I got all the achievements in Baldur’s Gate 3, some not so honourably (thanks, No Party Limit mod), but I needed to push it to the max to get a semblance of completion so I can say I’m more or less done with it. I’ll write about the experience at some point, these are busy times.

Christmas is coming, which is a notorious time for people left behind by dead relatives or according to societal scripts to be feeling a bit sad and jealous of everyone else’s family gatherings, so I had Cold Turkey block all but two hours of social media on weekdays on my computer and tablet (except YouTube, with the Social Focus feed eradicator installed, so I can still watch videos but not get swept up by recommendations). I’m not sure how well I’m going to take it for December but we’ll see when we see.

I’ve come to accept that my experience of current affairs has been influenced for the most part by what my more chronically online folks share to me through Viber, Facebook Messenger and the 1 in 100 WhatsApp message. The running joke we have is that my Instagram Explore feed is pre-curated by my friends’ likes. I approve of it. I have a secret rule to only be close friends with people who interest me anyway.

As to the void and boredom left by not scrolling, look, I have a ton of things on my to-do list, which is part of the reason why the scrolling had become so guilt-ridden for me. I’m afraid of half the things I’ve set out to do, but hopefully boredom overcomes fear, as it almost always does. If not, I do plan to read all the books I’ve bought and brought here in Dublin, so I can justify buying more hahahaha.

But seriously, one of the reasons I read apart from enjoyment is I want to soak up as much fiction as I can for educational purposes. I’ve read a lot of discourse about the advantages and disadvantages of getting an MFA, and while it’s not completely out of the question (because now I might finally be able to afford it), what I got is the proverbial you take what you put in it and I do know I found tremendous value in dissecting a piece of work to determine why it was able to do what it did to me. So while I wait for things to shake out in that aspect, I am going to start taking apart a bunch of short stories I’ve loved.

That’s the plan, at least. This week, I’m going to London!