From 89792111c3edade5730075e277b83b29c5560211 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Bill Niblock <bill@theinternetvagabond.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Jan 2025 14:46:25 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Now Page layout and content update

---
 _layouts/corrupt_now.html |   2 +-
 now.md                    | 106 +++++---------------------------------
 2 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 95 deletions(-)

diff --git a/_layouts/corrupt_now.html b/_layouts/corrupt_now.html
index ba6ae12..8e9e036 100644
--- a/_layouts/corrupt_now.html
+++ b/_layouts/corrupt_now.html
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
       </header>
       <main>
           <article>
-              <h3>
+              <h1>Life In Progress, as of {{ page.pub }}</h1>
               <div class="author_info">
                 {{ page.author }}
                 <a href="https://unlicense.org/"
diff --git a/now.md b/now.md
index 578de9f..4648ba3 100644
--- a/now.md
+++ b/now.md
@@ -2,102 +2,20 @@
   layout: corrupt_now
   tabtitle: Now
   author: Bill Niblock
-  pub: 2024-12-26
+  pub: 2025-01-03
 ---
 
-# Life In Progress, as of {{ page.pub }}
+- The Holiday Spirit made me a bit too jolly! After many cookies and cocktails,
+  it's time to get active, and fix some bad food habits. Again.
 
-- Started a business!
-- _Morrowind_, _Deus Ex_, and Pathfinder
-- Another game jam!
+- My business, [Niblock Technology Solutions](https://www.niblock.tech),
+  continues to move forward. I have a second client! Next, I want to work on
+  expanding my offerings, and improve my coverage.
 
-Overall, while it has been a few months, changes seem to have slowed a bit.
-Looking back on the past several months, there are significant changes, but also
-fewer of them.
+- I've begun a playthrough of one of my favorite games, **The Elder Scrolls IV:
+  Oblivion**. I'm very happy with the modding setup I've got this time around,
+  and look forward to writing up the details!
 
-## My Own Business
-
-I have officially started my own business, [Niblock Technology
-Solutions](https://www.niblock.tech). I even have a few clients! Exploring this
-new world has been exciting. There are a lot of new challenges, and certain a
-demand of time, attention, and dedication. As someone who loves working with
-others to solve problems, this seems to be a great development. I've been
-enjoying looking for my own technology solutions to some of my own wants, in
-addition to helping my clients solve theirs.
-
-I'm also beginning work on another business idea I have. The area I live in
-could benefit from a game shop. I want a community space that people can come
-in, play games, enjoy company, and otherwise relax. That's a significant
-departure from my experience! I have some baby steps towards that business that
-I think will make significant impacts on the success!
-
-## Gaming Updates
-
-Recently our Pathfinder game had a fun and rewarding side-quest, for which I
-made a summoner. What a powerful class! Mine is a Tengu, but from an
-Egyptian-themed region, and thus more ibis inspired than crow. Summoners get an
-eidolon, so naturally mine is themed after a crocodile. This side-quest had us
-achieving mythic power, and so I've had an opportunity to explore not only a new
-class, but a whole gamut of new powers. Very fun, very exciting!
-
-The character really inspired a lot of creativity. Part of this character's
-mythic powers are tied to the Proteans, denizens of the maelstrom, Pathfinder's
-plane of chaos. They're a really interesting bunch, seemingly conflicted in
-their own right (they are of the primordial chaos, and yet adhere to a strict
-hierarchy of power). In exploring the lore about them, I imagined a visual novel
-of sorts, playing as my summoner acting as a scholar and historian traveling the
-maelstrom, interacting with these beings. They are described as civilized enough
-that I don't think it's a stretch for them to be welcoming and cordial of
-guests. Could make for a fun game!
-
-I properly finished up _Morrowind_. As I mentioned previously, a fantastic game.
-There is so much exciting modding happening in that community that I am very
-interested in diving back in soon! However, I decided to tackle another old game
-I've wanted to play but never have: _Deus Ex_. I'm probably 80% through the
-game, and I have been enjoying it a lot. I've bounced off playing it a number of
-times, and I think a big part of that was this unnecessary expectation to play
-as a silent, non-violent type. Instead, I've been loud when I want, running
-around with a kick-ass nano-blade. I haven't been taking the play-through too
-seriously, but I have been relatively thorough. Again: there's some compelling
-mods which are already making me excited to give it another play-through, and
-some game-play and story choices which I'll look forward to doing differently
-next time! However, there are several games I'm looking forward to in the
-interim. I've seen several streams of _Heroes of Might and Magic II_, and it
-made me consider if I'd ever played through the campaigns of _Heroes of Might
-and Magic III_. I know I haven't for _II_, since I've never played it! I picked
-it up, and I want to give each a campaign play-through. I may do that along side
-another game. _Oblivion_ is definitely calling me, and I'll probably setup a
-"vanilla-plus" mod-pack for it to play through with. Despite my love of
-_Oblivion_, I've never actually played through the main story, nor many of the
-DLC's!
-
-## Autumn LISP Game Jam
-
-Capping off the year in game development is the second of the bi-annual LISP
-game jams, the [Autumn LISP Game Jam
-2024](https://itch.io/jam/autumn-lisp-game-jam-2024). I implemented some of the
-ray-casting code I've been working on in my submission, [Escape the
-Crash](https://vagabondazulien.itch.io/escape-the-crash). I had a lot of fun
-learning and developing with this one. Ray-casting still fascinates me, and I
-look forward to understanding it better; at least well enough to get some floors
-and ceilings into the game! I also believe that I can use the ray-casting
-algorithm to draw a sky-box of sorts. Essentially: note the first wall
-interaction, and use that to draw the walls as per usual, but extend to ray
-until a "stopping" signal, at which point draw the sky-box. I also want to
-implement some sprites! I've also never played around with sounds, and I want to
-explore that more in Love2D. The game was received surprisingly well, given it
-was incomplete and also suffering from some performance issues. That's very
-inspiring! I'm looking forward to playing with it some more.
-
-## Signing Off
-
-I let slip a few months of updates, which will be a focus of mine for the new
-year. A monthly cadence will be nice. Though, I'm also now considering
-re-adjusting my approach. This page can be a summary of a post containing the
-full content (as it currently shows). I'm not holding myself to a goal, but
-writing two posts a month would be a nice flow. One of them could just be this
-monthly update, with a second being a game review or technology review or
-something.
-
-Regardless, this marks the end of both this update, and this year! 2024 was a
-doozie! Here's hoping 2025 isn't too bad...
+- I have a goal to improve my music sight-reading skill, and plan to do so by
+  reading a new piece of music each week. I've started off with some Bach, and
+  will likely continue with him for a bit.