Better blog posts coming soon...

...because school ends next Friday (9th)!  Hurrah!  I'm especially excited because when I go back in January, I will have only one so-so class (tech writing), and three fun classes (history).   <3

Anyway, I have so many blog posts planned for Christmas break, and presumably they will be of better quality due to all the persuasive & analytical essays I've written this fall...  I think we have one or two short essays left to write, and one longish "argumentative" one.  We got to choose our own topic, so I'm writing about robots.  *grins*  I'm trying to make it sound academic, I promise.  Though you might question my level of normality when I think robots are a "major problem" to be solved. 

Got to run, but I'll be posting again soon!

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Thankfulness

In paradoxical, typical-me fashion, I woke up and spent half of the morning grumbling over trifles.  Then, of course, it finally clicked in my head that it was Thanksgiving.  Way to start the day!  Actually, as painful as it is to see how ridiculous I am, I'm glad I caught myself before it went any further.  Now I can truthfully say

  H a p p y   T h a n k s g i v i n g !   :)

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Microlattice

...the "lowest-density material" ever.  Pretty amazing!  This is how it's made:

The lattice is constructed through several steps, Carter said. First, beams of ultraviolet light shine through a holes in a mask into a reservoir containing a resin that forms polymer fibers when the light hits it. The fibers follow the path the light takes, and using multiple beams creates multiple interconnected fibers.
Next, the rest of the resin is washed away, the polymer fibers are coated with a very thin layer of nickel, and the polymer fibers are then dissolved, leaving only the metal lattice.

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"The work is its own reward."

I love that quote.  It is really how I see writing.  It's the one place (or one of the few) where I don't feel awkward or inept. 

* * *

Speaking of Holmes, there's a new SH book called The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz.  I requested it from the library...hope it's good!  I've read a good number of Holmes pastiches; in fact, I recently tried Death Cloud which is a take on Holmes's childhood.  Content-wise it seemed fine, but I got bored and didn't finish it. 

Right now, I'm reading through "Worth and Choice", by KCS on FanFiction.Net.  It begins with Holmes living on Montague Street, then depicts his meeting with Watson and moving to Baker Street.  Not only that, it's written in journal form, very witty and extremely hilarious. Perhaps a trifle too snarky for Sherlock Holmes, but it's one of the best pastiches I've ever read.  :)

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Et cetera

For the history test, I ended up writing about Ivan the Terrible and Catherine II the Great.  I guess there's just been released a new biography about Catherine the Great.  Funny thing is, I love historical fiction, documentaries, and certain textbooks, but I have a hard time getting into these modern, quasi-novel biographies.  Anyhow, I might try reading it.  She became a good political leader, but her personal life was a bit tumultuous.  She and her husband, Tsar Peter III, had an unhappy marriage, and she also had many lovers, most (or all) of them distinguished officers/counts.  Additionally, she ascended the throne via a palace coup which overthrew Peter III.  Pretty disturbing.

I'm still reading Dostoyevsky's The Idiot, by the way.  There are lots of long conversations.  In fact, I just finished reading a scene that had two long, major subplots/conversations within it.  It's an interesting technique--in this way, the plot moves forward in segments, with most of the progress happening in the long, long dialogue.  I wonder if that style would be widely accepted by literary agents today?  I rather like it, though you'd have to be an expert at dialogue to make it work.

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Historia

Tomorrow is our second Russian history test, and part of that involves writing short biogs on two of the following: Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, and Catherine the Great. My problem? I can't decide what to leave out and how to consolidate the rest in 10 sentences.  However, I think it's safe to focus on the political aspects as opposed to the personal lives, even if the latter are more memorable. :P  Let me see if I can get their years right:

Ivan the Terrible: 1530 - 1584
Peter the Great: 1672 - 1725
Catherine the Great: 1729 - 1796

*checks*  Yes, indeedy.  Earlier today I was thinking 1585 instead of 1584, and 1627 instead of 1672...  Er, never mind...

Next quarter I'll be taking three history classes, if I can get them.  *rubs hands*

Speaking of writing, my steampunk novel is up to 50 pages now.  *cheers* And I actually like it, which is the important part.  I'm never quite sure how each chapter is going to turn out, and, in this case, it's turned out to be a good thing.  I write better if I don't plan everything.

One thing that I've noticed, though, is that it's not as futuristic as I'd expected.  It is set in 2100, but really, at least 99% of everything in it, technology-wise, is already in existence.  The main difference is in how that technology is used, and what sort of society uses it.  I'm trying to steer clear of the "dystopian novel," though, because that's not what the book is about, even if it could head in that direction.


copyright: ramyo

I'm also finding it a challenge to keep up the suspense and stop my characters from blurting out their secrets too soon.  One of them couldn't help herself, and maybe it wasn't too soon...still, at this rate, I must be careful or the book will end before I want it to!

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November already?

Pretty soon it will be Thanksgiving...and then Christmas, before you know it!



I spent yesterday doing mostly nothing...well, we did watch some Star Trek original.  It's the silliest series I've ever seen (with Robin Hood second and Lark Rise third), but I love the concept and some of the episodes are actually quite good.  The characters are pretty good, too (except when they suffer from soap-opera "character development").  One of my favorite parts is whenever they start talking really techy and I don't know what they're talking about but it sounds cool.

Maybe I'm weird, but I always love hearing professionals converse with lots of terminology.  Eye doctors, mathematicians, computer experts, etc...  It just makes me happy to hear people who are smart, know what they're talking about inside-out, and use the English language intelligently. 

Anyway, having got Star Trek on the brain, I've decided to try replicating the uniforms for 11 1/2" dolls (Barbie and Ken doll size).  They won't be exactly the same by any means...  The biggest problem will be trying to make Star Trek badges/pins on that scale. 

In other fascinating news, I also have a persuasive essay to write this week.  I'm resolved to write at least one page of it today, if not the whole thing.  Once I get into it, I can be pretty verbose...it's just getting myself to start writing that's the difficult part.

I'm a terribly slow writer.  I guess I ought to do NaNoWriMo one of these years...probably would be good for me.  I actually have an idea for a novel, as well as an idea for a novel rewrite.  However, I can't see myself writing 1600 words every day.  Besides, even when I do make myself write every day (and I've tried!), it doesn't turn out too good...  Still sounds like a fun event, though--good luck to everyone joining it this year!  :)

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