Hello!

This is the twentieth issue of my newsletter and it is dedicated to Freddie Hubbard.

Wow, 20 issues! I know they haven’t been that regular but I’m happy that I’ve kept them going this far.

How’s your head?

Not as many complaints. I’ve settled into my new place since moving in August (even though it was hella stressful). Work felt worse then got better then felt bad and then better. It’s been ups and downs for years but it never gets easier. I have two weeks off this month for my birthday (more on that later!) and then two weeks off in December for Christmas. Much needed after a terrible year.

Other than that, I’m okay but I’m struggling with being online. I recently deactivated my Bluesky account for the 100th time, reactivated briefly, then left again because I realised nobody was interacting. I have a few other project accounts and after a while, I realised that I was putting a lot into chatting with others and not getting much out of it. I know we’re all attention seeking to some degree—we’re human after all—but I’m on social media to be social and chat with folks and would like to think that building connections meant it was mutual. I just don’t buy into the “people have things going on” excuse because at some point you work through that and show up for others. So yes, to a degree I’m saying why isn’t anyone talking to me and to be honest, I’m okay with that. I’ve put a lot out there for other people and harmed relationships and myself in the process. It’d be nice if people saw me for who I was as a human and not just some proverbial cardboard cut-out that says funny things sometimes.

But honestly, I’m okay heh heh heh!

What I’ve been watching

• YouTube has got me good with the recommendation feed. I’ll reset it like I normally do when I realise it is controlling me and not the other way around. It’s been mostly Fresh Prince clips, Prince videos, video game console restoration videos, and Pokémon content. If you know me, you’ll know this encapsulates who I am so it beats doomscrolling (I don’t do it anyway but apparently everyone else does)

• In October, I watched 31 movies for Halloween but with a catch—they could only be legally free and available online (so no streaming platforms or physical/digital copies I owned). Because of that, most of the movies were middling-to-okay but the highlights were definitely Scream and The Faculty. Clearly 90s teen slashers are my jam.

What I’ve been listening to

• Prince - been going through his discography from the beginning. It’s Purple Rain next but I’m saving that for when my body, mind, soul are ready.

• Ahwlee

• Knxwledge

• Wun Two

• Madlib

• Black Milk – I went to see him perform a few weeks ago and met up with him after the gig. I interviewed him 12 years ago and he remembered me which did my self confidence the world of good. Also got a signed copy of his new album and a photo to go with the other one.

• Robert Palmer

• Kaytranada

What I’ve been playing

I’ve taken a break from the non-Pokémon retro games for now. Started feeling like I was rushing through which was fine at the time but I need some time apart. So I went back to my old favourite: Pokémon. I just finished Sapphire and I’m currently playing Ultra Moon and Black 2 (randomised). Ultra Moon is more fun than the first time; the latter has been very frustrating because of critical hits EVERYWHERE (IYKYK). Which brings me onto something else…

I got an AYN Thor! It came a few weeks ago and I love it. I have a few 2DS and 3DS’s already but the Thor allows me to upscale games and have speedup so I get an improved experience for new games and games I already own (which I’ve dumped the ROMs of in case any Nintendo lawyers are reading!)

Something that interested me

The degenerate, anti-retinal art of Kazutoshi Iida by Ian Walker. I love his writing so much and this is another great read.

Something I’m proud of

I got a shiny Regice in Pokémon Sapphire! The odds are 1 in 8,192 and I got it in 1,536 resets! I loved Regice as a kid so this was very special to get.

Thanks for reading!

It’s my birthday on 22nd so if you’d like to get me a little something, you can drop a few coins on PayPal, ko-fi, or check out my Patreon. And subscribe if you haven’t already and feel free to email me with comments or suggestions or whatever!

Peace ✌🏽