ginmar

This may not be appropriate. But I have a two-year-old son, and thus I cannot afford to be proud right now. I’m sharing a link to a gofundme because a long period of un-and-underemployment has put my family in a very precarious situation. I didn’t originally plan to share this beyond a small circle of friends, but the court date for a possible eviction has been set for August 26^th, leaving out a pay period that could make all the difference. If you will be kind enough to share this on your blogs, I would be forever grateful. I know everyone is struggling, and you may not be able to help- or want to, as you probably don’t know me that well, and I wouldn’t blame you. But I have to take a risk, for my family. Thank you. (The details on the page are a little vague, as it wasn’t going to be shared very widely originally, so there are no major personal details included to protect my family). Link: http://www.gofundme.com/4c2tfkc88

  Yeah,  I know,  shut up.  The premise for this book sounded interesting,  with many commenters claiming the plot bore a startling resemblance to the events of September 11, 2001.  Having clawed my way approximately two thirds of the way through the book,  I have to say:  "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?"

The plot is that an Islamic terrorist is searching down and killing pilots who bombed Moammar Quaddaffi's Tripoli compound in 1986.  That's it.  The guy takes out a whole plane if people first,  after which he kills his on board accomplice and takes off.  He then tracks down the pilots on US soil one by one. 

John What's-His-Face AND his boner are now working for the feds.  His boner is practically it's own character.  We get updates from the goddamned thing far too frequently.  Alas,  if it weren't for them,  the book would need resuscitation.  The center section consists of John,  his boner updates,  and endless pages of gray hallways,  mind-numbingly-detailed minutiae like getting into cabs and cars and checking emails and.....briefings.  Page after page after chapters of briefing.  There's no information here that couldn't be found by a reader if they had a yen to know more.  These chapters of literary anesthetic are interspersed with chapters of the terrorist killing his victims.....and HIS boner offers updates,  too!  

Then there's the "romance",  which consists of John lusting after a woman,  harassing all the women around him with grade school level humor, and then a few cringeworthy "love" scenes,  which consist of euphemisms for "erecition" and an icky look inside the character's eternally-pubescent brain. I hear there's worse to come,  because this woman he allegedly falls for is not the same woman from the first book. 

Demille used to write a good,  if limited,  thriller.  But this book is like cold oatmeal. With bobers.  You trudge through the glow but...  nothing much happens. The people are all bland or crude,  and none of them is more puerile than the protagonist.  

I don't think I'll be reading another book by this author.  There's nothing here for women:  the few women are stick figures with tits because that's how John sees them. The writing is tedious.  What passes for "wit" is juvenile.  The story contains no suspense.

I just want it to be over. 

Yeah,  I'm reading about sixteen books at once,  shoot me.  

This is not a book I'd read more than once.  The central character is pointlessly sexist,  smarmy,  and not that bright.  If he weren't such a jerk just because he CAN be a jerk,  he'd probably solve the murder faster.  His jokes are.....boring.  If he weren't a jerk,  he'd have no personality at all.  

Yeah,  I understand unreliable narrators,  but this is just.....pointless.  He's not flawed enough to be damaged or tragic or his own worst enemy;  he's the sort of guy who uses  Dad jokes that are a little dirty to call attention to himself.  That's because he doesn't have the brains or the character to work at anything.  Still,  he's low level annoying,  mostly because he's so lazy.  In that,  he reminds me of some people I know,  who like to th u nk their boorishness is some kind of rebellion,  when all it really is,  is trying to turn jerkhood into something political.

If he weren't annoying,  he'd be a blank space in the memory.  That's not good.  You cannot ball up a bunch of personality traits and call that a personality.

The mystery moves along fairly slowly,  with seemingly no developments till about the halfway point.  I'm determined to finish it,  but that'll be it for this series,  I think.  

We are so very nearly there. 

Bella has had her desexing stitches removed and Dante has been cuddling with her and grooming her.

Her infection has cleared up and she is happier and more confident.

But her hip is definitely bothering her. She can't settle because it pains her. She has to rest it when moving. She gets frustrated and it breaks my heart. 

I want so badly to make her more comfortable and see her as happy as she can be. 

This is surgery is definitely gonna be a life changer for her. 

But other than her hip and the movement issues that causes, she seems to have settled nicely. She is currently sleeping in a cat bed after having a brief exercise on hobbling back to it, but she is purring so loudly. 

I want to help her so much. Please help me to do this.

Yeah,  I'm reading about sixteen books at once,  shoot me.  

This is not a book I'd read more than once.  The central character is pointlessly sexist,  smarmy,  and not that bright.  If he weren't such a jerk just because he CAN be a jerk,  he'd probably solve the murder faster.  His jokes are.....boring.  If he weren't a jerk,  he'd have no personality at all.  

Yeah,  I understand unreliable narrators,  but this is just.....pointless.  He's not flawed enough to be damaged or tragic or his own worst enemy;  he's the sort of guy who uses  Dad jokes that are a little dirty to call attention to himself.  That's because he doesn't have the brains or the character to work at anything.  Still,  he's low level annoying,  mostly because he's so lazy.  In that,  he reminds me of some people I know,  who like to th u nk their boorishness is some kind of rebellion,  when all it really is,  is trying to turn jerkhood into something political.

If he weren't annoying,  he'd be a blank space in the memory.  That's not good.  You cannot ball up a bunch of personality traits and call that a personality.

The mystery moves along fairly slowly,  with seemingly no developments till about the halfway point.  I'm determined to finish it,  but that'll be it for this series,  I think.  

Last Thursday Lissa (my better half) and I adopted a new cat.

She is gorgeous, the sweetest little thing ever. She loves cuddles and is so squee she made my heart melt... And I'm not swayed easily. 

But when we got her home we noticed something was wrong, see she sneezed on Lissa and the discharge was streaked with blood and one of her hind legs didn't move properly... We took her to the vet. They ran blood tests and determined she had a cold like infection. They did X-rays and then we got some bad news.

This sweet, adorable little one year old cat had been living wild in the middle of nowhere in Australia. She has scarred little ears. She's skinny and small... And she was hit by a car. Her pelvis and leg had been broken and her hip had been dislocated. The fractures healed quite well, if not perfectly, but the dislocation didn't. The ball at the top of the femur is out of place and needs surgery to fix it.

The diagnosis cost us nearly $600. The surgery could cost us another 1500. We need help.

We have set up a GOfundme account to help raise $2000 to cover all the vets bills. 

gofundme.com/y7eg8b8

We want to make her life as happy and comfortable as we can. And we want her to be healthy...

Please help us.

Last Thursday Lissa (my better half) and I adopted a new cat.

She is gorgeous, the sweetest little thing ever. She loves cuddles and is so squee she made my heart melt... And I'm not swayed easily. 

But when we got her home we noticed something was wrong, see she sneezed on Lissa and the discharge was streaked with blood and one of her hind legs didn't move properly... We took her to the vet. They ran blood tests and determined she had a cold like infection. They did X-rays and then we got some bad news.

This sweet, adorable little one year old cat had been living wild in the middle of nowhere in Australia. She has scarred little ears. She's skinny and small... And she was hit by a car. Her pelvis and leg had been broken and her hip had been dislocated. The fractures healed quite well, if not perfectly, but the dislocation didn't. The ball at the top of the femur is out of place and needs surgery to fix it.

The diagnosis cost us nearly $600. The surgery could cost us another 1500. We need help.

We have set up a GOfundme account to help raise $2000 to cover all the vets bills. 

gofundme.com/y7eg8b8

We want to make her life as happy and comfortable as we can. And we want her to be healthy...

Please help us.

Arnold is swiftly turning into one of my favorite "gossipy yet informative" history writers.  She's briskly witty and her descriptions ate brisk and vivid.  She quotes expertly from extensive contemporary accounts,   so there's lots of voices in the book.  It's a solid three point five now,  because it's not a serious book yet it IS very informative.  

"(The petitioners) ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law.

The Constitution grants them that right.

The judgement of the Sixth Circuit is vacated."

THAT,  my friends,  is the mic drop to end all mic drops. 

This is the best kind of history book......gossipy, informative,  and incredibly interesting.  

And sometimes,  the Internet is amazing. @hollowcrownfans on twitter hosts Shakespeare Sunday,  where nerds toss Shakespeare back and forth.  Glorious,  just glorious. "Hollow Crown" was a recent BBC version of the Henrik that had the most amazing cast.  They're going to continue with RIII,  I believe. 

What a shock.

Anybody who freaks out about "false rape" accusations is an asshole.  They're rare and often what are called false are actually,  I don't like this bitch or that can't be rape because I do that.  

And,  shocker,  the writer blames feminism for everything.  

"Feminists kill millions of  mainly European citizens;  European men sacrifice their own bodies and lives for them every day wresting life for them in dangerous daily occupations.  What then do they do for us?  What reward or return do they give us?  Nothing but heartache and despair. They do not deserve the vote."  

And this next section---where he declares Feminists declare all men are rapists-----has to be seen to be believed. 

This strawberry bed is only 4 X 8.  Next year I'll have ten beds of veggies and fruit.  And spices. 

Okay,  how many people want to talk RIII?  

Steam punk?  Regency steampunk?  Any and all fantasy steampunk?  If you found something good,  let me know here.  I'm running out of reading material. 

Must.  Get. Organized.