I love building games. From SimsStuff (anything, not just the dollhouse game), Tycoon Games, Minecraft, Subnautica, Ark, Rimworld, and Terraria (better known games) to the more obscure titles like Banished, Stonehearth, Planet Nomads (my current play), and Embark. If I can build I’ve probably at least watched a YouTuber play it. It very well might be on Steam wishlist or in my library. It’s my favorite genre. I really get involved in the single-player exploration and building games like Ark, Subnautica, Planet Nomad, and Raft. I love building bases, vehicles, and exploring. I love maximizing and minimizing (I have a super-efficient Raft build, it’s like 12 tiles and only 2 floors – Super proud of it). I love testing what the buildings can create. LOVE IT. I do have a frustration with some of these game designers (I’m gonna call out Planet Nomad, Planet Crafter, Rimworld, and especially Starbound and No Man’s Sky) for being too terra-centric in their thinking
Politics: Student Loans aren’t the issue (IMO)
I’ll be honest, part of my silence on my blog has been because what I want to talk about is politics and at the same time I don’t want to talk about politics… And I have a toddler and a full-time job. But this one, is driving me a little crazy. And it isn’t about the student loans themselves. The “Fact sheet” the White house put on the website reads like a liberal article on what needs to be done. I don’t know 100% this is all true, but I also can’t say they are lying. In the interest that smarter people than me say it’s true, I’ll trust the data listed (like “Since 1980, the total cost of both four-year public and four-year private college has nearly tripled, even after accounting for inflation.”). And yes – this shit needs to be addressed. Colleges are expensive. Loan rates are too high for entry level income. Blah Blah Blah. Go read someone
Review: Vainqueur the Dragon
My brother introduced me to one of the best/worst sites I have ever encountered. Royal Road is a site for people to post their fiction for others to read, rate, review, etc. I now have an official love/hate relationship because I am reading about 5 “ongoing” works and I want it all right now. But per my normal policy, I am sticking to reviewing a completed work. I ran across this one among the highly rated, complete works and gave it a try. It has it’s rough points and there were several things which I am confident had the entire manuscript been submitted to an editor, they would have caught/prevented/helped with. I went and bought it on Amazon after reading the beginning because I was enjoying the premise. I’m really glad I did because the audiobook narrator does a great job capturing the tone. The reason I enjoyed it is a simple concept of “leaning into the premise.” The premise
SCOTUS: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
I started over the weekend trying to write about this opinion. I couldn’t. I was too angry. My post was just angry. This decision was ugly and awful for a lot of reasons. And the one I AM going to talk about is the one which someone tried to use saying “it’s just like Brown v. Board overturning Plessy vs. Fergusen.” No. No, it really isn’t. In case you forgot, Plessy vs. Fergusen (in 1896) proposed that “separate but equal” was allowed. Racial segregation did NOT violate the Fourteenth amendment’s equal protection clause. By the 1950’s, this had been…. let’s called it “pushed the max.” Then we get Brown vs. Board of Education which is actually a collection of cases all arguing the same thing. “The plaintiffs contend that segregated public schools are not “equal” and cannot be made “equal,” and that hence they are deprived of the equal protection of the laws. ” (Brown vs. Board) They covered previous cases
read more SCOTUS: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
Something: Thoughts on Uvalde
This might be politics, it might be life events, it will contain some memories. I didn’t post anything on any kind of social media for days about this because it was painful. I am going to begin by saying this: I went to a school with a shooting. I went to Heritage High School, which in the spring of 1999 (1 month after Columbine) had a shooting. We were… blessed. 6 people were wounded and no one died. At the time, I was across the street at the middle school and we got locked down because… no one knew what to do. In high school I was friends with upper classmates who were there, and have PTSD (and yes, that’s present tense because decades later they keep seeing more children get shot and killed). The school itself was not a safe place for us. The building was dangerous. It was a giant potential concrete trap. We discussed how if a
Review: Media Bias Chart
This is a little different than my normal reviews. This is a review of a review (sort of). I have been watching/using this chart for several years now. The Ad Fontes media Bias Chart. Click here to look at the chart for yourself: https://adfontesmedia.com/ (I tried to link to the image but they have it VERY locked down and since I am more interested in writing than hacking, I’m not going to try to figure it out). I really enjoy looking at this chart semi-regularly and putting up my favorite sources to see where I am I getting my information. I noticed this past time… a weird, weird thing. You can kind of see it in the basic chart, but when I entered my 5 sources (all I can put in for free) it jumped out. Do you see it too? The LINE. There is a line right on that “middle bias” which exists. Now, go look at the big
Politics: Hiring Politicians
You know what I wish? I wish candidates couldn’t know who else was in the running for a position. I wish we could treat politicians like we treat job candidates. When I interview for a job, I have no idea about the other candidates. I have no idea if they are older, younger, more or less experienced. If they can just interview better – all I can do is present myself the best I can. I get to answer the questions and ask my own about the role. Then I leave and the people hiring me make the decision. I want to do that in politics. I am so sick of attacks on the other candidates. And I know this year is going to just be awful. I have no idea how to accomplish this, it very well might be impossible. The only way I can think to make it happen is this: if you want to be a candidate
Politics: Healthcare solutions I want
The big discussion on the left to implement universal (single-payer/government/whatever) healthcare does not address a few issues I have with the current system. This isn’t to say there aren’t valid argument in favor of universal (single-payer/government/whatever) healthcare, but this post I want to lay out some other aspects I believe need to be solved for. For the rest of this post I will just call the concept “universal healthcare” since there isn’t a more accurate term I know. Universal healthcare isn’t going to solve these and I think they are ALSO problems seeking good solutions. People Problems Universal healthcare doesn’t address the issue we have with getting high quality doctors, specialists, and nurses into the eco-system of the healthcare world. Every country I have looked at (Germany, Canada, Netherlands Japan, and the UK) ALL have issues with doctor shortages. I have heard for years and years how we can’t go to universal healthcare because “in the UK and Canada you
Review: Iron Widow
I meant to review this awhile ago, but life got in the way. This has been sitting in my Drafts folder for too long. I really wish I could read this book a second time before I review it. There is a lot to chew on and I hope on a second reading I’ll catch more. Edit ~3 months later – this is still true. I WILL read this a second time, when I have “spare time.” I found this author on YouTube when the new Mulan movie came out. She did a review of “historical accuracy and cultural influences.” She has now done both Mulan versions and some others. She also sometimes puts out historical tellings of Imperial China. One of these involved Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule as “emperor” of China. Fuuuun. So this book is an alternate world, the main character, Wu Zetian, is “based” on the actual empress. However, throw everything else about the
Life Events: Encyclopedia
I have encyclopedias that need a new home. A home that will love it as much as I do.
Dream by Day 