Damn, two weeks in and I’m already behind. :)
Thankfully there’s not a lot of to talk about, so it won’t be an overall long post. That said, it’s been an interesting few weeks. Less games, a LOT more rain, more theatre, more volunteering, and an updated on Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
Most of California is now out of drought conditions. I believe the folks on NPR said we got 8.5” in the last month, which is the most we’ve gotten since 2008. And boy did we need it. Plus it made me feel less guilty about staying indoors and playing on the computer.
Two Fridays ago I went and saw the musical Urinetown for I think the second time. I have some vague recollection of seeing it with dad back in D.C. years and years ago, but I didn’t remember anything from the show, so it was all fresh to me. And it was a great production! It’s a satirical comedy which ends up being rather timely with everything going on in the U.S. right now.
The next day was the annual Tri-Birthday Party, shared among myself and two of my friends who have December and January birthdays. As we’ve done the last couple of years it was a potluck and I was thrilled to see a lot of people who don’t normally attend to show up. AND I managed to not overcook this time around (at least not by much). My "go to" mac & cheese recipe made an appearance, as did the pomegranate couscous, along with a lot of homemade pineapple vodka.
As great at the party was, it was only half of a pretty amazing day. The morning was spent taking part in my first ever protest march, the Women’s March in downtown Los Angeles. And it was BONKERS. They had originally be expecting about 80,000, and had the rain kept up they probably wouldn’t even have gotten half of that. But the weather was beautiful and they ended up having 750,000 people show! 750,000!
Links to photo album
As expected in the face of such numbers, the metro system was no match for this outpouring of social activism. Our plan to catch a train at 8:40am to be there in time for the 10am march was shot down by the masses. We spent over an hour at the train station before giving up and grabbing an Uber with two women who were in the same boat.
We arrived near the end location of the march, just in time to see folks start piling in. We stuck around for a while attempting to listen to the first couple of speakers, then moved back a block to get a better view of the scene. And that’s when the second wave showed up. The designated streets were already packed, so the people starting overflowing into adjoining streets. We ran into a couple of friends, but for the most part we were awash in new faces. Eventually we headed back to the house and were fortunate to get on a train instead of having to Uber back, which would have been ridiculously expensive.
Last week was a lot less busy (and rainy), with only a couple of notable exceptions. Friday was my friend Jeff’s birthday, and continuing his tradition for the last few years, invited a small group of friends over and cooked us his mother’s recipe for Oeufs en Meurette (poached eggs in red wine sauce), which is basically a superior version of eggs benedict, using bacon, mushrooms, butter and red wine for the sauce. It's amazing, but so rich you'll want to eat it in small portions.
Saturday was my first time volunteering the animal shelter that wasn’t training. I spent two hours cleaning the dog cages and socializing with them. I can't take them out for walks or to the play area yet, as that requires me to do the level 2 training, which is only available after 8-16 hours. But I still had a lot of fun hanging out with the animals. I had a number of errands I had planned for the rest of the day but ended up staying home baking brown butter ginger blondies and playing a ton of the Legend of Grimrock 2. I'm taking a breather from Endless Legend for a bit so I don't burn out on it and this old school dungeon crawler is a hoot, though some of the puzzle require some internet help.
The last big note is that I finally heard from Big Brothers/Big Sisters about a potential little, but haven't managed to connect with them over the phone yet. I've got a called scheduled today during my lunch break so hopefully I'll have more to tell you next week. The idea of being any sort of mentor is kind of scary, but I think I can do a lot of good, and I think (starting) this year it's going to be more important than ever that people, including myself, take an active role in trying to make the world a better place.
Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday were all game heavy last week, and Tuesday would have been as well, had my theatre friends all bailed the day of. *sad trombone*
Wednesday night was spent almost entirely on my newest Kickstarter game, Wizard School, which turned out to be a real disappointment. About twenty minutes in the first person bailed on it, and the rest of us spent about another hour and a half before we gave up. The last time I had this many problems with interpreting game text was Ruse & Bruise, and that at least was fun. This was more like…work. We gave it another shot on Sunday, but I don’t expect I’ll ever play this one again.
Thursday I spent catching up with my ex, who finally finished graduate school and is back in town. I volunteered Maple Block Meat Company as I’ve been dying to get back there since I visited it early last year. The brisket is fantastic and the side of biscuits I got were equally excellent. Thus far, this is probably the best brisket I’ve found in L.A., though my search is relatively new.
Friday was a bonanza of gaming, and made up for the lackluster Wednesday night. We ended up having eleven people show up and got a couple of games of Secret Hitler in (I’m still awful at it) and a round of Vegas Showdown before things started winding down. If you’re a fan of secret role games (e.g., Werewolf) Secret Hitler is a good choice. It’s another Kickstarter game, though I backed this more because my friend did than me having a real interest in it myself. Still, happy to have it in my collection.
Saturday started off early with a flurry of activity, with a 9am meeting for the volunteer group at the animal shelter I just joined, followed by a two-hour training session on handling the dogs, which I’m now allowed to do. However, this only covers general socializing with the animals, cleaning the cages, and building busywork. I’ve got to get 8-16 hours before I can take the level 2 classes, which let me get more involved with the animals.
That afternoon I drove down to UCLA to see The Lion at the Geffen Playhouse. My ex had mentioned loving the show over dinner so I decided it would be a good way to kick off theater-going in the New Year. And boy was that the right call. The Lion is a one-man show by Benjamin Scheuer, chronicling the story of his life through about sixteen songs, played on a half dozen different guitars. When he isn’t singing he’s storytelling, and the two weave together so seamlessly there were only a handful of opportunities to get applause it. It’s an amazing story filled with loss and adversity and if you’re in the area I highly recommend check it out. You can also find the soundtrack on Spotify.
The rest of Saturday was spent at home playing Endless Legend (link to Steam page), my current gaming obsession, and making a Cooks’ Illustrated recipe for gumbo. It’s wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything special either, so I’ll likely not make it again. I did like their method of making the roux though, which involved baking the flour until it was a dark, nutty brown color, and then mixing it in with the liquid. It gave a lot of flavor to the roux.
Sunday I finally got off my butt and made my friend’s birthday ice cream, Vietnamese Coffee, from the Humphry Slocombe cook book she got me years ago, of which I have made copious use of ever since. I’ve actually got another batch I promised some co-workers and then I’m going to make some Baraky Road for myself.
Then my roommate and I went tuxedo shopping with our friend for a wedding in March. We found a small store in the locale mall that managed to check off all the boxes the groom required and we were back in time to get a couple of games of Aeon’s End. That’s ANOTHER Kickstarter game, but unlike Wizard School this one was absolutely worth the money my friend paid for it. It’s a take on the Dominion deck-building mechanic, with its own unique twists. We actually won our first game ever that day, followed by an excruciating last second lost.
The evening was spent playing more Endless Legend.
The Monday holiday was spent sequestered at home playing more Endless Legend and delving into the first two episodes of A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix. It’s weird, but I like it. I look forward to watching more of it, as well as getting into AO and the new episodes of Sherlock Holmes. Of course, that would require free time, of which I’m to have precious little. The only real productive use of the day was sitting down with my friend and figuring out a timetable for finalizing and submitting the serial play we’ve been working on. Of course, with him having a baby and me about to jump into pilot season, actually producing and directing the show will be tricky. Fingers crossed.
