It’s been a weird month. That week-long cold knocked my entire family on its ass, and even now I’m still finding it difficult to get back into my usual rhythms. The day job has been busier, and my continuing lack of easy access to personal email and social media means I’m feeling a bit more isolated than usual. (It doesn’t help matters that my iPhone 6 is starting to crap out; I’m tempted to upgrade to the 7, but I also know that the 8 is coming later this year, and – wait, who am I kidding? I’m broke as hell.)
Oh, and that shitbag is still President.
Oh, and even though February is RPM month, I haven’t done a single bit of music work.
I had a bit of an eye-opening epiphany earlier this week. We met with our tax accountant dude yesterday, and in preparation for our meeting I tallied up all of my video game purchases, as well as my Kindle purchases – as I did make a tiny amount of money from writing, and I could deduct all that stuff as “research materials.” Point being, I spent a FUCKLOAD of money on games and books last year, and while I sort-of intuitively knew that at the time, it wasn’t until I saw the actual dollar amount that the realization fully hit home.
This out-of-control spending is not sustainable, is what I’m trying to say. Even with a rental account, I can’t be spending nearly $2000 on games this year. Considering that it’s only mid-February and I’ve already dropped $600 on PSVR stuff alone, and that I’ve got my eye on Microsoft’s forthcoming Project Scorpio, I’m already in trouble. For whatever it’s worth, there’s only two new games that I can think of off the top of my head that I’m considering must-owns – Red Dead 2 and the new Mass Effect – and so everything else can, for all intents and purposes, wait.
Before you ask: no, I’m not planning on getting a Nintendo Switch.
I did just read an excellent book – Ben Winters’ Underground Airlines, and I immediately purchased his Last Policeman trilogy upon finishing it. And I’m currently reading George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo, which is… I don’t know even know where to begin describing it, except to say that if this is what he can do in novel form, then I’ll read literally anything he writes from here on out.
Game-wise, I’ve been kinda slack lately. I’m kinda dicking around in Yakuza 0, which is (fortunately) built to be dicked around with; the thing is, I’m really quite impressed with it. The cut-scene writing is far better than I expected it to be, and the in-between silliness kinda works, in its own strange way. And beating the shit out of random gangs on the street is weirdly fulfilling and satisfying. It’s a very odd game, and yet it’s compelling. I don’t know if I’ll have the patience or the time to finish it, but I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent with it so far.
I also rented Resident Evil 7, and while I’ve only played the first hour or so, I can already tell that (a) it’s very scary and (b) I probably won’t finish it. I may give it one last look this weekend before sending it back.
Hopefully it won’t be two weeks until my next post. But who knows. I’m kinda operating under the assumption that as long as 45 is in charge, we could all die at any moment, and so I’m just going to enjoy myself while I can.
Shouts From The Couch 