I found this one took a little more patience than some.
Conlextions #127 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 Solve Time: 2 minutes, 59 seconds
Reading
How to Take Smart Notes
Sönke Ahrens
- Altstadt Okt
- Samuel Adams Jack-O
Conlextions #119 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 Solve Time: 1 minute, 59 seconds
I discovered @lex‘s Conlextions puzzles through Dr. Drang at the end of December and immediately ripped through the archives. It has just now occurred to me I can post results here.
Obviously, I will cherry-pick the good ones where I made no …
books
Finished reading: The Law by Jim Butcher.
A fairly weak entry in the series, maybe intended as a palate cleanser after Battle Ground. We see a little of Dresden’s psyche, but not much. A short return to the early novels’ PI theme, but with Dresden …
books
Finished reading: Heroes by Stephen Fry.
A fantastic addition to Mythos. Fry picks some of the best-known Greek heros (and one not-so-well-known) and brings them and their complete stories to life. He tells complete stories, bringing in all the …
Year in books for 2023
Here are the books I finished reading in 2023. I also keep a running log throughout the year.
books
Finished reading: Mythos by Stephen Fry.
Excellent retelling of the classic Greek myths. Plus some I’ve never heard. If you ever read (or refused to read) Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, you owe it to yourself to read this one. Fry brings the characters …
Two more fall beers tonight:
🎃🍻
Every year, my wife and I grab as many pumpkin/yam/märzen/oktoberfests as we can and do a little home tasting. The selection at our local H-E-B this year is shockingly good, so I have a lot to post. I’ll make it a full page later; for now, just a …
Not a good day for football in our house. Nice of Apple News to sum up the day so conveniently though… 🏈
books
Finished reading: Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie. An epic end to an epic trilogy. Disappointing in all the best ways. One smidge darker than I’d hoped, but you have to be realistic about these things. 📚
Got off a plane from New Zealand Thursday night, back on a plane (to Atlanta this time) this afternoon. I often can’t decide whether I love this life of travel or wish I could spend some more time in my own bed. Today it’s the former.
books
Finished reading: Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie. Even better than the first. Characters you want to know better, mysteries abound, swords and sorcery and sex and what else do you want from a book? 📚
I’m a day late to the cycle photo @challenges but I’m going to post this anyway since I’m enjoying these photo challenges and it’s actually a nice shot of Melbourne from across the lake in Albert Park.
I wanted to make a joke about “divided by a common language”, but “this escalator is being rested” is such a great replacement for “down for maintenance” that I’ll just leave it at that.
I missed the first Virginia Tech football game last week (against ODU) because we were in New Zealand. An acceptable tradeoff, of course, but it’s nice to be back in the US this weekend and watch the Hokies take on Purdue. 🏈📺🦃
UPDATE: Having said …
photos
Leaving Queenstown yesterday, Meera snapped one of the best sea-earth-sky yonder photos I’ve ever seen. Plane-window photos never work, but New Zealand is so picturesque it didn’t matter. 📸
books
Finished reading: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. Dirty, but not dark. Cynical, but leavened with hard work. Clichés and anti-clichés. Excellent, not stereotypical fantasy. 📚
photos
During our stop in Glenorchy yesterday, we encountered some surprisingly well-dressed travelers on the shore of Lake Wakatipu.
We assume they were there for wedding pictures or something similar, because Glenorchy’s not exactly a formalwear kind of …
We are flying back from Queenstown today, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why.
It’s a day late, but on our adventures this afternoon we found the actual forest used for Lothlórien, between Glenorchy and Paradise. 👋 @jean
Visiting Rhyme x Reason brewery in Wanaka, New Zealand, tonight, they had some spectacular murals on the walls. Apparently painted by employees, who are allegedly paid entirely in beer.
Driving around Lake Wanaka, New Zealand, this morning, it just screamed Lord of the Rings. Here you have the forest of Lothlórien, the Misty Mountains, and everywhere a hobbit could go (and back again).
(Not pictured: we climbed a waterfall.)
Skied Coronet Peak today. That obviously calls for an après-ski New Zealand-native Ginger Bear in an orange can.
Okay, it’s orange and maroon, but as a Hokie, I approve anyway.
photos
travel
Wave to the Pelican on the Outer Banks
In 2019, we went to the Outer Banks for Meera’s birthday. We visited from Corolla all the way down to Okracoke, taking in beaches and lighthouses and sand and sun.
Meera and I are not good at relaxing vacations. We’re always skiing or hiking or …