tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63821569416053800692024-03-12T17:23:02.561-05:00Ryan Matejka's Blogrants from a writer named RyanRyan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-17131976946585080302022-12-20T21:58:00.002-06:002022-12-20T22:02:20.991-06:00Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! The MovieI am incredibly proud of the story my writing partner and I wrote for Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! but unfortunately there was no way to experience it outside of playing through the entire 40+ hour game ... until now!Watch the entire story from start to finish in this 27 minute video that includes every cutscene and in-game story moment!Thanks for the support! Bigger and better things are yet to Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-30272079293779048012021-02-19T09:39:00.002-06:002021-02-19T09:41:07.551-06:00What I've Been Up ToYou'll notice by checking the "archive" part of the sidebar here that it looks like I only blogged twice in 2020, and that in general that I've been blogging less each year since 2014. With that being the case, you're probably wondering what I've been up to.Well firstly, I actually blogged more in 2020 than any previous year, it's just that 43 of those posts were over in my second blog, Ryan's Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-53287401414111552532020-04-15T14:50:00.000-05:002020-04-15T14:50:07.572-05:00I've Got A Pandemic Blog!Hey folks!
On the rare chance that you don't already know this, since I've been posting to social media almost every day about it, I've got a pandemic blog! Ryan's COVID-19 Chronicles is my new project to document this strange time we find ourselves in by blogging about how myself and my family are doing during the COVID-19 pandemic. It started off as a daily blog back on March 20th, thoughRyan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-67788032920892262812020-01-27T09:27:00.003-06:002020-01-27T09:27:26.343-06:00Behind CSD2's Writing: Leo and Dennis EmailsI've noticed that fans of Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! who read the hundreds of in-game emails (written by Nick Kraak and myself) seem especially fond of one of the series of emails involving characters named Leo and Dennis — a pair of coworkers at some unnamed in-game company who make each others' lives miserable. With the release of Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! on the horizon, I thought it'd be Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-18644042090289823862019-11-15T11:59:00.000-06:002019-11-18T10:27:54.820-06:00Like a Virgin: My Journey through Madonna's Discography
Why I'm Listening to Every Single Madonna Album For the First Time
As someone who still uses iTunes and collects MP3s, I've become somewhat obsessed with collecting cherished but forgotten songs from my childhood. I listen and scour through playlists of "the best [genre] songs of [decade]" in search for songs or artists that I enjoyed while growing up but have since forgotten about. Sometimes Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-65318649469326622382019-08-01T11:12:00.000-05:002019-08-01T11:37:15.886-05:00The Months Go By Like Weeks
Picture yourself sitting in a pull-along wagon perched atop a hill with a gentle slope. You hold on tight to the upright handle. A light wind inches you forward. The front two wheels reach the decline and gravity pulls the rest of the wagon onto the slope. The wagon crawls down the hill. Its wheels squeak with each rotation. At this snail's pace it's easy to take in the Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-45298015247517844482019-06-14T00:01:00.000-05:002019-06-14T00:01:01.994-05:00The Events that Led Me HereMy parents and their neighbors across the street each got pregnant around the same time, and welcomed their newborn babies into the world mere days apart from one another.
That neighbor's daughter became my first friend. We remained friends through high school, occasionally hanging out and always chatting online.
One day she invited me to a little Halloween party she was throwing with some Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-88593587382102206342019-03-13T10:50:00.003-05:002019-08-01T11:34:24.023-05:00My Six Year Journey of Weight-Loss and Improved Health
After six long years of trial, error, hard work, slacking off, pain, and joy, I'm proud to say that I'm finally back to a healthy body weight. I made a lot of mistakes along the way and learned a lot in the process, and while it certainly wasn't easy, I can easily say that it was all worth it.
Although my transformation may not be spectacular or dramatic, I think it's important to share Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-31609792616626365322018-11-30T12:21:00.001-06:002019-10-30T08:23:27.037-05:00I'm A Dad Now
On Monday, October 29th at 1:45pm, my wife Corey had an appointment with a neonatologist to assess why our baby appeared to be smaller than expected given that she was only two weeks away from the due date. I joined her for the majority of that appointment, but had to leave early to go to my own annual physical at 2:30pm.
When I got home at around 4pm, Corey was awaiting a call from her Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-14127041089232835692018-10-01T12:12:00.002-05:002018-10-01T12:19:26.613-05:00Why I'm Skipping NaNoWriMo in 2018
I'm slowly learning that life never gets less busy. New things just keep on piling on without warning and you have to either adapt or risk becoming a slug.
I've got only a little over a month until my baby arrives, and I can see the incoming massive changes she'll bring to my life in the same way you can see a heavy rain creeping towards you. It's palpable, and as a result I've been trying Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-58208494427170311282018-08-16T21:43:00.000-05:002019-01-15T13:55:18.643-06:00Why and How I Created ANOTHER Blade Runner Ambient Soundscape
Okay Kyle. This is for you.
My Blade Runner Ambient Soundscape has grown more popular than I expected it to. What started off as a fun little project just for myself has (at the time of writing) 216,738 combined views/listens on YouTube and a combined watch time of 6.7 million minutes, or 111,666 hours. All of those big numbers are hard to fathom, but what's even harder for Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-82644866403151258792018-06-20T22:48:00.004-05:002018-06-20T22:48:55.048-05:00I Don't Have Time To Write This Blog PostI don't have time to write this blog post.
No, seriously. I've got two or three drafts of other articles that are have just been sitting in my queue partially complete for months now. I totally intended to be blogging a lot more this year than I have been so far.
But I just don't have time.
Fortunately, the reasons I don't have time are pretty good ones. For instance, I've been busy working onRyan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-62718579263918215472018-03-07T14:50:00.002-06:002018-03-07T19:46:44.498-06:00My Website is LIVE!You can now read all of my short fiction stories and learn more about my work history at my new website, RyanMatejkaWrites.com!
Anyone who looks far enough back in the post history of this blog will know that I actually used to have a website a long time ago that this blog grew out of, but it was eventually deleted. As I grew up and began my professional career I realized the value of having a Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-62439744552225679722018-02-14T12:14:00.002-06:002018-08-21T08:48:05.657-05:00Why and How I Created a Blade Runner Ambient SoundscapeThere are a bunch of awesome Blade Runner ambience projects out there on the web, such as the "Blade Runner Ambience Sounds Of The City 2019" By Curtis8516 which is a 30-minute long track that uses music and effects from the movie and video game to make you feel like you're standing on a street corner in the film's version of Los Angeles in November 2019. There's also the multitrack bootleg CD "Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-47936006504412989392017-12-31T12:24:00.001-06:002019-08-01T11:25:53.303-05:00From 2017 into 2018 - What a Crazy Year!It's that time of year again – specifically the end of the year. That means it's time for me to reflect on 2017 and needlessly share all of my thoughts with you. I'll try to keep it shorter than last year, but this was a crazy year so I make no promises.
How'd Those Resolutions Go?Apparently I made five resolutions for 2017. Let's go through them one by one and see how I did.
2017 Resolution #1:Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-79447881764004221492017-12-20T08:04:00.000-06:002017-12-20T08:14:25.846-06:00My Experience Writing for Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!
After working on it for years, Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! (henceforth referred to as CSD2) was finally released on September 13th. The user ratings on Steam are "Very Positive" and according to David (the game's developer), in its first week it sold double the amount of copies that he hoped to sell by the end of the year. By all measures it appears to be a success, and one I'm proud to have Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-20741490434170323482017-12-19T19:23:00.000-06:002017-12-19T19:39:17.980-06:00Movie Review: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
My wife and I went to see a pre-screening of "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" last night, and I never thought in my life that I would say this, but the sequel to Jumanji is really, really good.
The Actors:
Jack Black steals the movie. His performance as a teenaged selfie-obsessed pretty girl was easily the best "one sex trapped in another sex's body" performance I've ever seen (which is Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-28972738139996221582017-10-13T12:11:00.001-05:002017-10-13T12:26:58.102-05:00NaNoWriMo 2017: Announcing My Science Fiction StoryI'm proud to reveal the cover and synopsis for my upcoming National Novel Writing Month science fiction story, Adrift!
Synopsis:
Hurtling through vast, empty space as it flees from a slaughter, the small interplanetary vessel called Spero is barely keeping its six crew members alive. With the engine badly damaged, the navigation, scanning, communication, and weapons systems – all but the Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-51496019374052849762017-08-17T17:07:00.000-05:002017-08-17T17:07:17.961-05:00Revisiting My Childhood Comic Book Collection 13 Years LaterAfter 13 years, I've started collecting comic books again.
How I First Got Into Comic Books
Sometime around the year 2000, I played a demo of the Spider-Man video game on a Playstation Underground Jampack disc. Prior to this, I had little to no knowledge of the world of comic books or the super heroes that populated them, and I just assumed such were the things that "lame nerds" were into. Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-58037992387956273092017-06-22T15:57:00.000-05:002017-06-23T07:39:04.955-05:00Tips for Effective Blogging and Getting Hits and Stuff
Introduction
A while ago I wrote up a lengthy email to one of my coworkers with tips on effective blogging. Now, I know it may seem like I'm not an expert in getting lots of hits based on this very blog, but keep in mind that this blog is not currently designed to get lots of hits - it's literally just a place for me to shout out into the void whatever's on my mind, regardless of who cares. Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-75663747070864720162017-05-31T08:54:00.005-05:002017-05-31T08:57:40.267-05:00Camp NaNoWriMo 2017
I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo for the first time this past April. Sorry it's taken me so long to write about it, but I've been somewhat busy lately. More on that some other time, though.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, Camp NaNoWriMo is a more laid-back summertime version of National Novel Writing Month where you set your own writing goal, get grouped into virtual cabins with Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-39721272974143388782017-03-22T14:36:00.002-05:002017-03-22T16:42:21.632-05:00Her Name Was Lauren Tank.I just found out today that my dear friend, Lauren Tank, took her own life sometime on Monday.
I didn't know Lauren very long, but as soon as we met I wished we had. We officially first met only a few months ago at work when she recognized me in the elevator as someone who had gone to the same grade/middle school with her, albeit a year apart. It was at the end of the day on our way home, so I Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-58421844494027398152017-03-20T08:53:00.002-05:002020-09-17T21:33:57.264-05:00Character Depth in Superbad - A Movie Essay
Note: This essay is a slight revision of one I originally posted on reddit.com/r/truefilm. You can read the original essay in its entirety here.
I was 16 years old when the 2007 movie Superbad was released. At the time, I thought of it as nothing more than a really funny movie full of lines that were quotable for years to come (as evidenced years later by my friend Yuriy shouting "prepare toRyan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-18118488183944556862017-03-01T12:01:00.004-06:002017-03-01T12:01:50.168-06:00My Never-Ending Journey to Figure Out Who I Am As A Writer
I feel like this is a redundant statement on my blog at this point, but I've had a bit of an epiphany in my writing recently.
Perhaps that's what the story of a young writer is meant to be; a series of epiphanies that eventually lead to some profound work of art. If so, then my brilliant work of art is just around the corner, because I've been having an epiphany just about every month Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6382156941605380069.post-52962737648202893772016-12-30T09:21:00.000-06:002019-08-01T11:26:16.634-05:00From 2016 to 2017 - Keeping the Momentum Going
Do you like this new graphic? I made it myself with a photo I took of my beautiful wife.
I felt like I should do some end-of-the-year blogging to get some closure on 2016 and publicly express my goals for 2017, especially after writing a lengthy post/essay titled "Spider-Man or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Reboot" that I then decided not to publish because it was basically Ryan Matejkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246697672905383114noreply@blogger.com0