I've had a strange experience recently in that I got a very cute haircut and suddenly I am the belle of the ball wherever I go. One major downside is that it is exhausting. People treat me like I'm a fairy, which I use to dole out generous compliments. But mostly people just notice me, a lot, and it's weird to feel so many eyes watching my every movement.

It reminds me a bit of living in Shanghai. I was practically a celebrity, people would ask for selfies with me to show their friends they met a blonde white guy.

Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed pretty privilege most of my adult life, but embracing my femininity in it's fullness has really amplifier things.

For example, I went to a dance performance tonight and ended up basically on a date with a girl, which was lovely but also what? I walked away to give her an out and she followed me.

At work it can be a problem as well. I have some coworkers that get really giggly when they're with me. Luckily, once it steers to work talk they're a whilsmart professional I'm Uber glad to work with.

Anyways, just had to vomit this curious anyone thoughts

What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?

What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.

If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!

I'm wanting to automate a thing on my android phone.

I would like to activate and deactivate alarms based on calendar events (by keywords in their name or description).

Have you ever wondered where all the background music comes from in commercials, documentaries, training films, or TV shows? It is a genre of music called Library music, but also referred to as "production music" or "stock music".

For example, some American football fans might recognize this tune: Heavy Action by Johnny Pearson

Or maybe Tomfoolery by David Snell

I have some standout favorites myself such as Plucking the Strings by David Snell and really the whole Bruton BRN11 Prestige album has great tracks.

What I love about library music is how direct it is where every track tells you exactly what feeling or mood it’s meant to capture, so finding the right piece for a moment becomes straightforward. It’s music created for utility that is commissioned, catalogued, and sold to fit commercial needs. That makes it oddly fascinating to me. Out of the thousands of albums, some pieces slip into our collective memory while others fade into obscurity or as a one-time background sound. I feel the people making this stuff were clearly talented, but they worked in a strange niche where their art was never meant to be more than an enhancement to a visual effect. Digging into it feels like uncovering a forgotten corner of pop culture.

If you want to search more example of library music, I think the go-to's are any of the Bruton or KPM libraries, but there are many more out there.

KPM Playlist
Bruton Playlist

Hi All,
It's been coincidentally EXACTLY 1 year since my previous post about Gametje. I've been busy creating some new games and re-designing all the main pages with the help of a UI/UX designer. I have posted a few updates in the weekly What programming/technical projects have you been working on? threads but I thought this milestone deserved its own post. I published the new site earlier this week and also migrated to a new backend server. Here's a refresher of what it is for those that may have missed my previous post a year ago. I also recently started working on it full-time last month after not really working on it much from January-June this year. You can read more in my recent blog post.

What is it?

It's a set of online games that can be played in person with a central screen (like a TV) or remotely via video chat. It's also available directly in Discord as an embedded activity. It is playable in 9 languages and doesn’t require any downloads. Most games revolve around creativity in some form. None of the games require fast reflexes and can be played by just about anyone.

Where can I try it?

https://gametje.com and directly on Discord

You can use the "quick play" option to launch directly into the game as a guest.

What's different from last year?

There are 2 new games (Sync Think and Hide & Peek) and the main pages have been redesigned. I also implemented a game room concept which allows you to bounce between games without having to recreate it each time. I also integrated with Discord, which means you can play directly in their interface and also use Discord as an Identity Provider when logging in. The games themselves need a bit more polish (especially the two new ones) but overall they should work.

What am I looking for?

I'm trying to gather some feedback about the games and the overall concept. Are the games fun? Is this something you'd try with your family? What could be improved? Is the site clear about what you can/should do? Should I add some gameplay videos to give you a quicker feel for the games?

I'm also open to game ideas, I have a few in the backlog already but need to focus more on the business side at the moment. Any advice on the games/marketing etc would be highly appreciated.

Side note: I'm probably going to rename the whole site soon since the name Gametje doesn't exactly roll off the tongue and has caused some debate with Dutch speakers. The branding for the new name isn't quite ready. I am considering calling it GameBuffet as my avatars are all food related and its more of a "all you can play" offering for any games added to the platform.

Thanks for reading.