The end of my work this term is in sight. I've only got one more report to write, due Thursday, and a few odds and ends to finish. Stress has been intense this term, and I'm not one to easily shrug it off. I still managed to have a good 21st birthday celebration last week, in the middle of everything (I won't really feel older until I got to America and realize I can go into--and drink in--bars). I've been eagerly awaiting Christmas break this term, as I have a lot to look forward to. It's finally (almost) here.
After I hand in my last assignment, I'll buy and play Skyrim, which I mentioned in my last post. I'll be reading The Wise Man's Fear and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest. I'll also be working on my writing a little; I've been thinking about moving all of my novel editing to my computer (which involves copying all my already written edits), so I don't have to carry around the entire printed version. It was a nice idea while it lasted.
And, in two weeks, I'll be going to Seattle for three weeks with my boyfriend. It'll be great fun to be a tourist again, and show him America for the first time. I'll probably end up posting about our adventures in the next month or two. I'm looking forward to baking cookies, going shopping, being with family... of course, working on my yearlong Computing Science project at the same time, and studying a little, but at least it'll be more leisurely.
I'm enjoying the cold blustery weather as winter sets in, and I'm still waiting for snow! Perhaps it's almost time for another blog background change, to suit the season change...
11.28.2011
11.11.2011
November Thoughts
A chill has settled in the air. It's not quite winter here in Scotland, but it's certainly getting closer. After the time change recently, it's dark by the time I walk home at night. I haven't yet broken out my pea coat. Once it's predicted to be very cold for a few consecutive days, I'll consider it.
It's also November. To me, that means NaNoWriMo (which I am honestly way too busy to participate in this year if I want to stay sane... maybe next year), Thanksgiving, my birthday, and impatiently waiting for the first snowfall. This year my birthday is on the same day as Thanksgiving, but since I'm in the UK I won't get the day off. I have two projects due the day after. I hope to get work done beforehand, so I can be free to have fun on my birthday. My 21st is one I should make sure and celebrate! Despite already being able to drink in the UK.
Today's date is 11/11/11. Yes, even in Britain. To Americans, this is Veteran's Day. I have a few issues with how some people honor Veteran's Day, and I could probably dedicate an entire post to it, but I'll leave it at this: I'm sure many of them are honorable people, but I personally don't understand why anyone in their right mind would join the military. It's also depressing what happens to these people when they come back from tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. I'd prefer if we focused on keeping people from going to war rather than honoring people who have been to war.
However, today isn't just Veteran's Day. To the UK, it's Remembrance Day, which honors the end of WWI. In Korea, it's Pepero Day, similar to Valentine's Day, when people give their friends and significant others Pepero, a treat similar to the Japanese snack Pocky. To gamers, it's the launch day of Skyrim, the sequel to the massively successful game Oblivion. And to some, it's just a lucky day. Something about a date with the same 6 digits that won't come around for another thousand years just seems like a reason to celebrate.
So go grab a hot chocolate, a mug of coffee, a bottle of Magners, or whatever makes you happy, and await the snow with me.
It's also November. To me, that means NaNoWriMo (which I am honestly way too busy to participate in this year if I want to stay sane... maybe next year), Thanksgiving, my birthday, and impatiently waiting for the first snowfall. This year my birthday is on the same day as Thanksgiving, but since I'm in the UK I won't get the day off. I have two projects due the day after. I hope to get work done beforehand, so I can be free to have fun on my birthday. My 21st is one I should make sure and celebrate! Despite already being able to drink in the UK.
Today's date is 11/11/11. Yes, even in Britain. To Americans, this is Veteran's Day. I have a few issues with how some people honor Veteran's Day, and I could probably dedicate an entire post to it, but I'll leave it at this: I'm sure many of them are honorable people, but I personally don't understand why anyone in their right mind would join the military. It's also depressing what happens to these people when they come back from tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. I'd prefer if we focused on keeping people from going to war rather than honoring people who have been to war.
However, today isn't just Veteran's Day. To the UK, it's Remembrance Day, which honors the end of WWI. In Korea, it's Pepero Day, similar to Valentine's Day, when people give their friends and significant others Pepero, a treat similar to the Japanese snack Pocky. To gamers, it's the launch day of Skyrim, the sequel to the massively successful game Oblivion. And to some, it's just a lucky day. Something about a date with the same 6 digits that won't come around for another thousand years just seems like a reason to celebrate.
So go grab a hot chocolate, a mug of coffee, a bottle of Magners, or whatever makes you happy, and await the snow with me.
11.02.2011
Honoring A Few Heroic Tales
I've had absolutely no time to write. Despite this, I've been promising people I will write, in a gaming blog and a university-related computer science blog. I'll post the links here when those start.
Otherwise, I've been swamped with coursework. For each of my 5 classes I have a project, and then I have an additional year-long project that isn't associated with a class. They include a "smart" pac-man maze solver, an Android game that has elements in the real world, a visual Facebook-related Android app, and a few more that are both code-based and writing-based. In a lot of cases, the report is worth more than the actual code.
During my free time (or to be honest, my "procrastination time," as I have no free time), I was browsing the web and remembered one of my favorite authors as a kid, Brian Jacques. I hadn't visited his website in a while, so I searched for his name and clicked the first link. The first thing that came to mind was that the website's look had completely changed. The second thing was a link at the top that caught my eye. "Obituaries." He had passed away in February, and I hadn't known. None of the people I know read his books, so I guess that's understandable. But the world has lost a great storyteller. I thought I would blog a little to honor his writing.
If you know nothing about his work, I'll give a little explanation of the style of his writing. After years of odd jobs including being a merchant sailor and a milkman, he began writing. His main work, the Redwall series, was started for the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind. His writing is very descriptive, in order for people without sight to be able to imagine the story as richly as possible. The Redwall series is based around Redwall Abbey and its inhabitants, a collection of small animals that one would expect to find in a forest. Mice, squirrels, moles, rabbits, and birds are just a few of them. Jacques has given a specific accent or way of speaking to every one of these animals, which is written out in the text, and gives them much more personality. Given the descriptive element, the feasts they have at the abbey always sound marvelous. The stories are classic "good versus evil" themes, the villains usually "vermin" like rats, ferrets, foxes, and sometimes even cats. Sometimes the hero is taken away from the abbey by force, sometimes they set out for adventure, but they always end up saving the day valiantly. Don't let the anthropomorphism scare you away; the writing and his world of Mossflower is rich and beautiful. They're brilliant tales.
Jacques has written one novel in this series nearly every single year since 1986, when Redwall was published. He also has other series, including Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, which was also a great read. I've read many of the Redwall books, but not all. I expect they'd still be just as enjoyable as they were when I was a kid, so I want to make a point to read all the ones I've missed. If you're looking for a good old-fashioned heroic story, pick up Redwall, and appreciate the late Jacques' writing.
Otherwise, I've been swamped with coursework. For each of my 5 classes I have a project, and then I have an additional year-long project that isn't associated with a class. They include a "smart" pac-man maze solver, an Android game that has elements in the real world, a visual Facebook-related Android app, and a few more that are both code-based and writing-based. In a lot of cases, the report is worth more than the actual code.
During my free time (or to be honest, my "procrastination time," as I have no free time), I was browsing the web and remembered one of my favorite authors as a kid, Brian Jacques. I hadn't visited his website in a while, so I searched for his name and clicked the first link. The first thing that came to mind was that the website's look had completely changed. The second thing was a link at the top that caught my eye. "Obituaries." He had passed away in February, and I hadn't known. None of the people I know read his books, so I guess that's understandable. But the world has lost a great storyteller. I thought I would blog a little to honor his writing.
If you know nothing about his work, I'll give a little explanation of the style of his writing. After years of odd jobs including being a merchant sailor and a milkman, he began writing. His main work, the Redwall series, was started for the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind. His writing is very descriptive, in order for people without sight to be able to imagine the story as richly as possible. The Redwall series is based around Redwall Abbey and its inhabitants, a collection of small animals that one would expect to find in a forest. Mice, squirrels, moles, rabbits, and birds are just a few of them. Jacques has given a specific accent or way of speaking to every one of these animals, which is written out in the text, and gives them much more personality. Given the descriptive element, the feasts they have at the abbey always sound marvelous. The stories are classic "good versus evil" themes, the villains usually "vermin" like rats, ferrets, foxes, and sometimes even cats. Sometimes the hero is taken away from the abbey by force, sometimes they set out for adventure, but they always end up saving the day valiantly. Don't let the anthropomorphism scare you away; the writing and his world of Mossflower is rich and beautiful. They're brilliant tales.
Jacques has written one novel in this series nearly every single year since 1986, when Redwall was published. He also has other series, including Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, which was also a great read. I've read many of the Redwall books, but not all. I expect they'd still be just as enjoyable as they were when I was a kid, so I want to make a point to read all the ones I've missed. If you're looking for a good old-fashioned heroic story, pick up Redwall, and appreciate the late Jacques' writing.
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