Monthly Archives: January 2018

…And Another Video

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Hi!

So. Once again, I meant to actually write a post.

And then I found a video that indicates that Birds of Paradise are not only real birds (not just flowers), but also has a wild Bird of Paradise being delightfully obnoxious around a Naturalist. (The caption is something like “Sir David (Something) gets upstaged by a bird”.)/p>

Sound is worth it.

Also, isn’t the bird pretty? AND SO FLUFFY?!?!

(Not quite the sweetest of all birdsong, but lovely feathers!)

Have a lovely day!

https://www.facebook.com/bbc/videos/1398922300216934/

I was totally not wanting to share a video, but this is TOO COOL.

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Hi!

I had every intention of not sharing any videos this month. And then I came across some awesomeness on Facebook.

It’s like dominoes, but not.

Enjoy!

Awesome Domino Stone Wall

Stone Wall Building Level: 9000!

Posted by Nerdbot on Saturday, January 6, 2018

Food for Thought

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Hi!

So. This is just a random observation. “Food for thought” is a phrase, right?

I understand that to be the case, yes.

…That was actually supposed to be rhetorical.

Anyway. Yep. And in general, it’s supposed to be the “interesting questions” / whatevers that spin off more thoughts. Which is why it’s food for thought: You’re feeding your thoughts.

But there’s also food that helps you think better. (Like, you kinda need food in order to think. At least sometimes. And if you have a body. You know.)

So, new question: If you could make it so that a particular food always fuels your brain and could literally be “food for thought”, what food would you choose?

Happy Monday!

Second and Third Books Reviewed

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Greetings, readers!

As you may recall, I gave the first book review of the year just a few days ago.

I am pleased to report that I have now finished the series, and enjoyed them. As a reminder, the series is the “Riyria Revelations” by Michael J. Sullivan.

As a minor note: Each of the three “books” actually contains two novels. (In terms of length: Combined, each “set of two” is nowhere near as long as a usual Brandon Sanderson novel, but that may not be saying much.)

But onto the review part.

Pros: 1) The characters remain fun to read. The different characters have noticeably different speaking styles, and the banter is droll. 2) The writing style noticeably improves. Whereas the first part of the first book read more like somebody’s D&D adventure, the later books feel more coherent and well written. Furthermore, some of the plot-twists become a bit less predictable. (Some remain fairly obvious, but others are better done.) Furthermore, the author does a reasonable job for some of the twists and surprises of “show, don’t tell”.

Cons: 1) Some of the plot-twists feel as though they were not initially supposed to be there. A term that is relevant is the idea of “retcon“. Granted, it may not be retcon, as some cases simply did not provide the vital piece of information. However, it still felt that way. 2) Some of the writing jerks about. Time-frames in particular are not entirely clear.

Overall, I enjoyed the series, and will likely invest in the prequels (which were written after the originals series) at some point.

Happy Sunday.

Food Thoughts

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Hi!

So. As promised a couple days ago, I’m trying to try something new. In that post, I mentioned the idea about “making a food perfectly.” And it occurs to me that there are several things to consider. I’ll be looking at one of them right now.

The thing I’m wondering about is wasted cost. Like, you can probably learn to make inexpensive food turn out pretty well, pretty consistently. And if you don’t, then you’re not out much, right? But with really expensive foods, if you could guarantee it turning out perfectly, that would reduce wasted costs.

But on the other hand, it would be expensive to use the talent, if you only go for the expensive foods.

So, trade-offs.

I’m still not sure where I fall on that one. What about you?

First Book of 2018 Read

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Greetings, readers!

In my time this week, I have finished reading my first “new” novel of 2018. By new, naturally, I mean that I had not yet read it. The book was apparently published approximately seven years ago.

The book was called “Theft of Swords”, and it was a set of two rather droll fantasy stories starring a Mercenary duo.

Pros: The characters were amusing. The author (Michael J. Sullivan) particularly did the banter well.

Cons: The plot(s) was (were?) reasonably intuitive. If a book is supposed to be a maze, where you are not sure what is coming next, then this one had a fairly straightforward set of branches, fairly visible ahead of time. Whereas some books have plot twists that are well laid retrospectively, this one makes it clear what the twists are as the author builds towards them.

However, the second part of “Theft of Swords” was (somewhat) better done, and I am looking forward to reading the second volume. The author is telling a fun story, and the characters are amusing with witty banter.

If you find it at a library, or happen to have extra to spend on books and no purpose, it is worth considering for a pleasant piece of fluff.

Enjoy!

Something New

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Hi!

So, I’m thinking about doing something a bit new this year.

As you may have noticed, I’ve recently been defaulting to YouTube videos for posts, unless there’s something I actually want to write about. Well, I’m going to try to change that a bit.

…Oh dear.

What? I thought you might like the break.

… I am withholding actual judgment, but I am not currently hopeful.

Whatever.

Anyway. So, I’m currently thinking I might try to either come up with or answer Conversation Starter questions when I’m drawing a blank, rather than just defaulting to YouTube.

No idea how long that’ll go. But yeah.

For example, here’s a question: You can prepare / cook / whatever a food, every time you make it, but you need to buy the ingredients. (For example, suppose Pie Crust. Any time you make a pie crust, it turns out perfectly for whatever pie it is you’re trying to make. Or Prime Rib. Or, whatever.) What do you make?

Theoretically, I’ll be figuring out an answer at some point. And then probably another. And so on.

But what are your thoughts?

New Year’s Resolution Challenges

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Hi!

So, I’ve been thinking. In the category of “New Years”-y Things, it occurs to me that there are some definite challenges (some of which I find amusing) with a lot of the New Year’s Resolutions. Specifically ones that relate to health and stuff.

So, a Thing with New Year’s Eve is that parties tend to happen. And with parties (well, the fun ones) come lots of junk food. Ideally, enough that it doesn’t all disappear that night.

And yet, many “resolutions” deal with diets.

So, either you waste your delightful food from the night before, or you end up starting your resolution… by cheating on your resolution.

I guess my question is… why don’t we just give a week of transition before Resolutions “go into effect”?

What are your thoughts?

It may not be too late to watch the Rose Parade

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Greetings, readers!

As you are aware, it is now 2018. As you may also be aware, the Californian city of Pasadena had a parade yesterday in honor of the new year: The Rose Parade.

Ooh, yes!

So, I’m butting in with a random tangent. Just note that it really is the “Rose Parade”. Or, “The Tournament of Roses Parade” if you’re being fancy. It’s absolutely, definitely NOT the “Rose bowl parade”. That is a nonexistent thin that people who don’t know any better make up. In fact, the Rose Bowl game wasn’t founded until well after the original Rose Parade… and I think was named for the Tournament of Roses Parade (or the Rose Parade.)

…Are you quite finished yet?

Oh. Right. Yep.

Your post. Continue!

Thank you.

As I was saying, the parade occurred yesterday. It is occasionally a touch difficult to track down for viewing. However, it appears that the KTLA Broadcast may still be available online.

The parade itself is approximately two hours long, and well worth the time, if you have it.

Enjoy.