Poetry Friday

I'm a little early with this but I thought it was appropriate for today. I've been ill for the last week and this poem by Shel Silverstein has been coming to mind. 

Sick

by Shel Silverstein

"I cannot go to school today," 

Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

"I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I'm going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I've counted sixteen chicken pox

And there's one more--that's seventeen,

And don't you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--

It might be instamatic flu.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke, 

I'm sure that my left leg is broke-- 

My hip hurts when I move my chin, 

My belly button's caving in, 

My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained, 

My 'pendix pains each time it rains. 

My nose is cold, my toes are numb. 

I have a sliver in my thumb. 

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak, 

I hardly whisper when I speak. 

My tongue is filling up my mouth, 

I think my hair is falling out. 

My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight, 

My temperature is one-o-eight. 

My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear, 

There is a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what? 

What's that? What's that you say? 

You say today is. . .Saturday? 

G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

Sick and Guilt

If I'm quiet today it's because I'm not feeling great. I was home all day yesterday with bronchitis and am only today starting to feel well enough to be at work. I cough a lot and my chest hurts and I'm a bit whiny. But that seems to be the standard for the last week or so. The internet is finally back up at home. Jeff finally badgered the company enough that they sent out a technician yesterday to find that someone had screwed up our wiring. Jeff felt vindicated that this wasn't our problem and happy that the company had finally sent out a tech. We'll see how long access lasts. I'm hoping this is fixed for good now.



I've been kind of selfish this week and I'm feeling bad about it. My parents have been taking care of my neice and nephews all week and I have not been over to help out yet. I had not planned to go Monday because I was meeting friends for drinks and then had a guild meet that night. The drinks fell through and I couldn't attend the guild meet because of our internet issues. I had planned to go Tuesday but Jeff was in such a bad mood that I hung around the house to try to cheer him up. Wednesday is traditionally my knitting night but after spending all day in bed coughing I thought I should stay home. So tonight I'll head over and spell them a little. I'm sure they are in need of a break.



So I've been home most of the week and not able to do most of my regular things. I've been reading a lot and watching a lot of TV and feeling pretty selfish. I did get a huge surprise last night when I finally was able to log into WoW. I guess on Monday they did some promotions and I was one of the players who was supposed to be promoted. Since I couldn't make the meet, they waited and promoted me last night. I'm now an officer in the guild and can help make guild policy. I know for most non-players that doesn't sound exciting but I'm thrilled. I look forward to helping out as much as I can. It was a nice bright spot in what has been a bit of a crappy week. (did I mention I've been whiny). Now I just have to catch up on the officer portion of the forums.

Kushiel's Dart

I will start by saying that I almost never re-read books and I don’t read series. There are only two books in my entire library that I have ever re-read, Pride and Prejudice and Siddhartha. My reasoning is that there are way too many new books that I want to read and I have a good memory for things I’ve read before. As for series, I will read the first book of a series but almost never continue on to the next book. Series are a huge time commitment and I tend to have plenty of other books waiting to be read. So when I tell you that I finished Kushiel’s Dart and immediately wanted to re-read the book you’ll understand how significant that is. I’m also debating heavily whether or not I want to continue with the series. I don’t remember the last time I was this seduced by a book.



Seduced is an apt word for this story. Kushiel’s Dart, by Jacqueline Carey, is filled with intrigue, adventure, and romance with some steamy sex scenes. The story follows Phedre, a courtesan/spy who starts the book working for a nobleman to gain political information. Phedre is unique in that she experiences pain as pleasure (a masochistic prostitute), denoted by a mark in one of her eyes called Kushiel’s Dart. She uses her unique seductive skills to learn information which she then passes on to her benefactor. But Phedre and her benefactor are betrayed. He is killed and she is sold (along with her bodyguard Joscelin) to a tribe of barbarians as slaves. While there, she uncovers a plot to overthrow the Queen of Terre D’Ange (her home) and Phedre and Joscelin escape to warn her. The Queen decides that an alliance between Terre D’Ange (France) and Alba (England) would save the country from the invaders, and sends Phedre and Joscelin to Alba to return with the king and his army. On the way they must persuade Dalriada (Scotland) to lend its aid, gain safe passage from the Master of the Straits, and get back to Terre D’Ange before the invaders. I’m leaving out half the book practically with this plot summary but so much happens in this thick book that it would be impossible to list it all.

I want to talk for a moment about the setting before anything else because it affects so much of the rest of the book. The story is set in Terre D’Ange which is an alternative Renaissance France. A religion of sorts dominates the lives of the people, denoting where their position in society will be. Phedre is sold to a benefactor at a young age because her parents cannot take care of her. She is trained as a Servant of Naamah (a goddess of sex) but also follows Kushiel (a god of pain and destruction). Each of the characters has their role in society because of the god they are most aligned with. Joscelin is a Cassiline Brother, a priest who is trained from birth to protect. He is skilled in weapons and lives the ascetic life of a priest. So there is considerable friction between him and Phedre because of their different roles in society. Terre D’Ange is the wealthiest country and also the most beautiful in the invented world. Because of their wealth, they are often focused on politics, fashion, and pleasure.

There are so many characters in the book that at times they are tough to keep track of. Carey provides a detailed character list which helped greatly and the main characters are easy to keep straight. Phedre and Joscelin are the focus of the book and I really felt like I got to know the characters over the course of the book. So much happened and the characters grew so much that when I finished the book I wanted to go back to the beginning to watch the progression again. I wanted to see them again with the knowledge of what they would become. The book jacket gives you very little idea of the plot and when the benefactor was killed I was shocked since it was so early in the book. In fact I was surprised by almost every twist and turn. I had no idea what to expect and each adventure seemed to just breed more adventures. It was hard to put the book down since it seemed that there was a climax every couple of chapters. Speaking of climaxes there is plenty of interesting sex in the book since Phedre works as something of a prostitute for the wealthy. If you are turned off by submissive behavior or pain in sex this may not be the book for you but I found the scenes steamy but understated. This is not a Story of O, and everything is done very tastefully. And the sex is often overshadowed by the political intrigue which fills almost every page of the book.

There is an incredible diversity of characters and places in the book which makes for a very fleshed out setting. Carey creates a complex world, and fills it with interesting characters. It has been years since I loved a character but I loved the character of Joscelin so much that I had to skip to the end to see if he survived. I didn’t want to be surprised by his death. Both he and Phedre are the main focus of the book and Carey breathes life into both of them, creating complex and interesting characters. The relationship between them evolves beautifully after all that they have been through and we see that progression. The dialogue in the book is wonderful, filled with things unsaid and undercurrents. The setting is interesting and beautiful, and the characters are well written. The book was exciting enough to make me ache to know what happens, long enough to make me feel that I knew the characters, and steamy enough to leave me wanting more. A great read and an incredible story. Perhaps I will have to pick up the second.

Grr

Okay, just need a couple seconds to whine. Our internet at home is acting up again and this time it is driving both Jeff and I crazy. I've learned that I can live without TV and movies. And even without music. But living without internet is just odd. So we may be switching providers to someone who will offer us consistant service. For now I'll do all my internet stuff at work. And hope nobody notices that I'm not actually working. Grrrr.

At Work Vacation

I have a friend with two young kids who always used to say that she went to work to relax. I never quite understood what she meant. Today I do. My brother and his family came into town this weekend and I spent the whole weekend playing nerf wars and running around. This morning I could barely move. (which shows how incredibly out of shape I am). So today I'm at work, and it actually feels luxurious just to sit for most of the day.

I've never been in great shape but a couple years ago I was in good enough shape that I could run around with the kids outside and not get terribly winded. I could walk for miles without getting tired. Not so much this weekend. Friday night was quiet, with just dinner and some quiet games at my parents house. My nephew has been a very good chess player and was trying to stir up games with anyone who would play. He beat me easily but the larger shock was that he beat my father who is a fairly decent player. But that was quiet.

Saturday was a bit more boisterous. There was lunch and then shopping. Jeff and I had to get a new battery for his computer (WoW destroys his battery and we have to get it replaced every year or so). But we walked that mall back and forth with my brother. Then at home the kids were interested in a nerf war. We ran around on the front lawn with nerf guns, shooting each other and having a great time. I finally found a nerf gun I like. Then after dinner, another nerf war. Lots of running around on uneven terrain in bad shoes. In the evening we played Sardines (a hide and go seek variation) and had a blast. One of my favorite games.

Sunday was exhausting. I had a bout of insomnia again Saturday night and didn't get to sleep until 4 a.m. Sunday morning. I had already promised a friend that I would walk with her at nine so it was up at 8 with just 4 hours of sleep. We walked a trail near my house that's about 3 miles and I was awake after that. Jeff and I headed out for breakfast alone and then joined a lunch already in progress with my brother and family. Then there was more playing and more running around. My brother and his wife left to head home around 4, leaving the kids with Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) for the week. So Dad and I headed down to the park with the kids. Where we ran around more with nerf guns and shot each other. My feet were hurting by this point and I was due to raid that night so I finally headed home after dinner and a quick stop at the hardware store. We raided Ulduar last night until 11 and I finally dropped into bed exhausted at midnight.

Today I woke up to find that my legs didn't want to move. I'm a hurting girl today with both of my quads screaming in pain everytime I stand up. I'm enjoying my office chair immensely. Tonight I'm meeting some friends for drinks and dinner and then heading home for a late night guild meet. Tomorrow it will be more nerf wars and running around. I'm going to start looking at work as a vacation. I had a great time this weekend but man am I tired.

Poetry Friday

Two posts today...must be in a good mood. But I just had to mention Ulduar last night and it is Friday and that requires poetry. So World of Warcraft and Poetry. Interesting combination in my head.

Today's poem is one of my favorites although I didn't know the author until today. My sister once read me this poem and I went to seek it out. This is Mary Lathrop's A Woman's Question. (I've also seen it listed as A Woman's Answer to a Man's Question)

Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing
Ever made by the hand above—
A woman's heart, and a woman's life
And a woman's wonderful love?

Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing
As a child might ask for a toy,
Demanding what others have died to win,
With the reckless dash of a boy?

You have written my lesson of duty out,
Man-like you have questioned me;
Now stand at the bar of my woman's soul
Until I shall question thee.

You require your mutton shall always be hot,
Your socks and your shirt be whole;
I require your heart to be true as God's stars,
And as pure as heaven your soul.

You require a cook for your mutton and beef;
I require a far better thing.
A seamstress you're wanting for socks and shirts;
I look for a man and a king.

A king for the beautiful realm called home,
And a man that the maker, God,
Shall look upon as he did the first
And say, "It is very good."

I am fair and young, but the rose will fade
From my soft, young cheek one day,
Will you love me then 'mid the falling leaves,
As you did 'mid the bloom of May?

Is your heart an ocean so strong and deep,
I may launch my all on its tide?
A loving woman finds heaven or hell
On the day she is made a bride.

I require all things that are grand and true,
All things that a man should be;
If you give all this, I would stake my life
To be all you demand of me.

If you cannot do this — a laundress and cook
You can hire, with little to pay,
But a woman's heart and a woman's life
Are not to be won that way.

Four Bosses, Four New Items, 8 Deaths

Not sure if I should call it a win or a lose evening.

Ulduar is not my friend! In fact I'm pretty sure it hates me and means to do me harm. Okay has done me harm. We made our second attempt on the raid last night and I found about a million ways to die. Okay 8 ways to die but that was more than almost anyone else. (One of our pallys led the charge in total number) Four of those were wipes. The rest, all me.

I only finished one boss fight last night from a vertical position. Most of the rest of the time I was "decorating the floor" as we like to say. I went from full armor at the beginning of the night to mostly red. It was not a good night for warlock survival. And what hurts the most is that most of them were my fault.

We started with Flame Leviathan and I got to drive a siege engine (tanking vehicle). My very patient gunner was our druid healer. Being new to seige engines I moved in too close to mobs and managed to get myself (and the druid) killed quickly on the trash from the towers. Not my finest moment. We both released and grabbed a new machine. It took us two tries to get the Leviathan down although in our defense we were doing the achievement method. The second time went much better for us but my vehicles health was very low by the end. Right before he died, our vehicle went and both the druid and I died...again.

Then it was on to Razorscale, the giant dragon that I get to harpoon to the ground. I love this fight because I get to play a huge role (mostly because I can teleport back to the harpoons quickly). The group starts by killing the adds which pop up from three towers. That is done until the harpoons are ready to fire. Then I teleport back and fire the harpoons to bring Razorscale to the ground and we all DPS him. He rises back up and it's rinse and repeat until he is at 50%. Then he is permanently grounded and we start the full on fight. It took us three tries to bring him down. The last try everything was going well until he was finally grounded, when he resisted the tank's taunts and came straight for me. I lasted one swipe of his paw and was down for the rest of the fight. He managed to bring down two others before the tanks finally got him under control and the guild brought him down while I anxiously watched health bars and bit my fingernails.

Then on to XT. I hate this fight. I'm not kidding. This is my toughest fight and so far I have not been standing at the end of any of our attempts. When we went two weeks ago it was the only one I died on. This time I died quickly on each of our attempts. Embarrassingly quickly. One of my issues I've figured out is that I have not downloaded the new Deadly Boss Mods. So right before XT pounds the ground (causing all sorts of aoe damage) I get a DBM warning that I have to click on. I'll update that tonight and hopefully it will help a little. The problem with this fight isn't XT himself. It's the adds. The first attempt last night I was helping out with adds and actually surviving a bit. Until one of the bomb guys aggroed me and I died in a small explosion. The second death on this was my own stupidity. I was working XT only, when I saw a robot break past our hunters and head straight for him. If he reaches the boss, it will eat him and recover health. So I aggroed the robot. And couldn't get my soulshatter off in time. He came for me and killed me in two blows. Again decorating the floor while the rest of the group brought him down.

And we finished the night with the two handed giant of doom. (not his actual name. :) ) This big boy (Kologran) is a much more difficult fight than he looks. There is so much that needs to be healed. Jeff kept switching between his hunter and his shaman when we needed extra heals, which was helpful for us. In this fight, you need to kill the giants left hand, and then dps down the body. Kologran brings up adds from his shattered hand, shoots laser beams from his eyes, and grabs people and shakes them when his hand is alive. He's not the toughest fight there but he seems to give us fits. It took us at least three tries to get this one, but minutes before midnight success was finally ours. So far this fight is the only one I can can consistanly stay alive on.

So elaborate fights and many deaths would seem to make for a bad night. And it could have been. But the loot gods smiled upon the only dps cloth-wearing caster in the group. And I walked away with four new items. I've somehow become the group's master looter which is a fun and slightly nerve wracking role for me. I'm not the quickest player in the group and am pretty slow at distributing raid mats. I'm also still learning what potions and injectors go to which player. I hope to have it down by next week but I had to do a lot of asking last night. But apparently being master looter is good luck for me. I picked up a new belt (Conductive Cord), a new set of bracers (Combustion Bracers), a new ring (Emerald Signet Ring), and a new trinket (Eye of the Broodmother). Four new items, four bosses down (okay that was more the guild than me), and 8 deaths. My armor bill was awful. Not sure if I should call this is a win or loss night. But I had a great time with the guild, so I'm calling it a win.

Ask, and You Shall Receive

I was asked about my favorite webcomics. I had planned to write up a brief comment and leave it in the comments section but it kept getting longer and longer. I have so many of them that I read now. And each of them is very different. So I decided that instead of a comment, it would be a post. Susskins, thanks for the idea and of course thanks for reading. Here are all of my favorite webcomics all in one place. Be warned, this could get long.

Favorite

Some of these will have their links to the right but I'll include them here as well. If you were to ask me which of my webcomics were my favorite I would have to say Sheldon. Dave Kellett is just consistantly funny. He posts everyday and almost all of his comics are hilarious. Sheldon is a 10 year old boy genius, who (sometimes) runs his own company. He lives with his out of shape and gently grumpy grandfather, Arthur the talking duck, Flaco a lizard that Arthur considers his son, and an incredibly hyper pug named Oso. An odd combination that leads to hilarious punch-lines. This one is a definite recommendation.

Story Based Webcomics

I have four webcomics that I follow that tell one long and mostly consistant story. If you start reading these you will want to go back and read from the beginning. Otherwise they simply make no sense. I'll start with my most recent find, Looking For Group. For fans of World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, and fantasy in general this comic is a must read. Funny, action packed, cartoony with a touch of darkness. I wrote a whole post about it here. The next is Dreamland Chronicles. This story follows Alexander who lives in two worlds. He is a normal college student during the day but when he falls asleep he returns to Dreamland, a place of his youth to try to save it. The story is indepth and Scott Christian Sava, the creator has clearly thought it through. Beautifully rendered this story is a wonderful fantasy comic.

The next of my story based comics is only partly that. Wapsi Square started out as any other webcomic with a great mix of characters and daily strips. It has evolved into an elaborate mystery involving Mayan time clocks, demons, and immortal girls. Paul Taylor creates a very interesting group of characters and I am constantly intrigued by where it will turn next. This is a great mix of touching, funny, and creepy. The last of my story-based comics is Order of the Stick. (link on the left) This comic follows a band of D&D adventurers on their quest to destroy an evil undead wizard. All the classic D&D archetypes are there: bard, warrior, rogue, wizard. The story pokes fun at the Role Playing genre with comments about random encounters, dice roles, and experience/levels. The characters play off each other well and the strip is just one adventure after another. Hilarious stuff.

Geekery

As I mentioned before I'm a geek. Actually pretty proud of that. Geeks tend to be some of the most interesting people. So I love geek comics. These are things that deal with video games, RPGs, computer stuff, fantasy, and SciFi. I have several. The most recent one is Weregeek, a comic about a reluctant gamer who is slowly drawn into the geek world while trying to keep his new game addiction a secret. I wrote a post about it here. Evil Inc is another new addition and one I've already blogged about. Set at a company for supervillians, run by supervillians this is a comic book fan's must read. Consistantly silly and funny, this pokes fun at the whole genre. PVP by Scott Kurtz is a comic about the staff of a video game magazine. This comic is filled with pop culture references, great characters, and one big blue Troll. PVP (short for Player Versus Player) is a model of geekery, discussing new video games, movies, and technology through its characters. The interactions between the characters is funny but the references are even better. The comic is currently following a separate story-arch involving a dwarven warrior and his bard.

Greg Dean's Real Life Comics follows him and his wife Liz in their daily life. Dean is a lover of all things SciFi, television, computer games, and other geekery. The strip tends to be random, jumping from idea to idea (just how life works) but the jokes are pitch perfect. You are guaranteed a good laugh with this one. XKCD is a bit of an oddity. It's not often that a webcomic is so intelligent, so interesting, that I need to go look things up after reading it. I am constantly heading towards google or a reference book after reading this very funny comic. The strip is very random jokes about computers, science, math, and physics. The drawings are mostly stick figures but the jokes are hilarious if sometimes over my head. I love that I not only laugh at this comic but get to learn a little.

Sweet

There are some comics I read for their humor and their sweetness. Little Dee by Chris Baldwin is the perfect example of this. The story follows Dee, a young girl, who is lost in the woods and befriended by a gentle bear, a sarcastic vulture, and a loveable dog. This is a comic that you will laugh at but also be touched by. The humor mostly comes from the animals playing off Vachel the vulture. This comic makes me go Awwww, so cute while I'm laughing. Another animal based story is Sandusky by John Prengaman. The story follows a mountain lion named Sandusky that was left on a man named Scott's doorstep. Scott, who lives with his husky named Bunker, can't turn the big cat away and adopts him. But as always happens Sandusky grows up and leads both Scott and Bunker on some interesting adventures. The strip is beautifully drawn and the story, which publishes three times a week, is constantly changing. The cast of characters are wonderful and Sandusky often become the butt of the jokes because of his now civilized ways.

A new comic that I've fallen in love with is Misery Loves Sherman. I wrote about it here along with Evil Inc. The story follows Sherman, a young boy who seems to always get the short end of the stick. He is joined by two aliens who live in his room, a small version of death, a bratty and often violent sister, and two parents who don't seem to understand him. Chris Eliopoulos's drawings are rounded and wonderfully cute. Sherman is an underdog that you can't help but root for. Unshelved doesn't really fit under cute but I can't quite find another place to put it. This hilarious strip follows the adventures of the librarians at the Mallville Public Library. Dewey (yes named after Melvil Dewey founder of the Dewey Decimal System) is the main character. He's a sarcastic young adult librarian who's not a huge fan of the rules and would rather be reading then helping patrons. The fantastic cast includes an overly perky children's librarian, a rule-setting straight laced library director, a technophobic reference librarian, and a large beaver who acts as both book mascot and book shelver. For a book lover and a librarian like myself this is just heaven. The strip is a great workplace comic with a ton of great book reference and SciFi references. Every Sunday the comic does a guest book review as well.

Pushing the Envelope

I know you're getting tired but I just have two more. These comics are the ones that constantly stretch the boundaries. Anything is likely to happen and often does. They are both hilarious but both could be incredibly offensive to the wrong person. The first is Sinfest by Tatsuya Ishida. This strip makes me laugh everyday. One of the funniest ones out there. The comic mostly follows Slick, a self-absorbed young man who is in love with Monique, a sexy and strong female. But the cast has pretty much everything. From the sweet Percy and Pooch (the artist's pets) to the devil and his succubi. Jesus makes regular appearances along with Buddha and God (or at least his hand which is often puppet covered). This strip will offend in so many ways. It pokes fun at religion, politics, sex, and drugs. It is incredibly risque but also incredibly funny. If you are easily offended this is not for you. If not, I guarantee you will laugh. The other I have just started reading. Least I Could Do is done by the two creators of Looking For Group. The comic follows Rayne a self-styling Don Juan. The humor is almost always focused on Rayne's attempts to have sex with pretty much every girl he meets. The comic is risque in the extreme but really funny. I laugh almost everyday at this one and am slowly working through the archives.

There you go, my current favorite webcomics all in one place. Be careful of what you ask for.

Wishing I was in San Diego

If I look a little green today, it's with envy. I'm wishing I was halfway across the country today in San Diego. The city itself is nice enough but the current draw for me is Comic Con. I haven't done a Con in way too long and this one interests me more than any other. I was hitting Gen Con every year for quite a while. When it moved out to Indianapolis I had to stop. Both distance and family stuff, kept me away. My brother and his family are going with my parents again this year. I'm a bit jealous of that. But the writer part of me, the webcomic addict part of me, and the serious geek in me wants to see the hugeness that is Comic Con. (the convention has been selling out for many years in a row)

The convention brings in some of the biggest names in comics along with pretty much everything else. Comics were the main focus but now the Con is much more inclusive. Films, pop culture, books.... But my interest is in the comics, particularly webcomics. Many of my favorite webcomic writers will be there. I have been glancing at their booth promotional material for weeks now in their blogs. I can already visualize my money being spent on signed books and figurines. I can imagine all the cool costumed figures and the great panel discussions. It is something that Jeff and I have talked about attending for a couple years now. And one day I'll get there. It just won't be this year.

Since I Found Serenity

I'm not a huge fan of TV shows, although I do have certain ones that I watch, if they are on and I happen to have the TV on. I don't normally seek out shows and I so far have not found a reality show that I can even stand watching. If the television is on in our house it is normally tuned to either Discover, History, Comedy Central, or ESPN. (sports I've found are great background noise for writing).

With that said there is one show that I never seem to get tired of watching. Now I'm not a fanatical Browncoat like many people out there. (SciFi fans out there will get that reference instantly) But I have to admit that Joss Whedon's Firefly was one of the best written shows out there. Jeff and I sat down last night and watched the pilot again. (we have the DVDs) It had been a bit since I'd seen it but I'm reminded of how good that show was. For those of you who don't know, Firefly was a short lived series by Joss Whedon that combined elements of a Western with Outer Space. And it was amazingly good. It was funny, it was touching, it was exciting, and oh yeah, it was canceled half way through it's first season. Fox's reason seems to be that it was too expensive. And I have to admit that the sets were huge. They had to build an entire spaceship, plus all the land based settings.

The show focuses on the crew of Serenity, a Firefly class spaceship, that works at whatever odd jobs are available for a ship living on the fringes of society. Some of the jobs are legal, most aren't. These are thieves and scavengers and rebels. The land based worlds are a mix of huge Alliance (the ruling power) cities and frontier planets barely starting out. The premise may seem hokey to those who have never seen it but Whedon pulls it off by creating incredibly likable characters. And making it funny.

Mal, the captain of the ship, is loyal to his crew, sarcastic in the extreme, and a bit of a prankster. He'll shoot you if you betray him or his crew, but he'll do anything to keep his ship flying. Wash, his pilot, is a goofball. He plays with toys, invents mantras, and is constantly telling jokes, when not performing dangerous manuvers to get them out of scrapes. Wash is married to Zoe, the ships second in command. She served with Mal in the wars and is fiercely loyal to him. Kaylee is the ships engineer who is constantly upbeat, and nice to absolutely everyone. Jayne is the muscle on the ship. Always ready to shoot someone and constantly at odds with Mal about why he can't. To round out the group, there is Simon a doctor trying to protect his sister River, a crazy but brilliant girl the Alliance is chasing. Book, a preacher and often the only voice of reason, and Inara a courtesan (read high class prostitute) who travels with the groups to add respectability.

It may seem convoluted but the show is just spot on. The banter between crew members is fast and funny. There seemed to be actual chemistry between the crew. The jokes are hilarious, the plots are action-packed, and everyone on the ship is likable. You can catch the show on the SciFi channel (or SyFy as it is being called now) but your best bet is to rent the DVDs and start with the pilot. I guarantee you'll be hooked. One of the most well-written shows every made.

Home is Where the Heart is

Although I've loved every minute of my weekend travels this month, there was something very luxurious about having a weekend at home. The past weekend was wonderful. Friday was ridiculously lazy. Jeff and I went out for dinner and then came back to watch comedians on TV and I read a book. Lazy, wonderful. My kind of Friday night.

Saturday was a bit cold. I woke Jeff up early to head out to breakfast which was good because the jackhammer started at 9:30. They are ripping up my neighbors patio (yes the annoying one) and re-laying the concrete. Nothing like the melodic sounds of a jackhammer on Saturday morning. Ah well. We escaped. Had breakfast and then wandered out to the cricket ground to watch a bit of a match. It was cool enough (can you believe it's July) that I cradled my coffee and we sat in the car to watch.

Saturday night we had dinner with my parents and then wound up at a used bookstore. Half Price Books is a dangerous place for me. I bought a couple books and then found out that my mother had set aside a ton of children's books for me to take. I came home with two gigantic bags of books, some bought, some inherited. Now I just need another bookcase. Sunday was quiet. I went walking with a friend in the morning. Cleaned for most of the afternoon and then finished a Naxx run with the guild that night. I even managed to work in some writing and drawing too this weekend. All good. A perfect remedy after being on the go for so many weekends.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby had a massive stroke. Before the stroke he was the very successful editor for Elle magazine. Afterwards he is completely paralyzed, only able to move his left eye to communicate with the world. He is completely conscious but cannot communicate his thoughts or move (called Locked-In Syndrome). In his hospital room, he begins to work with therapists to try to regain some of his movement. He works with a speech therapist and develops a code for communicating. The therapist will go through the alphabet (most popular letters first) and Jean-Dominique will blink when the correct letter is reached. The letters become words and the words become sentences. And over a year, the sentences become a book. 

The book, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death, describes the struggles that Jean-Dominique has with communication and his disconnect from the rest of the world. He describes visiting with his children who he can no longer talk to or touch. He discusses the nursing staff who he comes to love and hate at the same time. He goes on elaborate flights of fantasy to relieve the boredom of being stuck in his own head. His paralysis is the diving bell, pinning him within himself. The butterfly is his mind which is able to fly free, exploring and imagining. He sees everything, noticing details that others would miss. His descriptions of the room, the hospital, and the world around him are amazing. 

This book is a beautiful reminder of how precious the simple act of living can be. It is a reaffirmation that the mind is an amazing thing. And it is a miracle that it ever got written. Jean-Dominique and his very patient speech therapist create a beautiful book one letter at a time. One blink at a time. Jean-Dominique died two years after his stroke and two days after the publication of this book in France. He left a lasting legacy of his Locked-in experience and a new way to view life. The book has now become a motion picture. But this book is an amazing reminder of the value of life, and worth reading. 

Poetry Friday

I'm always losing things. Keys, phone, scraps of paper with numbers or ideas, glasses, everything. I am constantly hunting for something. So this poem by Elizabeth Bishop rings true for me. I first heard the poem in college and the line "the art of losing isn't hard to master" stayed with me, pressing itself into my brain until years later I had to go find the poem that it fit.

One Art
by Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

Unreadable

It's not often that I find a book that I simply can't read. But over the weekend a friend introduced me to a book that I could not understand. I've tried, over and over. But for some reason the Codex Seraphinianus just escapes me. :-) Then again it's been baffling linguists for the last twenty or so years so I don't feel too badly.

The Codex was written in the late seventies by Luigi Serafini, a mixed media surrealist artist and architect. The book is one of the greatest mysteries of the book and art world. It describes in beautiful detail the plant life, animal life, social customs, and architecture of an alien planet/species. Oh and did I mention that it is written in a language that linguists have been trying to crack for decades now. Serafini created his own language for the book but this is not simply gibberish. The symbols, which look like a combination of Arabic and artistic flourishes, are orderly and logical enough to create a usable language. The number system used in the book has already been cracked. Serafini, who is still creating interesting and strange art, has refused to talk about the book or the language used.

I spent some time leafing through the copy trying to make sense of Serafini's beautiful drawings since the text was completely impenetrable. The images give the reader enough of a hint as to what the chapter is about. But the illustrations are very otherworldly, showing creatures that could never exist and strange contraptions or plants. It is very detailed, giving elaborate illustrations of plant germination/migration, human social connections, food choices,...etc. The book goes into every aspect of life on the alien world. It is a very beautiful book but also very eerie.

The Codex is also one of the most highly sought books, mostly for its rarity. It has only been published a handful of times in limited runs. A good copy can run anywhere from $300 to $900. Most libraries that hold them (and there are not a ton) keep them in the request only sections of the library. The book is beautiful and creepy and strange. After getting a chance to look I know I will have my eye out for a copy. Even as just an art book, this is one to own. Even if I can't read a word of it.

Wonderful Weekend and Ulduar

Okay so it's been a couple of days since I wrote anything. I had no internet access again this weekend so no posting. And this will be short. I've been not feeling well since last night. I was out of town helping a friend move. I know what you're thinking, how exciting, but we actually had a really good weekend. The move itself only took a couple of hours and the hanging out lasted all weekend. It was great to see everyone. We spent a lot of time talking, playing games, and eating. It was really a wonderful weekend. And the last of my traveling weekends for a while. I love to get away but I'm looking forward to being home this coming weekend. 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that our guild made their first attempt on Ulduar on Thursday before I left. Several of the regular members had done section of the raid but we hadn't tried it yet as a guild. It went surprisingly well. We started late but managed to bring down four bosses in the span of a couple hours. The first boss we worked on was the Flame Leviathan, who is a machine fight. I don't normally do well with machine fights since my minion often interferes with the controls. But I dismissed my pet beforehand and had no issues. I got to be a gunner, shooting rockets and bombs and enjoyed the fight immensely. 

We then took down Razorscale and I got to play a major role in the battle, shooting the guns that brought the dragon to the floor. We had no real problems with him. XT-002 the girl robot who thinks we are toys, was much more a challenge. We managed to bring her down but I died twice during the fight and we wiped at least once. We bypassed the Furnace Master and brought down Kologran, the giant with the active right hand after several wipes. It was an interesting set of bosses but we had a good time. I look forward to going back. 

The Ashes

I'm one of those odd Americans who not only enjoys cricket but understands it as well. When Jeff started playing a couple years ago I went to every game and learned a ton about the sport. I still "watch" regularly. I put the watch in quotes because there are simply no television channels that broadcast cricket. So instead, I fire up the computer, head to Cricinfo and listen to the play by play. I can't see the game but I can imagine it. Cricinfo has some of my favorite commentators with Will Luke being my hands-down favorite. He has been covering this week's event since it's in England, and I'm in heaven.

And there is no greater time for me to watch cricket then now, during the Ashes. The Ashes is one of the greatest rivalries in the sport, between England and Australia. The national teams from both countries play a full test cricket series (5 matches, 2 innings per match) for the right to hold the Ashes. The event will last all week. The competition has been held every other year since 1882. Australia won two years ago but I have my hopes up that England can pull it off this time. I make it no big secret that I'm a huge Anglophile. So as much as I loved Australia when I was there, I'm an England fan.

The name is in reference to a comment made back in 1882 after a particularly brutal match between the two countries. At the end of the matches one of the commentators said that English cricket was dead, would be cremated, and the ashes taken to Australia. Supposedly one of the fans decided to create an urn, burned a set of bails, (the pieces of wood placed on top of the wickets) and presented them as a trophy. After that year, the competition has been for the right to hold the ashes.

Imagine if the US battled against Canada every two years in hockey. Imagine that these are the best players in the sport playing for a national title. Now imagine that it had happened every other year for 120 years. You can imagine the rivalry that would build up. The excitement and the patriotism. This is what the Ashes represent. So today, as I go about my work, I'll keep a close eye on the innings and wickets taken. And I'll cheer my team on. Here's to great rivalries and an English victory.

Geek The Library

The library system has long needed a good PR campaign. Libraries for some reason are still seen as dusty, musty buildings filled with books and librarians who wander around shushing. If you've been in a library recently, that is simply not the case. Most libraries nowadays are becoming community hang-outs, game centers, movie rental places, and internet cafes. Oh and they still house books. And slowly the library's image is changing.

OCLC is looking to change that image a bit faster with its new Geek the Library campaign. As a self-described geek I was interested in the name. Geek can have multiple meanings but OCLC appears to be creating their own definition for this. Geek in this sense is to have a strong interest in and/or be knowledgable about a particular subject. It is about the subjects we are passionate about. (the original definition of geek was a circus performer, a wild man who bit the heads of live chickens. Fun fact) The website is a mixture of information and community forum. People are encourage to write in about their passions and share how they got interested in their subject. They are also encouraged to say how the library has helped them learn more. There are links to facebook, youtube, and myspace for people to link to and for people to spread the word about libraries.

There is information and event ideas to show the public how valuable a library can be to their community. There is a section about all the different roles a library plays. And suggestions about how to get better funding for libraries and improve services. The site is simple but interesting. It is highlighted with people's faces and what they geek. There are wallpaper images available for download and customizable gear for sale. (although when I tried them today the download links didn't work)

The focus is on making this a grassroots movement to improve libraries and the funding sources. People forget that during times of economic crisis the number of people using the library goes way up, and the amount of budget available to the library goes down. This is OCLC's way of helping out. I'm a huge fan of any library initiative and excited that this one is very grassroots. They are capitalizing on the current social networks and creating one of their own. It is a wonderful program that I hope does well. Then again I always want to see libraries and library programs do well. I geek libraries....along with a host of other subjects. What do you geek?

A Love/Hate Relationship

Any of my WoW readers have wondered where my stories have gone. I haven't talked WoW in a while. I continue to play, working to level a paladin and raiding with the guild with my warlock. I spent a good chunk of time over the weekend playing. I leveled my paladin three levels this weekend. It was easy and fun and I looked forward to logging on. Today not so much. 

I have an odd love/hate relationship with WoW recently. I love the time I get to spend raiding and instancing. I enjoy the times where the quests are going quickly. I love that it is active but at the same time doesn't require the same consciousness that writing does. I hate how much time it takes. I hate the repetitive kills and exploring the same places I've gone before. I hate that it takes so much of my productivity away. I love the guild, and love hanging out with them. They are all wonderful people. But I hate the fact that I have spent so much time indoors this summer. 

And more than anything I'm frustrated by the fact that when I am playing WoW regularly, I pretty much stop writing. For some reason these things are mutually exclusive for me. When I am writing regularly I don't log on and then I find myself missing the game a bit, and the guild a lot. When I'm playing regularly, I miss writing and creating. Like an recovering alcoholic, I can't seem to just have one. I can't make that choice. I feel guilty for not writing and I feel guilty for not playing. I probably shouldn't be writing this tonight. I try to keep this place a more positive place and don't normally air my neurotic thoughts. But I just had to sit down and talk about this struggle. I'm not sure why I can't do both. 

All I know is that writing is hard. I am constantly worried about offering my words to the world. I know I shouldn't worry about what others think, but for anyone who knows me, well...no surprise there. And since writing is hard, I find myself playing to avoid having to deal with the writing. And the moment I log on I regret it. And the moment I log off, I look at my writing and regret logging off. Again sorry. Kind of a downer post. I just had to get everything out. Weird night. 

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I've been reading an awful lot about food recently. Cookbooks, food magazines, and more importantly food production books. I'm fascinated and very disturbed by our current food industry. And Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma has been my Holy Grail of food books. I've been meaning to read this book since I was on our trip last year and thumbed through a copy of his In Defense of Food. So when my dad said he had finished Omnivore's, I grabbed it before he offered it to anyone else.

The Omnivore's Dilemma is that we have a huge variety of foods to eat as omnivores. A koala doesn't have to think about what's for dinner. It knows. Since it only eats eucalyptus, dinner plans are a snap. Humans are not like that. We eat almost everything. And as Americans this question of what to eat becomes even more complicated since we don't have a stable food culture. That is why food trends and diet fads seem to catch on so easily here. We simply don't know what we should eat. So the question of dinner becomes more complicated. And currently we are being pulled in three different directions although I would state that it is actually four.

Pollan divides the book into three sections but talks about four different ways of producing/finding food. The first section is about King Corn and the industrial food production industry. That is the industry that drove me to become a vegetarian. This is the food system of McDonalds, Oreos, and frozen meals. It is about processed food and most of that food comes from corn in some way or another. Americans have created a monoculture of corn and now derive a good chunk of our food from corn and corn products. Pollan actually ran a McDonalds meal through a mass spectrometer (which breaks down substances into their various parts) and found that very high percentages of the food was based on corn. Soda 100%, a hamburger almost 60%. Pollan points out how unsustainable this type of food production is and that although the cost of food is low, the cost to health, environment, and animals is very high.

The next section is about two different types of food production. The first is organic, which Pollan says can be either local organic or industrial organic. This is food grown without fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones, and other chemicals. It is a significantly more healthy food choice but Pollan points out that industrial organic also relies on monocultures and are often as intensively farmed as conventional crops. Instead Pollan focuses on pasture farming, which he describes as beyond organic. This is the ideal farm. No need for pesticides, or fertilizers. The animals that are raised (this is a mostly beef, chicken, egg, and rabbit farm) live actual animal lives and are slaughtered humanely. The farmer calls himself a grass farmer. He grows the grass that the cows live on. After the cows are pastured, the chickens are brought into the field to find insects and help spread the cows' manure for fertilizer. It is what chickens naturally do. These are the farmers' egg laying chickens and broiler chickens. The animals are then moved from field to field as the grasses return to health. It is a closed system and nothing goes to waste. It is what farms used to be before we started planting more corn than we could eat. Pollan uses an actual farm, Polyface Farms in Virginia.

The last section is dedicated to hunting and gathering. While Pollan agrees that this is not a practical way to feed ourselves it is something that brought him the most pleasure. He decides to make a meal out of things he has either hunted or gathered on his own. He tells the tale of pig hunting with friends (his first hunting experience and possibly his last). He describes the joy he takes in mushroom hunting for morels and chantrelles. He gathers wild yeast and bakes his own bread. He finds wild fruits that provide him with a dessert. And when all is done he gathers all the friends who have helped him hunt and gather and has a huge meal. He says that this was the most satisfying meal he had since he provided all of the ingredients themselves.

Pollan finishes each chapter with a meal from that style of food production. He shows the differences between each type of food along with facts on each industry style. I've read several books in the last year on food production but not one of them summed things up as wonderfully as this one. Pollan has written a disturbing and beautiful and informative book that covers all aspects of the food industry. So much of what I have written lately is an attack on the industrial food industry which offers me little options. By looking at different food systems, Pollan offers us a chance to chose. A beautiful book that made me hungry and sad and hopeful.

Happy Fourth of July

Happy 4th all. 

I'm a day or so late mostly because I didn't feel like blogging yesterday. And since this holiday is all about freedom I figured I had the right to do so. :-)  

This was a bit of a strange holiday for me. I've spent almost the entire weekend indoors at home.I had an invitation to go out to the music festival in town (80/35) but really just wanted to be selfish with my time. I didn't even go out to watch fireworks which is bizarre for me since I love fireworks. What I did do was write and read and play and enjoy. The weekend felt like the right length for me without all the running around. I got a lot done and felt good about it. I baked bread and learned how to cook quinoa. I caught up entirely on laundry and read and reviewed multiple children's books. I played with the cat and spent good quality time with Jeff. It was a good weekend even without fireworks. 

Myke Amend

I don't often pay attention to the ads on websites. I've learned to look past the margins even when they flash and dance. So when I went to Wapsi Square a couple days again, I'm shocked that I noticed a small (non-flashing) ad on the right side. The ad was for art prints but the picture was what caught my eye. It's one of the first times that I can say that I found a new artist from an advertisement.


Myke Amend's work has been described as everything from gothic to fantasy to steampunk. I would simply describe it as freaking incredible. He's a painter, an etcher, a mixed-media artist and all of it is really beautiful work. His images tend to be very detailed particularly his paintings. Perhaps his most famous image (The Rescue) is an incredibly calm and sparse painting that somehow looks detailed. It is all whites, grays, and browns. The airship is incredibly detailed and the submarine is somehow vague as if brought up from the depths and still not sure of what it is above the land. I love the tenticles on the left hand side. This for me was a strangely calming image. I contrast that with Deady, a darkly colored image of a teddy bear that seems to have been murdered. There is a look of surprise on the teddy's face that is vaguely unsettling. I'm impressed that Myke has been able to calm me and disturb me in seconds.



Check out both of those images here. But neither of these are the images that caught my eye in the ad. That was Behold the Machine, and I might have to look into buying a print of it. I have also seen an image of it on a journal so I will definately purchase one of those. Great art and journals are my weakness. I'm not sure why this particular image strikes me as much as it does. I love the mix of the ice and the airships. It speaks to me of old time adventures and exploration. It has something of a Jules Verne feel to the painting. I love the markings on the larger ship and the incredible detail that goes into it. The first time I looked at it I didn't even notice the tiny polar bears that have made their home on the cliff side. I find new details every time I look at it.





I hope Myke won't mind that I posted it here since I found it on a very nice steampunk wallpaper site. And since he offers it as a free e-card. Over the past three years I've realized how much I'm drawn to the steampunk movement. Myke's images (particularly his airships) are a perfect example of how to do steampunk well. Check him out if you get a chance.

Freezing flamingo

Nothing like a flamingo to start your day. I'm trying to write a children's book called Early Bird and one of the images is of a flamingo in a stocking cap and scarf. So yesterday over lunch I played with Microsoft Paint and made this. He's not a particularly good flamingo but I had a ton of fun creating him. And I downloaded Paintbrush for the Mac when I got home last night.