What has become way too expensive?

https://thecoffeemonsterzco.com/blogs/midnight-blogging/journaling-prompts

And I’m not talking about “in general” just to have an easy answer without focusing on a specific area.

The point is simple.

Living, REALLY living, means leading a fulfilling and enjoyable life. Here in the (not so great) United States, that used to mean working a job that pays all your bills, puts food on the table, and allows you to chase your dreams of home ownership, family development, vacations, hobbies, and retirement. The “American Dream” that we used to hear about.

Now most of us work just to make ends meet in thankless, soul crushing jobs (sometimes two or even three) and have no hope of escaping that cycle.

It reminds me of one of those posters you might see at a mechanics garage or in a truck stop diner. Three options: fast, cheap/affordable, and quality; but you can only pick two. Except the problem is now split into different areas (hobbies, family, futures, etc.) that all use the same three options: energy, money, and time; but the kicker is you’re only guaranteed one of those things.

Maybe two, if you’re lucky.

If you could pick any view to see from your bedroom window, what would you pick? (e.g. a meadow with cows)

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I’m torn between a few options.

The two that I don’t feel as strongly about would be a view overlooking downtown, or a beach with a couple of palm trees.

The one I have the strongest pull towards would be looking out through some evergreens at a lake in a valley. I’m always drawn to the mountain scenery.

What are your immediate thoughts when you pass a homeless person?

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My immediate thoughts are usually about what kinds of choices may have led them to their current situation. Would they have the ability to return to a normal life, if given the chance?

Do you prefer paperback or hardback books?

https://thecoffeemonsterzco.com/blogs/midnight-blogging/journaling-prompts

I don’t have much to say for today’s prompt because it’s a fairly simple answer: I just like having a book in my hands rather than reading digitally.

I’ve probably owned more paperback books than hardback, but that’s likely just because of cost or availability.

What do you hope to achieve this year?

https://thecoffeemonsterzco.com/blogs/midnight-blogging/journaling-prompts

Probably the same things I hope to achieve every year.

Go to the gym more often, eat better, and lose weight. Keep writing and maybe finish a novel or two.

Something I’ll try to do a little differently from the last couple of years is read more. I don’t read as many books as I used to, on account of the hours upon hours of games I choose to play instead. This means I’m going to be a lot more selective of the games I choose to play this year, which may be difficult with the Nintendo Switch 2 supposedly releasing in the relatively near future.

I suppose one other thing I’ll put more effort into is finding a place of my own and moving out of my roommates house (finally.)

Who knows, though, where the year will take us!

What is something silly you believed to be true as a child?

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Growing up in Colorado, kids usually have a solid sense of direction as long as they can see the mountains. The sun always sets in the western skyline, obscured by the peaks, and to find North all you had to do was use your eyes to follow the range as far to your right as you could. You never needed a compass! (Unless you were hiking in the mountains, because duh.)

Well, this particular thing I believed (briefly) is from one of my earliest memories of traveling to see family who lived in Washington. I’m not sure exactly how my brain made these connections, but it involves something my older brother said some time before the trip. He said something along the lines of “once we get over the mountains they’ll be in the East instead of West” and my brain translated this to mean “on the other side of the mountains, East and West switch places, because the mountains are always to our West” right before filing it away.

So, little kid me, for a long while, just had this piece of directional misinformation tucked away in my brain. The mountains were somehow a magical dividing line for compasses and directions.

Skip to my family flying from Denver to Seattle, and I got the window seat on the right side of the plane. It was one of the rare times in the Pacific Northwest where the sun is peeking through the clouds and lighting up the western slopes of the Cascade Range. I saw the mountains and excitedly pointed them out to my brother. It was then that I thought to regurgitate what he had told me previously, probably in an effort to impress him, and said something to the effect of “look, the mountains are to our West still because like you said, once we get over them East and West switch places!”

He looked very confused and tried to re-explain what he said before, and after it all clicked it left me feeling a little deflated and defeated for the rest of the flight.

I didn’t have to believe it for long, but it’s something I’ll never forget having thought was true about our world.

Do you prefer hosting or going over to someone else’s house?

https://thecoffeemonsterzco.com/blogs/midnight-blogging/journaling-prompts

First thing I’d like to cover quickly, this prompt is actually for January 16th, and I ended up having what I call a “nap-cident” because I went to have a nap after work but instead slept clear until midnight. So, unless backdating the publish date of this post counts, another writing streak is ruined. Oops.

Unfortunately, in the case of my wish to host others for things like dinner and game nights, I have roommates who have a toddler and multiple pets. This makes hosting any kind of get together nearly impossible.

The day I get my own place again, hopefully a house, I’ll likely be hosting game nights for friends and co-workers. Fingers crossed that day is sooner rather than later!

If you suddenly received 1000USD and had to spend it within 30 minutes, how would you spend it? (Cannot be deposited nor invested in the stock market)

https://thecoffeemonsterzco.com/blogs/midnight-blogging/journaling-prompts

Easy! Trading cards. Magic: The Gathering cards, specifically.

My roommate and I did some rough math right before my recent vacation, and realized that there have been so many Commander decks released in just 2024 that the total cost, if averaged out across all of them, would be around $1,000!

Done deal.