I just finished Christopher Paolini's Brisinger, the 3rd book in (now he tells me!) a 4 book series. I liked it in general - the world he's crafted is beautifully elaborate and the characters are all pretty intriguing. BUT, man do the fight scenes drag on in this book - even more than Tolkien. There's a 10 page scene about forging a new sword, more decapitations than I can count and at least a dozen battles.
While I was dredging through what felt like the millionth battle, I was reminded of Brian's assessment of Stephenie Meyer's The Host. Basically he liked the story (one of the aliens who has taken over the planet falls in with a band of human resistance - drama ensues) but thought there were way too many descriptions of girly feelings. I LOVE the way that Meyer's handles girly angst, which is probably also why I'm such a big Twilight fan, and I think Brian would be super into Paolini's Inheritance Cycle cause the fighting scenes are beautifully crafted.
To think that our preferences are because I'm a girl and he's a boy is certainly an oversimplification, but it still has me wondering. Am I hard wired in some way towards the girliness?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Lowered expectations
I do the New York Times crossword puzzle whenever I can get my hands on a copy. For those of you who don't know, it gets increasingly harder as the week goes on - I can generally finish through Tuesday, by Saturday I'm totally screwed.
So, I was thrilled when I finished today's puzzle (a Thursday!) in all of about 15 minutes. Then I read the small print next to the puzzle - "all the daily puzzles this week have been contributed by puzzlemakers under the age of 20. Today's crossword is by Lucas Gaviotis Whitestone, 18 of New York City. He is a first year student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. This is his first puzzle for The Times."
Doh.
So, I was thrilled when I finished today's puzzle (a Thursday!) in all of about 15 minutes. Then I read the small print next to the puzzle - "all the daily puzzles this week have been contributed by puzzlemakers under the age of 20. Today's crossword is by Lucas Gaviotis Whitestone, 18 of New York City. He is a first year student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. This is his first puzzle for The Times."
Doh.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Today, Today, Today
In my new capacity as a Komen Austin Affiliate board member I had the opportunity today to have lunch with an amazing young woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 24. She has an incredible story and a willingness to share that I'm in awe of. Her story isn't mine to tell, but I was at lunch to talk about options for how she can work with Komen to get her message out, so keep an eye on the Komen Austin Blog and our Facebook Group as hopefully that's to come.
My personal take away from lunch is that it's really important for me to own my health and I'm sure I'll now be much more insistent in general with doctors when I think something is wrong. I think there's a tendency even at my age to think that breast cancer isn't something to worry about yet. Even though I don't know my medical history my GP and gynecologist have both said that 35 is the absolute earliest I should get a mammogram and really that 40 is "probably fine." Of course, I want to think that I'm healthy so it's easy to go along with it.
Every day I'm more committed to the cause of finding a cure for this wretched disease. As George says, we need a cure "today, today, today." You can join the fight by racing with me on November 2nd or visiting the Komen site to learn more.
Disclaimer - The postings on this site are my own and don’t represent Komen Austin positions, strategies or opinions.
My personal take away from lunch is that it's really important for me to own my health and I'm sure I'll now be much more insistent in general with doctors when I think something is wrong. I think there's a tendency even at my age to think that breast cancer isn't something to worry about yet. Even though I don't know my medical history my GP and gynecologist have both said that 35 is the absolute earliest I should get a mammogram and really that 40 is "probably fine." Of course, I want to think that I'm healthy so it's easy to go along with it.
Every day I'm more committed to the cause of finding a cure for this wretched disease. As George says, we need a cure "today, today, today." You can join the fight by racing with me on November 2nd or visiting the Komen site to learn more.
Disclaimer - The postings on this site are my own and don’t represent Komen Austin positions, strategies or opinions.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Book Review: House Lights
I stumbled upon Lean Hager Cohen's House Lights at a recent time killing trip to a chain bookstore - I picked it up because it's won a ton of awards (including being a New York Times Book Review Notable Book for 2007) and I liked the cover image.
It's certainly one of the best things I've read so far this year and was a very pleasant switch from all of my YA fare of late. The story follows Beatrice, a girl on the verge of 21 who after a strange insulated childhood is finally finding out that things with her family are not what they always seemed. It's a delicate and beautifully written coming of age story - unique in both the depth of the characters but also in its tone. Hager Cohen's attention to detail is spot on and the way she weaves descriptions into the story made everything seem hearbreakingly poignant. Fantastic female characters from 3 generations (Beatrice, her mother and her grandmother) are also a big plus.
It's certainly one of the best things I've read so far this year and was a very pleasant switch from all of my YA fare of late. The story follows Beatrice, a girl on the verge of 21 who after a strange insulated childhood is finally finding out that things with her family are not what they always seemed. It's a delicate and beautifully written coming of age story - unique in both the depth of the characters but also in its tone. Hager Cohen's attention to detail is spot on and the way she weaves descriptions into the story made everything seem hearbreakingly poignant. Fantastic female characters from 3 generations (Beatrice, her mother and her grandmother) are also a big plus.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act
October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States. More than 25,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year leaving mothers, entire families and communities devastated. Estimates of the rate of occurrence of stillbirth make it at least as common as autism.
Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce its incidence, but good research requires good data. H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still.
On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them. Honor them by taking action. Let’s help pass H.R. 5979.
Action Steps:
Step 1. Use Your Blog to Enlist Others-Copy the contents of this entire post and publish it on your blog immediately.
GOAL: Enlist 10 of your readers to spread the word
Step 2. Use Your E-mail to Enlist Others-E-mail 5 bloggers and ask them (nicely and in an unspammy way) to publish these action steps on their blog. Consider contacting celebrity bloggers, political bloggers, medical bloggers, or bloggers who are not part of your reading community.
GOAL: Enlist 3 bloggers outside of your normal blog sphere to spread the word in other online communities.
Step 3. Help Pass the Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act-By October 15th, publish a post on your blog supporting H.R. 5979 Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act. For maximum impact, title your post: “Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act.”
GOAL: 1,000,000 Google results on October 15th when that term is searched for. Currently, Google only returns 20,400 pages - most of which have nothing to do with the bill.
As a personal note, if you need convincing on the devastation this can bring to a couple (and their families, and the people who love them) here's some related reading.
Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce its incidence, but good research requires good data. H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still.
On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them. Honor them by taking action. Let’s help pass H.R. 5979.
Action Steps:
Step 1. Use Your Blog to Enlist Others-Copy the contents of this entire post and publish it on your blog immediately.
GOAL: Enlist 10 of your readers to spread the word
Step 2. Use Your E-mail to Enlist Others-E-mail 5 bloggers and ask them (nicely and in an unspammy way) to publish these action steps on their blog. Consider contacting celebrity bloggers, political bloggers, medical bloggers, or bloggers who are not part of your reading community.
GOAL: Enlist 3 bloggers outside of your normal blog sphere to spread the word in other online communities.
Step 3. Help Pass the Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act-By October 15th, publish a post on your blog supporting H.R. 5979 Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act. For maximum impact, title your post: “Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act.”
GOAL: 1,000,000 Google results on October 15th when that term is searched for. Currently, Google only returns 20,400 pages - most of which have nothing to do with the bill.
As a personal note, if you need convincing on the devastation this can bring to a couple (and their families, and the people who love them) here's some related reading.
Habits
I have really gotten out of the habit of blogging, haven't I? I was all into Twitter for a while (and still love it), but I even got out of that habit during Fantastic Fest. I often think about things I'd like to say here, but the thought of logging in and typing them seems like such a drag. My yoga and tai chi teachers are always on about how many times you have to do something until it becomes a habit (3 times a week comes to mind - I obviously blow them off during these comments now that I think about it), so perhaps I'll make that committment to NCTM for a bit and see how it goes.
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