Christmas Ornaments 2009, Part 1

I love making presents for people. In fact, I usually plan way to many for my schedule, even though I started in early November I didn't get finished on time. So some will be delivered after the holidays. I took the pictures on my cell phone, so they are probably a bit fuzzy on the large scale.

This was for my planning partner in 6th grade, World Cultures.

This door hanger ornament was made for my 6th grade team leader.

I made this one for our team member that works with the afternoon tutoring program, and has the most adorable little baby girl.

This was made for one of my fellow social studies teachers, who is really into history and miniatures.

These were originally intended to be for my Secret Santa, but I didn't participate this year. I ended up giving them to my administrators and teachers that are very helpful to me in the classroom.

This one was made for our school librarian, to match her bubbling personality.

This one was created for our Technology Specialist, as she is the queen of our shiny stuff.

The Eyre Affair Review

I read this book years ago and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd read it again with my Second Life book club. I had forgotten much about the book since I last read it.

Jasper Fforde weaves a tale about a police detective, Thursday Next, who specializes in literary crime. Most of the time it is a very dull job, at least for most of the LiteraTecs. Thursday seems to attract adventure. Before becoming a police officer, she fought in the Crimean War. In this war, she lost her brother, and the love of her life. One to death, the other to the trauma of war.

The world of Thursday Next is a world of time travel, cloned extinct pets, and characters being kidnapped out of famous books. England and Russia have been fighting a war off and on for over a century. Her father is a time traveling fugitive that is trying to fix the past, so she rarely sees him.

Thursday's nemesis in this book is Acheron Hades. He is probably my second favorite character of the whole book. Thursday is drawn into this adventure because Hades was her professor in college, so she can identify him. He has the strange ability to locate people when they speak his name, seems to be invulnerable to any physical harm, and apparently has the ability to teleport and cause others to hallucinate. He commits evil acts for the pure pleasure and feels that to robbery for the sake of financial gain is low, common, and in poor taste.

Fforde combines adventure and comedy together very well. As an American, I know there are some references to part of London and England that I missed completely. There are many puns, some good, some come with a groan factor. I really enjoy the book, it was a fun read. I'm actually in the mood to read the rest of the series.

John Dies at the End Review

This book is a dark comedy/horror by David Wong. David Wong is the pseudonym for the head editor of Cracked.com. It is another book, among a growing number, that was originally published online and is now gracing the shelves of our favorite bookstores.

The set up is this, David and his best friend are reluctant paranormal investigators. John, the aforementioned best friend and the title's namesake, takes a drug called "soy sauce". When David comes to rescue John from what he believes is a very bad trip, he accidentally takes some of the drug. There are no quotes around accidentally, as it is completely sincere and meant in no way to be sarcastic. The after effects of the drug cause all sorts of problems for both David and John, though not in the ways you might expect.

The style of "John Dies at the End" is very conversational, it feels like a buddy telling you of his drunken adventures. The descriptions are incredibly vivid, without being grotesque. There were sentences in this books that made me laugh and say "oohh, gross" at the exact same time. The descriptions are not intended to get a gross out reaction, but simply provide a clear mental picture. Wong supplies us with several unexpected twists in the tale.

I recommend this for people that like horror, comedy, or are just looking for something a little out of the ordinary. If you are a fan of Cracked.com then you will definitely enjoy this book, but then again if you are a fan of Cracked.com you probably already know about the book.

Workshop Stocking Completed

Final touches were completed today. It just needs a hand bath and backing.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Software Review

This was my first novel by Rudy Rucker. Though I wasn't sure what to expect, I knew that this book would take a different approach to cyberpunk than I have encountered before.

Our main character is Cobb Anderson, he is an elderly scientist that is living in disgrace. The cause of his disgrace is the robot revolution that was brought about by him developing a way for robots to evolve and have real brains, not in the physical sense but in the independent thought sense. He has lost is his money and career, left his wife, and is suicidal while being terrified of death. Another consequence of the robot rebellion is that all the "boppers", or thinking robots, have been exiled to the moon. One of the boppers sneaks down to Earth and offers Cobb immortality, money for a ticket to the moon, and a new passport as Cobb's travel is restricted to due his part in the robot rebellion (albeit unintentional).

Cobb has a nemesis, a police officer named Mooney. Mooney is holding a grudge about Cobb's part in the robot rebellion. Ironically, the person that the boppers plan to have help Cobb is Mooney's son, Sta-Hi. I don't want to go into the plot any further, so that I avoid spoilers.

Rucker's writing flowed smoothly, and I even laughed in a few spots. The book was enjoyable, but not riveting. I think that part of the reason I wasn't riveted is because I found some of the events a bit predictible, that might not be the case for you. I wouldn't place it among my all-time favorites; however, I found the question that Rucker posed about the soul very interesting. There was a lack of intensity that I have come to expect from cyberpunk. As the novel is the first in a trilogy, much of the story was exposition. I don't feel that I can reach a definitive conclusion on how I feel about it as a work, because it is not a complete work in and of itself. If you like science fiction and questions of an existential nature, then this would be a good choice for you.