Every time I go to Chinese school, I take the elevator to my classroom, just to use my elevator Chinese phrases. I can’t figure out if I do it to keep up my elementary Chinese, or just to watch the looks of shock when the white teacher talks the talk.
At The Video Store
Sometimes I forget how much having lived in China affects me. I don’t mean my new appreciation for bread and cheese, although I think Chinese food has something to do with that. I mean how out of the American loop I am, and how unfamiliar certain tasks are to me. Driving is the worst one, but I tried to rent a video the other day, and it was almost too hard for me.
“I’m on my boyfriend’s account. That’s Stick Malavette, M-A-L-A-V-E-T-T-E,” I said to the girl at the counter.
After a long pause, she told me “He has an account but you’re not on it.”
I was pretty sure I am on the account, because I remember the momentous occasion when I was added to it. But there may be a rule about getting booted from the account if you don’t rent any movies in three years or so. Some companies are picky about that kind of thing.
“Well, I just returned House Season 4, Disc 1, and I now want House, Season 4, Disc 2. Does that prove I’m authorized on the account?”
“Uh… No. ”
“Good point, I could have just broken up with him, and in my bitterness and anger, I’m going to make sure that the DVD he wants is out!”
“Can you give me his address and phone number?”
I wondered for a moment if all it takes to rent on someone else’s Blockbuster account is their phone number and address. Was this, like getting AAA set up, a repatriation hassle only to be averted by telling lies exaggerations? I mean, I know my parents have a Blockbuster account, and I know their address. “Let me think. It might still have his school address, or our old apartment, or it might be his mom’s address for while we were abroad.”
“I don’t think so. It’s not a North Carolina address,” Note: I believe this statement implies that I blend in SO WELL in Raleigh that I couldn’t possibly have ever lived anywhere else.
After a while, I was eventually allowed to pick up House on Stick’s account, but everything was so much easier when I bought DVDs out of suitcases on the street.
Posted in North Carolina, Raleigh
Tagged China, chinese, Chinese food, driving, Eric, movies, my boyfriend, North Carolina, Raleigh, repatriation, Stick
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Grove Park Inn
I’m at the Grove Park Inn right now, for the Arts & Crafts Conference. The whole place is amazing, a really plush hotel in the Arts & Crafts style, with rough stone walls, bright windows, with lots of spots for either reading or having a drink, two of my favorite things. I’m doing a little work on the Craftsman Farms blog while I’m here, but mostly I’m visiting with my parents.
I’ve gotten a bit behind with my other writing because of all the traveling and seeing my parents, but I feel pretty good not-writing in place where F. Scott Fitzgerald used to not-write.
Posted in Raleigh
Tagged Asheville, craftsman farms, my other writing, Raleigh, reading, SM@CF, Stick, stickley museum, travel
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March/April issue of Indie Game Mag
The March/April issue of Indie Game Mag comes out today, with my review of Chains inside! You can get the magazine sent to your house, on real paper, or you can read it online. I opted for the first, which means the frantic mailbox-checking begins tomorrow!
Posted in milestones, My Other Writing
Tagged Chains, Indie Game Mag, mail, milestones, my other writing
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Brick Factory Lane
This is right where Stick and I lived in Beijing! You can see the drum tower, the bridge by Qianhai, and my own private landmarks, like the exercise equipment and the bird cages on our old street. The narration is a bit annoying, full of comments like the news that Beijing is changing and the Chinese like big families, but it’s so lovely to see where we used to live. (Thanks to @ElliottNg for tweeting this!)
Posted in Beijing
Tagged as seen in Beijing, chinese, high-speed hutong, hutong, mac, qianhai, Rome, Stick, twitter
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Momo’s Quest
The guys at Happy Nutz Studio quoted my Thumbgods review of their new game Momo’s Quest! I feel like a real reviewer now, and I can say Games Journalist without adding quite so many qualifiers. Maybe now I’ll feel like less of a scam artist when I get review games, too… Nah. Getting games to write about them is way too cool not to be some kind of scam!
Posted in Game Reviews, milestones
Tagged e3, Game Reviews, games, Happy Nutz Studio, milestones, Momo's Quest, my other writing, new game, ThumbGods
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Nick Bounty
The Nick Bounty mysteries are flash games (or free downloads) from the independent Pinhead Games company. The first mystery is called A Case Of The Crabs and the second The Goat In The Gray Fedora, which gives you an idea of just how serious they are.
Nick Bounty is a parody of a hardboiled detective, with deadpan painful metaphors and black-and-white sketch noir graphics. You don’t have to love trenchcoat detective stories, old movies or retro gaming to enjoy this free flash game, but it helps.
I’ve written about feeling trapped in games with set answers, and the need to pick the “correct” choice or highest-point choice instead of the funniest dialogue choice. In Nick Bounty games, when you pick a sarcastic comment, instead of the obvious plot-advancing choice, the game shoots sarcasm right back at you.
Nick Bounty uses the old-fashioned click-hand interface. Players have a basic selection of action options and an inventory of items, and you need to use those items and actions to solve the little puzzles that make up the big puzzle of the mystery. Items include a 500-page fingerprinting manual, a make-your-own fake ID. and a fake crab.
Like most games of this style, it pays to be a klepto. Feel free to try using all sorts of things in combination, the game is not punishing for “wrong” choices, in fact, it often rewards players’ creative uses with funny responses. At the worst, Nick’ll tell you he’s not touching that.
A Case Of The Crabs combines a fun retro interface, constant nods to the detective genre, sarcastic commentary and counterfeit crabs. Add your own something-fishy pun here.
I haven’t been posting many reviews over here, because I’m now writing game reviews for ThumbGods.com. I’m really pleased about it, I’ve been hoping to get a spot where someone besides my mother will read my reviews (Sorry Mom, but after all those nice things you said about my macaroni necklaces in kindergarten, your opinion of my projects can’t be trusted!). I’ve recently written on Totem Tribe, Atlantis, and the adorable new indie game Momo’s Quest, and I also wrote a walkthrough for MyTribe over there.
Posted in Game Reviews, Gaming Culture, Raleigh
Tagged A Case Of The Crabs, e3, election, Flash games, Game Reviews, games, gaming, Grace, mac, Momo's Quest, movies, my other writing, MyTribe, Nick Bounty, Pinhead Games, Raleigh, ThumbGods
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Best China Blogs
PanAsianBiz has a new post on the top English blogs about China. They’ve listed the top ten blogs in six categories, based on the categories and votes received on Chinalyst’s best China blog contest. I didn’t win Chinalyst’s contest, but I’m listed on PanAsianBiz’s top ten personal China blogs. Yay! Here are the rest:
1. Beijing Boyce – A Somewhat Young China Hand on the Local Drinking Scene – Looks at pubs, clubs, and bars, wine, Whiskey, and cocktails, in the nation’s capital, often through the somewhat blurry lens of nights out with friends
2. Thomas Crampton – China, Media and Technology as seen by a recovering journalist – China, Internet and new media seen from Asia
3. Absurdity, Allegory and China – The Kingdom from another angle
4. China Hope Live – a Canadian-American couple with M.A.s in Intercultural Studies trying to live into and love – and some days just survive – China.
5. Reflections in a Chinese Eye – American expat, retired, part time teacher, my experience in China for the past two years. Opinions, news, musings of an uneducated, ignorant, but still learning “Old Man.”
6. Expatriate Games – An America experiencing mid-life in The Middle Kingdom, living in, working for and learning about China. I agreed to teach English to the
7. ISpyShanghai.com – Popular funny blog based in Shanghai. Originator of Shoe Tuesday- the only footwear / day combination you will ever need.
8. Simpson’s Paradox – Living, working and playing videogames in Beijing. (Formerly Violet Eclipse)
9. The Humanaught: Life In Suzhou – The discursive writings of a Canadian expat somewhat trapped in China. The blog follows his life in Suzhou, with topics ranging from the mundane to insane.
10. Ambassador Doodle – Stories of travel, education and adventure.
Posted in Beijing, Other Blogs
Tagged China, China blog, China Blogs, chinese, Chinese life, education, Eric, expats, games, Google, Humanaught, other blogs, Shanghai, tech, travel, wine, Young
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Sneaky Wizard 101
I was googling for the Fusionfall main page to link it in an article I’m working on, and look what paid ad came up! Very sneaky, Wizard 101!
Hijacking search terms is a pretty common practice, but how odd to see a game that I really liked trying to capitalize on a game I wasn’t crazy about.
Posted in Gaming Culture, Raleigh
Tagged e3, FusionFall, game culture, Google, Grace, Raleigh, search terms, Wizard 101
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A Freaking Frigidarium
Riding in the car with Stick is sometimes a bizarre crash course in boyfriend stream-of-consciousness. Last night he announced that he wants to open a theme restaurant.
“I’ll call it the Frigidarium,” he says, “And when people ask me why the heat isn’t turned on, I’ll say, because it’s a freaking Frigidarium!”
“Um, will you have air conditioning in the summer?” I ask.
“Yes, because it’s a freaking Frigidarium!”
