Cheap Entertainment

A few days ago I decided to try reading the first book in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series as Pieter seems to like it and he assured me that the first couple of books are safe to read for me. Earlier today I finished the book and it wasn't too bad. Basically try imagining a cheap, seedy 1940s detective story combined with the cheapest, lowest-budget, reject B horror slash vampire/lycanthrope movie. That is what this series is about in a nutshell. It's got all the stereotypical vampires, werewolves and kin plus standard nonsense about daylight, garlic and crosses, and combines it with a main character who really does enjoy listening to her own thoughts a bit too much.

Pieter has recommended that I read up till book 5 (Bloody Bones) as after that it gets seedy really quickly. He's reading the series again himself at the moment, yet he'll quit at some point before reaching part 17 (Skin Trade) as it gets too sex-obsessed at some points even for him. I guess that it is fairly obvious that I'll never be able to finish this series :)

At any rate, this series starts off as cheap entertainment, a popcorn book series, if you want, to then devolve into a cheap sex story. Its existence is questionable if you ask me, but the first few books can be read on their own without issues and you won't be left wondering about how it goes on.

Penny-Arcade summarized the series back in 2008 already in a comic strip: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/6/2/

In other news, I started playing Hotel Dusk: Room 215 on my DSi today and it's been pretty interesting so far. It's a detective game, and I must say that the DSi is a perfect match for such a game. Maybe playing it on the PC would work too, but being able to curl up on the couch with what is basically an interactive novel has got something to it. File this one under 'proper entertainment'.

Today I have had some frightening moments, by the way. This morning I started off being unusually clumsy, bumping into things, injuring my fingers by misjudging distances and such. Yesterday and today I also seem to have issues recalling words properly, using homophones instead, or typing a completely different word than I intended. Then around noon when I was taking a brief nap, I seem to have had at least one black-out, as for some reason I had misplaced an item in a drawer instead of keeping it in its usual location. As I'm well-known for being very regular and precise about keeping things in one location I deem right, this is very unusual and worrying. I may have had another black-out, as my right hand suddenly had some scratches on it I don't remember getting, on top of them hurting quite a lot.

I think I now know what it must feel like to go senile and it is very frightening indeed. Part of me is running around panicking in circles at this, while another is telling me that it's just the stress I'm suffering from taking on a new form. I really hope it's the latter and that it'll be resolved soon, and that it isn't anything permanent. Otherwise I may as well end it right away.

Anyway, to end matters on a more positive note, I recently released chapter 5 of my Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time story, and re-released chapter 4 with a few minor modifications. I hope to release new chapters on a more regular basis from now on.


Maya