Flashcards And A Book Review

It's the last weekend before lectures start. As always, I've been ready for them to start for weeks. Summer always feels too long. I took time this week to do all the shopping I've been meaning to: I bought new pens, a stiff folder to keep papers from crumpling in my bag, and a brand new shiny phone-- the Samsung Galaxy S2. It's the most beautiful phone I've ever seen. I'm not exaggerating. I then got out a blank notebook I've been saving for note-taking. Now, I'm just finding things to do with my time.

One thing I started yesterday, which I will do my best to continue with for a while, is use a program called Anki to brush up on my Japanese vocabulary. I was inspired by a friend who wants to learn German on his own, and a reminder from my boyfriend that this program exists. It's also an Android app, so I'm using that version of it on my new phone. It's a program in which you can create or download pre-created decks of flashcards about anything, be it chemical names, language vocabularies, anything you want to memorize. It's based on an algorithm proven to be the best way to remember things: to be reminded of the word just when you are about to forget it. After looking at the "back" of the flashcard, you rate how easy it was for you to get the answer, and the program then decides how far in the future you will see the flashcard again.

I've only done it for two days, and since I'm doing 10 words a day, it only takes a few minutes to go over the new cards plus the old ones I didn't know very well. If it gets to be too much eventually, I'll make it 5 words a day. There are pre-made decks that people have made for the Genki textbook that is so standard for Japanese these days, and so I'm working through the Genki I vocabulary deck and kanji deck. I went through all of Genki I when I was in class learning Japanese, so I should know all of these words, but I know I've forgotten quite a few of them after a year of not practicing. This also means that Anki won't really help me practice grammar, but perhaps I'll speak a bit with a relative or friend who knows Japanese for that.

The difficult thing is, I know that with Japanese it's best to learn writing at the same time as reading, so the kanji one may not go so well. The program is made so that you can't look at that day's words again easily, since you're supposed to follow the algorithm of only looking at them when you're doing that day's reviewing. So I can't go back and see what I learned, look up stroke-order, and practice writing. But if the algorithm is known to work so well, perhaps all I'll focus on for now is reading. I'll let you know how it goes, particularly mixed with the extremely busy school term that's starting soon.

I've realized it's been a full month since I finished reading the following book, the second of the two I promised to review, and figured it's about time to write my review before I forget what I was going to say.

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Book 11: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, since my main draw to it was the interesting cover and apparent popularity. Once I started reading, though, I couldn't put it down.

It is about a boy with autism, or an autism-related illness (it's never explicitly stated), written from his perspective. His perspective on things is intriguing to me, as I've never met anyone like him and am curious how a conversation might go. The story starts with the boy finding a dog lying dead on a neighbor's yard, and he becomes adamant about finding the killer. The book touches on the hardship of parenting such a child, the amazing learning capabilities he has, and his inner thoughts. I don't know much about autism and related illnesses myself, so I can't say how accurate I think it is, but it can't be far off. It certainly opened my eyes to the way some people live and think differently, and I was interested to find some of his quirks in myself.

A Short Week Of Summer

This past week, my boyfriend and I went to Spain and Gibraltar. It was beautiful, but I never quite got used to the humidity. Evening was the most tolerable, and so we often slept in. I wish we'd woken up earlier some days, since we only got to the beach twice: once in the evening as the sun was setting and once on the day of our flight, after we realized the beach was worth getting up early for.

The beach was incredible. The water, since it was so salty and it's the Mediterranean after all (despite Gibraltar being near the Atlantic), was very warm once you got used to it. You couldn't just float around in the water, either; the waves were so strong that you had to jump up when they hit the shore, or you'd be engulfed in salt water. It was a bit intense at first, but then I had fun with it and didn't want to leave. I also did my best to put on enough sunscreen, but alas... I was very burnt. My boyfriend was spared, as he caked on the sunscreen whenever he had a chance. I know now, so next time will hopefully be better.

We did the more touristy thing one day and went to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar. It's a 426 m (1,398 ft) mountain that's better described as a sudden sheer cliff, and takes up most of the land space of Gibraltar. Living on the rock are small wild apes. When you take the cable car to the top, you can see them everywhere, and they hang around, very unafraid. You're not supposed to feed them, and there's actually a hefty fine if you're seen doing it. At the cafe at the top, we witnessed one of the apes running inside when someone was holding the door, jumping onto a tall table, grabbing a bag of crisps, and running away again. The girls at the table all shrieked and stepped away. The ape went outside onto some dirt and opened the bag and started eating them, and plenty of people immediately went right over to it and took a picture. It didn't seem to mind.

This week we had an enrollment lecture, one intro lecture later in the week, and nothing else till next week. I'm not even sure yet what classes I'll be taking, since the final deadline isn't until two weeks into teaching. I was expecting classes to have started already, but at least I can catch up on a few things now! Like blogging...

Eaters of the Dead

Life is getting busier. I'm moving to a new flat tomorrow; it's right across the street, but it'll be new people, a fresh start. The day after, my boyfriend and I scheduled a spur-of-the-moment trip to Spain to visit family. It'll be my first time in mainland Europe without being on an official "tour." The warm weather will be welcome after such a clammy summer in Scotland! Then, just a few days after we get back, the new school term starts. My last year as an undergrad. I plan to work hard.

About a week late, here is the first of those book reviews I promised...

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Book 10: Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton

I've read many books by Crichton, including Timeline, Sphere, The Andromeda Strain, and Prey, all of them great sci-fi suspense-thrillers. This one is different, though still entertaining. It's now a movie (that I haven't seen) called The 13th Warrior.

This short novel set in A.D. 922 is about an Arab who goes on a journey for the Caliph of Baghdad. He sets out to visit a particular city, but on the way encounters Vikings who whisk him away on an adventure in the North. It is essentially Crichton's take on the Beowulf and Grendel story. It was particularly interesting after seeing Beowulf & Grendel the movie, which paints a much more forgivable picture of Grendel. In this book, the Arab is compelled to follow Beowulf the viking and record everything about these "barbaric" men, and Grendel is not so much one "troll," but a whole army... I won't go into too much detail, but it's a great story.

It's made even more interesting because it's written from the Arab's perspective. He doesn't embellish anything; he's a purely historial, factual writer, which is very different from the voice in Crichton's other novels. Despite this, the suspense and thrill still appear, perhaps even more intensely. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're into historical fiction or fantasy and are in the mood for a bit of suspense, give it a read.

Free Art, Free Time

Surprisingly close to my flat is this gorgeous building, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery. It's free to enter and would take the better part of a day to really appreciate everything. I've been in Scotland for almost a year now and hadn't been inside until a few days ago. It's almost a crime... though my friends tell me quite a few Glasgwegians haven't been, either.

Almost everything is in the wings of the building. From ancient Egypt to the history of Glasgow to famous works of art by Van Gogh and Salvador Dali, they've got it all. I enjoyed their extensive collection of stuffed life-size animals and skeletons of dinosaurs, ancient fish, and mammals. My favorite was the Giant Irish Deer. It astounds me to think of deer or elk that huge living not too long ago in Scotland. Look at the size of those antlers!

My boyfriend and I spent about two hours there and didn't get to see everything before it closed. Another trip there soon is likely.

Otherwise I'm trying to think of things to fill the three weeks left of my holiday. There's a nice cafe right across from the museum, called Beanscene. It's a chain in the area, but I love the atmosphere and upbeat music. I'll probably go there occasionally to write and edit my novel. I've been reading quite a bit too, and I have two books I've finished in the last week that I'm going to review. Expect those reviews on my blog in the next week or so. Since I'll be hanging out in my flat so much, and even reading and writing won't fill my time. Perhaps I'll think about a game to get into for a few weeks...

Neverwhere

A couple months ago, I bought Neverwhere for Kindle, by Neil Gaiman, as it was one of his more successful novels that I hadn't read yet. After finishing The End of the Pier, I figured I should read that next, since I was going to see Neil Gaiman a week later. I ended up barely not finishing it in time. Gaiman then mentioned the book in his talk and gave away a small spoiler. But no big deal.

I really seem to be eating up books lately, just because I've realized I can read during breakfast and lunch, and when I take the subway or train on weekends. I'm starting to agree with the people that say "always carry a book with you, as you never know when you might want to read." It's even easier now that I have a thin Kindle to read big books. I might just make my goal of 25 books this year--just two more than last year, but that felt like a lot.

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Book 9: Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

I'm not surprised it was hard to put down, as I know I like Gaiman's writing, but I haven't read a page-turner in a while. Felt good.

In London, Richard and his fiance Jessica are going out to dinner to meet her father, who is a media giant on par with Murdoch. As they walk, Jessica goes on and on about how to act around her father. They come upon a young woman named Door lying in the road, who appears to be wounded. Richard can't just leave the girl there, even though this dinner is a big deal to Jessica, so he picks the girl up. Jessica warns him that she'll break up with him if he does this, but he ignores her and takes the girl back home to take care of her.

From this day on, no one in London can see him or even remember him. He's essentially invisible, nonexistent. Only Door can see him. He follows her into a world they call "London Below" (whereas the world we know is "London Above"), where people can understand rats and pigeons, tube stations are actually named after things (there is an Earl at Earl's Court, etc), and crazy, magical things are considered normal.

I really admire Gaiman's imagination. The themes in it may not be as deep as some people like, but it's a great fantasy. Fun, funny, and memorable characters.

Meeting Neil Gaiman

Edinburgh was beautiful. If I hadn't lost my camera's cable and battery charger, I would have taken pictures. I went with my boyfriend, who doesn't know a lot of Neil Gaiman's work. We decided he should come along kind of at the last minute, so he didn't see the talk. We arrived at the festival barely in time for Neil Gaiman's presentation. Signing afterward took a long time, then we barely made the train home after eating quickly. This all means I will certainly be going back one of these weekends with the boyfriend to see the sights. I did get a glimpse of Edinburgh Castle, from Princes Street. A valley that looks like a sheer cliff face in the middle of a city? Man, that's impressive.

Seeing Neil Gaiman in person was fantastic. I only got about ten seconds to talk to him, and that's after an hour and a half of waiting in line to get my book signed, but it was definitely worth it. I told him his work was inspiring, and that I was a writer, and that reading his stuff helps. A bit lame, but he's not going to remember it anyway. He thanked me and wished me luck with the writing. And kudos to him for signing so many books. The guy in front of me thanked him for that, but Gaiman thanked him back for waiting so long in line, though I think his job is probably more tiring.

His hour-long talk was great as well. He has kind of a big goofy smile, and crazy hair, and is both funny and eloquent. Similes and metaphors (decent ones, mind you) seem to just be inherent in his speech. A guy from the festival did the interviewing, but it was mostly Gaiman going on about his different works, and some of his thought processes behind writing and his different books/comics/scripts. He even gave a sneak peek of some writing he's working on, and to my delight, said there's a sequel--or two--of American Gods to be written...

Tomorrow marks the last day of my internship. After that, a full month free to do whatever I want, and then classes start. My last year as an undergraduate, and possibly my last year at university. Gulp.

A Book And A Festival

Summer has been going steadily. Work is boring at times, because I both don't have enough to do and am trying to communicate with a large company. That never goes quickly, and I end up frequently just waiting for their responses.

My internship is up in two weeks, and I hope to edit my novel after that, before the term starts. I've also been playing Oblivion, a PC RPG game that was made a few years ago. I've found it very immersive and the world to explore is huge. Next week I'm going to the Edinburgh Book Festival to see none other than Neil Gaiman! I hope to get my battered and torn copy of American Gods signed. And not to babble when I meet him.

~

Book 8: The End of the Pier, by Martha Grimes

I've written about Martha Grimes' murder mysteries before, in this post more than a year ago now. I'm reading all of her books in order, and enjoying them.

This one's a bit different from her previous books. There's no Detective Richard Jury, and the story is set in America rather than England. Most of her books also start with a murder scene, but this one slowly builds to it, as we learn that there were previous murders. Sam, the sherrif of the small town, believes they've had the wrong man in jail for years now. His boss doesn't want to believe it, and Sam seems to be the only one trying to figure out what really happened.

The characterization is very well done. She has a clear view of what each person is like, and describes them well. A lot of time is spent in Maud's head, and it's not clear why until the end. She's a slightly depressed, slightly loopy single mother dealing with a kind of empty nest syndrome. She likes sitting on the end of the pier (hence the book's name), watching the party across the lake that seems to always be happening. Sam likes her company, so he joins her occasionally for a drink there. We also spend time in the killer's head, which is also well done. Nothing about him in these snippets reveal who he is until later in the book, and they're terribly creepy.

At times this book seemed all over the place and it was hard to tell what was going on and how everything was connected, but I think that was part of the enjoyment for me. It certainly kept me reading.