The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

I cannot count the number of times that I have seen the movie "The Wizard of Oz," I can say that it's been so many times I don't really need to watch it anymore. I remember when I was a kid it came on tv every Christmas and we watched it a lot. Between my love of the movie and fantasy novels, it is quite strange that it has taken me until now to read the original work by L. Frank Baum.

As so often lately, I listened to the book while driving to work. It is a very short book compared to many that I read and I finished it in just two days of driving, about 4 hours.

For those readers that might not be familiar with either the book or the movie, let me tell you what happened. No, that's too much, let me sum up.

The story begins with a young farm girl named Dorothy and her dog Toto on a farm in the middle of a Kansas plain. (If you've ever been to Kansas you are aware that it is actually one giant plain, but all places have their conceits.) She lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, on account of her parents passing. It is a rather dull and joyless place, except for her time with Toto. One day, while they are all hard at work, a tornado approaches. Dorothy does not make it to the storm cellar with her Aunt and Uncle because Toto (rather foolishly) runs and hides under Dorothy's bed. Dorothy chases him in an attempt to save her closest friend.

This turns out to be a mistake in judgement as the tornado lifts the entire house off its foundation with Dorothy and Toto still inside. This is a regular occurrence in Kansas, don't you know? When the house lands, she is in Oz. It is a vibrant and colorful place. Dorothy's adventures begin immediately when she encounters strange people, the Munchkins. Unbeknownst to Dorothy, her house landed on the Wicked Witch of the East. She is much praised for this accidental homicide, which actually befuddles her but she accepts the compliments as graciously as possible for she is a polite girl.

Despite the wonders of Oz, the only thing that Dorothy wants is to return home to her family. She sets off on a journey to the Emerald City, the capital of Oz. Along the way, she meets three companions: the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion. They face many dangers on the way to the Emerald City, but safely reach their destination. Some of my favorite trials are ones that they left out of the more familiar film version.

As a child, I may have been on the edge of my seat at some of the misadventures and predicaments that the heroes get into, but as an adult I often found the situations amusing. I do not know if this is due to my knowledge of the outcome from repeated exposures to the movie, or my knowledge of the genre as a whole. Baum caused me to laugh out loud several times in amusement. The ending of the book takes Dorothy on many more adventures than the neat movie ending. I quite prefer the more complex ending from the book to the movie's conclusion.

Happy reading!

December 31, 2010

In the last week or so, I've been think a lot about the new year, the things I'd like to focus on improving in my life. I try making resolutions every year, I don't stick with them for more than a month or 2. I admit to having lazy tendencies.

There have been so many changes in my life in the past year that I've already kind of reset many things in my life. We moved across the country, started in a new town, the kid is at a new school, and we are adjusting to life in an extended family. Already for the new year we will be buying a house, so that is my first goal and milestone to reach in 2012. Once that is taken care of, I can focus on other things.

My new job has actually helped me get more fit because of all the stairs in the building, though I can feel the effects lessening as my body acclimates. I would still like to get in better shape by either joining a belly-dancing or yoga class. The stumbling block is the cost. I'm hoping that we can rearrange things in the new house so that I can have access to the Wii Fit again.

My main goals involve work. I have a pretty good job, but it's not exactly what I want to be doing and there is also no guarantee it will be there next year due to the way they are restructuring the staff. So I will keep looking for my dream job, and not let frustration get the better of me.

My other work related goal is connected to my two blogs. This is not work I get paid for, but something that gives me satisfaction. I am going to try to write weekly blogs this year. This will mean that I do a blog for this site every other week. My professional site, Tech for Teachers, will be updated on the weeks that this site is not. If I blog more, then bonus.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

I originally read this as a teen after falling in love with the film. I have to say, it is very different than I remember it from my first read. I remember thinking that it was very dry and dull for the "good-bits" version. After getting half way through the book this time, I began to wonder if I was crazy or if I had read the actual book by Morgenstern. It's very likely that I simply didn't understand much of the subtle humor at that tender age.


I have to say, that they did a pretty decent job adapting the book to film. The flashbacks from the book were handled very well, and in a way that didn't lead to overly long and dull exposition. It's very hard for me to not compare the book to the movie in this review, I have watched the film times beyond counting (I'm on my fourth copy: one loaned and lost, a second the tape busted on, and a third scratched). I'd have bought the anniversary edition, but it didn't have enough bonus material on it. It is a favorite movie in my house, in fact, it's one of the movies that I'd bring with me to a deserted island.

Ok, back to the book itself. I was inspired to reread it because of the Twitter Geek Girls Book Club, a book club for girls that aren't into chick-lit or romance novels (at least not only those). Goldman's approach of "abridging" a historical satire to make it enjoyable for his son and recreate the story that his father read to him is endearing. His use of asides adds to a feeling of intimacy with the author, and the characters in a round-about way. The reader can feel his nostalgia emanate from the page, in much the same way that I have a soft place in my heart for the movie. So much of the book was in the movie that it is very hard for me to separate my feelings for the two.

There were several parts of the book that I wish had made it to the film, though I understand why they did not. Inigo (most everyone's favorite character) returns to the Thieves' Quarter after encountering the "Man in Black", a place that he hates. He is wishing that he could wear a sign that says, "Be careful, this is the greatest fencer since the death of the Wizard of Corsica. Do not burgle." That struck me as quite funny, most likely due to the use of the word burgle.

If you are looking for a gently funny book with action and adventure, or if you are simply a fan of the film, I suggest picking this book up. I plan on trying some more of his works. If The Princess Bride isn't your sort of thing, remember he also wrote "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".

Kraken by China Mieville

Hello again, everyone. It was time to shift genres, high fantasy wasn't doing it for me anymore. I have been a fan of China Mieville since I read Perdido Street Station. This book is different than the other works I've read by Mieville. For one, it is set in what appears to be modern day London. The result is that people new to his work miss out on the beautiful landscapes he creates when he builds a world. However, new readers still get to enjoy his wonderful descriptive phrases and rich characters. Another difference is an increase in humor, though it is often subtle. I admit a certain fondness for the unsubtle line, "My Google-fu is strong".

We being our tale in the Darwin Center at the National History Museum on a tour with curator, Billy Harrow. The only object on the tour that any of the visitors are really interested in seeing is the preserved giant squid.This desire is stymied by the fact that the squid, and its entire tank have mysteriously disappeared.

Through this disappearance, Billy is surprised to learn of a giant squid cult that worships the Kraken, and its brethren, as gods. (This will not surprise fans and devotees of the Cthulhu mythos.) He also becomes aware that they have made him a profit of their faith, no pressure there for the unassuming young man. He also become aware of a London he has never known, a kind of magical and mystical second London hidden in the commonly seen city. The search for the missing squid becomes a battle for the continued existence of the world and all those residing upon it.

In many ways this is an adventure tale, it is also an ends-of-the-world story. No, I did not make a typo when writing ends, as we all know someone is always predicting the end of the world. It is no different in the universe created here by Mieville. The difference in this universe is that it is a real possibility that the predictions might become reality. There are several points at which the story takes a rather surprising turn. Part of a speech given by the ultimate villain of the story really spoke volumes of truth to it, my friends will probably know the part that speaks to me.

I listened to this book on audio, and for the most part the audio served me well. The ending seemed to take a little too long to wrap up for me, though I think this was influenced by listening to it rather than reading it. Mieville is frequently deep, and I think the ability to reread a passage would add much to the story. I will have to reread it in textual format, I know I missed some of the subtly by not looking at the text.

Though I did not enjoy this book, quite as much as Perdido Street Station. I'd recommend reading it.

Two Christmas Stockings for 2011

I made two stockings this year, both for little boys. One is for a former co-worker and friend in Texas. I got the pattern from a book filled with Victorian style stockings. This is the third stocking I have made from this book, I will probably end up making them all at some point. They are all detailed and beautiful.  It turned out a bit smaller than I intended, wasn't having a good math day when I was figuring out the size. I wanted it smaller than the one I had made for his dad, and I succeeded in that.

The second is a surprise gift for friends we met through World of Warcraft and their delightful little son (though it's no longer a surprise as they got it in the mail yesterday). I took screenshots from the game World of Warcraft to get Grandfather Winter (aka Santa) and the tree from Orgrimmar. I then got pictures of my friends' characters off the Armory. I shopped the three images together, including some presents from under the tree. Next, I made a patter using PC Stitch Pro. I learned a lot while making this stocking, next time I'll reduce the number of colors for the program to use.

I'd really like to do more custom pieces, I think my next will be to create a Calvin & Hobbes stocking for my husband.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.