I'm really, really home.

My grandmother left to go to the airport about an hour ago, so now I really am home, settling back into normalcy, my old pre-college routines. It's a bit weird how comfortable it all feels. I thought I'd be experiencing a bit more of a culture shock or something, but nope. I haven't gotten as much writing done yet as I had been planning, but this week is when I really settle into a new schedule instead of just sleeping in every morning and watching my favorite films on dvd repeatedly, hehe. The new daily to-do list:

1) Practice my dance at least an hour
2) Read
3) Play with the siblings
4) Write at least a page of my novel
5) Go running

Of course I'm also going to mix baking, needlepoint, and art in there too, along with schooling my siblings. I haven't been able to draw since coming home because I used up all my charcoal in Hawaii, and left all the art supplies I bought in Hawaii there too, which is sad. I hope to make a run to a good art supply store soon!

Also, I hope to go to the library soon. I really miss the school library and even the Hawaii public library system, because it was so easy to keep a fresh supply of new books in my room at all times. Now I'm stagnating and hunting the backs of my own bookshelves for reads I never completed or forgot to complete. So far my search has turned up "Rob Roy", "Portrait of a Lady", and "Warrior Scarlet". A nice selection, sure, but I also want to finish the Aubrey-Maturin series and read some more Faulkner after falling in love with "As I Lay Dying" last semester!

Still, being back at home is mostly pleasant. I'm really enjoying my dance practices again, and am feeling much more motivated at classes than I used to, I think because after being starved for so long, I really appreciate anew just how much I love Irish dancing and how much it means to me. I've also enjoyed hanging out with my siblings again; today in the car Lathspell and I spontaneously burst into a rousing rendition of a medley of songs from "Les Miserables", I introduced my youngest brother to the joys of playing in a ball pit at his cousin's birthday party despite his initial reluctance to jump in (having a very serious four-year old cross his arms firmly across his chest, glare at you, and say "I refuse!" to your suggestion that he play in a ball pit is an extremely adorable and hilarious experience!), my two-year-old sister saw I was wearing a necklace and a straw hat to the party and so insisted I find a necklace and straw hat for her too (I did), and my dad is borrowing "Eagle of the Ninth" to read while he chaperones my eldest brother at a home school high school ball tonight (I can't wait to hear what he thinks of Sutcliff's writing when he comes home!). Also, I really enjoyed taking the siblings to see "How to Train Your Dragon" last week, and they've already scoffed the first batch of chocolate chip cookies that I baked and are demanding that I now prepare scones, lembas bread, and watercress soup. I think I'll tackle the lembas bread tonight. We haven't had it in a while, and it's very good!

Happy Birthday, Katherine!

My only great-grandmother still living turns 98 today. What a changing world she has lived in! A blog post is not really the best tribute I can offer her and her amazing life, but it will have to do. How wonderful to live so long--and, more importantly, so well.

Home Again

Already Hawaii feels like sooooo very long ago. I've been home a few days now and have begun to settle back into the routine here. It's fantastic to have little kids everywhere again, and although I'm still jetlagged, I'm still managing to get a lot of stuff done. Yesterday I took my siblings--most of them, anyway--to see "How To Train Your Dragon", and they loved it. It was their first time watching it, but I was also enjoyed seeing it again. I've promised my youngest brother a batch of cookies, and am determined to figure out how to make a cupcake version of Zippy's delicious haupia cake. Also, I have discovered so far that I got an A in Art, an A in Nutrition, and an A+ in English 321, so my grades are very satisfactory so far, even to my perfectionist self.

The only damper on all this happiness is that my grandmother spilled soda on my laptop on the plane, and so I'm terrified that he (yes, my laptop is a he, his name is Gareth--in hindsight I should have perhaps given him a less ominous name) is damaged. He's been shut off since the incident, so I do not know yet. He has all my writings and photographs and videos on him, and is infinitely precious to me, so please pray that he is unharmed--It's not really just a hunk of electronics you'd be praying for, it's a very important part of me.

As a result, I have not yet embarked upon the 'write a page every day' odyssey that I had set myself for my time at home. I did save my novel onto my flash drive before shutting down my computer, so hopefully I'll transfer that to our home computer soon and can get started on it.

I'll catch up with you again later! I am about to catch up on my weekly episode of "Lost" now. Oh, and I saw "Amy's Choice" on Sunday, due to me being in the air over the Pacific on Saturday, and it was excellent. The next two-part story looks great too--the return of the Silurians, yaaaay!

Done!

I've actually survived finals week yet again! I still find it hard to believe . . . I guess the Doctor is right, we humans really are capable of amazing things ;)

I'm utterly exhausted, so I'll leave you now to take a quick nap before getting all my packing done. I got three hours of sleep last night and three the night before, so I'm pretty wiped out. And I leave on the plane early tomorrow morning, so all that packing that I've been unable to do due to being busy studying? That needs to be done pronto.

I wrote nine pages of essay for my last English exam today, six for yesterday's exam, and two for Tuesday's. That's a lot of essays in a very short amount of time. My wrist still hasn't recovered. Oww.

One Down, Four to Go

I have completed my Russian 202 course, what a relief! The final exam went pretty well. Now I'm studying for my exam on Dante and Arthurian legend, which is tomorrow--And this studying is MUCH more enjoyable than studying for Russian, I can tell you that much!

A new trailer for "Inception" was released today. I've been wanting to watch this movie ever since I saw the first teaser, and it's just looking better and better with every trailer and poster. I hope it's as excellent as it seems, because this new trailer? AMAZING.



I didn't even really like "The Dark Knight", so that's not a factor here--this film just looks like it'll be intelligent, mind-bending, well-acted, and--what makes me most happy in this age of film adaptations and tired sequels--original. Exciting!

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm going to call my mother on Skype later today. Moms are great in general. And mine is awesome. So Happy Mother's Day, all ye mothers!

Yay, I was right

Today's episode of "Doctor Who" was definitely one of the best of the new series, and perhaps even my favorite--it felt so like classic Who! But again, what a PITY that they're sticking with individual 45-minute stories! The story ideas are so good, I want them to be four-parters, then they'd be brilliant. Still, this just might be my favorite of the series so far. I love Rory.

And the promo for next week? TERRIFIC. And I'll be watching it in California, because when it's made available, I'll be somewhere flying above the Pacific. Just how surreal is that, huh? Still unbelievable.

I've been doing a lot of boring painting today, and now I'm doing Russian. I need to get started on planning my exam essays too, though. Augh, it's so frustrating to have so much to do and so little time. I need a time machine of my own.

It's also frustrating to think this is my last Saturday in Hawaii for over a year, and I can't go out and simply enjoy the island. That makes me very sad. For I will miss this place, even though I'll be glad to be back with my family and my dancing again. Hawaii's part of my home now, too.

Wow :)

Tonight's "Supernatural" episode was just as perfect as "Lost"'s this week. What a great week for my television shows in general then--I hope "Doctor Who" on Saturday is up to par! The episode looks good from the trailer though, so I'm looking forward to it and trusting it to not break this perfect 3-for-3 record. And Rory will be back!

Seriously, though, "Supernatural" continues to amaze me. While I don't agree with much of the theology, I don't mind it because it's fiction and I enjoy thinking about what I do believe in connection with what's presented in the show--where it lines up, and how, when it deviates, I can compare the two and pick out the truths in the fiction. It doesn't attack beliefs so much as choose to do its own thing for the sake of its fictional universe and the story, and since I can therefore easily separate it from the 'real world', it's okay in my book. So it's like I get good fodder for meditative reflection, which is always nice; I get a fantastic apocalyptic storyline that is impressive in the consistency of its quality; I get absolutely awesome characters to both root for and root against (the acting as well as how the characters are written is almost universally perfect); I get top-notch dialogue that can be both hilarious and heartbreaking with effortless ease--this show has jumped into my small and select group of favorites so quickly, it's ridiculous. But that's okay. I'm super excited (and worried and in suspense!) about the finale next week. And I'm super excited for the next "Lost" episode too. This kind of convergence of excellence does not happen often, so I'm just kinda basking in it right now. I mean, that whole submarine thing on "Lost" and the Horseman of Death making eating pizza in Chicago look chilling on "Supernatural" all happening in one week? Awesome.

I got a letter from one of my besties today, which was wonderful. I'm in the middle of writing one back already, but I'm almost out of calligraphy ink, so I have to tip the bottle whenever I dip my pen in. Hopefully it'll last for the whole missive. Also, it's my brother's sixteenth birthday today. That's bizarre. I shouldn't be old enough to have a sixteen year old brother.

Of course, I'm kind of using this entire post to ignore the elephant in the room, so I'll stop ignoring right now and get straight to it: Yes, my final exams are all next week. Keeping me in your prayers would be appreciated. Yes. It's hard to believe that this time next week it will all be almost over, but there we are. Time is such a fickle beast. It slows down, it speeds up, it casts illusion over me.

I'd best be getting back to studying then. And then a quick shower before bed. Tomorrow I have no classes, but my Russian professor agreed to have a final exam study session/review and I fully intend on being there.

(PS: Yes, I included a photo, because it's been way too long since I put any photos on this blog and I'm getting tired of just words, haha.)

jkabsfv;aeol;kfjwoklfrwo;pq!!!!!!!!!!!!Kj1!!!! (Or, My Reaction to "The Candidate"

This entire post, of course,--or at least most of it--is SPOILERS.

1) I'm ashamed to admit that I seriously screamed at the television a few times, haha, that rarely happens. Especially when Sawyer was about to do . . . that one thing. Toward the end. Yes.

2) So--Many--Parallels--To--Earlier--Episodes--Mind--Explodey--

3) SAYID. 'Nuff said ;(

4) I didn't lose it until that shot of the two hands letting go. If you saw it, you know what I'm talking about.

5) LAPIDUS??? Is he still in the game? He's been useless, but he's so charismatic anyway, I hope he's okay.

6) I want to go back to Team Richard/Ben/Miles, which will be happy perhaps to know that the whole blowing-things-up idea has been taken care of without them.

7) I'm liking Jack more and more and more with every episode! This is a good thing.

8) I'm letting my island-feelings interfere with how I see characters in Sideways World. Not only was I happy when Sideways-Desmond ran Sideways-Locke over in the school parking lot a few episodes ago, during this episode when Sideways-Locke was telling Jack his sad story about crashing the plane and injuring his father, I could only think that I wanted Jack to call up Sideways-Desmond and tell him to finish the job. Grrrr.

9) I was RIGHT all along, Team Jacob for the win!


. . . And good night. I have art homework to finish. My only consolation right now is that after what Sayid said we have more Desmond on the way. Whether alive or dead remains to be seen, but at least he'll be back.

Book Reviews for April

Happy First of May, everyone!

You remember the surplus of amazing books that I was fortunate enough to read last month? Neverwhere, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, The Caves of Steel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Frontier Wolf . . . Yeah, it was amazing! Unfortunately, I can't say the same about this month. I managed to read eight books, but none of them qualify as amazing. In fact, most of them were boring or utter disappointments. It just goes to remind me of the sad fact that there are, in fact, many more bleh books out there than there are beautiful ones.

Still, the month was not a complete loss. So here you go, my book reviews for the cruelest month!

Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
I've heard a lot about how this is one of the best science fiction novels ever written. So perhaps I began reading it with too-high expectations. No matter what the reason, I was very underwhelmed. I need characters to attach to and care about, otherwise novels just don't work for me. While this book was chock-full of brilliant concepts and interesting ideas, it was too disjointed and too lacking in developed characters for me to really like it. Asimov has a tendency to use characters only to illustrate the plot instead of the plot to showcase the characters, and that is (sadly) very evident in this story. So although many science fiction lovers may adore this one, I am not so enthused.

The Naked Sun, by Isaac Asimov
This was pretty much the month of Asmiov; I read three books he authored. Unfortunately, I didn't love any of them. This was by far the best of the bunch to me, but the mystery was not as interesting as the mystery in the first novel of the series, "The Caves of Steel", and I felt that Olivaw was criminally under-used aside from a very compelling and brief scene towards the end. More Asimov philosophy and cleverness, and more Asmiov lack of interesting characters. Gladia really grated on my nerves, I couldn't bring myself to care for her at all. Sorry. That might just be my problem.

The Robots of Dawn, by Isaac Asimov
And this was by far the worst of the bunch. If you read "Caves of Steel", please do yourself a favor and skip this last book in the trilogy. The plot was inane and boring, the characters even worse, Olivaw was again underused, and I was even disliking Baley by the end of it all, which is a tragedy, since I loved him in the first novel of the trilogy. This book is basically just long, dull, and morally questionable essays on sexuality, strung together by a repetitive and very thin plot. How sad. I will forget I ever read this one and just reread "Caves".

The Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Beddor
I forget why I became interested in this book months ago, but I did, and this month I finally managed to read it. And again--what a disappointment! The writing was painfully bad--I mean, come on, 'tarty tarts'? You really expect me to read stuff like that with a straight face?--, and although some characters were intriguing, they were ultimately left flat and fake-feeling thanks to the poor prose. The plot was also lackluster. When compared to the real "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", in particular, this book is, in my opinion, a complete waste of time.

Fall of a Kingdom, by Hilari Bell
The description on the back of this book described it as a blend of Persian mythology and Roman military history, which sounded really compelling. Unfortunately it, too, was very dull. I don't know exactly what was wrong with it, but I couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters or the politics at all. I won't completely dismiss it, but I don't really want to read it again either, nor do I want to read any of its sequels.

Never After, by Rebecca Lickiss
This was an entertaining book, full of fairy tale spoofing. I liked the idea that, after struggling through a castle full of sleeping people and bashing his way through a hedge of thorns and all that, a questing prince discovers that sleeping in the tower is no princess, but instead a prince. That's pretty hilarious. There were some other good elements too, like a wizard being cursed to only speak in Shakespearean quotations. But there were grammatical errors. And clunky prose. And plenty of dull moments and characters to combat the good. So, basically, this one was ultimately a dud as well. I've read better fairy tale spoofs.

Only You Can Save Mankind, by Terry Pratchett
This story's premise is great, but it should have been a short story; it got old fast. Again, a disappointment. Sigh. If you see this book, I'd recommend reading the first chapter, and then the last page, but that's it.

Snow-Walker, by Catherine Fisher
Aaaaand, here's the Book of the Month.

There's a lot to like about this book. I liked the play on the idea of 'reflections'. I liked much of the style. I liked a few of the characters. But it wasn't fantastic. I felt it was okay, but it could have been much better, which is frustrating. There is a part, for instance, where the bard burns his harp so that his friends can keep warm. Sound familiar? It should, if you have read Lloyd Alexander's "The High King" (and if you haven't, go read it now). Fflewddur's sacrifice in that book makes me emotional whenever I read it, no matter how many times I read it. The harp-burning in "Snow-Walker" barely registered to me other than as failing in comparison to Alexander's version. Also, events move too quickly for any sense of real peril to thrive. And Fisher gets stuck using the same words and phrases to describe characters in a way that tends to be more distracting than poetic--I got tired of reading that Kari is 'pale' on practically every other page, and he did a lot of 'pushing the hair out of his eyes'--But this was still a good book, imaginative and refreshing in its originality, and I'd recommend it to my younger siblings. It also had this winning bit of dialogue:

'"I thought Ironwood was just a place in tales."
"So it is," Skapti said promptly, "but all tales are true. They're just the way we struggle with the world."'

So bravo, "Snow-Walker", you are the Book of the Month! And, moreover, the only book of the bunch that I'd really be interested in reading again or recommending to others. Let's hope that May has better reads forthcoming!