Happy New Year everyone!!! Now that we’ve entered 2025, it’s time for us to get back into the swing of things after the slew of holiday busyness! I hope that your 2024 was fun and exciting (and boy did it go by fast).

My New Year’s resolution is to eat less sugar and to go out more consistently. This past couple months I’ve been going to the gym a few times a week and I have cut down on sugar by only having one sweet thing a day, and I feel a lot better physically and mentally (wow people were not kidding). I’ve also been walking more thanks to Pikmin Bloom (more on that later). Thanks for checking out this edition of the newsletter!

A Day in the Life

Downtown Los Angeles is the home to many, many cultural landmarks, like the Angels Flight railway that travels a very short distance vertically. It’s a popular tourist attraction, and might be helpful for those who have trouble traversing the hilly concrete landscape of LA. Originally built in 1901, the Angels Flight has a tumultuous history as it moved locations in 1996, and then shut down in 2001, 2011, and 2013 due to accidents. The ride has reopened in 2017 and has been running since. At the bottom lies Grand Central Market, which houses a plethora of delicious restaurants.

Evan’s Picks:

God Complex / La Da Da is Prince Daddy & The Hyena’s latest single, released on October 24, 2024. Both songs follow a similar power-pop/pop-punk sound as their previous self-titled album. Keeping it short and sweet (Tony Molina/Ovens style), both songs total just under 4 minutes, but stick with you well after the fact. If you like distorted power chords and catchy melodies, this is for you.

“Cause there's no one who's supposed to
Just sit back and love you”

The comic I’m currently reading (thanks to Hoopla’s free digital comic library) is Benjamin Percy’s 2020 Wolverine run. I don’t think I need to tell you anything more about Wolverine, but this comic takes place in the Marvel Universe. You follow Wolverine in his crazy adventures (dude just gets into situations) where he claws his way through drug smugglers, vampires, mercenaries, and more. Doesn’t delve too deep into the heavier themes of the X-Men world, but it doesn’t have to - this comic is filled to the brim with violence, familiar characters, and fun banter.

If you found the concept of Pokémon Go to be fun, but the game far too distracting or addictive, then Niantic’s other Nintendo themed game, Pikmin Bloom, might be for you! Pikmin Bloom’s gameplay loop almost completely requires you to walk around and explore! You grow Pikmin with steps, you plant flowers as you stroll, and you complete quests as you play! I’ve found that Pikmin Bloom is a perfect mix between fun and relaxing, and certainly gets me to go out and walk more than I would without it. I can’t tell you if the game will hold your attention in the future, it might be worth a shot if you need some motivation to get your legs moving- or if you already walk around a lot for work or school, then this might be perfect for you too! If you play already, you can add me as a friend with the code found below.

Your Picks:

Here’s what you had to say regarding your New Year’s resolutions!

“Get less addicted to my phone (currently failing this), slouch less, be ok with making mediocre emo shoegaze music” - j

Thank you again for reading and being a part of this newsletter! I hope that you have a great 2025!!! Bye ^_^

With love,
Evan <3