Mar. 19

Wow, so much for consistency, huh? Though at least I don’t fall into the void without a sound like a certain cat around here.

Well, to make up for it, I’ll write in this journal extra long today - today might be the day it takes you most of your coffee to read through it all.

First things first, creative news! The Dragon’s Aria is sporadically being uploaded onto Royal Road for anyone who’d like to enjoy a fantasy adventure. I’ll hopefully have the fourth chapter up by the end of this week. My grand plans for its updates being bi-weekly haven’t panned out, mostly because…

Next year, I’ll (twists fingers into pretzels) be releasing my first novel! More news to come when it’s ready, but I’m extremely excited. There’s still much editing to be done… many scenes to be tweaked… but thanks to many wonderful people in my life, I’m a step closer to a fully finished project each and every day.

So what’s been between projects?

I guess I’ll use the journal today to talk about some of the things I enjoyed over winter, seeing as how it’s left us now.

I spent a lot of time listening to instrumental music while writing. This has been a habit of mine since I was small, but back then my library used to consist of Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross MIDI files and now I’m absolutely spoiled rotten for choice.

Sometimes I don’t really need anything specific, just calm and familiar. For times like this, my old reliables are the aforementioned Chrono Cross OST, Undertale, Deltarune, and a duo known as Gentle Love. Gentle Love’s jazz covers are divine.

Come on, I know you have exactly eight minutes and forty-seven seconds to spare, listen to this Donkey Kong song.

https://youtu.be/rxHLhthzJbU?si=Hj4tPqovCr1FuNg

Speaking of Donkey Kong…

I always feel very comfy with the music and the aesthetic of the SNES games, but I never actually played them very much. A couple of years back, I decided to give them a go on the Switch and…

How did anyone keep their sanity playing Donkey Kong?!

How the hell am I expected to survive being blasted out of these floating barrels WHILE memorizing some rapid fire pattern that will get me to safety?! (HAH, SAFETY?! THERE IS NO SAFETY.)

I couldn’t even get past most of the minecart levels without using a save function… oh, the disgrace I felt…

And the most embarrassing part of all? I still rage-quit the entire game as soon as the minecart levels came back. I rage quit and never looked back...

I’ll never be accepted into gamer Valhalla now…

Man…

The next time I listen to Gentle Love’s cover, I’ll reflect on my shortcomings and the dreams I couldn’t accomplish.

Let’s see, what else.

Oh, I rewatched Gremlins! I think Gremlins is the perfect movie to watch every five or ten years.

I love how the movie is both wholesome and gleefully cruel. It cracks me up how the main character’s family and friends react with the most casual curiosity to Gizmo’s existence, like most people would to a new humidifier.

The creepy parts are still creepy and the cute parts are still cute. It’s great. If I ever watch Gremlins and think, ‘Eh, actually, it’s not really all that great…’ That’s how I’ll know I need to go on some kind of quest to reclaim my soul.

I hope there will be new movies with lots of little muppet creatures. Imagine how cute they could be… imagine how creepy they could be… imagine…

And look at that, my coffee is about gone. The rain is falling down softly here outside the window. I’m going to watch it a little longer.

Until next time!

esme