And here’s a word that I dislike.
proselytize verb
1. To induce someone to convert to one’s own religious faith. 2. To induce someone to join one’s own political party or to espouse one’s doctrine.
What is most irksome, is when people who do proselytize, don’t see that as what they’re doing.
And if I haven’t mentioned it, I love my American Heritage Word-a-Day dictionary. Too bad I don’t care for their on-line dictionary.
Okay, I applied Michael’s php file to the front page, so now you can view a variety of flower pr0n.
At least until I change the front page again.
There’s nothing like letting the big boss know what a tremendous geek you are.
The big boss came down with some questions about screen captures, and it was easier to just have her log into her e-mail from my computer, because my computer has screen capture software and photo-editing software that I’m comfortable using.
We get the screen captures and she e-mails them to herself, at which point we hear Michael Dorn’s voice say, “Captain! Incoming message!”
I would really have thought that my e-mail alert would have not worked for her account.
Dreams Underfoot (1993) Charles de Lint
I believe that Dreams Underfoot is the first Charles de Lint book I bought. I may have read one of his stories somewhere (Now that I look, I may have first read “The Moon Is Drowning as I Sleep” in Snow White, Blood Red, and from there been sucked in.), perhaps in a “Year’s Best in Fantasy and Horror.” Or I may have just seen the cover and snatched up the book.
First off, I am delighted that I finally got the new Corel Photo Paint. It only took six months, but I was finally able to uninstall my personal copy. I did a bit of playing around to familarize myself with the new software–no major changes, but things seem a lot easier. Hence, the new image on the main page.
Second note, the Washington Post apparently needs some basic anatomy lessons.
Michael and I have been amused by a couple that has been coming to the rec center for the past couple weeks. And I use the term couple, however, for reasons that will soon become apparent, I don’t believe that they are actually a couple.
They arrive at about seven carrying their gym bags, walk to the machines, and stand there and talk. Well, let me clarify. The woman rants and complains, and the guy stands there and listens. Once they stopped at the bottom of the stairs and stood there for at least twenty minutes. One day last week they were standing there when we left the track, then we went to do the weight machines, and then we showered and dressed, and when we got out to the car, we looked up and they were still standing there talking.
Mind you, the machines they are standing near are right beside the track. If they took two steps, they could walk on the track while they were talking, and actually get some exercise. Which is why we find the whole thing amusing. They go to the gym, and then don’t actually exercise.
I bet they leave every day feeling all proud of themselves thinking, “I spent two whole hours at the track today!”
Now, why do I think that they aren’t actually a couple? (Everyone who’s married can chime in here.) Because he’s actually standing there listening to her gripe.
How inappropriate:
impervious \im-PER-vee-us\ adjective
1 *a : not allowing entrance or passage : impenetrable b : not
capable of being damaged or harmed
2 : not capable of being affected or disturbed
Think of all the bad words you know, and then riff on different variations.
Grrr. I have managed to destroyed my watch, and I have no clue how. I went to check the time before I took my lunch walk and the face is smashed.
Mind you, this watch has bene in my posession for a less than a year.
I’m hoping it’s still under warranty, although going to the mall was not what I originally had for my agenda for this evening.
I HATE not having a watch. It makes me feel naked.
So now I’m sitting at work all mad because I busted my watch AND because I’m feeling all naked.
(I would like to note, however, that I am not, in fact, naked. I am indeed wearing undergarments and pants and a shirt and a sweater and socks and boots. Just so you know.)
Captain Alatriste (1996) Arturo Perez-Reverte
translated by Margaret Sayers Peden
My mistake came in reading this after reading Steven Brust. Following one swashbuckling adventure with another is bound to lead to comparisons, and as there are few whose writing I love more than Steven Brust, anything else is going to come across as weak by comparison.
Anyone else read Steven Brust?
If so, I’ve been annoyed by something I can’t figure out.
To wit: who the hell is the Warlord during the Vlad books?
At the end of Sethra Lavode, Sethra Lavode resigns as Warlord and is replaced by Sethra the Younger. The next book in the timeline is Jhereg, and that plot revolves around who is going to be Warlord when the Dragon Emperor takes the throne, and as much time as Sethra is spending at Castle Black, I don’t think she could still be warlord. Then at the end of Jhereg The House of Dragon decrees that Sethra the Younger can never be Emperor or Warlord, but doesn’t mention her having to step down.
So who replaced Sethra the Younger as Warlord between Sethra Lavode and Jhereg?
I’d also ask why, except that I think the answer is pretty self-evident.
And yes, I know, that’s a pretty ridiculous question to be asking, all things considered. Except that I really don’t want to do my Survey Methods homework, and pondering Dragaera is nice distraction.
Sethra Lavode (2004) Steven Brust
Sethra Lavode concludes The Viscount of Adrilankha trilogy.
The Lord of Castle Black (2003) Steven Brust
The second volume in the Viscount of Adrilankha series takes up where the first left off, even going back a bit to cover events that occurred towards the end of Paths of the Dead.
The Paths of the Dead (2002) Steven Brust
For me, Steven Brust books are like potato chips; I can’t read just one.
And so, having recently finished all the Vlad Taltos book, The Phoenix Guards, and Five Hundred Years After, there was nothing to do but read The Viscount of Adrilankha.
If you read fantasy or history, you may be interested in this article on What Did Historical Swords Weigh?
From ordinary hands-on experience we know full well that swords were not excessively heavy nor did they weigh 10 or 15 pounds and more. There is only so many ways we can repeat how these weapons were not at all heavy or ungainly. Remarkably, while one would think a crucial piece of information as the weight of swords would be of great interest to arms curators and arms historians, there is no major reference book that actually lists the weights of different types. Perhaps this vacuum of documented evidence is part of the very problem surrounding the issue. However, there are a few respected sources that do give some valuable statistics. For example, the lengthy catalog of swords from the famed Wallace Collection Museum in London readily lists dozens of fine specimens among which it is difficult to find any weighing in excess of 4 pounds. Indeed, the majority of specimens, from arming swords to two-handers to rapiers, weigh much less than three pounds.
Despite frequent claims to the contrary, Medieval swords were indeed light, manageable, and on average weighed less than four pounds.
Star Trek Quiz ahoy!
Five Hundred Years After (1994) Steven Brust
If you have read the Vlad Taltos books, then you already know the outcome of Five Hundred Years After: Adron’s disaster, which lead to the Interregnum. But what we don’t know, is the story that leads up to Adron’s disaster. Why did Adron act in the manner he did? What was the involvement of those who called Adron friend. What about the Enchantress of Dzur Mountain, Sethra Lavode?
All of these questions, and more, does this book answer, as well as the question of, what happens to those for who we have come to have interest, even feelings, and by this I mean Khaavren and Aerich and Tazendra and Pel.
9:00 am Tuesday morning.
That’s Michael’s interview.
Keep your fingers crossed.
ADDENDUM the First:
Michael says he thinks the interview went well, and he liked the two women who interviewed him.
The Phoenix Guards (1991) Steven Brust
As is typically the case, once I finished reading the Vlad Taltos books, I felt myself consumed by an overwhelming desire to go back and re-read the other Dragaeran books. That is to say, mention of characters and events in the Vlad Taltos books whetted my appetite for re-reading about events of The Phoenix Guards and the following books.
Let me just say: I love Steven Brust’s writing.
I love going through my referrer logs.
“pictures of salem massachusetts 1788 to 1791″
Because photography was a popular hobby back then
“are british people abel to get skin cancer from sunbeds”
No, the Queen protects the British from skin cancer
“burned down dairy queen in kentucky”
Is burning down Dairy Queen a popular sport in Kentucky?
“a real dinosaur is captured in new zeland”
I’m hoping this is in reference to a short story, otherwise the New Zeland government has some sort of Area 51 for dinosaurs
“is your washroom breeding bolsheviks? propaganda”
Bolshevicks in the washroom? And I thought that the people who didn’t wash their hands were bad
“graph of people getting liposuction”
That’s just really strange
“hard boiled donor egg blog”
Ummm…
Issola (2001) Steven Brust
Issola, for reasons about which I am not quite clear, is one of my favorite Vlad books. I think it’s because I like Lady Teldra so much, but it could also be the fact that Vlad is back to spending time with with Morrolan and Aliera and Sethra Lavode.
Michael is baking bread, which I smelled when I got out of the shower.
My first thought was, Yum! However, my second thought was:
Fee Fie Fo Fum
I smell the blood of an Englishman
Be he live or be he dead
I’ll grind his bones to make my bread
Which then led me to wonder: When you make bread from ground up bones, what do you use as leavening?
So finally some news on the job front. There was a message on the answering machine when we got home, asking Michael to call to set up an interview next week.
Finally! I was actually going to come home this evening and check to make sure the answering machine was working, since it had been three weeks and he hadn’t gotten anything. (And yes, our phone really does ring that infrequently that no one else had left any messages either.)
So, wish him luck for next week, and here’s to hoping that more of those calls come rolling in.
Dragon (1998) Steven Brust
I really like Dragon. It’s fun, it’s well-written, and I particularly like some of the observations that Vlad makes about life and war.
For the most part, Dragon takes place soon after Taltos, however, a few parts of the story take place after Yendi. And if you think that’s confusing, you’re right.
Orca (1996) Steven Brust
Set about a year after Athyra, Vlad has wandered into Northport in search of a sorcerer who might be able to cure Sven, the Teckla boy who lost his mind during the events of Athyra. He finds one, however, her price is keeping her from being evicted from her house. To do this, Vlad has to enlist the help of Kiera the Thief, and hope that she holds their friendship higher than the needs of the Jhereg.
Athyra (1993) Steven Brust
Once you get past the fact that it is not written from Vlad’s point of view, Athyra is a very good book. The story is told from the point of view of Sven. It’s not first person like the other Vlad books, but we know Sven’s thoughts and feelings and impressions as he eventually meets Vlad. It also has several passages from the point of view of Rocza, which I found very interesting. After all, unlike Liosh, she came to Vlad full grown, and is still a wild creature.
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