Checklist:

1. learned how to treat PlayDate handheld console as a data drive
2. in browser on play.date I exported/downloaded PDX of Juan & Beanstalk hello world. The website (play.date/pulp) invokes a pop-up window that was blocked by Firefox browser by default. Nothing happened. I didn’t notice and thought it was my error. I downloaded again from a different button in the UI (there are two for an unexplained reason). Again nothing happened. I noticed the error message at the top of the screen and gave permission. Two downloads had been queued and so two zipped archives were created.
3. I explored the PlayDate data directories exposed/surfaced as an external drive on my laptop. I found where the PDX files are stored.
4. I got nervous, thinking it can’t be that simple to drag-and-drop PDX files onto the device and so I prowled the online FAQ, Forum, for instructions on SideLoading games. The instructions indicate that this should happen through the web interface of one’s account on play.date. I tried twice this way and received no visual feedback indicating success. I think I saw a color shift in the interface, but I can’t be sure. At any rate the game wasn’t added to any list, so I interpreted it as failure and moved on to another task.
5. last night I launched OpenEMU and added the SMCs for Zelda III and for Harvest Moon both for SNES. I saw that I had downloaded another virtual rom for an indie game, Europa Rescue, that had been created in GB Studio.
6. this morning I downloaded another indie game, Acorn Grove, by GibbonGL, and loaded that into OpenEMU for later study. This one comes as a folder of resources and shows up only as “game” in the OpenEMU library. If GB Studio behaves like Processing, then changing the name of the enveloping folder will break the file. I ran the game to test it. It is visually very charming.
7. GibbonGL has made a number of GameBoy and GB Studio friendly assets that they have for sale/licensing for a very modest price/terms. They are all very charming and may serve for quick prototyping. These asset packs are all worth studying.
8. I started thinking about Bitsy again…
9. so I spent some more time on the Dizzy Spell: Bitsy Bits planning document and exploring email-list-management packages and prices. I added URLs for these email marketing services. sigh.
10. I took a break to browse the ARAC shop to see what papers and markers are in stock. There is a pad of Kozo rice paper for drawing that I’m interested in running through the printer if it be permitted. I would run it on my Epson at home, but it may be too much for here. They also have Canson Vidalon tracing paper that may be handy.
11. I had a visit from Meriwether who facilitated me with a ream of bond-paper. Also asking if it was okay if some maintenance people checked my furnace in the residence and in the studio.
12. I had a visit from Taylor who was checking if I was okay. I made requests for:
    1. a riser for one of the borrowed monitors, which only points down
    2. permission to run the Kozo paper through the printer
    3. another, matching, HP monitor to make my setup super sexy.
    4. Taylor mentioned he would need to help setup the printer, running a nozzle check before I begin using it.
13. I came back to start this entry. I finished number 9 (above) and broke for lunch. At some time before lunch I (re)confirmed that the NES USB-gamepad can drive Crosser and La Migra on the Minisforum cpu on the Edge browser, served from sudor.org/betatest.
14. plugging in Epson printer so it can invoke driver
15. downloaded driver for Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer (17″ x 22″ capable!) after a couple of failures to have MacOS automatically download appropriate driver.
16. The printer says it can handle plain paper, photo paper, and matte paper. The latter two may be photo-specific. Epson makes a matte presentation paper. There are FAQs in the link above.
17. Oh, yeah, there are two books about the work of Enrique Martinez Celaya in the ARAC shop that are drool-worthy.
18. I got the green light to print on Kozo rice paper, with the suggestion to try the matte premium setting for good results.
19. I received a third monitor, it matches the Acer and it’s nice!
20. I received a riser solution, a couple of 8x8x0.75 inch boards.
21. printer heads have checked out as perfect.
22. I ran to the shop and bought the Kozo paper, the Vidalon pad, and a large Strathmore sketch pad.
23. earlier I had launched the PlayDate Simulator app. It alerted me to a new version of the PlayDate SDK. I downloaded and installed the updated version, 1.12.x. The SDK installs in a top level folder/directory called “Developer” on my MacOS cpu
24. about a month before arriving we had to update all of our Apple devices because of known exploit so my laptop is now running macOS Monterey (12.5.1)
25. so installation pathway for PlayDate SDK is speedy\Macintosh HD\Users\rafaelfajardo\Developer\ which also has the older version 1.9.0 installed.
26. I fired up the new version of the Playdate simulator app which is in the \bin sub-folder. The \PlaydateSDK folder also contains folder called Disk which I opened out of curiosity. It has the same set of subdirectories as the the Playdate handheld console.
27. I dragged-and-dropped the PDX of Juan that I exported earlier into the \Disk\Games sub-directory and the Juan title card popped into place in the Simulator. And it just ran!
28. Taylor checked in again and we talked about paper-making. He made paper in Iowa, Kozo paper even. I need to remember to point him to Ray Tomasso’s studio in Englewood.
29. Testing printing one of the game design worksheets (character design) onto Kozo paper. It’s working!!!
30. Probably need to make a custom paper size. I used Super A3/B.
31. ended the day with a little bit of Zelda III and updating laptop to macOS 12.6.