A weekly status update from everyone’s favourite caffeinated weirdo.

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Welcome back to Whatcha Up To! Coffee here, and here’s to the end of another we- wait sorry, YEAR. That’s right, 2024 is done and over, thank goodness for that! In all honesty and despite lots of good things happening, 2024 was mentally a rough year. I got two short stories published (yay!) but didn’t get a lot done for my personal projects (boo!). I was busy at work, but I took my project work and the lack of wins in my department way too seriously. I put a lot of pressure on myself to get Book 2 finished for 2024 and it only killed my motivation to write it. All of this and more caused me to burn out spectacularly around my birthday. I spent the rest of the year recovering and reflecting on what went wrong.

2025 will be the year where I stop getting so wound up about things I have no control over. It’ll be the year where I take more breaks and feel no guilt for doing so. It’ll be the year where I learn to better myself for myself and not to make a quick buck. I’ll write more. I’ll read more. I’ll train more. I’ll enjoy this year more. That’s the plan this time around.

So, let’s recap what’s been going on this past month:

Whatcha Playin’, Coffee?

Finished Super Mario RPG and then swapped it with Detective Pikachu Returns. It’s a simple Phoenix Wright style of game with PS1/PS2-level animations. Kid Espresso and I found it to be fun. I also finished the Pokémon TCG for the Game Boy, which was much more fun that Detective Pikachu. Seriously, Haymaker decks RULE. 

With Pokémon thoroughly played out, I switched back to some Sega Genesis games. By some random occurrence, I beat the enhanced Space Harrier II port that was exclusive to the Genesis Mini 2. I actually had a good time with it! I also managed to beat Bonanza Bros. right before the year ended. I had to adjust my mindset to beat that one, but it’s done! I’m now working on the big Sega RPGs that I missed out on, starting with Shining Force. I can definitely see and understand the hype some people have for this game, it’s actually a lot of fun!

Looking back at the backlog, I’ve finished 24 games this year. As of writing, I now have 70 games to go. That’s mainly thanks to me retiring a bunch of titles that I just don’t have interest in. I’m sure I’ll retire a whole bunch more before January really starts, given my interests. I’m going to focus on the remaining RPGs that are on my backlog for the first half of the year. After that, I feel like I can safely resume buying new games and start replaying some of the older titles that I’ve grown fond of.

I want to send a big shout out to my darling little Miyoo Mini emulator for helping with the backlog this year. Seriously, this thing is awesome! It’s been extremely helpful for backlog busting. Also, big shout out to my cousin, who gave me another one of his old PCs for me to use. I just finished setting it up and I’ll be using it to complete the rest of my Steam backlog. I’m a bit emotional about the old one, but I’ll be using it to teach the kiddos the wonderful world of PC building! 

Whatcha Writin’, Coffee?

I managed to get to Chapter 29 by the end of the year. I was gunning for 30, but oh well. I feel like I’m on a good roll with the story now. I won’t put a timeline for publication; I’m just going to enjoy the process right now. I’m currently setting things up for the next arc.

I’ve joined another short story anthology with a neat premise: Arthurian legend, but in the Wild West. We have to engage in some worldbuilding first before we can get down to writing the stories. This should be an interesting challenge. I’ll keep you all posted with updates.

As for the blog, I’ll continue working on Backlog Busting posts. I’m going to write them in a more simplified format than before to better churn them out. 

The key for this year will be setting up a good writing routine. The plan right now is to write for ten minutes a day at a minimum. Story, or blog posts, or whatever – doesn’t matter, so long as I write something at least.

Whatcha Readin’, Coffee?

For 2025, I’m going to see just how many books I can read in one year. I don’t have a goal in mind, but Mrs. Coffee thinks I can reach 100. So far, I’ve finished one: A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny. Started it on the morning of New Year’s Eve and finished it by roughly 2 am New Year’s Day. It’s a murder mystery set in the tiny Quebecois village of Three Pines and is part of an ongoing series that spans nearly 20 books. This one was the second in the series and it was pretty awesome. Phoenix Wright fans will feel right at home with this series.

Next up is The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri. It’s a high fantasy tale that uses Hinduism as inspiration for its world. As my original story uses the same or similar elements, it’s a good opportunity to see what works in my world building process and what I need to work on.

How’s Trainin’, Coffee?

We are so back with training, folks. I’ve developed a new training program that relies less on following videos and more on getting more done in less time. 

Essentially, it’s two days of heavy lifting, two days of body weight exercises for conditioning, two days of cardio through walking and one day of active rest. The heavy days are split between upper and lower body workouts. I’m doing countdown rounds for the conditioning days with the counts increasing each week. Finally, 30 minutes of walking on the cardio days, with the aim to eventually wear a weighted vest during those walks. I did a test run this week and the results look promising. I’m aiming to tweak the program in March based on the results of the next three months.

The biggest key to success will be establishing a daily and nightly stretching habit. Stretching has always been a problem for me; my poor performance has been predominantly caused by a lack of stretching. The second biggest key will be how I manage my expectations when I inevitably veer off course with this, because of course it will happen. Life always gets in the way. But I figure that mastering the first key will help with the second. We will see!

That’s it for what’s been happening recently. Anything new on your end? Let me know below. Happy New Year to everyone! Let’s make 2025 a great one!

~Coffee