Update 01

by JLH | 2021-06-16

So, it’s been a couple months since I’ve touched the site, and holy crap I’m acutely aware of becoming the least interesting man in the world with these “blog” “posts”, but whatever.

Basically, I’m in my final year of high school and I’ve got my final exams ahead of me which I kind of want to do well in. I’m doing pretty well, all things considered, but there is room for improvement. It’s probably the wrong time to “take it easy” is all I’m saying. I might stop by here to unwind when I need to though.

Ah, what the hell, writing this update is an act of procrastination in itself, lol. I’ve got homework sitting on my desk as I type. What are my priorities… I should ask myself that question more often…

Right. So, even though I just finished a round of assessments, we’re already getting timetables for the next round of assessments in a couple of months, and then after that the actual final exams. The big ones. The three letter acronym ones. The ones For Realsies. I’ll be free from school altogether by December, but, for now, I’m feeling the heat.

Maybe I’m worrying too much about this! I probably am! And, even though I am worrying about it so much, I still consistently choose to act in ways that don’t help!! There are a few people I can talk to about all this, though, so I’ll probably be fine.

God. Anyway, I might as well come clean about the articles I actually want to publish on this site. Those would be:

Basically that’s the kind of writing I plan to have on this site. You have been warned! No guarantees that I end up actually finishing any or all of those, though. Seems par for the course for the Internet, really. “I’m going to do this!” The hell you are, buddy.

Oh yeah, I also made some minor cosmetic changes to the site and moved it all over to Jekyll so I don’t have to hand-edit all the HTML all the time.

Where does that leave us? Well, I recently watched The Big Lebowski for the first time recently. What a film. Just… masterful characterisation. Really puts the cinematography to use. And genuinely hilarious. I’m a sucker for absurdist, surreal shit, and it fell right in that sweet spot for my personal taste. But, I mean, it never gets fully surreal, it stays within the sort of suspension of disbelief most comedies go with. It’s just the vibe, I guess. The cinematography and editing plays a large part in that, I suppose. But also the acting. I’m not a film buff, if that wasn’t obvious; I just liked the film and want to explain why, to show appreciation of some sort. I don’t know. I overthink things.

As for other media I’ve been enjoying since I had my last assessment last week, I started VA-11 Hall-A and just reached Chapter 2 today. It’s a very nice visual novel with lively characters but also a real expression of all the feelings that come mixed up in living in this modern, technological, industrial world that still has all the problems of crime and general bastardry despite the smartphones and billboards. Well, that’s cyberpunk for you, I guess. It just has a lot of heart to it, you know? My cousin noticed I was playing it on Steam and messaged me about it (he’s played it through twice already and really enjoyed it) so that was nice to connect over. He’s always been really into game design so he had some things to say on that.

The game has a bangin’ OST. It’s the dream retro visual novel/cyberpunk synth ear sugar you need. Fits the atmosphere of the game very well.

Finally, Watchmen caught my eye in the school library today. The graphic novel, that is. I read the first chapter during my free period and was hooked so I borrowed it. I’m not super familiar with superhero stuff in general so perhaps the finer points of the deconstruction of the genre might be lost on me, but there’s definitely some depth to it.

Funny – I’m playing a game in an alternate future and reading a comic about an alternate past. Too bad I’m stuck in the same old present. (I’m 14, and this………. is deep.)