Last year, my choice of hobby was wandering the land aimlessly with my partner and lounging lazily with our pet. This year, I’m going to give my free time more structure and play both the IHL Reading Challenge and Jae’s Sapphic Book Bingo during it so that… you know, achieve something, connect with new people, yada yada.
Since 2022 started, I’ve read:
- Breaking Character by Lee Winter (Fake Relationship bingo box / challenge category)
Faltering by Jennifer Lyndon (POC character bingo box / challenge category)
Next I’ll read either The Delicate Things We Make by Milena McKay or Acts of Contrition by Elena Graf (for the Age Gap challenge category). I’ll post more about this new hobby of mine here (and I suppose reveal my taste in books). Lemme know if you’re playing too.
Forgive my presumption, but I’m glad to see you budgeting some free time between writing and your day job. The fact that free time is structured doesn’t make it any less free. When you’re back at work, and you’re thinking, wow, I read so many books, or wow, I did so much cool stuff on my time off, the euphoria is like high-octane personal fuel.
Happy new year Robert Jenner! (Should have said that a month ago but well better late than never) What are your plans for 2022?
Hello, Ms. Ferrara! Depending on who you are or where you live, the New Year might well have been just a week ago as we usher in the Year of the Tiger, so it might not even be that late. My plans for 2022 are to catch up on my reading, reconnect with old friends I haven’t seen since March of 2020, and possibly even travel.
Also, I’d like to find a new video game. Last year I let Cyberpunk 2077 take over my life. To be honest, it was a transformative experience. I spent every free moment I had playing it. I started to think Cyberpunk thoughts. Dream Cyberpunk dreams. It was a metaphorical takeover of my mind that mirrored the way the main character of the game was losing his or her personality to Johnny Silverhand, an AI construct based on a rock star played by Keanu Reeves. I can easily understand why some people dedicate their lives to video games, subsuming themselves completely in alternative universes and leaving their outer, real-world shells a rotting husk. I’d totally consider giving that a try if I didn’t actually work for a living in an essential industry, have family and friends who’d probably feel they needed to physically remove me from my computer for my own well-being, and the fact that I’m already somewhat addicted to books. However I have yet to find a game to take its place. MMORPGs are an interesting concept but they exchange depth for connectivity. Give me an online multiplayer simulation of the 1809 opera season in Vienna, during the Napoleonic occupation, and I’d be all over it. I’d totally be in the Emperor’s honor guard as they stood vigil around Josef Haydn’s house while the great composer lay upon his deathbed. Oh well, I can dream.
I had a love like that once. With The Sims 2. I spent all my hours and thoughts on it. Before bed, while eating, in the shower. That relationship lasted decades, until my jealous real life love viciously came by and tore us apart once and forever. I haven’t experienced anything as engrossing as it since, but if you’re just looking for a game to spend a few happy weeks (not years) on: Hitman 1-3’s pretty awesome. This War Of Mine, Last of Us 1, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop (on the Wii so you actually do chop and ache like crazy in the days afterward), Resident Evil 6 and 7. Or get DOSBox which then lets you play, for free: Phantasmagoria, Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry, the Lara Bow series, Sim City 2000, Princess Maker 2 (;D!). And there’s always Pokemon Yellow/Crystal/I-have-no-idea-what’s-the-latest, or for your Napoleaonic occupation needs, roleplaying on Second Life. The world is your oyster. I can’t wait to see what you do with it this year.
Well I mean let’s be real here, my goals basically consist of 1) read more books, 2) play more games and 3) get to work on time, so really, if I get at least one out of three I’ll consider that oyster de-pearled. 🙂