More like weekend notes this time.

Game dev workshop #

Evi and I decided to attend a lovely indie game showcase by Krish Raghav about the Amsterdam housing market, followed by a mini-workshop on how to create text-based, choice-driven narrative games using Inkle.

There was a focus on the ethos of non-fiction documentary styled games (would encourage you to walk around the space walky.space/electricshadows that Krish created). And some of the games he's created over at itch.io. One of the participants also created this super fun game about moving to the Netherlands using Downpour.

As if all that wasn't nice enough, we also had bhel puri as snacks! Think it's been years since I had it.

We biked to Electric Shadows at Lauriergracht to attend this. It was a lovely day. Easy to forget how pretty the streets of Amsterdam can be.

Trip to the lake #

I've been trying to add more leisurely bike rides into my routine, apart from just biking as a means of transportation. One of my favourite routes now is to just bike alongside the Amstel river. It's a lovely route with farms, animals, super-rich and fancy houses, nice views of the river and the boats sailing by, and meandering paths to the side that lead into the city.

On one of my previous bike trips I came across the Ouderkerkerplas (translated to "old church lake"), a lake nearby the Amstel river, and we decided to make a trip there again. It's at a sweet spot–30 minutes away from my place, spend some time relaxing by the lake, and take a 30 minute ride back. Got some birdwatching in too! Saw a 'fuut' bird (a Great crested grebe) with a majestic crown on its head. Lots of ducks, coots, and swans too.

We went with our brand new pocket notebooks and sat by the ledge to put them to good use. Here's some of what I wrote down:

Been thinking again about lakes and water bodies. Biking along the river; how the river brances away into tiny streams and distributaries around which farms are built; moving around, branching into this lake. How the lake seems cinched off at a point, the land being pinched together on its sides, giving the lake its shape. A tiny speck of blue on a map, but with its whole own ecosystem inside–even a tiny stretch of sand to wrap it all up.

What else? Found a Manchester City football lying in the lake by the shore. We bent down and plucked it out and kicked it around. I think I kicked a ball around properly after years.

A father and his son have perched opposite us on the ledge, settling down with a miniature net and fishing rod. The boy is able to point at and identify the fish. How must it be to grow up with such proximity to the water, in a country so defined by its symbiotic relationship with water. Where anywhere you go, you come across all the different water bodies you'd read about–lakes, rivers, canals, ponds, springs, streams, distributaries, dykes, dams, ditches, straits, seas (not the ocean, at least). Where everyone takes swimming lessons and has a diploma for it too–in case they ever find themselves unexpectedly in one of these bodies. Growing up in a land-locked city, in a desert country, meant that all these water bodies were a novelty–something that existed primarily when on holiday. I'd only seen pictures of swans in my picture book of The Ugly Duckling. Now I see so many of them, and they are regarded here as a menace; a reminder never to go too close to them. Especially when their babies are around.

Here's a picture Evi drew:

On RSS feeds and curation #

Spent a good chunk of my Sunday morning rabbit-holing into the blogs and links I noted down from the gamedev event the other day. Added many of those sources to my RSS reader, and even added a BlueSky profile to follow, because I cannot bring myself to make yet another social media profile. That's the thing I love about RSS–it lets you bring together all the updates you care for in one place, without the FOMO that keeps me doomscrolling.

But I'm also trying to be extra conscious of not overloading the feed so that I do not get blog-fatigue. Still, this feels more like a systems-problem of how I store/surface these things in the right way. For now, I'll continue doing it and try to notice when and why I'm feeling some friction from it. I might write someday about my RSS feed system once I have a better grasp on it, but for now, I'm already happy with the way it's affording me a more intentional space online.

What I've been playing: #

1000xResist #

Wow! what a gem. One of the masterpieces of narrative storytelling I've played in recent years. Right up there with Disco Elysium for me. I loved, loved the voice acting too and barely skipped scenes–which I usually tend to do once I've read the subtitles faster than they've been spoken. The OST is brilliant too and I've bought it on Bandcamp and have it on repeat while I work.

Gameplay-wise, it's more of a walking around + visual novel; not too many options to choose from when it comes to dialogues either, since it follows a broader main story. But none of that feels like a hindrance, and the star of the game–the writing–really shines through. It was hard to put down and–at roughly 10 hours–not especially long either. Going into it blind is the best way to experience it in my opnion, but if you have to know, it touches strongly on themes of memory, diaspora, immigration, the COVID-19 pandemic, original sin, generational trauma, and also reminded me of Arrival with a first contact alien scenario and assimilating to communicate.

Death Stranding #

Quite late to the party here. I've been eyeing this one for years but never felt the urge to play it. Until recently, however, when I've been seeing much more about part 2 online, and listening to the new Caroline Polachek song which features on the soundtrack for part 2.

What made me finally pull the trigger was being drawn towards the idyllic, meditative nature of the game which I'd seen people bring up as a criticism before. I don't mind a "walking simulator" that really focuses on the mechanics of walking and traversing different kinds of topology, with care and thought being put into environment and hiking. I actually want to play this more for that than the storyline itself. So bring on the deliveries, I say! Haven't dived too far into it yet, but I like the expansive natural terrain to explore so far.

Plant Update #

I'm trying to propagate some longer vines on two of my plants. Expecting them to take about 3-4 weeks for roots to develop and before I can plant them again. I already have 3 empty pots waiting from other plants that died out (rip...) so keep an eye on this space.