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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • Retronauts and Hardcore History.

    Retronauts gives perspectives on old games. They try to be informative, but sometimes it’s more casual too. It’s good, nostalgic stuff. And it’s a small thing, but the way they intersperse samples of game soundtracks really sets the mood well.

    As for Hardcore History, Carlin is just such a good host. Sounds so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about whatever the topic. It’s history, in particular military history, though so it obviously gets pretty dark and depressing sometimes.





  • General interest

    • Hardcore History (the best!)
    • A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
    • Myths and Legends

    Game history

    • Retronauts
    • Video Game History Hour (Video Game History Foundation)
    • New Books in Game Studies (I haven’t listened yet, but the description sounds interesting anyway)

    Talking about current video games

    • Kit and Krysta
    • Vic’s Basement (Electric Playground)
    • Easy Allies (Haven’t tuned in since a lot their personalities left, but they’ve still got a solid crew)





  • In the past couple weeks, I’ve switched Slay the Spire to my target language. Now even my most compulsively procrastinating time gives a little practice.

    It’s not the greatest for intensive study (no audio, after all), but it’s a great way to ease in.

    • I already know most of it just from pictures and having played a lot, so it’s fun even if I’m not being a great learner
    • Quite a few cards, items, or events show up just seldom enough that I do still need to read them
    • There are tons of words I don’t know, many of them at the top of the card showing a picture of the thing
    • Lots of repetition, so my brain gets the redundant exposure it needs

    And besides that specific instance, I’m getting more confident overall. To the point where I feel like I won’t be totally missing out on games if I try to play them in Japanese.











  • Have gotten a little more serious with Kanji this week. I’ve added about 100 into SRS since the start of the month. And I’m starting to cross-reference multiple sources, rather than blindly going through the one book.

    Normally I take more of a hybrid kanji/grammar/immersion/Anki approach, but I was reminded recently that it’s probably better to front-load the Kanji. So I’ve decided to put grammar lessons on the back burner for now.

    I was worried that doing so many new ones a day would make me remember less, but so far I still pass about 80% of my reviews even on tough days. So things progress nicely enough. Now just to see if I can keep up the effort for any length of time.