Art & Pies
As little reading progress is made otherwise.
Hello, friends! Another short one this week, as I genuinely don’t even know what I did with my time (shopping) since I barely got any reading done (watching football) nor did I play any games (writing.) I did open a few Pokemon Surging Sparks packs with my eldest after we found some at the Five Below on Black Friday tho! I was also really excited to get my copy of The Book Of Dreams puzzle anthology, and am looking forward to finding the time to finally dive in.
I did make it a point to create some art this week, partly because I got a lovely little pack of Sennelier soft pastels from my favorite local art store, Plaza Art, during their Black Friday sale. I didn’t like the first iteration of the mixed media piece I made for the last Sennelier Monday Live, so am pleased with my improving watercolor skills on this second try, as well as the way that the soft pastels really do enhance the work:
Obviously, I have a ways to go, and have also been questioning whether the Canson Mi-Tientes was really the best surface for the piece. The Live session suggested using Sennelier’s La Carte Pastel Card, which is just a little bit out of the budget for me, alas. I did get a brilliant deal on Sennelier’s Oil Pastel Card during Blick’s Cyber Monday sale tho, and decided to treat myself to a little Pastelmat while I was at it.
Of the books I did manage to finish and review this week, I’d like to highlight first Olivia Blacke’s A New Lease On Death. My favorite work of hers so far, this paranormal mystery teams up the ghost of a 40-something office worker with the eccentric and very much alive 20 year-old who moves into her apartment. When their neighbor across the hall is murdered, they join forces to figure out whodunnit.
I also really liked Ciara O’Neal & Antonella Fant’s Pedro The Pirate, a deceptively simple tale of imagination that really reinforces the challenges of being a foster kid. Perhaps more importantly, it encourages empathy and kindness, and is just a really smart and sensitive picture book for anyone connected to the care system.
Before I go, here are some food photos of the King Joffrey’s Deadly Pie I made from Thibaud Villanova & Mathilde Bourge’s Gastronogeek Cult TV Cookbook. The result far outstripped the effort I put into it, tho I admittedly did not get at all artistic with that crust:
You can check out the recipe and more photos over at TheFrumiousConsortium.net!
Woof, I’m exhausted, but I have to go practice the Prague Symphony before bed, so off I pop. See you in seven, friends!
Currently Playing (Music): Mozart’s Prague Symphony; my Declan Rice and RHJ playlists; Duran Duran’s Danse Macabre De Luxe & Greatest Hits; The War And The Treaty’s Lover’s Game; Kendrick Lamar’s GNX; Chappell Roan’s Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess.
Currently Playing (Games): The Light In The Mist puzzletale, Enigmas by David Kwong & Co, The Wild Beyond The Witchlight, Metazooa and Metaflora by Trainwreck Labs, Learned League trivia, NYT Connections, Britannica’s Tightrope, Magic The Gathering: Puzzle Quest and CCG, Koriko.
Currently Reading/Writing (Games): Ghosts Of Saltmarsh.
Currently Reading or Just Read (Books): A New Lease On Death by Olivia Blacke; A Very Bad Thing by J. T. Ellison; Pedro The Pirate by Ciara O’Neal & Antonella Fant; Gastronogeek Cult TV Cookbook by Thibaud Villanova & Mathilde Bourge.