Games and a bit of reading...
Let's see, have been playing a whole bunch of things recently. The best of those, I suppose would be Dreamfall, the sequel to the Longest Journey. I actually felt for Zoe near the end of the game, and most importantly, I actually finished it, which I wouldn't be able to say for the rest of these games.
Neverwinter Nights 2: Better than its prequel, but doesn't hold a candle to Baldur's Gate 2 or Torment. Am having a good time crafting things though. The NPCs aren't as awful, but still very bland. Paladins are very boring to play while wizards are not.
Okami: A nice break from CRPGs, but it being a full blown action game makes it kinda hard on my wrists. I like all the little sidequests you can do, like blooming the landscape. There's one stray bead in the first village that I really want to get, but I never manage to make the jump to the beam. :X
Icewind Dale: Just started and I have to say that it's not much like Baldur's Gate. Essentially it's 6 characters versus the computer to see who kills or gets killed first. No real characterization, since there are no NPCs. What I found reading various faqs was that because there are some really good items for evil characters, it's good to have a range of alignments in the party. So I have a paladin and a neutral evil bard in the same party. I wonder if they get into arguments when they rest, which I do a lot of.
Haven't been reading a lot recently, but there is one fic author I'd like to recommend: elgrey. She writes BtVS/Angel fics where people are Nice to Wesley. :) I particularly liked Temps Perdu and New All Over, but the other stories are good as well.