I have not had time to update this website due to other obligations, mainly family. I had a wonderful Christmas with them. We do not tend to give gifts or do much, both of my parents are extremely busy, and my grandparents have gotten too old to enjoy big gatherings. Most of the time, it is just an excuse for them to take the day off and laze around. For as long as I can remember, I've never recieved Christmas gifts from my family. (I have found out many people think it's a little messed up, but I never saw it as such until i turned 14, got upset about it, then stopped caring again when I reached 17. A good portion of cultures do not place emphasis on Christmas. I understand someone taking Christmas seriously if they are Christian, for my family that is not the case.) However, in recent years I have made it a bit of a habit to treat myself to something nice, usually something that will be useful for a long time. This year, I headed to a local commputer store and picked up a Raspberry Pi Pico, some cables, and some nice shirts that would last (I tend to spill things on myself while working.)
My father may have gotten into the christmas spirit lately, he gave me several hand-me-downs including an old laptop, many blank DVDs, a walkman, casette tapes, and a portable monitor. He did state that we wanted to give me these things when I came back to visit, and it just happened to be Christmas day, so I do not technically count it as a gift since it was not prepared with that intention. I am grateful regardless.
I did go dumpster diving a few days before my trip. I live in an apartment complex in a relatively expensive area, and when people move out they tend to toss anything they do not want in the dumpster, even if it's usable. This includes furniture, electronics, and once an entire IKEA couch. They don't even sell it because Californians are fucking RETARDED and wont buy someone's used shit, so it just ends up in a massive landfill. It's upsetting! I've made a habit of checking the dumpsters outside my apartment complex and talking to neighbors to see who's moving out, and what's up for grabs. The majority of my furniture comes to me from dumpster diving. People act like it's such a gross concept, but I just can't grasp it, most of the time it isn't directly IN the dumpster but next to it, and requires nothing more than a thorough cleaning. In fact, I don't want to hear someone complain about me taking a wooden shelf from next to a dumpster when they regularly stuff McDonalds down their face and wear makeup. Whatever's in that is going to harm you infinitely more than me picking up perfectly good furniture and putting it in my room after cleaning it.
I obtained 2 shelves, 2 IKEA metal tables, and a PS4 from my dumster dive. I love to display my collection of anime figures, CDs, DVDs, and many other things, so I'm always looking for shelves to put them on. (I will likely make a list of all the figures I have eventually. I had a MyFigureCollection account at some point but with their ban of loli figure imagery I don't use it anymore. MFC is now fag occupied.) I don't want to go buy shelves since they're expensive, so I'm always looking for any furniture that was a flat surface. I may add woodgrain stickers to the metal tables to give them a bit more character, and cover the shelves with some cloth to hide the wire, but I don't know, they've grown on me a little.
Regarding the PS4, I couldn't find controllers for it. I don't have any PS4 games, so it ultimately is a little useless. I have older PlayStation Games that I find or get given to me, but they don't work on the PS4. I hooked the PS4 to a monitor and it works, but I don't have a use for it. Maybe someday I will be interested in the PS4, but that won't be anytime soon, and even then, I'd need to pray that someone tosses their PS4 controllers so I can actually play on it. Regardless, I am still pretty happy because I never expected to find gaming consoles while dumpster diving.
(While writing this, I realized that the reason it likely is thrown out is because the person got a PS5. How stupid. Unless if an electronic is completely broken, I keep using it. And even when it does break, I'm reluctant to throw it out unless if I'm absolutely sure it's unfixable. Most electronics break over small, fixable issues. This has caused a slight hoarding problem, I have many, many random electronics that need fixing but I HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO IT YET. One day.)
I have a new computer coming in next month. (Or maybe Februrary.I was told 3-6 Weeks) It's not technically "new", it's an old thinkpad, but it's going to be a massive upgrade, especially since my current computer is a shitty 2012 macbook air that my dad handed to me. I never found a reason to switch until I read Ashley Jones' My opinions on technology article. (If you are not Ashley, check her website out! She is the one who encouraged me to start working on this website again.) Since then, I've been looking into getting a better computer, one that is not as restrictive as MacOS, and after the battery on this laptop started draining so fast it became unusable, I was able to finally properly give myself a reason to replace it. I'm very excited, the new computer will let me finally start working on my Trance Archival project.
2026 seems to have nothing but good things in store for me, I hope that's the case for everyone.