Wait a minute, that's MY name!

Me! Or something. I now have a sudden desire to watch the (now-cancelled) TV show Invasion. Why did no one tell me about this?

I am still giving vox a shot.

Not very long ago in the class I TA we were discussing vision quests, specifically, vision quests among the Lakota on the Great Plains. This includes the Sun Dance, where you literally attempt to rip yourself free of your own skin in order to break through to the spirit world, and then your old, run-of-the-mill rite of passage between childhood
and adult status, alla Peter Griffin when he first saw the Fonz as his guiding spirit in “The Son Also Draws”. (Note: yes, Family Guy was what came immediately to mind when the prof started talking about vision quests. Yes, I am
a dork.)

At any rate, the point of all this was that, on the professor’s discussion of what was really necessary to gain a vision, I realized something. Lack of sleep? Lack of food? An excess of coffee? A decent amount of rhythmic music? Wow, graduate school really is a true rite-of-passage. No wonder they try to move you on along – who ever heard of a ten-year-long rite of passage? It’s a long time to be in a transitory state. No wonder it’s hard on you. … and I kind of am upset that I haven’t had any visions yet. My two years of off-and-on self-sacrifice should be at least comparable to the more concentrated version of 2-4 days in the wilderness.

Maybe I have had a vision, at that, and my spirit guide is currently peeved at me for ignoring it and reading instead.

Ten questions, on the books we love and why we love them. This quiz was immensely difficult for me. Books have always been such a big part of my life that it was often difficult to choose just one for any one category. They are also, for the most part, very dorky books. That said, if you still feel like reading, please do.

1. One book that changed your life?
 My parents used to read to me a lot – before bed, during dinner, etc. – so often the fantasy worlds I would sink into at those times were very real to me. My mother, especially, was big on this, and I can remember being in second grade and sick all over the place, when she brought out one that she had held off reading to me for a special occasion. I don’t know if it was being sick, or what, but I made her read The Hobbit until she was hoarse. And then, after I stopped being sick, I would ask her to read it again and again and again. There was something so magical about Tolkein’s words in that book which was missing from his other, more epic, works. You can tell he wrote it for a child, and that the majority of Bilbo’s adventures were recounted out loud, and refined that way before they were put on paper. You can also tell he was a linguist. The words themselves fit together in ways I had never dreamed words could, adding to the quality of the novel itself. I’ve tried multiple times to read The Hobbit to myself, and it’s not quite the same; it was written, like many children’s books, to be read out loud, and it loses something indefinable if it is not. I’ve found as I’ve gotten older that those authors who write for an adult audience often lose track of the way the words they write sound together, which I’ve always felt was a shame. Modern critics talk about “stiltedness,” but I think it’s more than that, it’s a general inability to understand how word choice can add to the setting – whether you are writing a novel or a scholarly article – and how a good word, if not in a context with a well-chosen sentence, doesn’t have the same impact as it would otherwise. We could all take our cues from children’s authors, or from good speech writers, in re-identifying the lyrical quality of words, and looking at them beyond their printed reality in an acknowledgement of the quality of speech their use evokes.

2. One book that you have read more than once?
 Oddly enough, not The Hobbit, not all the way through. Maybe someday, when I have a child to read it out loud to. I do, however, have a habit of re-reading other children’s books, like Harry Potter, and every so often I find a re-reading of The Wood Witch by Terri Windling to be necessary. However, if we are counting shear volume of re-reads, Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World probably takes the cake. I read that thing over and over until the binding came off, and chunks of pages started flaking away – I taped it together again, but it’s starting not to hold anymore, again. It’s too bad that series got too long and boring.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
 This one is particularly difficult. I feel that the presence of any one novel would just make me miss having another, equally beloved, novel. I guess maybe I'll cheat and bring a book of short stories - I'm partial to Jorge Borges, lately.

4. One book that made you cry?
 Most of them. No, I’m not kidding. If it’s especially sad, or moving, it’ll probably start up some tears. Or if the world itself is particularly vivid and wonderful, I’ve been known to be in a bit of a funk for days afterward, as I’m no longer in that world and am instead in this one.

5. One book that made you laugh?
 The Harry Potters are very clever, she’s obviously a very educated woman, and there’s tons of stuff there for adults as well as children. Or anything by Terry Pratchett, for sure.

6. One book you wish had been written?
 Has anyone else read Robin McKinley’s Beauty, and had one of the things that stuck with you the most be that amazing library the Beast had? Man, I wish I had a library that had every book that had ever been written, or ever would be written.

7. One book you wish had never been written?
 For the most part, I tend to think questions like this lead too quickly into censorship, and that kind of thing seems to get out of hand. Any decrease in the amount of knowledge, or beauty, or points of view in the world seems to be a bad thing to me. However, I’m not entirely sure I understand why The Idiot’s Guide to Sex was necessary. Sometimes I figure, well, if you can’t figure that one out on your own, perhaps you really shouldn’t contribute to the next generation.

8. One book you are reading currently?
 I started Eldest before school started, so it’s been sitting there, staring at me, for a while now. For school, I’ve been reading a multitude of articles, which I don’t suppose count, but two books that I’m impressed with from the class I TA are 1491 and Black Elk Speaks. Plus, they're all good for me or something.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
 As soon as I have the time, and the money to buy it, I’m totally buying Kushiel’s Scion – the next book in Jacqueline Carey’s series, which I loved. It kind of makes me jig in place a bit just thinking of it.

10. Pass it on. Come on, my dorky friends! At least someone out there has to be as big into books as I am. I'd tag Alli, but I'm not sure she'd get the memo, and besides, she's all busy with ye ol' grad school. Anyone? Nate? How about a non-dorky friend?

Currently Reading Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness) By Tamora Pierce see related

I've done a very poor job of consolidating my interests

Salado, TX

Living in a tent for two months was what you'd expect. Hard work, lovely Texas heat and humidity, no bones. But I made money at doing archaeology (that's right, I proved it was slightly viable), and I was one hot ticket while doing it. I also found my first point, ever. Obsidian blades and chert bifaces from Belize need not apply.

 

Burnie

New England

Start of Year 3, Grad School

Nothing of interest here, really. Another empty celebration of the fact that I'm not done yet, and professors keep referring to me and the other students I came here with as the "seasoned" people. Mmm, seasoning. I'm still TA-ing (the professor, much to my horror, and hopefully with no idea of the connotation, or at least hopefully passing over it too quickly to notice, refered to me as the "T and A" rather than the "TA" one day. Eep) and taking classes, and working on getting my own research project ironed out. Archaeologists are very territorial and suspicious.


Part 5

Austin City Limits Festival - Saturday

This was a lot of fun - lots of good bands, and a very long day. I was especially excited about Phoenix, they put on a great show. So did TV on the Radio and What Made Milwaukee Famous. I wanted to see some of Willie Nelson's set, but the sound was all screwy so we went to Massive Attack early. Jason was very excited to see them, he was a little surprised by how old they all were... But they did, indeed, put on an amazing show.


Part 6

New England, Part 2

Currently Watching Rome - The Complete First Season By Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker (II), Kenneth Cranham, Lindsay Duncan, Tobias Menzies, Kerry Condon, Karl Johnson (II), Indira Varma, David Bamber, Max Pirkis, Nicholas Woodeson, Suzanne Bertish, Paul Jesson, Rick Warden, Lorcan Cranitch, Haydn Gwynne, Coral Amiga, Lee Boardman, James Purefoy see related

A Proposition

I am on the lookout for some new authors to dip into. As I've mentioned vaguely in a past post, I will be living in a tent in Salado, Texas for two months, and as I'm sure everyone will get their fill of each other during the day, I'll be looking for some good tent-reading. I am not sold on needing fantasy recommends and would appreciate anything good/entertaining/brain-expanding, etc. I think you all have a decent idea of my taste, but I'd like you to all disregard that knowledge if you can think of something I might enjoy. The good thing about Texas is that it is the home of the Half-Price Bookstores (as in half.com), so there are plenty of places I can go to pick up things I may or may not enjoy for fairly cheap. Hooray!

You all may be aware of how voraciously I read, especially for one who is supposed to be reading (unfun books) for a living, so you know how seldom I feel the need to ask for books. Here's your chance, all of you with great taste who rarely burden me with it! If you feel inspired, you can send extended reading lists to my email at firstname.lastname@gmail.com.

Or else I guess I can just continue working through the "100 best books of all time" lists from various newspapers and the like. I actually did enjoy Ulysses a ton.