In the spirit of getting into the habit of posting here more often, I’ve decided to do a seasonal breakdown of things I like in a given year. These will be presented in no particular order. They may not even be things that came out this year, just things that I have enjoyed for the first time, or things I’ve revisited that spark joy. Anyway, let’s get on with it.
Film and TV
The Bear (Season 3)
What can I even say about this show that hasn’t extensively been covered by every media section in every major publication lately? Each new season finds a different way to make me cry, or clutch my hair due to referred stress, or — more often than not — laugh heartily.
Season 3 of the bear is less about the food and more about those who make it. The repeating motif of being trapped in the stress of an early morning after a night of poor sleep, paired with that same blue lighting that bathed Carmy during his freezer internment at the end of season 2 was incredibly evocative. I love this show, and I love the people who make it what it is.
I saw the TV Glow
It took me two visits to my local AMC to actually watch this all the way through. The first night I went to see it, I just wasn’t in the right headspace. The second time was absolutely enthralling. I won’t be going into detail, this is a film you need to see for yourself without expectations. Trust me on this.
Books
I’ve been on a bit of a cyberpunk kick lately, that much will come through in the admittedly short list of things I’ve read this summer.
The Sprawl Trilogy
I’ve had a paperback copy of Neuromancer by William Gibson sitting on my bookshelf for years now. Every time I’ve tried to get into it, I find myself bouncing off after the first few pages. Gibson’s opening description of the grey sky over Chiba being the color of a dead TV channel is so fantastic, I just knew if I gave the book a chance I would be hooked.
This summer I wound up picking up a copy of Neuromancer on my Kindle, and plowed through the entirety of it in a day. Over the three days following I’d finished the second and third books (Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive) and was already revisiting them via Audible.
This trilogy may be one of my absolute favorite series of books, and I highly recommend it.
The Secrets of Power Trilogy
I’ll get into Shadowrun later in the video game section of this post. I will have it be known that I’d never have considered reading these books if I hadn’t played the Shadowrun trilogy that I’d scrolled past so many times on the PlayStation Plus free game menu.
The Secrets of Power trilogy (Never Deal With a Dragon, Choose Your Enemies Carefully and Find Your Own Truth) isn’t anything groundbreaking. I’d actually rate it as pretty schlocky, but it was a fun kind of schlock to turn your brain off to. It follows Samuel Verner, later known by the street name Twist from his time as a corporate researcher through his burgeoning career in the shadows.
It’s pretty formulaic, and it leans pretty heavily on some tropes I’m not super fond of. However, I won’t deny that I had a good time.
Getting Things Done
Lmao fucking sike! I still haven’t read this damn book, but I will before the year is over I guess.
Games
There’s some new and some old in this section. It is what it is.
Shadowrun Trilogy
I absolutely fell head over heels for these games. They are linear CRPG games based in the Shadowrun universe. I really just had an absolute blast with each of them. I also played them massively out of order. I started with Shadowrun: Dragonfall, then Shadowrun: Hong Kong, and finally Shadowrun Returns; second, third, then first in order of release. Don’t judge me.
In Dragonfall, things start simply enough. You’ve fled your previous haunting grounds in Seattle for the Flux State of Berlin. Anarchy is the name of the game here, and you’ll find no shortage of it. Your first job with an old friend is supposed to be a milk run — they never really turn out to be that easy. Best friend bites the dust, but now you’re in charge of her crew after finding yourself in the crosshairs of a powerful ancient dragon, Feuerschwinge. What’re you gonna do now?
In Hong Kong you’ve been called to meet your adoptive father after you’ve spent the past several years in corpo prison. Shit goes sideways and it seems as though daddy dearest may be dead. In this game your character has to navigate a completely unfamiliar setting with no backup, no contacts, save for the ones you’re able to scrounge up on the fly through necessity.
In Returns, an old buddy you used to run with has been killed. You get hired by his electronic ghost to solve his murder for a pretty choice payday. What could go wrong?
As with the Shadowrun novelizations I mentioned above, there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking here. They were a good bit of fun to bop around in, and had more than one emotionally moving moment apiece. If you like the idea of a game set in a cyberpunk near future where you can find creatures of fantasy, this isn’t a bad way to spend your time.
Animal Crossing New Horizons
I’m only just recently starting my Animal Crossing island (Atollogy, baybee) from scratch. What can I say, it’s a fun part of my morning routine before getting ready for the day. In a time when I’m working more on building structured routine, adding a game where you can only do so much in a day is a bit of a no-brainer.
Prey
Another game that definitely wasn’t released this year. Similar to Neuromancer, I bounced off this a few times over the years pretty early on. My problem was that I wasn’t looking at this game like an immersive sim. Once I started thinking about it like I would classic Deus Ex, things started to click into place. I’m nowhere near beating it, I die a lot. However, I feel as though I’m learning something new each time.
I love a game that rewards you for paying attention.
Coffee Golf
This is just a little daily iOS game I play. My buddy Jason recommended it not too long ago, and it’s become part of my morning routine at this point. It does what it says on the tin, a tiny golf course that you can play while taking a few sips of coffee. I most often play on the front porch when I’m enjoying the first cigarette of the day. It’s nice. 9/10 would recommend.
Misc
Here’s the stuff that doesn’t really fit with the other categories that I’m digging.
New Coffee Shop
There’s a new_ish_ coffee shop that opened in town. It opened about a year and a half ago, but I only recently went in for the first time. Best cortado I’ve had outside of Werewolf Coffee in Chicago. Will not be naming for OPSEC reasons. Call me a gatekeeper if you want.
Apple Watch Ultra 2
I had fallen off the Apple Watch game for so fucking long. I don’t even know what initially compelled me to want the Ultra 2 in the first place. It was probably seeing it on Adam Savage’s wrist during an episode he did for his YouTube channel, Tested.
The battery life is one of the best things about this watch. Being able to go 3-4 days without needing to charge it for longer than the duration of a shower each day is a game changer when it comes to this line of products.
I’ve been using it as motivation to keep doing my morning walks every day. those Activity Rings can be a powerful motivating factor.
Cortex Theme System Journal
I’ve written a short blog post about this journal here. Mostly just including it in the list because it’s something I use every day and it’s been helping to keep the demon dogs at bay. If you want to try it, you can find it on google.
Keychron K7 Keyboard
I just really enjoy using this keyboard. It’s probably one of the most comfortable boards I’ve ever owned, and I have been converted from the loud clicky cherry blue switches to brown switches. It’s a delightful keyboard to write on, and I now own two. one is permanently attached to my Mac and the other is connected to my iPad Pro (where most of this blog post was drafted).
The Nonbinary Mustache
I was looking for a bit of a change this year and decided to start wearing a mustache. I love it. Let’s see how long that lasts.
Conclusions
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hope you liked what I posted. See you all in Fall!