the boy

A quick favor

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There’s a free casual game that my son really enjoys, called Square Meal. It can be played by two people at once on a single keyboard and it’s part puzzle, part monster-fighting. It’s pretty innocuous and the strategy is nice.

However, the company that made it had a couple problems making it work properly (which is why there’s no link) and I said I wasn’t going to play it again. Once through was enough, but kids like to play things several times.

Anyway, there’s a poll on their blog to choose which game they’ll make a sequel to, and Square Meal is only in second place. Would you mind popping over there and voting for it? Voting closes on February 1st, and currently a stabbing game called Double Edged is in the lead.

Thanks.

First, a great video

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Mightygodking just posted this, saying it’s a couple years old but awesome for those who haven’t seen it before. That includes me, and maybe you:

Some strong language in there, mixed with the whoa!.

Second thing: You know those people at parties who don’t have a TV and make sure they tell as many people as possible? Well, that’s me now. I’ve mentioned this in comments once or twice, but never in an actual post: We can’t watch TV anymore.

It wasn’t planned and we didn’t renounce it in a big dramatic way. My wife rearranged the living room and suddenly the cable didn’t reach. This was… end of October? We were supposed to be upgrading to digital cable (broadcast TV in Seattle is a disaster) but I never bothered to get the box. So we didn’t have anything to watch except the occasional DVD from the library.

And it’s been better. My son falls to sleep easier at night. We all do more reading. I go to bed earlier. It’s surprising how comfortable it is to do without it. Also, I do not make sure to mention it to everyone I meet.

For now, at least. At some point I figure we’ll sign up for satellite TV or something. Until then, we have this DVD-player and Wii screen on the other side of the room, and things are much quieter around here.

Send an extraction team!

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My son just put the ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS dvd in. Get me out of here!

Christmas wrap up.

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Get it? “Wrap?” Huh? Huh?

Okay. I’ll tell this one briefly, if I can even manage that any more: The boy received quite a bit of love from Santa this year, mostly in Lego form. My wife received the light-up bicycle safety vest she so subtly hinted at (“Ooo! Check out that guy’s vest! I’ve been seeing those around and they’re awesome!”) although it wasn’t the one I would have preferred. It was, however, the very last one in stock at REI, so I didn’t have a lot of options.

Her surprise gift was a down comforter. Our old one has worn thin and she was waking up in the middle of the night from the cold. The new comforter is fantastic. She sleeps much longer than she used to, and I’m happy to see how well it’s working for it.

Me, I received clothes (I explained to my son that he would know he was an adult when he was happy to get underwear and socks as gifts) and a Wii Fit Plus.

The Wii is actually pretty awesome. The interface is a little bit of a struggle, but that might be on me, not the machine. The exercises (I haven’t tried them all yet) seem like fun. Added bonus: we have to keep the living room organized to use it, which is nice.

The biggest problem is getting a turn with it.

Otherwise it was all quiet time at home with family, and a brief but welcome visit from an old friend. And that’s how I like it.

A birthday tip from me to you

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You know what heat does to candle wax? Melts it.

You’re welcome.

Legomas is in full swing here

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Favorite quote: “I think it’s French. Or some kind of space language.”

Three Things addendum

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The third thing I was planning to mention last night? The one I forgot and remembered? That wasn’t the one I’d planned on originally.

The real third thing was that my son’s baby sitter said that, earlier in the evening, before I’d returned home, they’d seen what looked like a dog by our apartment door. A closer inspection revealed it to be a coyote.

I wasn’t there and didn’t see it for myself, but they reported seeing a coyote in our front yard.

Passing the time

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While I sit here, discussing what is and isn’t “fair” or “no fair” with my son, I thought I’d mention that I’ve added links to the sidebar of my webpage for you good folks to pre-order Game of Cages (or put it on your wish list or whatever).

Now, back to the “no fair”s.

Some catching up

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This will be a quick rundown, because it’s late and I want to sleep, but I also want to cover some things:

Yesterday, I got two flu shots, seasonal and H1N1. That evening I was coughing and by bedtime I was feverish and shivering. The fever broke around 4:30, and I went back to sleep. Right now I feel mostly okay, but damn, why didn’t I go to bed earlier.

My son had his eighth birthday party today. It went well.

I mailed Man Bites World to my agent. Only 15 minutes in line at the post office! I promised it to her by Giftmas, and she’ll have it. I just wish I’d had time to polish the prose more.

Tomorrow, I’m going to celebrate the mailing by spending a sizable portion of the day reading.

But, while so many of you poor folks were out killing brain cells watching AVATAR, I stayed home with the family to watch HOGFATHER. It’s a flawed show but it’s wonderful, and the end always puts tears in my eyes. My wife absolutely loves it. Go Christmas!

And now I collapse.

Avatar = Battle for Terra

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As I suspected, Avatar is crazy similar to Battle For Terra, not to mention a few other films.

Skipping it. I’d rather watch BfT again.

Busy today. My son’s birthday party starts as soon as the first kid arrives, and I have to sneak out later to mail off the completed agent-draft of Man Bites World (Yay!).