Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Lethargy, Gloom, and Pooting


I feel like I need to update my blog. But I don't feel like I have anything to say. Soooo... having admitted that up front, I certainly wouldn't blame you for browsing away! Since I am just going to wing it here, and get all "stream of consciousness" on you. Well, it's not like I haven't done it before. Let's see how it works out this time...

Oh, I bet you're just dying to know what I've been reading, right? I mean, I bet you just can't rest unless you know which authors I'm imbibing... well, I read the 'free sample' intro of Blake Charlton's book called Spellwright, which, as far as I know, has perhaps the best opening hook I've ever read before. Lemme grab it for you, and see if you agree... here we go...

"The grammarian was choking to death on her own words."

How cool is that? That's the very first line of the prologue. Here's the next bit...

And they were long sharp words, written in a magical language and crushed into a small, spiny ball. Her legs faltered. She fell onto her knees. Cold autumn wind surged across the tower bridge. 
The creature standing beside her covered his face with a voluminous white hood. "Censored already?" he rasped. "Disappointing."

Yeah, I'd say Mr. Charlton knows how to craft an effective hook. Unfortunately, the book gets really weird, and for me, hard to follow. The three-chapter sample I read was very creative, but the magic system was quite far out there, which I was uncertain I wanted to pursue. The digital edition of the book is $12. Not sure I want to pop for it at this point. Especially since the paperback is only $8. Who knows... I may grab it at some point in the future, and slot it onto my shelf, for future consideration.

I'm also reading Val Gunn's book, In the Shadow of Swords, which is a very solid effort. It is a fantasy story, with a heavy Middle Eastern, Arabic vibe, with mosques and robes and assassins and things. I've not read anything quite like it before. I'll be reviewing it when I finish it.

I hate to beat a dead horse here, but the situation in Japan is still really heavy on my heart. I watch the vids and see news reports, watching stunned folks wandering around, trying to find the places where their houses once stood. Usually, all that remains is a concrete slab. I read about the seemingly impossible situation at the nuke plant. I try to imagine what it must be like to go through that first hand. I have the gaudy, almost offensive luxury of turning my mind from it and hiding in my safe, intact world, reading books, eating lunch, working, playing games, updating my blog, etc. I can't imagine not having that to fall back on, like those still trying to make sense of their new world. I still can't get my brain around it. I feel like I should know the right way to approach it all. Like I should be more mature now, after 40 years on earth. I better go back and re-read Beth's and Logan's comments from a few posts back. That's the only thing that makes sense to me in all this...

Gee, I better push it from my mind again and post a funny picture!


Yeah, that'll work. Run, Dave, run! Hey, I have another Batman-related Funny Picture... better post that as well...


Come on, that's a pretty good Photoshop job, I'd say.

Other than that, life goes on. I could rehash all the things that are upcoming, or things on my plate, or on my mind, or that I want to do this weekend, etc., but you've read it all before... nothing new under the sun, eh? I hesitate to hope for something exciting to happen to me (just so I can blog about it!) since every time I do that, I get more than I bargained for. Yeah, God has a sense of humor like that. Then again, that's kind of spineless of me, ain't it...? So yeah, I'll make it official... I hope something wild and off-center happens to me, so I can blog about it and entertain you all, at my expense!

Wish me luck! *shudder*

OK, I'll post the new Pooter video and call it a day. (I hate that YouTube seems to put ads in front of every video now! Grr!)



There... this is the part where you wish you'd taken my advice and browsed away without reading this post! Am I right? Come on, I'm right, admit it...

And now, Skeet Shooting Like A BOSS...

Skeet Shooting Like a Boss Gif - Skeet Shooting Like a Boss

Until next time...

Dave the Lethargic

4 comments:

logankstewart said...

Spellwright is supposed to have a very unique magic system. If I remember correctly, the author struggled with dyslexia for a while and his struggle with words helped to give birth to the novel idea...

I have that Val Gunn book too! It looks pretty interesting, but I won't be getting to it anytime soonish. Other obligations and whatnot. So I look forward to your review.

Good luck with the weekend. I'm just hoping I don't get hypothermia and die.

David Wagner said...

You can't die, Logan! You're the only person that still comments here all the time! I would be sad!

See? That's how narcissistic I am! What a life!

Paula Titus said...

Sorry the Japan thing is weighing so heavily on you. Maybe if you did something,(or maybe you have) although I guess the most any one of us over here can do is send money...I'm sure they could use all they can get. Sometimes sending money, to me, feels so superficial when something like this happens but I suppose if it's the best we can do then it has to be good enough.

Abbie Josephsen said...

I think the spellwright book sounds very interesting! I'll have to keep my eye for it at the library....