listen to my story (week notes 024)

I’ve missed a few weeks, so consider this my catch up post before starting my week notes up again…

Doing

I’m working on migrating off big tech companies — I’ve deleted all my twitter accounts and am in the process of migrating from Google Photos to a self-hosted immich service. Joe and I are also working on wiring up some of our house with ethernet: we’ve run cable the living room and plan to do the office next. I’ve also upgraded my server rack with a patch panel and managed switch (Aruba S2500). That will maybe become a big project post once we’re done.

Of course, with the said, I needed a new phone and bought a Google Pixel Pro 9. I’m not happy being in Google’s ecosystem as much as I am, but there’s also no ethical consumption under global capitalism and I don’t want the bullshit bloatware other companies put on their Android phones.

Reading

I think I’ve given up on Villette for now — it’s just not getting me excited to read. I started Daniel Handler’s memoir And Then? And Then? What Else? — we’ll see how that treats me.

Playing

I re-played Final Fantasy X with Joe watching; I’d been trying for years to get Joe to play it himself, but he stubbornly refused, saying he hated turn-based combat. There are now excellent mods out there to replace the busted HD remaster faces, and we have a working Steam Link setup to let us play PC games on the couch, so the time felt right.

I’m happy to say that I loved the game just as much as when I’ve played it before. The world of Spira is still beautiful and dense and complicated with a soundtrack to match; every time the leitmotif kicks in, I feel both deeply sad and at home — which I think captures the feeling of Spira so well. Joe asked me which character was my favorite and I said I wasn’t sure (it’s probably Yuna) because it really is an ensemble cast playing off of each other, each with their own backstory and motivations.

And then the fucking sorrow. This is such a sad game. It’s one that sat with me and lingered, even a good week after rolling credits.

I’m not sure how much I’ll dig into the endgame grinding and final bosses, but I’m also not sure I’m ready to leave Spira behind just yet. It’s a shame there’s no other games set in the world for me to play.¹

Listening

I listened to Wallsocket by underscores after really liking fishmonger. It had some good moments, but on the whole, I wasn’t a fan.

Horsegirl’s full album, Phonetics On and On, dropped, and I really like it. “Information Content” and “2468” are the standouts to me. I’m really excited to see them in a few weeks.

I also listened to who told you to think??!!?!?!?! by Milo, which I found good not great (I really like “mrs” though), and I downloaded a few Car Seat Headrest albums to listen through. Back when I worked at Radioshack, my manager loved Car Seat Headrest, so we’d have them playing in the store quite often. I always liked their sound but just never dived into their discography (partly because it’s so fucking confusing). It felt like a good time to change that.