May 14th Dispatch

All's well here at The Dispatch. The snails made a campfire in the living room using just matches out of a matchbook. We were worried at first, but they have apparently had a lot of experience with making fires this way (although we're not sure where or when they learned). A few of the snails were put in charge of safety and had a few spoonfuls of water. They sang songs and cooked little pieces of meat. It was nice.

Game Boy 👾

• Magic The Gathering: Arena
  • Continuing to have a hold on me even when there's TOTK to play
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
  • Finally getting to play it after waiting for six years
  • Woke up early before work on Friday and played for a couple hours
  • Feels like more than just extra content; it is an iteration on Breath of the Wild
  • But hasn't engulfed me like the first game did (at least not yet)

Coding Corner 👨🏻‍💻

• Interviews
  • Participating in some interviews for a role on another team
  • It's a lot easier to evaluate someone's skill level by having them talk about their code instead of actually making them code in the interview
  • Although, there might be a certain level of mastery over the domain that the interviewer needs to have before that's fruitful
  • When I was more junior it was easier to ask specific programming questions where I knew the answer

Albums 🎧

• "Carrie & Lowell" by Sufjan Stevens
  • Informs my mental model on depression and family; "my brother had a daughter"
• "A Beginner's Mind" by Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine
  • Sonically connected to Carrie & Lowell but feels looser, groovier
• "Carrie & Lowell Live" by Sufjan Stevens
  • A wonderful live album that adds to the experience of listening to the studio album
• "Centipede Hz" by Animal Collective
  • A curve from what came before, but executed with confidence and it all works; direct and effective lyrics
• "Repave" by Volcano Choir
  • Listened again this week continuing a feeling from last week
• "The Record" by boygenius
  • Another album I listened to in order to mark a point in my life
• "Maps" by billy woods and Kenny Segal
  • Cool flow; easy to listen to and makes me want to explore more of their catalogue

Podcasts 🎙️

• Hello From The Magic Tavern
  • Has become my default and I think I'll probably listen all the way through it again before I jump to something else