Feb. 6 February 8, 2009

Ivan placed the bag of gifts on the floor in his bedroom. A raucous night of laughs with his friends to celebrate his 25th birthday. He readied himself for bed and gave a loud stretch and yawn before shutting off the light and closing his eyes in slumber. Little did he know the things working around him, the magic he was unable and unwilling to see.

The filtering sunlight and a small beep finally woke him up around 11 the next morning. Another loud stretch and yawn then he kicked his feet out of bed and on the floor. He stepped on his bag of gifts and jumped. He sat back down and picked up the bag to asses the damage to the contents. “Oh sorry little munny” he said to the box. It was a blank “munny” a do it yourself toy that Ivan had gotten for his birthday. He had always been artistically gifted and the blank canvas of the munnys always made for fun projects. “What’s this” he picked at the little toy on a small heart shaped mark. “They must be making these a little different now” he said to himself as he placed the munny on his drawing table. A loud noise startled him, he looked up to see that one of the munnys he’d already designed and placed in a display case had fallen over. He opened the glass case to place the munny right side up again. “There you go Melvin, you stay upright now”. He saluted the camoflague painted munny called Melvin and shut the case, a quick movement caught his eye. Ivan shook his head, “I must be tired, it looked like Melvin blinked” he whispered to himself as he began to get ready for the day.

Feb. 5 February 6, 2009

When I like something I become obsessed. My family knows this intimately I go through phases and it’s been instrumental in the random fact collection I have. The one thing that I’ve been consistently obsessed with is fantasy and sci-fi. The concept of other worlds and dimensions intrigues me to no end. Sometimes life is so boring that we can’t help but make believe our own worlds. I think that is what is sorely lacking in us today the ability to imagine. We busy ourselves with the work of the quick fix and don’t take the time to stretch and exercise our imagination. We are content to have it be fed to us through television and movies. We can’t be bothered with reading because we’ll just wait for the movie to come out. That is so sad to me and which is why I so easily empathize with characters in sci-fi fantasy novels, who always seem to be a little bookish or an outsider and who get swept away in these wild adventures. I think all of us want to be swept up in this grand scheme to be a tool in saving the world to have our potential realized.

Feb. 4 February 5, 2009

Oh shit! I think stuff is going down at work and I’m really stressed. I hate the company I work at and think the management pulls some of the shadiest crap. I’m working on getting out but am frightened it won’t happen. I’m not sure how to take action on this new development. Too many thoughts to capture. Must think..

Feb. 3 February 4, 2009

Melvin the Miraculous Munny

The fabulous tale of a lost king trapped in the body of a do it yourself plastic toy. His only hope is a geeky artist who has to help him find out who he really is and get back to his kingdom to take his rightful throne.

Feb 2 February 3, 2009

I play volleyball pretty regularly. I think being part of a team and participating athletics really taught me so much about pushing myself further than I thought I could. It also taught me the meaning of sportsmanship and true competition. I’m quiet but surprisingly competitive by nature because of this. I love to dominate especially on the volleyball court. Don’t get me wrong I definitely know my limits but I will play hard against anyone. I’ve been playing in this league called Nikkei for quite a bit now. I’ve managed to make a pretty good group of friends. We play in weekend tournaments sometimes and have managed to even do other non-volleyball related activities. I love volleyball and now I’m just rambling, but I think I’ll be playing this sport until I can’t walk anymore and even then I’ll still try to find a way.

Book Reviews January 2009 February 2, 2009

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink:

What I liked: Thoroughly engrossing story. It’s easy to get emotionally attached to the narrative of this tale. My co-worker read this about a month after I did and the physical and emotional toll was visible. The story has a way of being really fresh and familiar. The aftermath of the Holocaust is a familiar one to many. The freshness of the affair as well as the secret Hanna is hiding is what keeps you entrenched. A wonderful read.

What I Didn’t: The affair was surprisingly graphic. My co-worker described it as soft core porn. The shock of the book leaves you a little jarred. Schlink also has a way of pulling the emotional rug out from under you. Which I think is satisfying as a literary device but is also very heart wrenching. 

Who Will Like This: Just about anyone.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman:

What I Liked: I loved everything about this book! I am a huge Neil Gaiman fan so he’d have to try not to please me. That aside the story is a wonderful adventure. His characters are always cheeky but good natured. The names of his characters are clever and you root for them throughout the book. 

What I Didn’t: That you can’t find this book anywhere! I’m hoping since it won the Newberry, shelves will begin to be stocked by this wonderful book.

Who Will Like This: Anyone.

Feb 1. February 2, 2009

My favorite genre of literature is of the fantastical science fictiony sort. I currently am obsessed with the Doctor as in Dr. Who, the longest running science fiction program on television. I devour all things that are similar to this concept, space/time travel, mythical creatures, aliens etc. I love the idea of discovering things to be real that we chose to explain away. It seems I don’t really enjoy reality too much and am constantly trying to escape it.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately that maybe this is where I should focus my writing energies. I’ve been trying to hard to write stuff that is aimed toward the literary sophisticates, other book snobs like myself. I think now I should really stick to what I enjoy myself. I remember the first story I ever wrote was about an underwater kingdom. I got top prize in my 3rd grade class for it and I still remember the thrill of writing that fantastical adventure. It’s freeing to think this is where my writing will take me. I would like to thank all of the wonderful influences in my science fiction world: Neil Gaiman, J.R.R. Tokien, C.S. Lewis, Madeline L’engle, and most recently Dr. Who. You have shown me worlds of wonder and I am eternally grateful.