In an effort to blog more without having to produce funny or otherwise interesting content, I’ll be making occasional lists of things I like. Here are five things I’ve been enjoying lately:

The Luck Be A Lady dress from Modcloth.

I bought this dress for a friend’s wedding and it fits like a dream. I’m only 5’2″, so the hem hits just above my knee. It’s super-flattering. This was actually my first purchase from Modcloth and I’m excited to buy more pieces from them. I like finding clothing that plays up my hourglass figure.

Indoor swings made from real furniture.

The post says this is an employee sitting area at an advertising agency. I’d love to do this in my future home library.

My husband’s weekly Magic: The Gathering column.

I’m assuming most readers here are not magic players, so here’s a link to Steve’s article, “Magic for Non-Players: A Concise Primer.” Here’s just one great part of the article:

Magic has traditionally been a boy’s club, but recently it has been getting better. Strangely enough, it’s surprisingly rare to find the text “his or her” on materials from other games, but from the very beginning, Magic cards implicitly assumed that the player could be female. Magic culture is informed in part by fantasy gaming, poker, and other male-dominated cultures, but strong, intentional strides have been made toward addressing gender issues in Magic. We have seen more strong tournament showings by women in the past year than the previous 17, and this is just the tip of the Iceberg. These women are inspiring other women and girls to step up their game, and female tournament attendance has been noticeably higher this year than ever before.

The best part about Steve’s articles are the comments from other readers. It’s clear that his voice is very much appreciated in the Magic community. And I am very proud of him.

The Mistborn trilogy, by Brandon Sanderson.

Okay, this series has its problems, but it is so much fun to read. The first novel is a coming-of-age story in a dystopian society where a crew of thieves is actively working to overthrow  the autocrat-deity-tyrant Lord Ruler.  I’ve been rereading the entire trilogy and it’s been a real joy. The characters are fascinating, the systems of “magic” are really unique and the action scenes aren’t boring. It’s a lot better than I’m making it sound.

The Re-Imagined Battlestar Galactica.

Speaking of sci-fi/fantasy series I’m currently re-devouring… I’m taking advantage of Battlestar Galactica being available to watch instantly on Netflix. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s kind of a political drama that also involves religious differences and the question of what it means to be “human.” If you have seen it already, and you were disappointed by the end (I was), give it another watch. I realized that my dislike of the series finale was souring my opinion of the entire series. It’s very, very good! And there are lots of “funny in hindsight” moments.

So that’s the end of my first “here are some things I like” post. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.