Best of 2009

So 2009 is drawing to a close. Some pretty horrible stuff happened to me and my family in 2009. I can't always shrug it off and look on the bright side. But I have been very lucky to have family and friends who love and support me. My sincere thanks to all these people. But for now, I'll just focus on the trivial and the little rays of light.

Actually, before I talk about trivial things, I will say that I'm currently editing the second to last chapter of my novel. For good this time. Last time I was just editing for the beta readers. Now I incorporated the comments of all those who finished in my editing. I'm so close I can taste it! So my New Years resolution is definitely to send my story to an agent in 2010.

Now for my exciting entertainment bests of 2009!

Best Movie: Counting both plot and special effects, Star Trek was the best movie I saw in 2009. Since we're counting plot, that's why Avatar's not here. My YouTube review of the film is the most watched of all my YouTube videos. Of course, this is just because I posted it as a video response to the amazing, hilarious, and beautiful CommunityChannel's video where she mentions Star Trek. But I still think my review's pretty good.




Best Novel: I confess I haven't finished reading it yet, but I highly suspect that Unseen Academicals will be my favorite novel published in 2009. Much as I love Pratchett, I normally don't like the wizard books of Discworld. But from what I've read so far, this one ranks up with Interesting Times as the best wizards' book. I mean, Ponder is the freakin' Carmerlengo! That alone is worth reading. But the rest is just as excellent.





Best Picture Book: I knew this was going to be published long before it was, but I'm ecstatic that it's finally here. It's easily my favorite modern poem ever. Although, I have to confess I'm not as crazy about the pictures. Dave McKean's always been a bit dark to me, which I wasn't sure entirely fit how I imagine the tone of the poem. But I know that Neil Gaiman really likes working with him, and the pictures aren't bad. It's just that they're more an acquired taste.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great year and happy 2010!

Blue Moon

My sister informed me that on New Years Eve we'll have a blue moon. Unfortunately, this does NOT mean it will actually be a pretty blue color like in this picture. There have been actual blue moons before as explained in this article but this definition just means it's the second full moon in the same month. Apparently blue moons aren't as rare as I thought. They happen once about every two and a half years. But the article did say we haven't had one on New Years Eve in over a decade. I'm thinking it would be good to let it inspire you to do something you only do once in a blue moon.

Beautiful Nerds

Still shot from the excellent film, Hogfather, with Ed Coleman as Ponder Stibbons

The second in my series of beautiful people is Ponder Stibbons from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, as played here by Ed Coleman. I've been thinking about him more recently as I've been reading Unseen Academicals where Ponder really gets to shine. But I've loved himever since I saw the Hogfather film. My problem here is that I actually like the amalgam of two people. I love the personality of Ponder Stibbons, but I never envisioned him as being someone I was attracted to when I first read the books. Probably because of the Paul Kidby version of him where he looks like a slightly overweight Harry Potter. Kinda cute but not exactly screaming sex appeal. I preferred the Kidby version of Rincewind, and confess I am attracted to that picture. Even though keeping a relationship with Rincewind would be rather difficult as he runs away so much.... But Ed Coleman as Ponder embodied the perfect adorable nerd. Now, when I read Unseen Academicals, I envision Ponder as played by Coleman and love each and every scene he's in (quite a few as he unofficially runs Unseen University in this book).

On the other hand, I'm not sure I'd be as crazy about Coleman playing any other part. Sorry dude. It's the combined personality and looks that make this Ponder irresistible. Alas, he's completely unobtainable since he is fictional.

However, Coleman, if you're reading this, and it turns out you actually are like Stibbons, I have two words for you. Call me.

ZMOGM! Magical computer nerd! Brain-melt cute!
He even has his quills in a giant pocket protector!

Heh, heh, the song Almost Lover plays as I write this. So true...

My Favorite History Documentaries

They're all up on YouTube and they're called Medieval Lives by Terry Jones. They're both interesting and funny because Jones used to write for Monty Python.

Laundry

I was thinking just today that, on a normal day, you can usually tell how badly I need to do laundry based on how nice I look. Because, unless I'm going to work or trying to look nice to impress certain people, I don't dress up. My normal preference is jeans and a t-shirt, so those are the first things to get dirty. I went out today in a blouse and slacks because I'd neglected my laundry too long. But I'm not sure this is really motivation enough to do laundry more because I kinda like having an excuse to wear my nice clothes.

The Reason I'm An Insomniac

I do stupid things. Like rather than go to sleep, I decided to continue to try my luck at the trial version of Age of Empires III. Nevermind that I lost the first, second, and hundreth time I played. My competitive nature would not let me quit even when I began to suspect that winning might well be impossible. Historical fact was already against me since the game only lets you play as the Iroquois. But I persevered. Nevermind I can barely type right now because only the zombie part of my brain is still awake and zombie can only fight fake wars with Germans. Zombie cannot type.

Nevermind all of that. Because I WON! That's right! I saved America from the early settlers. See to little red guy on the ground mortally wounded? Yeah, that's their leader. The Iroquois PWNED those Germans. (Which, by the way, I remember Spanish, English, and French settlers but Germans? I guess it makes sense, but I just don't remember them in history.)

In my defense, though, I only spent all morning on this. I spent Christmas day with my family. I was determined to not even log onto the internet (I made my post shortly after midnight on Christmas eve, but that's hardly Christmas day). So I did play a little Age of Empires between Scrabble turns and my sister made me log on to check dictionary.com for a word. But, otherwise, I spent time talking and playing games with my family which, despite the disturbing bent of this post, convinced me that I really ought to spend time with my family and away from the computer more often.

Seasons Greetings

This is what California looks like in winter. I don't have any grand reflections on the holiday other than I will be relaxing. I downloaded an Age of Empires III trial version and have been consistently thomped by the Germans. For Christmas Eve, my mom cooked us a lovely pumpkin soup and figgy pudding (of "give us some figgy pudding" fame). After that I got absorbed with that game and forgot about posting entirely.

There's also been a new punishment rule created but only my sister really knew about it because no one else ever seems to notice. But I guess I'll let you all in on it now.

Here's the deal: If I realize I haven't posted before someone else, then any reader has until I actually post to tell me (an email or comment timestamped before my post will do). If they don't tell me by the time I post, then I don't have to bake a pie. But there will still be retribution...

That's right, I even still get punished, but I choose how. This is generally in the form of buying my sister a treat of some kind. Unless one of you wants to think of something else for me to do that might benefit someone other than my sister. But I'm sure she won't mind if you don't.

All right, time to go tell my sister she's earned a treat.

Officially....

...addicted to truffles. Currently I've bought three boxes this month alone but to be fair one was a present and the other two I didn't eat all by myself. But still...

Driveway Vs. Parkway

I live on a street that's called a parkway. I've heard this term before but I can't help but wonder: Why do we park on driveways and drive on parkways?

How America Protects Us From British Grammar

I've preferred British authors all my life. If you asked me to name my favorite authors, there would inevitably be more British than American in the mix. This means I've often considered myself to be quite savvy when it comes to distinctive British slang. Heck, I even had some articles published in an incredibly small British magazine. Seriously small. Like I may be the only one to still own copies.

I roll my eyes when American publishers change British book titles like Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Philip Pullman's Northern Lights. It annoys me when they take the extra British u's out of words as if our American brains will melt upon seeing them. Who doesn't already know that they have an excess of u's across the pond?

Yet, somehow, I had never known of the difference in British quotation marks. It seems that, instead of quotation marks, the Brits use what look like apostrophes but are actually what they call inverted commas. This had entirely escaped me until I was recently reading the newest book, Unseen Academicals, by my favorite author, Terry Pratchett, and noticed that all the dialogue only used single quotation marks. My brain started to slowly melt with the consistency of what I perceived as a grotesquely glaring error. All the dialogue was barely protected from the surrounding words, crouching half-naked inside these inadequate half quotation marks! Was it a mistake? Was it some literary metaphor that I wasn't clever enough to grasp? Or was it a secret message from Pratchett telling us that the apocalypse would be brought by an excess of apostrophes? The mystery was just as bad as how much the apostrophe overload was making my eyes water.

But, finally, I can breathe easy again knowing that, while it is still a mistake for the American edition to have inverted commas, it's not a mistake on the author's part (thinking of Terry Pratchett as less than infallible was also quite difficult for me). For once something distinctly British just completely skipped past the censors, and I learned something new. I'll never give up my love for the full bosom of the American quotation marks. However, knowing that a whole country of people apparently read these flat-chested little dialogue markers every day with no ill effects, aside from a propensity to produce great literature, will help me immensely in making it through this otherwise brilliant book.

Avatar: Film Review

Okay, so I was sorta wrong that there wouldn't be any lines at Avatar. There was a big line when we went to see it at the IMAX, but I still contend that this was NOT a nerd line. Nerd lines involve dressing up and camping out for days in tents. Now, this wouldn't really be necessary at the IMAX since seats are assigned, but I doubt anyone was camping out all day with their face painted blue anywhere else. But if anyone can prove me wrong, I'd be interested to hear it.

However, Avatar is undoubtably a sell-out blockbuster. I won't argue about that. My sister and I didn't have the forethought to buy tickets in advance, so we were stuck in the very front row of the IMAX watching the movie with our heads tilted back and a stupid rail obscuring the bottom few inches of the screen. But it wasn't actually as bad as it sounds and I could still see it all right for the most part. Some of the scenes might have been better further back, I think being too close can sometimes blur the 3D a little. But it was clear 90% of the time. So I was able to appreciate that the effects were very good. However, people may call me crazy, but I can still tell the difference between computer animation and reality most of the time, even with today's effects. The reason being that the textures in computer animated worlds are often too pretty and clean. Even when they add dirt, I think it's beceause all the grime and imperfections of the real world are too unpredictable to entirely replicate. Still, other than that one problem that I have with all computer generation, it was definitely photorealistic.

As for the plot. Do any of you remember Fern Gully? For any who never saw it, Fern Gully was a cartoon from my childhood where a fairy teams up with a human to save the rainforest. Well, as the man behind us in the IMAX accurately summed up, Avatar is Fern Gully in space. Not the worst plot, but by no means the most original.

Still, it's probably the only movie I'd recommend seeing on the strength of the visual effects alone. If you can, see it at an IMAX in 3D and it'll be more like an amusement park ride than a movie, so the plot won't matter much. The plot also wasn't so bad as to ruin the "ride." It just would never have been a blockbuster just on the strength of the plot alone, and I'm interested in how that will affect DVD sales for this film.

Spoilers

And then Christa and the guy whose name I don't remember saved the rainforest. The end.

Okay, not exactly but not far off. I have to say one of the biggest highlights to this film for me was when Jake adjusted his thong after first becoming part of the tribe.

The Enterprise on Star Trek has been said to move at the speed of plot. The dang Tree of Souls in this movie felt the same. After Jake and the alien chick have bestiality alien sex under this one tree that looks and acts remarkably like the Tree of Souls, the tree is bull-dozed.

However, later in the film they are, once again, protecting the Tree of Souls? Is this just part that escaped bull-dozing, or is it another Tree of Souls? If it's another Tree of Souls, how many are there? Because if there's a lot, then it's pretty weird to put all your energy into protecting just one. And if there were two, why are there two? Is one a back-up tree?

And it seemed rather serendipitous that the aliens were just close enough to human to be sexy. But this is not the first sci-fi to do that and, sadly, it's highly unlikely it'll be the last.

Clearly, though, this plot was not made for too much logical scrutiny.

But as environmental parables go, it was okay. I was actually rooting for the humans to lose. I'd like to say this was because the story did a good job helping us sympathize with the aliens. But this would be patently untrue. In reality, I'm afraid it's quite likely that a part of my psyche just hates humanity and wants to see its butt kicked by dazzlingly attractive, CGI, blue people. I take comfort in the fact that clearly I'm not the only one.

Saw Avatar Today

Will talk more about it when not exhausted.

A Nice Birthday Suit

And another project for awesome video I liked. I felt like project for awesome didn't take over YouTube as much as it has in previous years which made me sad but I did my best to help.

EDIT: I just saw a video by Hank who was really pleased with the results so maybe I'm not looking at the right page? In years before it used to take over the front page of YouTube, but it didn't, or maybe I just didn't check at the right times? But apparently it was huge on twitter.

Project For Awesome

Every year the vlogbrothers try to take over YouTube with videos about charities. If you comment and rate these videos, you really help them out. See John's video for more details.



So, Cherie, why haven't you made a video? Umm...err... *Runs away*

But the comments and ratings are JUST as important as the videos so that's my excuse.

Dig Yourself A Deeper Hole

Ever been in a conversation and mention something that you know makes you look bad, and then try to back-track and make it not so bad but only dig yourself a deeper hole?

Yeah, I'm sure at least some of you know what I'm talking about.

But the majority of my day was good. I had a good time at the library's book club/Christmas party.

The Hilarious Christopher Walken

Today...

I will learn to play billiards.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've got a ton of holiday cards to deal with and no time or patience for anything else.

Every Woman Wants Him, Every Man Wants To Be Him

Once again having trouble with my book club book. It's a James Bondish type of male fantasy that I never can take seriously.

Hot Chocolate

I forgot to take a picture of mine.

My sister made some awesome hot chocolate today and she even grated bits of caramel chocolate truffels over it. Soooo good. Here's the recipe if you'd like to make some of your own.

Neil Gaiman Tickets!

Yesterday I bought tickets to a lecture Neil Gaiman will be doing at UCSB! Fan girl squeal! Thanks to Mag for pointing the lecture out to me. I promise to squeal inwardly while there so as not to disturb you during midterms.

Beautiful People

I figure People magazine does their list of beautiful people. Whenever I run out of blog ideas, I can just list one of my favorite beautiful people. It's a way for me to talk about myself without feeling too much like I'm talking about myself. There's usually a certain amount of psychology behind my attraction to someone.

It might also tell you what I've been up to lately. I got the first two seasons of Bones from the library and I've been watching them a lot. Hodgins is actually a large part of the reason I watch Bones at all. He is definitely the only reason I started watching. I love forensic shows, but when I was first told about Bones I couldn't disassociate David Boreanaz from the character of Angel. But my roommate from grad school was watching it, and I saw Hodgins and fell in love with the character. He's smart and nerdy which is almost a prerequisite for me to like someone. He's a bit shorter than I go for these days but in high school, my ex-boyfriend aside, I had a real thing for shorter guys. No idea why. Maybe it's just because most the guys were shorter than me at the time. Still, it may just be a throwback from my high school self that I find his height that much more endearing. Also, he may actually be the same height as me or even marginally taller. The other actors and actresses he works with could simply be tall. Plus, the character of Angela says she's 5'8" and Hodgins is said to be slightly shorter but sometimes they look the same. I'm 5'7" so he could be a whole inch taller.

Anyway...I better stop before this sounds too stalkery. Suffice to say, I think Hodgins is hot.

Attack of the Baby Birds!

Today I did a story time featuring three of my favorite children's books. The reason I love all of them is they're absolutely adorable but not the type of sickeningly sweet adorable that makes you want to stick a fork in your eye.

I personally relate to I'm Not Cute because it's the same mantra I stood by as a child. Throughout the story baby owl tries to convince all the creatures of the forest that he's not cute. He's a sleek, scary, hunting machine! But when mama owl finally comes to agree with him, baby owl has a change of heart...

This book is perfect for preschool on up. The illustrations are incredibly fun, and the book also doesn't have too many words while still being a clever concept that both adults and children can appreciate.


Another adorable book but with a bite to it. First the singing chick gets eaten by Fox, then Fox starts singing and gets eaten by Wolf, then Wolf starts singing and gets eaten by Bear! Will the contagious singing ever stop?

Of course, it will, but not before some laughs. The illustrations, once again, are the best, as well as being large and easy for children to see. Though it does get a bit wordy around the middle. I originally abbreviated it and acted it out with puppets to mitigate this problem, but today I succeeded in reading it straight to a two year old. This made me happy since the illustrations are half the fun of this excellent book.

Guji Guji is a bit like the Ugly Duckling, except more for adopted chidren. Guji Guji, the crocoduck, is raised by ducks. When he realizes he's a crocodile he's distraught. But after he saves his family from a gang of hungry crocodiles, he's happy just the way he is and with the people--or rather ducks--who love him.

This one might be a bit long to read straight to a toddler which is why I personally made a felt board and abbreviate the story. But the concept is beautiful and I wouldn't hesitate to read it to any child if I knew they had the attention span.

National Geographic Sexes Up Its Image

With Blue Footed Boobies. It's the Blue Footed Booby sex talk. I kid you not. Click here.

The Mislaid Magician: Book Review

Ten years after their honeymoon and both with their own broods of regency children, Cecilia and Kate set off on their next great adventure finding missing people and protecting England from nefarious government plots.

I suppose I shouldn't look for romance in children's books but since these resemble Jane Austen so much, I can't help it. As far as romance goes, it was disappointing. Kate and Thomas are still a very cute couple, and James and Cecelia are the same as they are in the previous book--oddly uninterested in each other for two people supposedly in love. But both couples are exactly what you would expect from people married for ten years with children.

I also felt the children were not as fleshed out as they should have been seeing as they featured so significantly. Cecelia also seemed about as attached to her children as she does to her husband.

I also didn't feel the plot made up for this deficiency since it focused on ley lines, which I've always felt are the most boring fantasy creations of all time. Fortunately, the plot involved other things.

Still, I didn't hate this book. If you liked the other two I think this one's worth reading. The style of writing, in the very least, remains consistently well done and I still like the characters even if I do complain a bit about Cecelia. Perhaps it'sjust that Kate is my favorite.

Book Club

Okay, so here comes an important plot detail.

You really shouldn't read the book club sections if you don't want to be spoiled.

Are all the people who didn't read the book gone?

Hey! You! Yeah, you, what are you doing here? You didn't read the book!

...

Fine, you brought it on yourself.

So I did guess that Drina was the Duchess's child mentioned at the beginning but I was kinda interested that she was actually Queen Victoria. Although, I think you'd need to do a little research to know that. Her personality was also suspect. Drina loved babies and cared deeply for her mother. The real Queen Victoria hated babies (even and possibly especially her own) and she hated her mother for being so domineering in her youth.

But I guess this is an alternate universe.

Audible Thoughts From a Windswept Author

I was very worried I might have to resort to writing entirely about myself, which I don't feel like doing. I confess I failed at NaFiRoyBIMSCom. Although, it's not too epic a fail, and I'm to Chapter 33 out of 38.

But rather than talking about the painfully slow editing process, or giving you insight into anything more personal, I'd prefer to point out the interesting thoughts Neil Gaiman has given on audiobooks in this recent blog post.

There are some lovely interviews on audiobooks done by Neil himself, an excellent audiobook reader as well as master author.

But I have to say I only half agree about audiobooks being entirely separate from the book. SOMETIMES they are. If the reader or production company (preferably both) is talented, an audiobook can be its own artistic expression. Some of the very best I've heard are hands down The Golden Compass series, which is like a full out radio drama with a full cast and sound effects, and The Graveyard Book, written and read by Gaiman. Both are awesome in their different ways. But I think it says a great deal that Gaiman doesn't need sound effects.

I've also enjoyed the original Artemis Fowl reader, but was a bit thrown when they switched them, and the new one did different accents. I also missed the cheesy but fun rock-techno music that had come to define Artemis Fowl for me. And, of course, it hardly needs mentioning, but the highly acclaimed Harry Potter audiobooks by Jim Dale certainly are a good listen. Though I'd like to someday hear the Stephen Fry versions. Generally, I know a reader is good if they do something with their voice that gets a reaction from me (usually laughter, though not always) that I would not have otherwise had with just the text. An excellent example of this is Stephen Briggs who read Terry Pratchett's Going Postal and does the best mad old lady impression I've ever heard. A surprise example of this however, was the reader of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants who I always felt made me laugh and feel along with the girls in the story.

On the other side of the coin, some of the worst audiobook experiences have been with Ella Enchanted, Sabriel, and Percy Jackson. These audiobooks weren't all a complete loss (except for Ella Enchanted), but each had something that was like nails on a chalk board to me. Ella Enchanted's reader sounded 8 years old the entire time which made the romance far too pervy for me. Sabriel on the other hand had the excellent Tim Curry reading. It's the only one I can recall where it was the production and not the reader who bothered me. Tim Curry is the world's best Mogget, but the audiobook had this bizarre slasher movie music that completely ruined the tone of the beginning and the end for me. Yes Sabriel is a scary book. But it is NOT Scream. Percy Jackson's reader did all right most the time, but as I said previously in my Titan's Curse review: he made the villains sound like evil surfer dudes, made Dyonisus sound like Homer Simpson, he did an unecessary Asian accent for one of the characters, and he made Rachel way more annoying sounding than she needed to be.

However, as an avid listener myself, I know that about 90% of the time the reader is just good. But good in the way that you never notice them. They read well enough that you're engrossed in the story, not their performance. This is certainly a talent I've come to respect, especially after hearing bad audio books where all you can think about is how you wish the person reading wasn't. But being unobtrusive is different from performing.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. What are yours? Heard any good books lately?

Absolute Boyfriend: Manga Review

Okay...so yeah. You're probably thinking what I was thinking when I first saw this cover. But one day when I wanted some brain candy, I decided to read it. Now, while it does have plenty of of brain melt elements, I was pleasantly surprised that the story turned out to be a lot more nuanced than I initially gave it credit. One character wasn't developed as much as I thought she should have been. I don't even recall her name, only that she was obsessed with money. But overall, event though it was a weird as any manga, it was one of those that was based in enough reality to understand. This short series, while comical and bizarre, explores the true nature of love--how people are sometimes in love with love, and how others can teach us to love. Despite the use of blatant sex appeal, at its core it was very sweet.

Big Fish

I have a headache so not much to say, but here's a big fish from Sea World.

Sea World

We took our brothers to Sea World over the vacation. But no one kissed any dolphins. Actual pictures and more details when I'm feeling less lazy.