Summer Reading

My laptop power supply died a Big Horrible Death(tm), making my computer an over-glorified brick. Without the siren calls of facebook and Google Reader luring me into wasting my days staring at pixels all day, I have returned to my former favorite past-time: pleasure reading. I have also discovered this mysterious institution known as "the library." It's full of books that you can take home with you, read, and return without paying a dime. It's quite amazing, really.

In the week or two that I've been computerless, I have read many books.

• Talyn and Hawkspar by Holly Lisle

I really liked Talyn. It had a unique take on magic use with an interesting plot twist. Hawkspar, while interesting, was average in comparison to Talyn. The "dream style" foreshadowing she used with great success in Talyn appeared overused and tired in Hawkspar. You don't have to read them in order, as they do stand on their own, Talyn sets up some (fairly major) background concepts for the universe of Korre.

Synopses: Talyn, a military mage, is ultimately the only person who can protect her country from a peace gone wrong, negotiated by deceitful diplomats. 15 years later, Hawkspar continues to set right wrongs committed by those same diplomats.

• The Furies of Caulderon, Academ's Fury, Cursor's Fury, and Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher (Codex Alera series)

I read and loved Jim Butcher's other series, The Dresden Files. When I noticed that he had other books, I immediately pursued them. The Codex Alera series is completely different in writing style and tone than The Dresden Files. I give Butcher props for being that flexible with his writing. One negative about the series, though I ultimately liked it, is that the story doesn't really becoming compelling until book two. Maybe that's just me.

Synopsis: In a world where everyone has a personal elemental to perform magic, Tavi has none. Through cunning and intelligence (and not magic), he helps save the kingdom from ruin, invasion, and rebellion.

• The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop

As much as I hate to say it, The Shadow Queen is a cookie-cutter Black Jewels universe novel. I loved the original trilogy (Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of Darkness) and the first stand-alone novel (The Invisible Ring), but The Shadow Queen left me unsatisfied. It felt like it would be better suited as a short story. The novel focused on (kind-of-mostly) the main characters, (give me a minute to remember their names...) Cassidy, Gray, and Theran, who are trying to find a Queen who isn't a torturing crazy-person to heal the country from the Torturing crazy-person Queens' abuses. I expected to learn more about the universe and what made this specific country and conflict unique. That whole story arc was mostly surface, combining elements Bishop has used in the universe's other novels. The Shadow Queen also focused on the heroes from the original trilogy: Daemon, whose fragile sanity is threatened when his wife kinda-sorta-not-even-a-little-bit acts like the torturing crazy-person Queens who tortured him for most of his life; Saetan (his father), whose sanity is threatened when he is reminded of when he was denied paternity rights to his son because the mother was a torturing crazy-person Queen; and Lucivar (Daemon's brother), brings them all through it with insubordination and shocking language. (I did not make up those names, I swear.) But this was a story about Cassidy-Gray-Theran, right? Ha. In my opinion, Bishop should have written two separate stories to properly do each one justice. I think each story has merit, but the way they were published was not kind to either of them.

• Covenants and King's Own by Lorna Freeman

I just finished Covenants and am in the process of reading King's Own. I really like the blend of humorous and serious materials within the structure of the typical fantasy save-the-kingdom story. My (apparent) outrage over Bishop's less-than-favorite book has (apparently) taken the wind out of my sails in terms of reviewing Freeman's novels. I like them. They're better than The Shadow Queen by a long shot, but not as good as C.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy.

Synposis: Our intrepid hero, Rabbit the human, is charged with escorting the Ambassador of the magic-using Border country to the magic-abhoring Kingdom of Iversterre. Craziness and double dealing ensues, and we discover interesting things about Our Intrepid Hero.

• He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo

The book the movie (of the same title) was based on. See it, read it, love it.

Thursdays Are For Cleaning

After living with the Wicked Witch of Apartment 421 (colloquially known as Susie) for 7.5 months (June-mid January), I had had enough. I wanted out.* I still had 4.5 months left on my lease with the Wicked Witch, unfortunately, but that didn't stop me. I worked the details out with my friend Kasey and moved in with her.

March 26, 2009 was the last night I spent at Apartment 421. I spent the next 9 days in the Pacific Northwest on spring break. The last day of spring break, April 5, 2009 was the first night in my new apartment (with my amazing new roommate, but that's a given). Fresh from my adventures, I had all the essentials for a barebones bedroom: bed and bedding, computer, cellphone, and computer.

Fast forward 2.5 months. I am completely and utterly free of all obligation to Apartment 421. (Alas, that is not so of the Wicked Witch who lived there. I still have see her one more time to deal with the security deposit reimbursement.) I have been living in Apartment 95 since the beginning of April. When I say "living," I do mean living. I'm not one of those people who naturally keeps my dwelling spotlessly clean (unless I'm living under duress of the Wicked Witch).

I spread myself comfortably around the apartment. Papers, books, computers, cups, plates, magazines, yarn, and homework cover every horizontal space and multiply like tribbles. I leave DVDs and video games piled around the TV area. Pillows, thrown from their chairs, puddle on the floor in random heaps. I could never own white carpets or a white couch because they would end up hopelessly stained. The only reason I do a sweep of my paper trail every day or so is because of the fact that I live with another human being, and we share the public rooms. My bedroom, however, is another matter entirely.

I don't share my bedroom. My bedroom is outrageously large. (Remind me to upload photos of my previous bedroom at home for comparison. My current room is outrageously large.) It can absorb a ridiculous amount of debris before it begins to feel messy. Add in the fact that I have been living with my cluttered ways for 20 years, and I can withstand a messy room for months. And I do.

I have decided that Thursdays are for cleaning. Usually I clean the bathroom. Or the kitchen counters. If I'm feeling truly adventurous, I'll clean the floors. (I hate cleaning floors with a blinding passion.) Maybe I'll take out the trash or recycling. But I never touched my room. I allowed it to wallow in its cesspool of filth. At some undefined point, however, the filth reaches the boiling point and I clean it, with a vengeance. And so Thursdays Are For Cleaning has finally, after nearly three months, reached my bedroom.

*Chronicles of the Wicked Witch of Apartment 421 will be forthcoming, hopefully, at some point.

This post is brought to you by Marley & Me on audiobook.

Free Association

Decided to do some free association at 2 in the morning.

Provided by Unconscious Mutterings

1. Vex :: dibble
2. Relapse :: rehab
3. Twinkle :: twinkle little star
4. Crawls :: spiders
5. Optimistic moment :: dumb
6. Cage :: bird
7. Superwoman :: wonder woman
8. Personal :: personnel
9. Vapor :: rub
10. Grocery store :: Safeway

Spot o' Tea?

Why, yes, that would be excellent! Now, if only I had scones and lemon curd...

ETA: Scones have been acquired! Lemon curd is still lacking, sadly.

Knitting? Really?

After far too long, I bring you knitting! And an FO!

The ubiquitous Ballband Dishcloth!
Details: Sugar & Cream yarn, US 8 needles. 2 days to knit.

The dishcloth was brought about by my failed attempt to weave a dishcloth-type item out of the same yarn. The yarn is too thick for the 12-dent reed I have at home. Until I get a different reed, weaving with this yarn will have to wait.

Not one to be deterred, however, I remembered the ever-popular Ballband Dishcloth project floating around the internet. (Most projects are from Mason-Dixon Knitting; mine, however, is from this site.) I decided to knit it myself. It was a nice, easy knit. On US 8 needles, it practically knit itself!

I added a line of single crochet on the left and right sides to give it a more finished look. I also added a loop and button to one corner so I can hang it from the stove. We'll see how it works out.

Saturday Sky

I hear the weather in California was beautiful today. The weather in Oregon was not so cooperative.

And look! A rainbow!

These was taken earlier in the day, around 5pm. By the time 6:30pm rolled around, it was pouring and the wind was howling.

I apologize for the huge photos. Flickr is not cooperating today. Also, there are quite a number of photos from the drive up to Oregon on my flickr page. :)

Need New Baaattooorrriiiessss*

The battery in my Honda died. Deader than a door nail.** It was so dead, in fact, that the power locks wouldn't even work!

Dad and I went to Coscto and bought a spiffy new battery, Optima Yellowtop. Apparently, this battery came from fighter jets, so it can be orientated upside down and backwards if you want. Pretty cool. It's also top-of-the-line!

The old dead battery

I (with Dad's supervision) pulled out the dead battery all by my lonesome. :)

Big hole!

When we were all done, my car had a happy Yellowtop battery. My car works wonderfully now! Hopefully there won't be anymore electrical problems for the foreseeable future.

*Return to Zork!

**To be fair, the battery had juice. It just wasn't putting out any amperage, so it had no power.