A direct quote of the year from cleolinda: (used here without permission.)

"Let me just say, if I say nothing else, that it's not so much that the books themselves are dangerous or horrible or bad influences or [insert feminist/sociological complaint here]; it's that we need to talk about those issues in hopes of neutralizing them. A lot of girls and women read these books, enjoy them, and walk away unscathed, because they're just books. Unfortunately, we've also seen a number who don't. I'm not saying that there's any one truth here, in terms of whether these books do or do not harm whoever in whichever way. I'm just saying, clearly they've eaten society's brain at this point, and it's the sheer number of people who read them that give them their power. It's the zeitgeist now, so we need to be having these discussions, and it's the discussions themselves--there are no "answers"--that will keep us on stable ground. So, I'll say it again: Parents, talk to your kids about Edward Cullen. And drugs, if you get around to that."

Made a decent start with 1750 words out of the gate. Wish me luck and no family drama.

If you guys haven't seen this, it really opened my eyes:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/041b5acaf5/protect-insurance-companies-psa

Papa John's chocolate pastries, warm, scoop of butter pecan, light drizzle of Hersey's Syrup. This may be the greatest dessert ever invented.

Still not spending nearly enough time reading actual books. Buses are good for reading, but it's easy to get distracted. Or worse, get absorbed and miss your stop. I've run through all of my borrowed audio book mp3s and now need to go back to listening to my books on tape. Actual cassettes from the library sale. That's how we do it old school.

So. Books I have read since I last reported on books I had read back in May:

The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield, on tape:
It's what metaphysics would be if everyone who taught it was used to working with toddlers. Short, simple sentences, repetition of basic concepts, and lots of pointless jumping around and action because otherwise, what? We wouldn't pay attention? I guess some people wouldn't.

The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold, traditional print:
Interesting. Took me about three months to finish, partly because I'm easily distracted and insanely busy and partly because it is oddly paced.

The entire Alvin Maker series, Orson Scott Card, mp3 audio.
Seven books in all. Pushed many of my buttons about Mormonism and Mormon authors. But I did read them all.

Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell, traditional print:
My favorite of everything on this list. Fascinating (in the sense that I was deeply fascinated to the point of staying up and skipping meals to finish it) and very well written. Full of good cases, well presented.

Anne of the Island mp3 audio librivox.org (reread)
Rilla of Ingleside mp3 audio librivox.org (reread)


Currently working on:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The Time Traveler's Wife (rereading)
both traditional print.

Up Next:

Dearly Devoted Dexter (traditional print)
Lolita (audio)
The Life of Pi (traditional print)

I wonder if Fox News knows about this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_Law

"Godwin's Law (also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies) is a humorous observation made by Mike Godwin in 1990 which has become an Internet adage. It states: "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

Godwin's Law is often cited in online discussions as a deterrent against the use of arguments in the widespread reductio ad Hitlerum form. The rule does not make any statement about whether any particular reference or comparison to Adolf Hitler or the Nazis might be appropriate, but only asserts that the likelihood of such a reference or comparison arising increases as the discussion progresses. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued, that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact.

Although in one of its early forms Godwin's Law referred specifically to Usenet newsgroup discussions, the law is now applied to any threaded online discussion: electronic mailing lists, message boards, chat rooms, and more recently blog comment threads and wiki talk pages."

Dear Livejournal,

Though I post infrequently, I have a paid account for many reasons. This has been true since before the advent of ads on Livejournal and will probably remain true. A word, though, if you please, about said ads:

When you first announced that ads were coming, we all groaned, but understood deep in our hearts. We were grateful and relieved when you insisted that these ads would be tasteful and carefully screened. They did remain so for quite some time.

Do you really need additional revenue so badly that you must show me pictures of other people's bare belly flab just because I mistyped my password on the first try? Really?

Hoping to get the love back,

Me

So, I've been saving my pennies for several months now and doing everything I can to scrape together enough to FINALLY buy a decent computer of my very own. I did the math and it has officially been FIVE YEARS since I last had:

1. a decent computer
2. of my very own
3. which was connected to the internet
4. at my house
5. for more than three months.

Even those three months, I had a broke down computer with NO sound.

It's just not funny any more, guys. I'm a computer person. My JOB is all about computers. My life and social life are all about computers. I MISS you all.

So I called the local shop with the fabulous reputation for customer service and spent about twenty minutes getting a feel for their people, pricing, and payment plans. However I break it down, it's going to be at least 130 a month for a year. It's just not even possible.

In the past, I've relied on wonderful friends who would donate their old parts and a bit of love and labor to help me get going. I can do that again. I just wanted, for once, to be a bit more independent. I love my job. I knew, when I got good and comfortable doing what I do that there would be times when I would wish I'd picked a livelihood that was more ... living wagish. This is the closest I've ever come to thinking I should have gone with the soul-killing job at 30k a year.

I suppose if I find a great internet deal with no warranty, it won't be the worst thing that ever happened to me. I mean, push comes to shove, I do have plenty of computer people in my life. It just means saving more and paying cash.

Heard a cover of this recently, and it occurred to me that it is again very topical.

Also, it's still very funny.

Local scifi convention. Usually good for a couple of writing panels, but those I made time for this year were fairly uninspiring. I did enjoy the late filking very much. A couple of new songs and a chance to hang out with the California crowd I rarely get to see these days. And oh, so many of them.

I did buy one book that I'm very excited about reading. It is called I Am Not A Serial Killer and is written by Dan Wells. I'll give you a report as soon as I have finished it.

Recently finished books:

The Grand Tour Patricia C Wrede and Caroline Stevermere. Traditional Print

A fun Regency Romance/Fantasy. Sequel to Celia and Sorcery. Mostly escapist fluff.

Under The Tuscan Sun: At Home In Italy Frances Mayes. Audio Book (cassette)

I really enjoyed this book. In particular, I think that Frances Mayes has a REAL gift for prose. Her metaphors, descriptions, confessions, and emotions are compelling and lively. Fascinating. I mentioned the chapter of recipes, but there are actually two. Cassettes were not the very best medium for these particular chapters.

Up next:
The Lovely Bones Traditional Pring
The Celestine Prophecy Audio
I Am Not A Serial Killer Traditional Print

"Tiny Spock is then beset by tiny Vulcan bullies. I am not making this up. Vulcan bullies. What is this? Prince of Tennis? Go, tiny Spock! Kick their Vulcan bully asses!"

( My summary of Star Trek with many many spoilers. )

and Una Mujer Named Maria

It's playing at The Grand, and Kime and I went last night. It's not going to be the next "Rent," but there are a lot of funny moments and the music is wonderful. There are three very strong voices in the cast and the trio they have on percussion, keyboard, and percussion is amazing. The message about diversity is effective and not too heavy handed, and the whole thing was great fun. Go if you can and support local live theater.

Their next season opener is "Schoolhouse Rock." I'm SO there.

Reading used to be the thing I did more than anything else. If I was awake, there was a novel within easy reaching distance. I only had one high school teacher who ever tried to get me to stop reading and pay attention in class. Even back then, I had the bad habit of wanting to read things that I'd already read rather than reading something new, but it's still much better than not reading at all.

Last year I might have read a total of twelve books. I feel like I'm confessing some horrible crime, here. Like all the other bookworms are going to laugh at me as I hang my head in shame. I'm making an effort to read more and I'll report here what's going on even if it's just to check my progress on this particular goal.

Sadly, I'm more likely to buy books than to read them. You can feel virtuous buying books. Particularly, I buy a lot of used books and they pile up in my living room or bedroom. Especially when books come from the library sale or at other deep discounts, I tell myself that I'm going to have their bindings cut off and then I am going to run them through the rapid scanner at work. PDF files take up a lot less room than hard copy, and there is the added advantage of being able to open them in Kurzweil and make them into mp3s in the soothing tones of "VoiceWorks Paul," a far cry from the monotone "Microsoft Sam" of the nineties. So far, though, only one book has actually been treated this way. I've made plenty of Kurzweil audio books, but most of them were already digital copies of one kind or another to begin with. (Gutenberg.org is your friend.) The thought of actually cutting the spine off a perfectly good book still causes a bit of alarm or guilt. Much of my reading time is on the bus, though, and it's hard to get absorbed in a good story when you're worrying about missing your stop. Audio books are definitely superior there.

At the library sale last week, I bought about twelve books on tape. They're bulky, of course, and tapes have a tendency to degrade over time. I plan to change those into mp3s as soon as I can scrape together the right cords. I find it very ironic that for me it's easier to make an mp3 out of information printed on a page than from a cassette tape.

The audio book I'm currently reading on bus trips and before I sleep at night is Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy by Frances Mayes. I found myself irritated by the chapter consisting of nothing but recipes. They went on for nearly all of side two on tape four. In a traditional printed book, I would have glanced through them, read the names of the different dishes, perhaps paid attention to some of the instructions and been impressed by the author's talent for descriptions. I would have been pleased that there was a reservoir of practical knowledge in the middle of the comfortable and rambling prose about the beauty of the land and the difficulties of making a home as an American couple abroad. I would, perhaps, have pulled the book out and referred to it the next time I baked chicken or seasoned my Greek salad. On tape, it's much harder to pick and choose what you will read, or to stop and think about any piece of new information or clever use of English. Still, audio books are far superior to no books at all, and for a year now, they're all I've managed with any consistency.


Things I've read (From cover to cover only. Starting doesn't count.) in the last couple of weeks:


Strands of Sunlight, Gael Baudino (rereading). Traditional print. An old favorite.

Sorcery and Cecelia, Patricia C Wrede and Caroline Stevermere. Traditional print.



More to come, hopefully with some informal reviews.

Woo! New signature generator at Kingdom of Loathing.



This. It is who I am.

Lays has an ad for their "Classic" potato chips which tells us they only have three ingredients. One of the ingredients is "sunflower and corn oil." Do I misunderstand the definition of ingredient, or do they?

Okay, this ended up buried in comments a week later and I think it may be best if I actually do clarify what I said earlier about religion and the Twilight books. My sister asked me what the author being Mormon had to do with it. A very fair question. This was my answer:

Normally I would agree that being a Mormon should not have anything to do with it. Other Mormon authors write all kinds of fiction and no one expects them to keep it G rated or only show things they believe in.

It becomes an issue when the books are so clearly preachy. The characters talk about their opinions of the afterlife and what will or will not keep you out of heaven. The idea that any act you had no control over can't keep you out of heaven is VERY Mormon and not part of any other Christian religion that I know of. What Glen Beck calls "The Gandhi question." It becomes relevant when so much of the book is about the idea that the proper way for a couple in love to behave is to be celibate outside of marriage and promiscuous within that marriage. Very Mormon. It becomes relevant because, fair or not, Mormons are watched and studied by the rest of the world more than any other Christian religion I know of, and a book like this, fair or not, is going to be taken as a barometer of our values BECAUSE it is preachy. BECAUSE there are icons of Edward and Emmet photoshopped into missionary uniforms.

This is an author that takes her own work very seriously and seems to be blind to its flaws. If it were less popular, this would not be a problem, but the whole world is reading Twilight and the whole world is seeing a very dysfunctional relationship and the whole world can also probably see that the author treats it like a wonderful and beautiful and ideal relationship. The whole world is wondering how Mormon women view themselves and wish to be treated by the men in their lives.

My answer? "Not like this, please."

Sita Sings the Blues

This is a wonderful movie recommended to me by a dear friend and based on the Ramayana, the moral of which is that men are stupid. It's funny and interesting and full of heart and very pretty. You can watch it free online and if you are able to make a donation, please do.

That's all.