Month: October 2010

Enter the Demon Hunter

At Blizzcon today, they announced the fifth class for Diablo 3: the Demon Hunter.  She’s basically a cross between the Amazon and the Assassin from D2.  So while her main weapon is the crossbow (she can even dual wield ‘pistol crossbows’!), she also uses traps and shadow magic to kick demon ass.  I haven’t seen any gameplay videos showing the Demon Hunter in action yet, but the demo videos of her skills look awesome.

In other D3 news, the mysterious Talisman has been revealed to be a dedicated inventory for charms.  Charms were something that first appeared in the D2 expansion pack.  They could be quite helpful, but you had to keep them in your inventory if you wanted to receive their benefits.  Consequently, it wasn’t uncommon for players to lose a ton of inventory space because of all the charms they had collected.  I’m glad to see that D3 will solve that problem by giving charms their own special receptacle.

I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for an announcement about the beta test, though I know I’ll probably be disappointed.

Tea

When it comes to tea, I tend to be very traditional.  I love nothing more than a nice steaming mug of Earl Grey.  The Physicist, on the other hand, loves to drink teas with kinky names like Iron Goddess of Mercy.  Over the years, he has mocked me mercilessly for my allegedly staid tastes (no doubt this stems from deep-seated self loathing that arises from his own inability to appreciate the finer things in life).  But lately I’ve begun to ask myself, could The Physicist actually be right?  Could there be more to tea than Earl Grey?  So during my last trip to the grocery store, I decided to throw caution to the wind and purchase something more exotic.  I bought:

(1)  Revolution Tea’s Honeybush Caramel Tea.  I tried this first and was absolutely blown away.  As promised by the name, it has a definite hint of caramel that actually works quite well in a tea.  I didn’t feel the need to add anything to it, which is kind of unprecedented for me.  It’s a great tea to have as an after dinner treat.

(2)  Stash Tea’s Blueberry Superfruit Tea.  I had this with breakfast this morning and found it to be quite delicious.  The combination of berry flavors makes it a bit tart.  I didn’t mind, but I think I’ll add a bit of honey or sugar next time.  I think this would be especially good iced on a hot summer day.

The best thing about both of these teas is that they’re caffeine free, so you don’t have to worry about them keeping you up if you choose to enjoy them late at night.

Any recommendations for which tea(s) I should try next?

Cooking with Jason: Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese.  For the longest time, I’d only eat the boxed stuff, but then I moved to Wisconsin and developed an appreciation for REAL mac and cheese.  The last time I visited my mom, she gave me this great recipe for slow cooker mac and cheese that has since become one of my staples.   I love to make it when I have leftover macaroni, which happens more often than you might think.

This is enough to make multiple meals for me, though if you’re actually trying to feed multiple people, you might want to double the ingredients.

1 c cooked macaroni

2 T butter

1 1/4 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 egg, beaten

1/2 can cheddar cheese soup

1/4 c sour cream

1/2 c milk

1/4 t salt

1/4 t ground mustard

1/4 t black pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Add cheddar cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.  In your slowcooker, add the butter/cheese mixture and then add the remaining ingredients (except for the macaroni).  Stir.  Add the cooked macaroni and stir again.  Set your slow cooker on low and cook for 3 hours, making sure to stir occasionally.  When it’s done, you’ll have a tasty dinner that goes well with a bottle of Hoegaarden.

Plotting

The other day I stumbled upon a photo that purportedly shows a page of J. K. Rowling’s plot notes for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  Her spreadsheet approach makes it very easy to keep track of how the plot develops from chapter to chapter without getting bogged down in a bunch of details.

It’s been my experience that nothing is more fatal to the writing process than excessively detailed planning.  When I first started writing, I tried to compose meticulously detailed synopses.  But they take forever to do, which delays the writing process.  Also, I’ve found that stories tend to take on a life of their own once you start writing them.  There’s nothing more frustrating than lovingly crafting a series of scenes only to throw them out because you’ve changed some aspect of your novel.

Nowadays, I usually keep my synopses brief and just focus on the major plot points.  The only downside is that, because I write them in narrative form, it can be difficult to keep track of plot development.  I’m tempted to try the J. K. Rowling approach and see if it makes life easier.