I Got To Zoom Audition For Jeopardy!
And Camp Elementa titles start shipping soon!
Exciting news, friends: I just did the Zoom audition for Jeopardy! As I mentioned in my April 5th newsletter, I took the Jeopardy Anytime test in the preceding week. After sending the newsletter, I promptly forgot about the test. So imagine my surprise when I was dutifully sifting through my Spam folder last week and found what I thought might actually, for real be an invitation to the next round of Jeopardy! tryouts. Ofc, the image source code that started the email had broken beyond the bounds that Gmail would allow for initial display, and once I fixed that, it only led to a generic scheduling service. But this seemed like a circuitously inept way to go about scamming people, so I signed up for a time slot (after a bit of embarrassing confusion regarding time zones.)
And hey, the email turned out to be legit! So yesterday, I got myself Zoom/TV-ready and took the next step in my Jeopardy! journey. Idk if anything will come of it, tho I do think I did pretty well answering the test questions. I know I got eight of the fifty wrong, which should still be well within the threshold, according to Wikipedia. But that was really cool, just even getting that far.
In my panicked leadup to the audition, I started watching as much Jeopardy! as I could, but could only find full episodes of the Masters Tournament on the ABC website. Friends, those are some big, scary brains taking part in that! Other alleged aids on the Internet were of varying utility, tho I did find Britannica’s trivia game Tightrope to afford the closest experience. Ofc, my daily Learned League games help a lot, too!
Unsurprisingly, I did not get to play very many games otherwise this week. I am, however, more motivated than ever to get back into Koriko once my schedule eases up, mostly due to reviewing Ariel Kusby & Olga Baumert’s terrific The Little Witch’s Oracle Deck. It’s a very gentle, very kind introduction to mindfulness and ritual that really put me in the mood to roleplay a game of young witches. It’s also my favorite oracle deck to date.
I’m not sure when I’ll be able to pick up my game of Koriko again tho. I’ve committed to starting to ship out Camp Elementa books this weekend, as I posted in my latest Kickstarter update. I also mentioned that I’ll be keeping the store open till at least the end of the year, so if you want to grab a copy, please feel free!
Reading-wise, Jesse Q Sutanto is back to the diabolical side of writing with her latest amazing novel, You Will Never Be Me. This tale of feuding social media celebrities that culminates in the disappearance of one of a pair of best friends is gripping, shocking and ultimately deeply satisfying. My upcoming review over at Criminal Element dives as well into the book’s feminist underpinnings as to what constitutes “real” work. This is a great crime thriller, especially for the media/Internet-savvy.
Gosh, I read so many great books this week, I don’t even know which other one to highlight here! Let’s get personal and opt for Morgan Richter’s The Divide, a lightly speculative LA noir of Jenny St John, a failed actress turned fake psychic who gets swept up in murder when her ex is killed and his ex disappears. The twist? His ex resembles Jenny so closely that she’s been going around saying that she was the one who starred in the one great movie of Jenny’s career. A haunting tale of lost ambition and the roads not taken, this one will stick with me for a while.
Alright, I’m off to pack some of the local Camp Elementa dropoffs I’m running out tomorrow, so wish me luck with all this and I’ll see you in seven, friends!
Currently Playing (Music): Vivaldi’s Concerto #7; Mozart’s String Quartet #1; Corelli’s Christmas Concerto; Vitamin String Quartet’s Bad Guy; Duomo’s Wildest Dreams; my Declan Rice playlist; Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet; Isabel LaRosa’s Favorite; Grammy 2024 playlist; Madison Beer’s Make You Mine.
Currently Playing (Games): The Light In The Mist puzzletale, Enigmas by David Kwong & Co, The Wild Beyond The Witchlight, Metazooa by Trainwreck Labs, Learned League trivia, NYT Connections, Brittanica’s Tightrope, Magic The Gathering: Puzzle Quest, Arena and CCG.
Currently Reading/Writing (Games): Ghosts Of Saltmarsh.
Currently Reading or Just Read (Books): The Sherlock Society by James Ponti; A Fatal Feast At Bramsford Manor by Darci Hannah; You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q Sutanto; Crypt Of The Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud; The Divide by Morgan Richter; Sherlock Holmes And The Telegram From Hell by Nicholas Meyer; Big Bear And Little Bear Go Fishing by Amy Hest & Erin Stead.