The "H" and "J" Block

The "H" block was completed on August 2, 2008. Once I got the letters done and found the right image, completing the blocks went very quickly. The "J" block was finished the next day.
 

The "E" and "F" Block

I thought I'd just post these as I finished them. I'm redoing the blog to include two on a page. The "E" block was finished on July 31 and the "F" block on August 1, 2008.

Review of Jumper by Steve Gould

This is not a review of the novelization of the movie, but of the original book the movie is loosely based on. My husband had read the books and watched the movie, he enjoyed both and encouraged me to read the books and watch the film. We watched the movie together, and then I read the first book. It's interesting to watch a movie with someone that has read the book it's based on, and he wanted an opinion on the movie without the knowledge of the book. The movie is interesting and exciting, but I think the original novel is better. (Aren't they always?)

There are many things the same in the book and the film. The main character is Davy, a boy with an abusive, alcoholic father. Davy discovers his ability to jump when his dad is beating him very badly. His mother left in the book as well, though not for the same reasons. (I'm avoiding two different spoilers here.) We follow Davy on a journey of learning about the outside world and his gift of teleporting or jumping as he calls it. He meets a girl named Millie and falls in love. He struggles with whether to tell her about his gift, afraid it will scare her off.

There are also many differences. He is not being chased by an organization out to kill jumpers. The book is more of a drama and character study. Don't get me wrong, it has lots of action too. We see our protagonist struggle with choices, such is life I suppose. One of the big things Davy struggles with is his anger, which is very common among abuse victims. While the movie makers made Davy less appealling, though not unappealling, they made his Dad more so.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was entertaining and well paced. I will probably read the sequel. I'd say this is a good summer read, a great way to relax for a weekend.

Second Block

I thought I'd show some of my progress on the set of baby blocks I have been working on. I've finished stitching 12 of 26 in the set. I have to stitch the outline, which I'm doing in a heavier thread that changes shades of red along its length. This block has a butterfly on it. The designs that act as the border about the picture and letters are in two separate shades of red. The letters and picture are done in a third shade. A single block can be completed in one day.

Thank you to those folks that helped me find pictures to use. The area is only 1.1" square, and this makes if very difficult to find something that is recognizable as they are all in silhouette. The butterfly wasn't hard, but some of the others were very difficult. In fact, some of the letters you would think would be easy, proved to be the most difficult.

Blaze Review

I have been a fan of Stephen King for a very long time, including his works written under the name Richard Bachman. Bachman seems to be King's way of getting really vicious and dirty, his Dark Half, if you will. Blaze is not a horror novel, but a crime drama. In the introduction, King talks of how he wanted it to have the feel of the old hard core crime stories, I think he did well at maintaining the fast pace of that genre. This work is closer to Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (aka Shawshank Repdemption) than his more famous horror works.

Our main character is a giant of a man called Blaze by everyone he knows. His real name is Clayton Blaisdell, Jr. He begins life as a very intelligent young man, but soon ends up brain damaged and in an orphanage thanks to his abusive, alcoholic father. He grows up to be a small time thug and con man. His best friend, and the mastermind of his career in crime, is George Rackley. George is three months dead at the beginning of our story. Blaze is struggling to accept the loss of a friend and cope with continuing to function with him. He decides to continue a caper they had planned before George's death. George "talks" to Blaze and gives him advice during the course of the tale. I found Blaze to be a very sympathetic character. The book moved very quickly and kept me reading to the end (though that is probably an obvious statement when taken literally.)

In addition to the main tale, you get the short story "Memory". This is a tale that Duma Key is based on. After reading the short story, I look forward to reading the novel.