Random Thoughts.....What Are You Thinking?

Which is exactly why I never should have become an English major. I loved reading, adored it even, when I was younger. I'd read everything from Harry Potter to the Narnia series to the His Dark Materials trilogy, just everything. I'd sneak into the library at school, find a random book that my parents wouldn't want me to read, read several pages until I had to leave, hide the book so no one could check it out, and then come back every time I got a break and keep reading the book until I was finished. This went on for years. Then I went to university and had to read stuff that was just so deadly dull it became a drag, a bore, and a chore to read. And I'm just now starting to get back into reading. It took two years to recover from "good" literature.

And I didn't even have to read all of the classics in uni! I fetched a few on my own just because I felt that I should know about them, like Uncle Tom's Cabin. (Wretched to read, it drives me nuts when characters talk in such strong dialect that I literally can't understand them. But it's true to the time and the language I suppose.)

Anyways. I used to love reading, then I hated reading, and I'm now starting to just like reading again (two years after graduating,) and I blame the turning point of that on godawful classic literary nonsense.

Some classics were great. Turn of the Screw, positively creepy, same language-type and time period as other (much more dull) classics, but can hold a reader's attention just fine because it actually has a story to tell, and tells it. The Lost World (Doyle, not Crichton.) Fantastic book! The Divine Comedy (particularly the Inferno) by Dante Alighieri, fantastic read. I mean, classic literature does not HAVE to be a dry, dull, boring chore. It really doesn't. So why on earth Conrad had to write a story that was not a story, but a snippet in time from some guy's life in which nothing happened, I don't even know. It would be like if I just decided to keep a diary of my everyday life for awhile, in which nothing extraordinary happens, and then publish it and expect it to flourish. Really. The only saving grace that book has is that it took place in Africa and showed English control over African tribes. And it could have accomplished that in a much less boring manner, if it had wanted to. Conrad just likes to be a boring enough to lull the masses into a dull stupor, I swear. If I saw him on the street today and had a copy of HoD in my back pocket, I would slap him with it.

Finally! A day off! (that started at 8 am ; ;)

Hello.

I've been up an hour already.... I'm not used to being able to sleep 8+ hours straight

It really was quite eloquent. :-) Uri is profound and poetic and wise, and he doesn't even know it!

Of Mice and Men (and all of Steinbeck's books that I had to read, really) kinda creeped me out, not in a good way. I kind of felt like Steinbeck needed some sort of mental help.

Another really creepy one was Lord of the Flies. Good book, good message, nightmare to read. Just absolutely horrifying. In a good, and very bad, way.

Great Literature is always a Good read at some point in time.
Some pieces have the advantage of being not so far off for our current mind set. A poorly written book might be still an usefull/worthy document for research but that doesn't make it Great literature. Defining has been a Problem with every Kind of art, so I don't mind others having a different opinion.

Oh definitely! Writing is definitely an art form, and everyone is going to like and dislike different kinds of art and have their own opinions of it. Some people like Twilight just for the fact that they can insert themselves into Bella and pretend it's their life, which is precisely the reason (one of the reasons) I don't like it. If you can insert yourself into a character, then that character is not dimensional and defined enough, in my opinion. Some people hate Harry Potter for the fact that it's a kid's book that deals with adult issues-- which is one of the reasons I like it. Some people see parallels to the Bible in Lord of the Rings, I don't really. I could make a stretch to see those parallels, but it's just that to me, a stretch.

And plenty of people like the Heart of Darkness, and I'm glad they do-- just so long as they never expect me to. Just like Walden. I've known so many people who just LOVE Walden, and I really kinda dislike it quite a bit, and it's ok.

I'm afraid I get so testy over literature that I come across as kind of "I hate this book, so everyone else should hate it too!" and that's not really what I mean. I mean more like "I hate this book, and I want everyone to understand WHY I hate it!" It's hard to differentiate sometimes, especially over the text on the internet because we can't see each other's facial expressions and tones of voice and body language, and those things communicate almost as much as what we type communicates.

Anyways. I ought to go to work. Where are my shoes? D:

I feel like this screenshot will haunt me in my dreams

Egg on my face moment...

I called last week to *** at the company that I ordered my parts to repair my bike from. It had been over two weeks and nothing had been updated to say that they shipped the parts/were looking for the parts/ordering the parts/etc and I was getting pissed and all wtf. When I called they told me I couldn't cancel the order and they didn't know why anything hadn't updated or why it hadn't shipped yet. Next day the webpage updated and said they shipped one part (not the other 3 -.-;) on 5/27 (the day I order it). But no shipping number or anything like that.

Swung by the apartment office while picking up the mail this morning... apparently there was a box for me sitting there for a week now. Yup.

Anyway bike is fixed and fully functional now. Though I had been riding it back and forth to work anyway <.<;

lol

The chick that plays her VA is hot,probably mocap actor too,she looks kinda like her

Most of the people from the Mass Effect series had their models based off real people if I recall correctly.

I know for a fact Miranda was based off her voice actress.

All right, gonna try and get some sleep before work tonight.

Night night.

Went to the zoo yesterday... Lots and lots of pictures, but I won't post them all because that'd take a lot of work. But here are some highlights.

Your son has good taste in animals, snakes are awesome.

I added a few more to some of the spoilers. :D

Oh, and Ina, since you seem to enjoy researching unusual things... Any idea what this thing is?



It looked like a fish, but came out of a hole in the sand like an eel.

I used to not mind snakes.

Then I had a nightmare where I was in a small area with snakes of ALL SIZES. Since then, I can't stand em. Right up there with my fear of pigeons.

A few more random ones.


Think I'm done for now.

If we are looking at the same thing it looks like a *** of sorts... Idk where to begin looking to find out what it really is though.

Nightmares are pretty much the only reason I have an odd, unfounded fear of frogs and toads.

I've had nightmares about giant slugs before, too, but I had a weird fear of them even before that.

6 Real Islands Way More Terrifying Than The One On 'Lost'

saved!

I did a Google image search... It brought up nothing but babies, baby clothes, and animals sleeping on their backs. Not exactly helpful. "Fish that hides in the sand" brings up the ones that camouflage themselves, and "Fish in hole in sand" doesn't bring up anything useful.

Forever confused. :(

not as bad as Isla Sorna

"Fish that looks like a ***" didn't turn anything relevant up either :/ I am disappointed in you google.