How to be Somebody Else, Someplace Else

(A List of My Favorite Video Games)

I like the escapism of video games. Life is tough, and rather than dealing with my problems, I can put it off by immersing myself in a game. I mean, life is full of games, but here, I mean video games. From financial issues to nicotine withdrawal to problems of the heart, video games have always been there for me when I need that artificial rush of dopamine. I love games. The creation and manipulation of experience is truly an art. I love art. Here’s a list of my top five favorite video games. I do talk about video game history, if you were wondering.

On Protests and Violence

Life has been cut short. We are now left with a world completely shaped by the media. Who knows what’s really going on out there if you can’t even step outside to see it? It felt like we used to maintain a certain distance within view of the real world, but now, forbidden from stepping outside, we either choose to completely cut ourselves off or to immerse ourselves in news of the outside world.

Either way, it feels like it’s disintegrating. We used to keep pushing for our lives to be extended for as long as possible, but now, barely able to live and barely able to imagine the notion of “next week,” we grow angsty, resulting in potentially deadly consequences.

COVID-19 & Hegelian Thought, I Guess

My PSCI 203 Final: A Dialogue

For my PSCI 203 final, I was given the opportunity to write a dialogue. Here was the prompt:

“Frantz Fanon, Audra Simpson, Karl Marx, and Bill Connolly walk into a bar. You’re the bartender. Much discussion ensues, with the bartender a full-fledged participant. Write the dialogue.”

Here is the result. I think it’s mildly entertaining.

A (21st Century) Modest Proposal

This is an unpublished op-ed. Here it is, published on my website.

We live in a society. It seems to be in a rather unfortunate state at the moment. Fortunately, I am here to propose a modest solution. The privileged elite enjoy the luxury of escaping to their summer homes when a break from normal life is needed, and perhaps, we could take inspiration from them and emulate our own break from normal life en masse. My suggestion is that we should break from the tragedy of civilization: although it has always been plagued with problems, I firmly hold the belief that now, with the interconnectedness that globalization has blessed us, it is the perfect time for all of us to agree upon returning to our natural state, throwing away all of our material possessions and moral standings, and existing as homo sapiens did before the rise of civilization.

A Woman's Power

I’m told that I’m very open about my thoughts and feelings when I write. I guess that’s true and I guess I don’t know how else I could possibly write. When a friend of mine looked through my posts on Reddit, that’s what he said about a specific comment. Here’s what I had written:

“I think people have largely forgotten the value of being truly emotionally intimate with one another. I, as a woman, enjoy casual sex and dressing as provocatively as I want, but that doesn’t mean I don’t crave and want genuine closeness. I want a man with whom I can be intimate in more than just the physical sense; I don’t want money nor the absurd, self-sacrificial devotion that the media perpetuates as a romantic relationship. Is that really that much of a risk? Don’t men crave that too? Casual sex is fun, but have you ever had sex with somebody you truly love? Shit hits different, bro.”