Things About Logan (Part 5)

It's been a long time since I've done one of these posts.

Part 1 is here.  Part 2 is here.  Part 3 is here.  Part 3 (again) is here.  Part 4 is here.

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i.  I eat onions, though as a child I swore I never would.
iii.  There is a thing called Transcendental Folk music.  There is a band called Elephant Revival.  I now own their second album.
v.  I like my Kindle more than I ever imagined I would.
one.  The line is drawn, the curse it is cast...
vii.  Holding Avonlea and rocking her to sleep at night is one great joy that I cannot describe.
ix.  Imagine the grossest thing you've ever done/had done to you.  Now multiply that by around forty-six or so.  Now throw in a dog and, uhm, doggy byproduct.  Let's say that I win.
xi.  I abandoned Facebook.  My account's still open (for those that read Rememorandom there), but I'm not planning on coming back.
xiii.  My faith has been challenged more this year than any year ever before, like I'm being refined in a forge fire.  This is exciting, yet also un-fun.
two.  The slow one now will later be fast...
xv.  I'm pretty sure that there are no ugly characters in The Great Hunt.  Everybody is uncannily beautiful.
xvii.  A few weeks ago I took a razor blade to my head.  Since then, I've repeated this process weekly.  I love having a bald head.  (Keisha does not.)
xix.  I've got a stack of books to review from publishers/authors, and I don't have much time to devote to them at the moment.
three.  As the present now will later be past...
xxi.   Big meeting next week, kinda making me nervy, as they always do.
xxiii.  I'm still reading the Fables comics, and it's the only one I actually take time to go to the comic shop and purchase.
xxv.  Stella cut her cornea a while back, but it's mostly healed.
xxvii.  I make my own trail mix.  Holla.
four.  The order is rapidly fadin'...
xxix.  Currently reading The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, Bloodlines by John Piper, Don't Check Your Brains at the Door by Josh McDowell, the Book of Second Kings and Second Chronicles by God, and The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan.  I'm starting A Dance With Dragons tomorrow, methinks.
xxxi.  Sometimes I get emails from people asking me to review a book and I can tell that they've never spent any time on my blog.  The insincerity is easy to spot.  But sometimes I get respectful-and-sincere emails, where the sender at least pretends like they're trying.  I'm much more likely to say yes with the latter.
xxxiii.  That's a long Roman Numeral.
five.  And the first one now will later be last...
xxxv.  I love Monday Night Tennis league.
xxxvii.  I wish OBKY was a bike-friendly city.
xxxix.  Parentheses are definitely the best of the punctuation marks.
xli.  The word ampersand (&) originates from us having an open-ended alphabet, concluding with "...X, Y, Z and per se and."  This morphed to "...X, Y, and Z" somehow, and the & at the end dropped off.  Fascinating.
six.  Oh the times they are a-changin.
xliii.  I've memorized over fifty verses of Scripture so far for 2011, putting me at about the halfway mark.
xlv.  Skyrim is in the future, and so is the new Zelda game, but I shan't buy either, as gaming has practically ceased to exist.  I've still not beat New Vegas...
xlvii.  I make monstrous Excel sheets with lots of useful/useless information.
xlix.  Seems like a good stopping point.

Cool & Uncool Stuff

One amazing trailer below.  Possibly the coolest video game trailer I have ever seen.  Even if you don't play video games you should watch this.  Beautiful, tragic, awesome.  I've never seen nothing like it in this format before.  Original article here.

Two perspectives of the same game.  Same thing as above but told in reverse.  I think I prefer the first one, but dang, they're both powerful trailers.  I may have to check this out some time.

 

Three times have I submitted short stories now, and thrice have I been rejected.

Four big events on the horizon.  I'm going to see Pat Rothfuss in Lexington on March 11, which is quite exciting.  I'm going to be going to see the Decemberists in concert April 26 in Louisville.  Super excited about this.  I'm also going to see Joe Purdy again, in Nashville, June 8.  I'm going to see my daughter by June 30.  Ultimate excitement levels for this one.

Eleven is the Chapter Borders has filed.  This has long been my favorite book chain to visit.  Now it's closing a large chunk of its stores, one of them being the one nearest me.  What a pity.

Seven rings were there for the Dwarf lords in their halls of stone.  Apparently there was a Lord of the Rings re-telling from Mordor's perspective written in 1999 to somewhat high praise.  Originally published in Russian, it's just now making its way into English.  You can download the novel as a PDF for free from here, the apparent translator.  You can read the article here if you're curious.  I think I may give it a go, just not sure when I'll find time.

Eight tracks on the new Radiohead album, The King of Limbs.  Out of nowhere the band announces their new album is available for order (here) and as an immediate download today (a day earlier than previously mentioned), though the actual release date for physical material is still a few months away...  I've never been disappointed in a Radiohead album, so this'll likely grow to be fantastic.  I've only listened to it once through, but as a first impression, sounds like Radiohead.

Five endings for this post.  So long.  Adios.  Farewell.  Goodnight.  Later on.

End Note: In case anyone inferred from yesterday's post that I am an awesome, super Christian, let me assure you that I in no way meant to imply that.  Like Paul, I consider myself the worst of sinners and nowhere near the level I need to be.  SO, in short, that post was written as much for me as for anyone else.

Six-Shot: Some Insight & Miscellany

One.  Our birthdays were celebrated over the course of four days, beginning with Keisha's on Thursday and ending with my Birthday-Part2 on Sunday.  Saturday was spent across the river in a bigger city where we could dine on exotic Indian cuisine and lollygag around Babies-R-Us for a few hours.  We also stopped by the Guitar Center, Borders, and Sam's Club.  The night ended with a rematch game of Rook against the Winslows, wherein the Stewarts were utterly trounced.  Sunday brought the normal church activities, as well as an afternoon boring game of Bears v. Seahawks, Lego Star Wars, and an evening rematch of Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit (which I won).

Two.  Was it mere coincidence that my flash-fic piece, "Fate & 15th," ended on my birthday, January 15th?  Let us examine.  Coincidence: an event that might have been arranged although it was really accidental.  I can't say, though I would be inclined to say yes.  Some, however, would cry irony, and I would have to disagree with their incorrect word choice.  Further demonstration can come from an incident that happened last week, where my mind mistakenly chose irony when it clearly was coincidence.

Example:  I work a lot of crossword puzzles.  I was thinking one night (not sure why...) that I had not seen Nils Lofgren's name in one in a while, and his name appears quite often.  Nils, for those unfamiliar, is part of the E Street Band of Bruce Springsteen fame.  The next day, the crossword clue had ____ Lofgren.  This, dear friends, is coincidence, an expected outcome that I hadn't intended on happening happening.  Irony would have been ____ Springsteen. 

Three.  I enjoy dark songs, as I mentioned last January, so it seems a logical extension that I would enjoy dark fiction.  The stuff just seems so real and honest, usually offering more insight to the human psyche than a field of wildflowers beneath a rainbowed sky with unicorns chomping on some grass off to the side.  As such, my writing is often dark (evidenced with nearly every bit of flash fiction I've written, and many of my short-stories, too).  My most recent piece, "Fate & 15th," was designed to pursue a dark tone, create a story by using the same or similar opening lines for each vignette, and confuse the reader by making things unexplainable yet realistic.  In part in was inspired by Neil Gaiman's short story "Other People."  My love for Lost also seems to come in with these related arcs, too.  "Fate & 15th" began with only Part One, but when I was finished I wanted to know more.  The shadows needed more, and they seemed to permeate throughout all five parts.  Are the shadows inner demons?  Yes, but they're more than that, too.  I do write and read fantasy, and who's to say that this tale is in our familiar world setting?  (As Dave pointed out, an 8-chambered .44?)  Perhaps these dark beings are more than just inner demons, or perhaps they have much more power over their victims.  Who knows?  All I know is that it was fun and could provide fodder for something else down the road...

Four.  Generosity keeps begetting generosity.  I don't know if it's because I've been part-time laid off or if it's just Providence taking care of me, but things keep happening and I keep finding myself more and more impressed with people.  Even though my paycheck is now two weeks late and I should technically get paid again this week, I'm not worrying.  I know God provides.

Five.  Pat Rothfuss recently announced his book tour for his next installment in The Kingkiller Chronicles, and he's coming nearby again.  I've already made preparations to drive the 3+ hours to see him.  If he's coming close to you, consider visiting the man.  Here's his tour schedule.

Six.  Was my aforementioned example somewhat pretentious?  I hope not, for I meant not to be, only musing on my own enlightenment.  Oh, the new Decemberists album The King is Dead is currently available on Amazon as a $3.99 download.  I abandoned 2666.  Yeah.  That's number six...  Book review (likely) tomorrow.

My Reading List: 2010 Edition

RSS readers (and, inevitably, Facebook readers), this post has some java script that doesn't show up on my Google Reader feed, so you may want to click over to get the full effect.

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As with last year's post, I reflect the same sentiments that this idea is not original, but it is mine.

This year, I have kept a fancy spreadsheet with all sorts of bookish information on it and personal notes on the books read.  If you would like to see all the data, click here.  (Conveniently, this spreadsheet also includes a tab at the bottom for 2009's data.)  In total, I've read 71 books, compared to 2009's 55, an increase of 29%.  The collected results are below.

Data

Oldest Book: The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954
Audio Books*:  11
Library Books: 41
2010 Books: 17
Books Forsaken: 1 (Robert Jordan's The Great Hunt) 
From Publishers/Authors Received: 11
From Publishers/Authors Reviewed: 9
Most Popular Author: Robert Kirkman
Most Popular Publisher: Image Comics
Busiest Month: September (17 reads)
Total Page Numbers: ~18,152
Female/Male: 10/30

As you can see from the Genre Breakdown, almost half of my reading this year was spent with graphic novels or comics, at least from a quantitative point of view.  Page-wise, graphic novels only accounted for 5430 pages, a modest 30% (compared to the 46.5%).  This is strikingly similar to last year's chart, and, since I still don't consider "Graphic Novel" a genre, I have crafted a sub-genre breakdown of reads.


This chart is eliminating the "Graphic Novel" genre class and instead looking at a broader spectrum.  Several of these can (and do) overlap, so really this graph doesn't serve much of a purpose but to give you a different perspective.  Heck, the same thing applies to the main genre filter, too.

Favorites
It's hard to pick favorite reads.  There are so many things that go into the choice that this list could change at any given time.  Still, I have endeavored to create some sort of list here.  Each book is linked with a review/thought if applicable.  They're also in no order.  And I struggle to know whether or not to include re-reads, so I've tried not to but for one...

The Warded Man, by Peter Brett
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Hellboy Vol. 5: Conqueror Worm, by Mike Mignola
Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, by David Foster Wallace
The Passage, by Justin Cronin
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien (re-read)
The Ladies of Grace Adieu, by Susanna Clarke

The Warded Man is without a doubt the best fantasy novel I've read this year.  It was fresh, exciting, and the story was just flat out awesome.  The same can be said about Collins' Hunger Games series.  These books were brilliant, and I read all three this year.  A friend loaned me DFW's essay collection, and this was a fascinating book that I recommend everyone give a go.  The Passage was much hyped, highly acclaimed, and held up pretty good to the high expectations I sat for it.

As always, there were plenty of things I didn't get around to reading, and my TBR pile only increased.  One novel I hoped to knock off was One Hundred Years of Solitude, but I never even cracked the spine.  The same goes for any Dostoevsky.  I also only read one STAR WARS novel, sadly, but I hope to rectify that soon.

There were a few disappointments, too.  For one, Bill Willingham's excellent Fables series took a blow with The Great Fables Crossover arc, but fortunately recovered by issue #100.  Also Ted Dekker's Green was a huge letdown, cringe-worthy at times in its awfulness.  Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold was another tragedy, focusing too much on stalling the plot, lengthening the pages, and its lack of any likable characters.

In the end, 2010 was another great year spent with books and comics.  I accomplished a lot, and I've plenty left to get through.  March will bring Rothfuss' newest (and long-anticipated) Wise Man's Fear, which has been pre-ordered for a while now.  There's also supposed to be some kind of Brandon Sanderson Mistborn novella sometime next year, which should be pretty sweet.  And I won't be holding my breath, but GRRM could even pull something out from ASOIAF if we're really lucky.  Here's to hoping we are.

*Audio Books that were either partially listened to, combined with actual physical reading, or entirely listened to.

Friday Things

It's Friday.  That must mean that it's time for a list or something.

• If you've not ordered Pat Rothfuss' The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle, then you've still got two days left to get in the preorder and get free shipping.  The book will be shipping out soon, and I for one cannot wait.  Click here for more info, or here to order.
• The new preview trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows looks promising.  Should be another fun movie.
• I can't get "D'yer Mak'er" out of my head.  It's been a Zeppelin kind of week.
• I've only got the finale left of Avatar: the Last Airbender.  I'm sad to see it ending.
• Bachelor party tonight at my house for Spenser.  I think we're going disc golfing as soon as I get home from work, then we'll probably go out for steaks or something.  When that's finished we'll head back to Stewartland for poker or board games or PS3.  Then tomorrow morning Spense and I have a tennis match at 8:30.  Should be fun.
• I'll be picking Keisha up from the airport tomorrow afternoon sometime.  She's nervous about flying.  Since I haven't seen her in a week, I'm going to take her out on a date tomorrow.  We may even go watch Toy Story.  And I think I'll swing by Gamestop and put my pre-order down on Fallout.
• Thanks to James at Speculative Horizons for pointing out this great write-up for Neil Gaiman's The Sandman.  Just reading that makes me want to read the series again.  If only I had money to buy the beautiful Absolute editions.  And if you've ne'er read The Sandman, DO IT NOW.
• Driving out to My Old Kentucky Home on Sunday for an afternoon wedding.  Yes, it's Fathers Day and yes MOKH is three hours away, but still, a wedding is in order.  Plus, I don't really celebrate Fathers Day...
• Oh oh oh oh oh oh... you don't have to go oh oh oh oh oh...
• Hahahahahahahaha
Well, I guess that about does it.  Happy pleasant weekend, friends.  Steer clear of the alpaca cages.

Arbitrary Thoughts from a Magic Garden of Intrigue

One:  “Hath not a Jew eyes?  Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal’d by the same means, warm’d and cool’d by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is?  If you prick us, do we not bleed?  If you tickle us, do we not laugh?  If you poison us, do we not die?  And if you wrong us, do we not revenge?”—The Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 1, by William Shakespeare

II.  Is not that quote amazing?  It speaks on so many things, hitting prejudice and racism square on the head.  The words Jew and Christian can be switched for any demographic group and still make just as much sense.  Are not we all humans? 

Tres.  I absolutely hate it when a survey or statistic reports on things that deal with skin color.  I heard on NPR the other day a story about how the economic downturn is particularly hard on “white” Americans and that it’s resembling a similar crisis that happened to “black” Americans many years ago.  I couldn’t finish listening to the story.  Why, I wonder.  Is it not obvious that the only way for racism to stop is to STOP HAVING THESE TYPES OF STATISTICS, categorized by freaking skin color.  Whenever I’m given the option, I always check “prefer not to respond.”  As long as we describe people by their skin color we’re going to have a race problem.  But maybe I’m over-reacting.  I need to look at it from a different point of view, but I just can’t wrap my head around it.  On one hand, using a skin color as a descriptor should be the same as using a hair color or eye color; but, on the other hand, after years and years of prejudice, it’s not. 

FORE!  I still work crosswords all the time, generally one or two a day now.  My skills at solving have greatly improved over these past two years.  I see common words and themes and find myself finishing them quicker and quicker.  When clues or themes are clever and/or witty, I usually always have a blast working out the puzzle.  However, I’m still not very good at Sudoku.

Golden Rings.  Didja get it?  Huh?

6.  I was doing really good on that whole weight loss thing.  A steady decline in weight.  But then something went awry and things reversed.  And then I spent a week away from home in Illinois, all fast-food and unheathies.  So.  While I’m still lighter than when I started, I’m not as light as I was.

6+1.  Remember that one episode of ER when Lucy Knight got stabbed by that schizo guy that was the head elf in The Santa Clause on Valentines Day?  And then Dr. Carter walked in and picked up the V-Day card and got attacked as well, stabbed in the back.  And he fell down and landed beside the bed, where he saw Lucy bleeding to death on the other side of the bed and that loud music was rocking and they were a-bleedin’?  Man, that was such a great episode.  I watched plenty o’ ER growing up.  When Dr. Green died it was very sad.

1000.  That’s binary.  Really.  Cause 0*2^0+0*2^1+0*2^2+1*2^3 = 2^3 = 8.  I don’t really understand why some things are written in binary.  How exactly do a series of 1s and 0s transform into everything?  I’m not sure.

Blackbird claw, raven wing under the red sun. Long clothesline, two shirt sleeves waving as we go by.  Hundred years, hundred more, someday we may see a woman king, wristwatch time slowing as she goes to sleep…  I love listening to Iron & Wine.  Man, such great stuff.  Sam Beam is a fine wordsmith.

Things About Logan (Part 3)

Part 1 is here.  Part 2 is here.  Part 3 is below.  Part 4 is some place out there in the future.

826.  I sometimes wonder if The Return of the King wins out on my favorite movie.
827.  Keisha got me Heavy Rain for an anniversary gift!  Awesome.
828.  I got Keisha Anne of Green Gables trilogy on DVD.
829.  I’ve been running in the evenings.  I was getting ready to run and put on my socks upstairs.  I slipped and fell down the stairs, falling about 13 steps, pulling my arm out as I tried to catch myself, carpet burning my elbows, bruising my ankle and butt, and throwing my back way out of place.  So if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to fall down the stairs, let me tell you: It’s not fun.
830.  I’m a very clumsy person.  So is Keisha.  Our kids will be walking disasters…
831.  There are 831 different ways to pronounce my first name. 
832.  I’m sadly addicted to popping my bones, especially my hands and my neck and my back and my feet.
833.  If you work in an office building, like I do, then take my word that you DO NOT want to stand on that table nobody ever uses and hula dance while the rest of the office sings “Aloha ‘Oe.”  It’s embarrassing and demeaning to the rest of them.
834.  Playing guitar at church stresses me out a bit.
835.  Mama pajama rolled outta bed and she ran to the police station.  When the copper found out he began to shout and he started the investigation…
836.  I love chewy candies, like Chewy Sprees or something.
837.  I wish it really would rain Skittles one day, though I suspect it would probably cause more harm than good.
838.  This song, by Seth Jones, has a fantastic chorus line that says “Tennessee’s not landlocked anymore.”  Cracks me up.
839.  Does anybody watch Dancing with the Stars? 
840.  I loathe reality tv.  Yuck.
841.  I haven’t been camping in a really long time.
842.  Stewartland now owns two Blu-Rays: New Moon and Snow White.  My time is coming……
843.  There are a lot of blogs out there.  It’s intimidating.
844.  I’m constantly evaluating myself and my blog, wondering if I should change things up or keep them the same.
845.  I’ve got The Hunger Games and Catching Fire on audio to listen to for The Drive this weekend.
846.  I wonder how much x-rays would cost?
847.  Progress has b e e n  v e r y  s l o w  o n  F i n a l  F a n t a s y  X I I I.
848.  I won a contest for this awesome booksafe.  Check it out here.  And if you don’t read Only the Best Science Fiction & Fantasy blog, you should check it out.  It’s a great site.
849.  The chiropractor seemed to help the back pain, but then it went away.  Twenty-four years with a crappy back is not cool.
850.  I wrote a sweet sounding song the other day.  Now, I need to polish it up.
851.  Sometimes, just thinking about eating something sour makes my mouth clench up in anticipation for the insane tastes.
852.  I am a registered Independent now.  Well, I have been for a year or so, but y’know, I don’t think of these things all the time.
853.  I liked Cloverfield, and I would happily watch a sequel.
854.  The International BBQ Festival begins this weekend.  We’re going Friday night.
855.  Still haven’t bought another car since the wreck.  I’m thinking about buying my uncles del sol. 
856.  I use my Gmail shortcut keys frequently; I also Shift+& and play Old Snakey frequently.
857.  DO NOT LICK THE SCREEN!

There is no sanctuary.

A Few Things

Fellow blogger Dave had an intriguing, comment-filled post the other day.  In it he made a list of popular things that he’s never done.  As much as I like lists, and as intrigued as I was by the possibilities, I thought that I should follow suit.

Things I’ve Never Done

I’ve never been out of the country.  (This will be remedied 5/9/10.)
I’ve never watched an episode of Star Trek or American Idol.
I’ve never been to a high school or college sports event, but I did play on the high school tennis team.
I’ve never taken drugs.
I’ve never cut off one of my hands and replaced it with a hook or chainsaw.
I’ve never had surgery or broken any bones.
I’ve never been on Twitter.
I’ve never met a celebrity.
I’ve never played a MMORPG.
I’ve never played Rock Band.

I could fill this up with so many things that I’ve never done, but that should be enough.  Enough with the negativity.  And the flip side of this list is a more positive one.

Things I Have Done

I’ve watched every episode of LOST and Heroes, but I’m tired of the latter.
I’ve bought a house and now have a mortgage.
I’ve graduated from college with my Masters in Civil & Environmental Engineering.
I’ve been pulled over thrice: two warnings and one speeding ticket.
I’ve laughed in the face of danger in an elephant graveyard and then hyenas came out and scared me and then Mufasa rescued me.
I’ve written countless short stories with hopes and dreams and then grew tired and let them fall to the wayside.
I’ve watched Julie & Julia.
I’ve been in a head-on-collision.
I’ve read through the entire Bible.  (I think.) 
I’ve watched my brother accidentally light his blue jeans on fire and then run around in the yard while me and Tanner laughed at him.
I’ve baked a few made-from-scratch cheesecakes.
I volunteered as an environmental awareness person for the Counting Crows, Maroon 5, and Augustana.  I got free tickets and I got to get into the venue before sound check started, so that was pretty cool.

How about that, Dave?  A list of things I have done.  How… positive?  What other sort of options can follow up? 

Things I Want to Do

I want to play Dragon Age.
I want to go to the UK, Germany, Italy, and Greece.
I want to play tennis and disc golf more.
I want to master guitar, mandolin, piano, banjo, dulcimer, harmonica, violin, bagpipe, saxophone, and voice.
I want my city to secede from the world and be its own independent entity, with me as its ruling Grand Chancellor.
I want to get a new computer.
I want to draw more.
I want to take a nap.

It’s only logical that there be an immediate sequel.

Things I Don’t Want to Do

I don’t want to set the world on fire.
I don’t wanna be anything other than what I’ve been trying to be lately.
I don’t want robots to take over the world.
I don’t want my brother to go to Afghanistan.
I don’t want Jon & Kate to stay broken up.
I don’t want to wait for our lives to be over…
I don’t want to have another headache today.

Is that it?  No, of course not.  These lists are no way exhaustive.  In fact, I’d be willing to say that each list has the propensity to approach infinity as the number of elements contained within the set increases likewise.

More Things

Shellie, from Layers of Thought, is having a giveaway of a signed, 1st edition copy of The Gathering Storm.  The post with this information is available here.
Stella was sick all day yesterday and the night before.  The night before last I woke up from vomit in the bed.  Then she didn’t eat anything all day yesterday and looked pitiful.  Last night was even worse.  I’m running on only a few hours of sleep, but the puppy seems to be doing better.
We’ve officially booked our cruise for the Eastern Caribbean.  It’ll be our first real vacation in a long time.
I’m almost halfway through Firefly, and I’m loving it.
I thought this Very Demotivational Poster was pretty funny.

Anything else I wish to add?  A list of list of Favorite Coffee Moments?  No, I don’t think so.  What I do think is that I’m going to be sleepy today.  Tune in for Writing Wednesdays tomorrow.

My Reading List: 2009 Edition

It’s the time of the year where Top 10 lists and Favorite lists are popping up, and this is certainly true in the blogosphere. In many ways, this will look very similar to any other favorite list you may look at, but this is the only one that reflects my personal opinion.

I thought I read more books than I did during this past year. In total I’ve read 55 books, but there may be some that I have forgotten, as I didn’t start my list until halfway through the year. I did not include a few books in my stats (children’s books). If you’re interested in the complete breakdown of data and to see every book I’ve read this year, follow the link here. Otherwise, the data in this post may suffice for general perusal.

Data

Oldest Story: The Shadow Over Innsmouth, by H.P. Lovecraft, published in 1936
Number of Audio Books Read: 7
Number of Library Books Read: 33
Number of Read Books Published in 2009: 8
Number of Books Forsaken: 1 (Dan Simmons The Terror)
Number of Different Series: 15
Number of Different Series Finished: 6
Total Number of Books Provided by Publishers: 7
Most Popular Author: Brian Vaughan (Y: The Last Man series)
Most Popular Publisher Read: Vertigo

As you can tell, I’ve read quite a few graphic novels. I’m not really sure how to approach this method of storytelling. Graphic novels aren’t technically a genre, but a medium. So If I charted the technical genre breakdown it would look something like this. While I really enjoy graphic novels, are they on the same level as a traditional novel? Furthermore, how many reads do they count as, especially if they’re a collection of trade collections (I’m looking at you Absolute Sandman)? For me and for my data, I counted one book as having one cover and back, regardless of how many individual comics were inside.

Even this second graph isn’t without flaws. It’s too difficult to keep books restricted to one genre, as many of them cross several genres. Is Star Wars fantasy or sci-fi, or is it simply a genre by itself? Is an alternate history book with magic fantasy, historical fiction, or mystery? There are too many discrepancies with limiting myself to one genre, but I have tried to appropriate my reads the best way I could.

Favorites

Below are my favorite ten reads from the past year, with links to my reviews. They aren't really in order of my liking, as each one has its own merits and awesomeness. Some reviews are combined for the entire series (Mistborn, Sandman), while others are typical reviews. All are spoiler-free.

1. Mistborn: Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson
2. Absolute Sandman Volume 4, by Neil Gaiman
3. Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson
4. The First Law: Last Argument of Kings, by Joe Abercrombie
5. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
6. The Book Thief, by Mark Zusak
7. Mistborn: Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson
8. The First Law: Before They Are Hanged, by Joe Abercrombie
9. The First Law: The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie
10. Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson

Out of these books listed, only one of them was actually published in 2009. While I’m sure there were a lot of new and exciting books released this past year, I spent much of the year reading older books and finishing college. I did want to read Best Served Cold, by Joe Abercrombie, but I didn’t get around to it. I also intended to read Bill Willingham’s Peter & Max, as well as Fables Volume 12, neither of which made it onto my reading pile this year. And I have Ken Scholes Lamentation (thanks Krista) to read, but no time for it, either. I started Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker just a few days ago, but I won’t have it done before the end of the year. Once again, to see all the books I read this year, follow this link to the Google Document.

Overall I felt that this was a great reading year for me. I discovered both Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie, two bright and shining voices for the world of fantasy. Mistborn was hands-down the most exciting fantasy book series I read, and I’ve found myself recommending it to many different people. I literally tore through the concluding volume of the series. And Abercormbie’s First Law books were fast-paced and terribly fun. Two books outside the typical genre—Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and The Book Thief—even made it onto my top ten favorite reads, and both of them were superb. I’m still excited about Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and I hope to see more from Susanna Clarke on this story. The Book Thief was definitely the most emotional, heartfelt story I read, and I likely will revisit those pages, too, one day.

For 2010 I’m looking forward to another good year of reading. I fully intend on reading through the Wheel of Time novels, hopefully getting caught up before Sanderson & Jordan’s next installment comes out. I hope The Wise Man’s Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss, comes out next year, as well as George R. R. Martin’s antepenultimate ASOIAF novel, A Dance With Dragons. Who knows, maybe Sanderson will release his new work, too, and my brain will explode. I hope to read some more steampunk books, and maybe find another alternate history or two, as well. I also plan on reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and hopefully a few other “Classics,” like 100 Years of Solitude, Crime & Punishment, and Alice in Wonderland. And there’s still Jim Butcher to get into… Sigh. Too many books to read.

Writing Wednesdays tomorrow. Another sort of year end conclusion post coming Thursday. Remember to visit your public library and to frequent local used bookstores. Just give ‘em a wink and tell ‘em I sent ya.

The Things You Should Be Doing

It’s been a long time coming, so I guess I should just go ahead and get on with it. I’ve stockpiled a collection of recommendations, most of which are to be used with the interweb. Some of these I’ve probably mentioned before, but I don’t think that I’ve gone in to depth on any.

1. Google Reader. GR is a feed collector that is perfect for managing subscriptions to practically anything you can subscribe to online. Instead of using the Blogger tool for checking updated blogs, Reader will tell you exactly how many updates there are without you looking for them. Instead of going to check and see if XKCD has a new comic up, let Reader manage it for you. A beautiful thing about Reader is that it’s very easy to navigate and use and requires less time than other methods of searching and reading.

I can’t stress to you how much I love my Google Reader. (I pretty much love everything Google does. Chrome. Gmail. Reader. Picasa. The list goes on.) The biggest benefit is the time it saves and the simplicity of reading a feed. If you don’t use Reader and you spend a fair amount of time reading blogs, newspapers, comics, etc., you should consider checking this out. To use Reader, you only need a Google account.

2. Goodreads. I’ve had a Goodreads account for two years, but I didn’t start using it often until earlier this year. Goodreads is kind of like a social networking site for books and a way to manage your own library. Basically you catalog books as Read, To-Read, or Currently Reading. You can create custom shelves to further organize your books, too. Goodreads offers a ranking system for books that you’ve read, and also a place to put your review. You can read numerous reviews and opinions on all kinds of books, as well as get ideas for what to read next. You can find my Goodreads account here.

3. Swaptree. Swaptree is a pretty cool idea and has worked perfectly for me every time I’ve traded. Basically, it’s a website for trading books, dvds, cds, and video games. It reduces your environmental impact by “reusing” other goods that are no longer used. For me, I’ve traded DVDs and books that I no longer cared to own and received books, DVDs, and video games that I wanted. The system is designed to make trades fairly, so you’re not trading a $50 video game for a $2 book (unless you just want to do that). Swaptree is a free service, and the only thing you pay for is shipping your item out. I’ve not had any bad experiences with any of my trades, and I really like this site. You can check it out here. (You are required to register a home address and a credit card, but both are secure. The card is in case you choose to purchase shipping online and print your own shipping labels, which I don’t do.)

4. Fark. Other than NPR, Fark is usually where I find out my news. The site it simple. Users put up links to actual news articles, from reputable sources like CNN to the obscure newspapers in New Zealand. Each link is tagged with a label, such as HERO, WEIRD, STRANGE, ASININE, SPIFFY, etc. And then the users create a Fark Headline, which is the best part of the website. I have at times been rolling on the floor from laughing at a Farkers creativity. There’s no real way to explain it. The humor is there, and the fun-factor at reading the Fark Headline is a daily highlight I enjoy. Some of the content is NSFW, but it’s all tagged accordingly. I highly recommend this site, just to get a giggle.

5. Windows Live Writer. I know I’ve mentioned this one before, but I’ll do it again. I like the interface it offers for blogging and writing, especially when it comes to images. There are a few problems with it (the line spacing issue is annoying), but on the whole it’s a great program.

6. This. You really should watch this. It’s nothing but pure wonderful.

7. Google Wave. There's not much to write about it, but it's coming. And if it's as good as it's supposed to be, it'll be revolutionary and awesome. I have a few invites left if you want one.

Well, that’s really it for now. Sorry this is going out late (for anyone who’s been chomping at their fingernails waiting). I didn’t check my Reader yesterday and had 49 things to read this morning. Yikes.

We got a few flakes of snow yesterday, and it’s finally cold. Stay warm. Keep the homefires burning, folks, like Ronnie Milsap did. And Happy Weekend (whenever I leave work today).

Thanksgiving 2009

A few things that I'm not thankful for.

1.0 The fact that there are millions of starving and helpless people out there
1.1 The fact that I don't do much to offset that problem

There are so many things that I actually am thankful for that I could not begin to sum it up in a list. I have been so blessed and fortunate in my life and I thank the Lord God Almighty for His blessings. A few things that I am thankful for, in no order at all...

1.0 Salvation
2.0 Turkey, dressing, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn, peas, ham, orange juice cake, sweet tea, and coffee.
3.0 Music
4.0 STAR WARS
5.0 A church that I enjoy
6.0 A Sunday School class that we actually fit in with
7.0 Friends and family
8.0 Books
9.0 Doritos

So that's it. It's a holiday that we're spending today with Keisha's family. My family's gathering will be this Saturday. I have to work tomorrow. Core dump.

Be thankful for what you have, folks, whether it's a lot or a little. There's always people better off and worse off. That's it. Nothing more for today. Farewell.

Shadows, Erosion Control, Birthdays, Nashville, and a Homeless Shelter

It’s been a rather busy week and the weekend promises to be stuffed absolutely full. So much to say so much to say so much to say so much to say. I like lists.

1. “Shadows” is a song written by David Crowder Band, from their newest cd. A friend of mine, Alex, came o’er the other night and we practiced music for a while, including this song. After he left I decided to record a cover just to put it out there. Alex plays bass, which you’ll notice is missing. Hopefully we’ll be able to add the bass-line in soon. Anyway, I recorded each instrument as one track then mixed them all together to get the end result. Enjoy. (And if you would like to hear a different song/sound all together I did, check out this one.)

So there are a few problems throughout the track, like the staggered timing of some of the instruments. But hey, I’ve only been learning the piano for a little while now. All in all, I liked the sound, but it by no means compares to the awesome original, which you can hear here if’n you’d like. (Actually, I recommend it. And if you’ve not got the band’s newest album, you should definitely consider it. Absolutely brilliant and amazing. Available as a cheap mp3 album here at Amazon.)

2. I spent all day yesterday in a training class. At the end of the day, there was an exam, which brought back memories of college… If I passed the exam (and I think I might have) then I will become a certified Kentucky Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control (KEPSC) inspector. This is a little scary, as I have little-to-no practical experience (and only a tad theoretical) in these fields. Regardless, it is something that I think I will enjoy if I get to do it, plus I’d be one of the very few certified erosion folken in my company. But for now, this takes the back burner.

3. Yesterday was my brother-in-law Clint’s birthday. He turned eight. Tonight we’re going to Chuck E. Cheese’s to celebrate. Should be a rocking crazy fun wild and imaginative time.

4. I believe I’ve mentioned it a few times here on Rememorandom, but I love Joe Purdy. The man knows how to write lyrics and create beautiful songs, from tragedy to joy, from happiness to anger. I’ve got two concert tickets for tomorrow night’s show in Nashville, and I’m taking my wonderful wife with me to go and finally see him. It’ll be my first Joe Purdy show and I am double-plus super excited. Keisha and I are going to spend the day in Opry Mills. We’ll get to see the Christmas lights and whatever else is up this time of year. Then, when the concert finally rolls around, she’ll get to hear me sing for 2 hours or so. Man o man am I ready.

5. I mentioned that Alex and I were playing some music at my house. We’ve been getting together once a week to practice on some songs. Typically, when our Sunday School class has a worship service at the homeless shelter (twice a month), Alex plays bass, I play guitar, and my Sunday School teacher plays guitar and leads the songs. This weekend, it’s just going to be me and Alex leading worship, so that should be…fun?

6. I was contacted yesterday by someone who wants to do a guest post on my blog. Since my blog is called Rememorandom, I had no problems with this. I don’t do as many random posts as I once did, but my subject matter is still random and whatever comes to mind. With that in mind, I thought it’d be perfect for the blog. Not sure when the post will come, but it will come. Hopefully. Until then, the guest blogger will remain anonymous, unless they decide to leave a comment here and reveal themselves, which would ruin the suspense but give me reason to keep this sentence going on much longer than it should, thus making it a run-on sentence, a common mistake in writing, which is the act of creating written works was invented by Barnabas K Polka-party in 2012.

That mostly sums everything up. Oh, we did get Stella’s hair cut this week. Here are two pictures for your puppy enjoyment.


If you look on the counter in that top picture, you can see the Sunday Crossword of the LA Times for this past week. And if you close your right eye and move your head a bit, you can block out my face and just see Stella on the bottom one! If you want to see more pictures than you can shake a stick at of Stella, from puppyhood to now, you can view my Picassa album here.

Closing A Few Things and Introducing Another

I mentioned on Friday that I had a lot of things going on over the weekend. I’m sure you’ve all probably been dying to know the outcome and success rate of my weekend. So, without further ado, first I present the results.

1a. I got me another Xbox 360, actually at a much better deal than the first one. Actually, Wal*Mart had a one-day special on Saturday where you could buy a 360 for $199, but get a $100 gift card, which really made it like buying the 360 for $99. So I waited in line, from midnight until 8:00AM, to get the ole 360. Plenty o’ fun I had, tearing a huge dent out of The Last Argument of Kings and working a 3AM crossword puzzle.

1b. Now that I have a 360, I finally got around to starting a game I’ve owned but been unable to play. I’m talking about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Made by the same folks that did Fallout 3, the game looks promising.

2. I went and watched a play called “Come Blow Your Horn.” I won’t review it, but it was incredibly enjoyable. The acting all around was fantastic, the theatre intimate, the set simple and perfect, and the lighting and sounds were excellent. In addition to this, the play itself was quite funny. There’s just something I love about watching live performances. All in all, a great and jolly time. There’s actually a 1963 film version of the play, starring Frank Sinatra, if’n your interested.

3. The Last Argument of Kings is blowing me away. I have around 200 pages or so left (I’ve read around 75%) and I can’t describe how awesome it’s been. To keep it simple (and to ease your curiosity, Dave), the last thing I read had to do with the House of the Maker. Wow. Holy wow awesome. I have my suspicions of how things are going to play out, but I’m expecting to be completely floored.

4. My NaNoWriMo word count is 10,572. By the end of the day it should be at 16,667, but I don’t see me making that mark. Hopefully I’ll have at least 13,000, but I make no promises.

And now for your educational purposes, and for an idea of what’s to come on tomorrow’s Writing Wednesday, I give you an offering from Wikipedia.

Epic: A long narrative poem in elevated stature presenting characters of high position in adventures forming an organic whole through their relation to a central heroic figure and through their development of episodes important to the history of a nation or race.

Epics have nine main characteristics:

1. Opens in media res.
2. The setting is vast, covering many nations, the world or the universe.
3. Begins with an invocation to a muse.
4. Starts with a statement of the theme.
5. The use of epithets.
6. Includes long lists.
7. Features long and formal speeches.
8. Shows divine intervention on human affairs.
9. "Star" heroes that embody the values of the civilization.

I started “The Absurdly Epic Tragedy of Oscambria” many weeks ago, and while I’m not yet finished with it, I have plenty to post for a while, too. I’ve been following and obeying these 9 rules, as well as a few other things. Tune in tomorrow to read the first installment. You know you want to.

The List of the Day

1.  I survived, which should be stated first.  In fact, the meeting was rather interesting, though it was filled with jargon and I had no idea what was being discussed from time to time.  Also, it would’ve been more interesting if I had been on this project from the get-go (1997) instead of jumping in when it’s almost finished.  Nevertheless, there’s a lot for me to do, though I’m not sure exactly how to go about doing it.

2.  The shooting at Ft. Hood fills me with sadness.  Why such senselessness?  How can someone get to the state of mind where they want to kill?  It pains me, but what can I do about it?  Pray, I guess.

3.  My XBox 360 was returned to the dealer, since it didn’t work, and instead of replacing it they decided to give me a refund.  I’m not sure if I like that, but now maybe I can get one even cheaper than the last one!

4.  I know where I want to go with my NaNoWriMo book.  I did my outline on the two hour return drive yesterday.  Now I hope I can pull it off.  I’m at a little over 7000 words, so I think I’m right on track.

4.673 David, I know you’re not a fan of CAPTCHA, so I thought I’d share this cartoon a friend of mine (Bill) sent me.

5.  I’m going to a play tonight.  It’s called “Come Blow Your Horn.”  One of my cousin’s is starring in it and one of my friends is a co-director.  I’m excited.  I may even review it!

6.  I’ve been doing quite a bit of trading on this website here, called SwapTree.  Basically, it’s a place where you list books/cds/dvds/video games that you want and then list books/cds/dvds/video games that you’re willing to part with.  The community is quite large and I’ve been satisfied with it so far.  Plus, it’s good for the environment, too, by reusing items instead of buying them new.  If this sounds interesting to you, check it out.  It’s pretty safe, too, I believe.

7,8,9,10.  Homeless shelter this weekend.  Third trip there.  The Last Argument of Kings is awesome so far.  I’ve drawn a few maps for my book, too.  Penn Station is good, but only if you’re not buying.

A New Phase of Life

Today starts a new phase in my life. My wife begins her final semester of actual classes at UofL, as next semester she'll be student-teaching and won't be in lecture. Unfortunately, Stewartland is located 120 miles from Louisville, and Keisha will be commuting a few days per week to class. This is a two hour drive and a time change, meaning that if she leaves at 10 am she'll arrive in Louisville around 1 pm or so. Yuck. Neither Keisha or myself are thrilled about this, but it's what we have and we're confident this semester'll go by quickly.

I pray that she'll be safe on the roads and while in Louisville. There are aspects of city life that I like, like the conveniently located stores/attractions, and the many things to do. But there is the darker side of the city, too, that exists, where laws are broken and danger resides. I'm not worried that anything will happen, but just for some security, I plan on buying some mace for Keisha to carry with her.

The question arises, then, what will I do with myself without my best friend around?

1. Final Fantasy XII. I've had this game for about a year or so, but I've not played it yet. It got great reviews, and looks promising. Plus, I haven't played a FF game in a while (granted I did play FF7 last year some, finally getting around to beating Emerald and Ruby and maxing out some materia), so I'm looking forward to this. (This FF7 file that I worked on ages back to when I was a junior or sophomore in high school. That's about 8 years or so. Such an old game, but still so awesome.)

2. Avatar: The Last Airbender. This has been recommended to me, and my pal let me borrow Season 1, so I'll watch it.

3. Finish the table project. A few months ago, before we owned Stewartland, we knew that we'd need a kitchen table to match our new kitchen. The table we had was given to us from my parents, and we really liked it, but it was a white ash color and had many scratches and nicks from the years of use. So, being fans of HGTV, and being strapped for cash, we decided to refinish the table. This involved stripping off the layers of polyurethane, sanding down the table, staining the table a new dark mahogany color, and reapplying polyurethane. On HGTV this project can be done within an hour. In real life, after a month of working on it, we refinished the table and two chairs, and most of the table leaf. Then we moved in to our house and haven't worked on it since. There are still 4 chairs to finish and the leaf, so I'll have my hands busy with this.

4. Learning to cook better. I know how to cook, and I enjoy it (when I have nothing else to do), so I'm looking forward to this one a bit. I particularly want to master cheese cakes and soups.

5. Adam Graham. One of my best friends from high school may be spending some time with me this fall, and I'm looking forward to that.

6. Finish unpacking, etc. Aye, our house still is home to many unpacked boxes and various other things that need to be sorted/trashed. Hopefully I'll get this taken care of soon.

7. Write. This one may be one I'll have to find time for, but I'll definitely find time. I'm going to stick with the current story I'm working on and try to actually come up with a finished product.

There are many things that I'll have to occupy my time with, and hopefully this will be a productive semester for me while I'm without Keisha. She'll be driving on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, racking up around 500 miles or so per week. I know she'll be exhausted when she gets home, and she'll have homework to do, so I'll try to do as much as I can to help her.

It promises to be an interesting, eventful semester, most likely full and busy. Wish us luck, or, if you feel inclined, pray that we'll make it through with few problems and that Keisha'll stay safe on the roads.

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Song Lyric: "I awake to find no peace of mind, I said how do you live as a fugitive?"--Coldplay, Spies