2023 - Catching Up

[Niahak]

Since the last time I posted here, I got married, have two kids, lost some family, and am generally a lot busier but things have been mostly as good as can be expected.

I'm back to working in person, but it's a short commute and otherwise really flexible which has been great.

Most people might be trying to reconnect with old friends after everything going on with Covid (not that it's over per se), but for the past year I've felt a lot of nostalgia for the hobbies I used to have including discussion on a few forums ( ) and hosting/writing for a video game blog/website. It took a bit but I managed to drag that old wordpress site into 2022, where we wrote articles for most of the year before being on life support again. It was disappointing in the end but it was fun to write again, and I'll continue doing so on my personal site.

[Wen Huang]

When I last checked in here before the forums went offline, I was a kid in high school who just finished reading ROTK for the first time and looking back on a few of my posts here I immediately recognise that kid! Now I'm in my second year of studying Chinastudies at the University of Leiden, having found many more interests that have to do with the history of China. I've had two courses on Classical Chinese which I've enjoyed a lot! I'm now starting to attempt translating Classical Chinese for fun, but I'm very much a beginner! Since I've grown up a bit, I hope I can show my face around here some more now!

[Liu Yuante]

*looks through old posts to see when he was last active* Hmm...2014 or so. That's too much to squeeze into one post, but here's some random stuff from the last 8 years...

- Broke up with my girlfriend at the time and left Tennessee for Pennsylvania (where I went to high school) and make a couple of trips/year out to Nebraska now with my Dad (who also lives here), as that is where we are from.

- Was working from home full time then lost that job and took a year to myself w/o working (I had some money saved up) and did what I wanted for a year. Went back to work in early 2017, currently manage the IT Service Desk for a regional grocery store chain.

- I continue to write in my spare time, think I have something genuinely good nearly done. Continue to try to get working on my Chinese again, as I entertain thoughts of working on SGZ, but have also found myself increasingly lured back to Shang/Western Zhou-era history and language/writing. Have been reading all kinds of things, including a lovely bi-lingual Classical Chinese/English edition of the Zuo Zhuan and a lot about ancient bronze inscriptions and oracle bones.

- Have taken up several other hobbies, as I have set myself up with a bit of a home studio for music production and am learning piano and guitar. Have also decided for some reason that I really enjoy antique clocks and have assembled a modest collection of mid-19th-century American clocks that I work on restoring and repairing when I have time.

- I also continue to collect things, having finally reacquired and surpassed my original comic book collection that got sold when I got divorced many years ago, and have also managed to put together an ancient Chinese coin collection that is close to the quality of what I had before the big eBay fire sale, though there are some pieces from that time whose like I'll never see again, not least because there is just about zilch good material coming out of China anymore. I still amuse myself a couple of times a year cruising for fakes online.

- Maybe my biggest accomplishment of the pandemic era is that - despite many health issues - I did not gain any weight over this time and remain in good shape overall.

I think that's more than enough for one post.

EDIT: I lied - I have one more thing. Two - two more things.

I've been low-key participating in Kong Wen's most recent Best Game Ever contest at This Old Neon. It's fun, but also maybe the most ridiculous thing ever - there are what, like 15 of us voting? On Thousands of games for what, two years now? I also joined the associated Discord recently but as may be apparent from the above, have very little time for Discord (though it looks to be very active, with lots of video game disccusion). And I also occasionally marvel at James' beautiful photography of stars and such that get posted now and then on Facebook.

[Mikhail]

Realized that I didn't actually post an update for myself even though I was the first person to reply. Silly me.

Nothing new has really happened to me during the downtime of this forum. I got married in 2019 but still work the same job as a glorified data entry clerk. It's not bad as pay is decent but I work with my wife (she has the same job title and everything) so there's those perks. Well to be frank, I work at home nowadays post-COVID so those perks would be by default but it's still nice in the interim. I really like the work/life balance it offers which is why I haven't really wanted to change jobs or move up. I'm done when the clock hits quitting time and not a moment later. And I dont have to think about it any other time.

Actually, there has been a change. Been struck with a bout of chronic pain and fatigue for the past few years. Because of that, I haven't been as physically active as I would like and I've been staying home most days to prevent any exacerbations of the problems. It can get really bad and relatively debilitating. Been seeing a few specialists in that time but no answers have been settled on or forthcoming. I tried a medication trial to see if that would help and I would venture to say it hasn't helped at all. Hopefully another visit next month will help out but the malaise has been physically and mentally problematic to the point where my normally positive and carefree disposition has been fully turned on it's head. For example, I've always wanted kids. But without knowing what I have or how it will affect future progeny, I am currently in the mental state that if what I'm feeling is genetic (which could be a possibility as I apparently possess a gene for such), then I wouldn't want any children I have to suffer what I go through, etc. So mentally and emotionally, I'm all over the place.

Not wanting to put a damper in things though. I do still view my life positively and in general I am in a happy place. So it's not a big deal-ish. Honestly, without the presence of some of the members of this community, it'd probably a darker place for me overall so I'm eternally thankful to this community and to them specifically.

[Sun Fin]

Not wanting to put a damper in things though. I do still view my life positively and in general I am in a happy place. So it's not a big deal-ish. Honestly, without the presence of some of the members of this community, it'd probably a darker place for me overall so I'm eternally thankful to this community and to them specifically.

Many people find their lives would be darker without me!

But on a more serious note, we're always here for you buddy!

[Puddleglum]

The last five years, for me, have been strange (if that's the right word), but not in a bad way. Outwardly, not much of consequence has changed in my life, but it has been a very introspective five years, with more developments in the inner life than I'd know how to name. It's been quite an emotional (mostly in a good way) half-decade, though oddly I can't say the pandemic had much of an effect in either direction. Fortunately.

[Kong Wen]

I've been low-key participating in Kong Wen's most recent Best Game Ever contest at This Old Neon. It's fun, but also maybe the most ridiculous thing ever - there are what, like 15 of us voting? On Thousands of games for what, two years now? I also joined the associated Discord recently but as may be apparent from the above, have very little time for Discord (though it looks to be very active, with lots of video game disccusion).

LOL, yeah, it's very intentionally ridiculous. Although what we're voting on now is like the culmination of a decade of nominations and probably a hundred people's cumulative votes that have seeded the rankings. But yeah the idea of getting to an epic match-up between the Sega Master System version of Shinobi vs. Sengoku Rance two years into the competition is pretty hilarious. I didn't notice that you had joined the Discord—what was your name on there so I can give you the proper SoSZ role.

And I also occasionally marvel at James' beautiful photography of stars and such that get posted now and then on Facebook.

To be perfectly honest, besides pictures of my own dogs, James's astrophotography is like the main reason I even use Facebook.

[James]

I know exactly what you mean about the past 10 years seeming like they happened within the past maybe 2-3 years tops lol—same with little Berlin and little Tesla, who are both a decade old and both still little babies. I'm glad to hear she's still doing well!

I’m so glad she is, too. For better or worse, a part of my heart exists in that silly little dog, now, and the recognition that she won’t be kicking it around with me until the end of my days (probably?) is hard to think about. It was heart-breaking to lose Dusty some years ago. I guess I’m a sucker for getting really attached to my pets. Right now Tesla is curled up next to me, snoring away.

The photo you shared not long ago of both of your pups is coming back to mind right now. Still makes me smile.

That's such a ridiculous concept, but it was a lot of fun revisiting the game in an original way. I really should get back to streaming that, I think I left it about halfway through. Let me know if/when you get to the fight with Valvalis, I remember that one going off the rails in a hilarious way.

I was looking at the time for the video, and then the others in the sequence, and thinking to myself, “Now did he actually finish this? That seems a bit fast.” And then I was pondering whether you might run into a dead end. I imagine the late game might not be so bad once you have four or five characters to draw from, even if some of them are turds. And a member of your chat could always rescue you (or condemn you). Seems like a fun idea!

Through the pandemic I became fond of occasionally watching some gaming channels on YouTube. It has been fun background noise. And some games like Among Us have been just hilarious at times. I have yet to spend any real time on Twitch engaging live, though.

I’ll keep you posted on Valvalis.

[James]

*looks through old posts to see when he was last active* Hmm...2014 or so. That's too much to squeeze into one post, but here's some random stuff from the last 8 years...

I’m glad, despite the ups and downs, it seems like there are a lot of ups still present or new? I’ve been able to follow a few bits and pieces of what you’ve gone through on social media, although I miss heaps since I became much less engaged with it, gradually more so, from 2017 on. For “some odd reason or another.” I was wondering how you were doing just two weeks or so ago when a chest in a coset fell down and splashed its contents of trinkets I have collected over the years, but did not want to part with. Included, among some various Three Kingdoms treasures (holy hell, Portal of the Three Kingdoms turned out to be worthwhile trinkets to buy), was some various Three Kingdoms and Han-era coins I picked up. And, if memory serves, with some advice from you, and in appreciation of what you shared from your collection.

[...]but it has been a very introspective five years, with more developments in the inner life than I'd know how to name. [...]

I hear ya on that. I’m not sure how to even begin putting to words the internal part what the last five years has been like for me.

[Xiahou Mao]

Through the pandemic I became fond of occasionally watching some gaming channels on YouTube. It has been fun background noise. And some games like Among Us have been just hilarious at times. I have yet to spend any real time on Twitch engaging live, though.

I was doing some pandemic stream watching of Valheim when it was new, interacting a little bit with the streamer (Myatt), and someone else in the chat recognized me from SimRTK. The streamer was pleased he'd been able to reunite two people who knew each other.

Of course, it's been a couple of years since then, so I don't remember exactly who it was...