Steph and I joined Lindsay, Kevin, and Debby at You Jam! It was a lot of fun, and I got a decent workout from it. We did a lot of dancing, then we decided to go to lunch at a place nearby Kevin’s house. It was Malaysian food and was pretty tasty. We of course got Thai ice tea, young coconuts, and the roti with the peanut sauce. It was all tasty, and they had particularly good tofu.
Steph and I slept in Christmas day and when we got up cooked a large amount of Tom Yom. It was a particularly tasty batch, and we took that over to her uncle’s house for Christmas Lunch. It was a decent group of about 12 people. I enjoyed showing off our trip videos to Jeff and Patty. We chatted about the Paint Nite gift I got for Steph and they really loved the idea. They have been going hiking lately and taking along RC trucks to go through and off the trails. The RC they got are pretty serious vehicles. I would love to go with them and do that, but I’d probably take a quadcopter. Shortly after that the babies got active, and Steph and I checked out a bit. We went back to Beachhead and hung out there the rest of the day watching documentaries and playing Dungeon of the Endless.
Steph and I went to dinner with her parents on Christmas Eve at China Village, a decent dim sum place. We had a few of the dim sum dishes, including my favorite Shanghai dumplings, as well as a few of their lager dishes. It was all delicious and I enjoyed spending the time with her parents. We then went back to their place and opened presents. Most of my presents this year were actually for my kitties, which is nice since I didn’t want any more stuff. Steph and I even did a big house cleaning where I got rid of a car load of things that had been accumulating. I was glad to be much more clutter free.
Steph and I went to Karaoke with Leyan, Kevin, Lindsay, Andrew, and Debby. We had a great time, and got to sing all the songs we wanted. There were a lot of Christmas classics going around. I really enjoyed singing “Chestnuts Roasting” as well as “Baby, it’s Cold Outside.” The “Baby, it’s Cold Outside” song is so creepy, but I really love the way the harmony and counterpoint in the duet, despite the words to the song. Steph got really into a few of the songs, and I thought it was adorable. I did a few of my classic karaoke songs like one of LMFAO’s, one from Billy Joel, and American Pie. Lindsay brought an interesting drink that was purple with sparkles and it had a decent amount of alcohol in it. It wasn’t all that tasty but it still hit the spot. I had a really good time and would love to do it again.
Iliya is bringing his gf back with him from Bulgaria so he is moving out to move in with her (The typical reason for moving out of Beachhead). The house decided to throw him a going away dinner. Steph made an amazing baked brie with Texas on top. The rest of the food and drink was good, and it was a lot of fun to chat and cook with everyone. I will miss Iliya being around all the time.
We played another round of Tzolk’n with most of the expansion material included. I had a great time since I got the clan that could take on debt. It made the game a lot more interesting for sure. Had I gotten a little more aggressive and bought the wonder that Adam wanted, I would have won. As it was I was able to get a very close second.
Adam had a bunch of people over for his annual Latkes party. They were super tasty, and I got more than my fair share. We also did a white elephant gift exchange. I brought a tiny quadcopter that I picked up at Fry’s. I was glad when it was the first gift to get stolen and locked. I biked through the rain for 45 minutes to get that quadcopter since the next day shipping from Amazon actually meant 5 days. I got some of the Playdo like sand, but I can’t leave it out around the kitties, as they would poop in it. Steph got a machete. The party was nice, and I enjoyed talking to everyone there.
I liked the magic system in this book, and the way that the glass magician can use mirrors to teleport. The end of the book with the ability to change medium, and how she decides not really to share it is a strange spot. The bad guys were a little too evil for my liking, but I understand the series is meant as a bit lighter fair than the books I’m used to.
I read the first two books in the series and I liked them. The magic system was a little too expansive, and ill defined. The story line was really nice, with all the different moving parts coming together. Some of the talents made for very interesting scenes. I thought the main character was a little overpowered in many situations, as well as petulant to almost any authority figure. This was especially annoying when he kept saying how loyal and respectful he was since he was raised by the monks. I look forward to the continuation of the series.
It's an Exciting World 