dewdrops

Oh yes, I'm still here.

2011-10-26T11:40:00.000-06:00

There is simply too much to say about the past few months, so I'm going to postpone it a little longer. Instead, I'd like to share this lovely little story:

I woke up at 4 am this morning and started to pack up my kitchen (we are moving this week). I heard little feet on the stairs and thought, "What on earth...?" It was Angela. But when I went to her, she was obviously deeply upset. I scooped her up and took her back to her bed and cuddled up beside her.

"Did you have a bad dream?"
"Yeah. I dreamt that I drowned in the duck pond."
"Oh, that's a very scary dream!"
* lots of snuggles *
"I dreamt that you drove into the duck pond and I drowned. And when I woke up I was holding my breath."
"Oh, honey..."
"Before that the dream was cool. Those black ducks were as big as I was, and they were running next to the car, trying to fly south for the winter."
"Well, Angela, did you know that the duck pond is actually very shallow? If you stood up to it, the water would probably only come up to here on you" * pointing to her abdomen *.
"I didn't know that!"
* silence while she took this in *
"Should we wake up Elizabeth?"
"No, honey, it's only 4 in the morning."
"Oh!"
"Are you ready to go back to sleep?"
"Yes!"
"What about your bad dream?"
"If I have another bad dream, then I'll just remember that the water isn't very deep, and then I'll roll my window down and pretend that the black ducks are my pets, and they'll fly in through the windows and over my head, like at the bird show!"

After that, she was downright anxious to sleep again, and shooed me away so she could get to it.

I love that girl. I have a lot to learn from her.

Elizabeth's summer...

2011-07-08T15:22:00.000-06:00

...has been spent largely like this:

Angela's haircut

2011-07-08T15:21:00.000-06:00

Some not-great pictures of her dramatic new haircut:

Karate!

2011-07-08T15:19:00.000-06:00

Angela's favorite thing:

Alton Days

2011-07-08T15:17:00.000-06:00

We visited Alton for the day.

We rode trains...

...picnicked with lots of watermelon (Holland calls it "lado-lemon")...

...and saw lots of family.

We can't wait to go back to Alton.

Caught up!

2011-07-04T09:15:00.004-06:00

Ahh! All caught up now, at least in pictures.

Enjoy!

A day on the farm

2011-07-04T09:15:00.003-06:00

A friend of one of my dear friends owns a farm, and we were invited to spend some time up there with her family, to milk cows, chase chickens, and breathe in the fresh country air.

Elizabeth milked a cow!

Angela was wary, and did it so quickly that all I managed to get was this blurry picture:

A tiny cow:

Befriending the animals:

Cows are very patient.

And, it turns out, so are chickens:

The kids got to ride around on this little car:

I didn't realize it at the time, but this picture records the beginning of the end:
Elizabeth fell for that dog, Lucky.

Gathering eggs:

I should've realized a little sooner that the Lucky bug had bitten:

Under the trampoline:

...and they're both hooked. They didn't want to leave Lucky.

When I finally, forcefully, dragged them away from the dog, they were utterly forlorn. Elizabeth found a popsicle stick and wrote "Lucky" all over it.

Luckily for me, she doesn't want just any dog--she wants Lucky. And that dog already has an owner.

Las Vegas trip

2011-07-04T09:15:00.002-06:00

A mere hour after school let out for the summer, the kids and I left to visit my mom and her dear friend Sharon in Las Vegas.

The kids enjoyed the biggest bubble bath in history (keep your eye on Eliz here):

We spent hours by the pool:

And when the kids weren't in the water, they were wishing that they were:

It was wonderfully relaxing. And it was great to spend a little time with Grandma!

End of the school year!

2011-07-04T09:15:00.001-06:00

Elizabeth's class party

2011-07-04T09:15:00.000-06:00

The end-of-year class party was a huge undertaking! But it was a blast!

I made a paper waterfall and had the kids use their feet to get marbles out of ice water. With their toes.

They also made grass skirts and cardboard swords.

Angela was out early, so she got to attend for part of it too:

You can't have a luau without limbo:

The newest member of our family

2011-07-04T09:14:00.006-06:00

Ohh yeah.

Red Cliffs dinner party

2011-07-04T09:14:00.005-06:00

We spent an evening in Red Cliffs, where we made a dutch oven dinner and ate outside with friends.

These friends:

The kids befriended the caterpillars:

They wouldn't move, unless the caterpillars did:

Post-trip milkshake

2011-07-04T09:14:00.004-06:00

Angela lost a tooth!

2011-07-04T09:14:00.003-06:00

And then she lost another one:

Box Death Wilderness, Escalante, Grand Staircase

2011-07-04T09:14:00.002-06:00

In early April we took a day trip to Escalante. Our plan was to pack our camping stove, leave early, and have breakfast and lunch along the way.

Our first stop:

Eliz made a rock trail:

We tried to hike to Calf Creek Falls.

Unfortunately it was already late in the day, and most of the hike is like this:

Sandy, uncovered, and very, very hot.

Beautiful, too:

But the kids wore down fast. We turned back and found a place to have lunch. The location was, even though it was hours away, surprisingly similar to the first area we stopped.

"Now take MY picture on that branch!"

"And by this tree!"

Sisters:

Elizabeth begged to take this rock home:

But we told her "No."

Then she asked to take this stick home:

"But Mom, it's the longest stick in the world!"

We settled for keeping the picture of it.

Our last stop was by the Escalante River

to dip our feet

The kids finally got to do what they wanted:

And we called it a day and went home.

Our one Easter picture

2011-07-04T09:14:00.001-06:00

Spring Break, Part 2: Moab

2011-07-04T09:14:00.000-06:00

I can't say enough how much we loved Moab.

We arrived late and tired and just had time for dinner. Here's Angela ready to sleep before her food arrived:

Sleepy Eliz drew on her placemat to keep her eyes open:

The next morning we went for an early-morning drive.

And we went to Arches National Park:

Sheep Rock!

We loved it here.

Did I mention our luck with family pictures?...

It was quite windy that day.

Elephant rocks

We took several little hikes.

Delicate Arch! (You might have to squint)

There it is!

Double Arch:

It's a bit intimidating, being underneath so many tons of rock.

We couldn't stop the kids from playing in the rocks. Good thing we didn't want to!

The "running signpost" effect:

There is no end of amazing scenery here.

We hiked into the Devils Garden.

Frequent stops to get rocks, sand, etc., out of our shoes.

I was stunned into awed silence by this place.

Landscape Arch, the longest natural arch in the world!

It's 290 feet long...since a large chunk of it collapsed a few years ago, the trail that leads up to it was closed, and this is as close as you can legally get to it now.

The kids finally got to do what they wanted:

We played on the way back:

We drove up to Dead Horse Point:

Pictures in no way do this place any justice. It was incredible.

My goofy kids:

We drove on into Canyonlands:

Loves:

This is one of my favorite pictures, ever:

I think the kids got tired of hearing "Stay back from the edge!"

Oh, we didn't have nearly enough time here. We loved it so much that it inspired us to make some changes to how we live and how we want to experience Moab when we go back.

More on that in a bit.

Spring Break! Colorado

2011-07-04T09:13:00.003-06:00

For Spring Break, we drove out to Colorado.

Hmmm...

Frozen waterfalls along the drive near Aspen:

I would never buy shrimp at a gas station. Never.

Pepsi Center! Fond memories of this place:

We went to the Denver Aquarium, where I took a bunch of low-lit, fuzzy pictures.

For some reason these two pictures make me laugh:

Elizabeth made a friend:

Maybe the fish like her because they can relate to her:

I don't know why, but there were tigers at this particular aquarium:

And monkeys:

Jellyfish:

The kids each managed to pet a stingray:

In Colorado Springs we visited the Garden of the Gods, a little taste of home:

It was cold...

But beautiful.

The kids and I went to Manitou Springs, where you can climb around in the cliff dwellings.

Unfortunately they won't let you climb down into the kiva.

But just about everywhere else is free for exploration.

Where Angela is sitting is a sleeping area that accommodates a family of 5.

There was a ladder to climb up and view the second level of part of the dwellings. From that angle I could only get pictures like these:

We took a little family hike to--I'm not kidding--Helen Hunt Falls.

Being in this environment fed my soul.

The lower falls:

It's hard to see in this picture, but the water was flowing smoothly underneath a thick frozen layer of ice/snow:

More falls:

Having Daddy's help makes the kids feel safe:

We've had worse family pictures:

Taken the moment Angela tripped, just as my heart ceased beating (she was fine--she didn't fall down!):

I love this picture:

Hoover Dam

2011-07-04T09:13:00.002-06:00

We took a family field trip to Hoover Dam.

Here's the bridge they recently constructed over the river:

It's beautiful! ...Except that when you drive across it, you can't see the dam. Or the river. Or anything except the road and the tall walls around you. It's a bit disappointing.

We took a tour of the underground tunnels:

We saw the massive rotors:

That's a car next to it:

Later in the tour they had a rotor model you could walk around in, and it looked like a Star Trek set:

I love the tilted electrical towers:

And these adorable little monkeys:

Hang in there...

2011-07-02T06:44:00.002-06:00

...This update is going to take a while.

But we'll get there.

Thanks for not giving up on me.

Elizabeth's art

2011-07-01T23:59:00.000-06:00

Elizabeth made this lovely piece of installation art:

And at the Street Art Festival she drew this adorable lamb:

Her sister did this, a mountain shadowed by a cloud:

The festival was very cool:

And Elizabeth obviously belonged there.

Elizabeth's birthday!

2011-07-01T23:57:00.000-06:00

After her baptism...

...Elizabeth had a birthday party at the park.

This is my favorite park. It must have been designed by the geekiest of playground engineers (and I say that very affectionately)...

A couple of hours playing at the park, cupcakes, and an early February day where you could run around in a t-shirt outside and be quite comfortable.

The first of many...

2011-07-01T23:55:00.001-06:00

We are going way back.

Well, not quite THAT far. But, did I ever show you our pumpkins??

I thought not.

Or tell you about that day in early January when it snowed and the kids build a ginormous snowman?

Elizabeth loves eating snow:

It's a skill she taught her sister...

...and her cousin.

Angela built her own little snowman:

A little help:

Finished!

This blog...

2011-06-27T08:39:00.000-06:00

...will be updated July 1st.

(Yes, that's 2011.)

I haven't given up...

White Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

We had a white Thanksgiving.

What do you do when it snows in southern Utah? You go to Zion, of course.

We saw lots of deer, but they're hard to spot in the high-contrast scenery. Everything is stark brown and white. I have pictures of the deer, but they don't look any different from the ones I posted here.

Angela bundled up:

Eliz bundled up:

Angel's Landing is up there somewhere:

Probably Elizabeth's favorite thing in the world, eating snow:

She brought along a giant snowball to snack on as we drove home. She finished it, too.

The peanut butter cup incident

2010-11-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

Halloween weekend and I took the kids to Target for a quick errand. This being Halloween, they each had a piece of candy they wanted to bring along. Sure, why not? So Eliz took a Jolly Rancher and Angela brought along a peanut butter cup.

As soon as I parked the car in the parking lot, I heard Angela's little voice: "Um...Mom? Will you have the rest?"

"Sure, honey. Hang on a second."

"Um...I need help."

I turned around, and this is what I saw:

She had not eaten a single bite of her full-size peanut butter cup, but had let the whole thing melt in her hands. Now that we were at the store, she didn't know what to do with it.

I couldn't stop laughing. I took these pictures first. Then I said, "Let's hurry to the bathroom first."

She said, "Um..."

Oh, right. She couldn't touch the door. I let her out and we hurried into the bathroom.

Once inside, I took the peanut butter part from her and starting wiping off her hands with paper towels. "It's not coming off," I said. "Here, wash your hands. With soap."

In the meantime, I realized that we were filling up the garbage can with brown-streaked paper towels, and getting some strange and uncomfortable looks from the people passing by us in the restroom. I covered up the chocolately paper towels lest others mistake them for something much more unpleasant.

I was still laughing.

A trip to the copy store...

2010-11-30T08:10:00.002-07:00

...turns into a chance to show love to your favorite baby cousin.

Bowling!

2010-11-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, we're going back that far.

So, we went bowling for Susie's birthday...

Angela would roll the ball as slowly as possible. Here she is, half a minute after releasing the ball:

...and a few minutes later...

We had a blast.

Angela throws the ball:

...and the waiting begins...

...and goes on...

After a while they just went to play with Holland, who was sleepy at the time.

At the pumpkin patch

2010-11-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

On the redneck trampoline:

Swings:

Beautiful girl

Lots of splits were done:

Corn slide:

Seesaw (I have a great video clip of this which I will try to post later):

The other swings:

Figuring out the corn maze:

I didn't notice what was going on in the background at the time:

Made it to the top!:

I wondered this too:

Halloween!

2010-11-30T08:01:00.000-07:00

Holland in her costume:

At school! I helped out with the party in Elizabeth's class, so most of my pictures are from there.

Angela parading through Eliz’s classroom:

Eliz’s class:

The parade begins:

More parade (that's a Corpse Bride in front of her):

Mrs Carlton’s husband dressed up as her mother:

Hedwig and her teacher:

Both girls:

Pictures are uploading right now!

2010-11-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

NaNoWriMo is over as of this morning! Goal reached!

And now I can finally focus on other things...like catching up with my poor neglected blog!

I'm getting all the pictures from the past 2 months ready to post.

I may even put up the Christmas tree today, just because I can!! I love NaNo, but really, it takes a whole lot of time to keep up with that insane word count. Most of my efforts for the past 30 days have gone into writing. But, no more! Get ready for a whole bunch of new posts about stuff that happened a long time ago!

Crazy hair day

2010-10-27T12:40:00.000-06:00

We had crazy hair day at school yesterday. I tried to streak the kids' hair, but when my first idea failed, I had to improvise.

Can you guess how I did it?

Angela’s crazy hair:

Eliz’s crazy hair:

Angela from the top:

Other side:

I used washable markers. Just plain markers. It worked really well and washed out completely that night.

Halloween costumes!

2010-10-27T12:37:00.000-06:00

A sneak peek at the kids' Halloween costumes:

Hermione!

Hedwig!

Both!

Eliz had taken off the outer robe and was approached by a young boy who said, "Let me guess...Napoleon Dynamite!"

I haven't stopped laughing yet.

Oh, and I should add that it's either Hedwig or Pigwidgeon masquerading as Hedwig, depending on the wearer's mood. The baby owl provides the owl sound effects.

Attempting to catch up!

2010-10-27T12:33:00.000-06:00

Wow, everything has been mad...

Here is my small attempt to make up for my absence for nearly *ahem* two months from this blog:

First, a little overnight trip to Las Vegas to pick up Rob from the airport last week:

Waiting for the elevator in the hotel:

Uncovering fossils at the Natural History Museum:

Oh so much more to come...

"Sea of Glass" Review

2010-08-20T08:21:00.000-06:00

Book 23 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

There is not a single person I know to whom I would recommend this book.

Not that it wasn't well written, even thought-provoking.

But it was so ugly.

Imagine all the things you really dislike about the world, all the awful things people can do to each other...Never mind, don't imagine it. No one wants to dwell on these things. That's kind of my point. This book illustrates many of those things in unwanted, unwelcome detail. Brutality to children. Assaults and abuse. It's worse than harrowing.

The book addresses the question of where violence originates, and how a man can become a killer, what sorts of experiences he must have to shape him into a particular person. There is also a great deal about whether or not trying to prevent a particular future shapes the present and points us towards what we were trying to avoid.

By the end, though (or, maybe more accurately, near the middle), I frankly didn't care. I had no sympathy for the main character, nor any desire to save the dystopian world he lives in. Let it burn. It's a terrible, wicked place.

Let it burn.

Angela's first day

2010-08-18T11:08:00.000-06:00

Angela started kindergarten today!

For whatever reason, they started a week later than everyone else. We were hurrying to get ready, so the first pictures I got of her on her big day...

...are of her rushing off to play at the playground.

The bell rang, and the kids lined up in front of their teacher:

Then they waved good-bye to their weeping moms and marched into class.

It turns out you don't just cry over your first child's first day.

So proud of you, Angela!

Warner Valley Dinosaur Tracks

2010-08-18T11:02:00.000-06:00

On Monday morning, we all woke up at 5:30 in the morning to drive out and see the dinosaur tracks in Warner Valley.

No people at all, several miles of dirt roads, and a short hike to the tracks.

They are in an uncovered creek bed. There isn't anything like seeing these tracks in their natural environment, knowing their owners had walked where we were standing.

Not a dinosaur:

This was the landscape around us:

Eliz and a footprint:

Angela and a footprint:

Note the size difference:

The sun was rising:

It was spectacular.

Once it had risen, the land around us looked different:

It was stunningly beautiful. Thanks, Robert, for getting us all out to see the best part of the day.

First day of school!

2010-08-18T10:55:00.000-06:00

They were, oh, a little excited. This was 45 minutes before we needed to leave:

Angela's new hair

2010-08-18T10:54:00.000-06:00

Solemn:

Big smile:

Side view:

Monsoon Season

2010-08-18T10:52:00.000-06:00

In the desert in August, we have short, warm, torrential rain storms.

The streets flood.

We're all thrilled that the sun is covered by clouds.

And the kids come out to play...

A big puddle formed in our driveway, and all the kids came out to splash in it. (The only rule was that your swimsuit had to be pink.)

They went swimming:

Within an hour it had all dried up completely.

"Anthem" Review

2010-07-29T15:17:00.001-06:00

Book 22 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

My first foray into Ayn Rand. I don't think it will be my last.

This book was so short that I have the feeling my post about it will be too. I loved the strong voice of the character, the (largely) believable world, and the yearning of the main character to find something else, something better, something unnamed.

Many of the successes were a little too easy. Very convenient to have such timely discoveries, and a giant, protective forest where no one dares to hunt down the fugitives. The concept of developing a sense of self out of a collective is very appealing, and that this book had ultimately a positive motivation, to illustrate the goodness in people, is so rare in this genre. There is no doubt that this is dystopian literature, but the ending was so happy (even if I question whether it was earned) that I kept doubting myself about including it on this list.

I'm not converted to Objectivism...but we'll see. There is so much more to read...

"Player Piano" Review

2010-07-29T15:04:00.001-06:00

Book 21 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

Of all the books I've read for this challenge, "Player Piano" took me the longest. Nearly 3 months.

I returned it to the library twice after several extensions, never finishing it, not until this morning.

The story did not even begin until around page 200 of the 295-page book. Everything before that was backstory, setting the stage.

It's a great stage, at least. The book is set in a future society which is divided into two groups: the professionals (engineers and managers), and the powerless lower classes. Machines have taken over the world, taking jobs with them and leaving all those people whose work and skills can now be performed perfectly by technology, in the streets.

Our hero is Dr. Paul Proteus, manager of the Ilium Works plant, whose conscience troubles him about how much his position has interrupted and unfairly taken privileges from the disadvantaged poor.

It's a dystopia from a white-collar perspective, and it's interesting for that.

However, this book was published in 1952. The technology is based on tapes (remember those?) and ginormous computing machines that take up lots and lots of space. It is quite outdated. I was jarred from the story every time someone untwisted a phone cord or filed a computer punch card.

The conclusion was such a departure from the rest of the story that I had a hard time believing it at first, but Vonnegut can write a freaking ending. I am deeply impressed by anyone who can end a story in the manner he did. Realistic, with just enough of both despair and hope to make it sting.

"I'll buy the peanuts and popcorn, we'll have us a ball..."

2010-07-26T10:05:00.000-06:00

On recommendation, I picked up this book at the library:

It is almost entirely unlike anything I usually read. It's non-fiction. It's a true crime sort of book, about the serial killer H. H. Holmes and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the architects who planned and built the amazing structures and sights at the fair.

It was fascinating! I had no idea about any part of the 1893 World's Fair, and this book provided a fantastic insight into how influential it was, how many things were started there that are still perpetuated.

I didn't care as much about the parallel plot regarding Holmes. The details were vague and the twists were not very surprising. Pretty much, if he met and married a young girl, which happened every 50 pages or so, things would take a predictably bad turn, fast.

I loved the history of the fair. The author made the setting very real, and all the events that occurred during and bookended this time period (from the Great Chicago Fire to the Titanic) no longer seem like disconnected fables.

Some things I learned:

Chicago has always been a corrupt, seedy, and dangerous place with terrible weather. In over 100 years, not much has changed.
Items introduced at or because of the World's Fair include the Ferris Wheel, Juicy Fruit, Shredded Wheat, hamburgers, zippers, organized labor and the 8-hour workday, belly dancing, that tune you sing with the words "There's a place in France..."

The architecture alone, the White City, is remarkable. The book I have has no pictures so I had to seek them out online, which I did after I finished reading the book. All the descriptions are so well articulated that the pictures were merely supplementary, almost thoroughly unsurprising, except for the fact that the scale of the buildings, statuary, the Ferris wheel, is unbelievable. It's hard to grasp. The monumental task these planners set out for themselves--and, even more incredibly, actually achieved--is beyond belief. What a sight it must have been.

Then I looked more closely at the book I had borrowed, my library's copy.

Do you see the text at the very top of the cover? It's hard to see.

The title page gives a better view:

Look up above the autograph (!) to the first line.

It's an advance reader's edition of the book. Somehow it ended up in my local library.

This is fascinating to me, too. I've never read an advance copy of any book, and I'm very curious to know if there are any major changes to the text. That also explains the absence of pictures and all the typographic and grammatical errors (in this one, there was a lot of shifting around between Holmes', Holmes's, and even Holme's).

Thoroughly enjoyed this one, save the clumsy Holmes denouement. It's all quite unsatisfying, and I don't need to look so closely at such horror.

Unapologetic hubris and ginormous buildings, on the other hand...

"The Resistance" Review

2010-07-22T07:30:00.003-06:00

Book 20 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

Of all the things that a book titled "The Resistance" could be -- anything from brave and bolstering to slippery, or tense, or risky -- the very last thing you want it to be is insipid.

I really liked its predecessor, The Declaration. I thought the setup and the characters were compelling, though the sudden shootout ending was a bit strange. It should have been a red flag.

The characters are largely the same, but the game has completely changed. Our favorite Surpluses, Peter and Anna, have escaped from captivity and are attempting to live a normal life in a society where no babies are born and everyone lives forever. Peter gets caught up in the inner workings of the society and starts to lose sight of what he stood for in the first book...

Maybe because I listened to the audiobook of the first (narrated by a woman with a lovely British accent) and read the second, but something crucial was missing from this sequel. The characters were too simple and too capricious. The enemies were artlessly superficial villains. They practically twisted their thin mustaches and cackled.

There was a big plot point, which I won't discuss in detail, which was supposed to be revealed in a shocking manner and carry the book to its startling conclusion, only...

Without saying exactly what it was, let me just say that its impact presupposes a certain moral viewpoint that, if absent in the reader, makes the entire ending a bit lackluster.

It occurs to me that I've been spoiled by The Hunger Games, which is certainly far more edgy. I'm not prepared to give up on Malley's world entirely, not yet, but I think her strengths were highlighted in the realm of Surpluses. My favorite part of "The Resistance" dealt with the experiences of another Surplus. It wasn't a large portion of the book, and it wasn't very well developed, though it was the best written part.

Oh, the writing. Was the first book this trite and clumsy? I don't remember that it was. The sequel certainly is. My inner voice screamed and revised throughout, changing sentences, cutting unnecessary bits, rephrasing the clunky dialog. It reads like a first draft that cries quietly in its crib for an attentive editor.

This was officially my last book for the Dystopian Challenge, but it isn't the last one I will read for it. I can't go out on this note.

Holland Days

2010-07-17T07:24:00.008-06:00

We got to spend time with Holland yesterday.

When she gets tired enough to take a nap at our house (which takes longer when monkeys are present), she doesn't nap alone.

It's a panoptic cousin event.

Yes, they were all really asleep. All wore yellow, to match the guest of honor.

(And yes, this was the only time I was able to use the camera. No flash.)

All three slept for approximately an hour and a half.

Emerald Pools

2010-07-17T07:09:00.003-06:00

A week ago we woke up at 5 am and went to Zion to hike Emerald Pools.

Why so early? The trick to Southern Utah in the summer is to not be outdoors past 9 am, unless you're in the water. It gets too hot too fast. For us, it worked out perfectly.

Angela, at the beginning of the hike

And Elizabeth

Angela, with the half-smile she learned from...

...Elizabeth

Deer! It was a stag, on the hillside near the trail.

Angela on the rocks

Close up of Angela

Monkey see, monkey do

Hiking on the trail

Lower Emerald Pools. It's summer, so the water level is quite low.

Under the overhang

Catching a drop

Not exactly a waterfall

Water on the rocks

We decided to hike on towards Middle Emerald Pools.

Waterfall

Stopping to play in the sand

Hiking through the rock canyon

Crossing the small stream of Middle Emerald Pools

Sign at the cliff’s edge

Tadpoles! Turns out they aren't as jittery as you'd think, but the kids managed to frighten most of them away eventually.

More wildlife

Crossing the other arm of the pool

Hiking out

“Angela!”
“What?”

The Virgin River

I know it’s not supposed to be funny…

The kids took a few pictures too

Just as we were leaving, it was 9 am and starting to get really, really hot. There was a long line of cars waiting to get in to the park. I hope they had a good time, but they probably mostly thought, "Why does anyone come here in the summer? It's hotter than blazes!"

I was sure the kids would complain and not want to hike the whole way, but they were great. We had a great time. How can you not love Zion?

"In the Country of Last Things" Review

2010-07-17T06:46:00.002-06:00

Book 19 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

Comparisons to "The Road" are inevitable, though I'm not entirely sure they're very illuminating.

"In the Country of Last Things" takes place in a post-apocalyptic city. There is a scant thread of government, but most people are without help or resources, food and supplies are scarce, and thievery and black markets prevail. It's a dangerous world, a lot like the one that the man and his boy set out to escape from in McCarthy's masterpiece.

But there are differences. The writing style here is a different kind of masterful. "Last Things" is written as a long journal entry or letter to an unnamed person, by the main character, Anna. She records how she maneuvered through the disasters, one horror after another.

It is bleak and dark. Almost too much for me.

At first, I couldn't read more than a few pages per day. I had to set it down, catch my breath and do something uplifting for a while, before I could go on.

That was true for the first 100 pages, which took me about a week to slog through. Since I love dark fiction, I think that's significant. The entire book is a slim 190 pages.

After the first hundred pages, I finished the rest in a single evening. It changed in character and I was hooked.

Initially, I wasn't certain how I felt about it, and I wondered why, since it bears so much similarity to "The Road," didn't I love it as much?

"The Road" was the only book I couldn't ever put down, even while driving (I tried to read while waiting at stoplights but they weren't long enough, and I eventually pulled over and finished the book on the side of the road). It was a good thing, ultimately: I couldn't have driven in the state that book left me in.

This one, though...I can't tell what the difference was. Maybe the first-person perspective put me too close to the brutality. Maybe there just wasn't as much hope.

From a dystopian perspective, this one definitely falls more towards the post-apoc genre, though the lawlessness and the new rules established in the wake of civilization's fall are a kind of government. It is full of panic and fear and unpredictability, which is a very different flavor of oppression.

Overall, I enjoyed it, it was very well-written (save for two or three scenes that felt tacked on and wholly unnecessary), and I would definitely recommend it to others who have a dystopian/post-apocalyptic bent. I doubt that anyone else would be able to endure it.

"Hunger" Review

2010-07-07T04:22:00.005-06:00

Book 18 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

I have serious conflicts about these books.

This is the second book in the "Gone" series. When I finished "Gone" a few months ago, I wasn't sure if I would continue reading the series, but the second one was on my list and available (which is becoming more and more of a determining factor for what I read, since the dystopian challenge is perilously close to ending), so I overlooked my qualms and checked it out.

Like the first, I hated the cover. Also like the first, I couldn't put it down once I got into it about 30 pages.

With all the simultaneous storylines and the exploration of themes that deeply interest me (in this one, how do people handle difficulty and struggle? (might be my favorite theme ever)), I was a bit of a sucker for this monstrosity. It weighs in at 590 pages. It took me a couple of days to finish it.

However, also like the first one, it pulled me in with its humanity, and then turned on me. The last 100 pages or so are utterly...bizarre. So I'm reading along about how these kids are coping with their challenges inside the impenetrable dome and starving because food is running out, and...suddenly there are aliens wanting nuclear technology.

Alright, not exactly. I'm not spoiling anything, I promise. It's like a dream that turns into a fever dream that doesn't make sense at all but you're already invested in it so you leave your stressful history class one day to follow your demon guide into the tornado made of tomato soup and acid while riding a snarky pegasus that talks. The plot twists are just...so...WEIRD. It's a broad jump to follow the events as they unravel.

I loved the very end, though. The last page left me smiling. It's a little bleak, but for me and my dark tastes, it's quite satisfying. Two enthusiastic thumbs up for the gall to leave me hanging on that note.

Overall, I liked it better than the first. The youthful tone of the writing was not nearly as obnoxious -- not sure if it was toned down or I was used to it. I loved the character development and the sense that no one was protected, either from physical harm or emotional strain. There was a lot of brutality, but something about it rang true. It isn't senseless, not entirely; meaning, it makes sense to me, not that all that happens is justified. The stakes are high and the kids are more and more desperate.

The pacing is intense. And I'm left with many more unanswered questions.

Four more books in the series, though?? I am not sure I can sustain that much suspension of disbelief. How much weirder can it get? Judging from the leap of weirdness from the first installment to the second, there are simply no limits.

My new favorite toy

2010-06-28T06:02:00.003-06:00

A limited-edition hexagonal Rubik's Cube with all the gorgeous Resistance artwork. I love this little thing. It was an indulgence, but I'm so glad I got it.

The monkeys like it, too. And they're excited to be in the targeted age group.

I have said repeatedly that the only thing that would make this better...

...is if it somehow involved word games. But I'll take it as is. It's adorable, and lovely. And I wanted all the artwork, so it's perfect!

(I am glad I took pictures, because I made the mistake of mixing it up. It is now hopelessly tangled. Oh, and I'm terrible at solving these things...)

Nap with Holland

2010-06-28T06:01:00.002-06:00

Holland came over and crashed at our place last week.

The kids cuddled up with her while she fell asleep...

...and Elizabeth fell asleep too.

Tea party breakfast

2010-06-28T05:59:00.001-06:00

The girls wanted to have a tea party. First thing in the morning.

So, we broke out the tea set with our eggs and Cheerios.

A very proper start to the day.

"Incarceron" Review

2010-06-28T04:58:00.004-06:00

Book 17 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

I loved this book.

Thoroughly imaginative, the mix of two very imperfect worlds that envy each other, the elements of magic and fantasy that pass by almost unnoticed because of how artfully they are worked into the book...

Incarceron is a vast prison, established some time prior to our entry into the story, and intended to be a paradise for its inhabitants. It is not so paradisaical anymore, but is a giant machinated savage environment. A group is attempting to escape the prison, an act which may be impossible.

In the meantime, the daughter of the Warden, in the other world, the outside, is trying to get in, for reasons that in anyone else's hands would risk being clumsy or melodramatic but I think works perfectly here. She is desperate, largely due to her situation at home, and to her, Incarceron represents a sort of escape. A gorgeously imagined world, entirely believable.

And the ending is fantastic. Don't worry, there's not a chance I'm giving anything away.

Many of the intricate mysteries are not cleared up in the riveting course of the book. I have no many unanswered questions. Thankfully there is a sequel due out next year, Sapphique -- by the end of Incarceron, the title of the sequel alone is positively thrilling.

"The Dead-Tossed Waves" Review

2010-06-28T04:50:00.004-06:00

Book 16 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

Carrie Ryan's books have fantastic titles. This is a companion book to "The Forest of Hands and Teeth," the zombie apocalypse book reviewed here.

"Waves" takes place in a different community in the zombified world, where the oppressive order of the other book doesn't exist. A different society has been established, and whether it's better or not is debatable. There is a lot of sighing and declarations about feelings. After a few pages it bothered me, and after hundreds of pages it grew tiresome.

One character has a crush on another and it leads the first to do amazingly stupid things. It is worse than that vampire book for teenage obsession and recklessness.

The writing is weaker and the story lacks the tension of its companion book. It provides an interesting perspective on the other story, but the other is superior to it.

Still, great title.

"The Knife of Never Letting Go" Review

2010-06-28T04:39:00.003-06:00

Book 15 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

A few pages into this book, I was ready to put it down. It is told from the perspective of a boy living in a society where everyone can hear one another's thoughts, and the style and slang were overwhelming. And a little obnoxious.

I am so glad I kept reading.

The title completely makes sense with the story. It hints at the kind of language used here. Once I adjusted to the narrator, I found him and his story entirely endearing. Two-dimensional characters became complex, and the truth about the world the boy, Todd, has been raised in, comes slowly to light, along with all the emotional turmoil he experiences because of the lies.

It seems to be getting more difficult to find truthful storytelling: characters are able to make difficult choices easily or pursue impossible ends with ease and with every random element working in their favor. This book is different. Nothing comes easily, and not everything is a success, not even close. The good parts are well earned, and the failures are both anticipated and surprising because they were not the easy way out. Most writers coddle their characters and plots too much. Not this one.

This is the first book of a series, and I am so glad for it.

"Child 44" Review

2010-06-28T04:23:00.004-06:00

Book 14 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

"Child 44" is a break from nearly everything else on my list. It is not a young adult book. It takes place in communist Russia under Stalin, not a fictional dystopia.

It is about a serial killer who, while being hunted by police, cannot be publicly acknowledged under the Stalinist belief that their society would never produce such a criminal. The only criminals are capitalists, foreigners, and their like, not someone who has all their needs met by the State.

The tension between the good policeman, Leo, and the government is terrific. The story is told from multiple points of view, maintaining the sense that everyone is expendable and no one is safe from the oppressive, destructive, powerful State.

It is brutal and sobering. The storytelling is masterful, the world where all are aware and yet no one is admitting how precarious their situation is, is brilliantly realized. In the end I found these elements more compelling than the main storyline, though the plot turns in ways I could never have predicted.

Is it strange that it is nearly uplifting by the end? Perhaps no more strange than that it's the first of a trilogy...Or that it's being made into a movie by Ridley Scott.

"The Forever Formula" Review

2010-06-28T04:02:00.004-06:00

Book 13 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

Robert and I read this out loud, on his recommendation. He had read it when he was younger. Since it fit so well with my dystopian challenge, I'm counting it as part of my list.

This book was a bright little drop of campy fantasy in my relentlessly dark journey through the dystopian genre. I laughed many times at the utter cheesiness and predictability.

This is a book that takes place in a future where all cities are in giant domes and everyone runs around in jumpsuits. One of the main characters is Captain Tuggey, which made me laugh almost every time it came up.

It was also oddly dated, for a futuristic novel. Written in the 1970s, it included quotes that reflected the era it was written in: "What is this, Romper Room?" asks one character, and several references to aspic.

Overall, I thought it was delightful fun. Not very much tension (the bad guys are after a formula embedded in this other guy's brain -- will they get it??), but I can't complain about the ending, which didn't entirely wrap everything up nicely and neatly.

Out of print, but available really cheap on Amazon and occasionally at your local DI.

Pine Valley picnic

2010-06-10T05:56:00.003-06:00

I got an assignment for yesterday: Take the kids on a picnic to one of my favorite places, and tour the 140-year-old chapel there that was built like an upside-down boat.

Um, ok. :)

I love Pine Valley.

It was 15 degrees cooler up there. 80 degrees and absolutely beautiful.

We set up our picnic

Eliz did not want to stop reading

Bananas were consumed

and a lovely Pink Lady apple (her favorite)

A large wasp chased us off from our table soon after, and so we packed up and walked around instead.

The water level was as high as I've ever seen it (there's usually quite a bit of space beneath that bridge)

Eliz found a fish (and yes, I was worried that she pointed at it with a library book--no harm came to it, though)

Angela on her favorite stump

Eliz on the stump

After the picnic, we visited the Pine Valley Chapel. We were the only ones on the tour, and it was fascinating. The man who built it only knew how to build boats, so he built it like a boat, upside down, with the curved bottom covered with a bit of triangular rooftop.

We got to go inside the very top and see the rafters, which was awesome...

...until a giant wasp landed on my hand. I shook it off and then it chased us. And so we left. Again.

l

Eliz wanted a picture by herself

and so Angela did too

Gifts masquerading as landscape

2010-06-10T05:48:00.006-06:00

We had a birthday party for Than on Monday evening.

My job was to wrap the presents, only the largest was a very odd shape. I considered many possibilities, none of which really would have worked.

Then inspiration struck.

The gift is the trunk. The arms are just decoration. (It's a rifle, if you can't tell.)

Then the accessories fell into place:

As I was making this one (below), I said, "This is a pretty sorry-looking lizard," and Elizabeth drew a smiley face on it so it wouldn't be sorry anymore.

The birthday boy says he didn't guess that they were presents. That was part of the goal. :)

I'm quite proud of how they turned out.

Picnic with friends

2010-06-10T05:44:00.003-06:00

Last week we had a lovely picnic with dear friends. The 100+ degree heat eventually drove us indoors, but it was great fun anyway.

Like true monkeys, the kids took to the trees.

This one's camouflaged:

Eliz and Anicka

Eliz in the tree

Eliz in another tree

Graduation programs

2010-05-30T18:55:00.003-06:00

Angela

Angela's wonderful preschool had a graduation program last week.

She wore her fish dress...

...and held up an orange.

With some fellow graduates outside. This wasn't the best picture of the grads, but it was the most random, which is why I picked it. I don't know who the kid behind the tree is.

Here they are singing the goodbye song. There were lots of other songs, but this one was the shortest by several minutes. And you get the idea.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth's class held a graduation program! Having volunteered in her classroom for the past year, I became really attached to these kids. I might miss them more than she does.

Hardly a picture taken of her during that day doesn't look something like this:

With Dad:

And Mom:

At the last day of school, the kids signed each other's arms, shirts, backpacks, and anything else that wasn't expressly forbidden by parents:

They signed in Sharpies. Those names are still quite visible.

I have so many videos from both events and not enough time or bandwidth to put them all here. But I will share the links to where they are hosted with those who are interested. It's mostly a bunch of little kids singing off-key at the very top of their lungs and while I think it's some of the cutest footage ever recorded, I might be a little biased.

Mom and Dad, I know I don't even have to ask you. I will send you the links as soon as they're ready. :)

That about sums it up...

2010-05-22T09:50:00.004-06:00

This morning:

Me, to the kids: "I'm going to go do my work now."

Angela: "While we ..."

*thinks*

"...eat and drink and go potty."

"Once school ends, I'm going to have so much free time..."

2010-05-20T06:21:00.005-06:00

Must I believe the lies??

School ended nearly two and a half weeks ago. It seems like I've barely had time to breathe.

And our summer starts in one week. One more week of elementary school! Cripes! I'm not ready for this.

Summer in the desert means either getting outside before 9 am (after which it's simply too hot), playing in the water (parks or pools), or staying indoors with the air conditioner running (and risking utter boredom). Successful summers mean schedules, structures, having things to do, and not wasting time.

Summer does not bring out my strengths.

Anyway, while I procrastinate planning for summer, here are some pictures!

I keep finding cryptic anonymous messages on my whiteboard:

And after we saw "How to Train Your Dragon," there was this:

I thought the red eye was appropriate there.

The kids took possession of the camera, and the results were...

Lots of pictures like this:

and this

and THESE

Mom caught in the act of indulging in some light reading:

Self-portrait of the camera thief:

Where's Angela?

Watching New Moon with Robert...

2010-05-07T12:00:00.008-06:00

...produces the very best commentary.

Some examples:

"Maybe if she undid one more button, she could run faster."

" 'You're my only reason for staying...undead...if that's what I am.' "

"He looks like a cross between David Sylvian and Mephisto!"

David Sylvian:

Mephisto:

And my favorite:

"Why'd they make him look like Harpo Marx?"

Why indeed?

*snort*

Haircuts!

2010-05-06T09:54:00.002-06:00

This is not a real update. Not yet. But I think I might get disowned if I don't post these.

Elizabeth's new haircut:

And Angela's too:

I found this picture on my camera. Elizabeth took it.

There are others she took, too, which I will post soon, when I officially update this blog.

Kite Festival > Coachella

2010-04-18T09:53:00.007-06:00

So I didn't make it to Coachella this year, but we did spend a good portion of our time (and money, patience, sunscreen, and other resources) at the Kite Festival, which was nearly as good.

Here's why it was awesome:

Tons of food! And since it was all overpriced fair food, we didn't feel the need to overindulge.

We even had vegan options this year (if by "vegan" you mean "kettle corn" and "cotton candy").

Music from the stage drifted over the crowd the entire time.

We even got a Michael Buble cover! Granted, it was from a youthful a capella sextet and not Muse, but it was still Buble.

No Vampire Weekend here, but I saw at least two young girls wearing t-shirts of that vampire movie. (And it WAS the weekend.)

Entry was free instead of $300.

The cost of water at the Kite Festival was half as much as it costs at Coachella!

Kites, instead of people, were flying high.

There were tons of jump houses. Tons!!

Really, we had a blast. I don't miss not going to Coachella at all.

"Oryx and Crake" Review

2010-04-16T10:30:00.002-06:00

Book 12 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

I think I hated this book.

It was a lot like a tightly-coiled flower bud that opens very, very slowly, one tiny petal at a time, and just when you think that you might have a better view of the flower, it's wilted and died and you wonder what it would have looked like in full bloom. You'll just never know.

The plot unfolded so slowly that only by the very end of the book did I understand what was happening and why. And by then I wasn't sure I cared very much.

Even finding out who Oryx and Crake are takes most of the book.

I remember seeing other people describe this book as one of the classics of dystopian literature. "No one writes dystopian like Margaret Atwood," they said.

Well, thank goodness for that. My eyes will heal from where I scratched at them in deep frustration and I can go on reading more books in this genre without fear of becoming as annoyed again.

Basically, we follow our main narrator, Snowman (aka "Jimmy" (yes, I'm serious)) as he wanders through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, never answering questions about what happened. Occasionally we get flashbacks to another time, presumably when Jimmy was younger, eating pizza and living in a house, but it's detached from the present; it's meaningless until the events add up to the grand picture, which, again, comes by the very end. It's like two different stories, neither of which are particularly meaningful, and the fine thread that binds them together and makes them interesting is a sort of punchline that you have to be very patient to discover.

I imagine that this book would be better upon rereading, because then the dual stories would actually mean something. Frankly, though, I'd rather scratch out my eyes than go through this again.

"The Dead and the Gone" Review

2010-04-15T10:05:00.003-06:00

Book 11 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

This is a companion book to Life as We Knew It, the post-apocalyptic natural-disaster book that I remember now as being ultimately disappointing in its over-protection of the characters. After all, if you have a world gone completely awry, there are a lot worse things that would realistically happen than the book dared to illustrate. It was too clean.

I understood that this book would be considerably darker, with more deaths and not quite as happy of an ending.

Sort of. It was certainly darker, but it was still far too optimistic.

Instead of taking place in a suburb, we witness the events from the same disaster as they unfold in New York City. Utter chaos, right? As in, those who survive have the most locks on their doors, the most ammunition, and the biggest stockpile of food, right? And everyone else is fair game for the scores of crazy and immoral people that would flourish in the mobocracy, right?

Ah, but we have schools providing lunches and transportation everywhere and weekly food distribution points. We have safe places to travel to, and extremely resourceful friends who are willing to help even though they gain absolutely nothing from their efforts. Too much protection.

What I imagine having happened is that the author began writing this series, it went well at first, and then she realized that if it played out in a realistic manner, it would have been a lot shorter. There's no way these kids could have survived for as long as they did in their circumstances. So she added safeguards and plenty of them.

What I like about dystopian fiction is the study of what people do in difficult circumstances. It's very simple. If you don't let your characters struggle, then there's not enough tension.

Also, the author seems to have a beef with religion. I don't mind a difference of opinion, but there are no normal religious people in her books. They're all over-the-top freaks about it, and it's wearying. All faith is both blind and unrewarded.

I am not certain I will continue with this series. If the author gains a little more courage and lets her characters actually face their obstacles, I will consider it.

April 10, 2010

2010-04-11T13:48:00.006-06:00

Las Vegas!!

I was so far away that my pictures are largely blurry. But I got a better sense of the stage setup and the entire show. And I still had a blast. Still too excited to sleep or think or do anything productive. Amazing evening.

Uprising:

Matt at the piano:

Singing into the megaphone, during Feeling Good (there's a setlist on his right):

"TRYYY to RIIIDE out the storm..." Utterly intense:

Plug In Baby

Eyeball balloons!

The encore, Exogenesis Part 1, which is so lovely that I'm thinking it needs its own concert:

More Exo 1:

Colored smoke for the finale:

Over, but not finished. I WILL see them again.

These are not mine but they're from the same show and I love them:

Directing the reflection off the amp:

Last note on the Glitterati, just before walking off the stage:

Yeahhh, it's going to be an expensive autumn.

April 5, 2010

2010-04-07T08:21:00.010-06:00

Phenomenal.

Front row, on the barrier, just to the left of the stage, nothing between me and Muse except a row of burly security guards and about 15 feet of empty space.

Pictures (the circles indicate approximately where I was standing):

Finale, with eyeball balloons filled with confetti (didn't manage to bump a balloon, but I got some of the confetti):
Being on the barrier was not bad at all. I can't imagine experiencing a show like this any other way. It was a concert in the truest sense of the term, a performance, and the music was fantastic. Every song was better live than its recorded version.

Oh, and there's this:

I am fairly certain that's me on the screen behind Matt. This is during Time is Running Out, which, against my expectations, was one of the very best parts of the evening. That song is incredible live. Unfortunately, the video clip this is taken from has terrible quality. If I find something better, I will definitely post it here.

Highlights from the show in this great montage (another one here, longer, and with a better view of the stage effects and the three pillars).

New Born (LOVE this song)

Plug in Baby (with eyeball balloons and a fascinating guitar solo (how does he do that??))

Watching these makes me feel two things: first, I want to do it again! It was so much fun. I'd love to see them as much as I possibly can.

The second thing is how intense it looks from a distance. It looks like you'd certainly get harmed being in that crowd. But no one pushed me or even stepped on my feet. It was crowded, but that simply made it easier when we all jumped in unison to the beat of the songs. The energy level was intense, but no one around me was interested in being a punk; we all seemed to be there for the same reason, to enjoy the music. We sang and danced and clapped and pumped our fists.

After the encore, after having a blast in the 110-degree heat of the E Center (that's how it felt during the last 2 songs, anyway), we walked outside to at least 3 inches of snow. It was falling in thick sheets. But we were glad to be able to cool off a bit.

It was exhilarating. Absolutely incredible. And I can't wait to do it again in Vegas this weekend.

Review and more pictures from the SL Tribune.

Dinosaur Museum

2010-04-06T17:28:00.002-06:00

~~Muscle~~ Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point, with our friends Rusty and Levi:

Cave:

Water table (the hardest part was getting them away from here):

I told them to roar like a dinosaur and this is what they did:

Digging in the sand:

Easter!

2010-04-04T08:26:00.001-06:00

Hunting for eggs:

Springtime in the desert

2010-04-03T12:19:00.001-06:00

Soon the water park will be our only refuge from the heat; until then, it's a nice distraction when it's over 70 degrees and absolutely beautiful out:

Fish dresses (you can't see here how scaly these things are):

Elizabeth came in from playing outside looking like THIS:

You can't really tell how smudged her face is, too. And her clothes are filthy. It was awesome.

Playing with Holland

2010-04-02T12:24:00.000-06:00

Angela and Holland:

MUSE (with infographic!)

2010-03-18T11:10:00.008-06:00

Bear with me -- I rarely post about Muse.

I love Muse. I also love that Muse can distract me from logarithms and other unpleasantness. In two weeks I will see them live for the first time, and I'm a little excited about it.

Here's an infographic I made in my spare time over the last few weeks, where each symbol represents one song in which the theme occurs. Click to enlarge it for the full effect.

(It was inspired by this.)

A Muse game that's been eating up too much of my time

And some of my favorite YouTube clips:

The Time is Running Out shuffle

Uprising - with the entire crowd singing along.

Blackout - with amazing balloon dancers.

Plug In Baby - one of their best songs, and incredible live.

Citizen Erased - Epic song, 9 minutes long, with a Take a Bow outro - not for the fainthearted.

OK, glurge over. I'll make up for it by posting some cute pictures of my kids.

"Blindness" Review

2010-03-16T18:37:00.008-06:00

Book 10 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

Another book made into a disappointing film -- and, like "Children of Men," also features Julianne Moore. I'm sure that's coincidental. The problem with both is the poor adaptation.

José Saramago won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998. This book, written in 1995, was translated from its original Portuguese, but I would not suppose, from how well the storytelling flowed and the gorgeous language used, that it lost anything through its translation.

Actually, I listened to the audiobook, and I am somewhat regretting it. The narrative performance was excellent, but then I read this on Wikipedia:

Like most works by Saramago, the novel contains many long, breathless sentences in which commas take the place of periods. The lack of quotation marks around dialogue means that the speakers' identities (or the fact that dialogue is occurring) may not be immediately apparent to the reader.

I missed it. The lack of punctuation, no quotation marks, something like Cormac McCarthy, I'm guessing, would add to the tone of the book. But in listening to it, there was no ambiguity about who was speaking or when. I missed out.

None of the characters are ever named. They are distinguished by short descriptions, such as "the doctor's wife" and "the girl with dark glasses." It took me about an hour to realize that this was the case, since all characters are so well distinguished that it wasn't apparent at first, and was not impersonal, that they all lacked names.

The dystopia occurs when the entire population becomes blind through a very contagious illness. At first the government tries to isolate the afflicted, but eventually none are spared and the government services break down completely. People must figure out new ways to survive, must procure food even though all are blind. Priorities shift and change. One person, who seems to be immune to the blindness, witnesses all the ugliness of the societal adjustments, the desperation and filth (since no one is running public services, toilets become hopelessly clogged, no one bathes or cleans anything, etc).

The Wikipedia article also mentions that the book received some condemnation for its negative portrayal of blind people. Hogwash. It's about humans, not about the blind. It shows very convincingly what happens if people are stripped of all etiquette (both the need and the ability to have any sense of decorum) and are reduced to scrounging for food to survive. There are deeply good and deeply bad aspects of people shown here.

"Blindness" gives no easy answers, doesn't pretend to be making a statement or preaching a point of view. Since I enjoyed "The Road" so much, I think it helped me appreciate this book a great deal as well. Society gone awry, excellent storytelling -- but in its utter bleakness, it's certainly not for everyone.

"The Children of Men" Review

2010-03-15T16:03:00.004-06:00

Book 9 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

suzerainty

pabulum

perfidy

Nunc Dimittis

These are some of the words I learned from reading "The Children of Men." The use of language alone made this a worthwhile read; PD James writes with such a lovely talent that the book was a rare pleasure to read through.

More than vocabulary, though, the climax of the book was a reverently handled birth. It's as if the book was written just for me, with my interests in mind.

It serves as a counter reflection of "The Declaration," in which people opt out of procreation because they have found a way to stop the aging process. In "The Children of Men," people have lost the ability to procreate and are facing the extinction of the human species. It is told primarily from the perspective of a history professor, Theo Faron. He's reserved, intelligent, reflective, and he's definitely not Clive Owen.

It must be said. The movie version failed the book, miserably. The events and characters were changed inexplicably for the worse in the process of bringing this lovely piece of literature to the screen. Mr. Cuarón wanted to make a specific kind of film, I guess, and it wasn't really the same story that this book presented, so all kinds of liberties were taken, to its detriment. Sure, there are a few similarities, but not really very many. The book plays out much, much better, is more hopeful, and far less dramatic.

And the unfolding of the birth is so well written that it became firmly entrenched in my high estimation. Here's one of my favorite lines:

...it seemed to him that midwife and patient were one woman and that he, too, was part of the pain and the labouring, not really needed but graciously accepted, and yet excluded from the heart of the mystery.

Reading that makes me miss the book. It isn't even the best example of the language used, but it's plenty impressive.

The dystopia was entirely believable, too, with the resistance against it being also well portrayed. Nothing was beyond belief here. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it, and so far, without a doubt, this is my favorite book from this challenge.

"Never Let Me Go" Review

2010-03-12T19:12:00.004-07:00

Book 8 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

It's a definite departure from the other books I've been reading. The dystopia is present, but it's woven into the backdrop and is never directly confronted.

That does not detract from this beautiful story, though. The hints of what is wrong with the society blend in with the rest of the events, which take place largely at a boarding school in England. The majority of the book is the recollection of a "carer" (sort of like a nurse, but with a slightly darker role) and her time from early childhood to young adulthood.

The pain of adolescence and the forging and breaking of friendships, the realization of missed opportunities, is as fresh and stinging as an adhesive bandage ripped from unwilling skin. If you've ever felt awkward, uncertain, or lonely while growing up, this brings it all back. Starkly. But with enough distance that it isn't unbearable to read, just very, very recognizable.

I loved this book. It is beautifully written and haunting. And, of all the books I've read that are part of trilogies, this one isn't, and I wish it were.

"How I Live Now" Review

2010-03-02T09:32:00.007-07:00

Book 7 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

I eat books like this for breakfast.

It has so many elements I revel in, the darkness, the difficulty, and an author who (huzzah!) was not overly protective of her characters; they suffer all manner of hardships.

I thought it was a little morsel of delight. I blazed through it in a couple of well-spent hours.

Told entirely in the first-person by a young girl, it describes her living through war-torn Europe, what she needs to go through to survive, and what she loses. The narration is perfect, youthful without being annoying, nothing hamfisted about the meanings or messages, when they exist. And the characters were strong, occasionally mystical, and the knowledge that we were seeing it all through another person's eyes was ever-present without being overwrought.

It was a lovely, dark breath of fresh air. And, finally, an ending worth reading towards! I loved it.

I wondered about the dystopian nature of the book, but then I made a decision.

I'm working by the definition of 'dystopian' given by Wikipedia, which says: "Dystopia is defined as a society characterized by poverty, squalor, or oppression. Dystopias usually extrapolate elements of contemporary society and function as a warning against some modern trend, often the threat of oppressive regimes in one form or another. It often features different kinds of repressive social control systems, a lack or total absence of individual freedoms and expressions and a state of constant warfare or violence."

Alright then. It certainly qualifies.

This is Meg Rosoff's first novel, and it's very impressive. She has since written other books and, dystopian or not, I'm excited to read them as well.

The Dark is Rising...

2010-02-27T21:18:00.008-07:00

When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back;

Three from the circle, three from the track;

Wood, bronze, iron; water, fire, stone;

Five will return, and one go alone.

I am finally ready to talk about The Dark is Rising.

Book 1: Over Sea, Under Stone

The most youthful in character of all the books, this is something of a romp through Cornwall with three meddlesome, determined children. It's enjoyable, and the sense of place, the way Cornwall is written, I felt as if I knew it intimately. Seeing pictures, like this one, affirmed what I suspected: Susan Cooper can write locations tremendously well. It looks just as I imagined.

The three Drew children are all quite believable, and I absolutely loved the sweetness and introspectiveness of the youngest, Barney. Not all of the characters are quite fleshed out enough, and the mysterious Great-Uncle Merry held my suspicion throughout the book. I was sure I knew who and what he was, and I was wrong. So, good and evil blurred a bit. And the ending was too convenient, too neat.

Book 2: The Dark is Rising

There is a reason this book has won awards. Nearly a complete departure from the previous book, it is different in tone and writing style. It follows Will Stanton, a boy turning 11, as he discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones. He is to fight against the Dark, destined to find and bring together items of power to enable the Light to win the battle.

What I loved about it is terribly hard to put into words. There is a real sense of nobility and wisdom in Will and the others of the Light. It is difficult to explain, but it is one of the main reasons these books captivated me. Something about having to face and overcome great challenges, and finding in oneself the latent ability to do it. Will's departure from his family, from his childhood, is striking and sympathetic, and his growth into an Old One is astonishing.

Book 3: Greenwitch

The Drew children return, on a short vacation to Cornwall. They meet up with Will Stanton, and since this story is primarily told from the perspective of the Drews, their unfavorable impression of Will, as they were unaware of his being an Old One, was quite funny. Of all of the books, this one was the hardest for me to visualize.

The events, particularly surrounding the Greenwitch itself, were so abstract and mystical that I could not picture most of it. My memory of it is confused. But the end, with the three Old Ones memorizing a very important series of phrases, carried that unnameable quality I tried (unsuccessfully) to describe above.

Book 4: The Grey King

This was the beginning of the end for me. The point of no return. This book secured my attachment to the series.

Set in Wales, so vividly portrayed that when I saw this picture of Craig yr Aderyn (Bird Rock), it was quite familiar. It even has sheep grazing below. You can practically see Cafall running through the field.

But the landscape was only part of the charm.

Will is recovering from an illness, and he is sent to his uncle in Wales to recover. There, he meets

You can do this, Jenn.

Yes. I'll explain that later.

He meets Bran Davies, a very unusual boy. He is an albino with golden eyes, a lonely and vulnerable boy who has suffered great losses. Bran is among my favorite fictional characters, ever. I have never felt so endeared to a character.

Whereas the second book was largely fantasy, so much of what happens here is rooted in human experience, it hardly seems like fantasy at all. Much of the book is about loss, unraveling secrets, and the nature of the Dark, how it may work through people without their knowledge. The pain and the struggles are vividly, achingly portrayed.

The Dyfi Valley

I want badly to learn Welsh and to visit Wales. I found out that Robert does, too, because of this book. I read it and listened to the audiobook as well just to see how well the words were formed in my head. From Tywyn to Llyn Mwyngil, I was too far off the mark to confess. I don't know why the Welsh even use the same letters if they aren't going to pronounce them the same way. It sounds absolutely lovely, though it looks on paper nothing like the way it sounds.

This book is also deservedly medaled.

Book 5: Silver on the Tree

The last and the hardest to read. It is the most complex, following the Drew children, Bran, and the Old Ones as they prepare for the final confrontation with the Dark. Again, some parts are so abstract that they're hard to visualize. But at its core it is a deeply human and lovely book, and that is ultimately what made it hard to read.

That picture is the Bearded Lake, where one of my favorite parts is set. Susan, the middle Drew, finds herself completing an arc begun in Greenwitch, meeting a fierce challenge by the end of it. Each character is individually confronted by the Dark, and each discovers something of themselves through it.

I'm going to skip to the end, because I'm impatient. I won't give anything away, though. I believe it's crucial not to know exactly what will happen.

What is revealed throughout this book is the nature of the Dark and the Light, and how humans fit into all of it. And at the end Bran makes a devastating choice. Not devastating because it's negative -- here is where I will fail in trying to explain -- but because it is right, so correct and good that it is actually painful. Impossible to describe. All of it, all of what happens in all five of the books, each quest and magic object and mystical location, every revelation and loss and betrayal and success, all of it culminates in, and is surpassed by, that moment.

After I finished it, I felt rent apart. I carried it for several days, and I could not think about the ending, about Bran or the Light without feeling the pain of it. I definitely could not talk about it.

I often use the word 'edifying' to describe books that tell something of what it means to be human and end up favorable on the balance, that pass on a recognition of the beauty and worth of people. This book is something more than that, and I can't say what it is. It transcends 'edifying.'

If it seems like I'm speaking excessively, it's because I'm hoping that what I lack in eloquence will somehow find expression through tautology. (Some things are easier to describe than others, I guess. There's a word like 'tautology' but not one that explains what I felt at the end of a book.)

I cannot think of any other work of fiction that has had such an impact on me. To say that I loved it is probably redundant at this point.

Ond rwy'n ei wneud, yr wyf yn eu caru ddwfn.

"The Maze Runner" Review

2010-02-27T20:48:00.004-07:00

Book 6 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

A teenage boy wakes up in the middle of a giant maze. He has no memory of anything other than his name. The center of the maze is a walled respite called the Glade, and it is run by several other boys, none of whom can recall anything that happened before their own arrival. Some have lived there for as long as 2 years. Every night the walls to the Maze close, a defense against the scary half-machine, half-slug creatures that patrol the Maze at night.

It's a brilliant and creative setup.

The dystopian factor is that the enemy (apart from the slugs), being whoever created this environment and controls the Maze and sends supplies and one more kid every month into the Glade, is unknown. The rules are enigmatic. They're trying to escape, but they don't know what they're going to find at the end of the Maze if they ever manage to make their way out. What they know of their enemies is that they're sadistic, since only a pretty evil person or organization would subject kids to the horrors they live through in the Maze and the Glade.

Comparisons to the Hunger Games are inevitable. The Hunger Games with amnesia. And they're not supposed to kill one another, just survive from day to day.

I loved this book...until the last 10 pages. What is it with endings?? They must be quite difficult to write. It felt far too hasty and far too much happened to make it either believable or effective. Stuff happened, but it was rushed through. Nothing had enough time to sink in with any kind of impact, not like the first 360 pages, which were very well written. Environments and characters were beautifully and realistically described. The politics of the society the boys established were well depicted. If only all that had held true for the last few chapters, it would have been fantastic.

The first 36/37ths of the book were very compelling. Riveting, even. But there was a point where the action should have stopped and the falling action allowed to begin. Multiple crescendos followed by a sudden halt do not make a satisfying ending.

I have the feeling that if I do find a book with a decent ending, I will be shouting from the rooftops. Fingers crossed that it will happen.

The best library book ever

2010-02-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

Angela found this little gem at the library:

Look at the title!

"You've been warned, Clawman..."

"The Adoration of Jenna Fox" Review

2010-02-24T12:23:00.002-07:00

Book 5 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

The very most frustrating thing about writing book reviews is not being able to talk about the ending except in vague enough terms that I won't spoil it. It nearly always renders what I say meaningless.

Well, first let me say that I'm not sure that this book really belongs in the dystopian genre, either. There are hints that the government at large doesn't handle the new technologies in quite the right way, nothing more. The major conflict is within a family, a maladjusted, rather scary family.

A girl wakes up from a coma with no memory of who she is. She was involved in some kind of accident that no one will talk about. Her family is behaving strangely. And the things she does remember, don't match what she is being told by her very protective parents.

I thought I knew where this book was headed. Several times I could see it play out in my mind, the next several plot twists. Each time, I was wrong. The author is far more imaginative than I am.

So many questions are raised about identity, about what constitutes a person. I wished for a deeper exploration of these things than the book allows, but the way it addressed the questions was very endearing, even if it was incomplete. I felt a measure of sympathy for every character, even the scary ones, by the end.

Ah, the end. How much will I allow myself to say? The end felt like the author was tired of writing and cobbled together some kind of reasonable conclusion. It was a bit unsatisfactory. I wish she had spent more time and care; I wasn't really ready to leave the characters that soon and with so many of my own questions unanswered.

But I could have lived with it, except for the tiny epilogue at the end.

The ghosts of all my disappointment about the epilogue at the end of Deathly Hallows were resurrected by those two and a quarter pages. I cannot fathom the decision to include those paragraphs at the end of this book. I suppose the author was intending for some kind of closure, but it was the wrong kind entirely. It skipped over too much and still left me with all of my questions. The epilogue should not have been published.

Unsatisfying, ultimately, but not a waste of time. And now I HAVE to read more books, just to get my fill of true dystopia.

"Life As We Knew It" Review

2010-02-22T06:45:00.005-07:00

Book 4 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

If there is a better motivation for getting your food storage in order than this book, I don't know it.

Reading this book makes me grateful for the electricity that enables me to write this post. I am warm and have food in my cupboards and a way to communicate with the outside world.

Taking place in a world thrown into upheaval after a natural catastrophic event, it follows a teenage girl and her family and their struggles to survive. It's harrowing but compelling. If you had no electricity and no way to get food other than what you already had, how would you get through it?

The pacing was perfect. Beginning in a normal world full of schoolwork and petty high school problems, and then descending slowly into a pared-down closed-off survival world where priorities have been entirely changed, people are starving and dying, and yet the transition from the first to the final is as steady as if you were experiencing it yourself.

Given that the book is written as a series of journal entries, you are as close to the events and people as you can get without actually living through it. It is written in an entirely believable, realistic way. (Except perhaps for the ending, but that's not surprising coming from me, considering I loved "The Road.")

I'm excited to read the companion book, "The Dead and the Gone." But first I think I'm going to head upstairs and do some extra laundry...

* Also, I'm wondering how well this novel fits in with the dystopian genre. It's more atopian than dystopian, since there is no oppressive governing force, no government at all. But I'm likely to read more than the necessary 20 books for the challenge anyway, so I'm counting it regardless.

I love deviations of THIS kind...

2010-02-20T18:36:00.006-07:00

So, a post unrelated to books! I can't talk about books right now anyway.

From tonight:

Elizabeth, reading her fortune from a fortune cookie:

"'There are big changes ahead for you.' Aw, that's true all the time."

Conversation with Angela:

Me: "Thanks for helping me make dinner, honey."

Angela: "I'm made for helping! I'm like a maid, only I'm not old enough to be a maid yet."

And, while I was working on my Statistics homework, creating endless graphs and charts and finding all kinds of standard deviations, Elizabeth was quietly working on this:

It shows the order in which she ate some M&Ms, and...

...this shows the frequency of each color.

I had no idea what she was doing. It was completely independent on her part. (Note the legend!!)

I could tell you the standard deviation, but...I think I'll wait for Elizabeth to tell you herself. In a year, when she starts studying it.

"The Dark is Rising" Review (sort of)

2010-02-19T15:58:00.007-07:00

You'll have to forgive me for this post. I'm a bit of a wreck.

I just finished reading The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper. There are five books in the series.

I was nearly done, only eight pages left, when I absolutely could not postpone picking up my daughter at school any longer. So I fetched her and we headed for the library. I finished the last eight pages in the library. I passed by a shelf, saw the books there, and picked up the final installment, and read through the last few pages.

It was not the right place for it. I need more time and space to mourn the end of this series. I wonder what the people who walked by thought of the woman standing in the "C" section, crying over the end of a book.

I fell hard for it, from the beginning.

The first book, "Over Sea, Under Stone," was alright, really. It was a fun, rather light read. And then the second came along, "The Dark is Rising," so different, so much stronger and more fascinating, and I was enthralled. It might be my favorite, either that one or the fourth, "The Grey King." I loved spending time with these characters. I loved reading about the battle between the Dark and the Light, the mysterious wisdom of the Old Ones, the shifting through time and the gorgeous, ethereal landscapes, and the rampant Welsh.

I can't say enough good about it. I loved these books.

And I found this:

A gorgeous, hardbound, autographed set of the books, for $69. Then I looked closer and saw that that's five payments of $69.

Robert frequently asks me what I would do if we suddenly win millions of dollars, and I usually don't have much to say.

Well, now I have.

"Gone" Review

2010-02-17T14:02:00.004-07:00

Book 3 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

If it was a contest between cover art alone, this one would have won Worst Cover Design, hands down. When I was able to put it down, it was always with the cover obscured so I would not have to look at it.

Good and bad with this one. The ideas were very interesting. At the beginning of the book, all people age 15 and older disappear suddenly. Then the remaining children, all 14 and younger, discover that there's a barrier between their town and the rest of the world. And then very strange things start happening.

It's part "Lord of the Flies", part Heroes. Except that all of the main characters are 10-14 years old.

And they talk like they're 14. It gets a little annoying. I suppose it's true to the age, but it's clichéd and shallow. No one wants to remember being that age, do they? I certainly don't. To compound the horror of teenspeak, the story is set in a California beach town. Full of surfers. Gah.

I liked some of the themes explored here, the nature of good and evil, a bit of Cain and Abel, and the ways that lies and manipulation are well or poorly done. Integrity becomes an important part of the story by the end, and not all of the characters see the complete development of their arcs. At least one stands in need of some considerable redemption by the end, and he knows it, too.

The dystopian aspect was well explored. Plenty of room for things to go badly quickly in a world run by children. It becomes a different world, based on the one we know, and I thought the transition into the fantasy world was very well done. I kept thinking, though, would a 14-year-old really be this heroic? Do children have this degree of sophistication in them? I'm still unsure.

Being one of the very worst prognosticators in the world, I was a little dismayed that I correctly predicted several plot twists. It was alright, though. I was still curious about where the story was headed, what strange things were on the next page. And the author's creativity is boundless. By the end, though, so many things were unresolved, so many questions lingered.

I found out after I finished reading this monstrous book (just over 560 pages) that it's the first of six planned books. Six! The second is "Hunger" and the rest haven't been published yet. Right now, I'm undecided about continuing on in the series. I have the feeling that many of my questions won't be conveniently answered in Book 2.

"The Declaration" Review

2010-02-16T15:55:00.007-07:00

Book 2 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

I finished this book a few days ago and I have been letting it settle in my mind, hoping my thoughts and feelings would sort themselves out.

They haven't. I'm still emotionally entangled with "The Declaration."

It begins in a society where the technology to prevent aging has been discovered -- 'longevity drugs.' The people no longer suffer from illness or die from old age. They realize they must control their population size, since the births of children who also will not die will quickly overpopulate the world, depleting resources and making everyone miserable. And so all members of the society must sign a declaration that, so long as they take longevity drugs, they will not reproduce.

Some people still do, illegally. And if they're caught, their children (called 'surpluses') are put in an institution that trains them to be servants to the legal, legitimate members of society. Surpluses cannot take longevity drugs and are taught to take up as little room, resources, etc., in the society as possible, and to hate their parents for their selfishness.

It's a lovely setup, isn't it? Well, it gets better from there. Our main character is a surplus named Anna who finds out that her parents are searching for her and want her back. Only Anna is thoroughly convinced that, as a surplus, she must learn her place and disassociate herself from anything wrong or illegal, as a penance for her existence.

The book is oppressive and creepy. It's solid. It shifts in point of view, revealing character motivations and actions that add a perfect amount of tension to the story. The depiction of this kind of future is fascinating, and the economies and emotional effects are very believably handled.

Happily, there's a sequel, which already won my affection for being titled "The Resistance." I can hardly wait to sit in this world with these characters a little longer.

"The Forest of Hands and Teeth" Review

2010-02-13T12:46:00.005-07:00

Book 1 of 20 for the Dystopian Challenge

If zombies (the Unconsecrated, here) were rampant, separated from you and your isolated village by only a fence, what would life be like? Throw in a government mixed with religious fanaticism (a mysterious group called the Sisters) and a breach of the fence, and you have the basic plot of this book.

I am quite capable of suspending my disbelief. The terribly unlikely scenario did not bother me.

What bothered me were two elements of this YA book: the first was the writing, and the second was the ending.

Now, before I launch into the criticisms, let me say that there were things about it that I really enjoyed. The characters were generally well depicted. Some PG-13 parts were strikingly written (this is a PG blog, sorry; no further details). And the bleakness of the plot greatly appealed to me and my enjoyment of dark, dark stories. Be careful if you're easily disturbed, because there is rampant zombie violence.

The writing was uneven. Much of it was good, though in several places it slipped into melodrama or was clumsily executed. Dialog was often clunky.

And these thoughts kept recurring to me:

"Stop having the characters make declarations about their thoughts and feelings!"
"Show, don't tell!"
"Why does everyone sigh so much?"
"Show, don't tell!!!"

I wish I could go into detail about my complaints about the ending. My anti-spoiler resolve prevents me from saying too much about it, and it's frustrating. Let me just say that an author who sets up a situation should have the courage to see it through honestly. The story should play out logically, without convenient, magical shortcuts taken only because the author is feeling protective. You set up the stakes, and you should be true to those stakes.

I'll stop there. I'm tempted to say too much.

Also, it addresses the notion of selfishness, but unsatisfactorily. I don't think it was ever once used well, true to what I think is the definition of being selfish, and always as an accusation against the same character, who I don't believe acted selfishly. Those who used the word always did so unfairly. It happened often enough that it ended up being irritating.

Overall, though, I enjoyed it. It wasn't perfect, but it was a lot of fun. I even would recommend it to the right audience. It didn't give me nightmares, but it's been more than a day, and I'm still thinking about it.

As a part of the dystopian challenge, I think it qualifies, but only barely. The societal control was not the crucial part of the plot. I wish there was more exploration of, and defiance against, the governing bodies.

But in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, maybe there just wasn't enough room to address it...

My bookshelf

2010-02-12T10:50:00.002-07:00

I was looking at all of the books stacked on my nightstand. I put them in one large pile and snapped a picture.

I am in the midst of reading each of these, even if I am only a few pages in:

Eleven books. Two dystopian. Six non-fiction. Two fantasy. One, um, unclassifiable.

It's an odd and entirely lovable collection.

Update: Finished The Forest of Hands and Teeth today. Now only ten books left!

My book messenger

2010-02-10T09:15:00.002-07:00

I've been thoroughly enjoying The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. Some of the books have been less than simple to track down, and I did some fancy maneuvering to get a hold of the third book, Greenwitch. It took a little time.

It looked like I was facing the same problem with the fourth book. I was growing impatient.

Elizabeth was taking an armful of books back to her school library, and in passing, I said, "See if you can snag The Grey King by Susan Cooper."

Guess what she came home with?

What a dear! I honestly didn't expect her to remember...I only mentioned it briefly.

I've already started the book, and I love it. But I wish I was fluent in Welsh.

Dystopian Challenge

2010-02-08T07:15:00.030-07:00

Ohh, this challenge is a dream come true. A reason to gather in all of the post-apocalypse, chaos, and social disorder fiction I have been intending to read...

To participate, you must read 5, 10, or, for the total disaster junkie, 20 titles fitting this category before August 24th. This contest is in anticipation of the third Hunger Games book. Click on the image for more details.

My list:

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
In the Country of Last Things by Paul Aster (completed)
Sea of Glass by Barry B. Longyear (completed)
The Children of Men by P. D. James (completed)
Blindness by Jose Saramago (completed)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (completed)
The Maze Runner by James Dashner (completed)
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut (completed)
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (completed)
Gone by Michael Grant (completed)
Hunger by Michael Grant (completed)
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (completed)
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (completed)
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (completed)
The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer (completed)
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (completed)
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (completed)
The Declaration by Gemma Malley (completed)
~~Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick~~
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (completed)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (completed)
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (completed)
The Resistance by Gemma Malley (completed)
The Forever Formula by Frank Bonham (completed)
~~The Iron Heel by Jack London~~
Anthem by Ayn Rand (completed)

It is subject to change, based on availability of the titles. Also, several of these are parts of a series, and I may or may not read the next installment. The list may grow or change completely before I'm finished with it.

Any books I finish will be linked to their reviews through this list.

Bring it on!!

Pure Evil

2010-02-06T12:36:00.003-07:00

An ad that popped up on my sidebar in Facebook this morning:

They're trying so many angles with this one. I don't even know where to begin.

It's a scam, though, right? It has to be a scam. They've just become very, very clever.

Don't click, Jenn.

Walk away.

Birthday party!!

2010-02-02T08:22:00.002-07:00

A group of princesses:

Silly faces:

Dancing:

Pinata!

It finally broke, and the princesses swarmed:

Presents!

Cupcake:

More presents!

Uncertain about this Sacto Kings stuff:

Drumming on the basketball:

Happy Birthday, love!

Elizabeth

2010-02-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday, sweet Elizabeth!!

My new favorite book

2010-02-01T13:10:00.001-07:00

I found this little treasure in a used book store:

Do you see the title? Your eyes are not deceiving you:

Here is a sample page:

*sigh* Love at first sight...

Phenomenon

2010-01-14T14:27:00.002-07:00

We live in the desert.

It's dry here. We don't get fog.

But, I guess, if conditions are right, we might. And that makes it a photo-worthy day:

From the top of the Red Hill, the city emerged from the clouds:

This is my favorite:

But closer to home, we were back in it.

Musings on getting older

2009-12-28T18:33:00.002-07:00

(Relax -- this isn't a post about Muse.)

Things I hated as a child, but recently realized I now love:

1. Dark chocolate

2. Mustard

3. Going to bed

4. Wearing a coat and hat in cold weather

5. Having in-depth discussions.

I might be wrong, but are these pretty universal? Things that little kids generally don't like but adults are more likely to enjoy?

My review of The Princess and the Frog

2009-12-18T07:50:00.002-07:00

"We need a black princess. Oh, and she'd better be a feminist, a Strong Woman, 'cause otherwise we'll be dealing with all that Cinderella crap again. And, umm, we've got our two-dimensional villain, right? OK, great. Now. What do we know about New Orleans black culture? Let's see...jazz...voodoo...and gumbo. Oh, and swamps. Make sure we get those in."

How would I rate The Princess and the Frog, as a waste of my time? Four stars!!

Granted, I wasn't really looking to be impressed, just going because I needed to get out of the effing house and there was no other movie all four of us would have wanted to sit through. Also, my husband inexplicably didn't mind it, so mine is definitely not the only perspective here. Me, I should've gone to see whatever was playing next door. I really wanted to punch this movie in the face.

I have two main complaints about this movie. The first is how vapid it was, and how it seemed to be written and animated by a bunch of pasty middle-aged white men enclosed in a stuffy room eating Hot Pockets who had never before encountered any of the things they were including in the movie (including black people, I'd guess). Everything felt second-rate and stereotyped, from the animation to the characterization to the ill-written script.

Making voodoo the main evil force was a strange choice. Actually, there was good voodoo and bad voodoo, and they sometimes called it hoodoo, but whatever. Just call it what it is: magic. Or a MacGuffin, since its existence doesn't actually matter by the end of the film.

It felt clumsy and shallow. The humor was, um, appalling and loathsome, but maybe they were targeting just the four-year-olds (I'm thinking specifically of the groan-inducing line spoken by the firefly: "Don't make me shine my butt!").

There is little emotional involvement with what's happening on the screen, except for one part near the end that managed to be forced and mystical and cynical all at once so that I wanted to jump up and shout expletives at the screen, curse the writers and animators who finally revealed their utter lack of humanity by allowing that part of the movie to make the final cut. The very young kid behind me was crying and protesting. I was very mad about it.

The second main complaint was that it was also so dull that my attention kept drifting away. Robert kept asking me, "What are you looking at?" I have no idea, but it wasn't the screen. I did watch the entire film - sadly, no napping for me - but I kept wishing I was elsewhere. It couldn't keep my interest.

Add songs written by Randy Newman, of Star Wars fame, and you've got a pretty vacuous evening ahead of you.

In fairness, I did like about five minutes of the ending. It was incredibly predictable, but I enjoyed it anyway. It just wasn't worth the dullness of the preceding 90 minutes. Definitely not a big enough payoff.

Oh, and I guess Oprah was in it somewhere, but I have no idea where.

Getting Santa-mental

2009-12-17T10:06:00.003-07:00

I am in complete agreement with my friend Melissa. I can't stand Santa. Santa isn't welcome in our house. Our kids have always known where their gifts actually come from, and they are the ones telling other people's children that "There IS NO SANTA!" (In my defense, I try to temper that last part, out of consideration for the parents and their right to choose the moment of their children's realization of betrayal.)

In the spirit of that sentiment, I'm thoroughly enjoying the following:

Sketchy Santas

And, really, which Santas aren't sketchy??

On writing and not getting anything else done

2009-12-17T08:48:00.004-07:00

When I look back over the past 7 weeks, I recall a blur, a frenzy, an unrestrained festival of writing. I am not certain I've actually slept longer than 5 hours on any given night, as I have woken at 4:30 or earlier every single morning and sat down in this very chair to write and write and write until my responsibilities (namely children) call me reluctantly away from my keyboard.

Sadly, not a word of what I've written has made it to this blog.

However, over 60,000 words of it is part of a novel I'm writing. I started doing NaNoWriMo, a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. That ended on November 30th, and I reached my word count goal, but my novel didn't manage to wrap itself up during those crazy days.

I am, as suits my nature, obsessed with it. I think about hardly anything but my characters and how they are going to respond to/maneuver out of their situations. I come up with details that will never enter in to the story and write them in a notepad I carry around with me. I build and flesh out and sit back while they talk to or ignore one other and tramp around in the world I've made for them.

I have fallen for my characters, and often their experiences between 4:30 and 7 am affect my mood for most of the day. I was floating on a cloud when two of them unexpectedly found a little romance, and have been grouchy for a few days as they lost someone they cared about to a terrible injury.

To say "This is fun" is a wretched understatement. It is THRILLING.

Will anything actually come of all of this? I honestly don't know.

The NaNoWriMo process does not allow for extensive editing along the way, and so I'm just cruising ahead and writing my ideas down. My plans have changed several times, and now the beginning of the novel does not agree with what is currently happening. It's a mess. It's going to take a while to edit, even if only to make the plot make sense.

When it's done and polished, perhaps by this time next year, and if I feel it's worth sharing, I will seek publication. Right now, though, I'm still in the throes of giving birth to this adorable, time-gobbling creature.