Me smiling in sterile dispensing, wearing my work jacket and scrubs I’ve spoken many times on this blog about the evil day job (EDJ), lamenting the amount of time and energy it eats up. But something happened this week that makes me wonder if I’ve inadvertently formed the EDJ into a career path. When I think of my life goals, writing springs to mind. Over the past couple years that goal has been refined to writing about gaming. I’ve given little thought to where being a pharmacy tech will take me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy some aspects of the EDJ, but I don’t ever worry about or consider mak ..read more

The big five-oh. Yep. Yeeeepppp. Half a century. I took a few days off from writing to reflect on life. Not to mention, my lovin’ man spoiled me rotten all week. I’m sure I’ve gained five pounds from all the treats and special dinners, lol. Last Saturday, a skin for my XBox and controller showed up. And since I have a thing for sunflowers, I had to apply it right away. We played Godfall the whole week and perfected our builds. The Ascended Tower of Trials will fall. Oh, yes, it will fall. I woke last Monday, my actual birthday to Jedi Survivor already installed on my console. I’d wanted the g ..read more

When the end credits roll on most games, I’m done. Doesn’t matter if it features new game plus or alternate storylines. My border collie of a brain is itching for a new obstacle course to conquer. Thus, I usually search the Microsoft or Sony store for a new title. But once in a great while, I select the option to do it all over again. My question is: why? What makes one title re-play worthy as opposed to the hundreds of one-playthrough stands I’ve had with so many games? I suppose that makes me a bit gaming promiscuous. Naughty me, lol. So, those precious few that earn a second go, or even a t ..read more

My FoxxMiyamoto gamertag tattoo It goes without saying to define something inherently means to include some things and exclude others. My intention with this post isn’t to polarize the topic of gaming or to exclude anyone. I approach this topic with humility and a genuine curiousity to understand what it means to choose a virtual life, to choose to play as an expression of living. Obviously to consider oneself a gamer, one must play games. That’s a given. And though it usually these days refers to playing video games, it also encompasses folks who delight in board games, deck building, and pen ..read more

Blaugust logo, courtesy of Tales of the Aggronaut Hey, y’all. I’m excited to take part in Blaugust 2023. Though Im a little late to the party, better late than never, right? I heard about it from a post by WC Robinson (awesome blogger and very kind person!). This awesome endeavor was pioneered by Tales of the Aggronaut whose wonderful blog I’m getting to know. I also joined the community on Mastodon supporting Blaugust: gamepad.club. I’m so excited to support my fellow blog-enthusiasts and commit to celebrating my own writing. The basic premise of Blaugust is to keep the art of blogging alive ..read more

Dr. Andrew Huberman and Dr. Robert Malenka courtesy of The Huberman Podcast via YouTube Life’s still been kinda blah lately. That’s not to say I don’t have a lot of blessings. I absolutely do. I have the best life partner I could ever wish for. My son is making good progress in his young adult life. My stepson is the joyous youngster he always is. My dogs greet me every day as though I’m a soldier returning victorious from battle. And I even got a raise at work. As I healed from surgery and my hormones leveled out, I have more energy. Hell, just the fact that I will never have a period ever a ..read more

Cute pig with a shotgun As a general rule, I wouldn’t consider myself competitive. Especially when it comes to gaming. Overall, I’m a barely average gamer. Let’s put it this way: ain’t no sponsors ever gonna knock on my door. I will never win a tournament. On any game. Everrrr. I know this about myself and I’ve accepted it. PvP interests me not at all. Being trounced by a squeaker talking all sorts of sh!t about my dead mother really isn’t my idea of fun. And let’s face it, at my age, the reflexes aren’t what they used to be. Nor is my eyesight. And I’m constantly fighting carpal tunnel. And t ..read more

Game reviews are a useful tool, and I’ll admit, I do read them before I purchase or play a game I’ve never heard of. That being said, I also apply critical thinking when reading reviews. I mean, c’mon, we’ve all seen a one star titled something like “Not Enough Tits”. But when a game garners one star after one star after one star and the reasons stated seem valid enough, it does give me pause. It doesn’t necessarily discourge me completely, but if the game is full price, yeah…I might wait till it’s on sale. All that being said (I promise this rambling has a point), if the title with trash revi ..read more

Me late for work Okay, I’m not proud, but last night I stayed up giggling and talking too late with my honey boo. Like waaaay too late. Like last call at a bar too late. And then this morning I slept through my alarm. Were I twenty-something that wouldn’t be a big deal, but um, I’m damn near fifty. I don’t do that sh!t. Like everrrrr. But I did do that sh!t. And the less you do this and the more grown-up job you have, the less able you are to call in “sick”. And the less able you are to pull off the quick-change. Sad, but true. And as I frantically tried to figure out how to take a shower, pul ..read more

Convalescing, the final installment Gamer girl pic So, the first time I had a mid-life crisis my former life partner had tried to kill me. That does make one take stock of one’s life choices. This time, my body decided to develop some potentially life-threatening issues. Though my recent surgery corrected those issues, I still have the feeling that life is too short (and too long) to spend the bulk of my waking hours doing something I don’t love. Yes, I still blog and I still game. I’ve started exercising again. But let’s face it. Y’all know the drill. You go to the evil day job because you ha ..read more