This is where I type words about big calculators and digital harm-reduction.
2021 - The Year(s) in review.
Fear and Loathing.
2021 has felt like one of the hardest decades of my life.
Each day wandered like a Lost Dog. Time as a flat circle.
Also, Nazis are back.
However, despite all the skies that have fallen, 2021 will at least serve as a catalyst for major change.
Personally, Globally, Politically, Literally, Figuratively, Inevitably, whatever-ly.
The year started with yet another unprecedented history defining event for me to witness.
As I watched a gaggle of hens swarm the US Capital on Jan. 6th, I felt that all-too-familiar feeling that nothing would ever be the same again. I was reminded of a passage from my favorite book that always rings my stomach when I read it…And I watched a Store-Brand version of the words unfolding in my nations capital.
At least this time the gravy seals didn’t manage to completely succeed in their primary objectives. But Jan. 6th was another swirl in the crooked spine the country has been growing into for the past ~40 years or so.
Call me old fashioned - but I miss the days when Nazis had uniforms.
There’s plenty of shit to spiral about.
Instead - I’m going to use this post to puke up some of the things I’ve found this year that have helped keep the good chemicals trickling into my brain.
Music:
Music has always been the fuel for the furnace inside my head.
I did my best to divide the above playlist by Genre, and give it a somewhat cohesive feel between the tracks.
Bo Burnham opens - since it captures some of the most deep-seeded thoughts and feelings I’ve endured this year.
Sludge-Metal has been my main-stay the past few years - mostly as a productivity tool for work. Nothing like Bludgeoning Riffs to lock-in the zone and drive the engines of ruin.
From there, it’s onto various hip-hop. Some of it meaningful, some of it brainless bops.
Next up is some math-y jams. All the benefits of Metal, but more dynamic.
From there things slow down a bit with some back catalogue indie / folk tracks that resonated with me for one reason or another.
I brought back a few math-y jams so the playlist doesn’t end on a whimper.
And Bo Burnham closes us out with two of his new tracks that help comedy adjust to it’s new home here in the pre-dystopia.
Games:
The Year of Disco.
Art by Aleksander Rostov.
I finally got to play Disco Elysium just before The Final Cut content released. I’m glad I got to experience the original game in full, partially because it made the quality of life features of The Final Cut that much more enjoyable.
There’s plenty written about Disco Elysium all over the internet. It’ll be hard to say anything meaningful that hasn’t already been said before by professionals.
In the spirit of showing, and not telling, here are a few moments I managed to tune my old corroded heartstrings:
This Clip managed to capture a very specific and nuanced pain-point that was wandering through my mind like lost fire…Which is the way a field as dynamic and interesting as technology has become plagued by myopic dullards that are more focused on the illusion of productivity, rather than innovation and progress.
Like many things in Disco, this scene is too visceral to be written from anything other than experience. I took solace that somehow, someone, somewhere made it out and were able to create something as impactful as Disco.
If they made it…maybe I can too. Cheers to the good life. Wherever it is, and whatever it happens to be.
Here we see a 180 into something more light-hearted, but just as well executed.
I’ve got hundreds of screenshots, and hours of captured footage. Rest assured that Disco will get it’s own dedicated post…one day…
The Year of the Dark Fort.
I always burn out of TTRPGs. IF a story manages to grip me, I usually become bored, overwhelmed, or both.
This often ends with low-key frustration as I sabotage the game in an attempt to kill off my character so that I’m no longer bound to carrying on the story of Hector Thewellen Dowd.
Enter MÖRK BORG - A blood-soaked lust-letter to TTRPGs, Graphic Design and Copy & Print.
Characters are not long for this world. So much so - the developers have provided an online Character Generator allowing your quest to churn ‘em and burn ‘em, No Limbs Strings Attached.
MÖRK BORG’s liberal and no-bullshit licensing means there’s a vast ocean of custom content from an incredibly active and talented community. So much content, it might be overwhelming where to start once you’ve mastered the basics.
For example, muh boi over at Newyear Studios has put out some of the highest quality and quantity content in the community with more on the way.
Watching my kindred spirit of 25+ years put out some of the highest quality TTRPG Content I’ve ever played on a professional level was the spoonful of sugar to make the heroine go down this year.
The House of Cards.
Speaking of forever-friends creating…
The Typhoid Mary of Good Vibes ElegantWeapon started up a new series on Twitch featuring unique and engaging hang outs each week.
Tuesday Nights became my sabbath. Watchin’ dem bois open 30 year old Tops Trading Cards from 90’s sitcoms was a religious experience and the most social fun I’ve had in years.
It was the kind of Internet I dedicate my life to building. The good-spirited and weird internet that brings people together.
The kind of internet where I can redeem fake internet points for a grown man to drunkenly commit to impersonating the most powerful Jedi.
