Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous things
For this page I am going to keep track of various things I am doing, in list form
A selection of current podcasts I am listening to
- Ologies
- Stuff You Should Know
- The Art of Manliness podcast
- StarTalk
- Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
2024
Games I have beaten
- Feb 12 - Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon - PC
- Beaten Balatro on Switch a few times. Hard to determine a “victory” state… first win, get all decks, etc.
- Mar 10 - A Little to the Left - PC
- Apr 7 - Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - PC
- Apr 30 - Islets - PC
- May 5 - Down in Bermuda - Android
- May 26 - Cricket Through The Ages - PC
- June 4 - Chants of Sennaar - PC
- June 23 - Murder by Numbers - Switch
- July 3 - [the] Gnorp Apologue - PC
- July 15 - Please Touch the Artwork 2 - PC
- Sept 10 - Cocoon - PC
- Sept 17 - Octopath Traveler - PC
- Main stories have been completed. Unsure if I want to go for the “true ending”
- Sept 22 - SteamWorld Dig - PC
- Sept 30 - Camouflage - UFO 50 - PC
- UFO 50 is a collection of 50 full-length 1980s-style games. I’m going to include beaten games that have a endpoint in this list.
- Oct 4 - Mooncat - UFO 50 - PC
- Oct 5 - SteamWorld Dig 2 - Switch
- Oct 5 - Florence - Android
- Oct 7 - Detective Grimoire - PC
- Nov 3 - POOLS - PC
- Nov 4 - Omaze - Playdate
- Nov 20 - The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story - Switch
- Nov 27 - Rusty Lake Hotel - Android
- Dec 2 - Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred - PC
- Dec 24 - Proverbs - PC
Books I have read
- Jan 11 - The Humbugs of the World - P.T. Barnum
- July 5 - The Judas Strain - James Rollins
- July 14 - Hocus Pocus - Kurt Vonnegut Reading some big collections of books so this will probably be empty for a while
- Sept 5 - The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Four novels, fifty-six short stories
- Oct 31 - The Complete Shakespeare Collection
- This collection had 37 plays, 4 long poems, and 154 sonnets. There are discrepancies in his overall body of work in terms of what he wrote
- Nov 4 - Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore - Patric Richardson
- Nov 19 - Preacher: Book 1 - Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon
- Comic book collection. This one issues 1-12
- Nov 21 - The Absolute at Large - Karel Čapek
- Dec 18 - Take Your Eye Off the Ball (v2.0) - Pat Kirwan
- Dec 19 - Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees
2023
Games I have beaten
- Jan 22 - Monument Valley 2 - Android
- Jan 29 - OK Golf - Android
- Unlocked and played all courses
- Feb 7 - Pentiment - PC
- Feb 24 - Sports Story - Switch
- Mar 7 - Hexcells Infinite - PC
- Apr 15 - The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog - PC
- Apr 30 - The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures - Switch
- May 7 - Trombone Champ - PC
- May 7 - Saturday Edition - Playdate
- Jun 4 - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Switch
- Jun 10 - Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Final Bar Line - Switch
- Basically played enough to get the credits, but I will be finishing every song eventually.
- Jun 26 - Platonic - PC
- Jul 10 - Boneraiser Minions - PC
- Beat final boss first time
- Jul 14 - The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve - Switch
- Jul 25 - Diablo IV - PC
- Aug 14 - Words for a Bird - Android
- Aug 22 - Tangle Tower - PC
- Sep 3 - Casual Birder - Playdate
- Sep 5 - Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate - PC
- Sep 8 - Strange Horticulture - PC
- Sep 10 - NieR: Automata - Switch
- Got all main story endings
- Sep 22 - Resonant Tale - Playdate
- Sep 30 - Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Switch
- Verdant Wind route
- I played most of this in 2021, and just resumed where I left off after my 2+ year hiatus
- Oct 17 - Storyteller - PC
- Nov 23 - Super Mario RPG (remake) - Switch
Books I have read
- Jan 8 - The Bands of Mourning: A Mistborn Novel - Brandon Sanderson
- Jan 8 - The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
- Jan 30 - Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man - Emmanuel Acho
- Feb 26 - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court - Mark Twain
- Mar 1 - Foundation - Isaac Asimov
- Mar 5 - One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez
- Mar 13 - Mistborn: Secret History - Brandon Sanderson
- Mar 21 - Völsunga Saga - Anonymous
- Apr 27 - The Riddle of the Sands - Erskine Childers
- May 3 - Bartleby, the Scrivener - Herman Melville
- May 6 - The Lost Metal: A Mistborn Novel - Brandon Sanderson
- May 29 - And the Waters Turned to Blood - Rodney Barker
- This was a book I was required to read for a college class, but I maybe only read a third of it. Nice to finally do my assignment 15 years later.
- Jun 18 - The Crystal Shard (The Legend of Drizzt: Book 4) - R.A. Salvatore
- Jul 22 - SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance - Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J Dubner
- Jul 31 - The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
- Aug 13 - Candide - Voltaire
- Aug 22 - Bluebeard, the Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916–1988) - Kurt Vonnegut
- Sep 4 - Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Edgar Allan Poe
- Collection of 22 short stories
- Sep 21 - Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Oct 27 - John Silence: Physician Extraordinary - Algernon Blackwood
- Nov 19 - Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
- Nov 20 - Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
- Dec 4 - Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
- Dec 18 - The Light Fantastic: A Novel of Discworld - Terry Pratchett
2022
Games I have beaten
- Jan 3 - Jazzpunk - PC
- Jan 17 - Simulacra - PC
- Jan 23 - Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise - Android
- Feb 13 - Carto - PC
- Feb 13 - Monument Valley - Android
- Just the base game. Going to play the expansion but will not record it as a “win”
- Mar 12 - The Solitaire Conspiracy - PC
- Mar 18 - A Short Hike - PC
- Mar 21 - Aperture Desk Job - PC
- Mar 23 - Paper Mario: The Origami King - Switch
- Apr 25 - Final Fantasy IX - PC
- I beat this lots of times as a kid. Decided to buy and replay it after I learned there were mods for PC that let you recruit a new party member and let you pretty up the graphics.
- May 28 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch
- May 30 - Hexcells - PC
- Jun 2 - Mom Hid My Game 2 - Switch
- Jun 21 - The Looker - PC
- Jun 25 - Squarecells - PC
- Jul 1 - Please Touch the Artwork - PC
- Jul 17 - Vampire Survivors - PC
- Beat final boss
- Jul 31 - Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus - PC
- Aug 7 - Pulpergeist - Playdate
- Aug 10 - Hexcells Plus - PC
- Aug 12 - Chicory: A Colorful Tale - PC
- Aug 14 - Crosscells - PC
- I sort of cheated on two of the final end-game puzzles (out of 50 total), since my brain just wasn’t working and I wanted to move on.
- Aug 31 - Hades - Switch
- First clear on attempt 46
- Oct 1 - Taiji - PC
- Oct 1 - Borderlands 3 - Stadia
- Nov 7 - Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County - PC
- Dec 5 - Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Switch
- Dec 12 - Beyond Eyes - PC
Books I have read
- Jan 22 - The Bat - Jo Nesbø
- Feb 13 - The Atopia Chronicles - Matthew Mather
- Mar 21 - All Quiet of the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque
- I actually read this in college, and quite enjoyed it. Bought it a few years ago to read again because it felt like a re-read.
- I also read the entire book today. Waiting around in jury duty will compell you to do that.
- Apr 11 - The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy
- May 8 - Digital Minimalism - Cal Newport
- May 15 - A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
- Jun 6 - The Law of Alloy: A Mistborn Novel - Brandon Sanderson
- Jul 23 - Amazonia - James Rollins
- Aug 9 - The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
- A book I was assigned to read in college, but never finished it. Unfinished business complete!
- Aug 17 - Galápagos - Kurt Vonnegut
- Sep 6 - Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
- Sep 14 - Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
- Oct 5 - Shadows of Self: A Mistborn Novel - Brandon Sanderson
- Oct 29 - South - Sir Ernest Shackleton
- Nov 3 - Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence - Anna Lembke
- Nov 19 - My Man, Jeeves - P.D. Wodehouse
2021
Games I have beaten
- Jan 2 - Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - PC
- Feb 10 - ABZU - Switch
- Feb 26 - Wattam - PC
- Apr 17 - Halo: Anniversary Edition - PC
- Apr 20 - Halo 3 - PC
- Apr 24 - Persona 5 Strikers - Switch
- Apr 30 - We Were Here - PC
- Jun 18 - The Room - Android
- Jul 3 - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion - Switch
- Jul 7 - Dissembler - Android
- Aug 18 - Halo 3: ODST - PC
- Aug 19 - Halo 2: Anniversary Edition - PC
- Aug 23 - Contradiction - PC
- It’s a neat full-motion video murder-mystery game
- Sep 8 - What the Golf - PC
- Sep 11 - Warioware: Get it Together - Switch
- Sep 14 - Picross S - Switch
- Sep 20 - Halo: Reach - PC
- Sep 21 - TOEM - PC
- Oct 7 - Halo 4 - PC
- Nov 18 - Binding of Isaac: Repentance - Switch
- Hit an ending with credits. Given the difficulty of the game, I was content to call that a win (though I’m still gonna go for more)
- Nov 26 - Gnosia - Switch
- Dec 3 - Wavetale - Stadia
- Dec 23 - The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game - PC
- Dec 27 - Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard - PC
- Dec 31 - Tales of Arise - PC
Books I have read
- Jan 17 - Subterranean - James Rollins
- Feb 6 - Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
- Mar 6 - I Will Teach You To Be Rich - Ramit Sethi
- Mar 21 - Gulliver’s Travels - Jonathan Swift
- Apr 6 - Robert Sheckley Megapack
- 14 short stories and 1 novel
- Apr 27 - Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives - Mark Miodownik
- May 31 - Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat - Samin Nosrat
- Jun 3 - The Godfather - Mario Puzo
- Jun 20 - Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
- Jul 11 - Homeland (The Legend of Drizzt: Book 1) - R.A. Salvatore
- Jul 28 - Deadeye Dick - Kurt Vonnegut
- Aug 22 - How Your House Works - Charlie Wing
- Aug 25 - Born to Run - Christopher McDougall
- Sep 18 - Sand - Hugh Howey
- Oct 25 - The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal about Identity, Race, Wealth and Power - Deirdre Mask
- Nov 17 - I, Robot - Isaac Asimov
- Dec 4 - Dracula - Bram Stoker
- Dec 27 - The World Atlas of Coffee - James Hoffmann
2020
Games I have beaten
- Jan 1 - Return of the Obra Dinn - PC
- Jan 25 - Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age - Switch
- I beat the original Playstation 2 release in the mid-2000s, so it was nice to revisit this underrated game
- Feb 12 - Disco Elysium - PC
- Mar 2 - Tales of Berseria - PC
- Mar 28 - Fire Emblem Warriors - Switch
- Apr 30 - Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy - Switch
- May 3 - Bury Me, My Love - Switch
- May 20 - Katamari Damacy - PS2
- Played on PS3
- June 19 - Shovel Knight: King of Cards - Switch
- June 24 - Golf Peaks - PC
- July 27 - A Mortician’s Tale - PC
- Aug 3 - Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition - Switch
- Aug 12 - The Pedestrian - PC
- Aug 22 - Cadence of Hyrule - Switch
- Aug 30 - Stein’s Gate: Elite - Switch
- Guess this counts as a book too, being a visual novel
- Sept 2 - A Case of Distrust - PC
- Sept 7 - Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - PC
- Oct 22 - Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward - PC
- Nov 18 - Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - Switch
- Nov 21 - Panzer Dragoon Remake - Stadia
- Dec 5 - SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech - Stadia
- Dec 16 - Cthulhu Saves Christmas - PC
- Dec 18 - Princess Remedy in a Heap of Trouble - PC
Books I have read
- Jan 24 - Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries - Kory Stamper
- Mar 24 - Blue Highways - William Least Half-Moon
- Apr 19 - The Hero of Ages: A Mistborn Novel - Brandon Sanderson
- Apr 30 - Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything - Lydia Kana, Nate Pedersen
- May 12 - Warcross - Marie Lu
- May 27 - The Secret Lives of Color - Kassia St. Clair
- June 25 - American Gods - Neil Gaiman
- July 9 - Wildcard - Marie Lu
- Sequel to Warcross
- July 20 - A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
- Aug 2 - The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
- Sept 12 - Theodore Rex - Edmund Morris
- Sept 18 - Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software - Charles Petzold
- Sept 21 - Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World - Admiral William H. McRaven
- Oct 20 - Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
- Nov 17 - Jailbird - Kurt Vonnegut
- Dec 16 - Mini Habits for Weight Loss - Stephen Guise
- A note about this. I bought this a few years ago in an attempt to develop more consistent healthy eating habits. I actually lost close to 20 lbs prior to reading this book, due to a combination of marathon training and eliminating some processed things like soda and frozen meals. But nevertheless this was a good reinforcement on strategies to keep the ship going.
2019
Games I have beaten
- Jan 7 - Yoku’s Island Express - Switch
- Feb 13 - GNOG - PC
- Mar 17 - Gris - Switch
- Mar 22 - Donut County - Switch
- Apr 9 - Aviary Attorney - PC
- Apr 10 - Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt - PC
- May 27 - Mass Effect 3 - PC
- June 13 - West of Loathing - Switch
- July 16 - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Switch
- Aug 10 - Forager - Switch
- Aug 23 - Deltarune: Chapter 1 - Switch
- Oct 12 - Aggelos - Switch
- Oct 25 - Pikuniku - Switch
- Nov 7 - Untitled Goose Game - Switch
- Nov 30 - Pic-a-Pix Deluxe - Switch
- I love nonograms/picross puzzles
- Dec 6 - Pokemon Shield - Switch
- Dec 13 - PictoQuest: The Cursed Grids - Switch
- Still love picross!
- Dec 21 - The Touryst - Switch
- Dec 31 - You Must Build a Boat - Android
Books I have read
- Jan 21 - Astrophysics for People in a Hurry - Neil Degrasse Tyson
- Feb 2 - The Snowman - Jo Nesbø
- Feb 15 - I’m Just Here for the Food - Alton Brown
- Mar 20 - Captain Riley II: Darkness - Fernando Gamboa
- Apr 8 - 2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
- Apr 15 - Press Start to Translate - Clyde Mandelin
- May 25 - Pittsylvania County, Virginia: A Brief History - Larry G. Aaron
- May 28 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot
- June 14 - The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo
- July 5 - The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane
- July 30 - The North Water - Ian McGuire
- Aug 18 - The Private Life of Chairman Mao - Li Zhisui
- Sept 2 - Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman
- Oct 29 - Statistics Done Wrong - Alex Reinhart
- Nov 26 - The Crusades - Thomas Ashbridge
- Dec 7 - Slapstick - Kurt Vonnegut