At This Moment #6 - what I'm reading, watching & doing

Hello lovelies, it's time to see what I've been loving for the last month or so. 

WATCHING

Not a lot! I've run out of things. Game of Thrones has finished, Power has finished - I'm at a loose end. I'm still watching the second series of Shooter, with Ryan Phillippe, but I need more things to watch. Here's the series 1 trailer in case you're interested.



I've also recently watched The Story of Diana, on Netflix, about (of course) the late Princess of Wales. It followed her from childhood up until her tragic death. I need some recommendations for shows on Netflix please. I especially love subtitled shows (they force me to concentrate), Scandi dramas, crime dramas etc.

READING

In the last couple of weeks I've read two Khaled Hosseini books - The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. I loved them both, they're phenomenal books and I'm a fan for life. I've also started reading Jes Baker's Things No One Tells Fat Girls, which is also great. I read a chapter before bed every few nights so I go to sleep with good thoughts in my head. Right now I'm reading a Dennis Lehane book - The Given Day, which is set around WWII and follows the lives of two families - one white and one black. It's a long book (an opus like the bloody Bible!) but it's captivating. Beware if you read it - it has a lot of racial epithets in it.

MAKING

Umm, as usual I'm making money disappear from my bank account. Last weekend's Curve Fashion Festival was a wonderful event (blog post to come!) but it was an expensive outing. I've also been buying things to help me go on walks in crappy English A/W weather - a waxed jacket to go with the walking boots I mentioned in my last At This Moment post. These bad boys are half price at £29.99 here. They're really padded around the ankle which is great for hypermobile people like me with super-bendy ankles.

This wax rain coat from ASOS is out of stock at the moment. I hope it comes back - it's already sold out twice so they're onto a winner.

STARTING

I'm starting to look forward to Autumn, even though S.A.D. makes my life a misery for 5 months of the year. This year I'm determined to go walking in all weathers, hence the wax jacket and the walking boots. I'm going to try to exercise my way out of the fog the dark months bring. I'm really looking forward to leafy walks in the park, warm A/W colours like mustard and burgundy and green, hot chocolate, Halloween and Bonfire Night! And dare I say it, I'm looking forward not to being sweaty all the time. 😆😆😆😆

FINISHING

Well, it's been another busy month. We've had three family visits in the last 5 weeks and James and I are a little bit frayed around the edges. We've had a really busy summer - we've been to Manchester, Weymouth and Bath, and I've been to Liverpool. We have some friends coming to stay in about 10 days (which we're looking forward to immensely) but after that I think we'll shut down the 'hotel' and have some time just for ourselves. God knows we need to save some money for Christmas anyway, so laying off social events for a while sounds like a plan.

ENJOYING

Being me! Going to the Curve Fashion Festival in Liverpool last weekend and being surrounded by so many vibrant, beautiful fat women has made me even more focused on living my best possible life, and that means giving no fucks! I just want to be a fat mermaid/unicorn and smother myself in glitter, so I shall. People are going to stare anyway as I'm fat, so let's give them a show!

LISTENING
(This section used to be TEXTING but music is far more interesting than texting!)

When I was in the car with Mookie and her husband Mike on the way up to Liverpool they introduced me to a band called The Cardiacs, and I fell in love with this song. It doesn't get going till halfway through, but wait till that guitar solo kicks in! I love it.



LOVING

Wearing glitter as makeup. Why use highlighter when you can highlight with glitter?!

Gratuitous glitter shot. I've had it in all day (I did it myself) but this was the first time I've found good light to show it off. #makeupover40 #glitter #alternativecurves #altgirl

A post shared by Leah - Love Leah (@loveleahblog) on Sep 9, 2017 at 7:04am PDT

HATING

All these weather events all over the world. It's so scary! It feels like the world is going to hell in a hand cart. There have been lots of wild fires on the US west coast, hurricanes on the east coast, landslides in Sierra Leone and other places, an earthquake in Mexico. People who deny global warming are bananas. It's so awful how many people are being displaced.

What's new with you?!

Thanks for reading. Leah xoxo

In The Style Curve Alexiss red floral bardot dress

Hello babes! I've got a belter of a dress to show you from In The Style Curve today - the Alexiss, which has a saucy thigh split. This rusty shade of red is such a good colour for me. Read on for lots more pics and my review.

The People Keeping Slots Popular Might Surprise You*

Keeping an eye on modern gaming trends, it’s easy to understand what makes most of the popular genres great. Strategy, MMO, and RPG games have thrived with newer pay models that incentivize constant competition and advancement. Shooters and adventure games are more appealing with each new upgrade in graphics and system capabilities. And puzzle games and educational gaming experiences have done well on mobile games simply because they work well with simpler controls and limited scopes.



One popular genre is a little bit harder to explain, however: casino slots. According to a statistical report from 2016, this is the fifth most popular genre of mobile gaming, with about 9.8 million unique monthly users, and about 6 hours of playing time per month, per user! That’s a very high level of popularity, and may explain why this generally old-fashioned form of gaming doesn’t ever seem to be going away. Pull up your mobile app stores and scroll through games and you’ll likely find all kinds of different slots.



This also explains why the games you find aren’t simply old, classic slots, but rather newer games that are various in theme and appeal. Developers working in this genre appear to be busy constantly, either adapting online games for Android and iOS use, or simply building up new experiences based on new themes. The result is that your average modern slot reel isn’t just a fruit machine or something similar. It might instead involve fun animated characters, or even superheroes or other icons from popular fiction.



What may still be unclear though is where the demand is for these kinds of games. With the exception of new themes and designs, they’re basically the same games they always were, and maintain a sort of old-school flavor. Perhaps it won’t come as a surprise then to tell you that it is mostly people over 50, and primarily women, who make up the consumer market for slots. This was determined by a 2012 study, which specifically pointed to female homeowners aged 55-60, with college education and an average household income over $55,000. That more or less translates to middle-aged, middle class women.



We’ve also learned from more recent studies that women are making up a larger percentage of gamers in general. Apparently 41 percent of gamers are women, and the average female gamer is 44. So if we consider the two studies together, it actually becomes pretty easy to say that it’s primarily middle-aged and older women who are driving the seemingly relentless popularity of slot machines.



As for why women, it’s difficult to say exactly. Studies have generally indicated that slot gamers expect to lose money, however, and are doing it for the experience, or simply to pass the time. By contrast many who play other casino games like poker and blackjack feel that they have more say over the outcome, and may expect to win. It’s conceivable that women simply approach casino gaming from less of a competitive standpoint than men do (or they’re just smarter about it!).



So the next time one of the seniors in your life, or simply a middle-aged female friend of yours boots up a phone or tablet and starts spinning slot reels, don’t be surprised. It’s just as popular and appealing to those demographics as some of the newer and flashier games are to young people.

 *Guest post