it's second nature to love you (week notes 014)

first week notes in a while so some of this might not be strictly “this week”

Doing

I turned 30. I had a big party with lots of friends — and I feel grateful to have so many folks who want to celebrate with me, including some who drove substantial distances. I still have a bunch of mixed up feelings about crossing this threshold, but I’m trying to remember the advice of a friend: it’s a gift to grow older.
This maybe belongs under a playing heading, but maybe not: I picked up Ring Fit Adventure for the first time since the pandemic. It’s getting to be too cold out to run, so I need an alternate fitness option. My most reliable gym buddy moved away, so I’m seeing if I can get Ring Fit to stick again. I am definitely in way better shape than when I was playing years ago; I would feel faint after 20-30 minutes in the game, but my first session was over 30 minutes and I felt fine (albeit sweaty) after. Turning 30 feels like an inflection point where I need to get serious about losing weight.
I also went to the gym for the first time in months to run on the treadmill. With snow season upon us, I need to transition to indoor running. I like it quite a bit less, but I don’t want to lose progress.
We had our first big snow of the season on Friday, which meant a (much-needed) lazy snow day at home.

Daria, season four. I started rewatching Daria around Halloween because I dressed as her for the holiday. I still love it and I still hate Tom.
Friends at the Table’s Fields of Mistria streams. I’m not a FatT fan — actual play podcasts do not appeal to me at all — but Joe is, and I otherwise like a lot of the personalities on the show. Ali is probably my favorite and Joe and I love farming games like Mistria a whole lot.

Pokémon Crystal Legacy. I had a hankering of Gen 2 nostalgia hit me, so I’ve been working my way through this ROM hack. I know a lot of my love for Gen 2 stems from it being my first Pokémon — and, indeed, one of the first games I really ever played — but I’m happy to report that it’s just as charming as I remember.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise, RKS. Listened on the recommendation of a friend; I was concerned initially because I really didn’t like the first track (my words: “Big garage vibes. Like shit you listen to while you work on your motorcycle”), but after that hump, I really loved the album. My tops are “Cold Love,” “Wasted,” “All’s Well That Ends,” and “Lady Lie.” “Cold Love” in particular has really hung around in my head.