cat_collector

If there's not a word for it, there should be

2008-07-03T01:12:52Z

At least if there is I'm not aware of it. I'm thinking of the unease and vague depression I always feel just after making a major purchase. I'm going through that tonight after spending the morning buying a car.

The shopping took a week or so, the purchase only a few hours. I wasn't planning to have to spend this much money, but after a pick-up truck rear ended my car while I was on my way home from work a couple of weeks ago, I was forced into it. Thankfully, I wasn't hurt, but my car was a mess. I haven't bought a car since 1994, so when I started researching online and looking at Consumer Reports, I was appalled how much the ones I liked were. Even considering I was looking at used cars only, it was going to be a wad of money. Not to mention that small, fuel-efficient used cars looked to be a scarce commodity. But I'm reasonably content with what I drove home in---a 2006 Scion XA. It's small---and I like that. It's supposed to get very good gas mileage---and I like that. It has very little room to carry stuff---and I can live with that;.

So, why aren't I happier? I suspect exhaustion is part of it; as I've been losing sleep as I fret over how to finance the thing and which make and model would be best. And I'm not looking forward to paying car notes again. I'll hope that I feel a lot better about this after my three-day weekend when I can rest and forget about cars and money.

Robert Asprin, RIP

2008-05-23T15:44:14Z

Just heard the sad news this morning of Bob Asprin's death. Too soon, too unfair. I can't claim to have been a friend of his; but I always enjoyed seeing him at cons. The last time I saw him, I think was at a DSC several years ago. He was sitting with a group of us hanging around the con suite and asked if we wanted to hear an excerpt from a work in progress. Of course, we said yes, and were treated to our own private reading. He actually kept his voice down, in consideration of the other conversations going on, but that voice could have easily drowned out everyone else in the suite and out into the hallway as well!

And I remember him filking at other cons as well. Happy memories---and that's the way I want to think of him.

Happy, happy birthday

2008-03-31T04:56:55Z

[Bad username: �It's far too late for me to figure out what I'm doing wrong to make this look so wonky. So I'll just settle for---Happy Birthday, smofbabe]! Have a good one!

Sometimes It's Good To Be a Sheep

2008-03-15T03:02:24Z

At least it is when it pushes you to do something worthwhile. If you're reading this, you almost certainly know Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's; this week came the news that he's donated 500,00 pounds to Alzheimer's research. In the last few days, the "Match it for Pratchett" campaign has been showing up on LJ, probably elsewhere as well; the idea being that we his fans can't all donate that amount of money each, but collectively, we could do it.

I did my small bit this evening by donating to the good people at www.alz.org, the Alzheimer's Association. It's an American group, but I'm confident they'll use the money wisely. They meet all the Standards for Charity Accountability laid down by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance.

I've been fortunate enough not to have any immediate family members taken by Alzheimer's; but I've had several relatives, a former co-worker, and too many other people I've known and cared about affected. It's always hard to know where to donate money since there are so many worthy causes, but I figure that the small amount I sent can be thought of as a payback and a thank you for all those books Terry Pratchett has written over the years that I've loved.

Heroes gets it wrong

2007-10-16T03:54:03Z

I noticed that tonight's "Heroes" was to introduce a character from New Orleans and Nichelle Nichols was to play her grandmother. "Great!" I thought. "A character from post-Katrina New Orleans and NIchelle Nichols---that I have to see."

Oh, dear. I shouldn't have bothered. My first shriek of dismay came when a character supposedly living in New Orleans says that "...half the county is still living in FEMA trailers...". Louisiana has parishes, not counties. Two minutes of research on New Orleans would have told the writer that.

Then there was the co-worker who had been friends with the new hero since kindergarten; so she must be a local right? So why did she sound like she just came down from Mississippi?

I've given up expecting to hear real New Orleans accents on shows that are supposed to be set in New Orleans. But for goodness sakes, get the terminology right!

Birthday Wishes

2007-10-06T16:53:47Z

And it 's time to wish

supergeea Happy Birthday! Thanks for all the entertaining links you post.

The Name of the Wind

2007-07-22T18:54:23Z

     If you're in the mood for a nice long fantasy novel, I have a recommendation. No, it's not the latest Harry Potter, it's The Name of the Wind.


The Name of the Wind may be Patrick Rothfuss’s first novel but if he continues as he has begun, he can look forward to toting home some awards. At 600+ pages, it’s a doorstop of a book, but reads like a much shorter one. I found myself zipping through it wanting to know what was going to happen next.   At first glance it might look like the standard pseudo-medieval/imitation-Tolkien the fantasy shelves are overloaded with, but Rothfuss gives the familiar set-up a few original twists that too many authors skip. A few times, I thought I could predict was going to happen next, but instead I was pleasantly surprised at the turn of events. At one point, Kvothe himself even notes that if he were in a story, such and such would have happened, but as it was reality, the more boring event happened.

     The landscape is both familiar and strange. It's a little like medieval Europe, with a few seeming anachronisms, but on my first reading I found a detail that suggested this was another place entirely. (Of course, as I skimmed the book before I wrote this, I couldn't find it again, but I'm almost positive I didn't imagine it!) I'm intentionally not going to mention the detail; it's not a spoiler for this book; but could possibly be for a future one.
     The Name of the Wind is the story of Kvothe; now a village innkeeper, but a man who has seemingly lived several lifetimes of adventures in his less than thirty years. In this volume, Kvothe begins to tell his life story to someone known as the Chronicler. This is the first book in a trilogy, so we only hear of his early years, beginning with his childhood in a traveling troupe of players, the years as a street urchin in a vast city, and his training in magic at the university. Kvothe can learn very quickly, faster than anyone he knows. He puts his ability to good use; he learns not only from those who are trying to teach him, but from those who do terrible things to him
            Fortunately for those of us eagerly awaiting the next installment, Rothfuss has already written book two and three and they’ll be out in 2008 and 2009. I’ll put them on my list; I want to know why Kvothe wound up at that inn.

cat_collector @ 2007-07-05T09:56:00

2007-07-05T15:00:52Z

I've been reading people's live journals for long enough now that I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and play along. I don't expect to make many entries here; it's more of a convenient way to make comments on other people's entries. I'll already discovered what a great time waster it is. Just what I need--another excuse not to work on my apa zine or write that paper for class or clean house!