Do we say, “his hands were unaccustomed to be idle,” since they are unaccustomed to the state “be idle,” or is it “… to being idle” since they are unaccustomed to the state of being “idle”
Jalapeño? Holla “PAIN!” yo!!
I know he needed to be there as his kidneys were failing and he needed their medical expertise and medicine, but its breaking me knowing his last days were spent in a strange place with strange people and barking dogs rather than at home with his family and loved ones. He passed away and I wasnt even there with him and even though I know it was his only chance at surviving it still hurts knowing he died by himself.
Bought this game a month or so ago, invited by a friend who plays way too many shooters and heard a bunch of stuff about this game. I'm not going to kid myself, I'm particularly bad at shooters, my reaction time is garbo and the most recent shooters I've played before this spurt with this friend was Halo 2 maybe 13, 14 years ago. He tried to get me into Apex, and the only thing I was good at was keeping my distance and enjoying finding loot that I would lose in the first firefight I got into. I load into my first raid on woods, don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going, and get shot by a scav screaming Russian at me while I try to figure out which button lets me pick up loot. I was so very afraid, and so very confused. I nearly dropped the game shortly thereafter, but my friend was persistent so I actually gave it a swing.
And you know what? I really enjoy this game a lot!
I'm now level 22, with ~235 hours in game. My reaction time is still garbo, improving but a few rungs above shit is still shit. I'm easily frightened, and if I'm running and I turn a corner into some fool while being chased by some other fool, well, I'll die to the fool really fast and really easily. I'm cautious to a fault, because I can't rely on my firefight mechanics to win me something I don't have a positional advantage or some other kind of advantage in. And because of this, raids last long, and I clench my ass more the longer I'm in raid apparently?
But I'm improving. I spent time looking at the wiki, at streamers, at clips on Youtube, and even here on the Reddit from time to time, and I'm proud of what little steps I've made so far. I love that I can take this game slow, that I don't have to kill someone every moment I'm playing. I've become addicted to the feeling of lining up a shot. I may have been lucky because I don't think I've encountered any cheaters, but I love that I can get killed, and after the initial fright wears off, I can think about why I died and see how I can avoid that next time. I love that absolute terror when I go prone in a bush because I hear something, and a few seconds later a duo sprints right past me, and I get stuck with the terrible decision of either taking shots or just letting them leave. I love thinking about where I'm hearing gunfire, and where I'm pathing today as a result. I like guessing where it sounds like people have already looted, and that short thrill when I guess right and get to some untouched loot. I love t
... keep reading on reddit ➡Eisenhower met his cabinet regularly on Friday mornings. [Secretary of Agriculture] Ezra Taft Benson suggested the sessions be opened with a prayer. "The suggestion is made only because of my love for you, members of the Cabinet, and the people of this great Christian nation," said Benson. "I know that without God's help we cannot succeed. With His help we cannot fail." Eisenhower asked [Secretary of State] Dulles to poll the cabinet, and it was agreed to have a prayer, but the prayer should be a silent one. One Friday morning Eisenhower overlooked the prayer and launched straight into a discussion of the first item on the agenda. Cabinet secretary Max Rabb slipped him a note to remind him of the omission. "Oh, goddamnit," Eisenhower exclaimed, "we forgot the silent prayer" (566).
Imo it all began with COD MW. While MW had great game design, they introduced something relatively new to the world of PvP: Progression. By playing PvP you leveled up the guns you used, and increased in rank to eventually prestige. COD MW was a very successful game.
Developers realized that the psychological principles utilized in MW, could be repeated and expanded upon. Over the years we saw more ways to level up, progress, unlock, you name it, in every game from here to the sun.
Years passed until we inevitably reached the behemoth, Destiny, which imo represents the epitome of slimy psychological game design. Chase the carrot. Get the carrot. Chase another carrot. Sell you access to more carrots. Chase those carrots. Rinse and repeat, and so on.
Slimy, but unfortunately very effective.
Along comes Rare with SoT. A game built on principles of immersion, experience, and damn good fun. Cosmetics (the carrots) seem like an afterthought because they probably WERE an afterthought. There really isn’t much of a “chase” in SoT. But ask yourself, is that really such a bad thing?
In the years since COD MW, we’ve been engrained to believe we need constant progression, leveling, and a steady content drip for the game to be “worth” our time and money. It’s been repeatedly hammered into our skulls with just about every game release since then. So I don’t blame anyone for thinking or feeling this way. It’s been game developers (read: publishers) primary goal to make us think this way, as they can then turn around and sell us said content for more money.
But somewhere along the way, I think we all forgot the reason we started playing games as kids in the first place: to have fun.
And if playing SoT is fun, doesn’t that make it worth it? Doesn’t that make it a damn good game?
I live in America and have been here since I was 10. I went back to India this March 2020, for the first time in 25 years. I had a lot of mixed emotions and at the end, I realized I was stuck in this limbo of middle ground between never being American enough and not being Indian enough. You shed as much as you can of your culture to fit in but it's still never enough and you go back to your home country and there's a big disconnect there too. So here we are.
It didn't help that I took my white Irish boyfriend at the time (the kind who LOVES Indian food...), and during our relationship had times where I felt like he was disappointed about how I wasn't as "Indian" as he probably expected or wanted or that I didn't know enough about my culture. Did he ever say anything specific? No, but if you know, you know. He broke up with me over text a month after that trip and so it contributed to even more of the identity issues I've already been dealing with.
Why is this in books? Well, I had a friend recommend "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri. She's written some beautiful short stories about immigrant families in it and the perspectives from women to men to their children to dating and marrying white partners. All of it. It's been a very heavy and emotional read for me. So many subtle details that really resonate with me, the feelings of balancing old and new world. I really love this book. I highly recommend it to all. It should've been finished a couple of weeks ago but I'm taking my time to properly process my emotions reading it and also reflecting on them.
If you've read it, feel free to share your experience (regardless of your ethnic identity :).
As for me, it's empowering me to bring my culture back. The one I know and that has been instilled in me as a child. I'm getting my mom's old sari's repurposed so I can wear them more often. I'm watching more Indian classics, listening to more music, spending more time listening to my family stories. Better late than never I think. <3
Hi all,
In a few weeks I'll be moving from my house out in the country to an urban condo. My shiba inu, Aika, is mostly accustomed to walking about our property with the only paving being our driveway and various nature trails. Obviously, we're in for a pretty big swing upon moving into a completely urban setting. I'm primarily concerned about scorching temps most of the year (we're in the south-east) and walking on pure concrete/asphalt. What are some of the best strategies to avoid burning his paws? I know booties/socks likely top the list, but I also know Aika will hate walking in them. He generally dislikes any foreign "apparatus" on his body. (even after 5 years walking with it, he finds putting on his harness some sort of medieval torture scheme) I don't want him to just resent going out - do you think he'll just ignore them in time? Are there other viable options? Thanks for any adivce!
As we have come into the festive time of year I decided to write all my co-workers an Xmas card. I'm not sure if you can relate, but I always become especially reminiscent at this time of year. As I was thinking back on my first year having been at this job I was overwhelmed by how important having a supportive work family can be. Despite the ups and downs, arguments and pressures that come with working in hospitality, you become a family/team. In saying this I took it upon myself to write all 28 of my fellow staff personalised Xmas card messages. I grossly underestimated how long it would take and after 3 hours I was done.
However, I did not at all expect the responses of everyone once they'd received their cards. Over the last few days the lovely messages I've received of thanks have been almost overwhelming. It's crazy what I thought would be a cute festive thing to do for everyone, has showed me how much we don't give and receive kindness like we should. I had a co-worker hug and cry after reading her card because it meant so much to her. Others telling me that it had made their day to read their card.
So today I've learn that if something so small can go so far. Why don't we do much for eachother more often?
