[quote=AArdvark post_id=125624 time=1638754233 user_id=20]
I forgot to ask, is the chess playing taking up too much time? Is that why you want to give it up?
[/quote]

It's an avoidance mechanism. Instead of doing the things I should be doing, it's too easy to just click on the little chess icon and fiddle away time like that.

I forgot to ask, is the chess playing taking up too much time? Is that why you want to give it up?

I can't play chess because the pieces get scattered around the room when I lose, which was often.

THE
ROOK TO
WINDOW SCREEN 7
AARDVARK

[quote=bryanb post_id=117912 time=1609045507 user_id=2003]
OK, I'm doing some personal resolutions for 2021. It feels wrong to hijack Ben's thread for my own purposes, but he said it was OK. I don't think he really meant it, but hell, let's do this anyway.

#1. Write something every day.
#2. Weekends will be for creating.
#3. It's time to overcome information overload and choice paralysis.
[/quote]

While I still have some hope of turning these around somewhat, I suppose it's time to look back on how I did on my resolutions.

#1. Write something every day.

I definitely didn't write something every day, but I don't think I failed this one. I wrote a lot more than I have in a long time, and I noticed writing started to become easier for me again as I allowed myself more time in flight. That's just what I was hoping for. I'm really glad I was able to get 11 (and counting) reviews for RFTK and I even revived a long dormant novel I started writing a long time ago. I'll give myself a C- on this one.

#2. Weekends will be for creating.

They mostly weren't. Some were, but many more weren't. I seem to have a real need to decompress on the weekends, and I struggle to make good creative use of big blocks of time. D- for this one.

#3. It's time to overcome information overload and choice paralysis.

This was my vaguest resolution and also my most successful one. I didn't specifically set out to do either thing, but I ended up reading a lot more books and listening to a wider variety of music than usual. I feel like my mind and world both expanded a bit. I feel like resolutions are mostly about trying to become the person you see yourself as rather than the person a third party observer would actually see if they saw you go about your daily life. I got a little closer to becoming the person I want to be in 2021. Solid B for this one.

I want my 2022 resolutions to have some continuity with the ones from this year, but I'm going to avoid any that require me to do something every day or week. That's just too tough to keep up with.

[quote=Flack post_id=119466 time=1616505590 user_id=840]
Vark if your cartoons don't pan out, have you considered purchasing things from Ikea to assemble and donate?
[/quote]


Place your item in the bagging area.

He played me and turned into a rando!!

That's the only chess I play.

Do you ever go on those online chess sites and play against randos?

Mine:
1. Calm down about work.
[b]A[/b]. I quit my job and got a new one with no stress. I recommend to everyone in IT quitting their job as soon as it gets stressful.

2. Calm down about non-work.
[b]A[/b]. I am a man with ZERO problems right now.

3. Try to be happier and joke on-line.
[b]B-[/b]. I can say, for every single "real world" get-together that I have had since I wrote that list that I haven't said anything serious and just been silly and crazy and non-serious. Every single one in real life. Haven't done it as much here.

4. Eat vegetables and take care of myself.
[b]F[/b]. In August this was an A-, but then I stopped doing stuff, but hey, there is still one month left to this year.

5. Make Cyberganked fun
[b]B[/b]. I got into RENDERING for the game, which has been amazing and delightful. I am glad I can render things now! I needed to make the coding more fun but I didn't always do that.

[quote=pinback post_id=125530 time=1638454947 user_id=5]
I think it's a solid list ... let's review the results!
[b]Don't turn back into a big fat slob.[/b] B+.
[b] Clean things when they are dirty.[/b] D+
[b]Stop chewing nicotine gum.[/b] D
[b]Don't play chess.[/b] C+
[b]Don't buy any computer games.[/b] C-
[b]Create something every day.[/b] D-
OVERALL GRADE: [b]eh.[/b]
[/quote]
Let's consider that these are the poaaible grades.
A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F+ F
There are 11 grades. so, each grade is worth 1/11 of the total, with F = 0 snd A = 100. The values (courtesy of Open Office Calc) are:
f, d- d, d+ c-, c c+, b-, b, b+ A- A
0, 9 18 27 36 46 55 64 73 82 91 100
So, we can calculate this as
b+ d+ d c+ c- d-
82 +9+18+55 36 18 = 218/6 = 36 1/3
That gets you a [size=150]solid C-.[/size]
[size=150]You Passed! Congratulations![/size]

[quote=pinback post_id=118015 time=1609509564 user_id=5]
Alright, I think I'm done with my list. I think it's a solid list which should be reasonably easy to accomplish.

1. Don't turn back into a big fat slob.
2. Clean things when they are dirty.
3. Stop chewing nicotine gum.
4. Don't play chess.
5. Don't buy any computer games.
6. Create something every day.
[/quote]

As 2021 winds down, let's review the results!

[b]Don't turn back into a big fat slob.[/b]

B plus. I gained about 10 pounds back, but stayed under 200. However, most of those 10 pounds were due to over-consumption of alcohol, so while I avoided the "big fat" part, "slob" was fair.

[b] Clean things when they are dirty.[/b]

D plus. Not great. Maybe slightly better, but not great.

[b]Stop chewing nicotine gum.[/b]

D. I finally quit for a couple months, a couple months ago, but started up again last week.

[b]Don't play chess.[/b]

C plus. I'd occasionally play a few blitz games, but rarely. I do five puzzles a day. That's enough.

[b]Don't buy any computer games.[/b]

C minus. I bought less than the previous year, but more than zero.

[b]Create something every day.[/b]

D minus. Started strong, and then petered out to nothing, until a couple weeks ago. More of a [i]scene-setter[/i], you see.

OVERALL GRADE: [b]eh.[/b]

Thanks. I was mostly okay with the first one today, because Melissa and I took our bicycles out. I turned off Slack while we did so. So while I had bad headaches earlier in the day, I got some exercise which always makes me feel better. I have read that exercise helps with anxiousness, too.

Thats awesome, I'm gonna try them today. Thanjs ICJ!

[quote="Casual Observer" post_id=120453 time=1619432341 user_id=77]
I loved text adventure games. They we're like which way books but better. If Cyberganked were playable on Android I would play it excitedly but I just don't have the chance to play games on my computer anymore.
[/quote]

There's some on-line that people here have done at this location! http://textadventures.online

I loved text adventure games. They we're like which way books but better. If Cyberganked were playable on Android I would play it excitedly but I just don't have the chance to play games on my computer anymore.

Ok, my issues have been in the way of my happiness for a while. I didn't want to just list them in January because I wasn't serious about fixing them. I am going to be serious about fixing them. I have issues with my mind and body, so here we go. Here are my RESOLUTIONS.

[b]#1 Calm down and control my work-related anxiousness. [/b] I am a goddamn lunatic about my job. Nothing I do is good enough, nothing I accomplish is good enough. This is all a great deal of bullshit. I am going to work hard during the day and [i]let it go[/i]. No more hopping on the test servers are night to "see how the tests did" after my wife goes to bed and try to fix things for a couple hours I am going to have a start time and a finish time and RELAX. The thing I do, I do reasonably well and people like me.

[b]#2 Calm down about non-work related anxiousness. [/b] My aunt and uncle had some money saved up. They died in February and March of last year. That money was going to go to my mother and father. My father stated, "I might be able to retire." The money from my aunt and uncle's estate has not arrived, it did not arrive in time for my father to enjoy it. However, three days before he passed, I gave my dad a "Happy Retirement Card" and put $200 in it. Now, he wasn't working a lot his last couple of years. Limited hours and he reported to my brother. But one of the things that has kept making me sad is that he has an idea in his head that he was going to create a giant barn on his property with the estate money. That will never happen. But... there's enough money to pay off the rest of the house I grew up in, so my mom won't have to move. Her expenses will be below what social security will give her so she'll make money each month. I'm paying off bills in the mean time because it makes me feel helpful. All this to say - it's not realistic to think that my mom will get foreclosed on and be out in the streets. It is NOT realistic. I have had bad things happen in terms of death lately but death is unavoidable. It wasn't the case where everyone was going to live forever and they didn't. Death is part of the circle of life and I am not going to let fake anxiety affect me any longer.

[b]#3 Try to be happier and make jokes on-line.[/b] It used to be that is ALL I did. I will try to do that again. I don't know the last time I posted a joke on this forum. Thank you all for still coming here.

[b]#4 Eat vegetables and take care of myself.[/b] I have not broken the barrier I wanted to with my weight but in eating a giant pan of vegetables every day except for a handful for almost 5 weeks I can't deny that I feel better and look better.

[b]#5 Remember the delights of my chosen hobby and make creating Cyberganked enjoyable[/b] I think a large reason why my hobby output tapered off is because I was in "the good old days" where a bunch of text game creators posted on usenet and people would come up with new games and experiments and it was all new and we all made time to talk. I loved it. I am the kind of guy that will keep missing the scene long after the scene is dead. Well what else is there? I have been struggling for a month on a part of Cyberganked where the characters enter an Energy Park. I have been lost - due to failing at all the other stuff above - in just writing something, anything to get the players to the fun bit. The creators of Bard's Tale didn't try writing something for every room. But that's what I have chosen to do and I will find the fun again in this.

I will check in with these 5 resolutions at the beginning of May.

Well, maybe on a monthly basis, like a subscription thing?

Vark if your cartoons don't pan out, have you considered purchasing things from Ikea to assemble and donate?

Please dont tell me what I would most likely do.

[quote=AArdvark post_id=119439 time=1616459188 user_id=20]
If you build a work station every day you can stick the used gum on the underside[/quote]
No, 'Vark, I meant he should do that for the once-a-month project.
[quote=AArdvark post_id=119439 time=1616459188 user_id=20]
Creating something every day is a little difficult. No, pushing yourself to create something every day is difficult.I couldn't draw a Crazy Doodle every day, they would start to become lame, like Garfield.
[/quote]
Actually, you'd most likely plan a story and do anywhere from 2-4 a day for a 7-day-a-week strip. Professional cartoonists usually set up a "buffer" that represents about a month's worth of work before starting. So if you do 2 a day, in 2 months you have six months of strips done.

Howard Tayler, creator of the Web Comic [i]Schlock Mercenary[/i], gave up a lucrative (as in 6-figure) job to become a cartoonist in the summer of 2000. The comic has appeared on his website every single day since then, without any being late, despite the fact he had a server crash. Over twenty years of seven-day a week cartoons. If you check out [url=https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-06-12]episode 1[/url], the artwork is much cruder than how it looked even [url=https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2001-06-12]a year later[/url]. The strip (and spin-offs such as books and merchandise) produced enough income to support him and his family. He has announced he plans to end the strip and may have done so already.

But to do that, do an every day comic strip for weeks, months and years at a time, takes a lot of discipline.

If you build a work station every day you can stick the used gum on the underside

Creating something every day is a little difficult. No, pushing yourself to create something every day is difficult.I couldn't draw a Crazy Doodle every day, they would start to become lame, like Garfield.