I’ve been sporadically working on posts for this blog over the past few months, but I became convicted this evening that I should just bite the bullet and kick something out the door. I was reading through some of Spencer Yan’s daily logs earlier this afternoon and wondering if it would be easier to aim for smaller nuggets of writing instead of sweeping, comprehensive blog posts on a specific topic.
So, here I am. A few things that have recently been on my mind, both related and not related to game development:
- GMTK 2024: At the time I’m writing this post, GMTK 2024 voting has closed, but the results haven’t yet been released. It’s been a stressful, thrilling, and deeply fulfilling experience. I love my team and think we did decently well. I will honestly be disappointed if I’m wrong. My guess is that we’re going to rank well in style, lower in enjoyment, and creativity is anyone’s gamble.
- IRL game dev community connection: I want to get more connected with my local game development community, but it’s frankly intimidating when the average demographic is like, a 50-year-old white man. (No offense AT ALL to 50-year-old white men — it’s just hard to go somewhere where everyone looks like each other and you look like no one. It makes me sweaty with anxiety, honestly.)
- Going back to college: I dropped out of college by accident — I took a gap semester that turned into a gap year, and then a gap two years, and then eventually I just realized I didn’t want to return in any form. However, community college recently became completely free for folks in Massachusetts without a bachelor’s degree. I don’t want to get a degree in marketing or communications because of how useless the actual learning would feel, but I’ve been considering an associate’s in CS, graphic design, or something else art-adjacent.
- The religious sublime in life and in literature, particularly in the context of the Judeo-Christian God.
- Singleness, relationships, and validation: I’ve been single for the majority of 2024 — and that’s the first time I can say that about a year since I met my first boyfriend my senior year of high school. I’ve been thinking a lot about the purpose of romantic connection and responsibility in society generally, especially in the context of those around me moving closer to engagement and marriage. In my adult life, I’ve also generally thought of myself as being attractive, both physically and as a partner who’s kind, interesting, and giving. Purposefully choosing to place myself in a situation where I’m not getting regular validation and romantic love has been weird.
- Team sports: I really love and want to get back into them!
- Fall fashion: I am incredibly excited for fall and my (re-)conquest of r/femalefashionadvice. This just reminded me that I was working on a year-in-review zine that I completely forgot about. I guess that will be the cover photo for this post!
- Executive dysfunction: I’ve been lucky enough to be extraordinarily good at my work, but I’ve been having some organizational difficulties in my current job due to how much task switching and bureaucracy there is to wade through with every project. I’ve been considering executive dysfunction coaching.
- What I’m listening to literally right now: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0323iEFA7ChbdFgb7xDGvN?si=73b59e1c31804501
Some actual game development blog ideas, for the future:
- Seven Tips for Beginner Game Jam Artists
- My Game Jam Art Process
- How I Processed Post-Breakup Grief by Making a Game About It
- GMTK Game Jam 2024 Post-Mortem
I doubt more than one or two people will read this, but I think it’s a generally good exercise to articulate ideas and keep track of how they change. Maybe this could act as a public journal interspersed with actual blog posts — albeit a public journal that's probably less personal than Yan’s.
Signing off with love,
Julia
