✴️ First: A little backstory

I’m old, so I started gaming with the NES. My favorite franchises and games are still from the 8bit platformer era of games.

I remember in 1988 or 89, digging through a Nintendo Power Magazine, that a company called NEC was creating games in 64-bit. They weren’t console games, just arcade games¹ and I remember thinking, holy shit. This changes everything!. I was 10 and my cousin² and I would game all day, all night when his family came to town. His little sister would want to do anything else, and we were using the Contra cheat code we found in Nintendo Power to get 99 extra lives or where the 1UPs were in Super Mario Bros 3.

I was good. I was good because I played everyday. Every damn day.

We went to see The Wizard, a movie sponsored by Nintendo³ where a kid breaks his brother out of a mental institution only to find out he was exceptional at video games. They travel across the country to go to the World Video Games Championship where the young boy beats out the crew’s arch nemesis and win $50,000. This is just a basic overview; they picked up a runaway girl on the way. The only cast member I know the name of is Fred Savage because he was in my favorite show as a kid, The Wonder Years.

Anyway, I dreamt of going to the Nintendo World Championship and showing my chops. I was a bit arrogant about my skills but I truly was great at video games.

They were an escape for me. The worse the depression and my home life got, the more I wrapped myself in the comfort of Super Mario Bros and Zelda.

Fast forward to the year 2001. I am home for Christmas and that same cousin has a PlayStation 2. I was lost. I didn’t like any of it. I didn’t know the controls, I was foggy as far as my brain and mental health goes, and Grand Turismo is not the right game to get back into gaming shape, especially with more controls, like the left and right joysticks and a bunch of new buttons.

I played for a little while and left gaming altogether.

4 years later I picked up a GameBoy Advance SP and began playing MegaMan games which were kinda like Pokemon rip offs but I had never played Pokemon so I was none the wiser. I played these games all day and all night.

I was in my mid twenties, had no job, and wasn’t really able to work at all. I was really not well mentally. I was going to a partial hospitalization program to get more intensive care, and even there, I played the GBA SP during breaks, during therapy sessions. I had a buddy who played it too, he was a few years younger. But we played through the whole day.

When I got well enough and started going back to school, I found that the GBA SP was taking away from my studies. I was a physics major at that time and that shit is hard and I needed time to dedicate to it.

I gave my GBA SP to my ex boyfriend and went on with my life.

But I still missed gaming.

My mom picked up a PS2 for me right after the PS3 came out. She wouldn’t have been able to afford the PS3 so I asked for the PS2.

I would go up to a friend’s apartment and watch him play Madden 05 and I decided I wanted back in.

So I got a PS2.

And I loved it.

I played Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Castlevania Curse of Darkness, all the Splinter Cells and Metal Gear Solids. I. Was fucking. Hooked.

PS3 anyone?

One of my friends got a massive payout from Social Security after having to reapply after being unfairly laid off by GoodWill. It was my birthday, 2009. He asked me what I wanted. I hedged a bit; the PS3 was still pretty expensive. He told me not to worry about it. So I got it⁴.

I was gaming almost non-stop, while going to school, and moving to Pittsburgh. I gamed in Pittsburgh, a lot. Too much. And I sold my PS3 and games⁵ and dedicated my time to writing then coding.

Pandemic

I got laid off last year. I had more time that ever before to sit and think. I kept applying to jobs, getting nibbles, code challenges and failing them or not doing well enough to land a job. I decided I needed to buy a console to de-stress. I knew that I was responsible enough to balance my time between gaming and doing actual work, something I wasn’t able to do when I was younger.

So I picked up a PS4. And I plan to blog about the games I’m playing over at the Game Reviews page on this blog.

       

But as I worked and then stopped, I was able to bring things into the apartment to make it my own; I got a couch, a number of HomePods, a dresser for my bedroom, a couple essential oil diffusers, bag hooks, more camera gear, and so much more. I made it mine and I can honestly say I want to be here, now and for the foreseeable future.

       

EDIT

       

       

       

       

I bought a Series 1 right before the Series 3 came out. I had to move when I bought it, up and move 200 miles back home. I needed to save as my internship was ending. It was a clusterfuck, a crescendo of misfortune culaminating in a nervous breakdown in August of 2018, only 4 months after I moved back home.

The Series 1 was fine enough. I wasn’t exercising much at all. I wore it occasionally because it was slow and I just didn’t see the point.

I bought one extra band at that time. That was the exent of my Apple Watch Love Affair.

The need to exercise and EOL of Apple Watch Series 1

I have gained an incredible amount of weight in these past 5 years. Mental health breakdowns and poverty led to me making some pretty bad choices and diving into programming I forgot just how much lifting weights meant to not only my physical health but my mental health as well.

Fast foward a couple years and a number on the scale that scared me and I’ve been exercising. I decided to get a new Apple Watch because of it and because of my inkling that the Series 1 would no longer receive updates¹.

The Series 5 is amazing. I still don’t remember to wear it everyday; the pandemic made sure that I wouldn’t as there’s nowhere to go. But once the gym reopened I’ve been wearing it each time I go, or if I go anywhere at all.

       

10 bands, 50 bands, 100 bands, let’s just not even discuss it man

I don’t know what made me do it, perhaps me getting into training shoe obsessions, but I bought all kinds of bands…

Shoesss

       

       

BANDS

I am kind of addicted to matching the bands with what I am wearing. I’ve only bought one Apple branded band. The rest are cheapies from Amazon.

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

The 2018 Mac Mini…

       

I’ve waited so long to upgrade and was finally able to afford it. My 2015 iMac had a Fusion Drive and it was slow as molasses. I am so happy!!

HomePod mania

I have gone HAM on HomePods. The sales on HomePods have been ridiculous so I picked up three more³.

I have two in my office. When paired, they are named, StereoPods⁴.

In the living room, I have a HomePod by the TV and one on a stand by the couch. When these are paired they are TVPods…

New look office

It’s coming along!

       

       

       

       

New look living room

       

       

       

       

       

Getting there

These are the most exciting parts of the apartment, the places I spend the most time. My bedroom is just meh. The bathrooms have tech in them but they’re bathrooms and completely irrelevant.

I like it here. I still long for my last place but I am here now and I like it.

Names:

• Mac & iOS Tips for Non-Traditional Students
• The Class Apple Nerd
• That Apple Nerd
• That Mac Nerd
• …to tiffany.blog

I originally hosted the blog on Wordpress.com and was happy with it. I hosted my Code Newbie blog there too. I upgraded to the self-hosted option shortly after I launched the site and off I went.

Narrow niche

Non-traditional students who love Apple devices was about as niche as you could get. After someone pointed out to me how stilted the name sounded and how bad the URL was¹ I decided I’d switch it up.

I was going to Pitt at the time studying computer science and had just purchased my first Mac, iPad, and iPhone and wanted to share with other oldheads how you could use them to Get Real Work Done™.

Yes, it was a bad idea but I was new to the ecosystem and really excited about how productive I was on the platform.

Copying trends

First, there was The Class Mac Nerd². I copied everything, even the little Happy Mac icon:

       

Tired of being too much of a copycat, I went with That Mac Nerd. I started to blog about apps and productivity, even trying to be a breaking Apple news site much like Daring Fireball or MacStories.

The endless Apple Pundit rat race

It became all too much. So much so that I quit the blog entirely though that only lasted a couple months. After hopping over to micro.blog and getting into the IndieWeb did I know what I wanted for this blog: a place to talk about whatever I want. End of.

The Apple Pundit space is crowded and I want no parts of it.

This style suits me.

Glad you’ve come along for the ride.

The video below inspired me to fix up my own YouTube Studio.

New studio

Before:

       

After:

       

       

       

       

Filmmaking

COVID has screwed up everything; my time at the gym, my time with friends, my filmmaking and vlogging endeavors, and my job search. It’s hell.

I look at my gear shelf and get happy. It’s something I enjoy and something I am still terrible at. My latest vlog has 10 views with terrible color grading and all.

Still learning, still growing.

My websites for all of this:

T. R. White Photos & Films

Distinguished Fat Loss

Tiff., my short films YouTube channel

Weight loss/gym vlog:

What I really want to talk about here is filmmaking and how much I love doing it, more specifically editing².

Early fun

When I started to get really into computers I was doing the online dating thing and would create just random talking videos for the guy I was talking to. I was young but not super young, around 27, 28. I would fire up the webcam and ramble³ and would edit them in Windows Movie Maker⁴. I thoroughly enjoyed editing those videos. I’d make random videos from pictures even, and edit them in WMM. I was, and still am, a creative in many ways. Writing was a thing I did really well and thought I’d make a career. But I was below the poverty line and desperate to get out so I switched things back up to my first love, tech, and decided I’d learn to code. This turned out to be wise but while it’s a cerebral and logical endeavor, the itch to tell stories was still there for me. I’d bought cameras before and shot some really lacking photos while I was just learning. I gravitate towards realism and street photography is perhaps my favorite genre though one time I captured a couple drug addicts in Pittsburgh and it didn’t go over well⁵.

Still, I wanted to shoot video and tell gritty stories, much like the stories I’d written.

Bought the gear

I have bought a metric fuckton of gear over the past year. I am not saying it is expensive or anything like that. It’s all relatively inexpensive⁶ and works for now. I’d like to upgrade eventually but for now I need to worry about finding work after this project is finished.

Some ramblin about gear

I ramble a bit in these videos but I like what I’ve got; my gear rack is one of my favorite parts of this office/studio.

The channels?

Yeah I have Tiff Talks Tech - website, YouTube and Distinguished Fat Loss - website, YouTube.

I am part of the #nosmallcreator group on Facebook and it is wonderful.

COVID-19 has pretty much put a damper on my filming for a while⁷ but I look forward to getting back to it.

Just a little clip of this, below.

I’m really bad at just sharing my random thoughts on a blog. I see others doing it but I don’t think I can. I’m more of a writer in that way.

My mom and I have a long, documented, tumultuous history between us. It’s been rough. I won’t get into it here but it was bad. Really bad.

There were times people asked me why I didn’t just cut her off. I just couldn’t. She’s all I have.

Our relationship is exponentially better than it has ever been. So when I got this job, I knew I wanted to give her something. Not the usual something; a gift card to Applebee’s or the movies. I have money now, so it was time to do better.

And I did.

This video makes me smile, quite broadly. If you have or have had a strained relationship with a parent, you get it.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do¹.