2025 Cryptex Hunt Sign Ups Are Open!
Plus, I got to play Sefirot and watch a fascinating adaptation of Crime And Punishment
Hello, friends! Come and play a game with me, if you’re so inclined. Sign ups for the 2025 Cryptex Hunt are now open, and I’d love to have you on my virtual team. It’s a free, online, not too difficult puzzle hunt, and I usually have no trouble getting past the first few puzzles each year. It gets trickier after that, but is a lot of fun if you love escape-room-style puzzles like I do. Click on the link above for more details, and lmk if you’re interested in joining me!
I actually did get to play a board game this past week. I finally broke out the solitaire version of Sefirot to learn and play… right before the developers, Causa Creations, mailed me the updated set of rules the very next day, doh! The amended rules are a little easier at first glance, so I’ll be giving that a whirl soon. In the meantime, look at how pretty this game board is:
I got this game via Kickstarter, and while I’m not 100% sure if the version I have is still in stock, I believe that the deluxe set is available for pre-orders here. Causa Creations is also currently running a Kickstarter connected to their original role-playing game set in the same universe as the board game. Forever Hold Your Peace is an expansion for The Hidden Isle, and is another of the many gorgeous games I own that I haven’t yet gotten round to playing, lol. At least I’m slowly but surely making a dent in that pile!
Another Tarot & RPG Kickstarter I recently backed (I know, I’m incorrigible,) is The Lady Pirates Tarot & Sails Of Fate 5E supplement campaign. I am a sucker for nautical roleplaying and this one looks amazing, not only in how it talks about female pirates throughout history but also in the original mechanics that use Tarot to help shape the story. The developers are building a website to help players without Tarot decks make draws online: you can get a quick, three-card Major Arcana reading there now as a preview!
As for my other reading, I’ve only been able to finish five books this past week, partly because I spent most of Sunday watching and discussing American Ballet Theatre’s Crime And Punishment performance at The Kennedy Center. In keeping with my usual preferences, I got amazing seats that allowed me to creep on the orchestra:
It was a fantastic performance, even if intermission found my friend and me immediately turning to each other and laughingly conceding that we should have probably read the book beforehand. We still might read it together, tho cramming a 500+ page behemoth into my bursting-at-the-seams reading schedule is something I’m honestly only doing for the company. As for the ballet itself, Fangqi Li as Sonya and the ballerina who subbed in at the last minute (I feel bad that I didn’t get her name!) as Dunya were amazing. Isobel Waller-Bridge’s original score was outstanding, as well.
Far less outstanding was the recent jackbooted takeover of the Kennedy Center board, which has made it really difficult for me to decide when to visit next. It’s a hard moral conundrum, as I very much want to support the artists who’ve already done the work and locked in the contracts well before this recent nightmare of an administration took over. As other members of my chamber orchestra and I have agreed, the best thing to do at the moment is to follow the artists’ lead, assuming that those same artists aren’t being bootlicking toadies in the process, ofc.
Musical aside before I go back to talking about books: I don’t usually say much about the music I listen to, but I do want to make a point of mentioning that Phantom Planet’s self-titled 2004 album might be the best modern rock album I’ve ever enjoyed. I got it and loved it when it first came out, but I don’t think I fully appreciated the depth of its artistry till after several years of study under my chamber orchestra’s conductor, and essentially absorbing his love of — what I like to fondly call — polyphonic bullshit. Speaking of whom, Maestro is currently trying to sell us on rehearsing a piece that meanders from EMaj (4 sharps) to BMaj (5 sharps) and back, lolsob. I so admire his belief in us!
Anyway, let me recommend this week Jason Lefebvre & Zac Retz’ charming So Much Slime picture book. Grade schooler Matty is super excited about showing his classmates how to make slime, with the permission of his art teacher, ofc. When he realizes that he’s forgotten one crucial ingredient, his demonstration threatens to go completely out of control. I loved the sheer chaos goblin energy of the book, especially with Mr Retz’ hilarious digital illustrations.
I also really enjoyed Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot, which was sent to me as a tie-in to the award-winning recent movie. The story of a robot who’s shipwrecked on a remote island and learns how to make friends and family with the local wildlife is both heartfelt and environmentally conscious, with just a splash of near-future dystopia. I appreciated as well how this latest edition of the book comes with valuable extras to make it more than just a cash grab of a reissue.
Alright, that’s all from me for this week. My schedule is in chaos, in keeping with the political climate here, so I’ve got loads to catch up on. See you in seven, friends!
Currently Playing (Music): Mozart’s Prague Symphony; Peter Warlock’s Capriol Suite; my Declan Rice and 2025 Energy playlists; Rosalia’s El Mal Querer; Phantom Planet; Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Currently Playing (Games): The Light In The Mist puzzletale, The Wild Beyond The Witchlight, Metazooa by Trainwreck Labs, Learned League trivia, NYT Connections, Duotrigordle, Your Friend In Witchcraft by Kay Marlow Allen.
Currently Reading/Writing (Games): Ghosts Of Saltmarsh.
Currently Reading or Just Read (Books): Knife Skills For Beginners by Orlando Murrin; So Much Slime by Jason Lefebvre & Zac Retz; Be Limitless, Be Love by Michael Toledo; The Wild Robot by Peter Brown; The Note by Alafair Burke.