Books đź“š
Careless People: A story of where I used to work– In this book, Sarah Wynn-Williams chronicles her time at Facebook where she worked from 2011-2017 as a director of global policy. The narrative mostly focuses on her experiences and Facebook’s decline (I’m less optimistic that it was ever good) as the company embraced a goal of growth at any costs. She describes the disturbing internal culture as well as Facebook’s disregard for privacy, democracy, and public safety. I didn’t feel like there was anything particularly new here, but it was a good overview.
Get Your Sh*t Together– I sometimes enjoy a basic self-help / productivity book and this was as good as most others. Nothing groundbreaking, but I got a few tips from it on being more intentional about how I spend my time, energy, and money. As someone who makes a lot of money ”to-do lists”, I like the idea of “must-do lists” presented by the author.
Story of my Life– This was a decent small town romance story. It was full of familiar tropes: big city author loses job and moves to small town, small town rivalry with nearby town, “fake dating” for “practice”, flawed main characters, etc. I like small towns and easy-to-read romances with happy endings, so this was a great summer read.
Movies 🎥
Which Brings Me To You – This was a decent romantic melodrama story about two folks who meet at a wedding and up spending 24 hours together. It reminded me a bit of the Before series of movies (albeit not nearly as well-written) with a lot of dialogue.
Unplugging – A married couple in their 40s realizes that they are too dependent on their devices and heads to small-town Indiana for a digital detox. I thought the premise was good, but the movie was a bit uneven.
No Hard Feelings – The premise is pretty improbable: concerned parents hire a struggling early-30s woman to date their 18 year old son. Predictably, both the woman and the son develop feelings for each other throughout the course of the film. It was enjoyable at times but ended up being mostly forgettable.
Games 🎮
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island – The other day I woke up wanting to play this game for some reason, despite last playing it some 22 years ago. I remembered it being very good at the time I played. However, this time around I wasn’t as into it. I found the mechanic where when Yoshi gets hit Mario floats around in a bubble crying to be incredibly frustrating. I don’t know how I forgot it. It really brings the game down, especially when one gets hit as often as I do.
Witch Spring R – This is a very cute RPG starring a witch named Pieberry. I’m about halfway through the game and have found it to be pretty enjoyable. The story seems to be picking up and it’s developing some darker undertones as I learn more about the world and the persecution of witches.