Preludes And Nocturnes

Edited to add: Please do NOT read the reviews or description on Amazon if you actually want to read the book. They are very VERY spoilerish.

I just finished re-reading The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes. This is one of my favorite books from when I was younger. Got me to thinking of some others I’d like to re-read. And then I realised that I really did read fairly non-stop sci-fi/fantasy in the most difficult years of my life (grades 5-7).

Robin McKinley, Monica Hughes, HM Hoover.

And that is the next one I need to read. This Time of Darkness was re-read by me more times than one would think possible.

Now, if you’ll excuse me - we have to go eat sushi. Oh yes.

Of Lost.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. Actually, all three of us are not certain how we feel about it - to the point of “do we watch the new season?”

SPOILERS up to the end of Season two and speculation contained below!! (for real)

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
So it started when Shannon was killed. Leone and I kept saying “but when will they go over and see she isn’t dead?” Right?? Shannon isn’t dead. And then they buried her - and they STILL DIDN”T KNOW SHE WASN”T DEAD!

We’re still waiting on that one.

And of course, we added to that a few nights ago “oh, when will they realise Shannon and Libby are not dead.” I hated Shannon for so long. She finally started to get some character and they killed her. I loved Libby. They didn’t even milk the “she’s alive but won’t wake up and spill the beans on Micheal” angle. Why is Libby dead?

Seriously, did they let that Joe Sweeden guy write for them this year? (for non Buffy people - Joss Whedon)

Couple main things - plot holes, character inconsistencies, random killing of people after we like them and get their back story, and a vague feeling that there is no overarcing plan for the show.

Rather than trying to tie up a few things here or there, it is like they come in each week and think about how to twist off in further far flung directions. I picture them each with a different coloured crayone just waiting to draw their own loopy path from any of the dangling issues.

Also, a lack of a reliable vantage-point. Lock had that at times, Mr. Echo, Kate, etc. But really, the only one I can rely on is Sayid. Everyone else seems to have serious bouts of the Stupid. Like when Micheal came back and Jack was all like “oh yeah, let’s follow Micheal” and thank goodness for Sayid! THEY FORGET TOO QUICKLY! That whole part where Micheal pulled the gun on them? The part where Micheal seriously needs some anger management classes? Did he ever thank Sawyer for saving him on the raft? No. And although Sawyer struggles to be the bad guy, I’d take him over the wing-nutty ones.

And Jack is just a knob.

Issue number nine million - SILLY PLANS!

Why did they all not go on the boat to the other side of the island to get the Others? According to them it was for the element of surprise and to pretend they still trusted Micheal. Er, coming on the boat would have been a surprise!

And our favorite plot hole:
Oh, Lock and Henry are in lock down, must pry open big heavy door too hard to imagine. Lock gets crunched. “Henry - go through the OPEN VENT to the computer room” … er … why on earth wouldn’t Lock have done that before.

As Jim said “oh, this hard door isn’t working - just go use that open unlocked door we never bothered to even try.”

Okay. I’m done now.

I like the show on many levels, but they really need to clue in to the difference between ongoing plots and intrigue vs. making random shit up because it sounds cool. This show could carry a huge audience based on the characters. But killing off people doesn’t bring in new viewers - and just threatens to drive off the ones you do have. So there.

Edited to add two more photos after feedback from Leone.

Saturday morning. Sun shining. (For the first time in days upon days.)

Jenn: wanna go somewhere?
Jim: sure.
Jenn: Jasper/Mount Robson?
Jim: sounds great.

Two showers, few things in bags, fill up gas tank, and we were off.

Drove through a beautiful storm in the foothills to the Rockies.

Had cake and chai two hours later in McBride at the train station cafe.

Found a cabin to stay in at the base of Mount Robson.

Drove the further hour to Japer for dinner. Must eat steak in Alberta.

Morning outside our cabin.

Got up this morning and hiked four hours of the Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Park.

Beautiful water!

And then it was time to head home.

Yes, we were in the car.

And we are now home.

Dude, about the week….

Can it really be done? Has it really been that long since I posted? I think I only had time to blink!

Work is pretty good. But more importantly, I took a beautiful little tea pot for my office. I have gotten a disproportionate amount of joy from that tea pot. I now make my full travel mug of tea and at the same time make the tea pot full. I tend to make mixed teas (ie: green tea and peppermint) so I feel bad using two teabags for one mug. Now I get THREE MUGS from each go.

And sometimes I get that from one teabag! RIVITING, I KNOW!

But really, sitting in my office drinking tea and dealing with students - very cool.

In other news, most people I like. That one, though, that one I don’t like. And I think she knows it now. *Sigh*. I hate confrontation, but for the love of the sweet baby jesus… back off.

Really, a week ago we were wearing t-shirts to go for walks and having to put the fan on us at night. And then it changed. Oh how it changed. (Okay, not as much as Edmonton - they got SNOW for the love of Dinah.)

But it certainly did cool down this week.

So to mark the occasion, I bought sweaters!! Yay!! A very pretty sage green with white and a hood and that uni-pocket. I’m wearing it right now. (We did turn the furnice on the past few evenings, but during the day we’re toughing it out and determined it is warm enought with the sun.)

My other sweater is this total 70s inspired green and pink and blue and all sorts of colours. If you go to their page, it is in the 10 items/ten looks section - Jacquard Sweater. Here’s the green one:

As I walk down the stair towards the main Atrium I see a gathering of 15 Japanese exchange students, doing a strange little dance while clapping as others in the group form a human pyramid while a retro ghetto-blaster blares Queen’s “We are the Champions”. And they cheer.

What the heck?

In other news, work is still busy - but I still LURVE my new job.

the guy who left this office I’m in now - he wants the bullitin board and white board moved to his office.

it has been two weeks.

I have stuff on them.

NOOOO!!!!!

it would take a good week plus to get my dept to order me my own. I think I’ll pin up pictures that would prevent facilities from being able to move my boards. Where do I keep all my gay porn?

Which I am currently singing along to as if it were “definition” - whoo!

But really, it is not as fun as one might think. Immigration, that is. I know, I know. All the parties, all the celebrities, the fun and games, the thrill of the paperwork.

It has been slow as we are waiting on the FBI clearance (fyi, 3-5 weeks is currently clocking in at about three months according to the lady at the FBI). Oh yeah, we got a number to call and everything. Direct line to FBI. What did people do before there were immigration forums with search functions?

So at least we know the delay is just part of how it is right now - not about Jim in any way. So we can’t do medicals until FBI is in. Medicals set the limiting factor on the timeframe. They are only valid for 12 months and if, for whatever reason, the Immigration were not totally completed in that 12 months - we have to do them again. And that is costly (time and money), so we wait until everything else is done and in/back/sealed/photographed/written on.

Today, though, small victory. We got the Immigration pictures done. This took research as they state right on the form “THESE ARE NOT PASSPORT PICTURES” - no, of course not.

They are different.

Because just going to one of the ninety million places that do passport pics would be way too easy. Yes, must make them different.

Jim and I finally realise, though, that we can go and get passport pics done and just crop them ourselves. We have it all planned out. So we go to costco and plan to get them to do passport and we’ll edit them ourselves. Plus we need 4 passport as well for the medicals. So we’ll get 8 in total.

The lady is like, “oh yeah, we do PR photos too. No worries.”

Oh. Very good. Thanks.

(I don’t know, I just wouldn’t have assumed that they did PR pictures - it says that NOWHERE on their big signs…)

Yay!

And we wait some more. But with pictures. And with that said, here is a pic from our reception:

This is our wonderful cake from the reception. For me it had chocolate cake (and then people said, but can you have a chocolate wedding cake with white icing - oh yes, I say). For Jim it had butter icing.

And my mom picked it out and ordered it for us. She pretty much did the whole reception. Moms rock.

Jim bought a bike and pretty much rides every day.

I go to yoga 2-3 times a week.

We go to the track together.

We’re hiking on the weekends.

We’re doing the 5K round trip killer uni hill about once a week.

We just played our second go at Racquetball and got a month membership so we can play 1-2 times per week.

On tuesday we did a really awesome walk/run combo at the track. It is 400-450m around the track once. We were walking one, running one back and forth. We even went wild and ran two in a row for kicks. We did 5K total.

Who are we and what the hell has happened to us?

(To keep it real, though, we did go for burgers last night.)

Whoo! Love my window!!

Good day. I missed half my lunch and both my coffee breaks. I’ll make that up a little by blogging right now for a few minutes. Job is awesome and I’m glad. I was a little anxious this weekend because this is the first real week of this job in my new office all official. Got a few curve balls today, but expected as much. Totally not organized (would have been good if they hired this position in the middle of summer rather than end of it so there would have been more time to get prep’d). Inherited a few messes that I’ve been trying to get back in order between students, but some will just have to wait until later.

Later means October.

And now I start my usual Tuesday flipflop. Do I go to yoga or just go home. I have actually driven past the fitness centre and then turned off and doubled back to actually end up going to yoga when I thought I was too tired. I’ll go. I tend to go. But pretty much every Tuesday and Wednesday around 4:19 I think “I am just toooooo tired to go.”

And then I go.

And I’m usually glad.

Except when the lame-o girls attend and I reach the end of yoga class ready to kill. Don’t talk during yoga. Don’t gossip. Don’t giggle. Don’t roll your eyes because you are too cool for this. I will kill you and they’ll never find the body because I’ll bend it up really small.

The end.