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I’ve Got a Date With…

Yes, Destiny.  I write the word with mixed emotions: elation and depression, excitement and irritation, hope and self-delusion.

Why the dichotomy?  It might be easier to explain in list form, and the Internet loves lists, so here’s what I liked about the game:

  • Rarely-explored genre (mythic science fiction)
  • Shooter/RPG hybrid
  • Cooperative story
  • Seamless party system

Here’s what I didn’t like about the game:

  • Limited amount of exploration
  • Repetition
  • Sense of personal insignificance
  • Obsoletion of obtained equipment

Those are very short lists, but they cover the fundamental assets and detriments of the game.  I will elaborate:

Rarely-explored genre (mythic science fiction)

I like science fiction.  I also like fantasy.  I also like not fully understanding the universe with which I’m presented–I like metaphysical conceptual abstractions.  This game does these well, all while maintaining that trademark Bungie theme of hopelessness and self-annihilation.  It’s as if a bunch of really smart people got old and jaded and wrote a story, and that’s something that resonates with me.

Shooter/RPG hybrid

Too often are RPGs reserved for the sword and sorcery genre.  That’s a good match, but I want to build an arsenal of guns.

Cooperative story

Simply put, I want to play a game with friends.  And I find that accomplishing an objective together is more rewarding that shooting my friends.  Although shooting my wife does bring an odd sense of satisfaction….

Seamless party system

No one wants to mess around with the menu for a half hour, trying to figure out how to get a party going.  And no one likes it if someone has to unexpectedly drop and it terminates the game.

Limited amount of exploration

In a fantastically-built universe, I want to go see it, not simply consume it passively while busy with an objective.  Destiny offered some very minor rewards for doing this, but the explorable area was relatively small and didn’t do much to build upon the mystery.  This really detracted from the sense of wonder.

Repetition

Shoot the guy and accomplish the objective.  Then there’s daily missions, which involve going back and shooting that same guy.  Then there’s difficulty multipliers and skull challenges, which involve going back and shooting that same guy under slightly different circumstances, all while he absorbs an absurd amount of bullets, which brings me to….

Sense of personal insignificance

No task remains as statically completed.  Why an I going back and shooting that same guy and listening to that same story again?  So doing that before meant nothing.  Also, since it’s MMO-y, there’s the lingering knowledge that everyone else did that same thing.  No adventure is unique to the individual, and with everyone doing the same adventure, it’s hard to feel as if me killing that guy did anything to impact the future.

Obsoletion of obtained equipment

So I killed that guy and got this really cool gun, which was cool for a week before the next expansion dropped.  Now that gun does nothing, and I need the next and better one.  It kills motivation to work for anything, knowing something better is coming, and it undermines the entire RPG system.

Ultimately, all these negative points are compounded by the fact that every expansion is NOT cheap.  It’s an arms race against a universe that doesn’t value your time or personal contributions.  It’s a time and money sink.

So what do I do when confronted with these contradictions, with Destiny 2 on the way?  Well, I’ll buy it anyway and enjoy the good times with the bad.

–Simon

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Ocimum Lazarum

Nothing truly stays dead in the plant kingdom.  The late frost, which I suspected had killed my basil, had only slowed it.  In keeping with the saying that it’s only a weed if you don’t want it, basil would very much be a weed indeed were it not so tasty.  Behold, the two plants I had started in December:

And like my Evil Morning Glories, I have applied a new taxonomic designation.  When I make pesto from these, they will grant me regenerative properties.

–Simon

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Mushrooms

Poster courtesy of the North American Mycological Association

I don’t know what it is about fungi, but it’s creepy.  It fits into it’s own kingdom, neither plant nor animal, and that makes it plain weird.  Plants too have widely varying degrees of toxicity, so why are mushrooms so terrifying?  They strike some odd form of primal fear, evidenced by the fact that there are multiple X-Files episodes wherein the ultimate “villain” turns out to be an unknown fungus.  Personally, I think I was scarred by my trenchfoot experience.  If you’ve ever had parts of your skin rot and fall off, then break out in these circular fungal formations which turn into holes several millimeters deep into your dermis, then you know what I’m talking about.  Do not Google trenchfoot.

But their allure has captivated my daughter, who likes to point out any mushrooms that appear in our yard.  There must have been a lot of trees on the lot once, because every time it rains, we get these odd paths of toadstools that pop up, presumably along old roots.

So I, iPhone in hand, and Wikipedia at the ready, decided to record and catalog them:

Mycena inclinata

Wikipedia advised that this species is “doubtfully edible”, which doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence–not that I’d base the decision to eat a mushroom off of Internet knowledge anyway.  So many seem to have amatoxin, which leads to renal failure.  I’ll pass.  I told my daughter to wash her hands.

Next on the list is what I think is an Amanita bisporigera.  It looks like something in the Amanita genus anyway.  It was kind of hard to get a definitive identification from pictures.  Still, more amatoxin, somewhat implied by the fungus’ common name: Destroying Angel.  Subtle.

Amanita bisporigera
Amanita bisporigera underside–I keep telling her not to pick them
Why is deadly always pretty?

I still have some nightshade in the gardens, despite my weeding campaign.  I dunno if it’s the deadly nightshade, but it does concern me a little.  So I have natural sources of amatoxin, atropine, hyoscine, and hyoscamine apparently.  Of course, I also have lye, gasoline, antifreeze, bleach, insecticide, and even tea tree oil around the house.  Being a parent can be a little scary at times.

This next one was hard, but I’m going with Pleurotus ostreatus, although it looks like a polypore too, so I’m probably wrong.

Pleurotus ostreatus?

This one is supposedly edible, but I’m not confident with the identification.

The last one was very easy to identify though, Trametes versicolor.  It’s not only edible, but apparently medicinal as well.

Trametes versicolor

So there you go–a biology post for my family.  I am not, as they seem to suspect, completely disengaged from the natural word.  Especially since everything around us seems to be waiting to kill my progeny.

–Simon

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Summer Days

As an addendum to Summertime Magic, here is a mini post.  I admit, the day was so hot that I considered joining her, but my neighbors are somewhat conservative, and they have a couple teenage daughters, so it might not be appropriate for me to run through a sprinkler shirtless.

Although, Liz keeps asking me why I don’t mow the lawn shirtless too.  Maybe I just can’t escape some of my Lubbock conditioning, or am too old.  I do see a lot of old men mowing the lawn in slacks and sweater-vests; I guess that’s my future.  Anyway, I digress–here’s a child’s joy:

Multitasking

–Simon