growing up not celebrating Christmas was a mixed bag when I was younger, seeing everyone get amazing gifts was definitely a point of envy. but now I'm sort of grateful there isn't this expectation to meet everyone in the family, having family dinners etc., rather, Christmas is really a downwind time, a slow time. also everyone around me leaves me alone cause everyone is so busy lol
as someone who grew up mostly without celebrating Christmas with a tree and presents, having a tree still kinda blows my mind ☺️ a plastic one for reuse for the next years to come!
Good news folks,
@elonjet is on Mastodon after getting banned by Free Speech Lover Elon Musk
as most households in Japan typically do not come with an oven, my options when it comes to baking have been very limited and at the same time I don't want to clutter my kitchen with even more electric appliances than I already have so i bought a stove waffle iron to make waffles 
the smell of waffles in my kitchen reminded me of home so much 
Zur
#gamescom habe ich über die Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung und ihr Angebot spielbar.de geschrieben, das Heft lag auf der Messe aus. Diesen Monat wurde die bpb siebzig, spielbar ist dreissig geworden - ein guter Anlass, den Artikel online verfügbar zu machen! U.a. mit Referent
@Felix_Felixson über die Vorhaben der bpb mit Videospielen und wie sie seit dreissig Jahren Vorurteile bei Eltern und in der Gesellschaft abbaut:
#bpb70 #gamestudies https://www.mediabiz.de/games/news/x/477176
MusikWoche | News | Fusion Festival bleibt zahlungsfähig
Weil "private Sympathisant:innen" der Agentur Kulturkosmos Müritz, dem Veranstalter des Fusion Festivals, ein Darlehen von 800.000 Euro geliehen...
Tomorrow 10AM JST / 2AM CET (sorry my European friends) I'll be giving an online talk about game studies and my research at Cross Labs Tokyo!
The event will be livestreamed on YouTube. Cross Labs usually has a more STEM-oriented, AI technology and intelligence science focus so it'll be exciting to share my ideas with a different audience than usual. (and also why I am a little bit nervous!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A52oRp9BvxA
Cross Roads #35: "Tourism in Video Games: Experiences in Digital Worlds" with Anh-Thu (Kayde) Nguyen
went to Osaka today and I really love the city so much. Kyoto is relatively quiet by comparison - shops close early, most bars don't go for longer than midnight, actually as soon as it's 7pmish it's very quaint on most days. but I have always loved seeing people in busy streets, groups of friends going out, sometimes being a bit rowdy on the streets. this is exactly the vibe Osaka is giving me (not so far off from Shinjuku). so many fashionable people in Osaka too ☺️
been feeling quite angsty/mentally tired this week. no particular reason (I think), just kind of rendering me unable to do anything 'productive'. It's been like this since Monday - today came with chest pain too. sigh. I was planning to do so much and work on my research but that's all been pushed back a bit.
at least I finally booked an appointment at a hair salon for tomorrow 
This is exactly what baroque theatre as described by Walter Benjamin warned us about:
„The prince, with whom the decision on the state of emergency rests, proves in the first situation that a decision is almost impossible for him. […] not the sovereignty displayed in the Stoic idioms but the abrupt arbitrariness of a storm of emotions that can change at any moment.“
via @tante
https://www.tumblr.com/numberonecatwinner/701567544684855296/elon-wyd
oops all spiders
I was an intern at SpaceX years ago, back it when it was a much smaller company — after Elon got hair plugs, but before his cult of personality was in full swing. I have some insight to offer here.…
Recently it was my 1st anniversary of moving to Japan. Time has past very quickly, the first 5 months or so were kind of hellish and ever since then I've found my groove. Because my concept of home is somewhat fragmented, I haven't felt the urge to 'return' to Germany, nor do I miss 'home'. It's where my family and friends are, yes, but it's also a place where I remember so much pain. Maybe I'll feel more homesick in a year or two?
Catbus
indieflock
Robert Heinze