That's Numberwang!

Hello Elllllll-jay! Sorry for not posting for ages again: I just haven't felt the urge to actually turn on my laptop this holiday season. I've been mostly hanging around in the living room enjoying our epic new HD TV, or gaming, or reading. I do have a cookie recipe for you, though!



( Click for delicious. )

It's a family tradition to make these at Christmas, but there's nothing that makes them intrinsically Christmassy, so you should go make them right now. You won't regret it.


We got an Xbox 360 for Christmas, collectively, and I've been playing Dragon Age: Origins. Chose a human mage to begin with, and it's tons of fun so far. :D I put points into cunning and the coercion skill, which means I can make NPCs do almost anything I want in conversations. It's pretty sweet. I dunno what specialisation I should go for, though. Blood Mage is out, since I'm being good, so maybe Arcane Warrior. I am going to shut up now, because no-one cares.

(I am also hitting on Alistair the Grey Warden guy as much as possible, because he is adorable. When you give him a gift he likes, he goes "R-really? This... this is for me? ;_;" like no-one has been nice to him ever before.)

I got Assassin's Creed II, as well, but I am determined to play them in order, so I'm waiting for Amazon to send me AC I.

Got some other great stuff, too, like a sexy jacket, books, socks, and a subscription to and back-issues from Current World Archaeology from Tim, which have actually been stopping me from reading the books. I really miss Archaeology, I have realised.


I've also been to see Sherlock Holmes and Avatar. I want to take Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law out of that film and insert them into a better one, so I can enjoy their brilliant interactions in a better plot.

As for Avatar, I am in two minds. It's cliché, and shallow, at times offensively so, but I adore the look. Especially the creature designs, fuck yes. Giant fantasy animals, insect and dionaur/reptillian influences, bioluminescence... basically they are pushing so many of my aesthetic buttons that I managed to completely ignore the stupid cat people for most of the film, in favour of the pretty colours.

Oh, except for their language, which was sort of cool, I guess, but that's probably only because I know they had it especially designed. Though I agree with this, in that I'm not sure why you'd go through the trouble of having a language made if the rest of your alien culture couldn't be more of a Noble Savage cliché if you were actually trying.

To be honest, though, I wasn't really expecting better. Sorry, films, I have low expectations of you.

But fuck it was pretty. I'm probably going to go see it again for that. Oh, and because I feel that every ticket might just be encouragement to make more sci-fi films. Alien planets: they work! Now put a good plot on one! Please?


I'm turning 22 tomorrow! It is common knowledge that, while I am ageing in a linear fashion, my greatness increases logarithmically. I've been in a pretty good mood, lately. Come on, 2010! Let's have a good new decade. :D

It's a Colony recap! Previous chapters. Wow, this one ended up looooong.

Chapter 8, in which David has some growing up to do.

Yay, this chapter's back on Island One! I am growing really really fond of Evelyn and David. Maybe it's just because I've seen more of them than a few pages of introduction, but I just... like them. I really enjoy their interaction in this chapter, too.

I don't remember if David's age is ever stated, but even if he's an adult, he's pretty much got the mind of a teenager, in my opinion. This is his puberty chapter.

It starts with them at the holo!ballet.

( Yes, the holo!ballet. )

And with that, we get to the end of Book One (of five). Pray to the gods of the five-act structure that now things will begin to happen. Prediction: David and Evelyn team up to save the world.


Sometimes reading books, you think about whether they would make good films or not. I think Colony would make a neat anime. I'm not sure why it makes me think of that rather than live-action, maybe it's the politics and the great silliness.

Also, I'm still hoping for a Colony Drop (TV Tropes, click at your own risk.).

THREE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS, GUYS! Are you excited? I'm excited. I like Christmas. :3


And now, an entry:

FFFFFFF, how long has it been since I last posted? I didn't intend to take a three-week break, I just never got around to writing an entry. ¬_¬ (Though I have been twittering it up as much as ever.) I haven't done that much, to be honest:

I took the JLPT!

It was pretty easy, to be honest; there was only one or two questions I wasn't sure on. (Damn you, particles.) Results come out in March, I think.

I also got the references in for my MA application! I got an email last week that it had been passed on to the appropriate course coordinator and that I'll hear from them again in the new year. They'll probably ask me to an interview, too. Ah, so much waiting, I want to know nowwww whether I get to go.


Now that those two things are done, though, I'm really being worn down by not having anything to do — I'm so easy to irritate sometimes, it's really pretty ridiculous. I'm going to try to get more work next year, also enrol in a Japanese course to prepare for the next level of the JLPT, maybe start practising my violin again, and keep working through the Ruby on Rails textbook... you know, all those things I resolved to do when I left Durham. I might do a New Years Resolution post sometime, so they're written out and I have to stick to them.

Also, I'm trying to draw every day. It's not going perfectly, as you can see, but at least I'm drawing a bit, even if it's only doodles. These are pretty bad, dirty scans, but I'm too tired to fix them right now.

( Draws )

If I don't do art posts on a semi-regular basis from now on, someone shout at me about it. Next time: maybe an actual nice, finished drawing. :O Shocking.

I also have some Colony recaps, gonna post the first when I finish this post. \o/


And now I'm going to bed and reading about ancient gas warfare. Tim got me a subscription to Current World Archaeology for Christmas; it's making my life right now. :D