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Unhealthy for sensitive groups
(30 Jun 2023 at 11:52) |
Quick one because we’re currently in Toronto and I will be holding up the Torontoing if I take too long to write. This is a weekend roadtrip with some friends, with the primary event being to see Herbie Hancock at the Toronto Jazz Festival. I was very impressed with how energetic and with-it Herbert was, at the age of 83. I hope I can hold up that well when I’m old(er), or have access to whatever super-drugs he has. Good show, although for most of us it was really just a pretext for having a road trip to explore this nice city. Unfortunately the trip has been ravaged by these wildfires, which have been blanketing this whole part of the continent with a choking miasma. At times the air has been rated “very unhealthy,” pushing into “hazardous,” probably the worst I’ve ever experienced. I find I’m pretty sensitive to it. So, sadly, one of my favorite vacation activities (exploring by running around) has been contraindicated, and we’re often doing reverse-covid masking protocols (mask outside) etc. The “good” news is that Pittsburgh seems to be actually worse than Toronto, so at least we didn’t drive into the Airborne Toxic Event; more like we drove around within it.
Since finishing my last video I got on to a project that was enqueued and that I was excited about, and then I got immediately sucked into another idea that came up, and then a third timely one. One is “very risky,” (probably won’t amount to anything), one is “risky” (may not work, but probably a decent fail-tale) and one is very likely to succeed with some work. So that’s a good mix. I’ve been trying a new thing as summer starts and the sun comes up early, which is to just get up and out of bed as soon as I wake, even if it’s hours earlier than I’d normally stir. Then I make a coffee and work on personal projects before work. It’s definitely making me a lot more tired (duh; I am getting less sleep) although it’s helping me fall asleep at night (duh; I am more tired). The unexpected thing about it is that it’s generally making me feel less anxious, because I’ve already gotten some work done on projects each day (so I don’t feel like I’m “behind”) and I enjoy starting the day with some focused Tom Time instead of heading directly into the barrage of e-mails and interruptions. Not sure it’s sustainable though.
We had some other wildfire smoke earlier this month, which made it natural to continue the habit of running on the treadmill indoors. The main goal continues to be to run a strict 5m00s mile, and the main method continues to be intervals where I try to run as long as I can at that pace, but I’ve set some “casual” treadmill PRs in the meantime: I did a 19m15s 5k, which is faster than I’ve ever done a 5k on the road, and a 5m17s mile, which is in the ballpark of my all-time best mile (5m05s; but I was in my 20s for that). These are all strict, where I don’t touch the handles or anything like that. But the treadmill is easier than outdoors because you don’t have the air resistance. Still, it looks like I should attempt a serious 5K during this cycle.
I’ve been playing Tears of the Kingdom and I think it’s great. Like the previous game, I’m playing it Tom-style: I’m only upgrading my stamina and focusing on exploration and deliberately trying to approach everything the wrong way. Lots of good opportunities for that, although I do feel like this game is a bit too hostile if you do this. (Easily missable but essential events, like during the tutorial.) I’m also pretty deep into Cathedral, a solid NES-style Metroidvania. I think the highlight on that one is the graphics and music (except for the graveyard music, which might be the most annoying track I’ve ever heard?); recommended for genre fans. |  |
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| you saw herbie |
| my kingdom for an edit button. Sorry about that. |
Take three. I noticed that you finally updated the main page, and just to let you know, the flash emulator Ruffle seems to play all your games perfectly, so if you wanted to let people play your games you could add it to the site.
Hope you enjoyed Toronto despite it all, I haven’t been in years and I’m a little jealous
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| Just found your blog Tom, I'm glad to hear you're happy. You make me want to go run a mile and work on my side projects. I think I will! |
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