Categories
books reviews

Reviewing the Xteink X4 – A Personal Reading Renaissance

So I’m a fan of books. Big books, little books, readable books and even the obscenely-difficult-at-least-for-me books (I’ve never read more than 50 pages of Infinite Jest, it’s a BEAST), having books around is… comforting. Digital books have been a wonderful addition, and carrying around a library with me has both brought down my reading costs and any closet space for those pesky “clothes” I’ve heard so much about.

But last year, Amazon announced that you wouldn’t be able to download your books to your computer anymore, which was the way the average person could make sure they didn’t lose their digital purchases. Anything purchased after that, or if you didn’t back up your purchases in time, and they were just a “license” to read. And as someone that loves some full shelves, that simply doesn’t sit right with me. When I bought them, I assumed that meant I would always have them, like a physical book. I’ve been in that ecosystem for around 15 years after buying my first Kindle Fire tablet in 2011, so I had a solid library built up that I could “lose my licenses” to read from.

So, I backed up my purchases on my computer before the deadline, and decided to retire my various Kindle models. Reading on my smartphone was never as satisfying, so I’ve read less since I stopped carrying an e-ink device with me. It took a year, but I’ve finally found the replacement that works for me.

Continue reading “Reviewing the Xteink X4 – A Personal Reading Renaissance”
Categories
big questions life religion

(Choosing) My Religion

Love this song.

I may have told this story here before, but when I was about 10 or so, I was kicked out of Sunday school for the only time I ever attended. When the instructor asked if anyone had any questions, I raised my hand. The story of “Noah’s Ark” was new to me, so I had PLENTY of questions, and she rebuffed all of them before kicking me out of the room.

When my mother asked what happened, I told her what happened. She’d always told me to ask if I didn’t know something, so when I explained the experience, I figured I wouldn’t be in outright trouble, but I was worried how she might respond.

What she said was: “Do you want to get ice cream?”

And that’s when I knew that if I was going to find some kind of faith, or religion, or spirituality, it was going to be up to me. So since what I’d been exposed to wasn’t going to work, as an adult, I’ve created my own.

Continue reading “(Choosing) My Religion”
Categories
doodles

Doodles and Dawdles

In the nine or so months since I’ve last shared anything, plenty has changed in my life; new work places, new moves, more non-contact with harmful people, dealing with new and old traumas. But there’s no need to linger on those things right now. I’m in a better mental and physical place than I was when I exited a micromanaging and toxic environment. Part of that was thanks to the cows, but another discovery helped get me through unemployment and job searches, and it’s something I never thought I’d get any attention doing.

Turns out, with some practice and openness, anybody can be an artist somehow. Even me.

Continue reading “Doodles and Dawdles”
Categories
life

“The best part? The cows.”

Three weeks. That’s the shortest amount of time I’ve ever been unemployed. The day I was let go from my most recent job, I was contacted by a temp agency within a few hours of getting home. I guess I could argue I was “unemployed” for even less time.

While I was working my previous job however, I knew from the first day on the job that something was amiss. A week or two in, and I was aware I should be looking for something else. And while I searched, that left me with one thing to look forward to every day I commuted to work.

And that was the cows.

Continue reading ““The best part? The cows.””
Categories
games life

Personal Games: Disgaea 2 (PSP)

I went on my honeymoon this year, after over three years of being married and saving, to Tokyo. I’d been before in 2008 for a meager three days, making the most of a situation I had dreamed about for so much of my life, and something I’d never thought I would be able to do. But there I was walking the streets of Akihabara to buy games I couldn’t read the language of, fascinated by the culture shock and plethora of lights and sounds from every street. It was heavenly.

While I was there this time with my wonderful wife I bought more games (no surprise there), and to my surprise, I stumbled into a couple at a second-hand store. As a terrible victim of nostalgia, I had to take them back to the US with me as a long-loved symbol of a trouble era of my life. I’d put in the work and rebuilt my life and mental health off the back of one.

That game was Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days.

Continue reading “Personal Games: Disgaea 2 (PSP)”