January 18, 2016

 I did things today. When I woke up I read a couple more chapters in a couple different books. If I wanted to be a proactive student I would have started reading the one textbook I have, but I'll get enough of that over the next few months, so I'm going to enjoy my last little bit of free reading.

Before lunch I made two more coasters and I'm getting better. My new technique of sewing just enough at the beginning and end on the forth side to cover the corner makes the coaster look a lot better. I originally had a problem when I was turning them inside out that the beginning stitch would pull out a little bit. I was starting my stitch by going forward, going back a little bit, and then going forward again. I found that if I go back farther than my original start point before going forward again, it did a better job of protecting the beginning of the stitch. I also accidentally sewed a little closer to the edge when sewing the border on my last coaster and it did a much better job of hiding the forth side where I had to sew the pieces again. I need to try and go that close to the edge all the time. My only real problem left is the batting not staying in place, which screws up my ability to make a square coaster. They're all slightly skewed because of this. I tried putting a bunch of pins in it while sewing but it didn't help that much. I solution to the problem I think would be adjusting the tension of the presser foot. Currently there is too much pressure. I don't know that my sewing machine has the option to adjust the tension of the presser foot, though. I've briefly looked on the machine and the book but it doesn't appear to be an option.

This afternoon I did laundry and continued playing Life Is Strange. It is such an intense game. I can't remember the last game I thought was really good and should be added to my favorites list but this one is the most recent. I haven't ever really thought of a list but Life Is Strange is probably in the top five. During part episode four (I think) I nearly cried. Definite misty eyes but I started thinking about other things so it didn't progress further. I finished episode four tonight and good grief. I had my suspicions but they didn't go as far as reality. I was completely caught off guard by the ending and if I didn't have to wake up for work tomorrow I would probably be neck deep in the final episode right now. That will definitely be my tomorrow night. I am really hoping for a happy ending, and with the supernatural nature of the game, it is possible, but at the moment it doesn't really seem like it will happen. A true happy ending anyway. I need some resolution, though, regardless.

I always liked the idea of choose-your-own-adventure books and Life Is Strange is basically a light version of that in video game form. I have thought that the same type of format would make TV shows or movies much more interesting. It would obviously take more work to write and produce but I think it would easily increase people's engagement to the show or movie, making them feel like they were in control. It would be harder to do on TV but fairly easy on a DVD where a prompt could come up and you could jump to a different chapter. And it is probably just as easy for streaming media. We'll get there eventually. Or maybe not. Video games are doing a pretty good job of filling the void for now.

Speaking of a similar thing, I started watching a playthrough of Beyond: Two Souls today. I started watching a playthrough way back when it originally came out but eventually lost track of it before getting to the end. And then I saw someone streaming it last night and it made me want to get back into it. The main character is modeled after Ellen Page and looks pretty much exactly like her. The graphics are crazy. On top of that, it is also supposed to have several different endings depending on your actions. I think the playthrough I picked includes at least a few of the different endings, if not all of them, so hopefully I can make it that far.

Now I'm going to work on getting tired because it is 11:30PM and I have to wake up in the morning. And I am currently not tired. Tomorrow might be a little rough.