The Vanishing Game by William Boyd

It is that time of year again when it starts to get dark far too early. Gone are the sunny days down the beach or picnics at the park. Replaced by the biting winds of winter. It is always difficult adjusting into the rhythms of the winter. Not only do our activity options become more limited but our bodies also start to change.

Humans weren’t meant to be as active during the winter months. It is only due to our consumer focused society that we are forced to maintain a similar life schedule during the winter. It is why seasonal affective disorder is so rampant these days. Too many people find themselves becoming extremely bored during the winter.

But that is why we are here to help you stave off the winter boredom this year. We have compiled 7 fun hobbies and activities that are guaranteed to add a bit of light into these dark months!

Baking

Nothing quite encapsulates that Christmas feeling more than the smell of freshly baked gingerbread cookies. The winter months are the perfect time to get into baking. Or, if you’ve always had a passion for it, now is the time to hone your craft and try some new recipes.

Baking is super easy to get into. And is an amazing bonding activity for families to do together. If you have children they will get a kick out of baking and decorating their very own gingerbread house! Or maybe you could get a jump start on making the desserts for Christmas dinner this year.

Puzzle Games

One of the best ways to stave off seasonal depression is by keeping your mind occupied. And puzzle games are one of the best ways of doing this. Nothing is more satisfying than finally solving a tricky puzzle.

I have recently fallen in love with word wipe. A wordsearch style game that borrows elements of tetris to create a more intricate puzzle. You have to strategically find words to move about the remaining letters. You can play the word wipe game online or download it from the app store.

Learn Mixology

Just because summer has gone doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy a stiff cocktail with your friends. But why not shake things up a bit and try your hand at mixology. The art of crafting cocktails is a lot more varied and exciting than people think.

There are thousands of amazing drink recipes out there. But you could take it a step further and start learning some tricks with your cocktail shaker. This is a surefire way to impress your friends and family at Christmas dinner. And nothing makes people happier than trying a new delicious cocktail during the holidays!

Set Yourself A Reading Challenge

Winter is the perfect time to curl up with a good book. Be it an exciting fantasy novel that transports you off to distant lands, to a riveting biography of one of your favorite celebrities. Whatever you taste, now is the time to catch up on your reading.

Setting yourself a reading challenge is a great way to keep yourself motivated. Every book you finish will fill you with a stronger sense of satisfaction as you move ever closer to your reading goal for the season. This is also a great way to strengthen your reading habit into the new year!

Winter Bar Crawl

Just because the days are darker doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy a raucous night of drinking with your friends. And there is no better way to do this than with a bar crawl. Hitting all your favorite spots and soaking up the nightlife. As we get closer to Christmas you might consider adding a festive theme to your bar crawl. Maybe everyone has to dress up in Santa outfits. Or perhaps you could host a festive themed quiz along the way!

Movie Marathon

There is no better time than winter to gather your friends round for a movie marathon. But why not take it to the next level? Maybe you make it a themed movie night. Or everyone has to come dressed as their favorite movie character. It’s little things like that that can really elevate a movie marathon into an unforgettable evening.

Take Up A New Hobby

You might find yourself with a lot more free time during the winter months. With less outdoor social plans being made, now is the perfect time to pick up a new hobby. There are so many interesting hobbies you can learn from the comfort of your own home.

Cardistry is a great example of this. Have you ever seen magicians or poker dealers doing amazing cuts and flourishes with a deck of cards? It isn’t as difficult as you might think. There are hundreds of tutorials online breaking down the process. Within a few months you can be doing some amazing tricks.

Or maybe you could take up scrapbooking. I’m sure you have lots of photos and tickets from memorable gigs just sitting around. Why not start compiling them into an amazing keepsake book.

With the rising popularity of communities like Booktok, it’s no wonder then there have been more and more people looking into some of the most famous characters in literary Canon. What are your interests born from one thing to find interesting characters to read about or simply because you’ve seen a lot of advertising about technologies that allow you to have free AI character chat you might be interested to learn about some of the most famous and best characters ever written. So, let’s take a look at our selection of some of the best characters from fiction. It’s important to note that this is only a small selection of characters as the number of amazing characters in literary fiction is impossible to count.

One of the best characters in literary fiction that is coming directly from the English literary Canon. We are of course talking about Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is not only one of the best literary canon characters but it is also one of the most recognizable. Arthur Conan Doyle’s character has been adapted so many times that people recognize every single aspect of the character from its villains to his outfit. One of the best examples that justifies our pick for this character is that Not only is he still being referenced to this day, but he spawned the old genre of procedural police stories. Whether you enjoy CSI or old episodes of Columbo the reality is that they wouldn’t be what they are today without the stories of Sherlock Holmes. Whether you are a fan of The Hounds of Baskerville or the classic study in Scarlet you will see that there is so much to Sherlock Holmes that every single story is worth exploring.

Our next big is not a character but it is a cast of character rather. We are talking about the fellowship of the ring. From Gandalf to Aragorn order to Lord of Darkness himself Sauron the reality is that without the Lord of the Rings, we wouldn’t have any of the fantasy that we know now that is. It is very much a testament to how great the characters in those books are that even to this day many people who are starting their very first Dungeons and Dragons campaign will model their first character on one of the members of the Fellowship of the Ring. Whether you enjoy video games like World of Warcraft or tabletop games like Warhammer the reality is of course that fantasy is the way it is thanks to JRR Tolkien. The importance of those characters to any sort of fantasy world cannot be overstated.

Now let’s cross the ocean and look at a little bit of American literature. For many people, there is no debate that Cormac McCarthy is one of the best if not the Best Western author when it comes to writing Wild West stories. While the author himself would probably grant the title to Charles Portis who wrote True Grit. Despite that McCarthy’s book Blood Meridian remains one of the most haunting books to come out of the United States and his main character the judge must be one of the most frightening literary characters of Modern literature. Not only is he a profoundly evil man who encapsulates all of humanity’s disgusting and wrong sides he also cuts an impressive figure that even in the written form will stick with you probably forever. If you’ve never read Blood Meridian, you should avoid reading anything about it and go into it blind.

Now for something completely different let’s talk about comics. Why do many people consider him to be one of the most boring superheroes the reality is that he is a profoundly interesting character who has so much history behind him that to dismiss him like that is reckless. While you might be thinking of a bad man we’re talking about Clark Kent or Superman. For many people, the idea of a character just being a good person and always keeping hope can seem uninteresting, but the reality is that there is a real complexity to a character like this. The world is bleak enough for us to deprive ourselves of our Hopeful fiction. Having characters who believe in humanity and believe in the good that people can do is important since it is very easy to become cynical about the state of the world. Even when comics become bleak Superman always ends up being a shining beacon that allows us to remember that there is good in the world, and everybody can do good in the world if they work to do it.

Natural disaster movies are some of the most-watched movies in the movie industry. They are often very emotional, especially the ones based on true life events. Here is a list of the best natural disaster movies ever made.

Titanic

Titanic is one of the most emotional movies ever created. It is based on the actual wreckage of a ship by the same name, but the story of Rose and Jack is fictional. More than 1500 lives were lost in the actual disaster. The romance between Jack and Rose and its disastrous end is heart-wrenching. The movie was well-scripted and can be said to be one of the best disaster movies ever released. Titanic was released in 1997, and James Cameron directed it.

The Perfect Storm

The Perfect Storm is based on a true event. It tells the story of a bunch of crew members in a fishing vessel that went in pursuit of a huge catch when all hell broke loose. They had to deal with the wrath of a hurricane and a raging storm, a terrible combination. The Perfect Storm was released in 2000.

The Impossible

The Impossible is a true life story about a family that experienced the tsunami disaster in India. The tsunami was an ocean earthquake that claimed the lives of so many in 2004. The movie tells the story of a family that went on a Christmas vacation in Thailand. Their ordeal started on Christmas Eve, and they had to fight to survive.

Armageddon

Armageddon is one of the greatest disaster movies ever made. The movie was released in 1998 and directed by Michael Bay. Armageddon tells the story of oil drillers recruited by NASA to help prevent an asteroid from colliding with Earth. The movie is packed with so many emotions, especially love and fear.

DeepWater Horizon

DeepWater Horizon had to be on this list. This 2016 movie is an all-time favourite for most movie lovers. It tells the story of the biggest petroleum industry oil spill in history. The movie is based on a true life event, and it was able to depict a picture that seemed almost real. Fire disasters are the worst kind of disasters both on land and sea. In most areas, local disaster relief service, such as the ARC or the Salvation Army, are trained to help out during fire or other life-threatening disasters.

Contagion

Contagion is a 2011 movie about the spread of a deadly virus across the globe and how all efforts to stop the virus from spreading were futile. It also showed how much information and misinformation about the pandemic were circulated and how they impacted the world. The movie trended in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the whole world. The film’s storyline was almost similar to what happened during the pandemic.

Aftershock

Aftershock, like most disaster movies, is based on true-life events. It tells the story of the 1976 magnitude XI earthquake that happened in the region of Tangshan, China. Aftershock is based on the aftermath of the disaster. It tells the story of a set of twins that got separated during the disaster and united after a long time. Most disaster movies tell the story of what happened during this disaster, but this unique movie tells the story of the impact of disasters on the lives of the survivors.

Twister

Twister tells the story of two storm chasers that were not so good at it, and they ended up getting more than they bargained for. A tornado is a deadly storm that always causes a lot of havoc whenever it comes. The two main characters in this movie had to find a means to survive the tornado. They went from storm chasers to trying to survive the storm.

Don’t Look Up

This disaster movie is a bit different from others as it is both comical and quite emotional. Don’t Look Up is an apocalyptic dark comedy that tells the story of two astronomers who discovered that a comet capable of destroying the world was headed towards Earth. No one listened to their warnings, and the outcome was deadly, but there was hope at the end. Don’t Look Up was released on Netflix in 2021.

The Poseidon Adventure

The Poseidon Adventure is a movie about a ship that was sunk by a tsunami ( an ocean earthquake. The ship was flipped upside down and sunk to the bottom of the sea. The movie is based on a novel, and it isn’t a true-life event. The Poseidon Adventure was released in 1972 and was one of the top movies at the time of its release.

Conclusion

While most natural disaster movies are based on true life events, some of them are fictional. If you are the emotional type, you are bound to cry a lot after watching most or all of the movies on our list.

Since gaming has gained a lot of popularity over the past two decades, it can be very tempting to join the hobby and seek out a way to play the most popular titles currently available on the market. If you are a new player or a noob as gamers say, it can be quite a daunting feat to get into gaming, especially with all the options available to you currently. Whether it be the many consoles like the Nintendo Switch, Play Station 5, Xbox Series S, or the Steam Deck, it can be difficult to know where to begin. That much gets even more true once you realize the price tag of gaming is not that low and it can be quite expensive to get started. So let’s how you can play popular games even on a smaller budget.

So you’ve grown an interest in starting to game, maybe you’ve seen your favorite streamer play hours of Fortnite, or your favorite youtube spends days building marvels in Minecraft. Since you can’t manage to get Minecraft unblocked at school or find a way to run Fortnite on a library computer you sought out the most recent console or gaming computer and made a shocking discovery. Consoles themselves are hundreds of dollars and computers go for thousands upon thousands of dollars. This is of course without even considering the price of games themselves which are ever-increasing and slowly getting closer to the one hundred dollar price tag for a single new release.

Fear not! While many new games require extremely powerful machines to be able to handle things like PhysX and Raytracing, popular games have been developed with a different thing in mind. Accessibility! While accessibility often refers to making games for people with disabilities, in this case, we are referring to people with lower-tier machines. For example games like Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox all can run on less demanding specs by lowering the graphics and omitting certain aesthetic elements that could be very demanding on outdated personal computers. This means even your old laptop can run some very popular games.

What’s great with gaming culture too is that just because a game is old it doesn’t mean its irrelevant, some of the most popular games according to steam charts are all games that have been out for many years, which means they are games that require much less powerful machines to run. For example on steam charts we can see over seven hundred thousand concurrent players still active daily on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and six hundred and forty thousand players for Dota 2. Counter-Strike came out in 2012 and Dota 2 in 2013! The best thing about this as well is that these games are completely free! Sometimes it seems some of the best things in life can be free after all!

You might be looking to play some single-player experiences and enjoy some of the best games the industry has to offer. Thankfully if your budget is low you can always for one of the many seasonal sales which have become a staple of pc gaming. These sales often range from 5 to 90 percent off the price of some top award-winning games. So you have the opportunity to snatch up games like Cyberpunk 2077 at a stunning -50% sale! While it won’t allow you to play certain games on release day you will still get the opportunity to enjoy some of the best and most popular titles of the last decade at a much lower price than their initial release pricing.

As you can see gaming is a pretty democratized hobby and if you want to play a certain game there are always option to fulfill your gaming needs even if you don’t have that much money to invest in the hobby. Of course, a low-budget experience is much different than a high-budget one but the important is that everyone who wants to play gets to play something somehow. Gamers and developers alike are trying their best to make video games as available to all as possible even with the ever-increasing power of the new technologies that power the future of gaming and especially triple-A game development. In the end, the important is to find a way to play games your way and make fun of this hobby. You can always interact with the community if you need help adjusting!

If you consider yourself to be somewhat of a gamer, then it is likely that your obsession is not something that just randomly appeared one day. Gamers develop their interest for gaming from a young age, as this is when we are usually more interested in gaming and trying out games for ourselves.

If you were lucky enough, your parents probably bought you some of the classic consoles such as the N64 and the gamecube. Arguably, these consoles had some of the best games such as Mario, Legends of Zelda and even Crash Bandicoot.

If you are a classic gamer, then it is likely that you miss a lot of the games that you used to play when you were younger and the games of today simply do not compare to what you used to play. However, you will be glad to know that a lot of the games that we played when we were younger are still incredibly popular and continue to be remade on all of the new consoles that are being released onto the market every year. Here is a look at just some of the games that never lost their popularity.

Minecraft

Since its release in the early twenty-tens, Minecraft has continued to be one of the most popular games in the world. If you think about when you head to stores or supermarkets, it is likely that you will encounter Minecraft Merchandise of some sort. The game has had a lot of updates since its initial release, which means that it has managed to maintain its popularity. The game is also incredibly social, as you can play and meet people using online servers. If you have only ever played Minecraft in solo mode, there’s a Minecraft servers list here that you have to check out and try for yourself.

Portal

If you are a child of the early 2000s, then it is likely that you have definitely played Portal. When Portal was originally released, it was a game that was only accessible on PC, but because the game was so incredibly popular, it was later added to other consoles. The most recent console that it has been added to is Switch and if you have a friend that you can play with, you can take on the character roles of Atlas and Peabody.

GTA V

Since its release in 2013, GTA V has been labeled as one of the best games in the series. It allowed us to play the game through three very different perspectives, which had never been offered in any of the Previous GTA games. The story mode of GTA V was a lot more detailed and complex than other GTA games and the graphics were so beautiful that pictures from the game have been mistaken as real life photographs. This game continues to be added to new consoles and even when they finally release another game in the series, I think that they will continue to add this game on future consoles.

Skyrim

If you are a fan of the Elder Scrolls series, then it is likely that you have spent a lot of time on one of the most popular games in the series, Skyrim. Skyrim is the latest installment to the Elder Scrolls series and for a lot of fans, it is considered to be the best game that you can play in the series. This game has really been held to a high standard by the community and you can now ever play it in VR mode, which makes the game more immersive than it has ever been before.

Mario Kart

To finish off this list, we had to talk about one of the classic games that everyone in the world has played at one point or another. I am of course referring to Mario Kart, which is a game that was released in the early 90s and has been a family favorite ever since. Mario Kart allows you to play as your favorite Nintendo characters in classic courses and even new courses. The latest installment in the series is Mario Kart 8 which was released on Switch in 2018, it features a lot of classic characters and maps, as well as new ones you have never seen before.

Whether you are into politics, video games, or even classical art you probably spend a lot of time browsing the internet to connect with your community or to investigate the news on your favorite subjects. You might spend time on specific and specialized websites but more likely than not engage with your circles on some of the biggest online platforms. So, you may engage with online videos, live streams, or text threads posted by other users. If you, don’t you might be wondering, where can I find all these media? Well, the best way to connect to your favorite subjects and their communities online is to check out some of the biggest available platforms, so let’s go through a few.

1. Facebook

Facebook comes first on our list as it is the least current of the big platforms. While Facebook maintained its popularity for popular use and group content it did lose a lot of its place to other larger and trendier platforms. Facebook still is one of the biggest social media platforms of all time though, and there are a lot of communities that do gather on this platform. But following the scandals in which Facebook, now called Meta, was revealed to be selling user data during a hearing with the American government, Facebook has lost a lot of its luster.

2. Reddit

This platform is the culmination of the concept of internet forums. Reddit is the biggest forum as it has subcategories for everything you can think of. Whether you are a content creator, a political activist, or a beanie baby collector you will find the right category for you. In some cases, hyper niche categories also exist so you may find a community that’s exactly tailored to your needs as a beanie baby collecting politically active content creator. Reddit is also a platform that often shares articles and links to news outlets, so it is a great tool to remain informed, although fact-checking is never a bad idea.

3. Onlyfans

This one is a bit infamous due to its most explicit content, but it is a very popular platform and a great way to support plenty of content creators who prefer its monetization system to other platforms like Patreon. Its infamy is mostly unjustified as it is a perfect platform to give back power to sex workers or models who wish to put their content out there and avoid being abused and exploited by a predatory industry. So, whether you wish to support a cosplayer who offers lewder pictures or a content creator who posts exclusive content on Onlyfans, it is a great tool for your support to go directly to your favorite content creator.

4. Twitter

Tweets have become the best and fastest method for content creators to communicate with their bases. A tweet is an effective way to let all your followers know about your new YouTube video or if you are going live on YouTube or twitch. It is also a perfect tool to muster engagement and interactions with other big content creators to hype up your content. If you don’t use Twitter, you should! It is a great way to keep up to date on your political news, favorite celebrity, or preferred content creators.

5. Twitch

The amazon lives streaming platform is the biggest platform for streaming on the planet. It beats out YouTube live streams and Facebook live streams by a large margin. Whether you are interested in starting out streaming or you simply like to watch streamers, you cannot go wrong with Twitch. Whether you like video games, interesting people only chatting or even political commentary, Twitch has a large array of content creators you can choose from.

6. TikTok

The spiritual successor to Vine, TikTok has taken the planet by storm. While a much younger platform with a younger audience, TikTok garners millions of views and makes or breaks influencer careers on the daily. Its rise is phenomenal, but it is only the beginning of this small platform. You can find a lot of everything on TikTok, original music, dance trends, social activism, and just general memes are the bread and butter of this platform.

As you can see there are a lot of platforms to choose from depending on your interests and the way you use the internet. Explore all these platforms and find the right one for you if you aren’t already using these large and popular platforms in your daily internet routine. These are some of the top ones but as you can imagine other platforms still occupy a large place o the internet charts.

If you are someone with a large family, Christmas is likely both the best and the worst time of year. It is the best because you are able to make plenty of amazing memories with the people that you love and you can enjoy some time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Though it is an amazing time of year, it is also incredibly difficult in terms of money, especially if you have a big family and a small budget. Christmas doesn’t have to break the bank and here is how you can experience Christmas on a budget.

Save Up Through The Year

Something that a lot of people do is start their christmas saving at the very start of the year. You can actually buy small jars and tubs that are especially designed to allow you to collect change in it through the year that you can then spend on Christmas. Whenever you have a spare dollar or change from shopping, you can throw it into your little savings jar and it will all start to slowly add up.

Buy Gifts Earlier On

We all have one of those friends who starts their christmas shopping in January and we always laugh at them for being ridiculous. However, these people are also the ones that are not worried about buying gifts when December rolls around. You also have to remember that in January and February there are a lot of excellent deals on gifts and you can actually buy your christmas decorations for cents. It just makes sense to make a low investment earlier in the year as this will allow you to save money in December.

Wait For Big Sale Days

As you know, there are certain days in the year that you can find some brilliant deals on christmas gifts. For example, black Friday is well known to be one of the best days in the year to buy presents as you can get objects for less than half off, which will save you a lot of money in the long run. You also have to remember days such as Cyber Monday, as you can get a lot of fantastic deals online ahead of the Christmas season. Wait for seasons to end, as you can get the best deals then.

Work Through Your Debt Ahead of Christmas

Christmas can be even more difficult for you if you are already suffering from debt. The best thing that you can do is work on your debt way before christmas. If you have recently filed for bankruptcy, it is likely that you have a lot of money to pay back and debt to repay. A part of being in debt is having to deal with monthly payment for chapter 13 bankruptcy and this can really get into your Christmas budget and the last thing that you want is for everything to be spent trying to deal with your debt, so prioritize getting on top of your debt early in the year.

Make Gifts Yourself

If you are someone that has a creative streak, it would be a disservice to yourself to not make the most of it. A lot of people actually prefer homemade gifts, as they are a lot more personal than someone just heading to the store and buying you a gift. If you are someone that can knit, something that you can consider is making someone a blanket or even something as simple as a scarf, they will just feel grateful that you have put the time and effort into making them something amazing.

Try and Grow Christmas Produce

One big cost that we all have at Christmas is Christmas dinner. This is especially the case if you have a large family. You are going to need a lot of fresh produce, such as potatoes and other vegetables and these can be costly. However, if you grow them all by yourself, you will be able to save a lot of money which you can invest into other aspects of the holidays. You can also give your friends and family produce for their Christmas dinner and they will really appreciate it as that will save them money too.

Buy Group Experiences

Instead of spending money on buying everyone individual gifts, why not buy a group experience that your loved ones can do together. This will save you a lot of money and it will also be something that will be more memorable for them. You can also get group discounts on events and there are a lot of events that your friends would love. For example, you could take them to a musical or even a play, or if you have younger children you can take them to a fair or an amusement park.