Death Note

On Wednesday my sister and I went to see a live action film based on the manga Death Note. It was showing in a cinema near my sister's house for two days only since it's a foreign film and I suppose they didn't think they could make enough off it. Or maybe they weren't allowed to show it for longer. Not really sure which. Anyway, I liked the film and was also pleased that it didn't spoil me on the manga since it only went up to events I'd already read about. There's a second one that presumably sumarizes the rest of the story. I'm a bit of a visual effects snob--spoiled by too many mega budget films but the special effects were reasonably decent. American Television quality. But really it doesn't require too many effects. Aside from Ryuk the Shinigami it's just about people (since it doesn't take too much to fake a heart attack--though I think they sometimes overdid the foam capsules). In any event it's the psychological drama that's important to this story and they made sure that stayed center stage, so I was able to ignore the other stuff, and I would recommend this film if you happen to be able to see it and like this sort of thing. My sister's never read the manga and she liked it too, but she appreciates a good plot. I think at least two of the voice actors are the same as in the Anime adaptation which I've seen a little of, so their voices are all right. Although I've always noticed a consistent modulation to dubbed voices, as if they're trying to speak more slowly or clearly than usual. But perhaps that's just in an effort to match to the lips. A few of the voices I found a bit bland, but otherwise the dubbing was fine. At least it was dubbed. I was worried it wouldn't have any translation because no one in the theatre seemed to know if it was dubbed or subbed.

In other news I also finished reading Prince Caspian and stand by my previous statement that the film is better. Edmund and Reepicheep have such better parts and there's far more excitement. I looked up the writers of the screenplay I was so impressed, and it turns out to be a team of three men named: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely. I'm honoring them here since I think they did a far better job than C.S. Lewis. Markus and McFeely haven't written much but Adamson was involved in writing Shrek 2 and 3. I didn't mind Shrek but I think Caspian is a far better literary feat so this came as something of a surprise. However, it does explain certain similarities between Reepicheep and Puss in Boots. But for anyone concerned about that, I didn't think the similarity was too great and Reepicheep would definitely still pwn Puss (the one in the film anyway).

Also, I recently learned a friend of mine in France actually had his Fantasy book published! Here's a link. You won't be able to read it unless you read French, but you can admire the cover.

Punishment #1 Eat Spoonful of Relish

Expeditions?

In Cherie news, yesterday I got a fortune cookie that said: "Soon you will be sitting on top of the world" which is strange because I wasn't planning any expeditions to the North Pole.

I've also noticed that my spoilers version of my Prince Caspian review has been viewed more times than the non-spoilers one which I find both surprising and a little disappointing since I spent more time editing the non-spoilers one assuming that more people would watch that one instead.

Fact of the Day: I like to read the manga Death Note but feel no affection for any of the characters.

Hmm, I was also reading back and I did say I was committed to doing all the punishments should I fail to post so I'll guess I'll just do that and have done with rather than waiting for you guys to vote. Of course, I never said how long it would take me, and some I think might be better for my to do in Ann Arbor so I'll let you know as I get them done.

Friend of the Week: Becky

Song of the Lioness WITH SPOILERS

I FINALLY finished editing these.

This was one big review of the last two books, but it was too long so I just cut it in two but that's why the ending's abrupt on the first one.



And here's the second part on Lioness Rampant



Don't forget to vote for a punishment(s) for me to do!

Prince Caspian Reviews

Here's the no spoilers one:



And here's the WITH spoilers one:



And no one's voted for a punishment yet! I didn't post, people. I need to be punished. You can pick your own, one, two, or all of the punishments just vote and I'll do it!

I'll summarize the punishments here for those who don't remember: one requires me to go somewhere I've never been, another requires me to interview a person I don't know well, another requires me to invite someone to spend time with me, my sister's is to read a chapter of Godel, Esher, Bach, and the last requires me to eat a spoonful of relish.

If no one votes before the end of vacation, I'll just do my sister's. Remember, you can vote for all of them but you have to provide another for me to do if you vote before the end of vacation.

In Production

I'm making several video blogs right now so that's my news. Two are Prince Caspian Reviews (non-spoilers and spoiler) and one is the last Alanna review with spoilers.

I'll post them here when I'm done but just in case I don't finish in time the above is a picture I took on my hike at Auburn.

Too Much

Several mile hike in blistering heat after two days of not much sleep and too much bike riding = unhappy Cherie. I'm not up to much right now so there's my news.

Fact about me: I dislocated the elbow on my right arm several times as a child.

Punishment voting is still open because Brian did not vote for a punishment. (By the way, you can vote even if you didn't think up the punishments. Just look back at the ones given and pick one you like.)

Friend of the Week: Brian (sorry the Caspian review will have to wait for tomorrow)

Punishment!

Guess what I did today. I toured the Lincoln Public Library and I saw Prince Caspian (excellent film which I'll discuss later) and I rode ten miles on my bike in total. Guess what I forgot to do.

That's right, I forgot to post.

Since I didn't actually think this would happen I didn't really consider the logistics of it an realized that I still have a week left of vacation and so, if I do all the punishments, then what happens if I forget to post again?

So, the first person to notice an comment here that I forgot to post, I will do whatever punishment that person decides. So you have until someone comments or until the end of my vacation to vote on my punishment, whichever comes first. You can vote for all the punishments or a combination. I want to be a good sport about this. However, if you do vote for all before the end of my vacation, you have to provide ONE (but only one) replacement punishment just in case I slip up again.

Fact about me: I like to watch film commentaries because I feel it helps me write and analyze stories.

Don't forget, first person to vote gets to punish Cherie.

Final Two Song of the Lioness Book Reviews

A review on the last two books of the Song of the Lioness Quartet (The Woman Who Rides Like a Man and Lioness Rampant) by Tamora Pierce. It's also no spoilers for these two books but I do make a very vague reference to something in the second book that I was too lazy to edit out, so if you'd rather not know something vague about Alanna's romantic interactions in the second book, (and I don't say who with) then I guess you'll have to skip this vid. But there are no spoilers for the books I actually talk about.

And there WILL be another video WITH spoilers like I did last time. I actually made it today but haven't had time to edit (and I know some of you are thinking "Cherie, you edit these? Why aren't they better?" That's because I'm not good at editing and it generally just consists of chopping bits off but still takes me longer than simply writing a book review so honestly if you guys don't like these please tell me because it's an awful lot of time to spend on something if no one likes it.)

Who Rated My Videos?

A few of my videos have been rated but it's a mystery to me as to who dunnit (YouTube doesn't tell us). I was wondering if it was any of you. I'd be quite pleased if it were as most of the rated ones are highly rated but I wouldn't mind if it was people I didn't know either. Mostly I'm just curious.

Also I finished reading both The Woman Who Rides Like a Man and Lioness Rampant today, but since I clearly already spent so much time on those books today, I think I'll wait to vlog review them tomorrow and I may just mash them together so I have less reviews to do. They're pretty short books anyway and the stories relate quite closely.

And now for a cover contest!

Here's the cover of the paperback I read and probably the original cover of the book in the 1980s:



And here's the new cover:




O...M...G!

So fact about me for the day is that me and my sister both think new childrens and young adult books have far better covers now than they did when we were kids!

Friends of the Week: Sarah and Brian

In The Hand of the Goddess Book Review WITH Spoilers



This is where I talk about what I thought of specific parts of the book.

NOTE: At one point I say "he has this god inside her" but totally meant to say "he has a god inside *him*" That's a prime example of a Freudian slip.

Wii!

Well, I'm sorry for anyone in suspense for the next Alanna vid *crickets chirp*. But my sister got a Wii just the other day so we've been having fun with that. That's my big news.

Fact about me for the day: I PWN with Link at Mario Smash Brothers Brawl.

In the Hand of the Goddess: Book Review



This is the NO spoilers version. The with spoilers version will be next but I haven't uploaded (or made) it yet so don't go searching for it until I say it's up. Sorry if this leaves some of you in suspense.

Friends of the Week: Dejah and Tim

Alanna the First Adventure: 1st Vlog Book Review



This is not the book I mentioned yesterday but rather the first in the series and I actually made this video a while ago

Tell me what you guys think. Do you prefer the book reviews I write or the book reviews I speak? I could probably do a better spoken book review. (Sigh...I had to mention nakedness). But I don't know what you guys will think so let me know.

Here's the comment I wrote in the YouTube box in case you're not the type to read YouTube boxes:

If you are like my sister and misunderstand my initial comment about nakedness do not simply stop in disgust but continue until I explain (or if you're really sick of listening I explain what I meant at 3:16)

And if you don't even want to listen to that then I'll clarify here. When I say I like nakedness, I am referring to boys in the book who are of adult age. I didn't add this with the Prince swimming but he is also older.

I Can't Believe I Almost Forgot!

I actually almost forgot to post in my blog today because I spent the better part of my day reading the book above. A better review to come later because I only got on the computer to write in my novel. The only other Cherie news for today is I went for a bike ride with my sister on the roads in order to practice traffic law.

Fact about me, er...I really need to be writing in my novel? Okay, I can do better than that, ummm...oh, I know, my favorite kind of roses are ones that smell a little like wild rasberries (usually the more wild kind).

Back to the Rice Paddies?

It cracks me up that my Dad seriously has one of these hats so I took some Asian "American Gothic" sort of pictures with it. I know I'm not actually in an American gothic pose but I'm just thinking of the whole not smiling thing. Right now though I'm at my sister's house. I just arrived last night and my trip wasn't too bad as these things generally go although I'll probably never understand why I need to get to Sacramento via Las Vegas.... Ah, planes today. Also on the train to the airport a man read the baseball cap I was wearing and noticed it said US Olympic team and asked if that was me. I admitted that it most certainly was not but it's nice to know that my lazy self could maskerade as an Olympic athelete.

I made another vlog today but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it up today as it will probably take some editing.

Anyway, that's all for now.

Too Many Bags!

This sculpture that I took a picture of at the Sacramento Airport today is presumably where bags go when they die.

Technical Difficulties and More Thoughts on Mammary Glands

I think I definitely need the kitty in the previous blog post because the video I made yesterday WOULD NOT UPLOAD! Argh! First I had to edit it which meant I had to get my sister to download the editing software. Then I'm just bad at editing so that took a while. Then I tried three times to download it and something happened each time with my father's internet finally breaking down entirely!

It's uploading now but we'll see if it actually works this time.

Also after some thought I've decided why "nice rack" is not the best compliment even if (as in my case) it is true. This is because a girl likes to know she is worthwhile for a reason other than simple genetics. This is why a compliment to my writing is much more likely to make me like someone than a compliment to my bust size. Even my hair is better to compliment because it took a lot of patience to growing it and I had some control by choosing not to cut it and find alternatives to keep it from eating passersby whereas my breasts just sort of took care of themselves. The fact that I like compliments on my writing above almost any other compliment can be your fact of the day.

EDIT: FINALLY!

Happy Birthday Hank Green!



(completely random cute picture that I did not create)

It's only 1:43 PM so I haven't actually done much today. I woke up early for me which was like 11:40 AM but I haven't really accomplished much. However, I was correct in my theory that my video response would get the most views. It's had 58 views so far which is far more than the others so clearly video responses are the way to YouTube fame.

I also got my first YouTube comment and it's not from anyone I know. It was also fairly coherent as YouTube comments go. Hooray for NicoleH92Lee!

Then I also got my first questionable comment as well. It was not nearly as questionable as really high profile YouTubers get so clearly I'm not famous enough yet.

It was, simply: "nice rack." Which, while an accurate observation, I am indeed well endowed in the mammary gland department, this is not a compliment that I would recommend to get in my good graces. This can be your fact of the day about me.

BREAKING NEWS!

I just saw this on the vlogbrothers:



This means that I forgot Hank's Birthday too! And I've been trying to make a birthday video all day but it has truly been an epic into the lands of video editing. I will post it here when it's finally edited and uploaded.

Siege Engines

All right, here's the long awaited video of my little brother's cardboard siege engines. I've also decided that they are not planning to attack the previous castle I showed but are instead planning to attack this fortress:



And here's the footage clearly filmed on location:



Friends of the Week: Brian and Dejah

Iron Man and Video Responses

I saw Iron Man with my sister today and thought it was pretty cool, definitely the best movie out at the moment. However, I would have no idea how Iron Man purists would take it. I think I like comic book movies because they condense the very complicated plots of comic books into coherent stand alone stories. Of course, some are better than others but for the most part comic books make good movies and Iron Man only proves this maxim. There's plenty of thrills and explosions but there's also a good solid plot and character development. I could have gone for a bit more romance but I get that it's definitely a "guy" movie. I think Robert Downey Jr. did a great acting job and played an initially obnoxious character in a way that you like him anyway. I think a good part of this is he just says things that most people's internal censors stop them from saying so it's a great vicarious exprience to see someone else express feelings you've always wanted to in a completely unaffected manner.

And then there's just the blowing things up. I've probably never liked explosions so much. If it had just been blowing things up, that would have been boring, but I think they interspersed it with enough humor and heart that I even enjoyed the explosions.

I've also made my first video response to another (much higher profile and far better edited) YouTuber. Here is his video and my response:





My response is about superpowers but I thought afterwards that having writer superpowers to actually be able to finish a good novel without making it 800 pages would also be choice.

More Rocks, Some Actual Content, and April Words

This is probably my least favorite of the videos. It's also the shortest. I realize none of this is a good advertisement to watch it unless you're curious why I like it less than the others. But I figured I might as well put it up since it's the last of the frolicking-in-the-park videos.

Also, clearly I didn't feel like writing anything yesterday (though I went back to add friends of the week if those friends thought I'd shafted them). But I do have breaking news in the world of Cherie. In April I wrote 9792 words which is better than February and March. Overall my story is currently 143,734 words which, for anyone who doesn't know, is INSANE! That's two novels! Except that it's not! AAAHAHHH!! And it's still not finished. HOWEVER, that's not as bad (and hopefully never will be) as my last draft which was 543,741 words which could be 5-9 novels (the average novel being 60,000-100,000 words). This, for me, is the hardest part of writing. Maybe I'm a bit too hung up on it. I've always wished books had their word count in the front so I knew if this was as bad as I think it is. The artist in me says I should go on until it ends naturally. The pragmatist says I should kill all my characters now and cover my losses... I'll probably end up doing something in between. And before anyone suggests it, yes I have considered dividing my book into several books but the current draft doesn't have anywhere I can divide it. I could probably go back and write it so it's two books but that would probably mean adding more storyline to make two coherent pieces.

Well, that's the end of that rant. I've also decided to start listing foods I don't like for possible food punishments and other things to give you all ideas of the type of punishment I was hoping for (i.e. one that would be fun for you to watch but not enriching to me in any way). That's right, I said watch. Any punishment where it's feasible I'll do a video blog. I'll still do the good, self-improving punishments but just to give you guys some other ideas here's my hated food of the week: Cooked tomatoes. I love fresh tomatoes but the cooked ones make me gag. So now you guys have eggplant parmesan and cooked tomatoes. You could also make me eat a spoonful of just about any condiment by itself. That would be pretty gross. (Barring hot sauce cause that probably would make me ill and sour cream because I actually really like sour cream). Also for any food punishment I'll spend at least $10 (since I might need a little more than $5 for the ingredients of eggplant parmesan and I can always use extra food. Even eggplant can be redeemed.) Also foods I don't like will probably be a short list but I'll try to think of other things as well.

I think that creating worse punishments than you guys came up with probably proves that I am, in fact, my own worst enemy.

The Utility of Rocks

Friends of the Week: Brian and Mag

Mom of the Week: Mom

Triceratops, Rhinoceros, or Hippopotamus?

We NEED to know! Comment here or on YouTube for which you think it is or if you think it's something else entirely. Only you can settle this argument!

This also happens to be my favorite of the vlogs by far. I think riding on plastic playground equipment adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the cinematography. All except for the parts where my sister seemed to deem the plastic triceratops (yes, I am on team triceratops) more important than my head. I am very glad the screen shot includes my head.

Also, I want to briefly address the punishments I've been getting. You can all look at the April 22nd post comments where these punishments have been congregating. First I'd like to say that I'm committed to doing all of these should I fail to post. I'll summarize them here: one requires me to go somewhere I've never been, another requires me to interview a person I don't know well, and another requires me to invite someone to spend time with me.

I think the only problem with these punishments is how nice all my friends are. I know I eliminated the really exciting punishments like streaking in public but I think I'll revise one of the rules a bit. I still will not eat anything inedible or improperly cooked but I will eat anything that is gross but qualifies as safe food. So getting me to eat something slightly gross (I really hate eggplant parmesan) is on the table so to speak. You may all add food punishments if you've already given a punishment or you can now submit one by itself.

Vlog #3: Chrissy Tentatively Speaks to the Camera

Chrissy defends Narnia. Sort of. But not the children. Or the sandwiches.

NOTE: I actually say in this video that we don't agree about the children but, in fact, we do and I knew we did going in. I don't know why I said the opposite. Just one of those things.

This will be the last Narnia-bashing one for a bit. I promise.

Some of you may be saying "Cherie, you're not in this vlog. That's cheating." First off, my voice is in the vlog. And secondly, I never said in the rules that I had to be in the vlogs I make.

Also my sister's a lot more shy about the camera than me. She really likes the idea of video blogs but it seems less so the idea of people seeing them. However, she was kind enough to allow me to post this and gave me permission to post another one as well.

Whereas I wouldn't care what people said or thought about me and love the idea of lots of people seeing me act insane, my sister is the exact opposite. I don't think I have to worry about anyone in this blog being mean to her, but if anyone was, then they would regret it... Just so we're clear.

You can make fun of me all you like, though. Although, if you do, I'd prefer you give a reason so I can improve or just, you know, have a better reason to make funny faces at you.

Vlog #2, Playlists, and Some New Links

Yesterday my sister and I went to the park and made several video blogs. This is one of them. I think I'll space them out one per day just to keep you all on the edge of your seats. It also means I'll have a rather light blogging load for the next few days since my rules allow me to just post a video blog and nothing else (although usually I like to add some kind of text). Also I'm sorry if it seems like I'm yelling. I often underestimate the sound on my digital camera which, as Heather noted, is quite good. But you can turn down the volume on YouTube whereas I don't have that feature so clearly that's an improvement.

Also many of you may notice I'm outside and think "How come you can do a video blog outside Cherie but you have to be alone in the house?" The answer is that my sister was with me and so I didn't care what anyone thought of me. I'm sure the people in the park probably did think I was insane but as long as someone else is with me, I'm okay with that.

And if you decide to go to My YouTube (also found in my links), you could also look at my vlogbrother playlists. I have put all their videos (excepting video responses) into two playlists (they wouldn't fit into one) so if you ever want to watch several of their videos in succession (which is usually what I do since they're only three minutes long) you can do that with my nifty playlists. The vlogbrothers themselves do not have playlists of all their videos on their YouTube channel. They only have playlists of select videos so this was clearly a vital construct on my part.

I've decided to be a little less self-centered and add some links to my friend's blogs in the links section. I added Sarah, Tim and Mag, and Boris but if I've forgotten one of my friend's blogs, just let me know and I'll add it. Of if for any reason you want me to take your link down, I could do that too. Mostly I was tired of hunting for the urls to these blogs when I wanted to view them.

Friend of the Week: Sarah

Sisters

Not this kind of sister. I just couldn't resist the picture. But in today's exciting news my sister's here! And when she stops talking about computers with my dad we're going to do things! Hooray!

In other news I opened my 800 some page fifth draft of my novel in Open Office last night and it was 1023 pages! No, a little imp did not write 200 more pages while I was asleep. That's just how woefully inadequate the page is as a form of measurement.

And now for a completely unsurprising fact about myself that anyone who knows anything about me knows is that I love my sister and she's my best friend.

She just needs to finish with the computer so we can do something!

Friend of the Week: Tim (Thanks for the new punishment! I almost feel bad about the unlikelihood that I'll actually have to do the punishments because they're both things that would probably, in at least a small way, be quite good for me. But I don't quite feel bad enough to do them regardless.)

Back to Text

Hi all! I wish I could say I'd taken this picture, but this is NOT the case. This is Bodiam Castle in England and I've never been as far as Heathrow airport in that country. The reason for this picture is my news for the day which is that my little brothers have taken and interest in siege engines (constructed of cardboard) and other such middle-aged weapontry such as crossbows and swords (also constructed of cardboard with rubber bands for the crossbows). They even have something they call the "instant barracks" which I have no idea what that could do but it sounds cool and is, once again, also constructed of cardboard. So I've decided that they must be planning to lay siege to a castle.

This castle.

Why this castle? Why not?

And you could be wondering why I've not taken a picture of the far cooller siege engines. Well, this is because after the outpouring of praise (from Heather and my sister) I'd like to do another video blog and I wanted it to feature the siege engines, so I didn't want to ruin it all before the show.

The reason I've not yet made this video blog is because I've not been alone in the house again and, as we all know from my other video blog, this is a very important factor to me. But I might be willing to redefine my definition of alone later on once my sister gets here because people will probably just assume I'm talking to her if they hear me talking. However, I also prefer to wait for my little brothers to go to school to borrow their siege weapons. Otherwise they might think I'm planning a counter attack and seek to eliminate me...

As for a fact about me. I'm actually afraid to learn to drive. Aside from all the other factors against me I do not look forward to controlling a large metal object capable of smashing other large metal objects and even bursting into flame with me inside. I can't understand for the life of my why anyone looks forward to that. Of course, I never have such apprehensions when I'm in a car with a patently unsafe driver so this isn't necessarily the most logical fear. I'm pretty sure I can drive better than some people I've been in the car with without any formal training at all. Incidently, studying for my driver's test was something I forgot to mention in my video blog of things I could (should) be doing.

Friends of the Week: Heather (yay for vblogs!) and Dejah (I promise not to go Blair Witch on anyone).

Sister of the Week: Chrissy

Mom of the Week: Mom

Vlogging!

Hey all! Guess what I did yesterday. That's right, I made a video blog! See the amazing unedited (because I don't have editing software yet) version of my video blogging antics:



Also I added a link in the links section (scroll down and look to the left) to my YouTube right above, do my eyes deceive me, no they do not, it's a Graveyard Book Countdown widget! That's right, I PWN the standardized format. But for all who miss my dulcet tones and divine powers I hope this video blog is a good dose of Cherie. And yes I know I cut off the top of my head for most of the video. I'm working on it. But please tell me what you think. If you like it, I might put in more of an effort to make more sooner. If you don't like I still might make more, because I'd like to get good at this, but I just might have less of a sense of urgency. Or I might have more depending on how stubborn and contrary I'm feeling. We'll see. But I really do want to know what you think. You could at least help improve certain aspects with suggestions so the next ones are more to your liking.

This one also took FOREVER to upload. Like three hours. Because it's 24 more megabytes than YouTube generally recommends without its nifty uploader software which I don't know how to install to Linux (Chrissy?). So if nothing else my next video will be shorter and hopefully a smaller file.

Incurably Nocturnal

It seems no matter what timezone I travel to (with the possible exception of France) I quickly adjust, if "adjust" can be considered to be consistently going to bed after midnight and waking after noon. For a time here I would wake consistently around 7am for unknowable reasons since that would be 10am in my original timezone. Of course, by "wake" I mean I would become conscious, look blearily at the clock, and choose not to get out of bed on principle. This is also why I shall generally provide yesterday's news since I write my blog posts earlier in the day but my brain generally doesn't warm up to anything useful until closer to evening. This also probably why I generally detest calling people because it usually requires me to call earlier in the day when my brain isn't up to much more than a vegetative state. (For those wondering, writing, when it's not for a novel, is a vegetative state for me).

All the same, because I hate doing one thing at a time while trying to jumpstart my brain I'm also watching/listening to Mansfield Park on YouTube, the newest version with Billie Piper, and a thought has occurred to me. It has always been said that Mansfield Park was Austen's favorite book which is quite mysterious because it's generally despised by most Austenites due to its prudish heroine Fanny Price. But what if Austen did not like it for Fanny? It has often been remarked that the dashing villainess of the book, Mary Crawford, is more like Austen than Fanny. What if Austen wanted to write a tragedy? People often assume that Mansfield follows the same happy-ending formula of Austen's other romances because Fanny and (the insufferable) Edmund get together at the end while Mary Crawford, for all her wit and cleverness, is left to be alone. Just as Austen was. What if, in truth, Mansfield Park is actually the only Austen book without a happy ending?

Of course, I am no Austen scholar, simply the average fan, so I'm sure anyone who has really studied her life could poke a dozen holes in my theory. But it is nice to at least to pretend to have profound thoughts this early in the day.

Not much for news since I've not done anything today, but I finished reading the first volume of Fruits Basket last night (actually this morning), and I've started to read, Machiavelli's The Prince. I'm not actually past the introduction, but it's an interesting introduction. It posits that Machiavelli may have have been being practical rather than amoral, but I think it's more fun to think he was simply amoral (it does not follow this means he was impractical since in politics it is often practical to be amoral).

Friend of the Week: Dejah (I'm still waiting for punishments from the rest of you but for now it seems my punishment--if I do not post--will be to go to a place I've never been, take a picture of me in that place, and then blog about it).

Chocolate and Hobbits

Yesterday I had a horrible chocolate craving and at first thought myself to be completely without chocolate. Luckily I remembered that I'd brought a chocolate pudding cup with me that I hadn't eaten on the plane, but I had to turn all my bags inside out twice to find it and had paranoid fears of little brothers with their faces smeared with chocolate pudding. It's a scary thing when I go on a chocolate rampage. Once I had devored the pudding cup my craving was momentarily sated and I was once again sane. But since that was the only chocolate in the house I decided to go out today and get some more, so I would not soon find myself in a similar position. I'm staying with my dad in good old Oceanside California right now, so I don't really need any other kind of food because my step-mother cooks all three meals (which is more than I do for myself at home). True, I'm never up for breakfast, but there's plenty of fruit around, and if I was really on a protien kick, I could cook myself an egg. But it's generally easier to wait for lunch since I wake up so late.

So that's the Cherie news for now and I suppose the fact that I get crazy chocolate cravings is a fact as well but I'll share another one about myself. I'm not much of an explorer. I'm a bit hobbit-like in my homebody nature. It isn't that I won't go out exploring if someone else makes up all the plans or I just want to spend time with someone. But it isn't something I generally do by myself. There will be times I'll go a little stir crazy and want out of the house but I'm generally happy to stay within the confines of familiar territory and go places so long as going there is as little trouble to myself as possible. But that's why I generally like to be around people that are the opposite because I'm aware that this aspect of my personality means I miss so much of the world. Even when I traveled abroad I was not the exploration type which I realize most people would think makes me a waste as a traveler. Maybe I am. Still I will always treasure the experiences I had in different parts of the world, but even there I would get stuck in routines. Shortly before I left Taiwan, I went a few streets over from where I normally walked and it was like a whole different world. And in France I think I surprised my host mother by staying around the house so much (though I definitely made sure to see as many museums as possible and spend plenty of weekends in Paris).

I forgot to add to my book review yesterday that Only You Can Save Mankind is a children's book which is possibly the reason for less description (although, this is not the case in Pratchett's Discworld children's books).

Anyway, as a reminder, you guys still need to think up punishments for me if I don't post. Read the post below for punishment rules. If no one comes up with any punishments for me, I'll begin to think you guys don't love me...

A Book Review and Exciting News!

Last night I finished reading Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett. It's the story of Johnny Maxwell who finds that the aliens in his shoot-them-up computer game have surrendered and now he's sucked into the game, not to save mankind, but in order to save the aliens from mankind.

This was a great quick read. A different style than Pratchett's Discworld, mostly in the lack of much description. It's 80% dialogue or internal monolgue but good dialogue/monologue because it's Pratchett. And the other 20% has plenty of action with fighting against or to defend aliens for anyone who finds the idea of dialogue boring. There's also some of Johnny's life in the real world during the Gulf War and while his parents are getting divorced looked at with Pratchett's brilliant satirical eye. I wish I'd checked out the other two books in the trilogy before I left Ann Arbor because none of them were in the library here. But they probably wouldn't have fit in my suitcase anyway.

Yesterday was my brother Curtis's birthday, and it would be good to say that's why I did not post yesterday, but actually the truth is I was just feeling lazy. So I'm thinking I need to start up another post or be punished deal. Just for the duration of my break (from today-May24th) to be absolutely clear and not on days where it would be physically impossible (i.e. I am on a plane with no internet access), but I think I also need a new one other than not reading the fanfiction my sister wanted me to read all that time ago. Sorry Chrissy, but it's no fun if that's always my punishment. So if any of my friends can think of some good punishments, that'd be great. That's what friends are for, after all, right?

However, here are some ground rules of the punishments:

1.) They cannot have the possibility of resulting in me getting arrested (i.e. public nudity, ect).

2.) Come to that, no nudity of any kind. Not that I think any of you are all that keen on that, but I just thought I'd put that out there just in case.

3.) They cannot result in me being made physically ill, injured, or killed (such as having to eat any questionable items.)

4.) This cannot result in punishing anyone but me.

5.) My hair stays the same length and color it is now (yeah, I know what some of you were thinking...)

6.) It has to actually be possible for me to do. Like...buying a million dollar house or going sky diving are not things I have the resources for. In fact, if it requires more than 5 dollars, it's not really something I have the resources for...So nothing that requires more than $5.

7.) Cannot have any possible negative effects my professional life (as dyeing my skin blue would).

I dunno, maybe punishments with all those rules are no fun. If that's the case, I'll just do the fanfiction thing again. As a matter of fact, even if I do get other punishments, I'll just throw the fanfiction thing on the pile. Because I'm a good sister. Of course, really it'll be mostly hypothetical because as long as I have motivation to post, I can post. Now if I get more than one punishment I could alternate, like (this week if I don't post every day, I'll...) Or I could just volunteer to do all of them at once. We'll see. Either way, any punishment that fits all those rules will be honored if I do not post.

However, just so I don't shaft you guys with a lame post with just a link or funny picture I found on the web but did not create myself (as I have done in the past), I'll state that my posts must be ONE (but not all) of the following:

1.) At least 500 words written by me on any subject (or on several subjects).

OR

2.) Must include current news about myself, as well as at least one fact about myself. You may all think, that's not hard Cherie, anyone can say "Woke up today, ate, did stuff, went to bed. And I like cheese." But not me! First of all with how much I like to sleep the "woke up" part might not be true. Second, I hate writing things that are lame. Which is why I often don't write in this blog at all if I feel my life has been particularly lame and I often have a hard time talking about myself (as much as I love myself and as much as I like to talk).

OR

3.) Must include some form of art that I have created such at a drawn picture or photo taken by me because creating any kind of art is not something I do without motivation anymore (sorry Ponce). A video blog would also count as art, but unfortunately I'm very unlikely to produce one of those. Honestly if I do one of those I should get a prize. Or maybe that could be a punishment... But it'd be more like a challenge. Really I've always wanted to do video blogs, but I'm rarely in places I'd be comfortable doing them. For instance, currently I'm at my Dad's house where I'm NEVER alone and would definitely be marked as insane if I started talking animatedly to a camera.

Okay, now while my posts only have to comply to one of the three following things they must always include a picture of some kind like the book cover on this post (although I am not responsible for if the picture later has some sort of glitch that causes it to disappear but if this happens I must be able to either provide the picture again or describe what it looked like). AND a new and amazing feature: I will ALWAYS answer any question anyone asks me. However, I do not promise correct answers and stupid questions will get stupid answers. I also only have to answer any given question once. For example, if someone asks the same question, such as "Is your hair long?," to which I would respond "Yes" or possibly "Yes in comparison to average but no in comparison to Rapunzel," I would then NEVER have to answer that question again on this blog. Unlike real life.

And now for today's breaking news!

Today I went through the invites I've gotten on YouTube. There were seven of them and all but one of these people had been suspended from YouTube. I added the one that had not been suspended. Of course, I didn't just add him because he was the only one left. I added him because it turns out he might have had a legitimate reason for adding me whereas the others most likely did not.

Friends of the Week: Sarah, Dejah, and Brian (who now know their Harry Potter Houses.)

Awesome...

I recently found out that a form of Muggle Quidditch has caught on at Middlebury University which is the alma mater of both the new parents pictured below. There are several ways people can play as listed here, but I love Middlebury's version of dressing a cross country runner in bright yellow with a ball hanging from his back and letting him run wild around the campus. Another cool idea which I'd like to see in practice is a remote control airplane operated by an impartial viewer. But it's so much fun seeing people tackle the snitch and see the snitch fight back. Harry would definitely be too much of a lightweight for Muggle Quidditch.

See a movie of the fun below featuring an interview with an actual snitch who has some pretty mad moves (backflips, handstands and everything). I generally hate sports but this I would watch!



Question of the Week: If you're a Harry Potter fan (which quite a few of my friends are) which house would you be in? I'd be in Hufflepuff. Go badgers!

Special offer! If you respond to this post I'll play the sorting hat and tell you if I agree with your choice or, if what I know about you, indicates you'd be in a different house. Or if you do not choose a house I'll tell you which one I think you're in.

Don't Worry Kirana

Doofiness isn't genetic. But your mother's looks are so you're safe (although Tim will probably have to keep a shovel by the door to ward off the boys). Some of you may think I make fun of Tim too much. I believe this picture rests my case.

Friends of the Week: Brian and Kirana (honorary because I'm sure she'd comment if the crazy dad didn't have her hostage.)

The Good and Bad of Gmail and New Comments

It's never particularly bothered me that Google owns my soul, and while I understand about the concern for privacy in principle, my own privacy has never been a topmost concern of mine. I would only have a deep and profound sympathy for any poor fool sent to monitor my life. I like to think I'm not a boring person, but I suspect I would be if one were looking for exciting criminal action.

Since these are generally the main problems people have with Google, I'm usually pretty okay with them. And I still am really. I like the fact that if you send an email on one subject to several people you don't get nine hundred responses on the same thing. But it just took me a moment to realize that my sister was not the only one to email me. Which could have been bad. And there's something to be said for having an inbox filled with messages from people you actually like. It's a visually pleasing thing. But organizationally I suppose this is better.

And by popular demand (or agreement I suppose) I have decided to enable the word verification step which will apparently look like the picture above. But if there are any problems or someone who hasn't chimed in yet doesn't like it (unless you're a spammer), let me know!

Thanks for the support!

Friend of the Week: Brian (Because you're not a spammer)

Sour Sour Cream?

How do you tell if sour cream is sour? I had some sour cream in my fridge that had the date 4/3/07 on it. Which means it expired on my sister's birthday (which reminds me I did not make note of her birthday in my blog however I did draw her a picture and call her so I guess that's alright). Anyway, the point is that the sour cream in my refrigerator is (was) now four days past this mark. However, this date did not indicate if it was a use by or sell by date.

Now, I'm a hypochondriac but I'm a weird kind of hypochondriac. I'm a hypochondriac who, as a child, used to eat sand. So, after a quick smell check and visual examination for funny fuzzy growths I decided to chance it. It was extremely delicious sour cream that went well with my chips and salsa. And I feel fine now. But if I die of a particularly virulent form of penicillin (yes I know that's a medicine) you'll all know better than to eat expired sour cream.

Not Friends of the Week: The people who keep spamming my comments!!! Argh! I don't want to disable the open comments because it's hard enough to convince my friends to comment without making it hard and I'd rather not to have to approve every comment to my site. But sheesh! For now I'll just have to keep hitting delete and hope it doesn't get too out of hand. You're all smart people, so I don't think I have to tell you not to click on mysterious links from people you don't know and who have not said anything more substantive than "click here." But since I can't always delete them immediately I thought I might as well give you all a heads up.

Please comment if you're a friend: Would you all still comment if I enabled word verification? I don't want to do it but I'm really sick of the spam.

Congratulations to Tim and Mag!

For becoming new parents! Welcome to the world little baby Kirana! That big doofy guy in the hospital room is your father, but don't worry, your Mommy will take care of you both.

I once read a story called The Ship of Dreams where the sandman hung a star in the sky for every newborn child. Can you find yours?

Friend of the Week: Sarah (Go Gilpartiyaks!) Kirana, it's not to early to think about college. Denison is awesome! ;)

The Gilpatriyak in its Natural Habitat!

Gilpatriyak
–noun

a miniature, stocky, shaggy-haired wild ox, Bos grunniens gilpatriatus, of the Denisonian highlands, having long, curved horns: endangered (because there can only be, at most, ten at a time). Primary food-source--left-over cookies, crackers, cheese, the occasional cake, fruit, or fruit juice from Gilpatrick House Honors events.

Here's a wide shot of the terrain.

Gilpatriyaks live in constant danger of being trapped in coffee mugs.

Fording couches is a constant challenge

But naps are a favorite pastime.

Yaks have all the luck.

Friend of the Week: Gilpatriyak and its Keeper Becky

Marchwords

That sounds like it should be all one word. "Forward noble steed! Let us go marchwords!"

In any event we're actually now gone from March and my total word count is 5989. It seems I wrote an average of 500 words roughly 1/3rd of the days much like in February. Not as good as 3/3rds but better than 0/3rds. And as math that probably makes no sense at all.

Anyway I wanted a picture to define the month and so chose this one--the total eclipse of the moon which I actually didn't see because I was writing some paper or other. To be fair even if I hadn't I'm not sure I would have gone outside because I envisioned the moon simply disappearing from the sky for a time and couldn't understand what could be so interesting about that. Unfortunately it turns out to have been a lot cooller looking than I thought, what with the blood-red moon of death and all, so I learn to regret my general lack of interest and proper education in major astronomical phenomena.

Friend of the Week: Brian (Ahoy, matey!)

Yesterday...

I got paid to play board games with kids for a program our library had. We played the game pictured at the left and another called Power Grid. I was a little worried that I would be there for several hours watching other people play games but I was able to join in the fun. We had a really good turn out so we weren't hurting for people but the librarian said that she had to play last time because they needed enough players.

So right now the only downfall I can see to being a youth librarian is the constant feeling that you're getting away with something.

And losing miserably at strategy games. But I enjoyed it anyway.

Friend of the Week: Tim (Snape Song Vs. Angsty Harry)

A Mysterious Ticking Award, Jeeves, Unicycles, and Merciful Puppies

The Harry Potter Puppet Pals team won the YouTube Award of best comedy video for The Mysterious Ticking Noise (The Snape song).



I was also sad to learn recently that "Ask Jeeves" has been simply Ask.Com since 2006 (I feel so old and out of the loop!). I also belatedly mourn the passing of one of my favorite Internet characters. I just can't understand why they would get rid of him :(

As for unicycles. The other day I seem to recall seeing a man (most likely another college student) on a unicycle. Random sights like these seem more common in Ann Arbor but I feel as if it's harder to enjoy them under the crushing oppression that is grad school.

Grad school and taxes. I so need to finish my taxes. Sigh....

But something to keep me from being too glum is this clip from The Colour of Magic showing the one and only Lord Havelock Vetinari and his little dog Wuffles! Jeremy Irons plays Lord Vetenari. I think Irons is an excellent actor who has strangely never been in a good movie (at least none I've seen him in). Hopefully this is a break in his bad luck.



I should probably add that while The Colour of Magic showed over Easter in the UK it does not appear to have a TV release date for the US that I can find. And no word on the DVD yet either. But perhaps if all us Terry Pratchett fans band together and complain very loudly...

In all honesty Colour of Magic is not my favorite book by any stretch of the imagination but it is Discworld and Hogfather wasn't a favorite either (though I liked it better than Colour of Magic) but the movie was brilliant! (and also produced by the same company). So I have high hopes for this one. I'd prefer if they did Guards, Guards or Going Postal but we can't have everything. I also find the order they've done these films in to be quite odd since Hogfather was done first and that's the 20th book (and the 4th in the Death series) and now they're doing Colour of Magic which is the first (mashed together with Light Fantastic which is the second). So if they do do another there's no telling what it will be numerically.

Better Than a Link...

Too tired to give the awesomeness of The Graveyard Book the justice it deserves so here's a video the man himself reading chapter 4.



But, title of this post aside I think I'll give a link to Neil Gaiman's site all the same because his countdown doohickey actually counts down. For some reason he didn't share the version that does that with everyone else. But I forgive him this small transgression because he's Neil Gaiman.

Friend of the Week: Anonymous (Hint, if you click the "Name/URL" bubble when posting a comment, you can add your name. Or if you don't feel like it, add your name at the bottom. I like giving people the recognition they deserve. :) )

Give...To...Me

*Want. Drool. Cries.*

@_@

Hypatia

While answering a question for my reference class I learned about Hypatia, an ancient female mathematician and astronomer. She has now made the list of historical people I would like to have met along with Hatshepsut and Jane Austen. The other funny thing is that the picture you see of her above is from Raphael's painting The School of Athens which was in my high school math book a bunch of times for Pythagorus whenever we did the Pythagorean Theorum and she's standing right behind Pythagorus but I never noticed her. Of course, so many men in these paintings were too androgynous for me to have identified her as a female. But still, it's strange to think I saw her all that time without knowing it.

Friend of the Week: Mag (yay for historical fiction!)

I'm Henry the Eighth I Am . . .

Well, actually I'm not, but today I saw The Other Boleyn Girl which I liked even though it clearly made great efforts to condense the book. However, as many people who know me already know, my favorite wife of Henry VIII is Anne of Cleves (pictured above).

Friend of the Week: Tim (Yup, though I'd prefer you to comment on my newer posts or at least say something relevant).

Plum Blossoms, February Words, Asian Heritage Month, and Library Wisdom

Here's a lovely picture I took of the plum blossoms in California that I won't be seeing again any time soon.

It also appears I wrote 5903 words for February, and I recently found out that March is Asian Heritage Month (Woot!)

A parting bit of library wisdom for the day:

Do not use animal crackers as bookmarks. If you give a librarian a cookie (in a book), she will throw it away!

Friends of the Week: Heather (Scrabulous) and Mag (Milk and Cheese...beware)

Flickr Update

Yup, I took that picture of what's basically a weed in the Auburn State Park here in California. My camera can be truly awesome at times.

I've really had no good excuse not to update over break. I just didn't. But now I've just updated my Flickr account with loads of pictures from my trip here so hopefully that makes up for something. I was tired of the first pictures on my Flickr account being of my not-so-impressive apartment.

A lot of the new pictures don't have descriptions, but they do have tags to say where they're from. For some odd reason they uploaded out of order though. If anyone knows more about Flickr than I do, I'd love to know what's up with that.

You can view the pictures here.

OR you can scroll down and click on the links called "My Flickr" on the left under links. Yeah, this post is partially just to remind you all I have a link to my Flickr account on my blog.

Friends of the Week: Stephen (Yes, I am a nerdfighter), Tim (Asian ladies), Brian (Pandora does indeed rock) , and Sarah (Asian ladies 2)

One of (or possibly the first) Asian American Film Actress

Was named Anna May Wong.

Anna May.

Yup.

Frankenstein CD Players and Poems

My CD player is the undead. I've dropped it several hundred times at least, broken the battery case to the point where I have to hold it shut with tape, and the other day finally broke the thing into two pieces. I put it back together with very little hope.

And it worked.

It's alive, Igor! It's aliiiive!

And today I hung out with some very cool kids at a teen poetry reading at my library which lead to my brief review on the book above. I even got paid for it, but I would have done it for free. I admit I was a little afraid I wouldn't like it, because my own poetry from my teen years was less than exemplary. But I really liked listening and talking to these kids. Probably something about elementary and middle schoolers that will spend a Friday evening in the library reading poetry and playing Boggle meshes with my own personality.