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Mentioning @Aragonn at his request.

We're trying to work something out with email notifications.

Over the last year, I've been striving to live a more minimalist existence, meaning I've been trying to have fewer material things, and that those I do keep mean something to me. But it's hard. My mom was using a bunch of old manuals and strategy guides to games I played as a kid to lift decorations higher, but she's done with them and now it's up to me what to do with them.

Definitely Keep: Warcraft II and Diablo 2 Strategy Guides
These are games that I actually still play or want to play, thanks to remastered versions, and these aren't just basic user manuals, they detail strategies for beating the campaigns and include detailed stats.

Definitely Trash: Civilization III and one guide for a collection of games covering Civ I, X-Com, Dark Colony, Railroad Tycoon, Conquest of the New World, and MAX.
I was never fond of Civ III, and I highly doubt I'll ever play it again. The other games are just so old...old enough that the manual actually has a list of numbers you can call for each game's tech support. lol, somehow I doubt they work now.

Meehhhhhhh: Lords of the Realm II, Pharaoh, Civil War Generals II
I recognize I have no logical reason to keep them, but I have sentimental ties to these games and manuals. They come from a time in my childhood when getting a new computer game was very rare and very happy occasion, probably from the time I was 8 to 12. I would play these games for months on end, and take the manuals to school to read at recess, but I think I really took them just to show off to the other kids, because I was so proud of my new games! And maybe as a loner it was my way of trying to get attention, too. Other kids in class would come to me and ask questions about the games I was reading about, and we'd take out the posters that came with them and look at all the stats/routes/achievements.

I have no reason to keep them. I could play them by heart, and even if I couldn't the manuals for some are online. But still...

I really love long sleeve tees.  I think I'll endeavor to buy more of them.

I'm currently reading Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport, and ran into a passage I found interesting:

The loss of social connection, for example, turns out to trigger the same system as physical pain - explaining why the death of a family member, a breakup, or even just a social snub can cause such distress. In one simple experiment, it was discovered that over-the-counter painkillers reduced social pain. Given the power of the pain system in driving our behavior, its connection to our social life underscores the importance of social relationships to our species' success.

The actual section of the book details how social media hijacks our social instincts to replace deep, meaningful conversations and activities with people with shallow likes and comments that are just social enough to trick us into feeling like we're social when we're missing out on the greater benefits of more meaningful stuff. The book argues that studies have shown that people who use social media more are also more likely to suffer from loneliness and depression for this reason. But I thought it was neat that it's been found that painkillers can dull social pain too...it seems like we're learning all the time how interconnected all parts of our minds and bodies really are.

Social interaction is vital to humans and is a big part of how people self-conceptualize. People who are placed in solitary confinement are known to lose their entire sense of self.

So it's definitely important to consider how changing our social interactions (perhaps into more superficial ones, goes the common argument) affects the way we think.

Are the ears part of the face?

I've removed myself from most social media platforms. Probably not for the same reason as many people now, though, but just because I found it incredibly boring. I keep Facebook around for its marketplace and birthday calendar, though.

So Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years.

I got a cat yesterday.  He is very friendly and willing to cuddle, but if I look away for a brief instant he vanishes into the most obscure crevices I didn't know existed in my apartment. I guess he took to the name Colonel Mustard and constantly seeks defensive positions from which to kill his enemies.

Oh, boy. Based on current trends, it's going to take me a good while before I can reach 6666 likes.

Shit's gettin' real. The governor here in California put us on lockdown. Basically banning leaving your house except for essential services (though not really enforced by law enforcement).

Shit's gettin' real. The governor here in California put us on lockdown. Basically banning leaving your house except for essential services (though not really enforced by law enforcement).

I was reading that earlier.  I'm surprised Inslee hasn't tried that one yet

One good thing resulting from the coronavirus: all the students at the university where my wife works are being forced to move off campus, and some of them left stuff behind (because they're rich and don't care), so my wife and I got to take our pick of it. We scored a 50" TV, a full-length keyboard (the piano kind, not the computer kind, though we did also get a wireless Apple keyboard as well), two pairs of Beats headphones, and a good haul of canned and boxed foods and other groceries (including an 8-pack of toilet paper!). Things are lookin' up.

Laurentus, you did this. You never forgot me. Here I am.

I've missed you all dearly. It's been a long time. It's so good to see so many of you here.

Weiss! It's great to see you.  Gosh, first Charax, and now Weiss comes back...it must be Christmas!