You'll notice that this isn't the type of book I normally read these days

I've been contemplating buying this off Amazon for a while now. I kept going back and forth, telling myself it's ridiculous to buy a children's book at this point in my life and then arguing that I used to borrow it from the library all the time when I was younger, which makes it a vital part of my childhood and worth owning.

The Scary Book is a compilation of short stories, jokes, poems and games that you can play on Halloween. Or any time you're having a sleepover, really. If you're the type of kid I was. (You know, the type who enjoyed being scared and scaring others.)

This is aimed at young children, but there's a story in here called Taily-po. I never, ever forgot this story. I had read a different version in another scary story compilation (I wish I could remember the name of it) and it terrified me. The ending wasn't quite as tame as it is in The Scary Book. If you haven't heard the story before, you can read it here:http://www.ghostsandstories.com/tailypo.html

Aside from this book, I also used to borrow all the Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark books from the library. Some of those stories were actually frightening and stick with me even now. Like the one about the two children who behaved badly because they were promised a drum if they did, but their mother got fed up and left, leaving them with a mother who had a wooden tail.

What I remember most from those books are the illustrations. They were incredibly effective. I always remembered one of them. I don't know what the story was that it went along with, only that I had trouble sleeping at night after looking at it. Looking at it now, I have no idea why it bothered me so much.

Maybe it's because its body is so distorted, or I was afraid to wake up in the middle of the night and see it in my bedroom. I really have no idea.

I always have more to say when I'm not particularly fond of a game

I'm not even sure where to start here. I suppose I should start by saying that Bioshock is one of the most impressive games I've ever played. And that I did not hate Bioshock 2 by any means. It is actually a good game. There are just a lot of things I didn't like about it.

He's a monster

Trying to put on makeup? Nope, not allowed. Finnick doesn't like that.

And no, you're not imagining things. His eyes aren't blue anymore.

In terms of game difficulty

I'm going to say...Bioshock on Survivor is harder than Dead Space 2 on Hardcore.

It doesn't seem to be as bad now that I'm in Arcadia, but Welcome to Rapture, Medical Pavillion and Neptune's Bounty were horrible.

The very first enemy of the game almost killed me. I actually restarted about six times, thinking I could do better...I couldn't. Electro Bolt was almost completely useless because it didn't allow me to kill enemies in one hit afterward, and it took up too much EVE for me to really be able to take advantage of it. This was difficult to get used to, considering when I played on Normal, I almost always used Electro Bolt and the wrench on Splicers. Getting through Welcome to Rapture was a struggle.

Medical Pavillion wasn't much better. I restarted the beginning of that area several times as well, until I finally realized that those first few Splicers weren't going to get any easier, and I might as well just settle for what I'd accomplished...If you even consider losing multiple health packs an accomplishment. (I don't.) What I started to understand is that all those security cameras and turrets I'd destroyed on my first playthrough now needed to be hacked if I ever wanted to get to Neptune's Bounty. (I really DIDN'T want to, but more on that later.)

You have to use the environment to get through this game on Survivor, just like you have to use the environment to get through Dead Space 2 on Hardcore. I wouldn't say it's easier now that I've been hacking turrets, since they're so easily destroyed, but they do inflict some damage on the Splicers, and every little bit helps.

Neptune's Bounty is where I really thought I would give up. My playthrough on Normal was bad enough, during the first Big Daddy fight, there seemed to be an invisible wall every time I tried to TK an explosive barrel at him. This time, I used a different tactic to avoid that issue, but I still ended up having to restart mid-battle. (I have ten different save files, and every time I move more than three feet, I save again. Better safe than sorry.)

Throughout that entire level, I was low on cash, ammo, first aid kits and EVE. I constantly had to restock at vending machines. After the final Big Daddy fight, I had one first aid kit left and I was pretty sure that was the end of things for me, but I managed to get really lucky and by the time I was out of Smuggler's Hideout, I had enough healing supplies that I felt confident enough to continue on instead of restarting.

And now in Arcadia, things seem to be going a bit better, even with the introduction of the Houdini Splicers. Granted, I'm not very far into it, but I'm starting to get the tonics I need to make my wrench useful, so that's helping things go a bit smoother.

Honestly, I expected this to be easier. It's definitely not impossible, but those first few areas are a struggle. And what makes it worse is the fact that Atlas talks way too damn much, and I'd like to reach through my TV and strangle him. There's enough annoyance on Survivor without him saying, "Would you kindly...?" every five minutes.

Anyone else notice this?

Aside from the difficulty, just to comment on the story itself...I've never felt so used during a game before. I knew something wasn't right because I'd stumbled upon a spoiler on a messageboard (unfortunately), but I wasn't expecting exactly what it turned out to be. I wish I would have played Bioshock when it was released, it's such an amazing game, I really missed out. It's also making me rethink my stance on first person shooters.

If only my library had those cards in the back of their books

I tried to renew On The Beach yesterday, but someone had already requested it.

To my knowledge, it's not a popular book. No one I know has heard of it. It was released in 1957.

I'm so curious as to who requested it. I would love to talk to that person.

I really wanted to keep this kitten

But I'm already one cat away from being a crazy cat lady, so I told my neighbor I couldn't keep it. :(

Miracle product for curly hair?

About a week ago, I was looking on the Fedora Lounge's messageboard for a good setting lotion because I was going to do rag curls in my hair...And I don't have the type of hair that can just be left to dry naturally because BAD things happen if I don't put product in it. And with rag curls...REALLY bad things happen.

So I found a link to an Etsy account for something called Flax Seed Gel. I had never heard of this before so I did some research online and found out that it's all natural and people SWEAR by it. It's supposed to be really good for your hair as well as defining your curls. That's something that I need because for the past couple of years, when I leave my hair curly, it looks terrible.

I ordered mine here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54454989/8-oz-all-natural-flax-gelee-custom

It's $15 for an 8 oz. bottle, plus I think it was $5 for shipping. It seems a bit pricey for something that most people just make themselves (more on that later), but I didn't want to go through the trouble of making it myself, so I didn't really care. And I'm under the impression that you can have other ingredients added for free (there's a list if you click the link), but I didn't bother to do that because I was in a rush when I ordered mine. I'd also like to mention that I ordered it on June 26th and...I guess it got here July 2nd, because I left on Saturday and there was no mail Sunday or yesterday, and the package was here when I got home. So it was made and delivered quickly, which I appreciate.

Here are pictures:

I included the business cards because I really like it when companies send them. If you want to recommend them to your friends, it makes things a lot easier.

(If you order this gel, you should know that even though it's made with preservatives, it's recommended that you keep it refrigerated.)

My first impression upon seeing it was...This doesn't look very appealing at all. And that's nothing against the person who made it. If you look up YouTube videos, it ALL looks like that. It's just very cloudy looking. And then when I went to put it in my hair, the consistency was also kind of strange. It's not a typical gel, it feels more like a liquid. And you have to be very careful when you're holding the bottle upside down because it will just pour out.

Before I get to my thoughts after using it, I'd like to say that I am always VERY skeptical when trying new hair products. They rarely ever work as well as they're supposed to. When I first applied this, I wasn't expecting anything, especially since my curls didn't seem any more defined than usual. However, the more it dried, the more I began to see that yes, the gel actually DID define my curls. It did a damn good job of it. I don't think I used enough in the back of my hair, so I'll have to use more next time. But other than that, it worked amazingly well and I definitely recommend it to anyone else who struggles with naturally curly hair.

Better than Broadway

Sunday night, I went to see Legally Blonde: The Musical at the Gateway on Long Island. Having seen it three times on Broadway already, I wasn't as excited to see it as I normally would be to see a stage performance. I made a comment a while back about how I regretted seeing Legally Blonde so many times because I could have been seeing other musicals on Broadway instead of repeatedly seeing the same show.

Just to give you an idea of how obsessed I actually was:

The entire back is autographed, too. (No picture of the back, someone spilled coffee on it.) Because Lori and I had the cast sign it four times. Four times? Yes. We went into the city on a day when we weren't seeing Legally Blonde and had them sign it before Laura Bell Bundy left the show.

And here are all the playbills:

Anyway, as I said, I wasn't that excited. I knew the cast was talented, I'd seen a rehearsal video. But I just sort of had a "been there, done that" attitude about it.

And of course, as soon as the curtain went up, that attitude was gone. I forgot how much I loved Legally Blonde until that moment. My honest opinion of the performance at the Gateway is that it was better than it was on Broadway.

Ruby Lewis blew Laura Bell Bundy (and Bailey Hanks, but that goes without question) away. She was perfect as Elle. Brent Michael DiRoma was an incredible Emmett. I'm so used to Christian Borle as Emmett, so I expected someone older to be playing that role, but he was amazing, I wouldn't have changed it. The entire cast was great.

There were a few changes to the lyrics. Most of them weren't drastic, but "Ireland" was almost an entirely different song. Not that that's a bad thing. I'm just wondering what the reasoning for changing so much of it was. And normally, "Legally Blonde" takes place outside of Elle's dorm room, with Emmett on one side of the door and Elle on the other. But that wasn't the case last night, Emmett and Elle were in the same room. I kept waiting for the part where Emmett sings, "Please will you open the door" because I was curious as to whether or not they would use the line from one of the older versions where he sings, "You never gave up before" instead. (I know every lyric change these songs have gone through from the demo album to the SF previews, to Broadway.) They didn't use that though, instead he sang, "I should have told you before." Honestly, regardless of what line they use, that song is my absolute favorite, and Ruby and Brent sang it beautifully.

"Whipped Into Shape" was, as always, one of the best numbers to watch. I have no idea how any of those people can get through that night after night without constantly tripping up, which is why it's always so great to watch.

And, cutest thing ever. The dog who played Rufus was in Legally Blonde on Broadway. And the dog who played Bruiser was in the National Tour.

Legally Blonde is playing through July 9th, so if you're anywhere near Long Island, I would definitely recommend seeing it.

http://www.gatewayplayhouse.com/index.html

Uncharted 3 has two major things going for it

Just got around to playing the beta yesterday, and I was very impressed.

The first thing I really liked is, FINALLY, you automatically pick up ammo for guns you have equipped. In the first two games, you always had to press triangle to pick up ammo. That may not sound like a big deal, but when you have a huge pile of guns in front of you, it's difficult to pick up ammo without switching guns out. There have been so many times where I've had the M4 equipped, gone to pick up ammo lying on the ground, and ended up switching to an AK47. And...If you have an M4, you really don't want to get rid of it for an AK47.

The second thing that kind of blew my mind is that now your eyes (Drake's eyes) take a second to adjust to light/dark. I walked out of the sun and into a building, and everything went dark for a second. I actually walked BACK out to see if I was imagining it. And then I had to ask James, "Umm...Is it me, or do your eyes need to adjust to different lighting now?" This may not sound important, but I LOVE it, I think it's the coolest thing...Ever. Especially since this was a feature Resident Evil 5 was supposed to have, and they never implemented it. And if you're wondering where I got that information, here (at the 4:40 mark):