After the incredible success of my Deviant Art Post Reclamation Effort, I continued onward through time. I finally committed to merging the incredible mistypedURL with this site, which necessitated going through and fixing tags, categories, and formatting. There was also the unfortunate period where I uploaded everything via the erstwhile Posterous; with some internet sleuthing I was able to recover a number of casualties of that platform’s decommissioning.
MistypedURL spanned both my undergraduate and graduate school years, making for another set of alternately amusing and depressing memories. Once again, there are so many things that haven’t changed or even gotten worse, like that time I talked about subdividing large projects, and years later, discovered my life had gotten so much more packed that even those steps weren’t small enough.
I never did end up finishing Bioshock or even playing Half Life 2: Episode Two, a faux pas my former roommates will never allow me to forget. I think I got too distracted playing Team Fortress 2 and taking booty calls from Rachel. Those same roommates will get a laugh out of this take on Dragon Age 2 that turned out to be completely wrong; as excited as I was, the game was a mess of recycled content I forgot about playing after first act.
Speaking of leaving things unfinished, nine years later Patrick Rothfuss still hasn’t finished The Doors of Stone. Although there is yet another anticipated release date, we might have another George R. R. Martin on our hands, folks.
I think we can agree that 3D movies didn’t really go anywhere, once again. And this guy’s business model of forcing people out of the secondary market didn’t work out: within three years, THQ was selling all of their titles DRM-free in Humble Bundles prior to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
In 2010, I worried about the size and portability of cameras, when in a few years the vast majority of that function would be replaced by my phone.
Twice, I failed at taking arm’s length photos with my phone camera…
“Prodigious Pool Party“, October 3, 2011.
It took me a while to master the technique, but I am now infamous throughout my residency program for being able to take group selfies. My program director likes to say he doesn’t think I have a right arm, since it’s never in photos.
I did get some things right: it’s dated by the mention of Google+, but everything here is still an issue. There still is nothing approaching what I would consider to be an adequate solution.
My fears about this blanket were realized:
I did not bring enough cold night gear, and I managed to dump the blanket Rachel gave me into some burrs in my sleep. I’m not sure if we’ll ever be able to get them all out, or if we do, if the blanket will retain its desirable softness.
“Convict Lake“, August 20, 2011.
We were not able to get all of the burrs out, and in attempting the task, the blanket also did not retain its desirable softness. We ended up throwing it away.
This literally ended up being true:
Of course, when I have the money to stock up on stuff like this I’ll probably also have a fridge that can make its own ice. These are the problems I must face.
“Scott Pilgrim“, January 14, 2011.
Everything in my ten-year educational plan is now completed, a thought I find rather surreal. Some things have taken on new meaning, such as seeing RAS in a title and expecting that I would be talking about the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in a physiology class. My distaste for web video content would only get worse:
As popular as they are, web videos create a particularly salient sticking point in my quest to cram information into my brain.
“On the Consumption of Content“, August 19, 2010.
1.5x is weak: a real med student watches at 2.0x.
I’m convinced that my friends who work in finance, at startups, or on secret Army projects, or are who are in grad or med school, consistently outwork me.
“One Long Week“, September 15, 2011.
And convinced that people in other careers outwork me? Oh dear…my perception of that sure has changed.
People have continued getting married and not telling me:
I invited all of them to my wedding (most attended) and not a single one of them that has gotten married since then has sent me so much as an announcement.
“Social Purge“, May 6, 2010.
Even when they do send invitations, I haven’t been able to attend. That hurts.
Mark managed to drop some more sobering comments:
Holidays…used to be so important….now even you coming to visit here, I don’t expect it anymore.
Mark Comberiate, May 2020.
I think everyone would agree that politics has only gotten worse. Apparently I’ve been dunking on Kevin Drum for nine years, his awful takes still inspiring ever more leftist rants.
Other highlights:
- This event made me start wearing earplugs to concerts.
- The beginning of the end of my faith.
- Never did figure out who got me that shirt. I still wear it.
- Presented more or less without comment: “I’m 24” Music Video
Aging the best of all is this review of Contagion, which, thanks to COVID-19, is as relevant as ever.