Here's a recap of what I enjoyed doing during the month of May!
Podcasts
I mostly stuck with the regulars this time, but there’s one show I listened to years ago, and I’m going back to it.
SAYER: this is a science fiction show that features an advanced AI who introduces the listener to their new home, the man-made second moon of Typhon. This is a fantastic bit of fiction, and I quite enjoy listening to it. It feels a bit like Welcome to Night Vale, but more dystopic and futuristic.
The regulars were: Into The Aether, Eye of the Duck, Stuff You Should Know and Late Night Linux.
Books
I didn’t read as much this month, I focused on many other things as my last few posts might tell you. I still started one book though.
Hothouse by Brian W. Aldiss, is an awesome piece of science fiction set a couple millions years in the future, where humanity has devolved into a more tribal existence, while vegetable life has become the dominant predator and lifeform, in a World where the earth stopped rotating, and radiation has changed the environment in unimaginable ways. So far, it is super inmersive and well crafted, and I hope I finish it this month.
Manga
Kingdom: Still following the current arc, if a few chapters behind. Our protagonists got bamboozled and the rest of the army is in dire need of help. Just go read Kingdom, I beg you. I read up to chapter 786.
Monster: The finale is approaching, I only have 17 chapters to go to see the conclusion of this story. It is such an intriguing thriller and there are a lot of answers, and even more questions. A truly amazing story this is.
Anime
Haikyu!! Seasons 1-4: I have heard of this anime many times, proclaimed among the best modern sports anime shows. I have to say, I think I agree. I quite like volleyball, and I found the evolution of the characters, the rivalry, the challenges and how the Karasuno overcomes them, to be simply awesome. Besides, this is a show I watched with my sister, just so we can see the new movie that just came out in my country, and I have to say, I can’t wait!
Ace of the Diamond: This is a random anime I picked up out of a Short on YouTube. Why did I go for another sports anime? I have no idea. So many other things I could watch, and yet, I am still watching it. This is an anime where the protagonist is actually going through a lot of trouble before he actually becomes good, and I am quite hooked on his journey so far.
Gaming
Here comes the juice of it all. I got a Miyoo Mini Plus recently, a little emulation handheld with support for a lot of different systems from the PS1 and below. And it comes with fantastic features like quick game switching and an activity tracker app, to see how much I use the thing!
Because of this, I’ve gamed a lot more than before. It doesn’t help a got a fancy new game for the Switch that also hooked me completely.
The Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown: This is a Nintendo Switch title that completely took me by surprise. I already expected great things when I listened to the Into The Aether episode about it. I have played it for a dozen or so hours and its really fun to explore, the combat feels tight, although the story is rather weak. It is somewhere in between Hollow Knight and Metroid Dread with its challenging boss battles, as well as the satisfying movement of Ori.
Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga: What can I say, I have played this for a while already and I am 10 hours in so far, it is such a fun little story and the combat system, while turn based, requires a lot more active input compared to a Final Fantasy or so, since you can defend from enemy attacks, or add bonus damage. I completely recommend this game. No random encounters, no grinding required, no complicated menus, no random party wipe attacks. It is one of the best entries to the genre, in my opinion, and I am still not done with it!
Advance Wars: A fantastic little tactical RPG that I’ve been playing for a while. Like Mario & Luigi, it is a perfect fit for the Miyoo Mini Plus! I played almost all of the tutorial stages and I have enjoyed it a lot.
Celeste Classic: A challenging platformer that I completed on the Miyoo Mini, it was very fun, but I admit I used save states a couple of times.
Super Mario Bros Wonder: I am still playing levels from time to time, this month was particularly enjoyable, since I played it with many different people
I played many other games for testing on the Miyoo Mini Plus, but I not many exceeded the hour of playtime, so I dind’t mention them for now.
Device Usage
Laptop Usage
Notice the rise in editing tools for the theme and icons I created for my Miyoo Mini Plus, as well as my file manager for the same thing. Of course, I blogged too.
Firefox for 52 hours
Thunar for 12 hours
Alacrity for 11 hours
Inkscape for 11 hours
GIMP for 10 hours
Phone Usage
I used my phone for a total of 203 hours. You can notice I changed from YouTube to Tubular late in the month, and I’ve been using Signal a lot more to talk with my friends!
YouTube for 36 hours
Tusky for 34 hours
WhatsApp for 23 hours
Signal for 19 hours
Discord for 19 hours
Cromite for 11 hours
Aniyomi for 9 hours
Tubular for 7 hours
Kobo Usage
I only read for 3 hours this month. A bit of a letdown, but I am not sad about it, I enjoyed my time gaming and watching anime with my family.
Finishing thoughts
This month was crazy, packed with a lot of stuff, but I had a great time with the WeblogPoMo challenge and everything else.
