Posted on Saturday, December 31, 2011 at
It’s about that time of year again, when our culture collectively reflects on the past year. Or gets raging drunk, but I’m not doing that this New Years Eve.
So, what happened?
Got an internship at a "real" company, instead of applying for research positions like I had done the years previous. I started applying in earnest during winter break, getting my first phone interview ever in 2011 (this is surprising to me, from where I stand now).
Posted on Saturday, December 31, 2011 at
If I don’t review, then there’s really no point in keeping up the writing: hence, a brief look back and attempt at picking apart my writing.
The Reluctant Gamer A bit forced: the paragraph containing "all work and no play" could have been cut, but I wanted to include every phrase I thought might be included, instead of taking a butcher's knife to it. And the speculation over how hedeons work is pretty personal and mostly useless, since I haven't done the appropriate literature search.
Posted on Friday, December 30, 2011 at
I remember hiking through the woods, alone.
Which is somewhat surprising, because I was part of a big group of Boy Scouts, which started off hiking through the wilderness in single file. Then those faster pulled ahead, and the slower ones fell behind, and I eventually found myself trekking through quiet glades without a soul in sight (I recognize that this is not good hiking behavior, now; this was more than a few years ago).
Posted on Thursday, December 29, 2011 at
I previously said that I would finish off LIMBO and then start doing productive things: this turned out to be a false statement. Instead, it turns out that I wanted to game a bit harder than that (and Steam sales are crazy), and hence broke some of the self-imposed constraints that I detailed in the first winter break post just to batch through a few more games (theme of my life: batch through everything).
Posted on Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at
That. I lack it. There’s a part of me that whines that I don’t have any basis for saying this, that I need more data before I start flinging these thoughts and applying them to myself, but I think I’m getting better at seeing myself justify in real-time (who came up with rationalization as a synonym for justification? It bothers me), and I have to write something, so hey-yo!
Call it heroic responsibility, call it getting shit done, call it programming, muthafuckas.
Posted on Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at
A hammer of sensory overload, sailing through the after Christmas sales in a mall. Excited families, affectionate couples, clusters of children, a sea of humanity. I feel disoriented at times, garish tinsel and a wash of sound threatening to capsize my calm. I consider my options carefully, and we eventually make our way to the exits.
Later at home, I look at Zappos.com (yes, I am buying shoes). No forces try to upset this juggernaut: in fact, here I am in my element, where I don’t have to traverse the length of a mall to compare shoe styles and weigh their relative qualities in a frustratingly unknown utility function.
Posted on Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at
An anticipation before unconciousness, abrupt awakening awareness, undignified scampering, tearing of presents, hefty portions of food, and the end of a day well spent with family. Being together in a special time of thanks and wonder; this is the magic of Christmas.
When did we lose that magic?
We’re all grown up, now, adults or nearly so, having long ago shed our hallucinations of a jolly old man that delivered presents to the good and punished the bad (or only some of the hallucinations, but that post is for another day).
Posted on Monday, December 26, 2011 at
Sorry probably currently non-existent readers, I didn’t start writing early enough (since I don’t yet have a buffer), and now I’m too tired to put out a semi-okay post, or even a barely coherent post. I’ll put together two for tomorrow/today, especially since I’m done with the sometimes infuriating LIMBO, and I can resist the charms of Bastion for a while longer. Hopefully I’ll also make good headway with some of the apps I’ve been hoping to make.
Posted on Sunday, December 25, 2011 at
The first and second days: sacrificed to the gaming gods, they have. It was an easy enough pit to fall into, with what seemed to be a small niggling feeling that I “deserved to have a break”, and that gaming was the perfect way to spend that break. Then, after buying up some games (yes, crazy steam sales got me) and playing for an hour or two, the gaming mechanics hooked into me (have some points!
Posted on Friday, December 23, 2011 at
An approximation of a nightmare ends, and something new begins.
Now that I have the time and the equipment, let’s do something new:
Cook ALL the things: cook at least one thing a day. My cooking-fu is not nearly strong enough to survive on my own, so I need to level up quickly before I find myself alone in a New York apartment, wondering what to eat. Write ALL the things: write at least one post a day.