...except, I haven't really been here. I've gone on some mini-trips (awesome), and I've been job hunting (same old, same old). I probably won't be around much for a good, long while still - at least not until the new season of Chuck starts, which is really the only show I care about anymore. I'll still watch Heroes - sure. But I haven't been interested in the fandom for several months now. If you only friended me for updates about that, no hard feelings if you want to un-friend me (or is it de-friend? Oh well).

This weekend I finished reading Lonesome Dove and was utterly blown away by it. It truly was an epic book, and I never wanted it to end. ::sigh:: I picked up the sequel from the library today - I'm looking forward to another good read. I also finished a story called St. Agnes' Stand. It was also a western, and it was a good action-adventure story with two interesting characters (a loner and a nun - yes, really!). If you are ever inclined to read it, fair warning on some gory moments; I admit to being pretty squeamish, and I lost my appetite a few times while reading. Luckily, it only took me a day and a half to read (or not so luckily - I could stand to eat less!).

Tomorrow morning, around 1:30 AM Eastern time, there's a shuttle launch scheduled that I plan to try to stay up for. This mission is STS-128, and for those keeping track, it's the one that's going to carry the treadmill named after Stephen Colbert to the ISS.

Finally, good luck, Discovery crew!

Some years ago my brother bought a copy of Yann Martel's Life of Pi and gave it to me for my birthday. He said something along the lines that it looked like something I'd like, though he had never read it himself.

Well, back then, I started to read it. It accompanied me to my dentist appointments and made its way into my work bag, but as is so often the case with me, I only read it halfway before becoming distracted by something else. I have many half-read books on my bookshelf - not something that I'm proud of! - and, honestly, Life of Pi joined their ranks in forgotten-book-dom. Truly, I think that I was simply not in the right mind-set for reading it. Essentially, its main character was from a completely foreign culture and country about which I knew next to nothing, and my thoughts about religion were non-existent. Now I think it's sometimes best to hold off on getting into something until a natural curiosity takes over. I would have gained nothing from the book had I forced myself to finish it then.

Long story short, my natural interests seemed to be in correct allignment, so I picked it up again this week and devoured it. It's been a long time since I've read a fiction book so voraciously. I loved it, of course. While most people probably like it for its religiosity and symbolism, I just was completely drawn to the character of Pi. Ultimately, it doesn't matter to me whether his version of the story was true; his humanity and story-telling voice completely won me over. Too bad there aren't more stories told by his character out there; I was equally as impressed with his recounting of life in Pondicherry as I was with learning about his struggle for survival.

It's telling, in its own way, of how good a story is when one can become so enamoured with its fictional main character. I want to know so much more about what happened after, and resigning myself to not knowing is going to take - dare I say it? - something of a leap of faith. Or a very active imagination... : )

I went two weeks without having to teach my hated enemies second grade students, but alas, tomorrow is another day. I blame my sudden M&Ms binge on their impending arrival. Seriously, I think I've eaten my weight in candy-coated chocolate today.

___

I was going through this year's collection of wall-calendars-sent-free-in-the-mail, and judging them worthy based on whether or not they had pictures of apes. I can't stand them; gorillas and chimpanzees freak me out. I don't wish them any harm or anything crazy like that, but I certainly don't want to see their pictures on my wall for a month.

Strangely, orangutans don't bother me near as much, and I'm not sure why.

___

I'm afraid that I've read all of the decent G/B fic that's posted on the web, and I'm going through withdrawal. I forgot until recently just how ridiculous it is getting into a fandom that is essentially just limping along on the memories of yester-year. Note to self: in the future, stay away from fandoms that have not had new canon material in five-plus years.

However, if there is still professional fiction being written for DS9, there's still some canon in the making, right? In fact, just a week or two ago, I read the Star Trek SCE (Starfleet Corps of Engineers) eBook #55 Wounds Book 1 and # 56 Wounds Book 2 (though I bought mine through Sony's eBook store since that's the hand-held I have), and I really enjoyed it (them, though really it's all one book just broken into two parts that you have to buy) because it was chock-full of Dr. Bashir torture. I just wish that there was more fall-out to the story (the next DS9 book in the series, Warpath, doesn't make mention of the events of Wounds, though if I remember correctly, they were published the same year, so there you go). I'd love to see some Bashir fic written about the DS9 Relaunch books; there's still a lot of potential left for the character in the canon universe.

On the other hand, I'd settle for some new Bashir-fic, period. Beggars can't be choosers, and all of that.

Eritrea Bans Female Circumcision.

If you ever want to read an extraordinarily moving book, read Desert Flower by Waris Dirie. To hear from a real person what she went through as a member of her culture is horrifying, yet it's so necessary for us to become aware of these issues.

November 2012

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