macroblog

there are many different blogging styles; some people write short daily posts reacting to news they read and whatnot, but i prefer to sporadically write long grandiose semi-autobiographical posts, occasionally integrating brief reviews of stuff i've watched recently or other short rambles as i see fit. this is so i can keep things interesting, both for me and for you, since boring writing is written bored. i won't waste time with any quotidian diary posts like "i went to the store and bought a thing", every post here will try to be at least as interesting as "i accidentally discovered a new species of crustacean" or "i went to an odd restaurant" or "i got marooned on the moon" or "dang the united inflight magazine is kinda wacky", the kind of stuff i might still be recounting/ranting about to people at a bar in ten years. everything here is guaranteed to be at least 90% true, certain details have been changed to protect individuals involved and to make me appear cooler (and my enemies less so).

archive (chrono)

2025

2024

2023

2022

how to beat the crowds at the world's busiest mountain

while doing some japan mountain research recently, i stumbled upon this interesting fact: mt. takao west of tokyo is the world's most popular mountain, with over 2.5 million annual climbers. i suppose that should come as no surprise considering it's one of the closest hiking spots to the world's most populous metropolis, but it was a little surprising to me because it didn't track at all with my own experience. when i went there the other day with my friends on a whim, it was almost abandoned...

9.3

so, i went drinking in Akihabara with a guy from neocities and somehow ended up the next morning at Comiket

just prior to my japan trip, i exchanged a couple emails with this guy shibs, who runs a site hosted on neocities called uchuudenpa. i originally reached out because he had a post on his site about travelling in japan that resonated with me, i was trying to approach my upcoming trip with a similar attitude. once i actually arrived in the country, the possibility of a meetup naturally arose in our email chain...

8.28

gooning in Japan Airlines Business Class

despite being a loyal alaska airlines flyer for over five years, i've actually never been in any of alaska's airport lounges, the free entry requirements are quite stringent because they really want people to pony up for a day pass or lounge membership. i did try to get in once after getting upgraded to first class...

8.10

i have redeemed my entire stockpile of alaska airlines miles for a business class flight to japan tomorrow and i will not be returning until i'm enlightened or broke

ok, admittedly this trip is a lot more premeditated than the slightly-sensationalized title makes it seem, it has been in the works for a while and i will be travelling there at the same time as a bunch of my friends, i booked my flight “last minute” because that’s when business class award redemption availability is the best...

8.4

ballout old vegas

my friend/business partner/former minecraft archnemesis invited me to go to some kind of quasi-family reunion in vegas, he never fails to deliver with these sorts of travel ideas. i've never been to vegas despite multiple attempts, it is obviously an essential destination for an anthropologist of hyperreality, but going there may also be a mistake for me, possibly some divine force has been trying to keep me away from there...

7.10

a supposedly fun thing i'll likely do again

it's been a while since i’ve gone on a trip with my friend/business partner/former minecraft arch-nemesis, or any trip at all for that matter. despite having few interests in common, our trips together somehow always end up going great, except for that one weird spontaneous road trip to phoenix. i've mentioned this before but it’s good to have a more “normie” friend to stay grounded, and he did not disappoint by insisting that we go on a caribbean cruise...

6.23

my budget bocchi the rock moment 2: dj house party edition

although i’ve complained recently that my friends are only getting into lame things like trading card games or rock climbing, i do have one friend who has been getting into djing lately (in addition to trading card games and rock climbing). he’s my most “serious” friend, bringing a certain intensity to anything he partakes in, so in just a few short months he’s already gotten in deep...

5.9

picking up a twitter hitchhiker

the other day, i was scrolling X Formerly Twitter as usual between sets during my workout (between credits of pump it up) when one tweet suddenly jumped out to me because it called out the area i live in. although it wasn't from anybody i follow and had very little engagement, some quirk of deterministic algorithmic destiny showed it to me anyway...

1.21

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