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".

A Return to the World of Bartimaeus!

"Here’s some news. I’m working on a new Bartimaeus project. Actually, I’ve been working on it, off and on, for about a year now, with a big break in the middle to do the Heroes tours. I’ve kept pretty quiet about it up until now for a variety of reasons, partly because I wanted to be sure it was going to work, and partly because I wanted to get the contractual side of things sorted. But (at long last) I think the time’s right to go on the record about it here. The current plan is to aim for an autumn 2010 publication, both in the US and UK, which would be fantastic, and also match up nicely with the proposed publication of the Amulet graphic novel, about the same time. If this is going to work out, though, I’m going to have to write my socks off for the next six months or so, because there’s still a LOT of work to do. Currently Bart resides in two slightly garish pink ring- binders, one comprising text and the other notes. The aim is to turn all this into a nice, neatly stacked pile of manuscript by the spring.

As for the details of the book… small things like plot and structure are still proving slightly fluid, so I won’t make any public predictions just yet. But I’ll let you know more right here, just as soon as I can. In the meantime, I suppose I’d better get back to work. I’ve got a djinni waiting."

Found here, dated September 4. Excellent news for any fan of the Bartimaeus Trilogy! I for one am extremely excited, though I wonder what exactly it will be about. The trilogy itself was rather perfect--Indeed, I often describe it as the only perfect trilogy I have ever read apart from "The Lord of the Rings" (which isn't even really a trilogy at all, but I'll pass that issue over for now), although the "Space Trilogy" is also very good (hush, Linden!). So I don't see how Stroud would continue the story. I can only assume that he would write an entirely different story, and merely set it in the same world. Presumably Bartimaeus will again be a main character. Without Nat and Kitty, however, will he still have the appeal as he did in the trilogy? Only time--and Stroud himself, of course--will tell, but as of this moment I am both apprehensive and delighted ^_^

(Oh, and for the record: Nathaniel is miles awesomer and better than Harry. I just found the depiction in the above pic (source here) too funny and well-done to resist.)

*IMPORTANT* Writing Blog NOW Open *IMPORTANT*

Basically, what the title says. After airing the idea with various friends (all of whom were gratifyingly enthusiastic--thanks for the support, girls!) I've decided to go ahead with my perhaps-crazy scheme and open a new blog. This will be a PRIVATE, LOCKED blog, available to view and comment on only to co-authors. This is to ensure that the blog will be a safe, secure, and comfortable place for us to post our bits of writing for writers we know and trust to comment on.

As a result, if you want in on this blog, I will need your email address. I entirely respect other people's privacy, as well as safety concerns on the web, so if you do not feel comfortable with sending me your email address, then I respect that, but unfortunately I do not think the blog will be accessible to you. If you do send me your email address, I will use it to send you an invite to be a collaborator on the blog, and then will promptly erase it from my address book, unless you give instructions to the contrary. Fear no spam from me! If you do decide that you want to send me your email so that I can invite you to join the writers blog, here's my address: cpsk@hawaii.edu. Just put 'The Radish Room' as your subject line and make sure you mention who you are in your email, so I know who I'm inviting ^_^

I'm really excited about this new blog and the opportunity it is for us to cooperate, work, and grow together as writers. It's currently called 'The Radish Room', as a little nod to the Inklings' 'Rabbit Room' at the Eagle and Child pub, and the web address is http://www.theroomwithnoview.blogspot.com. You will not, however, be able to view the site until you accept an invite.

I hope to see you all there soon!

The Thursday Plan

Yes, I do love "The Caves of Androzani"! Yes, it is my number one! And yippee, it was voted number one on the recent poll ranking the best "Doctor Who" episodes ever, too!

So, that made my day. It doesn't really matter, of course, but it's rather gratifying, heh heh. I had a celebratory watch of the story just now, and enjoyed it just as much as ever. I'm impatiently waiting for it to go on sale on Barnes & Noble's website (huzzah for giftcards). I hope that when the next dvd sale comes on, I'll be able to buy "Androzani" as well as "The War Games". We'll see! I'm also looking to buy a load of books, Rosemary Sutcliff's "The Shining Company" among them.

It's unbelievably hot right now here in Hawaii. Really, really hot, and very stuffy in this small apartment. I think that I'm going to go down to the courtyard and do a bit of reading there--maybe some knitting (not to wear, I'm not quite that insane)--definitely some physics homework! The courtyard is rather pleasant. Flowers, small statues, and brightly colored lizards are all there to be found, if you know where to look. The grass is very green, the benches are slightly-rusty and creaky-rickety and mossy in just the right amount, and there are some lovely little trees for just sitting and thinking under.

I also have some writing I want to get done, and I want to take some photographs too. Ah, yes, and an early bedtime too--no more of this going to bed at one and waking up at six nonsense. It causes headaches.

Writing, reading, studying, fresh air and gecko-hunting--

Sounds like a plan to me! 

Pic

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 . . .