Fiber Monday 202

It's week 2 of our Kirby Project!

I've now officially finished his body - I just need to stuff him and make some eyes for him!

Again, the pattern is here!

This is me trying to show how to Decrease single crochet.
You start by beginning a stitch, but you don't finish.

Instead, you go into the next stitch.

Then you pull all the way through.
To Dec2, you actually start your way through 3 stitches and finish all three together.

Here's the end of that row!

Our Kirby is roughly the same size as a coffee mug!
Cute!

Go Enjoy/Make Something!
FC

Survival Sunday 201

I'm doing something a little different this week, guys.

I'm going to share with you the YouTube channels I follow to learn about cooking. Some of them are pretty famous, others are not quite so famous, but I like them nonetheless!

My Virgin Kitchen is a channel run by British cook Barry Lewis out of his home kitchen. His wife and kids sometimes show up to help him out. He's friends with YouTuber Ashens, and he also might be best known for his tiny and giant food videos! With his YouTube channel, his books, and his website, he's constantly dropping sweet recipes that even a novice can create (though some of his more... adventurous attempts are best left to semi-professionals...)

Emmy Made In Japan is a Rhode Island based channel run by the eponymous Emmy, who makes recipes from all over the world from her kitchen. Some of these recipes are simple, others are deeply complex, and some are... well.. uh... they're interesting.

Mike Jeavons isn't technically a cooking channel, but sometimes he'll cover diet trends and show how they do or don't work, all while being 10000% British and often hilariously unimpressed. He's also a reviewer of media and random products, so there's a lot of fun to be had.

BrutalMoose is primarily a reviewer of obscure PC games and nostalgic media, but he also has his BrutalFoods and History Kitchen series which are a blast and might show you a new recipe or two. Most of them are darn well edible, so I recommend giving him a glance if you need a new reviewer/cook in your life.

Finally, I can easily recommend Steve1989MREInfo, which is a channel dedicated to reviewing the foods that soldiers eat. If you've ever wondered what your military relatives were eating while huddled in unfriendly rainforests and trenches or what they're chowing down on today in any number of countries in any imaginable modern time, then I strongly suggest giving him a watch. He's also a good resource for figuring out what to do with a potentially unpalatable MRE or freeze-dried survival meal while camping or in the military yourself. Also, his voice is just great.

So that'll be all from me today.

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Saturday Casual Gaming 201

Welcome to the first casual game of 2019!

This is Death By Obsession by WigDev - a short keyboard-only game of timing, strategy, and hallucination.

Ahh, that sweet, classic MS Paint adventure game look.
It's like coming home!

I stink at games like this. I have neither the patience nor the attention span, but one of you might finish this game and let me know how it ends, since I've kind of gotten my self... stuck.

On the third or fourth level.

Derp.

The music is interesting, being primarily piano midi played rapidly, but it's also pretty neat!

I like the story, too - you're Sarah, and your brother Daniel was kidnapped in the night by monsters who came to steal your treasure. Considering what your character looks like and the fact that she's "talking" to Daniel every so often, I'm not entirely sure that the monsters stole anything from her, but I don't know the ending, so for all I know, I'm barking up the wrong tree.

So, you've got three goals for each level: Least Steps to the End, 100% Gold, Collect All Possible Deaths.

I cannot do least steps because I have no strategy bones. None. Not a strategy bone in my body.

100% Gold, I've done so far (on the three levels I've completed), and it's a challenge, but when you're focusing on that linear progression, it's easier to get things right.

Deaths are fun to collect - you let yourself be mauled, drained, eviscerated, crushed, dropped, etc.

Good times. Good times.

I'm not going to spend too much time talking about this game, since it's good, but it's not really my speed. I thought it might be (adventure junkie that I am) but the mechanics are more Atari than Nintendo and I'm more a Nintenderp than an Atarme.

Positives:

• Creative premise
• Neat art
• Cool music
• Pretty good writing - I haven't noticed a lot of typos!
• Free to play!

Negatives:

• Not necessarily going to be your favorite game if you're bad at strategy
• Probably not available on mobile
• Flash-based so it won't work on every computer

Bear in mind, though, that all of these "negative" points are purely subjective. Objectively, this is a good, well made game. The controls respond well, the gameplay is fun (if you like strategy), and the meat & bones of the game (the art, music, & writing) are awesome.

If you're looking for a strategy game to take up some time with, why not head over to Kongregate and give Death by Obsession a try?

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Filmic Friday 201

When Z and I first started dating, I was on an all-fantasy diet and avoided literary fiction like the plague. I was legitimately annoyed by the prospect of reading books without magic, without elves or fairies or dragons, and the idea of a movie based on one of these books? It wasn't going to happen.

And so it didn't.

For years.

I avoided one of Z's favorite movies, based on a book by Michael Chabon, for twelve and a half years. Until last Friday.

This is, in fact, a great movie

Now, if you're an animal lover, you may want to give this one a pass, since there is a scene involving a family pet and a firearm, but this is a great film.

Wonder Boys is the story of writer Grady Tripp, an author working on his followup to his bestseller first novel. It's not going so well...

Page 126...1

And also his wife has left him because he's sleeping with the Chancellor of the college he's working for (whose husband is the Dean of the English department, no less!), his editor is on the verge of losing his job if he doesn't have a new bestseller to present, his best student might be a better writer than him, and he's having blackouts.

This is a star-studded movie, to be sure. With Tripp being played by Michael Douglas, student James Leer played by Tobey Maguire, Editor Terry Crabtree played by a Robert Downy Jr, live-in-student Hannah Green played by Katie Holmes, Chancellor Sara Gaskell played by Frances McDormand, and fellow author Q played by Rip Torn, this is a stacked film. Everyone is a believable character in the sullen winter of Pittsburgh, which makes the madcap adventures and comedy from later on much funnier.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a dead dog in this movie, but it does serve a narrative purpose. It's the first in a long line of real decisions that Tripp has to make in order to 1) not go to jail, and 2) keep Sara. I appreciated that this movie didn't go with certain tropes like "marriages must be saved" or "love conquers all". Everyone's kind of a screwup. Everyone's kind of awful. Everyone's kind of brilliant.

And everyone's a good actor.

Like... a really good actor.

If you're looking for a movie on the nature of choices with good writing and good acting, check out Wonder Boys. And if you're still thirsty for more, then go read the book by Michael Chabon!

As ever

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Thursday Art Walk 201

Welcome to the first Art Blog of 2019.

I slept until nearly noon.

It's a blurry photo, but it's also a blurry picture.
"Sleepybird"; colored pencil on printer paper; 2019

Here's my model!
This is Dedbert.
Z got him for me :)

Both Z and I are coming down with something, I think. I was sneezing all morning, and Z was sneezing last night. Ugh.

Winter = not my favorite season.

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Wednesdaymania 201

Today was a very mixed day as far as wrestling news is concerned. I'll give you the bad news first.

It is with a very heavy heart that I bring you news of the passing of "Mean" Gene Okerlund. Iconic voice of several generations of wrestling fans and companies, he had the best rapport with wrestlers, the best voice in interviews, and the best dance moves of anyone who has tried to dance with a giant wrestling turkey.

Rest in Peace, Gene.

There is, however, a little good news to be had in the wrestling world!

All Elite Wrestling is planning their first big show in Spring (which is, coincidentally, when Marty will be free...).

The Elite posted a great video called Kenny's Quest on their YouTube channel. The guy who made Undertale helped make it! You should check it out!

Hiromu Takahashi might be coming back in "months and months" according to Fumi Saito on the Talk is Jericho podcast! Also, I've heard rumors that the Ticking Time Bomb drew a picture of himself with his head firmly attached and "732%" written nearby.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, guys. I'm still learning how to write this on my phone...

Go Enjoy Something!

Talk About Tuesday 201

Happy New Year!

You may have noticed a change in the numbering today, and that's because I'm going to be moving this lovely blog into its second official "season" a little early. 201 means Season/Year Two, Week One. Hopefully I'll stick to this numbering and it keeps making sense to me.

We'll see.

So.

2018 is officially over and we're at the dawn of a new Year. Or the noon of the first day. Oops. Sorry, guys, I had an errand to run, a shower to take, and coffee to drink. Had to push the blog to later in the day :P.

Good riddance to 2018.

Yeah, it had its good points - Z & I made some incredible food, we watched some great movies (one of which I'll discuss on Friday), we went to that awesome Lewiston show, I learned more about crochet and writing and art, and more - but it also, it was kinda a poopsplosion at points.

So here's to 2019, a year in which I plan to:

• Make more crochet projects for Fiber Monday (and/or as gifts to people)
• Focus on my writing by writing 1500 words a week on two different stories
• Figure out what the heck All Elite Wrestling is going to be like and enjoy the ride
• Make 52 pieces of artwork and play around with color more
• Watch more good (or really bad) movies and/or MST3K/riffs
• Play more fun games and maybe learn how to use that Twitch thing to let you see what I'm playing sometimes!
• Cook 52 more meals, hopefully this time sticking with the "survival" part of Survival Sunday instead of trying to make ridiculously complicated things.
• Love more
• Fear less
• Get some exercise in
• Read more books that aren't High Fantasy (though I do love some fantasy)
• Give more hugs
• Try to set up a store of some kind, whether on Etsy or Redbubble or something like that

Now, as for my 1500 words a week, my main story goal will be 1k per week on a story Z & I are calling "Byrd", though I doubt that's going to be the final title. It's about an author who moves into a remote area where their closest neighbor (Byrd) is a cannibal who may or may not actually be a wendigo. The other 500 words are reserved for a story I've just started working on that I'm calling "Butters Ridge." This story is about a craftsman living in an old hotel who takes on a new wrestling company as his latest client, creating their belts for them (among other things). I may change the title to "Gimmicksmith" or something like that. I don't know yet.

I'm excited to see the good things 2019 has in store for me, but please forgive me if I approach with extreme caution.

2018 was rough, and it has conditioned me to expect the worst.

So.

Hopefully Happy New Year, everyone!

And Go Enjoy Something!

FC