RL stuff - not terribly interesting
Nov. 20th, 2005 12:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartBelow, you can find some gossip about school, housework and the books I've got and those I only want to get... Put behind a tag because of excessive length and verbosity.
Open hours went reasonably well. Big boss seemed content. Didn't say it to me but told two different people, so there must be some truth in it. The kids behaved. The fifth term group actually enjoyed the trial, they were falling out of their banks to become part of the performance. Thank God for small favours.
Cleaned the frigging flat yesterday. God, how I hate cleaning! But now I'm done with it for a while. Fortunately, I've managed to persuade Mom that with only two people living there - two well-ordered, anal-retentive people - it's not necessary to scrub the stupid place clean every week. *relieved sigh*
The first book of the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters arrived yesterday. Long live the Bestsellers bookshop! The advantage of ordering books through them is that the books don't get stolen on the post. Or if they do, it's not my financial loss, hehehe. Ordered volumes 6 through 10, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lhun_dweller had gifted volumes 2-4 upon me some time ago. But it's still a long way to the full series. That woman (Peters, not Jenn) wrote some 20 or 22 parts! I will eventually get the full series, though. The books are just too good not to buy them.
Still waiting for Life in a Medieval Village by Joseph Gies, though. And I ordered another book from him, Life in a Medieval Castle. Unfortunately, the book with detailed information about medieval life is out of print. Small wonder, as it was published in the 1970s or whatnot. It's my bad luck that I always discover good stuff when it's no longer awailable.*long face*
I still haven't gathered the strength to read the second Dhampir book, also a gift fromlhun_dweller. I quite likes the first part, but when I gave Thief of Lives a cursory look, I discovered that the main heroine got manipulated from that sneaky character again, plus she will lose her home and honest work due to said manipulation. I hate books where the main characters get bereft of what they deserve. *pouts*
Currently, I'm working myself through R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf trilogy. Have got as far as to one-third of the first volume, Homeland. So far, I'm not terribly impressed. I mean, the description of the Drow city and their lifestyle is interesting, but somehow I have the feeling that the whole thing is based on l'art pour l'art evilness. Meaning, that we don't get explained (or haven't got so far) why exactly did the Drow move under the earth, why are they so wicked, and so on. It is as if the author would try to make them as evil as humanly possible, without giving a reason for that evilness. Or perhaps I'm simply too stupid to understand his subtle hints.
Anyway, I liked the Icewind Dale books a lot better. Even though the inflation of magical items and their overwhelming powers really did take off the wind from the main characters' sails, as we say over here. I think part Tolkien's genius lies in the fact that he discovered this particular trap early enough and neatly sidestepped it. I mean, even the Silmarils and the One Ring don't actually do anything. Yes, everyone wants them, people do terrible things to get them, but in the end, they are of no use. When anyone gets them at all, they suffer gruesome deaths - or gruesome injuries - and in the end they have to be cast away.
In a sense, not even the three Elven Rings are of much use. Poor Círdan only had Narya in his keeping for a limited time, and yet he grew old as soon as he passed it on to Gandalf. Lothlórien got removed from the natural flow of time, which is a pretty freakish thing, if you ask me, and the wood began to wither as soon as Nenya gets removed. As for Vilja... well, commanding a river is a neat trick, but for an Elf, it must be a horrible thing to lose his hair in exchange. At least on the temples. Erm... sorry, I couldn't resist. Do you think that the balding of Movie!Elrond is a side effect of his drug... erm, Ring abuse?
My secret Advent project is well on its way. Almost 1/4 of it is done. I only hope I'll be able to keep up the speed. I don't have much time left.
So, that was it, silly RL report. And no, no straight jackets have been ordered so far.
Open hours went reasonably well. Big boss seemed content. Didn't say it to me but told two different people, so there must be some truth in it. The kids behaved. The fifth term group actually enjoyed the trial, they were falling out of their banks to become part of the performance. Thank God for small favours.
Cleaned the frigging flat yesterday. God, how I hate cleaning! But now I'm done with it for a while. Fortunately, I've managed to persuade Mom that with only two people living there - two well-ordered, anal-retentive people - it's not necessary to scrub the stupid place clean every week. *relieved sigh*
The first book of the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters arrived yesterday. Long live the Bestsellers bookshop! The advantage of ordering books through them is that the books don't get stolen on the post. Or if they do, it's not my financial loss, hehehe. Ordered volumes 6 through 10, as
lhun_dweller had gifted volumes 2-4 upon me some time ago. But it's still a long way to the full series. That woman (Peters, not Jenn) wrote some 20 or 22 parts! I will eventually get the full series, though. The books are just too good not to buy them.Still waiting for Life in a Medieval Village by Joseph Gies, though. And I ordered another book from him, Life in a Medieval Castle. Unfortunately, the book with detailed information about medieval life is out of print. Small wonder, as it was published in the 1970s or whatnot. It's my bad luck that I always discover good stuff when it's no longer awailable.*long face*
I still haven't gathered the strength to read the second Dhampir book, also a gift from
lhun_dweller. I quite likes the first part, but when I gave Thief of Lives a cursory look, I discovered that the main heroine got manipulated from that sneaky character again, plus she will lose her home and honest work due to said manipulation. I hate books where the main characters get bereft of what they deserve. *pouts*Currently, I'm working myself through R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf trilogy. Have got as far as to one-third of the first volume, Homeland. So far, I'm not terribly impressed. I mean, the description of the Drow city and their lifestyle is interesting, but somehow I have the feeling that the whole thing is based on l'art pour l'art evilness. Meaning, that we don't get explained (or haven't got so far) why exactly did the Drow move under the earth, why are they so wicked, and so on. It is as if the author would try to make them as evil as humanly possible, without giving a reason for that evilness. Or perhaps I'm simply too stupid to understand his subtle hints.
Anyway, I liked the Icewind Dale books a lot better. Even though the inflation of magical items and their overwhelming powers really did take off the wind from the main characters' sails, as we say over here. I think part Tolkien's genius lies in the fact that he discovered this particular trap early enough and neatly sidestepped it. I mean, even the Silmarils and the One Ring don't actually do anything. Yes, everyone wants them, people do terrible things to get them, but in the end, they are of no use. When anyone gets them at all, they suffer gruesome deaths - or gruesome injuries - and in the end they have to be cast away.
In a sense, not even the three Elven Rings are of much use. Poor Círdan only had Narya in his keeping for a limited time, and yet he grew old as soon as he passed it on to Gandalf. Lothlórien got removed from the natural flow of time, which is a pretty freakish thing, if you ask me, and the wood began to wither as soon as Nenya gets removed. As for Vilja... well, commanding a river is a neat trick, but for an Elf, it must be a horrible thing to lose his hair in exchange. At least on the temples. Erm... sorry, I couldn't resist. Do you think that the balding of Movie!Elrond is a side effect of his drug... erm, Ring abuse?
My secret Advent project is well on its way. Almost 1/4 of it is done. I only hope I'll be able to keep up the speed. I don't have much time left.
So, that was it, silly RL report. And no, no straight jackets have been ordered so far.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-21 12:20 am (UTC)They book's worth the wait - it's great. I didn't know he'd also writtten one about castle life; I guess I'll now have to read that one too. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-21 05:31 pm (UTC)Heh heh heh. Little does she realize I own stock in the publisher's company. (Yeah, right. I wish! Glad you're enjoying them so much.)
"Unfortunately, the book with detailed information about medieval life is out of print."
Don't make a long face yet: send me the author and title, and I'll poke around some of my sources for out-of-print books. After all, you'll need some fun reading for spring break, right? Must plan ahead!
As to house cleaning - UGH! I don't mind a little vacuuming and laundry each week, but the big scrubbing and dusting and all happens only a few times a year. But, it's time to do the "before we close the house up for winter" cleaning. So, I did the kitchen 3 weekends ago to get the mouse droppings and mouse poison up off the floor before the crawling Elfling visited. This Saturday, it was the bathroom. The Beloved was too sick to do much, but hopefully, he'll be back up in time for the central room next weekend after we get back from the Thanksgiving holiday. Then, his room and office. Ugh. Makes me glad we live in a flat, not a house!
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-21 05:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-23 03:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-23 03:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-23 03:21 pm (UTC)