amatyultare (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amatyultare) wrote2007-07-12 12:02 am
amatyultare) wrote2007-07-12 12:02 am
Entry tags:
keep telling yourself, baby, it's not living a lie if you're not living at all
Really intensive room cleaning of the summer: done. I cleaned out my closet, got rid of everything that I would never use again (quite a bit of stuff, everyone in my family is a packrat), and then used the space for things that I use at 'gate but not at home (extra dishes, etc). Also,every year I add a few new conveniences; this year it is one of those hanging shoe organizers. I don't have that many shoes, but enough that it gets really inconvenient when they just 'float', and there isn't room on the closet floor because that's where I stick the laundry hamper. Woot! Say what you will about Wal-mart, but you can find pretty much anything there.
Speaking of things you find at Wal-mart--months after being inspired by Lindsey L's cell phone rhinestone-ness, I found stick-on rhinestones myself. Not that I went with classic black as she did, oh no. Most of a 300-pack of pink and silver rhinestones+incredibly pink and silver cell phone strap=possibly the most obnoxiously girly cell phone ever. It is so tacky that I am filled with glee every time I look at it.
Res Life continues to be, well, kind of hugely annoying. They have a rooming arrangement for our townhouse that is not going to work (as in, Brandon and Matt living together. NOT a good idea). So we (the four of us in the townhouse who actually know each other and are friends) email them and ask them to change it, suggesting an arrangement that is at least equally reasonable. They respond that they can't change the rooming list (which they came up with without checking anyone's preferences at all) unless they hear from everyone in the townhouse. Problem? No one else in the townhouse next year is responding to emails on the topic, including those sent by Res Life. Oh, and we couldn't have talked about it with everyone last semester because they didn't finalize who was IN the house until last month. So Res Life, in their infinite wisdom, suggests that we stick with the original arrangement until we get to school and move into our rooms, then have a house meeting, decide on changes, and THEN get Res Life to change the roster and move our new rooms. In other words, unpack, change rooming assignments, and repack and unpack again. I did that last semester when I switched to an empty room, and it is extremely inconvenient to find time to unpack a second time, when classes and so on have already started.
Anyway. Um, Mom has officially made our front lawn (well, our whole property) a National Wildlife Habitat. Apparently you just to the National Wildlife Federation's website, verify that your property provides animals with food, water, shelter, etc. and pay a fee, and you're a habitat! We have an official looking sign, although Mom's not sure where to post it. Basically this is all about Mom excusing the fact that we don't mow the 'front lawn' aka field anymore (although to be fair, I've done it and mowing 2+ acres of bumpy ground is a gigantic pain). Honestly, though, it looks very pretty with all of the wildflowers and so forth. And we certainly have a ton of birds, not to mention the most fireflies I've ever seen in my life in one place. So I guess I approve ^_^
I started this post talking about my room-cleaning and -organizing spree, and looking around I just realized that I probably need another shelf for my books. The only problem is, I've basically run out of places for shelves. Hmm. Mom says we just need a bigger house; I kind of agree. She's trying to organize the basement, actually, but it is driving her up the wall.
Okay, this post is already really long, but I had one more thing that I wanted to mention. Mercedes Lackey's new book, 'Fortune's Fool'. It's part of her Five Hundred Kingdoms...series? I will try to avoid big spoilers....
Basic plot: daughter of one of the Underwater Kings, who has the special ability of being able to breathe in both air and water, is (for that reason) often sent by her father to various coastal kingdoms to make sure that nothing is causing trouble that might spill out into the sea. After an initial adventure that is so blatantly only mentioned to give our heroine a Useful Magical Object that I'm not even going to discuss it, she checks out what seems to be an eerily pleasant kingdom that might be a little good to be true. Not to worry; the kingdom just has its own little manipulator of Tradition--the seventh son of the king, a Fortunate Fool. Our heroine and the FF fall immediately in love. But then! There are reports of magical young women being kidnapped, and our heroine decides to go investigate. When she doesn't come back immediately, FF decides in turn to go after her and make sure she's all right.
Okay, bear with me for a second. One of the reasons why I like Mercedes Lackey's stories so much is the respect she has for her characters. She rarely has her hero/ine win against evil through sheer luck, and the 'good guys' are generally not clueless. I appreciate that. Some of her most effective cat-and-mouse stories ('Phoenix and Ashes' comes to mind) are when BOTH the good and bad people have things the other doesn't know. I LIKE intelligent protagonists who actually understand what's going on, it makes them much more relatable.
However...there is a line, and in 'Fortune's Fool', Lackey crosses it. That line is: the protagonist(s) must have enough vulnerability to make the story interesting. In "Fortunate Fool', the heroine is NEVER is any real danger; she's basically manipulating the antagonist the entire time. Everyone understands the Tradition perfectly, no one is ever in any real danger of making a mistake...this adds up to literally ZERO suspense. It's still vaguely entertaining, because Mercedes can tell a good story no matter what, but you don't worry about the characters, which means you don't really CARE about the characters. And the plot, while not exactly predictable, is so devoid of any dramatic tension it's enough to make you weep.
So yes, it's entertaining....ish....but far from her best work. Not even my love for the main character (a woman who is intelligent and strong-minded and ALSO is very feminine, and really loves shoes and pretty clothes? She's great, even if I can't remember her name right now) resigns me to this book. I know that Mercedes Lackey can do better than this....
Yep, knew that was going to be long. Anyway, maybe bedtime? Later, all!
P.S. New icon! I am not actually angsty and this is an angsty icon, but I like it. MeruPuri love!
Speaking of things you find at Wal-mart--months after being inspired by Lindsey L's cell phone rhinestone-ness, I found stick-on rhinestones myself. Not that I went with classic black as she did, oh no. Most of a 300-pack of pink and silver rhinestones+incredibly pink and silver cell phone strap=possibly the most obnoxiously girly cell phone ever. It is so tacky that I am filled with glee every time I look at it.
Res Life continues to be, well, kind of hugely annoying. They have a rooming arrangement for our townhouse that is not going to work (as in, Brandon and Matt living together. NOT a good idea). So we (the four of us in the townhouse who actually know each other and are friends) email them and ask them to change it, suggesting an arrangement that is at least equally reasonable. They respond that they can't change the rooming list (which they came up with without checking anyone's preferences at all) unless they hear from everyone in the townhouse. Problem? No one else in the townhouse next year is responding to emails on the topic, including those sent by Res Life. Oh, and we couldn't have talked about it with everyone last semester because they didn't finalize who was IN the house until last month. So Res Life, in their infinite wisdom, suggests that we stick with the original arrangement until we get to school and move into our rooms, then have a house meeting, decide on changes, and THEN get Res Life to change the roster and move our new rooms. In other words, unpack, change rooming assignments, and repack and unpack again. I did that last semester when I switched to an empty room, and it is extremely inconvenient to find time to unpack a second time, when classes and so on have already started.
Anyway. Um, Mom has officially made our front lawn (well, our whole property) a National Wildlife Habitat. Apparently you just to the National Wildlife Federation's website, verify that your property provides animals with food, water, shelter, etc. and pay a fee, and you're a habitat! We have an official looking sign, although Mom's not sure where to post it. Basically this is all about Mom excusing the fact that we don't mow the 'front lawn' aka field anymore (although to be fair, I've done it and mowing 2+ acres of bumpy ground is a gigantic pain). Honestly, though, it looks very pretty with all of the wildflowers and so forth. And we certainly have a ton of birds, not to mention the most fireflies I've ever seen in my life in one place. So I guess I approve ^_^
I started this post talking about my room-cleaning and -organizing spree, and looking around I just realized that I probably need another shelf for my books. The only problem is, I've basically run out of places for shelves. Hmm. Mom says we just need a bigger house; I kind of agree. She's trying to organize the basement, actually, but it is driving her up the wall.
Okay, this post is already really long, but I had one more thing that I wanted to mention. Mercedes Lackey's new book, 'Fortune's Fool'. It's part of her Five Hundred Kingdoms...series? I will try to avoid big spoilers....
Basic plot: daughter of one of the Underwater Kings, who has the special ability of being able to breathe in both air and water, is (for that reason) often sent by her father to various coastal kingdoms to make sure that nothing is causing trouble that might spill out into the sea. After an initial adventure that is so blatantly only mentioned to give our heroine a Useful Magical Object that I'm not even going to discuss it, she checks out what seems to be an eerily pleasant kingdom that might be a little good to be true. Not to worry; the kingdom just has its own little manipulator of Tradition--the seventh son of the king, a Fortunate Fool. Our heroine and the FF fall immediately in love. But then! There are reports of magical young women being kidnapped, and our heroine decides to go investigate. When she doesn't come back immediately, FF decides in turn to go after her and make sure she's all right.
Okay, bear with me for a second. One of the reasons why I like Mercedes Lackey's stories so much is the respect she has for her characters. She rarely has her hero/ine win against evil through sheer luck, and the 'good guys' are generally not clueless. I appreciate that. Some of her most effective cat-and-mouse stories ('Phoenix and Ashes' comes to mind) are when BOTH the good and bad people have things the other doesn't know. I LIKE intelligent protagonists who actually understand what's going on, it makes them much more relatable.
However...there is a line, and in 'Fortune's Fool', Lackey crosses it. That line is: the protagonist(s) must have enough vulnerability to make the story interesting. In "Fortunate Fool', the heroine is NEVER is any real danger; she's basically manipulating the antagonist the entire time. Everyone understands the Tradition perfectly, no one is ever in any real danger of making a mistake...this adds up to literally ZERO suspense. It's still vaguely entertaining, because Mercedes can tell a good story no matter what, but you don't worry about the characters, which means you don't really CARE about the characters. And the plot, while not exactly predictable, is so devoid of any dramatic tension it's enough to make you weep.
So yes, it's entertaining....ish....but far from her best work. Not even my love for the main character (a woman who is intelligent and strong-minded and ALSO is very feminine, and really loves shoes and pretty clothes? She's great, even if I can't remember her name right now) resigns me to this book. I know that Mercedes Lackey can do better than this....
Yep, knew that was going to be long. Anyway, maybe bedtime? Later, all!
P.S. New icon! I am not actually angsty and this is an angsty icon, but I like it. MeruPuri love!
no subject
Res Life is, and always has been, one of the most inefficient offices at that school. In 34 House, we just talked about it beforehand and moved in wherever we wanted, despite where Res Life told us we should be moving in. Maybe you could tell the extra people what the plan is and that you'll just move in that way unless they voice a complaint? If it's who you told me about earlier, I don't know why he'd care.
I like your yard! I kinda want to live in a National Wildlife Habitat now . . .
Thanks for the review of the new Five Hundred Kingdoms book. I was just thinking a few days ago that I needed to read it, but now I'll get it through the library instead of paying. I wasn't very happy with the second one at all, so this is disappointing. Maybe I'll just stop reading them.
no subject
Wow...you have WAY more shoes than I do. I'd like more shoes, but then I'd like more of a lot of things. Eventually, maybe....but yes, the hanging rack is extremely convenient.
It's so depressing because I really like Mercedes Lackey in general and she can do SO WELL. After 'Fortune's Fool' I was rereading her 'Last Herald-Mage' trilogy (part of her Heralds of Valdemar universe) and compared those books to FF--I LITERALLY almost cried at the comparison.
no subject
My shoe fetish isn't as bad as some people I know (most of them are flip-flops, and they come from places like Payless and the Macy's sale rack), but I like to have a choice for every outfit. I need to get a red or maroon pair soon, but I'm trying to hold off due to lack of money and space. I just gave several pairs to Goodwill . . . maybe more will follow when I move again.
Do you think the Five Hundred Kingdoms books are directed at a different audience? I had heard such good things about her, but that series is the only thing I've read by her, and I didn't think it deserved the accolades people usually give her. I'd like to read the Bedlam's Bard series, I think, since Valdemar is HUGE.
no subject
Heh, don't worry, I like shoes too. Although I do find it hard to shop for them--hard to find what I'm looking for....
Well, I will admit that the Five Hundred Kingdoms books seem much more, well, romance-novel-ish than her other series. That might be an explanation, actually; she doesn't mean for them to be all that intense, just kind of sweet and cute. Do you want me to send you the first few books of Bedlam's Bard? I don't own them all but I can get you started (and I can also send you the SERRAted Edge series, which is set in the same world).
no subject
I remember really liking the Heralds of Valdemar series, but I was also about 12 at the time. I think Mercedes Lackey can be pretty much hit or miss. When she's good, she's good and when she's bad she's boring and pulling out Deus Ex Machinas everywhere.
no subject
I really like Heralds in general...the thing that people either really like or find lame is that she builds up this huge backstory, and then comes up with this giant issue (Mage Storms trilogy) that involves EVERYTHING in ALL of the previous books, and most of the major characters (including several who have been dead for centuries). Honestly, I like Mercedes Lackey in general, although I admit she has her highs and lows. I usually like her books, even the ones that aren't that great, because I like her characters.