Surprised PBS shows aren’t mentioned more here, especially not Mr. Rogers Neighborhood being mentioned.

So in no particular order:

• Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood: great show for teaching kids to how to navigate emotions and complex situations like death and discrimination but in ways they can understand

• Sesame Street: similar to Mr. Rogers but more for younger children

• Bill Nye the Science Guy: Made science accessible and fun for children. Good way to build a sense of curiosity and desire for experimentation

• Zoom: similar to Bill Nye in that it made me what to try all the activities they shared. Lots of fun games, recipes, brain teasers etc to keep kids busy. The fact that it had an all kid cast made it more accessible as a kid. Highly recommended since it seems less remembered than other PBS shows

Non-Educational:

• The Simpsons: this may be divisive but I grew up when they were super popular and I believe it helped develop my sense of humor. The earlier episodes were also pretty wholesome

• The Avatar (Last Airbender and Korra): well written show that is based on many East Asian cultures and touches on themes of depression, genocide, war, and hope (among many others). One of my favorite shows to this day

The Portal games are fun puzzle FPS platformers with a great story, though there’s a good chance you’ve already played those and didn’t consider them platformers.

Another FPS platformer is Roboquest. It’s a roguelite shooter. Very fast pace and stressful but fun if you’re into that kind of thing.

I also want to second Psychonauts. I haven’t played #2 yet but the first game had a unique and interesting story with fun gameplay.

I’ve heard A Short Hike is a relaxing game. More about exploration than meeting game objectives but could be a nice break when you’re stressed. Basically the opposite of Roboquest haha

“This book has been debated for ages,” said Nguyen, a bookseller on Hanoi’s Nguyen Xi book street, who gave only his first name for fear of inviting backlash against his store.

Funnily enough, this could be more identifying than if he gave his last name. There are more Nguyen last names than first names.

Can you use an aux cable? Just thinking of old school solutions

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Is a dedicated mp3 player out of the question? Would be a simple solution that doesn’t require any internet access for when you’re in areas with poor reception.

Never went to the big cons but I recently went to a small local anime market. Went with a friend who goes to a bunch of those events and had a lot of fun!

Some tips if you go

• Bring water. It gets hot in there and I couldn’t find any vending machines so I was dehydrated
• Eat first. The venue had two food places and both were super crowded. Was like a 30 min wait for mall food court food
• Be prepared for the smells. The stereotypes are true. Some people smelled so bad there. I wore a mask but I could still smell some people
• Go with a friend. It was a lot of fun and way less intimidating
• Start small. Same as going with a friend. Less intimidating and more doable.

Frank to Dee: There is nothing more threatening to a man than a woman who is smart and attractive. We have to pretend you’re both!

Everything All at Once by Bill Nye

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The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

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Bill Nye must solve a series of mysterious crimes including theft, witch hunts, and murder on a 17th century East Indiaman ship. I’d read the heck out of that.

I love my 8Bitdo Ultimate controller. It’s comfortable to use and holds a decent charge. Having a charging stand is really useful too. If you have multiple non-PC devices, I would recommend getting the Pro version so that you can use Bluetooth. Otherwise, the USB one will work well.

Only other minor negative is that the d-pad is a little mushy so I will occasionally hit the wrong direction accidentally. So not the greatest for fighting games.

If you don’t need the charging stand, there are cheaper USB only controllers too.

Lastly, if you want to try to improve your posture, my family bought some chair restraint straps for my grandma who kept tilting in her chair. The ones I linked aren’t what we got her but they were the cheapest I could find. You may also want to get your eyes checked. Could be the reason you’re leaning forwards so much is because you can’t see as clearly as you think.

The original Jurassic Park. Crazy to think that movie came out in 1993, over 32 years ago.

So many people aren’t listing their hobbies (though many of them are guessable).

Gaming has been a hobby of mine for decades now. I love that it pushed me into other relevant niche hobbies, like mechanical keyboards, audiophile/headphones, desk accessories, and other random tech, though these were mostly only to a beginner’s level.

I also learned how to do basic soldering but that’s more being interested in electronics than in gaming. You could make the argument that gaming made me interested in technology in general.

• When I’m in command, every mission is a suicide mission.
• [introducing himself] I am the man with no name. Zapp Brannigan at your service.
• Brannigan’s Law is like Brannigan’s love: hard and fast.