Uno: Last night I biffed it for the first time this season. Came out of it mostly unscathed, luckily — I broke my fall with my left hand, tore it up just a little bit from the concrete, and somehow didn’t end up twisting anything or even getting sore. O spring, where art thou?
Zwei: Lately my productivity at work has waned, but yesterday I started using Minuteur to chunk my day into smaller bits. I work for 20 minutes, then take a “break” for five minutes, and repeat. (I had read Merlin Mann’s post on (10+2)*5 a few months ago, but remembered the numbers incorrectly. Oh well. :)) It’s worked amazingly well so far, and I find myself not wanting to take breaks. The time just flies by. Granted, with twenty-minute chunks it’s a little harder to stay in flow, but so far it hasn’t really been a problem. And whereas I used to find myself aching to clock out and go home, now I lose track of time. (Which is a good thing.) I wanted to pick up a timer from Smith’s last night — so I can use the same method at home, making sure I don’t waste time — but they were out. Soon… (Side note: do I feel my life is becoming over-structured because of this? Not really. I feel more productive, like I’ve been set free instead of bound in shackles. My big challenge before yesterday was wasting time, and using the timer has definitely helped me with that, so it’s a good thing. And I think I can keep it up, too. We’ll see. :))
Trois: I read the first seventy or so pages of Lloyd Alexander’s Book of Three a few days ago. I’d had high hopes for it, but the dialogue is just too stilted for me. And it’s painfully obvious that it’s a derivative of Tolkien — Gurgi is just a poorly done Gollum, and Gwydion is Aragorn reincarnated. I’ll probably finish the book anyway, to see if things get better, but I doubt they will. ‘Tis a pity, really. And in the meantime I’m 100 pages into The Lives of Christopher Chant and loving it. Diana Wynne Jones’s books are quickly earning a spot on the list of my favorite books.
Four: Last week I was walking home and passed one of the guys in my ward. “Hi, Kevin,” I said, then accidentally said, “Good.” Aspirations to host Jeopardy notwithstanding, I think I’ll try to save my answers until after the questions are asked from now on. :)
[tags]Merlin Mann, Lloyd Alexander, Diana Wynne Jones[/tags]
Comments
Oh, I’m rather sad you’re not enjoying Lloyd Alexander. The Lives of Christopher Chant, though, is a fabulous book. It’s my favorite in the Chrestomanci series (although I haven’t read Conrad’s Fate). I don’t know any girl who’s read one of those books without developing a crush on Chrestomanci. Have you read Howl’s Moving Castle? It’s one of Diana Wynne Jones’s best.
I’m trying to enjoy Alexander, but it’s just not working. I suppose if I’d grown up with it, it’d be more tolerable. (Speaking of such things, I watched The Neverending Story with my roommates a year or two ago and was aghast at the editing and overall frumpiness of the movie. It’s one of those that you just had to grow up with. But I still love the main theme song.)
No, I haven’t read Howl’s Moving Castle yet — I only recently discovered Diana Wynne Jones — but rest assured that I’ll be reading all of her books. I’ll probably finish The Lives of Christopher Chant tonight and start on The Dark Lord of Derkholm (different series, I know, but oh well). Anybody know of other authors in a similar vein?
After you read Howl’s Moving Castle, check out the movie version by Hayao Miyazaki. It’s amazing, even better than Spirited Away. Though I can’t say how it compares to the book, as I haven’t read it. The Chrestomanci series is the only bit of Jones’ writing I ever got into. The ideas were brilliant enough to overcome the slow writing style, but I can’t say the same for the other stuff.
I checked out Howl’s Moving Castle twenty minutes ago. (Since everything’s closed on New Year’s, I’m practically forced to stay home and read all day. Poor me. :)) I thought about renting the movie over the weekend, but I think I want to read the book first. You think her writing style is slow? Interesting. Well, it suits me perfectly. :)
Reading Understanding Comics has got me interested in the differences between Japanese and Western comics, incidentally, so I may take a dip into the world of anime and manga and see what it’s like. (I never thought I’d say that! :))
Throw in your two cents