Curses and other game night hilarity

Last night we celebrated game night at Terra's new home, and as a lover of the old, antique and quirky, I fell a little in love when I first stepped through the door.



Her home had so many hidden details and collections that I could tell it would take weeks of study to unearth them all. If she didn't live so far away and have such a lovely menagerie of animals, I might have tucked myself away in one of the house's many corners and stayed for good.





If I'm lucky, maybe she will let me come back during the day to take more pictures and maybe do a little interview with her (and her equally talented sister).

Anyway, we didn't all gather at Terra's just so I could drool over her home. We also kicked off this year's regular game night there! I recommend everyone track down Curses and add it to their stash of games. It guarantees laughter and silliness.


(Can't you tell Dora is having a blast?)





And to see just how silly it gets...

Friday's Threads for the Podgy Girl

I had a bit of an internal debate about whether to add this feature. I am a far, far cry from anything resembling a fashionista. I generally subscribe to the theory that the clothes, in fact, do not make the man. For all the principles I would like to stand on, the majority of the first world disagrees with me. Still, I do appreciate a fun outfit for its creativity and confidence-boosting power. I also like to wear certain outfits sometimes just to manipulate what people think of me. Add to that the lack of chunky chicks talking about clothes (outnumbered for sure) and a Friday feature is born.

I had, in fact, talked myself out of this until I happened to be in Richmond on Thursday for a meeting and drove past the most perfect, colorful wall. Couple that with the fact that I happened to be wearing fun tights and an outfit I didn't hate, and you get me with my camera perched on the car with the self timer on. Good times. :-)



As many of compatriots can attest, posing by yourself with people driving and walking by is pretty damned difficult.

alternative storytelling

I hosted a training event for work this past Saturday at the Benjamin Banneker Museum and Park in Oella, Maryland. I had never been to the museum, so I was pleasantly surprised to walk in the door and find so many amazing quilts on display.



Over the past year, I have become enamored with quilting and have wanted to give it a whirl. I love how quilts and quilt squares are used to tell a story. Just check out some of these provocative pieces below.







Do you see Rihanna and Chris Brown?!

Feed

Migrating back to the DC/Northern Virginia area (and not to mention work) always kicks my ass. All of my lofty goals of writing and making and doing get shelved as I focus on cleaning and working and reconnecting. Anyway, I have managed to squeeze in a book passed along to me.

Feed by Mira Grant immediately captured my attention and took me on a journey using some of my favorite topics: blogging, zombies, end-of-the-world scenarios, and political campaigns. While I'm not the zombie aficionado that many of my friends are, I love a good zombie story that spins a realistic tale focusing on survival and the lives of those left. I don't really need (or want) a lot of gore in my zombie books. Give me enough to make me nervous that they are a real threat and leave me biting my nails during certain scenes, but give me more than just munching on brains.

What I liked best about Feed was the plausible* explanation for how zombies are created through a viral infection. Though I initially thought it was a bit I Am Legend, I think she did a better job of detailing the types of viral infections that caused this global calamity and how they inter played within the human body and reanimated the dead. I love nothing more than a writer who puts the time and energy into researching the key themes in their book. My second favorite thing about this book was the way it played out for the Christians and other religious folk who believe in a higher power. Finally, the use of blogging and the world as viewed through new media was just plain fun.

Definitely recommend.


*Well...you know what I mean.