Updating and Relaxing

Yesterday was our traditional day of hedonism. Best tradition I've had a hand in creating. We take the day after Christmas, that's Boxing Day for everyone in the Queen's domain, and just do nothing. No work. No calls. No healthy eating. Oh. So glorious! We played video games and board games all day. Well mostly. Jen did go to her Bible study and I ventured out to a game night at my local game store. They do a great game night, and I've learned a new game each time I go. Last night I learned Glory To Rome, which is interesting, but a little frustrating to pick up at first. Previous ones I've learned are 7 Wonders, Troyes (pronounced "Twa" like the French number), and the excellent Galaxy Trucker. Furthering the collection of great games, I picked up the Intrigue expansion for Dominion as my Christmas present to myself. Now I can play 6 player games of Dominion. I also got Agricola for Jen for Christmas, which we've been enjoying.

Today, I've been cleaning up; doing what was left undone on Monday. One of my tasks was to update my links page with all the new web comics and whatnot. I feel I should call a few of them out.

• Sfeer Theory is incredible. It's not long so far, but has a late Colonial era with magic deal going on with some fantastic writing and delectable art.
• The Fox Sister is done by the same artist as Sfeer Theory, but a different writer. The archive isn't long right now, but it contains a nearly heart-stopping moment. Excellent stuff.
• I can't remember if I've mentioned Cucumber Quest before, but it's good enough to mention again, even if I did. It's a zany take on a quest story, and the art is great. The art looks simple, but if you look there are plenty of subtle touches that show there is a lot of craftmanship being applied here. The expressions are fantastic and the character design is great.
• Goblins takes a while to get going--I've had aborted attempts at crawling through its archive before--but once it gets going ... oh my! There's some great pathos and cliff hangers in there, and the art gets better. Warning: it does have some extreme gore in it. Also, most of the humor requires Dungeons & Dragons experience.
• String Theory is a dark little spiral of situations going from bad from worse, but it is a strangely compelling look at how a semi-respectable scientist heads down the road to super villainy. It doesn't have much gore, but it can be disturbing purely on an emotional level.

As long as I'm making recommendations, I'll throw out my pitch for The Civil Wars as well. They're a country-ish duo. They're just fantastic; so good I can barely stand it. They have awesome vocals and catchy songs. Most mornings I am waking up with one of their tunes in my head. Go listen and enjoy!

Ok, now I'm going to go play some Skyrim. I'll probably re-emerge from that in a month or two.

Christmas Eve

Here's a quick note to wish you all a Merry Christmas! This Christmas season has been really busy for me, but mainly with things unrelated to Christmas. The heavy snow we've had has taken up some free time by providing me ample opportunities for shoveling. Work has been thick with tasks. I just finished up a project right at 5 last night before heading for the second dinner we've had with Jen's family.

On Monday, my co-worker Jody and I went out to try Bombay Bowl, which is a Chipotle-style take on Indian food. It was quite good, but the real surprise is that a photographer for the New York Times was there and took our pictures as we grabbed a bowl of curry chicken with garbanzos and mint chutney. So, I may be showing up in the Times' Food section here soon.

Later that night it was snowing and I made the mistake of taking my normal route, which involves a relatively steep side street. I slid a bit when stopping, but came to a stop safely. The guy behind me didn't. There was no real damage to my car, except a little rubber bit popped off. I can glue it back on. I told the guy not to worry about it and wished him a Merry Christmas. I've had grace extended to me in bumper-related incidents, so it feels good to do the same.

Okay, the cinnamon rolls are ready for tomorrow, but the car is waiting to be packed and we need to fit some lunch in here too. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, 2011!

Well, here it is, a little earlier than usual: the annual Thingvall Christmas letter. This version is new and improved, upgraded for the 2011 year with streamlined contours and 100% more baby. Act now while supplies last! And Merry Christmas!

Sacrificial Lambs

I've decided to sacrifice my headphones. I have a pair of headphones for my phone that I rarely use. I seldom listen to music on my phone, and I'm not terribly fond of earbuds. However, I have found a use for them now. I've been having a very hard time getting myself motivated to get on the elliptical machine. Tuesdays and Thursdays I do 15 minutes on it before lifting weights. The elliptical creaks and moans, is a strenuous workout, and boring as all get out because I can't read while on it.

I've resisted using my earbuds to listen to podcasts or the radio, because I didn't want to make them all nasty. But I figure I need to keep myself exercising, so I'm sacrificing my headphones, shoving them into my sweaty ears.

So far it is working. I put NPR on and work out and I am not counting seconds as I step and step. This morning however, I was puzzled when Massive Attack started playing over NPR. It was synched well enough that I thought it might be part of the piece, but it kept going. Somehow my phone had started playing music. I turned it off, returned to NPR, and about a minute later, it started up again. I finally figured out that my headphones have a play button on them that must have been getting jostled. So, uh, anyway, that's my story. Not particularly interesting, but it is a story.

It Came Just Past a Midnight Clear

Nothing quite wakes you up like hearing strangers talking outside your bedroom door in the middle of the night. Though I was still physically quite groggy, my mind snapped to attention and I sprang out of bed. Now, as soon as I got out of bed, I thought the tone of the discussion, as well as its volume sounded a lot like the radio. Still, just to be safe, I grabbed my big Maglite flashlight/bludgeon out of the closet. Unfortunately I caught the edge of the closet door with the flashlight, making the loudest sound in the world of that time of night, prompting Jen to ask if I was all right. I went next door and found that the radio alarm clock in the gym had mysteriously popped on the BBC at 1:30 AM in the morning. I fumbled it off and went back to sleep surprisingly quickly. Of course, I proceeded to dream of people invading our house. Why I dreamt that the home invaders were 5 students from Colorado Christian University and 1 ex-drug addict hiding behind an end table is beyond me.

Manitou

For Jen's birthday I got us a couple of nights at a bed & breakfast down in Manitou Springs. We stayed at the Avenue Hotel, which was great. It's a nice cozy place with a great location in the historic downtown of Manitou Springs. We were able to easily walk around, do some shopping and eat at some good restaurants. The B&B also had excellent food, introducing me to baked grapefruit and pralined French toast. If I had known that grapefruit could taste like that, I would have been more kindly disposed to that fruit.

We read books, watched movies, strolled around town, and in general took it easy. I worked a bit on my cookbook in an increasingly more desperate bid to get it done, printed, and mailed before Christmas. I'm definitely starting to feel the pinch on that. I will be very glad when I get it done.