Almost at a year

Summer’s finally here, which also means it’s been nearly a year since I started this blog.  Although my posts have been sporadic and short, I plan on dedicating a bit more time to this blog and my YT channel over the summer now that I have more time.

And yes--I am aware that I kind of ghosted New! SMW2 again for the 50th time. I will get back to it and finish the game eventually, I promise. I haven't feeling up to playing video games on my channel anymore because it's kind of boring to watch a bunch of let's plays--it's been done to death. They've gotten kind of boring to make and to watch. Even though gaming videos aren't "it" anymore, making videos is still enjoyable. You might see some other forms of content on my channel this summer.

Some people have found great success on uploading screen recorded videos of a ton of random stuff (for example, Bog, one of my favorite channels for his unique style and captivating videos). If you're talented enough, you can make something as mundane as installing Arch Linux, setting up a virtualization program, using a video editing software, or using a text editor interesting and fun to watch. But that takes a lot of effort and time. I don't care that much, even if it would be nice to have high-performing videos. Plus, not everything has to be a screen recording.

Many other high-achieving channels post content of in real life stuff, showing experiences and items from the real world. To me, this seems like a sort of romanticization of everyday life--it's not typical to hold a camera everywhere you go and try to get the optimal footage from every event. But this doesn't mean I'm against it. I absolutely love seeing other creators on YouTube document their daily lives, whether that be going to a place for vacation or hanging out with friends. Does it slightly give main character syndrome vibes? Maybe. Is it sometimes obnoxious to hold a camera in public places? Maybe. Is it fun to watch? Hell yes. 

I'm guilty of romanticizing parts of my life in this blog. Even though it's not a video, talking about my favorite Bic pen or describing my messy desk or writing about my morning coffee in great detail is sort of doing the same thing. And it's fun to do, so why not?

Dominic also did a form of IRL content when he posted the video of his morning walk to school and some sprinklers. Filming this probably allowed him to escape the mundane of daily life and the slightly saddening reality of a boring walk to school. Without any of the fancy edits and graphics, he managed to present his life in an ideal and intriguing way. I mean, aren't you curious the way others live? I want to see the POV of someone walking to school on a busy street in the morning. 

Oh, and those two videos he posted of IRL stuff got far more views than any other Dragon Ball Legends video he posted before. 

All this has given me some inspiration to post some IRL content of me outside. It's more fun to film and watch. Plus, I have a bunch of footage of past things I did when I felt like being a "vlogger" and recording. It's a little demoralizing holding a camera up, but who cares.

Using Google Drive as an organizer for academics

What is this feeling?

I organized my Google Drive for my senior year of high school (next year) with a goal of maximum organization and productivity. It seems a bit weird to already be focusing on next year, but I want to make sure that it goes smoothly. All of my school work, whether physical or digital, will be stored inside the Google Drive with their corresponding folders. I have folders for every class, and then within those more folders for each unit of that class. This way, all the work for each unit is clearly labeled and easy to find. Additionally, I will put the dates of all the work in the name of the document, since it can get pretty confusing (quickly) when the document was assigned/created. Keeping dates also helps in case an issue comes up with grading or similar assignments. 

Although my school computer runs slowly, it still manages to handle Google Drive well enough, so I don’t have any issues accessing my work during at school. This is really useful when I need to reference notes or homework—especially for reviewing specific concepts, like a math formula I’ve forgotten.. This year I've noticed that I've frequently needed to reference past things from the year, but didn't have an organized drive with those things. I didn't even bother making a physical "drive" with binders and folders, since I am much less organized in real life. Plus, the papers get really heavy after a while and easily damaged. 

Having a well-organized and resourceful Google Drive with plenty of study material will make getting through the AP classes more bearable (Yes, I am definitely taking AP English Literature and Composition). This will also make studying for said exams more efficient and effective. It will be much easier to locate all the content I've received and use it to create new study materials based on what I already have. This year I found it hard to find all my damn history notes to study for the topics, leaving me all on my own to finding new study resources (because most of my notes were either lost in the abyss or damaged).

I know it will be difficult to stick to this organization--who doesn't want to just shove the work in your bag and forget about it? I need to have some discipline to take the time to scan my work or upload it to drive, even after being exhausted from working on it at 11pm. It's time to be like a real high schooler commit to this plan.

My drive also has other folders unrelated to school work like music, audio, videos, images, ROMS, save files, novels, and creative writing. Keeping other miscellaneous stuff like this organized also helps it from interfering with organizing the school work when it starts to get messy. 

 

We'll see how this turns out.

LUCAS

     Lucas realized that Claus was probably dead out there somewhere, so he set his sights on finding purpose in something else. As he stumbled around Tazmily and around the Nowhere Islands, he came across many magical magypsies that could do many magical things to him. Now, we won't name what exactly they did to him (especially in the hot spring) but we can name what the did to help him. They gave Lucas many useful PSI powers and mementos of their existence when they randomly died, even though they lived for like 400 years. They also gave Lucas useful tips to look for some magical substances that makes them feel amazing, like you had endless wealth and found the holy grail.

    Whenever Flint or Lighter tried to stop Lucas from absent-mindely going out, he'd angrily yell at them and tell them to stop thwarting his plans to find the magical goodness. He wondered why they couldn't see the vision of finding the magical substances. Like earlier when Lighter's house was burnt to a crisp and Lighter broke his foot, but refused to become enlightened and find the holy grail and instead returned back to building that stupid cabin. These actions were probably to keep Fuel safe but Lucas couldn't help but see the goodness of the hearts of the people. 

    Inwardly, Lucas is sad and depressed and wants to change to be like them. He's a cold soul who ruins everything! That's what we know him for! Deep down, though, Lucas wishes to fully find the holy grail.

    But it feels like he's been chasing this dream for lifetimes and he's wondering if it will ever end. It seems as though ever since he met those magypsies his life his life has been engulfed by this damn substance.

 How did he get here?! How long has he been here?! He's starting to question if it was even real! A real substance that could change your life?! What?

 WAIT A MINUTE....

THOSE DAMN MUSHROOMS!!!!!!!!

 He realized he didn't need to be depressed anymore. The whole world clicked now! And he realized that he was mad trippin' right about now.

Looking for magical substances?? LOL! He laughed to himself and realized that once he found the faithful little pile of shrooms lying on the floor and decided to snack on them, he began to significantly hallucinate. He'd been having a pretty good time, and none of what the magypsies told him was real. Damn, these were some good ass shrooms, Lucas thought.

As he looked at the people around him, he realized that none of them were real, but rather just bugs and insects from the forest he walked into. 

Lucas got up and left, feeling sort of sad that none of the things he experienced were real. He really was just a lost soul, but who cares, since now he has a bunch of shrooms that can help him escape.

AP English Lang: It's done

 That's right; today I took the AP Lang exam that is now fully digital at 8am. 

 

I'm glad it's over. It was undeniably a long test. By the end of my second essay, I was drained. For the sake of myself, I'm not going to talk entirely about the content of the test (don't worry I will once scores are out). My responses were kinda ehh.

 

It's actually hard to write a good essay in 40 minutes, especially when the clock is ticking and you've never seen the topic before. The challenge, for me, comes from thinking from the nooks and crannies of my brain for examples I could use for the argumentative essay or details I could use for the synthesis essay to further expand my argument and be "sophisticated". But really, it can be hard to come up with things to say (even if you know you've got them in you somewhere) when you aren't familiar with the topic. Plus, sometimes the prompt is a little vague, so I don't know if I'm really answering the question 100% correctly. 

Either way, what's done is done, so there's no use stressing over every aspect of how you did right now since nothing you do is going to change it. I'm glad it's done, and I'm also glad APUSH is over. APUSH, if you're wondering, wasn't that bad.

What does MeThinks?

 Me thinks that it's kind of insane that I've spent nearly 2 hours on LibreOffice today. Happy Mother's Day!

 

Before celebrating, I was intensely writing a few poems and stories on LibreOffice, which resulted in my Mac saying I was using it for 2 hours. Isn't that crazy, though? It's like the only time when my screen time isn't just RetroArch or YouTube. I find it insane that I was actually able to not get distracted by all the other stuff on my computer and write for a bit. Also, it might not even be completely accurate, since I was switching between LibreOffice to Google Docs. I can't make up my damn mind between those two. I love LibreOffice for its customization and looks, but also love that Google Docs is cloud based so I can access my document when I feel like using my Linux laptop. The font selection on Google is unmatched, though. 

 So, what should you take away from this? Be proud of yourself if your screen time usage is majority on something like books or productivity. Sure, you might not exactly be using the screen less (which is the most ideal thing), but at least you're being productive.

Strawberry Honeeeeyyy

 Got random motivation to write in my blog while studying for AP exams.

I'm guilty of having a tiny cup of coffee at 7pm, which is probably a bad idea to get some sleep. Oh well--it was really good. Strawberry chocolate coffee by Kauai Coffee. That flavor combination sounds weird in coffee, but it's so subtle that you'll barely notice it. But there's a hint of it, so you get that essence of strawberry with a bitter (good kind) hotness. The coffee doesn't have an odor of artificial strawberry or chocolate either, which would really gross me out. According to their website, it's naturally flavored. I enjoy other flavors like toasted banana, regular chocolate macadamia, and vanilla macadamia. I know it's weird that I'm gooning over coffee, but it's probably the only thing worth getting up in the morning for.

And no, not the crazy speciality coffees like a cappuccino or latte. Sorry, but I'm not that typical teen who gets Starbucks in the morning to flash around at school. Stop your sad form of exhibitionism.

Infinite Craft

I understand that it's pretty popular for YouTuber's to base their channel around one game. This can definitely work well for some, even if it starts to feel a bit stale over time. What I never knew, however, was that some people base their entire channel on Infinite Craft. Yes, the game that Neal Agarwal built that runs off your browser is a game so revered that people play it consistently on their channel. From what I've seen, they can spend over an hour trying to get a single item. It's bizarre, especially considering the surface-level simplicity and accessibility of the game. It's not some crazy ultra high graphics next generation game, but rather a humble little white canvas in your browser that contains a whole iceberg of depth and complexity. 

When I first played it on my channel, I was quite charmed by the mechanics and how easy it was to pick up and start playing. I liked how you could easily see your progress slowly growing as you combined more and more random things together. Because of the game's potential for (literally) infinite items, players have developed strategies to get new items, or "first discoveries". They've also developed strategies to get incredibly obscure and unorthodox things that are near impossible to come across. In other words, I merely scratched the surface of what the game entails. I think it's still worth giving it a second look, given you can save your progress through a download. 

Now it makes sense to me why there are full channels dedicated to Infinite Craft. It's infinite content, too.