The Diary Game – 3 July 2020

Hello everyone! Again, I was recruited by @cmp2020. I’m excited to be writing my third entry for the Diary Game. I’m really glad that I decided to join it because it has helped me write more and I hope that, when it’s over, it will encourage me to consistently write in my personal journal (which I haven’t done a great job of doing this past year). Also, I will say that I am slightly annoyed because I started writing this entry last night (actually on July 3rd), I closed my laptop for the night, and I woke up and what I had already written didn’t save. I had written out bullet-points about my day so that I wouldn’t forget what I did when I planned to finish the entry today (July 4th). Unfortunately, I have to start from scratch, so hopefully I’ll remember everything that I did.

My Day

Casey sleeping on the couch

I woke up around 11am and immediately got to work finishing July 2nd’s diary entry. After posting it, I went downstairs and sat on the couch with my cat Casey. He was rather cute. I then got up and had a croissant and two mini-bagels (toasted with butter).

At this point, @cmp2020 reminded me that the weekly Discussion Post (on favorite Disney movies) was ending later in the day. I had been meaning to respond to this post but had procrastinating (and contemplating how I would choose my favorite Disney movie). This was a really great discussion post, and I definitely recommend that you check them out!

After playing a few phone games (the daily challenges that I mentioned in the July 2nd diary entry), I joined a call with @cmp2020 to play Minecraft Bed Wars. Honesty, it’s a lot of fun. I’m not very good at playing, but I still enjoy myself (most of the time—I can be very competitive). Christopher and I played in “doubles” mode where we are teammates against seven other pairs. We played for almost two hours.

Me doing the lower body workout

I went from playing video games to exercising. My sister and I completed the third day of the Chloe Ting 2-Week Shred Challenge. This day’s workouts consisted of four videos: full body, abs, lower body, more abs. I am definitely getting sore from these workouts, but it also feels good to be exercising again.

Day 3 Workouts

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After taking a shower (I had to wait for my sister to take a shower first), I went to the basement in order to set up Disney+. Due to a complicated system (that I don't really understand), just last week I figured out a way to cast my laptop through the DVD player so that the sound would come through the high-quality system. Should I have thought of this idea sooner since it seems rather simple? Probably. But I’m not the most tech-savvy (or tech-aware) person.

Anyway, I was pulling up Disney+ so that my family could watch the recorded version of Hamilton! Hamilton is truly an astounding show. It has great characters; it has great music and lyrics (seriously—the lyrics!); it has great costumes; it has great set design; it has great lighting; it has great relevance; it has great performers. Basically, everything about it is superb. I know that what I’m saying probably just sounds like “buying into” the craze, the cultural phenomenon. But I truly believe that Hamilton deserves its hype. And besides, I didn’t always think that.

As someone interested in musical theater, I would say that I’m aware of a lot of shows (even if I’m not actually familiar with them). When Hamilton premiered five years ago, I was aware of it. I saw the hype around it start to build, and I didn’t join in. From what my friends had told me and from what I had gathered myself, Hamilton was a lot of rap. And I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of rap (I appreciate rap that isn’t just about sex and drugs and that doesn’t have a deafening bass line), so I was put off. I didn’t really want to listen. Eventually, though, it became impossible not to listen. I was curious—and a bit skeptical. After my first listen, I was in awe. It gave me a whole new appreciation for rap and hip-hop. And I decided that my assumption was wrong that it was JUST a lot of rap. Hamilton is much more than that. I listened to the soundtrack again and again, and, upon each listen, I picked up on new ingenuities (and I figured out what the plot was) such as the amazing word-play utilized and the fact that many of the actors play two characters (a different one in each act). Since then, Hamilton continues to impress and intrigue me. I was lucky enough to get the chance to see a live production of Hamilton last September when it came to Philadelphia. Even though it was a completely different cast, I was blown away. And now, I would get the chance to see the ORIGINAL cast (in case you didn’t know, seven of the cast members were nominated for Tony awards and three of them won in their respective categories).

Getting ready to watch Hamilton

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My family and I ate our dinner, and then sat down to watch Hamilton. It was fantastic! It was really interesting to see close-up footage of characters because there are so many little details that you miss when you’re in an audience. I could probably watch this recording a dozen times and still find countless new details. Also, it amazes me that this produced version of Hamilton comes from three different recordings: two from live shows and one from a dress rehearsal. I would never have guessed that it wasn’t just one fluid performance. I could not tell you at all when the performance changed (which I know is the point), so I give major props to the editors behind this production. They made it all look so seamless.

The show is 2 hours and 40 minutes, so it took us to about 10pm. Since my laptop was hooked up still, I decided to show my parents some features on DC Universe, a streaming platform for all things DC—shows, movies, comics, new content, commentary, community. I pointed out some of the original content that DC Universe produced, including Season 3 of Young Justice (one of my favorite shows).

My physical copy of the Young Justice comics (issues # 0-6)

Before I go on, a (somewhat) brief tangent: Young Justice first aired in 2010 on Cartoon Network. It had two seasons on that channel before being cancelled in 2013 due to a pulled sponsor. But the fans never gave up on the show. In late 2016, Warner Bros. picked up the show, and production started the next year. Season 3 would air exclusively on DC Universe beginning in January 2019. Season 3 was released in two parts (half throughout January and half throughout June). I watched part one with my parents when the episodes were released. However, due to busy schedules and a build-up of DVR-recorded shows, we didn’t get around to finishing the season together. I ended up finishing it on my own, but I still plan on watching the rest of it with my parents.

Now, back to the basement. I briefly discussed watching Season 3 with my parents before showing them some of the Young Justice comics that were released alongside the show (which are on DC Universe digitally, as are the other comics). I explained that these comics filled in some of the gaps of the show (the comics stopped towards the end of Season 2 when the show was being cancelled).

The results of two games of "Word Racer" on Houseparty (I'll admit, @cmp2020 won some games, too)

My parents turned in for the night. I talked to Christopher at 10:30pm on Houseparty. We played some of the games offered through the app (“Word Racer,” “Trivia,” and “Quick Draw”). After we hung up, I watched an episode of Boy Meets World and went to bed.