- NinetiesInternet.com - cyber.cafe was a late night TV show that ran from 1996-2000 on ITV. It highlighted what people were doing on the web. There is a section that has clips from the show covering various topics such as community, commerce, web celebrity, etc. I watched the first one on community. This was a late-night show, mind you, and this first clip included a couple discussing cybersex. It was actually quite respectful! Anyway, I think the site is from the anchor/producer of the show and there is a contact section where they ask people if they were on the show or had memories of it, to please share that so the site might grow in the future. I think it's an interesting look into how society was interacting with this new medium.
- How 16th-Century Artist Joris Hoefnagel Made Insects Beautiful—and Changed Science Forever - This is an article with a short video (CW - it does start off with clips of actual insects doing insect things) that explains why there was a fascination with nature in the 16th century and then discusses the artist and his beautiful and lifelike drawings. There are some images of his artwork on the page and, if you follow the link to the museum exhibit, that page has some additional pictures. I found this so fascinating! I hadn't heard of this artist before and it was such a delight to see his drawings.
- Why Handwriting Matters - This is a small study done in Singapore that looks at the differences in handwriting between generations and talks about why handwriting is still important today. I took a picture of my own handwriting sample using their sentence. I'm Gen X and I think it pretty much looks like what the article found Gen X handwriting to look like!
I finished another piece in the video game cats series from Space Nona's Stitchery on Etsy. This is stitched on 14 count black aida and it was tedious doing the black brick outlines on the black fabric! There are 2 more, I think, left in the series, but I'm taking a break from the gaming cats for a little while. I'm working on something now and have 2 or 3 others in the pipeline.
Confession time - I'm not a huge gamer. I don't even think I can really be called a gamer at all. I'm a person who plays games.
Back around 2008 or so I played Everquest 2. I played original Everquest, too, but EQ2 is what I ended up sticking with. I briefly played with friends from college as a group - we were all in our own guild! But,honestly, I didn't want to be bothered with grouping and raiding. I wanted to collect "shinies" and decorate my house. I wanted to play solo in this MMORPG. And I did, for several years.
I'm not really sure why I stopped playing. I think part of it was a time issue. You can't really play for just a little while - or I can't, anyway. I would tell myself I'd just be on for a little while and that usually ended up leading to hours of playing. But I really missed it when I quit playing. I always hankered for the things I liked about EQ2 - crafting (I especially liked cooking!) and going on quests that offered cool rewards I could use to decorate my house.
I've avoided it up to now but this past week I logged back into my account and started a new character. Everybody, meet Frigyth, a Froglok Mage.
Isn't she cute?? (But deadly - don't mess with her.) She's still low level so I don't have much in the way of cool appearance garb. She lives in Kelethin, the Fae city in an acorn room in the Silver Leaf Inn. I've already got some cool rewards decorating my room.
And here's Frigyth doing my favorite thing - collecting shinies! These items fill out collections which offer rewards. If I collect something I already have, then I make some money by selling it through the broker.
I've had a ton of fun getting back into the game. I have a 3 month subscription (you can free play but I wanted some of the options a subscription offered) and I'm not sure I'll resubscribe or keep playing for free after it expires. We'll see!
Listening
Some podcasts I listened to this week:
I'm always looking for some good K-pop. I like the stuff that's very 90s, bubblegum pop, fun. Hot Sauce by Babymonster fits the bill!
Reading
Some months I go gangbusters on reading, some months I don't. In June I only finished 2 books! And I'm still working on the book I was reading last week, Deeds of the Disturber. It's a library loan and I only have 6 more days to get it read. I need to do more reading during the day. When I save my reading for bedtime, it ends up with me falling asleep while reading and the e-reader bonking me in the face.
Watching
I've watched through season 1, episode 20 of Babylon 5, "Babylon Squared." We meet Zathras, who I believe is a recurring character, and get to see Babylon 4. Briefly. It is such a treat to watch a show with more than 8 or 10 episodes in a season!
Speaking of short-episode seasons, I am just about finished with Grantchester on PBS. I'm on episode 7 (Season 10) and there are only 8 in a season. Why, BBC??
That's it for this week!