Meme

[eller]

Because everyone is doing this meme right now...

Last song: Helium Vola, "In Lichter Farbe Steht der Wald". Nothing beats medieval electro!

Last film: Uhhh, not sure. I almost never watch films! I think the last one was my ten-thousandth re-watching of "Solaris". (In the version by Andrei Tarkovsky, of course.) One of my favorites. :3 Before that, or directly after, I don't quite remember, was "Queen of Katwe".

Last show: That I actually finished? The Queen's Gambit, and I loved it! (It had chess and they got it right!)

Currently watching: The Witcher. Sort of watching, anyway.

Currently reading: Ohhhh, a lot - I always read several books in parallel!

- Arkadij Naiditsch and Csaba Balogh, "Positional masterpieces of 2012 - 2015". A collection of commented chess games featuring, as the title says, particularly good positional play. It's a good book, really well-written, but positional chess still eludes me. XD
- A collection of poems by Algernon Charles Swinburne. (Again.)
- The Nibelungenlied. (Yes, also, again. I love that thing! I totally ship Volker and Hagen.)
- Alexei Shirov, "Fire on Board". Self-commented chess games by one of the more tactical players... I need that to balance that collection of positional stuff! XD
- Kevin Underhill, "The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance". A collection of legal absurdities, by the guy who runs loweringthebar.net (which is a blog I actually read more or less regularly).
- Alexis Hall, "There will be Phlogiston". Entertaining steampunk poly romance.
- Rafael C. Gonzalez and Richard E. Woods, "Digital Image Processing". Nicely written overview of basic imaging algorithms. :)

Currently craving: Can I please have some rosemary, goat milk and honey ice cream? Right now??? VERY specific wish, but this is my favorite ice cream flavor, and the only place selling it is closed for pandemic reasons. :/

Comments

[yhlee]

Can I please have some rosemary, goat milk and honey ice cream

Thanks so much, Eller, now I have a new craving and I've never even had the stuff. XD I keep thinking an ice cream machine would be a nice investment if we're going to be consuming ice cream anyway.

Arkadij Naiditsch and Csaba Balogh, "Positional masterpieces of 2012 - 2015". A collection of commented chess games featuring, as the title says, particularly good positional play.

Oooooh. Of course, I need to finish the chess books I'm currently reading before I can even think about more chess books! And they'd have to be beginner-level anyway, LOL. My concentration is apparently 1000000% laser-focused on Yuletide right now...

[yhlee]

...ahahaha and I bet it's either not in English or not available in the USA. (At least, Amazon doesn't list it.) I have got to attain reading proficiency in more languages than just English and French, it's so limiting! LOL. Better step up that Duolingo habit...

[eller]

...it's in English, but I will admit it's an obscure book, and yes, Amazon doesn't have it. XD I think it's only available in Poland and Germany, because chess publishers are rarely large publishers, and this press hasn't yet figured out online book trade exists. It's too bad, really: the quality is great, just their marketing... LOL

I think the next large thing I buy is really going to be an ice-cream machine. Supermarket ice cream is bleh, and a year without ice cream isn't a serious option either.

[yhlee]

Aha! House of Staunton carries it, but I'm not allowed to acquire any more chess books for myself until I have finished reading one of the ones already in my possession. (Probably the Fischer, to be honest, that one's fastest for me.) And anyway I would be asking your advice on what to read next anyway, at that point. XD

I miss good ice cream! I may consider a nice upscale ice cream machine for a birthday purchase, although Joe may Disapprove. :p Especially since I want to try flavors like balsamic vinegar or honey-rosemary (I can't remember if I can get goat milk locally) or things like that, and my family thinks I like experimentation too much. XD

[eller]

I think you could even read the book, because the explanations are quite thorough and beginner-friendly, but honestly I can also just send you the book one I've finished it, because I'm unlikely to read it a second time. XDD Nothing wrong with it, but these games just don't make me super happy. Maybe you'll enjoy them more.

Experimental ice cream flavors are good. Honestly at this point I'd be happy about anything that's not artificial-vanilla or suspicious-brown-stuff-with-0.5%-chocolate-to-explain-the-color.

[yhlee]

Oooh, I'd love that. :D

BTW, the letter with the homemade watercolor dot card arrived today - thank you so much!!! I'm really excited to try the colors. :D

The most unusual ice cream flavor I had was cucumber, at J P Licks in Boston. It was surprisingly nice! Very mild flavor, very refreshing - and of course it was summertime. :) My daughter thinks I am a weirdo for even trying it, but I like new experiences!

[eller]

I had cucumber ice cream before - it is a nice summery flavor! :)

yay colors :) have fun!

[honigfrosch]

I keep thinking an ice cream machine would be a nice investment

*raises hand* I bought a cheap ice cream machine two years ago and I did NOT regret it. It's one of those where you have to keep the bowl in a freezer for a day before using it, so you have to keep in mind whether your deep-freeze unit is big enough to store it. Otherwise, easy to use and making ice cream takes about one and a half hours, tops. I took a base recipe (mainly cream and mascarpone, if I recall correctly) and added some melted dark chocolate, extra choc chips, and a bit of Bailey's cream liqueur for extra flavour. IT WAS THE BEST and I will never buy store-brand ice cream again. Get yourself that ice cream machine.