Game Review: Blue Toad Murder Files

Image via Adventure Corner

You should know by now that I love free stuff, so it should as no surprise that I enjoy downloading free video games from the Playstation Network.  I downloaded the game Blue Toad Murder Files the other day because as you'll recall I enjoy murder stuff.  I also really enjoy games where I get to play a detective and solve mysteries, so this seemed right up my alley. 

I'll go ahead and tell you right now that I didn't enjoy the game.  I think that I'm older than the target audience or something.  Most of the puzzles are ridiculously easy.  And then there's this one puzzle where you're supposed to remember exactly what an old lady you talked to earlier looked like.  Instead of staring at her face when I was talking to her, I was waiting for her to stop babbling.

one of the more enjoyable puzzles, image via Adventure Corner

So basically your character is a detective on vacation in the town of Little Riddle.  He arrives just in time for a murder to happen.  Then he has to solve it.  He does this by solving puzzles.

I'm sure that there are people who will enjoy this game, but there isn't enough exploring and investigating in it for me.  When I'm playing a detective game, I like to have to look around and spot small details.  This game basically makes you follow a set path, and I don't like such rigid structure in games.

This game is available as an app.  I think it makes more sense as a smart phone game.  It doesn't take a whole lot of brain power, but it isn't too repetitive.  But if you are going to play this game, you need to be observant in order to pass the pop quizzes throughout it.

The one thing that I liked about this game is that one guy voiced all of the characters.  I thought that was pretty cool.

I give Blue Toad Murder Files 1.5 stars out of 5.  It wasn't my favorite, but it was alright to play for about a half hour.

Where to Go in Seattle: Olympic Sculpture Park

A couple of weeks ago we had really nice Spring-like weather here in Seattle.  (It didn't last long though.)  While it was still nice, G and I went to Olympic Sculpture Park on the weekend.  I have wanted to go there ever since I learned of its existence.  And also it's completely free to go there, so if you're strapped for cash or on a budget, it's a great place to go to.  I took about a bajillion photos of the sculptures from all sorts of different angles and will be selling prints of some of the photos in my shop before too long.  Here are a few of my favorites, and I'll share more in the future.  I'm pretty sure I'll have a whole post full of them called "These Photos are Blurry but I Like Them Anyway".  I'll save the sunset sculpture silhouette ones for a separate post too, and make another post for my beloved "spot the Space Needle" photos.

This sculpture looked really cool from every single angle, but this was one of my favorite angles to shoot it at.  It's also a great sculpture for taking (in my case accidental) self-shots, though I'm not in this photo.

It took so long for all of the people to clear out so I could take this photo.

This was my favorite sculpture to photograph.

This one sort of resembled a shipwreck.

And here's one more of this sculpture.

Friday Favorites: Flowers

If you know me at all, you'll know that I absolutely love things that are different from the ordinary.  So it should be no surprise to you that one of my favorite kinds of flowers is the anemone  They're like if you took a photo of a poppy and inverted the colors, sort of.  Here in Seattle, we had one week of sunshine and then it went back to rain.  It was enough sunshine to make the flowers bloom though.  And I'm pretty conflicted because the flowers are so pretty, but they drive my allergies crazy, even with allergy medicine.

So I've been getting my flower fix online, where they don't make my eyes water and my nose run.  I even have a whole board full of lovely flowers (and flower crafts) on Pinterest.  It's here if you want to see it.

via Indecora

Where to Shop in Seattle: Assistance League Thrift Store

My bus goes past this thrift store every day on my way to work and every day on my way home, and you guys know how much I love thrifting, so it was really only a matter of time until I checked it out.  I stopped by for the first time two weeks ago on Thursday, which is the last day of my work week.  Unfortunately that day they had to close early because one of the volunteers who work there wasn't able to come in.  I did have enough time to find and try on a really cute blazer which fit me perfectly, so I bought it.

I went back to the thrift store last week, again on Thursday.  I asked the lady working there that day if I could take some photos for my blog.  She let me take some photos and then she shared information with me about the wonderful organization that runs the thrift store.  The thrift store is called Bargain Fair Thrift Shop.  It is located in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle at 1415 N 45th St
Seattle, WA 98103.  It is run by volunteers who work for The Assistance League of Seattle.  (The Assistance League has branches in many other major U.S. cities.)  The Assistance League is a really great organization.  The Seattle branch of this organization provides new school clothes for underprivileged children, provides enrichment scholarships for kids who couldn't otherwise afford extracurricular classes, and awards community college scholarships to adults who may not qualify for traditional scholarships.

And if a great cause isn't enough to convince you to shop there, maybe the great prices will.  When I was there they were having a half off sale on all of the black clothing or clothing that had any black in it.  But enough words, it's picture time!

so many lovely teacups and saucers!

This dress is so pretty!

racks of clothing just waiting to be browsed for treasures

a pretty good selection of dishes and vases

And now I would like to share with you all of the things that I bought.  Keep in mind that I hadn't thrifted for quite a few months while I was sick and not working, so I had to make up for all of those months without any thrifting.

I bought two jewelry boxes, a gold-rimmed saucer, a flower print mug, a little dish for jewelry, a pretty orange top

a ring holder, a cookbook for G, next year's winter coat, a Forever 21 floral top, a black lace top,

a black dress, a ruffly grey dress, and a floral scarf, all for the grand total of $57!

So if you live in Seattle or are planning to visit Seattle, you should definitely visit Bargain Fair Thrift Shop.  There is lots of vintage clothing, modern clothing, and housewares, all for unbelievably great prices.