The British Mental Health Foundation is calling on the gaming industry to develop games in a way that supports players' mental health. The five changes they are asking for are as follows:

-Tackle harmful behaviours and toxic communities
-Tackle discrimination by ensuring that there is meaningful, inclusion and representation in the design of games and in the industry
-Embed mental health content in games
-Raise awareness of mental wellbeing in the gaming community more broadly
-Help players game more intentionally via design features

Looking at the third one, I can't help but think of the image of a future Call of Duty game, taking place in a bombed-out city, with a single billboard teetering on one support displaying the number to the national helpline.

Now not long ago, I played Deltarune, and was quite stricken by a part in the game where one of the characters gently encourages the player to take a break and come back to the game later. This seemed to run counter to the tendency most games have to keep you sucked in as long as possible.

Anyway, there may well be some room for innovation here.

Since getting off of Facebook, I have been getting emails from them telling me that so and so just posted such and such and to come look at it. I have never gotten this type of email before. This might be the first withdrawal symptom, not of myself from the platform, but the other way around. One thinks of a horde of zombies or other similarly mindless creatures, moaning and reaching out with their twisted, gnarled limbs, clawing at your legs saying "Come baaaaack!"

What next? Will the emails take on a decidedly more passive-aggressive tone? "I see you haven't logged in a while. Which, I dunno, I guess that's okay, it's your life." Or maybe reverse psychology. "Fine, don't come back! See if I care!"

And then when I ghost it, it will just sit by the phone crying. Ah well!

I went to a sporting goods store to look at some hiking apparel, shoes in particular. As expected, the mens' shoes were too wide, and the womens' just about right, but they didn't have my size. "We don't have an 11 women's, but we have a 10.5. We don't have a 10.5 men's, but we have a 10." When those predictably didn't fit, they encouraged me to visit a competitor's store which may have a wider selection of shoes.

I was struck by just how anxious and out of sorts I felt in that store. While I tend to deal with some level of anxiety, I never had problems going out in public before. But something about being there felt weird and overwhelming. Maybe it was the size of the store, the lighting, the busyness of it, and the fact that I have spent most of this last year shut inside like everyone else? Maybe it's an after-effect of the pandemic. I mean, I go outside frequently and don't have this issue then. I'm also aware that being inside as much as I was this last year could not have been good for me either.

I read an article suggesting that the low housing inventory where I live is approaching a crisis level, and we need a committed, large-scale effort to fix it, something similar to the post-World War II housing boom perhaps. Too few houses not only means a lower standard of living for the residents. It hurts businesses, as they have to keep paying higher wages to offset the increasing cost of living, and the fact that they can't attract talent to the area if there is nowhere to live.

Many groups are heavily incentivized to solve this problem. And despite that, I have no idea if it will ever get solved. Even if they managed to build more houses and increase supply, there is still the issue of upgrading the infrastructure to accommodate it and making sure there is enough water to go around too. I don't believe significant changes to the infrastructure in this area will happen within my lifetime - it will just be a lingering problem that nobody can ever get their arms around.

And at the core of the issue is extremely high demand for housing, which I really don't understand. There are nice things about where I live and it is pretty, but I don't see why that is a reason so many people would be incentivized to move here. Are there a lot of job opportunities drawing people in, or are they just moonstruck by nice pictures of the mountains?

Some interesting developments in my quest to find a shoe that fits. I had the opportunity to try a narrow women's shoe. It turns out the width was about right for me. Women's shoes run narrower than men's, and I ended up trying a narrow version of those. That's how narrow my feet are, and it is why on virtually every pair of shoes I have owned, I have to cinch the laces all the way closed.

This means that I might have more luck shoe shopping if I'm willing to try women's sizes, but the trick will be in finding neutral, unisex colors. But if this solves my issue, then this means I won't have to be married to one specialty brand/size. Knowing this may come in handy if I decide to look for hiking shoes too.

No, I'm not into crossdressing. This is a sizing issue.

Also went to an audiologist to get some custom earplugs made. I deal with noise issues when I try to sleep, and never had success getting regular store-bought earplugs to fit. They fall out, they hurt, and I spent too much time fussing with them to get them in. It will take some time to get the custom ones back but am hoping they will be worth it, and might solve this issue.

Still no luck finding a good vacation spot. I was interested in Iceland, but don't feel it's a good idea to travel internationally during the pandemic. For many other places within the country, the middle of summer isn't a good time to go, or you need to car to get around, which is something I don't want to fuss with. I'd rather just go somewhere and be taken care of without having to drive everywhere and worry about that.

An interesting and somewhat hopeful article about the progress the U.S. is making on climate change, seemingly without the need for a lot of legislation.

I'm interested in hiking. I live in an area full of great places to hike, and yet I don't hike. This is due to a number of factors. One, I don't really know what I'm doing. Two, I don't have the equipment. But most importantly, I would have to get up early and drive a long way to a lot of the hiking spots. I don't like getting up early, traffic, finding places to park, etc., not to mention things seem to be getting more crowded these days. So it always seemed like more trouble than it's worth.

As someone who will be working around computers as a career for the foreseeable future, it would be good to balance that with some outdoor activities. I may invest in some basic equipment and look for relatively easy trails near me that don't require a lot of skill or preparation.

This is going to be a hot summer and the wildfires will probably be quite bad, so there is the issue of finding good times to go.

I would have liked to take a class on how to hike, something that would show me some basics about hiking, first aid, things like that. There are some places around that offer them and maybe I'm in a position to take part in one now.

I've been experimenting with the congas as well. I wasn't aware of just how hard it actually is to do some basic techniques on these. It takes a long time to develop good technique, particularly if you don't want to hurt yourself. So far I have been very methodical and careful, but I could see the value in finding a teacher and may do that if I feel like I'm hitting a wall.

I got my conga drums (photo here). The ones I settled on were marked down almost 50 percent because of a crack in the exterior of the shell, from being damaged during shipping. At this point it is mainly a cosmetic issue, and since the crack has not penetrated through the shell all the way, it wouldn't make sense to fix it now. If it did penetrate all the way through, then it's something that could be repaired with wood glue.

Since I got such a good deal on them, I also decided to pick up some bongos. Having been a set drummer for many years, I've come to the realization that my knowledge of hand percussion is very limited. I don't know that I will fall madly in love with either of these instruments - this is just an attempt to broaden my knowledge.

On top of that, I bought a jam block and mounted it to a foot pedal, so I can keep a clave rhythm going while playing.

The bongos weren't tuned out of the box, and I'm finding tuning them to be challenging. The smaller drum in particular (the "macho") has to be tuned very tightly, and my understanding is that it is recommended to detune it after playing so the head doesn't wear out from being stretched so much. I don't think the smaller drum (the "hembre") is the same way.

If I start getting the hang of these things, my next move will be to quit my job, wear a beret, and dedicate my life to writing offbeat poetry.

I got a massage today. The masseuse was pretty good, but I have mixed feelings about massages in general. One of the main issues I have with them is that I can never get the face cushion thing adjusted correctly, so it always feels like my neck is torqued at a weird angle. I end up spending a lot of time fussing with it and will get it to where it's kind of okay, but I can never quite relax into it.

I might prefer it if there was simply a hole in the bedding of the table itself that I could put my face into. But that's something that may not work for everyone.

This looks like a good book worth picking up. I'm interested in this kind of city planning, and it's something sorely needed where I am. But I would likely be reading this for informational purposes only. It's hard to take an existing infrastructure and turn it into something completely different, and it will likely be a generation before the infrastructure around here changes in any meaningful way.

A local restaurant serves Noono Paniro Sabzi, a Persian appetizer consisting of bread, feta cheese, and mixed herbs. I like it, but at the same time I have no idea how to actually eat it, and I feel like some kind of barbarian whenever I attempt to.

I decided to buy some conga drums. Talked to the drum store owner at the place where I usually go, and he suggested these as an entry-level set. He has to order them so it may be a week or two before I get them.

I also intend to mount a jam block on a foot pedal, so I can play the clave rhythms along with the drums.

I had some reservations about buying these because if I were to move, it may be hard to transport them and I likely won't have anywhere to set them up. I decided to get them because I have no immediate plans to move, and I could probably sell them and recoup some of the money if I had to get rid of them.

A relative of mine had a birthday, and since he likes models we bought him some Ugears stuff, the steampunk clock and one of the cars. He seemed really happy with these and it will be interesting to see the finished products.

Looking at seeing an audiologist to get some custom earplugs made, to help me sleep better. Most earplugs I find in the stores don't fit my ears very well - they fall out, or hurt, or put too much pressure in my ear canal. I'm also having problems finding decent shoes that fit - even the shoes from companies that make extra narrow shoes are still a little too wide for me, and I have to cinch the laces down all the way. It seems like I need custom everything, because I'm just a weird person.

I got my second shot this week, so will be considered fully vaccinated a few weeks from now. I was surprised though at how strongly the shot affected me. Some people report getting strong side effects for a few days after the shot, and I was no exception. Had a fever and was really tired for a few days. It was so bad that I had to take the time off from work, despite that I have a relatively cushy work from home job that I could still do if a little under the weather.

I also ended up with a large bruise on my arm where I got the shot. Must be a reaction to the microchip. :P

But it's better now, and I'm feeling more my old self. It's also good to do my part to help put this mess behind us. As a contractor I don't get paid days off, so I have had to make up the missing time over the days I felt better. Well, don't *have* to, but if I want to get paid then I do.

Finished playing Spiritfarer. What a sad game. I actually wanted to cry at several spots in it, which I suppose the game is designed to make you want to do. In hindsight I can kind of look back on it with some sense of levity, but it is a pretty emotional story. It was still a nice break to play something different and open myself up to something new. The most rewarding times in my life have tended to come when I tried something new or stepped out of my comfort zone in some way.

I had a very interesting and unusual discussion with my manager today. Over the time I have been at this job, I have spent a lot of time learning the ins and outs of the various processes we deal with. As a result, I know a lot about how things at my job work. She felt that this is a sign that I am very intelligent - but, when talking to customers, I may overcomplicate explanations of how things work in a way that doesn't necessarily help them understand what is going on.

I can completely understand her point, but this raises a dilemma that lots of intelligent people deal with (regardless of whether or not I count among them). Namely, it is one thing to know a lot of information. It is another thing to be able to present it in a very simple manner that is easy to understand. Or alternately, know what *not* to present.

If a physics professor teaches a kindergarten class, they have to give very simple and basic information. They can't overload five-year-olds' heads with physics information. Likewise, if that professor teaches a class full of freshman college students who know nothing about physics, again, he can't share everything he knows and expect them to learn anything. So there often seems to be this disconnect between high intelligence, and whom that intelligence is shared with.

If an advanced extraterrestrial civilization existed and had all kinds of crazy technology and understanding about our universe, I imagine the biggest challenge for them when dealing with us would be how to share what they know. It might simply be too much for us to handle. Maybe that's why they don't do that. By the way, I'm not the first person to come up with that idea - Richard Dolan already beat me to it.

I also wonder if, the further you advance in your knowledge and awareness, the smaller your circle of friends becomes. Is there a point where you become so intelligent you essentially break away from society, because you simply do not relate to most people anymore? Again, not saying *I* am in that situation, but I wonder if it is possible.

I feel that intelligence should be an asset, not a hindrance. Learning more should empower you, not make your life *more* difficult necessarily. People who are good learners should be in environments that foster that, and I think there are too many situations in life that work *against* those kinds of people, including schools and places of employment.