Sakura of DOOM

So after getting bored of Glitch, I am now excited again, thanks to the Unlaunching and little peeks at changes that may happen going forward. HOUSE CUSTOMIZATION! Maybe this will finally break my already waning interest in Sims Social, though of course I keep hoping for a Lunar New Year theme/event over there. Mostly, though, it sounds as though there will be a lot more to do when you have more resources. Right now, I am still largely randomly gathering quoins and selling Extremely Hallowed Shrine Powder for the heck of it. I've also started harvesting jellisacs, even though there's really not a great use for them in the game. Mostly, I just like the "glop" sound they make, at I can donate fuel cells to community machine rooms.

Also, I finally got CB to start playing!

It's very funny, because after he played enough to get a feel for the game, he was a lot more excited than I was. Apparently the 2D MMO-ness is unique, as is having a branching world map (me: "Other games didn't have signposts?!"), as is the concept of a non-combat MMO that remains interesting. I feel I should go into more detail about Super Mario and the evolution of screens and levels in game design, except I was a bit tipsy from wine and I don't quite remember the details. It's also interesting getting a gamer perspective on it, since quite a few people I know playing it had the "What is this MMO thing and what am I supposed to be doing in it?"

It's especially interesting to think how much the writing, sound design, and art direction influenced my getting into the game. Even in the beginning, when I had no idea what I was doing, I would go around and pet trees just because I like the little "ahhh" sound they make afterward.

Also, yay for 2D games. I tried Minecraft on peaceful mode, but even then, all the camera turning and angles and whatnot were a bit too much and ended up making me feel nauseous.

This is a murder mystery set in an alternate future in which the Indian Territories have reverted to Indian control via an environmental act of Congress—Congress wanted to preserve the flora and the fauna of the Territories, but they realized without Indians there, it was going to be pretty damn hard. And hey, Indians were still classified as fauna...

It's also extremely snarky, dives into other narratives written by the characters in the book, and, unlike most sfnal works, leaves most of the worldbuilding in the glossary instead of the text. I was lured into reading the book when sanguinity posted snippets from the glossary, which are fascinating.

I keep debating about writing this up or not. Against: I read this when I didn't really have enough brain to appreciate it and I still feel like 80% of it flew right over my head. Against: I currently don't feel like I have enough brain to write about it, particularly since I had to return the book to the library a month or so ago. For: More people should read this and talk about it in smart ways so I can eavesdrop!

Jones uses the set up to talk about the fishbowl effect of having paparazzi/anthropologists surround the border of the Territories, wanting to get their hands and microphones on a Real Live Indian, only of course, there are no Real Live Indians real enough for them. I especially love all the bits about identity and authenticity, how it's complicated and tangled enough inside a group, and even more so when you add on the spectators. I suspect a huge percentage of this went over my head, which I'm fine with, since it's not really a book that should be talking to me or for me.

It feels more like literary fiction than SF to me, largely because of the present-tense voice in the present-day chapters and the way Jones skips from omniscient POV to first-person to a variety of other things in the manifesto snippets. I was going to say it also felt a lot like literary fiction because I feel the worldbuilding isn't as tied into the plot as I'd usually expect with something SF/fantasy. I mean, it is, because obviously the plot would not exist without it, but it also isn't in that the big plot revelations aren't really about the worldbuilding, like they would be in most SF/fantasy that isn't cross genre—I get the same impression from paranormal romances FWIW.

In conclusion: really interesting, and I feel I need to read it about eighteen more times just to figure out the plot.

Links:
- sanguinity's review

The cold I had TWO WEEKS AGO is still here, and in fact I think the medicine I took for it last night made the cough so bad that I couldn't fall asleep until 6. Was supposed to go to CB's family yesterday night, was too tired, am too tired now, and think I will just spend entire weekend sleeping in. Ugh. Had antibiotics called in by doctor yesterday, but I think the pharmacies are all closed now, and I am too sleepy to drive right now. Also, I think I gave it to CB, who is apparently feeling a lot worse right now and sleeping in while his whole family is out.

I'm not even that annoyed about missing holiday festivities; I'm more just grateful for a three-day weekend for sleep.

Nyquil not working, codeine cough syrup not really working, have to sleep with cough drops in my mouth or I can't sleep at all (I can feel my teeth rotting away), Sudafed helps the congestion but not the cough. Any home remedies? Have been drinking a honey-lemon hot water mix for ages, which does help, and I want to get a humidifier as soon as I am in shape to be seen outside the house.

SO SICK AND TIRED OF THIS STUPID COLD PPL. OMG MAKE IT GO AWAY.

As in, I am still alive, even though posting has been rare.

I feel like I haven't read a single book since I started dating CB, partially due to adjusting my schedule to accommodate another person, partially due to his siccing online games on me, and partially due to all the life changes that followed dating him (familial drama, new job, etc.).

I picked up C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry because I wanted something incredibly pulpy with kickass women, and then was felled by a cold that continues to dig its nasty little claws into my throat. Instead, I've mostly been listening to audiobooks and podcasts, primarily before going to bed. I sped through all of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy during the cold, since my cough ends up keeping me up half the night (oh codeine, why aren't you working?!), and though I love the production and the girl who voices Lyra, it's interesting revisiting the world for the first time in maybe five years or so. I really feel like The Golden Compass started a series that I really wanted to read, only Pullman got further and further away from that world and Lyra as the trilogy went on, much to its detriment.

I also caved and actually paid for the This American Life iPhone app, but I figure it's a nice donation, particularly since it means about six years worth of backlog. (Also, I am already deeply fond of Poultry Slam.)

Oh, and CB is now trying to get me to play the new Star Wars MMORPG by promising I won't have to fight things too much, so that is probably even more time away from books.

I don't know... I'm hoping things will shake out a bit more once it's 2012 and I'm more settled into the new job, although that's when I start apartment hunting for somewhere that is a bit closer to work, and moving always wreaks havoc on my life.

But right now, it feels like 2011 has been a year of big changes, and I'm still getting used to a lot of them. At least it feels like it's finally winding down, and hopefully it will do so WITHOUT this nasty cold thing so I can have fun during vacation.

I wasn't quite sure if I was going to watch this. The production values and all the press ABC is putting behind it is great, but I've been watching much less TV lately. Plus, I've read a LOT of fairy-tale-inspired things, from straight retellings to mashups, so I have fairly high expectations in this area.

That said, so far I am very pleased that this is a show that easily passes the Bechdel Test, features a woman as the promised savior, and so far has been giving all the women more and more agency instead of less and less.

( Spoilers are not honeycrisp apples )

All in all, the show has gotten much more interesting in only six episodes, so now it gets a Season Pass on Tivo instead of being relegated to "watch online when I remember."

I did a mass catch up on the show last week, and although I hadn't been interested enough to watch it when it aired, it slowly morphed from the "noise in the background I sometimes pay attention to" to "What is going on?! Rewind to catch the last bit again!"

( Spoilers )

Possible spoilers for specific casting in comments.

Apparently I am a highly seasonal person, and summer is for fruits and vegetables and salads and chopping. I did cook some during the summer (largely because my sister made me), but it always feels a bit like a chore though.

Now that the weather's changed, I've been wanting to spend time in the kitchen again, and today I started some things for craft circle. The kitchen smells like pork and ginger and scallion, which is to say, it smells proper again.

*happy sigh*

FYI: currently not xposting to LJ due to a recent (for me; for everyone else, this means "last week") bug.

It's been getting darker for a while, but it didn't really feel like fall or winter until a few days ago. It's the bite in the air and the smell of smoke more than anything, and while it's warm and cozy right now, I already feel like holing in and not emerging until spring.

I've been making CB blast the Lilo & Stitch soundtrack, Beach Boys, "My Blue Heaven" by the Pogues, and etc. to try and counteract the cold. And the sun light is going on. And while I like the extra hour that the end of daylight savings brings, the earlier sunset is going to be so depressing.

Or: reasons why I live in California. Winter is bad enough for me here, much less anywhere else with less sunlight and more cold.