Basic Pop-ups

I've been playing with paper lately. I mentioned a while ago how much I love pop-up books. So in January I ordered a book on how to do some basic paper engineering. It was a pop-up book that showed how to do pop-ups, which I thought was a brilliant idea. Only it wasn't in stock. Amazon kept extending the ship date further and further and I finally got frustrated. I canceled that one and ordered Paul Jackson's The Pop-Up Book. And it worked out beautifully. I've just started working my way through the book and already I'm addicted. I have been creating paper frogs for everyone I know. 

Here is my paper frog. 

This is about the simplest pop-up to do. It only requires two cuts and just a little folding. After a little bit of practice I want to start coloring them so they stand out a little more. I can see making frog cards for friends and family. Simple and somewhat impressive. 

Another simple one that I've been doing from the book is what I call the MC Escher staircase. I still have yet to come out with one that I've been completely happy with but here is my most recent attempt. The stairs aren't quite even but I have yet to bring out the ruler and X-acto knife. Both of those are needed for the more complicated designs. 

Here are two views of my staircase.

I have no doubt that I will get to the tougher patterns in the book. I've actually just enjoyed working the simple patterns to try to get the basic folds down. I will never be a great paper engineer like Subuda or Lothar Meggendorfer but I'm excited to learn. 

Book Review and News

News first before I get to the book review. First and foremost on a personal level. I spent a good chunk of time this evening finishing my first hat. It's not perfect, it's not even good, (it's a little big) but I'll wear it with pride. My plan is to do a hat and scarf combination and have them ready to go for next winter. Hat down, scarf should take me a couple of months with how slow I knit.  The hat cost me a skein of yarn and a couple hours of work, but I've never been prouder. Well anyway, here is my new hat. 

In different news, some of my readers have found this blog through BigRedKitty's excellent blog. I am gladdened and saddened to hear that he is throwing in the towel. Saddened because I won't have his incredibly entertaining writing to cheer me each morning. Even not being a hunter I enjoyed his in game and out of game stories. His self-depreciating humor and witty turn of phrase made him one of the most popular WoW blogs out there. But I'm gladdened because he made the decision for the right reason. He has figured out that he's spending too much time playing WoW, and writing about WoW, and has been neglecting his family. As much as I enjoy the game, real life takes precedence. So I salute him for making the tough choice but for making it for the right reasons. 

And now to the book review. As I mentioned I've been interested in birding lately. That extends to my reading as well. So when I was in the library and spotted "A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All" by Luke Dempsey I had to pick it up. I'm glad I did. This is an entertaining read partially for the journeys and the birds seen. This book sent me to the Cornell University Lab for Ornithology multiple times. After reading about the rare birds they were searching for I would go to the website to see pictures and learn more about the species. 

The three mad birders in the title are just that. The book followed the author along with two rather unique friends as they travel across the country birding. There are trips to Texas, Michigan, Florida, Washington, and Arizona, to name a few. Dempsey mixes a good conservation message with sheer love of birds. As he mentions, they are not listers, but they want to see as many species as they can. But, like me, he is not willing to leave a beautiful bird just to make another checkmark on his list. The love and respect the author has for birds comes through clearly. This is part bird book, part travelogue, and part memoir. And it's all interesting. 

Weekend Update

I'm pretty bad about posting over the weekend. Not sure why but it might be that over the weekend I don't often sit at a computer that isn't playing WoW. Yesterday I leveled my new Paladin all the way up to 22. I never realized how much I would enjoy a melee class. She's a ton of fun to play and I'm just starting to learn how to take on three to four mobs at a time. I had been meaning to create her for a while but was stuck on the name. I finally decided on Hretha, a norse word meaning "the Victorious". Sadly Hretha was already taken on a couple servers, Eonar being one. So she became Hraitha. I'm enjoying getting to hack at bad guys with just enough spells in to make the character interesting. 

The rest of the day was spent reading and watching Scrubs. I'm completely addicted to the show and am going back to watch the first two seasons. It was a wonderful day. 

This morning Jeff and I went to breakfast at one of my favorite brunch places and then headed out bird watching. I've started bird watching seriously and am going to try to get into digiscoping heavily. We went up to one of the state parks and it was originally a little light. But after watching a rather intense Canadian Goose fight, we spotted a Bufflehead (interesting looking bird), a Red-Headed Woodpecker (which Jeff found by sound), and a ton of American Coots. But our most exciting find for the morning was a River Otter that spotted us and came swimming right towards us. We both got great looks. I only wish I had dragged out the camera. Then a car went driving past and it ducked underwater, not to be seen again. 

I'm not sure what I'll be doing this afternoon but for right now I can safely say this has been a fantastic weekend. Hope everyone is enjoying theirs. 

A Bufflehead 

Games Week

It has apparently been games week. I had posted about Arkham Horror a couple days ago. We played at least three times. That has got to be one of the longest games. Complicated, intriguing, and fun but long. Most games would run a couple of hours. More time then I should be putting in but I consider it good family time.

Last night I introduced my nephew to Cosmic Cows. This simple but competitive and addictive game, pits player against player as your alien group attempts to abduct cows. It pretty much Yahtzee but with a competitive edge.
Then later that night I introduced my brother and sister-in-law to Fluxx, my favorite card game. Fluxx is played with a special deck of cards that includes Rules, Keepers, Actions, and Goals. Everyone starts with three cards and the simple rule, Draw 1, Play 1. From there the game changes, constantly. The rules change each round, the goal to win changes. It's a great game. I have seen rounds last 2 minutes and rounds that last 45. There are some times when you play standard rules and times where you are drawing 5, playing 2, in reverse order, with your first play being chosen by the person next to you. It's not a game to play while drinking because this one actually requires some thought. There are numerous versions of the game and I own one of the oldest. I should probably buy the upgrade. Well worth looking at if you like games.

The last game I played this week was Hide and Seek. But this time I was playing online. Our guild gets together once a month (or sometimes every other month) to discuss guild business and to play games together. We have done dueling meets, races, and hide and seek games. This month it was hide and seek/race through Northrend. We included two other guilds who are like-minded and had a blast. A couple of our Knights and Council hid in each of the different regions. A seeker would announce which region they were heading to and the hider would invite them to group. No flying mounts were allowed. You had to race to the hider and open trade to receive a gift. Then you would leave that party and announce where you were heading next. And the hider in that region would invite you. The first person to find all 8 hiders was the winner. It was an interesting mix of race and hide and seek. You could see where the person was but you still had to find them. And you had to beat the other seekers. It was a ton of fun and I picked up some nice gifts.

And that got me thinking. I miss hide and seek. I used to love the game. Not because I was a good hider but because I loved to seek. I love wandering around the house looking for my brothers and sisters and friends. I love the excitement of finding someone well hidden. Or the frustration of not finding someone. And my favorite was Sardines. In Sardines only one person hides and everyone else seeks. When one of the seekers finds the hider they squeeze into the same hiding spot with the person. After three or four people you are starting to get cramped. But the seekers keep coming. The last person to find the (now bulging) group loses. The first person to find the hider now becomes the hider. It was a great game. We would play for hours. I should have suggested a round when my nephews and niece were in town. I miss that game. Or perhaps I'll have to suggest it as a guild meet for next time. I can imagine all of us characters crammed into one little hiding place in Stormwind.

Tetramorium Caespitum

My original plan was to talk about going out for drinks with the girls last night and then an incredibly fun game of Hide and Seek our guild played. Perhaps a later post, at least for the Hide and Seek. I had even written part of it in my head this morning. But of course life is what happens while you're making other plans.

Spring has sprung here in Iowa. I can tell in two ways. First happened last week or so. The red-wing blackbirds came back to the state. Robins winter here now so they are not a good indicator of spring.

The other happened this morning....Ants. Pavement Ants to be precise. Each year in the spring and once in the fall we deal with three or four days of ant infestation. The whole complex suffers the same fate. So I woke up this morning to find that there were ants wandering through my kitchen and enjoying the cat's food. Now I'm normally a live and let live person. I have a pact with the resident spiders. They stay on the ceiling and I don't let the cat eat them. Once they come down to my level, they're fair game. But the ants drive me crazy. I know they don't really hurt anything and they just come for the cat food. But...well I'm not letting them live. I've been known to stand in the kitchen with a paper towel just waiting for them to appear so I can smoosh them. I become a serial killer of ants.

So I spent this morning vacuuming and scrubbing. I cleaned up the major infestation and now will have to deal with the stragglers. I know that I should have a professional company come in but I've seen their prices. Plus I don't like the idea of hazardous chemicals being sprayed in my kitchen. Call me old fashion that way. Most websites say that they they are tough to prevent even with the professional spraying. Ants are just fast adaptors. I laid down some cinnamon at the spot they were getting in and I'll pick up some baited traps on the way home. We've gotten good at treating them.

I consider it just one of the hazards of living so close to a creek. I love having that creek access and the open natural areas. I love that the hummingbirds come in the summer and the deer wander into the complex year round. I love that I can step out onto my patio and watch a raccoon wander by. I guess I'll just have to live with the ants. They are only occasional visitors.

Musical Genius

Bill Engvall once quipped that he was 45 degrees off cool. I find I'm very much the same way. By the time I learn about a new musical group or new artist they seem to have become mainstream. I only seem to watch TV shows after they have gone off the air. I'm always a step or two behind.

But I thought I was good with my new discovery, until I talked to my sister.

"So I've found a new musician who is just amazing."

"Who is it?"

"Andrew Bird"

"Oh yeah he's great, lots of whistling".

So apparently my sister and half of Des Moines knows about Andrew Bird. I had very recently missed his concert at Hoyt Sherman (a beautiful and tiny venue that would have been perfect to see him perform). But I guess he had performed this past year at our new music festival in Des Moines. I'm so behind on the times. The internet is flooded with videos, interviews, and fan sites. Not a newcomer by any stretch.

But it's with good reason that he is getting recognized. The man is a musical genius. Andrew Bird is a classically trained violinist, who has branched out from classical into a more alternative musical style. He stands on the stage, with a single drummer behind him, and plays the violin, the guitar, a glockenspiel, whistles, and sings. Using a loop track he can create music that would require multiple musicians normally. Here is a video of him performing Imitosis where you can watch all the transitions.

Andrew's lyrics tend to be verbose, using more three dollar words than some textbooks. Each song of his has an incredibly different sound and it is said that he hates to repeat. That can even include choruses which he uses pretty sparingly. His lyrics are interesting and create more of a mood than tell a story. He is more interested in combining rhymes than sometimes making sense. But you listen to him for the music. His violin playing is beautiful and sometimes offbeat. He likes to pluck the violin to produce unusual sounds. His guitar playing is excellent but it's been his whistling that most people mention. He has been described as a virtuoso whistler. I can whistle about three notes, his can run the scales. It is haunting and beautiful. The gorgeous video of Spare-Ohs showcases it nicely.

I've read quite a few interviews with Andrew discussing his play style. I guess he starts by just playing with sounds. He lives out on his family's farm in Illinois and uses the barn to just mess around with different sounds, melodies, and styles. His pieces performed lives sound very different from his recorded works but they are both good. He has been listed as an artist that is just as good live as recorded (a rare thing).

So I missed seeing him in concert last month but I won't make that same mistake again. It's not often that a musical genius comes around. I plan to see him the next chance I get.

Lovecraftian fun

This post (my 200th, can I really have posted 200?) is for Jon, who I'm sure will be out buying this game before the end of the day. :-)

I have a confession to make. I'm a little ashamed of this but here goes: I consider myself a geek, yet I've never read Lovecraft. There I've said it. I'm familiar with the stories of Arkham, Massachusetts and the Cthulhu mythos but I've never actually sat down and read some Lovecraft. I consider it a failing in my upbringing and I look forward to rectifying the situation soon. In fact over this past weekend I borrowed a collected works from my dad and will start them as soon as I finish with my two library books.

What got me thinking again about H.P. Lovecraft was a game my brother brought with him this weekend. His kids are on spring break so they have come down to Des Moines to hang out until Thursday. It's been a lot of fun to hang out these last two days and each night has ended the same way. We all sit down at the dining room table, break out the board, and play Arkham Horrors.

Now I'm a gamer from way back. I love board games, role playing games, and video games. Even my current WoW addiction is nothing compared to my love for board games. Absolutely nothing makes me happier than sitting around a table with friends or family and a board game. Snacks don't hurt either. And this one is one of the more interesting games I've gotten to play. Each character is given an investigator who will go out into the streets and locations of Arkham to fight back the monsters and keep the ancient ones from spawning. The investigators, who have been pulled directly from the stories, have different occupations, different possessions, and more importantly different levels of sanity and stamina. At the beginning of the game the ancient one is chosen. The characters then travel around the city gathering clues and closing gates to the other worlds. During that whole time you have to keep track of your sanity (which you can lose easily) and your stamina. Those are the things you will use to fight the ancient one when it awakens

This picture was blatantly stolen from Board Game Geek because I forgot my camera last night.

We played last night with seven people and that might have been too many. The game is a complex turned based game. Each character, led off by the first investigator, starts first with a movement turn, then encounters turns for people in Arkham, then encounters turns for people in other worlds, then monster movement turns, then new gates opening turns and status updates for the ancient one. That is the end of the first turn. Then it is repeated until the ancient one spawns. We played from 8 last night until nearly 11 and weren't even close to finishing. Be prepared for a long evening. But this is a great game. Each turn is very different and the monsters that spawn keep the investigators jumping around the board. And with the game set in the Cthulhu mythos, there is an interesting level of horror. Cards include direct quotes from the stories and Cthulhu himself may be awoken. The game was interesting and definitely one of the better thought out games I've played in a long time. But even better they make me want to read some Lovecraft.

The L Word

The L word has been bandied around the office this morning. No, I wish it was love. The L word I refer to is layoffs. Government tend to fall behind the rest of the workforce in terms of impact. So after most of the general industry layoffs are done, then government gets its budget and starts trimming staff. We follow about six months behind the rest of the economy. Generally that means that we also recover slower as well.

This morning is an all staff meeting to discuss the situation. The budget cuts will be higher than expected and I'm suddenly worrying for my job. I know that many others have been affected more so I'm not whining. I look at my sister who has been out of work for a while now and realize how lucky I am. I still have a job. And I know that if I do lose my job I'll find another one. I'm willing to dig ditches if that's what pays the bills. I've decided that the only job I don't think I could do is animal processing (the industry term for slaughtering). Considering I can't even bring myself to eat meat, I probably wouldn't have the stomach for creating it.

Here is the weird part, I've been looking for a new job for over two years now. I should actually welcome a layoff. It would force me to be less picky (or at least give me the excuse to be). I've been wanting to get back into a library setting for a while now. But ever since Jeff said he is going back to school I have been clutching this job. It will pay the bills when he's not working. So suddenly I'm worried for my job. I have at least some headway. I should know in advance about layoffs and they won't take effect until July 1. But it's what I've been thinking about this morning.

Me Being a Squealy Fangirl

Consider that a warning. This is all fangirl stuff. Feel free to ignore if you like.

I don't like Steven Colbert. It's nothing against him personally but I don't really enjoy the person he plays on his show. I can't sit through his interviews because they annoy me way too much. I have trouble with an interview that hardly lets the person being interviewed get a word in edge-wise or spends most of the time making fun of the person. They are designed to make people uncomfortable and I don't enjoy embarrassment humor. I love Jon Stewart but when Colbert comes on I change the channel. Not sure why I have that distinction (Stewart's interviews can sometimes be just as annoying). But...

I love Neil Gaiman. I will freely admit that I have a huge fangirl crush on him. I've read all of his work and read his blog regularly. He is one of the only audiobooks on my iPod (Fragile Things). He is just brilliant. So when I saw that he had been interviewed by Steven Colbert I bit the bullet and watched. I'm so glad I did. It was a great interview with lots of fun answers and even some fun from Steven. Neither of them appeared to take the interview seriously and that made it enjoyable. Neil talked about why The Graveyard Book could be a children's story even with the early deaths. He talks about Lord of the Rings and they decide on a children's book for Steven to write with a very interesting title. Not once did I feel uncomfortable mostly because Neil didn't seem to take anything Steven said seriously. He had great answers. So here is me being a fangirl but you got to love a man who says he likes any Lord of the Rings character but Tom Bombadil.

I Found My Rhythm

Apparently whining and complaining does actually get me somewhere. A couple days ago I wrote a terrible blog post whining about my miserable DPS. I spouted terrible things about how awful a player I was and generally was annoying. And it apparently worked.

I had just logged on and started Sons of Hodir dailies when Jeff asked if I wanted to do a heroic. I've been wanting to get some instances in before the big patch, when warlocks will change beyond recognition and I will have to relearn to play. He mentioned Utgarde Pinnacle which has been my old nemesis. I just haven't been able to get through the gauntlet. He threw the offer out and we had a group in seconds. The plan was to do UP and UK. The first two bosses in UP went quick. None of us had ever had either with either Svala or Gortak. Then we got to the gauntlet. First attempt was too quick and we were smothered by the constant mobs. The second one was slow but the last ones did us in. The third attempt proved just as frustrating. Then one of our shamans offered to bring in his feral druid. The current tank, a warrior, took the boss after we knocked him off his high horse (ummm dragon) and the druid took the last couple adds. Down without trouble and we even got the achievement.

The last boss went down quick and easy but it was already 11. We decided to just to a quick Violet Hold run. And it proved to be quick. No deaths, no wipes, just constant activity. All the drops were plate but we had a good time and our warrior cleaned up. After the run I did some enchanting for our warrior and Jeff took the time to pull up the WoW Web Stats reports. This is traditionally my least favorite thing. I always come up at 800 or so. He asked me to guess what I thought I had gotten and I said 920. When he said over 1200 I thought he was lying. But no. I did over 1200 for the whole fight and over 1400 for the bosses. Woohoo!!! I had a couple bosses where I was over 1700 and two where I topped 2000. It was amazing.

Here's what I learned. I had been watching my casting bar. It seemed to take forever to get through a spell and I was waiting on that to hit the next one. Jeff got me started looking at my cooldown bars. I had tried it outside of instances and had been happy with how fast I could cast my next spell. So last night I focused on the cooldowns and that worked. I was able to go from 75% dps time to 98-100%. I topped the damage meters on most of the fights. I was tired but happy. But this morning I'm just so excited. I finally found my rhythm. It just took my focusing on the right thing...and possibly a little whining.

Tales From Outer Suburbia

Are you all tired about hearing about this book? Are you wishing I would stop mentioning it? Well today is your lucky day. This is the last day I will reference this book. At least for a little while.

There is good reason though that it was the most anticipated book I have had in a while. I had read a review of it early last year and decided that I had to own it. I love Shaun Tan....Love!. His work has such an incredible mix of absurdity and darkness and fantasy that I find it irresistable. So when I found out about his new book I rushed to Amazon to buy it. Sadly I ordered it along with a book on paper engineering. To save a tree or two I had them shipped together. I ordered both of them in January and still hadn't received them by March. I would come home each day with the same type of pleading look that children get when expecting Christmas presents. I would ask Jeff each day, "Books?", with my little chin quivering. No books. So I finally went into Amazon and found out that the paper engineering book was holding things up. I canceled that and Tales was sent the next day.
This book is bizarre, thought-provoking, and strange. It contains fifteen little stories about the suburbs but not the suburbs most of us are used to. There is the very popular story of Eric, about a shy foreign exchange student who visits a family and leaves his own unique thank you gift. There is the story of the dogs that come to watch a house fire, and take revenge on the cruel owner. There is the story of poetry that no one reads, which bands together to form a ball and roam the city until the rains come. These are simple stories with wonderful illustrations that make me think. The often horrific story of the Stick People who wander suburbia and often bring down the neighbors wrath. The wonderfully touching story of a turtle rescue which almost made me choke up a little. And my favorite and perhaps the longest, a great story of a scavenger hunt that cements a marriage.

Shaun Tan hooks you from the first page. His table of contents are made up of stamps bearing an image from each of the stories. With his unique illustration style you feel drawn into the book. Tan is simply one of the best illustrators out there. His drawing mix realistic imagery with cartoon characters. He starts the book with a simple story about a very wise water buffalo. Similar to The Lost Thing, also by Tan, this book reminds us to look a little closer at our familar surroundings. The bushes may lead to a secret garden, the stick may have a life of its own, and the sea or the edge of civilization may be closer than we think. All of the stories in this book are different. They are told in different styles, from free verse to newspaper clipping to advertisement. All of the images are strickingly different and all leave you with a different emotion. This will be a wonderful book to go back to when I need a little pick me up. I can open to any story and just enjoy. Well worth the wait.

Sweet Spring

It is finally spring here. I noticed on my way into the office this morning that the grass is starting to green. We don't yet have buds on the trees but the red-wing blackbirds are back in town and the weather has warmed right up. Today it is almost 70. I am in serious heaven. I'm debating picking up a sack lunch, finding a picnic bench somewhere, and eating outdoors. I have Shaun Tan's Tales From Outer Suburbia to enjoy during lunch. It promises to be a good day.

I know that spring does not officially begin until next week. And I'm still knitting myself a winter hat. But for me something has fundamentally shifted. I no longer have to really worry about snow. I have been able to go out of the house without a coat. My winter anxiety is starting to loosen up and although I'm still sleeping with earplugs, I don't worry so much. I'm ready to drink coffee outside on the patio and read or write. I'm ready to fly the kite that has been in the trunk of my car since August. I'm ready to be outdoors. I love the spring.

DPS Envy

About two months ago we, as a guild, were pushing into Naxx. We got past the first two bosses and were feeling great. It was a huge high. I loved getting a chance to be there on the ground floor. When we came to the third boss it all came crashing down. We tried and tried and tried and nothing was working. We decided that we simply didn't have high enough DPS and that we would take a break. Instead we would run heroics to get everyone geared.

So I started running heroics. Some worked, some didn't. Utgarde Keep or Violet Hold I can pretty much farm. Utgarde Pinnacle I still haven't been able to complete. I mentioned a couple weeks ago how frustrated I was with not being able to get through some. I mentioned that I felt like I wasn't doing enough dps. Everyone told me to wait until I was geared properly. Then I would be easily doing over 1200 dps and I would be ready for Naxx. Yet each report came back with only 800 or so dps.

Two weeks ago I went to wow-heroes and checked out my gear. Apparently I'm geared for Naxx. In fact I'm geared for 25 mans. And I came to the realization that I am geared enough to be doing big dps. I've been getting frustrated and lately haven't been playing as much. (I know, counterproductive). So this weekend Jeff and I tried an experiment. He took me to the training dummies in Darnassus and I unleased hell on the heroic dummy. I'm using a rotation of immolate, conflagrate, chaos bolt, and incinerate. (with curse of elements and corruption for dots) I ran through an entire mana bar while running combat log. I came out with 880 dps. (pretty typical for me). Then Jeff did the worst possible thing. He asked if he could try. He took my character and ran through a mana bar. He did the same spells. And when we checked the log, he had 1150 dps. So now it's official. It's not my gear, it's not my stats, it's ME.

After a 30 second tutorial, Jeff managed to pull more dps than I do on the character I've been playing for well over a year. I'm envious, I'm frustrated, and I'm not sure what to do. It almost makes me want to throw in the towel. It almost makes me want to step away from the game completely. It's really hard for me to know that I have a decent character, but my character just doesn't have a decent player. I want to be a strong dps force. Warlocks can be incredible damaging. So now I have to go back to the practice dummies. And I have to practice. I have to work on my timing and work on my finger speed. The spells are right, the stats are there, the gear is good. Now I just have to figure out me.

Impossible Dream

I try really hard to pretend that I'm tech savvy. I'd like to think that I'm up on most of the newest applications. But I'm fighting Twitter, although it appears to have captured everyone else. (resistance is futile, as we geeks say) I have a tough enough time updating my Facebook status, I can't imagine trying to do that multiple times a day. But I have found a program that is taken up tons of my free time. I was planning to post something last night but I got carried away with LibraryThing.

LibraryThing is a website (partually free) that allows you to catalogue the books you read. You enter title or author and then select the book from the list. It keeps track of your library for you. You can review the book and add your own tags to better sort the types of books you read. It also allows you to see which other members have read the same books you have. I have one book that 40,000 other members have read and one book that has only one other member reader. The first 200 books you add are free. After that you need a membership. I bought the $25 lifetime membership and went to town. I'm currently at a little over 400 books. Here is a picture of LibraryThing. If you already are a member I'm CatB.

My goal (my impossible dream) is to add all the books I have ever read. I added my entire library last night but those are just the books I have on my shelves. That doesn't include the ones I've borrowed, checked out from the library, or given away. I have books I read as a child that I may not ever remember. I have stories that I read last week that may have escaped my mind. And I notice that as I get older my memory slips a bit when thinking about books. Stories and scenes blend together. It was actually a lot of fun to go through my library last night. I looked at books I hadn't paid attention to in years. I remember where I was when I read most of them. But I know that trying to remember it all is impossible. That's why I want to use this great site as a life list of books. I have a bit of start.

Book Review: Population 485

My aunt and uncle were in town at the end of January from Chicago. They had come in to take my great aunt back and to watch the Super Bowl. We had a fantastic time with them, talking music and books and family and football. My aunt was reading the book Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry. I mentioned that I had heard great things about the book and wouldn't mind reading it. I said I'd grab it from the library eventually.

So I was shocked last week when a package arrived from my aunt. After she finished the book she had shipped it to me. I opened it on Friday and haven't wanted to stop reading. This memoir is wonderfully told. Perry describes how he moved back to the little Wisconsin town he had grown up in and joined the town's fire department. He trained as a firefighter and an EMT and started fitting back into the old neighborhood. As a writer in a mostly blue collar town he talks about the difference between him and his neighbors but mostly the similarities. Perry does not tell the story as a straight narrative but in little vignettes that give you a great idea of the place and the people. This is a book about how community and people can change and enhance you.

For three years Jeff worked as a volunteer firefighter and EMT for our previous city, so the stories are somewhat familiar. The two a.m. alarm calls that stir you out of a sound sleep and set your heart racing. The dinners interrupted for false alarms. And the discussions after he had come home from a tough EMT call. Perry describes what it is like to climb into burning buildings but he does it without all the glorifying heroism that firefighting is often cast in. He shows how real the people are instead. In fact, one hilarious chapter called Oops, describes how he sometimes feels so unheroic when making mistakes in uniform.

He reminds us that EMTs and firefighters are not perfect but he also shows the amazing compassion and dedication that so many of them have. When my sister was going through Paramedic training (and Jeff said the same thing) she mentioned that the hardest part and the best part is that you are meeting people on what may be the worst day of their lives. Hardest because there is often nothing you can do... but best because at least someone is there to offer aid. Perry says a very similar thing. We can feel how much he cares.

This book discusses both the tragedy of firefighting/EMT along with the comedy and real human element. He describes the happy times, sad times, and sometimes just boring times. We get to know both Perry and the people surrounding him. We hear the stories of his brothers and mother (also EMTs and firefighters). We hear stories of the townsfolk and the emergencies that connect them. And we get a feel for the land itself. It is a beautiful book. I have handed it off to Jeff to read. I will be curious how it matches his experiences.

{Edit: While on Michael Perry's website Sneezing Cow, I discovered a couple new books of his that I really want to read but also that he will be in Des Moines in June. Yay!!}

Pretty Place

I'm not a religious person. I'm actually not even that spiritual. So how is it that in the last year I have found two chapels that I wouldn't mind visiting? The first was mentioned here and is in Bella Vista, Arkansas. I love the serenity of the place. The surrounding woods. It appears like something out of a painting rather than a real place. And I know I'll eventually make a trip down to see it.

The other I found when I was doing some digging on Asheville, North Carolina. If I could choose any city to live in, regardless of income or jobs, this would be the city. Just look at these images. Gorgeous. Asheville is not only beautiful but the population is educated and mostly liberal. It has been listed as one of the best medium size cities for vegetarians and has easy access to two sets of mountains. It is a major tourist destination for its easy access to nature and has a mild enough climate that even I could be happy with it.


As I was looking for information on the city I stumbled across the Fred W. Symmes Chapel or as it is commonly called Pretty Place Chapel.

The chapel was built in 1941 by Fred Symmes for the YMCA Camp Greenville. The chapel is used mostly by the camp but hundreds of couples have been married here. The chapel has hosted weddings, memorials, and other services. And I can see why. This view, from the top of Standing Stone Mountain, is just stunning.

I have to go make a visit. The camp and Pretty Place were just recently threatened by fire in February of this year. The firefighters were able to contain the blaze and it did not hit the chapel. Given a little time the flora and fauna will return to the basin. Life finds a way. This place, like the other chapel I mentioned before, is beautiful because of it's connection with nature. And that is the closest to a religion that I have ever found. So many of our current buildings seem to block out nature. These embrace it. Which is why they seem more spiritual than any church I've ever been in.

Poetry Monday

Yesterday was International Women's Day. I'm not sure where I missed the memo for this but I did. I learned this yesterday morning from the comics. Not the most typical place to learn about new holidays. And I wonder why it was never mentioned. And for some reason that got me thinking about all the great feminist classes I took in college. I took a course on Women and Madness, a feminist view of how strong women were often labeled insane as a means of control. I took courses on marriage and family (sociology minor) and my favorite class, Modern Women Poets. (English Major).

I was introduced to a ton of amazing poets ranging from Maya Angelou, Sharon Olds, Marge Piercy, Joy Harjo, and Naomi Shihab Nye. And I was also introduced to Audre Lorde. And I fell in love with one of her poems. If I had to pick a poem to define myself it is this one. I spent a rainy afternoon in college copying this poem over and over on my manual typewriter in an attempt to get a perfect copy. I taped it to my wall and had everyone I knew read it.

So during another anxious night last night, I started reciting what I could remember of the poem. Some lines came back easily, some had to be coaxed. And for some reason those lines about fear calmed my anxiety and I was able to sleep. This morning I grabbed my copy of The Black Unicorn off the shelf and brought it to work so I could type it up. So for your reading pleasure and to remind me of why I love this poem....

Audre Lorde's A Litany for Survival.

For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children's mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours:

For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother's milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive.

And when the sun rises we are afraid
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid

So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive.

Gooses, Geeses

Okay yesterday was all rant and darkness. Today is all goodness and light. The difference, about 20 degrees. Actual temperature degrees. The weather hit 68 today which for March, is a veritable heat wave. I decided to celebrate by grabbing a sandwich and heading out to the nearest lake to soak up the warmth and the rays. Apparently so did everyone else. The lake (Grey's Lake for those who live in Des Moines) was packed. They have added some really nice facilities there and now it has become the place to see and be seen.

Not looking for a crowd, I headed right across the street to Water Works Park. I followed the paths back deep into the park, stopped the car, and ate my lunch while sitting on the hood of the car. It was magical. Just me and the geese. Now I know what at least some of you are thinking, Canadian geese are nasty. Many people seem to think of them as pests. I think they are beautiful. The colorations on them are really pretty when you look close. And they are so much more interesting than ducks. Plus you have to admire the waddle. It's almost comical. I got out my binoculars and watched them walk gingerly across the frozen ponds. I had a small group that came pretty near to the car. They didn't beg and I didn't feed them. (there are signs up everywhere) We just sat and calmly ignored each other.

I'm terrible about getting out birding in the winter. I know there are many species that stay over the winter and that I should get out to see them. But the layers I have to wear and the cold keep me from really enjoying. So I tend to stay in during the winter. Which is why I'm so ready for spring. Today felt like spring. I walked back into the office with a deep feeling of calm that I haven't had in a long time. I felt relaxed and refreshed and ready. Thanks to a beautiful day and some geese.

Watchmen

I may be the last person in the US to blog about this book and the upcoming movie. I hadn't intended to write about it. I'm not sure if I'm seeing the film. But a friend of mine just mentioned that he was reading Watchmen, I assume in anticipation for the movie. I read the graphic novel probably seven or eight years ago and was shocked by it. This was a totally new take on superheroes. This was an anti-superhero novel and like everyone else, I thought it was unfilmable. First and foremost this is dark. When I wrote about V for Vendetta, I mentioned that it was dark, but this goes well beyond that. This is some seriously twisted, disturbing, and totally amazing stuff. The book will shake you up, but in a good way. In the kind of way that makes you think about why things work the way they do. About what happens if we had common enemies and what would happen if our heroes weren't all that hero-like. It's a topsy turvy story.



I won't say the main plot of the story, (because it follows so many different plots) but one of the plots of the story follows Rorschach as he tries to figure out who killed masked superhero "The Comedian". We see his fellow superheroes in flashbacks, and then as they are now. These are disturbed people. The Comedian himself was no Dudley Doright. He rapes and kills without seeming remorse. Rorschach is crazy and violent. These are not your children's superheroes. In fact, I don't think children should be reading this book. The society they live in is a perfect dysutopia which although current when Moore wrote it, doesn't seem that far off. The technology has changed but somethings ring true.


Purist fans of the book will be surprised by the ending of the film, from what I understand. The giant squid is gone. As one commenter said, they love to tell their friends all about the dark themes and allusions made in the book. All about the social commentary and subtle nuances of the story. And then top it off with a giant squid landing in NY and killing everyone. It just seems so out of place.


As is typical with Moore he will be distancing himself from the film. He does not feel that any film can do his stories justice. I too am concerned with this one. I was more concerned though with rumors I heard before the film came out. I had originally heard that the ending was changed so that people who had read the book would not spoil the ending for others. That saddens me. The book has existed since 1987. Alan Moore wrote a book that most considered unfilmable. The book, no matter how good the movie is, will always be better. But they are worried about people leaking the ending. Here's an idea (and this is me on my soapbox), let them all read the book. Perhaps if they read the story they wouldn't have to worry about having the story ruined for them. It's a quick read and most libraries carry it. Honestly I hope the movie gets people to read the book. I hope that they return to the source material and compare. Because movies always tend to be found lacking against great books. I'm not sure I'm heading to the theaters for this one. And I'm not even sure if I'll rent. Some things are just too good to cheapen with theatrics.

The Only Thing More Boring Than Fishing Is....

My WoW readers are probably now incredibly frustrated. It has been weeks since I wrote anything WoW related. I haven't mentioned the heroic UP or heroic UK runs I've done recently. I haven't mentioned the somewhat regular heroic VH runs. I haven't even mentioned the very interesting regular Old Kingdom run I ran to help Jeff's shaman healer out. I haven't touched on these mostly because my focus this last week has been much more ordinary. I've been fishing.

I decided not to level my cooking or fishing at the same rate as my character leveling. I was just excited to get to the upper levels and be able to instance with the rest of the guild. I worked on my tailoring and enchanting but didn't bother with the lesser professions. And it didn't really hurt me while I was leveling. I didn't need the food. Now I'm looking at instancing and raiding and realizing that a steady supply of buff food wouldn't be bad. So starting with a fishing of 50 and a cooking of 100, I've been traveling (painfully slowly) through the older continents and leveling my skills.

Here's the problem. It is boring. Imagine watching a fishing show for hours. Now imagine that every time you catch a fish you are only one sixth closer to your level. For every six fish I catch I get a level. That number will increase as I get higher. That's a lot of fishing and a whole lot of boring. I'm seriously debating just leveling my cooking to 450 with bought supplies. But then again I've never been patient for grinding. This has been my first chance to prove that I can dedicate the time to making my character better. I've even stopped grinding rep in an attempt to get these skills up.

Now I've never been a big believer in the achievement system. It seemed like an evil plan by Blizzard to keep their 80 players interested in something. Jeff has become a huge achievement fan (achievement whore is what I call him). He worked to get his Loremaster and his World Explorer. I get the occasionally one but I don't normally push for them. But as I work on fishing (cooking is much easier), I realize the beauty of achievements. Now that I'm on the old continents, I might as well uncover my maps. Oh and I should solo some old instances. I could even make money selling old cloth on the auction house. And perhaps, if I make enough money, I could just buy my stupid fishing skill.

Where's Waldo for Adults

I'm sorry I didn't get any posting done over the weekend. While I normally don't post both days I do try to get at least something out. My in-laws were in town this weekend so I didn't really have much time to just sit and compose. Instead I introduced Jeff's parents to the Wii and they became hooked. We spent most of the weekend bowling, playing Wii baseball, or cruising around the track playing MarioKart. It was a ton of fun. I also ate way too much and slept way too little. I'm looking forward to a weekend where I don't have to set an alarm. :-)

Then yesterday was my father's birthday. We ended up at one of my favorite Indian restaurants and I got a very tasty goat curry. Mmmm. Then back to my parent's house to make a fire, drink coffee, and play Trivial Pursuit. All and all a very nice afternoon.

So by now you're wondering about the title. Where's the "Where's Waldo" part of the post? You're wondering why anyone would care about my in-laws visit and father birthday. Well you wouldn't but you may be interested in the game we bought this week. While we were visiting friends in Minneapolis, they introduced us to this toy. And we had to go buy one.

The Find It Games are addictive. This long tube of plastic bits is filled with objects that you are required to find. We bought the sports version. There is a little football, baseball, ice axe, polo club, balance beam, hiking boot, etc....to name a few. In order to win you have to find everything. And that includes the very elusive penny.

Each game includes one penny. You have to find the penny and then you can sign onto their site and register it. You'll have to know what year it is and you'll have to provide your game number. Jeff has already found our penny, but I'm still looking. I was honestly shocked at how hard these games are. Some items emerge from the plastic bits more frequently then others. Jeff and I are still looking (after a week) for the swimsuit. The game comes with a cross of sheet that lists every item included.

They have a couple different kinds and each has unique items to be found. I want the zoo one although it is out of stock. Our friends have the kids version (which is still not easy) and are looking to buy the beach version. I picked mine up from Barnes and Noble which only had the sports one. I'll have to start ordering online. For $20 they are hours of entertainment.