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Finally getting around to updating ^^;;
1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favorite lyric to your current favorite song. Or your favorite kind of sandwich. Your favorite smurf. Something random. Whatever you like.
2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. You WILL update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
Ganked from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kazenokaitou. But I'm too lazy to actually pass it on ._. Sorry *bows*
1) Favorite television show as a child? At first I thought this would be tough, but ... Power Rangers. There were a lot of shows I watched as a kid, but none as enduringly and obsessively as this. (I was especially on the edge of my seat during the Green Ranger/White Ranger saga. Oh, Tommy!)
2) Biggest accomplishment you've had since summer started? (It can be little or big, whatever, haha) Probably finishing The Historian, because it was a monster of a book at 642 pages (but mostly because it got really boring x.x)
3) What color do you think looks really good on you? Dark red/maroon, or so I've been told. I bet I could look good in green, if I could find one that would match my eyes *blinketh* *vain*
4) Would you rather burn or freeze to death? [sorry for being morbid. I hope neither happens to you. T_T] Freeze. Though the snowstorms I've walked through can be quite painful, I deal better with cold than heat. Anyway, I hear you fall asleep pretty quickly. Immolation would be fascinating, but absurdly painful. *Is it weird that I've thought about freezing to death before? o.o*
5) What is one piece of advice that was one of the best you’ve ever received? Hrmm. I mostly remember little stuff like "Don't forget to wear sunscreen," etc. The advice I hear to aspiring writers is the best I can think of: "If you want to be a better writer, READ and WRITE, WRITE, WRITE!" I guess I'm not someone who others give much advice to ^^; (either that, or I just don't take it o.o)
Let's see. What's new since my last update? Lots.
-Last weekend was my brother's graduation party, and since I wanted to be helpful to my mom, I about ran myself ragged for the better part of the day worrying about stuff. Adding to my state was a friend of my brother's who I had only met the night before, who was probably just trying to be nice, but came off annoying. When he first saw me with my brother he was all "Who's this?" and kept looking at me. Then during the actual party he kept trying to talk to me ("So, you have both facebook and myspace?"), hanging around, and inviting me and later Traci as well to do stuff ("Want to play beanbags?") etc. Perhaps it's a character flaw, but I am very slow to form relationships, so I dislike overly friendly/familiar people. I suppose I should've been nicer in blowing him off, but ... maybe I'll never see him again? I didn't know a third of the people at the party anyway.
-On Monday I went to Six Flags with Traci, which was a lot of fun if you discount the schizophrenic weather. The earlier part of the day was scorchingly hot, and the sun burned my shoulders red (I hadn't applied enough sunscreen because of my errant alarm and the ensuing rush to get ready in the morning). The later part of the day was on and off rainy, and actually so cold that I wished I had a jacket and a long pair of pants. But we got to go on all the rides we wanted to, and the lines were fairly short, so it was a good day in all.
-Yesterday I went to the beach with some of my high school friends, which was also a lot of fun with a few caveats. The temperature was perfect for both swimming and sunbathing, but the wind was strong enough to douse us all in sand, blowing into our eyes, nose, ears, etc. Naturally, some of this is expected at a beach, but it was a bit ridiculous. But again, very fun nonetheless. (Ah, yes, and all the girls I went with are complete sticks, so my body image took a bit of a hit, but it's the beach, so that's not unusual ^^;)
-I finished watching Planetes, which turned out to be a fantastic series that I can gladly recommend (I might write a full review ... someday). I'm halfway through with both Eureka Seven (also fantastic) and Elfen Lied (interesting, though graphic and sometimes gratuitous), which is all my library system has of either series, le sigh. I have the third disk of Saikano out, but the fourth is also unavailable. I do not understand the logic behind buying only three volumes of a four volume series (the final volume has been out a while). I may have to ... ugh ... resort to fansubs. We shall see.
-Juuousei (anime AND manga) was licensed! ... Which is old news now, but I'm still excited at the prospect of another anime and manga on my must-buy list, especially one that I didn't think would ever see America's shores (simply because of low interest). Funimation's doing pretty good with that ... I never expected Kimi-Nozo (Rumbling Hearts) to get licensed either.
-Time for some book mini-reviews! (As requested--I think--by Megan.) The outline is in "Title--summary--thoughts--grade" form.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Historians with various connections (including a father and later his daughter, the main characters) investigate the legend, lore, and truth of Dracula, who seems to still be alive. I started out really liking this book, but at some point, the narrative got bogged down. It seemed like everything "new" that was happening felt the same as everything that had already happened, and though there are multiple narrators (Kostova pulls the dreaded "letters with a super detailed record of past events" trick), the voice doesn't really change because the characters are all kind of the same. This made the last 100-200 pages a real chore to finish. The writing was good, and the tidbits of history and descriptions of places all over Europe were really interesting. Dracula too was great when he showed up, but that wasn't until the book was nearly over. Maybe I could go easier on this book if it didn't take forever to read ... but it did. B-
Gifts by Ursula Le Guin. Orrec and Gry come from a line of unusual and dangerous talents that their people are not afraid to use. Gry's gift is for calling animals and Orrec's is for "unmaking," which can be untying a knot or inflicting horrible death. But Gry refuses to betray the animals she loves by calling them to the hunt, and Orrec chooses to blind himself rather than use his gift. I hadn't read anything by Le Guin before, but now I want to. Gifts tells what led to Orrec's decision not to use his gift (as well as its aftermath), but the real focus is on his relationship with his father. I expected a wider scope based on the summary and the prologue of the book, but what I got was more than satisfying. Both characterization and writing were excellent, and I'll definitely want to read the companion piece, Voices. A
The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts. Katie, a 10-year-old girl with silver eyes and barely concealed psychic powers, hardly fits in. Then, she discovers there may be others like her. I know Roberts from her YA mystery/suspense fiction, which is all very good. Though it bears some resemblance to books like Harry Potter (though it was first published back in 1980), this book is much more focused on Katie's quest for acceptance (from both her absentee parents as well as kids her own age) than it is on sci-fi or fantasy elements. Katie is a believable (if a touch precocious) 10-year-old, and even though this is obviously a children's book, its character were interesting enough to make it enjoyable. (Besides that, Katie strongly recalled Ruri-chan from Nadesico, which added bonus points.) It's a shame that the author recently passed away, though she did write plenty of other good books. A-
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli. Basically, this is a retelling of Cinderella set in China. I usually like Napoli's versions of fairy tales (despite the occasional off-putting sexual references), but this one was really disappointing. The characters felt very inconsistent, and the plot meandered too much, losing its point. Xing Xing (Cinderella) spends most of the book following a medicine seller, which had little to do with what followed. Oh, there were some interesting cultural details, and the concept itself is a good one (you are not going to find the stepsister getting her toes cut off in most retellings). But the plot lacked the flow to incorporate all the details believably. Also, some of the language use was very strange; I'm anal, but I couldn't believe the phrase "tuckered out" was used x.x It didn't fit at all. C-
I think I read a few more books, but I don't think I'll bother reviewing them ^^;; Right now I'm reading Children of Chaos, which I checked out of the library mistakenly thinking it was part of the trilogy Megan was praising (if I had browsed more, I would've found it). Well, the summary was a big tip-off. But it's been fairly interesting so far, despite being more "epic" fantasy than I usually read. Unfortunately it's a "duology," so I'll have to read the sequel, too. I may post a review when I'm done.
What else? I totally lied when I said "Shounen Heart" is my favorite song at the moment; that honor goes to "Karma" by Bump of Chicken. Yes, I immediately loved the vocal version. Does that make me weird? ^^;; Speaking of video games, did I ever mention that I finished Phoenix Wright 2? It's a long time ago now o.o;; but I really loved some parts of the end, even if others were kind of silly.
Also! Aya, do you check your e-mail, or did I get the address wrong? I need all the details of our August trip from either you or whoever knows--as in, flight times (departure and arrival), itinerary (whatever we have of one), who's bringing/picking us up from the airport (O'Hare, right?), etc. My mom's been bugging me, and I'd like to know as well ^^;; I also sent you the Retsu info, so if you didn't get that either ... let me know. Yup, that's all.
1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favorite lyric to your current favorite song. Or your favorite kind of sandwich. Your favorite smurf. Something random. Whatever you like.
2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. You WILL update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
Ganked from
kazenokaitou. But I'm too lazy to actually pass it on ._. Sorry *bows*1) Favorite television show as a child? At first I thought this would be tough, but ... Power Rangers. There were a lot of shows I watched as a kid, but none as enduringly and obsessively as this. (I was especially on the edge of my seat during the Green Ranger/White Ranger saga. Oh, Tommy!)
2) Biggest accomplishment you've had since summer started? (It can be little or big, whatever, haha) Probably finishing The Historian, because it was a monster of a book at 642 pages (but mostly because it got really boring x.x)
3) What color do you think looks really good on you? Dark red/maroon, or so I've been told. I bet I could look good in green, if I could find one that would match my eyes *blinketh* *vain*
4) Would you rather burn or freeze to death? [sorry for being morbid. I hope neither happens to you. T_T] Freeze. Though the snowstorms I've walked through can be quite painful, I deal better with cold than heat. Anyway, I hear you fall asleep pretty quickly. Immolation would be fascinating, but absurdly painful. *Is it weird that I've thought about freezing to death before? o.o*
5) What is one piece of advice that was one of the best you’ve ever received? Hrmm. I mostly remember little stuff like "Don't forget to wear sunscreen," etc. The advice I hear to aspiring writers is the best I can think of: "If you want to be a better writer, READ and WRITE, WRITE, WRITE!" I guess I'm not someone who others give much advice to ^^; (either that, or I just don't take it o.o)
Let's see. What's new since my last update? Lots.
-Last weekend was my brother's graduation party, and since I wanted to be helpful to my mom, I about ran myself ragged for the better part of the day worrying about stuff. Adding to my state was a friend of my brother's who I had only met the night before, who was probably just trying to be nice, but came off annoying. When he first saw me with my brother he was all "Who's this?" and kept looking at me. Then during the actual party he kept trying to talk to me ("So, you have both facebook and myspace?"), hanging around, and inviting me and later Traci as well to do stuff ("Want to play beanbags?") etc. Perhaps it's a character flaw, but I am very slow to form relationships, so I dislike overly friendly/familiar people. I suppose I should've been nicer in blowing him off, but ... maybe I'll never see him again? I didn't know a third of the people at the party anyway.
-On Monday I went to Six Flags with Traci, which was a lot of fun if you discount the schizophrenic weather. The earlier part of the day was scorchingly hot, and the sun burned my shoulders red (I hadn't applied enough sunscreen because of my errant alarm and the ensuing rush to get ready in the morning). The later part of the day was on and off rainy, and actually so cold that I wished I had a jacket and a long pair of pants. But we got to go on all the rides we wanted to, and the lines were fairly short, so it was a good day in all.
-Yesterday I went to the beach with some of my high school friends, which was also a lot of fun with a few caveats. The temperature was perfect for both swimming and sunbathing, but the wind was strong enough to douse us all in sand, blowing into our eyes, nose, ears, etc. Naturally, some of this is expected at a beach, but it was a bit ridiculous. But again, very fun nonetheless. (Ah, yes, and all the girls I went with are complete sticks, so my body image took a bit of a hit, but it's the beach, so that's not unusual ^^;)
-I finished watching Planetes, which turned out to be a fantastic series that I can gladly recommend (I might write a full review ... someday). I'm halfway through with both Eureka Seven (also fantastic) and Elfen Lied (interesting, though graphic and sometimes gratuitous), which is all my library system has of either series, le sigh. I have the third disk of Saikano out, but the fourth is also unavailable. I do not understand the logic behind buying only three volumes of a four volume series (the final volume has been out a while). I may have to ... ugh ... resort to fansubs. We shall see.
-Juuousei (anime AND manga) was licensed! ... Which is old news now, but I'm still excited at the prospect of another anime and manga on my must-buy list, especially one that I didn't think would ever see America's shores (simply because of low interest). Funimation's doing pretty good with that ... I never expected Kimi-Nozo (Rumbling Hearts) to get licensed either.
-Time for some book mini-reviews! (As requested--I think--by Megan.) The outline is in "Title--summary--thoughts--grade" form.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Historians with various connections (including a father and later his daughter, the main characters) investigate the legend, lore, and truth of Dracula, who seems to still be alive. I started out really liking this book, but at some point, the narrative got bogged down. It seemed like everything "new" that was happening felt the same as everything that had already happened, and though there are multiple narrators (Kostova pulls the dreaded "letters with a super detailed record of past events" trick), the voice doesn't really change because the characters are all kind of the same. This made the last 100-200 pages a real chore to finish. The writing was good, and the tidbits of history and descriptions of places all over Europe were really interesting. Dracula too was great when he showed up, but that wasn't until the book was nearly over. Maybe I could go easier on this book if it didn't take forever to read ... but it did. B-
Gifts by Ursula Le Guin. Orrec and Gry come from a line of unusual and dangerous talents that their people are not afraid to use. Gry's gift is for calling animals and Orrec's is for "unmaking," which can be untying a knot or inflicting horrible death. But Gry refuses to betray the animals she loves by calling them to the hunt, and Orrec chooses to blind himself rather than use his gift. I hadn't read anything by Le Guin before, but now I want to. Gifts tells what led to Orrec's decision not to use his gift (as well as its aftermath), but the real focus is on his relationship with his father. I expected a wider scope based on the summary and the prologue of the book, but what I got was more than satisfying. Both characterization and writing were excellent, and I'll definitely want to read the companion piece, Voices. A
The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts. Katie, a 10-year-old girl with silver eyes and barely concealed psychic powers, hardly fits in. Then, she discovers there may be others like her. I know Roberts from her YA mystery/suspense fiction, which is all very good. Though it bears some resemblance to books like Harry Potter (though it was first published back in 1980), this book is much more focused on Katie's quest for acceptance (from both her absentee parents as well as kids her own age) than it is on sci-fi or fantasy elements. Katie is a believable (if a touch precocious) 10-year-old, and even though this is obviously a children's book, its character were interesting enough to make it enjoyable. (Besides that, Katie strongly recalled Ruri-chan from Nadesico, which added bonus points.) It's a shame that the author recently passed away, though she did write plenty of other good books. A-
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli. Basically, this is a retelling of Cinderella set in China. I usually like Napoli's versions of fairy tales (despite the occasional off-putting sexual references), but this one was really disappointing. The characters felt very inconsistent, and the plot meandered too much, losing its point. Xing Xing (Cinderella) spends most of the book following a medicine seller, which had little to do with what followed. Oh, there were some interesting cultural details, and the concept itself is a good one (you are not going to find the stepsister getting her toes cut off in most retellings). But the plot lacked the flow to incorporate all the details believably. Also, some of the language use was very strange; I'm anal, but I couldn't believe the phrase "tuckered out" was used x.x It didn't fit at all. C-
I think I read a few more books, but I don't think I'll bother reviewing them ^^;; Right now I'm reading Children of Chaos, which I checked out of the library mistakenly thinking it was part of the trilogy Megan was praising (if I had browsed more, I would've found it). Well, the summary was a big tip-off. But it's been fairly interesting so far, despite being more "epic" fantasy than I usually read. Unfortunately it's a "duology," so I'll have to read the sequel, too. I may post a review when I'm done.
What else? I totally lied when I said "Shounen Heart" is my favorite song at the moment; that honor goes to "Karma" by Bump of Chicken. Yes, I immediately loved the vocal version. Does that make me weird? ^^;; Speaking of video games, did I ever mention that I finished Phoenix Wright 2? It's a long time ago now o.o;; but I really loved some parts of the end, even if others were kind of silly.
Also! Aya, do you check your e-mail, or did I get the address wrong? I need all the details of our August trip from either you or whoever knows--as in, flight times (departure and arrival), itinerary (whatever we have of one), who's bringing/picking us up from the airport (O'Hare, right?), etc. My mom's been bugging me, and I'd like to know as well ^^;; I also sent you the Retsu info, so if you didn't get that either ... let me know. Yup, that's all.
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From:
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I actually bought The Girl with the Silver Eyes not that long ago... I don't remember if I read it recently enough to have had a review up, but yeah, good book.
The Chaos books you're thinking of are by John Wright. Orphans/Fugitives/Titans of Chaos. I have seen Children of Chaos on the shelf, but haven't read it yet, so lemme know if it's any good.
From:
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*fails*
Yay for lots of things getting done and having fun with people and books and Karma! *jyan*
From:
no subject
By the way, talked to my mom, and she was planning on bringing us all to the airport. Not sure about picking up yet; I didn't get to talk to her about that. I think she's figuring you guys spend the night and then she can take us to the airport the next day. I'll ask her about the way back today.