Who would have thought that, not even 11 hours after I wrapped up my last post, I'd once again be sitting here on the toilet cranking out another one?
I just have things I wanna say, and I'm not sure I have another great place to say them. Twitter has been my go-to mental dumping ground for years now, and maybe that's why I haven't blogged as much. But Twitter doesn't lend itself well to waxing philosophical like I tend to do. I mean it can (particularly now that there's a 280 character limit per tweet, and you can publish an entire thread at once), but when you tweet in high volumes at a time, no one cares. Twitter is a nice microcosm of people's attention spans in that sense. You overwhelm them with too much at a time and they just tune it out. Or maybe it's just that no one's interested in my tweets in the first place. Could be that too. But even then, I'd probably argue that that stems from how I tweet. I use it as a bag for thought-vomit.
This is better, right? I can at least collect all my scattered thoughts in one place, so that you don't have to keep clicking "show replies" to get the full story. And sure, no one responds to what I have to say here, but it's not like I have a superb success rate on getting reactions to my tweets either.
I've also found that, despite the prevailing school of thought on brevity in radio, I do my job like I tweet. I say what I want to say, how I want to say it, and if it takes longer than other people are comfortable with, so be it. I toss everyone else's notions on how radio should be done out the window. And I think I'm in a place where I'm more or less entitled to that. My methods have proven successful enough that there's not exactly a great reason to change them, and at this point in my career, I've realized it's more important to me to be enjoying myself while I work than it is to be concerned with whether or not my style is making everyone happy. That's not to say there's nothing I can improve on, of course. You can always improve, and you should always strive to do so. I want to be the best that I can be... but in a manner that suits me personally, not at the whims and demands of others nor in pursuit of jacking their swag, so to speak. Drawing influence or inspiration from others is one thing; straight up copying (or even poorly imitating) is another.
Well that took a turn. But honestly, I kind of like this new stream of consciousness flow I've got going on here. Anyway, I explicitly sat down here to say two things:
1. I finally got caught up on New Girl, at least to where I was when I last watched,which was the end of season 4. At the time, season 5 was not yet on Netflix, but now the show has completed its run, so I can pick up where I left off without missing any of the emotional resonance of the details of the established plotline. This is something I can (and probably will) tweet, because it doesn't go much deeper than that, other than the fact that I really, really hope Nick and Jess end up together. If they don't, I feel like this whole exercise will have been a waste. In a weird way, it's like they're so perfect for each other that they both think they're not, and legitimately agree on it. That's some next-level synergy. I will say, the season 4 finale is possibly the best episode of the show to-date. I really hope they keep that energy going with the way they weave the implications of all the relationship dynamics together. I also don't want it to jump the shark in the sense that they overcomplicate those dynamics for the sake of forced drama. So far the show has been really good about making that all flow naturally, and since there are only three seasons left (and I hear the last season is only 8 episodes), I have faith that it'll stay a natural course.
2. I really want to play Doom 2. This in itself isn't a problem, and it stems from the impact Doom as a series has had on my life and my outlook thereupon (but more on that later. As in another post. Probably). The problem is that I haven't even finished Doom 64 yet. And there's a good reason for that. Doom 64 is HARD. Not necessarily in a mechanical sense either, but in a mental sense. It requires a certain level of commitment each time you sit down and play it, because if you don't complete a full level and get the password for the next one, you've made zero progress. You can't save mid-level, so if you die, it's back to the start. Basically it's Nintendo Hard, which is fitting for the only Doom game made exclusively for a Nintendo system. So I can't just say "I feel like playing a little Doom 64 right now." I have to block out enough time (usually at least an hour) to complete at LEAST one level. And on top of that, every time you turn the system off and back on again, you have to remap the controls and redo the display settings. There is no way whatsoever to get the game to save your settings, not even with a controller pak (which I don't have anyway). This combination of factors has made Doom 64 something of a chore, and that aspect increases the further into the game I get and the more difficult it naturally gets.
But that's not even my overarching point here. My point is that I have an entire STACK of games that I've acquired just in the last YEAR alone (not even counting purchases I've made and never touched throughout the years on Steam). There's Until Dawn, Resident Evil 7, Mortal Kombat X, and even Prey I only put about 2 hours into before I went and started working my way through the OG Doom games. And now I want to go dive back into Doom 2. What is wrong with me? Why am I like this? And I suppose the bigger question is... does it even matter? Why would I put aside something that I acively want to do right now just because there are OTHER things that I have not yet done? Does that make any sense? Why would I deny myself the experience I'm seeking? If the choice were a matter of objective right and wrong, that's one thing. But playing one video game as opposed to another? What does it matter?
I suppose the question at the root of it is "am I being a good steward of my resources?" Am I wasting money on games just to HAVE them, while they sit there in a pile as I keep replaying old favorites? And I honestly think the answer is NO. Because I DO have them in the event that I ever want to play them. I can pick them up at a moment's notice. I had enough desire to play them to buy them initially, so I do believe there will come a time when I will want to delve into them in earnest. And even if that time never comes... it's like insurance. You buy it not because it's practical, but just in case. And I'm a firm believer in that police of preparedness.
In a similar vein, I've recently been afflicted by a strange urge to watch Happy Days. I don't know why, exactly; perhaps because it reminds me of my dad, perhaps because I associate the period of my life when the show was constantly on Nick at Nite with when we got our first computer... and it came with a media demo CD that had Weezer's Buddy Holly music video on it, which is built around Happy Days. And that CD showcased the power of Windows 95, which became known as the optimal way to play... you guessed it... Doom. The problem is, the show isn't available to stream anywhere. I could buy the complete series at Walmart, but it's $60. And is that REALLY worth it to watch a show when I'm probably gonna lose interest after a few episodes?
Well if my philosophy about doing whatever the heck you want (barring moral impediments) is correct... then I suppose... yes, it is worth it.
Hmm. Maybe I'll go get it after the gym today. Speaking of which I should really wrap this up and get ready to go.
Anyway, maybe this kind of spontaneous oratory venture is a demonstration of how you affect change. By simply putting it into practice. I suppose I should sit down and just toss my thoughts out more from now on.
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