Closing out August/September Plans

Hey guys!

So, this month has been a rollercoaster in pretty much every way. Some of this is great, some of this is awful, but in life, you gotta take the good with the bad and move forward regardless. Just like in speedrunning, nothing is ever perfect.

That being said, let's talk about speedrunning for a bit. The Super Mario Sunshine challenge, simply put, was a failure. I believe sub 1:20 in a month is entirely possible, and even though I know I have the skill and determination to do it, I don't have the stamina. Sunshine is too brutal of a game for me to run for extended periods of time, since it caused massive wrist pain after putting in roughly 50 hours of practice in a week's time. I might go back to this game in time, but I'm more concerned with my ability to play piano and my future as a musician than I am with my future as a Sunshine runner, so if I have to stop playing SMS permanently, I won't be heartbroken. My punishment for failure will be wearing the Halloween costume of TonesBalones' choice, which I'm actually pretty excited for. In case you couldn't tell, I love making a fool out of myself.

Going forward, I've been bouncing around from category to category for a bit. I feel a tad lost right now, since I have no goals that are as huge right now as getting a 31 in UYA NG+ was. I'm working on rac1 All Gold Bolts at the moment, which is a hell of a lot of fun, so I might roll with that for a bit. I still want to do the following in the near future:

-Reclaim All Platinum Bolts WR (rac2)
-Get sub 30 in NG+ No Specials (rac2)
-Get low/sub 57 in UYA any%
-All Trilogy Bolt runs (rac1, 2, uya all bolts)
-Ratchet: A Crack in Time NG+

I dunno, it's all very scattered right now. I'm trying to spend as much time speedrunning as I put into growing my channel, but I could be doing so much more on both ends. Expect a massive overhaul of my channel in the near future. I haven't known the exact direction I want to take my channel, but I need to start by giving my channel description proper banners and designing a layout that matches exactly what I want my channel to represent. It'll take time to turn my channel into everything I want it to be, but I so greatly appreciate everyone who has been watching me regardless. Y'all mean more to me than I can ever express through words. <3

Speaking of channel updates, here's the September stream schedule!

September 2016:

Sunday: Start at 2 pm EDT
Monday: Start at 12 pm EDT
Tuesday: Day off
Wednesday: Start at 12 pm EDT
Thursday: 9am-12pm, then 2pm-5pm
Friday: Start at 12 pm EDT
Saturday: Start at 6 pm EDT

This one is a bit more experimental from past months, and I might adjust it on the fly depending on how things turn out. Thursdays are interrupted because I teach a piano lesson at 1pm. The possibility of a night stream on any of these days is also available.

Other life updates:

-I'm starting voice lessons again!
-I'm applying to graduate schools for opera!
-I'm in the process of purchasing a gym membership! (Current weight: 135 lbs, Goal weight for 2016: 150 lbs)
-For the 2016-17 season, I'm going to be involved in two shows with Pittsburgh Opera, three shows with Pittsburgh Camerata, and regular services with a local (paid!) chancel choir!
-I'm regularly playing piano again!
-I've been writing poems and music! My goal is one poem a day, and at least one full piece of music written a month. That's a bit hard to do, and I'm also really bad at words, but you can follow my progress here: http://surrealistforaspell.tumblr.com/
-I'm going to get Twitch Partner if it kills me

That's pretty much it for now. If you've read this whole thing, I owe you a hug. Keep being amazing; our time on this earth is too short to be anything less than that.

Until next time,

Scott
"Xem"