august in the pacific northwest is probably the best summer weather there is: sunny weeks of dry heat and soft breezes punctuated by cloudy days at ~15°C. For someone with a ironic preference for the cold and the sun like myself, it makes existing unexpectedly pleasant during a month where I have less and less to do.
i wouldn’t call it cabin fever, but there’s not much to go out and do when you’re poor in Portland, and while my reading list continues to grow, i haven’t had the fortune of hitting my literary stride this month like i had in July. i had a relatively successful time baking two loaves of walnut zucchini bread, the second of which im still working through, but otherwise i can’t say ive accomplished much.
i recently got invited to attend the inclusive astronomy conference hosted by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). exciting for me because this will be my first astronomy conference ive been invited to, but there’s been some controversy around the selection process which was done via algorithm and selected a demographic pool to reflect the applicant pool. im unsure what to think about that whole situation.
i finished a small circlet i made for my younger sister, Kate, who very kindly gave me a bracelet she made herself before leaving for a vacation.
recently ive been struggling with the limitations of dungeons and dragons as a game, both in terms of game mechanics and their implications on the types of stories that game can tell. I’ve been interested in the powered by the apocalypse system and potentially using dungeon world to run my d&d 5e adventures. but, like i think many game masters have found, most people just want to play d&d.
for now, i think ill go read some ursula k. le guin and try to get my sleep schedule back on track. lots of love to grandma kathy, if you’re reading this, and a good day/evening/night to everyone else. <3
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