ASRC 2021: Week 7

Hello everyone and welcome to another week of Literary Monopoly. You can find the rules here and fill out the form for participating here.

Now for what staff has been up to this week:

Elias: I'm on a roll when it comes to high rolling. I got a 10 this week and landed on Watch a Video Lecture. I kinda fudged this one by watching some Youtube video essays (most of which were on niche subjects like late 90s and early 2000s video game & anime fan sites, which was a TRIP) rather than something found on Masterclass or LinkedIn Learning. Still, there's a lot to learn out there, especially from all of the Crash Course videos.

I've been a fan of Crash Course since it first launched but I fell behind on their stuff a couple years ago. I've been making my way through their backlog and have just reached their series on Media Literacy, which is an invaluable skill to have. From defining what media even means to what media literacy is and how to cultivate it within yourself, I learned a lot the subject in the just over 2 hours it takes to watch all twelve videos in the series. It doesn't go too in-depth with any of the topics, being a crash course of 10-12 minute, fast moving videos of course, and I do wish this series was a bit longer so they could cover more topics, but the information remains a good starting point. Up next, Crash Course Theater. That should be fun.

I give it 4/5 stars.

Elizabeth: This week I rolled an eight and landed on "Romance." I chose to read a graphic novel, The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang. I absolutely adored this book. In it, Prince Sebastian loves wearing dresses. But since it's not acceptable for a prince to wear dresses, he needs to hide his activities behind the alter ego of Lady Crystallina. He hires Frances to make dresses for him after admiring some of her work. The two take Paris by storm, navigating the fashion world, attempts at arranged marriages, and figuring out their identities. This was a super sweet work and I enjoyed seeing Sebastian and Frances growing closer and closer over time. The art in this novel was beautiful and I loved looking at all the different dresses. I know I've been giving a lot of books five stars lately but I've been reading a lot of really good books and they all deserve it. 5/5 stars.

Let us know what you've been up to and we'll see you back here next week.