Well, I always knew that Orson Scott Card practiced the same religion as me, but his Homcoming series really underscores that fact. ^^;;; I checked out the first volume, and was thumbing through the last couple of chapters while waiting for my computer to wake up, when a block of text drew my eye. Father who has visions, and a younger son who does as well? Father being commanded by a heavenly being (in this case, the Oversoul; in the religious one, God) to send his sons to collect a record from a wicked man who might kill them? The younger son having undying faith in this heavenly being and believing that if it commands them to do something, it will provide a way for them to accomplish it? Even Naphai's line about his faith is parallel to Nephi's. Heck, even their names look the same, though they're apparently pronounced slightly differently ( NAYH-fie and NEE-fie).

For those of your who don't practice the branch of Christianity as Card and I, all you really need to know is that Nephi was a prophet in some of our religious scriptures, and part of his story mirrors part of the first volume of Homecoming very closely.

It feels a bit like a cop-out, but then again, people stick Christ-figures into their stories all the time, with varying degrees of success. So, why not a Nephi figure? ^^;;; I'm wondering if the rest of this series mirrors the stories so closely. On the one hand, I find it amusing (kind of a shout-out, I guess), but on the other, it might turn out to be kind of boring if I already know what's going to happen. I suppose if the characterization is really good, I might still enjoy the series. Hopefully I'll feel for at least one character. 


All this talk about reading a book that you already know the basic storyline to reminds me of Wicked. I recently read it as well as its sequel, Son of a Witch. Honestly, I wasn't overly impressed. It was interested how Maguire gave Oz a political backdrop, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of characters, even Elphie. I didn't really like Liir's personality in the first novel, and at the end of the second, he's still an indecisive, sniveling kind of man. At least the first novel had a few characters that I felt had potential. But, just as I grew to like those characters, see their ability to grow into decent human beings, and wish for their success, Maguire would shift the point of view away from them, and when you next saw them, they would have regressed back to their old ways--in fact, they were always worse off than when they started! While I understand that this kind of thing happens all the time in real life, and that Maguire was probably going for a more gritty, realistic view of life, it still didn't make for a statisfying story. At the end of the first novel, I was expecting to feel for Elphie's death. Unfortunately, I really found that I could care less. I don't like feeling that way when the main character dies. My hopes that some things would be cleared up in the second novel were dashed as well. It leaves just as many questions and ugly feelings behind as the first one. All in all, an okay read, but I'm glad I got them from the library.

So, my right calf has been hurting for a while now. Yesterday, the pain spread up to the back of my thigh. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I'd done to it. Last night, I realized that every time I use my laptop at the kitchen table, I put my right foot up on the rungs of one of the chairs. I spent the rest of the night trying not to do so. ^^;;;

I also just tried to use a bot on mIRC. It was taking forever to start up, so I tried another one. After about ten or fifteen minutes, I realized that I had spelled both bots' names wrong. There's a "c" in Eclipse. ^^;;;


I think I need a nap. Anyone else?

Episode 27 of Touch made me cry, too, even though it was mostly flashbacks. 
 

 

In other news, I'm starting training for my crap job on Monday. Hopefully, it's just a temporary job, because even if I get 40 hours a week, I'll be making about half of what I did each year when attending college. That's counting my scholarships, but still. Blegh. I'm so glad I graduated during the worst economic crisis the US has seen since The Great Depression. Lovely.

I noticed a paper cut on my right index finger when I was taking out my contacts today. Probably because the cleaning solution was stinging like a *&%^%$. But . . . I don't remember getting it.

I think it might have come from handling my grandpa's flies. When he was alive, he tied his own flies for fishing. Some of them are really, really tiny! I mean, so tiny that I could barely see the hook, and I can only imagine how he managed to string them on the line when he used them. They're all pretty intricate, and it's really cool how they mimic the look of flies/dragonflies/worms. I think my favorites are the dragonfly-shaped and the fly-in-motion-shaped ones. Really, one of my earliest memories of my grandpa was going into that room when he was tying flies. I'd also go in there when he wasn't around. Let's face it, the main materials were feathers, and I was about eight years old or so. I thought that room was frickin' neat. Of course, the fact that my mom told me not to play in there (hooks and all) probably made me want to go in more . . .

It's really sad, actually. Going through their house, I mean. There are so many memories there, and we're having to clear them all out and divide them between things that we want and things that we'll sell and things that no one in their right mind would want. I have so many memories of that house and some of the nick-knacky stuff in it. It kind of makes me want to keep it all. At the same time . . . where would I put it? My grandma and I definitely do not have similar taste. ^^;;; So far, I've gotten a small jewelry box, a ring, and a watch. I think I'll ask for some of my grandpa's flies, too. I'd kind of like the cuckoo clock in their room, but oddly enough, that desire's more about memories of my other grandparents' house.  

Speaking of different tastes, does anyone know if porcelain salt and pepper shakers from Japan are worth much? I mean, the designs look fairly westernized, which probably means that they're at least 30-50 years old, if not older. My grandma apparently had a collection. Sad to break up, but no one really wants them all . . .


In happier news, I got my One Piece DVDs in the mail today. I am now officially supporting the series. $22 for 13 episodes isn't bad. It's just that . . . at around $2 an episode, I'm going to be spending about $738 for the series--and that's just for the 369 episodes that have been released so far. Supposedly, the series is now at its halfway point. At least, they're halfway across the Grand Line. So, maybe a cool $1500 total? 13 episodes every six months or so . . . I'm going to be dead before I own this series on DVD. I'll have to put a stipulation in my will that my children will not received one dime of my inheritance until they sign a contract stating that they will finish my One Piece DVD collection and lovingly care for it for the rest of their lives. In their old age, they can sell it as one of only 3 existing full English One Piece DVD collections.
 
Also got the next book in the series I'm reading. Book's called Traitor's Knot, by Janny Wurts. Really, really long, ongoing series, but it's refreshing to read a series with likable characters and engaging plots by an author who really knows her characters, her plots, and makes her readers think. That last part is the most important.  




P.S. I emailed a representative about LJ eating my entries, and they pointed out an FAQ about auto-save. While I did get it to work, I've found that it does not save every 30 seconds, takes forever to load drafts, and wonks out my computer. According to the FAQ, you just need to have java script enabled on your browser for the auto-save to work. Well, I've checked multiple instructions, and they all told me that I already had it enabled. So, I enabled everything under "scripts" in my security, and that seemed to work. The only trouble now is that sometimes, when I go to post, I can't type in the body part of the blog. I'll click there, and it will square out the body, my cursor won't appear, and I won't be able to type. So . . . I don't know if it's worth it or not. We'll have to see if I actually am able to use it later on.

This is great.

http://readatwork.com

Not sure if you need MS Office to access it or not, but I'd assume that you wouldn't.

I promise something more substantive later. I think.  

It's been pouring for a couple of hours now. I love summer time rains! Heck, I love any rainy weather. I bet that sounds insane to all of you guys living in colder climates, but hey, it probably doesn't get under 60 degrees even in the winter when it rains here. ^_^

I used to love to play in the rain as a child. Granted, we lived further south than we do now, but that actually made it colder. Central AZ is horrible when it comes to weather. Still, when it rained in the summer, the temperature was probably in the low 80s, maybe 70s. I remember the cool feel of the run off from the gutters, though. I used to play in the clayish dirt just down the hill a bit, then wash my feet off in the gutters. ^_^ We had a very small patch of non-rocky soil that felt good to the soles.  

Oh, and for all you people living near large trees, don't worry. Mesquites never naturally grow high enough to gunk up gutters. They were perfectly clean. We lived in a natural mesquite bosque. 

Anyway, we still have forecasts for 106 degrees tomorrow, though. Heck, it's probably still in the 90s now, despite the rain and the fact that it's midnight. 

Just feeling a little nostalgic tonight.