What-What?! Week of March 8th

Everyone in the house is sick.  It sucks.

I finally ironed patches onto everything, any by everything, I mean Saffron's Girl Scout sash, and the big kid's Lowe's aprons (they get a patch for each project they complete).

This weekend, Amazon sent me a "don't you want to buy stuff?!" email, with links to various genres.  The most interesting one it chose for me was Graphic Novel Biographies.  There are some pretty neat selections in there, some with better reviews than others (the Immanuel Kant one is very poorly rated).  Of course, you have to read the reviews closely, as the one 2-star review on Escape to Gold Mountain shows; the woman giving the review trashes it because it's not suitable for children.  Of course it's not suitable for children; it's written for adults, like many other graphic novels.  Seems like the same sort of person who would be surprised and horrified at the amount of gore in Princess Mononoke.

At any rate, I may be buying some books soon... assuming the library doesn't have them. :P

The American Girl Brand and Extravagance

My daughter has recently been obsessed with the American Girl catalogues (link to online version).  We have two now, a winter and a spring, and she pages through them nearly every day.  Earlier this week, she thought I was throwing away one of them, and was seriously distraught.  Often, she'll draw detailed pictures inspired by the scenes and products showcased on its pages.

I view the whole thing with mixed feelings.

I like the American Girl books.  I bought a set as a kid, and I treasured it.  I still have it.  The history in the books is really why I loved them, but there was also the connection with the characters, who were my age and dealing with some of the same daily issues (having to do chores, disagreeing with your parents, etc.).

Sweet Shoppe?  Check!

However, American Girl products are extravagant in every single detail.  The line of dolls is fine.  But what about all the other stuff?  Literally hundreds of accessories.  Doll-sized books?  A sweet shop set, complete with clothes, furniture, fake treats, an so on?  Oh, now they have dogs!  There are also babies.  And these are just the products.  The stores take to the next level.  The first time we went to one of the stores, I was just floored.  They have a café, and a salon that styles doll hair:

The café

The salon.

It is perfectly reasonable to argue that this isn't any different than Barbie, or My Little Pony, or what have you.  But I don't get Barbie and MLP magazines sent to my house, and they certainly do not have such luxurious stores, nor such ridiculous prices.

The article that brought on these thoughts was an opinion piece published in the Huffington Post this past holiday season, titled Why I Won't Be Buying an American Girl Doll This Year.  The photos of the other, less expensive dolls lying mangled in various places rung true.  My daughter tends to have more care for our current dolls, but her two brothers definitely do not have that same sense of care.  The boys seem to like the baby dolls better, but more so than that, they enjoy pretending to be babies themselves (when they play this way, hearing their high-pitched voices go even higher is both hilarious and deeply annoying).  My kids are too rough and tumble for American Girl dolls, just like I was as a kid.  Between that and my annoyance at the extravagance, we're not buying an American Girl doll.

(images from the NY Times, Yahoo! News, Evergreen Power Systems, MyOnCell Mobi Tours)

What-What?! Week of September 28th

This week was not bad.  The husband was sent home on Tuesday because he was too sick to work.  I cooked food, and it was good (lasagna, oatmeal jam bars, other things...).  It also rained most of the week, which was pretty sad to me.

Lowe's Build and Grow: Fire Truck

Yesterday, I took the two older kids to Lowe's for their monthly Build and Grow clinic.  This is a free event put on by Lowe's, and is a lot of fun.  At the event, you get a free apron and safety goggles, and the wooden project.  The project this month was a fire truck.  My kids had a good time, though the project was just on the edge of their ability to maintain patience, as far as waiting for instructions, wearing the goggles, and so on.  The kit was entirely put together with nails, which the kids hammered together more-or-less successfully.  The assembly was well thought out, and it seems pretty sturdy.  I think that getting the kids interested in working with their hands and giving them some ability to use tools is really good for their sense of independence.  Combine that with how much time they've spent playing with the toys, and you bet we're going back next month.  They are already excited to build their own haunted houses. :)

Book Review: The Green and the Gray by Timothy Zahn

I picked this Zahn book up from the library, based on the good reviews off Amazon, and how much I liked The Icarus Hunt.  I was pretty disappointed.  This story follows the same basic formula as The Icarus Hunt, with the protagonist and his associate stuck with something they don't understand, that everyone else is willing to murder for.

Where the story really goes wrong is the main protagonists -- the married couple's relationship is terribly clichéd, it doesn't feel real at all, and the dialogue is painful.  One of the other big issues is the number of characters is unmanageable.  There are all these sides doing all these things, it's hard to remember who is doing what (and why) at any given time.  So when there are big reveals, they tend to fall flat because it's hard to keep track of the significance.

Book Review: The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn

(A note before you read this:  Do NOT go read the Wikipedia page on The Icarus Hunt unless you want to see spoilers.)

The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn is one of my husband's favorite books.  Despite being married to him for over seven years now, I haven't read it.

Until now.

Truthfully, and I'm not just saying this to preserve my marriage, I quite enjoyed the book.

It follows the story of Jordan McKell, who is a smuggler that is hired to pilot the spaceship Icarus and its cargo to Earth.  Obviously, things go wrong -- there is sabotage, bribery, lies heaped upon lies, and all of this only topped by the fact that the ship is pursued by aliens, governments, and various ne'er-do-wells.

The story has elements similar to some of my favorite TV shows and movies; like Whedon's Firefly, it focuses on a smuggler and his crew of misfits, who'd all rather be doing something else.  Everyone being is after McKell and the ship, both governments and criminals alike, which dominates some of the storylines in Firefly.  The book also made me think of The Fifth Element, because the world setting feels very similar, in it's grittiness and treatment of technology.

What is funny about the things that the book reminds of, is that The Fifth Element was released in 1997, and Firefly was aired starting in 2002.  The Icarus Hunt was published right in the middle of that, in 1999.  So maybe it was just a time of good sci-fi.

(Also, all of those years make me feel terribly old.)

One aspect of the book that I like, is that Zahn doesn't mess around with technical explanations of the science in this science fiction work.  There's hyperspace, plasma guns, aliens doing alien things... and it's all stated as facts and left at that, basically.  I'm fine with this.  I've read other sci-fi books where the technology is described and explained in far too much detail, creating unnecessary lulls in the story.  Yes, sometimes the academic explanation of things is interesting, but my experience is that, most of the time, it really isn't.

Overall, The Icarus Hunt is a good romp.  The pacing is very good, the mystery is interesting, there's no weird forced romance or anything, just action and adventure.  Go read it.

What-What?! Week of October 27th

I spent a lot of this week just trying to get everything done.  Between my behavioral economics class, my CPR/first aid class (this week only – I am now certified!), my daughter’s birthday, putting together Halloween costumes, and having quite a stressful week at work, I have just been run ragged.  Oh!  I did have an article published on Yahoo! Voices, in response to the book Homeschooling: The Bigger Picture; this book legitimately made me angry, which is pretty unusual.  Since reading that book, the author has since published more, though thankfully it is fiction, not non-fiction or advice.

Week 2 of my behavioral economics class covered mental accounting and “unmoney”; that is, paying with anything other than cash, and the affects it has on behavior.  Very interesting, though mostly information that I’d read elsewhere before.  Every week, there’s a debate topic where experts discuss their opinions, and then us students discuss their reactions and the topic.  This week’s topic was asking if credit is a boon or a curse, and one of the experts said the most insane thing:  “Credit card companies are there to provide free debt to consumers”.  Uh… what?  I heartily disagree with that; they are in it to make money.

Art:  Kuitsuku’s Disney / Pokemon Mash-Ups via Deviantart

Earlier this week, I followed a link here and a link there, and came across these adorable Disney / Pokemon mash-ups; while most are of princess and Pokemon, I think the best ones are the non-princess characters, like those above.  Hit the link for more.

Books:  Racecar: Searching for the Limit in Formula SAE via Amazon.com

This is one of the few Kindle books I’ve read that I would give five stars.  It follows the experiences of an engineer through his last year of college, and his last year competing in the Formula SEA student design competition as the main manager of the project.  He and his fellow engineers work, struggle, and grow in their effort to produce a winning car.  The management and interpersonal growth the group experiences are really the stars of the tale, with all the engineers transitioning to from bickering and spite, to a cohesive, effective team.  It really is a good read, whether you’re interested in motorsports or not.

Food:  Healthy Halloween Snacks Roundup via Kelly’s Healthy Kitchen

Now that I’m not in school, I spend a lot more time doing things with my kids related to the holidays.  While looking for activities to do, I came across this great list of healthy Halloween-themed snacks.  I haven’t done a lot of them, but the one that I have done (over and over!) is the ghost bananas.  These are simple as can be, and the kids have been enthralled with them.  Just press chocolate chips into the banana for eyes and a mouth, and BAM, you’ve got a ghost banana!

(img via deviantart.com, kellytoups.com)

What-What?! Week of October 6th

After much talking and thinking, the husband and I have decided that we will be relocating to Washington state, specifically the Seattle area, sometime in the next year.  Because I continue to be unable to find fulltime work, we think it would be prudent to move on to greener pastures, as it were.  There are actually many reasons to choose that area, enough that I actually wrote an article discussing them.  Funnily enough, since writing the article, I keep stumbling into more and more information that goads us towards the Seattle area.

On another note, I am now registered for the BehavioralEconomics class at EdX; it’s being offered by the University of Toronto Extension, and will start in just over a week.

Film:  Mean Girls via Amazon.com

This week, I watched Mean Girls.  Yeah, it stars Lindsay Lohan.  No, I’m not a Lohan fan.  However, the film is entertaining, and well written.  Rachel McAdams is delightfully evil, and I appreciate the awkwardness that Lohan brings to the role of a homeschooled student thrust into conventional high school.

Books:  Super Hero Philosophy via Amazon.com

This is a pretty cool book that I’ve been reading; it’s a collection of essays that look at philosophical elements that exist in super hero media.  The first essay, which discusses the concepts of justice and mercy in the Thor comics, was a particularly interesting read, considering that I am now responsible for a class of 19 children, and I frequently find myself having to decide how much mercy to give a rule-breaker.  I tend to be on the lawful side when it comes to alignment, which in my experience tends to favor the justice side of the justice/mercy balance.  Some essays are definitely more interesting than others, both because of writing style, and because some of these topics are ones I’ve considered before.  Overall, I think it is a worthwhile read, especially since the book is currently free.  If you don't currently have a Kindle or other reader, I suggest downloading the PC or smartphone (Android?) app from Amazon, which is also free (yay for free things!)

Food:  Chicken Tetrazzini Casserole via The Pioneer Woman
Now that’s getting colder here, I’m looking forward to eating comfort foods, hot dishes, soups and stews. Thursday, my husband made a really great sausage, potato and broccoli chowder; it would have been good anyway, but what really kicked it up a notch was some Worchester sauce. It added just the right amount of umami.

Friday, we took the family to Costco for our monthly shopping trip there, and bought a rotisserie chicken for an easy dinner that night.  We had enough leftover chicken that I made this delicious tetrazzini casserole yesterday, and we’ll be eating the leftovers for dinner tonight (if you’re not cooking for a crowd, I suggest halving the recipe).  This is good, basic, comfort food.  Yum!

I’m also looking forward to more baking, as well.  I bought a 4-pound sack of chocolate chips while we were at Costco, and I’m looking forward to making chocolate chip cookies and muffins with them.

What-What?! Week of August 25th

This week has been kind of a rollercoaster – been quite busy, indeed.  We visited my parent’s place and played some Battletech, and my ‘mech was exploded a lot.  My sister took my eldest to the Ringling Brothers Circus in San Jose, which she thoroughly enjoyed; her favorite part was the tigers.  I’m happy that my sister got to take her; I have many fond memories of doing activities with my aunt growing up, and it would really please me if my kids have close relationships to their aunts and uncles.

I was planning on reviewing the new Gamers movie that I talked about last week, but unfortunately my internet is frequently subpar.  The husband and I watched the first ten minutes before the internet died, and that was that.  The downloadable version is available now for contributors (us), and I’ll be downloading that today or this evening.  Next week, look for a full review!

Literature:  Jake and the Neverland… Fanfic?

While looking up source images for my Jake and the Neverland Pirates illustrations last week, I found Jake and the Neverland fanfic.  What is fanfic?  It’s short for fan fiction, where fans write fictional pieces based on characters and settings that they are fans of.  Sometimes, this goes big; for example, 50 Shades of Grey started out life as Twilight fan fiction.  The vast majority of fanfic is, in my opinion, not well written, with a tendency towards fan service and other such ridiculousness.  50 Shades, despite being a best seller and all, is no better than the lot; from the excerpts I’ve read, the language is unnecessarily ambiguous and repetitive.  Some of the relationships are concerning.  In any case, I was momentarily horrified and surprised when I found the above image and accompanying story of Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Movie Review:  Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers (available on Netflix)

My kids love Lego, and when they saw this recommended on Netflix, they begged and pleaded.  Having had seen many awful children’s shows and films, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  It has a bit of everything in it, especially if you grew up in the 80s or early 90s: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, James Bond, some Lord of the Rings-fantasy, and one scene that’s straight out of DuckTales the Movie: Tale of the Lost Lamp.  This film is very cliché, but at the same time, it’s still entertaining.  Clutch Powers is a nice break from saccharine sweet princesses and talking animals, but I can’t say that I’d watch it if I didn’t have kids.

Essay: The Lost City of Z via the New Yorker

Speaking of Indiana Jones... I accidently stumbled on this through an e-mail that Amazon had sent with a selection of adventuring and exploring books – this led me to a book by the same author, published as an expanded, and by some accounts, bloated version of this essay.  The essay itself covers Percy Fawcett’s obsession with a city that he simply called “Z” – evidence of a lost civilization deep in the Amazon basin.  Fawcett was last seen in 1925, when he left on an expedition to find the city with his son and a friend.   The author follows Fawcett’s steps through the rainforest, talking with native people, locals, and an archeologist along the way.  It’s 21 pages, so kind of a long read, but I highly recommend it.  There is also a film in the works, which is slated to star Brad Pitt; let's hope it comes out a bit better than World War Z, hm?

‘til next week!

(images via fanpop.com, videostore-cdn.eu.playstation.com, flickr.com)