Finished Gone by Michael Grant.
This is a pretty fitting series to start right after reading Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone (and right before Under the Dome), because there are similar themes.
In this one, everyone over the age of 14 disappears, all at once. (So kids 14 and younger are now responsible for themselves/each other.)
To make matters more interesting, some of these kids start developing powers. (Think X-Men style mutations.)
Not surprisingly, they start to break into two camps--Team Sam (good) and Team Caine (awful).
This is an interesting series. (I'll be starting book 2 tonight or tomorrow; Gone ended with no real sense of resolution.)
Finished The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer. This is a companion book to Life As We Knew It.
Alex lives with his parents and two younger sisters in New York City. When the asteroid hits the moon, his mom is at work (she works in a hospital's OR) and his dad is in Puerto Rico for a funeral.
Alex has to figure out a way to keep his family safe and together, at least until one or both of his parents comes home.
I think I preferred Life As We Knew It, but this was good, too.
These books (there's going to be a third out in April) are so scary, too. I don't think I'd do well in a world where I'd have to acquire food someplace that isn't a grocery store (or any of the places where we normally get food) and I certainly don't know how to cook and wash clothes without electricity and running water.
Xkcd is usually pretty good -- but this is genius.
Happy Friday!
Thumbs Down:
- A woman looked at our house last week and just loved it. She brought her husband to see it on Monday and he was very quiet except to say one of the bathroom's needed remodeling and they'd already done a lot of that on their current house. Our realtor is hoping the woman just needed some time to talk her husband into it. I'm afraid it was a woman who thought she needed a new house and her husband didn't.
- I was a crabby patty today. It's not very often that I'm in a cranky mood all day but this was one of them. Several little things that put me in the mood.
- My great uncle passed away. He was my step grandpa's brother. Grandpa died when I was 12 but he lived in town and I spent tons of time with him. Out of his 3 brothers, this was the one I was closest to. He and his wife have lived in AZ the past 10 years and had just moved back to MT to be closer to family. I've made at least 3 trips to Billings and wanted to stop and see them but always had other things to do. Now, I regret waiting. I'd also like to go to his funeral tomorrow but it's not going to work out. He has such a twinkle in his eye.
Thumbs Up:
- We really are making good progress on the house. We've started painting the basement even though we don't plan to totally finish the basement right away. The tile is done in the foyer and Lily's bathroom floor and shower. Ray's started hanging interior doors and putting on base trim so the carpet installer can come. 2/3 of the kitchen cabinets are done. I need to get pictures of some of the lights Ray's installed because they are gorgeous! We're very tentatively hoping to be in around the end of the month. (No laughing, mom).
- There's no school tomorrow so Ray's taking the boys hunting. This will be Cody's first time going as an official "hunter" since passing Hunter's Safety.
- The 1st quarter is done at school. Cody really struggled the past few years but is finally taking school more seriously. There is still room for improvement but he made the Honor Roll so we're very proud. All his teachers had great things to say. This is Jace's first year to receive letter grades and he earned all A's and B's. He's also suddenly taken a huge interest in reading. He's always hated reading but is now reading 300 page novels!! Lily is also doing well. All of the kids' teachers are very impressed with their transition into new schools. It truly has been amazing and we couldn't have asked for the move to be any smoother.
- Cody has started Middle School wrestling and his first tournament is Saturday. Wrestling is such a different environment here. In Jamestown, Cody was teased a lot for being a wrestler instead of playing hockey or basketball. Here, wrestling is huge! Last night, they had a photo shoot for their team poster!! He's best friend here is also a wrestler and a super, nice kid.
- Though the weather in October was awful, November is off to a gorgeous start. It's even supposed to hit 60 tomorrow.
Finished Finding Purpose Beyond Our Pain by Paul Meier and David L. Henderson for Thomas Nelson.
The thesis with this book is that hard times can either bring you closer to God or drive you farther from God. When bad things happen, it tends to be for one of two reasons:
1) God is using these incidents to improve you in some way. For instance, if you have a problem with patience, perhaps you will be put in situations where you have no choice but to develop that quality. :)
2) God didn't want this to happen, but will work within these circumstances so your life will continue to be what He wants. This is where free will comes in. He doesn't "let" you get mugged, but if you trust Him, He can take your fear away. (as an example.)
I don't think this would be a good book to read while you're going through difficult times (although maybe that's just me; hearing about how God works in mysterious ways after my dad died made me want to hit people in the face) but I think it'd be comforting to read after, once things are calming down a little.
I do have some issues with some of the things the authors said. First, as someone who's struggled with faith, I can tell you that atheists don't think that there's no point in being a good person in this life. You can be a moral or ethical person without believing in God. (And really, isn't there something to be said for doing the right thing because it's the right thing, not 'cause you think God will smite you?)
And second, they trotted out Carrie Prejean as an example of faith and not, say, prejudice. Yes, she has every right to believe whatever she wants. But let's not act like she isn't a bigot. If she had said that she didn't think black people/Hindu people/atheists/immigrants or any other group shouldn't be allowed to get married, we wouldn't even have to have discussions on whether or not she's prejudiced. And yes, it is the same thing. :)
So, one of the things I’ve gotten to spend some more time with during my – err – sabbatical from gainful employment – is my piano.
For those who’ve been around here a while, you might recall that a couple of years ago, I was stressing about and then actually enjoying learning a little music theory in the last piano class I had before I started taking private lessons.
So, last year, after I’d settled in and developed a bit of rapport with my teacher, I’d described the things I’d liked and not-liked about the classes I had taken. One thing I’d said I’d appreciated (and that maybe it was my analytical-science side coming out) was the introduction to music theory that I’d had – how it helped shaped the way I heard and learned new pieces. She suggested that I start a series of workbooks on music theory for the piano.
I think this series is pretty good, and after a year or so I’m right in the middle of the set. I’ve really enjoyed learning the hows and whys of how a musical composition is put together. We’ve covered meter, scales, keys, intervals, chords, ornaments, motifs and have begun to analyze different compositions for melodic phrase structure. There are also sections for ear training and sight-reading. Altogether, I think they’ve really helped me be a better (and I use this word very generously) musician.
So, of course, reading and dissecting music naturally began to make me curious about how it gets created. Do you start from a motif and build? Do you start with a feeling and go? What are the “rules” that make something sound “good”? And so on…
And so, last month, I started another series: “The Craft of Music Composition”. This also has several levels and naturally I’m starting at the entry level, since I’ve never written music in my life. The first book has a sort of a lead-you-by-the-hand way that takes some of the intimidation out of the idea of putting notes to paper (or notes into Finale’ as the 21st century equivalent might be…) – while learning some of the common techniques used by composers.
I’ve never really considered myself a “creative” person. Insightful, maybe. Analytical, for sure. So composition is way out of my comfort zone – and maybe that’s good. I don’t know that there will be any critical successes coming from my brain, but it sure is fun to sit and plink-plunk-plink at the keys and decide what you think sounds good.
Wish me luck!
Finished Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.
This book is told through a series of diary entries. Miranda is a normal teenager, living with her mom and two brothers (one older, one younger). There are two noteworthy events for her at first--her dad's second wife is pregnant and she's going to be the godmother. And an asteroid is going to hit the moon, which everyone's excited about.
Except it turns out the asteroid was bigger than anyone thought, because it knocks the moon closer to earth.
This may not seem like a huge deal. Until you remember that the moon controls the tides, so there are a lot of tsunamis. There are also a lot of earthquakes and volcanic activity (something about gravitational pull; Miranda doesn't get much more specific).
Because of the tsunamis, oil refineries are mostly gone (gas goes up to $12 a gallon) and there's not much electricity. And after all the eruptions, plants aren't growing so well, either (volcanic ash blocks the sun, which means no light for growing). And of course there's no electricity, so grocery stores aren't open very long.
It's scary to think about how screwed we'd be if a huge event like this actually happened. Still, a very good book.
(And tomorrow I have to go to the store anyway, so I may be stocking up on canned goods.)
I’m still bummed, so I’ll keep this short. Great season. Good playoff run and lost to a very good team that got more clutch pitching and better clutch pitching in this Series.
Hideki Matsui (who had SIX RBIs tonight – holy crap -- and who hit the cover off the ball all Series) and Andy Pettitte were great examples of both of those tonight as the Yankees closed out the World Series at home, winning 7-3. Pedro Martinez was fair but really it was the Durbin-Happ tagteam that couldn’t stop the bloodletting.
Anyway – good job from the Yankees, they got it done when they had to. And at least as a silver lining, Noelle still owes me lunch for the NLCS…
