I started a new gig this week! I like to think of these short-time jobs in terms of seasons: “I’ll winter here.” A relate it to a guild journeyman (not like a migrating bird). In some ways, being a few years out of school puts me at a “journeyman” status, I am no longer an apprentice with mentors, but I’m not yet a master craftsman.
The top image is from Chef’s Table, it is a dish with scallops and burning spruce. The dish left a strong visual impression with me. The bottom image is my final setup of 7 Wonders. I played the B-side of Babylon with a strategy anchored in resources and science cards.
The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss - Since last week I’ve read over two hundred pages. I like to boil down the events so far: after living in a rough side of Ankh-Morpork, Ender enters Earthsea’s Wizard School, and meets Snape. A first person narration swings between charismatic bragging and pathetic circumstances. I have to admit, I’m kind of in love. A two-hundred-pages-in-two-days type of love.
I recently visited my local used book store. I found The Fall of Atlantis by Marion Zimmer Bradley (author of Mists of Avalon). I didn’t know that Bradley wrote other books, so I picked it up.
I have stared adding in The New York Times to my daily routine again. This is not something new, but something I stepped away from for a few years, and now I’m coming back around.
Tim Gunn: Designers refuse to make clothes to fit American women. It’s a disgrace., Tim Gunn - Tim Gunn writes an op-ed article about fashion designers refusing to design clothes for plus-size crowd, which makes up a majority of American women. As a member of that demographic and someone frequently unimpressed with the lack of options in plus-sized clothes, I am glad that a notable member of the fashion community is standing up for plus-sized women.
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Modernizes New York Hip-Hop, Jon Caramanica - A look at the new sound of hip-hop in New York, via interview with rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie. As someone who is generally new to hip-hop, I am only on the cusp of understanding the author’s references to the New York sound.
Original Wizard People, Dear Reader (Ep. 1 - 4) - Brad Neely’s ‘alternative’ narration for the first Harry Potter movie, this series is broken into chapters that roughly follow the book events. Apparently it perfectly lines up with the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Clue (1985) - When my friends heard that I hadn’t seen Clue before, we had an impromptu movie night. We watched all the endings. I left wishing that I’d watched Clue as a stage mystery-comedy, like a fun And Then There Were None (I have seen a good high school rendition of that show). That reminds me that I need an Agatha Christie anthology.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (2015 - , S1E4 - S1E7) - The last half of the series. I had not seen this part before, most of the choices of the characters were surprising. I definitely liked the ‘twist’ of the ending.
Chef’s Table (2015 - , S1E4 - S2E3) - More inspiration from these artists. While I watched this, there was a moment when I realized that all of the men and women in the show are, at least, in their forties. It put things in perspective.
West Wing (1999 - 2006, S6E16 - S7E9) - I’m back with West Wing. There was a specific episode that was a little too accurate to modern day- on the campaign trail, the democratic frontrunner, Santos, receives a message that a twelve-year-old black boy was killed by a latino cop. It ignites a discussion about racism, about Santos’s position as a latino man running for president, and about how the campaign can show respect for the families while also winning political points. It’s not all unsavory, and it ends with Santos giving a speech on Blame and Compassion.
Steven Universe (2013 - , S4E2 - S4E6) - I am officially caught up with Steven Universe. Even in these few episodes there were some hard-hitting moments, scenes that touched on serious issues the characters are facing. Other episodes were fun ‘filler’ episodes that didn’t deal with the plot of the show. I always look forward to a song in an episode.
Imminent Storm Campaign - This morning in the campaign we were teleported into a new quest. This one involves a dungeon with mutilated frog-cultists. The DM admitted that it is loosely based on Lovecraftian themes. Our bard managed to kill two cultists with mental damage from insults, which is pretty interesting, and I had both a critical fail and a critical hit.
*Secret Hitler - From its successful kickstarter campaign, Secret Hitler has been a long-awaited party game. It is a basic hidden role game, similar to Avalon and Resistance. There are Liberals and Fascists, and one Hitler. The Fascists know who each other are, they know who Hitler is, but Hitler doesn’t know who they are. I have played about three rounds of this game with 8-10 players, and it’s been pretty solid.
7 Wonders: Babel, Cities, Leaders - An introduction to the expansions to the same new players from last week. In this game, I lost by exactly the amount of points I lost in the military phase of the game, exactly the same as last time. In my final setup below, you can see my neighbor’s stack of military victory point tiles on the right edge of the picture.
Codenames - Several rounds at a party.
