Ape's Enrichment: September 20, 2026
Welcome back everyone. I've let this blog go the way of the Hispaniola Monkey again. If all goes well, this media diary will get me back into the swing of things.
Active Enrichment
I've been playing a lot of video games lately. Here's a rundown:
- I realized I'd never beaten A Link to The Past on my older-than-I-am SNES, so I took a week or so to do that. Coming off of emulating the first two Zelda games on the NES, I expected to be flipping back to the manual and negotiating with how much I'm allowing myself to peak at walkthroughs, but this game went down smooth. Already itching to do a randomizer on this.
- I've finally decided to end a turbulent relationship with Pikmin 2 after reaching its second main objective. Maybe I'll come back to 100%, maybe I won't! I adore this game, but there is an evil in its soul I did not realize Nintendo was capable of. I've heard it said that Shigeru Miyamoto was inspired to make this franchise due to his passion for gardening, and I just have to wonder what rancid plague descended upon his cucumbers and tomatoes for this to be the end result.
- I recently splurged on an original copy of Contra 3 on SNES, which I've started grinding a run of every day or so until I'm good enough to clear a normal-difficulty run. Save states really do hurt your enjoyment of these games, I think. Sure, I could've blasted my way through the entire franchise by the time it'll take me to clear this, but I wouldn't be triumphantly shouting "Did you fucking see how I locked in for that!?" to my partner (they did not. Why would they ever be watching me play Contra 3 so intently.)
Cognitive Enrichment
- A few weeks ago, I let a library loan build up on me too far and had to speed-read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine and C. Thi Nguyen's The Score in about a week. Sad to say I have not been reading much since. I have quite a bit on my next-up-shelf, so please yell at Ape if this section is empty next week.
Visual Enrichment
- Rewatched Eraserhead, showing it to my partner for the first time. Predictably for myself, still one of my favorite movies ever. Anxious, gormless Jack Nance is a sleeper hit for a "literally me" character. Partner had a very interesting reading to the tune of "this is basically how the world always feels to an autistic person". Gorgeous sound design, beautiful 4k scan. 100% worth the Criterion splurge.
- A lot of Youtube brainrot. I keep watching a streamer named GrandPooBear attempt a challenge where he tries to play through 50 random Super Mario Maker 2 maps in a row without dying once. Also been watching various people play Archipelago Randomizers, usually with each-other, sometimes solo. Coincidentally, GrandPooBear does a lot of these too. My partner says I have developed an obsession with this man. I think I just really like video games.
Auditory Enrichment
- I've been slacking a ton on my "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" challenge. Pretty much only listening to the old & familiar right now.
- Partner and I saw Streetlight Manifesto in concert. Happy to say that they absolutely fucking rip. An incredibly talented group of musicians who never once take their foot off the gas.
Social Enrichment
- The 18th was an off-week for our biweekly Secret of the Black Crag in GURPS, Session 4 on the 11th but was wonderfully out-of-control. A few unlucky rolls resulted in a frantic bout against a horde of swashbuckling capuchins, who managed to take the party captive. Their leader, a giant talking gorilla named Cap'n, has recruited them to retrieve a shiny gem from a dangerous chamber of the temple. Quite excited to run the next one this upcoming Friday.
- I've completed my part of the Archipelago Randomizer I organized with my friends. My games were Super Metroid and Sonic Adventure: DX. I had a much better time with Metroid, mostly due to a poor configuration of Sonic that left me blocked off from progress for quite a while. At its peak, this was some of the most fun I've had in months. It took me back to when my high school friends would sit on a Skype call for hours playing whatever the hell we wanted to and shooting the shit. Learning some speedrun tech for Super Metroid (mockball and mochtroid ice clip) to progress was a highlight.
Despite a lot of Human Life Stress, this was a good week for Ape.