So it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day again, which is, of course, one of the most wonderful times of the year. Especially if you’re (1) a pirate, or (2) fond of wearing funny hats and saying “ARRRR!” However, if you’re just wanting to get into the spirit of things, here are some of my suggestions on ways to celebrate (besides, you know, talking like a pirate).
Read about space pirates. I love a good traditional pirate tale as much as the next gal, but sometimes you want something a little different, or a little geekier – like pirates in space. Or better yet, computer programmer pirates. For this, I recommend Fast Ships, Black Sails, an anthology of short pirate stories edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer (the former is the editor for Weird Tales, so you know this is going to be good). There are some familiar names in the pages, including Naomi Novik and Garth Nix, but my two favorites are “Bojuum” by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette (pirates in space and a black market for human brains) and “Pirate Solutions” by Katherine Sparrow (a group of programmers become real pirates and start coding messages in bottles). You’d think that “pirates” would be a narrow subject already, but strangely enough, there’s kind of something for everyone
Play with legos. For some reason this strikes me as a particularly good medium for pirate fun. Especially judging by all the stuff I found on Flickr. So break out a box of little blockheaded dudes with painted-on eye patches and knock yourself out. [Image source: kaptainkobold (CC)]
Play Puzzle Pirates. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve played this game, but if you never have, it’s really fun. It’s like an MMORPG where instead of killing things you do puzzles. I particularly like “bilging” because it reminds me of my favorite SNES game, Tetris Attacks. Also, it’s completely free. And it fits well with the previous point, because the characters basically look like lego people. [Puzzle Pirates]
Battle to the death. If you choose this option, you may want to consider taking on (a) ninjas, (b) stormtroopers, or (c) copyright laws. [Image source: st3f4n (CC)
