It Started with a Journal

I'm finally getting around to watching Teen Wolf season 3, and... it's surprisingly good. O.o I say that because the first two seasons were pretty silly. The only thing worth watching about the show (and why I was watching season 3) is Dylan O'Brien as Stiles. But this season is actually good. I can't get over it, especially since they killed off one of my favorite characters at the beginning of the season. I mean, some things are still silly, but there are honest-to-goodness eps that actually rivet me, whereas before the only thing getting me through episodes was the Stiles. Possibly the best episode this season was 3x06, "Motel California," which is like a little standalone movie, almost. I also liked 3x06, "Visionary," mostly the Derek backstory stuff and the explanation of why he has blue werewolf eyes.

I find that for most teen dramas like this (I'm including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Vampire Diaries and Roswell), I tend to UC ship. That's no different with Teen Wolf. I don't really ship any of the canon ships, but they seem to be teasing us with a few UC ships and those I could actually get into. ( This gets a bit spoilery, so I'm cutting. )

Have gotten a number of cool new boardgames that I can't wait to try out. adelagia and I have been playing the latest Pandemic expansion, Pandemic: In the Lab. It's fun, but really hard. At least, for us. >.> We haven't won a single game yet, and we've been playing with only four Epidemics! There must be some rhythm to using the lab that we're not getting yet. Plus there are new Roles that we're not used to (so far, my favorite of the new roles is the Field Director). I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but it's awesome that one of the game designers is a regular participant at Boardgamegeek. Whenever we have a question about a rule or Role ability, I just ask over there and Tom Lehmann answers, usually within hours! It's awesome.

( More boardgame nerdiness. )

I've been trying to read Legend by Marie Lu, but it's slow going. Despite all the accolades it's gotten, it's really not very well written, and so far the protagonists haven't really hooked me in any way. The only thing that's keeping me on board so far is that it's set in a dystopian universe, and as that's a favorite trope? genre? of mine, I can bear it awhile longer.

In preparation for Jade's visit, I have been busily buying board games. There's no way we will have time to play them all, but that won't stop us from trying! The latest is Saboteur, from the publisher of Pandemic. It's almost like the Mafia party game. Basically, an unknown person or persons tries to sabotage the rest.

When I was still playing WoW, my guild would play Mafia on our guild forums. It was so freaking fun -- toward the end, it was more fun than WoW itself. For playing online, basically, you have a game mod, and they assign roles to each player. Most players are townspeople (depending how complex you want to get with the game, each townsperson can have a specific role, like "cop"), and a small subset are Mafia members (and again, depending on complexity they could have specific roles). With big games, you might even have two different Mafia families. Anyway, during the "day" everybody talks (so it's better with active players who will actually post) and judging by what's said, you all vote to see who you will lynch. The day ends when someone gets the right amount of votes to be lynched. The mod reveals whether that player was a Mafia member or an innocent townsperson. Night falls. The Mafia members are allowed to conspire and decide who they're going to murder in the night. A townsperson (or member of opposing Mafia) dies, and the mod reveals who it is and what role they played. Day dawns again and it starts all over, until the Mafia or the Town prevail in the end. SO FUN.

Anyway, so yeah. I'm looking forward to trying that out, playing the Matt Leacock game Lunatix Loop, Ticket to Ride: Europe (which is more complex and therefore more fun than the U.S. one), Puerto Rico, and of course, Pandemic. :D

Plus there's spending time with Jade and our planned Obsess Me! challenge. What is this, you might ask? (Or not, but I'm going to tell you anyway.) We each get 10 hours of TV time to make the other watch anything we want. The purpose, of course, being that we want to get each other into the various shows that we enjoy that the other isn't watching. In the last few years or so, we have been diverging a LOT in what we choose to watch. We only have a few shows in common now, which is shocking, SHOCKING. She doesn't watch: Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Community, Parks & Rec, The Wire, The Good Wife or Breaking Bad. I don't watch Leverage, The New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, SNL and I don't even know what else. The point is that we have very few shows that intersect, so this is our chance to try and intersect more. The problem is that we naturally gravitate toward certain kinds of shows. I'm not generally a sitcom person (though of course there are a few exceptions, for truly quality programming, as I see it <g>), while she's not as much a drama person. She prefers light-hearted comedy and romance, while I prefer angst and epic plots. :)) I'm biased, naturally, but I'm like, "I like substance, she likes mind candy." :)))) That's NOT to say that we only watch shows that fall into those respective buckets, but looking at our current lineup, drama vs comedy is how I'd generally delineate it. Maybe someone else can be more objective about the differences.

We do have some shows in common, though. How I Met Your Mother, Merlin (though she hasn't seen S4), The Walking Dead, and The Vampire Diaries are the ones that come to mind. Speaking of VD, we're now caught up with what's aired! Just the season finale left. ( VD through 3x21 'Before Sunset' )

In book news, I'm in the middle of like 3 of them at the moment, but they're all going to be shunted aside for City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments book 5), which released today. Jace is just too hot to ignore.

I've also given up the ghost wrt my lawn. I've decided to hire a gardener again. (I ended up calling the first gardener I ever had, who maintained my lawn for me for years -- I should never have stopped. But hindsight is 20/20.) I realize that I just can't keep up with how quickly the grass grows now that it's getting warmer, and don't want to. I want to spend my time doing other things, including possibly vegetable gardening again. I was spurred to calling a gardener when I realized that the main reason I haven't gotten up the will to go play in the raised bed is because the lawn is so unkempt/long. It's like being out in the wild. >.> And yeah, it's a little late in the season to try and grow anything this year. I have some cover crop in the bed right now that I still need to tear up and turn over into the dirt, so I wouldn't be able to plant anything until 2-3 weeks after I take care of that... which takes me into June. O.o So this season is probably lost, but we'll see.

That's right, adelagia. You want my userpic.

I have made two purchases recently that some might find difficult to understand. Heck, I myself waffle between giddy/excited and WTF was I thinking?

First, I got this diamond sharpening steel for my knives, the Global G-38. I've been coveting this ever since my knife class. I figure, I have really expensive knives, so why wouldn't I take care of them by using the best knife sharpener for them?

Second is related to my icon. I keep talking about my new favorite board game, Pandemic. Well, Pandemic was made by Matt Leacock, who has designed several other board games. Two of these board games, Borderlands and Lunatix Loop, are out of print. They had a limited run to begin with (only 100-200 sets of each were printed). I also have his games Roll Through the Ages and Forbidden Island, which are fun but not as good as Pandemic. Anyway, I couldn't find either of the out-of-print games on eBay, but I did find a couple of private sellers on BoardGameGeek (where game designers actually hang out and will answer questions/clarify game rules) selling the games. They are QUITE pricey, being such rare prints, but I figure I'll get hours of enjoyment from playing the games, so it's worth it. The guy who has Borderlands got back to me to say that his games are all in storage because he's going to Afghanistan for a year (!!!), but to contact him next June if I'm still looking. I did, however, buy Lunatix Loop from a guy in the UK. He has a good feedback score and has provided a tracking number, so I'm feeling pretty good about the transaction. VERY excited to play the game.

Watched Game of Thrones S2E1! ( Spoilery comments for 'The North Remembers.' )

I've been reading about the insane ratings jump between season 1 and season 2. Hope they keep it up. Also, from what I've read, the producers and/or GRRM seem to be under the delusion that he's going to be able to finish the book series in time to keep up with the TV show schedule. Ummmmmm NOT BLOODY LIKELY. They're already on S2. Even if they split A Storm of Swords into two seasons, that's still just 2-3 years from now. I'm guessing they'll want to combine the events of books 4 and 5, since they kind of run parallel anyway (I can't see them doing a full season without half the characters), so let's say that's another 2-4 years. That's 7 years max. It took GRRM 6 years to come out with book 5. And they think he's going to be able to put out books 6 *and* 7 in that same timeframe, considering he also has to write an episode every season and has his fingers in like a dozen other projects? Assuming 7 books actually is the final number? (GRRM has said that he's firm about 7 books unless he decides not to be firm. LOL. He's also said he won't let the story be limited by an arbitrary number of volumes.) Also, I've read that he's told the producers two big secret things from the series in case he should *knock on wood* pass away. But guess what? He's also said that he won't let anyone continue the series for him! So what's the good of them knowing what happens, if he's not going to let them tell the story? I guess he specifically means that he doesn't want anyone writing any books in the series, but the TV show is OK. In which case, it's possible that the TV show will actually eventually tell us MORE than the books, and be the definitive continuation (at least to whatever point of the plot elements they're aware of) of the series... which is just crazy.

I've been doing some reading. I highly, highly rec City of Thieves by David Benioff (one of the exec producers of HBO's Game of Thrones). It was the kind of book that I wanted to avoid reading because I didn't want it to end, it was so good.

The short summary: The story of two young men on an impossible adventure.

( The longer summary: )

It's now in my top 10 list of favorite books of all time. Or it would be, if I had such a list.

I've also read Matched, by Ally Condie. It's a teen novel set in a dystopian universe, which is one of my favorite genres. It's also got a very guilty pleasure premise. ( The summary. )

I was meh about this book. It's not written very well; the writing is immature and unsophisticated (like Stephenie Meyer, but not quite that boring). I thought it was written by a teenager, someone like Veronica Roth or Kody Keplinger, who are like 19. But Ally Condie is an adult. In fact, I think she used to be an English teacher (which is kind of scary). In any case, I like the characters and the story OK, except the universe and everything in it could be so much better, richer, more interesting. I'm reading the sequel right now, Crossed, and I'm at a point where I'm almost bored enough to stop. The Hunger Games is still the best teen dystopia novel I've read. Veronica Roth's Divergent was fairly good too -- not as good as HG, but better than Matched. I'm also in the middle of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies, which is better written than both Divergent and Matched, but whose heroine I don't like much so I've been "in the middle" of the book like forever.

Any other teen dystopia novels you've read and liked? Or just plain dystopian novels you've liked, period? I always worry that I'm missing out on a good one. ;)

Round two of the homemade bacon experiment was a rousing success. I can't stop thinking about it and it's making me really, really hungry. More details and pictures later.

Talis's eye is looking better and better. His procedure is scheduled for Thursday, but now I'm wondering if it's really necessary. I would hate to spend that kind of money and have him go through that kind of pain/stress (he'd have to be sedated and anesthetized) if he's actually getting better on his own. The eye doc said that if he hasn't fully healed on his own by now, he probably won't -- except that, like I said, the eye's actually been looking really good these last couple of days. I may just push the procedure out so I have a few more days to look at the eye and make a decision. I also don't want to jeopardize his eye healing the best it can just so that I can save that money. It's really the fact that spending the money AND doing a procedure on an almost healed eye makes no sense.

Played Pandemic with K on Sat. and she really enjoyed it. We were waiting for D but he didn't come home until like midnight, at which time I had to leave. K and I played 4 or 5 games, and we won 1 (which is better than my and adelagia's playing sometimes, though to be fair T and I play on a higher difficulty level). The weirdest thing is that we did not repeat ONE ROLE! We had different roles for all the games! Not just between ourselves, but even including the other! Sometimes I shuffled, sometimes she did. I mean, what are the chances for that to happen, when there's only like 13 roles total? That's never happened when I've played with others -- at least one role shows up again (usually T being the epidemiologist lolz). It was cool because it helped introduce nearly all the different roles to K.

I've started watching Ringer. It's kind of nonsensical, but I'm enjoying it so far. I was already pleased with Ioan Gruffudd on the show, but now Jason Dohring's shown up and I'm even more pleased. :D

I have now watched nearly all of Miranda (with the exception of the last episode of S2). It's great. It's like so much British comedy for me, wherein there's at least one part in every episode that has me on the floor laughing. I just wish it didn't have a laugh track. It doesn't need it and makes the show seem really dated. I love Miranda, and Gary (Tom Ellis) is like, the perfect guy.

What is even more exciting than that is that I found out they made an Inbetweeners movie!!!! I freaking LOVE that show. It's kind of like Extras in that all of the guys look like total assholes by the end of every episode, and is hilarious in the way that only British shows can be hilarious. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's about "the misadventures of four high-school boys as they navigate the humiliating transition into adulthood." Anyway, I was always really sad that it only had 3 seasons, especially since the third didn't end on a very satisfactory note. The movie has changed that! For once, you end up feeling hopeful for the guys, and sends them off with some good vibes. It gave me the 'closure' I wanted. :D Edit: Be warned though that it can get pretty crass, and more often than not what happens to the guys is just painful (in a mortifying way) to watch.

UGHGHGHGHGH omg they're developing an American version of the show. WHY DOES U.S. TV HAVE TO DO THAT!!! It's SO ANNOYING! And says a lot about the general American population, that they can't relate to other cultures -- even one as similar to us as the British culture -- AT ALL. It's so pathetic. I bet it's going to bomb. I hope it bombs. STOP FRACKING WITH THE ORIGINALS. GOD. Remakes are almost always lesser versions of the originals (they dumb it down, it's not as funny or good in any way), which were brilliant to start with, so why fuck around with it? UGH.

March Madness update: I am now second to last in my pool. -.- The good(ish) news is that despite my horrendous performance in the first and second rounds, 6 of my Elite 8 teams are still alive (and all of my Final 4/championship game). This coming Thursday, I need the following teams to win: Ohio St. (if they don't win, I'm doomed anyway since I have them as the eventual champion), Kentucky, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan St., North Carolina, Xavier, and Florida. I haven't actually done the math, but I think that if everything goes my way (which it won't, but you know), it's possible I can still end up in the money. Or at least won't have totally embarrassed myself. My Final Four are Ohio St., Kentucky, Michigan St., and Kansas. Of these Kansas looks the weakest, and they have to get past North Carolina, which has been looking very strong. So the best I expect to do is 3/4 of my Final Four picks, which could actually end up being much worse.

I ended up buying the Tippr housecleaning deal. I figure at the very least, it will force me to tidy up. I'll just have to deal with my other issues.

I was telling K and D about Pandemic and D was very interested. Apparently he loves playing board games, but can never find people to play with him. K was like, we should invite you and your friends over to our house and you can play games with D! LOL. As I told adelagia it was like she was setting up a play date for her husband. :))