I guess is fair to assume that most of us either woke up to very awful-bull-shitty news or went to bed last night angry, sad, and feeling powerless. Of course, I am talking about this.

As someone that has been battling depression and anxiety, and the father of two daughters, things like these really affect me. I feel so overwhelmed by all the feelings and thoughts that come pouring into my head every time I doom scroll through my Twitter feed or some news outlet. All I want to do is leave social media altogether. I don't want to read anymore, I don't want to watch any more videos, I want to be completely desensitized. But that would be like burying my head in the sand, it seems selfish and makes me feel guilty. It is almost as if it's my obligation to keep on social media, to keep doom-scrolling and reading and get angrier and sadder, otherwise, I am ignoring the issues, and, again, it makes me feel guilty. Like I am dismissing what is happening and not giving it the importance that deserves.

And yes, we have to be enraged by this, it is awful and it is wrong. But, how much can we take? How far can we allow ourselves to go down this rabbit hole before we go mentally ill of everything that is happening? Is it OK, to have a moment or just don't think or step away without feeling guilty? Especially when it is one thing after the other. 

Perhaps today would be a good day to not be around on social media...

Or perhaps just like with video games, rage quit everything.

Neal Adams, who helped reshape characters like Batman, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow, has died. He was 80 years old. Adams fought for creators rights in comics, conducted regular Q&A sessions with fans on social media, and created or co-created numerous beloved characters, including John Stewart, Ra's al Ghul, and Man-Bat.  

  Source: Legendary Comics Artist Neal Adams Dead at 80

This is very sad news!

Growing up, I knew about his work without knowing it was his. I guess I did not pay too much attention to who the creators of my favorite comic books were, at the time. Then around 2014 or so, I remember discovering Kevin Smith's Podcast called, Fatman on Batman, where he would invite and talk to comic-book creators. I very fondly, remember his first interview with Neal Adams, it was a two parts episode. That's how long his story and conversations were. Everything from him getting into comics, to making it into the business, and fighting for the creators' rights. Fighting for the creators of Superman. The way he told these stories, was very cinematic like you could see what he was narrating or telling very clearly. He was such a creator and storyteller.

I remember listening to those episodes over and over again.

Sadly those episodes are no longer in the current podcast's catalog, I would love to revisit them and revive these stories in my head. 

Thank you, Neal. May you rest in peace.

My problems with task managing apps, are not the apps themselves. Well, maybe a little. I always say things like, "I would commit a hundred percent to X app if only had a Windows app". Even when they do, I fail at them. Again, is not the app, it is a hundred percent me. I am awful at managing tasks, I forget to write down or add things to my task manager or notebook. If I do happen to add things, I forget to check and forget I have things in said system. 

It is not the app failing, I think. It is me, the problem. 

Wish I had more discipline in this regard.

Elden Ring on the PlayStation 5

Whelp, I've done it, Elden Ring for PS5 has been somehow, acquired.  Believe me, when I say, I am very nervous and scared about this game. This game, or this style of the game rather, is not necessarily my cup of tea if you will. I mean, It is a fantasy game, with monsters, and opened world, yes, I am all about that. But, I am more of a hack-and-slash, guns-blazing type of gamer. Games in which I need to be patient, strategize and think of every aspect of my charter's build, it's something I avoid at all costs.

That being said, there was something about Elden Ring that I felt compelled to want to play it. Not sure if it was the graphics, the hype around it, or what. The same happened with ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights on the Nintendo Switch, a dark fantasy 2D RPG, souls-like game. I learned to have patience, to learn my opponent's movements, and not attack hastily. The same will have to happen with Elden Ring, I suppose.

I have barely played the game, perhaps about an hour or so. My first impressions are, that this game looks beautiful, the graphics are outstanding, and the few monsters I have encountered are scary looking. Well, let's face it, anything in this game will scare me, most likely. The little I have seen of the world looks huge, and again, I have barely scratched the surface. The voice acting sounds very crisp, I also play with headphones so that adds some I guess. The story, so far it's a little vague but intriguing. Oh, and I have died a lot, like, a lot.

This game was not cheap, I better put on my pants and grind through it, I don't want to abandon it. I will take my time, one gaming session at a time until I figure it out. I have even been watching youtube videos like The Beginner's Guide to Elden Ring. I did abandon ENDER LILIES, back when I was playing it, I guess it was not so much of the difficulty but its Metroidvania aspect, which I got tired of it. Let us see how I fair against Elden Ring.

I know this has been going on for a while now, I mean, the last couple of weeks, everyone is talking about it. Talking about Musk and Twitter. Is he buying Twitter, is he not, bleh, bleh-bleh. Though I am not a fan of the guy, at all, the little trolly-jerk in me, way on the back of my head, wants the guy to own Twitter. Why? Just to see what happens. You know, what if? For purely entertainment purposes. I use Twitter, still. Do I love it? No. Does my existence as a human being depend on it? Heck no! 

So, go ahead, have at it! DOET!!

I wonder. Sometimes, it takes you a while to find the near-perfect writing/blogging workflow or setup. In truth, this can be applied to any creative or professional endeavor, but let us focus on blogging for now.  The moment I found my near-perfect workflow, it was the moment Ulysses added support for Micro.blog. That was all that I needed to commit to the app, and now, they get my monies every year for the subscription.

Now, sometimes, even the perfect setup can, eventually and for reasons, start to get a bit boring. Does that make sense? I think I am currently at that stage. I do enjoy using the tool (or tools) I am using at the moment and works perfectly. But every now and then, I have the itch to try something else, something shiny and new. And it is usually something I already have, something that I just haven't used in a long time and feel the need to tinker with it.

Then, there's the pros and cons process, I outright try the "new" thing, and then you start finding all these roadblocks. And because is not going as smoothly – or think it won't go as smoothly  – you quit and don't even try.

That is me. Usually. I don't even try.

Maybe is time to adventure out and try things and actually give them a fair trial and make an effort to overcome said roadblocks.

The worse thing that can happen is that it solidifies my current setup.

Previously on, Games I have been playing, our hero (yours truly) finished Horizon Forbidden West on the PlayStation 5 and was playing a lot of Streets of Rage 4 on the Nintendo Switch. Also played Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. This past week (or a few days) I got to pick from my very extensive and never-ending gaming backlog and purchased a new game, duh!

On the  Switch, Nobody Saves The World has finally come out. An action RPG, with some roguelike elements. This game has been a lot of fun so far. Your character can discover and transform between a variety of forms like a rat, a robot, or a knight. The more you use different forms and evolve them, you'd discover more forms to swap between them. Like any RPG you have many quests to complete. You've got dungeons and a fun story.

On the PlayStation, I am playing Need For Speed Heat. I know, everyone in the neighborhood is playing GT7 or Forza or whatever recent car racing games are out there, this game is from 2019. I have always been a huge fan of the Need for Speed series. This game, I picked it up back in 2021, on Black Friday sale, a few days after getting my PlayStation 5. Over the weekend I launched the game and, I have been racing my way through Palm City. I think the last NFS I played was Payback, In that one, you had three different protagonists and each had their different skills for different types of cars and race events. On Heat you are back at a single character but you'd tune different cars for different race challenges. Also, you have your daylight and nightly races. In one, you make your bank $, on the other you build your street-cred. And like every other NFS game, the cop pursuits are the most fun and stressing part of the game, at least for me.

I will eventually get around to playing GT7 and got my eyes on Elder Ring as well, but for now, this will be it. On the Switch, most likely my next game would be Chrono Cross, which I had in the queue before Nobody Saves the World but, oh well.

I can barely remember the last time I didn’t feel sick. It has been a constant struggle. If it is not a stuffy nose, it is the constant coughing, at least for me. When things start to get better, one of the girls gets sick. If one of them gets sick, eventually, everyone will get sick, in some way. Then there’s the constant paranoia about COVID-19. Getting tested and the smallest indication. So far, though, no one has been positive (knock of fake wood). But it’s a constant at this point, can’t catch a break, as they say. I don’t know if it’s the constant change in this crazy weather we are having, one day is nice and warm, the next day we get strong chill winds, next thing you know you’re getting snow and hot again. Or just is. And it is not just our household, grandparents are sick, uncles are sick (even the ones out of state), and the people in town.

Although this week we decided to change things up a bit, Marley had pinkeye (under control now) but had a cough all night, and Luna decided to have a fever last night, coughing and congested. And guess what? We think she's got pinkeye too!

As far as I can tell, I have my regular allergies symptoms and exhaustion, Annie as well, as neither of us could sleep. Marley only has her sore throat from coughing all night. 

Can’t wait for the day of no sicky kids and sleepless nights.

I have slightly updated my About page. 

This time I wanted to make sure I listed every RSS feed option available for my site, or at least the main ones. The everything feed, short, long, and photography posts. The Macro Feed, only for long posts, and the Photography Feed, which is basically my glass RSS Feed. I have also integrated the Glass feed to the Micro.blog's cross-posting.

I am aware that there are readers the might not fancy every little post. Fortunately, there are options :)