The Week in Review: 2012-03
I’m grateful for game nights with friends
I’m happy with my apple crumble
I’m sick of eggs
I learned telling gets easier the more you do it
Games
July
Right, in July I bought a pool 😀 A 276×169 cm blow-up pool (with electric pump ’cause I’m not insane enough to blow it up myself or with a handpump).
Also, per July I got a regular contract at work (versus via a temp agency), so that’s a nice change.
I bought a new collage photo frame, ordered prints of a bunch of 2010 photos and used them to fill said frame, as well as the photo curtainy-thing I have on my loo door.
Picked the Sims 3 back up after almost two years. Brought on by Nienke and I building an imaginary mansion where we would live I decided to try and build it in the Sims. It’s 2/3 finished and looking pretty good. I’ve identified some problem areas so will probably rebuild in a while.
I Went out for pizza with Eva at Napoli. As per usual, the pizza was great, the seating rather cramped. We sat next to each other for most of the meal since there was no space to sit on the other side of the table. On itself not a problem, but it’s nice to be able to look at the person you’re talking to. After we had mostly finished our pizza the people on the table next to ours left, so I could switch places and we hung around for a while longer chatting eye-to-eye.
When we left, Eva suggested we go for ice cream, so went across the street to get a McFlurry at the McDonalds there. They still had their outside seating there, so we lounged on that while enjoying the icey-chocolatey-caramely goodness of McFlurry-with-mixed-in-candybar.
Talked some more about life, the universe and everything from small talk to future plans. When eventually the McD’s personnel started putting the tables and such back inside we stuck around until we were the only table left 😀
We then slowly made our way back to the train station, walking along the water and the pretty trees that look the best in evening light. Once back at the train station we were thirsty and hit the Burger King for a coke to finish in that last half hour before my train would leave. Some fifteen minutes later, mid-sentence, Eva spotted Mellien, so we called her over to wait for the train with us. After some more chatting, we parted ways: Eva returning home, and Mellien and I headed for the train to our respective homes.
On the 19th I went to the hair dresser. I walked in with the remnants of my Spike-blond hair, and came out with a purple mohawk.
The 24th saw me and Nienke go to a Derek Ogilvie show. Both of us have been wanting to for while now. We’re intrigued but sceptical, so going to a show gave us a chance to see beyond what he shows on camera. Fortunately, he’s quite like on TV during his shows. He’s quite hyper while he’s communicating, making jokes with the audience and such to bridge the moments where the spirits are talking to him and he has no message to give yet. There’s a very energetic and relaxed vibe coming from him. It’s obvious from watching him that he believes fully. I remain sceptic. I’d love to believe this is real, but there were just a tad too many things that can be attributed to cold reading techniques*. In the end, though, the five or so people that got a reading, I think it did help them. And I’d go again if he comes back to Groningen.
*I know it’s the primary cause of death, but it’s funny to notice how many spirits die of heart disease. And how many women have had miscarriages, even one the woman in question didn’t know about… And when he starts to call out the confirmation things it’s a lot of pains here, pains there. Most of these are pretty generic, back pain, pain in leg, stomach/bowelpain. The things he mentions, though, after he found the person the spirit wants to talk to… there’s really specific stuff in there.
Starbucks on Groningen Central Station is opening August 5th and they we’re doing a trial run last week to train the staff. You could go in and order whatever you wanted for free. I had a lovely White Mocha. I’ll be ordering from them more in the future (although not too often, that shit’s expensive).
I also got my first batch of GetGlue stickers. GetGlue is a website where you can check in to various things that you’re doing/watching/listening to/reading etc.. While mostly focused on Media, it also has topics so you can conceivably check in on anything.
By checking in, and liking things, you earn virtual stickers. Once you have enough stickers (minimum of 20), you can have them sent to you, via mail, for free. My first batch took about 5 or 6 weeks to arrive I think. So far I’m enjoying it a lot. I check in to what I actually watch (I check in to TV or movies mostly) and have that posted on Twitter and Facebook. And besides that I actively hunt stickers, checking into and liking things for the sake of getting a sticker, even if I’m not actually watching that at the moment. I think I’ve collected close to 300 stickers now. Too bad they only send 20 at a time, and you can only request a new batch once a month…
Books, Food, Friends, Games
Early February the author Sarah Monette held a memorial book sale for her cat to benefit the veterinary hospital he was treated at. Among the books offered were ten sets of her 4-book fantasy series Doctrine of Labyrinths. I had the first part already, but the second part is out of print, and, if I remember correctly, the fourth part too. So when I read she was gonna offer them, and for only 35 dollars, I knew I had to get one. So I set my alarm for the day of the sale so I would be online and ready when she would post the sale. And it worked, I got lucky and ended up being the fourth person to speak out for a set. Within ten, twenty minutes, all ten sets were gone, so I was damn lucky.
Anyway, long story short, yesterday when I got home there was a note from the postal service indicating they had twice tried to deliver me a package and found no one home. I could pick it up at the post office the next day.
Today, Nienke asked if I wanted to join her in making homemade pizza for lunch, to which there is really only one answer: yes! Except a quick stop at the store was needed fore some additional ingredients. Since the post office is in the store, this was an excellent way to kill two birds with one stone. So we picked up some meat for my pizza and some mozzarella and my package at the check out. As expected, it were the books.
So, I am now the proud owner of a complete set of Doctrine of Labyrinths, and I’ll finally be able to continue the adventures of Felix and Mildmay.
After I sufficiently drooled over my pretty new arrivals, and shared this through Twitter and Facebook :D, Nienke and I finally got around to making pizza. I went for a home made Hawai’i type thing with tomato paste, corn, regular cheese, lots of ham and pineapple, grated cheese and mozzarella. Nienke had similar, but replace ham and pineapple with tuna (ewwwwwww :D)
*unrelated sidenote, since I’m re-watching Atlantis, I <3 McKay*
Pizza turned out to be really tasty, so instead of eating half and saving the other half for breakfast, I ate it all. I felt rather stuffed, but it was delicious.
Eva called, in the morning, to see if I wanted to hang out, maybe play a game, and of course I agreed. Since I was planning on cooking for me and Nienke anyway, I invited Eva to join us. When Eva showed up, however, she surprised me by informing that Mellien was coming too. Fortunately, I made stir fry which is easy to expand when you get more people than planned. Nienke left us shortly after since she had a visitor of her own forthcoming. Eva, Mellien and I went to play Munchkin. It’s been quite a while since I last played, so I had to re-read the rules for a bit, but I quickly got back into it. Mellien had never played it before, and for Eva it was a long time too.
Within a round or two, three, they mostly figured it out, and it went very well for a first time. Eva won by gloriously defeating Level 4 Harpies. We were mostly really nice to each other during the game, not a lot of hindering and pestering took place. And, as the game master of the evening, Eva bribed me with a cookie (for a level) and I nagged myself (for a level) 😀
Mid-game
My cards at the end-game
Mellien’s final monster, it ate all her cards 😀
Eva’s final monster, Level 4 Harpies
The winner with her level markers
Weekly Four: week 3
I’m grateful for my new storage containers, I <3 organizing 😀
I’m happy I’m renewing my interest in other non-computer things beside reading. Not just crafts, but also board games. Now to harass more people into playing with me.
The one downside of living in Smalltownia, there’s not a lot of recreational things beyond the basics. So, in reference to the previous point, something like a game club you won’t find here.
I learned forgetting the book you’re reading, and enjoying very much, at your parents is not smart 😀
Weekly Four: Week 2
LOL, good start to a new year, forgetting the first Weekly four…
I’m grateful for feeling better. Flu’s mostly gone, some remnants in terms of a still occasionally stuffed nose, and a cough that isn’t quite gone.
I’m happy the LOTR games were good. I don’t get to play games a lot so it was nice to finally be able to play them and learn that they are actually fun.
I’m annoyed (slightly) that whenever I decide to make stuff, I always end up having to stop half way because I don’t have everything at hand. Fortunately this time around there is other stuff I can do in the mean time.
I taught myself some form of the blanket stitch, but I’m not sure it’s the proper way. It gets the job done though 😀
Onwards to the End! Wait, Stop! We Missed It!
Oh my, I have way too many things to post about to all fit in one post. Not just because it would be a mega Too Long; Don’t Read kinda thing, but also because some things are intro-type posts that work best on their own. So I’m spreading them out a bit, posting some of it now, and the rest tomorrow.
I mentioned my Christmas Day shenanigans, which were few and low-key, and the second day of Christmas wasn’t much different. I spent the day with my parents, just hanging out. Played a lot of Warcraft, and had a lovely dinner. Spent the night at theirs too, and went to work the next day from there.
On Old Year’s Day (as we Dutchies call it), I had to work till about six, and went over to the parents again after that. I’m not too fond of New Year’s Eve, I dislike fireworks and can’t stand the incessant noises they make. Plus, for me the new year, seasonally speaking, starts at Yule. I’d brought my laptop to Parentville so I spent the evening backing up my files (which was way overdue, thank Gods there were no crashes or whatnots in between), and installing the Humble Indie Bundle I bought the other day. At midnight there was the standard well wishing and then I went on to play Warcraft, while keeping the dog calm as the neighbours went nuts with fireworks.
Tessa behaved quite nicely. She was still terrified, but there was less of the hiding in corners and such as she did last year. I think some of the things I picked up from watching Cesar Milan, in staying calm and assertive and getting her out of her heightened state when it was nearing the overboard level, worked quite well.
Hit the sack not too late and slept in this morning, absolute heaven! I don’t get to sleep in a lot at home. During the week I usually have to get up early for work, and on my days off, or when I have a late shift, the cat tends to wake me up. After hanging around the house, stopping by at home to feed and check up on Monkey, and having lunch, I finally showered. Shortly after ‘t was time for the traditional New Year’s Day meet up of my mom’s side of the family at my uncle’s house. We were there for most of the day, and it was great fun 🙂
I don’t do resolutions, but I do have my big 101 list, so I’ll be posting an update on that in a bit, along with the things on that list that are planned for this year. (note to self: comma’s are your friends, but don’t ignore periods…)
Other posts to come along shortly: final booklist, book club intro post thingy (I might combine those, probably easier), a little 2010 overview thing, the weekly four tomorrow and an intro for my 2011 Picture-a-Day thing.
The World Heaves With My Torment
Pain… Agony…
My hatred burns through the cavernous deeps.
The World heaves with my torment.
Its wretched kingdoms quake beneath my rage.
But at last, the whole of Azeroth will break.
And all will burn beneath the shadow of my wings.
~Deathwing
The Shattering has been a week now, so I figured I jot down my thoughts so far. I’ve been questing with Asraelion (80) as well as Yathra (47) and both are enjoying the new 1-60 questlines/zones. Asra, obviously, is racing through it what with his level, but unlike when I was doing Loremaster and scrounging for those last quests, I’m taking the time to read the quests and really enjoy the stories. With a lot of those random kill x of that, collect y of that quests removed, every thing you do in a quest line feels relevant to the story.
Asra has been questing in Stranglethorn, Westfall, Redridge and Duskwood. In Stranglethorn I’m really fond of the quests that basically serve as an intro to Zul’Gurub. Very nicely done how you find an egg along the way which hatches a little t-rex who runs along with you as you keep questing until it suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, finds something and such leading to another quest. It feels very natural. Plus the epic conclusion of that particular quest line! Trying to escape Zul’Gurub as the t-rex, it was heart-stopping on occasion, I got pulled in that much. It also took some good thinking and patience, very nice to not be done with a quest in 5 minutes 😀
In Westfall, the whole CSI: Miami quest line. One word: Awesome! Assisting Lieutenant Horatio Laine (with trademark sun glasses and bad puns) solving the murder of Blanchy the Cow and uncovering the identity of the Shadowy Figure who’s trying to resurrect the Defias.
Redridge, while the questing experience is much improved, and following a story line, felt less epic to me though, although that is probably because I did it with Asra, and some of the assistance provided by the quest objects was unneeded for him so he raced through it. I did love the tank ride though 😀
Duskwood feels much, much better. There’s some real Worgen story going on there, so it’s nice to get a preview of Worgen background before next week. By now I’m already honored with Gilneas and the faction isn’t even fully in play yet 😀
Yathra, on the other hand, since I’m kinda trying to level her pretty quick, is doing stuff her level. She’s not done a whole lot of quests, but she has been running around for flight paths. I love (although maybe slightly overdone) the myriad of flight paths in Eastern Plaguelands. She has been questing in Western Plaguelands, and the quests and stories do a very nice job of showing how the Alliance reclaims the land from the Scourge. Andorhal is partly reclaimed, and it, plus Sorrow Hill, look great and green again.
The Badlands, where she has also done questing, is awesome. It’s kinda tricky getting there as Deathwing left a huge gash between Loch Modan and the Badlands, but if you look closely, there’s a path across. In the middle of the Badlands is a gash where Deathwing burned and tore through the earth. The canyon-like feature is filled with Earth Elementals, and an unlikely threesome of friends in the middle.
Three quest givers stand on a peak in the middle and each of them tells you about the day Deathwing came, and how they killed him… It’s part cinematic, part quest where you play the part of the quest giver. And since all three tell rather tall tales, the quests are hilarious! Plus in the foreseeable future this will be the only way you’ll ever get to kill dear Deathwing 😀
There’s only one week left until Cataclysm (and I so hope Bol will actually deliver my pre-ordered Collector’s Edition on the day itself) and then my Worgen will be created. I’m not sure yet what he or she will be in terms of class, but I’m looking forward to it very much. And in the mean time I amuse myself with thinking up potential names and seeing if they’re taken (which, unfortunately, most I like already are 🙁 ).
Around the Internets II
If you need to vehemently protest something, press the Nooooooooo Button.
Twenty obsolete English words that should make a come back. I’m especially fond of Widdendream (Noun – “A state of mental disturbance or confusion”) and Brabble (Verb – “To quarrel about trifles; esp. to quarrel noisily, brawl, squabble”).
Ancient Amazonian Tribes (and current ones too) practice multiple paternity, a system where all the men who sleep with a woman are seen as the fathers to her children. This partly because each of the men was believed to be each child’s biological father, and partly because it provides a safety net if one or more of the parents were to die: there’s always someone around the kids can turn to. Check io9 for an article about the research.
The Brits have founded a new sport/game: The Lying Down Game. Described by their creators as Parkour for those who can’t be arsed, it’s main purpose is to lie down in public places (see also the Facebook Group for more pictures). There’s really just two rules: 1) The more public the better & 2) The more people involved the better. Please be aware that the palms of your hands must be flat against your side and the tips of your toes pointing at the ground. Just as if you were standing, but vertically challenged. FACE DOWN!
Five Books is a website where every day a writer, thinker, politician, academic or what have you shares five non-fiction books on their specialist topic. The choices are such that, if you were to read all of the five books (or even just one) you get a good introduction into whatever the topic happens to be. Be an instant expert, as the website’s tagline says 😀
Weekly Four: week 44
I’m grateful for cake.
I’m happy I’m feeling better again.
I’m annoyed at store personnel that don’t tell you everything, resulting in a very high mobile phone bill. Fortunately the T-Mobile customer service was very reasonable. The data plan was changed and I’m getting the extra costs credited.
I learned Pocket Frogs is a very addictive little iPhone game 😀