Since it’s been so long since I updated, I thought I needed to give a quick update of what’s been keeping me so occupied!

Crafting

Embroidery! I love it. I recently completed an embroidery project for my mom which was a lot of fun! I wish I’d taken pictures of it to show off. Maybe she’ll read this and be inspired to send me some? I used felt and embroidery thread and I was really impressed with how it turned out. I will definitely be doing more embroidery in the future! I’m just not sure what I want to make next, or who I should make something for! It’s easier for me to make things if I have a particular person in mind.

Video Games

Recently I picked up Dragon Age: Origins and I’ve been playing it to death. I’m not crazy about the combat style. I created a mage because that’s the type of class I prefer to play in RPG type games (I’d rather have my character stand back and cast spells than be up front in the action) only to find out you have to manage your entire party’s actions. I’ve gotten good enough at working with the tactics that I can get my party through most fights while just managing what my actual character is doing. What I really like about the game is the character development of the party members. This is the best character development I’ve seen in a game since The Longest Journey–which is still my favorite game ever, partly because it’s impossible to die. I find dying in video games to be really frustrating!

Visiting Family

This Memorial Day weekend I traveled to Michigan for my brother’s high school graduation! I’m really proud of him. He’s an aspiring writer who has not only written an entire novel but also won an award in the school’s fine art’s competition for an amazing poem he wrote. He’s graduating with honors and has some great scholarships for college next year!

The photo is from last year’s 4th of July. My brother is the second from the left, surrounded by relatives. At his graduation party I was able to see most of my relatives. Both my parents having 5 siblings each, and all of those siblings have children, and some of those children have children. It’s hard getting most of them in one place! This probably wont happen again until a wedding or a funeral (hopefully the former.)

Finishing Under the Net

I’m happily reaching the end of the novel, and I should have my final review up soon! I made sure not to read it on my flight to Michigan because I don’t think I could handle leaving it on a plane a second time!

Books Left: 94
Current Book: Under the Net by Iris Murdoch

Last weekend I went on a business trip to Michigan. I was there for four days, and for some reason on the very short plane ride from Grand Rapids to Detroit, I got sleepy. This plane ride is so short, it takes about as long to get to the airport, check in, wait to board, board, take off, fly, and land, as it does to drive between the two cities. (Don’t even get me started on flying from Lansing to Detroit.) I felt sleepy after I’d read a little of Under the Net by Iris Murdoch and put it in the seat pocket in front of me.

You can guess what happened. I no longer have the book.

Of course I’ve been enjoying the book so far. I would have liked an excuse to take a break from Sophie’s Choice.

I’ve filled out the form on Delta’s website for missing items, but I’m doubtful that I’ll get that copy back. Paying full price, even with my Border’s member discount, seems too crazy to do twice so I’m looking for a less expensive way to obtain it. I’ll check the library and the used bookstores near my new job which starts on Monday. If that fails, there are used copies on Amazon for $3.75 plus shipping.

In the meantime, I am working on a redesign for the blog and I’ve been thinking about opening it up to other topics I’m interested in, such as crafting, technology, and writing. (I think Drunk Literature is a good example–it’s a book blog, but she writes about other things, too.)

What do you think? Would you be interested in reading about other topics on the blog, or would you prefer The Displaced English Major to be only about books?