interests
music
I like all kinds of stuff, mostly metal. Some of my favorite artists:
- Deafheaven (seen them!)
- Acid Bath (seen them!)
- Bosse-de-Nage
- Eyehategod (seen them twice!)
- Mastodon
- Queens of the Stone Age
- All Them Witches (seen them twice!)
i've been learning guitar since i was 12 (r.i.p. brent hinds)
games
i like metroidvanias, retro FPS, horror, and racing games.
some favorites:
- System Shock 1 & 2
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. G.A.M.M.A.
- Metal Gear Solid 3
preparedness
overarching philosophy
as we stare into the multiple gaping maws of recession, climate disaster, political regression, and unrestrained
surveillance capitalism, i think things will broadly get worse for normal people before they get
better. maybe i'm wrong. i'd like to be. but even if i am, i still live in louisiana, where major
hurricanes are an eventuality that isn't going away.
(also, my apartment windows leak and my landlord won't do anything about it.)
to me, the game theory is focused on how much worse things might get and what that looks like,
not speculating on the details of how they get that way. my point is that disaster and hardship
have infinite forms, but those forms share a lot of common features, and we can plan for those.
whether you get laid off, a right-wing coup starts a civil war, or an alien laser blows up your house,
your basic needs don't change.
food & water
like i mentioned earlier: i live in Louisiana, where natural disasters are just part of life. and they're only going to get worse. so: stores of food and water.
- MREs, soup cans, whatever
- water in NATO-spec Scepter containers and water bricks
car
driving is the most dangerous thing we do on a regular basis. accidents are one of the main causes of
death in the developed world, and there's a lot else that can go wrong because our lives
center around cars in the US. (this is because of systemic coercion, but that's a separate discussion.)
imagine: it's Monday morning and you're walking up to your car to drive to work. You unlock it and get
in. You try to start it. Nothing happens.
maybe you have a jumpstarter in the trunk, get the car started, grab a new battery on the way, and
change it later that day. maybe you have jumper cables - you need a kind stranger, but you can at
least get on your way. maybe you have neither - i guess you're walking to the store for a new battery,
or all the way to work. hopefully your boss is cool about it, but what if they aren't?
another scenario: your car suddenly has major mechanical problems. could you afford a big repair? an outright
replacement? how cool is your boss going to be with you not being able to get to work?
another scenario: you're in a bad car wreck. maybe no one is hurt, but you're at fault - good luck dealing
with insurance. maybe you're not at fault - still, good luck dealing with insurance.
maybe your car catches fire - can you put it out? maybe you or someone else is bleeding, and badly - can
you keep them alive long enough for EMTs to arrive?
one last scenario, the Paul Sheldon: you're stranded in your car. a crash or breakdown in the middle of
nowhere, terrible traffic jam, whatever reason. but you're by yourself and help might not come for days.
some of these are definitely more likely than others, but they all happen. my point is: in all
of these cases, a little forethought can make the difference between being fine and being absolutely fucked
(or at least having a bad day).
so, here are some things i keep in my car just in case, starting with the most obvious:
- spare tire and jack
- battery jumpstarter
- water (cans or some other container that can handle the temperature swings)
- fire extinguisher, class ABC (and a mount to keep it from turning into a missile during a crash)
- first aid - see medical section below
- lifeboat rations - long shelf life, calorically dense, keep through huge temperature swings
- survival blanket
medical
find a Stop The Bleed course near you for some basic training of what you need and how to use it.
firearms
current collection:
- KE Arms CDR
- Upper: 16" pencil barrel, free-float aluminum handguard, no forward assist.
- KE Arms KP-15 polymer lower. I really like it and am planning to get more in the future.
- Primary Arms SLx 1x
- shitty Amazon light. Upgrading to Arisaka light soon
- Mossberg 500
- Magpul stock and Streamlight forend. I like this thing.
- No optic yet, but planning on adding one.
- Sig Sauer P365
- I like the size and how it fits my hand, but i don't like that I carry a Sig (even if the 365 is safe)
- Ruger Mark IV Tactical
- kitted out with an X300-U and HS407k on a Lobos mount, it's really fun
- Huxwrx 556k and OCL Ti suppressors
- Flux Raider P365
- PSAKS-74U in 300blk so it's actually useful
- DA/SA large-frame 9mm handgun, not sure which just yet