Do you want to share something you've done in the previous week? Everything counts, nothing is too small.

• I finish one of my big programming projects this week. Very pleased that it was successful, I'm really feeling like all of this coding on my own is going to pay off I just keep my mind focused on progression rather than "success". Just constantly getting better, even a little bit is all that matters to me in this endeavor.

Do you have any goals or plans for next week?

• Apply for jobs. Call one of my boyz and let know I love him and if he needs anything he can hit me up no problem. Find a new book to read, preferably something funny. I need to laugh. I also started using Kettlebells I found at a moving sale for $10. I have not used in exercise before but I'm looking to switch things up.

Do you have any streaks? For example, "sober for one day." Feel free to post your streak every day in this thread.

• Still maintaining my walking and bodyweight exercises. I'm glad to see the fat coming off in places.

If you don't have a continuous streak, did you manage to abstain from something for a day or more?

• One major thing I'm very proud is that even though a lot of things in my personal life have gone sideways, is that I don't feel like I'm bugging out about it. I certainly care want things to be better, but I'm not tripping either. To use more adult terms, I'm having a more stoic (in the philosophical good sense, not the hustlebro sense) response. I'm working on the things I can, not worrying about the things I can't, and trying to be proactive in all the ways I can. I'm letting that be enough too, I'm doing my best in the ways I can and I am satisfied with that. Things aren't going well, but I'm doing my best in all the ways I can and that's a dub in my book.

Did you come across some useful information or resource that might help others?

• As always recommend you go the library. There is always something neat there.

I genuinely think the aesthetics 2005-2015 were some of the "safest" ever. It's really crazy in such a booming era of the new "endless blockbuster season" that things looked so very plain on screen. Visually things were just so "safe" visually on screen.

Right on. Good looking out Angel, thanks for the clear and concise reply. That sounds like it could get really bad really fast.

Geinune question, can someone explain this to me? I clicked the link and the website isn't very readable.

I'm gonna need to see some solid culinary excellence before we start letting everyone cook. A time to charge is not culinary excellence, it's barely fundamentals.

Exactly. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the dude is bummed out pretty major. We are all not feeling super jazzed about the future, but that's not excuse to just say "This thing that has defined my artistic expression/professional experience is now bad". It's kinda of a cop out to me. Again, I feel for him, I feel for anyone who does artsy stuff right now, but yeah it's a bit lame to just say "No more cause America voted bad".

"Cooking" would be a banned word. It means nothing.

I read that one too, really glad I broke out of the orbit of that nonsense. Yeah, it’s all slimeball literature. It’s not poorly written sadly so can’t even dunk it for that or anything like that, however it’s all gross. The whole genre is like “elevated manosphere” stuff. There is some real thought and some basic philosophy infused in these books but most of them are all about understanding philosophy for personal gain or accumulation of power. Which is why I hate it the most, in that if were written in a less slime-y way it could offer something of worth to people, but instead it’s just how to push others down so you can stand taller

Yeah. I read it junior year in college. I was in my peak young man hustle-grind mindset. I was lifting weights, reading 50 laws of power, and other dudebro stuff. I would say from my very limited understanding of Marx is that there is a lot of stuff in the book about understanding material and immaterial power dynamics/relationships and leveraging them for personal gain. Or to give you the mindset to see others doing the same thing

IE: Alan Moore was right all along (what a shock).

people need to stop making Gandalf coded wizards and make Moore coded wizards

What's sad is that it almost seems like his immediate instinct is that he has to phone in and fake that optimism because that's the limits of the genre he's working in. Personally I hope he does some soul searching and realizes that a cynical turn for his voice is entirely acceptable and not necessarily a decline.

Agreed. I'm not pro-being cynical, but I am pro-whatever voice is. If your voice is cynical, then be cynical, but be authentically so. Be authentic and execute on the authenticity well.

:)

I'm most anti-trad, but ":)" a traditional old-school pro-working class emoji. Everyone has access to :). It's right there on the keyboard, physical or digital. It's a 9-to-5 working emoji.

Honestly i would hope that any artist of any type would take that feeling and incorporate it in their work in some capacity. I don’t believe that all art needs to come from tragedy or something terrible, but if one is a writer, one should be able to write when things aren’t great.

I think this shows a lack of conviction in one’s form of expression. I do think being bummed out about the political condition is a valid response, but it seems kind of whack to me too.

People slept on Lost Planet 2 co-op. That shit was bonkers

Nah man. Let him know this is the way. No always online. No microtransactions in EVERYTHING. We need to go back

The way they're planning to go back to brunch if Harris wins or go back to brunch (terrified) if Trump wins is really telling.

Exactly man.

This'd be a joke election of the Dems were a real political party. With total control of all cities they could shut the regime down at any time with strikes among countless other tactics. Instead they're utterly, utterly helpless to take any acvt6ion at all.

FUCKIN EXACTLY MAN!

Two things.

1.) Liberals should have never learned the phrase "extinction-level". One they don't apply it correctly ever. Two if they were concerned about "extinction-level" events they would do something about one that's happening right now. To us, by us.

2.) I hate this fervor to protect democracy nonsense so much. It's the same nationalism, patriotism, jingoism they say the RNC does. Rather than MAGA, it's more so "If he gets elected again America will become ungreat. It's great as it is now, he is a threat to that".

I hate libs so much dude

Personally, I don’t like Ava as a character because the narrative gives her zero options/opportunities to grow. She is a victim of a story that doesn't give her (or anyone else) any depth or complexity. Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that she is a teenager and teen characters tend to act as teens do which is fine to me. Even a zany world like Borderlands kids are gonna be irksome and immature, that I totally get and actually kinda dig.

The reason I don’t like her is the same reason I don’t like the majority of BL3, she is full of narrative potential that doesn’t really go anywhere. Ava doesn’t go much beyond teen siren. She remains two dimensional in the same way that the rest of the cast remains two dimensional. Though I suppose it is worth noting that some of the cast is one dimensional when they don’t have to be.

She is annoying yes, but I don’t think she is in any way a worse character than anyone else in the game. I think she unfortunately, is a girl and gamers hate girls existing or speaking or thinking or being. I think the whole cast (except for maybe Wainwright) has the same issues that she does but because she is a girl people latched onto her.

Borderlands 3’d base game narratives and characters never really clicked for me. I do think the stories and characters in the DLCs are much better mostly because they are slightly smaller and scale and scope. The game doesn't need to be super deep or radical, but games stories should have some nuaince even if they are trying to a loony tune.

End of the year coming up fast my goal of doing a pull up I think on track

OKAY NOW @Wmill pull up!!

Corvo is technically a fed, but I love him anyways. The art/visual/city design of Dishonored is unmatched. Love those titles so much. They are in my journal of games I want to take influence from in my hobby development for sure.

I'm still getting my teeth kicked by life. However, I remain resolute in that I will find positive way forward. I'm not in grave or dire condition or anything like that, but things just aren't going my way the last 30 days or so. Regardless, I'm going to find a way forward, a way to grow stronger from this. I'm not gonna get salty from my negative experiences anymore. I'm going to take the L (though to be frank I'd like the L taking part to be over ), examine the L, reflect on the L, study the L, harness the hidden power of the L, and ultimately turn it into a W through the alchemy of optimism. It's kinda corny, but I have really been on some "yeah shit is bad, but I'm not gonna give into that" wave. Not sure why or what, but I'm determined to become greater than my conditions. Am i romanticizing my own misfortune? Maybe. However, I think it's truly good to see yourself as the hero and overcoming the bad stuff without becoming a bad person is rad to me. Don't get me wrong I love being a hater, but I'm done hating on me.