What I've Been Up To, Lately

First, books. I liked For The Win so much that I went out and bought Cory Doctorow’s other book, Little Brother, and found it mostly enjoyable. It’s the most accurate depiction of the San Francisco that I know that I’ve seen in print, anyway, especially the parts about the Mission burritos and the vampire LARPers.

Also, the third and final book in the Hunger Games series just came out. I’m a little ways into it, and shan’t spoil, and my copy has at least one prospective borrower waiting for me to finish. If you haven’t read it, Hunger Games is a dystopia tale featuring a protagonist who plays, basically, a game. With very high stakes. The author, Suzanne Collins, has a knack for pacing and suspense. Check it out, you’ll probably like it.

It looks like YA is where the fiction’s at these days. The grownup section is still haunted by late 20th century balderdash, but I’m gleefully watching my least favorite collapse literary fads collapse. Even the curmudgeons at the NY Times agree.

People like reading books for the stories, and the pacing. More than they like reading about angsty people stumbling numbly through subjective, nonlinear whine tastings.

Second, computers. My hard drive tragically died, taking a lot of typing and sim houses with it. After all was said and done I only really lost a few months, but still, it was painful. Especially the part where I was forced to raid on my notebook at 2 frames per second. Plus there’s been minor guild drama, and pre-expansion drama. Then when I got rebuilt there was a heat wave. I love heat waves. So I’ve been away from the gamerverse a bit, while reflecting on it from a distance.

I’ve been contemplating the question: So . . . What Exactly Have I Gotten Out Of My Extended WoW Addiction? And it probably warrants a veritable great wall of text to answer. Which I’m in the process of doing, now that I have a brand new hard drive to fill up (and a better backup system, cough).

So there’s your warning. Incoming wall of text! And also, that’s what I’ve been up to. Lately.