The Overcoat

First book of the year read! Gogol's collection of short stories. It's my first time reading him and I'm not entirely sure I appreciate the satire. Maybe because I'm so far removed from the subject that he is criticizing that I just...don't get it. They're fine stories tho. 

swirl

Thanks to another year with the looming presence of the pandemic, this will be a quick reflection. I am actually writing this on NYE (with a surprisingly long login queue!) despite this being published later. 

Easy things first.

I bought a total of one clothing piece this year and its the fabulous La Robe Bahia dress in lilac. Does it have an atrocious cost-per-wear, yes. Do I regret buying it, not at all. 

I read 11 books this year, very off the mark from my goal of 35 but FF14 is entirely to blame for that. The books are:

1. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories
2. The Undocumented Americans
3. Department of Speculation
4. Strange Weather in Tokyo
5. Zobra the Greek
6. Braiding Sweetgrass
7. Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life
8. Perilous Bounty
9. Dressed
10. Demian
11. The Haunting of Hill House

Yes there is a horror (I'd say its actually more psychological than horror) novel, I somehow agreed to a friend's recommendation, it was not as bad as I thought and actually enjoyed the writing a good bit. 

Otherwise, work has felt stable. There were a few months where things were difficult and I felt dangerously close to burned out but am feeling better now. A small promotion and raise at the end of the year felt respectable. Will need to suck it up and submit my experience form for licensure next year, ugh. 

I made a decent effort to catch up with friends at some point in the year, it is a bloody pain to commute into the city though. Next year will definitely involve moving back out, the awful process of finding a reasonable place to rent be damned. 

With that said, I have shamelessly stolen my theme for 2022 from said friend who recommended the horror novel. It shall be playfulness.

shadow walk with me

Some days ago I finally got my drk to 80 and finished the ShB tank role quest & void quest. One thing about the void quests first, this is a total set up for an next expansion (or part of one) but its side quest status make me question if this is indeed the intention. Ugh I am unsure. 

But the tank role quest is great just like the other three role quests. I can see why people are not as impressed about the EW ones in comparison. But it is the nature of the difference between the two expansions, with ShB able to have a tighter story whereas EW has to close the entire saga out. 

My reward from the tank quests are as follows: one very pretty pond to float in (and the refraction!) and one quotation that is also entirely applicable to my favourite ascian:

and memory seeps into my grasp

 I interrupt the regular FF programing to bring you an Epik High song:

Lakeland

Exhibit A of getting distracted while trying to gather the materials I need to spam some leves for gil-making: 20 mins spent on sulking in Lakeland.

Send help.

You know how some people restrict their social media usage on their phones? I need a lock-out timer for gpose.

South Tide Gate

And in contrast to the previous post, here is how pretty my chocobo best friend looks. This is taken in Limsa's fields of all places. I feel that after admiring all the zones in EW, I'm finding new appreciation for the zones (and bgm!) of the older expansions. This only means I get distracted by gpose whereever I am in game now, which has been horrible for when I need to get anything done. 

Asphodelos

The raid entry area is amazing, nice bgm and the perfect match for my drk glam!

I regret posting the glam on Eorzea Collection with a Doman background now :(

And one bonus image of me trying to channel Dark Souls without actually playing the game. All I remember is me trying to get through Demon Souls very very badly.