January 2023 Update

"Monthly Update" Thumbnail.

This update is pretty weird this time around. Usually I write them pretty close to release day, but my current efforts to get a lot of posts written and released throughout the month lead me to prepare at least a fair portion of it ahead of time. Right now, this portion in particular is from January 2nd, and I'm following my plan from previous Update perfectly. Similarly to the beginning of January 2022 Update, I'm around halfway through the intended plan and might be done with everything when this post gets published.

New Year's Eve? Well, there was no proper celebration on my front. The same can be said about the last couple of years, so I suppose that's kind of a tradition on itself. A year ago, I wanted to keep my resolution goals to myself since I was worried about just promising a bunch of things I won't accomplish. That's how it ended up happening, but for different and grim reasons. Before that point of time, I was cheered up. With positive and hopeful view of the future. Negativity and despair had their moments to "shine" too.

Lately it became apparent to me that both angles aren't helpful for me. Optimistic attitude backfired before and that sure would happen again in the near future if I go back to it. As for the pessimism, I've just had enough of it. I'm tired of being angry, upset and annoyed. This is why I've chosen to break free of all that or at least make an earnest attempt to achieve this freedom. To achieve desired peace. That's my current attitude, not a goal. There're no plans and specific goals. Only me moving along with clear mind.

Blog Updates & Such.

You most likely haven't noticed it, but I made a few changes around here. As I was approaching this Monthly Update during my January grind, I've realized that I should use this opportunity to refresh Ilko's Hall. New header corresponds with current status of the blog: inside of being a "personal gaming blog", now it's just a "personal blog". Most of the posts would still be related to video games and I don't think it would change in grand scheme of things. It's just that I'm not going to break any rules and make exceptions by releasing something different. For example, another "article" that will be published today.

I've also taken my time to rewrite both About and FAQ pages. While I still feel like they could and should be much better, at the very least that's better than just leaving them as is. There was one idea with these pages that didn't work out, but there's always a chance that I would be able to do something better later on. If you compare this post to other Monthly Update, you may notice that the thumbnail changed too. This is not some decent pixel art that clearly had a lot of effort put into it, but I think that works. It fits the blog's style.

Now, this blog is caught up with more recent days. Update should be released in a week from now ("Hello" from January 8th) and my desire to work on currently planned posts consecutively slowed me down here since these "articles" are usually written closer to its release day. That just makes sense because anything can happen and/or change in a few days. Ilko's Hall will get five more posts after this one, including the second release for today. Afterwards, blog will return to its hibernation mode. I would like to get something out for February, so there's some new content in Hall to add something to its second anniversary.

Everything Else.

My gaming adventures were put on hold. I still need to complete Thanatophobia achievement in Rogue Legacy and I would have to start with a proper warm-up. There's really not any cheesy tactics here, so it's more about good old trial and error approach. Logging into Minecraft: Bedrock Edition to grab every gift from New Year Celebration led to me revisiting my latest world. That playthrough started with the intent to complete all achievements in this game. That's probably what stopped me from finally giving original Minecraft (Java Edition) a go since I own both now. There's also a new episode for REKKR: Sunken Land (on Steam specifically; there was an early release), which is something I have to check out eventually.

A few notable changes were implied to my daily routine and online presence. I switched to different iteration of Ilko, but all my characters and faces are still a part of me. I've purged pretty much every redundant fragment in my following around various platforms. Perhaps I overlooked some "dirty spots" that I would need to clear out in the future. Time will tell, I'm sure of it. So far I'm still holding onto my current savings as I'm debating myself about whenever I should spend the money on new computer (or laptop, but less likely) or keep it for "better good". This quirk of mine really annoys me sometimes. It often goes against my intuition and that can lead to some irritating outcomes since I foresaw them.

There's more variety in my routine now. Previously I haven't really watched anything besides videos from channels I subscribed to on YouTube while my current activity on Twitch is still nonexistent. Since I already had a marathon of Spider-Man films recently-ish, I've decided to finally revisit the masterpiece that is Spider-Man: The Animated Series. That was the first time I've seen it with original voices and in proper order, but this cartoon is as great as I remembered it. Such a delightful way to pass some free time. Went through first two seasons so far. While I would like to resume my copywriting gig with its stable & chaotic frequncy, there's a possibility that it would return only closer to February. Either way, I'll be kept busy.