We drink and we die and continue to drink
Hey guys,
The title of this month’s newsletter is from Denis Leary’s “Traditional Irish Folk Song,” which seemed like a good choice for St. Patrick’s Day.
What I’m Working On
Holy shit, My Name Is Hood actually funded! I really wasn’t expecting that, given the slow start. I really wasn’t expecting that considering the initial slow performance. Thanks to those of you who helped get it over the top. I’ve re-started work on it and the funds came through this week, so surveys and add-ons will be going out soon.
I've been kind of down a rabbit hole this week. A few years ago, I stumbled across the Second Brain/PARA productivity system and tried implementing it using Notion. It worked pretty well for the things I actually used it for, but I never really got used to using it for much beyond keeping track of day-to-day tasks. Anyway, I found some new Notion toys recently and have spent the past week trying to rebuild it so I can use it as a kind of project dashboard.
World Anvil’s Worldbuilding Con was this weekend. I had the video playing the whole, but didn’t take away much because of the previously-mentioned rabbit hole. I’ll need to rewatch at least some of the panels.
I did do a Daz3D pic of a cyberpunk chick a few weeks ago.
Recalibrating…
When I first started doing the PARA/Second Brain thing, I set up some recurring goals. I’ve done pretty well of tracking (and actually doing) the daily ones, but most of them are things like “write for an hour” or “check email” that I do anyway. I’ve been considerably less consistent about the longer-term goals. Part of the problem is that I was over-ambitious: Adding it all up, I found that I was expecting myself to write 4 articles, do 3 pieces of art (maps or Daz renders), and come up with two new products (I was thinking mainly for the Etsy shop) every month. That’s in addition to working on actual products, sending this newsletter, doing boring business crap, etc. I’m cutting those back to be a little more realistic.
Media Madness
After Guns, Germs, and Steel I needed something light, so I read Dave Barry’s Insane City. It was another wacky Florida story in the same vein as Big Trouble and the one with the boat, so if you liked those you’ll probably like this.
TV-wise, I think I’m on season 3 of Lucifer, though I did take a brief break to watch the new season of Shoresy. Given that my entire knowledge of Hockey comes from Kevin Smith movies and “Hit Somebody!” by Warren Zevon, it’s surprising how much I enjoy that show.
Movies
Dark Match: Wrestlers get invited to put on a private match for people who turn out to be Satanists. The movie’s biggest star is one of Negan’s thugs from The Walking Dead and even though it’s less then 90 minutes, it feels like a very long movie. I don’t recommend it.
Final Destination 1-5: This also might explain my recent lack of productivity. I noticed HBO had all 5 final destination movies, so I spent the better part of a weekend watching extremely complicated death scenes.
Venom: The Last Dance: I enjoyed the first two way more than I expected to, and this was more of the same.
Idiocracy: What can I say? I was in the mood for a documentary.
The Dirt: When streaming first started, it seemed easier to find things to watch. Now it seems like every service fills every possible subcategory and list with the same 20 things I’ve either already seen or don’t want to watch, so unless you have a specific thing you want to watch (which will not be on any streaming service when you want to watch it), you’ve got to dig pretty deep to find something to watch. Sometimes you just give up and watch a Motley Crue biopic.
Let’s Start A Cult: I just watched this a week ago and have already forgotten almost everything about it. I don’t remember having a strong opinion either way at the time, but it did not leave a lasting impression.
That’s enough for today. I’ll send more in a few weeks. If you’re worried that you’re going to miss me, consider joining my Patreon.
TYTYVM,
Steve
©2024, Steve Johnson