Blog
Yeehaw! One of my friends got new hardware for a gaming PC and plans on trying Linux on it!
I am getting my own gaming rig moved over from Debian to the newest Fedora release. I'll be adding step-by-step instructions to my Linux guide for this specific setup. That way, he'll have the exact same process as I do, and I can walk back through and see where he's hitting any snags. It should be helpful for others who want a general-purpose PC that also plays games well.
Gaming distros are great starting points but come with a ton of extra stuff that you may or may not need. I'll basically give him the same setup I'd go with if I didn't have a decade old setup with a 5-ish year old graphics card. This will basically be a "if a friend had me build a gaming computer and set it up for them, here's what I'd do" guide.
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2026-04-26Full steam ahead on that book review! I started working on it yesterday and hope to make good progress today. In my grad program professor's terms, I'll be 'dissecting' this book lol. Basically, I'll go through the intro and conclusion, then the opening and closing of each chapter, speed-reading the contents to see what jumps out at me, and taking note of the works cited. This review is for historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and other folks in the realm of cultural studies, so they're more interested in where this book fits into the bigger conversation in their field.
I feel like a dog pulling against my leash trying to avoid getting to autobiographical about it. A portion of this book covers a period I was around to witness and experience first-hand as a resident, but I don't feel my anecdotes would help for a "is this worth reading as an academic?" sort of review. I only have ~800 words to work with, so I need to be mindful of that. On my own site? Sure! But covering it would give so much personally identifying information that I would probably end up doxxing myself in the process! So no!
On a related note, I recently remembered that I created a separate Neocities site to basically make a stand-in for a LinkedIn with my CV/resume, links to my thesis and exhibit projects, a work-related blog, and contact form. I paused on developing it further, since I wasn't sure whether Neocities is an appropriate host for that kind of site. Still thinking about whether I wanna go forward with it here, or if I'd look for some other hosting options. I really don't want or need the social media-lite features for something like a career-focused site like that.
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2026-04-24: I blabbed enough on my Neocities profile about the misadventures I had buying a cheap underpowered laptop on eBay. TL;DR is that a refurbisher sent me a computer that was missing its hard drive, erroneously believing it was a model with an eMMC flash memory module souldered in. So when I turned it on, there was nothing to boot into! Rather than send me any more hardware or ask for a return, they refunded me and let me keep it, so I have the ribbon cable on order and I'll get it set up down the road.
Here's a screenshot of the computer running from a USB drive! This gave me a great opportunity to demonstrate to a friend how you can use a Live USB to test hardware before installing the Linux OS to your system. It's handy! It let me make sure my audio and wifi worked, even if there was no hard drive to install to! Running a web browser is miserable on an flash drive, but as a troubleshooting and testing tool, it's pretty awesome!
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2026-04-22: Yay! My review copy book came in! I'll start going over it this weekend.
Oh! Also, I finally got around to watching season 2 of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. It's good! It had a couple good emotional moments but didn't hit me quite as hard as my past couple screenings of season 1. Still, plenty of good character moments. It succeeds in most of the same ways season 1 does, and with a third season coming, it'll probably be a good bridge. I'll probably review the series here pretty soon.
Oh. I was gonna review Cyberpunk 2077 too. My list of things I wanna do keeps growing!
Oh also also, Something kinda funny: One of my interns looked at me crazy today when I used the word "gesticulating," thinking I said something dirty.
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2026-04-20: Kept up all night with that overstimulated feeling, where you're hyperaware of anything touching your skin. I've also been back and forth not feeling good yesterday and today, so I'm not having a great time.
I also ended up hitting the storage limit on my google account. I used Google Takeout, a service that lets you create backups of your data across all Google platforms, saved all my photos and Google Drive and Gmail contents, saved those to a couple different places, and purged all but my email. They really would have preferred that I pay them a few bucks a month for more storage, but nah.
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2026-04-18: Might have stayed up too late last night. Might have woke up well after noon. But, I got to hang out with a friend for a while today!
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2026-04-17: First weekend since moving where I don't have any plans, obilgations, or unpacking to do! I plan on doing some reading, resting, a little gaming, and might even find time to work on this site!
Resting is the priority tho
Conversation with the intern that's going through stuff went well. Also got to catch up with that past intern that morning. Another let me know that they got accepted into the school they're transferring to, and yet another landed a job today! Glad all my ducklings are finding their way.
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2026-04-14 Storms do be storming again. One of my past interns is in town and SUPER unenthused about nature trying to kill us tonight. Same here, same here.
Thankfully no tornadoes so far. Just a lot of thunder and lightning. Power has surged a couple times, but it's noting we can't handle.
I wrote up a letter of encouragement for someone on my team who's going through some big life questions. A lot of what they're wrestling with reminds me of where I was at that age. I'm hoping it'll be well-recieved, and that they'll be a bit easier on themselves and give themselves some time to figure things out. They've got time.
Not me getting teary-eyed on my way home from Jersey Mike's thinking about speaking to their situation, couldn't be me.
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2026-04-13:: Unusually late getting my taxes done. Typically get that squared away in the first half of March but moving took precedent. Thankfully, my refund covers a large chunk of my moving expenses and will replenish my savings. Though, I did spend a bit to get some storage at the house. A small bookcase, a 2x3 cube organizer to use as a dresser in my guest room, and a second wire shelving unit to use in my utility area. I plan on getting a storage locker tomorrow to get my winter clothes, spare computer parts, rollaway camping mattress and floor futon, and other big, bulky stuff out of the way that I don't have space for. I simply do not have enough space for this stuff, so hopefully this will help make things more tidy!
One of my past interns reached out yesterday evening, letting me know they were gonna be in town. They asked if I would have time to chat. I'll certainly try and carve out some time! They were the first person I ever supervised, and they stop in to visit whenever they're in town. It's always a joy to catch up with my ducklings.
Looks like I'll also have some extra help this summer, since one is sticking around before looking for work in the Fall. We are planning on giving them a wider range of experiences to bolster their resume. Here's hoping they're set up for success!
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2026-04-11: Got one of my old laptops freshened up and ready for this upcoming book review. I have a strong preference for writing on netbook-sized laptops whenever I'm doing research or writing first-drafts of academic writing. Little 11.6 inch laptops are great when you need to maximize table space on a train or at a coffee shop. And, so long as you're not demanding a ton of multitasking, a decade-old underpowered Celeron is totally fine for word processing and looking up reference info online.
It kinda feels like magic, the way Linux makes old hardware feel reasonably spry. This thing is FAR from fast, but it's totally usable for writing and working on indie web stuff.
It's still technically the 10th here, but I plan on doing my taxes and brushing up on reading tomorrow. I doubt I'll be making any additions through the weekend.
Have a great weekend!
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2026-04-10: Guess who took a too-long nap and woke up at 11:30 PM? I couldn't sleep so I stayed up the rest of the night. Not really looking forward to going to work in a couple hours.
I ended up playing Madden 26 to burn the midnight oil, after discovering that it is included with my Playstation Plus subscription. I am not big into football. I don't really understand how to read a defense and I'm an abysmal quarterback. BUT I really enjoy the team management aspect of sports games' franchise modes, so I finally took a swing at rebuilding a team.
I got okay results despite not understanding the NFL draft, what kinds of players to prioritize, and how all the other league contract rules work. I tore a middling team apart, had a couple decent drafts, and was able to field an alright team after ~4 simulated years. If I had the faintest idea as to what I was doing, it probably would have gone better!
NBA 2K and FIFA are my two main sports games since I understand the roster composition and player acquisition for those games. I need to give Football Manager a try sometime too, since it seems like something I'd enjoy. Maybe sometime down the road!
On the plus side, I got an invitation to write a book review for an academic journal! One of my mentors figured the book's subject was up my alley and recommended me for it. I will be brushing up on the surrounding literature on the topic just to refamiliarize myself with the academic conversation that this author is entering into, then I'll blitz through the book and write up my ~800 word review this next month.
As such, I'll be kicking the can down the road with this site a little longer. Other folks will be waiting for this, so it takes precedent!
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2026-04-07: Finally, got light bulbs changed!
I've had this awkward mix of cool and warm lights throughout the new place. Cool lights in all the fixtures, warm lights in all my lamps. I strongly prefer warm lighting in living spaces, so I changed them everywhere but the kitchen/utility room and bathroom. I don't use overhead lights a ton, but it's nice that everything matches and doesn't look funky!
Not a lot else to report. Just work, gaming, light work around the house, and rest.
I'm slowly sinking my teeth into Gran Turismo 7 after previously playing Forza Motorsport. I'm not sure which I like better yet. The early game experience (license tests notwithstanding) of GT7 seems a lot better, but I'm curious to see how the game handles longer races. I like 1 to 3 hour races since zipping around the track is kind of a zen thing for me. That's not something you can capture in 5 lap sprints! Forza Motorsport scaled credit payouts with race length, up to a certain point. I'm hoping GT7 does the same, since I'd be really frustrated to finish a 100% race-length Belgian Grand Prix at Spa and get the same payout as a 5 lap run on the same track.
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2026-04-04: Taking a short break from hanging up pictures to make this:
Graphic Design is my Passion
I'm checking with a handful of friends to see what day works best. Looking forward to having a little housewarming party!
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2026-04-03: Had a good day at home today! Everything has gotten settled enough that I was able to sweep my living room and kichen/utility room area. The floors have been a bit gross since move-in day, but it's been enough of a mess that I couldn't really take care of it for a couple weeks. Bedrooms and bathroom still need it, but this is a good step. I also have roughly 40% of my decor up! Holding off on pictures that need multiple mount points for later.
I need to get my invitations made for a housewarming/"Goose made it out of the Trenches" party this next month or so. I'm so excited to host friends at the new place.
I'm also hitting the brakes for a bit because of some gnarly severe weather moving into my area. Tornado and severe storm warnings abound. After having gone through one a few years ago, I am way more anxious about bad weather now. Got my emergency stuff packed though and hoping I don't need it tonight. Our local stadium has around 20 thousand people at a concert that got postponed until this storm moves through. The whole audience is watching the weather broadcast as this moves in.
Tornado Alley is a weird place, man.
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2026-04-02: Welp. I overslept trying to take a brief nap after work today.
Looking forward to a three-day weekend to fully rest and recover now that I am fully moved out! I'll probably give myself Friday and Saturday to rest up, then try and finalize some unpacking on Sunday.
Might use that down-time to blitz out some long-awaited changes here too!