Last updated 26 May 2024

This particular idea has been knocking around in my head for awhile now. Let me first say that I am not a qualified security or IT professional, nor a security researcher. I’ve just been using computers for a hell of a long time, and spent a lot of time on the Internet (I’ve been online in some form or another since I was 9 years old, starting with the DOS AOL client [!]).

A list in progress

Last updated: Sat 28 Jan 2023

• Added Chicory, Moonglow Bay, Sable, and Eastshade, and deleted a number of entries throughout.

TODO: Alphabetize list of games? Tweak formatting? Not sure. I’ll have to work on it. Especially with the switch to Hugo and Markdown. I have a few things to add to this list and I’m sorry it’s not been updated in a while.

Prolegomena

Just as it sounds like, this is a list of “chill” or relaxing games, focusing on PC gaming in particular. Special thanks to my friend @pixouls for suggesting I write this post and curate this list, and for providing a ton of the recommendations!

Dear Reader: this is the first in what I hope will be an ongoing series of posts on etymology, philology, and just fun with words. I used to blog about strictly Classics stuff, as I was trying to blog professionally and pursue a tenure-track career. Now it’s just fun and I like geeking out about words. So here’s the first of, dis volentibus, many. Enjoy.

Have you ever heard of the digamma? I won’t blame you if you haven’t; it’s kind of an esoteric, and easily forgettable, little letter. It’s found in some of the oldest Greek words, and even though it disappeared from most dialects of even ancient Greek, its absence is felt, and it somehow even lives on in Latin. First of all, what does it look like?

So I was thinking recently of the marvelous shields throughout Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes (aka Septem Contra Thebas, aka ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας). The Septem was part of the prolegomena to my dissertation, where I looked at Polyneikes’ homecoming to Thebes, which only truly happens at his death. I spent a lot of time with the play, mostly with Polyneikes’ shield, but the other shields are also really fascinating. I was talking to a friend about all this recently, and found that I was interested in exploring the rest of the shields in the play.

Last updated 29 Oct 2024

Here is a list, as updated as it can be, of music I would recommend to y’all, friends. I’ll split things up by genre, which is probably the easiest way, although my idea of genre for some bands may differ from yours (sometimes mine is a little too expansive at times). I’m trying to make this a little more select, rather than dumping every artist in here like I did previously.

Last updated 28 Jan 2023: added/removed some games here and there, added PS2 and Wii sections

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• 0.0. FOREWORD
  • 0.1. LICENSE
  • 0.2. CONTACT
• 1.0. TOOLS
• 2.0. NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM (NES) GAMES
  • 2.1. OFFICIAL ENGLISH LOCALIZATIONS
  • 2.2. FAN-TRANSLATIONS
• 3.0. SUPER NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM (SNES) GAMES
  • 3.1. OFFICIAL ENGLISH LOCALIZATIONS
  • 3.2. FAN-TRANSLATIONS
• 4.0. GAME BOY (ORIGINAL) (GB) GAMES
  • 4.1. OFFICIAL ENGLISH LOCALIZATIONS
  • 4.2. FAN-TRANSLATIONS
• 5.0. GAME BOY COLOR (GBC) GAMES
  • 5.1. OFFICIAL ENGLISH LOCALIZATIONS
  • 5.2. FAN-TRANSLATIONS
• 6.0. GAME BOY ADVANCE (GBA) GAMES
  • 6.1. OFFICIAL ENGLISH LOCALIZATIONS
  • 6.2. FAN-TRANSLATIONS
• 7.0. PLAYSTATION (PSX) GAMES
  • 7.1. OFFICIAL ENGLISH LOCALIZATIONS
  • 7.2. FAN-TRANSLATIONS
• 8.0. PLAYSTATION 2 (PS2) GAMES
  • 8.1. OFFICIAL ENGLISH LOCALIZATIONS
• 9.0. WII GAMES
  • 9.1. OFFICIAL ENGLISH LOCALIZATIONS
  • 9.2. FAN-TRANSLATIONS

0.0. FOREWORD

N.B. & DISCLAIMER: Many of these are JRPGs or Japanese-only games, and will require a translation patch to make them playable in English. ROMHacking.net links are included, but you’ll have to find the ROMs yourself; no links are provided here for that.

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long while now. The last fantasy book I read was Melanie Rawn’s Dragon Prince, and it made me think a little more critically about reading fantasy in particular. I’ve read many such books over the course of my life, and (almost) always enjoyed them. Some are definitely better than others, to be sure. Now you’ll probably know most of the ones I’m mentioning here, but some may be new to you, and lesser-known. I’ll start with some of the first ones I read, and then go from there.

I hate endings. Well, not all endings, but endings can be sad at times, and so sometimes I hate them. I was thinking about this earlier because I just finished the whole run of a podcast I’ve dearly enjoyed, Ghosting Around. I’ll talk a bit about the podcast and why I love(d) it so much, and then we’ll talk a bit more about endings, liminality, &c.

The hosts tell ghost stories about various cities and places across the US (and sometimes abroad), and it’s just delightful. The hosts are John Cason and Kathleen DeRose. John was an editor on the excellent TV show Drunk History (RIP, what a great show!), and DeRose does standup comedy and other fun things as far as I can tell. Both are wonderfully funny, with sarcastic, dry humor, but John also is pretty much the pun king, and actually made me like puns again.

N.B. This is an old post from the previous iteration of this site. I’ve tweaked a few things here and there in the entry, but they are mostly unchanged. My previous website was more of a jobs site, so a lot of the entries are Classics-centric, and that won’t necessarily be the case going forward.

Since I’m not in the field any more, I’m really trying to be intentional about making enough time for the classics. I have been going to Latin dinners with friends, where we speak Latin and read Latin texts together, which is really helpful. However, that’s only every other week or so, which isn’t all that conducive to me keeping up my skills. I’ve also been trying to listen to Latin podcasts, too, but since my wife and I have been carpooling more often than not – not a bad thing! – I haven’t had a chance to listen to Latin podcasts in the car as usual. I don’t often listen to Latin podcasts while just hanging out at home, since I get too distracted. Strangely, though, while driving, I can pay attention to driving but also focus in on the Latin in the podcast.

N.B. This is an old post from the previous iteration of this site. I’ve tweaked a few things here and there in the entry, but they are mostly unchanged. My previous website was more of a jobs site, so a lot of the entries are Classics-centric, and that won’t necessarily be the case going forward.

Hello, everyone. It’s been a long while since I last wrote a post, and this is the first post on the new server. I migrated from Squarespace to DreamHost, which has been a great move, and changed the platform to WordPress. Definitely better. I am still working on tweaks and improvements to the interface, so bear with me. I wanted to get a few of my thoughts down about my interests in technology and the ancient world, and the intersections of the two.