I just bought a Switch yesterday bc there is nothing good left on streaming and my first thought was "I don't like the way this thing looks sitting next to a TV". I may have to enter this contest https://cults3d.com/en/contests/3d-printing-video-games-accessories

What's funny about this is I spent a bunch of time and money setting up a maxed out PC gaming rig in 2020 and then never really used it, I installed a bunch of stuff and spent lots of time upgrading it and then never really played any games other than Goat Simulator. It had no appeal to me when the world was shut down. Now that stuff is back in full swing, mindless entertainment has a lot more appeal to my burned-out brain. And the Switch is just way better for that than PC gaming.

@h_thoreson My dad used to have this theory about people building things they really want: It is really the process of creation they enjoy, which is why so many build dream homes they then sell immediately.
I've definitely had that with PCs and *things* too; the enjoyment of thinking "This is the thing that I will enjoy and make use of" Then two weeks later it is just..stuff.

Although your point about the feelings around the world being shut down is also very relatable. It sucked out the joy

@sullybiker Oh my god, you nailed it. I am also a person that like, bought this architecturally amazing mess of a property and has spent 2 years now turning it into my dream house or whatever and I'm finding the very end of that project to be the most frustrating piece. Now it's like living in a big art project or something and it's like, amazing, but also in retrospect I mostly just wanted a big stupid project and now nothing else will ever live up to it until I find some new big stupid project

@h_thoreson I remember when I first got into photography and wanted the shiny and expensive bits of kit there was always this thought that "this item will be the thing that makes everything amazing" and then you have it and the rivers run with chocolate milk and it rains gold pennies but a little while later THERE IS ANOTHER THING THAT WILL MAKE YOU WHOLE.

I'm laughing at myself because there are entire philosophical movements that figured this out about 1000s of years ago.

@sullybiker My sister Kate majored in philosophy and then went to Harvard for law school. She constantly responds to my ramblings with stuff like "desire is the root of all suffering" and I am like, yeah probably but I'm still going to do that anyway. I feel reasonably certain I could spend an entire summer living with Tibetan monks in the Himalayas with no internet and nobody to compare myself to and come out on the other side wishing I had taken better pictures with my mirrorless camera.