Roof Ice and Snow Cream....

Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Salmonella.


I drove into work this morning with my iPod blaring and an icicle wedged into my mitten. Right as I was walking out the door I noticed a beautiful array of icicles right over my head and I just had to grab one. Any of my family will tell you that I have strange icicle addiction. I love them. My mother has been known to stash a particularly pretty one in the freezer for me to eat when I come over. They are one of those great outdoor snacks.



My older brother (a doctor) started calling them roof ice as a way to remind me of where they came from. Roofs are dirty, covered in dust and grime and bird droppings. And of course icicles are dirty. I still eat them. I've grabbed them off strange houses and eaten them. It's not that I'm not worried about getting sick....it's just that...no I'm actually not worried about getting sick. It is the same for me with cookie dough. I think it's a crime to bake cookies. Cookie dough is the greatest treat on earth, particularly with chocolate chips. And I'm constantly remind by others of the salmonella risk that comes from eating cookie dough. I just don't care. I figure I've gone 32 years now eating cookie dough and never had salmonella. I like those odds.

I'm a big fan of eating food I find outdoors. Mulberries are my favorite summer fruit and they can only be found outdoors. No one packages and sells mulberries. They are just too delicate. So when I find a mulberry tree I stop and eat for a while. Perhaps some of the joy is foraging for my own food. Or the fact that this is as natural as food can get. We have a focus on eating Organic in the US but most people would refuse to eat berries that they find on a tree. How much more Organic (natural) can you get?


And the worry of salmonella brings me to my favorite outdoor winter treat. Snow Cream. This is recipe that Jeff and his family introduced me too and I have to say I'm hooked. You need snow, particularly freshly fallen snow. The big flake kind that's somewhat heavy. Leave a big soup pot outside in the falling snow and then collect the rest from the top layer that has fallen. Mix in an egg (raw), sugar (normally 1-2 cups) and a tablespoon or so of vanilla. Mix and eat. It is unbelievably good. But most people can't get past the raw egg. Now I will admit that the first time you see a bit of yolk in your snow cream it's a little offputting. Even I was a little unsure, but if you get past the fear of salmonella or any other diseases, there are some great natural treats out there for you. Icicles and snow cream, making winter more enjoyable for the last 30 years.

Some Natural Observations

I should have been a biologist. The stories of researchers spending months in the field watching animals day in and day out, seems to me like heaven. Even the tedious note taking and sketching doesn't seem like a job to me. I don't have the education for it but I do have the interest. And strangely the patience. I can spend hours watching animals, even for animals that aren't moving. This comes from years of going to zoos, leaning on the rail, watching the tigers sleep. It didn't matter that they didn't notice me (or even move) it only mattered that they were these magnificent living breathing creatures and that I could see them. 

So when I came home tonight from work and stopped the car, I was excited to see a herd of deer in the woods near our house. I swiveled in my seat to watch them scavenge for food in the snow-buried field. They watched me at first but as I sat in the car and didn't move they eventually forgot I was there. That was when I noticed a buck closer to the river than the others. He watched me carefully. And then cautiously he moved closer and closer. He stopped at my next-door neighbor's door to nibble at her bushes. He was not more than 20 feet from me and I was even able to grab my binoculars that I carry in my purse for a closer look. He was so close I could see the patterns of his fur. He would occasionally glance in my direction but seemed curious rather than scared. I just kept hoping he would come closer. 

My across the way neighbor decided that was the time to leave the house and he raced off into the woods with his white tail up. I sat in the car long after she had left with the hope that he would return. He didn't and I finally went in. Jeff had thought I was angry with him since I'd been sitting out in the car for so long. But I could have waited longer. I have unlimited patience when it comes to animals. What a great end to a busy day. 

Just a few thoughts

I went out for drinks with the girls from my previous office tonight for drinks so I'll keep this short. I have a great group of women who try to get together once a month for drinks and appetizers. I love that they continue to invite me even though I left the office three years ago. We always have a spectacular time and I always drink too much. So I shouldn't be writing. 

I came home to find Jeff watching True Lies. No matter what you think of the current governor of California, this movie is hilarious. The action may be terrible but the jokes make the film. Tom Arnold makes this movie along with Bill Paxton's character. It is just so funny that you can't take the miserable special effects too seriously. Jamie Lee Curtis's character is a lot of fun. I have gained a ton of respect for her in the last couple of years with her push for more realistic body images in Hollywood but it's always good to go back to either True Lies or A Fish Called Wanda to see her silly side. The Governator is even pretty funny. Just a great movie. 

I found out that Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book won the Newbery Award yesterday. I had bought the book a couple weeks after it came out. I had listened to Neil read the book beforehand on his website. When he was doing his reading tour he taped each chapter and posted them for free. It was a wonderful introduction to the book and made me want to buy it. But then again I love Neil Gaiman's work and would have bought it anyway. 

Difficulty Level Set to Heroic

Warning: This post is whiny and self-deprecating which is my least favorite type of post. I really shouldn't be writing this. Particularly not today. Just be warned.

There is a great line I heard once that once you're on your fifth divorce, you can no longer really blame the other people. The idea being that there is obviously something wrong with you. The first two I can see being not your fault, by five you have to start questioning your own abilities.

Such is the case for me with heroic runs in WoW. I have had five (count them five) unsuccessful heroic attempts in the last week. These are instances that we get into and die so many times that we just give up. This is not after the first or second death by the way. This is normally after ten or so deaths. Where we are all so tired of the same fight that we can just no longer think straight.

Despite Jeff's best assurances I have to wonder how much it is me. I'm on a mission to increase my dps. I was third on the charts last night but I should be higher. I respec'd Destruction this past week in an attempt to move up. In Naxx I moved from seventh to sixth. (and remember we have two healers). When I'm only barely above the healers, that's just not good enough. So today I'm reading, heavily. To see what I can do.

Last night we tried Naxx again before the reset. We were dying repeatedly on trash pulls in the Plague Quarter. We never even came close to the boss. Then we broke into groups and moved to Utgarde Pinnacle. Only one boss down there. Finally after dying too many times to count in the Trophy Room, we moved to Utgarde Keep. And couldn't get past the first boss. Now in all fairness we were going in with a new tank that was slightly undergeared.

But this is not the first time I've had problems in heroics this week. And after this many deaths in one week, I just have to wonder if it's me.

{As you can see, not my best mood. But I warned you.}

Other worlds

The first time I saw the box for American McGee's Alice, I knew I had to buy it. Not only is Alice in Wonderland one of my favorite stories but the dark images in the game fascinated me. I have strange tastes, I love whimsy and darkness. Best if both are together. And who can pass up this version of the Cheshire Cat. Creepy and bizarre.

I love games for the look of them. I love animation for its otherworldly quality. Alice did not disappoint. Jeff and I played the game for hours, exploring the world and killing things. It was bloody and violent but more than anything it was intriquingly and beautifully rendered. I have often bought items for their visuals. I've always called myself a writer but in the last year I have realized how much imagery moves me. A picture or some graphics will make me buy things that I normally wouldn't.

So imagine my delight when I went to Cabinet of Wonders today to see this image.

Not only that, this beautiful image is a game called Mechinarium. (or will be soon) An interactive world that I can enter and move the characters around in. I can play with these paintings. There are more beautiful images just like this to explore. I'm already saving my money for when it comes out. And have no doubts, I will take a break from WoW to spend some time in this world. The game is being created by Amanita Design studio and is supposed to be out this year.

The game image drew me for a number of reasons. It combines all of my favorite things. Like the fish in Shaun Tan's The Red Tree, the mixture of dark and whimsy is intoxicating. It the same mixture that brought me to Polish surrealist Jacek Yerka when I was only 18. If you want other worlds, this is the man for you. I bought two of his books with the little money I had after looking at his images. I can almost see his influence in this upcoming game. At first I thought he was the designer.

So more games to play, more images to enjoy. I better start saving my pennies.

Ordo Bibliotheca

Librarians have an image problem. Picture a librarian. I can guarantee that the image you have in your head is a matronly woman, wearing glasses, with a bun, and a pinched look on her face. You will imagine her walking between dusty shelves, shushing patrons, and expounding on the value of the card catalog. That image is starting to change for some people but for a many it is still the idea they have. I should know. I have the librarian action figure with her advanced shushing action. That image has changed a lot in the last couple years though. The next generation of librarians is young, hip, often tattooed, and very technological. 

So when I found Rex Libris I knew that I had to share this. Rex is a librarian but he is not either a matronly woman or a hip tattooed young adult. Instead what he is an action hero. In comic book form. Rex Libris is the brain child of James Turner. He saves the world one book at a time. And he is utterly fun. 

Rex is a librarian at the Middleton Public Library. Middleton is not any ordinary library, it lays on one of the most powerful ley lines in the universe. This causes literary characters to occasionally pop out of books and overrun the library. It also allows the library to hold some of the most important books in the universe. And when they go overdue it is Rex's job to get them back. Normally he starts with friendly calls, then moves on to letters, and then he crosses the galaxy to bust heads and get books back. The first book, I Librarian, starts with Rex fighting a demonic samurai who doesn't want to get a library card to check things out. In the middle of the fight he grabs a book on demons to read up on how to defeat them. It's that type of humor. 

Turner has created the idea of the Ordo Bibliotheca, a secret society of librarians who have used the cover of docile do-gooders, to hide their true purpose of preserving all the knowledge of the world. As a librarian I've seen the Noah Wylie film which is about a librarian saving the world. But there is a huge difference between Wylie's librarian and Rex Libris. While Wylie played the character as a wussy character who was afraid of a fight but is dragged into it, Rex is a lot more willing to get his hands dirty. Circe (yes based on the ancient sorcerous) is a standard matronly older librarian, when she's not turning unruly patrons into pigs. But she's more than happy to grab a sawed off shotgun to preserve the peace against Viking invasion. 

Perhaps these books are just so fun because they poke fun at the stereotypes of librarians. Rex may talk like a gangster, he may be well skilled with a gun, and he may be willing to take on all the baddies around the galaxy, but it's all in the name of books. An action figure I can get behind. Now I'll just have to get the t-shirt. And you should check out the comic. 

Find a Happy Place, Find a Happy Place!!!

Leave it to me to quote a cartoon to talk about a book on happiness. (Peach in Finding Nemo) I just finished reading The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner and I found myself intrigued. Most people will tell you that happiness is a state of mind. Weiner sets out to see if that state of mind has something to do with the state you're in. Or more particularly the country.

The book follows Weiner on a year's journey to discover the happiest places in the world. He visits places from Iceland, Qatar, Bhutan, Thailand, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Moldova (one of the least happiest countries on earth). In each country he settles in and starts trying to figure out why the people there are so happy. What secrets they know that the rest of us don't.

He starts with the data gathered by the World Database on Happiness in Amsterdam. I had been aware of the Database for a while from when I was doing research on childlessness. The project attempts to quantify happiness and break it down by its components. Some are common sense, others are not. People in close communities tend to be happier, religous people tend to be happier, childless people tend to be happier, and for some odd reason middle earners tend to be happier. The database also looks at location, what countries report the highest levels of happiness.

So Weiner goes to visit those countries (and some others) to see what makes them tick. Each country is very different and some of the reasons for happiness are very different. As he says Switzerland is very rigid and repressed but happy. Thailand is very laid-back and easy going and happy. Iceland is very cold and dark but happy. But some of the similarities shine through. All have good social structures (family and community is important). All have appreciation for the land surrounding them. All work to eliminate envy and discord in their society.

Iceland was, for me, the most interesting chapter. Now I'm not a fan of winter or cold but by the end of that chapter I would have willingly moved to Iceland. I would have been more than happy to live in darkness half the year for a taste of the social structure they have. Weiner discusses the creative energy of Iceland (everyone is a writer or poet, everyone!). He says how the Icelandic people have a different view of failure, celebrating failed attempts and constantly reinventing themselves. He talks about how with the small population everyone is very close knit. They have to be in order to survive.

I often imagine that geography and happiness go together. I've never felt exactly at home in my American skin. Something about the culture just doesn't move at the same speed I do. I used to think that I was just born at the wrong time, but now I wonder if it wasn't the wrong place. I always imagined I was British and I have to admit that the chapter on Great Britain made me think that I could live there as well. I'm happy here in Iowa (since the pace of life tends to be slower), but there is just the occasional thought that something is not right. That somehow I'm not in step with my society. Perhaps we all have to go find our happy place.

Lessons in Humility

For those of you keeping score at home, Naxx kicked our butts last night.

Maexxna 9

Guild 0

Apparently my talk on Wednesday about how well we had done in Naxx called down the evil forces of the place. This big spider kicked our butts over and over and over. We would get her down to 30% and then she would just destroy us. I had at least 20 gold in repairs last night and I wear cloth. Then we followed up our nine wipes with a couple unsuccessful attempts at heroic violet hold. Not a happy night for Cat. Grrr.

Nevermore

I was 7 or 8 when I first heard The Raven by Poe. Although I don't remember my exact age I do remember where I was when I heard it for the first time. My dad and I were huddled around the book with him reading the poem out with just the right mix of doom and excitement. I didn't understand all the parts of the poem but I knew that I loved it. Instantly. From the grim "Nevermore" to the "rapping at my chamber door". It was and still is a magical poem for me. I can actually remember the exact place I was in whenever I read any of his works for the first time (something that I can't say for any other author). They just cut deep into my psyche in ways that other stories don't.

Edgar Allan Poe and I have an odd relationship. I am thrilled by his work and terrified by his work. I read "The Fall of the House of Usher" when I was 12 or so and slept with the lights on that night. Now I am a coward when it comes to horror films. I like to say that I have too good an imagination for them. And I don't read a lot of horror, but I keep going back to Poe. "The Pit and the Pendulum" has inspired more horror and torture films than any other work. I noticed that the new Saw film pays homage. And although I won't see that movie, I will still read the story over and over and shiver.

Even before I knew his terrible past (parents dead when he was two, estrangement from his foster parents, homelessness, alcholism, and a pennyless death followed by posthumous fame) I knew that his work was dark and tortured and thrilling. I had an English teacher who spent an entire class reading "The Bells" in a way that none of us could forget. She made us (lazy high school students) pay attention with those words. We scoffed at Wordsworth and Longfellow and even Hawthorne, but we sat rapt in our seats for Poe. It had just the right mix of darkness and violence to catch our attention.

Monday was not just MLK day but the 200th birthday of Poe. I celebrated by reading "The Cask of Amontillado" (one of my favorites) and watching the incredibly creepy animated version of "The Tell-tale Heart" from UPA pictures. So in honor of his terrible life and his torturedly beautiful works, find a dark corner, light a candle, and read some Poe.

Naxx

Tuesday's have become my knitting night over the last year or so. They also happen to be guild run nights. So I never sign up for guild runs that night since I know I'll never make it. My boss stopped into my office yesterday afternoon to ask what I was doing at 4:30. Never a good question. I ended up attending an economic forecast presentation, which was interesting, but didn't allow me to go knitting.

And that worked out for the best. I got home about 7:30 and made some dinner. I was sitting on the couch finishing up my food when Jeff says that there is a spot open for our guild's first attempt at Naxxramas. If I sign up quick I might make it. We're short some dps. So I sign up on the forums and then try to log in. There is a queue of over 300. It takes me at least 25 minutes to log in. Grrr.



So when I finally get on, I'm shocked and excited to still get an invite. I figured I was probably too late. But I'm going to Naxx!!! We have two tanks, two healers, and 6 dps. Most of us have run together. You enter the instance through any of the four portals and then choose which wing you are going to work on. We chose the Arachnid Wing (our poor arachnophobic paladin) and started clearing trash mobs. I was surprised how easy the trash mobs were. We handled them without difficulty and were quickly at Anub'Rekhan.

Anub is a giant beetle like creature that summons swarms of locusts, large adds, and a few (and that's putting it mildly) scarabs. We were all going into the encounter blind but we knew that we needed to avoid the locust swarm. Our first attempt ended quickly. Tanks went down and so did the rest of us. It was the combination of the locust swarms and the scarabs that killed us. Two more attempts and we finally figure out that the best way to go is to lead him around the circle to avoid most of the damage. But the tank still goes down and we still wipe. On our fifth attempt our main tank, who is a druid, decides to switch into cat form for the run around the circle. He avoids damage and we finally manage to bring him down. Woot!


I'm not sure if it was right then or after that our Death Knight got disconnected. Gone. Thank goodness none of the drops would be useful for her. We stand around and wait for her to return. And wait...and wait. After 10 minutes we decide to start clearing trash to the next boss. Even with only nine this goes quickly. We assume she must be trying to log on and has a queue. So we wait more. Right as we start thinking about finding a replacement she comes back on, grabs her Emblem of Heroism, and on we go.


Grand Widow Faerlina is the next boss and for those who've done Kara, think Romeo and Juliet. She is mostly a tank and spank but with some added features. She casts rain of fire doing tons of damage but we quickly learned to avoid those. It does look an awful lot like a Death Knights circle so at first many of us stayed put. But we quickly learned. The tough part about the Grand Widow is that she enrages, and does some serious damage when enraged. In order to stop this, you need to kill one of her alcolytes right as she starts. But you can't just kill them, you have to kill them within a certain distance of her. That dissapates the enraging. The first time we tried we didn't kill the alcolyte fast enough. The second and third time we killed them too quick. We didn't wait until the enrage started. By this time it's 11 pm and most of us are tired. But we figure one more try. We had been close. And this time it works. We had a paladin who brought the alcolyte down to 50% health and then the moment she enraged we would kill it. Perfect.


So our first attempt last night and we managed to bring down two bosses. The Arachnid Wing was cleared. I'm already signed up to go back on Thursday. Tonight I'm planning to respec Destro. We'll see how it goes. I want my name a little higher on the dps charts.

Involvement

As you know I normally try to avoid politics on this blog. I'm just not a huge fan of them. I work too close to the capitol for my tastes and I know too much about the ways in which politics operates to enjoy them. So why did I spend a good chunk of my morning watching the inaguration?

Because I'm excited about our new president. I'm excited about his vision for this county and I'm excited that everyone else is excited. There were several million people in DC today, a turnout that is well beyond any presidential inaguration that we have seen. There were people who stood there in the freezing cold waiting to hear our president speak. Waiting to see him sworn in. And they are excited. There are tears and cheers when this president speaks. He has great charisma.

And more than anything, he makes people feel involved. Today we saw a president who said that we need to help him make changes. It was not just about what the high government officials can do but about what the people should be doing. He won the election because he got people involved. Even his "Yes We Can" theme features one very big word "WE". For a long time I have felt like government didn't really involve the people. It was representation without any real representation. But today I feel like I could actually make a difference. I feel like I have some control on what happens. I'm excited and inspired. And that doesn't happen with politics very often.

Glass Garden

I spent some time this weekend at my parent's house since my brother and his family was home. We went out to dinner on Friday, hung out most of the day Saturday, and then spent a good chunk of Sunday together. On Saturday night, while we were talking, I glanced through a couple of the books that fill my parent's living room. One of them was on glass and particularly glass sculpture. And it got me thinking about one of my favorite artists. 

I was wandering through the art department in Borders many, many years ago when I passed a book with a beautiful red glass sculpture surrounded by green leaves. The image was striking so I had to pick up the book. I spent the next two hours flipping through every book I could find of this beautiful glass art. Dale Chihuly, in those hours, became one of my favorite artists. 

I enjoy Chihuly's work not necessarily because of his striking colors or interesting shapes (although they help) but for his mixture of art and nature. Chihuly creates not just a simple glass sculpture but an installation, often in natural park settings or botanical gardens. His glass mixes with the plants so well that there are times that people can be looking at a sculpture and not realize it for a moment. 

He uses water to float the glass or rock to accentuate it. 

So several years ago when we were down in St. Louis we were lucky enough to get to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to see the Chihuly exhibit. And I was stunned. Above are all pictures from the gardens. Check out the unique shapes but notice the blending. How natural and organic he makes the glass seem. The shapes are whimsical and the colors bright but they still seem natural enough to end up in a garden. Although his most well-known work may hang in the ceiling of a casino (Bellagio's lobby in Vegas) I think his installments in the park will be his lasting legacy. 

Engineering for Children

I had fallen behind on my Just One More Book podcasts recently so I sat down this week and caught up. One of the interviews caught my attention not because it discussed on particular book or one author but because it really discussed the workings of an industry. The podcast was with David A. Carter who is a paper engineer. Never heard the term before, don't be surprised. It was new to me too. But then I found out one of the jobs that a paper engineer can do and now I want to learn more. Carter designs pop-up books!

I loved pop-up books as a child. There was something about the intricate nature and the mechanics of the books that fascinated me. I loved the movements and the way things popped off the page. And I loved the fact that the books were interactive. Close the book and the image goes away, open the book and it comes right towards you. When I got older I decided that pop-up books were for kids and stopped looking at them. I was too old for that type of things. That is until I saw Sabuda and Reinhart's Dinosaur books.

These were not just books, these were works of art. The intricate paper sculptures in this book are much more advanced than the simpler pull tab or one movement books I remembered as a child. Each page was a small work of art. And I returned to pop-up books with a serious fascination. Carter's interview reminded me of what I had loved about the books in the first place. I wanted to figure out how to make them. And luckily enough Carter himself provides the answer. He has produced a book called Elements of Pop-Up which shows people how to do each of the simpler folds used to make pop-ups. I had been wondering what to buy with my Amazon gift card that I got for Christmas. Now I know. I'm so excited to buy this book and try these out.

Plus he gave me another great idea of something to buy. He mentions one of his heros was Jan Pienkowski who was one of my first introductions to pop-ups. Pienkowski's books are intricate (although not to a Sabuda level) but their appeal is in their fun. He uses color and mood in ways that a lot of pop-up books do not. This is not just a pop-up book done for the thrill of showing off technical skill, it is a story. His Haunted House was and still is one of my favorite pop-up books because it combines paper skill and mood. I have to pick up a copy of that, since my childhood edition was a little too well loved along with his Little Monsters book. (When I mentioned Pienkowski to my little sister this week, she mentioned she had just bought one of his books for a friend's child. Just goes to show that even older classics don't lose their appeal.)

On another note while looking for pictures I stumbled across this Neiman Marcus catalog which was done as a pop-up book. I guess people are starting to realize that pop-ups aren't just for kids anymore.

Eagles

I've been wanting to post these pictures but hadn't had an excuse. Last year in January, Jeff and I went to Davenport for the weekend. We were tired of all the snow and cold and just needed a change of scenery. On Sunday morning we walked over the Rock Island Bridge to Rock Island Arsenal. The arsenal is a military owned island in between Illinois and Iowa. And it was covered with eagles. We spent the entire morning taking pictures and just watching them. It was amazing. Here are just a couple of the pictures in honor of my eagle this morning. In the picture below, the darker birds are immature bald eagles. Bald eagles have been removed from the endangered species list this last year since their numbers have finally returned. They are still protected. 

The Times They Are A-Changin

I'm incredibly susceptible to song suggestion. I am constantly getting songs stuck in my head, normally because I have heard a part of it. You mention even part of a lyric and hours later I find myself still singing the song. Hum a couple bars and I'll find myself whistling the same tune. My family is also susceptible and some of us make it a game to get songs stuck in each other heads. My sisters fiance loves to whistle a couple bars of "The Hustle" just to piss the rest of us off. My brothers and sisters have been known to call each other, sing a line, and hang up. It's a sick game.

So this morning I have to wonder why I have Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin" in my head. I know I didn't hear the song. Jeff hates Bob Dylan and refuses to have his voice in the house. (to note, its the voice that Jeff hates, not the songwriting) But driving in to work I'm singing the song at the top of my lungs. A coworker caught me humming and asked the song. Of course it was the same. It'll be stuck there probably until I go to bed tonight.

Now I'm not superstitious but the first thing I saw when I got to work this morning was a soaring eagle. It rose from behind my office building and I stood (in the negative temperatures) and watched it until it disappeared. We have the occasional eagle downtown but this was the closest one I had seen. And today it seemed like a sign. That, mixed with Bob Dylan, seems to signify to me that some change is coming. And I have to admit I'm really excited.

Movie Comparisons

A while ago I reviewed the graphic novel V for Vendetta on this blog. I had just finished reading it and had been blown away by the depth and power of it. It is a striking novel about some incredibly tough subjects. It is violent, dark, inspiring, and thought provoking. And I absolutely loved it. I loved the imagery and the dialogue. I loved the setting and the main characters. I even loved the darkness of it.

So last night I was a little nervous when I sat down to watch the film. It is very rare that I enjoy a film based on a book I've loved. The movies are just never as good. But last night I was blown away by this film. I will not say that it was better than the book but it definitely stood its own. The movie was downright wonderful. I was enthralled from the opening recitation of the Guy Fawkes rhyme up until the final moments.

Perhaps the reason I loved the film so much was that it stayed relatively true to the book. There were some sections that were changed but the majority of the film followed the images in the book. And even if the scenes were not totally true (the raid on the TV station was changed to include Evie), they stayed true to the spirit of the novel. The scene at the end of the film where everyone arrives in their own Guy Fawkes masks was not in the book but it was an immensely powerful scene and I felt stayed true to the spirit of the book.

I was surprised to see that Alan Moore was not involved in the making of the film. I will have to do some digging to see what he thought of it. I thought Natalie Portman did beautifully going from helpless victim to heroine. Her transformation, although horrific, was done well and you can see the character develop. V (portrayed by Hugo Weaving) was wonderful. His verbosity and grandour made the role that much more powerful. The character of V has to be one of the more powerful heroes/anti-heroes of these last couple decades. I found myself crying at the last scene and I don't normally weep tears of joy for treasonous or seditious acts. :-)

The rest of the cast was very good and the film maintained the dark atmosphere of the book nicely. I was not particularly impressed with the character Stephen Fry played. The problem was not his acting but the character himself. He seemed to add almost too much light to a very dark political film. This character simply doesn't exist in the book. The violence was done well and was not simply for shock value. It, like in the book, always had a purpose. In fact, one of the best things about the book and the film is that it reminded me of the power of fear and wisdom and violence. Particularly in the last decade as we have seen fear be used as a tactic of control and I'm reminded how close we are to V's society. As V says, "The people should not be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of its people."

I was very nervous going into the film but I'm happy to say that I loved it. It can happily sit on my shelves right next to the graphic novel that bears the same name. One of the few times that a film lives up to the book.

Lazy Weekends and Wintery Weather

This past weekend was dubbed a pajama weekend. The weather on Friday night was supposed to be icy so Jeff and I ran out for dinner and then went home. I got home, put on my warmest pajamas and pretty much stayed home for the entire weekend. It was bliss. I haven't done a pajama weekend in at least a year and it was so amazing to not have to be anywhere. We lounged around reading and playing WoW and eating ourselves sick. I caught up on all my laundry and cleaned the house. Time felt endless. It was an amazing weekend.

This morning the alarm announced a harsh return to reality. Not only did I have to get up at 6 but I was going to have to deal with four or so inches of snow and a blizzard. Always good. I've reached that "I'm tired" point. I'm pretty much done with winter now. At least this year I can drive in it but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Although there is one bonus to this time of year. On January 5th the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival began and I always love to see the pictures that come out of it. The festival began in 1985 and has some of the most beautiful buildings and sculptures made entirely of snow or ice. The most amazing for me has to be the ice lantern buildings.

Ice lanterns are an old tradition started back in the 1600s. They were created by placing a bucket of water out to freeze. After it had frozen it would be brought in to be gently warmed. A hole was cut in the top of the ice and the ice was hollowed out. A candle was then placed in the hollowed out ice to make a lantern. While the blocks used for these structures are not created with such simple methods, I find the sheer size and complexity of these buildings magnificent.

Harbin is in Northeast China and is frozen for a good period of the year. Temperatures during the festival (which runs all month) can reach as low as -40 at night. Still it might be worth it for me to make a trek out to see these glorious structures. There is a snow sculpture contest as well which draws over 600 participants. All and all, it makes a nasty time of year a little more magical.

Do Not Meddle in the Affairs of Dragons...

for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

I learned that last night with my first heroic in WoW. For my non-WoW readers a heroic is an instance, either five or ten man, set on a much higher difficulty level then the regular instance. I'd never done a heroic in Burning Crusade, so I got my first taste last night with Oculus. Yeah Oculus. Not the easiest heroic to start with.

Now I've never been to Oculus on regular but I had heard plenty of stories. I knew that the last boss was done on dragonback and I was not terribly excited about that. I have problems with the quests where you have to control something else. But I was still excited to get a chance to go. Heroics are tougher, and I need the practice. They also drop much better gear.

My group had a hunter (Jeff of course), a druid, a paladin, a priest, and me. The other four are seasoned instancers. They have been through Kara more times than they can count and done most, if not all, of the instances in Northrend (Naxx excepted). So we had no difficulties with the trash up to the first boss. Drakos the Interrogator is really just a tank and spank, while avoiding the bright pink bombs he sends out. Nothing difficult. DOT and keep moving. We killed him quick and I got my first Emblem of Heroism. Yay!!

Then you get your dragon, do some simple aerial combat (actually very easy) and find the next boss area. We had some initial trouble getting to the next boss. A wipe or two where Jeff and I had forgotten to clear the snowflakes. Varos Cloudstrider is not an easy boss. Many groups simply can't get past him, particularly on heroic. He shoots out lightning doing large quantities of damage. You have to stay behind him the whole time. It was a lot of moving, not good for a caster, but with my dots I felt that I could contribute a little. He was tough intense fight. The tank died quickly in the fight but was battle rezzed to survive to the end.

Mage Lord Urom offered only a couple problems but we managed to bring him down with only a couple deaths (me included :-( ). The adds weren't the issue. We killed them quick. But on the fight with him alone we lost me, the hunter, and the paladin. Somehow the tank and the priest were able to finish him.

Then we mounted up on the dragons for Ley-Guardian Eregos. If I never hear that name again, it will be too soon. This fight took us well into when the second session was supposed to start. We tried several combinations of dragons (each does a different type of damage). We tried several different strategies. And we did way too many rezzes and corpse runs. We made nine or ten attempts on this guy until we finally had had enough. The best attempt I think we only managed to bring him down to 40%. It was discouraging.

We were all mentally exhausted. I had a terrible headache, left over from my illness, and was thinking of calling it a night. My repair bill was awful. Then one of the group suggested Violet Hold heroic. Okay so bed can wait. In twenty minutes we ran through heroic Violet Hold. There was not one death. My first successful heroic. It helped leave a better taste in my mouth. It was an incredibly frustrating night but well worth the effort. I'd do it again, but hopefully next time with some better plan of attack.

RPGs and Reveling in my Inner Geek

I started playing RPGs (role playing games for my non-geek readers) when I was about 8 years old. Like most kids my first exposure was D&D. I created a halfling cleric which was ripped apart by kobolds within the first twenty minutes of gameplay. Not my finest RPG moment. That was where my love/hate relationship began with dice. The reason I don't play craps is because I've played too many role playing games and know how I often roll. I'm known in my gaming circles as the only one who can roll multiple critical failures in a row.

D&D is a great game for an afternoon but I was 12 when my brother introduced me to my first RPG love, Shadowrun. This was a game with a story, with settings, with strategy. It was not simply hack and slash. It required planning and I loved it for that. I loved the gritty story and the unique characters. I loved the mix of magic and technology and crime. It was acting outside the boundaries of what I had done before. And I spent all of high school and a good chunk of college reveling in it. With a little Chill, Paranoia, Rifts.... mixed in.

I'm not sure why but I've always played magic users. Every character that I have ever loved was a magic user, from my humble beginnings as a cleric, through priests, through shamans, through mages, and now warlock. Not sure where the connection comes from but those are the characters I am drawn to.

But the problem for me is that I haven't had a chance to play in several years. I just don't have a dedicated group of friends who are willing to play and I haven't been brave enough to seek out a group. So I was so excited when Jeff found WereGeek for me, the webcomic by Alina Pete. This webcomic, really a graphic novel online, tells the story of Mark. Mark finds out one evening that he is...gasp...a geek. He is drawn to d20s and SciFi and role playing. He tries to hide his geekiness but with the help of friends enters the world of RPGs and is slowly more drawn in. I haven't caught up on all the backstory but what I have read is fabulous.

The best part about the story is that Alina mixes in various RPGs and LARPs (Live Action Role Playing) and helps to explain them to the readers. She touches on everything from Firefly (one of the best series ever created) to Shadowrun to Vampire (a LARP game that I bought but never tried) to console games. She pokes gentle fun at the geeks but even more fun at the non-geek. Reading this reminds me of why I love RPGs and why I embrace my geekiness. Check out this strip.

Rules for Nonreaders

The previous library I worked in subscribed to the Horn Book. The Horn Book is a children's literature review magazine. It covers hundreds of children's books in each edition giving out stars to the best enjoyed titles. When we would weed out the collection I would go through each issue looking for books that looked interested or good articles. It was in the March/April 2001 issue that I found the "Rules for Raising a Nonreader" and I knew I had to pull out that list. My parents had raised me (and all my brothers and sisters) as readers and I'm happy to say they never did any of the things on this list.

I've been something of a nonreader recently in that I haven't been working on a book every night. I read every couple of days and for me that seems almost scandelous. But I have friends who don't have books in their house. (unfathomable for me) Whose kids never pick up a book for fun. Last year a U.S.A. Today poll found that one in four people had not read a single book in the previous year. I get testy if it's been more than five days since I last read for fun.

So without further ado, here is the way to make sure your child grows up as a non-reader. Remember people, that TV's not going to watch itself.

1. Never read where your children see you
2. Put a TV or a computer in every room. Don't neglect kitchen or bathrooms.
3. Correct your child every time he or she mispronounces a word.
4. Schedule activites every day after school so your child will never be bored.
5. Once your child can read independently, toss out the picture books. They're for babies.
6. Don't play board games together. Too dull.
7. Give little rewards for reading. Stickers and plastic toys are nice. Money is better.
8. Don't expect your child to enjoy reading. Kid's books are for teaching vocabulary, proper study skills, and good morals.
9. Buy only 40 watt bulbs for your lamps.
10. Under no circumstances read your child the same book over and over. He or she heard it once and should remember it.
11. Never allow your child to listen to books on tape; that's cheating.
12. Make sure your kids only read books that are "challenging". Easy books are a complete waste of time. That goes double for comic books and Mad magazine.
13. Absolutely, positively, no reading in bed.

Unlucky Arithmetic: Thirteen Ways to Raise a Nonreader. Dean Schneider and Robin Smith. The Horn Book, March/April 2001.

I can remember whole days spent lounging on some sofa reading. My parents encouraged us to read and read to us (normally the same books over and over) from the time we were very small. Mom would read picture books to us so many times we would easily have them memorized. Dad read the chapter books to us in the evenings. And once we were old enough to read for ourselves, we devoured every book we could get our hands on. I continue to read picture books (no they're not for babies) and young adult chapter books. I read fiction and nonfiction and almost any genre out there. I will pick up whatever book is handy if I'm waiting somewhere with nothing to do. Reading for me is like breathing. I can't go too long without it. I'm a librarian because I love to read. And I love to read because my parents raised us as readers. Thanks.

Tis the Season

Cold and flu season is what I mean. I had plans for a very nice blog post yesterday. My idea was to write it during my lunch hour. But by noon yesterday I was curled up in bed upping my fluids and trying to stay warm. It was five o'clock before I decided to try eating anything, which for me is very late. I can go without sleep, I can go without caffeine, heck I could even go without internet access, but food is another story completely. I love food. So when I tell you that I've done nothing for the last day but eat crackers (and those I had to force myself to eat) you'll understand how badly I'm feeling. I'm back at work this morning and hoping to be feeling better.

Hellboy 2

For those of you who've been reading for a while I did a post many months ago about my desire to see Hellboy 2 in the theaters. I wrote a post here about Guillermo del Toro. I love his work. I'm always blown away by his imagery, and captured by the stories he tells. So when my blockbuster movies came due Jeff turned them into the store and picked up both Hellboy 2 and Wall-E for me. Both of which I have wanted to see for a long time.

Hellboy was hilarious. It was campy and fun and riotous. It was beautiful and action packed and filled with just enough one liners to not feel cheesy. Ron Perlman was downright funny and the interactions between him and the agent John Myers was engaging. Hellboy 2 was still visually beautiful but...well...something was missing. Not just the character of Myers who brought that wide-eyed amazement, combined with naive banter. What seemed to be missing was the humor.

Hellboy 2 tackles issues of relationship stress, blood feuds, and fatherhood, all of which are too heavy a subject for this type of film. Even simple scenes like a battle between Hellboy and an elemental turns into a serious environmental message. The scenes with Hellboy and Liz are well done and there appears to be a connection between the two. Doug Jones as Abe is his standard amazing self. But the new administrator (an ectoplasmic steam punk creation with a German accent) is simply bizarre and not in a good way. He lacks any real chemistry with any of the characters and seems inconsistent. Jeff and I kept expecting him to turn out to be a bad guy.

The visuals for this film are amazing, like any good Guillermo film. They are a fantastic mix of light and dark and color and depth. I am so in love with his images. But once it comes to dialogue this movie falls flat. The first one was incredible because of the humor. The one liners, and incredibly campy scenes. The only scene that I found hilarious in this whole film was a locker room scene between Hellboy and the administrator. Other than that the movie tried to hard to make me think. Which is fine with a drama, but not fine with a character named Hellboy.

I Can Quit Anytime I Like

This phrase gets bandied around my house a lot lately, sometimes by Jeff and lately sometimes by me. And it seems so appropriate for this post. I've always been a moderation person so these past couple of weeks have been odd. Then again there are worse things to be addicted to.

First I have to say that I am humbled and awed by the fact that people read this thing. I do it mostly for fun, mostly for an excuse to write, and mostly because I'm forgetful. This is a great way to remember things. But it is a little off putting when you have just finished bringing down the second boss in Utgarde Pinnacle (Gortok Palehoof) and you are still dealing with some sort of curse. I was bright green and dropping health at an alarming rate. (squishies don't do well with curses) So I'm wondering where my heals are coming from when my guild leader, who happens to be the healer, mentions that sorry he was reading my blog and got distracted. My first thought is "Really!! Yay". The fact that my guild leader reads my blog is exciting. The second thought I had was "hello, still dying". So after I was decursed and healed I whispered him with a "thanks for reading". He said he enjoyed the blog but wanted more WoW stuff. So Nereeza, this is for you! :-)

I can quit anytime I like! Really I'm not addicted. I just don't want to. And no I haven't gone into withdrawl, or dreamt about WoW. No I have never told my husband to hurry his shopping up (at Target no less) so I can get home and play. No I haven't spent an entire weekend in front of the computer only leaving it for breakfast each morning. No I have never spent more time playing WoW in one day then I have working. No I've never eaten dinner in front of the computer. (And if you believe all this I have some very nice oceanfront property in New Mexico to sell you.)

I'm seriously addicted. I figured I would slack off a little once I hit 80. The lure of leveling would be over. But that has simply not been the case. I'm almost ashamed to say that I spent well over 25 hours in front of the computer this weekend. (note the almost) I finished all my Ice Crown solo quests, pugged an Ahn'hahet-Old Kingdom run for a fellow guildy, ran The Culling of Stratholme (literally minutes after finishing Old Kingdom, and last night did Utgarde Pinnacle. I'm signing up for Naxxramas this week. I'm scheduling time to do instances. And I'm desperatly trying to get my tailoring up. I spent part of my day on Friday figuring out all the Knights of Ebon Hold quests so I can get my rep up. I actually played more than Jeff this weekend. (And that is saying a lot)

So this morning I had a touch of guilt that I was not more productive this weekend. I'm supposed to be working on a scarf to give to charity. That didn't even get touched. The poor cat is lonely and bored and only really sees me when she jumps up and plays behind the computer. I keep telling myself that I should be reading, or professional development, or writing books. But for the first time in a while I'm being selfish. I'm letting myself play as much as I want to. But I can quit anytime I like. (Really!!....Maybe....)

Memorials

One of my favorite parts of my job is that I get to find data and pictures of different cities. I love to imagine living in different places throughout the country. Google's street view maps are one of my favorite new toys. I just checked out CNN Money's new list for top 25 places for affordable houses. This was a list of cities that had very nice homes for a very cheap price. Des Moines was on the list so I had to go there. And one of the other cities listed was Bella Vista, Arkansas.

I had never heard of this city but I'm always interested in looking at cities south of me so I pulled up the city-data information on the place. City-data offers demographic, climate, education, and attraction data for locations. It also offers pictures. And that is where I saw this structure.

I've always said that I want to be turned into a firework when I die. A company will turn your cremated remains into a firework that can be shot up in a private ceremony. I love the idea of going out with a bang, but this is truly a memorial.
Now for anyone who knows me, you know that religion plays a very small role in my life. I don't attend church, don't practice any organized religion, and don't even really believe, but this is different. I wouldn't have it as a chapel. I would just have it as a resting place where people could go to soak up the beauty of nature. The memorial, dedicated to Mildred B. Cooper (a prominent citizen of the area), seems to me more about communion with nature and the beauty of nature then communing with any higher power. It is a place for introspection among some of the prettiest surroundings I can think of. It is a place that I would spend some time.

I am going to have to make a trip south. Bella Vista is a tiny town (the area only has 16,000) but I will go down just to see this structure. Of all the memorials I have ever seen this is the most beautiful. And the most fitting with what I would want.

Resolving to be less Resolute

Every year at this time I sit down and write out my resolutions. And sadly they are always the same resolutions: lose weight, get more organized, write more...etc. Since I use the same ones every year you can safely assume that I only follow them for about three weeks until I slip up, decided that it isn't going to work, and return to my normal habits. Every year is the same.

This year though I have decided not to be so general. Lose weight is an incredibly general idea. It normally means dieting for me, which I hate. So this year I actually have a plan of attack. I won't say that I want to lose weight. Instead I'll say that I plan to write down what I eat each day. Starting today. Five years ago I decided that I was going to lose weight and I bought a food journal. I wrote down everything I ate, walked more, and managed to lose 60 pounds. I maintained the exercise but stopped writing things down about three years ago. And slowly gained back 50 of those pounds. So I know that a food journal works. I'll just go back to that. Not with the idea that I will lose weight but with the idea that I will make food journaling a habit. If I lose weight, great. If not I have developed a habit that will improve my overall heath.

I keep a paper journal just because I find it more convenient, but for anyone who would prefer an electronic version I recommend SparkPeople. This site is free and allows you to track both food and exercise. Plus you just have to let them know what you eat and they keep track of the calories for you.

As for getting organized, I am also creating a plan. Rather then the vague statement "I'll get organized" my plan is to focus on each room of the house. My first will be my library. That is the one that needs the most work. I'll be starting tonight with three boxes: one to keep, one to give away, and one to toss. And if I keep doing that each day, I should be leaner in two weeks or so. Then I just have to focus on making organization a habit. Putting things in their place rather than just leave them on the counter to do later. We'll see how it goes. But I'm focused on daily improvement, not just some general ideas of what to improve.

80!!!

Just had to share that my character turned 80 yesterday in World of Warcraft. For my non-WoW readers that means that I am at the very top level for this expansion. I'm actually very excited about this because it means that now I can do more instancing with the guild. I'm ready to try Halls of Lightning again. Plus now I can work on improving my gear and my tailoring and enchanting. I was working on Ice Crown quests yesterday with the full knowledge that I would level right at Ice Crown Citadel. (of course this was shortly before I blew it up. :-) ).

The picture was stolen from a website I found recently. This player's blog includes some amazing screen shots from all over the game. It actually reminds me how beautiful this game can be. When I'm questing or just flying I don't often think about how gorgeous the backgrounds of this game are. She hasn't posted recently but check out Lucindya's blog for some incredible pictures.