Saturday, April 18, 2026

The Extended Editions

My mouth has been feeling weird all week, sometimes achey, and my anxiety keeps telling me that my teeth are about to all fall out. The soonest I could get a dentist appointment was Monday morning, so let’s pray that I don’t lose everything before then. It doesn’t really have any splitting pain, though, so that seems like it’s probably a good sign.

I realized that I need a place to put my letters and drafts–right now I just have several large piles of paper.


The last two seasons of Brooklyn 99 are now on Netflix, so I am watching those. Just started The Egyptian by Mika Waltari, and man, our guy Sinuhe is not making good decisions.

Saturday, April 11, 2026

On Mind Control/Possession

Oof, stressful week, I have horrible headaches, but it is still the Easter season, it is the weekend, and I have some Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood to play! And I’m caught up on all the books I had been planning on, so that is a bit of a relief (now I need to find some more…).


And I got Return of the King (Extended Edition) from the library!

Saturday, April 4, 2026

Darth Vader's Redemption

We are in the Easter Tridium! That means that it’s not Easter yet, but it’s darn close!

I am almost caught up on my reading list, which means… I have to pick up new books to read. The library’s got me covered, though. I should be able to finish up Assassin’s Creed II soon, and after that, we’re doing Brotherhood I think?


Allergies haven’t been as bad these last couple of days, so I think pollen levels are going down? Hopefully I haven’t spoken too soon.


I watched a lot of Star Wars last weekend so this is on my mind, and with Easter and everything, redemption’s on my mind.

Saturday, March 28, 2026

The Joy of Fan Theories

Hello! I am out of town for a bit so this might not be a full Saturday Note! Or it might be! I’ll find out when I finish writing it. While I’m working on this, I am reading Persepolis, I have finished the “Bonfire of the Vanities” section on Assassin’s Creed II, and the next book is probably going to be Thieves’ Quarry, I think?

The world is rough out there, so here’s a link to cheer you up. And remember:


NO KINGS.

Saturday, March 21, 2026

Genre & Criticism

Most days this past week, I have woken up with an achey, throbbing ear. This is not ideal for someone who has to listen to phone calls all day for work! So that’s fun.

I am currently reading Play of Shadows by Sebastien de Castell, and in Assassin’s Creed II I got to the Bonfire of the Vanities. Hopefully, I’ll get to writing those Sea of Monsters annotations, though having recently re-read The Patriot Witch, that book would also be a good one for annotations?


Had the strangest urge to write poetry Friday morning…

Saturday, March 14, 2026

"They Used to Be Friends!"

My stomach has been weird these past few days, but I think it’s mostly settled. It’s been worse before, though, so thank goodness for that.

It is PI DAY! Eat some pie. Saint Patrick’s Day is coming up, if you go to parties for that? It’s, unsurprisingly, not as big a deal in this Puerto Rican household.


Right now I’m re-reading The Sea of Monsters and taking notes for annotations. After that is a de Castell book? I think? It might be Patriot Witch. I’m a little behind on my reading.

Saturday, March 7, 2026

Norse Myth Stories: Where are the Elves?

I am out of town this week! So we have a shorter Note than usual. 

As for reading/gaming update: I am starting a new urban fantasy series, October Daye–which is quite fun so far! It’s interesting to see another urban fantasy author cover the fae stuff, and also weird to see someone with a fantasy series revolving around fae courts long before the romantasy takeover of the concept.


[I mean, obviously, there were a bunch of these, it’s just now that they really took off in public awareness with that, and it’s weird.]


Still playing Assassin’s Creed II!

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Arthurian England Sux

Yesterday, Pokemon turned 30 years old! 

I am planning a trip next weekend, so I don’t know if I will be able to do a Saturday Note then. I will try, though.


Remember that, as it is Lent, if you have a Catholic parish near you, you will probably find a Friday night Fish Fry, if you feel like doing fish & chips that night.

Saturday, February 21, 2026

The Kudzu Plot

I am off of Tumblr for Lent, so everything that you see posted there throughout the next few weeks is pre-queued, or possibly an imposter. I am also cutting back on TV, so presently not watching any shows. I did just finish an obscenely long YouTube video about BIONICLE, which in part inspired this Note. And I’m reading Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment!


I’ve talked about “Aragorn’s Tax Policy” before, but here’s a good post about it by someone smarter than me. People are also still crying over the canceled Ben Solo movie from Lucasfilm, which still makes no sense to me.


Oh, and I have a new laptop!  So far, so good, but it’s still going through the setup phase.

Saturday, February 14, 2026

Pop Culture Engagement Is Not Mandatory

I went and ate ice cream yesterday, I finished something at work, and the plan is to get a haircut today. Also, did you know that AmTrak has vacation packages? Just an observation.

Not sure what I’m reading today, but I just finished the third Sisters Grimm novel. Might I be able to convince my dad to go watch Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die in the theater? Perhaps not this weekend, what with it being Valentine’s Weekend and all, and I suspect the theater might be full…


Anyhow, Lent is coming next week! Be ready!

Saturday, February 7, 2026

The Delight of a Good Book

It’s been an odd week, but it ended well because yesterday was WAITANGI DAY (the birthday), which turned out quite nice, although I definitely ate too much. Let me know if you want leftovers! I’ll e-mail them to you.

Now I’m not sure how this weekend’s going to go, but I have high hopes. I’m just finished with season one of Fallout, in the short time that it’s on YouTube. And maybe I’m about to get into some good books this next week! We’ll see.


Generally, I’m fairly critical in these essays, but today let’s try something different. It is my birthday (or the day after) after all.

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Magic as Metaphor

It’s a strange week, but I made it through okay. Things are expected to get cold this weekend, so we have that to look forward to. Maybe we’ll get snow? I got one of the Extended Editions from the library; maybe I can convince someone here to watch it with me?

I just finished the Poetic Edda! Well, a volume of it, anyhow. It’s a bit different. I’ve picked up the Chef’s Table miniseries about pizza on Netflix–though I may be giving up Netflix and Hulu for Lent. I started playing the remastered version of Assassin’s Creed II on PS4.


Next Friday is WAITANGI DAY!!!!!

Saturday, January 24, 2026

TV Adaptations Are Not Always Better

I have actually had a pretty good week! I got the new Dresden Files book in a book giveaway on Kindle, I got a reply to a fanmail letter I sent to a fantasy author, and I re-read The Lightning Thief. Question for you guys: if I wrote out annotations to the Percy Jackson book series, would you guys be interested in seeing them?

Lent is coming up sooner than you think, by the way.

Saturday, January 17, 2026

The Percy Jackson Show is Bad

This Saturday Note is written a bit later than usual–I had a dinner thing Friday night (yay!), but also after writing Fun Facts my computer decided that the browser needed to freeze and would not re-open after I closed it and clicked it dozens of times.

Physically, I am much better off than I was at the beginning of the week, in which I felt pretty crappy. I’m re-reading a (possibly signed library copy?!) of The Wee Free Men, and finishing up “Valley of Memory” on Assassin’s Creed: Mirage.


The Extended Editions of The Lord of the Rings are in theaters this weekend, by the way.

Saturday, January 10, 2026

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Discussion Thing

Good day! Being back to work after vacation is hard, but I made it through the week.

Presently, I’m reading Bring Me the Head of Joaquin Murrieta; after that, I have a couple of other nonfiction books from the library (I got too many–I need to pick up a novel soon). Probably giving up the Percy Jackson show because, uh, the writing is dumb overall, so finishing up the Jurassic Park cartoon on Netflix, and starting season two of A Man on the Inside


Playing the “Valley of Memory” expansion for Assassin’s Creed: Mirage.

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Not Everything is an Exact Allegory

I wasn’t even sure if we’d have a Saturday Note this week. I spent most of it out of town on vacation, so I don’t have a list of notes of things I wanted to talk about, or an outline or something like that. I do have some dragon sketch practice, though.

Presently reading an Avatar book, about Yangchen. I have a lot of laundry to do today, so I'm not sure if I’ll be able to do a lot this weekend.

Now I feel like I've written about this kind of thing before? I can’t find it, though, at least not in the Saturday Notes, so we’re going to go with it anyway.