Remember, when I used to update this thing? Yeah, me either. I have about four or so half-written posts that I have been meaning to finish, but the scope always goes way outside what I can reasonably do without it feeling paralyzing. I am going to endeavor to post some things that have been bouncing around. Mostly summaries of the past year (yes, in April), but I want to see if I can get them all in manageable chunks. I hope to have the first one done in the next day or so (not April Fools) if only to relieve some of the guilt I’m feeling about not posting for so long.
Author: Matthew
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The Check-In. May 2018.
Already half way into June, I guess this is better than not doing it at all, probably.
Political Stuff
To be honest, I’ve taken a break this month from political stuff. Not entirely, and not on purpose. My body must have just sensed I needed a break. I have a backlog of stuff I need to take care of now, and a mountain of guilt to work through. There were lots of fits and starts, but I could not get it together to work on things.
There is actually a lot on my mind with the state of things currently, but I think that warrants a separate post because it would really just consume this, and I want to focus on that. There is just so much fucked up stuff going on at the moment in the country. Separating children from their families?!? Cages?!? These are human beings you absolute monsters.
Podcast
We’ve recorded and released a second podcast now. I’ve really enjoyed recording these, and this is like my only outlet to talk about game development. I hope to record another one this weekend. The goal is monthly.
Streaming
Tim and I continue to stream on Twitch and archive on YouTube. If you can, catch it live, or on the Twitch VOD. The bitrate on Twitch is so much better than YouTube. YouTube crunches stuff down so badly.
We have been streaming Sonic Mania recently and those have been some really fun episodes. We even had a sitcom style mix-up in the last recording session. What a pair!
Combo Breaker
I also was lucky enough to attend my first fighting game major this year, Combo Breaker. Firstly, thanks to my friend Taylor for the heads up and for being a travel partner, wouldn’t have done it without his instance. I’ve been watching fighting game streams and tournaments for years, but never anything live. It was cool to see fighting game legends in person. I was just there as a spectator because I’m garbage at fighting games, but even just watching everything was intense. Like sports, it’s different when you are there in person. It felt like a sporting event as well. There are crowds cheering, energy in the room with close match-ups, and even armchair theorists pontificating on what the player should be doing. I hope to go to it, or something like it (EVO!) again. There was even a proposal after SSF2T grand finals!
In the moments of downtime, we met up with a guy who hosts a podcast, No Cartridge, which I hadn’t heard before, but Taylor DM’d him on Twitter when he found out he was going to be there. Super cool guy, and after I heard it, really good podcast as well.
Since we were close-ish, we went to the best arcade, Galloping Ghost. I try to go there a couple times a year, just because it’s so cool. A staggering collection of arcade games, all on free play just $20 for a whole day. Can’t recommend enough if you are ever near Brookfield, IL.
Wedding!
My friends got married! They are fantastic and I love them, and they are perfect.
Running and fitness
I am continuing my journey to kill myself break my previous records.
I started taking Wednesday mornings to run a half before work and managed to do that for three weeks in a row. I’m not going to lie and say it’s easy. It’s a bear. I usually have to get up at 4:30 am and get out the door by 5 to get back, showered, and fed before work. Doing regular half-marathons is not something I’ve ever something I imagines being able to do, so it’s really cool and gratifying to see the time I’ve poured into this having a demonstrable effect.
Outside of the health benefits physically, long distance runs like that do wonders to calm my anxiety. I’ve probably talked about this somewhere in this blog before but running is meditative for me. All I need to focus on in the moment is moving forward. If I’m not listening to podcasts or audiobooks, I can throw on music and just let my mind drift. It helps process whatever I’m dealing with at that time. I know myself, and I know if I’m just sitting around, I will not allow myself the time to work through things; the stresses and responsibilities of whatever I need to do will take precedence. Running is a good forcing function.
I feel like half my blog posts are just, “Everyone, I like running, it’s good.”
But may I pose the following:
I like running, it’s good.
May 2018 Total: 82.2 Miles
May 2017 Total: 54.0
Difference May 2017 to May 2018: +28.2 Miles
Difference 2017 to 2018 to Date: +204.9 Miles
I’ve debated releasing this publicly, but I finally conceded that I can’t hide this valuable information away. That would just be selfish. These are techniques that are used in the field and have been battle-tested through hundreds of presentations. In this modern world effectively communicating our ideas is more important than ever.
Now, I had just learned these facts before my presentation at Dimescon 2018 (aka Jeff’s Birthday Presentation Party for Cool and Cooler People). This is the reason I did not implement many of them in my own presentation. I have been practicing them since then, and I promise you they have made a world of difference.
Please, drink from the cup of knowledge.
(God, I’m such a dork.)