I actually did some social things this past week!

On Tuesday night I got together with a couple of friends and we played the board game Splendor. We had all met for dinner a few weeks ago and one of them was talking about how much she enjoyed this game that she played with a friend of hers she was visiting over the summer. Well, I happen to own that game! I have never played it though. I got all excited about the game - probably because it got good reviews and even more so because it involves collecting gems (SPARKLIES! - I may have a problem). I bought it and then realized I had no one to play with (insert sad trombone) so it's been sitting on a shelf for the past few years. We played 3 rounds and it was really fun! I'm hoping we can get together again in the near future and play some more.

On Friday I met up with another friend for lunch. We like to try out different restaurants and this time we went to one that served Ghanaian food. I'm going to be real, the town I live in is very suburban and very white and I did not think there would be enough interest for something like this but the restaurant seems to be doing ok despite that. This was my first time having any kind of West African food. I chose Jollof Rice which came with a chicken leg and a side of fried plaintains. I know Jollof can be made so many ways, depending on who's making it and where they're from. I thought it was going to be spicy but it was just flavorful and very good. My friend got soup but I can't for the life of me remember the name of it. I took a spoonful of the broth and it was just delicious. So far it's two thumbs up for Ghanaian food!

And then on Friday night I played some old school video games! So, in my town there is a dermatologist who also collects old arcade games. His practice is in one half of the building and the other half houses all the games. Every now and then he'll open up to the general public and you can just stop by and play games for a quarter each. All the good old classics are there: Joust, Tron, Tempest, Frogger, Centipede, one of my all-time favorites, Kick-Man and tons of others. He's even got a couple of cabinets that have multiple games to choose from. You can get on a mailing list and when he has these open houses he'll send out an announcement that "the portal to 1985" will be opening.

This is such a neat thing and I've been going to it for years. The doctor, though, has retired and is in the process of selling the building. He said this on the last announcement and also said the future of the arcade is uncertain. I hope he's able to set up the arcade someplace else!

Listening

A few of the podcasts I've listened to this week:

Best Son sent this my way:

  • DJ Aphrodite - Acid to the Sound (Soundcloud link)

    • Reading

    I finished Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber! It was an interesting look at how Marie Antoinette used clothing both to break away from stifling court protocol and also to send messages through the colors, fabrics and styles she chose. There were times when I thought the author was stretching a circumstance to fit her thesis but overall I thought it was a good book.

    I had a really fun time reading the Sun Wolf and Starhawk series. I was excited to discover that Barbara Hambly has gone back to several of her series and has either written short stories about the main characters or has taken the opportunity to explore the stories of other characters from the series. She has 5 Sun Wolf short stories and the first one is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. More stories from a series I really liked and a fairy tale retelling as well? Sign me up!

    Well, I ended up being quite disappointed because the tone of the main character changed from the books to the short stories and it really threw me off track. Maybe this is going to seem like the nittiest of nit picks but what got me is that all through the 3 novels Sun Wolf used the word "nothing" in speech many times and always spoke it normally. In this short story it was "nuthin'" and it happened several times in conversation. Did the author forget her character? I mean, maybe - she's written a zillion books and these short stories were written at least a decade, maybe longer, after the original novels. I finished that story but I don't know if I want to bother with the others. Such a disappointment!

    After finishing that I started and have already finished Sisters of Sword and Shadow by Laura Bates. I found out about it from the website For Reading Addicts (which is UK based) and it was from one of their suggestion lists, 7 alternative reads for trans allies instead of Harry Potter. This Young Adult story is set in an alternative Arthurian Britain and features a girl who doesn't want to be trapped in the life that is expected of her (getting married, having children, etc). She ends up finding a secret sisterhood of knights, joins them and makes her own life. The story felt empowering, definitely something I'd steer a younger person to if this type of story and setting is their jam.

    After finishing that, I found out that Lois McMaster Bujold (who has also written a zillion books yet manages to keep her character consistent - JUST SAYIN'!) has written another installment in her Penric and Desdemona series, Testimony of Mute Things! I did not know there was going to be another one coming out this year and I am so excited! I just started reading that one last night.

    Watching

    I finished up season 3 of Dark Winds and it was excellent. Season 4 has already been approved and they might be filming it already but it won't be coming out til next year.

    I'm still working my way through season 5 of Babylon 5. Things with the telepaths are heating up and sketch things are going on in the palace on the Centauri homeworld.

    That's about it for this week! Best Son, in addition to sending cool tunes my way, also hooked me up with a couple of fancy beers to try out: one is a limited release by Oskar Blues, Death by Coconut (Irish-style porter with coconut and chocolate). The other is from Lexington Brewing Company - a spiced pumpkin ale aged in bourbon barrels that is a beefy 10% ABV. I would like to try one tonight and I think I'm leaning towards the pumpkin one.

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