Random Chats

[Melaslithos]

Hi Aron!

[Melaslithos]

Eating far too much (Chinese New Year)...

[Kandice]

Good morning everyone! That room was so much fun. I had never heard of anything like it. My husband saw a pop up ad for it on Facebook and made the reservation. It was a complete surprise. I would love to go back, but they change the room slowly so you need to wait a while to return or it's kind of like cheating.

Melas, did you escape?

Good morning Aaron!

[Kandice]

Look at post 556.

[Julia]

We're doing something like that for our team building at work. Here where I am it's called Escape-something or other. One of the few team building I'm looking forward to.
This is the link in case anyone is in the Orlando area

http://www.escapology.com/orlando

[Kandice]

Julia, I think that is the same thing! Or at least very, very similar. Ours definitely had a "Victorian" theme to it, but I wonder if that changes as the game changes. We signed up for a newsletter. We played version 1.5 last night. The host told us that it wouldn't be worth our playing again until they had reached version 2.0.

We talked to the "Director" for a while afterward and he said they film your attempts because they need to know which puzzles are too hard, don't make enough sense or simply too obscure to help. We all talked about it a long time afterward and could tell what they would probably be changing next time.

There was one particular puzzle that we actually needed two hints to figure out. The references were very obscure and the math involved was, well, ridiculously hard, unless you were taking a final. With a calculator!

I don't mean to imply that hindered our enjoyment at all, just that it is definitely worth playing again. And again! :D

[Julia]

Kandice - MATH?!?! My least favorite subject, I'll have to brush up.

I'm really looking forward to it; I told my family about it and they also want to do it.

[Kandice]

The math was insane! I'm not spoiling anything because it says right on the page you need to find keys, but some of the keys are on the bolts of combo locks and that's where the math comes in. There was even one combo lock that used letters. I had never even seen a lock like that!

[Kandice]

I have to say, the people that comprise your group probably make a huge difference. First off, I wouldn't have wanted to play with people I didn't know very well. We went with our oldest friends. My best friend is married to my husband's best friend and we've all know each other since childhood, so that helped. Our jobs are very diverse which was also useful.

Let us know how you enjoy it. I can't wait for the opportunity to go again.

[Ana]

That sounds like a great adventure, glad you had fun!

[Ana]

W00t! Been a while since I went on one of those. Did you get anything nice?

[Julia]

Thanks for the tips Kandice! At least now I know who not get paired up with for my work and family trip.

[Melaslithos]

First room, we needed help to escape it.
Second room, we breezed through it.

Both were great!

[Kandice]

I think I mentioned a while back that I was put in charge of the Purim Carnival at work and that I felt a bit (a lot!) out of my league, having never done it. We offered a nacho lunch for sale and I found out that the cheese we were planning on using is no longer on the market. There is no other hechered cheese available anywhere! That means I need to make (from scratch!) enough nacho cheese for 200 servings the morning of the carnival. AAAAAAAARG!

You'd think we could bend a rule just this once.

[Melaslithos]

Have you checked online?

[Ana]

Ooh good idea, Melas.
Kandice, stay strong, I am sure you will find a way!

[Kandice]

I have checked everywhere I can. At this point it is getting close enough that I feel making it is the safest bet. There is also the matter of cost. If I could find it online, I can't imagine the shipping costs.

It'll be fine, it's just a step I wasn't planning on or accounting for.

[Kandice]

Hi Aaron.

[Ana]

Wow making cheese, I would never dare, especially not 200 portions, you are very brave! I hope you are getting help!! How's it going so far?

Howdy Aaron :)

[Kandice]

I’m not making “cheese” per se, just nacho cheese. I can’t do the big batch until the morning of the event so it doesn’t get icky, but I plan on trying a small batch at home tonight or tomorrow night. For 200 servings I just have to melt 15 pounds of American cheese very slowly and blend it with butter, flour salt and macerated jalapeno peppers. The small batch is just 7 slices of American cheese with the other stuff.

I’m sure it will go fine; it’s just something I hadn’t planned on taking the time to do. O_o

[Ana]

Aaah ok, everything will be fine then, good luck!

[Melaslithos]

There's several brands of Nacho Cheese on Amazon.com or Walmart.com, with free shipping above 35-50$ orders.

Not sure about what type of cheese you need exactly (as a French, I only eat strong & smelly cheese coming directly from the farm ;-) )

[Ana]

Hey Melas! Not sure if you noticed but I mentioned it in a blog post, hope that's ok?

https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2015/0...

[Leigh]

I like the highlighting for spoilers, it shows me how long the spoiler is before I click on it and read it all!

[Ana]

Thanks, that's the purpose eheh.
What do you think of the colour? Light blue is one of my favourite colours and I thought it went well with the background notebook lines.

[Melaslithos]

Nice one.

Usually, I'd stick with black, but light blue is indeed a nice touch. I love this colour too.

[Melaslithos]

Good evening all!

[Melaslithos]

In need of sleep (the constant fireworks aren't helping).

[Melaslithos]

Contrary to our New Year, Chinese New Year is a long process that lasts 2 weeks. With constant fireworks during those two weeks, especially on the fifth day. Which means basically no sleep for 2 weeks...

[Melaslithos]

I don't.

[Ana]

Hey, everyone.

Dang, that sounds dreadful, Melas. There is nothing that can compare to a good night's sleep. I have been having crappy rest lately, so I feel your pain. Though luckily no fireworks. Hope you don't have to endure it much longer!

[Leigh]

Light blue works for me, Ana. Not sure what other colors there are, but I don't see a need to change.

Hi everyone!

[Ana]

Oh I just looked up colour codes and that one looked good, to me. Thanks!

And thanks Aaron, hopefully I will be able to catch up on my sleep tomorrow ^_^

[Kandice]

I think your blog looks great Ana!

Melas, I work at a synagogue, so the cheese has to be kosher. Under normal circumstances any fresh cheese is considered kosher even if it doesn't bear a heksher, but because nacho cheese in a can is processed, it isn't automatically kosher. At the planning meeting for the carnival everyone wanted to try nachos, but it didn't occur to anyone to think of that.

[Kandice]

Good morning everyone! I made the small sample batch of cheese (at home) last night and it was a HUGE hit with my children. My oldest son, who lives on his own now, made a "date" with me to come over and learn how to make it. He's a vegetarian, so always happy about simple recipes he can actually eat.

[Kandice]

I didn't add any jalpenos because I was really just testing for texture, but the taste was nice and rich because of the butter. I think it will be even better with some jalapenos and red pepper diced really fine.

[Kandice]

Go eat! It's funny being the only non-Jewish person at a synagogue, because often things just don't occur to me. They have so many, many rules. Other times, I remember things that they neglect to mention because they seem second nature to them.

It's a joke around work that I've become more Jewish than the Jews, but without the religion. :D

[Ana]

Thanks, Kandice! I am glad your experiment was a success! Wish I could try it eheh, I don't typically eat that sort of thing. I do hate spicy food though so without the jalapenos would have worked perfectly for me.

[Melaslithos]

Ana's blog had me thinking.

Having a book blog sounds like a wonderful idea, but what does it bring that GR doesn't? Is it really useful?

I post all my reviews here already. Wouldn't posting them on a blog be duplicate content?

Which one of you have a book blog here? Is it an interesting adventure? Should I open one too?

I already have a personal blog. I sometime post book reviews on it, but not all of them. Mostly on books about China. If I had to post all my reviews on there, the other content will be overflooded by it, which I don't want. After all, the other content is what I want to focus on. Also, my blog is in French and I would have to translate everything!

What do you think about it? I'd be really interested in your opinions.

[Kandice]

I honestly don't feel interesting enough to warrant a blog. Like you said, I post my reviews here, and who really wants to read a site all about me?

Having said that, I can see why they would be fun to write and design. I work on the website for my job and I often wish I wasn't constrained by their rules and regulations. Not enough to write my own, but still...

[Leigh]

Melaslithos wrote: "Ana's blog had me thinking.

Having a book blog sounds like a wonderful idea, but what does it bring that GR doesn't? Is it really useful?

I post all my reviews here already. Wouldn't posting them..."

What is your blog? I speak French (and read it, too) :D

[Leigh]

Kandice wrote: "I honestly don't feel interesting enough to warrant a blog. Like you said, I post my reviews here, and who really wants to read a site all about me?

Having said that, I can see why they would be ..."

I feel this way about my blog, where I don't post reviews, but write about my life and thoughts. However, I'm not sure it's all that interesting to other people....I'll keep it going for a while, and see if I can't hit my stride with it and use it for personal enjoyment.

[Melaslithos]

I started my blog to stay in touch with my friends in France. I never expected it to be interesting to many people, but it looks like some do find an interest in it. I also had nice exchanges with people thanks to it.

It is a very small blog with just a tiny reach. But I love it! I love that I can have my own space on the web to do whatever I want, to experiment and have fun with.

Regarding a book blog, I also have a question, regarding what Ana said about NG giving more copies to those with a blog: do you think a blog can give you that much more of a reach than just GR reviews?

There are also several authors here, what about you? Do you like your reviewers to have a blog, on just GR reviews are fine with you? Why?

[Ana]

Melaslithos wrote: "Ana's blog had me thinking.

Having a book blog sounds like a wonderful idea, but what does it bring that GR doesn't? Is it really useful?

I post all my reviews here already. Wouldn't posting them..."

I decided to create a blog mainly to see if it would get me more netgalley titles, since some publishers demand that you post elsewhere than goodreads. I have gotten several decline emails stating that as a reason.

The fact is there are a lot of people out there who don't like gr. I am not sure why but I think it has something to do with an agreement with Amazon? Or they view GR as biased? I don't know, the fact is a lot of folks, publishers and authors included, do not like or use it at all.

I found that the blog complements my GR experience. And since I created it, I found that I would like to post more than just my book reviews. It became my personal little corner, though not too. I don't intend on posting a lot in it because, as you said, I am also not that interesting, but overall it has been a positive experience, a challenging one too. Right now I am working on a cover book index for the books I have reviewed, a fast and easy way to see what I have read, but since I don't know html it has been a very slow process.

I am not sure how long I will keep it up but so far I am enjoying the ride.

[Melaslithos]

I'm trying to put myself in an author/publisher point of view. I am not a professional/well known reviewer, so I would expect my review to have a bigger reach on GR, where a lot of people come, than on an obscur blog in a corner of the web.

But since I am not an author, I would love to get the opinion of one here.

Anyway, I might still open a book blog just for the fun of it, but it will stay centered on books, since I already have other outlets for other subjects.

[Ana]

Well, I am experience quite a reading slump now. I chose a book which showed as being 200 pages long, so fairly small, and have only managed to read 10% in 2 days. I have not read anything that has made me feel completely enthralled in what feels like several weeks. Not quite sure if I should just drop it for the time being or just trudge on.

[Melaslithos]

Usually, after reading several new books, especially R4R from self-published authors, I like to go back to a good old classic or something I'm sure I'll like (i.e. Pratchett).

Let's be franck, there's a reason why some books are classics and not others, and most contemporary authors don't make the cut (it's the same for all "contemporary", be it now or 100 years ago). When I read too much of these "new" authors, I kind of feel like you, like I loose my enthusiasm for books, because a lot of them are not that good (although some are really great, and I love finding a new author I love in all those unknown ones).

So maybe you need a break, pick up something you know you love, maybe a book you've read and re-read and re-re-read, or a new book from your favorite author.

And then you can delve again in your humongous pile of R4R ^_^

[Ana]

That's great advice, Melas, thanks. I actually have several paperback classics resting on my shelf. I just don't feel inclined picking any up, especially since I find it so much more practical reading on my Kindle.

I wonder where the heck I got the idea the book I am reading was 200 pages long, it's actually 352... I don't actually mind that it's long, I am just wondering if you gals want to start on Bald New World before I am done, since no one is really mentioning a specific date to start.

But yeah, I think I have had bad luck with new authors. This one is pretty boring. I enjoy hard sci-fi as much as the next person but only if it has something interesting going on, otherwise it's just piles and piles of description.

[Kandice]

I consider certain books "palate cleansers" and other books as "rests", like Melas said. After reading an especially hard or dense book I try to read something fun and quick like a Charlaine Harris Mysteries or J.D. Robb. When I feel I am in a slump from reading too many in a row that aren't that engaging I tend to read a Stephen King or Colleen McCullough, not because their books are easy, but because I love, love, love them and can re-read them over and over and never feel bored.

[Melaslithos]

Regarding starting Bald New World, I'm only on page 80 of a book with more than 500 pages. So I will need at least a few more days to finish it. So you will have time to finish your book too.

Also, if you prefer to push to an even later date, I'm fine with it too. I don't really have a time goal or limit for this book, such as book club meeting, group reads, etc.