![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Weekend; The Day Job; Sneppers Return
Aug. 26th, 2024 11:00 am
Last week felt like lost time. I never really recovered from last Tuesday, but I have no one buy myself to blame for that. On the bright side, it's finally convinced me to make more of an effort with setting myself up for more virtuous feedback loops, so that's a good thing.
Friday night Magic was...baffling, but still a nice time. It was the first time I had broken out the Group Hug Commander deck Yeenpup and Grog bought for me, but I still don't have a good grasp on how the systems work. This is bad enough when it's just me trying to figure things out, but the pace of play for our three rounds didn't give me a lot of time to catch up on how my opponents were executing their strategies. Most of the time, I would watch them play a card and then just...do a bunch of shit based on obscure and Byzantine rules mechanics. I never had a prayer.
Before I go out to play again, I'll definitely need to take a look at what I've gotten to construct a more-playable deck. Out of the box, this Commander deck seemed to have a lot of trouble finding things to do in the early game, and I frequently got mana-locked out of playing cards in my hand. I'm not entirely sure how many lands I should have for this deck, but I get the feeling it's more than I had.
We went to a spot called The Guildhouse, a huge open area with some basic snacks and cocktails, a mountain of shared board games, and a pretty neat set-up for computer gaming and e-sports. The crowd was nice and geeky in a comforting way, though once it really got hopping I couldn't help but notice how few people were masked up. That...made me a little bit nervous.
Saturday was much quieter; I had big plans for the day job and burrow cleaning that never came to fruition. I've had a few too many days like these recently, so it's time to step up and change that. I'm learning just how important meditation is for me, so the basic idea is to make that habit my #1 priority for the short-term while adapting other activities to build mindfulness as a core component. Reading, for example, is something I could be engaging much more deeply with -- and should, if I'm looking to get back into writing. So instead of just reading chapters of "Watership Down", I'd like to get into the habit of annotating and commenting on it more often. At the very least, noting the things that really strike me, or that I'd like to use in my own writing, should be a common habit.
Sunday was a very good day. I started with a watch party for AEW All In, quite possibly their biggest show of the year. This was the second year in a row they held it at Wembley Stadium in London, and it's a very good choice; the British crowd really makes it special. The folks over at Heel Kaiju hosted the watch party, and it was the first time in a long while I was able to make it. I'm grateful I got to see Bryan Danielson (finally) win the World Championship before he retires for good, though I get the feeling he won't hold onto the belt for long.
I was working on some documentation for the day job at the same time, and finally finished my editing pass this morning. It feels good to dive into the weeds with this, get really finicky about words, and decide on a course of action that feels comprehensive and elegant. My *actual* work in the Quality Control queue suffered for this, so I'm hoping to use this week as a bit of catching up.
In the evening, Wahson came over for edibles and Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, which holds up well enough on my 3rd watch I have to consider it one of my favorite comedies. It's such a weird story that keeps you guessing, that has the right blend of quirkiness, absurdity, and earnestness, that keeps a surprise around every corner. :) We watched a couple of Dropout episodes, a Nicole Byer stand-up special, and chatted about a few things. All in all, a very good visit! I'm glad to have him as a friend; he challenges me in ways that make me a better person, and always gives me a lot to think about.
Sneppers will be back from Feral! tomorrow! I've missed him terribly, so it'll be very good to have him back in the States. Ratty should be heading back to family later this week, so I think we'll have a relatively quiet weekend -- though I'm sure it will fill up before I know it. If not, I'd definitely like to take it easy -- maybe bang out a baking project, get some reading done, or work on my D&D game. Of course, Ratty and Sneppers will be on me to keep going with Final Fantasy XIV, and who am I to refuse? :)
Friday night Magic was...baffling, but still a nice time. It was the first time I had broken out the Group Hug Commander deck Yeenpup and Grog bought for me, but I still don't have a good grasp on how the systems work. This is bad enough when it's just me trying to figure things out, but the pace of play for our three rounds didn't give me a lot of time to catch up on how my opponents were executing their strategies. Most of the time, I would watch them play a card and then just...do a bunch of shit based on obscure and Byzantine rules mechanics. I never had a prayer.
Before I go out to play again, I'll definitely need to take a look at what I've gotten to construct a more-playable deck. Out of the box, this Commander deck seemed to have a lot of trouble finding things to do in the early game, and I frequently got mana-locked out of playing cards in my hand. I'm not entirely sure how many lands I should have for this deck, but I get the feeling it's more than I had.
We went to a spot called The Guildhouse, a huge open area with some basic snacks and cocktails, a mountain of shared board games, and a pretty neat set-up for computer gaming and e-sports. The crowd was nice and geeky in a comforting way, though once it really got hopping I couldn't help but notice how few people were masked up. That...made me a little bit nervous.
Saturday was much quieter; I had big plans for the day job and burrow cleaning that never came to fruition. I've had a few too many days like these recently, so it's time to step up and change that. I'm learning just how important meditation is for me, so the basic idea is to make that habit my #1 priority for the short-term while adapting other activities to build mindfulness as a core component. Reading, for example, is something I could be engaging much more deeply with -- and should, if I'm looking to get back into writing. So instead of just reading chapters of "Watership Down", I'd like to get into the habit of annotating and commenting on it more often. At the very least, noting the things that really strike me, or that I'd like to use in my own writing, should be a common habit.
Sunday was a very good day. I started with a watch party for AEW All In, quite possibly their biggest show of the year. This was the second year in a row they held it at Wembley Stadium in London, and it's a very good choice; the British crowd really makes it special. The folks over at Heel Kaiju hosted the watch party, and it was the first time in a long while I was able to make it. I'm grateful I got to see Bryan Danielson (finally) win the World Championship before he retires for good, though I get the feeling he won't hold onto the belt for long.
I was working on some documentation for the day job at the same time, and finally finished my editing pass this morning. It feels good to dive into the weeds with this, get really finicky about words, and decide on a course of action that feels comprehensive and elegant. My *actual* work in the Quality Control queue suffered for this, so I'm hoping to use this week as a bit of catching up.
In the evening, Wahson came over for edibles and Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, which holds up well enough on my 3rd watch I have to consider it one of my favorite comedies. It's such a weird story that keeps you guessing, that has the right blend of quirkiness, absurdity, and earnestness, that keeps a surprise around every corner. :) We watched a couple of Dropout episodes, a Nicole Byer stand-up special, and chatted about a few things. All in all, a very good visit! I'm glad to have him as a friend; he challenges me in ways that make me a better person, and always gives me a lot to think about.
Sneppers will be back from Feral! tomorrow! I've missed him terribly, so it'll be very good to have him back in the States. Ratty should be heading back to family later this week, so I think we'll have a relatively quiet weekend -- though I'm sure it will fill up before I know it. If not, I'd definitely like to take it easy -- maybe bang out a baking project, get some reading done, or work on my D&D game. Of course, Ratty and Sneppers will be on me to keep going with Final Fantasy XIV, and who am I to refuse? :)
