Hello, friends! Apologies for being a disaster recently. My brains were unfortunately stir fried by participation in not one but two puzzle hunts during the time I was supposed to be sending out newsletters, and I’ve only just recovered. The Cryptex Hunt is still ongoing if you’d like a chance to win a Cryptex for yourself! It closes on May 31st, so you can work quite leisurely to that deadline.
The Microsoft Puzzle Hunt is still up as well, tho there aren’t any physical prizes. Still, what beats the satisfaction of completing a series of engrossing puzzles that are accompanied by amusing videos and delightful story twists? Disclaimer: my team did not complete the entire series but did have a lot of fun in the process.
Between the puzzle hunts, work and general parenting, I have made exactly zero progress on my role-playing games, and am instead staring at my deadlines with all the hypnotized dread of a cobra’s soon-to-be victim. As such, Dana Jeri Maier’s Skip To The Fun Parts was a timely read, reminding me that I’m not doomed to failure as a creator. Written and illustrated by a New Yorker cartoonist, the book commiserates with fellow creatives on how painful the process of making art can be. Highly recommended for any writer or artist who needs a little sympathy to drown out the negative voices in their head.
I did read a lot of excellent books between now and the last time I managed to put out a newsletter. Diana Urban’s Lying In The Deep was the feminist Agatha Christie retelling (of the annoyingly problematic Death On The Nile) that I didn’t even know I needed. Caroline B Cooney’s The Wrong Good Deed was a lean, intelligent exploration of buried secrets and how the United States needs to face up to its past in order to move forward in grace. And Warrior Girl, Unearthed — Angeline Boulley’s follow-up to my favorite book of 2021, Firekeeper’s Daughter — was another tremendous story of life on Sugar Island, Michigan, focusing on American Indian rights and responsibilities amidst a setting of heists and murder.
In other work news, I’ve been attempting to set more realistic goals, which largely means giving myself the time and breathing room to finish up all the things I’ve over-optimistically scheduled in the past year or so. That means that I likely won’t be participating in DriveThru RPG’s latest fun summer jam PocketQuest 2023, which just launched with the theme SPACE (Not of this World). I really enjoyed doing the 2022 version, but since I’m still working on bringing Camp Elementa, the project I completed for that RPG jam, to life in physical format, I’m sticking to my “less work, more time” credo until I’m all caught up. Which will hopefully happen sooner than later as I have a few other creative prospects that I really want to try out for! One of these is the Far Horizons Guide To Death, which closes to submissions in July. The Far Horizons Coop is soliciting short games and essays to be included in an anthology they intend to crowdfund this summer. All the details are in the Twitter thread linked above, but just in case the bird site goes off in a handbasket, here’s a submission form with all the info as well. Best of luck if you do try out for either opportunity!
Several media-related notes before I sign off: I managed to watch the entire latest season of You. Wowzers, this show does a great job of reminding viewers that Joe is, indeed, the bad guy. I think there could have been a more elegant connection between the Eat The Rich Killer’s first three victims tho (**cough**to do with the deeply annoying Kate**cough**) but it was overall a very satisfying season, even if I rolled my eyes plenty about halfway through.
I performed in my chamber orchestra’s final concert of the season last week and got this week off as a well-earned reward. Looking forward to seeing what my conductor throws at me next, before we take our summer break and I get to ignore my otherwise beloved cello while waiting for my right hand to finish healing.
And finally, despite my hip arthritis flaring up (which is only one reason for the slightly manic expression on my face below,) I managed to trek up the Exorcist Stairs and check out the Transformers statues in Georgetown before the latter are forcibly removed. I was fairly neutral about the neighbors’ claims that the statues "bring down the tone” of the neighborhood till I actually stood outside and saw that the statues are almost directly across the street from notorious college dive bar The Tombs. Gtfoh, complaining neighbors. Anyway, here are some photos of both the Transformers and the very steep Stairs, which had an encouraging message stamped on the landings:
I am going to keep those comforting words in mind as I plunge back into work. See you in hopefully less than seven, friends!
Currently Playing (Music): Robert Schumann’s Symphony #4: 3. Scherzo; Dvorak Symphony no. 8.; Johann Christian Bach’s Sinfonia in D Major; Isaac Albeniz’s Tango from Espana; RAYE’s My 21st Century Blues.
Currently Playing (Games): Odyssey Of The Dragonlords 5E, The Light In The Mist puzzletale, Ephemera by Messana.
Currently Reading/Writing (Games): Camp Elementa by me!
Currently Reading or Just Read (Books): Four Parties And A Funeral by Maria DiRico; Thinking Of You (but not in like a weird creepy way) by Beth Evans; The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths; I Did It! and Let’s Go! by Michael Emberley; Lying In The Deep by Diana Urban; Without Saying Goodbye by Laura Jarratt; A Flicker Of A Doubt by Daryl Wood Garber; The Wrong Good Deed by Caroline B Cooney; Warrior Girl, Unearthed by Angeline Boulley; Mossy And Tweed: Crazy For Coconuts by Mirka Hokkanen; The Ghost Goes To The Dogs by Cleo Coyle; Skip To The Fun Parts by Dana Jeri Maier.