my moral standing is lying down

Recently picked up David Weber's A Mighty Fortress, #4 in the Safehold series, and I haven't been able to put it down. Weber is probably my favorite author -- he really knows how to write space opera (a subgenre of military SF), which I absolutely love, and yet which seems to be somewhat difficult to find.

Even this series isn't so much space opera as hmmm... a meeting of historical and futuristic military SF. And David Weber does that extremely well. One of my favorites of his novels, and one of the very few standalones he's written, is quite similar in premise -- The Excalibur Alternative. REALLY worth checking out as an intro to Weber's style, although it's sparse on the space battles.

Interestingly, the Safehold series more than touches on that oh-so-sensitive of topics: religion (and religious wars!). Even if his characters range from uninterested to doubtful to devout to zealot, as required by the story (and as is reflective of you know, reality), Weber is eminently reasonable about it, which comes through clearly to the reader, so I never feel like he's proselytizing.

Safehold series:

The Gbaba have left Earth and her colonies smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild. But the Gbaba can detect the emissions of an industrial civilization, so the human rulers of Safehold have taken extraordinary measures to keep Safehold society medieval forever. 800 years later, in a hidden chamber on Safehold, an android from the far human past awakens. Via automated recordings, “Nimue” - or, rather, the android with the memories of Lieutenant Commander Nimue Alban - is told her fate: she will emerge into Safeholdian society, suitably disguised, and begin the process of provoking technological progress which the Church of God Awaiting has worked for centuries to prevent. It's going to be a long, long process.

I was reading it during lunch yesterday and saw a guy across the way who was also reading a very thick hardcover book. I wondered if it could possibly be the same book I was reading. Because what other hardcover out right now is 700 freaking pages long? (Which is another reason I love David Weber -- his books are substantial, not the 265-page, font size 20 bullshit that LKH puts out.)

We made eye-contact, smiled in that hello, fellow reader way, then went back to our respective books. But a couple of minutes later I noticed that he flipped to the front of the book to look at the maps there, and suspected he MUST be reading it. So I asked him. And he was! It's always nice to meet people who are clearly enjoying the same book you are!

Matt and I exchanged a bit about whether we've read Weber's Honor Harrington series (of course, we both do!) and how we both hate some of the "Republican Crap" he puts into the stories (the moral villain of the piece is named Clinton, for one), but how Weber is still an amazing writer. It was a nice connection to make, and I almost wish I'd gotten his email because I kind of wonder what a 60-year old white male thinks of a clearly-"ethnic" girl half his age reading this sort of story (which is stereotypically read by white males). If anything!

ETA: YAY? David Weber is on twitter!

I keep coming home and turning on the TV and flipping from movie to movie for several hours before going to bed. This doesn't usually last too long with me, but I think it's been a couple of weeks already... actually maybe it's only been about a week, but it feels like a long time. I've watched more stupid romantic comedies in the last week than I've seen in the last few months. But while I'm talking about that, let me just say that Music and Lyrics was actually decent. Not the best one I've seen, but I think the first I've seen where Drew Barrymore plays a character I don't want to strangle. She was quirky and weird, but not idiotic like all her other roles. And you know what else? This just proves my theory that any romantic comedy with Hugh Grant in it -- despite NOT LIKING him much at all -- is pretty darn good. I don't know how or why this is true, but it is.

I also saw Because I Said So which made me want to murder Diane Keaton. It was pretty stupid, but overall it wasn't the worst I've seen either. There were a few really adorably funny parts, which were what made the movie worth watching. (Wow, what an alliteration.)

Before we got home, Maryann and I ate at the mall, and she was telling me about this article she read in Cosmopolitan magazine about how to... I dunno, something about communication with guys, who apparently prefer to talk about objects rather than people/feelings. Those articles are all bullshit and overly simplistic anyway, but they're sometimes pretty amusing to read. In this case, it was pretty funny because -- even without knowing the path the answer should or shouldn't take -- I was able to foil the point of the quiz! Yaye for me! So one of the questions was: "There are two fish in a fish bowl. What are their names?"

I paused for a second or two. And Maryann said, "just answer with whatever first comes to mind!" So my answer was "Black and White." I could totally see the huge sweatdrop that formed at her head. So I asked, what was the answer supposed to be? The point of this question is to determine whether the guy has his friends/hanging out on his mind, or your relationship. ::coughBULLSHITcough:: Two guys' names = friends, guy/girl names = relationship. I don't know what would happen should he pick two girls' names, or as in my case, more abstract "pet" names. ^^;

As for reading, I finished re-reading that first book in David Weber's Honor Harrington series, and have now moved on to the next one, Honor of the Queen. I'm not sure how long this sci-fi stint will last, but maybe I should look into what sci-fi books I may be interested in before the urge disappears. Even though I'm also still in the middle of Watchmen.

Oh! Speaking of Watchmen -- I really like those chapter interludes the best. You know, where you get to read various "non-fiction" articles written about and/or by the characters. I think sometimes I trudge through the "story" part to get to those. ^_~;

When trying to read my flist, after I go back to the last 30 posts, it skips from the 3rd of February to the 25th of January. Is anyone else having this odd problem?

Aside from that, it was beautiful outside today. It was like mid-May; still chilly, but a comfortable temperature, and the sun was shining. It was so refreshing.

I wonder if I can change my hours to be able to leave a little earlier in the day. I want to be able to go out and walk around in the daylight hours. Especially when it starts to warm up!

I was a little bad this week and bought the Pretear DVD Slim Boxset from Best Buy. It was only $25, though so it was worth the price. I haven't watched any anime in the last few weeks, though, since I saw those episodes of Aishiteruze Baby. I've wanted to, but I've had books to read that have been the focus of my interest.

I finally got my hands on a library copy of At All Costs by David Weber, and *gasp* it still has the CD in the back! I need to make a copy of it before returning it to the library! It should have all of the Honor Harrington series on it. And Baen, the publishing company's policy on those CDs is that you can copy and distribute the contents of the CD as long as you don't profit from it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, they are so cool! If anyone's interested in reading the series, I'd be happy to send the files to you.

Well! It's been quite a while since I last posted. To inform you on what happened with my wallet… well, I never found it. Surprise, surprise, I'm sure. So I canceled my cards and all that good stuff. Lost $50.00. Not too bad. Could've been worse. The only thing I'm annoyed about, I suppose is that I lost some photos and things like that… oh! And my Book Off membership card. Grrr.

But enough about my wallet… I've certainly talked enough about that subject. Hmm… let's see. Since then, I started working at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It's a temporary job, and I'm just doing clerical-type work, filing both hardcopy papers and using a digital scanner to upload those same documents to the office's shared drive for easy access. I started at the end of October and will be leaving at the end of December, just before Christmas. It's an 8-week thing. I'm working 8 hours a day (including a one-hour lunch), 4 days a week (Monday-Thursday). Not bad. Some nice, easy money. I'm still working at my sales job in Grand Central Station. Which is kind of tiring, considering that means I'm working a 6-day week. But I think the money's worth it. It's only for 2 months, anyway. After that, I'll sleep for a week. Although I guess I have nothing to complain about, most people do this their whole lives. (I hope I won't have to, or at least that it'll be something I like so I won't notice how tired I am 'cause at least I won't be bored.)

That first week it was difficult beyond belief to go back to Leeper Kids (that's my sales job) on Friday. I mean, besides the fact that I was pretty tired from getting up early to leave for work, working all day, then getting home late and going to sleep late, it was also like abruptly having shit shoved in your face after spending the rest of the week smelling the roses… if you know what I mean. I've always hated my sales job, and the people there (except for you, Angelica, of course) don't make it any easier. [read: understatement of the century] But going back after having the whole week of a nice office job was torture. I pleaded some excuse and cut out after half the day. Yes, I'm bad. Yes, I probably could've used the money. But it was beyond me to stay there longer than I had to that day. I would've just gone (more) insane from the "culture" shock.

But since then I've worked my Fridays all the way through. I don't want them to start thinking they can get rid of me. After all, it is only a two-month job at UNDP. It's not like I can count on it.

Hmm… what else has been happening lately? Not much. I got a few new things from Asahiya, Book Off, CD Japan… but that's not unusual. Ah, I know. I've been watching anime a lot more now that we've moved. My anime tapes are A LOT more accessible than they were before so I'm more inclined to get off my lazy ass and go put a tape in the VCR, even if I do have to go upstairs to do it. >_<

I've been thinking about getting a computer for myself with some of the money I'm getting paid, but I went to www.dell.com and www.gateway.com and put together a computer I could live with and Dell's comes to $996 and Gateway's comes to $1038. Dell's a better buy, not even because it's an amazingly $40 less, but because it has a few extras that Gateway's doesn't for that extra $40. That $1038 is just about half of my pay for the two months, so I'm double-thinking my computer purchase plan. Maybe I should just get that TV that I wanted instead…. Oh, for those not informed, I don't have a TV in my room, I use the one that's upstairs in the living room (on the 1st floor) for my anime- and hockey-watching purposes. Although I do have 2 VCRs in my room so that I can copy tapes. >_< It'd be cool if I got a TV in my room, then I could actually watch anime even more! I wouldn't have to wait until 11pm when my mom's finally done watching Judging Amy, or that Max Bickford show, or The Practice or some other stupid program that's gaggingly unrealistic and tries too hard. And then, by that time I'm too tired to watch anything or Angelica wants me to talk on the phone with her (not that I don't want to, too), and if I want to have any sort of sleep I have to go get in bed, so I never get a chance to watch TV unless she's coming home late that day or is watching in the only other room we have a TV in, which is in my parents' bedroom, except that my father's always watching TV or sleeping in there, so that's practically a moot point anyway.

Maybe I should just get the TV.

But I really would love to have that computer…. 40 Gig hard drive, 1.4 GHz processor, 250 MB internal Iomega zip drive, 48x variable CD-ROM drive, 16x/10x/40x CD-RW drive, Windows XP Home Edition OS, and it comes with MS Works Suite 2001… the only thing I'm worried about is, does that include Word? 'Cause on the Gateway site, they specify "MS Works Suite 2001 with Word" but on the Dell site, they specify "MS Works Suite 2001 with Money 2001"… does that mean that with Dell I wouldn't get MS Word? That would really suck.

So, I suppose I'll have to make a decision soon… especially, to hmm, maybe take advantage of the upcoming sales? I guess I picked a good time of year to get some extra cash coming in.

In other news…. Here check out some of my auctions. Have fun.

ladyreianan's ebay auctions

And go check out some of the new anime I got recently:

Nereid Trading Post: Fansubs

Hmm, and if you're in the mood for Weiß music (along with some Zetsuai 1989) I'd suggest this station:

o fortuna: a japanese pop, rock & animation station

Oh yes! I can't believe I almost forgot! I'm sorry, Louie, it's 'cause I'm at work and I keep getting interrupted. Last Saturday was Louie's birthday party! (Tanjoubi Omedetou!) We went to a karakoke bar in the city - it was cool. And it was a cosplay party, too, so there were some kawaii outfits. Not a lot of us, just about 10, I think, but it was nice. My sister and I went as Cyprine and Ptilol from Sailor Moon S (you know those twins from the Witches 5, one has blue hair, one has red…. Look). Angelica went as Mana (the evil nurse Mana from Malice Mizer, from the Gackt years). There was another Mana there, too; she was the Beast of Blood Mana from recently - she was quite good if I do say so myself. >_< There was a half-hearted Sailor Moon. And Louie was Gackt (from Malice Mizer… before Merveilles). Hopefully if I get some copies of the photos that were taken, I'll scan them and post them up.

Okie, well, I'm done for this session. I'll try not to neglect it again, because, apparently when Angelica's bored she goes and reads my LJ and she gets a trifle annoyed when I haven't posted anything new for her reading pleasure.

::sweatdrop:: o.O*

[Closing Statements:] Rangers are on a 5-game home-win streak and a 8-game point streak! Kakkoiiiiiii! ::whips out sign:: I love you Leetch! ::puts sign away and whips out another:: I love you Richter! ::puts sign away and whips out the last one, honest:: Sammuelson, you're so kawaii!

::grumbles:: Devils, guys, what happened?!

[Reading Recommendation:] March Upcountry and March to the Sea by David Weber and John Ringo (I've been suffering from a lack of new Honor Harrington books and this has temporarily filled the hole.)

Mata na!

I mean, I was online, minding my own business... slowly running out of things to do. Do I want to read my mail? No. Do I want to read a fic? No.

I finished checking the new messages at Phoenixfeather's "The Horde" message board. I finished talking with a friend -- Louie! -- 'cause she signed off. I finished putting up an auction for Angelica. I already have one up for myself & don't feel like putting up another one at the moment. ::sigh:: What to do now?

Well... one week ago I would've just signed off. But now? No, I can just go over to livejournal.com and write in my journal! It calls to me... "Waste time! You have nothing better to do!" ...and I give in. Pathetic, ne?

Oh well. I'm going to sign off & read some before I go to bed. Sharon Green's 2nd book in The Blending Enthroned series? Or David Weber's latest in the Honor Harrington series, Ashes of Victory? Choices, choices.

Maybe I'll let you know what I chose next time I succumb... uh, I mean, update this journal.