I haven't put the earphones on yet this morning, but I have Pedro the Lion music (from Control) drifting around in my head. Competing with Coldplay (old Coldplay, Parachutes Coldplay) for 'music in my mind' dominanace.

I am but the happy bystander, ambivalent to which side wins.

As a matter of fact, at this point it's pretty dominantly Pedro cause I've been thinking about several songs and what they mean to me in turn for the past day or so.

Perhaps I'll go into more detail if I ever reach any sort of conclusions.

Pray for the Metts. It's been a rough week for them.

So.

I finished War for the Oaks recently. The ending was reasonably anti-climactic-- cheesy. I could explain why I felt so, but that would basically be giving the ending away in a single pithy statement.

Oh, what the hell: Eddi (the protagonist) and her band saved the day by rocking out to late 70s and early 80s pop music.

If I were able to believe that music can save the day (something I had enough trouble reconciling as a child). I certainly wouldn't believe Phil Collins and ZZ Top would be the music to do it.

My respect for how elegantly Charles De Lint handles music has been vastly inflated by Emma Bull's work.

I really wish I had something better to say about the book. What with the fact that I hunted it down and all. And it's about faerie in this modern world, even. Emma Bull just went into too much detail in areas that didn't interest me and glossed over the things that did, resulting in a book that didn't really agree with me.

It was an okay book. A promising effort. But it could have been much more. If War for the Oaks was a videogame, I'd complete it and then use it for trade in.

*shrug* Oh well.

Now I'm on to A Clockwork Orange by one Anthony Burgess

Apparently, Ypsilanti residents don't have to Jur in the 15th District Court!

I'm off the jury hook!

This afternoon I fulfill my civic responsibility and report for Jury Duty. I'd be lying to say I'm looking forward to it. But perhaps if I show up reading The Pony Party, I won't be selected on account of my association to Mr. Snicket.

Or perhaps I'll be residing as a jury of peers this week.

I'm very near completing War for the Oaks and I have mixed feelings about it so far. On the one hand, it's a very good book. I like it fine. On the other hand, I'm a little dissapointed. I had expected more from it.

Poor Emma Bull. It's gotta be hard trying to live up to the hype I recieved via word of mouth.

Last night a very small cross section of my derelict writer's group (just me and Will) met at Connor O'Neil's Pub. The evening was full of discussions on comics and digging Christian Fiction out of the slushpile of a market it is currently.

It reminded me why I hate trying to have a conversation at a bar. Too loud. If only there was some way of taming the noise levels, Connor O'Niel's would have been a perfect venue.

Spirited Away trailer...

Spirited Away website...

...At long last.

It's -very- exciting!

I assembled a new Magic deck Tuesday night. It involves all of the creatures with the ability to 'poison' released in Magic so far. The objective: 10 poison counters on your opponent. It's been an idea in my head for quite a while. But only now has it all come together in a deck.

We also played Shadowrun last night and I think it went swimmingly.

Muffin Films are delicious!

I prefer yellow notepads to white notepads. They don't hurt your eyes to write on them in the sun. And they have color, which makes them more exciting.

Yellowpads have personality!

For those of you following my Warcraft 3 progress, I moved into the Ork-centric campaign Saturday. It's kinda nice to see the Night Elves in action, finally. Even if I'm not playing them.

Also: Adbusters wants you to curb your consumption.

I am but one mission away from finishing the Undead Campaign in Warcraft 3. And, I'll admit it. I'm bored of the Undead. They're fun and all, but I desire change.

I'm also slogging away at the second short story. This one isn't nearly so long as the first, but it's probably better in the way my first was better than things I've attempted previously.

It's going to rain today! ^_^

I like Tuesday Comic.

It's really rather frightening that people can do stuff with stick figures that makes me admire their artistic merit. Really, it's reinforcement to the "It's not what you do, but how you do it" school of thought.

Consider this yet another reminder for certain people who haven't gotten around to reading Demonology-- Do it. Now.

Urg. What a week. Andrea's great aunt passed away. Mom and Dad visited. Christian and Ann visited. And other previously organized events ensued as well.

When it rains, it snows!

But last night I finally was able to sit down with the Vol 4 trade of Blade of the Immortal.

There's a serious shortage of Samurai Drama in the translated manga scene. This is a shame because, if you’re like me, you wake up craving a tale of the bushido code versus the noble individualists sometimes.

When such a craving strikes you and the scope of Lone Wolf and Cub is too intimidating, you could do worse than to slog through Blade of the Immortal.

Blade of the Immortal has a lot of newer conventions going on in it. The main character is a kenshi (swordsman) who is infected with a supernatural parasite that doesn't allow him to die, for instance. He wanders Japan of the 1800s with a girl who is trying to avenge her father. A girl who is torn constantly by doubt in her actions.

And when it comes down to it, there are no good guys in this tale. Only the sympathetic and the unsympathetic.

A bushido drama where the Samurai are portrayed as lazy and corrupt and the individualists battle it out in the shadows.

Another thing that everybody was probably aware of but me: Adbusters Magazine was introduced to me last night. The July/August issue is responisble for one of the most beautiful depictions of The Last Supper I have ever seen.

The magazine is full of McLuhanistic, postmodern activist dogma.

Their goal: To help you take control of your mental environment.

Ah, my lunch hour is too short! ^_^

Well, I am now officially a student again. This morning I spoke with an academic advisor for EMU and registered for Japanese at the previously referred to institution for this coming fall. EMU was largely an economic choice, when it comes down to it.

So it goes.

The first tentative steps down the road to completing my 4-year piece of paper (ironically). ^_^

"Emma Bull is really good!"
-Neil Gaiman

He's right, you know.

Emma Bull authored a finely Charles De Lintian (for lack of a more succinct way to say it) tale by under the elegant banner: War for the Oaks. Truly what brings her book to life for me is how she handles the characters.

Her characters are wonderfully multi-facetted. Both annoying and yet endearing at the same time. They're like real people that I'd like to know.

Well. My parents are in town for the week. The week that ends Saturday morning, that is. So much to do! Visiting, breakfasting, dinnering, sitting on the furnitures! However will it all get done!

I got my rear-channel speakers hung Saturday night. That's a step in the right direction, I think.

Yes. Today is Andréa's birthday.

They Might Be Giant's new Album, No! is outstanding! There aren't words to wrap around how good it is!

Butterflies! I'm going to swoon with happiness!

Working on the new story. Kicking around ideas for a title. Playing with the outline. I've read a lot of things by writers who just sit down and belt out a story with little or no planning.

I like the idea of that, but I just can't manage a story that I don't plan out ahead of time. I always manage to get stuck. Then I end up going back and creating an outline of sorts anyway.

It's kinda like programming without a flowchart and procedures. It's possible. It's been done before, but you gotta be good to pull it off well and revision is painful.