Animal Names The other day, Dala and I were watching a nature documentary following a family of wildcats over the course of a year. In true nature documentary fashion, each one was given a unique name, which is fine. Names build connections and all. I decided then and there though, if by some weird happenstance I'm ever part of a documentary, I'm gonna give all of the animals names you'd expect a five year old to name their new pet. Names like Princess Sparkle Butt, June Bug, Tankmaster Thunderhead or Mr. Jim. Tell me you wouldn't watch a documentary about the lioness, Princess Sparkle Butt, as she makes her way across the African Jungle. Video Games The wife and I recently came across a system that's coming out, The Evercade, that really appeals to me for a lot of reasons. With the exception of a few titles here and there, The X-Box One has seen the least use of any generation of console I have owned (actually, the WiiU and Nintendo 2DS get way less, so much so that I forget I own them). Lately, the majority of the time I'm playing the X-Box, I'm playing retro games like the Sega Genesis Collection or the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. There's something about classic games that are hard to beat, like no constant needs for updates, getting the complete game out of the package sans DLC, local multiplayer, pixel graphics being a huge treat, on and on I could go. So when I heard about this new system, about how it's gonna have legitimately licensed games on swappable cartridges, it got my interest. I know emulation is pretty big these days, so much so that systems like the GP2X aren't really necessary anymore because people can emulate on devices like the Wii, the Playstation Portables, etc. But legit, emulation isn't for me because I don't want to deal with the hassle of programming a device, and more importantly, it's a legal gray (and sometimes black and white) area that I don't even want to wander into. Similarly, while it's great to see mini consoles like the Mini-Nes, the Mini-Genesis, the upcoming Mini-TurboGrafx16, etc., I got rid of a lot of systems a while ago to make room in my house, and if those mini-systems are gonna take up a lot of space and not have swappable cartridges? I mean, they're less than what I let go of. But the Evercade? It seems to fit a lot of what I want. It's small, but can still be hooked up to the TV, I can play it right out of the box, there's classic games coming out on it, and there's no legal gray area about it. So I'm gonna get one, and give it a shot. I'm a little bit concerned about build quality, since it's not from a major company and I know some of those small time game companies have major quality control issues, but if it's halfway decent, I think it'll be worth it. I'll probably post my thoughts on it when I finally get my hands on it, in case anyone is interested. My only regret is, Amazon seems to be the only place carrying it, and we all know how I feel about them. But I dunno, maybe buying something from an underdog company through an absolutely evil corporation is a morally neutral thing. Besides, I think it's the first time the wife and I will be getting anything from Amazon in ages, so I can at least take comfort in that. Personal Health I'm not comfortable talking about this, but I promised you guys an update when I brought this issue up and a promise is a promise, so here we go. Went to the neurologist the other week to talk about what's been going on lately. They said they think I look good for the most part, that most of what I'm dealing with is the result of being really stressed basically all the time and maybe just a bit of aging. They said if it would give me piece of mind, they could order a bunch of tests for me, I said "No thank you. The less tests the better." I'm still not completely convinced I'm in the clear, because I can't imagine so many problems stemming just from stress, but a relationship has been established, I'm welcome to come back, and that's good enough for me for now. I'm just gonna keep an eye on things, do my best to be careful, do my best to be healthy, and do my best to be vigilant. Besides, hospitals suck, I know I have a distrust in doctors, and if stress is the problem, the less I have to deal with all of that stuff, the better. So I'm just gonna keep on keeping on, because really, what other option is there? It's been a good year, so far, guys. I hope you're all doing well. Seeing what goes on with you guys on Pubski is honestly the highlight of my week.
When my brother landed in hospital and we didn't even know if he's going to make it, let alone come out without being mentally impaired, it took a massive toll on me. Already lost a brother when I was seven, and the fact I now could process more information made it worse. I was oscillating between extreme emotions, under and overeating, no sleep or crashing from exhaustion etc. It didn't end even when he came out of tumour extraction and continued for a few more months. It didn't impair my ability to think or remember (I'd even argue stress triggers better recall in me, although that might be biased bullshit), but there's a picture of us where most people would mistakenly pick me as the one on chemo. I'm happy you went to a neurologist and that your nerves are, if not calmed, then at least put mildly at ease. Be responsible and keep on being awesome, man!I can't imagine so many problems stemming just from stress
You will be pleased to know there is a tradition of giving AKC-registered pets ridiculous official names to go with their totally normal "call names." I dated a girl whose sister bought a purebred Bengal whom she named Gargamel (even though his cat's name was Azrael but whatever). On Gargamel's paper it said "Lord Gargle Mellifluent Stinky Bunghole Flubbercat" or the like.