A Series of Loosely-Connected Thoughts

[apple_pathways]

• Writer's block is a bitch.
  
• My ass hurts. (The parking on campus sucks, and there is no finding a spot where I don't have a 15 minute uphill walk to class. I'm not really complaining about the walk, since I need the exercise, but the boots I was wearing have worked ass muscles that were not ready for the wakeup call they got.)
  
• The financial aid office is pissing me off. Any OTHER hoops I have to jump through to get my loan before you pile on ANOTHER late fee?
  
• I seem to have arranged a dinner party that features three happy couples, and ME! The single friend! (I hope to God my only single friend that lives in the area is going to be free that night.)
  
• Along those lines, I may have a date soon! (We're working out details.) His name is Jeremy, and he's in social work. (There are men in social work?! GET THE FUCK OUT!)
  
• I love how slow work is right now; I don't ever have more than three students at a time. It's GLORIOUS! My bosses are freaking out, though; that's not so good.
  
• I forgot my keys to the building and had to call my boss to let me in. *facepalm*
  
• Other than my keys, I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something, ALL THE TIME. I may be losing my mind. (Again.)
  

So, how are y'all???

I've decided to edit this entry rather than create a new one, because I just found a 30 Day Book Meme on rewindclunkplay's journal and...BOOKS! You guys know I have to do this, right?



I don't know if I'll actually do this in 30 days, or if I'll do the entire meme or just cherry pick the days I like, but let's kick this thing off with:

Day 01 - A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!)

The book series I wished would just end was the Dune series, by Frank Herbert. The first three books? Made of awesome. He really started losing me around book four, The God Emperor of Dune, but there was still enough there to keep me going. By the time I got to the last book, Chapterhouse: Dune I wanted to poke my eyeballs out. (I was determined to finish, though! DETERMINED!)

It's hard to talk about why I lost interest without going pretty far into the plot of the series, which is incredibly complicated. The story revolves around a substance called melange, or "the Spice", which is a highly addictive drug that enhances psychic abilities and allows for complicated travel through "folded space": it's a very rare commodity that is only found on the planet Arrakis (Dune). (SOUND FAMILIAR, "Avatar" fans?!) The entire universe revolves around the Spice, and many warring families fight to control it, completely ignoring the native inhabitants of the planet, who've learned to live in harmony with their desert environment and to live in a way that ensures the continuing production of Spice. (It's produced by giant sand worms. Like I said: complicated.)

The books that deal primarily with Arrakis, the war for the Spice, and the native Fremen are really compelling. (I was going to continue with a summary of the rest of the books, but I realized it would take way too long, and only people who'd already read the books would know what I'm talking about. So suffice to say, by the sixth book Herbert becomes obsessed with sex used as a weapon. There's one character who makes it through all seven books, which span thousands of years: Duncan Idaho. Idaho is a series of clones whose memories of his past lives are restored in each version, allowing him to live, essentially, an immortal life. Herbert is TOTALLY IN LOVE with him, and turns him into a Sex God who is able to defeat the evil sexy witch villains that are inexplicably introduced later in the series. If you've read this far, you get a (virtual) cookie!)

Comments

[rewindclunkplay.livejournal.com]

There are men in social work?! GET THE FUCK OUT!

WAIT WAIT WAIT. THERE ARE STRAIGHT MEN IN SOCIAL WORK?

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I KNOW, RIGHT? I'm thinking of capturing him and keeping him under glass.

[rewindclunkplay.livejournal.com]

that is a rare breed... you should clone him.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

OK, it has been WAY too long: I was going to make a randy comment about "obtaining a sample of his DNA", but...oh, damn, I just did. <---is gross.

I'm telling you, I should NOT be allowed to date. You know how some thoughts you're supposed to keep to yourself? Yeah, I don't know how to do that!

[rewindclunkplay.livejournal.com]

LOL well it made me laugh, at least.

[sabriel75.livejournal.com]

LOL! If it helps, I really subscribe to the just be yourself. He is in social work, he has heard everything. :D

I keep forgetting my keys and feeling like I have forgotten something important too ... all the time. So yeah, what's that about?! Did I ever completely have control of my mind? Uhm, that's probably a BIG NO!

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

You know, he does work in mental health, so I'm sure I'm at least marginally more sane than most of his clients...

*scatter-brained high five!* I'm always asking my students, "What was I going to do?" Fortunately, they're usually able to tell me! I'm glad SOMEONE knows what's going on...

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

DUNE is one of the best books EVER. The rest are just, like, cracky fanfiction. (Especially the ones not even written by ole Frank!)

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

*hands you your virtual cookie*

Wow, you really do have an icon for everything!

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

135 icons, BABY. This icon is from Lawrence of Arabia, which I love. Also, I have a thing for deserts, as I was born in the Middle East.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

All right, I am running off to work now, but please, PLEASE share the story of how you were born in the Middle East! How long did you live there for?

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

It's quite a simple story, really. :) My mum is from Northern Ireland, but her dad was an engineer who spent much of his career in Doha, Qatar. She used to spend school holidays and so on there every year. My dad, meanwhile, is from the north of England, and qualified as a civil engineer. He moved out to Doha, because in the mid-late 70s there was a lot of work going on for foreign engineers! He met my mum and they got married in 78. A few years later his work moved him to Saudi Arabia, where I was born. My parents weren't very happy in Saudi - it's an incredibly restrictive climate compared to the United Arab Emirates - so they moved to Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, where my brother was born. By the late 80s the engineering boom had slowed down, so my parents returned to the UK. :)

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

Re: Dune, I've only read the first book because I heard it's all kind of downhill from there. (I loved it, though.) I guess I should read at least the next two, then? And maybe, if morbid curiosity wins out, the rest.

Also, as far as that lurking feeling of Forgetting Things? I've had that too lately. And the really stupid thing is, since I can't pinpoint what it is that I'm forgetting, some quiet but still audible part of my mind has latched onto the fact that most counties in Illinois have their final installment property taxes due this month and maybe that's what I've forgotten about. I don't own property anywhere, so I'm really starting to worry that I'm losing my mind.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I can definitely recommend the first three books of the Dune series. I can even recommend The God Emperor of Dune (the 4th book) if you're in love with the characters and philosophy of the series. But the last 3 books run together in a blur, and I only finished them out of a determination to read the entire series! (I think I might have been mistakenly competing for some sort of geek merit badge.)

As far as forgetting things goes, I'm comforted that it's not just me. Who knows? Maybe it's some sort of group contagion.

Or maybe we're just all people with complex inner lives and more entertaining things to think about than where we put our keys and what bills are due when.

[jacknjill270.livejournal.com]

Ugh, writer's block, I feel your pain. Also ugh: being "the single friend." Both of my two closest friends are engaged, so I totally get what you're saying.

A man in social work? Who is single, and straight?? You better snatch him up fast, I'd be on that like ants on a Jolly Rancher. :)

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I will be hanging out with two married couples, and my bff who has been with her boyfriend for about 5 months now. They might be the most annoying couple, because they're in the new phase of their relationship and still really into each other. My friend who's married with a toddler will be happy to be out of the house and content to ignore her husband for the bulk of the evening. ;)

I am trying not to get my hopes up too high about this guy, but he is the first person I've really been interested in actually dating for a really long time. I am crossing all my fingers and my toes!

[jacknjill270.livejournal.com]

Crossing my fingers for you too!

[vivitchi.livejournal.com]

*squishes* I hope your writer's block goes away soon, bb; it's a bitch. D8 On the other hand, I also hope your date goes well! :D