From this list. http://andthatswhoiam.tumblr.com/list

So I just finished The Magicians by Grossman. I felt enormously dissatisfied when I closed the book. Don't get me wrong. There are some fabulous things about the book. The way magic works is incredibly detailed and fascinating. Several of the characters are deeply worth caring about. Emotions and a sense of reality in spite of the supernatural goings on are captured quite well. I read the whole thing yesterday because I didn't want to put the book down.

However I felt let down with the ending. I am going to try to explain why without being too spoilery in case one of the few people seeing this might want to read the novel. The main character never really seems to come to terms with quite a few problems that have been spelled out for him in painful detail. There are a couple of plot devices that were dangled in front of the reader that are never resolved. I would say this meant sequel except that the items in question are small and I'm just not sure that the author didn't simply leave them hanging by accident. There is also one bit of background tossed in off-handedly that I feel was entirely unnecessary and that makes one character too pat.

*sigh* All in all, I'm just not sure I'd recommend this title. It has good points but it ended in such an unfulfilling manner that I felt the need to write about it here. I didn't dislike the book and others may whole-heartedly disagree with me on how they view it but I just don't think that it's a keeper.

I PASSED MY COMPS!!!
I am so relieved. I will have a masters degree this month. Woot! Let's all dance.

I followed a link from a friend's blog to another blog. And there they were criticizing this post on some men's blog. It was supposed to be 10 tips on letting your girlfriend know she's gained weight. http://www.askmen.com/top_10/dating/top-10-subtle-ways-to-tell-her-shes-getting-fat_10.html It is horrible. Two of the things aren't bad. Setting out your own exercise thing and deciding to eat healthier can be "we" things. "Hey we seem to be turning into couch potatos. How about we look into taking up fencing or synchronized swimming or underwater basket weaving, etc.?" Fine. Or, "Hey we seem to eat a lot of junk food. Maybe we should try cooking." Fine. These are not necessarily fat issues. You can be thin, eat a whole lot of junk, decide you rather not have your arteries clog and die of a heart attack before you're 40. These are more healthy issues rather than weight specific ones, at least to me. However the other 8 tips range from irritating to horrible. Buying a girl clothes that are too small on purpose? Serving her tiny portions of food so she feels fat asking for more? Sabotaging her chair so that it breaks when she sits down? What kind of complex are you trying to give this woman? Yeah, that was awful and I needed to share.

This was an easy one so I thought I'd answer. The Twelve Dancing Princesses was the favorite fairy tale for me and my best friend in elementary school. I think it's neat that there are two major variations - one focusing on a retired soldier and the oldest princess, and one focusing on a shepherd boy and the youngest princess. The description of the underground kingdom is awesome and my friend and I loved trying to sketch fantastic fantasy dresses for the princesses.

I saw Up last night and I have a couple of things to say. First, it is a gorgeous movie. The colors and textures are superb. Second, the short at the beginning was wonderful. I love the cloud guys. Third, if you have any propensity for crying at movies, Up will make you cry. It does have a happy ending but getting there is way more of an emotional roller coaster than most people would expect from an animated feature. So I do recommend seeing it but, if you have any tendency to sniffle at sad scenes, bring some Kleenex.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know a few people here who don't facebook and I'd like to completely share this article. Go, read, find out that Louisiana's governor thinks he can exorcise demons and that there are children in Africa who are neglected because they are thought to be witches. http://www.slate.com/id/2216429/

Apparently the more you smile, the less likely you are to get divorced. http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090414/sc_livescience/smilespredictmarriagesuccess I find this amusing but hardly scientifically rigorous. And it seems culturally insensitive as well. Oh well. It was short and fun read.

A very merry b-day to sylverwolfe! Love da Lexi!