I've Got A PS2! {Week 18}

Phew, another long one! Is this being posted vaguely on time? Sure, sure. I'm now sort of free for a time since the kiwi job is on stand-by, more on that later. It was a long and good weekend too. Some disappointments happened as well of course, but luckily they came at the start of the week. I hate anticipation! 

All is moderately well in my world right now, what do ya know? And yes, I did get a new console for a very nice price. No, not free, because I did not accept Christ but I was this close! I love old consoles.

Week 18.

Mood almost ruined before it even hit 9:30 AM this Monday. I went to see my teacher Aicha to sign up for some B2 classes when the social security issue struck again. Basically, I had a temporary social security number for a long while, I got my permanent one by mail about a year ago and have been using it since. We tried signing me up to classes but for some reason it wouldn't accept my number and when we called CPAM (overseeing organization for this type of stuff), they said I didn't have a permanent number and just had to wait for them to activate it and mail me my insurance card. Dude... the French government could really invest in this thing called... technology. I don't know what they're using up there, typewriters and fax machines, but the wait-times for literally pressing a button are getting a little stupid.

I did ask her if she could find a space for my brother in the A1 course so hopefully that pans out. In my sadness I went to the store and bought a re-usable shower gel bottle with these little things that dissolve in water and  make gel so you don't have to buy a new bottle every time. I'm not a retail therapy kind of gal but I fear I had a moment of weakness. I am happy to report that I did get lucky though and that the gel works and smells great, it's my fave flavour of them all: monoï!

I've been having too much hot choc...

At home I watched Glengarry Glen Ross, it was fine. I've been going to bed very early these days which I'm loving. I feel like I have the whole day ahead of me when I wake up early.

On Tuesday we went to work as usual, this time we'd be continuing the fertilizer. However, the boss forgot to leave us the tractor keys so we were kind of stuck with a 600kg bag that we couldn't move. We couldn't call him either as it was the day that our cell data stops working. Damn! We worked slower than usual but figured out some bag-contraption to carry some of the fertilizer with us. 

While we were gone our mum was supervising the installation of a new heater in our house. We have had so much problems with our old one, the thing was ancient, broke half the time, and our bills were ridiculously high even when we barely heated the house. This new one is ugly as all hell but apparently doesn't rely on gas which is cheaper and more eco-friendly. And we paid a total of 1 euro for it. Hooray! Okay, you win this one, French government. 

On Wednesday we went back to our last day of work for now. The current harvest is ready and the boss hasn't yet gotten the new batch of kiwi plants so we're on stand-by. Means I'll have to look for other work soon enough. 

On Thursday my brother met up with Aicha, there may be a class that starts at the end of May and he may be legible but I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

Now, Friday. Friday was a good day! Not only was it Labour Day, also known as International Worker's Day, in most of the world but it was also a day for the flea and flower market in my town. I was real selective this Friday but found some great things, mostly for my music and movie library and for the summer. 

"My taiyaki...my Dune..."

But the coolest thing we got was...a PS2! Yes, we are now proud owners of a Playstation 2. I ordered in a Free McBoot card for it and soon enough we'll get to play all the exclusives we want. 

She's perfect...

My brother is most excited for Gran Turismo 4 and I wanna play Ico and Yakuza. If you have any PS2 recommendations please leave them for me in the comments!

There was also a local cow farmer and his wife who had a food stall that served delicious burgers. The line was absurd though and even funnier than that, he and the wife seemingly were having beef (pun intended). Total rush hour in their little outdoor kitchen and him trying to get her attention while she was giving him the cold shoulder, and us, 20 onlookers trying to pretend we can't see what's happening. Hilarious. 

Saturday was uneventful, I mostly spent it doing cleaning in my room and on my PC. I also did my media log on time on the site but still have to catch up with my blogs here. 

On Sunday I kind of wasted the whole day doing not much at all. Didn't even watch a movie. Disappointing. I did see that a neo-neighbor, Mimi, was trying to join Spacehey so I gave them an invite code. While doing that I caught up with their site, they have a really great nostalgic YouTube videos page so I got lost in those for awhile, especially the rodgerswan channel. We also re-watched the Devil Wears Prada, even though I'm not going to watch the new one in cinemas. This is probably going to be such an unpopular opinion but I don't really like the movie. Sure, in the end Andy learns that she doesn't want Miranda's life for herself... but no one considers that Miranda's abuse of power is totally absurd. It's usually a very male-dominated phenomena (love to see a woman in a male-dominated field!), like great directors that abuse and harass actors, staff, people in their lives etc. but it's all okay because it's what leads to their great art. Yeah, it's a bunch of bullshit. When Miranda says that no one can do her job but her I literally rolled my eyes. They all think that.

A little special segment this week: I left a comment on Ari's blog a few weeks back that had to do with traveling during uni. She mentioned that she would be curious to see some stuff about my past travels. Now, I don't know if anyone or Ari will actually enjoy what I have to say about past travels but here it is...

Flashback Trip #1: 2019 Tampere/Turku with Daniel and V

So, this is not a 100% true trip because by 2019 me and my bestie V had already been living in Finland, Tampere specifically, for about 6 months on an Erasmus exchange. However, Daniel, another bestie of mine, was coming to visit from Budapest for a few days and we would all go to Turku where me and V haven't yet been.

When he first got there, we picked him up at the airport and went straight home: the following day we hosted a BBQ with all our Finnish friends right outside our house. This was early spring so there was still lots of snow but it was getting warmer.

When you lose UNO you go to UNO prison.

We didn't spend much time in Tampere... as much as I love the city there ain't that much to see. We did live right next to lake Näsijärvi so we took him to see it while it was partially frozen. A few months before I walked all over it when it had thick ice. We went about town a bit too. If you're a student it's a pretty awesome place to be: there's hangout spots, student discounts in lots of places, and very pretty nature spots. However, a lot of the uni campuses are way out of the town center and it's annoying when the winter temp is -40. From the hotspots, there's the Näsinneula Observation Tower but we were to broke to go there. And the Särkänniemi amusement park, but it's closed in the winter. There's also a very cute Moomin museum but Daniel doesn't really care for Moomins so we decided to leave all the museum stuff for Turku.

Vulcan represent.

On the second day we took a bus to Turku, Finland has a pretty great and affordable bus system between towns. Turku is a pretty funny city because it just goes on and on along a river, you can basically just walk it all day. First we had a very nice student-priced lunch and then we stopped by a church just because it was open and blashpemed a little.

"Straight to hell with you!!"

Our first museum was the  Pharmacy Museum and the Qwensel House. It was very small but preserved or set-up very nicely.

"Potion-seller, sell me your strongest potion!"

After that we hit up Turku Castle. It is huge! Totally worthwhile and can busy you for half a day easily. There's some models, battle recreations, lots of historical info and very fun stuff like a bunch of knight props that were probably meant for kids but entrained us endlessly.

High five, my liege!

Short king.

Bonk!

'Twas where the maidens talked shit.

Closer to the end of the day we visited the Forum Marinum, a maritime museum. I think I was the only one having fun there because both V and Daniel were kind of rushing me through it. It was just so moody and cool even though I actually hate even the idea of being on a ship in the wide open water.

Bye Turku!

After that we headed back to Tampere and spent our last day just relaxing and hanging out. Daniel was put on a plane and next we saw him when me and V came back from our exchange in May. 

Back to the present! That was the week. Busy and fun. A bit of a let-down in some parts but I think I'll recover.

The end.

This Week I'm Excited For...

So, this is actually happening on the 12th but a bunch of French libraries and bookstores will be hosting a small event for the Witch Hat Atelier manga! Volume 15 is about to be out in France and select bookstores will be doing some small challenges, some free gifts, and a special pen for people who'll buy the special edition during the event. I was going to buy the special edition anyway so this is just a bonus! I was going to bring my sister too but sadly she has an exam on the day. I hope there won't be just kids, otherwise my grown ass will look so dumb!

Song Of The Week... 

Been giving Prozac+'s Acido Acido a good shake this week: just very fun and punchy punk. There are so many great songs but my pick is Ho Raccontato Che. It's very catchy.

{May 2026 Start}

Hey everyone! So it's May. I'm not currently sure about the busy-ness of the month so I'm not doing Mermay or anything like that. I'm going to wrap up some tasks that I've got and focusing on my personal projects. I'll probably plan some website updates but I'll likely not update anything majorly until summer.

Goals 

 1. Draw 1 page (at least) of the Marmoris comic

2. Finish COTY Aug/Sep pages

3. Send CV around

4. Sketch for Tom's OCs

5. Blog layout for site

6. Finish 1 movie review 

7. Mod the PS2 

8. Go to Witch Hat event 

{April 2026 End}

Woah, April is over. It was a very productive month, I had a job and everything. Had my birthday and turned 27! That's pretty cool. There was still a bunch of shit I didn't get done, the usual, but it feels like less of a dead weight this month. A little more economic stability also doesn't hurt.

Goals 

 1. A-Z Blogging

Total fail... I got so busy this month it took a toll on me. RIP. 

2. Go to all my meetings

Done, went to a lot of meetings. 

3. Kiwi planting work

Also done. 

4. Draft 2 of Marmoris comic

Didn't have time, moving it to May. 

5. Pen! Pen! Pen!

Yeah, it's here! Best day ever! 

6. FINALLY mail letter

Er, literally almost! I'll be mailing first week of May. 

7. Turn 27, don't die 

Didn't die. 

Best Of: March

 

 Movies

There was a theme to the movies this month: Al Pacino. Yes, I made what was a pretty good decision early in April to get through a bunch of his filmography because I realized I hadn't actually seen his best work at all. Embarrassing, anyway, from the movies that I did see this month, here they are ranked:

7. Glengarry Glen Ross

Pacino's performance in this is great, his whole scene at the end with his panicked client is tense, claustrophobic, and antsy. Over all I found moments where either he, Alan Arkin, or Ed Harris were not on screen to drag. I also just hate Kevin Spacey, he's not bad in this or anything, but I just hate him.

6. Cruising

A dark and sleazy tale of specific subculture of gay culture in New York that has the shadow of murders hanging over it. Police abusing random queer men is honest and brutal, I hate movies that steer away from being true about this. There are some pacing and editing moments that are... interesting. Let's say for example the scene where Burns (played by Pacino) and Skip Lee are arrested and then slapped around out of nowhere by a huge dude in only a jockstrap and a cowboy hat. I don't dislike it, I'm just wondering about the process which led to the scene is all. At the time it was boycotted by many gay activists as in their eyes it associated gay culture with violence which can easily lead to even more hate crimes. I can see this point, but also in my mind this is really a distinct world from everyday gay culture: it's the world of S&M within the gay community. I don't know, it just feels like a look into a very specific and vulnerable group of people who nobody really gave a shit about and for that I guess I appreciate it.

5. The Godfather

I have little to say. It's obviously an exceptional movie, one of a kind with a million copycats. Pacino in it is intentionally off-putting and while his performance is undeniably excellent, I was actually so impressed with Robert Duvall. I watched this as a kid and obviously didn't care at all so it's good to watch it with new eyes. 

4. Serpico 

I really don't like cops. I also like stories, both fiction and reality, where cops and soldiers and who ever else works in the industry of fear and oppression wakes up from it and takes a stand at last. So Serpico is great, it's a story about this guy who wants to be a cop, a detective, so bad that he does it anyway he can. He's got a whole new approach, plainclothes, fitting in with the crowd and all. But when the corruption and how high it goes becomes obvious and when he fights it, he ultimately fails are every turn. He's sabotaged at every turn until it gets so far he catches a bullet. It's got all the cliches that everyone thinks work: internal investigations, just giving it time, and going to other branches of the government for help only to get denied. I think if it was made now it would pussy out of such a wide-spectrum criticisms. I'm sure Pacino would catch a few bad apples and everyone would happily go back to beating up suspects, be they guilty or not.

3. Scarecrow

After I sat with it for a few days, it grew on me more and more. Pacino is so funny in this. It's always funny until it isn't. In the same movie he goes from some kind of proto-manic pixie dream girl to someone who's been traumatized into collapse by a set of events no one can ever brace for. Gene Hackman's no slouch either, he's so serious, you think he'll crack at some point but he doesn't. 

2. ...And Justice For All

Okay. Okay, I know rating this movie above Scarecrow, Serpico, AND The Godfather looks a bit insane, I get it. But this is my list! If you want a 'correct' list, go elsewhere. I just love this movie. It's funny but I don't find it to be a comedy. It's a tragedy but it's not a soap. It's got Al Pacino as a deeply cynical but emotionally invested DA that tries his best to get the most poorly treated defendants some damn justice. In his pain he breaks into tears that hurt to look at. It's an exceptional performance and many people highlight only the last scene as being memorable, but to me it's the whole movie. 

1. Dog Day Afternoon 

Yeah, it's probably his best performance paired with excellent acting from everyone around him and deceptively simple but blistering and concise cinematography. Like most of the movies Pacino stars in, this one ends tragically and I think the tragedy is preordained the moment things start to go wrong during the bank robbery: so, straight away. It's also got incredible sensitivity towards it's queer character's in the year 1975! I know a lot of people may argue that since both Sonny and Leon are flawed people (deeply flawed in Sonny's case) that the work is transphobic/biphobic. And I won't invalidate those opinions but I do have my own take. I don't like the idea that queer characters always have to be good, or unmarred, characters and people. It strips them entirely of their humanity. I love Sonny as a character, even though he's a shitty guy. I never steer away from bisexual rep that's about imperfect people so long as it respects their humanity, even if it doesn't respect everything about their actions. This kind of empathy is the most important thing about a movie. What makes a work queerphobic to me is erasing the queer character's point of view or their reality. To make them bland and unrecognizable as real people, and Dog Day Afternoon does not do that at all.

TV Shows

I actually didn't watch any TV this month... well, with the exception of Storage Wars: Texas. It's goofy, it's silly, it's low-stakes.  

Games

Together with Tom and Mo, we've being trying to finish the competition side of Deathrow. It's going pretty good. I've also been trying to get further along with Apollo Justice as I've left it on hold for a while. However, the most important event of the month was surely the Expanse: Osiris Reborn beta. I've talked about it a lot in other blog posts but the rundown is this: excellent visuals and gameplay, awful and disjointed dialogue and voice acting. Huge issues with tone! Still, I'm hoping for the best and for Owlcat to get on that ASAP. And add Belter creole!

Books

Bad book month for me, didn't have much time to read. Still in the first half of Westing Game.

Music

Lots of great albums this month but my top pick has to be Lo-Pro's self-titled as it ahs no bad songs at all. But my fave is the total sci-fi-ish and spacey Oblivion. It's so beautiful and desolate.

Animation 

Also slow! Watched the first episode of Witch Hat, it's looking good but I fear it may be a bit of what happened with Sakamoto days for me where I just prefer the manga no matter what. 

Full Log: April 2026

Belta Lik Pashang! {Week 17}

Greetings. I'm doing a little catch-up, soon April will come to an end and it will be May! I don't do Mermay in the traditional sense but I do feel an urge to work on my mermaid project during this time and the summer. Hopefully I'll do some of that. 

Otherwise, the week was pretty great, very busy with work but we had Tom over on the weekend which is always awesome. Haven't even had a minute to be bored.

Week 17.

Regular Monday, we had a day off since we work Saturdays.

On Tuesday we went to work as usual. Meanwhile my mum went to pick up one of her old classmates that's dropping in for a visit. So we saw them at the end of the work day and spent a little time together but I won't lie I was so tired I kind of just wanted to go deflate in my room by myself. However, afterwards I did get some energy back and we watched Project Hail Mary with Mo's friend over Discord. I'm gonna be real, I don't really like anything Andy Weir-written. The humour is just so derivative, and if the joke's not gonna be good why take away from the tension of a good sci-fi? It's just so Disney-fied, I liked Rocky but he's like E.T.-lite almost. I don't know, man. I also just don't think Ryan Gosling has the acting chops he thinks he does.

On Wednesday the Expanse beta was finally out. My brother's friend is playing first so I'm avoiding anything about it until I can finally get my hands on it and see for myself. Work was normal. I hadn't heard from my bestie from uni for a few months. I call her V on the blog and she has a habit of doing that but this time was longer than usual. Luckily, our mutual friend E is a social media tracking expert and found another friend of which we knew who was able to contact her. Woo, she's not dead! It did make me wonder though, if there's anyone I knew from before I stopped using all social media who's tried to get in contact with me only to be unable to. Nah, probably not!

Thursday we went to work at Noel's instead. He looks pretty good, he does cough often but is otherwise moving about. I was scared that he was totally immobile but he's holding out strong. Heard that when he got his cancer diagnosis, a lawyer and him backtracked and with the help of all the unions he's been in determined that he was exposed to asbestos which is carcinogenic. If I ever hear any motherfucker say shit about deregulation again...

He's suing the company responsible good and I'm glad. Fuck them. Lots of people are dying or dead because they thought it's okay to expose workers to asbestos. It's just such bullshit.

We re-furbished and re-painted some gates he had, it was in a nice and cool garage which was a great change of pace from the sun-baked fields.

Friday we went back to Noel's, but this time to work on these rock-metal cage contraptions that work as fences and also anti-flood protection. They live in a flood-heavy zone, they even had to boat around in the latest flood. Hopefully these hold up when the next one comes. They should, it's like tons and tons or rock! On the way back, we biked, two huge dogs chased us down the road and one even tried to take a bite out of my brother. I mean, huge dogs! Like if that thing stood up it would be human-tall. I don't get dog owners like that, man. First of all, it would have mauled a kid. And they could have been hit by a car. 

When we got back, bad news. Rose, a family friend and a friend of Monique, passed away in the night in Paris. She was with her family. Also cancer. She was really cool, really didn't care what anyone thought and said what she wanted but she wasn't cruel. I miss her.

I got a call from my French teacher, Aicha. She said there's some spots in a B2 course and she'd like me to join. Like, duh! I love classes. So I have a meeting with her on Monday for the sign-up process. Hopefully nothing goes wrong... 

Went out to the kiwis on Saturday, it was a very cloudy day. A little rainy even. Amazing. I invited Tom over for Sunday and surprisingly he said yes, usually he's super busy. Mo went out and bought us kebabs which was the bomb, nobody wanted to cook. 

On Sunday I went to the grocery store pretty early to get some stuff to make milkshakes. Tom came over at about 2PM and I made some for everyone. I have a weird interest in sweet drinks. I also have an urge to make some mocktails...

Sugar overdose!

We played some MW3 and then moved straight to Deathrow and this time we finally fucked up those training droids. I have no idea how tutorial enemies were somehow harder than actual enemies but yeah... 

In the evening time I finally got to try the beta. I have very mixed opinions that I've already rambled on about in the Owlcat survey. Almost no notes when it comes to gameplay and the visuals, they are pretty amazing. But the story, the dialogue, and the voice acting... so underdeveloped. It feels like a first draft and it seems I'm not the only one who thinks so. Hopefully they do some very serious re-writing. And! And there was basically no Belter creole or even Belter accent. Fuck right off!

Some shots from the beta.

I'm pretty exhausted but there is yet more to do come next week. So I'm gonna brace for that. 

The end.

This Week I'm Excited For...

To see Aicha and sign up for the B2 course. Don't wanna get too excited in case it interferes with work or something but I do feel I progress the most in an academic setting so this would be pretty great.

Song Of The Week... 

Kind of been a messy week for music so I did somehow miss that mad routine released a new EP, insomniac! Double life is so catchy, it's moody and dark, I really dig it. The diverse vocals are especially great.