2021

2021 was a shitty year. I often toyed around that it felt like 2020 New Game Plus — the same thing, but more challenging. Aunt died. Mom almost died. Hell, a lot of people died.

The only real good thing was not traveling, and with that, spending as much time as I could with my kid.

Let's go with it.

Books

I read a lot this year. By October, I got hooked up on Manga again (and MIR4, a mobile old-school MMORPG). With that, my reading dropped significantly.

• Necromancy in Nilztiria, D.M Ritzlin

  I started the year reading this fantastic Sword and Sorcery pulp book collection while on a quick vacation. It was exactly what I needed.

• Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides

  I watched the movie a couple of years ago, and the book is even better.

• Below, Lee Gaiteri

  Amazing dungeon romp. Nice setting, Lovely traps and mobs.

• Lady Joker Volume 1, Kaoru Takamura

  This marked the beginning of my obsession with Japanese crime/mystery books that permeated most of my reading. Fantastic setting and complex characters. This is my book of the year.

• The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, Soji Shimada

  Another excellent mystery/honkaku read. Loved it.

Music

As always, counting only 2021 releases.

• CASTLEROCK — HONMARU

  Best album of the year, inspired by Japanese castles. Minimal and evocative. Best logo of the year too.

• Chanterelle — Earthly Delights

  Minimal fantasy synth. All about the garden, not the castle.

• Deafheaven — Infinite Granite

  Love the new direction. Mellow, but still Deafheaven.

• Dream Division — Legend of Lizard Lake

  70's porn stoner dungeon synth. It's that vibe. Got the lovely vinyl, but the postal service lost it.

• Ichiko Aoba — Windswept Adan

  From December 2020, but too good to leave out. She's a goddess. Check this live presentation (link to a MP4 video file). Good for early mornings with some cinnamon coffee.

• Kaaterskill on Oda

  Hail to the goat

• Lace Shawl — The Secret Botanist

  Lovely dungeon synth black metal single.

• Morgul Blade — Fell Sorcery Abounds

  Since Morgul Blade's first EP, I was hooked. The mix between traditional and black metal, with catchy riffs and solos is so good.

• Scenic Railway — Scenic Railway

  Best comfy synth of the year. Nice for sleepy long car driving sessions (I don't drive, so I can doze off.)

• Somali Yacht Club — The Sun + Sun's Eyes (2021 Reissue)

  Been listening to this for years. So happy to finally get it on vinyl. Fantastic psych/stoner rock.

• Tiny Mouse — Tiny Adventures

  The soundtrack of one of my lovely escapades with my partner from the daily burn.

Tech

• Merveilles

  After a long time away from social media (and soloing it on Monologues), I decided to try to be more social by joining the mastodon instance merveilles.town. One of the best decisions I made this year. What a fantastic group of people.

• Kindle Oasis

  I added it to this list because this is still my favorite gadget of all time. I have been using mine for 5 years, and it's still rock solid. The UI gets worse every year (thanks, Amazon), but the screen and hardware UX is the best I have seen on an ebook reader.

• Setapp

  This year Setapp finally became interesting to me. Many utilities I used to renew licenses yearly (and for multiple computers) are now there. Hence, the subscription price is totally worth it.

• Ohtipi

  Quickly retrieving 2FA codes on my phone made me dread doing the same on my computer. Ohtipi solves that. Truly a nice and simple utility. On Setapp.

• Yabai (osx wm)

  I finally gave up managing windows on my desktop computer, installed Yabai, and started using it. So good.

• Swish

  What Yabai was on my desktop, Swish was on the laptop. Simple gestures allow me to do anything I need with any window. Also available on Setapp.

• Setsudo

  Saves my ass when internal chaos is too high. Pairs well with Ritalin.

Games

I tried to play several games, but with the Kiddo taking over my Nintendo Switch, my only game platform was my phone and iPad. I finally admitted I couldn't play hardcore 100hr+ RPGs and stopped buying them.

So looking at mobile games, I tried to avoid the hero collector gacha games and classic ports. Then I found something that's perfect for my lifestyle. I would not call them MMORPGs in the sense of what I used to play, but more like MMORPG Management Sims.

• Teon

  You can read about Teon on my Meditative Games page. It's like a real Diablo 2 clone with lots of opportunities to grind. The game is not automated, so it's a good one if you are looking for something less screen-saver-ry. Unfortunately, the dungeon design made my eyes hurt badly.

• Black Desert Mobile

  I played it for a good part of the year. There are tons of sound systems, but it feels a little hollow in the end. Too many systems do that — you are upgrading so many things that it starts to not make sense anymore. I ditched it for MIR4.

• MIR4

  This one got me straight to the core. Check the page for more reasoning. Basically, all I wanted on a mobile to play from time to time.

Assorted

• Demonlover

  The best french movie about corporate 3D hentai espionage. Loved it. If you hate it, it's because your soul is already in the wrong place. The real Back to the Future.

• Patnoflex Travel

  Been wearing these the entire when year leaving home while in Rio. They are amazing. When at the Cabin, it's all about the Hardgraft Wool Slips.

• All black's COACH Manhattan Bike Bag

  Still rocking it. Bought in 2018.

Things I was looking forward for 2021

• The Vaccine

  Got 3 shots. looking for more.

• Mask free life

  Not yet.

• Oda

  Good enough. Not amazing.

Things that didn't lived up my personal hype

• Oda

  Good enough. Not amazing.

• Motion

  Messes with chrome keyboard shortcuts

• TEX Shinobi Keyboard

  Died in about one year. Back to my trusty 10yr+ HHKB and 7yr Trackball.

Things I'm looking forward for next year

• Mask free life
• Not die of COVID
• Less dragons to chase