Whatcha Eating?

From Very Good Taste

Here are the directions

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (but I've had alligator)
6. Black pudding (I have blodpudding in my fridge as I type this! YUM!)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (fried waterbugs)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Boot Girl

Okay, let's pretend for just a moment that GenCon never happened. That would be a terrible thing, because GenCon was actually quite fantastic for the most part. Fisherman's Wife did well, even though I am still binding and sending out the fancy versions. And it was such a pleasure to meet new people and see old friends.

The drive to and fro was loads of fun. Couldn't ask for better travelling partners than Tom and Graham. I learned so much slang, and engaged in potty humor. There were tragedies, like how I left all the unbound text of Fisherman's Wife and access to cash at home. And as if I needed reminding why I married Chris, the apple of my eye, my beloved FedExed my books, and I sold out of every one. Fisherman's Wife was mentioned in Ken Hite's "The New Hotness" column of the GenCon program. Steal Away Jordan did okay, all things considered.

I played a meaner, crueler pirate than Abyssinia from last year's Poison'd game. This time I played Seamus McShee, a woman disguised as a young man, who went from grumpy gunnery master to captain. Highlights of Captain McShee's career included ordering the cook and surgeon to cut up the body of a vanquished captain and feed him to his crew, and holding a red hot coin in the surgeon's hand because s/he disobeyed my command. Not a pleasant fellow. I also played a hard drinking space trooper Corporal Maggie "Shamrock" O'Malley in 3:16 (very much a pleasant fellow), and got through the darkest and saddest Fisherman's Wife with Ron Edwards.

But let's pretend none of that happened for now. Let's consider John McCain's $520 Ferragamo loafers. That's crazy! I mean they're okay, but he could've paid $90 for a similar pair of Kenneth Coles, and not gotten ridiculed about his footwear. And I can certainly appreciate a pair of Ferragamos.

I understand, Senator McCain, I have a shoe thing myself, rather, a boot thing. I get it from the woman who introduced me to Ferragamos, Dr. Bond, my shoe and handbag loving mom. I loves me some boots, especially lace up boots and cowboy boots. For the past few years, I've plunked down a few bucks for fashionable and comfortable boots. Not $520 a pair, but then again I know I own only one house. Maybe if things were different... Anyway, my birthday is coming up, and most years I treat myself just for the sake that I exist. A dubious reason to buy yet another pair of shoes, but there it is. Maybe if I ran for president I'd have a better excuse. This year was no different. See above, my hot new Made in the USA Lucchese western style boots. I think they're way cuter than Senator McCaine's Ferragamos.

A shared love of shoes does not a president make, though. I'm still an Obama Mama--in my freakin' awesome Night Cactus Lucchese Cowgirl boots that I got for a [relative] steal from Grapevine Hill!.

Revving up for GenCon!

Cross posted at Stone Baby Games:

I'll be at GenCon this year dividing my time between The Forge/IPR and the Ashcan Front booths, and will have games available at each: Steal Away Jordan at The Forge/IPR and Tales of the Fisherman's Wife at the Ashcan Front.

I've been hard at work on the latter. All the books will be hand-bound and full color. I'll have about 12-15 extra special editions. No two covers will be alike, and they'll have 5 extra collaged images. Tales of the Fisherman's Wife is for mature audiences. At one point I had considered making available a "clean" version, but I'm running out of time! And the design concept for the book a Japanese pillow book. In that spirit (and in the spirit of the game), the book contains sexually graphic images (classic ukiyo-e shunga).

Tales of the Fisherman's Wife is and ashcan, but I do know the game works and it's fun. Here's what makes it "ashcanny": there is an untested mechanic, which in theory sounds very fun. I want to see it in action though. While I've played the game several times, I want more play-testing. I want to know how it plays when I'm not there. Also, this game lends itself well to creating beautiful custom hand bound versions. I want to get good at it, and practice makes perfect.

So what do you get by buying a really pretty ashcan? It depends on what you do with it. Within the next six months, hopefully you'll play it. (It takes no more than 2 hours for a whole game!). Then you'll post your play report at the Forge, or Story Games, and let me know about it. Or send me feedback by email on the text or the mechanics. If you do this, you get a free pdf of the official release, a hard copy at printing cost, or a custom hand bound edition at a discount.

I have not decided on a price for either the basic or special hand bound versions. I will have pictures of some of the special ones soon, but I'm up to my ears in book binding right now. I may not post anything until after GenCon!


And here's more (what I'm not quite ready to disclose on my "buy my games" website, heh heh) : The elevator pitch for Tales of the Fisherman's Wife could well be "A sex positive roleplaying game for lovers with demons and octopuses." Yeah. It's a tough concept to market, which is another reason why it's still an ashcan. I would love it if I could sell this game in other venues beyond games stores. See ya in a couple weeks or sooner.

Returning to my crafty roots

We just came back from vacation in New Harbor, Maine, where we go every year. We have a family cottage on the ocean. We spent a week walking around Damariscotta and Wiscassett, checking out Fort William Henry, Fort Edgecomb, and Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. Quick! Go find a US quarter--the Maine one. Look on the tail side. That's Pemaquid Lighthouse. They also have a fisherman's museum, which was very fascinating and inspiring for Tales of the Fisherman's Wife. Being in a fishing village had its own bit of inspiration, too, so much so that I'm just about done with the text. I'm aiming to be done with the text next week.

So I'm taking Tales of the Fisherman's Wife to GenCon as an ashcan. This evening in the shower I decided that perhaps pre-orders might be a good thing. I won't announce it at the Stone Baby Games website just yet. A shower-birthed idea needs time to dry off, but if I do decide on pre-orders, here's a preview of my spiel:

Tales of the Fisherman's Wife is a quick role-playing game for two to four players. The Fisherman is about to leave for the sea. Whenever they part ways, they have a few little ritual. The Fisherman asks his Wife how many nets he's mended, and what his boat is like. The Wife asks the Fisherman how long he will be at sea, and what premonitions he has of his journey. Then the couple exchange six words which they each weave into a quick parable about their own story.

The Fisherman and his Wife go their separate ways. While they are very ordinary people, they both attract all manners of demons and ghosts who try to seduce, serve, devour, possess, or supplant them. In defense, the Fisherman and his Wife attempt to seduce, enslave, steal power, merge, or destroy their preternatural visitors.

The game is set in the Japan of the Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, but is more about the working class consumers of this art. The original inspiration for the game is
the Hokusai print Dream of the Fisherman's Wife. This simple setting--a Japan that exists in art and folklore--offers games themes that can be sensual and erotic, creepy and horrific, or somewhere in between.

Fisherman's Wife is designed to be played in one session, and will appeal to seasoned roleplayers and non-roleplayers alike. It uses a standard deck of playing cards.

The ashcan version of Tales of the Fisherman's Wife will be a miniature hand bound collage book, with handmade paper cover, and full color illustrations throughout(with a few exceptions). No two books will be alike, although the text and pagination will be the same. There will be several versions to choose from:

* Pacific--Full color, illustrated with Ukiyo-e, your choice of mature audience (joyfully and bizarrely graphic erotic images), or general audience (naughty pictures replaced by more full color images of Japanese ghosts and demons).

* Atlantic--Some full color, illustrated with images of life by the sea European style, your choice of mature audiences (naughty images of European Fishermen and their Wives) and general audiences (naughty images replaced by vintage illustrations of sea creatures.)

So you can gift the game to your mama or your lover. All books will be signed and numbered. If you pre-order I can inscribe it for you, too. Price will be somewhere between $[rethinking pricing and can't commit]. I'm still gathering supplies. The dimensions will be somewhere in the park of 5.5" x 7" and 7" x 5", and about 22 pages short. Short game, short text, pretty pictures, pretty handmade book.

Here's how I envision pre-ordering will work. If you pre-order and will be at GenCon, I will give you your book at the Con. If you won't be there, I will likely (realistically) assemble and ship after GenCon. There's a good chance I will offer a less labor intensive (still fully illustrated and in color) version (the "Pacific" series, both adult and general) at GenCon as well, for about $10.

If I don't do pre-orders, and after writing all this, I can't see why I shouldn't, the only thing that won't happen is you won't be able to get a personally inscribed book. Before I got into game design and rpg's, I was (still am) a crafty chick, working mostly with fiber, but dabbling occasionally in collages and bookmaking, among other things. TOFW is the perfect project to combine my love of handmade things (see my hand made banner on the left), and homegrown storytelling.

I'm looking forward to making these books, and I've enjoyed working on TOFW. This week, if my box of handmade paper arrives in the mail, I'll put together two prototypes to see what style book works best.

Which brings me to another shower thought--a reflection on the past year with Steal Away Jordan. Quite a rewarding and character building experience. I'll save it for another time.

Since I don't have a real preview to speak of (and this is really a preview of the preview), here are some of the design elements and resources I will be using to make my books.

Articus Studio Design. I love this place.
Washi paper.
ATC (artist trading cards).
Ukiyo-e Gallery (No copyright laws will not be violated in the making of the book.)
Art credit

Getting ready for GenCon

JiffyCon, yay! I did two games of Tales of the Fisherman's Wife, which went amazingly well. I got some excellent feedback, and when we go to Maine next week, I hope to spend a nice chunk of time working on the TOFW text. I'm going to take it to GenCon as an ashcan and be part of the Ashcan Front booth.

I also got to play Steal Away Jordan as a player and not GM for the first time. My character was a 30 year old pregnant runaway seamstress, and one of my goals was not to give birth on the road. I completed my tasks and failed at my goal. Evan Torner, the awesome GM ran a game that was the funniest Steal Away Jordan ever. It was certainly a tragicomedy. There was a sacrificial suicide, a haint induced birth (my character's), a terrible betrayal which caused another character to get caught (we were runaways), and the hope and promise of freedom for a nine year old. It rocked! I like playing my game!

I'm also going to be working at the Indie Press Revolution/Forge booth, working the cash register and stocking the shelves. I will not be demoing Steal Away Jordan. SAJ is my first attempt at game designing, publishing, and selling. What a long strange trip this past year has been. I mean that in a 75% good way, and the 25% unpleasantly strange trip has been character building, to say the least.

All that to say that I do not plan to demo Steal Away Jordan at GenCon. First, logistically it just wouldn't be fun. I really want to push Tales of the Fisherman's Wife. Demoing is emotionally and physically draining. This GenCon I want to work my ass off and have fun, too. Secondly, demoing Steal Away Jordan is particularly emotionally taxing, and not in the positive character building way.

Okay, I'm going to say it, and gentle reader, especially you gentle gamers out there, please don't take this the wrong way. I am well aware that SAJ is not for everyone. I get that some folks out there find it off-putting to game race, and no matter how many times I deny it in a podcast, in a 15 minute demonstration of my game, race is what a good number of people will focus on even if I say, "this is a game about historical narratives and [African American] folk tales..." And I'm well aware that my skin color and gender are not typical among gamers and game designers. Last year at GenCon I felt my blackness and womanness--my otherness--more than I've ever felt it before.

Steal Away Jordan was not meant to be an "educational" game. African American history is rich in adventure, drama, and story, which to me seems to be perfect material for a role playing game of the "story game" type. It's not a game designed to make people feel bad or guilty about where they come from. Steal Away Jordan is not a game about hopelessness.

In other words, I don't want to spend my weekend explaining and defending my work (a celebration of my American cultural heritage) to people who glom on to my otherness. I was described as a "nice black lady" in one review, and my ethnicity was mentioned in several other reviews of the game. It would be naive of me to say I don't know why it matters, but the uppity part of me says, why should my race and gender matter? And maybe I'm actually a mean black lady! I don't think the writer meant it to be patronizing, but... Anyway, I'm taking myself out of the equation with the hope and fear that my otherness may be a barrier to some people's interest in reading the text and trying the game.

That said, I'm really looking forward to GenCon. I'm excited about seeing and playing with the kind people I met last year. I'm looking forward to buying some cool games and eating sushi.

I can't believe I bought this dress

So I wear lots of patchwork-hippie, simple shirt and skirt combos. I sort of have a uniform. It's a style that works for me. My clothes are practical for a mom with two kids.

I've been wanting to get one of those cute handmade patchwork hippie dresses with the ties in the back, but I can't ever find them in my size. One that would have been a perfect fit came up on eBay recently, and I almost bid on it. Ultimately the price was too steep. I had just bought yellow kimono sleeve patchwork dress to wear to JiffyCon, and I didn't have much more to spend. (Come to JiffyCon and you'll see!)

I really like the new JiffyCon dress, but it's makes me feel a little crunchier than usual. Silly as this may sound-it is a fluff post, after all-I want to go on a fashion adventure this summer, get gussied up, and go out on a hot date with Chris. I feel the urge to branch out of my earth mama hippie crunchy sugar magnolia mold.

So on a whim I started looking for less crunchy dresses. I tried to push out of my comfort zone. I found that I like the halter top maxi dress style. It retains some crunch, and still looks charming and hot date worthy. I narrowed the choices down to 7, and I showed them to Chris. He helped me eliminate 4. In the end, this shimmery salmon backless plunging neckline floor-length halter won out. Even better, it was floor-length for little old 5' 9" me. Even better still, it was my size. It's as far out of my comfort zone as one can get. Chris said he picked another dress over this one because he wonders if I'll wear it. It's up there with the pirate bikini I got last summer in Puerto Rico as far as how much skin I tend to reveal. I wore that (a couple times). I picked up the vintage lace paisley shawl to go with it. The shoes I got a few weeks ago. I also got two packages of adhesive bras. Adhesive Bras! I just got a dress where the only bra I can wear more or less consists of giant band-aids.

Thanks to the platform heels and the lace shawl, the look retains just the right amount of crunchiness that I won't feel completely out of my skin. My mom had a shawl like that from the 70's.

So the big question of the day is "where the heck am I going to wear this dress?" Who knows, but I can't wait to go.

JiffyCon this Saturday!

Come one, come all to JiffyCon this Saturday. More details at the official JiffyCon website.

I’m running Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife, and Evan Torner is running Steal Away Jordan. I’m thinking about playstorming Murder Ballad Blackjack to put it back on track, but we’ll see.

See ya’ll there! I make no guarantees, but I have no plans to get sick this time.