LIFESTYLE Newsletter Vol. 1 No. 9
Nick's Lifestyle Newsletter
If Disney princesses were my heroes, I would be in luck.
THIS IS AN INTRODUCTION
Hello again everyone. It's been a few weeks. A terrible last week. Also, a week of being so proud of my wife. She kicked ass at Origins and make our asses happy by reupholstering our kitchen chairs.
- 202% done on our 100% run of Super Mario Galaxy 2. We beat it all. All 240 green stars, then the 2 extra from Grandmaster Galaxy. WE DONE.
- Winner of the 20XX LIFESTYLE Newsletter Best Writer of Bound Lies and Other Fictional Matters Award, Mindy Meija, has a new book out. It is now available on presale: http://a.co/hf1HekH.
- If I have proof everyone has bought a copy of the above book, I will REMOVE THE BULLET. Until then, it stays.
- A NEW SECTION is starting in this newsletter!
- Queer Eye season 2 is now on Netflix. WATCH IT NOW AND FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOURSELF. Or don't. Self-loathing is a look anyone can wear. You could also wear cargo shorts, the self-loathing of pant wear.
THIS IS THE END OF THE INTRODUCTION.
2.5 THINGS THIS WEEK:
ITEM THE FIRST:
I recently purchased a Nintendo Switch on Craigslist for a heck of a deal. I bought it so I could hack it before they revise the hardware. It also came with Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is my favorite game of ever. I put about 120 hours into it on the WiiU but planned on not playing it again for a few years. BOTW has a special place in my heart, not only because it is amazing, but also because when I played it the first time it was when Emily was recovering from her surgery.
She was isolated into our spare room so she could not jump and had a cone so she would not lick her wounds. As long as I could keep an eye on her, I could free her from the isolation room, taking the cone off and setting her on the couch next to me. She would either sit or sleep next to me or in my lap as we traversed Hyrule. About 60 of those 120 hours were with her next to me or on my lap for what would be some of our final times together. Some of the Purrtape (see Vol. 1 No. 1) was recorded here.
Not wanting to waste time, I hatched a plan to jailbreak our WiiU, download the save, convert it to the Switch and load it. Everything went smoothly and I had the file. I tested it on my computer and verified it and then just started playing again in CEMU. As I did this, I was on the floor in front of our TV and Johnny came and sat in it. Just like Emily did. I kept that save loaded on my computer, convinced him to get up, grabbed the Switch and started a new BOTW game.
This new game is our game. Me and Johnny's trip through Hyrule. It's been a very different ride (the game is amazingly open world and sandboxed), but it is ours together. As we are facing more hard choices in Johnny's life and bracing for the inevitable end, I'll have these times and this save file as a reminder of our journey together. He's happy since I'll sit in place for hours and pet him during the loading screens, I'm happy since it is forcing me to sit down and stop trying to be productive and instead spend time with my favorite companion in this here timeline. Cats are terrible navigators, BTW.
ITEM THE SECOND:
I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, On the Media, and they had a absolutely amazing episode a few weeks ago, The Worst Thing We've Ever Done. It is centered around The Legacy Museum in Alabama but breaks into a few different topics, 1) The museum itself, 2) The denazification of Germany and 3) How our country struggles to cope with our history and race. It hit me like no other podcast. AN AMAZING AND SAD 50 MINUTES. The most interesting thing to me was hearing about Germany and how they have purged Nazi names and landmarks from their culture. Until Trump, I never really gave much thought to these names and such, I just figured it was idiots in the south being idiots. I knew the confederate monument thing was a scam, I knew the history of names, but I never really had to put it all together. THIS IS PRIVILEGE.
In my lifetime I'm never going to think we are beyond race as a dividing issue, but I certainly thought we were closer to it before Trump. THIS IS PRIVILEGE.
Also related: Check out Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas. It's a limited 10 episode news show that is focused on a topic instead of current events. This season's topic is police. The show approaches many related topics like community policing, mental health training and de-escalation and tries to bring it together in the end and provide solutions for how we can do better for everyone involved. Wyatt's approach is very low key and takes a bit to get used to, but after an episode or two you get used to it. I also respect that he tries to bring all sides to an issue, but not in a shouty bullshit "news" way.
Also, also related: Pure fire: "White People are Cowards" by Michael Harriot. Read it now, I'll wait for you. WE MUST DO BETTER. What are you doing to not be a coward?
"Until all white people do and say something, people in power will always be able to point to the silent majority and say that no one cares about racism or inequality. Ultimately, whiteness affords them the right to remain silent."
NEW SECTION - SHAME STATISTICS:
I find personal shame to be a great motivator and in order to keep me on track I will be publishing my progression in Japanese. If you don't see these numbers go higher, please publicly shame me. HOWEVER, YOU DO NOT CARE. That is fine.
Wani Kani: My main Kanji learning tool. It has a set number of Kanji in each level, learning both the on- and kun- readings and vocab. There are 60 levels. The categories are ranked from lowest to most mastery.
Level 5 Apprentice: 76 Guru: 147 Master: 238 Enlightened: 212 Burned: 0
BunPro: This is my main grammar learning tool. It is broken up into the N-levels. These are the tests you take for Japanese proficiency from the Japanese government. N5 is the lowest level (roughly a 1st grade school level). The N levels are broken into 10 subsections.
N5: 4/10
GRATITUDES:
My good friend Adrianne for making time to have dinner with with me during a busy week. I have been friends with Adrianne for 22 years now and she is an amazing person. We spent a lot of time together when we were younger and she has always been someone I look at with wonder and amazement. She is so free and willing to make sub-optimal decisions to live in the moment. She is a free spirit, but in a mostly responsible way. Constantly reinventing herself and changing directions, I was never surprised when she would tell me about a new thing she was into or her latest dream. I love her like I love no one else, partially because she is so different than myself and what I measure success against. When she talks about something she is passionate about there is the most beautiful sparkle in her eyes. I will never be this free or emotional about anything and it is wonderful to see it.
This week she sold her house, packed her life up and is going to get her PhD on a full ride scholarship. SO AMAZING.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (please mark "ok to print")
None.
FAVORITE THING TO GO IN MY EARHOLES THIS WEEK:
Well, it's finally 90 degrees out, so I can officially declare my 2018 SONG OF THE SUMMER: Tuxedo with Zapp - Shy. Perfect summer song that sounds like a classic Zapp track from the 80's. Perfect homage and a summer banger. I haven't loved a summer song this much since that amazing summer when Daft Punk put out Get Lucky. FUCK. EPIC.
While you are at it, a performance of my favorite Zapp song on Soul Train, Computer Love.
WE ARE ALL COWARDS IN SOME WAY.
WE NEED TO NOT BE SCARED TO STAND UP FOR OTHERS.
IT IS UP TO US TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
THAT IS ALL.