiritualist Ethos Warhammer 40k - Psykers/Orks

What are some other examples of psionics in Sci-Fi?

This is the last trolley meme of this group in my collection. Tomorrow I will post the next non-trolley meme.

Some extra context for the curious: https://pdf.stafforini.com/parfit-1995-unimportance-identity.pdf