#I miss my buddy Eric who used to watch games with me here on tumblr

[slickshoesareyoucrazy]

We're All Mad Here

My favorite week of the year that has nothing to do with J or our son is this week. I love the NCAA tournament. J bought me a live TV service to get all the games and the selection show tomorrow (he does this every year because he loves me; he also tells me to go in the kitchen or he's gonna turn off the games if I get too worked up because he loves me).

I told my best friend of 30+ years that I lived D/s with J and found out he lives it with his partner too, because of tournament week (specifically watching Kentucky play). It went like this:

Me: Fuck! (Kentucky missed a critical shot; they're all critical in March) <starts nervously pacing>

J: You need to go in the kitchen. Or I'm going to change the channel.

Me: But you won't even tell me what's happening. :(

J: Text A. He'll give you the score and the time. You're getting too upset actually watching it. Me: <pout face> J: Kitchen. Text A.

Me to A on text: Hey. J said I'm not allowed to watch the UK game, so can you text me the scores and shit please? I know you're watching.

A: <Score; Time left in half> J said you're NOT ALLOWED to watch? ???

Me: He like...CARES about my health and anxiety and shit. You know. <eye roll>

A: Oh. So the game WAS on. But you're pacing or something.

Me: Yes. Update me.

A: <Score; Time left in half> So...he said stop watching and you just stopped?

Me: Yes.

A: <raised eyebrow emoji>

Me: Look if I could watch UK without having my blood pressure raise, he wouldn't send me in the other room. It's...*loving.*

A: I think I got it. You know S <his partner> is also a UK fan. So she'd never tell me I couldn't watch the game. Because she understands the need to watch it. She just accepts that the cardiac event that eventually kills me will be Wildcat basketball related. That's what you get for marrying a Hoosier (J is from Indiana and he's a car guy; he's not even that into basketball, which is why he can just casually watch tournament games).

Me: Is...S pretty much like J? Except for the Hoosier part? (I know that implication was really subtle, but A and I have known each other for a long time).

A: Yeah. Now you know that. But we've always been kinda leading parallel lives, you and me. <shrug>

Me: O.O !!!!!

A: Are you really that surprised? I wasn't. :)

Me: Not really. :)

I'm watching a local team play against my favorite all time college head coach for a conference championship right now. It's awesome. I'm ready for a bunch of upsets even if UK doesn't get into the bracket this year; even if one of the upsets is UK. I'm ready for Reggie Miller (huge crush since like 1990) calling games. I'm ready for wall to wall games on Thursday and Friday.

Not to be nasty, but fuck Christmas; THIS is the most wonderful time of the year.

[kayluh1915]

103 (?) Questions Answered.

I know this isn’t how this “game” works, but I had him on my mind and I needed a distraction. So, here’s 103 questions about me answered... I think. I’m pretty sure I numbered it wrong somewhere, but I don’t have the mental strength to fix it right now. Enjoy all of this completely useless information! It helped me forget, at least for a while.

1. Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? Spotify.

2. Is your room messy or clean? Clean…ish... most of the time...

3. What color are your eyes? Sea foam blue-green.

4. Do you like your name? why? Yes. IDK, I guess it just sounds pretty.

5. What is your relationship status? Engaged.

6. Describe your personality in 3 words or less. Witty, absent minded, empathetic.

7. What color hair do you have? Dark Brown.

8. What kind of car do you drive? color? I don't have a car yet.

9. Where do you shop? Walmart mostly.

10. How would you describe your style? Girly casual.

11. Favorite social media account? Tumblr.

12. What size bed do you have? Queen.

13. Any siblings? One blood younger bother and one adopted younger sister.

14. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Why? Japan because I love their culture.

15. Favorite Snapchat filter? It’s an old one and I don’t think it’s there anymore, but the butterfly crown.

16. Favorite makeup brand(s)? Maybelline and Covergirl. I don’t like to spend a lot of money on makeup.

17. How many times a week do you shower? Three to four.

18. Favorite TV show? Avatar: The Last Airbender.

19. Shoe size? 7½ US

20. How tall are you? 5’0

21. Sandals or sneakers? Sandals!

22. Do you go to the gym? Occasionally. Been meaning to start going more.

23. Describe your dream date A day in Disney or Hawaii.

24. How much money do you have in your wallet at the moment? Bold of you to assume I have money at all.

25. What color socks are you wearing? I'm barefoot at the moment.

26. How many pillows do you sleep with? Only one. I hate a crowded bed.

27. Do you have a job? What do you do? Currently unemployed at the moment due to certain circumstances.

28. How many friends do you have? I have a lot of friends, but only about six or seven close ones.

29. What’s the worst thing you have ever done? I used a guy’s feelings for me to get free food. I know that sounds bad, but they were aware that I was dating my fiancé and they were supposed to be getting married themselves, but still continued to try and pursue me anyway. Figured I may as well get a Big Mac and some Pepsi out of it.

30. Whats your favorite candle scent? Vanilla!

31. Three favorite boy names? Eric, Mason, and Xander.

32. Three favorite girl names? Brielle, Brooklyn, and Scarlett.

33. Favorite actor? Adam Driver.

34. Favorite actress? Jennifer Lawrence.

35.Who is your celebrity crush? Well, I just found out that he’s secretly been a manipulative monster all this time… so no one right now.

36. Favorite movie? Titanic.

37. Do you read a lot? What’s your favorite book? I hardly ever read “traditional” literature, but among the ones I have read my favorites are Hatchet and Bud not Buddy.

38. Money or brains? Brains.

39. Do you have a nickname? What is it? Usually just Kay. My Papaw used to call me Booch. I don’t know where he got it or why he called me that, but he did. He passed away in 2013, though, so no one calls me that anymore.

40. How many times have you been to the hospital? Admitted? About 5 or 6 times. Visited? More than I can count.

41. Top 10 favorite songs? These change on a regular basis, but for now they are:

43.Do you take any medications daily? I take a total of 4 medications every night before bed

44. What is your skin type (oily, dry, etc)? Combination.

45. What is your biggest fear? This is going to sound childish, but the dark. Well, I guess it’s not actually the dark its self that scares me, it’s knowing that there could be something standing less than five feet in front of you and you’d have no way of knowing. It’s more of what could be hiding in the dark than the actual dark.

46. How many kids do you want? Zero, zip, nadda.

47. Whats your go to hair style? Braid for a day or two then down until I wash my hair again.

48.What type of house do you live in? Small-medium apartment.

49. Who is your role model? I really look up to my old band teacher a lot. He always has something inspiring to say and makes you feel like you can conquer the world.

50. What was the last compliment you received? I was told that I was super kind and sweet.

51. What was the last text you sent? “Well, if I ever play it with you you’ll get to hear me freaking the fuck out. 😂😂😂”- Sent to my buddy James when he told me about Phasmophobia.

52. How old were you when you found out Santa wasn’t real? My mom never told us that Santa was real to begin with. She felt like lying to us was wrong so she just… told us straight up.

53. What is your dream car? Just your typical, modern Chevy or Nissan. I don’t really want anything flashy, just something that can get me from point A to point B in comfort.

54. Opinion on smoking? I've lost three of my four grandparents to smoking induced lung cancer. One of those was my Mamaw who I watched cough up her lungs through a tube when I was only six. Don’t fucking do it.

55. Do you go to college? I did at one point. Hoping to return one day.

56. What is your dream job? Running my own YouTube channel or marching band… or both. Being an Achievement Hunter doesn’t sound like a bad gig either.

57. Would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? Suburbs. People love the rural lifestyle until they hear about these new, hip things like Uber, Grub Hub, on time delivery, and fast internet.

58. Do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? Are you… not supposed to?

59. Do you have freckles? Nope.

60. Do you smile for pictures? Usually, yes.

61. How many pictures do you have on your phone? 570. Had a shit ton more, but I backed them up to my Google account and freed up a bunch of space.

62. Have you ever peed in the woods? I grew up in the middle of redneck county where camping is an extension of one's self… of course I have.

63. Do you still watch cartoons? ...Duh?

64. Do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonald's? Mick D's!

65. Favorite dipping sauce? Ranch or honey mustard.

66. What do you wear to bed? Panties and a large nightshirt.

67. Have you ever won a spelling bee? Hell no. I can spell, but not unless I’m writing it.

68. What are your hobbies? Playing the trumpet, singing, sewing, writing, cooking, and video games.

69. Can you draw? Can pigs fly?

70. Do you play an instrument? Yes! I play trumpet (as mentioned earlier), flute, and piano.

71.What was the last concert you saw? I've never been to a concert unless you consider all the choir and band concerts I've participated in over the years.

72. Tea or coffee? Coffee.

73. Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? Starbucks.

74. Do you want to get married? Currently engaged, so yes.

75. What is your crush’s first and last initial? WI

76. Are you going to change your last name when you get married? Yes.

78. What color looks best on you? Red.

79. Do you miss anyone right now? Oof… too soon… Well, I miss the person I thought he was, not him... does that count?

80. Do you sleep with your door open or closed? Open. If my cats can’t sleep with me, they bring hell.

81. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes… and no. It’s hard to explain.

82. What is your biggest pet peeve? Someone telling me to go do something when I'm already doing it or was on my way to do it.

83. Last person you called? The fiancé.

84. Favorite ice cream flavor? Moose Tracks or Vanilla.

85. Regular Oreo's or golden Oreo's? Regular double stuffed or nothing.

86. Chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? Rainbow.

87. What shirt are you wearing? My old marching band shirt.

89. What is your phone background?

Created by this artist.

90. Are you outgoing or shy? Depends on situation. If I'm comfortable, I'm outgoing. If I’m not, I'm quiet and shy.

91. Do you like it when people play with your hair? Yes, but my hair is curly and it frizzes up when people run their fingers through it so no.

92. Do you like your neighbors? Yeah, they’re okay.

93. Do you wash your face? At night? In the morning? I wash my face every night before bed.

94. Have you ever been high? Nope.

95. Have you ever been drunk? Yes.

96. Last thing you ate? Homemade air-fried popcorn chicken. Made it myself and it was delicious.

97. Favorite lyrics right now? “It’s OK not to be OK.”

98. Summer or winter? Summer!

99. Day or Night? Night!

100. Dark, milk, or white chocolate? Milk!

101. Favorite month? June.

102. What is your zodiac sign? Gemini.

103. Who was the last person you cried in front of? The fiancé.

[attract-mode-collective]

Love May Dwindle Between Street Fighters, But There Will Always Be Paris

The above is from Bastien Vives, which recently made a reappearance on Twitter (thanks for the heads up @VitaminSteve). Though I’ve known about them for some time now, dating all the way back since 2010, when Eric posted them on GSW!

Anyhow, here are two others in the series…

I’d also end up sharing another illustration of Bastien’s on GSW myself, which was part of another series…

BTW, I’ve been trying to get ahold of Bastien for literally years now, so if anyone could please pass this post along to him, along with the following message, that would be awesome:

“Bastien! I’m a HUGE fan of your work and would love to work together! There’s an art show I’m putting together and would be honored to have you take part! So let’s talk; my email is matt@attractmo.de.”

So what else has been going on? Well, lots of stuff as usual, though for starters, there’s going to be a Papers Please? movie! Well, a short film at least; here’s @dukope with some production shots…

Also, according to Eric at his regular digs, there’s gonna be another Seaman!

Hopefully this one makes it onto US shores, cuz I’m still bummed that the last follow up for the PS2 never arrived here…

As for “actual news”, you know how Trump brought out the best in folks on Twitter this past week? Including those who enjoy making game related gags, and this one might be the my personal fave (via @Nibellion)…

Coming in at a close second we have (via we-love-gaming)…

Speaking of Pokemon; a Blastoise sculpture made out of cheese for whatever reason (via retrogamerblog)…

And here have a more traditional definition of “art”; it’s an oil painting of Marisa Kirisame, and kbnet explains: “Artist is Zarigani Misawa, an art teacher by trade. There was a small exhibition of Touhou art done in traditional media on the 28th where this photo was taken”…

The Verge recently highlighted the work of Matt Anderson, it didn’t so much make me think of what Zelda game on a smart phone could look like but instead a Zelda game in the hands of CAPY…

Here’s a video that’s gotten a surprising amount of attention, though perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised; The 8-Bit Guy decided to restore a pair of old games that were more than a little rough around the edges, which ended up upsetting classic game and preservationists. And while I understand where they’re coming from, I also love the total DIY route that Dave (aka The 8-Bit Guy’s real first name, I think) employed when replacing the label for Pitfall…

And here’s a video that hardly anyone has seen, which I’m hoping to correct: my buddy Andy Reitano has been showcasing NESpectre, a project by himself and his pal Zachary Johnson, for quite some time now (my first taste was at the last, and I do mean last, IndieCade East).

Basically, it’s a modified NES that allows people to alter various aspect of a given game by logging in via their smart phones. It’s also one of those things in which you need to see it action to understand, so here’s Andy’s talk from SIGNAL last week…

BTW, some may recall another project of Andy’s I mentioned around this parts a whiles ago as well, that being Super Russian Roulette. The following was posted on Twitter; “First official run of @adamgetsawesome's batch programming GUI. Wirelessly flashing 5 NES carts at once (with progress bars!)”

Elsewhere on Twitter, another example of game development, courtesy of @dosnostalgic…

And back to the subject of hardware tricky; am not entire sure what’s going on here, which I spotted over at cf-12’s corner, when looking to see if he’s been up to anything new since last checking in…

All right, enough of the house that Mario built, let’s talk Sega, yet also sticking with hardware innovations… or Innoventions as Disney calls them. Here we have the latest from home movie from My Retro Life, which again proudly flaunts the Esposito family’s affinity for the house that Sonic built, even while vacationing at Disney World…

All I can say is, I would gladly opt for Virtua Formula (that eight player linked Virtua Racing set-up that you might miss if you blink) over that dumbass looking Avatar thing they currently have going on.

And sticking with Sega for just a bit more; some not so funny jokes from a not so funny Sonic joke book (via sonicthehedgeblog). While not directly contributing to them eventually bowing out of the home console business, I still can’t help wonder how little it helped them either…

Remember my mention of an Ulala Figma from a few weeks ago? Well, here it is “in action” (this is mostly just a chance to showcase Good Smile Company’s YouTube page, which I had idea existed until now)…

Do you also recall that unpainted TwinBee toy I posted pics of a few weeks ago also? Well, here it is in color, cuz it’s now available for pre-order (via miki800.com)…

And a reminder of how Konami used to be a fun place to work, as well as how Konami is attached to Frogger (via vgjunk)…

Please enjoy this downpour of Famicom Disk System discs (via gamergunk)…

Also please enjoy this latest reminder of how batsh*t insane Sonic Blast Man is (via obscurevideogames)…

You know that girl that really likes Sega, as evidenced by the Saturn she wears on her head? Well, she’s into SNK as well, as evidenced by the new shirt that our pals at Fangamer recently released…

Speaking of SNK, I finally have a reason to share the marquee for the mini 2slot MVS that were in certain McDonald’s in Japan. Been looking for the perfect time to share this for ages now (via @turfmasta)…

Here’s something that originally aired on Japanese TV and which I stumbled across on YouTube…

I’ve looked high and low and cannot find any hard info, so all I have are observations. So for those of you who don’t feel like watching the 20+ minute long clip: for starters, it’s clearly a show that highlights retro gaming, and one of the hosts is… the creator of Dragon Quest?!?! Actually, one of the hosts simply strikes a very close resemblance to Yuji Horii (I’m pretty sure if he was hosing a show, it would be somewhat common knowledge). Also, everyone’s wearing snazzy THUNDERBOX attire!

I believe the guest is the dude whose apartment we visit, which is overflowing with Famicom boxes. Am shocked that he’d allow television cameras come visit, but hey, more power to the guy for being so proud of his collection. We immediately cut to a segment on controllers for the Famicom, with the highlight being an inflatable motorcycle! After that is their version of the Power Pad and their version of the Power Glove. Turns out, the latter is just as unmanageable as its American equivalent. And finally they bust out the Switch cuz the milking mini game in 1-2-Switch makes for great television.

And finally here, gonna wrap things up with the final thing I shared in that GSW post of mine that I posted at the very top. Which basically served as the prototype for the Attract Mode blog, as anyone can tell. Anyhow, here we have the ultimate dream team of Link and WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon…

Don’t forget: Attract Mode is now on Medium! There you can subscribe to keep up to date, as well as enjoy some “best of” content you might have missed the first time around, plus be spared of the technical issues that’s starting to overtake Tumblr.