Do not disturb: Soothing in progress

The Best Part of Today #111:

When what you want and what you need is the same thing, and you get it.

We all know that sometimes we want to watch our show or read our pleasure book, but we really need to do homework or something equally grueling. That's why when desire and necessity are synonymous for once, it can be a great blessing. An even greater blessing is actually getting it.

Example: I want dessert and I need something to soothe my sore throat. Ice cream is out bc dairy makes you phlegmy. I generally avoid dining cake and other desserts with mystery, most-likely processed, ingredients. Solution: mango sorbet. The one night I want this delicious fruity icey product is the one night I really need it.

AH!

The Best Part of Today #110:

ッ!

That looks like a slanted smiley doesn't it? Surprise (unless you're Japanese)! This is a japanese katakana character meaning meaning "ah!" Now you know. Isn't it great to learn new things (even if they are random and pretty useless)? But now you can impress your ignorant friends and convince them you know something!

Expansion of the Botanical variety!

The Best Part of Today #109:

Plant Growth!

If you're like me, you have the least green thumb ever. I have been informed by my art major roommate that the opposite of green is red, so I guess that would make us unfortunates red- thumbed. I don't kill plants (!), they just always happen to pass away in my care, leaving me red-handed at the crime scene (see what I did there? yea? ok, anyway...)

But this time it was different. Instead of buying expensive rosemary plants or tropical orchids from nurseries, I bought 3 $1 from the bargain bin at Target. If this isn't your first time reading, you may have noticed my occasional updates on their growth. That's right, growth, not death. There was one close call, though, on a day that it was snowing and I forgot to water them before I left. So of course, once the cloud dumped all their precipitation on us, they went on their merry way, leaving the sun the dehydrate one of my plants! The most robust plant of group, the aptly named Forget-Me-Not wilted. I did not want to believe that $1 was going to fail me now after all it had done; I couldn't accept that it may have perished and watered it anyway. After that day, it was as good as new.

They finally got so big, something had to be done. Something like this:

The plant in the lower left is the Forget-Me-Not, as green and leafy as ever. To the right is the Strawberry plant and Rose is above.

As you can by the size of my phone, the pot size has grown exponentially from the teeny little pots they came in. The growth has already exceeded both my and my roommates expectations. Our only wonder now is whether these plants will ever flower? Or even more miraculously, in Strawberry's case, produce fruit??

Back to old school, long ago and far, far away

The Best Part of Today #108:

Seing a classic movie in theatres.

We've all seen blockbusters hit the big screen. We sit munching our overpriced popcorn, tittering in our seats through the previews, and then cheer for the title screen when the movie we've been waiting

months for suddenly manifests before our hungry eyes. After this moment, we eagerly wait for the movie to come out on DVD, and experience a similar catharsis when we snuggle into our couches with the comforts of blankets and slippers, even if it's a smaller screen. After that, films are sent to the shelf, occasionally summoned on whim. But what we could have that big screen moment again?

My roommate and I just saw The Matrix in a theatre. She had never seen it before, so it was a special treat for her to get to see a movie made in 1999 for the first time on a big screen, as if it had just come out. Movie theatres should really do this more often. I mean, I'd love to see movies like the Lord of the Rings in theatres again, but I cannot count on two hands how many times I saw al three of those movies in theatres. What made seeing The Matrix so special for me was that I never got to see it in theatres, but I love it just the same. So my first vote for a classic movie [series] that I didn't get to see in theatres because it came out before I was born goes to: Star Wars. Who wouldn't want to see Stars Wars in theatres, either for the first time ever or the first time in 30 years? That series utterly changed filmmaking. I'd say it's a good place to start.

Persistence is Key!

The Best Part of Today #107 [Tuesday]:

Typewriter #3.

For the upcoming I'm stage managing, All in the Timing, we needed 3 typewriters. I have never needed a typewriter for a show before, let alone 3. Fortunately I just got a typewriter this past Christmas. Convenient, no? We acquired the 2nd typewriter from a friend who "specializes" in getting props for us, which left only typewriter to find. Another fortunate happening was my attendance in a Publishing class this year. The professor was intimidating at first, but then he opened up once he saw I was a book gee like him. This enable me to persuade him to lend me the typewriter in his office. Unfortunately, however, I had to carry the typewriter a half mile by myself from his office back to my room. But I didn't get to go to pilates the day before, and this effort was certainly a workout (for my arms and shoulder anyway).

The Best Part of Today #108:

FINALLY getting the classes to complete my degree.

It's not so much that I'm excited to finish all the requirements for my English major, it was one class in particular. For some ungodly reason, my college thinks it's ok to require English majors to take three "Q" classes (for quantitative science, ie. math classes) and 2 Science classes, one of which must be a Lab. That's 5 classes. An entire wasted semester of classes that have nothing to with English or humanities in general. Not that I have anything against some sciences, but they're just not my cup of tea (I would use stronger words os dislike for math, however). In order to diminish the amount of time this would waste, I attempted to double on some courses, meaning taking a Science that was also a Q that would fulfill both categories. Now, I have been trying to get into this one Linguistics class for several semesters without success. Finally, after hours of finagling my schedule for this semester, I got it. Sadly, my case isn't even unique. All the students I know experience similar agony when trying to sign up for classes. As the title states, though, if you persevere, you will (or, are more likely to) succeed.

The Wide World of Web Publishing

The Best Part of Today #106:

Having your work published by someone other than yourself.

Published online, I must specify. I imagine being published in print will be the greatest achievement of my life if I ever do in fact reach that goal. At the opposite end of the spectrum is publishing yourself online. Don't get me wrong, I love this blog. But having someone else publish my work is exceedingly pleasing. Especially since it's something I'm very proud of.

Find the profile on Professor Roger Travis here.

See another related article of mine here.

Find Professor Travis' blog, Living Epic, here.

Blister time! Yay! (sort of)

The Best Part of Today #105:

Personal signs of the changing seasons.

The other day it was really warm so I decided to get an iced coffee. As I sat on the grass sipping my mocha and reading before class, I realized, Hey, this is my first iced drink of the season. You see I never get iced drinks in the winter (usually never, only if I'm really craving one for the flavor, not for the temperature of it.) I also noticed that I was in fact sitting on grass (the extent to which being green is an integral part of the definition of grass is debatable), not snow, or even grass that would get my butt wet if I sat on it. Also, forget jackets, it was warm enough for me to go out without socks or an undershirt, things I often wear more than one layer of in the winter.

Ironically, another of my markers of the coming of warmer weather is the appearance of blisters on my feet. I only associate blisters with this time of year because it's warm enough to wear shoes without socks but not warm enough to wear sandals yet. This is a relatively new personal marker because the other reason I'm wearing closed toed shoes like moccasins and flats in warm weather is because I'm at school at this time of year and my sandals are all at home. Similar to this is a marker new to this year. Normally, I have a blackest, deadest least-green thumb out there. I like plants. I like plants in my room. Plants don't like either me or my room. And yet, this year, the little seeds I nurtured from a $1 kit of seed packet, golfball size pot and dehydrated soil pellet from Target have actually grown so much that I transplanted them into bigger pots last weekend. Incredible. I think this has something to do with the increased sunlight. My roommate and I also left the window open for an extended period of time for the first time in months.

Keep the markers comin', Mother Nature, I'm lovin it! (way more than McDonald's food)

Aw, thanks!

The Best Part of Today #104:

Compliments from someone you secretly like.

Much like hugs, compliments are [usually] always great (unless they're from creepers. "Uhh...thanks..." *backs away slowly*). But especially if you have your eye on someone in particular, and that someone delivers you a little golden nugget of praise, your day just got that much better.

Ps. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone [who cares]. Erin Go Bragh!

The Power of PDA! No, not a personal digital assistant...

The Best Part of Today #103:

Sneak attack hugs!

Hugs are always great. (Unless they're the awkward kind, but let's forget those.) Usually they're great. But they're even better when you want one and you don't think you're going to get one and then you do! Like if you're saying goodbye to a bunch of people and you turn to leave, and suddenly you're ambushed from behind in a surprise embrace. You might even double your money if this surprise hug ends up behind kind awkward/backward, because hugs are cooperative activities; both parties need to anticipate to make it work. So maybe after the first hug, you move in for a second, real hug. And now you have your endorphin shot for the day. Or at least the next 5 minutes.

The Art of the Missive

The Best Part of Today #102:

Getting [paper] mail from friends.

I love all paper mail nowadays, even if it's junk mail. It's all become so rare now, in the days of email advertising and the like. But that's precisely why correspondence from friends--things you actually want to read--are so exciting.

I just got a card today from my very best who goes to school all the way in Boston. This was not piece of lined notebook paper or even a typed/printed letter but a beautiful piece of stationery. And my friend, who goes to art school, folded the envelope herself and illustrated it to boot!

Of course everyone loves to get mail, and sending it is completely disregarded. Of course the best way to get mail is to send some. So the next time you wish you could get some mail, get some nice stationery (or whatever strikes your fancy) and stamps and send a friend some mail. They'll probably really appreciate it and you'll probably get some back! (Unless you REALLY picked the wrong person. But's it's a risk you gotta take.)

*phew*

The Best Part of Today #101:

Finishing a long standing project.

Actually, I'm referring to the last post. The reason there's a gap between last wednesday and friday is because I was working on that post. For some reason, that post took me much longer to compose than the 50th Post Extravaganza. Maybe because I know books by heart better than video games so it didn't take quite so much to choose a top ten, and then formulate and articulate my opinions about them. But anyway, today I finally finished it. This post is kind of like a P.S. for post 100. Done at last! *shakes fist dramatically*

100th BPoT Spectacular!

To celebrate the 100th posting of The Best Part of Today, I've come up with another 10Best, following the 10 Best book series' I listed for the Fiftieth Post Extravaganza.

Today we have the 10 Best Video Games, not necessarily in any order.

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Gamecube): This is a phenomenal game. The best in the Zelda series, in my opinion. One of the most important things a game needs in order to be successful, no matter what kind of game it is, is a good storyline. I don't care how cool it looks or anything else about it, anything from an RPG to a FPS will not be a good game with some reason to play it. There has to be an answer to the "why should i care?" question. This game sets up the characters' background and relationship so you feel for them when things go wrong and you actually want to help them. It keeps you interested because the story is full of suspense and intrigue, and whenever you think you've passed a milestone, or even have come close to the end, it surprises you again. The art is also inspiringly beautiful for a video game, close to the detail and expressiveness of good anime. It's one of those games that never gets old, no matter how many times you play it, too. It's so intricate that whenever I get a hankering to start a new game, I remember each part as I play it, but I don't exactly remember how to do everything so it's still a challenge. But neither is it so hard that I get to a place and stop because I can't figure out how to go on, nor is it too boring that I don't want to continue. I know I said these weren't in any particular order, but this may be my favorite video game of all time.

• Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii) An adorable game for cuteness-lovers only. But don't be fooled, just because you're confronted with the "awww" urge almost incessantly doesn't mean this game is a breeze. The first couple of levels are pretty simple so that you learn the basics of Kirby's operation within "Patch Land." Essentially the goal is to collect enough beads to earn a new patch and thus gain access to a new level. Nothing can exactly hurt you, and some "enemies" just fall over if you bump into them. This I think, kind of lulls you in a false sense of security as you move on and think all your enemies will be pushovers, literally. But then you start to encounter dangerous enemies that make you drop your beads if they touch you, shoot arrows at you, throw snowballs at you or knock you of cliffs. This last one is the worst because bumping into an enemy only spills your beads, allowing you pick them back up again, whereas falling off something calls a Shy Guy to rescue you, dropping beads as you go. Thus the farther away you fell, the more irretrievable beads you drop into the chasm you were just scooped up from. Think twice (and actually play the game) before using this game's cuteness as an indicator of its difficulty.

• Paper Mario (N64): Similarly, this game is a delightful spin on a traditional Mario adventure. Mario is in a fact a 2-D piece of paper, along with all of the other characters and some of the scenery. He ventures out to rescue the Star Spirits, which have been imprisoned in playing cards by Bowser and the Star Rod. Throughout out the game, Mario acquires partners that help with special powers like floating across spikes or lighting up rooms. The game has fun quirks, like when Mario or someone has been beaten, they float down to the ground like a loose sheet of paper. The next installment, The Thousand Year Door (Gamecube), is equally as good, and makes even more use of the paper world by endowing Mario with all the powers paper posesses. He folds into several different configurations from a paper airplane that flies to boat that floats. This is followed by Super Paper Mario, which takes full use of the Wii's technology, allowing Mario jump back and forth between 2-D and 3-D so as to slip past some 2-D enemies, as well creating a sort of special "flashlight" that detects hidden items when you point the wiimote at the screen (as opposed to holding it sideways like a conventional controller).

• The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker (Gamecube): Probably my second favorite game of all time, if how many times I have played it is any indication. And yet, like Twilight Princess, it is a long game, which just goes to show you how compelling it is. The story is fantastic, the characters are great, and the gameplay is immensely satisfying. You play as a cartoon-style young Link, who happy-go-lucky but also seriously courageous (a quality that is very important later.) Unlike other games, though, the setting is not Hyrule or any other land, but rather the ocean, which he traverses on his trusty ship, King of the Red Lions. You travel from island to island, slowly filling your sea chart, which is a task in itself. The chart is divided into a grid and there is one island per square; many of them aren't necessary to visit in order to beat the game, but they all house treasure, puzzles, sidequests, and fantastically designed locales. I have played the game over 5 times, all the way through to the boss, which is extremely challenging but not unbeatable (unlike some games) and I still don't think I have encountered everything the game has to offer. Part of this is because the game offers incentives for multiple plays. If you beat the game once, you can choose to save your game there and keep playing from that point, exploring everything you didn't get a chance to earlier. Or you can start a new game without actually erasing your file. If you do this, then you get to wear Link's clothes that he was wearing at the beginning of the game instead of changing into the hero's clothes. You also get to understand anything spoken in Ancient Hylian, which was previously a bunch unreadable runes. Other spoils await you if you eat the game and choose to replay it successively. This is one game that really give you your money's worth.

• Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube): This game is completely unique. I have never seen anything else like it, before or after it came out, on any other console or in ay other series. Basically, Mario gets framed for mucking up the island he was vacationing on and is sentenced to clean it up with a FLUDD (Flash Liquidizing Ultra Dousing Device). Essentially, it's talking water pump. Mario wears it like a backpack and uses it to spray away the offending muck that covers Delfino Island. It also propels Mario around like water-power jet-pack, allowing him to run and hover as long as the tank is full. Occasionally, a mysterious goopy figure steals the FLUDD from Mario and you have to long-jump and wall-kick your way through perilous levels that make your realize how hard this game would be without it. But wait...wasn't that what Super Mario 64 was all about? It didn't seem so hard then.

• The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS): Like Sunshine, this game is also totally unique. It's a Zelda game with trains after all. Totally weird. Zelda is a medieval-magical-type swordfighting, arrow-slinging, horseback riding games...where do the trains come in? First of all, this game is the sequel to the Phantom Hourglass, another DS game which is itself a sequel to Windwaker. Like Windwaker, Phantom Hourglass takes place on the ocean, albeit on someone else's ship. Spirit Tracks supposedly takes place 100 years or so after Phantom Hourglass, when all the character's descendants have made new lives on land. The new Princess Zelda appoints court engineers to protect the land's train tracks, which actually serve the purpose of sealing away a great evil, much like the Master Sword. It's a terrifically fun game for all DS players that love Zelda, especially Windwaker.

• Super Smash Brothers Melee (Gamecube): Some prefer the original N64 version, some like the new Wii version (Brawl), and they're both pretty fun, but I personally find them both equally difficult. Not so much that they're hard games, just the control isn't very intuitive in my opinion. Contrarily, I find Melee to be the perfect balance of ease of use and a fun challenge. Melee is always the perfect choice for a part game with lots of people or a quick battle between two friends. Even if you don't know how to play, all you need to do is move the control stick and press random buttons and you'll do all right. Always a good time.

• Harvest Moon (Gamecube): This game is a lot like Animal Crossing but a lot less well-known. The games opens with you inheriting a scenic farm near a beach and learning how to tend it. It starts out pretty small, but you plant vegetables, milk your cow, get eggs from your chickens, and shear your sheep and sell all your produce to Sunday market and soon you're making money. You can also fish at the waterfall, in the streams and the oceans, and scavenge for valuable plants and herbs, all of which you can also sell. Another one of your goals is to woo and marry one of the girls in town, with whom you might have a kid. Over time you can expand your house and your farm, but it's kind of hard to keep track of how much time has passed. The "years" are more like chapters in the game's story rather than a cycle of 4 seasons, and I still haven't finished the game. But if ever you need a nice relaxing game without the threat of dangerous monsters, or the stress of avoiding being killed, Harvest Moon is your game.

• Banjo Kazooie (N64): An fun adventure game I could never have thought up by myself. You play as Banjo the bear accompanied by Kazooie the bird, who inhabits Banjo's backpack, with Banjo's little sister, Tooty. The evil witch Grunty kidnaps Tooty, intent on stealing her youth and beauty. You explore Grunty's mountain castle for golden puzzle pieces, which form into magical paintings that you can jump into, and earn access farther up the mountain.

• Pokemon: I can't choose. I love old-school Blue, traditional Crystal, and pretty much all the newer ones like Diamond, Platinum, HeartGold, and White. I also love the Pokemon Ranger and Mystery Dungeon varieties. The only definitive thing I can say is that Pokemon has always been 1000x better on Gameboy (and now DS) than it has on any other platform.

EFTW

The Best Part of Today #99:

Meeting your hero.

Today I met my favorite author in the world, Jasper Fforde, author of the Thursday Next, Nursery Crime, Shades of Grey and Last Dragonslayer series or soon-to-be series. I was the very first person in line to get my books signed, three of them, in point of fact. They were the first of each of the 4 series except Thursday Next, because my beloved copy of The Eyre Affair is currently in bestowed upon a very good friend and fellow bibliophile. So, Mr. Fforde did not sign the very first book of his that I read (and at first hated, being a somewhat confusing novel required by high school summer reading, but ended up being the best thing I ever read), though I still got the other three, and a postcard and picture with Mr. Fforde. And some smalltalk as he signed my three books. That was especially nice. And I sat next to the editor of one of Penguin's imprints, Berkley Publishing Group, who gave me her card. So you might say I had a pretty good day or something.

PS. the title means "Epic For The Win." What ever this phrase lacks in coherence it makes up for in unbridled excitement.

PPS. Sorry the mic is in his face. Even sitting in the front has its disadvantages. Overall, though, I think the benefits make up for it.

Hard-won Rewards

The Best Part of Today #98:

Vacation reunions!

Isn't great to get back from school or any long-term stay away from home and see some of your home friends again? Today my best friend Caity and I got together for lunch and a movie after not having seen each other since before Christmas. It was quite a chore getting there too because all the rain we had nonstop yesterday flooded half the major roads in my town. But it was totally worth when I got there to veg out on pizza and fruit salad and chex mix over Avatar (the good James Cameron version, not the god-awful Razzie-award-winning M.Night version). Good times.

The meaning of paradox

The Best Part of Today #97:

Deep fried irony.

More specifically, McDonalds. God it is disgusting. No matter what their advertising campaigns tell you, fast food is not good. It is loaded with oily fat and salt and cholesterol god knows what else. My stomach is absolutely revolted right now. Why? Because I had a chicken nugget mighty kids meal with fries, and it was delicious.

I have McDonalds maybe twice a year, usually not even, and only because my sister somehow cajoles me into it and its always late at night when we're out and nothing else is open and I'm starved. I would never be seen in a McDonalds establishment in the light of day, as a substitution for one of my actual meals.

How can something so utterly repulsive that I am honestly disgusted with myself as I mechanical remove fries from a greasy paper sleeve and stuff them in my mouth taste so good? That is the great question, my friends.

The Day before Freedom

The Best Part of Today #96:

Getting out of your last class before a break.

Even though I went on an unintended half hour bus ride before my last class today, my anxiety before class did not match my excitement after. Nothing beats going home on a Thursday night and having no academic obligations in the immediate future. Let the movie-watching, video-gaming, book-reading bonanza begin!

Let the river flow forth

The Best Part of Today #95:

Having an experience exceed your expectations.

In my case, I was finally getting to interview someone for my next news story. He had been very hard to get a hold of, finally got back to me in email, telling me to call him the next day at a certain time and set up an appointment, he was in a meeting when i called, and he finally got back to me an hour and a half later. At this point I was feeling rather beleaguered and not very optimistic for the interview. I thought maybe I should make up more interview questions in case he turned out to be as tight-lipped as he seemed a didn't give me enough to work with.

When I got there, he was the total opposite. He was playing ambient bird sounds in his sunny, plant-strewn office. We chatted about our mutual penchant for sound machines (mine is a gurgling stream), organic food and good ol' fashioned paper books. What was my story about? The recyclability of a dining hall's new salt and pepper grinders. I barely had to say a word before he launched into more of a lengthy anecdote than an explanation of my query, spouting colorful quote and quote and funny details sure to give my story a kick. It was the easiest interview I'd ever done, except that I could barely manage to keep with him. I scribbled nonstop trying to capture everything just as he said it over several full sheet of (academic, not journalist-sized) notebook paper. Erasing was out of the question, mistakes were either scribbled or just let to stand. Listening was for the moment, deciphering will come later.

All in all I was exceedingly pleased, and my hand didn't even ached 45-or-so minutes later.

UNCONTAINABLE EXCITEMENT

The Best Part of Today #94:

Discovering that your favorite author is doing a reading/book signing in a town near you.

In my case I might add that my most favorite author in the world, Jasper Fforde, is British and hardly ever does readings in the US, let alone anywhere near me. However, I discovered today in my Creative Writing class that he is doing not one, but two reading here in New England, one in New York and one in Boston. I nearly jumped out of my seat and knocked my notebook to the floor, spilling its contents to the floor. Didn't matter. I'M TOO EXCITED FOR WORDS.

For any who are interested, here is the information:

Tuesday March 8th 2011: NEW YORK, NY

BARNES AND NOBLE UNION SQUARE
33 East 17th Street New York, NY 10003
Contact: Matt Zoni Voicemail: (212) 253-0819 Barnes and Noble

6:45 PM arrival 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM Reading/Q&A/Signing

---

Wednesday March 9th 2011: BOSTON, MA

BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH
290 Harvard Street Brookline, MA
Contact: Evan Perriello (617) 739-6002 (direct) events@brooklinebooksmith.com
BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH

5:45 PM arrival 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM Reading/Q&A/Signing

Find more here:

http://www.jasperfforde.com/appearances.html