Cooking and cleaning and gaming, oh my!
Took the grandson into town last weekend to see 'Minions', which was OK. Sandra Bullock stole the show as the baddie. I mean, she was seriously good at being THAT bad!
Then we went to Game to try to swap some games he'd bought that he didn't want. He really wanted cash because he wanted to get a name and number on his new Liverpool shirt but you need some form of ID and address (WTF?) to get cash from them - and you get less than if you trade in. So, in the end I negotiated a deal whereby I got a game and bought him the name and number. I got Dragon Age II, which I probably would have got at some point anyway.
So, after he'd gone home on Sunday I popped DAII into the machine, not expecting too much because I really couldn't get into Origins at all - and I loved it! I do love it! I'm still in Kirkwall trying to raise enough money to go off to the Deep Roads, doing lots of small missions and killing lots of baddies. I'm on the 'casual' setting (because the battle system still confuses me) and I've turned off the setting that leaves you covered in blood after a battle. My next companion to get is Isabel.
I still don't know what it was about Origins that I couldn't get my head around. I do think playing as a Dwarf was a bad move because I just didn't feel any empathy for her. Also, I think it suffered a bit of the 'FF7 effect' - it's the first game of that type that I've ever played and it took all my time just getting to grips with the new format, leaving none for actually enjoying the game. FF8 was the second 'proper' RPG I played (Golden Axe for the Megadrive/Genesis really doesn't count!) and it's still my favourite game of all time. Don't yet know if DAII will become my second, but it's looking promising.
And yes, I love Varric :D
I've moved into my regular 'part-time for the summer mode', although due to a number of factors I have all the Fridays but not all of the Thursdays off between now and the end of August. I spent this Thursday cleaning the living room and hall, stairs and landing, and yesterday I scrubbed the bathroom, including the tiles. The kitchen is the only room that didn't get the 'full-on Rose' effect but I'm aiming to do that over the weekend.
I cooked a nice pasta and sauce thing - packed of tortellini that just needed to be boiled and added onions, mushrooms and roast peppers to a jar of sauce - that went down pretty well last night. Then watched Nigella making meatballs out of a packet of sausages that looked very nice. Oh, and a plum and ameretti crumble that looked absolutely delicious.
Then we went to Game to try to swap some games he'd bought that he didn't want. He really wanted cash because he wanted to get a name and number on his new Liverpool shirt but you need some form of ID and address (WTF?) to get cash from them - and you get less than if you trade in. So, in the end I negotiated a deal whereby I got a game and bought him the name and number. I got Dragon Age II, which I probably would have got at some point anyway.
So, after he'd gone home on Sunday I popped DAII into the machine, not expecting too much because I really couldn't get into Origins at all - and I loved it! I do love it! I'm still in Kirkwall trying to raise enough money to go off to the Deep Roads, doing lots of small missions and killing lots of baddies. I'm on the 'casual' setting (because the battle system still confuses me) and I've turned off the setting that leaves you covered in blood after a battle. My next companion to get is Isabel.
I still don't know what it was about Origins that I couldn't get my head around. I do think playing as a Dwarf was a bad move because I just didn't feel any empathy for her. Also, I think it suffered a bit of the 'FF7 effect' - it's the first game of that type that I've ever played and it took all my time just getting to grips with the new format, leaving none for actually enjoying the game. FF8 was the second 'proper' RPG I played (Golden Axe for the Megadrive/Genesis really doesn't count!) and it's still my favourite game of all time. Don't yet know if DAII will become my second, but it's looking promising.
And yes, I love Varric :D
I've moved into my regular 'part-time for the summer mode', although due to a number of factors I have all the Fridays but not all of the Thursdays off between now and the end of August. I spent this Thursday cleaning the living room and hall, stairs and landing, and yesterday I scrubbed the bathroom, including the tiles. The kitchen is the only room that didn't get the 'full-on Rose' effect but I'm aiming to do that over the weekend.
I cooked a nice pasta and sauce thing - packed of tortellini that just needed to be boiled and added onions, mushrooms and roast peppers to a jar of sauce - that went down pretty well last night. Then watched Nigella making meatballs out of a packet of sausages that looked very nice. Oh, and a plum and ameretti crumble that looked absolutely delicious.