The other day, I found an interesting article about Kurt Vonnegut and the shapes of stories. My 2020 could perfectly fit the "Man in Hole", though the global situation seems more like a "From Bad to Worse" — not only for the virus. In my year, the first weeks were quite normal, we even managed to visit Madrid when travelling for tourism was still considered normal. With the virus and lockdown, at first I thought I would have enjoyed long weeks at home — I had plenty of games to play and books to read. Long story short: after a month and half, I really missed the freedom(?) of being able to go outside as I wanted.

Summer was okay, but incomparable to any other past year. Maybe the autumnal months were the ones I enjoyed the most. I keep feeling like I'm wasting my time by doing nothing useful, but I know that it is not (completely) true.

(What's the Story)

First of all, I enjoyed some truly remarkable stories. On paper, I discovered Mr. Vonnegut, quoted above, and I really appreciated his style in The Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse V. Mother Night is already on my bookshelf, awaiting to be read. Lately, I'm slowing reaching the end of an anthology by Arthur Machen. I would like to share my two cents about him. I admit my ignorance, I never heard about him until last Christmas, when my girlfriend donated me his novella The Terror. I love Southern England, and despite the non-sensational plot, I really felt immersed in those Welsh countryside. At the moment, as a pseudo-writer in my free time, I'd like to have:

• Lovecraft's skills to describe feelings and visions
• Machen's ability to immerge the reader in the scenery

Morning Glory

About videogames, even if in my thirties I should have other priorities, luckily through the year I've been able to enjoy some amazing gems:

• Days Gone (I already wrote how much I loved it)
• Hollow Knight (I'd never imagined to be so addicted by its mechanics)
• Death Stranding (despite its unique pace, it's a real masterpiece)
• The Wolf Among Us (made me want to read all the Fables comics!)
• The Last Of Us Part II (probably the best PS4 game with God of War)

These are all amazing storylines. Kojima's game is maybe the most mysterious, and I appreciated it as a sci-fi fan. Hollow Knight's storytelling honestly surprised me. I hate Dark Souls's narrative, but this game's atmosphere is enchanting. Maybe it is the most inspirational of all the ones above. Wolf's universe is astonishing: Fables characters are very interesting, I din't know about their existence and Telltale's ability truly impressed me. Finally, TLOU2 doesn't need any word. It's just an almost perfect experience. Its first playthrough is an unforgettable experience, just like any other work by Naughty Dog.

Ok Computer

Music kept me company — in these last weeks I enjoyed many post-rock and metal artists from Gizeh and A Cheery Wave, I have no choice but to recommend listening to their Bandcamp accounts!

One final note about the latest Smashing Pumpkins record, CYR. I still love them, but I can't quite understand their evolution. I see where Reznor arrived with NIN and his other projects, I respect Pearl Jam and, most of all, Alice In Chains for their latest works... but for me, after 2007 that is formation shouldn't be referred as SP.

Finally, in my spare time I tried to do something valuable... for me, at least. As any good nerd, I spent too much time trying to de-googling my activities, but each time I think about it, I am more and more confident that it is a waste of time and resources. Like with everything important, we figured out too late that we should have preserved our privacy. Thanks anyway, George Orwell. I guess that writing that book 70 years ago wasn't enough.

I studied Python a little and I worked on this site, trying to make it as fast as lighting and cleaning up its code behind the scenes. But what for? Nobody reads it. :)

---

P.S. – Obviously, all the paragraph titles are musical references. If you didn't get one or more, then Google DuckDuckGo it and take a listen.