men are from mars

The origin of the species is discovered: Scientists Discover Signs of Life on Mars.

Or not. Salt does not mean life. Headline writers can come up with totally bogus headlines. And inaccurate. Do they even bother reading the articles before writing the headline?

And speaking of inaccurate headlines, I must protest book blurb writers too. I have seen too many grossly misleading statements on the back cover of books written to catch your eye. Did they do it intentionally, or maybe they just skimmed the first and last chapters because they were in a rush and misunderstood the plot. I wonder how much of the book the summary writer is required to read, by contract, before writing the blurb. I doubt it's 100%. What would you guess? 30%? Skim the whole thing? I guess I'll never know.

I wonder what the book blurb would be for the Bible.

belated wedding post

I'm to wed! Hurray! You may have noticed my avatar's new outfit (I just love having an avatar that can wear different outfits..it's one more way to enjoy life). In honor of the upcoming wedding, a new website is born: www.davidlaura.com. We thought long and hard (actually, not long or hard) about having a hyphen in the web address, but david thinks hyphens are overrated... The website includes the proposal story (for the saps), registry links, and a semi-very exciting quiz.

As always, I accept donations. Or in this case, wedding presents:) The wedding is June 19th, 2008.

Also, I am not going to add a countdown timer to the blog. Just so you know.

addendum to fae flying high

Here is the photo I mentioned I took in my fae flying high post. The stuffed animals are suspended perilously above the head of my bed.

the longstanding err of fantasy

I must express my consternation (and sympathy) at the death of Robert Jordan. I know I am 6 months late, but I only just learned of it. He was one book away from completing his 12-book fantasy epic, the Wheel of Time, the books of which range from 600-1000 pages each and an impressive display of excessive information. I read books 1-10 all at once, then decided to wait until book 12 came out and read 11 and 12 together. Alas! He cannot finish it. But all is not lost, his wife has asked another fantasy author, Brandon Sanderson, to write the last one using Jordan's notes. Sanderson is LDS too. I think I'll try one of his books.

Some fantasy series have the tendency to go on forever and ever. What really irks me is when I have waited years for another book (often the 3rd book in what I think is a trilogy) to come out, only to discover that the story doesn't end. I'm cut off and left hanging once again. My latest frustration: The High King's Tomb, by Kristen Britain. It is book 3 in her green rider series. I was sure it was going to be the last. But no. Not. And she is the slowest writer living. Dead writers are even slower, but not by much. I wish there could be a disclaimer on the first page, saying:

this book doesn't end, don't get your hopes up.

Sigh. I really must protest.

Another flaw in neverending series is that you have forgotten everything about the previous novels while waiting for the sequel. Inefficient. Tsk tsk. Not to mention the danger of the author in dying before it ends. Beware.

a post!

My computer has finally emerged from its slumber, timidly, yet triumphantly, primed to reenter the world of computational competence.

Not having a computer put on hold many other aspects of my home life, such as cleaning, opening mail, paying taxes, balancing checkbook, etc etc. After getting my computer back, I proceeded to clear off my desk and found several items supposedly lost…

Unfortunately, the IQ of my wireless network has dropped ten-fold, and it delights in slowness and kicking me off.

Lessons learned: 1) Always unplug computer at night.
2) "No-post" is bad.
3) I got more sleep when I didn't have a computer.
4) How to take apart a motherboard and put it back together!

lack thereof

I do not post.
I do not post for good reason.
I do not post for the good reason that my computer is in pieces.
I do not post for the good reason that my computer is in pieces because the motherboard is dead.

Alas.

I await it's return under warranty. (hooray for 3-year warranty!)

ps. My apartment building is not grounded (for electricity). Thus, we have to use plug converters. Thus, my surge protector is useless. Thus, I highly suspect a power surge to have rendered my motherboard useless. Alas. I know not how to prove this. I know not how to convince my landlords to ground the building. Sigh.

a song worth remembering

I meant to post this at Christmas, but forgot. Alas. Better late than never:

Remember this delightful tune?

See last year's post.

This post is brought to you by J+R. :)