Born of Flowers

I have been put on hold and am listening to what sounds like upbeat soap-opera background music... Ah, the joys of telephone banking.

What to say, what to say? In the interest of my friends who will read this (I hope?), this is going to be more of a rave/rant space for me than anything else, because I know that they don't *always* want to hear me go on about the same subjects. But I really appreciate it when you listen, even if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Truly. On the off chance that I'm not speaking into the Void, your thoughts? :)

Et peut-être que de temps en temps je vais même faire des mises à jour en français! Pour cacher de l'information à ceux qui ne le parlent pas, évidemment.

Yesterday was a a very special day in my life: I bought my first hardcover book. Guy Gavriel Kay's "Lord of Emperors", which completes my collection; I have all his books, now. (Though I'm planning on buying "Tigana", "A Song For Arbonne" and "The Lions of Al-Rassan" because those new editions are too gorgeous and I'll have all his books in trade format.) Because I am cheap, I didn't even buy it full price, but on sale for the mere price of nine dollars! Incredible value, considering the paperback edition costs ten or eleven dollars... Bookstore sales are a wonderful thing.

Since I'm going to have a mere four weeks of vacation before starting work again, I've been compiling lists in my mind of all the things I want to do. I already have stacks of books to read and reread (before I even raid the library), two dresses to sew and a room to thoroughly clean. I'm fully prepared to get rid of half the things I own, which will mean throwing out a great deal of paper. Add to that my regular lessons and a tentative plan to start doing aerobics, plus my still-in-school friends who want to see me on weekdays/nights, and I'll probably be even busier than I am now, with working full time.

I originally signed up for this account with the intent of raking Robert Jordan and "The Wheel of Time" through the coals, but I think I'll save that for later. My ardour has died down somewhat since last week and it somehow doesn't seem productive to create one thing in order to be arrogant and opinionated about something else. My writing voice being very changeable, I can't quite muster the sufficient amounts of cynisism and mockery to do a good job of it today, anyhow, so I'll refrain.

Yummy Asian Restaurants

Well, two restaurants in two days and two very large meals... I didn't overeat, which is mainly because there wasn't too much food (a good thing, but that means no leftovers for lunch the next day...oh, well).

So I have this huge pile of books to read, and I think that to stimulate my intellect I'm going to review each and every one of them, including the ones I've read before. Perhaps I should do this for anime as well? If the mood strikes, perhaps.

For now: Bored of the Rings. English-speaking fans of The Lord of the Rings owe it to themselves to read this. Fortunately, they've reprinted it in honour of the LOTR movie, so you can actually find it in bookstores! No more gingerly turning the pages of my friend's father's battered, antique, repaired-with-Scotch-tape version! It's incredibly crass and downright perverted, at times, but it's still hilarious. Humour more or less in the same vein as Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, which I love. It follows the plot of LOTR but turns everything on its head, making Gandalf a demented, stupid parlour magician, Aragorn a bumbling Lone Ranger wannabe, the Hobbits a bunch of fat, lecherous slobs and the Elves into ditzy granola tree-huggers.

"A duck flew over quacking loudly. "Wolves," cried Pepsi, straining to hear the fading sound." (p. 63)

Juvenile, perhaps, but I don't think any other book has ever made me laugh as hard as this one the first (and second, and third...) time I read it. Just don't try to get me to read it out loud, I'll choke. XD At any rate, I think it says something about the quality of the inspiration that something this twisted can evoke such fond laughter. It's a parody, but one made with the greatest respect for the source, and it just goes to show that nothing is sacred. But it's good to be able to make fun of the things we love. Right?

Right.