Thursday Thoughts - 01/03/2023
In this short newsletter, I share the most interesting things that I’ve read, heard, and/or watched over the past week.
What I Read:
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a book about video games, love, work, and growing up. The story starts off with the two main characters, Sadie and Sam, meeting in a children’s hospital. They past the time by playing Mario and Duck Hunt. The book takes off from there to their time in college, building their first game, and starting their company, Unfair Games.
The book was fantastic. I can see why it was Amazon’s book of 2022. It was also recommended by several newsletters that I follow.
There were three themes in the book that stuck out to me:
Spoiler warning for items mentioned in the following sections.
Video Games
Video games are a huge part of the story. The main characters were obsessed with playing them as children. The same passion led them to create their own games and company.
The video games mentioned throughout the book made me nostalgic. Sadie and Sam played all the games I did as a kid: Super Mario, Final Fantasy, and Harvest Moon.
Some of my favorite chapters were the ones where the narrative style changed to match the games being created by Unfair Games. My favorite instance of this is the Pioneers chapter. The entire chapter was written from the perspective of Sadie’s in-game character, Emily Marks.
Trauma
Trauma is a big part of both these characters. It shapes them into who they are. Sam’s trauma is especially clear throughout the book. He witnesses a suicide, loses a parent, and suffers a serious leg injury all before he is a teenager. This trauma shapes his behavior and leads to some of the unfortunate miscues in the story. But it also leads Sam to Sadie.
Trauma also comes up towards the end of the book. Sadie mentions that students in her class wear their trauma like a badge. They don’t mask it like her and Sam. This reminds me of something I read or heard about Gen Z, which I can’t seem to find the source. They noted that people in Generation Z are more conscientious than the previous generations. And they will be better off for it.
What’s Left Unsaid
This book is full of dramatic irony. As the reader, you gain insight into each of the characters’ feelings. However, the characters, especially Sadie and Sam, don’t share those feelings with each other. This leads to most of the conflicts in this story. They often assume the worst intentions of others and even in themselves.
This mirrors the real world. I often think a situation is worse than it really is. I am reminded of Hanlons Razor to counter this type of thinking.
What I Tried:
iA Writer
I used Atom as my text editor for this site ever since I switched to Hugo. But Atom was sunsetted last month. Therefore, I needed a new MarkDown editor. iA Writer replaces Atom perfectly for my purposes. The preview function is handy because I can see if all the links and font styles were tagged correctly.
What I Wrote:
Best Purchases in 2022 | NineOverFour
I continue my review of last year with my best purchases. I didn’t buy a lot of things this past year. I am trying to be as minimalistic as possible. Purchasing fewer things but of higher quality. I also didn’t have too much extra cash to spend, as a lot of my money was used to purchase and renovate my house.
What I’m Pondering:
“The worst thing to do is buy an asset when it’s in the news and sell it when it’s in the news.”