PopSugar Reading Challenge Book 27 or This Means War

For a book that came out this year, I read Ernest Cline's Armada which came out this month. I'm in a FB group for this challenge and was able to sort of read along with someone else in the group. I'm waiting for him to wrap up so we can discuss without spoilers.

I was worried going in. Most of the themes Cline used in his story were so common in science fiction, they've become tropes. I liked the originality of Ready Player One but wasn't sure it could be replicated in such a common plot. Cline managed to pull it off. He made reference to all of the other stories that told similar tales but, I think, managed to make this his own.

It was as clear cut as 'must destroy aliens.' I was glad Cline managed to make the story deeper and more complicated. I can't say too much without spoilers but the plot has layers and big reveals that would put Shyamalan to shame. It also ended on such a note that I expect this is the first in a series. It could stand on its own but there's definitely more story here. Now that the biggest overused plot elements are out of the way, I want to see where this story can go.

I absolutely enjoyed this but it didn't have the same magic as his first one. I spent the first ~50 pages wondering if this was going to be a repeat of his first book (holy fan boy there's some overlap). After that I was worried it would be a repeat of the same story we've heard several times over. It was hard to relax and get into the story.

Once Cline was able to grow beyond the somewhat hackneyed set up, it was incredibly interesting and worth the read. If this becomes part of a series, the second book will definitely be better. It wasn't a sophomore slump but I hope his next work will be better.

May Shopfessions

Kickstarter
Little Free Library Kickstarter - $44
Rain of the Ghosts Audioplay - $25
Amber Skye EP - $10
MAE Graphic Novel - $50
Broken Frontier - $40

Books
BN - $13.70
BN -$31
Politics and Prose - $45

Clothes
Ruth Badass Ginsburg - $26.59

MISC
Nightwish album - $11.99
Inside Amy Schumer MakeUp song - $1.29
Portal 2: The (Unauthorized) Musical - $5.04

Refunds/Returns
Hot Topic + $42.59
Sold Books + $25.88

I have learned I'm just as dangerous on Kickstarter as I am on other retail sites. Kickstarter has the added bonus of helping a cause or some cool media that might not otherwise exist. I wasn't sure if all of them would get funded but everything came through at the end.

The RBG was an oatmeal unisex tank that was on sale and the last tank top I'll need for summer. After RBG's glorious showdown about gay marriage, I wanted to represent. I'm waiting until I have income again before I get a Notorious RBG shirt.

One of my 2 BN runs were with a gift card and a coupon but it still wasn't great. I felt bad enough that I wound up returning one of the books. Progress? Politics and Prose was from a night with Neil Gaiman. I paid full price for Trigger Warning and Ocean at the End of the Lane but they were autographed. I regret nothing.

My friend got me tickets for the Nightwish concert and they're touring this album. I tried to hold out to get it with Viggle points but they hadn't stocked it in the store after a month so I caved and bought it. The worst part of it was that I got food poisoning and couldn't go to the concert. BF filmed over 30 minutes of footage so I didn't totally miss out.

As for getting money back, I got a Hot Topic return processed (finally) and got a check from selling some of my books. However, there was a con at the end of this month. Inevitably, I did some damage.

Awesome Con Haul
Zorphbert & Fred - $30
Never Have I Ever card game - $25
How to Train Your Dragqueen - $22
Don't Blink Tank - $20
Curls comic - $15
The Shadow of the Gauntlet by Casey Caracciolo - $15
Live Long and Suck It tee - $15
Pirate Eye - $10
Partholon by D. Krauss - $10

Baron Syndicate - $5

Total: $167

I had a cash budget of $120-130. I didn't keep exact track but my plan as to stop shopping when I ran out of cash. This worked reasonably well until I saw Never Have I Ever the card game. I wound up combining my gift budget with my personal fun budget and gave myself some wiggle room on my credit card.

I didn't need any of the shirts but they made me smile. When vendors remember you, it definitely motivates you to spend money. I am astonished by how many vendors remember me. D. Krauss saw me when I was getting worn out and let me chill at his booth for a while. I gave him some banana chips and we talked about dogs.

This brings my grand total of unnecessary spending to $402.14. Ouch. And I just got the wireless bill and my COBRA bills. This is less than ideal timing. I really need money. I've got to hit up that vendor who wanted a pair of my earrings.

A Festival and a Shopfession

MAGFest was last weekend. As I predicted, I was bad with my shopping freeze. How bad you ask?

-Sparkly purple dice for upcoming Pathfinder campaign + two 6 sided dice        $14

-Super Art Fight program (autographed by several featured artists at con)                     $15

-Portal Tee with Cave Johnson’s rant about lemons                       $20

-Plush puppy cow (created by a Super Art Fight artist)     $10

-Mystery box (I kept the hairbow and candy)                                 $5

-Several charms (made by Super Art Fight artist)               $24

-‘Don’t Panic’ hand towel                 $14

-Fabric bracelets                                 $2

That equals a grand total of $104 spent at this con. I kept getting dragged into the dealer’s room where it’s hard not to spend money. I got a great birthday gift idea for The Boy but I spent way too much time around temptation. On the plus side, most of what I spent was cash instead of charging it so no interest. I was also putting money toward local artisans instead of some massive corporation.

I have no guilt over any of my Super Art Fight Artisan purchases. It’s one of my favorite things about some of these cons and all the stuff I’ve seen has been great. I’ve even turned some of my friends into big fans. Most of the folks I saw were small entrepreneurs making some really great niche products like the customized nerd towels. I have a birthday coming up in about a month and no major cons again until April so I should do better in February.

It was interesting to speak to one of the artists having just finished New Domesticity. She just quit her ‘real’ job to go full time at her crocheted coolness. It sounded like her husband still had the standard gig but she’s in such demand that she won’t need him nearly as much as some of the moms in Matchar’s book. 

Craftigurumi is doing so well that when I inquired about a custom order she said she probably wouldn’t get to it until March. Her impressive work ethic combined with her unique material and consistent con presence should keep her business booming for quite a while. She said she crochets at about 3 feet per hour for the scarves and she’s doing it for about 8 hours a day. I recommended 4 podcasts I absolutely love since she listens to TV a lot.

The con itself was great. Most of my friends were there and I got to see all of them for at least a little bit. I played my favorite arcade game, saved the earth from aliens with The Boy, checked out some indie games, and sat in on a panel about Girls in Geekdom. This con is always fun but this year it was especially great. Being with friends really just made the con for me.

I did a Con Bingo list of all the crazy costumes I saw. I was able to check off:

-A furry

-A brony

-A punny costume (Teenage Mutant Ninja Bros)

-The Doctor (4, 6, 7, 11)

-A member of the Disney Princess franchise (4 total)

-Guy with a Japanese body pillow

-Person on stilts (full Groot costume)

-At least 3 Deadpools or one with a twist (2 with twists, 2 women, and at least 2 standard)

-A pregnant woman who worked her pregnancy into the costume (Season 1 Khalessi)

-Unnecessarily slutty costume (Charmander)

-Waldo & Carmen San Diego (separate counts but bonus points if they’re together)

-A crazy expensive screen accurate costume (Master Chief)

-Gender bent costume (Princess Peach followed by Ash from Pokemon)

I missed:

-Man in anime girl outfit

-Hot guy in shirtless costume to show off abs

I found a few different cartoons that I might have to adjust and make an actual Con Bingo for my friends and I for Awesome Con in a few months.

Mow 'em Down

I heard about this video on the radio. I've heard it's a fake and it looks like it might be based on some of the other videos by the same guy but that wail of despair was pretty convincing. I'm going to assume it's real or that guy needs to go into acting.

The Boy is very into gaming and destroying his games (or deleting since he's on a PC) would be like setting all my books on fire. Cruel, unusual, and done at your peril. However, The Boy also has a job and a social life. He's a functional adult but he went through a basement dwelling gamer phase for a hot second before I met him.

I'm fine with gaming but there's an extreme that I just won't tolerate. If my kid is out of high school they either need to be working or volunteering or something in addition to gaming. They also need to get outside and interact with people. If they're back from college, they absolutely 100% need a job or internship. Gaming and nothing else is neither acceptable nor healthy. 

If my hypothetical kid ever has basement dwelling gamer phase, I won't destroy them but I will get creative about hiding them. You'll get outside and interact with humans so help me Odin

Music: Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez

To Game or to Read; That Is the Question.

I’ve never been a gamer. My first video game other than a Tetris app was earlier this week. After hearing a fellow non-video gamer say she played and liked Portal, I thought I’d try it. Several people told me it’s fast and easy. You are a devious bunch of liars.

I’ve wanted to cuss out Portal twice since I got it. The levels that get me stymied require I create a portal then create a new one, pass through it, and do something. Did I mention all that has to be done in about 3 seconds?

Levels like that have stymied me twice now. I only got past the first one because I cheated and looked up a play through on YouTube (I was doing the right thing in the wrong order so the timing was off). This is the second break I’ve taken from the game because I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do.

One of the reasons I always avoided video games was that I could easily see myself getting frustrated and wanting to quit. Many make it difficult to figure out what exactly it wants you to do and looking it up risks spoilers. I don’t care that deeply about spoilers here. I know the cake is a lie. It still doesn’t mean I nail the timing the first 10 tries.

My other excuse is that I love to read and video games and reading are both big time drains. Having tried both, reading still wins hands down. When I played Portal, I enjoyed it but I would look up and wonder where the time went. When that happens with a book, there’s so much more I’ve absorbed, so much more going on in my head that I feel more fulfilled. I’ll eventually go back and finish the damn level in Portal because I’m stubborn but until that urge arises, I’ll get back to my latest book.

Music: Me and Alan Moore’s Beard by Mikey Mason