Hi Nemo. I couldn't stop myself from writing down some thoughts I had for you after listening to you in a few of your streams. I know you likely won't get a chance to read it since it's long, but it was just enjoyable for me to write anyway. You might want to check out the TLDR sentences someday for a few book and media picks if anything. Best wishes for a great 2023 Nemo.
Intro - On My First Time Checking Out Twitch
TLDR - I have to admit, learning about Twitch has been fascinating
I gave in and started watching Twitch for the first time around a couple weeks ago if you can believe it, partly to learn and understand what it's all about, including watching some of the chess side of it. I saw quite a bit of Anna Cramling's live tournament, as well as quite a bit of of your recent streams, starting with playing Jennifer, up until the one the day after your birthday. Even though I will likely find the resolve to stop watching Twitch, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to you and learning about you and your crazy mind, and here are some thoughts I had at different times.
1. On Classic Books And Learning
TLDR - You might like "Roots" or "A Tale Of Two Cities"
From what you were saying about the types of books you like, a couple had come to mind. If I remember correctly, you were talking about enjoying books that tell stories about people living at different times in history, and that you like learning something. "Roots" was a great book which stuck with me more than most, and which I learned more about history and perspective in one book than I ever learned in school. When I started reading, I also chose to read some classic novels. The way I thought of it was, why read some new book when I could read some of the best ever. I don't remember "A Tale Of Two Cities" quite as well, and it might be a little boring for you. But it was another one I read that I thought you might possibly learn something from. Also the last movie that I thought was a really good one was "The Banshees Of Inisherin". It was clearly about how some people handled living in a simpler time and a simpler place.
2. On Birthday Songs And Music
TLDR - You might check out "Happy Birthday, Johnny" by St. Vincent
On your birthday, you were asking about good birthday songs. I was checking out some different lists of birthday songs in general while you were streaming, or ones with 23 in them. The only song I liked enough and thought was worth recommending was "Happy Birthday, Johnny" by St. Vincent. I didn't know it before relistening to it while you were streaming, but it has the following lyric. "Happy New Year Johnny. Is it 23? Happy New Year Johnny. Are there lights on the trees?" I like the song though, and even though it's not a party song it could be worth checking out. As I was listening to it I thought it even had some parallels to your career, with St. Vincent being in the public eye.
3. On Your Unique Thoughts And Interests
TLDR - It was enjoyable listening to your wacky ideas
One of the reasons I think I started or bothered writing all of this was because of some unexpected thoughts and interests you brought up which I don't hear people talk like often. After you were talking about motorcycle riding, I had asked if you would go on a motorcycle if someone you had a crush on asked you, to test your resolve. But really, the funny thing to me was just that what you had been saying about not wanting to ride on motorcycles sounded like exactly what I might say. We're very different for sure, but I suppose I just wanted to let you know it was neat hearing someone randomly bringing up things like classic books and other random stuff. Your thoughts on not always appreciating an expensive meal was another one. And also thinking about making changes to your life, which I reply to a bit in another section. One that really made me happy for you and laugh was when you pulled out the wine reference book that you were happy to get. I have really enjoyed some of those types of books, like reference books basically. I no longer have it but I had gotten Bartending For Dummies for the same reasons. I mean I certainly didn't need to write a novel of a letter just because you said a few interesting things, but what is done is done 😉
4. On Your Myers-Briggs Type And Personality
TLDR - You might be interested in learning about Myers-Briggs personality types
One thing I like to do with people I've met sometimes is try to guess their Myers-Briggs type. In real life, it actually can take a little while. I was thinking that watching you or other people on Twitch for not that long is probably easier than real life I think. At least with someone as talkative as you 😉 My first guess for you would be ENTP and my second guess would be ENTJ. If you haven't done the test before it might be something to check out if you are interested. It's probably worth doing a couple different tests, and on different days or weeks apart before thinking you might be in one of the types. Anyway, other than guessing your type I just wondered if it would be something you were interested in reading about, as I was interested in it and reading about the different types could help us understand other people. I also heard you talking about yourself one day and your aptitude for pattern recognition over really being good at strategy. Know thyself, I thought to myself. You sure seem to know yourself and try to understand yourself better than most people do, which will serve you well Nemo.
5. On Leveling Up In Life And Long Comments
TLDR - Your leveling up idea is great and my comments are too long
OK here is where I knew I was in too deep, and that Twitch chatting with popular people might not be for me. I had prepared these things below to say at one point, and was like, OK settle down buddy. Nonetheless, your thoughts on leveling up in different areas of life were interesting. Anyway, I'll leave these crazy long comments as I had written them down, as I had again decided not to bother sending any of them. Take from these what you will or even ask yourself and ponder on the second question if you wish to think about what you really want to level up the most.
- Anyone have any thoughts about Nemo's cool idea of leveling up different life skills, or do you just think that's weird?
- Does anyone ever think of one thing you could improve most in yourselves to learn from your past mistakes and become a better person?
6. On Your Birthday And Playing Alex
TLDR - Felt for you not feeling like playing chess on your birthday
I went to watch your birthday stream and watched quite a bit of it, but couldn't find a good time or bring myself to say anything, and decided to just watch that day. At one point after watching you get into the game with Alex I was going to say "Merry Nemomas! I was going to apologize for Alex making you play rated chess on your birthday, but it looked like she's not as mean as she thinks she is." Because you beat her basically. Since you didn't seem that into the day or potentially losing rating to Alex before playing her, it was really nice to see Alex gift you subscribers, and maybe at least some rating with a game or two. I honestly could not tell after a few games if Alex might have given you any games on purpose for your birthday after the first game, but if she did you have to admit she's a pretty great person and friend, especially considering how competitive she is. But it was just good to see you get into it and enjoy playing and having fun after she seemingly talked you into playing rated chess on your birthday when you maybe didn't feel like it. But man, I feel for you trying to make a show for everyone all the time and sometimes even doing things you might rather not even feel like doing, especially on your birthday. But pretty nice of Alex and "BotezLive" for the subscribers if nothing else, though I still don't understand that fully.
7. On Big Life Choices And Growing Up
TLDR - You might like the "Up" documentary film series
There is an excellent series called Up or 7 Up that you might be interested in watching if you haven't seen it. This guy interviews children at every age starting from when they were 7, and they are up to 63 now. At age 21 one of the women is sitting there smoking, being defensive, irritable, and clearly did not want to talk or be involved. She's like I hate children, they suck. Then skip to her interview at 28 and she has children and could not be more happy and welcoming. It was like night and day, and one of the best of many examples in the series of how life can change drastically with time. Believe me, I do hate bringing up a particular example like having kids, or any big life choices, as it's obviously none of my business or anyone else's. Sorry, but it just reminded me of that as it was one of the things in the series that stood out so much to me. But really it's just a good excuse to recommend the series to you, and my point is more to think about life and changes in our lives in general at different ages.
8. On The Ups And Downs Of Life And Change
TLDR - Dramatic changes to our life and perspective happen over time
You seemed to be talking a fair amount at different times about trying to make changes or improvements to yourself or your life to be happier and healthier. One thing I have noticed myself is 2 year spans where life is radically different and I couldn't have possibly ever imagined it 1 or 2 years earlier. Sometimes we might feel like things will never change or get better, and so we don't bother trying. It is truly remarkable how life evolves though, especially for someone as intelligent as yourself who thinks about such things or who can learn to proactively make changes you want to make. I do think changes take some time though, it's not quite like leveling up in a game of course 😉 Sometimes we just need to weather the storms and take a step back to learn from our mistakes, and focus on exactly what we want to or need to change the most. But you never know when your whole life, or even just your whole mindset or way of looking at something, will be completely different than they were just a year or two ago, especially if you learn to focus on something you want to learn or change over time.
Conclusion
If you made it this far and have actually read a good amount of this, what the heck are you doing? 😉 You could be making or posting some stuff for people so you can make some more moola, streaming and chatting, watching YouTube, drinking wine, reading, or even meditating to level up. See ya Nemo.