Harry Potter

Well, I finished the latest Harry Potter book and I can’t wait for the next one! I really thought the character development was excellent in this one and helped move the occasionally slow plot tremendously. I was so motivated I even did a piece of Hermione Granger fanart. She always seemed like such a uppity brat before but she’s really becoming very knowledgeabe, wise, and good to have around. I don’t know why but the Dumbledore fight reminds me of the Yoda fight in Episode II. Something about old dudes with amazing abilities, I guess =).

I also picked up EVE: The Second Genesis today from EB. It took a little while before I could figure out wtf I was doing but I think I’m slowly shedding my n00b-iness. For help, EVE I:COM is a pretty good resource, especially the planning tools. Character creation was very fun, although some of the hairstyles are rather goofy. More character looks for the next patch!

Phoenix and Fatty

Well I came upon this article about Donnell from MTV’s Road Rules where they detail his arrest for hitting his girlfriend, and I couldn’t help not being surprised that he is the abusive type. I wasn’t a huge Abe fan, and I think MTV did the right thing kicking him off, but it was about time that someone beat some of the fat off of Donnell. In spite of any editing MTV may have done, I think it is plenty clear after a few moments that Donnell is simply a disgusting human. I still can’t help loving the show though, as cheesy as that is ^__~.

Also started reading Book 5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and despite my misgivings, it is excellent. Yeah, it’s darker, yeah Harry’s got an anger problem, but Rowling has done such a good job of making the reader understand Harry better. Harry’s definitely shown a lot of growth through the series, and I’m amazed at the high level of writing throughout the series. I’m halfway through it and am thoroughly enjoying the book so far. I can’t help wondering if Rowling makes the books so long and filled with so many important details in order to force her readers to go back and reread the entire series after each new book… =)

Comments are now functional!

Any of you who have been using Blogger may have noticed that Blogger has no comment functionality. Furthermore, it seems they have no intention of implementing functions in the free version of their web logging tool any time soon. Now I’m not saying this is wrong of them, but I really wanted to have some type of comment tool on my blog, even if nobody ever used it. So imagine my delight and surprise when I visited Dearie-Me and saw a fellow user of Blogger with comments on said blog! From reading the entries, it would appear that backBlog, the site offering this free service, is not completely perfect and apparently the comments stored just disappear occasionally, but since I have no other (free) alternatives and I don’t want to have to pay for CGI functionality on my KOLAAP web space, I have no choice but to give backBlog a try. Who knows, maybe it will work out and be totally awesome and I won’t ever have to worry about it again. On a related topic, does anyone really use that trackback feature that Movable Type offers?

I recently finished Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. It wasn’t too bad and I’d give it a B (as opposed to an A- for Why Girls Are Weird). I didn’t particularly enjoy the beginning which I found very slow and the book does slow a bit towards the end. However, when the protagonist finally finds himself on the boat with the tiger, the book really takes off. I found the discussions on zoos to be very informative and interesting, as well. The author also does a tremendous job of giving the reader a sense of how desensitizing 3 months adrift can be, and what a person is willing to do when struggling to survive. There were some patches in the book where the pace slows and I did find myself bored in several spots, but overall I was very interested in what would happen in the end. I won’t spoil the ending but I thought it was extremely good, and the retelling of the beginning of the tale with a replaced cast was brilliant. The questions the book raises are important ones and the author does a great job of making the reader think through the important issues without simply jumping to conclusions.

I should start a book club like Oprah, but I’m sure that my reading pace will tail off sooner rather than later =).

A Return!

Wow, ok so it’s been a long time since I’ve posted. The DSL is still no go! Unbelieveable. I have to admit I’ve been very lazy and I’m sorry for not writing in my blog. However, I’ve been brought back to my poor blog by this most wonderful book I just finished. It’s called Why Girls Are Weird: A Novel, by Pamela Ribon, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. You can check out her site and make sure to read her book; it really leaves you with a happy warm squishy feeling inside. So immediately after finishing, I returned to my own blog to fill in an entry.

I’ve been continuing to do art at least! Oh man, I am so bad at colored pencils, it’s disheartening! For some reason, my blender pencil never seems to work right, and the white pencil seems to be a better blender. I do like the effect of outlining lines in black, though. It’s such a real dark black and it’s close to using a tablet. I like the rough effect on thick paper that using colored pencils creates because it is a real change from the smooth cel-type coloring I currently use. I would love to be able to emulate some painting effects that some other fanartists use. I definitely feel as if my style is still evolving, and I’m not too sure which direction I want it to head in. I just did a Sasuke (from Naruto) piece where he’s holding cards in a Yu-Gi-Oh! pose and in the background it says “It’s time to D-D-D-Duel!” I thought it was hilarious at the time, but I’m pretty sure this (aka “stupid”) is not the direction I want my art going in ^__~ . I’ll be sure to post it into the sketch portion, in addition to all my other summer pencil pieces, once I get my scanner and internet connection back. On a seperate note, I’ve recently been reeling in jealousy while reading the Yongumi blog that is run by Laine, aimo, eisu, and zid. It’s got really great posted sketches and I wish it continued success (although it does make me turn green with envy….).