apple_pathways | A Series of Loosely-Connected Thoughts (Reply)

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!)