The Quite Overdue Next Post (spoilers on various books)

Ah well, it is better to blow your good intentions right at the beginning and not get everyone's hopes up than to do well at first and then fall apart. I was supposed to write on this every day. I even started my second day's post, and then put into drafts. ::does Gimli voice:: Bad Idea!

This has been a bit of a crazy time, as we have all been sick continually with various discomfitures for two weeks. I really dislike being sick, but then again, who doesn't? I do not mean for this blog to merely be me writing in my stream of consciousness, so I'd better shut up and talk more coherently. ;-)

Perhaps I shall start with my current reading list. If nothing else, it shall give those of you who know me a chuckle. If anyone is reading this who doesn't know me, it shall (perhaps) shed a little light upon who I am. But I prefer to be mysterious. Anyway, here goes:

1. Contact, by Carl Sagan
2. Testament of Youth, by Vera Brittain
3. The Spectator, primarily by Joseph Addison (a personal hero) and Richard Steele
4. Nightwatch, by I-can't-remember-who-and-I'm-too-lazy-to-go-look-it-up
5. Astronomy magazine
6. The Odyssey, by Homer
7. Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen

All except for Testament of Youth are pleasure reading. If I were to list all of the books I'm reading "for school," I would need about three pages. I am about halfway through Contact, which I got from the library after realizing that I was in violation of one of my pet rules:

1. Emily Rule #1: Do not see a movie that is based upon a book without first reading the book.

So, I had to order the book posthaste. Quite good, as far as being a story from a woman's perspective and written by a man. But the only part that I am really that interested in is when the Japanese (or whoever it was) build the second machine and Ellie goes on her little trip. That part fascinated me, although I must admit that I think it absurd to try and open a wormhole on the Earth. Of course, the aliens knew what they were doing; I just think that something more realistic could have been done. For instance, the machine could have been a ship that opened up the wormhole once in orbit, and therefore not endangered our planet. But this is kind of "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" A moot point, in fact.

Next I've been reading Testament of Youth. The beginning had some very funny parts- Vera Brittain is a mistress of charicature drawing!- but now the War (WWI) has begun and her not-quite-fiance is on the front. It is very sad and depressing, not less so because I have several people I know going to (a different) front. Both a cousin and a friend of mine are going into the Marines. Knowing the Marines' history of camaradery and knowing enough Latin to understand their motto, it makes me feel a little bit better that they are going into the Marines than another branch of the American forces, but still... It isn't pleasant to think of too much. Especially having just finished All Quiet on the Western Front.

Mansfield Park I'm reading for the JASNA essay contest. The deadline is May 1st, so I have to read 9 pages of the book a day to get it done in time. The only thing that makes this a lot of reading is that each page is verey large and has very small text- I have the 8-in-1 edition of her novels. JASNA, by the way, is the Jane Austen Society of North America. Their conference this year is on Mansfield Park, and if you get first place, they fly you out to Phoenix for the conference so that you can read it to them. Not bad at all, says I. So I'm working on it. ::digs around in bowels of folder:: http://www.jasna.org/essaycontest/index.html is the link for the contest rules. The rules are very specific and nit-picky, but I think it's worth it.

Nightwatch is an absolutely beautiful book that came highly recommended to me as the perfect first astronomy book for adult beginners (Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey was my-and many others'- first astronomy book, but most people over 12 won't use it, and someone stole my copy). Nightwatch has incredible photographs on almost every page, and the since it's a new edition, the information is up-to-date and good through 2010, I think. The best parts I've come across so far are the universe in 11 steps and the information on buying a telescope. In the former, the author starts out by giving a picture (square) enclosing first the Earth and decribing it as a cube of space, and then enlarging the cube with each successive step. Eventually, the current theory of the finite universe is enclosed within this cube, but you go through many amazing steps and facts before you get there. This approach really gives you a comprehensive idea of the comparative sizes of different celestial objects, which is a great background to start from. The info on buying a telescope explains why such common mistakes as buying the 800x telescope (through which you can only see black) are mistakes. Very informative, with a good sense of humor, and the author has a lot of experience to back up what he's saying.

Anyway, I've rambled long enough, and I should leave something to talk about in later posts. :-)

~Eowinnie

"Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes." ~Frodo

You don't need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice. ~Unknown

"I never let my education interfere with my learning." ~Mark Twain