Fool Moon
Date: Jul 20th, 2008 2:42:10 am - Subscribe
Mood: relaxed
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Playing with the kittens
I finally finished reading Fool Moon written by Jim Butcher and the second book in the Dresden Files series and I have to say it's one of the better books that I've picked up this year which is saying a lot for me. Recently I've become bored with reading unable to find a book that really grabbed me and dragged me through the story with joy and ease. I think the last book that inspired that feeling in me was when I started reading The Satanic Bible which by the way is another one worth picking up even if you have no desire or intention of actually becoming a satanist, but that's a post for another day. Getting back to the book on hand Jim Butcher captured me with his first in the series Storm Front and sense then I haven't been able to put them down.
Butcher presents you with an intelligent and unique style of writing that draws you in with witty dialog and rich descriptions that paint very vivid pictures in your mind of what's going on. I mean the writing is just absolutely fantastic. His description of how the world and magic works are also so plausible that it makes you wonder if he isn't writing from truth instead of fiction. And his main character Harry Dresden is not only entertaining and smart, but realistic. Have you ever read those books where you're sitting there thinking about how beat up the main character would be and how they wouldn't even be able to walk after that and how stupid it is that they're not standing victorious over the main villain? Well believe me you won't get this here. When Harry gets beat he actually gets beat. There are no acts of super human strength, no ignoring wounds that would have obviously put him out of commission, and no doing things that otherwise would have killed him if he were a real person. Butcher is very realistic about his characters limitations and what they could take and what would put them out of commission. It makes for a very good and far more intense read when you're sitting there wondering how Harry is going to get out of this jam or that knowing that he isn't magically going to pull some super powered weapon out of his hat. And the way he does get out of trouble is very clever in ways that make you smack your head and wonder why you didn't think of that before.
The only real problem that I have with his books is Butcher doesn't seem to know how to write women. Some of his more out there characters ( such as Tera from Fool Moon ) he does a good job of, but his more common female characters are more over the top. All the women remind me of the over sexed women in the James Bond movies. All busty and beautiful and dangerous in manipulative ways. The only female character that seems to be different is Murphy who reminds me of the oversensitive femi-nazi type of girl who feels as if every man is an insensitive jerk out to get her. The type of woman that will yell at a guy for opening the door for her because she feels it means she's weak. While I do recognize there are women like this Murphy takes it to a level that would almost be funny if she didn't piss me off so much. Of course I suppose I would rather her piss me off with her arrogance then for me to remain apathetic to her as a character. It means that despite her unrealistic attitude she's still well written enough that she can get under my skin.
In the end though Jim Butcher does an absolutely amazing job and despite the fact that he doesn't seem to know how to write a good female character ( at least not yet though I've only gotten through book #2 ) it isn't so much of a big deal that it ruins the whole thing. I would defiantly recommend starting on his series if you haven't already yet.
Seriously buy it now. You won't regret it I promise.
And for my next book while I wait for parts three and four of the series to arrive I'm going to try and read Lord of the Flies. I missed this book during high school and figured it's probably for the better. A lot of books that I hated when I read them for class have become favorites of mine when I became more mature and patient enough to appreciate them. So I guess I'll see if this classic is all everything I've heard it is or if this is just more trash that schools try to shove down our children's throats.
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Roxie
Date: Jul 11th, 2008 7:22:09 pm - Subscribe
Mood: worried
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Waiting for grandma
It's always difficult when a family pet has been injured in an accident, but I never imagined it could be so hard when a strange kitten I just meet a week ago might end up with an amputated leg.
Upon moving into my apartment and spending my first night there I came to discover that there was a beautiful tawny colored kitten that lived wild around the small bit of woods next to the building. My neighbor Jim had been setting food and water out for it on a daily basis and the kitten would often come up to our porch and lay down in the chairs to nap in the shade. She was a sweet kitten that while shy at first would soon curl up in your lap and fall asleep purring. She was friendly and sweet and warm.
After the week had gone by I woke up one morning and left to go to work to find Jim sitting on the porch as usual holding the kitten in his lap and petting it. We said our good mornings and before I had a chance to leave he brought to my attention that the kitten had obtained several injuries since the evening we had last seen it. The bottom of its jaw was scraped up, it's tooth had been chipped, and it was dragging its leg. Jim knew I worked at a vets office and gave me a few dollars after I said I would take it in and have it looked at.
Doctor Megan ( not my employer, but a very nice woman and competent veterinarian ) had a look at the cat while I was working and came in to me with the bad news. Our sweet little girl had been run over with a car sometime between last night and that morning. It wasn't unusual as there is a very busy and very dangerous street that we live right on, but it was still distressing to hear none the less. When questioned about the leg Dr. Megan said that it had pulled several sensitive nerves in the area around its armpit and while there was a chance the nerve damage could repair itself and the kitten would walk again there was an equally greater chance that the leg would simply have to be amputated. Thankfully all the other wounds were superficial. The chipped tooth was fine, the scrap on its chin would heal, and other then having fleas and ear mites there was nothing else wrong with it. She even promised me that despite having only three legs should amputation be the only option it would still have a full and happy life.
It was hardly soothing.
I can't remember ever having cried so much for an animal I didn't know before in my life. I've been sad and mournful, I've cried a little when watching such horrible instances as the bull fights ( and no culture nor tradition does not make brutal torture and pointless murder of an animal excusable ), or the horse fights in China, but it's never been something that I've had to leave the room for.
Of course once I was able to calm down and think clearly there was only one possible solution to this kitten's problem, for I couldn't release it back into the wild with its bum leg. Now little Roxie ( as in Roxie Heart from the movie Chicago ) is going to have her own place in my ever growing family of animals.
What am I up to now? A lizard named Maxwell, my two betta fish Shai and Malochai, my emperor scorpion Diego, my two millipedes Cutter and Joe, my other kitten ( domestic longhair ) Dahlia and now my new kitten ( domestic short hair ) Roxie. I may be the only person in my apartment, but at least I know I'll never be alone.
I just have to sit, wait, and hope that Roxie gets better. And if not and we do end up amputating her leg at least I can be thankful she got away from that car with her life.
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Independence Day
Date: Jul 5th, 2008 5:57:48 am - Subscribe
Mood: prideful
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Playing with fireworks
Today ( or should I say yesterday ) was July 4th Independence Day and so in honor and a show of American Pride I present to you this picture.
Have fun with it. And no this isn't a negative statement about America. At least not for me though I can't talk for the creator of it...
For all its faults I love this country and no one could convince me that this isn't the best place in the world to grow up in.
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Meat and Sex
Date: Jul 2nd, 2008 10:25:09 pm - Subscribe
Mood: excited
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Getting ready to move
Eating my veggie beef stew at lunch this afternoon I had a random thought that barely seems note worthy, but at the same time interesting. And I have nothing better to talk about at the moment so why the hell not.
One of my biggest pet peeves are vegetarians, and I'm not talking about the vegetarians that do so for their own personal health reasons. Any steps people take to try and make themselves healthier is good in my book ( besides which they tend to be very quiet and reserved about their eating habits ), but the vegetarians that do so out of a desire to feel like they're somehow more kind and sensitive then the rest of the world by ignoring their carnivorous instincts to save a cow that would probably die of starvation without us to care for it anyway. Moral vegetarians tend to be rude and outspoken making everyone listen as they drone on about the poor cuddly chickens ( while at the same time conveniently ignoring the ugly little spider they just crushed beneath their feet in disgust ) and trying to make others feel bad about their own eating habits and the fact that we're more realistic and don't need the shallow sense of self righteousness to feel good about ourselves. Can you sense the disdain I feel?
Anyway one of the reasons I will never stop eating beef is because it's just to damn tasty. No vegetable cooked any way could compare with the taste of a nice medium rare steak yet I've have more then one vegetarian try to convince me otherwise. They parade around the long list of tofu burgers and animal friendly veggie dogs as if they were gods gift to man and the answer to all my troubles.
Despite the fact that I've had tofu burgers and they taste nothing like ground beef it got me wondering isn't this just like someone claiming sex is a sin while in the same breath saying it's okay to masturbate? For some reason I'm not allowed to eat actual meat, but it's perfectly acceptable to enjoy the taste of synthetic dead animal flesh? How does this work out? It seems to me as nothing more then a thin and shallow attempt to hide the fact that in the end they recognize their own carnivores tendencies, but instead of accepting the natural order and finding alternatives that can satisfy both their moral beliefs and their natural instincts they would rather parade around what good little martyrs they are and needlessly give up something they crave to save animals that will eventually die by the hands of another predator who is less concerned with the well being of its meal then its own survival.
I know my fair share of animal activists who are aware that not all ranches and slaughter houses take the best care of their meat. That's not to say that PETA propaganda has any standing, but I have no delusions there are some less then reputable cattle owners out there. So instead of buying their meat from just anyway they're sure to get it from free range cattle farms to insure that their meals are treated with some form of dignity and respect before their death. Finding out where your meat comes from isn't that hard and if you're so concerned with the cows well being it's easy to find a reputable ranch while at the same time protesting the bad ones and avoiding giving the whole industry a bad name.
I am an animal and as an animal part of my diet consists of the flesh of others. I may love my rare steak, but I don't condone the cow being treated poorly before its death. For one thing I do have a respect for the creatures that give their lives to feed me. For another mistreatment makes for tough and fowl tasting steaks.
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Grim Tales From Down Below
Date: Jun 24th, 2008 1:14:58 am - Subscribe
Mood: odd
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Playing Pokemon Diamond again
I've been feeling odd lately. Feeling as if there's something in this world, something in this existence that I'm not getting. An idea in the back of my mind that's crying to be understood, but I'm just not hearing it. Perhaps it's part of what makes the mystery of life or perhaps its my mind looking for something more... intriguing and interesting in my own existence. Further maybe it really is a thought I'm meant to understand, but for some reason am just not getting.
Either way take a look at this comic. The artist Bleedman is absolutely beautiful and the story is very thought provoking which is even more amazing considering that it's working on the base of Cartoon Network characters among other childhood favorites. He does a very good job of taking cartoons that were meant for the base enjoyment of children and finding a more important and abstract meaning in what's being presented.
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