I took a walk to the library today

. . . and these are the books I borrowed:

Civil War: Frontlines
Civil War: War Crimes
Civil War: Fantastic Four
Civil War: Iron Man
Civil War: Captain America
The Sable Queen, by Brian Jacques
Assassin's Apprentice, by Robin Hobb
Shadow and Claw, by Gene Wolfe
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
The King of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Suzanna Clarke

I managed to carry them the entire walk back to the apartment, too. Ha!

I also discovered a little ice cream parlor close to my university and tried some cantaloupe ice cream there, yum. And forced myself to sleep in for once. Tomorrow I head back to school again, and then that's my first week back completed! I'll write more later to bring you all up to date, as I know I haven't written in a while, but for now just know that I'm up to my eyeballs in good books to read and school books to read, have been exercising a lot, and am pretty well pleased with how my first week back in HI has gone.

(And I'll try to post my book reviews for July this weekend.)

LIBRARY!

I went to the library today! Yes, this means I finally have a plethora of new reading material. I've been beaming all day.

I discovered a fantastic webcomic last week called "The Dreamer", available here: http://thedreamercomic.com

In brief, it's a gorgeously drawn and very well-written story about a 21st c. era girl who seesaws between living a normal high school life in the 21st century, and living during the American Revolution. The conceit is that whenever she falls asleep, she dreams vividly of her Revolution-era existence, but when she is awake, she is in modern times. Of course, the question is, are they really just dreams? Both lives seem very real, and are both filled with compelling characters, not the least of which is an American soldier who claims he has known her since childhood and who is in love with her. I really like the story's style: the cameos by historical figures like Alexander Hamilton, the complicated but sweet romance, the deftly alternating moments of humor and pathos and action. I'd really recommend it. The author/illustrator's name is Lora Innes, and she is obviously in love with history, for her illustrations are lively and accurate and her characters are all very endearing but appropriate to their respective times. I have a banner link to her site on the right hand sidebar of this blog now. Check it out!

As a person who really likes learning about Revolutionary War/Civil War history myself--and who likes the clothing styles of those times, too--this has really restoked my own interest in the time period and the people who lived then. This is reflected in the reading material I picked up at the library today.

So, complete list of books I have to read now:

• "The Dreamer: The Consequence of Nathan Hale", by Lora Innes (the first issues of her webcomic have been combined into a print copy, so I'm more re-reading this!)
• "The Fortune of War"
• "The Surgeon's Mate"
• "The Ionian Mission"
• "Treason's Harbor"
• "Desolation Island"
• "The Mauritius Command"
• "HMS Surprise", by Patrick O'Brian (not in that order. I'm returning to the Aubrey-Maturin series in a big way, folks!)
• "The American Revolution", by Bruce Lancaster
• "Voices of the American Revolution", by Kendall Haven (I prefer reading about history from contemporary sources whenever possible, hence my liking for Rousseau and the Federalist Papers)
• "Nathan Hale", by M. William Phelps (Biographies! I also love reading good, thick biographies)
• "Alexander Hamilton", by Ron Chernow (Hamilton has fascinated me ever since I was small, so it's about time I read a book entirely devoted to him, even if it's . . . *checks* . . . 700+ pages long!)

I also borrowed "The Amulet of Samarkand" audiobook, since I've been wanting to give it a listen for years. I'm currently listening to Chapter 6, and the reading is very good so far.

At last I have more reading material! I've been floating on air all day because of it. I even have proof:
See? That is my happy library face being happy.

So if you don't hear from me for a few days, it's not because I'm in trouble; I'm just reading and reading and reading. Oh, and "Fringe" and "Supernatural" both return next week, so that might have something to do with it too ^_^

Ta!

A Rambling Ramble

A lot happened over the past few days. After finding my library card literally as I went out the door to go to school, I left school early so I could hop on the bus and make it to the library to pick up my books which were on hold. After arriving at my stop, however, I was extremely not delighted to discover that, thanks to new furlough days, the libraries here are ALL CLOSED ON WEDNESDAYS. Oh, and it was a Wednesday.

So. Not. Right.

Anyway, I was stranded at a downtown bus-stop for forty minutes or so as a result. And didn't get my books, because I had no time from my crazy schedule for the rest of the week to pick them up, and anyway that was the last day I could have kept them on hold. Sometimes the world has an ironic sense of humor. Yesterday (Saturday), however, I walked to a library that's closer to where I live but much smaller, and borrowed four different books. And used my school's online library catalog to put about five more books on hold at school--I don't even remember the exact number, haha. I don't know how I'm going to read all of these before school ends and I'm flying home, but that's okay. It's better to have too many books than too few.

On Friday I finally got to watch "The Secret of Kells", a fantastic and beautiful Irish animated film about the Book of Kells. The animation is riveting, and the story is compelling too . . . the big conflict in the story, the big question, is whether to spend manpower building walls to keep out the Viking invaders, or to spend it illuminating beautiful manuscripts like the Book. If we devote all our energies to producing works of art, and to writing and knowledge and beauty, are we being foolhardy? Or is it really better to spend our time being practical and building those walls at the expense of building art and knowledge, because then we don't really have anything worth protecting? The power of the abstract vs. the practical; light vs. dark; imagination vs. reality; myth vs. mundane . . . That's some heady stuff. And of course the film is completely saturated in Irish-ness and Celtic-ness, which means I'd have loved it even if it hadn't been as good as it was, ha. The music was great too, and I did get sniffly towards the end. When this film (which, sadly, is being released only in very limited numbers of theatres in the US) is available on dvd, I strongly recommend you at least rent it. The animation alone, hand-drawn and inspired by the illustrations in the Book of Kells, is mesmerizing and unique. Here's a trailer, to give you an idea of what this film is like :)



After going to the library yesterday I had dinner with a whole side of the family I had never met before--the side I get the Hawaiian from. I enjoyed meeting everyone, and got to try all sorts of foods I've never had before--poi, lomi salmon, laulau . . . there was also some really tasty tako. All in all, it was a very good day.

And now I have to get ready for yet another crazy, busy week. Only a few more to go until I get on the plane to go home, though. Whee!

Whew . . .

Gotta do Russian studying. Now. And I have a headache.

Anyway, I was all set to enjoy the long-awaited Desmond-centric episode tonight when it got cut off at a crucial moment by a flash flood advisory. So. Annoying. It marred the whole episode, which is a huge shame. Anyway, I ended up liking the episode, but also being very, very confused. I need to watch it again. On Hulu, where no flood advisories will get in the way.

And there's no worries about flooding where I am, so that's why I sound so nonchalant about the whole advisory thing. It just broke the mood of the episode for me at a crucial point, which made the episode less engrossing than it should have been!!!

Although . . . Daniel and Desmond and Charlie all in one episode together? That already gets a happy dance by default. Emotional-scene-that-was-ruined-by-flood-advisory would have been epic, I know. SO, I will empty my mind, rewatch the episode, and not only like it, but love it like I should have the first time. Hopefully. I was loving it until the beeping and recorded voice cut across everything! >:(

I bought tickets to watch the Hawaii premiere of "The Secret of Kells" on Friday night, which I'm super excited about. I've been wanting to watch this film for a long time, thank goodness it's finally here on the island!

And I'm going to fail my Russian midterm tomorrow. But I can retake it. So I will retake it and do better.

I also have not managed to find my mysterious vanishing library card, so I guess I'll just shell out the fifteen dollars or whatever needed to buy a new one. What a pain.

Any last notes? Um . . . I watched Laurel and Hardy's "The Music Box" at an Honors English Program meeting today. That was fun. And I'm almost done with S is for Space. It's an interesting group of stories.

Also, after a vote in class today my Western lit classmates voted to read excerpts from Plato's Republic for next classtime instead of my choice, excerpts from Herodotus' The Histories. I've read both books before multiple times, so I don't really care I suppose, considering that after the real thing I'm always disappointed in excerpts anyway, but I'm not going to bother reading Plato. I know that blasted Analogy of the Cave by heart and back-to-front by now, thank you very much--I've only had to study it every single year of my life since I was thirteen!!! And role-play about it in class last semester, no less!! Sigh.

I like Plato's writings, they are interesting, and the Analogy is very compelling. It would just . . . have been nice to have been able to reread about Xerxes attempting to punish a river by throwing hot branding irons and chains into it for a change. I don't want to have to sit through yet another explanation of the Cave while most of my fellow students are introduced to it for the first time. Thursday will be a slooooooow day.

I've Lost My Library Card!

I don't know how it happened! I really don't! But I went to the public library to return books today, and picked up three more, and then was suddenly struck with the awful revelation:

My library card is not in my wallet. Nor is it in my jeans pocket. Nor is it in my school backpack. It is GONE.

The library will hold my books for me for three days. I have to find my library card in three days. This is extremely annoying. My library card is like an extension of myself; it's as though I was just about to get a manicure when suddenly I realize my hand has disappeared. Except I never get manicures, ever. But whatever.

I'm going to poke around my sock drawer and bookshelves and empty all my coat pockets. Hopefully that card turns up. If not . . . ugh, that doesn't bear thinking about! :(

The Ides of March!

I only realized that today is the Ides of March just now, with a bare few hours of the day left, and so feel like I missed out on something big and important. On the more positive side of things, however, I returned five library books to the public library today--and then of course borrowed seven more. I'm like a kid in a candy store when I'm around free books. I can't help but grab and gollop more than I can chew.

Anyway, I now have "The Key to Rondo", by Emily Rodda; "Fall of a Kingdom", by Hilari Bell; "High Wizardry", by Diane Duane; "Foundation", by Isaac Asimov; "Never After", by Rebecca Lickiss (what an unfortunate last name); "The Caves of Steel", by Isaac Asimov; and "The Elf Queen of Shannara", by Terry Brooks, all stacked in a neat column by the head of my sleeping bag. And I don't even particularly like the Shannara books. That's how far gone I am. Like a book zombie, my brain just goes dead and ravenous.

I've started "The Caves of Steel" and it's excellent thus far. I've been keeping a book database this year--one of my Resolutions for 2010--and after less than three months into the year I've read twenty-five new books! That's quite a good start to the year, I think!

Tomorrow I have a quiz and a midterm and art homework to do. Then Friday is a Russian quiz, but thankfully my midterm has been pushed back two weeks, and I also have an English midterm. And then it'll be spring break, and I'll be able to breathe again.

Today I also had great fun spending time with Nikolai again, which was great. We watched "The Pink Panther", the original, for the first time. It was . . . convoluted, to say the least, pretty much the thickest farce you can imagine, but was pretty funny all the same.

All-in-all, Caesar might have had cause to fear the Ides of March, but they were pretty good to me.

9 Weeks

Yes, Nine weeks of this semester have been successfully survived, so now I'm over halfway to Summer Break! What a pleasant thought. It helps keep me cheerful in the face of next week, which promises to contain two important homework assignments, three essays, three midterm exams, and a Russian quiz. Ai.

I'm currently sitting in my room, which is swamped in library books. And when I say 'swamped', I mean that in the quite literal sense that a person could be in danger of sinking beneath them and remaining trapped forever. I have six books from the state library, and over a dozen from my school library, along with nearly twenty books that my father bought me for my birthday. I do love having stacks of unread books around the place; life seems so much brighter for them.

Nothing much of import happened last week, aside from the SyFy channel decided to air "The Prestige" and "Sunshine" back to back, late at night when I was supposed to be doing homework. I managed to finish the homework after all, but ended up staying awake ridiculously late, and what with having to wake up at 6 AM every school day . . . well, I finally managed to catch up on my sleep today by sleeping until half-past noon. And I'm still tired. But I got to watch "The Prestige" and "Sunshine" back to back, so I don't mind.

I also purchased my first "Doctor Who" dvd, thanks to "Tombs of the Cybermen" being on sale at Barnes and Noble! And the complete "Firefly" series, because a fundraiser at my school was selling it for only twelve dollars. That's some birthday money spent well, I think.

Now I am going to spend my weekend studying Russian in preparation for the aforementioned quiz and for the Russian midterm that's waiting for me like a ravening dragon on Friday. Oh dear. I should also clean my room and organize that swamp of books, and also turn my energy back to thrashing this horrific writers' block I've been laboring under for the past few months. I've tried writing so many things, and nothing is working. Unbelievably frustrating. I've been reading a lot, but it isn't helping. Oh well--This too shall pass, right?

Avalanche of Book Reviews!!

So . . . Due to various circumstances, some out of my control, some not, I've been very lackadaisical about my book reviewing for the past, um, five months. Lackadaisical is a good word. Use it in conversation today.

I'm going, therefore, to attempt to play catch-up for those five months in this single post, which means that this one post contains twenty-three books. I'm so sorry about that. As a result, my reviews will have to be a bit short so I don't kill my fingers and/or your eyes, so my apologies for that. There's a huge variety of books to review, some of them beautiful, some of them gloriously wonderful, some of them vaguely disappointing, and yes, some that just stunk. But in any case, here they all are in varying degrees of lateness, and I hope you read the good ones some time and avoid the bad like the plague ;)

I'm going to go by author, alphabetically. It'll be easier for me to organize my thoughts that way, as I cannot remember which month I read which book in necessarily. But books-of-the-months will get special treatment, never fear. I do play favorites when it comes to reading.

Leviathan 99, by Ray Bradbury
Actually, this was the first Bradbury work that I wasn't blown away by. In fact, it was rather disappointing. Basically it's a space-age retelling of Moby Dick--Queequeg is a telepathic alien, Ahab's bent on chasing a mysterious white comet, etc. But despite the clever idea, it falls flat. I can't help but compare it as I read it to Melville's original, and the real "Moby Dick" with all its depth and grandeur and peculiarities is one of my favorite books ever, and Bradbury's short story just feels immensely shallow and even boring in comparison to that. What a pity. Just watch the film he wrote with Gregory Peck as Ahab, because it's a much better tribute to Melville.

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, by Stephen Crane
A short novella, but very enjoyable. I read it before class one morning, so it's a fast read, but really compelling. Jimmie, the brother, was in a way even more interesting a character to me than Maggie; the story sums up Maggie's life, but at the end I'm still wondering about how Jimmie's story will end. The jump from childhood to adulthood was unexpected and rather unique. Recommended.

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
I was interested in this because it won the Newbery and because it was by Gaiman. It's a really good read, with some very quotable stuff, and typical Gaiman word and story play which goes effortlessly from poignant to terrifying to comical and back again. I really enjoyed this one, and didn't even realize that the whole story is a riff on 'The Jungle Book' until I read the afterword, despite the giveaway title. This, as opposed to Bradbury's 'Leviathan 99', is a tribute to a classic that is well crafted, creative, and excellent enough to stand on its own. I'm hoping for a hinted-at sequel.

The Sandman Vol I-VI, by Neil Gaiman
I'm not usually one for graphic novels, but I'd heard a lot about this, so I thought I'd give it a go. I'm a bit wary about recommending it--it's often quite horrific, some of the art is quite, um, graphic, and there's language and gruesome violence all over the place--and yet I somehow enjoy it. It's creative and often poetical, and there's really interesting concepts as well as some really beautiful art here. So it's a mixed bag. Definitely an adult read, though. Oh, and bonus points to Gaiman for putting 'The Lost Road' on Dream's bookshelf and featuring GK Chesterton as a benevolent manifestation from the Dreamworld! And for the several Milton shout-outs.

All Creatures Great and Small and All Things Bright and Beautiful, by James Herriot
I don't dislike animals, but I don't adore them either. Books like Old Yeller just don't have any effect on me, and I've never been one to get all gooey when I see a pony or a little kitten. So I was a bit skeptical about reading these, as they're memoirs of a vet and all. I was, however, smitten and won over completely before I even finished the first story. Every episode in each book is very short, little snapshots of life as a country vet, but Herriot skillfully uses each episode to a purpose, whether to muse on life, or showcase his eccentric friends and acquaintances, or laud the farmers he helps, or make you laugh out loud at some ridiculous happening, or make you cry when he has to euthanize a lonely old man's elderly dog and only companion and leave the poor fellow alone in his empty house. Some writers write stories that transform life into art, but Herriot simply shows that life itself already is art, you just haven't been looking. These are beautiful stories, beautifully told, and you need to read them. And then watch the classic television show with Peter Davison as Tristan ^_^

The Letters of John Keats
By Keats, obviously, ranging over, if I remember correctly, the last five years of his life or so. These were amazing to read, I filled a notebook with quotations taken from his letters. It's interesting to get a sense of the very young man and the poet behind such favorites of mine as "Robin Hood", "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" and the ever-lovely "Ode to a Nightingale". He seems like he was a fantastic person, which makes his inevitable death even harder to deal with, and his letters are full of personality.

Strongbow, by Morgan Llewellyn
It had a promising beginning, and then a very lackluster middle and dull end. Ultimately could have been an interesting story, but with a length of only about 100 pages it felt more like the outline for a story to be written later. I can't even remember half the plot, it was so blah. Something about Queen Aoife and medieval politics in Ireland.

Daughter of the Forest, by Juliet Marillier
Another book that started well, and then got dull and lifeless and dwindled to a half-hearted end. Which is a shame, since this is after all a retelling of my favorite fairy tale, that of the Wild Swans. I would recommend the original fairy tale, not this version. There's some good drama and dynamics and writing early on in the story, but once the princes are changed to swans, the story just . . . dies. Too bad.

The Copper Crown, by Patricia Kennealy Morrison
I actually loved this book! Or at least heartily enjoyed it. Basically the premise is that Ancient Celts, being voyagers, figured out space travel in the second century AD or so, and left earth to colonize a whole new system of planets, and are now this futuristic Celtic society, telepaths who live in castles, fight with horse-drawn chariots and electric swords, and sail spaceships around. And now that a futuristic mission from earth has found them, earth will soon learn of their existence after thousands of years of not knowing. Oh, and there's an immense space-war brewing between the space-Celts and their galactic neighbors who seem to be channeling Ancient Egypt. There's also treachery, heroism, magic, romance-without-immorality, and even a ceili dance or two all rolled up in a very entertaining package of beautifully-styled writing that is deliberately archaic in its flavor. Yes, it's a kooky, bizarre read, but so very enjoyable I don't care. I don't know if I'll hunt down the sequel or not, but I did enjoy this.

Here, There Be Dragons, by James A. Owen
This was also a bizarre read, but unfortunately not nearly as well executed. Basically--a young JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis and Charles Williams are for a confusing and somewhat vague reason transported into a magical world which is depicted in the Imaginarium Geographica, a mysterious book they possess. This world is nothing less than the world of, well, imagination! So every story ever created exists in this world, with all its characters and locations, alongside every other story ever created. And it's very random. I mean, the Green Knight is Charles Darnay? Um, logic behind that, please? In the end it's like a severely watered-down "Silverlocke", which is a shame considering two of my favorite authors are cheekiliy not-so-subtlely made protagonists. If only the talent matched the concept.

Dragonspell, by Donita K. Paul
I liked it, but I didn't fall in love with it the way I wanted to, perhaps because I don't really like furry creatures, and I think there are a lot of furry characters? I read this a while ago, and so can't remember. I still mean to look up the sequel, though, and I really liked the wizard, I forget his name. Ugh. I think I need to re-read this one.

Rosemary Sutcliff
I read a lot of Sutcliff books, so it'll serve best to group them all together, otherwise I'll be typing until my hands drop off. I could rave about each book individually, but again, that might get monotonous. So here's the list of Sutcliff books I devoured over the course of the past few months:

Eagle of the Ninth is about a young Roman soldier who, with the help of a British warrior he rescues from the arena, ventures into the wilds of Britain to find the fabled lost Eagle of his father's doomed regiment; Knight's Fee tells the story of a poor boy in Normanized Britain who thanks to fluke and fortune and an enigmatic jester is set on the path to becoming a knight; The Lantern Bearers is back in Roman-occupied Britain again, about a young Roman whose life is torn apart in the first few chapters and spends the rest of the novel growing up and growing old and still trying to come to terms (or trying to not come to terms) with the trauma of that catastrophe; The Mark of the Horselord I cannot even describe here because the epicness is too much, and so I will defer my review until later as befits a very deserving Book of the Month; The Shield Ring would have been Book of the Month if "Horselord" had not squeaked past it, and is the story of two Viking youths growing from childhood to adulthood: a spirited girl adopted into the village and her best friend, the son of the village bard who is haunted by the fear that if he were captured by the Norman enemy and tortured as many men before him have been, he would be the one to break and betray his hidden home; The Silver Branch is back again in Roman-occupied Britain, although at a later, more decadent period of the Empire, and is filled with political intrigue, brilliant characters, wisdom, heartbreak, and triumph; and last but absolutely not least Sword at Sunset is a purely breathtaking work of art and the best Arthurian epic since "The Once and Future King", in addition to being the sequel to "The Lantern Bearers". And also a Book of the Month, so I'll be reviewing it later, peeps. Bottom line: If it has 'Sutcliff' on the spine, you had better read it.

The Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti
The description on the back was interesting--orphan with one hand, resurrectionists, con men, mystery, all romping around in 1800's New England--so I thought I'd give it a go. The characters are very Dickensian by nature, but the Dickens quality of narrative is lacking, and although that makes sense considering Tinti is not Dickens, it still left me feeling irrationally disappointed. As though I picked up a chocolate cake mix at the grocery store and upon baking it discovered that it actually makes vanilla cupcakes. Vanilla cupcakes aren't by definition BAD, but when you're expecting chocolate cake, it feels like false advertising and it makes you unhappy. There are some very good parts, and it's not really a bad book, but the ending was absolutely ridiculous. I left this book rather disappointed; it could have been a lot better.

The Witch in the Wood, by TH White
Speaking of "The Once and Future King", this is the first version of what would later become Book Two of OaFK, "The Queen of Air and Darkness". I'm going to keep this short and sweet because my fingers are starting to ache and because nothing more needs to be said: Stick with "Queen". "Witch" is peculiarly unimpressive and bland and has none of the terrifying power, poignancy, or foreshadowing of the later version found in OaFK.

Michael Faraday, by L. Pearce Williams
I actually borrowed this from the library to get some information for a research paper last semester, and so only needed to read one chapter, but I was so enthralled by that one chapter, I had to read the whole thing. This is a big deal for me, as I typically A) Don't like biographies, B) Don't like science, and C) This book was over 500 pages long, small-print, and I was in the middle of midterms. But it's very well-written, and Faraday is now my favorite scientist and one of my heroes. He has a very inspiring and interesting life-story, though it ends somewhat sadly. Strongly recommended.

Dragon's Blood, by Jane Yolen
I found this story entertaining, if not scintillating, and original, if not overly compelling. The idea of a society on another planet built on breeding dragons to fight in arenas is an interesting one, but as I said before, I'm not really an animal book lover apart from "Where the Red Fern Grows" and "Watership Down", and so the cute dragon-and-boy bonding and all didn't have much of an impact on me. I don't think I'll continue this series.

And I'm done! Now we're all caught up until February! March reviews look like they'll be fun though, because as of this typing I have no less than fourteen books checked out of the library by authors as varied as Chesterton, Gaiman, Pratchett, Lovecraft, and Bradbury. It's shaping up to be an escapist sort of month, and that can mean only good things.

Keep Reading!

I remembered!

The most important bit of news today is that, after an entire year, I finally remembered my laptop password. The fact that I couldn't crack my own password has been hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles all that year, so I'm so delighted to finally be free of it! AND this meant I was finally able to update my flash player, so I can now view video on Hulu again. Yes!

Yesterday I intended to:

1) Walk to the library
2) Walk to an antique shop and look around
3) Clean my room
4) Watch "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge"
5) Knit more TARDIS

What I ended up doing was:

1) Walking to the library only to find that it was unexpectedly closed for a 'Meeting', according to the handwritten sign on the doors. What? Anyway, at least I got to return all my library books from my previous visit through the return slot . . . Although that also means I have no new reading material now :(
2) From the library I went to the antique shop--Which, drumroll please, was also inexplicably closed. It was open last week at the same time, honestly. Sigh.
3) Okay, so I did clean my room.
4) Nope, but I plan to do that tomorrow. I am sad that "My Name is Khan" doesn't look like it will be showing in Hawaii.
5) I'll knit while I do No. 4 tomorrow.

So, all in all, a rather disappointing Saturday. But at least I did get out and walk around, and the weather was nice. I've also been sleeping a lot this weekend, trying to recover my drained energy and store up more for the weeks to come between now and Easter Break.

Now I have an essay to write. And yet more sleep to get before my dance practice tomorrow--at 6:45 in the morning, if you'll believe it!

Anyone else watching the Olympics? I'm looking forward to the ice dancing, and the speed skating is always fun. It was a pleasant surprise hearing "Surface of the Sun" being played during a montage about Apolo Anton Ohno.

Reading and Panicking

So . . . . I have a paper on "Beowulf" Due on Friday, a Russian quiz on Friday, a Physics quiz on Friday, a Jeopardy! style quiz on Athens tomorrow morning, and about sixty pages of Hawaiian studies reading to do. 

Panic ensues.

The worst of it is, I'm so not sure about what I should study first or focus on first, I just kind of dither and end up not getting anything done at all! Ai! I think I'll do a good solid couple hours on the essay, or at least an hour, and then I'll switch over to Russian, and then I'll switch over to studying Athenian trivia, and then repeat. Gah, I hate tough decisions. 

One good thing about today: I walked to the public library about twenty minutes from campus and checked out four books: Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson; Sabriel, by Garth Nix; Dragonspell, by Donita K. Paul; and Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. Unfortunately, due to the old building being knocked down and a new one being built, the library no longer has the enormous selection it used to (Fire and Hemlock is gone!!), and is actually housed in little trailer things on the grounds of an elementary school. But at least I was able to find four books I was interested in, eh? I got Kidnapped because my mind has been inexplicably filled with Alan for the past week or so, Sabriel because I hadn't finished it when I had to return it to the library last weekend, Dragonspell because I believe one of you recommended it, but I forget who (stand and be recognized!), and The Graveyard Book because this way I'll be able to finish it without wearing out the copy at Barnes & Noble.

Tomorrow marks one month (Aug. 24-Sept. 24) of sophomore year for me. Goodness, it seems to have gone by quickly. No complaints from me in that regard, though; it means that Christmas is coming closer!

Now I'm off to the ancient land of Heorot and meres, where dragons flow like gold across the sky and young warriors can grow old and still die heroes. Goodness, I love "Beowulf".

The END is NEAR

Yes.

It is that time again.

MY LIBRARY BOOKS ARE DUE TO BE RETURNED ON SATURDAY.

*panic ensues*

Naturally, now that I'm in my last three days before the books need to be returned, I've suddenly sped up my reading. To be exact, I've read approximately 700 pages--half of 'Dune' and just about all of 'Dragon's Bait' as well as half of 'Sabriel' in just two days. While still keeping up with my homework. I've heard of 'speed born of desperation', but I don't usually get to experience it first-hand.

My grandmother has begun cautiously telling me "You know, you can just renew them. Or borrow them again later."

But I'm strange and stubborn in that I like to return all my books at once, on the set date, so that I'm fresh and ready to borrow another stack. I also feel that I need to have read them all. In addition, I have the bad habit of borrowing waaaaay too many library books in one go, instead of reasonable amounts in multiple trips like any sane person should. So I end up having problems like I'm having now, with my last-minute-race-to-finish-every-single-page. Some people have eyes bigger than their stomachs, or so the saying goes; I have eyes bigger than my . . . um . . . eyes? . . . . .

Okay, I guess that's the sort of adage you can't really adapt to suit every need.

I think I'll just go off and try to race through the rest of 'Sabriel' and get a start on 'The Spellcoats' now . . .

Ah, the Subtleties of Modern Art

So I was climbing up to the third floor of one of my school's libraries, to retrieve the "Pan's Labyrinth" DVD that I put on hold this morning (yes, I do actually have it in my possession now), and I was going casually because I enjoy walking up and down stairs without my ginormous backpack dragging me down.

I noticed that there are pieces of art set at intervals along the way: paintings on walls, and statues on the landings. Even a replica of the Rosetta Stone is set in the wall at one point (and  speaking as one who has seen the real thing I have to say it is nowhere near as beautiful as the original). You know what I mean: the sort of modernist sculptures of metal and stone twisted into weird shapes that make one long for the marbles of Ancient Greece; the fuzzy, colorful paintings that can be made out when squinting and standing on one's head. They give a general air of grandeur and 'class', but on scrutiny I generally find them to be lacking any feel of what I deem as art.

Anyway, I was scrutinizing them anyway, because it was pleasant to be climbing stairs without needing to go to class, and I hoped to find at least one piece of art to really enjoy, and upon the second floor landing there was a sculpture which really caught my attention. It was, to all appearances, a vaguely rounded lump of stone, perhaps knee-high and between one and two feet in width, set upon a pedestal, and colored a greyish, reddish-brown.

What is this? I wondered. And so, since I had time to spare, I walked over and stooped to read the plaque set at the pedestal's foot. And there I read the sculpture's name:

The Rock. 

. . . It is comforting, is it not, to know that the modernist art movement is coming full circle? They now use enormous lumps of stone to make models of rocks. And then display them as wonders.

Speaking as one who has seen the real thing, I have to say that this sculpture is nowhere near as beautiful as the original.

The Weather. And More Books.

So I've been spending today by:

A) Skype-chatting

B) Doing homework

C) Listening to Les Miserables

D) Reading Emma

E) Going to classes

. . . Which is pretty much how my life's been going the past few days. Which doesn't leave me with anything significant to blog about, I guess!

I think I'm reduced to talking about the weather.

Well, the weather has been rather interesting recently. The mornings are glorious, bright and clear, with blue-blue sky and the grass lemony-green because it's so bright, and the flowers glowing so brightly they look molten and you expect them to drip their excess color onto the soil.

Around noontime, however, vast clouds colored so dark they are almost blue come rolling over the mountains. It's rather spectacular looking, and rather thrilling too because they're a little scary: so thick and low, and appearing from behind the mountains (which are so close here) like an army or something. It makes me think what it would have been like to live here before Cook came, or even be one of the earlier explorers. What would it have been like to be here, in the jungle-surrounded valley, and seeing those clouds swallowing up the sky so suddenly?

Anyways, and then the sky is silver-dark for a couple hours. And then comes the wind, which is immensely strong for about five minutes, and then--a storm of rain, so that not only the sky, but everything around you is silver-grey, and if you're outside you are running with water and absolutely soaked within seconds, and can't see your hand in front of your face.

This lasts for about 5-10 minutes. And then comes the sunlight again, and the rest of the day is an even mix of cloud and blue, but no rain.

And that's the weather report. Thrilling, isn't it? Oi, I need a more exciting life, I guess!

Oh, wait, I have been reading books. The Charwoman's Shadow, Master and Commander, and Emma are my latest reads, and they were all very good. I actually prefer Charwoman to Elfking's Daughter, which I didn't think would happen when the main character was introduced as Ramon Alonzo Matthew-Mark-Luke-John, but ultimately did. I really, really love that book. And M & C was rather good too, good enough that I am determined to pick up the next one next time I am at the library. Post Captain, I think? It's a very different style to what I'm used to, so I had to be careful reading it because otherwise I missed important events. I laughed aloud at certain parts though . . . most notably the remora incident and where Aubrey smacks his head on the lintel. Yeah, I also still laugh when Gandalf smacks his head in Bag End in the Fellowship film. I don't know why, usually I'm not a slapsticky person.

Okay, and that is about all I have to say right now. Except I have decided: I will buy the Complete Symphonic Recording of Les Miserables. I must. That my favorite Javert sings in it sorta tipped the scales. And I do love Michael Ball's voice, just don't want to see him while he's singing, ha ha. Too bad Lea Salonga isn't singing Eponine, but . . . it's good enough for me. I love all things Les Mis. Yay!

My Narnia Moment

You know when the Pevensies first stumble through the wardrobe and emerge, in blinking, shocked delight, in the wonder world of Narnia? Yeah, well, I experienced my equivalent today.

The college library has had issues for a while with bad ceiling, so when it rains--which does happen a lot here!--the water comes through the roof in some parts, leading to tarping of the endangered books and fans and other such items. It's a pain, but it also adds a strange ambience to the upper floors of the library, which are air-conditioned until they're ice cold, absolutely silent, and enormous--you can stand at one end of an aisle, and barely see the wall at the other end. Seriously.

Anyway, I ventured into the college library this morning because I had spare time and hadn't had an opportunity to explore it in a while. Besides, I was on a quest: I have been told by assorted people that I should read some George MacDonald. Now.

So, being the obedient bookworm I am, I went to explore the upper floor, where I figured I would find his works. I had a hunch it would be towards one side of the building, which happened to be tarped. It looked pretty dark and gloomy and kinda creepy, but I took a chance and proceeded anyway, pulled aside the tarp, stepped through . . .

Into a pocket of warmth and sunshine provided by one large, clear window. Before me stood four gleaming old wooden shelves, very tall and very long, piled with old books of the fantasy/adventure genre. And sitting beside the window was a single comfy chair.

Yes. That was my Narnia moment.

I browsed the shelves in a sort of blissful dream. And glory of glories, every single tome I picked at random to thumb through seemed good! Yay! 

And yes, I did pick up Phantastes and Lilith. Not only that, but I nabbed a copy of The Charwoman's Shadow, and another book I picked at random after falling in love with the first two pages. I don't even remember the title, actually. But it is good. 

The only damper on my glee is that my library apparently does not have any of the Aubrey-Maturin books. Bleh. Disappointing.

But anyway, from now on, you know where to find me. In my own personal, secret, Narnia.