After making some room escape game recs elsewhere, I figured it'd be worth reposting them here for anyone else who likes puzzle games! Room escape focus because that's all I've played in recent years, and also because I spent part of my time in Toronto playing The Room on my sister's phone, heh. As far as The Room goes, the storyline's got some pretty cheeseball ~magic~ stuff as far as I can tell (my sister's in Toronto and I'm not so I haven't played very far), but the puzzles themselves are awesome and the graphics are also extremely pretty.

Here are the online favorites I've bookmarked:
+ MOTAS: Mystery of Time and Space - almost entirely puzzle-focused. What little storyline there is makes no sense, but luckily you don't have to care? *g* Mostly what I liked about this one was the variety and the sheer number of levels.
+ Trapped: The White Rabbit - murder mystery and puzzles! Double the fun. Also, there are three parts, which makes it even more satisfying. I remember the graphics being really small Having replayed part of it after making the recs, the graphics are tiny, but to me it was definitely the most engaging of the three in terms of gameplay.
+ Something Amiss - I haven't actually played this one in a long time, so my storyline impressions are really vague, but there is also some sort of mystery plot to go with all the puzzles. Also has pretty nice graphics, though not as nice as The Room.

If you're wondering about my puzzle-game preferences, the Myst series is sort of my gold standard in terms of complexity and attention to detail. The gorgeous graphics are just a bonus, though; I grew up loving old-school Sierra games (King's Quest, Quest for Glory), Hugo's House of Horrors, and some even older purely-text games whose names I can't recall. After all these years, they're still my favorites- partly because of the imaginative storylines and/or adventure setups, but mostly because of the way they make you think creatively. It's the figuring-out part that I like best.

(Obscure fandom tag because I've only ever talked to 5 people about these games and haven't seen them mentioned in my corner of the internets since, well, I first started finding my corner of the internets.)

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From book binging at B&N thus far:

1. Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper series- I finally finished Mastiff yesterday. I still think this is the most entertaining series she's written in a while, but my vague impression that her first books always seem to be stronger than her subsequent ones remains, though it's possible that Mastiff suffered for being read in three sittings rather than one.

2. First two volumes of Uraboku- wow, I'd forgotten exactly how cracktastically emo this series is, having watched the anime version entirely too long ago. I will confess that when I hit ( spoiler I guess?Collapse ) I guess I'll be finishing the next three volumes the next time I go!

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+ Ugh, hiding in the library to escape the heat and my extremely frustrating modem. The internet in my apartment has been crapping out all week, but I don't have time to call about fixing it.

+ In between all the dancing and running around to see friends who are leaving/visiting the city, I managed to inhale Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper books- or most of them; the other half of Mastiff will have to wait. Is it just me, or are they the most entertaining ones she's written to date? (Also the least racially-questionable as far as I've noticed, heh.)

+ Speaking of binge-reads, I need to dust off my to-read list! I know N.K. Jemisin is on there but I can't remember what else I was looking forward to before my school-induced hiatus. What other exciting reads have I missed in the last two years, and/or what are you reading now? ♥

+ I'm taking the bus to Toronto tonight and won't be back til Wednesday. SO EXCITED! :D

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So C and I have been playing somewhat obsessively with duolingo! (I am learning Portuguese and brushing up on French, except I've done more Portuguese than French thanks to new-language excitement.) Our conclusion: duolingo is awesome, but a freaking trip.

( chickens and dolphins and sharks, oh myCollapse )

*My favorite so far: "Mark all correct translations: She is a good woman." -- option 3: "She is a good pineapple."

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Earlier this week I went to Bookoff and read the first two volumes of Rurouni Kenshin. They were cute, but so far I am not extremely enthused, just interested enough to keep reading when I get a chance. I am in the mood for moar manga/anime series right now, so any recommendations/reminders for those &/or fluffy books would be welcome!

Also, I've decided to start Duolingo now that I'm freeeeeee, haha. I know a bunch of you have mentioned you're on it, but remind me? :) ♥

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okay, not officially, but DONE. DONE DONE DONE \o/

now to catch up on little things like sleep! and fun! etc.! *collapses*

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Janelle Monae + Erykah Badu = AS:LJKSD:FLJKSD:LGHS:DLFJK!!!!

( Q.U.E.E.N.Collapse )

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(Flushing Meadow Park, 1984)

...And then at dusk the woman
climbed atop the picnic table
and belted out a Patty Kim hit,
plastic spoon a clutched mic in her fist!

And the galbi spit and bubbled dark
as azalia and crushed black diamond,
( meat soy-sauced and sizzling in the July heatwavesCollapse )

-- Ishle Yi Park

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There's nothing I can't find under there.
Voices in the trees, the missing pages
of the sea.

Everything but sleep.

And night is a river bridging
the speaking and the listening banks,

a fortress, undefended and inviolate.

There's nothing that won't fit under it:
fountains clogged with mud and leaves,
the houses of my childhood.

And night begins when my mother's fingers
let go of the thread
they've been tying and untying
to touch toward our fraying story's hem.

Night is the shadow of my father's hands
setting the clock for resurrection.

Or is it the clock unraveled, the numbers flown?

There's nothing that hasn't found home there:
discarded wings, lost shoes, a broken alphabet.

Everything but sleep. And night begins

with the first beheading
of the jasmine, its captive fragrance
rid at last of burial clothes.

-- Li-Young Lee

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for Darlene Wind and James Welch

I think of Wind and her wild ways the year we had nothing to lose and lost it anyway in the cursed country of the fox. ( We still talk about that winter,Collapse )

-- Joy Harjo

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