Time's never enough, huh?

And then it was Saturday AGAIN. Last night I barely slept anything at all, instead I just lay there in the dark thinking. Thinking about everything between heaven and earth, because that's what you do when you can't sleep (besides thinking "I have to sleep now, I have to sleep now"). However, my thinking eventually lead to the matter of time, like it always does.

There is so much we want to do in life but the time just never seems to be enough. Sure we have many years to live, but as we get older opportunities pass you and then it's just too late. Last night I realized that I only have 13 days left here and I just want to make the most of those few days. How I am going to do that I have no clue yet (since I don't have a driving licence and without a driving licence here in Malaysia you're literally stuck), but I'll find a way. I hope I will.

With Apologies to Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury published a novel in 1962 called Something Wicked This Way Comes, that was turned into a movie at some point in the '80s. It involves a traveling carnival that is, well, wicked. And what does this have to do with amusement parks? Take a look at the picture at the top of this post and I'll give you three guesses!

I grew up in Chicago and still live close by. We are the land of disappearing amusement parks. There used to be a place called Santa's Village. There used to be a place called Old Chicago, one of the first indoor amusement parks ever. There is still a place called Kiddieland, but not for long. And last but not least, there was once a place called Riverview, and the picture above is from that particular park.

I loved the place as a kid. It had rollercoasters with names like The Wild Mouse, The Bobs, and especially The Fireball. It had an Aladdin's Castle, as can be seen in the picture, and it also had something called The Rotor, where riders entered a space not unlike an angel food cake tube pan (although the walls didn't curve in) and enjoyed the dubious privelege of being stuck to the wall by centrifugal force as the entire room spun faster and faster while the floor dropped from under your feet. Great stuff! There had even been an old-time freak show there. As a kid, I thought the park was magical.

As I got older, I began to understand words like "seamy" and "tawdry" and "tired" and even "unkempt." Maybe things were changing as I was growing up, and the litter along the walks, the cigarette butts, the beer bottles stashed away behind the benches had been there all along and were just becoming more obvious. I really don't know. But the last time I went there, I realized it would be the last time I went there because the feel of the place was becoming somewhat uncomfortable, like a pair of shabby and gravel-worn shoes, tired enough to be cast away, finally. Riverview became that kind of place for me.

I suppose, being a writer and afficionado of the supernatural, it would figure that Ray Bradbury's traveling nightmare of a carnival, run by Mr. Dark, would make me think of an amusement park from my own childhood. To be fair, I do remember some fun times at that place. They had a great merry-go-round (that went to Six Flags in Georgia) and featured a ferris wheel that offered a great view of the city from the top of it. Still, I sometimes wonder if having a Riverview Park in my past is one reason that to this day, amusement parks are not among my favorite ways to amuse myself.

"By the pricking of my thumbs..."


In the mood for a good ghost story? Buy my latest, Hunting Spirits, at QuakeMe.com, a division of Echelon Press, here!
http://www.echelonpress.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=10_32_36

I call it an investment

Today I once again went to AEON Bukit Tinggi here in Klang. This was the third time so far and we all made the promise on leaving the ground floor this time (since we've spent around seven hours there all together the previous times). Sure we went to the first floor but how far we managed is another story. The three hours that were meant for trying on cute tops and gorgeous shoes were spent at the optician where I managed to spend RM 1300 on a new pair of glasses from Dior. The girl that worked there, Jenny, was the cutest and was as helpful and friendly an optician can ever be.

But obviously new spectacles wasn't enough, so I even bought contact lenses for the first time! I'm actually wearing a pair right now and it's kind of weird but I'll get used to it. However I hope it won't be long until I get used to putting them in which is the biggest difficulty ever! But after a lot of tears and laughs I finally managed quite well (if you can call it that). I'm amazed at how cheap contact lenses are here, three months cost only RM 50 and even though our SEK is very low at the moment it was definitely a catch compared to the Swedish prices.

Mami also bought a pair. Very expensive ones so I don't even dare to write it down, haha. I told her that everything we bought today should be seen as an investment. How would we otherwise go back to Sweden in two weeks and look at the bills...Anyway, I will pick them up (the new glasses) on Tuesday. Very satisfied.

Daily Thoughts 7/31/2009 ( Bibliomania )

Abraham Lincoln, full-length portrait, reading by fireplace. 1868

Daily Thoughts 7/31/2009

Right now I am looking at some H.G. Wells books from the mezzanine (storage). They are titles like The World Brain, Social Forces In England And America, Mankind in the Making, and The Way The World Is Going. I enjoy spending time in the mezzanine because our library is over a hundred years old. H.G. Wells wrote a number of books on history and the social sciences in addition to the science fiction he was mostly known for.

There are many titles from when our library first opened. Right now, I am looking at books to see if there are any rare titles. I probably will be looking at holdings records from Worldcat http://www.worldcat.org/ as well as maybe looking up some price records using different book search engines from the Bibliomania site list. http://www.bibliomania.net/bookSearch.html This site has lots of useful tools if you are interested in collecting books or just learning about old books. If you look at the ACRL Standards for transfer between regular collections and rare book collections it mentions both Worldcat and book pricing. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/selectransfer.cfm

In the morning, I did a bit of weeding in the large print as well as had some books shifted. In the afternoon, I read through the Publishers Weekly and checked to see what plays were currently running on Broadway.

I read some more of In Search of Excellence on the train home, only a chapter though. I was a bit tired so I most relaxed.

Even though I checked out Batman Gotham Knight the animated movie, I did not check it out for the cartoon. It includes an hour long documentary, Batman and Me: The Bob Kane Story who was the creator of Batman. It is an interesting story. It shows Bob Kane's interest in cartooning; his start at Fleischer Studios, then DC Comics, and his eventual creation of batman. There is also mention of Bob Kane's book Batman and Me which is an autobiography.

The documentary has some wonderfully odd moments in it. Batmans cape and outline was modeled after Leonardo Da Vinci's flying machine, and the Adam West Batman television show came about partially as a suggestion from Hugh Hefner at Playboy. Bob Kane also was supposed to have spent an afternoon with Marilyn Monroe. He seems to have tried to emulate Bruce Wayne's propensities in real life.

One of the narrators was Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. Stan Lee, the creator of Spider Man and many Marvel comic books also talked about his experiences with Bob Kane. The documentary was much better than the cartoon Batman Gotham Knight.

Cedar Point & The Gigacoaster

It's Amazing how amusement parks leave an indelible memory isn't it? You're there with family, friends, maybe a date you're interested in... The excitement of being with wonderful people combined with adrenaline fueled rides somehow is the epitome of having a good time. Cedar Point amusement park is located in Sandusky Ohio with is about an hour and a half drive from Cleveland. I've only had the pleasure of visiting this place once, but the memories last to this day. All sense of the outside world is left behind at the gates of Cedar Point. It provides the escape of all escapes where work, school, stress, or whatever is troubling you just melts away as you're surrounded with nothing but carnival food, games and best of all, roller coasters.

Cedar Point is the second largest amusement park in the nation, boasting the wolrd's most roller coasters at 17 over 300+ acres of land. This place is huge and you can literally get lost in it. Well, that's the idea right? My favorite roller coaster was the Millennium Force which reaches 310 feet in the air giving you a strange yet beautiful view of Lake Eerie which the park stands directly next to. When you reach the precipice, you are dropped at a 45 degree angle at a top speed of 93 miles an hour! It was so large and fast that they renamed it a "gigacoaster". On my first trip on this beast I remember looking around and I wasn't sure where I was. In fact I turned to my dad and said, "This is awesome, but I'm disoriented." Now THAT is a roller coaster!


Since I was there, they've built the Wicked Twister, Top Thrill Dragster
and The Maverick which all push the roller coaster world to new levels. If you're in Ohio and feel the need to get away from it all as well as increase your heart rate, Cedar Point is the place for you.

Nick Valentino's debut novel, Thomas Riley comes out October 2009 on Echelon Press.
http://nickvalentino.blogspot.com

Daily Thoughts 7/30/2009

The Great Library at Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Canada, 1870

Daily Thoughts 7/30/2009

I did some more weeding in the large print section today as well as the 700s. It is all about consistency. There has been an increase in the use of large print because we have the bookmobile going out more often to the local armory. This means we have to get better material for the seniors to increase circulation.

The library has set up two more laptops for working with the collection. So there are now three laptops to work with the collection.

I'm thinking about programming again. I have not written any poetry in a while. We are going to have a gentleman doing a session teaching poetry in August.

Our computer technician is printing up some signage for genre section in the new books area; romance, African American, mystery, and science fiction. I found another site for African American fiction http://www.mosaicbooks.com/ .

This is a list of the Eisner Awards from San Diego Comic Con. They are the premier awards for comics in the United States. The Eisner Awards are named after Will Eisner one of the greatest comic book artists. http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_main.shtml

On the way home, I read some of the book, In Search of Excellence Lessons From America's Best Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.. In its time this book was a bestselling business book. It is also considered by some to be one of the best business books ever written. I have just started on it. Mostly, it sounds like common sense so far.

Fontaine Ferry - Gone, But Not Forgotten

Fontaine Ferry, or Fountain Ferry as we all called it (Didn't find out differently until a couple of years ago), was a blast! We'd load – and I do mean, LOAD – two or three cars and drive the 25 miles to Louisville's old theme park at least twice every summer. The designer of Palisades Park in New York conceived the idea for Fontaine Ferry. It opened in 1905 and closed in 1969. (Oops! Guess I just gave away my age.)

The excitement from walking into the impressive front entrance was second-to-none. We'd all run to the roller coaster first (I was reminded by friend, Pat, that it was called The Comet). Or rather, Pat and everyone else would run. I'd walk since it wasn't my favorite thing to ride, but to admit I got queasy going up and down...up and down...up and around the tracks, was not an option. Besides, a snow cone would usually settle my stomach. And, if that didn't work, cotton candy would do the trick.


The place I remember most is the Hilarity Hall, the funhouse. From the crazy mirrors that made you look short and squatty, tall as a beanpole, or just plain weird, to the spinning "Sugar Bowl," and the double slides. Simple attractions, but we loved them.

Rounding out my top faves were the Skooter Cars (bumper cars), the Ferris Wheel and the Ghost Train.

By 21st century theme park standards like Disney World, Universal, and even Six Flags, Fontaine Ferry was pretty tame, but it still holds some of my fondest memories. If you have special memories of this Kentuckiana park, let us know.

Fontaine Ferry Park

WHAS Coverage and Memories

Mary Cunningham is the author of the award-winning series, Cynthia's Attic. Book Four, "The Magician's Castle" will be out in DEC 2009 (Quake - Echelon Press).

Mary Cunningham Books
Quake

For a limited time: Buy Ghost Light and also receive a FREE copy of THE MISSING LOCKET, book one in the Cynthia's Attic Fantasy Adventure series with your download. (both stories are in the Ghost Light file.)

Only two Friday Forums left..

Please note: Due to my business travel and a late arrival Friday evening, there is no Friday forum this week...no forum on 7/31/09.

Believe it or not the Summer is actually coming to an end.. With vacations and travel, there are only 2 Friday Forums left.. Aug 7 and Aug 14 will be the last ones currently planned. Tracee and I will be obligated or on vacation for the other weekends, the 21 and 28 and from there, all bets are off as Da Capo VA begins its Fall session and school starts..

The topics for the final two forums will become clearer as the dates get closer... but I suspect that we will continue our discussions on

• rights vs privileges (right to life, choice)
• Better/Universal healthcare and how to make it happen, reality, not dreaming.
• crime and punishment(death penalty and prisons)
• work in some discussion on the ever important "green" both the money, and the environment..

As usual, religion will play into this along government, history, and some basic economics..All views are welcome and encouraged. I hope you will consider making it for one of our final nights..

Big Daddy Bash NewsFlash: look out for invites to our annual Big Daddy Bash.. set for 8/15/09.. at the Prillaman home.. Jeff may only be 39, but we will party like it is 1999.. ;-)

Can a day get more jj?

Of course we see and experience weird things in life but occasionally they all don't happen on the same day! Today we followed my uncle to do some business and rather unusual things happened.

1. There was a big traffic jam on the bridge while crossing the Klang River. Why? Well, because there had been some kind of accident and there were dead people floating around in the river which had to be picked up. The most jj thing here though was that all the busy body people had to pull over to stand there and watch! Watch the dead people being fished up! Who voluntarily wants to see that?!

2. Then, while waiting in the car I was just bending forward to pick something up and my top's strap broke! I, of course, panicked because I couldn't continue the rest of the day with an one strap top, unless I wanted people to really laugh at my sense of fashion...Thank God Vicki was creative enough to turn it into a tank top! Thanks Vicki!

3. When uncle Kevin later dropped us off at Tesco, Setia Alam a while, so we wouldn't get bored, there was a disgusting creepy man stalking us! First I did not notice him besides staring since it happens quite often here (people don't seem to see foreigners that often here or something!). But as he constantly came closer and continued staring like that, mum told us to walk away, QUICK! But as we walked, he followed and popped up just in front of our faces. I was so scared. Luckily, we got rid of him by escaping to the women section. Uncle Kevin later concluded him as one of those psychos.

4. Then, last but not least on the way home we saw a female walking on the road in opposite direction, wearing a towel turban! Hahaha! Had she got herself a bad haircut?, I wondered. My goodness, talk about this day being jj, huh?

The BIG Water Slide!

The slide in the picture is on the dock of our lake. Water runs down it continually and it always gives you a fast ride. This is the only kind of slide I had ever been on, until I visited my first water park in Branson, MO.
The time was the seventies and giant water slides had just come into popularity. I had never been on one, or even seen one. My sister lived near Branson that summer while her hubby was in law school. They invited our family out for a weekend. She talked excitedly about the huge, new water slide.
We parked our car and approached from the top side. I still couldn't see the entire length of the slide. We got in line. When it was my turn to sit down on a rubber mat, I decided it was too scary for my 5-yr-old daughter to ride alone. So....I sat down, swiveled around and had my little girl sit between my legs. I had planned to turn BACK around and push off....but something happened! When little Stephanie sat down and I hugged her tightly to my body, I must have slightly pushed us backwards.
It was all it took! Off we went, cascading down the huge drop BACKWARDS. I was never so scared in my entire life. I had no idea what was coming. I didn't know if you were supposed to duck under bridges or such, so I lay down and held onto my little girl with all my might.
We shot like a bullet down hills and around corners, going what seemed like 100mph. Keep in mind: it was my first slide adventure, I had my child with me, I had no idea what was coming, and WE WERE DOING THE WHOLE THING HEADFIRST AND BACKWARDS!!
People along the route cheered us on. They thought we were daredevils!! I vaguely recall my husband yelling as we zoomed by, "Be Careful!" Yeah, right. You can really be careful when you are shooting down a slide upside down and backwards.
After what seemed an eternity, we landed in a pool of water. I think I breathed for the first time since we left the launch pad. People clapped and said things like,"Wow! You're sure brave. I've never thought of trying it that way!" I glared at them.
Little Stephanie looked up at me and said, "That was fun, Mommy. Can we do it again?"
We didn't.

Thoughts For Today 7/29/2009

Henry James by John Singer Sargent, 1913

Daily Thoughts 7/29/2009

Today has been another quiet day. I weeded some in the large print and the 700s. I also looked at the new books to genrify some sections. I am thinking of four genre categories; mysteries, African American, romance, and science fiction.

I did a little ordering for the new books focusing on recent books in the media.

Right now I'm reading Xenopath by Eric Brown. It is a science fiction novel featuring a telepathic detective. It is the second novel featuring Jeff Vaughn as the main character. The first novel was Necropath. The setting Bengal station is rather interesting. It is an East Asian space station with lots of Thai and Indian cultural elements.

I also finished reading How The Mighty Fall And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins last night. I really haven't had a chance to review it yet.

I feel a little bit scattered today. We also have a section for oversize books, 26 centimeter or taller is the measure we use for quarto books. One of the new ones sitting on my desk is The Art of Harvey Kurtzman The Mad Genius of Comics by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle. Denis Kitchen is the founder of Kitchen Sink Press one of the early underground comics publishers. This particular edition is published by Abrams Comicsarts. Harvey Kurtzman is best known for creating Mad Magazine. They have one of my favorite of Harvey Kurtzman's comics, Super Duperman in this book. They also have a picture of Robert Crumb at a very young age which is kind of interesting to look at.

I'm starting to accumulate books again. There are a couple more which came in for me, How You Make The Sale by Frank McNair, Montmorency and the Assassins and Montmorency On The Rocks by Eleanor Updale. I think that libraries are very much like bookstores, they have a product to sell; that product is books and other media. One of the main activities in bookstores is called "handselling" where you sell a specific book to a customer based on what they want. In some ways it is not that different from "readers advisory" in libraries. There is quite a bit of crossover between the two skills.

Daily Thoughts 7/28/2009 ( How The Mighty Fall )

The Danish Royal Library, interior view of building in Fiolstræde.

Daily Thoughts 7/28/2009

I finished reading The City and The City by China Mieville. It was very enjoyable to read on the train. I just started reading How The Mighty Fall And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins. It tells the story of why very successful companies come apart.

Today was another steady day. I did more weeding in the large print books, and the sports books. The summer youth employees are shifting the 700s right now to free up some book carts. My colleague is weeding the scores. It is sometimes good to know what you are not good at. I don't know a whole lot about music scores. I am still considering where the graphic novels will be merchandised. Somtimes work is about consistency and showing up every day to do what needs to be done.

A person who worked for me for a while as a library aide came by today to ask me for a part time job. This is her second visit. Unfortunately, there are no new jobs right now. People take what they can get these days.

I am looking at Montmorency's Revenge by Eleanor Updale. On the back of the book, there are awards listed for the young adult series; Nestle Smarties Prize Silver Medal and Booksense 76 Pick. Also a starred review in School Library Journal, The Horn Book, and The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books. The book like the author has a very distinctly English style.

I read some more of How The Mighty Fall on the train home. The book mentions five business thinkers; Peter Drucker, Edward Deming, Michael E Porter, and Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman. The only one I have not read is the book In Search of Excellence by Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman. I remember reading Michael E. Porter while I was working doing recruitment research during my dot com days to understand how to better get people from competitors.

Are We Being Amused?

Let’s get this out of the way first. The term “amusement park.” Kind of an anachronism, don’t you think? I get “theme” park—that works in many cases. But I hardly call being dropped thirteen stories straight down a pitch black elevator shaft simply amusing. No, this is something that SCARES THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUTTA ME! (And that was the tamest, most acceptable way I could put it, without the actual desired expletives.)

I’m talking about Disney’s California Adventure’s “Tower of Terror,” of course. “Terror” doesn’t begin to cut it, for me. Got talked into this amusing torture a few years ago, and I’m still quivering at the core. Stephen King once commented that he simply wrote about the various things that scare people; our basic, instinctual fears. Well, Mr. King and several thrill ride designers have something in common. Disney’s “Hollywood Tower Hotel” elevator moves both vertically and horizontally, and is controlled by a randomized computer program. That, in itself, is enough to scare many people.

What scares you? Obviously, for me, it’s the drop. The fear of freefalling. Disney calls it a "delirious drop." I'll say! I also can’t take Splash Mountain at Disneyland (take the WDS virtual ride at You Tube.) That moment of unrestrained weightlessness, terrifying to me, simply enraptures others. For some, audio-animatronics are the stuff of nightmares. Think the massive, bellowing King Kong* at the Universal Studios Tour or the mechanical, computerized “JAWS” that leaps at the tram on the same ride. (I’ll admit to once jumping onto my boyfriend’s lap at the sight of the great white snapping his bloody, deadly jaws.)

Roller coasters are another breed. Twisting, turning, climbing, racing downhill, hell-bent on bucking off its intrepid riders. I’m not a conventional coaster fan, but I do love thematic coasters-in-disguise such as Space Mountain, Big Thunder and the Matterhorn.

So come on, what’s your bugaboo? What ride leaves you quaking, shaking and leaving the lights on at night? Or do you simply just enjoy being amused…

Pam Ripling is the author of middle-grade mystery, LOCKER SHOCK! Buy it at Quake, Fictionwise or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle! Visit Pam at www.BeaconStreetBooks.com.

ps - You "amusement park" fanatics will be happy to note that the aforementioned King Kong attraction, which was badly damaged during a studio fire last year, is being rebuilt. Story about plans for the upgraded 3D ape here.

Daily Thoughts 7/27/2009 ( Books On The Air )

"Haiti. A drama of the black Napoleon by William Du Bois : With the New York cast." Poster for Federal Theatre Project presentation of "Haiti" at the Copley Theatre, 463 Stuart St., Boston, Mass., showing bust portrait of Toussaint Louverture. From Wikimedia. I liked the image.

Daily Thoughts 7/27/2009

I have been thinking about books in the media. We get a lot of requests for material which people have heard about on the radio, television, and the internet. I think I'm going to have to pay more attention to this. We have been aiming to boost our circulation a lot. These are some places to look for media tie ins.

Books In The Media
http://news.bookweb.org/mediaguide/

NYPL Books On The Air
http://www.booksite.com/texis/scripts/bookletter/showfab.html?sid=5796&qlname=NLAIR

There is also ICV2's movies and television section if you want to know which comics are going to be turned into films. http://www.icv2.com/search/index.php?q=movies/+tv

This is a video of China Mieville talking about The City and The City.

Today has been a quiet day. I have been watching things happen slowly. They have been moving ahead with the shifting project in the 700s. I showed someone how to do weeding with the laptop. I talked about creating a section for genre fiction-- mysteries and science fiction in the "New Arrivals" area who was returning from vacation.

I am thinking of merchandising the graphic novels. It should happen fairly soon.

I checked out Xenopath A Bengal Station Novel by Eric Brown. It is a science fiction novel. I also read the latest copy of the New York Times Book Review. I am also looking at a copy of How The Mighty Fall And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins. Very every day stuff.

FINALLY!!!

You have no idea how wonderful it was to finally wash my hair (and actually being able to comb it)! I think I've never felt this happy about actually taking a shower and washing my hair. After I had the perm done Syu Yi jie jie said I shouldn't wash my hair in three days in order to make the perm more effective. Of course, I could have skipped all those days and washed it the day after, but mum persuaded me into letting it be since my hair was so curly before. Usually, I wash my hair every day so you must imagine how awful it felt not being able to clean it in three whole days! Yuck.

But I'm quite happy I didn't, because I can already see that my hair is straight now but not extremely straight straight. It must be because of the maggi mee curls I had this past year, haha. I don't think I will ever go back to that curly. Sure it was beautiful, but the work and time put on it to get it into such a shape wasn't that wonderful I can just tell you. I won't say that I never will go curly again but that's just not something that I consider for the future at this point. I'm still very satisfied with my new straight (but not extremely straight straight, haha) hair since it is much easier to handle, compared to some other stuff I'm facing at the present moment.

Maybe it's not Audrina Patridge straight but I like it =)

Oh, the Horror of FUN!

I'm working in a whole new genre for me—horror. I love this genre—books, movies, art—all of those wonderfully spine-tingling images have always drawn me to them like they were chocolate.

Mystery Walk is the first book I read by Robert McCammon. One of my favorite scenes is about a haunted carnival ride. People have died over and over, their souls left to haunt the ride and our hero can see and hear them. Awesome sequence.

One of my first favorite movies in this genre (that I was allowed to watch) was The Fury. This is about a father determined to save his son from the government folks wanting to exploit his psychic abilities. At the end, the boy causes the ride to spin off its base, loaded with people. (Trailer for the Fury)

Another "theme park gone bad" film I totally loved was WestWorld. This is Terminator meets Clint Eastwood in a really twisted way!

My personal favorite ride is the Zipper. When the cage really spins, I can't stop laughing, it's so much fun. I always remember these scenes however, and I think this adds to my thrill. For the price of a few perforated tickets, I can experience the fun over and over again.

What's your favorite ride and why?


J.R. Turner is the author of the Extreme Hauntings series. The first book, DFF: Dead Friends Forever is available at Amazon.com, Kindle, Fictionwise, and Echelon Press.com

Wildfire A Novel by Sarah Micklem

Wildfire A Novel by Sarah Micklem

This novel is about a woman in a fantasy setting named Firethorn. It is the second book in a trilogy. I liked the first book, Firethorn. I rather like that the main character survives by her wits. She is the concubine of a knight who follows him to war. There is magic in this novel, but not the magic of blessed swords and wizards throwing lightning bolts. Firethorn is a healer and is sometimes touched by visions and dreams. She also comes from a conquered people.

The novel is very visceral. There is a lot of violence and sex (often artfully described, maybe with a hint of the Kama Sutra) . Also because the main character is a healer, we get descriptions of diseased people being cured with herbs, or women giving birth. The descriptions in the writing seem to draw from history. I can recognize ideas or images from the myths and history of India, Japan, the Celts, and the Germanic peoples.

The novel is full of surprises. At one point the main character is a bonds woman in a foreign land and eventually rises to become a courtesan. It does not end in the way I expected at all.

This novel is quite literary. It feels like it was very well researched. The descriptions are often very intense; being bitten by poisonous snakes, collecting herbs by the river beds, praying to Ardor Hearthfire, divining with finger bones.

Wildfire is 519 pages long making it an epic tome. It was hard to put down at points. It is not a typical novel at all. I like the cover art for the novel. I also liked the poetry and the few drinking songs in the novel. The authors background in graphic design shows in how well the novel is paced and laid out. Publishers Weekly gave this book a starred review.

Crazy food

My husband has told me that, if I ever got pregnant, he would know immediately, because I'd start eating like a normal person. I have very creative tastes in food, mainly centering around condiments. Of course, most of my foods make people a little nauseous; a soup made of cottage cheese and salsa, mashed potatoes and mustard, cheddar slices dipped in tomato juice, spaghetti and pickles...you get the idea. But a few of my snacks have actually won rather universal popularity, so I figured I would share them with you. They're simple enough that you don't need to make it into an 'official' recipe format.

For the first, all you have to do is combine cottage cheese with a fair amount of pitted green olives (try to estimate 1 per bite). Mix well, then eat with Ritz crackers (Ritz crackers are crucial; don't try generic Ritz or anything crazy like that). This can actually replace a meal, and it's quite healthy; be careful though, because it's low in calories, but high in salt.

The second is my favorite, for a couple reasons, not least that this is a filling, practically zero calorie alternative to chips and dip. Peel and slice a small cucumber (crosswise, so you get little disks). Then, either put salsa into a bowl on the side and use the slices to dip, or arrange the cukes on a plate and pour salsa over them. For an additional flavor twist (but keep in mind, it'll raise the amount of calories in this snack) mix feta cheese into the salsa.
Hope you enjoy my strange snacks!


Buy Jacquelyn's YA Fantasy novel at Amazon.com or from Quake Direct!

Daily Thoughts 7/26/009

John Buchan author of The 39 Steps which was made into an Alfred Hitchcock film.

Daily Thoughts 7/26/2009

I have been downloading Windows Defender to deal with spyware. Somehow the updates to Spybot Search and Destroy were being blocked so I had to go around the problem.

I tried to start watching Waltz With Bashir, but found it to be a very heavy, serious, dark, and philosophical film. It was not what I expected at all. The style of animation was different than any other I had seen before. Lots of somber greys, browns, and other dark colors. It was almost photorealistic but with more muted colors. The film was about memories of Israeli soldiers from the Lebanon war. The animation and story were very well done, but they are not what I wanted to see at the moment. There is a lot of dream imagery mixed in with memories, some of it sexually charged. I might watch it later. I was hoping for something less somber. Ths is definitely a serious film.

Copper Reflections

Still life is not my first subject choice, but every now and then there is this urge to try my hand.

Brilliant New York artist, Susan Martin Spar, always posts the most incredible still life paintings. So I thought, let me try again. With a bit of help from a fellow artist (we were lucky enough to use our wonderful teacher, Margie Johnson's studio while she was visiting her son in Australia), we set up this grouping.

I think I really wanted to try again because of the incredible reflections in the copper kettle. A spare bottle of red wine was found to round off the setting, which we promptly drank when I had finished.

Daily Thoughts 7/25/2009

Herbet Spenser

Today started quietly. I finished reading The Golden Rules for Managers. It was interestig. I went and got my hair cut this morning and took a long walk. I am looking at a dvd film called Waltz With Bashir by Ari Folman. It is an animated film about an Israeli soldier of the First Lebanon war who has forgotten much of what happened. It won the Golden Globe for best Foreign Language Film and National Society of Film Critics Film of the Year. I have not watched it. Last Night I watched Bolt. It is an entertaining animated kids film about a dog who does not realize he is not a superdog.

I am procrastinating a little bit on writing a review of Wildfire by Sarah Micklem. I am still thinking about it. I also have a copy of The City and The City by China Mieville sitting in front of me. They are all good books. I try not to spend too much time on books I do not like.

I have started reading The City and The City by China Mieville. The book is a murder mystery set in an imaginary city Beszel in what would be contemporary Eastern Europe. It reads like the present, but everything is just slightly off. The names sound real, but if you look closely, they are just slightly off from reality.

Finally a dinner with grandpa

I can't believe that we still haven't went out to have a real real dinner with grandpa after these six we've been here so far. We've just been to busy being at other places, but happily enough that's going to change tonight. Or actually in the matter of minutes. Okay, now I've got to get ready. Luckily, there's no hair crisis to deal with!

Hasta la vista!

Sophia Bush haircut xD

(Peek-a-boo before I have a picture at the real stuff)

Finally I've got that straight hair I've been longing for for such a long time. I was so tired of fixing my huge bird nest every morning that I had moments when I just thought that wouldn't life be easier if I just cut it all off and wore a wig!? Luckily enough, I did not do such a thing and here I am today with my silky, smooth and tremendously straight hair. It's what I call sexi-mama hair, haha!

It wasn't really planned that I was going to get it done today but since I had nothing better to do I followed Syu Yi jie jie to the hair salon where she works and two and a half hour later I walked out with hair a la Brooke (Sophia Bush) in One Tree Hill. That means that it's cut to the shoulders, yes but I'm getting used to it and I realized that I really like it even though I was terrified when she grabbed a pair of scissors (since I've saved my hair for so long) and said that I really needed to get rid of my split ends. Anyhow, the fact that Vicki keeps looking at me while sighing:

- You look exactly like Brooke...You're hair is soo pretty...

doesn't really make me that sad either about my hair being slightly shorter. However, when mum and Syu Yi jie jie said that I looked younger...I have no more comments to add, haha! =)

Daily Thoughts 7/24/2009 (Golden Rules For Managers )

Tatyana from Evgeni Onegin, by Elena Samokysh-Sudovskaya. 1900-1904

Daily Thoughts 7/24/2009

I had some time to do some weeding in the oversize books and the sports section. I still have quite a bit to do. They are still shifting the 700s as well.

I took some time to look for award books. I looked at the Edgar Award for mysteries, the RITA award for romance, and also looked at the Horror Writers of America association. I picked out the 2008 Pulitzer prize for poetry book, The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin.

One of my favorite young adult adventure series of novels is the Montmorency series by Eleanor Updale. It just reminds me so much of Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson. The writing is truly intriguing. It is a tale of a gentleman thief with a very dark side.

I have been reading Golden Rules for Managers 119 Incredible Lessons For Leadership Success by Frank McNair. It reads like a management book for people who like to read motivational business titles. The book reminds me a little bit of Who Moved My Cheese. We have a few people who come in regularly for authors like Norman Vincent Peale or Og Mandino.

The book has lots of acronyms, business fables, anecdotes, maxims, and sayings. It would be excellent for a salesperson or gregarious customer service person to pull pithy quotes from. Unlike many other motivational titles it also includes a number of recognizable business terms like SMART targets, participatory management, and performance appraisals which are listed in the index. Frank McNair rolled many loose business ideas into one coherent book. This book is a 2009 reprint of the 2000 edition. The book itself is very presentable. The typeface is very clean and the page layout is vey readable.

Frank McNair has an MBA from Wake Forest University and a certificate in Presbyterian theology. He also runs a well respected consultancy, http://www.mcnairandmcnair.com/ He does not make any direct religious statements though except for the Golden Rule . It is the kind of book a company might bulk order for their whole sales department as part of a motivational seminar.

Body Harvest

Body Harvest was created by DMA, the same company that later became Rockstar, well-known by titles like the Grand Theft Auto series and Manhunt. This game can best be described as a thirdperson shooter with some puzzle elements.

You take control of Adam, a spacemarine descending to earth when aliens are attempting to take over earth by setting up energy shields so the military gets cut off from these areas, It’s your task to remove these aliens from these areas and save the population.

Along the way you’ll encounter several puzzles, some of which are harder then others, but in general, using your basic insight will get you a long way. The main point in the game is fighting aliens, which can be done with a variety of weapons, ranging from the standard pistol to the obtainable special weapon, which you receive after collecting all weapon crystals.

The graphics were great back in the day, when comparing it to other games, when you’re in battle it’s a feast for the eye, the aliens have unique features and the explosions are fun to look at. Each level(which are divided into 4 stages) has a unique look to it, you’ve got Greece(warm climate, standard western houses), Java(rainy, a lot of water, wooden huts) and Siberia(cold climate and little civilization).

The player can also make use of many vehicles throughout the game, they range from boats to aircrafts, both modern and old. Among these vehicles there are many military vehicles like tanks and aircrafts. Using these vehicles is an important aspect of the game, since throughout the game you’ll encounter situations in which you’ll need to get to a point quickly, such as when a town is under siege by the aliens. But you need them out of combat situations aswell, for example at one point in the game you’ll need to rescue a group of villagers from their island since a volcano bursted and lava is slowly getting closer whilst they are trapped in a building.

In this game you aren’t constantly fighting the aliens, it plays a big role but it’s more than a simple shooter. You’ll face many puzzles and challenges, like the lava situation mentioned before. There is also quite a big backstory you could find out if you want, because in houses there are bookshelves you can use in order to gain information about these aliens and why they attack Earth.

Of course not every aspect of this game is perfect, for example walking could get quite annoying since the character moves very slow. Swimming in the game is also discouraged, since Adam swims very slow because of robotic suit and drowning is quite a big danger.

Body Harvest is the first shooter I ever owned, so I spend a substantial part of my childhood playing this game. Even though I’ve never gotten around to complete it, I had great fun playing it. It always kept me interrested from beginning to end, even though I didn’t know English back then, which meant I didn’t understand anything that was said and written, making it so that I had to figure everything out, but luckily most challenges were self-explanetory. All in all, a great game that you should check out if you ever come across it.

Daily Thoughts 7/23/2009 ( New Arrivals )

Daily Thoughts 7/23/2009

I finished reading Sarah Micklem's book Wildfire. The book is full of surprises and did not turn out how I expected at all. I am thinking about how I am going to review it. It is quite good, but it is also very visceral with lots of sex and violence. Surprisingly, this is not described in an inappropriate manner. The writing still maintains a strong sense of style and voice. I am going to review it in the next couple of days.

I spent some more time reading review material this morning. Later in the afternoon I took a few minutes to look at the Romantic Times Website and the Black Expressions site. I am looking for a good general place which lists recent novels translated into english.

We received two end slat wall panels for the "New Arrivals" area. This finishes the furnishings. It is looking excellent. We checked the bestseller lists to see if there were any to display in a bestsellers area. It turned out that all of our bestsellers are being checked out which is a very good sign for circulation.

I did a small amount of weeding in the large print also today. We are also shifting books in the 700s. Today has been a productive day.

A piece of everything

I'm such a lazy blogger, I have lots of things I want to write about but I'm too lazy to sit down and really make it happen. Actually I was going to post something yesterday when I got home from supper, but PS's house was one among the five houses that just had to get a power outage (at midnight!). First, I thought I was going to die when it actually struck me that I had to sleep without air-condition, but then it got worse when I came to realize that there wasn't even a fan available! Good lord, the only luck I had was the fact that I'm not afraid of the dark. Luckily, about 01.30 am. someone came to fix it (by then I was half dead and had three mosquito bites already -.-) and I could get some real beauty sleep, kind of.

- That bed is as hard as a rock! PS has some jade mattress with heating lights (that we finally persuaded not to have on while sleeping. Honestly, I will melt to death in my sleep!) on it to improve blood circulation and strengthen the skeleton, but that really must be bullshit! I'm 16 years old and I have my first back pain!

Anyhow, Genting was great but soooooooooooo crowded! My goodness, I will tell you everything later when I have the pictures to share my story with. However, even though there were so many people there, I couldn't find anyone really cute! All I could find was a tacky sense of dressing! Horrible, horrible...-.- It shouldn't be allowed to buy clothes like that - anywhere! Oh, and I went to sing karaoke with Vicky and mami for the first time! Gosh, that was so much fun...

Fun-tastic Cuisine!

Teen-Seen has been all about creative food this week- but what about a food you can play with and not get in trouble? Sounds cool huh?


This recipe has been in my family ever since my Dad's grandma won a peanut butter cookie contest with these. We always make them around the holidays. They also became a traditional snack at the Jr. Beta State convention in Myrtle Beach! Oh wait- no instructions? You just dump the ingredients in a bowl and stir?

Basically.

Yep, Peanut Butter Log Cookies are that easy. Dump the ingredients into a bowl. Stir until well blended. Then shape! This is best done on wax paper sprinkled with powdered sugar. Dust your hands with some more powdered sugar, and get your hands dirty! Usually you can get 2 logs that are each about a foot long. Then you top with powdered sugar and stick 'em in the refrigerator. Leave them in there until solid and then slice and enjoy! They're no-bake, all-fun, and completely delicious!

Log cookies are the easiest (and safest) things that I like to make. My dad and I love to whip together AWESOME desserts- cheesecakes, almond roca, chocolate mousse, jellyrolls, ice-cream cakes, ice cream, even creme brulee. You name it, Dad and I have probably made it. When I first started to really cook with my dad, it got to the point that Mom (Regan) cringed when we reached for the sugar in the pantry. Now we've slowed down some, but we still enjoy ourselves when it's our turn in the kitchen.

In my opinion, the most creative food is the one that gives you the most memories. What sorts of family recipes do you have? What's you favorite dessert? Who do you like cooking with most? Interested Teen-Seen readers and I want to know!

Iris Black

My short story, Just One of the Guys, is available on Kindle. For more information about this and other news, go to Sam's Space now!

Daily Thoughts 7/22/2009 ( Wildfire )

Le silence intérieur, af Carlos Schwabe (1866-1926).

Daily Thoughts 7/22/2009

I have been reading more of Wildfire by Sarah Micklem. It is very raw and visceral. The story is excellent. It is a story of hardship and adventure. The main character, Firethorn, is a concubine of a knight, she is also a healer and touched by her gods. I really like the opening passage where she is struck by lightning and becomes a bit addled for several chapters.

I am looking at Yoshiro Tatsumi's A Drifting Life published by Drawn and Quarterly. It is the story of a manga artist who lives a wandering life. The book is a slice of life manga. It was recommended to me at this years Book Expo America. I really liked the Drawn and Quarterly publishers booth. There was a lot of very avant garde material.

Today has been an interesting day. I have been weeding the large print collection. I also changed the pattern for ordering large print. The bookmobile is going to be taking recommendations and I am going to be ordering from the holds purchase alerts.

I also spent some time looking at the Indienext bestseller list of the American Booksellers Association and the staff picks for Powell's bookstore as well as some staff picks from the Strand Bookstore. I often think it is good to look outside the standard library magazine sources of Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews.

I am using a laptop with a wireless connection and a hand scanner to check the circulation on the books. It makes the process much easier and much faster. It is something new for me. I am using just getting used to using a touchpad instead of a mouse. Sometimes I feel, I am bundle of contradictions, both very up to date and very behind.

Talent Is Overrated What Really Separates World Class Performers From Everyone Else by Geoff Colvin

Talent Is Overrated What Really Separates World Class Performers From Everyone Else by Geoff Colvin

This book is an argument for "deliberate practice" over long time periods to create superior performance. It separates regular practice from "deliberate practice" by describing it as practice under expert guidance with specific goals for improvement. Some of the types of deliberate practice described are Tiger Wood's golf practice, Jerry Rice's football practice, practicing to become a concert musician or a master chess player.

The book describes how "deliberate practice" can be applied in more mundane situations. For example if you wanted to improve your writing skills, you might read The Elements of Style, analyze the stories of O. Henry, and study print design in a focused manner. What is described is not easy to do, and requires quite a bit of concentration. I can see how it could be done with something like blogging or poetry.

There are three focuses in practice which are talked about; improving knowledge, improving memory of the subject being studied, and percieving more. The book states that it takes ten years to master most subjects. This is why it is so important to start at a very young age in so many fields like ballet and music. I don't see why it is not perfectly applicable to gardening or any other interest.

This book is an argument against the concept of nature versus nurture. It says that focus and concentration on a specific skill under expert guidance for many hours a day are what make superior performance. I rather like the idea and can see some of the point. However, I am not completely ready to count talent out. It is a very intellectual book. It makes you think.

Daily Thoughts 7/21/2009 ( Twitter )

Sculpture Maigret (1966) by Pieter d'Hont in Delfzijl/The Netherlands. Maigret is a fictional detective by Georges Simenon.

Daily Thoughts 7/22/2009

I read some more of Talent Is Overrated. At this point in the book, they are talking about innovation. They tell us that most major innovations come after at least ten years of "deliberate practice" in a given field. This is a rather interesting idea. It is different explanation than the one of natural talent. It says you must develop deep knowledge of what you are doing to create breakthrough innovations.

I picked up Wildfire by Sarah Micklem from the new books section. It is the sequel to Firethorn which is a fantasy novel. I like the cover art on these books by Mark Stutzman. I think he did an excellent job. http://www.workbook.com/portfolios/stutzman Sometimes, the artist who an author chooses to illustrate a book cover is very critical in how a book sells.

I weeded some of the large print books and the mystery books. I am also considering changing how we order large print books.

Web Bits

A book vending machine in the subways in Spain. I am wondering how long a machine like this would last in a Manhattan, New York subway. http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/the-literary-vending-machine/

http://news.bookweb.org/6924.html
Savvy Booksellers Use Twitter to Draw Crowds, Boost Sales

An opinion piece on libraries from the Christian Science Monitor. http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20090717/cm_csm/ywisner

Waiting Patiently

It's been a while since I did anything for Karin Jurick's wonderful DSFDF blog, but love this guy sitting on his chair outside the office. I have called it 'Waiting Patiently' because it reminded me so much of all our refugees from Zimbabwe and points north, waiting and waiting outside the home office to get refugee status papers from our veeerrry sloooow government department.

I am not 100% happy with it and think I need to tone down the background somewhat, but because I've sent it on to Karin (hopefully in the correct format!) I thought I would post him here as well.

I have also been honoured with another award by the incredible animal portrait artist, Karie-Ann Cooper who lives an idyllic life in rural England! It is the Premio Meme Award and to be honoured in this way by this amazing artist is humbling.

I will in time, think of things to say about me that I haven't already said on my blog, although what Karie-Ann said about herself rings a lot of bells with me. Rather than send it on to individual people, I would dedicate this award to all those wonderful people I interact with on my blog - last count 76! All you amazingly talented artists out there, this one is for you!

Creative Food - It's not what you think!

Chefs get creative with food; the rest of us just eat it, right?

I'm not a chef, but I'm going to suggest a new way of looking at food - in miniature. It's as realistic, as yummy looking, and --- no calories!

I think you'll agree. Check out this amazingly realistic food, and try not to drool!

(The food is dollhouse scale, made of polymer clay. Many of the dishes are smaller than 1" in size!)



* Sam in Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery finds some amazing miniatures as she searches for a lost (mini) Van Gogh!

It's Monday

Do I have to be creative - about food - on a Monday? Really?

Ah-well... to be fair it IS mid-morning on a Monday...and when I get peckish - and in need of a snack - I can get very creative.

Fair warning this first list is NOT compiled of healthy foods:

Candy corn and dry roasted peanuts. Fabulous! Add m&m's if you want a choco-rush with it.
Peanut butter and pretzels (I fib to myself and say it's better than the candy corn thing)
Cold pizza (I try to control myself and take the smallest available slice)

In the health conscious category - like when just looking at my jeans makes me wince:

Cottage cheese and grapes
An apple with a slice of cheese or peanut butter
Yogurt with a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips

You might notice a few of my food vices (like coffee) or my fave snacks (of either category) occasionally show up in my books and shorts - all available at Echelon Press or Amazon

Happy Snacking!
Regan

Daily Thoughts 7/20/2009 ( Talent Is Overrated ) ( Kreativ Blogger Award )

This was an appreciation award given by William Bentrim http://bookrevues.blogspot.com/

Herodotus and Thucydides

Daily Thoughts 7/20/2009

We created a new section for citizenship books and material next to the ESL books. I think it is the right practical thing to do. I also have been checking for books to mend and clean. They are mainly replacing plastic covers on books.

My orders were put in for the month this morning for July. I am putting in fiction orders for August. I like to be well ahead of time on ordering things.

Right now the computer technician is setting up a laptop with a handheld scanner so I can check the shelves without bringing the books upstairs and downstairs. It will make things go much faster.

They are shifting books to make room in the 700s. Hopefully, when they are done, I think there will be a little extra room and I will be able to merchandise the graphic novels.

We have a new part time librarian who came in today. I am looking forward to working with him. It has been a nice quiet day today at the library.

Sometimes I don't have a huge amount to say. I read some more of Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin. I am learning about the difference between practice and "deliberate practice". Deliberate practice is practice focused around improving specific skills using expert instruction. This is what separates the practice of experts like Jerry Rice, the football star, and Ben Franklin who spent hours every single day practicing his writing.

An example of how I might use "deliberate practice" to improve my writing skills would be for me to read Fowler's English Usage and then The Elements of Style, followed by learning more about wordprocessing software, then taking O. Henry's short stories and rewriting them in my own words.

As a condition of the award, I have to list seven of my favorite things.

1. Walking, I try and walk a lot on the weekends.
2. Libraries ( I go there a lot)
3. Bookstores (Especially ones like the Strand)
4. Conventions ( Comic and book conventions are best )
5. Reading ( I even like reading labels on cereal boxes )
6. Cartoons (The old ones are best, Superman, Betty Boop, Popeye )
7. Coffee ( I drink too much coffee)

My favorite blogs:

1. Joe Wikert's Publishing 2020 Blog http://jwikert.typepad.com/the_average_joe/
2. Kimbooktu http://kimbooktu.wordpress.com/
3. Read Street http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/
4. I'll Never Forget The Day I Read A Book http://residentreader.blogspot.com/
5. The Thin Red Line http://libdrone.info/
6. Cromely's World http://cromely.blogspot.com/
7. Pick of the Literate http://bookrevues.blogspot.com/
   
   

Uluru: To Climb or Not To Climb

Sorry for the recent lack of posts. I've taken a bit of a sebbatical over the last few weeks. Ok, to be honest, I collapsed with exhaustion under an enormous workload, then buggered off to the desert for a while. Leaving aside the horrifying details of embarking upon a desert road trip in a Kia Rio, with my non-English speaking mother-in-law; being fleeced by every sole trader in the Northern Territory, and encountering "Dinky, the Singing Dingo", I'll merely mention that we visited Uluru, then came home to find it at the centre of a cultural stoush about land rights, and whether or not it is acceptable for non-indigenous Australians to climb the rock.

The Northern Territory is, in many ways, a confusing place. Laws exist that actively discriminate between indigenous and non-indigenous Australias. White people find that there are wide tracts of land which they cannot enter without a permit from local elders, whilst in other areas, Aboriginal people may find that they (and they alone) are not allowed to purchase alcohol due to tribal edicts. Tourists at Uluru are faced with a complicated and subtle consideration when they discover that, although a clearly marked climb exists, with requisite safety rails, an array of signs at the bottom of the rock ask that "you respect the wishes of the Anangu people, and do not climb Uluru".

The reason isn't (entirely) one of whether "white" people should be on "black" land - the Anangu people are clear in stating that they are concerned for the safety of climbers, and that deaths or injuries sustained at Uluru cause the local people to experience "great sadness", and a feeling of responsibility for the casualties. Yet, the locals are also angry that the track exists in what is considered to be a sacred place of great spiritual significance. Recent calls have been made that the track be closed, and that visitors be banned from climbing Uluru out of respect for local customs.

I didn't climb Uluru, but it wasn't out of cultural sensitivity (frankly, it looked like a death wish, and before I'd gone fifty metres up, my shoes were slipping against the sheer rock in an alarming fashion). However, it's something that tens of thousands of people, from around the world, do every year. The question of whether they should be allowed to continue to do so is often, falsely, posed as a clear-cut one, by boths sides of the debate. Anti-climbers shrilly insist that cultural sensitivity is paramount, and frequently throw in, for good measure, a reference to the Stolen Generations, Invasion Day, or any other of the numerous and grave injustices against Aborigines over the last two centuries, to back up the point that concessions must be made in the name of reconciliation and cultural respect.

Pro-climbers often fallaciously argue that land cannot be owned, (as it pre-exists its owners, and isn't man made),and claim that the rock is a "national treasure" which all Australians (and foreigners) should be able to access, and decide whether or not to climb. An Editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald described the move to ban climbers from Uluru as "insular", whilst Prime Minister Kevin Rudd opposed the move, claiming that it would be "very sad if... Australians and... our guests from abroad weren't able to enjoy that experience". And whilst nobody is saying it too loudly, closing the climb could have serious effects upon the local tourism industry.

A good part of the argument boils down to whether it is appropriate or fair for the government to make one law for one ethnic group, and another law for the rest. Some Australians have already argued that the permit system of "closed communities" reinforces ethnic and cultural segregation, as well as effectively disenfranchising non-indigenous Australians (about 97.5% of the population) from entering large areas of their home country*. The permit system is often justified on the basis that "we took their land to start with", and therefore non-indigenous people have only a vicarious and fragile right to live in Australia, whilst indigenous groups have an inviolate historical right. For many non-indigenous Australians, this begs the question of where we should be living, as this is the only home we have known. If this country is somebody's sacred, ancestral land, then where on Earth is my sacred, ancestral land? Those of mixed heritage (like myself) don't seem to have much recourse to claim the right to live anywhere, if the right to do so is determined by belonging to a distinct ethnic, cultural and linguistic group.

Considering the extremely long odds on the fact that non-indigenous groups are going to abandon living in Australia**, it doesn't seem useful to perpetuate the idea that some of us have more rights to the land, or are more Australian than others. Being a citizen should be a consideration which trumps all others, including race and culture. True reconciliation can only be achieved when indigenous and non-indigenous people stand together as friends, instead of self-segregating in distrust and misunderstanding. True cultural respect can never be forced by means of a ban.

*Of course, claims to white victimhood in the debate over access to land are generally dismissed as being ridiculous, naive, and ignorant of historical facts - but on the other hand, it's easy to see the way that the policy may be depicted if it were reversed, in that it was white people telling Aboriginal people where they could and could not visit.

** I'd rate this as just slightly more likely than Paris Hilton ever winning an Oscar.

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Thoughts)

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This is a literary fantasy set in the Barcelona of the 1920s and 1930s. David Martin the main character walks the line between heaven and hell. His life is one of loneliness and darkness haunted by the bad pulp novels he writes.

This book has a wonderful sense of the symbolic. The main character lives in a tower house whose previous inhabitants have all suffered terrible fates. The villain, Andreas Corelli, has piercing eyes and wears a lapel pin in the shape of an angel. There is a nice sense of contradiction as well. David's father who is shot to death in an alley is given a heroic funeral.

The work he is commissoned to write by Andreas Corelli will damn him no matter what he does. It is through the power of literature he is saved. My favorite scene in the novel is where he is taken by a bookstore owner to the cemetery of forgotten books. The description reminds me of old library storage stacks.

This book very much reminds me of the fantastic side of books. Bibliophiles will like the literary allusions. The Angel's Game is well worth reading.

Sunday Musings 7/19/209 ( Facebook, Bookmarketing Ning )

Sinclair Lewis, Nobel laureate in Literature 1930

Sunday Musings 7/19/2009

I just joined http://bookmarket.ning.com/ I am hoping I can learn a few new things.

I just joined Facebook again. http://www.facebook.com/BookCalendar Facebook is not supposed to allow anonymity. For your eddification, I am now Charles Dickens writer of Tale of Two Cities an excellent book. I cannot be Jack Kerouac that is not allowed. My friend asked me to join Facebook so I could look at pictures. I am not that fond of all the little applications, but I will give it another try.

I have started reading Talent Is Overrated What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin. This book gives a different answer than nature versus nurture. It talks about starting at an early age, being intensely interested in what you are doing, concentrating very hard, and practicing a lot every single day. The author describes this in the context of John D. Rockefeller, Warren Buffett, and Tiger Woods so far.

It is free online to read Chris Anderson's Book Free: The Future of a Radical Price on SCRIBD.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17135767/FREE-full-book-by-Chris-Anderson

The Goofiest Thing...

... That I've ever done.

Well...

I think it's pretty much impossible to narrow down all the goofiest things I've done to just one. So I think I'm just going to stick to broad stories.

Like everyone else, I've tripped over my own feet. In public. With my friends.

Yeah, it's embarrassing, but it's also pretty goofy. Especially when I try to laugh it off and have even tried to say once or twice that I meant to do that. In the end, I don't believe that was a very convincing argument. I think it just made the situation all the more goofier.

Not to mention the multiple times that I've gotten tongue-tied and end up saying something totally off from what I wanted to say. Which, naturally, leads to some very goofy sayings.

Okay, so maybe it's also the most embarrassing things I've done. They sometimes combine to be one-in-the-same.

What about all of you?

What are the goofiest things that you all have done?

Genting Highlands next! xD

Wohoo! Tomorrow I am finally off to Genting Highlands. I'm not this excited because I'm a gambler, I'm just excited because I kind of like it up there. Briefly said, haha. Anyway, I'll be there Sunday to Tuesday, so I will see when I'm back to update. Promise that I will take a lot of pictures but I can't promise that they will be posted until I get back to Sweden though (if you read my blog you should know the stupid reason why...-.-).

Forum Failure?

I hereby declare the ongoing Friday night forums both a success and a failure. So far this Summer, we have talked in depth about just about everything except abortion and the death penalty.. Don't worry everyone, I'm sure we can "get there" eventually, if we choose to. Last night was exciting and engaging, with many people talking.

We shared emotions, engaged in rational debate and once in awhile we even used humor. In short, once again, we had a blast beginning with the food and ending after 11pm when the last few folks left. I was actually proud that rather than stop our discussions and race home(or stop and turn on the TV right in front of us) to watch John Stossels segment on healthcare at 10pm, we instead chose to keep talking and learning about one another.

Since one of our central themes emerged around Entertainment as Idolatry and our cultures' dependence and addiction to a constant stream of entertainment of all kinds, this was appropriate. We stayed focused on one another, rather than going into "download mode" to get our daily fix of managed message/entertainment. We explored James 1:27, and John 15:5-8 for guidance on intentionality versus outcome as a success factor for living.

Our discussion content included FUN, socialization of homeschool children, Pros and Cons of living solely in an RV "off the grid", Racism and the fairness of affirmative action as a concept not a policy, and a lot of what it takes to keep us connected and actually loving one another. We reviewed Bonhoeffer's commentary on human love versus spiritual love from Life Together, and we again discussed the Americanism framework set forth by Glenn Beck in his 912 principles and values.

All of that said, we have yet to actually establish the dialogue of diversity that I hope for. The forum is so far a failure when it comes to actually attracting people of different ideologies to actual discussion. The attendees are far from unified in our perspectives, theology and ideology but we have been largely conservative, white and pretty "well to do". In this our forum is a failure. Even by leading with the concept of American civility and the arts, and civil discourse, and openly working through the ideas of diversity, our group just hasn't been all that diverse. So we are indeed a failure so far, but the Summer is not over, and maybe, just maybe, that could change.

I have many friends, in many places and my background is filled with tremendous diversity. I remain hopeful, that they are learning from one another even if they aren't "in the room". When we tried to summarize what it actually means to be an American I agreed with Melanie that it is mostly about a sense of individualism and freedom coupled with confidence in ourselves.

We as Americans must realize that our freedom is powerful and has come at great cost, but it is indeed a great burden. When you are free, you are on your own in this big bad world. It is up to you to stand up to the government, the churches, the PTA, and even the omnipresent media on your own. It is so much easier to just go along and submit to the rule of law, jungle, club, and even church. (note that the rule of church is a very different concept from either personal or corporate religion) What does being American mean beyond freedom, I'm not sure I can get any farther.. I love my country. I believe in freedom and personal accountability. I do indeed fear that I am watching it dissolve around me due to the free will of the people. We are choosing to give it up for the supposed "greater good". These are indeed extraordinary times.

"I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died and gave that right to me. I'll gladly stand up, next to you and defend her still today.
For there ain't no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA."