What's making me merry?

So I've been in the process of trying to write a blog post for the past week and a half without much success. Occasionally it's hard to find a good subject to write about or that I am sufficiently excited about to do it justice. This actually isn't the case for me with this blog post. The real problem this time was that I was TOO distracted by the very thing I wanted to write about (ok, I was sick too, but that usually doesn't stop me). For the past week or so this diversion has been entertaining me is a way that I must say hasn't happened in a while. One could even say it has filled my early sunset post-work evenings with a kind of merriment.

To honor this little bit of glee that I am experiencing, I am introducing a new blog theme. Finished Object Friday, Work In Progress Wednesday and the very (and I mean very) occasional Ten on Tuesday will now be joined by...

Merriment Monday!

Ok, now I can get on to the fun stuff... :-) My current source of merriment is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Yeah I know, I know, it's a video game, but honestly, I don't latch on to a whole lot of them. In my entire life there have probably only been ten or less video or computer games that I really have loved and Skyrim is definitely one of them. more than a few years ago I played The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and absolutely loved it as well, so I'm not shocked by how much I've gotten into Skyrim in just a short time.

At The College in Winterhold - outside my quarters

The game itself is just beautiful and the setting Nordic in feel and the music really fits in with the look as well. I've always been a real stickler for nice imagery and sound when I'm playing games and Skyrim does not disappoint. I would happily pick up the soundtrack and already have screenshots as my desktop background. The YouTube video below is the official trailer for Skyrim. You can really get an idea of what playing the game is like in terms of gameplay, visials and sound by checking it out.  

Although the look and sound of the game is important, perhaps one of the things I like most about the game, other than the gorgeous graphics and sound, is that you are allowed to do what you want when playing it. You want to follow the main plot? Go ahead, but you can also choose to do side quests and develop your character in interesting ways and go back to the plot later. The game itself levels with you, so you can do any quest open to you really at any time, which I find neat. Skyrim is also very rich in crafting for those that enjoy non-questing aspects of gaming.

Absorbing the soul of a dragon - they give me powers!

Well, I could wax poetic about Skyrim for awhile longer, but really, I kinda just want to dive back in to play :-) So, I'll leave you with some more screens from the game as eye candy. If you are interested in playing Skyrim, you can download it from Steam for your PC (like we did) or you can also get it for the PS3 or Xbox 360. Whatever your platform of choice, it is worth every penny!

Ten on Tuesday: Ten Things to Do Instead of Watching TV

Yeah, so it isn't Tuesday... whatever!  :P

1) Read a book - I have recently started reading obsessively again.... I think my knitting is suffering for it.

2) Go for a walk or a swim - I really should take my own advice on this one.

3) Start a blog - Blogs are a great creative outlet and can be a great way to journal about your day/week.

4) Play with fiber - Knit, crochet, spin, weave... you name it.  It's all fun :D and addictive!

5) Scrapbook or make your own cards - You need surprisingly little to make a cute card or a nice Just a stamp, ink and some markers.  I have plenty of all, so theoretically it's really easy for me...

6) Photograph your world - Take photos of what you think is mundane.  Try macro photography or some other specific kind to test out your skills.  Then, use your pictures on that blog or in a scrapbook.  Or, if you really like them, frame them and use them for decor.

7) Bake or can - I haven't tried canning yet, but I want to.  Baking however, is a great thing to do when you have extra time.  Once you have a cake or cookie recipe that works, often you can substitute flavors and get very different results.  For example, I have a Lemon - Honey Cookie I make, but you can really change out the lemon for any citrus available to you.  I've done orange, lime, lemon, lime and I'm thinking graprefruit would be good as well.  Canning is good because you are prepping food for a later date.  I'm contemplating making tomato sauce as my first venture in canning, but I don't think I'll get to do that until next summer.

8) Catch up on reading blogs (or in my case reading the message boards on Ravelry) - It's good to get caught up on your chosen social media.  I got so off of reading my usual blogs that I had a backlog of 700+ posts to read after I went on vacation a few weeks ago.  A happy result of me getting caught up this week was that I went through and unsubsribed from all those blogs I really don't read or haven't been updated in say a year. 

9) Play some games - Board games, video games, computer, on your iPhone.... any of them work and cause your brain a little more exercise then just plopping in front of the tube mindlessly.  My favorites of late are any of the Monkey Island series for the PC and Tap Resort for the iPhone.

10) Plan your next vacation - Explore online where you might want to go and all the activities you want to do.  Once you have an idea, you can start saving and be one step closer to making your vacation a reality.

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Little Things That Make My Day

So, there's no Ten on Tuesday subject this week and I kind of missed last week's entirely... so I thought I would do my own in an effort to pick up the blogging pace.  Here are 10 Little Things Can That Make My Day:

1) Starting a new project - Whether it be knitting, crocheting, stamping or whatever.  There is just something exciting about starting something new.

2) An attentive purring cat - Molly is NOT a lap cat, so whenever she chooses to lavish attention on me, it's a good day.

3) A beautiful sunrise/sunset - I don't know what it is, but whenever I see a particularly pretty sunrise or sunset, it seems to alter my mood for the better.

4) A surprise visit from the iced coffee fairy - You know who you are and I am always grateful.

5) Comments left on my blogs - Hint, hint... :D

6) When that awesome smell in the hallway when I come home is actually coming from our apartment - I am so fortunate I have a hubbie who can cook and is not afraid to try new things in the kitchen.  Brian's Peanut Chicken and Heavy Kodo Stew from the MMO Cookbook are my favorites.

7) Checking things off of my to do list - Sad I know, but I get a thrill when everything is done.

8) Getting a new achievement in World of Warcraft - Yes, this is a bit specific, but when you haven't played in a few weeks and then your computer croaks, you realize just how happy you got about silly things like these.

9) Chocolate - Enough said.

10) Having someone favorite one of my projects on Ravelry - It's a nice little pat on the back, usually from a complete stranger, but it's nice to see that people like my work.

Planning For The Win!

Last year, around the beginning of December, I got the knitting bug. Determined, I bought some nice soft yarn (it's amazing how much your yarn preferences can change in a year) and set out to make scarves for the three women in my immediate family. I thought a month was plenty of time. I mean really, I was just making garter stitch scarves... how long could it take? Three weeks, hours upon hours of knitting, vaguely arthritic hands, and three days of being very ill later just days before Christmas, I found myself knitting the last scarf on the car ride to my in-laws on Christmas morning. I wanted to cry. Wait, I did cry... I was never going to finish in time and I had stayed as long as I could keep my eyes open the night before. Knitting on three hours of sleep with a 20 minute deadline was not exactly what I had signed up for.

So, this year, I decided I would have a plan. Over the year I really dove into knitting headfirst. I tried to learn all sorts of techniques from intarsia to lace, using the the internet as my guide and practicing to increase my speed and quality. It's truly amazing how much help you can get by using YouTube! Whenever I can't remember how to do a stitch or there s one I haven't heard of... SURPRISE! YouTube has a video for it. So, a few weeks ago I decided I better get my butt in gear and start making all those gifts I had ideas for during the year.

If you can't tell already, I am currently eyeball deep in my Christmas projects... amazingly I have finished a good chunk of them. There are sooo many things I want to share with you that I have made, but until these little projects find their homes on the 25th, I'll have to be patient. By the way, did I happen to mention....? Patience is not one of my virtues. So, to stem the tide of my eventual glee at posting them all, I have included a few pictures of my current work(s) in progress. Also, if you can't tell I've been playing on my computer a lot lately. Knitting really fills in during the down time of waiting for groups and flying. I love how my hobbies are complimentary despite their vast differences.

Must Have Video Game: Tales of Monkey Island

Now, I am not the avid gamer that my husband is... I wouldn't even try to compare us on this subject. He has quite a long history with games going all the way back to the age of 5 when he sat down at his parents' TI99/4a (aka old freaking computer) to play Alpiner. Since, he has tried out so many console systems and computer games, that I can't even begin to list them here. However, I will state for the record that there are no fewer than 7 consoles in our apt. at the moment in addition to our computers.

That being said, I want you to know that I too was exposed to video game-age at a relatively young age. While I never had consoles growing up, I instead fulfilled my healthy need for entertainment via computer based video games. While, there were many over the years, one of the most memorable games that I played growing up was The Secret of Monkey Island which came out in 1990 when I was about 12. The story begins with the main character, Guybrush Threepwood, and his desire to become a "mighty pirate." This game was great and while some would consider it being on easy-mode, you had to solve problems interestingly and use your head rather than your sword (as it were). I won't wax poetic about this first game anymore, but if you know me at all, you will understand the allure of the plot and the game design.

The first game was followed by multiple sequels such as Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, The Curse of Money Island, and Escape from Monkey Island. Back in college, before we were even officially dating, my husband ordered a copy of Curse for us to play together. Awww.... his first gift was a game. Are you shocked? Cause I'm not. And I loved it!


So, now to the point of my lengthy blog post. Back on International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Telltale games had a special promotion to download the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island for free. I jumped at the chance and got episode 1, knowing it would be awesome. Until the past few days I hadn't had much time to get into the episode, but now that I have it all wrapped up I feel the need to stand on my soapbox and shout of its excellence!

Check out the trailer below to get a sense of the Tales series:

If you've played any of the previous games, Tales offers the same bumbling Guybrush, the same type of insane solutions to problems (rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle of it), and the same great character voices (since there were characters voices anyway). If you haven't played them, then check them out. I believe you can still purchase them all, although it might take a little digging.

As for Tales, you can purchase the episodes for your computer individually (for $10) or as a complete season here. Three of the five episodes are ready for download and if you buy a season pass for $29.95 (promo at the moment, reg is $34.95) you get a free dvd when the series is complete. They also offer the game for the Wii (clicky for more info on how to download for the Wii). If you want to try it out first click here and select a download option under download the FREE demo.

So, go over to the Telltale games website, download an episode and GAME LIKE A PIRATE!

Edit: As an added note for all you iPhone addicts out there, you can also get the special addition of The Secret of Monkey Island for your iPhone for just $7.99 off of iTunes or App Store. Three guesses as to who downloaded that this evening...