Nerd Girl Thoughts

This is my 31st post for #Blaugust2022, and hooboy, am I glad that’s over. In all fairness, this was probably my easiest Blaugust yet, but trying to figure out what to write about every single day is harder for me than the actual writing (and that is taking into account how much easier it becomes when you’re looking at a minimum of twelve project games, as well as five themed posts). My ideal blogging schedule is somewhere in the vicinity of 3-5 posts a week, so going forward, I think I’ll try to keep that in mind when planning out my calendar.

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GAMING

#JustOnePercent

This is probably the batch of games I swapped around more than any other. On my initial list, September was almost entirely made up of XBox Game Pass games. I ended up switching out some of those titles I was personally less interested in for things I’ve picked up here and there over the past few months, but for some reason, this batch still feels a bit overwhelming.

However, I now have the schedule as firmed up as it’s going to get through the end of November when I’ll finish up the project, which means I’ve got 36 more games on my list, and 81 behind me. If you add in the other dozen 2021 releases I wrote about before starting the project, that means by the beginning of December I will have played 129 of the 10,967 games released on Steam in 2021, or a whopping 1.18%.

The games I’m planning to play on the Deck for September are Milo and the Magpies, I Am Fish, If On a Winter’s Night Four Travelers, and Embr. For the goal list, it’s going to twelve project posts again this month.

Other Gaming

I’ve really been all over the place gaming-wise lately, but the one thing I am sure of is that I’d like to renew my World of Warcraft subscription. However, before I do so, I’d like to have a much better idea of what I plan to do with it, so I want to sit down and make up a list of pre-expansion goals. I’ve already pretty much decided that I’m unlikely to return to raiding when I’m more than a full patch behind as far as gear progression goes, but as long as I go back in with enough other things I’m interested in finishing up (or even working on from past expansions), I’ll probably get my money’s worth out of it.

With everything else I have on my plate in September, I’m going to avoid making any other game-specific goals this month. However, I would like to keep up with my more regular blog schedule, so I’m going to shoot for six non-project posts in September, which will put me in comfortably in the 5 posts per week zone. I just have no idea what they’re going to be about yet.

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OTHER NERDSTUFF

Reading

While I’ve been enjoying my 87th Precinct Audiobook Reread, I think it’s time to start mixing it up a little bit. My Scribd audio TBR (and print TBR) list just keeps growing. While I’m a bit concerned that switching back to longer listens will hinder my ability to finish as many books as I’d like to, I’m also really ready for something different. In the spirit of compromise, I’ll task myself with only three books this month, which will give me a little more wiggle room for some listens longer than a few hours.

I’d also like to grab a couple of core rulebooks for TTRPG systems I’m unfamiliar with from DriveThruRPG, and start poking around in them. I’m ever-so-slightly toying with the idea of setting up some sort of short campaign to play online over the winter months, but most of the ideas I’m tumbling around with aren’t a great fit for any of the systems I have passing familiarity with. I’d like to pick up at least one “rules-light” system corebook that’s appropriate for more contemporary stories, and go from there.

Stitchcraft

Due to being over ambitious, I’m still working on a pair of rather hefty projects, but the deadlines I had set myself are already in the rearview mirror. Still, I’m probably about halfway through one of the two projects now that I’ve scaled it down in scope a little bit, so I’d like to have that one finished by the end of September.

However, since I know that I tend to get antsy when I don’t know what’s next project-wise (it’s a personality flaw), I’m going to try to get my next two projects picked out, and supplies ordered this month as well. I do have a little extra fun money burning a hole in my pocket, so while I’m ordering stuff anyway, I’ll probably pick up somewhere between a third and half of the supplies I’m going to need for my giant project, even though I’m still several months off from starting it. It’ll give me a little burst of joy to get some of that stuff actually in my hands (and will help me avoid being outrageously annoyed late on because this way I won’t have to card 90 colors of floss all at once).

Television

Although I almost always ignore my watching goals, I’m finding I’m starting to miss watching stuff, and my list of shows that I’m interested in never seems to stop growing. Of course, being forever behind has it’s advantages – sometimes the wait means that something I’ve been interested in gets cancelled, which means I won’t be stuck waiting for more seasons, but also, that there aren’t going to be any more seasons, which usually leads to unsatisfying endings.

Yes, I’m talking mostly about The Wilds, and no, I’m probably not going to bother watching it now.

Krikket’s Clubhouse

So far, I’m reasonably pleased with how my Discord server is shaping up, but I would really like to be more diligent about planning different sorts of activities. So, rather than setting goals related to the growth of the server – which I only have a little control over – I’m going to set myself a goal of planning at least six events during September, at least one of which will be something other than a watch party, craft & chat, or Codewords Online.

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IN SUMMARY

Having typed all that out now, I realize I’m at risk of overloading myself to make up for all the stuff I got a crazy urge to do in August that I shelved to focus on #Blaugust2022. However, we’re also heading into the time of year that my interest in doing things surges, as the really hot days start to be the exception rather than the norm. I’m okay going a little bold with my goals this month.

• Twelve posts for the #JustOnePercent Project
• At least six posts unrelated to the #JustOnePercent Project.
• Work up a list of pre-expansion goals for World of Warcraft.
• Reactivate my World of Warcraft subscription.
• Read / listen to any three books.
• Pick up at least one core rulebook for a rule-light TTRPG system.
• Finish up current stitching project.
• Decide on my next two stitching projects and order supplies.
• Figure out if there’s enough new-to-me stuff on Netflix to justify restarting my subscription.
• Plan at least six Discord events, with at least one being a new type of event.