Hundredth Post: Retro Retrospective

I tend to not tag my posts. I also tend to write about old-fashioned things (about ten percent of my posts, apparently). So, for the hundredth post on this blog, I hereby give you a collection of my old-fashioned blog posts to date. A sort of retro retrospective.

• Call Me, On The Line - I love my old-style telephone even though I practically have to hold the cord in while I'm using it.
• On Tea Parties - Discusses the joys and benefits of tea parties, which I contend are still stylish.
• On The Benefits of Paper Correspondence - Snail mail is still my friend.
• Save Blockbuster and its video follow-up, Remember How I Said "Save Blockbuster"? - Rather self-explanatory.
• Calvin Crickball: Awesome Summer Game - This game was born during a time when I was looking for a Norman-Rockwell-painting-type approach to summer, something involving being a kid who plays outside. These are the rules to the game, and it is very fun.
• Clean Cup, Move Down: How To Throw A Tea Party - If "On Tea Parties" convinced you that tea parties are indeed an excellent idea, or if you never needed convincing, then perhaps you should throw one! This post was designed to help.
• Used Bookstores - As much as I hope used bookstores (used-book stores?) aren't becoming outmoded, it seems that they are on that path, as people keep trying to replace paper with computers. This post details their charm.
• Barbie and Why I Love Her - I don't know if Barbie counts as old-fashioned, exactly, but this post is a look backwards and thus deserves inclusion here.
• My Kind of Video Games - Frogger is first on the list.
• Why Physical Books Beat E-Readers - Put your Kindle down and flip some pages!

Why Physical Books Beat E-Readers

My bookshelves are beyond full. I've got books in front of books at my normal home, and a couple shelves that are full at college. I don't look forward to when I graduate and have to combine those sets of books. Yet, I contend that physical books are superior to e-books and e-readers.

First of all, physical books contain history (as a quality, not necessarily as the content). That's why used-book stores feel like magic. Somebody owned, read, and probably loved those books previously. Some of those books were gifts from one person to another. Some contain markings, names, or dog-ears. You don't get that history in an e-book. When you buy a new book, you start creating that history. You'll remember buying it, where you were when you read it, or things people said to you when they saw you reading it, every time you pick up that copy again. Items have associations. And, items have imperfections that are gathered over time. When I pick up my well-loved copy of Carrie Pilby, it's obvious that it's been read over and over, by me and a few people who have borrowed it from me. E-readers have far less room for associations.

Books also look lovely on the shelf when you're not reading them. Granted, the e-reader takes much less space, but the book-filled shelves can make you look more educated to people who come over. Plus, if you're an out-of-sight, out-of-mind kind of person like I am, it helps to have the books in constant sight, reminding you to read them.

The feel of books is very important to me as well. To begin with, I like that different books feel different. Why should my hands respond the same way to both a textbook and a small paperback novel? The Complete Works of Shakespeare should feel more daunting than Artemis Fowl. Also, some books have strangely-cut pages, some have fancy embossed titles, and some leather-bound books have special leatherwork in the spine. Real books are tactile. E-books are not.

Related to the ability to touch the outside of the book is the ability to peruse the book itself by turning paper pages. I do appreciate the ability to run my hand over a page, to flip pages in search of something, or to look at the top of the closed book to see how far my bookmark has traveled thus far - a measure that means more to me than the precision of "425/550 pages" at the bottom of a screen. I'll grant that there's convenience, portability, and a considerable cool-factor to the e-reader, since it lets us carry a library in a purse, but I just can't give up the paper.

If you're not a sentimental old coot like I am, then an e-reader is probably for you. Except that if there's an Alas, Babylon-style incident and we have no electricity for ages, you'll have maybe a week of battery power before you have nothing left to read, either. Even if you have no time for entertainment, what with all that surviving, when we no longer have Internet access we'll need certain factual books to help us survive - except that if you had any, they were all digital. And that would be terrible.

My Kind of Video Games

My hardcore gamer friends may laugh at me, but there's one particular variety of game that I like, when I have time to play them. I like happy games. No - I like games with cuteness. Or beauty. I like games with cute characters or cute situations, or games that involve beauty, with lovely characters or music or worlds.

I list here, therefore, the video games that I like best, with a link to the Wikipedia page for each. I know you love Wikipedia links.

• Frogger. When I was a kid, we had an Atari gamestation of some kind, and we had a decent variety of pixel-tastic games for it, including Frogger. Eventually the Atari broke, and if I missed any of the games we had, I missed Frogger. So, when Frogger came out for the Playstation, of course I was elated. My brother and I enjoyed the two-player option (where he played a green frog and I a pink frog), and the different maps and levels. This was not just Frogger anymore. This was intense, complex, Frogger in 3D. It was awesome.
• Spyro the Dragon. This was another of the games I played with my brother on Playstation when we were younger. I don't think we ever beat the game, but it was still crazy fun. And Spyro was just so cute!
• Crash Bandicoot. The third of the Playstation games that my brother and I used to play. Although, we actually had both Crash Bandicoot 2 and Crash Bandicoot Warped, and I don't supposed I actually ever preferred one over the other. I especially liked playing as Coco Bandicoot and riding a polar bear.
• Final Fantasy IX. I have enjoyed much of the Final Fantasy Series in pieces, but the only one I've beaten - twice - is Final Fantasy IX. I also have all of the soundtrack, the art book, and a wall scroll featuring Garnet and Zidane. I don't think I can explain what makes this one so much better than all the rest. I think it helps that the male protagonist isn't so moody, the gameplay was never aggravatingly difficult, the graphics were good, there was no complicated system of orbs and things, and the overall theme was actually "fantasy." One of my cousins showed me the game and I fell completely in love.
• Pokémon Red, Yellow, Silver, and Crystal. When I was a kid, and Pokémon was ridiculously popular, it seemed like everybody had the GameBoy game and I didn't. I finally got Pokémon Red, started with a Squirtle, and have felt an affinity towards the franchise ever since. My brother got Pokémon Blue. Eventually I also got Yellow. Later, when Gold and Silver came out, my brother got Gold and I got silver, and eventually I also got Crystal. That's where I stopped obtaining the games, but I kept playing them (and exploiting their glitches) for years.
• Mario Party 7. My boyfriend and his brother introduced me to this. At first I got aggravated when the game would cheat me out of something, but then I learned to accept that after you do all you can do, it is mostly a game of chance, and I decided I loved it. This was my first real exposure to Mario (since we had a PlayStation, not a Nintendo), and it prompted me to start playing versions of Mario World online.
• Super Smash Bros. Melee. I was only introduced to this in the last few days, and I have decided that I adore it. I love that you can play as all these adorable and lovely characters, and throw Pokémon at each other, and play in different Nintendo worlds. It's just so cute. It's like Mortal Kombat except even more fun because it's adorable. Also, the combo moves aren't completely insane feats of button-hitting like they are in Mortal Kombat.
  

Used Bookstores

To my long list of pipe dreams, I should add "own a used bookstore," an inkling that truly only strikes me when I walk into one or watch You've Got Mail. The Shop Around the Corner isn't a used bookstore; it's a small shop for new children's books, but they do seem to have a shelf of old copies of beloved books, and the store has all the quaintness I imagine used bookstores to have. Maybe Meg Ryan helps that.


I think this quaintness is the first thing that draws me into used bookstores. I find old things to be charming, I find small personal shops to be charming, and I think old, worn books tend to be sweet or strange or beautiful. I like that they tend to hide unfamiliar names, lists, and markings in the covers and margins. I like books that have been owned, maybe loved, by other people, and that have been, for whatever reason, left behind or given up or passed along, to be purchased by wanderers who know nothing of their history but will gladly give them a new home and new use.

I also like the idea that strange finds may exist in these stores. I like thinking that perhaps I will wander into some dusty corner of a dusty bookshop, pick up a dusty, misfiled, leather-bound volume with a title that is strange to me, pay five dollars to take it home and find that it is the answer to the Voynich manuscript or the door to Narnia. Or maybe it'll just be a really, really good book.

Clean Cup, Move Down: How To Throw A Tea Party

I have talked previously about tea parties (of the tea, not tax, variety) and how fantastic they can be. A simple, friendly, delicious gathering that can be tailored for any season or occasion, it is a wonder that it hasn't become a huge trend yet.

In wondering this, I realized that perhaps people may want to throw tea parties, but think it is too large or too difficult a task, or simply have no idea how to approach it. Ergo, Rae's How-To-Party-Like-You're-Alice guide!



Tell Us A Story: Theme
If you're going to have a theme, decide on it right away, because everything else will be based upon it. Do you want it Wonderland-themed? Christmas-themed? Is it for a bridal shower or a birthday? Do you have a special desire for a Japanese tea, or something to celebrate spring? Everything you choose will be based on your theme--should you choose one. You don't have to; you can throw one as easily without a theme or rhyme or reason, and everyone will still have a lovely time.

The Best Butter: Eatables
What does one eat at a tea party? That is entirely up to you, but in general you want to keep a balance of things sweet and things savory, and all of them should be edible without utensils. Tea sandwiches, scones, tarts, and cookies are good options, though you can expand on that as you like. Homemade foods are the best, and recipes are available in myriad books and all over the Internet. If you have a theme, this is where you may begin to follow it, choosing cinnamon cookies for Christmas, pastel flower-shaped cookies for Spring, Victorian scones and tarts for a traditional high tea, and so forth. If you wish, you can end the party with Victorian-style ice cream sundaes, preferably in elegant dishes. If you prefer something less elegant, you may do that. You must only know the rules before you can break them. I do suggest putting a menu out, something with fancy script, so you don't get a lot of "What is this sandwich? What's in that cookie?" and so your table looks that much more high-class.

Take Some More Tea: Drinkables
The matter of tea is less obvious that you might think, and allows much room for creativity. Traditionally, you will have one or two pots of the same tea available, kept warm by a tea cozy. However, you may also allow each person to choose her own teabag, using the teapots for hot water. A good hostess should pour the water for each of her guests, at least for the first teabags. Presentation of a set of teabags is terribly important, and they may be fanned out in a shallow bowl or basket, or kept neatly in a tea box. If your party is during summer and perhaps outdoors, you may wish to avoid traditional hot tea altogether in favor of iced tea. This may make the entire affair much more casual, but it will surely be as enjoyable. Again, if you have a theme, consider it as you choose the tea: green tea for Japanese, Twining's Christmas flavor for the holiday season, and so on. Finally, as with the eatables, if you have many teas available I suggest having a fancy-script menu available for perusal.

Tea-Tray In The Sky: Teaware, Tablecloths, and Accessories
If you can match your teaware to your theme, do so. Use a tablecloth, preferably an elegant one, to protect your table, to hide ugly tables, and to force multiple tables to match if you are inviting many people. You will need at least one teapot, for tea or for hot water. You will want a sugar bowl (with sugar cubes, as sugar packets are rather too tacky) if any of your guests will want sweeter tea. A creamer will do to hold cream or milk. You will also want teacups (or glasses, though only if you're doing iced tea), and saucers. The saucers are necessary in case of spillage, and many guests place used teabags on them. The also look most lovely. You will want attractive plates or tiered trays to hold your edibles, and small- to medium-sized plates for the guests. Since you will likely need jam and butter for scones or other eatables, you will also need jam-knives and butter-knives, and perhaps a small plate or bowl to hold the butter. Many jam jars are attractive as-is, though you may wish to tie a ribbon around them. I don't suggest removing the jam from the jar, because it will make putting away the excess more difficult than necessary. For any necessary thing that you don't have, ask friends if you can borrow them (although I suggest only asking people that you intend to invite, or your mother).

There's Plenty of Room: Whom To Invite and How
The number of people you invite must be no more than the number of people you can comfortably sit. I suggest inviting females whom you think would enjoy tea, and preferably those who would get along reasonably with each other. Mailed invitations are ideal, but if this proves too difficult, a Facebook event invitation is entirely possible in our modern world. I do suggest making it a private, hidden event, for if someone sees the event who was not invited, she may be offended. In your invitation, be sure to specify the day, date, time, place, directions to the place, a way to RSVP, and some instruction for what to wear. My last party was merely a tea-themed tea party, and I only said to dress with tea in mind. One girl didn't own a dress and would not wear hair-bows, so I said, "Pirates drink tea, right? Dress as a pirate." Clothing specifications may be casual to formal and anything (truly, anything) in between. Lastly, if you have a theme, show it in the invitations.

Always Tea Time: When and Where To Hold It
If you can hold it at your home, that is ideal. Indoors is best for comfort, though if you choose to do it outdoors, make sure you have an indoor backup plan in case of rain. I must insist that you avoid outdoor tea parties when it is bitterly cold or ridiculously hot outside. Tea parties are best held in the mid-afternoon, though like all other tea rules, this may be broken according to your need. Just be sensible.

Very Curious: What To Do Afterwards
Wish your guests farewell, and then clean up the party. Gather borrowed items, clean them if necessary, and return them to their rightful owners. Post your photos on Facebook (you did take photos, didn't you?), tag your friends, and send me the public link in a comment...I want to see how this all turns out!

Calvin Crickball: Awesome Summer Game

Calvin Crickball (a.k.a. CCB)

On Sunday afternoon, I hung out with two of my friends, who wanted to do something cheap. I suggested stickball. They seemed somewhat reluctant, but we gave it a go, and now all of us think it's just about the awesomest thing ever. Of course, we had to modify the rules a bit since there were only three of us. Calvin Crickball is the result.

Name Origin:
+We made up the rules as we went along, like Calvinball.
+We hit a ball with a broom handle, like stickball.
+We ran to one base and back, which is apparently like cricket.

You Need:
+A tennis ball
+A broom handle or similarly-sized stick
+Chalk and/or objects for marking bases
+A decent amount of space outdoors, far enough away from windows
+At least three people

Rules for Three People:
+Create a home base, either with chalk or some object, and a pitcher's "mound" (standing place) some distance away.
+Create a base some distance behind the pitcher's place, with chalk or some object. We used a tree. The more visible it is, the better for all involved.
+One person will take the stick and stand at home base. This person is the sticker.
+One person will stand or crouch behind home base. This person is the catcher, and will catch or chase missed balls to return to the pitcher.
+One person will stand at the pitcher's place. This person is (obviously) the pitcher.
+You will want to determine a sticking rotation; that is, the order in which the three of you will stick. For instance, I sticked first, then Cameron, then Jerrica, and then we started with me again.
+The pitcher will throw the tennis ball to the sticker. Strike and ball count rules are the same as baseball: 3 strikes, 4 balls. The general "strike area" is also the same. If you hit the sticker, it counts as a ball. If you hit them very hard, it is still a ball, but they may also hit you with the stick later.
+The sticker will attempt to hit the tennis ball with the stick. If s/he hits a foul (basically the same as baseball), it counts as a strike (unless it would be the third strike, in which case it counts as nothing). If s/he hits the ball, s/he runs to the base, touches it, and then runs back to home.
+Once the sticker has hit the ball, the pitcher's aim is to obtain the ball and either get it to home base or touch the sticker with the ball. If either of these things occurs, the sticker is out.
+The pitcher and the catcher then switch places, so that both people have pitched to the sticker. Once both people have pitched to the sticker, the next person in the determined rotation sticks, and the other two people pitch and catch.
+The game ends when you get tired, or somebody gets angry and refuses to play.

Rules for More People:
+Same as for three people, except you can add fieldsmen and, if space allows, more bases to run.
+You may also want to find a different way to deal with pitching rotation, or maybe even create real teams.

Enjoy!

Remember How I Said "Save Blockbuster"?

I don't seriously think all of you suck, regardless of what Ryan says. Saving Blockbuster probably just couldn't be done.

Save Blockbuster!

Knowing that I can just go to Blockbuster if I really want a movie makes me feel very safe. Therefore, the idea that they will be going out of business very soon is rather upsetting to me. I will still have the UCF library, as long as I am a student, but that's only for another year and a half. I doubt the other video rental places will last terribly long, and the public library, at least where I live, just doesn't have a great selection. Will I have to switch to something like NetFlix to get movies when I want them? I will then either have to wait for my movie to come in the mail, which is no good if I only suddenly and unexpectedly acquire the free time to watch a film, or I'll have to depend upon the powers of the Internet to give me a movie and continue to play that movie until its end. I'd rather take my chances with a scratched Blockbuster DVD.

Call me old-fashioned, but I'd like to see Blockbuster stick around for a while, so it doesn't go the way of Pluto's status as a planet.

Stationery Fail

First roadblock on the road to writing more letters: finding suitable stationery. Sure, I could use plain old regular notebook paper, but where's the fun in that? I could print up my own, but buying it at the store seems to be cheaper per sheet, not to mention nicer and less of a pain in the neck.

I tried Target, and they sent me to Michael's. I tried Michael's, and they sent me to Office Depot. Office Depot, hallelujah, needed only to send me to the Paper Depot section of their store, where they had a small selection of one size of writing paper. Something about beggars and choosers and low demand for snail mail supplies.

Oh well. Any recommendations for stationery suppliers in the area of the University of Central Florida (UCF to you locals), I'll gladly take.

On The Benefits Of Paper Correspondence

I find I may, from time to time, come across as an oddly old-fashioned young woman. As a digital media major, computer science minor, and general young person in America, I allegedly ought to be embracing technology as it comes, and thus, quick to discard what is old - including the U.S. Postal Service, which is beyond unpopular since the advent of e-mail, text messaging, and Facebook.

I had a pen-pal in my younger days, a friend who had moved across the country. We wrote in order to eschew long-distance phone charges, and because both of us had read and loved the book P.S. Longer Letter Later, which is a series of letters between friends separated by distance. Amusingly enough, its sequel was called Snail Mail No More. Unlike today's e-mailers, though, the protagonists continued to write long personal notes, taking e-mail as simply letters that arrive more quickly. Nowadays, it seems that most of the people who really check their e-mail are the people who don't have time for personal notes -- such as my father, whom I imagine has an inbox that is mostly unread. E-mail is for work, quick memos, and forwards of politics or kittens. In fact, my mother is the only person I know who actually uses her e-mail to keep in touch with people far away, like letters used to do.

I have recently begun letter-writing again. I wanted to get in touch with a few of my old teachers, and this seemed the most sensible way to do it. Even if any of them are on Facebook (and I am reasonably certain they aren't), once I "friend" someone and banter back and forth with "it's been so long!" for a bit, the conversation drops off and they rarely even appear in my News Feed again. To call that being "in touch" is at best a heinous stretch. If they are not on Facebook, it's fairly impossible to find an e-mail address in the white pages, even the online ones, especially as they often change far more frequently than a mailing address. I could call them, but it seems that would only lead to an expensive, awkward conversation, instead of a forty-four-cent note to which they may reply at their leisure.

And so, I wrote. I have received one response, so far, from the three teachers, and think I may get more. If not, I believe I may at least have a steady continuing conversation with the one for quite some time. Another friend of mine has recently asked if I would join her in pursuit of a snail mail revolution, and we will begin a correspondence once I am back at college next weekend. We will likely be better in touch than we are now through Facebook, since the complacency of reachability makes us feel "in touch" though we have not actually spoken in some time.

Thus, snail mail may actually give us more real connection than all modern technology combined. Such innovations shall not be ignored, however, but used instead for making plans and other things needing immediate attention -- though without texting, e-mail, or Facebook, we do still have the telephone.

Anyway, e-mail themes have nothing on pretty stationery. So buy some Forever stamps and write a letter, already!

On Tea Parties

Tea is popular. Not only traditional black tea, but green, white, herbal, spiced, and chai, among others, are available for your enjoyment. If you can't find one you like, you haven't tried hard enough. However, tea is not, for whatever reason, much of a social beverage here in America. Coffee, alcohol, but rarely tea--and it is a shame, a fact quite clear to anyone who has ever attended a decent tea party.

The versatility of a tea party makes it available to women of all tastes. One may host an intimate gathering of a few friends, or a major occasion with full tea pots and finger sandwiches all down the buffet table. Japanese green tea or Indian spiced chai can accompany a tea party with a cultural theme, and English breakfast tea works well with something more Victorian. Younger girls would enjoy a doll-centric tea party, and those somewhat older can appreciate one with an Alice in Wonderland theme. The possibilities are endless.




Yet, whatever style you choose, a tea party is a quiet, sophisticated social, and an arguably superior venue for a girls' get-together. The very atmosphere demands peace and dignity, and is a marvelous excuse to dress up in attractive frocks with bows and lace. To host is to show off your entertaining skills, and to attend is to simply enjoy an afternoon in the company of your friends. Weekly or monthly tea parties may be hosted by a different friend each time, for variety and to share the hostess responsibilities.

Tea parties can have a financial advantage over luncheons and dinner parties as well. Coming after lunch but before dinner, you need pay less for food, and the little sandwiches, tarts, and scones often involve less fuss than a true meal. Additionally, tea is cheaper than alcohol; one tea bag will steep through a full pot.

Don't think tea parties must leave out men, either. You'll have to provide more in the way of food, certainly, but if you can convince them that it isn't too terribly feminine, and keep the lace to a minimum, a tea-centric gathering of well-dressed friends would be an entertaining afternoon for all.

Call Me, On The Line

I love this phone. However, I was considering getting rid of it. My dorm at college is allegedly going to remove the land lines from the rooms to save money on something that most students don't use, and when the phone rings at home, it is never for me. I don't really need any phone besides my cell. It's pretty, but is it practical?

Besides that, it's an awfully outdated design. It has no caller ID, which makes it terrible for ducking telemarketers, annoying friends, and ex-boyfriends. Without an answering machine, screening calls is impossible. With one, the process is still a bit obnoxious, at best.

It also has a cord. You can't multi-task. You can't use telephone time to also fold laundry and catch up on your TiVo recordings. You can't even walk across the room to look up a phone number for someone without putting the phone down first. It isn't suited to the modern lifestyle. Perhaps I should try to find a recent, cordless variation of this design, with caller-ID elegantly fitted into the base, along with the date, time, and recent calls. It would still have that old-timey feel; it would just be a bit more functional.

I find this disturbingly indicative of the changes made to our communications over time, specifically in regards to the phone. Without an efficient way of screening calls, you simply had to answer the phone. Without a way to walk and talk and feed the cat all at once, you simply had to engage in conversation, or tell your friend or business associate that you needed to call them back later. Things were slower back in the day, and communication was perhaps a bit more honest. I do appreciate the convenience of modern technology, and I wouldn't dare undo the progress if I could, but I can't help lament the loss of a day when this telephone design was perfectly acceptable.

After thinking such things, I couldn't help but plug the phone back in.