Goals & Plans for 2024

So I've already written a post that will post on the 7th of January about a specific new years resolution (dealing with blogging), but I've been working a lot on all my goals and plans going into the next year, so I wanted to highlight them here.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, btw:)

I have a basic bread and butter work-out goal of simply doing a few minutes of push-ups/sit-ups before showering every day. Not meant to be too crazy or hard, but to keep me healthy and in the habit of doing some amount of exercise. Got the idea of doing just a few minutes of both from this post by Mark Rober.

I have a goal that involves reaching out to various people I haven't seen or contacted in a long time. I did this at the beginning of this year and found it valuable to let people know I was thinking of them/catch up with people a little. Want to start it up again this year and be more consistent with it. Shooting a text or phone call once a week is my current gameplan.

I have a reevaluation goal. In order to continue to help me progress and do/accomplish things I want to do/accomplish, I'm going to have a regular check-in every two weeks. See what progress I made, reset expectations etc. This is lowkey the most important of my goals. It will help me consistently improve myself a lot, I think.

2024 Campaign related goals. As of right this moment, I don't have much flushed out in terms of pacing for what I need to do, but I know I'll need to work on this consistently throughout the next 6 months.

I have other smaller projects I want to work on, and I'll plan those during my two-week evaluations.

One thing I'm really excited about this upcoming year is reading. I have a lot of books that I'm excited to read, so I've planned out a pretty extensive reading chopping block out for myself.

Throughout the year I'm going to relistening to books 2-4 of the Stormlight Archive to prepare for Wind and Truth (the 5th and final book of this era), which is coming out next December. This is quite the endeavor. They are long books, haha. If I spent 30 minutes listening to Words of Radiance each day, it would take me 3 months to finish. And the books only get longer from there. I'll be spending a lot of time walking to and from classes, so I definitely plan on utilizing that time for this purpose.

I'm currently reading the novellas in the Cytoverse so I can read Defiant which I got for Christmas (thanks parents!). My family will be doing a book club over the year, 6 books for the year, which I'm excited for. I got several self-help books for Christmas that I want to read. Also want to read/reread some other things including Warbreaker, The Emperor's Soul, Long Chills & Case Dough, Senet magazine (thanks Andrew!), so I have a lot I want to consume. I'm excited. Obviously my progress in this department can be seen on my list on the far left.

It's going to be a great year:)

Struggles (on how to spend time) and my Motivations (to write blog posts)

So sometimes I struggle to know what to do. Or, I guess, what I want to do. I have free time right now, and I have tons of things that I theoretically want to do, but I just don't want to right now, I guess? I feel like I have some sort of mental block where because I put them on a to-do list, they suddenly become burdens even though they are genuinely things that I want to do. It's weird. So I'm here writing things instead. Hopefully this will give me a motivation-start and I'll have more energy/desire to do various other things.

I have a lot of thoughts, and I enjoy sharing them. It makes me want to write blog posts. This reminds me of a blog post that I started writing but didn't finish due to lack of time in the moment, so I'll just copy paste it here:

It's done! Finally finished with this semester. Spent a good chunk of Monday working on Finals due that night and Tuesday doing the same. Spent legit a majority of Monday packing and cleaning. And today we are driving home:) According to Google Maps that I pulled out two seconds ago, we're only 12 minutes away from Fallon.

So I had this thought the other day (with this post and last post being evidence: It appears I've been having a lot of thoughts recently) about why I write blog posts. Why I do it, why I enjoy it etc. I've definitely talked about this subject over the course of many years here on this blog, and if I remember correctly my response involved around things such as: Enjoying condensing and constructing my thoughts in a written format, having it as a creative outlet, using it as a method of journaling, and probably some other reasons I'm missing. 

I think all of those definitely still stand, but I had an additional one that I wanted to add (I also just thought of another one which I now will also write about).

Another reason I like writing on my blog because it makes me feel connected with my family. Specifically my brothers Andrew and Eric.

I love how we all have blogs, and in the past I believe I've referenced how I really enjoy it when our blog posts respond to each other in a way. 

[End of writings, now I'm adding onto it]

I just enjoy that even though I don't call them the most (something I wish and plan to remedy during this new year) we can still be connected through these posts. Obviously posts differ largely in a lot of different ways, but every time a small part of it is like a little email to my brothers and others. And it's great. 

It's just another wonderful thing that comes out of this wonderful little blog of mine which I've become quite fond of over the years.

I'm having other thoughts I want to write, but they would be best written in a separate post that I'm currently planning on posting on January 1st (edit: ¿Maybe January 7th?). Unsure if I'll post another post before then, so I guess: See you next year! Merry Christmas:) I love you all.

I Wanted to Post Today and a Thought about Filler Episodes

Today's important to me, so I wanted to post something. 

I suppose many days are important to me and I don't post on those, but I want to post today, so I am.

This is completely unrelated to why this day is important to me, but:

I had this thought the other day. It's spawned off a YouTube video I didn't actually watch. But the videos title, if I remember correctly, was "If Our Life had Filler Episodes".

This is, of course, in reference to filler episodes in anime. Filler episodes are episodes that just exist. They don't progress any plot lines. They don't really do much of anything. The characters do something random that doesn't matter in terms of the anime overall. You can easily watch the show without watching the filler episodes and be 100% okay.

And it just made me think: 

I don't want any filler episodes in my life. 

I want to do things every day that progress me or progress a storyline or progress whatever thing you want to connect from this analogy. I don't want there to be any days in my life where I could have just skipped over them and nothing would have changed.

And I thought it was a cool thought, so I thought I'd share.

Hope you enjoyed said thought.

3 Personal Projects I'm Working On

I have a few big things I'm working on right now that I'm excited about (although they inflict varying degrees of stress as well).

2024 Campaign

The day was June 14, 2019. Joseph, me, and ¿other people? are talking about the Mistborn Adventure Game and how we should totally do a campaign sometime. We recognized that then wasn't the best time as Thomas and I were both about to leave on our missions. So Joseph decreed that 5 years from that day, we would do campaign. A Friday. I remarked, it may be easier to start one day later, but nay! 5 years from that day, we were to do it!

This became an ongoing joke for the years following until actually doing it became more and more solidified. So many more details I could write, and perhaps I will in a separate blog post.

I wish we could get our whole family in on it since many of us love and adore Mistborn, but it's just not possible. Too many conflicting schedules irl, too many characters in-game etc.

I'm running the campaign, so I've been doing a lot of world building, plotting etc. It's been super fun, but definitely stressful at times, since I actually want it to turn out well. Especially because I have no prior DMing experience, I'm nervous -- I'm hoping to do at least one one-shot to get the hang of things before the actual campaign begins.

I reference world-building, and this is because the campaign takes place on an alternate timeline. This timeline is if MAJOR MISTBORN ERA 1 SPOILERS PLEASE DO NOT SPOIL YOURSELF I WILL CRY [black out is not working properly. Removed spoilers. I hope I didn't spoil anyone] Obviously the implications of this are massive, and so there's huge differences. I'm trying to create a world that is realistic to what might actually take place if that took place.

Applying for Internships

This is less of a personal project and more of an important thing that I really need to continually be doing and it's definitely stressful because if I don't get an internship soon, my graduation is just going to be pushed back longer and longer.

I've applied for a good handful so far (10, I think), but I definitely need to just keep grinding away. How time sensitive it is stresses me out. Applying for internships this upcoming summer was best done a month or two ago. Regardless, we press forward. I should honestly set time aside for this every day.

Personal Coding Project -- Ultimate Game Winner

I made this neat thing back during my 2nd semester during one of the first programming classes you take. I think it's neat. The base idea is solving the problem my family runs into where we're like, "But who's the Ultimate Game Winner??"

Over breaks when my family gets together and plays tons of games, sometimes we keep track of who's won each game and such. And at the end, we want to know who's done the best. Couple problems arise, however, when coming up with a way to score. If we just go based off the number of times people have won, there are two major problems: 1. Andrew and I typically play the most games, so we are strongly advantaged. 2. This greatly rewards playing as many quick games as possible.

The purpose of my program is to give you points based on how long the game is, how complex it is, while not rewarding (too heavily) just playing lots and lots of games. There's various math shenanigans going on in the background, but you just input what game was played and who played. It gives points and displays an updated leader board accordingly. If it doesn't recognize the game, you input the length and weight of the game into the system. It remembers the game from now on.

Anyway, point being: I want to make that program but better. I want to because 1. I think it's cool and I want to. 2. It'll help me become a better programmer and 3. Good personal projects look great on a resume.

I have a lot of ideas on how to make it better, but the main two are: 1. Having a GUI (an interface with buttons etc. instead of it being an terminal-based application and 2. Having it automatically scrape data off of boardgamegeek, so you don't have to manually look up and input the data.

I've done a little work with GUI's in the past, but I have a lot to relearn and learn there. Same with scraping data off the internet; I've done a little, but I have a lot to learn. Both seem like very useful things to learn about, though, and I'm excited to do so.

Ooo, the Advent of Code 2023 is coming up as well, so that'll be another thing I'm doing. 25-day coding challenge that takes place leading up to Christmas.

I Text Quite Unlike Anyone Else I Know

I know part of this blog definitely serves as a journal of some form, but I've already written a lot about everything going on in my life in personal documents, so I'm choosing not to write about them here. If you'd like to inquire further, feel free to reach out to me.

I text quite unlike anyone else I know. And I quite like how I text.

I'm sure many of my text mannerisms also come out in my blog posts. Prime example is, of course, my parenthesis within parenthesis. Now-a-days I rarely go over 3 within each other, with 3 being pretty rare itself. I feel like I still do 2 parenthesis within each other fairly often, though. Back in the day, I would use absurd amounts of parenthesis within parenthesis and it was fantastic.

Another common thing I've found myself doing in texts is using the words 'like' and 'uh' (and 'um', but the other two more frequently) in ways as if I'm talking. If I need a pause but also need to describe what something is like, I'll chuck in a ', like,' in my text. I suppose the commas are unnecessary, but they add in a pause that I like. I feel like using like in this manner is not uncommon.

I chunk in an 'uh' when I'm unsure about something and a nice little pause would be good.

Describing the specific circumstances on when I do certain things is harder than expected.

I also feel like I commonly write books for texts. Writing in-depth texts describing whatever I'm describing is pretty common for me. Especially in regards to my feelings, I write quite a bit.

I feel like I'm missing some things, but that's all that's coming to mind right this second, so I'm just going to call this post here.

NBA and Guy Fawkes Day

Been trying to work on my Twenty One Pilots Tier List. It is incredibly difficult. I always underestimate how difficult it will be.

New NBA season has just started, and I'm more into basketball than perhaps ever before. Warriors are my team, ofc, since they were my grandparents team and I've kind of just been following them ever since. We've been doing well! 5-1. It's been awesome. Christ Paul is a fantastic addition. Steph Curry is still goated and is still an absolute pleasure to watch.

Definitely scared of the Nuggets and Celtics the most right now (which, you know, makes sense considering their standings, but still).

Celebrated Guy Fawkes day today with one of my classes. It was pretty neat:) We went out to our teacher's house and had a little potluck and burned a scarecrow Guy Fawkes. 

I don't really know anyone from that class, so I kind of just ate some food by myself and thought about how the average height at that get together was crazy high. Seriously. I'm average height for a guy, and almost every single guy was taller than me -- and more often than not by a decent amount. But not only that, a good chunk of the girls were around my height or taller. Very few people there were shorter than me. It was fascinating.

Day Light Savings time is tonight, I believe. Not a fan. It's going to get dark soooo early.

Updated Half Alive Tier List

Created using tiermaker.com

Been meaning to update this list for forever; they've had new music out for quite a while now. Regardless, here it is now.

Also, I kind of forgot how hard it is to rank songs, haha. Getting them in their proper tiers is okay, but organizing them within their tiers is sooo tough. In the past, I've been super surgical about it spending forever on each decision. 

This time around (and this will allegedly be the case for tier lists in the future in general) I tried to be more ¿impulsive? about it. I just listened to brief parts of the various songs and chose what I felt was right in the moment. Didn't try to listen to the whole songs back and forth several times etc.

I'm quite happy with the list. I'm hoping that I'll be able to update most, if not all, of my tier lists in these next coming weeks. I feel like a lot has changed.

Since I'm not really going to tournaments this semester, I have room on the far right column kind of opening up. Not sure exactly what to put there, so it'll stay for the time being, but we'll see what I choose to do with it eventually.

Here's the old list's post in case you are curious. I'm sure my future self will be: https://whateveriwant7.blogspot.com/2022/01/my-favorite-half-alive-songs-tier-list.html

I love you all:)

~Alex

My Spring 2023 Smash Ultimate Season Recap

Welp, I continue to climb. I went from 13th ish my first semester to 5th, then 4th, then 3rd, and now 2nd. This has put me into Rexburg's All-Time Top 10 (Note: there is no official list on this). My lowest placement at a PR tournament was 3rd, which is ludicrously consistent. My worst loss was to BUG, all my other losses were amongst the top 5 players.

I'm happy. And content. I'm happy with how far I've come, and I've decided to pretty much retire. I've just felt little to no motivation to practice or attend tournaments this semester. I might go to a few, especially since two of my roommates might start going consistently (one already does). But we'll see. 

I went to one this semester and took my lowest placement since March 24th, 2022 (13th place). And I wasn't too beat up about it. My heart just isn't in it right now, and that's okay. Other hobbies exist. This one has brought me great great great joy, and perhaps my heart will be in it again a different semester.

I think part of the reason I feel less motivated is because I have almost no where left to climb. 3 out of the 5 players that beat me last semester aren't here this semester. The only things I could accomplish this semester that I haven't done is being consistent against Spork and beating Naters (and beating Gappy, I suppose), which are awesome things, but not very many. Not enough for me to feel motivated to grind enough to have that happen.

The awesomest thing from the semester was Rexburg Smash Summit! 

I wrote about how I was excited for the event in this blog post, but the most important part I quoted below.

"It's a Smash Bros invitational modeled after my favorite tournament series of all time (Smash Summit and Smash Ultimate Summit (for Melee and Ultimate respectively)). 

There [are] 8 contenders, 1 is a invited spot. Spork got that one.

At 5 tournaments there [was] a qualifying spot available. If you're the top placer at the tournament who hasn't already qualified, you [got] into Summit."

8 of the highest level competitors from Rexburg got together to battle it out over the course of two days.

The first day, there were two pools of 4 participants. You play a round robin, you record determines your seeding for the next day.

I beat the lowest seeded opponent pretty easily, but then lost to Maguire, meaning I was very likely going to not be the top seed from my pool. I beat my next two opponents handily. And then, shockingly, Maguire got upset not once, but twice! Meaning I had the best record in our pool and I was going to be the first seed from our pool going into the next day!

In another surprise from the first day, Spork, the overall number one seed of the event (I was overall number two seed) got upset and was going to start in the losers' side of the bracket the next day!

I went to bed that night excited and rather nervous for the next days events.

The next day my first opponent was Penalty. Overall, I have a very good set record against Penalty (14-5), but I had lost my previous set vs. him and each time he fought me he was getting closer to beating me, so it was definitely not an easy opponent.

But that fine day I was playing some of the best Smash I ever had and I crushed Penalty 3-0.

My next opponent in Winner's Finals was EchoXMan, who I have been extremely dominate against recently. It wasn't any different this time around, and I beat him harder than I ever have with a 3-stock and 2 2-stocks to win the set 3-0.

Spork and Maguire both dropping down to loser's for the first day was very fortunate for me -- they were who I was most scared to face against. But Spork showed why he was the #1 overall seed at the tournament and made an incredible losers' run to come fight me in Grand Finals.

I was nervous going into this set. The first game I played incredibly shaky and Spork became the first person to take a game of me that day, winning with a dominating 3-stock.

The second game, I calmed down and focused up and struck back with a solid 2-stock.

Game three was back and forth with some clutches from both sides. I ended up taking it with 2-stocks remaining.

Game four I was playing just as well and was up 2 stocks to 1. But the thought of winning was making me nervous. I choked a couple easy punishes and Spork clutched the comeback to force a game 5.

Game 5 was back and forth with Spork taking an early lead and me striking back. At two stocks a piece, I take the next stock and gain a small lead while surviving at high precents as Charizard. Spork finally gets the kill putting us at one stock a piece him at 46%.

I hop down from the angel platform as Ivysaur and get a quick combo including calling out a tech option with an up-smash getting a lot of percent. I send Spork off stage and set up charging a forward smash. Just outside of get-up attack range. This spelled the doom for Spork as he got-up attacked thinking it would reach, but my f-smash finishes the job winning me Rexburg Smash Ultimate Summit.

I was elated and so happy. They did after-tournament interviews with me. Due to some amazing members of our community over $225 was donated to the prize pool. I won $70 for first place:) It was amazing. My heart started beating faster just thinking about it. I love good competition. And this tournament was my favorite local tournament I've ever attended. So good and so happy with my performance.

Here is a playlist of all the recorded sets at the tournament:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5_yIWIVcq0kMVV0fx2-e3tLiXMPrtxIY

• 1st Place (out of 36), 1st Seed, BYU-I Night #1
• 3rd Place (out of 29), 1st Seed, FF#11
• 3rd Place (out of 25), 4th Seed (mistake in seeding occurred), FMaF#12
• 2nd Place (out of 25), 1st Seed, FF#12, Free Meal at Denny's
• 2nd Place (out of 29), 3rd Seed, FF#14, Summit Invite
• 3rd (out of 35), 2nd Seed, Smash @ Abri, $25 + Candy
• 65th (out of 226), 155th Seed, King's Court (Crown III Pre-Local)
• 129th (out of 421), 159th Seed, Crown III
• 1st (out of 8), 2nd Seed, Smash Rexburg Summit, $70 + Trophy + Sound Bar
• 1st (out of 14), 1st Seed, Wednesday Pop-Up, $25
• 1st (out of 24), 1st Seed, FF#18
• 2nd (out of 21), 1st Seed, FF#19
• 1st (out of 22), 1st Seed, Popup Party

What Should I Set My Mind To?

I have a sudden urge to write. Great thing that I have a blog then, eh? Bad thing that I'm in class, though, haha. I'll have to loop around and write more.

Okay, I'm back. Like, two days later.

I've recently been having a desire to create something. But I have this wall thing where I feel like if I'm going to dedicate

Okay I'm back. Like, one day later.

. . . if I'm going to dedicate a lot of time to a larger scale project, it should be something that I can put on my resume. And so it cuts of motivation for certain projects, which is unfortunate. Especially because that shouldn't really be true in the first place. Why can't I just start writing a book if I want to? Or designing a board game? Or become the highest rank in some random video game or something?

I don't know, it's this weird balance of weird things.

I really do want to code something cool, so why don't I? I totally should.

And if I want to write something cool, then what's stopping me? 

I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. 

So the question is: What do I want to set my mind to?

New Roommates (and Typing Tests again)

So I really want to write something, so here I am. I just wish I had more of a focus on what I wanted to write about I guess? But that's okay. Random random stuff is great.

I have all brand new roommates this semester, and it was kind of a rough adjustment because I just really miss Alex and Andrew and Ben. But, tender mercy: Alex is in my religion class completely unplanned by the two of us! Seriously, what a blessing. Andrew is also in one of my classes, but that was coordinated.

Two of my roommates, Tyler and Joe, are a riot. They love Magic: The Gathering and various video games. I got them into Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, which has been an absolute blast. We decided to splurge a little bit (also because of my birthday coming up) and we have a whole lotta new cards coming on Friday, and I am pumped.

They also got me playing Elden Ring, which has been a lot of fun. And you can turn off blood graphics! So that's tight.

Also, going to go take a typing test real quick:

typingtest.com; Medium Test; 1 min; 78wpm with 98% accuracy = 77wpm net speed.

Going to take another one because I've been hitting 80wpm recently and I want to do so again.

There we go!

typingtest.com; Medium Test; 1 min; 87wpm with 98% accuracy = 86wpm net speed.

Going to do another one just because.

typingtest.com; Medium Test; 1 min; 84wpm with 100% accuracy = 84wpm net speed.

Neat.

I've been relistening to The Way of Kings, and it's been fantastic.

Theodore and Melody are so so so cute:)

Emily and I played some Snipperclips today and it was so much fun.

Emily and I alongside Alex and Takota went to a Haunter River thingy. Tons of fun as well.

Anyway, I should probably get back to homework:)

Some Vacationing Adventures

So I'm on vacation right now travelling around and doing tons of fun things with Emily. We got to visit Jacob and Alicia up in Utah, got to visit Emily's grandparents and two of her Aunts, got to see Jerome and Moroni, got to drive around my mission, got to go to two sealings and a reception for some lovely people. Got to come to Fallon, play some games, climb the big blue tank, go canoeing. It's been wonderful:) And our adventures aren't done yet.

Splendor Duel is fantastic, btw. Played it thrice with Emily and thoroughly enjoyed it every time.

Here are some pictures:

Bearded Alex

Emily's Mission Companion's Wedding

Andrew Allen's Wedding:)

Perazzo Island

Rather Basic Hitchhiker's Guide to Smart Spending at Dairy Queen

So I originally wrote this for Emily because she was going to go to Dairy Queen. Decided to post it with minor edits so all can spend wisely at their local Dairy Queen.

I did note that prices vary place to place at the end, and this is definitely something to be aware of. I talk about a 2 for $5, but where Emily went there was only a 2 for $6. Just use common sense and plan accordingly.

2 for $5 deal and the $7 meal deal are where it's at. Stay away from everything else.

Upgrading a drink into a slushy only costs, like, 30 cents more, so it's totally a move if you don't want soda.

If you ever get only one item off the 2 for $5, make sure to get a second one to qualify for the deal. It'll only cost, like a $1 more to get an additional item.

If you want ice cream, 2 for $5 for 2 sundaes might be the move. You should be able to get small cones and dilly bars instead of small sundaes. If they don't let you, just get coupons. Then immediately redeem those coupons for small cones or dilly bars. Also if you get sundae coupons, you can redeem that immediately after for a small blizzard for $2 more.

Prices vary place to place, but these general guidelines should prove useful.

Pretty Much Just a Journal Entry

PerazzoBrothersGaming now has 112 subscribers, which is neat.

I have a wonderful girlfriend, which is wonderful.

Summer has been fantastic, besides the being away from my girlfriend part.

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter was so good.

My stye exists again.

Been working at Dairy Queen again, which has been good.

Played Search for Planet X quite a bit over the course of a few days. Now we've been playing Tiny Towns quite a bit over the course of a few days. Also played Spirit Island a couple-few times. New expansion is arriving on Saturday, and I am pumped.

Some Things I Know, Others I Don't

    My family is incredibly important to me, and I know families are incredibly important in general. I've said this before, but I am in large part who I am because my family is who they are. I love my family, and I am forever changed because of their influences in my life.

    In my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), we have a document called "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". There are many sections in this document that I continue to struggle with even though I have great faith in Christ, His Restored Church, the Prophet Joseph Smith, and modern-day prophets. Even after studying it, I wrestle with many of its statements, and I want you (whoever 'you' are) to know that; my testimony is not perfect or all-knowing, and I do not claim to have all of the answers. I am simply a man trying his best.

    But I did want to testify of a couple things in The Family Proclamation that I find powerful and that I do believe in because I know family is important to a good world.

    One of the sentences states, "Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally." I really do believe that families can be together forever. Marriage need not be just "till death due you part". I am so grateful that I'll be able to see and spend time with my family that has passed on from this earth life.

    Another statement I wanted to bear witness of is this: "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."

    I really believe that as a family strives to establish those principles in their homes, their family life will be stronger. Seek to become better, seek forgiveness from one another, respect one another, love one another, have compassion for one another, work together, and have fun together. These are such wonderful things. Faith in Christ, and sincere prayer will help you have these in your family, and they can richly bless any family.

    I know that Christ lives. I really, strongly believe that He is my Savior. I love Him. I hope I can be kind, and loving, and happy like He is. I know my family can help me do that. I hope all families help each other do that.

Subjectivity vs Objectivity

Wrote this a while ago. Evidence suggests while on my mission, but I never posted it because it's just random thoughts of mine and posting it wouldn't have fulfilled my purpose, in my opinion.

Anyway, I'm posting them now unedited (besides whitespace), plus I added some additional thoughts I've had recently on the topic at the end:

You know, I think ranking things is kind of hilarious. I look at somebody else's list ranking, let's say, cosmere books, and they randomly have one of the Mistborn books near the bottom, I would stop them and be like, "Nuh uh. This is wrong and you're wrong." And yet, when I look at any of my lists, I'm just like, "Yep. That's correct."

Obviously I identify the fact that these are opinions and if you prefer Elantris over Mistborn, that's totally up to you.

I just think it's funny how our initial reaction is to straight up disagree and tell the opposing view their wrong. When, in reality, you're both correct.

And this brings up an interesting distinction too. Because if you're talking about your favorite books, both people are correct. It's just their personal opinion and if they say and think that Elantris is better than Mistborn, then it's correct. But if you argue which one is a better book, that's an entirely different question/situation.

If you're arguing which one is the best versus which one is your favorite, it changes from a subjective question to a objective question.

In the past, I personally preferred Regional at Best to Vessel. This is no longer the case, and Vessel is now my favorite album of all time, but in the past that was the case. So, back then, I could say that I subjectively preferred Regional at Best. However, if you asked which one is objectively better, then the answer is, in theory, Vessel because it has more better production and is generally considered the better album.

This brings up another interesting thing. When talking about which thing is objectively better, bringing in the general consensus of the public on something is totally acceptable (at least in my opinion). Of course, the general consensus of the public consists of many many subjective opinions compiled together. So what difference does it make? If you're using many subjective opinions to determine an objective thing, doesn't that ruin the point of it being objective?

[End of original thoughts; now sharing some additional thoughts from 2023 Alex]

One thing that I think is interesting about this all is that some things lean toward "This is purely opinion based" and other things lead toward "This actually has some factual evidence behind it".

For example, I think it's kind of funny when people debate over what food tastes better. It's, like, purely subjective. It's whatever your tastebuds say taste better, and different people's tastebuds are going to say different things.

In regards to other things, though, there's actually something of substance to bring up. For example, ranking Smash Brothers characters. I have a friend who thinks Zero Suit Samus is bottom 20 (ridiculous, I know). In order for me to disagree with his opinion, I can point out objective things to help with subjective opinions. And, I think, perhaps, when there's enough objective things, you can begin to say that some subjective opinions are wrong because everything points to it being so. Saying opinions can be wrong is a hot take, perhaps, but I think it makes sense.

(On a side note that's not really a side note: ZSS is not bottom 20. Frame 1 jab, aerials are incredibly safe on shield (-7 being the worst one), basic bread and butter combos, good kill confirms, some of the best movement stats in the game, good size hitboxes, zair is so good, and down-b often gets you out of disadvantage for free. How on earth do they think ZSS is bottom 20??)

Zookeeper's Secret Exercise/Challenge

Took a Career Exploration and Discovery class. One of the things we did was brainstorm what our top picks would be of life-work that you would pursue if money was no object. This was an exercise/challenge from a wonderful book called Zookeeper's Secret written by Jeffery A. Thompson and Stuart Bunderson. 

This was back when I was an Educational Mathematics major and was contemplating swapping over to Computer Science. This is one of the exercises that helped me make the decision to do so. Thought I would share it here because why not:

Note: I fail to remember why they're ordered the way they are. Maybe it was just the order that I thought of them? Maybe they're vaguely ordered? I'm not sure.

Top Choice: Computer Programmer where I get to do whatever designers; As in, I get a large amount of choice over what I design. A story, a math program, a video game, a board game app etc.

Author

Computer Programmer

Math Professor

Board Game Designer

Math and Computer Programmer Tutor

Video Game Designer

I've Lost Some Things Due To Email Wackness

So on a mission you have a missionary email. Roughly 3 months after getting home from your mission, the email terminates. Before this took place, I shared many things over google drive from my mission email to my normal email thinking that that would be enough to save it.

Turns out that after a while it deletes anyway. This has lead to the loss of many things that I created on my mission that I am now rather sad I no longer have.

This includes:

-- I made a Patriarchal Blessing doc where I wrote out tons of things about my patriarchal blessing. I organized it, broke it down by different topics, wrote it in first person, amongst other projects. Many of those I can reproduce, which I want to do.    

But other things I can't reproduce, at least not in its fullness. For example, when I left Winder (my 2nd area in my mission), I wrote down all the parts of my patriarchal blessing that I saw fulfilled during my time there, and the specific experiences connected to those things. I also wrote down different things Jerome has said about me that connected with different things in my blessing; him identifying various gifts I have etc.

I can try to recreate those, but I feel I'd be missing a lot, and I'm sad I no longer have access to the things I wrote.

-- Several videos. There are probably a couple more that I've lost that I'm just unaware of, but I know that I lost several of the videos my favorite missionaries made for me for my birthday. I love those videos; they made that day so wonderful, and continue to make me smile when I think about them.

-- Mission Lingo. Mission cultures are so funny and so interesting. I thought all the different and diverse lingo used was hilarious. So I started collecting it. I started writing down all the lingo I heard and what it mean. Starting compiling a little dictionary, and it was fantastic. And now it's gone.

I could try to recreate this as well, and I could probably get a lot of it down, but I know I wrote down a lot of random ones that were rarely used that I'm sure I've now forgotten completely about. It would be incredibly difficult to get it back to its former glory.

-- Also potentially all of my mission weekly emails I sent out?? I can't find them anywhere, even on my home account that I sent them to. Super big bummer

We Learned How to Compress Aardvarks in Class Today

The title's only slightly misleading and happens to no longer be accurate because said event occurred last week, but I still think it's hilarious and warrants me posting it for I don't have time to write anything else today.

Excited for Rexburg Summit (A Smash Invitational Tournament)

Two Random Things First:

Realized that I could easily update my top 9 video games to a top 10 by adding Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to the list.

Got half alive concert tickets a while back and then ended up not being able to go because my ride got rather sick that day, so that was a bummer.

The Thing I Ended Up Writing A Lot About:

I qualified for Rexburg Summit, which I'm super happy about. It's a Smash Bros invitational modeled after my favorite tournament series of all time (Smash Summit and Smash Ultimate Summit (for Melee and Ultimate respectively)). 

Unfortunately our number 1 player Naters can't attend, although that does mean anyone can win the tournament now, which is pretty hype.

There will be 8 contenders, 1 (was supposed to be 2 with Naters) is a invited spot. Spork got that one because he's super good, but isn't able to come to much, which means it would be harder for him to get in by the second way you can get in which is qualifying through tournaments. 

At 5 tournaments (was supposed to be 4 with Naters) there is a qualifying spot available. If you're the top placer at the tournament who hasn't already qualified, you get into Summit. Maguire and I have done this.

So there are three more qualifying spots available. The last two spots are vote-ins. The community gets to choose who they want to see in Summit. People can campaign and such if they want the people to vote for them. Each person gets two free votes for each vote-in slot, plus an additional 3 available for $1 each. All the money goes to the tournament.

It looks like VanBro is going to win round 1, which is what I wanted. Round 2 is still up in the air, but there's momentum for Deju, who would be leaving on his mission the following week after Summit. It would be a great send-off for a great guy.

So currently Spork, Maguire, and I are in. With VanBro and Deju likely. Strong possibilities for the last 3 spots include Penalty, Echo, MetaToaster, and JakeSnake if he chooses to pull up.

Tears of the Kingdom is Goated

 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom came out. And I have been playing way too much of it. It's seriously, like, everything I wanted it to be. I'm having an absolute blast with it. It reminds me of when I played Breath of the Wild for the first time; I just poured hours into it at a crazy pace.

It's definitely been consuming a lot of my time. Luckily this week has been pretty light on homework.

What's kind of hilarious, though, is that everyone I've talked to who owns Tears of the Kingdom has been doing the same thing I've been doing. We are all having a grand ol' time with it, and it's wonderful. I get to talk about it with my classmates in almost all of my classes, which is hilarious that I can do that in the first place, but also just fun that so many people around me right now can connect over this fantastic game.

Anyway, just wanted to give that small report on my time with this fantastic game so far.

MCU Movie/TV Show Tier List

Watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and absolutely loved it. Wanted to make a tier list, so I did. Decided I might as well post it here.

Also: Highkey Iron Man 3 should be in a "Haven't Seen In, Like, Forever" category, but *shrug*

My Winter 2023 Smash Ultimate Season Recap

Yet another semester of competition passes.

I continue to get better and better and more and more consistent. My first semester competing was Winter 2022. It is wild to see how far I've come as a competitor.

Highlights from this season:

- Won a tournament without a single game dropped, which is wild.

- Won several more tournaments

- Got a 9-0 Head to Head against Echo?! Bonkers. Definitely the most impressive thing I did this semester.

- Finally beat out Spork. Spork barely didn't make attendance requirements, but if he did, I would have outranked him for the first time, which I'm proud of.

- Made some good friends :)

- Spent quite a bit of time editing this video with the help of Ben finding clips to announce the PR, which you can check out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2pEpQq4w5I&ab_channel=EasternIdahoSmash

If you want to see my part in the video specifically, use this link:

https://youtu.be/g2pEpQq4w5I?t=379

Here's the PR Graphic (I'm #3):

I'm top 3 in Rexburg/Idaho Falls?! Wild.

Here's all my tournament placements:

• 3rd Place (out of 24), 3rd Seed, Shuvll's New Year Event
• 3rd Place (out of 44), 3rd Seed, FF#1
• 1st Place (out of 10), 1st Seed, Cocoa Collision, $16
• 3rd Place (out of 24), 3rd Seed, Pop-up
• 2nd Place (out of 43), 3rd Seed, FF#2
• 1st Place (out of 27), 1st Seed, FF#3
• 2nd (out of 39), 2nd Seed, FF#4
• 4th (out of 34), 3rd Seed, FF#6
• 3rd (out of 29), 2nd Seed, Pop-Up
• 1st (out of 39), 1st Seed, FF#7
• 1st (out of 50), 1st Seed, FF#8
• 4th (out of 16), 2nd Seed, Meta's Birthday Bash
• 1st (out of 24), 1st Seed, FF#9, $15 FatCats Gift Card
• 25th (out of 85), LanKing
• 5th (out of 20), LanKing 2-2+ Redemption
• 1st (out of 41), 1st Seed, FF#10, $15 FatCats Gift Card
• 2nd (out of 19), 2nd Seed, Popoff Wednesday

PerazzoBrothersGaming YouTube Channel

Joseph, Thomas, Ben, and I have been having a good time making random videos :)

Key focuses for us for our channel in no particular order:

1. Family Friendly (no cursing, no innuendos etc.)

2. Videos have to be tied to gaming in some form. (Any form of gaming is cool: Board Gaming, Video Gaming, Sports etc.)

3. Just have a good time! Don't stress out about it too much. There's more to this, but that's generally the idea.

Check out the channel here.

Check out my first (and most viewed) youtube short here.

Check out my first youtube video (on this channel, at least) here.

Check out our channel's most viewed youtube short here.

Quite frankly, our videos aren't the best production in the world, haha. But we're having fun, and I really do think we are getting better at it in general/are making better content as we go along.

Right now our content consists of:

-Videos of Shapez, Monument Valley, and Fall Guys gameplay

-Shorts of Joseph talking about random things while playing Marvel Snap in the background

-Shorts of random Super Smash Brother clips I get from tournaments

-Shorts made of clips from random parts of our videos

-Our first two videos which we made back during Christmas time which are board game reviews of Just One and Hand to Hand Wombat

We have many other projects in mind, which we're excited about.

We're having a fun time seeing a little growth in our channel, but the key we're focusing on is to not get enveloped in trying to grow our channel where we stop having fun/start worrying too much about everything etc. This falls under the concept of "Just have a good time!" that I mentioned above. But it can definitely be fun to try to make things better/try to get more views/subscribers etc. It's an interesting, sometimes difficult balance.

Feel free to subscribe! It'll help our little channel and make us happy :)

Faulty

I wrote this while I was on my mission, right around a year in if I remember correctly (November 18th, 2020, it turns out). I never really finished it, but it's not like there was any ending in mind in the first place. I decided not to post it at the time because the topic(s) I discuss aren't exactly what I personally wanted to be posting about while I was on my mission, but I've decided to post it in its entirety now. I made a slight grammatical fix and that's it. The Title is also the same as it was when I wrote it on my mission.

I like the thoughts I have here. It's some good stuff, and there's so much more to explore regarding it all; perhaps I will at some point. 

I hope you enjoy the thoughts as much as I do:

Sometimes (often a lot of the time, it seems), it is difficult to know what to write. Or where to start. Or how to start.

Often I find myself pondering far too much before I start typing; trying to figure out the perfect thing to bestow upon the white page in front of me.

Happens in journal writing too. I sit there thinking about what specifically I want to write about. Wanting the perfect words to describe what I want to talk about (but, of course, I first have to figure out what I want to talk about, which is an even more difficult task, it seems).

Words are faulty, however. So even with a topic at hand, it sometimes feels impossible to describe what/how we feel using words.

It just never seems to get it quite right. Or perhaps you want to make a statement, but there's too much history behind it so it would be difficult to explain.

Perhaps the words mean something special to you and the meaning isn't adequately expressed even though the words may feel perfect.

But also, perhaps, that's what makes it special. Where I say something knowing it has meaning to me. And that's enough.

For example, I ended the last blog post with, "Tchau tchau!!" It's a common way to say goodbye, but, for me, they have a special meaning. It's a way for me to remember those who matter very much to me, even though none of the people who currently read from this blog know those people.

Or even my use of the phrase "Words are Faulty" is a nod to someone special in my life. Perhaps it is only us two who understand the reference, but that is okay.

It means something to me, and that's enough.

I feel as though that's the idea behind the "kitchen sink" as discussed by twenty one pilots.

"A kitchen sink to you is not a kitchen sink to me."

I don't really know where I'm going with this. I just knew I needed to start typing in order to get something in front of me.

Right now these are just thoughts that perhaps aren't fully expressed properly. Like I said previously, there's always seems to be more history to inform people about that would allow them to understand fully the words which are spoken.

Tommy's Words

Near the end of my mission, literally the last week if I remember correctly, I was in the Institute Building for the University of Utah. I was serving in part of the Young Single Adult stake that covered the University of Utah.

As my companion and I were talking to people, I got in a conversation with Tommy. Tommy knew that I was finishing up my mission. He asked me how my mission was. I bore my simple, fervent testimony of how my mission changed me. And, although there were many, many struggles, it was such a precious time for me.

We went our separate ways for the next hour or so as the activity went forward.

Near the end of our time there, Tommy pulled me aside. Unbeknownst to me when I was telling him about my mission, Tommy, it turns out, has been pondering whether he should serve a mission or not.

He thanked me for the things I said to him earlier and told me, "You may be going home from your mission, but know you helped me go on mine."

Tommy's words caused my heart to be filled. 

My heart continues to be filled as I think back on how I was able to impact him in such a profound way.

We impact so many more people than we realize. I'm blessed that I was made aware to this one.

General Update on my Livelihood

I'm going to Salt Lake City for the weekend, so that's exciting. I'll be able to see various people from my mission. There's a mission reunion on Friday, but I also have plans to spend time with a few specific people outside of that, which I'm excited about.

General Conference is also this weekend, which I'm excited for. I feel prepared and ready to receive revelation for things I want do develop a further understanding of.

The semester is almost done, and I am so ready. I am kind of exhausted of school/everything, so I am excited for the break. I have 5 more semesters after this one.

Just went to my last Smash Bros tournament of the semester last night. It's been a great season! I'll presumably make a blog post recapping it all. I'm still on the Player Rankings Panel (I'm actually the head of it now), so I've been working on collecting important stats and such this morning. It's fun, although draining by the end. 

This semester we have an interesting dynamic because spots 7-11 are all super close, and it feels bad that one of them won't be on the top 10 even though they're so close to the others. 

It's also interesting because I've never had so many people so close together. For example, in last semester it was smaller clumps. The top 4 were pretty clear, but the next two were super close. And then the next two after that were super close. And then the next 3 were super close. This semester we just have 5 people all super close, which definitely makes it a lot harder (albeit, more interesting) to figure out.

Next semester is going to be interesting. We have a couple key members of our core friend group leaving. The ward is going to be, like, half the size it was this semester. The Smash scene will probably be smaller.

Thomas and MaryAnn will be back up here though! And it's going to get warm again! So it'll be great.

Life is good, I think.

Ashes and Arkham

So I'm sitting in Web Development class right now. The teacher is going over an assignment I've already done, but I want to stick around for attendance points and such. I don't think I'd be able to focus very well on other homework, so I've decided to just write.

Ryan and I have been playing Ashes: Reborn, and it's been an absolute blast. Deck Construction games are so fascinating to me. Building a deck before the game is thrilling. 

Tweaking my deck is so fun. Coming up with new deck ideas is fantastic. I love looking at all the cards and pondering possibilities, constructing a deck, and then taking that deck and putting it up against someone else's creation. 

And I love so many mechanics in the game itself. It's so smart, and the gameplay is sharp. Quick, powerful turns. Fun interactions. Interesting decisions. 

It's been great.

Ryan, Angeles, and I have also been playing Arkham Horror: The Card Game as well, which has been great. I love how the struggle feels real, but I also feel powerful enough to handle whatever is put in front of me. Everyone gets to do cool things and we're all unique. 

It's been fun.

Anyway, our teacher said we could go home early, so I'm going to end here.

Made Yahtzee in my JavaScript Class

Made an in-browser Yahtzee game for my JavaScript Class final project. Thought I would share it here:

https://alexperazzo.github.io/CSE121b/Final_Project/yahtzee.html

My Fascination with Rock, Paper, Scissors

So Rock, Paper, Scissors kind of fascinates me sometimes.

The game, when played back-to-back consecutively with time to think in-between, becomes this fascinating mind puzzle of thinking one step further than your opponent. When you win it somehow feels like you truly outthought your opponent. You bested them.

And yet, the funny thing is, it's still, all things considered, a lot of luck. And, if one person so chooses, can become a game of complete luck. They simply draw one of the three choices from a hat or such and such. The game is then 100% luck.

It's fascinating.

Is it luck? Is it pure skill?

And does it even matter? Because when played it somehow feels like pure skill. And that makes it awesome.

I think. I don't know, it's kind of weird, haha.

My Top 9 Favorite Video Games

So this has been in the works for a while (I mean, I guess theoretically for years since I'm sure I had the idea of ranking my favorite video games forever ago).

Recently, I made some really good progress on it and came up with my 9 favorite video games, but I never could come up with the 10th. So I sat on this for months now. I've decided to just settle for only having my top 9, haha.

1. Super Smash Brothers Ultimate

        I mean, what else could it be? (Actually, I have an answer to that question, and it happens to be my 2nd favorite game.) I play this weekly at minimum, I compete in tournaments for it, I watch professional players play it, etc. etc.

        This game is such a big part of my life right now and will continue to be so. It is (currently) my favorite video game of all time.

2. Minecraft

        I have spent countless hours playing Minecraft. Literally countless because there's no possible way (in this life, at least) that I can go and find out how many hours I spent on this game with my cousins summer after summer.

        I think Minecraft is the best video game of all time. I have so so so so many fond memories of playing this game. Far more than any other game.

3. Celeste

        Celeste is such a blessing. It simply feels so good to play and to conquer the challenges it presents to you. As of writing this, I recently beat Farewell (aka, some really difficult levels), and it makes me feel like I can do anything. This game is incredible rewarding and enjoyable.

4. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

        I remember first getting this game alongside the switch. I was immediately captivated and simply loved exploring this world. It's a blast to just go around the map and do whatever presents itself.

        Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (sequel to Breath of the Wild) is by far my most anticipated game right now, and probably my 2nd most anticipated game of all time (the only other one that I can think that would beat it is Smash Bros Ultimate). That anticipation comes from just how much I love Breath of the Wild.

5. Slay The Spire

        Slay The Spire is soooo good and is right up my alley of game. I question if it should be 4th instead. Regardless, I'll keep it here for now. 

6. Hades

        What a fun game. Especially just starting out was an absolute blast. As the runs got longer and longer and the grind for materials became more and more important for additional content, I started to enjoy it less, but I still love this game, and it definitely belongs on my list of my top 9 favorite games of all time.

7. Super Smash Brothers Melee

        This is such an interesting game to rank, and, honestly, I'm not sure if it belongs on this list.

        Here's the strange conundrum with this game:

        I'm a Smash Ultimate Player. If I played Melee more, I am 100% sure that I would love it, but as of right now, I invest my time into Ultimate instead. I don't particularly enjoy playing/competing in Melee because I'm awful at the game.

        However, it is my favorite e-sport to watch. I love watching melee and I love the top melee competitive scene. Even more than Ultimate.

        And so where do I rank it? Should I rank it? Idk, it's weird. I settled on putting it here.

8. Fire Emblem: Awakening

        I just have fantastic memories of playing this game with my cousin Joseph and having an absolute blast with it. Did I enjoy the game so much because Joseph was there? Oh, for sure. Doesn't change the fact that I love this game and the time I spent with it.

9. Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

        Had a great time with this game. I enjoyed it enough to beat it twice -- the second time around one-hundred-precenting the game.

If I had to make this into a tier list it would be as follows:

S++: 

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Minecraft

S+: 

Celeste, Breath of the Wild, Slay the Spire, Hades

Not sure how to tier this one: 

Super Smash Bros. Melee

S: 

Fire Emblem: Awakening, A Link Between Worlds

Went Snowboarding for the First Time

Andrew, Justin, and Jamie are all going on one last slope before we take off, so I had some time and no internet, so I've decided to just start writing this post.

[For context I'm editing this in here: Andrew is my roommate (and has been for 2 semesters (Winter and Fall 2022) before this one) and is my closest friend I've made up here at college. Justin is Jamie's younger brother, with Jamie being my FHE sister and good friend.]

Snowboarding was fun! It was also awful. It's incredibly frustrating but also rewarding to slowly get better and actually being able to stand up on your board more than a few seconds at a time.

It's kind of brutal because the learning curve is especially harsh for the first ¿hour? or so. I hated the first roughly hour. It felt kind of impossible to get anywhere.

Although I think part of that was because of this weird/interesting thing about this particular place we went to. And perhaps this is the case across the board. The allegedly super easy very low slope was actually more difficult than the next "difficulty" up, which was quite a bit steeper comparatively.

I believe this was the case because the low slope course was low slope enough where if you tried to do switchbacks on it, the switchbacks didn't have enough slope for you to go anywhere. This means your board pretty much had to be facing dead on down the hill. This, along with the fact that the snow in that area was pretty compact, made it difficult to turn your board sideways in order to slowdown.

It's the next day now. I should have written down briefly what I wanted to talk about next because I know I had something in mind, but I've forgotten it. So I guess I'll just put some pictures down below and call it a day.

Oh, wait. I remember now, I think.

So I talked about doing these switchbacks kind of idea, and how doing the switchbacks didn't have enough slope on the low slope hill.

This way of thinking helped me not be as intimidated by the bigger slope that we went on. Initially, I was terrified of it because it was significantly steeper than the low slope hill. But when I picture the slope of the individual switchbacks instead, it's not nearly as bad.

Obviously, if you're heading straight down the hill, the slope is an absurd amount more than the low slope hill. But when you're snowboarding, you don't go head-on downhill. If you're instead going horizontally for a long time, and only go slightly down the hill, then the slope of this mini-hill you've created is not that steep.

That concept was way more difficult to articulate than I thought it was going to be, and I realize that probably didn't make much sense, so I apologize while simultaneously not caring enough to try to make it more comprehensible.

Anyway, here are the photos:

Two of London's younger siblings ¿cousins?, Charlie, London, Justin, Jamie, Myself, and Andrew

[Adding in another for context: London is my FHE sister, Charlie is my roommate (and has been for the last two semesters)]

Jamie, Andrew, Myself, and Justin

Jamie, Justin, Myself, and Andrew

Andrew and I

Boba Google Doodle

 My best results on the boba google doodle. Almost got a perfect score thrice (of said configurations below).

Also, the music is actually so good. Here's a link to this google doodle in case you (or more likely me in the future) want to listen to its relaxing goodness.

https://g.co/doodle/wcw8r2e

Conglomeration of Things I've Done (and some details about said conglomeration)

I've decided to post the conglomeration of all these things as a post.

This post will be linked in the Recently Read/Watched/Played ETC. list. This post will be updated whenever I take things off that list (generally done because the list is getting too long), and I'll add them below.

Also turns out in order to have one of them be a link to this post, I need to make every item on the list a link to something. I'll make them links to the piece of media in some form so you can check them out if you wish (however, I won't be updating the Conglomeration with links). To avoid spoilers, if it's part of a series, I might just link the first part of said series.

Couple notes about the list:

• If I don't specify which readthrough/watchthrough/playthrough it is for me, assume it is my first. Unless it's a piece of media that I've consumed so many times I have no idea which time through it is (ex. Fantastic Mr. Fox or Princess Bride).

• If I specify that it's my first time consuming said media it's because I think it's notable that I consumed it. Commonly done with pieces of media that could easily be mistaken for being in the group of "I've consumed so many times I have no idea which time through it is" but is actually my first time consuming it (or, in other words, pieces of media that I think it would be at least mildly surprising to hear that that is my first time consuming it).

• If it's a TV show or Video Game, the date shown is the date I finished the show/game, but, of course, I started it how ever many days before that. I currently am not keeping track of the days I start said TV shows/games, although perhaps I should change that.

• I've added the year to the items below since the items shown on this post span multiple years. The items on the list shown on the blog won't have year numbers because it looks clunkier and you can infer what year they were done through common sense.

• 1.5th consumption of a piece of media means I've watched/played/read a good chunk of it in the past, but I either didn't finish or it someone else was watching it and I only saw random parts.

• 8/30 Watched Mission Impossible III
• 8/29 Watched Psych Movies 2 and 3
• 8/29 Finished kind of Listening to Moby Dick
• 8/28 Watched Steins;Gate Movie
• 8/27 Watched (Steins;Gate + OVA) and (Steins;Gate 0 + Mini-episodes thing) (3rd and 1st times, respectively)
• 8/23 Watched Kaiju No. 8 Season 1
• 8/20 Watched Dr. Stone Season 3
• 8/16 Watched Dr. Stone Season 2.5
• 8/15 Watched Dr. Stone Season 2
• 8/14 Watched Dr. Stone Season 1
• 8/7 Watched The Last of Sheila
• 8/2 Watched Pluto
• 7/30 Achieved Completionist+ Achievement in Balatro
• 7/29 Achieved Completionist Achievement in Balatro
• 7/29 Listened to Rhythm of War (2nd Time)
• 7/17 Watched Haikyu! Season 4
• 7/13 Watched Haikyu!! Season 3 (2nd Time)
• 7/13 Watched Haikyu!! Season 2 (2nd Time)
• 7/11 Watched Haikyu!! Season 1 (2nd Time)
• 7/2 Watched Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
• 6/30 Completed The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
• 6/28 Completed All Beat Saber Campaign Levels
• 6/20 Watched Dune (1984)
• 6/12 Completed 1st and 2nd Ending of Hollow Knight
• 6/5 Got the Moon Berry; Thus finishing my 100% of Celeste for the 2nd Time
• 5/28 Read Gathering Blue (Book 2 in the Giver Quartet)
• 5/23 Watched The Giver (??? Time)
• 5/23 Read The Giver (2nd Time)
• 5/22 Watched Odd Taxi (2nd Time)
• 5/21 Listened to Dawnshard (2nd Time)
• 5/12 Read Defiant
• 5/9 Listened to Oathbringer (2nd Time)
• 5/4 Got the Moon Berry!!! Thus 100%ing Celeste
• 5/3 Full Cleared All Celeste Levels
• 4/23 Got the Pico-8 and 1UP achievements in Celeste
• 4/23 Read Ella Minnow Pea
• 4/22 Dashless Forsaken City Celeste Strawberry
• 4/2 Listened to Warbreaker (2nd time)
• 3/13 Watched Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (2nd Time)
• 3/4 Listened to Edgedancer (2nd Time)
• 3/1 Watched Dune Part 2
• 2/29 Watched Your Lie In April (4th Time)
• 2/24 Listened to Words of Radiance (3rd Time)
• 2/21 Watched Dune
• 2/17 Watched The Marvels
• 1/23 Watched Ping Pong the Animation (4th Time)
• 1/9 Read Evershore
• 1/4 Reached Infinite Rank in Marvel Snap
• 1/3 Read ReDawn
• 12/29 Watched What If...? Season 2
• 12/20 Read Sunreach
• 12/16 Listened to Stephen Leeds: Death and Faxes
• 12/15 Watched Odd Taxi
• 11/18 Watched Robin Hood Season 3
• 11/11 Watched Loki Season 2
• 11/10 Watched Robin Hood Season 2
• 11/2 Watched Robin Hood Season 1
• 11/2 100%'d Super Mario Wonder
• 10/29 Read The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson
• 10/14 Listened to The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (3rd Time (first two I read))
• Aug Sometime: Watched Count of Monte Cristo, The Quiet Place, The Quiet Place II, Return to Me, Saturday's Warrior, Little Women (2019)
• July Sometime: Watched Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, Matchbreaker
• 7/14 Watched While You Were Sleeping
• 8/4/23 Read Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson
• 8/2/23 Read Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson
• 7/27/23 Watched Flipped
• 7/27/23 Watched Belle
• 7/26/23 Watched Secret Invasion
• 7/24/23 Watched The Amazing Spider-Man 2
• 7/24/23 Watched The Amazing Spider-Man
• 7/8/23 Watched What If...?
• 7/7/23 Watched Hawkeye

• 6/27/23 Watched Elemental
• 6/22/23 Watched Moon Knight
• 6/20/23 Watched The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
• 6/17/23 Watched Avengers: Endgame (2nd Time)
• 6/13/23 Read Resist by Ilima Todd
• 6/10/23 Watched Dan in Real Life
• 6/6/23 Watched Across the Spider-Verse
• 5/28/23 Read Remake by Ilima Todd
• 5/26/23 Watched Mob Pyscho Season 3
• 5/6/23 Watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3

• 4/29/23 Watched I, Robot
• 4/20/23 Read The Frugal Wizard's Handbook For Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson
• 4/8/23 Watched My Hero Academia Season 6
• 4/4/23 Obtained All Achievements in Slay The Spire
• 3/26/23 Read The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• 3/15/23 Listened to The Original by Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal
• 3/2/23 Collected All Red Strawberries in Celeste
• 2/27/23 Finished Celeste C-Sides
• 2/16/23 Finished Celeste Farewell

• 2/6/23 Read White Sand by Brandon Sanderson (1st Readthrough)
• 2/1/23 Watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• 1/27/23 Watched Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 (2nd watchthrough)
• 1/26/23 Watched Mob Psycho 100 Season 1 (3rd watchthrough)
• 1/24/23 Finished Celeste B-Sides
• 1/24/23 Read Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
• 1/18/23 Watched Spy x Family Part 2
• 1/17/23 Watched Cuphead Season 2
• 1/12/23 Finished Celeste 2 Players, 1 Controller (w/ Ben)
• 12/17/22 All Platinum Medals in Wii Play (w/ Ben/Thomas/MaryAnn)

12/23/22 Watched Glass Onion

12/13/22 Watched LotR: Return of the King (1st watchthrough)

12/12/22 Watched LotR: The Two Towers (1st watchthrough)

12/9/22 Watched LotR: Fellowship of the Ring (1st watchthrough)

12/7/22 Watched Princess Mononoke

11/30/22 Watched Citizen Kane

11/22/22 Watched The Tramp

11/17/22 Read The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson

11/16/22 Watched Vertigo

11/9/22 Watched Casablanca

11/2/22 Watched West Side Story (1961)

10/26/22 Watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

10/19/22 Watched The Quiet Man

10/12/22 Watched Star Wars: A New Hope (1st watchthrough)

10/10/22 Listened to Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson

10/5/22 Watched The Road Home

10/4/22 Watched The Nightmare Before Christmas

10/3/22 Watched Hocus Pocus 2

9/24/22 Read Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson (3rd readthrough)

9/22/22 Watched The Grapes of Wrath

9/16/22 Read Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson (3rd readthrough)

9/14/22 Watched It's A Wonderful Life (1.5th watchthrough)

9/9/22 Watched Spy x Family (season 1)

9/8/22 Watched Thor: Love and Thunder

9/6/22 Watched Knives Out

9/6/22 Read Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (3rd readthrough)

8/27/22 Watched My Hero Academia (seasons 1-5) (2nd watchthrough for seasons 1-3, 1st for 4-5)

8/11/22 Watched Angel Beats

8/10/22 Watched Ping Pong The Animation (3rd Watchthrough)

7/23/22 Read Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson (2nd readthrough)

7/20/22 Read The Eleventh Metal by Branden Sanderson (3rd? readthrough)

7/17/22 Read The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (4th readthrough)

7/1/22 Read The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (4th readthrough)

6/27/22 Watched Avatar (1st watchthrough)

6/25/22 Finished Stacklands (pre-update)

6/23/22 Watched Sherlock BBC (1.5th watchthrough)

6/5/22 Read Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (4th readthrough)

5/24/22 Listened to The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson (2nd readthrough)

5/23/22 Finished Hades (the Main Quest in Story)

5/18/22 Read Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson 

5/7/22 Watched Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

5/4/22 Watched Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

5/3/22 Watched WandaVision

5/2/22 Watched Loki

4/15/22 Finished The Initiative (Campaign Board Game)

4/6/22 Watched The Good Place

3/31/22 Watched Black Widow

3/23/22 Watched Incredibles II

3/12/22 Watched Frozen II

3/10/22 Watched The Cuphead Show

2/4/22 Watched Fantastic Mr. Fox

2/3/22 Watched The Princess Bride

1/24/22 Watched Erased (2nd watchthrough)

1/15/22 Watched Steins;Gate (1.5th watchthrough)

1/16/22 Finished Superliminal

12/13/21 Read Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson

12/5/21 Read Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

11/22/21 Read Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (2nd readthrough)

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