Ravings of an Undead Cheese Minion

...why not begin it early?  Staying up until 12 AM hasn't been cool or fun since I was like...10 years old. I stayed up until 12 AM so often in college that it became super ordinary and boring. Nowadays, though, I've embraced my early bird nature. I am actually at my best when I'm up early.  Why not start 2026 early in the morning, ready to fight for your dreams and make them real? Instead of staying up ridiculously late for some reason and throwing off the next day.  I don't understand why these idiots in Utah buy 69420 fireworks and set them off every 2 minutes from 8:30 PM to 12:30 AM, and then again every night from 8:30 PM to 11:00 PM until they run out of fireworks, which is usually about a week.  How is this enjoyable? You're just asking to cause fires. Sorry, but I'm with my hometown of Ventura, CA on this one. Fireworks should be illegal except in sanctioned displays. Yes, people will still do it, but only at 12:00 AM for like 5 minutes. Who cares.  But...

When I started at a CS major in college many years ago, my experience in code was as follows:  Started reading Code by Charles Petzold  Wrote some Excel macros using VBA in Computer Applications in high school (because Drafting got cancelled and I had to switch)  Followed some HTML + CSS tutorials on The Cave of Dragonflies, made some mediocre fanfiction web pages that never got published Made some custom profiles using HTML + CSS + copy/pasted JavaScript for friends on FeralFront, including: auto-playing music, fancy mouse cursors of grumpy cats, animated screen effects that have the unfortunate side effect of killing your laptop battery Read the first page of a Swift iOS book at B&N and went "hmm yes this looks interesting"  And that was it.  But through lurking on DreamInCode and other forums, I knew that I wanted to be one of the hardcore, passionate, intense  computer programmers.  Then college kicked my butt. I got good grades, but it didn't ...

If a GP in coaster enthusiast land is someone who goes  Ooh loop de loop! I almost DIED on Batman but my grandma held me in and SAVED ME  Omg I get so SICK when I ride a THINGY also carnivals are DANGEROUS now anyway let me SPEED 20 MPH OVER ON THE INTERSTATE or has zero interest in optimizing their touring plans, doesn't want to know how coasters work... What are the GP/casuals/tourists in other areas?  Computers:  I don't understand why it's so slow!  If I reboot or turn it off I'll lose all my data! Omg ai will take ur job 5ever'!!!1!1! urr gonna have 2 WELDDD!!1one Math: "I'm too right brained for this, I suck at math" (lmao pop psych) "when are we going to USE THIS?" (idk but I do know when I am going to use ur mum) Art/Music: "I have no talent for this at all, I can't do it; I'll never learn how to draw/play an instrument!" Fitness: omg genetics, that's why I'm slow/injured/whatever  + anyone who thinks that ke...

 looking fabulous with muscly dommy mommy 

CRINGE FOLLOWS Computer Scientist, IT and Cybersecurity Enthusiast, Simulation Engineer, Digital Artist, Fiction Writer and Poet…ah, but I also lift weights, run 5K through marathon distances, sing and play two instruments, and put a lot of work into my scent and appearance. Theme parks and roller coasters are a huge part of my life, as is gaming, and cartoons and webcomics, and I prefer the world of my imagination to the real world.  I’ve always felt like an alien born not just in the wrong planet, but in the wrong universe altogether. Something was wrong when I was a kid, but I could not fully explain what or why. I’m not like the other boys. I do not understand how to socialize or make friends, but I cannot articulate why it is so difficult. I memorize the numbers of everyone in the class and the National Pokedex number of every single Pokemon, and am reading 5 grades ahead, but I don’t know how to make others like me. I’m quieter, more absent-minded, more cautious; I don’t like...

Step 1: Hackerman IT and Cybersecurity, OverTheWire Encode and C++ app Coding Communities and Forums  Step 2: CS Leetcode and DSA and system design. Interview prep questions.  Coding: Courses and Learning Sequence Coding: Portfolio Kaggle Step 3: Graphics Coding: Graphics Courses  Coding: Graphics Portfolio Step 4: Hardcore Gamer Coding: Game Development Internet Forums List and Emails Gaming: Hardcore Toys: build some Lego setups Fanfiction: Read and Write I'm experimenting moving fanfiction because it never happens during writing block. 

I follow Bryan Johnson (anti-aging guy) on socials because I'm curious about his results. not because I have the desire or discipline to do what he is doing, but I do really want to see if he's correct. he's quite a bit chronologically older than me and I guess we will find out, providing he stays safe while driving and stuff like that.  I've noticed a lot of quasi-fatalistic arguments in his comments sections against attempting immortality, saying things like "death is part of life".  to me this doesn't really make sense. I am a theist; I believe in God and I believe in life after death. however, to me it seems that if it is possible to extend life, indefinitely or otherwise, then it should be done.  people seem to come up with weird arguments that almost feel circular to me. "death is a part of life, so it should not be fought against" seems fundamentally flawed. catching measles was a part of life until we had vaccines. obviously it was a good...

You Google: when was mcdonalds founded Google AI: There is no restaurant called "mcdonalds"; this term stems from a common misspelling of the popular American fast food chain "McDonald's", known for its clown Ronald McDonald and Chicken McNuggets. The common misconception that it's spelled "mcdonalds" is probably stemming from the fact that you are a MORON. 

...happy? No, honestly, not really.  I don't really remember the last time I have been, at least not for more than a few hours. Maybe a day at most?  But I am  hopeful. That has to count for something, right?  Not happy. Hopeful.  I am really needing these days off on Christmas. I'm running on fumes at the moment, and haven't been able to follow my normal schedule, which always wrecks me for a while. I need to get back into it, and I think I will by the end of the week.  Usually that + some good food will re-center my perspective and my routine, and I'll feel alive again for a little while.  I need to figure out if I want GabyT's art course for 2026. As if I don't already have enough material to get through. Maybe I should wait until I'm further along, or maybe I should just take the plunge. I don't know.  Cornbelly's season pass is secured for 2026. My wallet is always kinda light at this time of year, due to all the purchases. It feels weird, to...

Modern enneagram communities really, really suck but here is a collection of many type-me sorts of questions. None were written by me. I found them on Reddit and PersonalityCafe. Later, I'll answer them myself on a different post, because why not.  Tell me about your internal experience of yourself. What makes you, you? You just had a really good day. Describe it. It can be a real recent example or an aspirational one. If someone is upset with you, what is the typical reason for it? Give a recent example. What are you like when you're stressed? What are your coping mechanisms? Give an example of a recent stressful situation and how you handled it. What pushes your buttons? What makes you angry? How does your anger manifest? Can you be openly angry with others? What’s your deepest fear? Why is that your fear? What types of memories cause you the most shame? What feelings cause you the most shame? What is it about them that causes you shame? What is your relationship with pleasu...

Smart Pointers To understand smart pointers we must understand normal pointers.  By default, objects in C++ are placed on the stack. The stack is sequential, quick-access storage that also doesn’t have a ton of room. It is LIFO, like a pancake stack. The memory management is automatic.  What do we do when we need more room? We go to the heap. The heap is dynamically allocated memory. That means that we choose when to use it, and when to release it.  A pointer is how we put things on the heap. It’s an object in the stack that HAS A REFERENCE to a heap location.  With raw pointers, we create them ourselves, and delete them ourselves. However, there is a risk of leaking memory caused by  Freeing up heap memory that didn’t need to be freed  Forgetting to free up heap memory Now, we get to smart pointers. These remove us from the responsibility of manually getting rid of memory, but they are still more effective than garbage collection in other lang...

TryHackMe is down right now BUT  Maybe I should attempt both challenges this year.  Other challenges I try annually are Art Fight and Drawtober.  I don't usually nail them. But with practice I will get there.  I keep thinking I should do the Rough Draft Challenge in November for writing (replacing NaNo), but I'm never at a good stopping point with my current WIP to just crank out words. 

" Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than master of one" LOL No That's still complete crap. I will not be a "jack of all trades". I will be a master of MANY skills and pursuits. My SELECTED BAND of topics.  Why do people think this is not possible? "Oh, the old polymaths had servants to do their chores!"  Yeah okay so  I'll doordash and eat EASY meals otherwise.  I'll clean while listening to audiobooks (improving writing skill) I'll ditch random social obligations that aren't with close friends and have a low likelihood of romantic ROI.  I'll push most leisurely fun stuff to Saturday late morning.  I will sleep 7 hours instead of 8 some nights.  I will order my groceries in advance and pick up in store so I don't have to pay delivery fees. Or waste time wandering the aisles. BO-RING.  ???????? That's it.  I do not try to quit anything. I doomscroll. I've never quit social media. I like my "sp...

Whoever wrote this is my G. From Dinopit. 

I was so tired of feeling sick on road trips.  I don't get motion sick. I do have mild IBS (I Be Suffering) but I don't get motion sick on its own.  Headaches though? Yep, a problem. And as anyone who has lived with me or ridden roller coasters with me knows,  I'm always peeing because I'm always hydrated.  So I decided to make like a HAES influencer and intuitively eat after breakfast.  Read: EAT WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT AAAAA WHATEVER I FEEL LIKE EATING, GOSH! It seems to have worked. 2 hours remaining and I'm not sick.  FOOD BEFORE GoMacro bar (peanut butter chocolate)  Men's multivitamin gummies (up&up) Protein shake: orgain, collagen peptides, silk soymilk PB&J Crystal light energy x3: 180mg caffeine  FOOD DURING Propel Energy drink Bacon breakfast burrito (Cafe Feellove) Reese's Big Cup with Reese's pieces x2 Muscle Milk Plant Protein: Caramel Vanilla Pizza Hut: Personal Pan Pepperoni with Parm and Red Pepper Fatburger Vanilla Vega...

One of the objectives of this current slew of self-study is to basically "redo college", not from a social perspective as much as an academic perspective (since the former is less important / is more difficult to re-create).  I'm trying to learn everything the RIGHT way, in a more correct order.  Right now I'm in the pre-college phase, meaning the stuff I wish I had come into the CS Animation premajor already knowing, in order to hit the ground running better. The real application of this is filling in any knowledge gaps that I have.  But I can't progress on basic coding, and you know why? because I need to finish my dad's site.  Yep. I told him I'd redo it and it has taken years. I am forcing myself to get it done. obviously I love web programming but turns out it's not as fun when you're dealing with a family member who just needs it done ASAP.  my personal coding block should be for ME, but I legitimately do not have any more room for additional...

I've delved back into personality theory fake-science and finally figured out my whole enneagram trifix. I may or may not have involved Claude AI in this discussion because the internet wasn't helping. Yep. I knew my core type as 4w5 instantly. But the rest? It took me years. I initially tested with a 7w6 -head fix (yep...LOL), and thought for years that maybe it was accurate because 1) I can be silly?  2) I have a LOT of pursuits compared to the average person 3) I am vaguely introverted-7ish at amusement parks if I am with an energetic group. I get along decently well with 7s overall.  4) I have generalized anxiety disorder (w6...????) But no. That's SUPER counterintuitive for me. It was obvious all along. A 5-head fix can still have an anxiety disorder, and a 5-head fix can still be somewhat polymathic, especially in the 541 tritype. I am constantly screaming MASTERY. This is competency.  My love for theme parks and roller coasters is from the SX seeking intensity. The...

wanted a code review app as a daily warmup before diving deeper into my code blocks and honestly, it went from extremely easy to so difficult that it was taking 40 minutes. This is a warmup, ffs. A way to enforce the 2 minute rule. I cannot have that bloating my whole code block. bye bye streak :/  Also their iphone app just randomly stopped working and it can only be done on ipad and they haven't fixed it, so what's the point? Going to try Encode, or whatever else I can find, until I get an app that actually stays as a warmup and doesn't start throwing volleys of CSS crap at me without explaining it properly. 

Sent out to their email list, it seems. NGL, this should be fun, but I think it won't be as impressive as it sounds, and here's why.  Yes, VR is awesome. I have a MetaQuest. I play on it regularly. I won't dispute that. And waterproof VR? Excellent! It should be FUN, yes.  BUT they aren't building a new slide -- they're just putting it on Mudslide Gorge.  This is arguably the second most popular slide in the entire park, directly after Vortex.  So what is that going to do to the already-long lines? Bloat them? Artificially slow loading? (Yes. yes it will.)  Also, there is already a TON of congestion in the steps leading up to Mudslide and the Storm Slides. There is also a super sketchy part of the stairs there that's rotting so badly that I expect someone to fall through at some point.  Who builds a slide tower out of WOOD? WHAT?  And it's an extra fee, but you don't HAVE to pay it, because you can just go on it normally without a headset.  This w...

It's just drill rap. He's calling out his block AND a police code. And it's CATCHY af.  The meaning can be discerned by less than 5 minutes of googling. Know Your Meme + Genius. Then listen to the song. It's so good that you will ALSO be yelling out 67 randomly.  It's not meaningless It's not modern nihilism  It's not absurdism  It's not modern/2020s dadaism (sheesh, reddit) You have made Duchamp very unhappy by your misunderstanding of what Dada even is.  I'm sorry but anyone who pontificates about this as some sort of broader nihilism trend among youth is being intentionally obtuse.  And with that, these mortal affairs tire me. I must tend to my ravens. 

Oh, Standard Time. Don't we LOVE the 4:30 PM sunsets. My favorite. Now we must fix our manual clocks again.  Taken (and reworded/reformatted) from this . None of my previous writeups were actually correct. THIS ONE works.  Setting timezone: Enter alarm time preview, by pressing "Mode". Press "Adjust" to change time zone. Setting time: When looking at the time, press and hold "Alarm on/off" Until time blinks. Press "Adjust" to change time; Press "Alarm on/off" to change to minutes, etc. Press "Mode" when done. You know what I actually  love? Tech support. Aw yeah.  🤓

Everything that I do combines in some way to fit these goals.  Goal 1: Published Author = Reading and Writing. Bonus of Art and Code because then I can code my own website and illustrate my own covers.  Goal 2: Independent Art Studio / Hirable by CGI Shops  = Digital Art, Computer Graphics Programming, Video Game Development, Gaming, VR, VFX, Simulation, Music Practice, Music Composition, Lucid Dreaming Goal 3: Theme Park Engineering and Design = Math, Physics, Control Systems/PLCs, Embedded Systems, Systems Programming, Operating Systems/RTOS, EE, ME, VR, Physics Simulation, Cybersecurity (especially ICS Security), visiting theme parks/water parks/carnivals/zoos, theme park blogging, theme park news, theme park engineering and design I am strongly considering becoming a Simulation Engineer or Control Systems Engineer  Goal 4: Hybrid Athletics = Running, Lifting, Walking, and Prehab. Swimming and hikes.  Goal 5: Highly Skilled Computer Scientist and IT Pro ...

considering that this comprises a lot of my reddit activity r/ArtJerk r/WritingCirclejerk r/SadHorseShow r/masterhacker r/okbuddypaleo r/okbuddyphd r/runningcirclejerk r/rollercoasterjerk r/shittieraskreddit r/programmingcirclejerk r/fitnesscirclejerk r/2sentence2horror r/badtwosentencehorrors  r/bookscirclejerk  -- this one is on thin ice  r/circlejerk (The classic, the OG) r/okbuddyspino r/blueycirclejerk r/shittyMBTI r/shittyenneagram

Note that I didn't say AI users. I use AI as a speedup tool when coding, and I have it explain concepts to me.  What I don't have respect for is actual vibe coders -- people who don't give a crap about actually learning or understand what the code is doing. If you're not reviewing the code, if you don't care about what's happening under the hood, no respect.  If you do care, if you use AI as a tool and not as a way to avoid having to actually think, you're not vibe coding. Full stop. No issues with that. 

I normally like airports and planes.  But after being stranded overnight in Vegas due to excessive SBA fog last Thanksgiving Eve, and having to sleep on a bench for 2 hours almost giving footsies to random strangers, after crashing at Ruby's Diner before getting kicked out, miss me with that crap.  Ruby's is still really good but I'll pass. :P White Monster from LAS, chugged on the plane, got me through the holiday last year, and then I crashed.  At this point I'll take my chances with the I-15. Dust devils, Pizza Hut, and aliens.  🌪️🍕👽🛸👾🛸👽🏜️🌵

Here's what I want to do in terms of gaming before the end of the year:  Finish Dream Logic. This will involve mapping out the final level based on tutorials and on what I see from my playthroughs (i.e. lots of pausing) because otherwise I'm ngmi Finish Portal 1, the original, by end of November. This may be difficult with going home for Thanksgiving, though.  Finish Donut County on my new iPad Pro 11.  Finish Pokemon Violet main story in December, since it's portable.   In addition: Play Genshin daily, completing at least 1 task, as well as my normal mobile game rotation I need a schedule for my VN playthroughs, as well as idle games like Placid Plastic Ducks. Since these are more chill, might do them last thing.  Game Development:  If I want to get serious about this, I need to work on it daily, even if it's just for 5 minutes to start. So that is the first goal.  Game development after I do my coding and graphics core block. Games as the finale...

I really hated the kid in the original though. Like, really hated him lol. I was so glad when they shot him, which is NOT something that would go over well in ordinary conversation. 😛 The animation quality is way up, even if my phone screenshots don't show it well. The pilot's animation was good overall but felt choppy and somewhat stilted. No issues with that here.  Also, the newly revamped version of the IMP theme song is fantastic. A lot better (and heavier!) than the original, which was just a commercial jingle.  Shots:

Considering removing it from my fb until they fix their crap. I ran a 3:08 marathon a month ago and despite repeated requests they still haven't put it up. They claim it's in the queue and I doubt it.  But there's no alternatives. There is no other site that aggregates your race results in one place. 

 excellent Friday night / Halloween activities 

Sometimes I research the CS Animation program just because I'm curious about how it's progressed and how the reqs have changed.  I really need to help more premajors on r/byu more, but life is busy and I spend most of my Reddit time shitposting anyway.  However, I want to make one comment clear from this thread . This person is WEAK, and their ancestors are weak:  In my experience, it's important to not only consider the acceptance rate but also recognize who you're competing against. When I applied to the program, the most eye-opening class for me was the intro to 3D modeling. We were told this course would be the biggest factor in determining our chances of getting in. At the time, I had never done any 3D modeling before, but many of my classmates had parents working at Pixar or other major studios. They were producing Pixar-level work in an intro class. That was when I realized I simply couldn’t compete with people who had been doing this since they were nine. Just k...

Ten years in Utah (gross), plus another year before my mission, and I am still weirded out by how bizarre Utah Mormon dating culture is. I can't do it.  I was very romantic and idealistic in high school, though this was overshadowed by severe, then-undiagnosed (but blatantly obvious) social anxiety disorder. I would listen to Michael Franti and Spearhead like this song, which I'm listening to now:  Now, I'm not a highly metaphysical man But I know when the stars are aligned, you can Bump into a person in the middle of the road Look into their eyes and you suddenly know.   So if you had asked me if I believed in love at first sight, I would have said, without a question "absolutely".  But then in Utah, you had people get married after only knowing each other for a few months.  WHAT? When I first noticed this, my reaction was "EW, EW, EWWW! Love at first sight, yes. But no, NO! Not like THAT!"  I can't even fully describe how much it freaked me out. CA...

It's on May 9, 2026! They moved it back.  sign up using my referral link uwu What's funny is, despite how much the course hurt in 2025, I really wanted to do it again.  I love that it starts and ends at the same park. No buses; no freezing start lines. Instead, I just camp out in my car and take a little nap.  Who knows if they'll have pancakes this year or not. But, the pancakes last year were radical You get to run past the Lagoon roller coasters! It's not a net downhill; in fact, it feels pretty uphill in a lot of sections. So it's a different challenge.  It's a smaller race, so it's way easier to place in your divisions.  It's usually one of the first truly warm days of the year, bleeding into hot. Spring is in full swing and everything is so bright and happy.  Water parks are opening very soon and it's fun to think about that!   Right after the race, I just go shower in the Lagoon campground and then go ride coasters at Lagoon.  I only r...

That's annoying.  It's on the exact same date as the Springtime Surprise 10K. This year, it was on May 10th. For some reason, in 2026 it's been moved to April 18th, almost a month earlier.  I'll see if I can find another May race up there, but it's not likely. May the Fourth Half is at night and I'd rather not. There's Run Vigor in SLC, which may be my best bet...

Honestly loved that Ninetails. I wanted to keep it. :p Or at least have Brock take it on as its new trainer. 

My eventual goal is to do them every Sunday morning, year-round. When I do them on weeknights, I tend to fall asleep.  But weekday and Saturday mornings are for gymming.  At any rate, I will be doing them weeknights too (once a week) and hopefully just by practicing I'll learn to not completely conk out.  I plan to resume my regime on Wednesday nights as soon as fall festivals are over, shortly after Halloween. I will restart with the first one. Hope to have some interesting experiences over the coming months. 

The feeling of letting go, I guess we'll never know.  - Owl City Every day. Engineering  Gym and Run  IT  Duolingo Micro Block (Lunch) Music Art Reading and Writing  Meditate Mini Block Code and Games Free Space Prehab and a Show  No letting go. 

Apparently, there was a progressive death metal band with my username, well before I ever created it in 2010ish when signing up for Bulbagarden  Masquerade Of Silence I only found this out due to trying to get into my dev blog and accidentally hitting Enter too early and googling it instead. 

Exhibit A (TryHackMe):  Exhibit B (Liftoff): 

I'm finally getting the routine down.  30 minutes engineering.  Workout - 75 lifting / 75 running (or other alternatives when injured).  Cyber/IT - 30 mins before work Duolingo - 5-15 min during break  Music - 30-40 mins at lunch  Art - 75 mins after work  Read/Write (and clean with audiobooks) - 60 min The meditation and imagination break - 15 min Code/Graphics/Games - 60 min Of course, the actual time targets aren't easy to hit, especially since you have to take some unwind time to not become a robot.  And sleep enough. :-)

That was the weirdest 8 minutes of my life, and it was awesome. 

This is over an hour's drive from me, so it likely wouldn't happen unless I was already heading up that way (ex. for Crystal Hot Springs, Lagoon, etc.) and I'd have to get there at a time I felt like there wouldn't be a lot of kids on it. :P  These aren't coaster credits, at least not according to most definitions, but it could be a good way to get your adrenaline fix in the Depresso Months of mid-November through late March.  Found thanks to  this blog post  and a Reddit thread about whether or not they count as coaster credits. 

This is just me broken record-ing, really, but No more cutting work blocks. I lifted for 80 minutes recently. It felt amazing, even if I was dying by the end. I love how sore I feel now.  Even when I try to find new jobs with better WLB, I can't let the search derail my studies. It feels like it never works in the end. Instead, I will have three different blocks, one for code, one for graphics...and one for work prep. I also might write some automation tools to speed up the process.  Also, if a job requires after-hours work on a regular basis, it doesn't have good WLB. That's all I'm saying. there's no point in me switching jobs to a different one that still has a regular after-hours requirement.  Why does no one in this state practice CI/CD?