I just tried watching the end of Battlestar Galactica again. That’s right, I never finished it. In fact, I’ve made at least three separate attempts to watch season 4.5. And now I’m thinking I should just throw in the towel.
Its freakin’ agonizing to watch. I experience one of three reactions: cringiness, whereby I cannot watch the screen without flinching due to the stupidity and the utter overacting. Pain, whereby I want to strangle the writers because they turned lovely characters into overdramatic soap opera-ness with only one dimension of Great Great Pain. And finally, hilarity. Because, come on. Everybody is so frowny! Really? Really? Are you really going to describe how Ellen Tigh smells in a growly voice to try to get shot? REALLY?
I don’t think I can do it. I can’t bring myself to sit through it to finish it. Its just too lame. Especially because I recently saw Season 1 and 2 again. So much awesomeness back in those days.
Breakfast:
Fucking yogurt again (180)
Lunch:
Ramen Noodles
Dinner:
Beer
Veggie BBQ ribs
Desert:
Beer?
Or at least I hope, its still too early to tell.
Started out better today.
Breakfast:
Yogurt (180)
Yeah, breakfast sucked. Yogurt is just not satisfying, not without some sort of granola or bacon or lamb chops. None of which I have. Also, about the counting calorie thing: I’m not really a fan of it, and I sure as hell am not going to go out of my way to make sure I know exactly how many is in whatever I eat. But when I have something like a yogurt cup right there… might as well, right? Also sometimes it makes me realize that a food I thought was good for you is actually a heart attack in a bag (or bottle).
Okay, I give up trying to defend myself. I’m lame.
Feeling guilty from yesterday’s less than satisfying taco splurge, I intended to have myself some fresh fruit for breakfast. But the bananas were still green soooo…
Breakfast
2 big ass pancakes (like 500 i bet)
Black Tea
Lunch
Regular Turkey Cheddar Quiznos (crap, I did it again)
Day’s not half over, and I already did it again, spent money. It was mostly an accident, as I simply lost my brain this morning and forgot to make lunch and consequently found myself dying of starvation.
And finally, Dinner:
Fake Meat Riblets (220)
Long beans with Garlic (40)
If you skip lunch, I had a good day. Fake Meat riblets are amazing, by the way.
I’m trying something new; keeping better track of what I eat. Lately I’ve been feeling that unique queasy lump in my stomach that usually accompanies too much greasy food. And since greasy food usually = eating out and spending money, I figure I’ll start keeping track so as to shock myself into buying more veggies. Win win, save money, feel less icky. Perhaps I should count the cigarettes I smoke… but that would just be embarrassing.
Breakfast:
2 scrambled eggs (200 calories)
1 Red bull (110)
Lunch/Dinner
6 fast food mini faux tacos (no idea)
Dinner
Black Tea (60)
Yikes. Today, I fail. And now its raining on my computer.
Since August 20th. In fact I meant to post something on the 20th commemorating the one year anniversary. But I didn’t.
New semester. I’m very glad Mayumi is back, missed her like crazy. Not that I want to divide between old times and new, but I sometimes feel as though Chicago never happened. Or shouldn’t have happened. There seems to be a disparity between how much I care about that time, and how much that time cares about me. Or the people from that time, I suppose. YEP! So one year left until I have my Masters Degree. Doesn’t seem like enough time.
The idea is sublime! But after months of attempting to use it, I’ve come to the conclusion that the execution blows major suckage into lame town. Seriously, it is ridiculously difficult to switch books from “to read” to “currently reading” to “read.” If I have to click more than 3 times to complete that sequence, it ain’t worth my time. Phoo!
Any alternate suggestions? Anyone? Librarything.com looked awesome, ’til I discovered that after a while they delete your books unless you upgrade to a paid account.
And dammit, when will they invent an iTunes for ebooks? (And by that I don’t mean an iTunes store, more just an application to catalog, organize, etc my thrillions of ebooks I have acquired). Calibre just ain’t up to speed for me yet, as I have stated before.
And while I’m at it, why not gripe about the fact that there are a gazillion different formats for ebooks! Get it together, folks! Do you know what you make want to do, internet? Your lack of excellent applications that favor my exact specifications is making me watch TV. So don’t you dare blame me if I’ve watched a few episodes of Dancing With the Stars.
Now my brain contains a much higher percentage of zombified mush than smartiness mush. I’d make you a pie chart, but I’m lazy. And anyway, I prefer Venn diagrams.
You don’t have to actually read this book review because I have thoughtfully condensed it into one sentence for you: Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk was alright. So, feel free to skip the portion of this blog whereby I come to this conclusion, as its only about as interesting as reading the book itself.
Devon Monk’s debut novel had a lot of potential, in my opinion, that unfortunately is never realized. Nowadays, it feels like the urban/paranormal fantasy market has become supersaturated with the same wise-crackin’ kick-ass girl with super powers who fights magic/evil/vampires. And Allie, our heroine, is disappointingly only a slight deviation from this carbon copy. The most interesting aspect of Allie is her relationship with her father, which unfortunately never gets an opportunity to progress due to murder most foul. Now, the Joss Whedon fan in me knew it was coming and yet still rejoiced at this twist, and the emotional turmoil Allie clearly experienced because of it; Devon Monk did a splendid job of not-quite-articulating the complexities of that relationship. However, I wish she had managed to extend a little bit of that brilliance into the rest of the plot and character development.
The magic system at first was refreshingly confined and based of strict and realistic rules. As the story progresses… notsomuch. Allie and Zay’s relationship felt awfully contrived and just sort of inexplicable. But the real crux of the matter lies in Allie’s unique magic-based flaw: part-time amnesia. When I first read the back cover, I thought how neat! This feels like a real drawback, real consequences for supernatural powers. However, Monk missed on the delivery. By the end, I was simply thinking… what’s the point? We go through this adventure with Allie and then she “forgets” it all? Why bother with character development at all if you’re just going to push the reset button?
However, I am going to read the second book in the series. Why? Firstly, I want to see more of Portland, Oregon in this world: never knew it could be that smelly. Secondly, I want to see if the second book can follow up on some of the potential I saw in the first. And lastly, because its summer and I am bored.
Seacrest out.
There is someone who I haven’t spoken to in a very long time. Lets call this person ‘Iggy.’ I don’t speak to Iggy. I won’t speak to Iggy. But despite it all, I really really really want to speak with Iggy. Badly.
I’m not going to. I know simply too many thing about Iggy, and too many things about how that conversation would proceed to allow any such conversation to occurr.
I haven’t had cause to go near a gas station these nine months now. But today I cut across a 7-11 and the smells of gasoline, the hot sun and traffic, gravel and blacktop, all of it combined to force such strong sensory memory that I swear I must’ve experienced a mild form of vertigo. Al of it reminded me of summers in Chicago, when Iggy and I would stop at the gas station before road trips to six flags, road trips to upstate New York. The taste of Chicago. The hot stuff air of a car that’s been sitting in the summer sun all day. And then I felt something rather close to despair as I recalled my most recent experiences of a place and of people that had heretofore been my favorite places and people.
And suddenly I am drained of all desire to do any sort of meaningful work today, like it all just got siphoned off. I don’t want to ready anymore about split ergativity within the generative framework. I don’t want to strive to improve myself mentally. I don’t even want to work on LeakyCon.
I want to bolster my self esteem with material possessions. I want to go to a bookstore. I havent been to a real bookstore in ages. And I want to be able to buy an actual book without worrying about how to pay my bills this summer. I want to own more than one pair of jeans, and I want them to actually fit. These are small things, no? I want to fill my aching void of loneliness with the knowlege that I at least do not look like a graduate-school monster that comes out only at the dead of night to stalk and eat your babies and dissertations.
Okay, tad dramatic.
Still, I feel something rather desolate.
From Quechua:
chullullullu – ( choo- yoo-yoo-yoo) to give off water in various spots.
How often to items (or people) give off water in various spots that an entire word needed to be created in this language?
Need some spice in your life? Your day to day activities will feel three whole mega neutrinos cooler, adventuresome, and exciting if you conclude each utterance with “worthy of Mordor.”
Think that paper you are writing is boring?
Twitter Before: Writing a paper…. will school never end?
Twitter After: Writing a paper worthy of Mordor… dear god, what will I unleash upong the innocent citizens of Hawaii?
Schoolwork becomes that much more epic (and dangerous) if you follow these simple instructions.
Also, SARAH KANE. Please join twitter. I promise you will like. My username is Katelooby. I know, very imaginative.
There once was a peasant who had a long-standing obsession with a queen’s breasts. This man knew the penalty to touch her would mean death, yet he revealed his secret desire to the king’s chief doctor. The doctor promised he could arrange for the man to satisfy his desire, but it would cost him one thousand gold coins. Though he didn’t have the money, the man readily agreed to the scheme.
The next day the physician made a batch of itching powder and poured some into the queen’s bodice while she bathed. After she dressed, she began itching and itching and itching. The physician was summoned to the Royal Chambers, and he informed the king and queen that only a special saliva, if applied for several hours, would cure this type of itch. And only one man in the whole of the Kingdom had the correct chemistry – a wizard, living in disguise as peasant.
The king summoned the “wizard”. Meanwhile, the physician slipped him the antidote for the itching powder, which the man put into his mouth, and for the next few hours, the peasant worked passionately on the queen’s breasts. The queen’s itching was eventually relieved, and the man left satisfied and touted as a hero.
When the physician demanded his payment, the now satisfied peasant refused. He knew that the physician could never report what really happened to the king. So the next day, the physician slipped a massive dose of the same itching powder into the king’s loincloth. And the king immediately summoned the wizard.
Since I moved to Hawaii, and packing space became a premium, ebooks have been slowly and surely seducing me. Of course, ebooks will never truly be able to replace the medium that was my first love. Reading off a giant honking, hot, overbright computer screen will make your eyes bleed if you try to snuggle up in bed with your “book.” If you do not have the luxury to buy one of those paper imitating fancy e-readers, then ebooks are decidedly bad for the eyes. Indeed, I think the only reason it is at all feasible is because I read fast. Really fast. Freaky fast. (Its only slighly depressing that even when “relaxing” I am still sitting at my computer, reading.) Nevertheless, it is convenient to always have a great selection at my fingertips, ebooks tend to be cheaper, and with the subsequent purchase of my ipod touch and the downloadation of Stanza (if you are at all interested in ebooks, you’ll wanna check this out) I no longer have to lug my computer around the house when reading a book.
So I’m pretty much sold. Ebooks are cheaper. Easier to acquire. Except, the most frustrating aspect of e-reading, is the lack of any damn software to help catalog, organize, edit, and sync your collection to your device.
Now stop right there.
You’re about to tell me about Calibre.
Well, buddy, I know about Calibre. I’ve tried it out. Twice. I HATE it.
I do understand that, as of right now, its the best software on the market. In fact, its pretty much the ONLY software on the market. But the UI is terribly clunky, editing and retrieving metadata from the web takes longer than it should, the “date” function only includes date added to the library (and why on earth would I care about that? Publication date is what truly matters) and the syncing with device button is just… I don’t have any words to express my frustration here. Not to mention, it doesn’t actually edit the metadata, just sorta appends its own database onto it. It also tends to devour my computer’s memory for inexplicable reasons. Why is it so difficult to find a program, like itunes, that can organize and ebook library??
And then I answer myself, because ebooks are too new. The Kindle is a scant two years old (if that), very few people have an e-reader, there a gajillion different formats all in competition with each other, and basically… I’m thinking the technology is just too new. There’s no standard equivalent of the mp3 for music. Even Stanza, blessed tool that it is, has some awfully odd kinks. It lists authors by alphabetical order of first name, for paboo’s sake. I can’t be angry at the good people who made Calibre; they are definitely trying where nobody else even realizes there’s a market. But the fact of the matter is, until the UI cleans itself up and the management gets streamlined, I just can’t deal. Its a personal choice. Plus, with the funky way ereaders react to displaying metadata, I want to find a way to edit the actual stuff, not just add Calibre preferences on top.
So in my explorations of ebook formats, metadata, readers, and syncing, I’ve come across a few options. I can start exploring MobileRead’s mobi2mobi projects, though that would involve making sure all of my ebooks have mobi format (which I don’t know enough about) plus its all done code style, which sounds like fun to learn… but then again, I am supposed to be spending hours on linguistic research, not on tidying up my ebook library. Also, I’m sure that doesn’t sound like a lot of fun to the majority of folks.
On the other hand, maybe I should just give up and use Calibre in the hopes that over time it will improve.
I found this in a linguistics article when researching non-literal language and its processing:
A bus stops and two Italian men get on. They sit down and engage
in an animated conversation. The lady sitting behind them ignores
them at first, but her attention is galvanized when she hears one of the men say the following:
‘‘Emma come first. Den I come. Den two asses come together. I come once-a-more. Two asses, they come together again. I come again and pee twice. Then I come one lasta time.’’
‘‘You foul-mouthed swine,’’ retorted the lady indignantly. ‘‘In this
country we don’t talk about our sex lives in public!’’
‘‘Hey, coola down lady,’’ said the man. ‘‘Who talkin’ abouta sexa?
I’m a justa tellin’ my frienda how to spella ‘Mississippi.’ ’’
Oh, you nasty linguists.
Ilona Andrews’ newest book, Magic Strikes, will be released on the 31st and I would be derelict in my self-assumed duty to educate the masses on awesomeness if I didn’t post about it. Because Ilona is probably my favorite new author of the year. Her first two books, Magic Bites and Magic Burns, have been out for sometime now, and despite the unfortunate titles, the series is the best new fiction you are likely to find for the next two years.
Yeah, the cover art is pretty deplorable. But if you wisely choose to ignore the cover and the title, and actually read the books… Let’s put it this way, I defy you to find another series that is as imaginative, witty, and badass.
The Magic series is categorized as urban fantasy, or romantic fantasy… whatever. Sure, there’s magic. And yes, there is flirtation. But it is not these things that leave you drooling for more: its the characters, and rightly so. The fact that its set in a post-apocalyptic Atlanta is pretty much incidental to Kate Daniels, the heroine, who is not only admirable for her moral code and her stress-managment skills, but also for her ability to laugh at herself, and make you laugh right along with her.
When I first picked up the series, I expected nothing more than a rehash of the bad-ass-chick-fights-evil-vampires-with-magic-and-knives trope that Anita Blake and Buffy spearheaded. I essentially expected the all too common fantasy chick lit stuff (girl is continuously seduced by hot vampire/werewolf, and though she wants to maintain her independence she eventually succombs to a couple of paragraphs of badly written sex that makes one wince, and then kills the bad guy by stragically stabbing him both with knives and sarcasm): a fun romp that would be entertaining, but ultimately easily digested and subsequently forgotten. What I got instead was intricate and complex characterization with (thank god!) original plots twists that take you to places you wouldn’t even expect to imagine, all in a fantasically rich world. That Kate Daniels also manages to kick evil ass with magic and knives is just the cherry on top, or rather its the cookie crumble part of oreo ice cream, because I hate cherries, and the way Kate manages to kick ass while still feeling like a real person (she WORKS for a living, dammit) is much more like a satisfying crunch than some gooshy fruit.
The only thing I didn’t like about these books was that they’re too short. Oh and that the main character’s name is Kate – its just disconcerting.
Anyway, read ‘em.
