More SolarBalls. SORRY NOT SORRY
They’ve released the Planet X Arc video, which, like the Moon Revolution Arc video, is a compilation of all the videos related to the Planet X story.
It’s three hours long.
This is, as most things are on my blog, mostly for my own reference, but if I’ve gotten any of you hooked on this series, here it is for you as well:
Edit: Okay, so I watched the whole thing while I was painting today (I take a long time to paint, haha) and this story is so much better compiled like this compared to all the little videos one by one. I originally considered the Moon Revolution arc better, but that’s because that story had just concluded by the time I discovered the series and by the time I got to those videos, they had already released the compilation. But I think I like this arc even more now that all the related vids are put together like this.
Book Review: The Way of All Flesh (Butler)
Have I read this before: Nope!
Review: This was an…interesting book. It’s another “let’s bash Victorian-era hypocrisy,” which is a major theme of like 60% of the books on my list (obviously a biased list, haha), so it’s gotten pretty old. But I felt like Butler’s writing style was engaging and I like how the narrator wasn’t one of the Pontifex family members but a godfather of the main character Ernest. I seem to enjoy books where the narrator is not actually the main character for some reason. Also, it was apparently semi-autobiographical, which I can see in how Butler explores certain nuances of the relationship between fathers and sons.
Favorite Part: This scathing description of Badcock:
“Not only was he ugly, dirty, ill-dressed, bumptious, and in every way objectionable, but he was deformed and waddled when he walked so that he had won a nickname which I can only reproduce by calling it “Here’s my back, and there’s my back,” because the lower parts of his back emphasized themselves demonstratively as though about to fly off in different directions like the two extreme notes in the chord of the augmented sixth, with every step he took.”
Rating: 5/10
Heads Up…
A new generation starts this year! According to McCrindle, Generation Beta will supposedly consist of people born from 2025 to 2039.
I wonder how we’re going to mess them up.
Top Books of 2024
ALLO, FOOLS! So I didn’t read a whole ton of books last year because we actually didn’t get too much bad weather (and the only chance I get to read is when I’m walking inside on the treadmill), but I figured I’d give you a “top five” book list nonetheless. Though I sorta cheated, as you’ll see. From fifth best to best:
FIVE: Don Quixote (de Cervantes)
This book was a wild ride. Apart from knowing what the word quixotic means and a little bit about the “tilting at windmills” thing, I didn’t really know what to expect from this book. And I was certainly NOT expecting anything that I got, haha. But it was highly entertaining and very funny at parts.
FOUR: The Last Tycoon (Fitzgerald)
The only reason this is in fourth place is because it was left unfinished (Fitzgerald died before completing it) and I WANTED MORE. I really love Fitzgerald’s writing style and how he can portray the essence of a character in a single line, even before we actually meet the character. His style always makes me want to keep reading.
THREE: Holes (Sachar)
LOOK I’M CHEATING! This is not on my book list, but as you may have seen from previous blogs, I’ve also been re-reading some of the books I remember reading as a kid. I guess I didn’t technically read this one – our sixth grade teacher read it aloud to us – but I remember really liking it, so I decided to re-read it. It definitely lived up to my memory. Holes is a really, really, really good book. If you never read it before, check it out.
TWO: Twelve Angry Men (Rose)
We read this in…eighth grade I think? We read it aloud and each had to pick a part to read (I was the Foreman). But even without getting to “act” it out by reading it aloud, it was still very good. I love the building of tension and how (most of) the men are slowly convinced to change their minds about the trial and circumstances.
ONE: The Caine Mutiny (Wouk)
LOOK I’M CHEATING AGAIN! I read this a month or so ago because I finally bought a Kindle version of it and it still stands as my absolute favorite book ever. I don’t know what it is about this story, but I loved it the very first time I read it (seventh grade?) and I love it still. I don’t know if it’s ever going to get dethroned as my favorite book. If you still haven’t read it (even after all my raving on this blog), DO IT NOW!
Oh god, here we go again
It’s the annual walking/running stats blog! That nobody cares about!
JOY!!!!
Here are my walking stats for January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.
Total number of days walked/ran: 366
Total mileage: 6,620
Total number of steps: 14,554,171
Total calories burned: 475,620
Total walking/running time (minutes): 97,325.05 [that’s about 67.59 days]
Average speed (mph) per walk/run: 4.25
6,620 miles is approximately the great circle distance between Calgary, AB and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, or between Mexico City, Mexico and Moscow, Russia.
2024 Music Wrap-Up
If I could sum up this year’s music downloads in one word, it would be: meh.
There were no real standouts this year. There were good songs, yes, but nothing that really, really took the top as far as my absolute favorites.
No Five-Stars, is what I’m saying.
But tradition is tradition, so let’s do it.
Here are my top five!
Sandstorm (Darude) performed by SYNTHONY
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: orchestral covers of pretty much anything are amazing, but orchestral covers of techno songs are on another level. The brass carries this one and there is SO MUCH ENERGY throughout the whole song.
Levels (Avicii) performed by SYNTHONY
That saxophone solo adds so much joy and life to this song, yo. I think Avicii would have loved this version of what is probably his most famous song.
Feelslikeimfallinginlove by Coldplay
Easily my favorite song from their newest album. This one has a good mix of “old” Coldplay and “new” Coldplay in my opinion. Also, it’s super fun to sing.
Stay by Hans Zimmer
Like many of Zimmer’s songs, this builds up to a beautiful, chaotic crescendo that destroys your soul in the best way (5:36). I like to crank this on my Sennheisers so I can feel it in my chest.
Jupiter (Holst) performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
I already had like three different versions of this song, so why is this one on here? Because of 1:53-2:00. I mentioned this in the blog post I did on this song a while ago, but I have never heard another performance of this song where you can hear those French horns play so clearly in that section, and I freaking love it.
Edit: where is the new Civ VII main theme, you ask? Well, I haven’t actually downloaded the song yet. It’s not available on iTunes because it hasn’t officially been released, but I’m sure it will be on next year’s top music list once I can get ahold of it.
SOLARCARDS!
Y’all, my SolarCards are here and they look amazing! Check it out:
Basic deck
Booster pack
My two favorites!
A sun, dwarf planet, and moon card
A few of the anomaly cards
All the planets have a “god” edition
Even the backs are pretty!
I ended up getting most of the cards, but not all of them; maybe I’ll buy a few more booster packs to see if I can get the ones I’m missing.
I was going to do the December List today but YOU GET A SURVEY INSTEAD YOU LUCKY SON OF A BITCH
A – Act your age?
Sometimes. I certainly don’t dress my age.
B – Born on what day of the week?
Tuesday. Full moon. 33rd day of the year with 333 days remaining (it was a leap year).
C – Chore you hate?
I hate hanging up my clothes. Like, that hardly counts as a chore, but I absolutely hate it. Approximately 70% of my clothes are in a monster pile on the back of a chair instead of in the closet right now.
D – Dad’s name?
Robert! But he usually goes by Bob. I call him “Bobert,” haha.
E – Essential makeup item?
Eyeshadow. The gaudier, the better.
F – Favorite actor?
Adam Arkin. Or Hank Azaria.
G – Gold or silver?
Gold.
H – Hometown?
The ‘Scow.
I – Instruments you play?
Uhhhhhh clarinet, flute, oboe, sax, tuba, drum stuff.
J – Job title?
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, BITCHES
K – Kids?
Ew. No thanks.
L – Living arrangements?
Condo with husband + cat
M – Mom’s name?
Karen!
N – Need…
To be better.
O – Overnight hospital stays?
Just once, I think, when I had appendicitis in sixth grade. I’ve been to the ER like five hundred times, but that was the only overnight stay, haha.
NO WAIT I LIED. Vancouver, 2011, too.
P – Phobia?
I don’t think I have any legit phobias.
Q – Quote you like?
Peh.
R – Religious affiliation?
Athiest.
S – Siblings?
Nope.
T – Time you wake up?
This varies widely, haha. I’ve been getting up around 7 AM or so lately, but last semester I had to get up a lot earlier because I taught at 8 AM. In the summer, I was getting up at like 2 AM so I could run. So yeah.
U – Unique talent?
Failing at every single thing I do.
V – Vegetable you refuse to eat?
If we’re counting tomatoes as vegetables, tomatoes.
W – Worst habit?
We’re not going there.
X – X-rays you’ve had?
I’ve had a ton of dental x-rays and one x-ray on my lower leg when they thought I had a hairline fracture in my tibia from a game we played in gym.
Y – Yummy food you make?
My broccoli and penne.
Z – Zodiac Sign?
Aquarius, bitches!
This is way funnier than it has any right to be
That little “clink” the weight makes, hahahaha.
(Sorry, my sense of humor is broken.)
Another Revolution? MORE RESOLUTIONS!
How did I fail this year? Let me count the ways…
The 2024 resolutions:
- ACCOMPLISHED: Blog daily. I’m pretty sure I’ll accomplish this one for the next several years at least.
- ACCOMPLISHED: Walk/run at least 5,000 miles. I did (am doing?) at least 1,000 miles more than that.
- ACCOMPLISHED?: Run at least five (official) marathons. I think I did this? I actually didn’t really keep track of the marathons I signed up for. But I definitely ran more than five unofficial marathons, so…
- ACCOMPLISHED: Run at least one (official) ultramarathon. Minimum distance: 60 km. The Calgary (virtual) Ultramarathon! I did this in…April? *checks* Yup. April 21.
- ACCOMPLISHED: Run a sub-4-hour marathon. I did this like right at the start of the year, haha. I don’t know what drugs I was on, but I booked it like all hell and ran it in like 3:55-something. I know that’s not very fast at all compared to people who can, y’know, run run, but it’s fast for me.
- FAILED: Do something with my 2020 NaNo story. Hopefully more than just another draft. I just did another draft.
- ACCOMPLISHED: Do some non-writing creative stuff. I picked up watercoloring! And I watercolored quite a bit.
- FAILED: Buy fewer frivolous/unnecessary things. HAHAHAHA NOPE shopping = what I do when I’m stressed. And this year was Stress Party 2024.
- FAILED: Take at least two French classes in my progression towards the certificate. I only did one class in Winter. I’ve learned that trying to take a class in Fall is setting everything up for failure, because Fall semester is ALWAYS insanely busy.
- ACCOMPLISHED: Get the DAMN BLOGS POSTED. I ACTUALLY DID THIS HOLY SHIT
- FAILED: Limit my “down time” screen time. I reiterate: Stress Party 2024. Sometimes obscenely long TikTok binges were the only thing keeping me from jumping into traffic.
ALRIGHT, so let’s set some for 2025.
- Blog daily.
- Walk/run at least…let’s say 6,500 miles. Surely that’s do-able, huh?
- Run at least five (official) marathons and actually KEEP TRACK OF THEM THIS TIME.
- Do something with my 2020 NaNo story that is more than another draft. I really take the next step with that thing and I’m sick of being afraid to take that step.
- Finish and print all my old blog archives. I think I have up through Year 15 formatted and printed, so I need to get the rest of those done. I hate not having physical copies of all of those blog posts. Those represent my life, man.
- Take at least one French class in my progression towards the certificate. Hopefully in this upcoming semester, because we all know it isn’t happening in Fall.
- Do a 50-mile run. My record right now is 60 k (37 miles); surely I can add 13 miles to that, right? Even if I just have to ping back and forth for 13 hours on that street at the bottom of our hill?
- Do some sort of writing that’s NOT an edit of my 2020 NaNo story. I’ve actually been wanting to try writing a story by hand (like, not typing it out but writing it in a notebook). So let’s say that. Write a story by hand.
- Be more careful with my money. Last year ended up being REALLY bad for this. I need to do better. Especially in terms of buying new clothes. I DO NOT NEED ANY MORE CLOTHES.
- Be more careful with “mindless” screentime. I’m not going to say screentime in general because I do a lot of productive stuff on my computer and don’t want to limit that (also, I feel like I’m the one person on this planet who does not get eye strain/eye fatigue from staring at a computer screen for like 7 hours straight). But I want to spend less time on Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube (unless YouTube is just on in the background when I’m doing other stuff). I’m not quite sure how I’ll measure and keep track of this just yet, but it’s definitely something worth watching.
That’s all I can think of for now, but if I come up with any more, they’ll be added here!
Red Light Green Light
I saw this vid a while back and really enjoyed it, and then it showed up on my main YouTube page again today. I thought I’d blogged about it but I don’t seem to find it anywhere in the archives, so here it is!
Like some people are saying in the comments, this guy would give great TED Talks.
Guess what I got for Christmas???
A MIGRAINE!!!!!
And a really cool book on the planets.
But mainly a MIGRAINE!!!!!
(This is becoming like a tradition now; I think this is the third Christmas migraine I’ve had in like the past five years.)
OH MY GOD WHO EVEN CARES
It’s the end of the year survey thing that I do every year because I’m boring and I have nothing else to blog about today and AGAIN WHO EVEN CARES.
What did you do in 2024 that you’d never done before?
Ran a 60k!
Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I kept most of them. I think. A blog about that is forthcoming.
Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! My friend had a son.
Did anyone close to you die?
No.
What countries did you visit?
‘Murica.
What would you like to have in 2025 that you lacked in 2024?
Uh…less imposter syndrome?
What date from 2024 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The day I got tenure. I worked so damn hard for that.
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Tenure. Tenure, tenure, tenure. Again, I worked so hard for that.
What was your biggest failure?
Being me.
Did you suffer illness or injury?
I botched up my foot a little bit here at the end of the year. I’m pretty sure it was just tendonitis, but I’m being extra super careful about it and have gone through a crap ton of KT tape trying to keep it stable.
What was the best thing you bought?
That jacket from the Running Room. It’s got like 400 pockets and is super comfortable to run in.
Where did most of your money go?
Shoes?
What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Watercoloring. I got into it, yo. I’m enjoying it more than drawing, and I’ve always loved drawing.
What song will always remind you of 2024?
Uhh…probably Coldplay’s feelslikehimfallinginlove.
What do you wish you’d done less of?
Procrastinating.
How will you be spending Christmas?
Treadmill. Walk with Nate. Open presents.
Did you fall in love in 2024?
Nope.
How many one-night stands?
None.
What was your favourite TV program?
SOLARBALLS. SolarBalls, SolarBalls, SolarBalls. I’m counting it as a TV program even though it’s a YouTube series because it has better writing, animation, and voice acting than like 95% of animated TV shows I’ve seen. I’m not even kidding.
(I’m so freaking obsessed, you have no idea.)
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope.
What was the best book you read?
Well, I re-read The Caine Mutiny, so…The Caine Mutiny.
What was your greatest musical discovery?
That version of Holst’s Jupiter where you can really hear those French horns for like five seconds. It makes the song SO MUCH BETTER, HERE IS THE RELEVANT BLOG POST.
What was your favourite film of this year?
Deadpool and Wolverine was great. I don’t remember what else I saw that was new, haha.
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Did nothing. Turned 36.
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably satisfying?
A certain thing that I SHALL NOT SPEAK OF HERE BECAUSE IT MAKES ME ANGRY.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2024?
Reiterating from 2023: I’ve been consciously trying to match better, which is a weird thing to say. I try to pick two or three main colors to feature and then match one to my earring color and one to my eyeshadow color. If I’m lucky, I can match my shoes as well.
What kept you sane?
PFFFFT
Which celebrity/public figure(s) did you fancy the most?
L E I B N I Z
Who did you miss?
My mom, as always.
Who was the best new person you met?
I never meet anyone new.
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024:
It’s not imposter syndrome if you really are an imposter.
Are you sick of my garbage watercoloring yet?
TOO BAD!
This one was fun to paint.
SWAP
So I never watch SNL, but apparently there’s a tradition now of the Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che writing jokes for the other to read without having seen the joke beforehand. As you can imagine, they get each other pretty good:
This year’s Christmas joke swap was especially brutal, haha:
Let’s Leave 2024 in 2024
Today is the darkest day of the year, which is fitting for reflecting on this garbage can of a year.
Like, on a surface level, it wasn’t bad. It was good, actually. Tenure, ultramarathons, record walking distance (or at least I’m assuming I’ll hit it unless my legs fall off in the next few days), discovering a love of watercoloring, seeing a ridiculous aurora borealis show in May, getting to teach my ASHA semester, all that jazz.
Good stuff.
But the bad stuff? There was so much more bad stuff; it just wasn’t as…visible.
I don’t want to talk in as much detail about it because it’s all I’ve been thinking about today and I’m already all worked up about it, but let’s just say that this year was defined by failure.
Failure after failure after failure after failure.
It was very hard to get through parts of this year, in part because I couldn’t really talk about half this crap and in part because it sounds so stupid when I did talk about it that it just made everything worse.
So yeah. Surface level, 2024 was great. Below-surface, 2024 rivals 2011, which was probably the worst year I’ve ever had.
Fun times.
Let’s leave it behind, huh?
Tune Table
Here’s a huge interactive chart of music genres!
I’ve already found a bunch of new songs using this thing. There are some hidden gems in there.
And also, you know, things like this:
Math Rock, you drunk son of a bitch, go to bed.
Random Tests Just Because
All from here.
Movie Director Test
Big Five Book Taste Test
Maladaptive Daydreaming Test (I’m surprised this isn’t worse)
Author Test
Pokemon Energy Test
AN EXPLOSIVE BLOG POST (not really it’s a survey)
So, have you had any bread today? If so, was it good bread? If you haven’t had bread, are you gonna eat some?
I have not had any bread today. I don’t plan on having any bread today.
Who sits in front of you in Math class?
The whole class! THE WHOLE CLASS SITS IN FRONT OF ME, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA
(I teach math)
How many cars can fit in your garage?
Zero. No garage exists.
Do you know anyone who plays the harmonica?
My grandpa did.
Are you currently facing a wall or a window?
Nope.
What was the last flavor of Doritos you ate?
Probably Cool Ranch. I can’t remember the last time I had Doritos.
Have you ever been hypnotized?
Nope.
How long do you tend to hold grudges?
F O R E V E R
Do you say ‘panties’ or ‘underwear’?
Undies.
Do you know who Groucho Marx was?
Yup.
Do you always sit at the same table at lunch or do you switch it up?
I don’t have lunch. Or tables.
Have you ever hit an animal with your car?
Apart from bugs, no.
Do you remember what you wore yesterday?
Yo, I wouldn’t remember what I’m wearing RIGHT NOW if I couldn’t look down and see it.
Do you have friends that are so young you don’t refer to them as friends?
Nope.
What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?
Baseball!
What is your favorite kind of fabric?
Um…I actually don’t know.
Would you consider your voice high, low, or in the middle?
Probably middle-low.
Have you ever been on a gondola lift?
Yes! In the Wallowas.
Do you know anyone who’s been on TV? If so, which show?
Not that I’m aware of.
Do you make a lot of typos or are you pretty good with the keyboard?
I type really fast, so I do make a decent amount of typos.
When you see a pine cone, do you kick it, step on it, or leave it alone?
Leave it alone.
Are you ever tempted to step on the crunchy leaves?
Not really.
Did you ever have any unreasonable teachers?
Not unreasonable, but some have been tough.
Do you have any lockets with pictures inside?
Nope.
Have you ever been used as a ‘rebound’? How did it go?
Yes. The first one was ick, the second one was ICK, the third one was really good.
(Yes, there have been three times.)
What is your favorite joint to crack?
Knuckles.
When it comes to rappers, do you have any favorites?
Not really.
Which sport are you better at: basketball or tennis?
Hahaha, neither.
Would you rather babysit someone weekly or tutor them weekly?
Preferably neither, but tutoring is better than babysitting.
So I’m re-reading The Caine Mutiny and…
IT’S SO GOOD.
If you’re new here, get out while you still can The Caine Mutiny has been my favorite book ever since I first read it back in seventh grade.
It’s been quite a few years since I’ve re-read it (2015 maybe?) and I finally got a Kindle version, so rather than reading something new, I decided to give this one a go again.
I still can’t pinpoint exactly what it is about this book that I find so intriguing and re-readable (I usually don’t read any book more than once), but I was immediately drawn into the story and was immediately dreading the fact that the book would eventually end.
There aren’t a lot of books that do that to me, but this one always has. Every single time I’ve read it.
(Go read it if you haven’t!)
What’s Better Than Coldplay?
Coldplay + Dick Van Dyke, that’s what.
I love this song so much.
I don’t think y’all understand…
Remember back in 2008 when I fell fast and hard in love with Metalocalypse and it became my absolute favorite show for like a decade and a half?
That’s what’s going on with SolarBalls right now. I mean, come on: a show about talking celestial bodies, all with distinct personalities? That’s right up my alley.
I am so freaking invested in it, haha. The main sources of enjoyment are, of course, the characters and the story. But I also love thinking about all the behind the scenes work with the animation and voice acting. That just makes it so much better.
Just…aslsdhfafhdfalfsdhghg I love it.
Surprised? I am.
So we had our final exam for MATH 249 today, and it actually went off without a hitch.
Like…no problems whatsoever.
Which is absolutely SHOCKING, because everything I have TOUCHED this semester has gone wrong in every way possible. I don’t know what’s going on, but this semester was an absolute smorgasbord of “here are all the ways you can screw up one of the easiest semesters you’ve ever had.”
Which is why I was SO NERVOUS about this final exam. Maybe I screwed up the number of exams to be printed. Maybe I screwed up the printing itself and a page or two would be missing. Maybe I screwed up writing one of the questions and the correct answer wasn’t printed. Maybe I didn’t give the printer place the correct instructions and the exams wouldn’t be at the gyms ready for us. Maybe I told the students the wrong day, time, or location for the exam. Maybe I put content on the exam that we didn’t cover during the semester. Maybe I forgot to upload the exam for the SAS students. Maybe I wrote the exam so that no one could finish it within two hours. Maybe I forgot to tell the TAs to show up and I’d be alone invigilating 1,200+ students.
The list goes on.
I was ready to throw up this morning because I was so nervous about this exam, dude.
So it’s a relief that it all went well, because I am so sick of screwing everything up all the time.
UGH.
Blah.
That is all.
Eigenblogger 