As revealed in the tail end of my last post, 2025’s theme is “Swing.” This theme is certainly up there for odd naming, but it’s one that has me very excited. To break down swing, I’ll use two symbols, a baseball bat and a swing set. Both things swing, but in different ways.
You Gotta Swing the Bat
FLCL, or Fooly Cooly, is a long time comfort show of mine. At only six episodes, it’s a frequent rewatch for me. The show packed of wild ideas that can be interpreted for deeper meaning or simply cool things the creator likes. An episode I never appreciated much was one centered around baseball, as my primary association with baseball is being like 6 years old and crying a lot.
It wasn’t until a recent rewatch that I learned to love the episode, not for the baseball, but what playing meant for the main character, Nauta. To summarize his growth in the episode, he is afraid to swing for a pitch, as he believes he will never live up to expectations of an older brother who became a professional player in America – the show is an anime taking place in a nameless town in Japan. At the end of the episode, when a satalite is falling towards the city, he finally finds the confidence in himself to swing the bat – well at this point it’s a guitar, again it’s a wild show.
Thinking about this episode, I want to embody that growth. Look for opportunities to take the swing. I’ve been using my recent move to my apartment as an example. As soon as I found and liked the place, I quickly took the steps to get settled in. I don’t know what opportunities await me in the year ahead but know I’ll need to swing for the fences if I want to accomplish anything great.
Making Momentum
While there were definitely areas I didn’t accomplish as much as I’d hoped with “The Process,” I’m happy with how some major life aspects shaked out, particularly health and fitness. Coming into the new year, I wanted 2025’s theme to involve maintaining momentum in some areas. Not committing to keeping up the exact same pace, but at least holding on to some of the gains made throughout 2024.
Swing was already one of many possible themes I’d written down while brainstorming ideas, and then it hit me. The visual of a playground swing. The idea of building up momentum and then being able to coast for a while with much less effort. Once I had this visual in mind, I knew Swing was the theme.
I will use that metaphor to keep track of the various areas in my life. What things need momentum? What can carry out on it’s own for a while? What do I need to cut momentum to?
Better Bumpers
Another result of last year was that I found I need to create some better accountability systems to stay on track. To continue the use of recreation metaphors, I’ve been picturing the bumpers at a bowling alley. They won’t guarantee a strike, but at least the ball won’t get stuck in the gutter.
In the past, I had a weekly breakfast with friends that was great. It was a nice way to start off the week catching up, and at the end of the meal, we would set a goal to complete for the week. If someone didn’t complete that goal, they would have to pick up the bill.
At this time, I haven’t found a good substitute for that routine, but I have a much lower stakes alternative. At the beginning of the year, I started an email thread with my brother. I sent what I’m hoping to do in January. For example, exercise at least three times a week and write the two blog posts for yearly themes were ideas I had off the bat. When the month comes to an end, I’ll reply with what actually happened and what I’m hoping for February. This not only provides me with a way to share what I’m planning to do with a low stakes audience, but also provides me a log to look back on for what actually happened throughout the year. I’m sure I’m not alone when it comes to December and can’t remember half the things I did that year.
Targets
To wrap up this post, here are some of the areas I want to work on this year.
For one, I want to get back to writing. With two posts in the last month, I’d like to aim for at least a single post published per month. This is less than a quarter of what I used to write, but many times what I’ve regularly written the last couple of years.
Looking back to more things I used to do, another area I’ve fallen off recently is running. While I’ve done some short runs here and there, it’s looking like time for another marathon. Training for distance can be a lot of fun, but just very time consuming. During my last marathon, I wasn’t worried about a goal time. However, I’ve since lost my automatic qualifying time for the Chicago Marathon and would like to get that back. Luckily, while I originally planned on running Chicago this year, I accidentally missed the registration period anyway.
As for something that’s a little more on the fun side, I’ll continue to work on the various backlogs of games, movies and other entertainment that I made good progress on last year. It’s never something that will be “completed,” because I’ll want to experience new things all the time. At the end of the day, it’s a fun way to keep track of it all. I briefly mentioned it when first introducing the backlog idea from Daryl Talks Games, but the part I love the most is taking time to write down my thoughts on a piece of media shortly after experiencing it. This piece is what I find keeps the desire to continue the idea in the long run. I’ve never been great at public reviews like Goodreads or Letterboxd, but this place to write out whatever ideas come to mind with a piece is important.
Here’s to a new theme and a new year ahead of me. Thank you for reading.
I don’t know why, but I felt like this picture summed up the year.
Thus concludes another year in themes. Looking at the year as a whole, 2024’s year of “The Process” had some mixed results. I feel like where I excelled was in what I consider baseline activities, but lagged in areas that are more developmental. To use some examples, I was very consistent with health and fitness, but lacked in reading and writing throughout the year.
Overall, the year was incredible though. I learned a lot, did some traveling and still found time to enjoy myself in the little things – okay maybe too much time enjoying myself.
Number Go Up
Runescape is a game I’ve been familiar with for decades now, but never got into it. I remember trying out the game in middle school, but it never clicked. By the time Runescape was gaining popularity, I was playing World of Warcraft, a very different MMO mechanically and visually.
That all changed when about a year ago, I found myself in the Old School Runescape side of the YouTube algorithm. To briefly summarize over a decade of changes. In 2013, Runescape released a version of it’s game from a backup of the game back in 2007. The community felt the game at the time, referred to as Runescape 3, departed too much from the game they knew and loved. After it’s “Old School” release, the game not only stayed in that same vision of what the game was in 2007, but new content was added ever since. The game now has a massive community.
Enter Settled, a major player in the OSRS challenge run YouTube scene. His various series where he takes the basics of the game but restricts himself in some odd way. His videos sucked me into the game with the stories he crafted and somehow even made the game’s clicking based UI…dare I say engaging?
If I had to sum all the hours I spent doing anything, playing Old School Runescape would dwarf everything, including sleep and work. This game became my life for several months of the year.
Here I am, about a year later now, much more casually playing, but still hopping on here and there. The OSRS community often refers to the game as a “second monitor” game, as much of the game requires little attention. This is where all those hours come in. I can’t begin to count up the time I spent grinding Slayer while reading through One Piece – more on this later.
Other Games
A big item from my post for the year’s theme was playing more games from my backlog, and luckily OSRS didn’t pull all my time and attention from gaming.
After 5 years of waiting, Kingdom Hearts III, the conclusion of the series’s Dark Seeker Saga, was finally released on Steam, and I bought it on release. I waited 5 years to play the game, but it was actually 19 years of waiting since a mainline entry in the series. Kingdom Hearts II was released in 2005, and while the series had many, MANY spinoff games further developing its memeably convoluted story, this was the final chapter in a nearly 20 year old story.
The game was far from perfect, I loved my time back in this world. While the game ends with a cliffhanger teasing a whole new slew of questions, the journey throughout was an emotional trip. If one word best describes the series it would be earnest. I actually started drafting up a post shortly after beating the game, as one of it’s moments in fact had me in tears. Thinking about it again, I want to dust off that draft and get something out, because I need to talk about that moment again.
I revisited older Kingdom Hearts games as nearly the entire series was released on Steam. Going back to the series’ beginning was a great time. I even picked up the red-headed step child of the series, Chain of Memories. I enjoyed this one more than expected. The card combat certainly has it’s challenges, defensive options are terrible for example, but working in the constraints of the game was fun while I played through it.
Outside of Kingdom Hearts, I finally tackled a number of great Indie Games that have long been on my list. Return of the Obra Dinn was an incredible detective tale set on what can best be described as a ghost ship that washes into the harbor. An incredible tale of tragedy is slowly unveiled as the player is able to view moments of the crew. Tragedy is how I see the fate of the Obra Dinn, but the snippets that are shown are so little, that any person could have a completely different reading on the story that unfolds.
In the world of amazing detective games, Paradise Killer was a great time. The vibes are very different than Obra Dinn, offering a seaside version of heaven in which you play as a once exiled detective to investigate the murder of the leaders of this weird and cool form of paradise. The music and visuals offer this fun, funky neon aesthetic that is a blast to explore.
On the note of great vibes, Neon White is one of my favorite games now. A game all about going quick – also takes place in a version of heaven. In this game, you play as a “neon” a sinner brought up from hell to kill demons that have made their way into heaven. The story is pretty good, if you can put up with some of the “anime bullshit” with a cast of characters you’ll love or hate, but this game can’t be beat in gameplay. The goal is to go fast and that’s it. Learning how to move through a level by repeating it over and over is an itch I didn’t know I have until Neon White got me scratching.
Finally, not sure where to fit this in, but I got a tattoo this year! In the past, I’ve mentioned that Final Fantasy IX is a game that influenced me greatly. This year, I decided to ink that influence on body with images of Vivi and Kuja, two characters who have parallel conflicts in the game.
Gaming isn’t the only thing I spent hours of my life in 2024. Reading was a struggle this year, I really only finished like 2 and a half books, I’ve read so much manga.
After hearing many recommendations, I finally checked out DanDaDan. I caught up in a manner of a few weeks. This story is incredible. The characters grow into such great people. The anime released at the tail end of the year, and it’s become a contender for one of my favorites. The team behind it did a great job bringing the pages of the manga to life in animation.
On the subject of animation, Beat and Motion is a story I mentioned in the last post as an inspirational piece about pursuing your dreams. I’ve kept up with this throughout the year as well, and the story has not disappointed. Moments from the characters’ lives as creators is told so well. How do you deal with a negative reaction to a work you spent months of your life pouring blood sweat and tears into? What happens when details of your personal life are leaked to the press?
After catching up on DanDaDan and Beat and Motion, I decided it was time I took on the behemoth of shonen stories, One Piece. I got sucked in more than I expected, though admittedly, the most recent arc I started has been a lot less interesting than previous ones. Though, I’m doing my best to stick through, as I’ve heard there’s some incredible stuff down the road. Only like 1200 chapters to go, and then I’m almost caught up!
Games and reading aren’t the only media with stories I loved in 2024, I watched some incredible movies this year.
I went into Everything Everywhere All at Once with high expectations, and they were still shattered. This movie hits every feeling on the emotional spectrum. The tone goes from goofy to gut wrenching and back again in mere frames. If you still haven’t watched this film, please do yourself the service of watching this one.
While on the surface it looks like a harder sell, RRR is possibly one of the greatest film experiences I’ve ever had. This movie is just so cool. It is 3 hours, the hard part of the sell, but it is an incredible 3 hours. At least watch the Naatu Naatu scene, and you’ll know if this film is for you.
So Did I Actually Do Anything?
Somewhat in line with the idea of The Process, most of what I’m proud of was the boring stuff.
Work, for better or worse, was a big focus for the year. A massive project took a lot of time and attention, but we were able to get through the finish line with only a few issues on the other side.
While certainly not work, at times I felt more pressure to do things right while volunteering for the Windy City Rollers derby organization. A friend of mine got me hooked on Roller Derby a couple years ago, and 2024 I went from fan to volunteer. The opportunities to meet so many people in the organization have been a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to getting more involved as time goes on!
I was very consist in my fitness routine. I’ve been the strongest in climbing that I’ve felt since I’ve started. Taking lifting more seriously almost definitely helped. I got a separate gym membership, since the climbing gym’s weight lifting area is pretty sparse. Regularly lifting has been a huge boost in confidence and has – in my non-medical professional opinion – lessened a few chronic issues I’ve had. Strengthening a few muscles, in particular my hamstrings, basically eliminated a bad case of anterior pelvic tilt I’ve long struggled through. This is where your hips tilt slightly forward due to tightness of some muscles and weakness in others.
Travel!
To put a pin in the year, I was lucky enough to go on some incredible trips this year.
Over the summer, some friends and I returned to Red River Gorge in Kentucky to climb, hike and just be outside. I’ve been to RRG once in the past, but I was a newer climber and the weather was pretty bad when we went. This year, was hot, but at least it didn’t rain for multiple days. This trip was a great time. With being a much more confident climber, I did a lot of lead climbing outside for the first time. I also learned how to set and clean the routes we climbed.
When you arrive to a climbing spot where lead is intended, there’s just some bolts in the wall. To set things up, you need to place your gear into those bolts. After you’re done climbing, you need to take that gear out. Setting it up isn’t difficult, just climb and place, but cleaning is where things get kind of scary. You are in a sense removing your safety devices while at the top of the wall. To perhaps oversimplify, you clip yourself into the top bolts while you untie and retie the rope in a way that can be removed. I had the wonderful experience of some sand jamming a carabiner clipped into that bolt, trapping me at the top of the wall for what felt like 15 minutes. As you can tell from this post existing, I did eventually get down, but what I found funny was my friends’ responses after I came down pretty calm. Every one of them basically said, “thank God that wasn’t me cause I would have freaked out.”
This trip was amazing, but it did have one sour spot and that was “Miranda Rayne,” a route that deflated my confidence throughout the weekend. The bright side was that it actually sparked me wanting to get better. Miranda should feature in that aforementioned Kingdom Hearts III post, as there were some thematic overlap in those two closely occurring events.
After some time at home after RRG, I was able to check a long running to do item I’ve had which was to visit some friends out in Seattle. It has been a very long time since I’ve been out west, so once I found the time, I booked my flights almost immediately. It had been a while since I’d spent time with these friends, so it was great to see their place, as well as a great hike to see some waterfalls.
After jumping around the States for the summer, I was off to Europe in the fall. On what seemed to be a whim, my friend Mike invited me to join him to Belgium and Luxembourg. This was my first time back to Europe since 2019, so I was excited to go to many new places.
Belgium was a great time. The beer was excellent, the sights were beautiful and the history was fascinating – even the sewer museum was shockingly engaging. Luxembourg, however, was the sleeper hit for me. Prior to visiting, I didn’t know much about the small country except that it’s a small country in central Europe, I was blown away by both the city and countryside. For one, it has incredible public transportation. A series of buses – that are completely free might I add – can take you across the country. They were on a consistent schedule and ran long into the evening, though we did miss our last bus our first night out giving us an excuse to walk around the city.
The Eastern countryside of Luxembourg was gorgeous. We stayed in Echternach and hiked to other towns nearby. Taking one of those incredible buses back to Echternach. We hiked only a few routes of the Mullerthal Trail. Returning and seeing more of those incredible sights is definitely on my bucket list. The town is right on a river bordering Germany, so thanks to Europe’s lax travel policies, we even took a brief trip into Germany, as I’ve never been prior to that. When I say brief, I mean we crossed the river, said “we’re in Germany,” and walked back.
Finally the food in both countries. My goodness the food was so good. Mike is incredible at finding great restaurants, in fact he found the restaurant we went to for my brother’s bachelor party that was one of the best meals stateside I’ve had. In Europe, we had a selection of great tasting menus, including an incredible sushi experience at Amatsu in Ghent, which makes an appearance in a Michellin guide although not having any Michellin stars. The latter fact probably helped keep the price reasonable, but the experience was worth much more. The selection of sushi was great, the chef came by to discuss each piece and each course built up to a great meal. Sushi in Europe probably wasn’t the expected food, so to blast off a few other great places, Ribs & Beer in Bruges says all you need to know with a name like that. La Grappe d’Or in Echternach felt like a place I didn’t belong, but the staff were welcoming and the food was even better. La Grappe was home to the best individual food item I had the entire trip, a perfectly cooked duck breast.
Ending on a High Note
As the year came to a close, I made the biggest change in years, I moved! After 3 years of living with one of my best friends, I made the long move to…down the street. Not very far, but it’s farther than across the hall! The change has been pretty nice. I’m close enough that none of my major routines were affected by the move. I have the same grocery stores, gyms, and hell I even do my laundry at the old place out of convenience and an excuse to spend time with my old roommates. The added space gives me room to spread out. Instead of having my bed, computer desk and TV in a small bedroom, I’ve spread out across an apartment.
I knew moving out was on the horizon, but my old landlord, or “landpal” as he dubbed himself, was very cool about the arrangement. There was no pressure to move out after we gained an additional roommate, his girlfriend. We had some great times living together for the few months with the 3 of us, but when I found the apartment, I knew it was the right pick for the near future. I was looking into maybe buying a place, but nothing really called to me as the place I wanted to own. Buying a place may be in the cards soon, but for now, I’m more than happy to settle into this apartment for now.
2024 was a great year and I’m interested to see what 2025 has in store. While the first couple of weeks haven’t offered much indication of how things will go, there is so much potential! The theme for 2025 is already in place, and more to come on that in the next week or so, but for the time being know that 2025 is the year of Swing.
Trying Out Before Buying In 