October 3, 2021 4:22 PM
An apple tree
Whenever my mom visits me, I try to plan meals at tasty Asian restaurants and find scenic places to hike because I know that's what she enjoys.
But man, nothing beats taking her to an apple tree on the side of the road. The way her eyes light up with excitement, stumbling upon apples (un)ripe for the picking. The rush she gets as she's pulling down a branch, grabbing a really good apple that's only just in reach. Her insistence on getting "just a few more" as we try to hold her back from harvesting the whole tree.
_-~~~~-_ ,;" o o ";, "We hit the jackpot!" ( o o o o) (o o o o ) (o o o o o) ',o \\ | | // o,` `.,\\| |//,.' | | | | ..o,,,/ \,,,..
"This one. This one here. Grab that one." "This one here? It's green." "Yeah! We like the little ones!"
Whatever legal troubles I may get into or fines I have to pay for this, it must be worth it.
# ^. | /_/ This apple was kind of pink, and ,.-|/,-~-., kind of green, and I had no idea .':::::::::::'. how to convey that well with my ::::::::::::::; ascii art coloring, and I should \:::::::::::::/ really just stick to line art `.:::::::::.' `~-----~`
August 25, 2021 11:41 PM
Fall
____________ | |__________| |o|----------| It's been a while since I've blogged | |----------| or journaled, and I'd like to get back |o|----------| to it. | |----------| |o|----------| ...this is also the best ascii art I |_|__________| can make right now
Summer is fast approaching. Summer has my favorite kind of weather, yet it's my least favorite season. Summer means that my family plans all these vacations, and I get really overwhelmed and stressed out. Summer is when so much of my mental energy is taken up by other things, that my side projects take a back seat.
4 months later
Fall is approaching. It's still hot and muggy outside, but for me, the change in weather isn't what defines the change in season.
Fall means summer is ending. It's that feeling of relief when I get back from my last trip in August. It's when all the kids are back at school. It's calming--to get back into a routine, to be able to depend on my weekends again.
Fall has Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. At times it feels like the complete opposite of calm and relaxing, and yet I love it. I love the pre-Thanksgiving feast on Wednesday night and the hustle in the kitchen Thursday morning. I love the post-Thanksgiving lunch nap and the Black Friday shopping which wraps up before it's even Friday.
Fall is when the leaves change colors. Fall is when I took an early morning hike at McConnells Mills State Park and sat on my favorite rock, watching the leaves fall down from the trees and the water flow down along the boulders in the creek, having my mind go absolutely blank and just taking in the moment.
Fall is my favorite season.
--obligatory pumpkin picture-- _ _}#{_ ,'/ / \ \`. / { ; : } \ ( { : ; } ) `.\_\_/_/.'
May 28, 2021 6:32 PM
Elite Beat Agents
Because one silly rhythm game quarantine goal wasn't enough, I decided that I would turn on my Nintendo DS for the first time in years and play some Elite Beat Agents. And the battery on that thing is amazing. I hadn't charged it in over 5 years and it still turned on and had plenty of battery left.
I've heard the gameplay is similar to osu! but what makes it unique is that each song you can play has a story. Each one has a similar structure: the main character has some sort of ordeal they need to get through, and they call for help from the agents, and the agents dance their way to success. How well you do on the rhythm game determines the outcome of the story.
,-. ; ____ ____ __ __ . \_ \ _-' / ____// __ \ / // / _,' \ \ `-. / / __// / / / / // / ,' _ ,-\_ \ _-' / /_/ // /_/ / /_//_/ `. ,~,',' ,'\_ `. `-. \____/ \____/ (_)(_) _.--` : ! ; . `-~~~. ,.-'-._ ,-~-. .' \; ! + _.---=' ,.---. `.' ` \: ',_,.-'# //-~-~-\\ `-' { |'==-,-=='| \`==' \ ('=='/'==') \ \ :! _`w_ !; \ "-,__ |[___]| __ \ t_____J ``~-. \ ( ^ ) _/\_ | \ } \ /*\ / > < | \
I first played this game...14 years ago? I remembered it being a lot of fun, but once I got to the Hard Rock! level I struggled a lot, and I was never able to beat the whole game. But this time, I was determined to finish it. And because I like to make things harder for myself, I also decided to try and get a full combo on every single song on all 4 levels.
Yeah, I don't know why I insist on full combo-ing everything. That definitely made this take way longer than I wanted it to, and I think I hate the song Survivor now.
But I did it! And I only had to charge my DS twice this whole time! This is a fun game. I definitely recommend, but I don't think I'll ever play this again in my life.
May 16, 2021 12:26 PM
Ascii art
I first learned about ascii art back in the days of AIM when I would talk to SmarterChild. My middle school self thought that this chatbot was so cool. Obviously it was programmed to just talk to you, but it also had some other fun content like facts and games. It had a section filled with ascii art, and I spent one day just looking through every single piece of art it had.
After that, I went googling around to look for other ascii art, and I stumbled upon a really cute story which is something that I still consider one of my absolute favorite pages on the internet. Unfortunately it doesn't exist anymore, and it took me a while to even find that link. Thank goodness for the internet archive.
I was so inspired by "Fixed Width Days" that I wanted to create my own ascii art. I had created a site on GeoCities where I would put all the ascii art I typed up. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist anymore either, and it was taken down at a time in a my life where I guess I had other distractions, so I didn't save anything D: One of these days I'd like to present my own ascii art story.
_ _ .-~-. .-~-. ( `v' ) .-~-. .-~-. `-...-' `-...-' `. .' `-...-' `-...-' " Because I have to put some amount of ascii art in a post about ascii art
Until then, I'll keep making little pieces of ascii art here and there. I don't know anything about art, but there's just something I find so satisfying about using text to form pictures. I feel the same way about websites that look like they haven't been updated since the 90s. I've always wanted my own space on the internet that captured this feeling (while still somehow being mobile-friendly, because I guess that's important :P) and I think I've finally been able to do that with this personal site.
March 7, 2021 11:57 AM
How to get more sleep at night
I was dealing with insomnia for about three weeks during this past month. I know quite a few people that have had trouble sleeping throughout their whole lives. But that's not me. When I go to bed, it takes me a few minutes to fall asleep, and then I usually end up sleeping more than 8 hours. I feel restless if it takes more than 5 minutes for me to fall asleep.
So you can imagine how maddening it was for me to not be able to sleep. I would wake up after a few hours of sleep and just stay awake for hours more, feeling so tired, but not being able to do anything about it. So, I did what I always do when I'm having a problem: I asked people for advice.
Just take some melatonin!
Nope, nope, nope, that's a last resort.
Try meditating.
Man, meditating is hard. I tried this over the past summer when I found myself consistently waking up way earlier than I wanted to. I don't think I ever figured it out.
Use a humidifier.
My nose gets stuffed up every night (and this is a problem I've had all my life) but it definitely makes it harder for me to fall back asleep. I think the increased humidity helps.
Take it easy.
Yeah, I know. I know this is mainly caused by increased stress. I cleared a lot of things off my plate at work. I started taking naps during the day. I took a break from most of my side projects. I think it helped.
Get more exercise. Do some yoga.
Taking long walks, helping a friend move, making my runs longer--that all was to the effect of getting more exercise. I think it helped. I thought about the yoga thing, but yoga is boring.
Turn the heat down in the bedroom and use a weighted blanket.
Okay I think this actually helped a lot. I turned off the heat completely in my room, and I started sleeping with three blankets. Thanks co-worker.
Call me at night to get your thoughts out.
"I know this is a saying, but I mean this literally. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
Thanks sister.
I don't think I feel completely normal again, but it's a lot better now. Better enough for me to write a blog post about it, and for me to make some ascii art.
.-~~-. / .", \ \ ; ; \ {`'~.,-.,',-~-. '. ; : .,_,' `'._.'`~. ! ,' ,'`'.,.' | .-~' ~' |,' .' `~-. |'-=' '. '| ,.,.,.,`='|,.,., A lot of the times when I try to make ascii art, it's a huge struggle. But this, this flower, let's call it a daisy, just kind of came together.
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