Mix and match
To my surprise (though it shouldn't be) one of the hardest things about fixing your diet is other people. You work all week to avoid extra carbs and fat and sugar, and then people give you pizza. For free. And it's sort of offensive if you don't take any. Food is part of a social currency, from things like girl scout cookies to pizza to social beers. It's not as obvious, though, until you're really keeping track of what you're eating.
In other news, boredom between weight-lifting sets is driving me to (slowly, in 5 minute intervals) clean up the basement and organize my beer bottles.
I made the Inn at the Crossroads stuffed green peppers for the superbowl party. They were a hit. There was only one survivor from the whole plate. (I think the filling would also work for mushrooms in the future.) This is where I complain about other people serving me unhealthy foods, while serving other people unhealthy foods.
After playing Alan Wake I was thinking about strange small towns and the things therein.
What I mean is, say you have this small town where people are going missing and there is evidence of foul play. Regardless of how dark the story gets, obviously something is wrong. But if you have a mysterious supernatural force, or demons, or whatever, that gives you a concrete foe. There is someone to blame.
Maybe the townsfolk didn't resist it as well as they might have, but it's not ultimately their fault. Compare this with something like Lord of the Flies. All of the horror and the violence comes from the human participants of the story. The focus is squarely on us, and it can be very uncomfortable. I think, for a monster hunting story or campaign, this is kind of a turning point. What would a group of monster hunters do when faced with the realization that the crazed killer is not a werewolf or a possessing demon but simply a deranged individual?
I don't think, for example, Buffy ever dealt with this. Or in Dragon Age, it's a matter of finding the nearest blood mage or demon. That's the problem, sure enough. Baldur's Gate has a couple antagonists like this, actually, but they are often still working for an evil god or presence.
So what I'm saying is that Dracula is much easier to deal with, in the context of these stories, than Dexter. This disconnect is more for the viewers than for the characters involved, though. "Oh, good, I was afraid we were going into Heart of Darkness, but it's Van Helsing instead."
In other news, boredom between weight-lifting sets is driving me to (slowly, in 5 minute intervals) clean up the basement and organize my beer bottles.
I made the Inn at the Crossroads stuffed green peppers for the superbowl party. They were a hit. There was only one survivor from the whole plate. (I think the filling would also work for mushrooms in the future.) This is where I complain about other people serving me unhealthy foods, while serving other people unhealthy foods.
After playing Alan Wake I was thinking about strange small towns and the things therein.
What I mean is, say you have this small town where people are going missing and there is evidence of foul play. Regardless of how dark the story gets, obviously something is wrong. But if you have a mysterious supernatural force, or demons, or whatever, that gives you a concrete foe. There is someone to blame.
Maybe the townsfolk didn't resist it as well as they might have, but it's not ultimately their fault. Compare this with something like Lord of the Flies. All of the horror and the violence comes from the human participants of the story. The focus is squarely on us, and it can be very uncomfortable. I think, for a monster hunting story or campaign, this is kind of a turning point. What would a group of monster hunters do when faced with the realization that the crazed killer is not a werewolf or a possessing demon but simply a deranged individual?
I don't think, for example, Buffy ever dealt with this. Or in Dragon Age, it's a matter of finding the nearest blood mage or demon. That's the problem, sure enough. Baldur's Gate has a couple antagonists like this, actually, but they are often still working for an evil god or presence.
So what I'm saying is that Dracula is much easier to deal with, in the context of these stories, than Dexter. This disconnect is more for the viewers than for the characters involved, though. "Oh, good, I was afraid we were going into Heart of Darkness, but it's Van Helsing instead."