“In 1999, I built a Windows tower so I could play Quake. In 2024, I’m doing it so I can own something again.”
— Wing

🎉 New Year, Old Ritual

While the world counted down with TikTok filters and AI-generated fireworks, I was unpacking anti-static bags and clicking RAM sticks into place.

No champagne. Just cable ties.

Because this year—for the first time in a long time—I got myself a Windows desktop.

“There was a time you could build a whole synth from a parts bin at Halted. Now I need a VPN just to find an ATmega chip that isn’t counterfeit.”
— Wing

🧰 Building in 2023: Less Maker, More Forager

Remember when you could order a dev board from SparkFun, slap in a few passives from Digi-Key, and have your blinking prototype up by the weekend?

Now it’s:

• “Backordered until Q4.”
• “MOQ: 3,000 units.”
• “This product is discontinued due to global constraints.”

And half the eBay listings look like someone printed a screenshot of a datasheet and sold it as a module.

“June used to mean letting go. Now it feels like one more upload queue.”
— Wing

June used to have a shape.

Long shadows across sidewalks. The smell of plastic binders shoved into cardboard boxes. The static buzz of CRTs fading as schools powered down. You knew what June meant—an exhale.

But in 2023? The line between months is blurry. You don’t log off. You optimize.

🌞 Summer, Rebranded

Remember when “summer break” was a thing?