Back From the Holidays

Well, it’s been quite a Yuletide (accurate or not, I enjoy, and have ‘time off’ from the first day of winter straight through to the 12^th day of Christmas.)

            Lots of fun, lots people, places etc…. So I’ll do a great, big, round up / summary post which will cover a lot of ground.

            First, and biggest of all, is that I will be getting back to writing this week sometime. Since it has been a bit since I’ve written (non-blog), I am going to begin / return to the ‘mind set’ by revising my existing work, and then going from there. Who knows, this week may be revision only. But my mind will be returning to it, so that’s a good start. I’ll update a little bit more about that as I go.

Mario Maker! I hit another milestone with that game. I’ll be sure to play / use the game less, as I want to buckle down on the writing (it’s a time management thing). The next update will be tomorrow. Since it’s the end of the year (well, beginning of 2016 but you get the idea) this update will be a ‘best of’ and I’ll have those levels up for a while. After that, new content! Currently, I can upload 30 levels at a time. Not this update, but the FOLLOWING will be completely new. We can’t ‘link’ levels, but it is my intention for a few updates now that have sequential naming conventions, that they ‘make a game’ per update. So the higher the named level is, the harder it is and of course, you properly get to face off against Bowser “at the end.” I will keep the tradition of making update posts with codes, etc.
 

         
            - Winds of Winter

Sadly, it won’t be out before Game of Thrones: Season 6 begins. So ‘book only’ readers wishing to avoid the show spoilers etc, considering this warning not to watch and keep in mind that the internet is dark and full of spoilers. But not this blog though. To read the whole story, as well George’s own words, head here : http://grrm.livejournal.com/465247.html . I gotta say, I like the way that he worded himself and opened up and offered a somewhat in depth update. He also confirms via the comments section that the book cover is in fact real. Should the book be published tomorrow, it’ll feature that cover. He does say that these things change, though. My wager for publication date is around the time that Episode 10 will be broadcasted via HBO. George said BEFORE Season 6, so I figure shortly after could be possible.

In regards for the show, I’m going to do my best and wait until after the season finishes before starting it up. That’s my intent, let’s see if it actually happens. Waiting one week for one episode is stupid. It all depends on what those close to me will do….

            - beers

Got a got a few different beers for, and during Yule. Only had a few of them, though. The ones I got are:

Williams Bros Brewing “Historic Ales of Scotland”
St Bernadus Mix Pack and “Christmas Ale”
Wychwood “Bah humbug”
Black Oak “Nutcracker Porter”

I also got a bottle of Bailey’s (regular) and Crown Black.
 

- upcoming purchases

There are a few things I plan to buy, or have bought but have yet to published. The two big ones are a new computer (most likely a laptop) and a PS4 at some point. If possible I'd like to opt for a 1TB edition that doesn't come with a Call of Duty game. A BBQ would be awesome as well. There’s a bunch of other stuff too: some blu-rays, video games, only a few books (most of the books are the ‘next’ in a series, and not anticipating anything “new”.). I’m predicting 10 books total this year.

            As of now, there’s no big book news for this year, but I’ll keep you posted as I get the info. Perhaps Stormlight Book 3 will be out at some point?? Even The Winds of Winter? Currently, I’m re-reading Tolkien. I’m on The Return of the King at the moment, and will follow that with The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. Most likely after that I will read The Winter King….or something else. I do have a few pages left in Red Rising. I also have some classics, and I look forward to reading some Leo Tolstoy, and other classics. It seems that the ‘best novel ever’ is a 3-way tie between some titans: The Count of Monte Cristo, Les Miserables, and War and Peace. [The Lord of the Rings is the best FANTASY novel of all time.]. Once I return to Tolkien, I’ll finish off with The Children of Hurin, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, The Fall of Arthur, Beowulf, and The Story of Kullervo [and that’s not counting what’s on my e-reader for travel] I put my 2016 Goodreads Reading challenge to 20, which should be doable (how do some people read approx. 100?! They must extremely small books…)

Whew. That was quite the post. That’s all for now!