Damned In Blue

  I still remember stepping on that scale in 2019 and seeing 185 pounds staring back at me. My stomach dropped. This was the heaviest I'd ever been, well beyond my previous high of 165 pounds back in '99. Something had to change, but I had no idea that day would mark the beginning of a six-year journey that would completely transform my relationship with my body. Rock Bottom Let me be honest about where I was in 2019: I was eating late-night meals minutes before falling asleep. I'd wake up and immediately stuff food in my mouth. Fast food was my go-to more often than not. Sure, I'd hit the gym for 30 minutes a couple times a week, but who was I kidding? Those workouts couldn't outrun my terrible diet. My body was sending clear signals that I was ignoring. My shoulders ached constantly. Health issues popped up like unwelcome guests. I felt heavy, both physically and mentally. The worst part? I knew I was doing this to myself, but I couldn't seem to break the ...

I just put down "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin a few days ago, and it's stuck with me in a way books rarely do. It's actually the first novel I've read in about two years - the last one was "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters back in 2023. As someone who's played video games since the '90s, this book hit differently. It gets into the nitty-gritty of how games work, how they're made, and how they're sold. Most books don't touch this stuff, which made it feel real to me right away. The heart of the story is Sam Masur and Sadie Green's relationship. These two game developers build their entire lives around gaming - creating together, fighting over their work, and letting games shape pretty much everything about them. Their collaborator Marx plays a role too, but it's really about Sam and Sadie. What really got me was how the book uses dying in video games as this running theme. Any gamer knows that dying ...