Mastodawn

Coming soon.

IYKYK 🚚

#Haemus #AlexanderTheGreat #AncientHistory #History #Arete

Hoy #San #Valentín💘, regala piezas únicas de #GrabadoAndino hechas con pasión que capturen tu #amor eterno 💝.
Un detalle #artesanal que dice te quiero sin palabras. 🤗
Un San Valentín perfecto con el amor y la tradición de #Grabado #Andino.

Y si es muy tarde….. Bueno, el amor no caduca... siempre puedes sorprender mañana con un grabado especial
⏩ https://www.grabadoandino.com

#artesania #lapaz #dijes #collares #arete #llavero #merchandising

2tout2rien Feb 1

Le squelette d’un poisson porc-épic (diodon) : quand la nature invente la “balle hérissée”
https://2tout2rien.fr/le-squelette-dun-poisson-porc-epic-diodon/
#animaux
#arete #diodon #DiodonNicthemerus #écaille #épine #espèce #piquant #pique #poison #poisson #Porcépic #snorkeling #squelette #toxine #toxique #venimeux #venin #vidéo

Grabado Andino Jan 24

hoy Corporación Arte 👀 se transforma en el epicentro de

la #música #electrónica 🎶🔊🙆‍♂️🔊🎶:

Prepárate para una #noche 🌃 llena de música y #artesania en vivo.

🫵 Ven a la #feria feria y déjate llevar por los ritmos que harán vibrar tu alma.

¡te esperamos para bailar hasta el amanecer!

⏩ https://www.grabadoandino.com

#grabado #andino #dije #llavero #merchandising #arete #lapaz #disco #boliche #nocturna #fisura

Molotov Cockatiel Games (Bill)Jan 23

Working on a scenario for the skirmish at Lyginus 335 BC. We have next to nothing about the conflict in the sources. Anything I do for this will be complete fiction (more than other battles I've included in Arete). Arrian gave a casualty count but we don't even know how many soldiers took part. 🧵 1/2

#Wargames #HexAndCounter #Wargaming #AncientHistory #Arete #AlexanderTheGreat

Molotov Cockatiel Games (Bill)Jan 6

SNEAK PEEK 👀: I'm working on adding scenarios to my game Arete: The Battles of Alexander the Great. This one is a hypothetical battle between two identical full-strength Macedonian armies. Perfect for two human players to have a balanced game settle their differences. ⚔️

#Wargaming #HexAndCounter #Wargames #Arete #AlexanderTheGreat

J.P.Dec 26

On The Ice.

A screencap from the a live view of McMurdo Station, Antarctica, as found here.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about what it’s like to live at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. I am fascinated by the dynamics of life “on the Ice”, and what it’s like for those that choose to winter over at one of the stations.

Folks living on the Ice are there for a specific purpose to advance the mission of the station. There’s very little room for ambiguity about why anyone is there. Scientists, tradespeople, systems staff, logistics… everyone’s role ties back to keeping the station functioning and the work moving forward. In that sense, Antarctica strips life down to essentials. You’re not there to optimize comfort or chase novelty; you’re there to contribute, steadily and reliably, in an environment that does not tolerate carelessness.

What fascinates me most is how much of the challenge isn’t the cold or the isolation, but the human factors. Small crews, shared spaces, long periods of darkness, and no easy way to step away and get a breath of fresh air means that temperament matters as much as skill. People talk about how routine becomes a form of psychological armor, how calm professionalism carries more weight than charisma, and how social life settles into something quieter but deeper. They engage in shared meals, dark humor, mutual reliability. It’s less about entertainment and more about co-regulation: helping keep yourself and everyone around you steady over the long haul.

This is the type of mindset I have always tried to achieve in my life.

There’s also something compelling about how status and pretense tend to fall away. On the Ice, what you _were_ before matters far less than how you show up today. Can you do your job? Can you handle boredom without being a pain in the neck? Can you live respectfully with others and avoid drama? From everything I’ve read, those are the traits that determine whether someone thrives during a winter-over… not bravado or brilliance, but endurance, humility, and an ability to live within constraints.

I’ve mentioned to Earl that I’ve thought about retiring a little ahead of schedule and doing a tour on the Ice in Antarctica, contributing my Linux skills to the success of a mission down there. I’ve done some scouting around online to see if they’d even consider an older guy like me, and from what I’ve read thus far, the answer is yes, if I can pass the physical requirements. And every time I’ve mentioned this thought to Earl, he’s always been supportive of the idea.

Another reason to keep working at getting in better shape in 2026.

I see doing a tour in Antarctica to require a similar mindset to what’s needed for the astronauts on the International Space Station. Close quarters, a much stronger possibility of death if the mission fails. At least on the Ice you can theoretically step outside without losing your breath.

There’s a very, very small chance this would ever happen for me. But thinking about the possibilities and what would be required of me to live on the Ice helps shape my mindset to how I want to approach my personal growth in 2026.

I made really great strides for the goals I set for myself in 2025. Through journaling digitally and via more traditional methods, and then reviewing my journals for the past year, I realized I’m in a much better place mentally in late December 2025 versus late December 2024.

Growth is good, even for an older guy like me.

Whether or not I ever set foot on the Ice almost doesn’t matter. What matters is what thinking about it reveals. Life in Antarctica demands clarity of purpose, emotional discipline, respect for routine, and a willingness to contribute without needing constant affirmation. Those are traits worth cultivating anywhere. Holding that standard in mind helps me frame how I want to move through 2026. I want to live more intentionally, more steadily, and with fewer distractions. Growth doesn’t have an expiration date, and neither does the call to show up as a calmer, more reliable version of myself. If imagining life on the Ice sharpens that mindset, then I’m all for this exercise.

#arete #personalGrowth