The theme of this month was getting through the day. We found out the parts to repair our busted oven are not available, so we have to buy a new one.
We bought a mini freezer to help stock up for the inevitable second wave. We have a tiny fridge, so this is needed to be able to stock up in any meaningful way.
No painting minis, no terrain work, but some cleaning.
We took the peanut to the zoo for the first time. Family came in from Alberta, quarantined, and we all got tested to be able to visit.
The big thing was one cat deciding he really didn’t like us switching back to the cheap litter. That and maybe being stressed out at not seeing us as often, and being chased by a toddler who just wants to love him and squish him… So lots of extra scooping to clean the litter boxes, and lots of cleaning up out of box accidents, and buying things to help reduce stress and clean better. Not a ton of spare time or desire to do fun things.
Our government continues to act against the interests of the majority. Withholding federal money and reopening schools with unsafe conditions. Funding for school repair was cancelled early, and there isn’t enough money or time to fix ventilation issues. I believe collective bargaining rights can be suspended, and health and safety inspections also. Schools will have the largest groupings allowed in the province, with fewer restrictions and precautions than everywhere else. Schools are being re-opened to force people back to work to keep profit flowing for the capitalists… so Ontario, Canada will likely have a second wave of COVID-19 related to schools. Anyway, someone needs to explain how that shit is in any way constitutional, because it
One of my gaming buddies gave me an old i5 computer to see if it would help my Discord issues – it’s much faster than my current RPG desktop, which is a 2012 i3. In the end I didn’t have time and we passed it on to friends with kids in high school and a lack of devices. They’re slowly re-installing windows 7 and upgrading to Windows 10 as we speak. And I just settled for a RAM upgrade which noticeably helped everything BUT Discord.
I got to attend my first Outer Dark Symposium – virtually – and the recordings from that are starting to trickle out onto the podcast, FYI. It was nice to be a bit more involved in discussion and interacting with people.
I’ve been catching up on the Asians Represent Podcast, which has a fun actual play, and deals with game design issues critically. (More so in community, but also in critical read-throughs of previously published products with a specific focus on Asian representation). I find it to be a pretty positive community, giving an example of how to game better (with consideration for other people at the table), and in design, while also show-casing other types of role-play than I’m used to. Like a lot of other podcasters upset with Wizards of the Coast, for treatment of BIPOC and other minority creators, they’re switching from D&D to other systems (in this case, Quest).
Actions to defund police were frustrated by the conservative provincial government. More thoughts on this later in an individual post.
Oh and my neighbours are moving. Thankfully an issue might get addressed with the previous neighbours who never lived in the house and put the downspout on our side which made things extra slippery in winter.
Also enjoying Lovecraft Country. And found out that Fortitude season 2 is on Crave, so I’m watching that five years after watching season 1, which I loved.
I got books:
Armageddon House by Michael Griffin from Undertow Publications
and some audiobooks by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic and Untamed Shore
I was inspired to think about an old story idea related to the Chasse Galerie, and quickly got discouraged by the sheer amount of work it MIGHT take to properly consult on the idea. Most of the internet references talk about a mix of the Wild Hunt with Indian legend… without going into any specifics about whose flying canoe legend was appropriated. I managed to find some leads, but Covid is putting a damper on research. I imagine consultation will not be a priority either.
I’m a bit behind on things, but expect recaps starting from December 2019 maybe weekly? That’s the goal. So many are HALF done, but searching for links is a hassle on my phone. Just check the “COVID delay” tags to see what posts are caught up.
Hopefully I’ll also have news to share on the audio front soon as well.
fmalexander 