It is alternately stone in you and star.

I love driving in the fall because, when I first start out, the leaves on my car stream back over the windshield, and it reminds me of going into hyperspace in Star Wars.

My friend Anne Elisabeth’s second book, Veiled Rose, is available for preorder! You should check it out.

Some lovely photography for you to peruse.
The annotated Sherlock, an article pointing out many of the book references in the show.

Welcome back. Flash mob at the airport!
“One Day Like This” by Elbow.

When I first heard about the movie Cowboys and Aliens, I thought it sounded truly atrocious. It still does, but I must admit that I found the trailer entertaining.

You will be pleased to hear that On Basilisk Station did finally improve somewhat. The net result was still disappointment, though. Every time something was on the verge of happening, the author would pause the action and go into the history of that particular character’s planet, complete with political turmoil and class distinctions. By the time he finally got back to the action, you’d forgotten what was even happening, and all forward momentum was lost. *makes a face*

Tomorrow, the renaissance fair! You should come. 🙂

The many-winged escape

The other day I saw the saddest thing in the world: an overweight, middle-aged man in grungy clothes, standing by the dumpsters of a gas station late at night, scratching at a lottery ticket. Better luck next time, mister. Or perhaps better luck next life; this one does not seem to have been good to you.

I drove by an Awesome Street a few days ago. No lie.

Regrettably, this week I found out that I will soon be losing my job. They don’t have enough work to keep a full-time editor on anymore. Ah well…the past ten months were nice, not being broke for the first time, but I’m sure alternatives will materialize. I had applied for 17 jobs within 24 hours of finding out, so I’m certainly doing my part.

My usual fascination with parkour has become even more obsessive lately. I’ve even been toying with the idea of trying to find some kind of club in Raleigh (Or I was until I lost my source of income anyway). Watch and be inspired!
3Run Showreel.
Parcow.
Amazing Parkour. I totally sympathize with that dude at the end. I’ve had that same predicament many times: great, how do I get out of this?

I’ve been enjoying the webcomic Buttersafe lately, and most are pretty great, but this one made me laugh the hardest.

Sith…princesses? Darth Snow White is my favorite.
Driscoll Middle School trick play. I’ve never been so amused by football.
“Make ‘Em Laugh” with Joseph Gordon-Levitt on SNL. I love how this pays homage to both the original “Make ‘Em Laugh” and to Inception. Also, wicked air on those backflips.

This will absolutely make you smile. Calming the Baby Beast. Interestingly enough, this is precisely what happens to me when I listen to Florence + the Machine too.

“Gorecki” by Scala & Kolacny brothers.
“Last Leaf” by OK Go.

Interesting article on introverts. I don’t agree with all of their generalizations, but I thought some things were spot-on. “The shy want desperately to connect but find socializing difficult…Introverts seek time alone because they want time alone. An introvert and a shy person might be standing against the wall at a party, but the introvert prefers to be there, while the shy individual feels she has no choice.” Ahem, thank you.

The Eagle of the Ninth trailer, based upon the book by Rosemary Sutcliff. I’ve heard wonderful things about her work, but haven’t actually got around to reading any yet. I’m told her Arthurian novels are great. I am somewhat intrigued by the movie, though I am puzzled by Hollywood’s fascination with the Picts lately. This sounds an awful lot like a lower-rated version of Centurion. And yeah, the Picts were fearsome and all, but I’d be grouchy too if a bunch of soldiers in broom hats and leather skirts came marching onto my turf and informed me that they now owned the place. Maybe folks just like ’em ’cause they’re blue. As far as I could tell, that was the only reason the Smurfs were ever popular. Anyway, I don’t hold out very high hopes for Channing Tatum suddenly being able to act (from what I’ve seen, he has fewer facial expressions than Legolas, which is saying something), but Jamie Bell is a good actor, and there are horses and swords, so.

I was browsing an LJ comm for Horatio Hornblower (oh hush, you), and I ran across the coolest thing. The poster talked about the Time/Life series of books on Seafarers, and in the book The Frigates, there’s an old list of the ships in both the US and British navies. The British navy had a ship called the HMS Forester, and it was captained by one A. Kennedy! I got a hearty chuckle out of that. (C.S. Forester wrote the Horatio Hornblower books, and one of the main characters in them was Archie Kennedy.) But then I realized the book sounded familiar. Turns out I have it! I picked up an ancient copy in Florida for 25 cents, even though it smelled like a dead thing, because it looked so fascinating.

My reading self-control has been shot to pieces lately. I went to the library SOLELY to return books. Then I thought that browsing “for future reference” would not go amiss. I ended up walking out with four more books, to add to the huge stack I should really finish in the next couple weeks. However…it was worth it.

I read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (what, I’ve been working my way through the library’s Kay supply, don’t judge me). At first I was kinda meh about it–maybe because the setting is more or less medieval Italy, which isn’t really my cup of tea. Tsk tsk, I thought, Kay, you’re slipping. It is one of his earlier books, so I figured he hadn’t quite developed his art by that point. But no. 650 pages in, and I was utterly, completely enthralled, as usual.

In contrast, On Basilisk Station by David Weber is proving to be a disappointment thus far. The series is science fiction based upon the adventures of Lord Nelson and is heavily inspired by the Horatio Hornblower series (the main character is named Honor Harrington). You would think that this could not fail to be awesome. Sadly, you would be wrong. At 60 pages, it’s dull as ditchwater and mainly about space politics. Dreary… Still, I’ll give it a few hundred pages more to prove itself.

I really should try to finish that and The Aeneid this week because I just know Dr. Thomas is going to grill me on Virgil when I see him next weekend at the renaissance fair.

Come back, and we’ll be young men together again.

So I went with some friends to see Inception at the dollar theater a week or so ago. Then I went the next night and saw it again. I thought it was pretty magnificent. It’s generally taken up residence in my thoughts for some reason, and I’ve been mulling over it a lot and forming a lot of opinions. Now you have to suffer through them!

A lot of people think that Inception is the bee’s knees. Heck, just look at Imdb, it’s got a 9.1 out of 10 stars. A lot of people also think that Inception is overrated, couldn’t possibly live up to the hype, and has a lot of flaws. And these folks make some really good points (which I will tear to shreds in the process of this review, mwahahaha). But really, these are my thoughts and opinions, and I realize they will not be shared by everyone. So, uh, if you hated it…I’m sorry. Here’s a cookie.

Beforehand, I intentionally avoided all trailers, clips, spoilers, and discussion for the movie. I went into the movie not knowing a single thing about it, which I think was the perfect state of mind to be in.

If you are currently in that state of mind and/or have not seen the movie, stop reading this now. Seriously, don’t read this! You’ll wish you hadn’t! You’ll wish you’d never been born! Quit while you still can!

Vaster than empires and more slow

Had the loveliest of weeks! I have truly excellent friends.

Things I have learned lately:
Arkansas Black apples are sadly not as delicious as one might think.
One can easily procure seven books for $1 at The Reader’s Corner in Raleigh. Go check it out.
It is indeed possible to climb the old library at Campbell University. (At last, I’ve done it!)
Cell phones in my possession have a relatively short lifespan.
Always call to check the times of movies before dragging seven people to go see one.
North Hills is a labyrinth probably designed by the devil.
Whipped cream lasts a surprisingly long time.
Any movie, no matter how horrible, is hilarious when watched with RiffTrax.

In spite of spending scads of time with good friends, I also had time to go see a movie (Inception, my second viewing; I’ve been mulling over it a lot, so much so that I may post a review of it here) by myself, which was a really fun experience. I’ve never actually done that before. It’s a fascinating opportunity to people watch. I went to a concert a few months ago by myself and found it to be equally intriguing. I notice a lot more when I’m on my own.

People are good at stuff!
Cat versus mouse.

You’ve seen the film Watership Down… So morbid, I love it!
Jupiter sounds (so strange!)

Save the Words, stolen from Sam.
Pretty true.

I’ve been terribly bipolar in my reading habits lately. Usually I only work on one book at a time, but right now I’m juggling quite a handful. I finished The Wind’s Twelve Quarters, a book of short stories by Ursula K. LeGuin, and it was quite lovely. Behold, an excerpt (even better in context) from one of the tales:

“The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil is interesting. This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain. If you can’t lick ’em, join ’em. If it hurts, repeat it. But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else. We have almost lost hold; we can no longer describe a happy man, nor make a celebration of joy.”

I’m also somewhat working on The Wing-and-Wing by James Fenimore Cooper, the Aeneid by Virgil (translated, obviously), and Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. I also have an intriguing book called On Basilisk Station by David Weber waiting for me, which is supposedly space opera patterned after Lord Nelson and Horatio Hornblower. Can’t lose there, I should think.