Happy February everybody! This is one of my favorite months of the year because it’s Valentine’s Day, it’s a special someone’s birthday in my house, and it just makes me feel like the year is ramping up. This month, I’m taking a weekend trip and will be spending a lot of time with family (and future family), which is going to be fun.
January flew by, as work has been busy and I was also selected to serve on a jury for a week. While I dreaded jury duty before going, now that I’ve been on a jury, I have to say it was a really interesting experience that I hope every able American can do at some point in their lives! It’s definitely a serious challenge to make decisions on a case, especially when it will affect real lives. But now I also appreciate the extra insight into how the court system works, and how total strangers can come together to discuss something intelligently, with their very different backgrounds, to make an important choice.
As for my New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve been writing regularly and making progress on my novel, which feels amazing. I’m falling in love with my characters all over again, which for me is the key to enjoying the process of writing a story! Making writing a habit — even when I’m not perfect at it — has been making me feel more inspired overall.
And now, to focus on geeky things, here’s what I’m up to these days:
Video Games
I’ve been playing Assassin’s Creed Origins as usual and am loving it. I also started playing Firewatch — a little late to the game, but I’ll be the last person on earth to review it when I’m done playing soon!
Still, I haven’t spent a lot of time on it the past few weeks, as I instead re-played Gears of War 4 and then, going backwards, Gears of War 3 with my fiancé. I guess I’ve been more into social gaming lately.
In February, I am thinking of giving Monster Hunter a try, as well as Nioh and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt DLCs… So many choices. I’ll let you know what I end up getting into next, and my final thoughts on ACO!
TV
In January, I started watching the new season of Black Mirror. Just finished “Hang the DJ,” so I still have a couple left — but so far, it’s the first episode, “USS Callister,” that’s my favorite. The inspiration from Star Trek, the twist of the nerdy game developer and the egotistical CEO being very different than you initially think, and the fun — if disturbing — setting inside a video game that can defy the laws of physics is darkly entertaining.
This month, I’m most looking forward to Netflix’s adaptation of Richard K. Morgan’s novel Altered Carbon. (You can read my review of the book here!) The book’s central sci-fi premise is that a person’s consciousness can be “re-sleeved” in a new body — or a used one. This is what happens to the protagonist, before he is tasked with solving a murder. As a mystery fan, the combination of science fiction and mystery is fascinating. From watching previews of the show, I’m not sure what to make of it — it looks very action-heavy, which might be amazing or distracting depending on how it’s handled alongside the world-building and crime-solving. I’ll review the show when I’m done watching!
Books
I’ve started re-reading Outlander, inspired by watching the show recently. I plan to continue with the series this time, as I have a mild obsession with how things are going to turn out for Claire and Jamie! It’s been awhile since I sank into another world the way I have been with Outlander lately, so I’m going to enjoy the experience while it lasts.
I’m also finishing up Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. I can’t recommend it highly enough! This non-fiction book tells the story of humans, going way back to our original evolution and then carrying on through all of our major societal shifts and developments, like the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and beyond. There are chapters about capitalism, religion, and happiness. It’s just a fascinating dive the human experience, and a very easy read despite how much information it contains.
What has everyone else been up to lately? I’d love to hear what you’re watching, reading, playing, and anything else! =)
— Ashley
Robo♥beat 
I was sick for half of January, so that rather derailed my plans. I’m just starting to get back into the swing of things.
I’m back in WoW for another (final?) stint. I just finished Legion’s story yesterday, and I’m still digesting it. This is the end of… what? Twenty-two years worth of story-telling? I’m twenty-seven, to give you an idea of how much of my life this has been. Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about it. It’s hard to process.
I was getting so feelsy about it all that rather than returning to my books I’ve spent the last couple days working on some fan fiction about a few of my WoW characters. I feel a little guilty about it, but I guess it’s just a few days wasted.
Would like to get in a little ESO as well — very glad to see the outfit system finally arriving — but I’m not sure I’ll have time. WoW has a way of swallowing you whole. Oh, and the Age of Empires HD remaster is launching this month, too, I think, but, well, see above.
Sorry to hear you were sick so much in January! I had a bad cold the last week, and I still have my annoying recovery cough. Writing fan fiction sounds fun, even if it did take you away from your books! I feel a little guilty when I am supposed to be working on my book but instead I write a blog post haha.
Night in the Woods is really good, so much so that I’m about 3/4 through my second playthrough. More than 20 hours total, unheard of for me to play an interactive story game for that long! Looking forward to starting Life is Strange: Before the Storm soon, picked it up on a Steam sale and really enjoyed the first series. Will add Altered Carbon (book) to my list, sounds interesting.
I love Night in the Woods too. That’s awesome you’re replaying it! A friend played it too and had quite a few different scenes than I did because he spent his in-game time differently, which was cool! I also would love to play Life is Strange: Before the Storm — haven’t gotten to it yet.
Yeah, that’s definitely the big thing for me on second playthrough. Did more of Bea’s hangouts the first time round, more Gregg-focused on this one. Soundtrack is excellent too!
If you haven’t played already, I’d also recommend VA11 Hall-A (Valhalla) if you like the genre. Didn’t hit quite as well as Night in the Woods, but really good interactive story in futuristic setting, I liked the humour and passivity (passive in a good way but kind of difficult to describe, you’re a bartender listening to customers and mixing drinks).
Thanks for the recommendation! I started that game on PC a couple years ago but only played it for one sitting, and didn’t have my PC for much longer. I heard it’s on PS4 now though, so I’ll check it out again!