Backstreet's Back -- In A Virtual Escape Room!
With my apologies for the delay in posting this week!
Oh my goodness, friends, one of my fellow chamber orchestra musicians reminded me that I neglected to post this last night! My profuse apologies! Between getting my kids to their school choral concert, then running errands before fitting in my own practice session before rehearsal today, I completely forgot about sending this out. It has been a WEIRD week, and this newsletter unfortunately is one of the things that slipped through the cracks.
Fortunately, I have gotten a lot of music sorted out as our chamber orchestra switched over from Beethoven’s First to Mozart’s Prague Symphony. Despite a crashing migraine on Wednesday, I also managed to paint these two little guys before and after taking to my bed, following this de Winton Paper Co watercolor tutorial. You can tell that I was definitely experimenting with my variations:
The biggest thing I wanted to tell y’all about this week tho is the online Backstreet Boys Escape Game! The Escape Game teamed up with the actual, living, breathing Backstreet Boys to create a virtual Christmas-themed escape room that you can play for BSB prizes! I haven’t been able to play it yet myself but am definitely saving it for when I need that mondo hit of dopamine.
Speaking of dopamine, one of my favorite authors, A Natasha Joukovsky, has launched a series ranking all the single men of Jane Austen’s novels using managerial qualitative analysis over on her own Substack. Check it out, it’s honestly quite hilarious:
Reading-wise, I am obsessed with Christina Lynch’s Pony Confidential. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that it’s a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey, only with a vengeful pony trying to reunite with the owner who once left him behind. It’s smart, heartfelt and wickedly hilarious, and has so much to say about real love. I adored it.
I also really enjoyed Marlo Meekins & Nick Cross’ unusual graphic novel, Orchard Of The Tame. The art style is reminiscent of early animation, which perhaps bizarrely adds to the timelessness of the harrowing tale depicted. River Siren is locked up “for her own good” but when she’s discovered by two lovebirds who gently persuade her to engage with the outside world, all hell eventually breaks loose. It’s a unique, smart and sensitive exploration of trauma and how hard it is to escape an abusive relationship.
If you’re looking for more book suggestions for gifting in the holiday season, I have a Bookshop you can check out, too, with lists of my favorite books of the past few years.
Alright, woof, I can’t decide whether I need a nap before tackling the rest of the day’s responsibilities or trying to power through so I can get up nice and early for tomorrow’s game. Regardless, I’ll see you in six, 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): Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch; Orchard Of The Tame by Marlo Meekins & Nick Cross; My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast by Zoje Stage & J E Larson; Joanne Fluke’s Lake Eden Cookbook by Joanne Fluke; Drop Dead Sisters by Amelia Diane Coombs; Houseplants And Their F*cked-Up Thoughts by Carlyle Christoff & Elisabeth Saake; The Christmas Snow Globe by Sibylle Delacroix; Those Opulent Days by Jacquie Pham.