PixlBit

Where I talk about just about everything under the sun except for gaming . I think it's the Puritan guilt complex - I should be looking for a job for the winter, so I feel guilty about gaming. I do many other things to procrastinate, so it really shouldn't matter. Anyway...

Reading: I've been doing a lot of reading lately. Or at least buying of books and planning on reading, lol. A friend who worked at what used to be my favorite bookstore (it closed five or six years ago) just opened a new independent bookstore with her parents. I've already spent $60 there. Kath was one of my go to people when it came to recommendations. She's the one that got me reading A Song of Ice and Fire, The Name of the Wind, and pretty much anything written by Neil Gaiman, among other books. She has never given me a bum recommendation. So happy to have her selling books again! Anyway, been reading the latest paperback Dresden Files book Cold Days, the first book in the Longmire series by Craig Johnson (the TV series is pretty good, but the books blow it out of the water), and the Jack Taylor series by Ken Bruen (again, the TV series is good, but the books are so much better). I'm nearly done with the the first Longmire book (The Cold Dish) and will probably call the bookstore and special order the next one, which would hopefully arrive by the weekend.

Watching: A mix of everything, as usual. Jason took me out last night for dinner and a movie. Movie was my choice, and I chose Thor: The Dark World. Loved it! Will probably go see it again on Tuesday with Michael when the local movie theater has their free residents' day. Current TV shows include Agents of SHIELD, Arrow, Sleepy Hollow, The Blacklist (half the time I don't know whether I like or hate Red), Revolution, NCIS, Law And Order:SVU. I attempt to watch Person of Interest, but I have a hard time staying awake after 10PM, and stupid CBS doesn't have an agreement with Netflix or Hulu Plus so I can watch it. TV on Netflix has consisted of CSI:NY, Dexter, Supernatural, and Oddities. As for movies, I had a brief nostalgia kick and watched Escape to Witch Mountain and The Secret of NIMH, checked out Lilo and Stitch for the first time, and I've watched a bunch of mediocre but entertaining martial arts movies, along with some equally mediocre supernatural movies. I won't call them horror, they weren't scary.

Playing: Played through the second chapter of The Last Door. If you haven't checked that game out, get with it and do so! I was also playing The Last Window: The Secret of Cape West before I got distracted by other stuff.

Other gaming stuff: Up until the most recent issue of Game Informer, I really wasn't all that interested in next-gen consoles. Then I saw the cover article for The Order 1886. Now I want a PS4. Just not right away. Also, Retro Magazine made its funding goal and then some. I am very excited about that. The list of people that will be writing for it is phenomenal. I am a little put off by the inclusion of Bob Mackey, however, due to some seriously unprofessional conduct on his part when he was with 1up that involved setting someone I care about up as trollbait. Hopefully that will remain in the past, but I still don't trust or like the guy.

Miscellaneous: I've discovered a labyrinthine network of trails right behind the cottage that go for miles and miles. Bandit and I have been exploring each and every branching fork out there. I'd been spending at least an hour a day exploring the trails until rifle season started. We still go out, but I wear a lot of orange and keep Bandit leashed, which takes a lot of the fun out of it. So far, I can walk all the way into town without having to walk on a road, I've found the route between my house and my mechanic, so I can drop off the car and walk home and then back to get it without having to depend on someone to give me a lift, and I've discovered all kinds of cool, abandoned things back there, like a bulldozer. I've also discovered lots of ticks on me and the dog after we get home. Cold weather cannot come too soon!!!

Michael and I have been doing some work for some people I know hauling slash (Definition: Branches and other residue left on a forest floor after the cutting of timber) that was left behind when they sold some trees to a logging company. It's hard work, but we're being well paid and work our own hours. And I get to drive what I have been affectionately referring to as "The Beast". The Beast is a 1985 GMC High Sierra pickup truck that has not been road-worthy since 2000. The running boards are all rusted out, and the rear bumper is barely hanging on, and I have to start it with a manual choke. I don't think it does more than 20 miles an hour, and I don't even drive it that fast - I'm afraid if I hit a bump too hard the whole thing will disintegrate, much like the Wonderful One-Hoss Shay (poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes).

I've also been doing a lot of photography lately. There's so much around me to take pictures of, plus, I'm doing a Photo A Day challenge for the month of November. The Photo A Day thing has a prompt for each day and it's been fun seeing how different people interpret each prompt. I'm into it enough that I joined the Facebook group.

Two weeks ago, a bunch of us from the park went up to Michael's family's camp for a couple of days. It's been in his family since it was built in the late 1880s and is on an island. There are only two ways to get there: by boat, or by hiking in five miles and crossing the river on stepping stones. We take Bandit with us, and nervous dogs and canoes are never a good combination, so we hike. Last year, the river was extra high, Andy fell in face-first, Michael tried to catch him and slipped off the rock he was standing on, and I got wet trying to haul Andy's pack out before all his stuff got soaked. And Bandit had to swim. We were cold, wet, and hungry when we finally made it to the camp. This year, the river was dry and none of us got wet. There was much rejoicing. It was very peaceful - no electricity, running water, cell phone service, etc. Everything out there runs on propane - the fridge (that we didn't need), the stove, and the lights. Think super-duper deluxe camping, lol. We talked, played tabletop games, and explored the island. Just a really nice escape from the frenetic pace of the modern world.

In conclusion, I've been a very busy little ranger, even without gaming much.