Monthly Archives: January 2014

Jeremy finishes the Theodosia Throckmorton series by R. L. Stivers

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[Double feature book review! Includes both Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus and Theodosia and the Last Pharoah.]

Why? BECAUSE I AM A SUCKER FOR SERIES. Also, the last book Beckie read aloud while we drove up the coast on an overnight trip.

42 word reviews:

Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus: First two books mostly exhausted adults turning out to not be who they seem, so this is mostly about visiting Egyptian magician and whether he’s good guy or bad. Best part continues to be the relationship between Theodosia and urchin-sidekick Sticky Will.

Theodosia and the Last Pharoah: Takes place in Egypt, so no Sticky Will or other recurring characters besides T’s mother. Egyptian kid introduced as Sticky-Will-stand-in. Mostly fun but tired of formula and Young Reader fiction by this point, so glad this is finale (for now???).

Overall ratings: Eyes of Horus – 3 streetwise urchins (out of 5); Last Pharoah – 3 bazaar-wise donkey boys (out of 5)

Rob’s Fantasy Tennis League Rules (for reference)

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[I’m playing in a Fantasy Tennis League this year, organized by my friend and sometimes-BAJTOTW-commenter Rob. I find myself referring back to the rules, which involves opening up an attachment, so I’m going to post them for my own reference and also anticipated someday-nostalgia. I haven’t followed tennis before, but Rob’s enthusiasm is contagious.]

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Let’s give it a go!: Ice cream made with liquid nitrogen

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nitrogenie

Why? After eating dinner last night, we saw Nitrogenie nearby and exclaimed, “Let’s give it a go!” After all, how can someone resist the slogan Ice Cream From Magic.

How’d it go? There is perhaps a more general lesson, that could be called “The Parable of the Dippin’ Dots.” Dippin’ Dots had the slogan Ice Cream Of The Future, but Dippin’ Dots are dying out, because the ice cream of the present is pretty awesome and hard to improve upon.

The idea of this place was nifty, as was all the fog swirling behind the counter. But the ice cream itself wasn’t as good as what you’d expect from a specialty ice cream shop. Not bad, but a place that’s whole business is ice cream needs to be better than that. The alternative would be that they could make the process of making your ice cream more of a production, but other than the fog about there wasn’t much to see.

Would you do it again? There are enough alternative sweet options in that area that I suspect not. Maybe someday.

Let’s give it a go!: Reading glasses [Jeremy only]

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photo(3)

Why? Because I’m getting old! Apologies for my senescence being a recent “Let’s give it a go!” theme.

How’d it go? I used to wear glasses all the time, and then had my eyes fixed with Lasik about 10 years ago. The Lasik people said over and over that it didn’t fix the problems that led people to need reading glasses around age 45. I’m more than two years short of 45, though, so I’m not sure if this is premature aging, or if the Lasik people were given an high-end estimate.

I had them awhile before I started wearing them, but I feel like my eyesight has gotten noticeably worse since I’ve arrived in Australia. Now that I’m used to them, it’s easy just to leave them on–it’s just like being near-sighted, and weird how easy it is to tolerate stuff being blurry in the distance when all one has to do is lift the glasses for it to be clear.

Seeing them in the mirror has also taken some getting used to, but one upside there is that they help with the racoon-eyes problem.

Will you do it again? Now that I’m wearing them a lot, I regret to see that the sensibility of bifocals becomes plainer every day. So perhaps they’ll be another optometric-related “Let’s give it a go!” soon.