frank got a kitten
Hi friends,
Not too many life updates lately—I’ve mostly been busy with work at Ramp and adjusting to life with a new roommate: a tiny, polydactyl kitten named Pixel. More on her below.
🕹️ Games I’ve Been Playing
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- This is the big one. One of the best stories I’ve ever played through. Lovely characters. Majestic visuals. Unique world-building. Great combat. Go play it.
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- This is a roguelike where you try to solve your grandpa’s puzzle and inherit his estate in a mansion with rooms that shift each day and a story that you slowly discover as you play.
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- I like deckbuilding games.
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Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 (via OpenRCT2)
- Yes, the one that came out in 2002. It’s still an incredible game. And with the contributions folks have made with OpenRCT2, there are some quality-of-life updates, plus multiplayer.
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- I can’t stop.
📺 YouTube I’ve Liked Lately
- FREE Water Forever. LEGALLY!!!! — A guy creates his own rainwater collection & irrigation in his yard.
- Building a Stirling Engine Bicycle — A weird custom engine kind of powers a bike. Kind of.
- How Immersed Tube Tunnels Are Built — Underwater tunnels are floated into place, then sunk and connected.
- MANIAC — The Drum Pattern That Shouldn't Work — A chaotic 80s beat, picked apart and explained. Also: I now really want the sequencer he uses…
- How Pathfinding Works in RollerCoaster Tycoon — Essential information for park builders.
- Mantracks: Fake Fossils & the Stories We Tell — Another great video essay from Folding Ideas.
🐾 Pixel (And Scooter) ((Obligatory))
I adopted Pixel from CARE STL a few weeks ago and she’s doing great! Scooter was not super on board at first but he’s coming around. Introducing them was really stressful but things have calmed down quite a bit and everyone is getting along. Pixel is super playful, photogenic, cuddly, and sweet.
My question to you:
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to use my time more intentionally while still leaving room for play and spontaneity. For example, I was annoyed with how much time I was watching YouTube shorts. But setting a screentime limit doesn’t work for me… because I don’t adhere to it.
What’s been working a bit, though, is setting a timer—and when it goes off, I use that moment to check in and decide whether to keep watching or do something else.
Do you have any similar tricks or strategies?
Or.
What’s new?