and through and through
Nov. 3rd, 2019 10:01 amI didn't really go into details here like I hoped, but my vacation was delightful. I managed to get the rest I wanted, the exploration I wanted, the culture I (generally) wanted, the touch I craved, the artistic stimulation I adored. I brought my film camera and took one roll of color shots in some Seattle tourist spots and another roll in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach. I brought my laptop and prepped for then gave a talk about roguelike culture. I ate and drank and shopped pretty well, read a few books and went to a pretty good electronica show! I saw dear friends and comets and made new friends that I'm still corresponding with!
The landing afterwards was a bit rough, and not just because I was stuck on a cross-country plane with a faulty in-flight entertainment system, a stressed out cat behind me, and multiple crying babies. Work got really stressful in ways I'm still digging out of, much of which was my own fault; basically, I haven't been quite up to standard, because my stressed out brain has been in the way for much of the year. I'm working on fixing it but it's hard to stay focused, aka my eternal dilemma. :/ I am very low key looking for different work, probably still using my data analysis skill set, but other than one interview (on Halloween, no less!) haven't been taking it super seriously.
I really do want to keep up the energy from Roguelike Celebration. (Getting paid to research procedural generation culture would be The Dream, but I'm really doubtful I'll be able to pull that off anytime soon.) I've put a lot more into my bot (and of course its Mastodon mirror) than I had before, and I want to add a bit to it each day for ProcJam. As I said, I'm still corresponding with people I met then, and even went to a local event which was weird and cool. I'll hopefully start doing more with my less-personal blog![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kawatan but we'll see.
Tagalog class is almost over - there's two classes left - and I feel...weird? I dunno. It's one long class a week, so it's hard to feel like I'm making consistent progress. It's also a very explicitly political class, which on the one hand is kinda neat and on the other feels like it's in the way of working on the linguistic fluidity I want and hope for. But I will acknowledge the resources I've gotten from the class, both in terms of "here's a pile of vocab and some notes on how this actually plays out in the culture" and "did you know there's actually Fil-Am political organizations in NYC working their asses off in the grassroots?" is pretty valuable, so maybe that's enough for now. I still need to find actually-Tagalog (as opposed to primarily Taglish) resources I actually want to listen to, which is hard considering how picky I am with cultural objects in English! But that'll take time, I guess.
My mom also visited for a few days, which added to the stress, but it was thankfully quick and I was out of the Arena for most of it. I'll be visiting my parents (and friends) in Florida in a few weeks - I leave a full week before Thanksgiving and fly back Thanksgiving Day, which should give me time to see everyone, decompress a bit, enjoy the sunlight/warmth/humidity, and leave before the combination of parents and suburbia gets too much.
The PartnerBeast has been a champion at helping with all the stress, and is the best. <3 We've done our share of exploring as usual since I've been back, through Williamsburg and Forest Hills, and are considering formalizing our exploring specifically by looking at Thai restaurants in the city. More details as that develops.
PartnerBeast and I have been taking a break from our story game group, which is a bit of a shame, but I recognize it's at least partly a burnout prevention strategy. I'd really love to host a game at the Arena, either with PB running or something GM-lite I could facilitate, but that requires steady people to play with, which is always a concern. I did get to play Dungeons and Dragons for the first time in years (and Fifth Edition for the first time ever) while in Seattle, which was wildly fun!
Hope you're well, friends. <3
The landing afterwards was a bit rough, and not just because I was stuck on a cross-country plane with a faulty in-flight entertainment system, a stressed out cat behind me, and multiple crying babies. Work got really stressful in ways I'm still digging out of, much of which was my own fault; basically, I haven't been quite up to standard, because my stressed out brain has been in the way for much of the year. I'm working on fixing it but it's hard to stay focused, aka my eternal dilemma. :/ I am very low key looking for different work, probably still using my data analysis skill set, but other than one interview (on Halloween, no less!) haven't been taking it super seriously.
I really do want to keep up the energy from Roguelike Celebration. (Getting paid to research procedural generation culture would be The Dream, but I'm really doubtful I'll be able to pull that off anytime soon.) I've put a lot more into my bot (and of course its Mastodon mirror) than I had before, and I want to add a bit to it each day for ProcJam. As I said, I'm still corresponding with people I met then, and even went to a local event which was weird and cool. I'll hopefully start doing more with my less-personal blog
kawatan but we'll see. Tagalog class is almost over - there's two classes left - and I feel...weird? I dunno. It's one long class a week, so it's hard to feel like I'm making consistent progress. It's also a very explicitly political class, which on the one hand is kinda neat and on the other feels like it's in the way of working on the linguistic fluidity I want and hope for. But I will acknowledge the resources I've gotten from the class, both in terms of "here's a pile of vocab and some notes on how this actually plays out in the culture" and "did you know there's actually Fil-Am political organizations in NYC working their asses off in the grassroots?" is pretty valuable, so maybe that's enough for now. I still need to find actually-Tagalog (as opposed to primarily Taglish) resources I actually want to listen to, which is hard considering how picky I am with cultural objects in English! But that'll take time, I guess.
My mom also visited for a few days, which added to the stress, but it was thankfully quick and I was out of the Arena for most of it. I'll be visiting my parents (and friends) in Florida in a few weeks - I leave a full week before Thanksgiving and fly back Thanksgiving Day, which should give me time to see everyone, decompress a bit, enjoy the sunlight/warmth/humidity, and leave before the combination of parents and suburbia gets too much.
The PartnerBeast has been a champion at helping with all the stress, and is the best. <3 We've done our share of exploring as usual since I've been back, through Williamsburg and Forest Hills, and are considering formalizing our exploring specifically by looking at Thai restaurants in the city. More details as that develops.
PartnerBeast and I have been taking a break from our story game group, which is a bit of a shame, but I recognize it's at least partly a burnout prevention strategy. I'd really love to host a game at the Arena, either with PB running or something GM-lite I could facilitate, but that requires steady people to play with, which is always a concern. I did get to play Dungeons and Dragons for the first time in years (and Fifth Edition for the first time ever) while in Seattle, which was wildly fun!
Hope you're well, friends. <3