A Wandering WeyrCat...

My Deutsch Professorin was talking about this: http://satwcomic.com/evil-flag (well not the actual comic but) the fact that in Germany it's rather socially unacceptable to have Patriotism, primarily because of WWII. She mentions that it's only become more acceptable in the years since the Berlin Wall coming down. She said that when she came to the US it was something odd to see the US flag EVERYWHERE because it's simply not done in Germany. As someone who tends to ignore current "history" and look farther back in the books (blame it on the SCA in me) I think that Germany has MUCH to be proud of. Not just in intellectual advances (of which there are bunches and bunches) but in simply being Germany: a country with a rich history and a fantastic preservation of culture through all it's been through. Let's face it, every country has had it's dark days, but once they come to their senses there's so point in beating them over the head with it. If...

A break from studying to climb up on my soapbox.. I get a little frustrated when people seem to be unwilling to think for themselves. I subscribe to a number of digital newsletters and opinion groups, mainly anti-(some political ideal) or pro-(insert some science here), etc. While I do presume that people posting to these groups will be hardcore towards whatever the page is promoting/demoting, I forget that something the people I find replying there are as blind as their opposition! They can be quick to accept what the OP gives them as gospel, though sometimes the OP has glaring flaws that can be easily shown by simply "Googling" the factoid in question. I find this a lot on anti-political pages. Society is an intellectual hierarchy, and when I don't know something I have to look towards someone with more knowledge on the subject. I can't know everything, and I can't pretend to be an expert in all my interests. I get a little frustrated when I run into a cl...

Level 10! Completed a Quest for 350 pts! Functional Perform at least 100 burpees in one day's workout. Perform at least 30 body weight squats in one day's workout. Completed a Quest for 100 pts! As Seen On TV! Perform at least 100 jumping jacks Perform at least 30 crunches Perform a set of 5 pushups Perform Planks for a set of 30 seconds. Perform Bicycle Abs for at least 20 reps Perform Bodyweight Squats for a set of 10 reps Perform Bodyweight Lunges for a set of 15 reps Tracked a workout for 606 pts Jumping Jacks: 35 jumping jacks (+13 pts) 59 jumping jacks (+23 pts) 61 jumping jacks (+23 pts) 1 min sets. Set 1: Thou shalt not jack without a sports bra. Ow. Body Weight Squat: 14 reps (+11 pts) 15 reps (+12 pts) 16 reps (+13 pts) 1 min sets Burpee: 20 reps (+58 pts) 20 reps (+58 pts) 20 reps (+58 pts)...

It's officially Finals Week, and though I only have two (and they are rapidly approaching) I'm having to put off posting about my amazing birthday and all those wonderful news blurbs I enjoy torturing the Internets with. You also don't get to hear me blather about Diablo 3 and the open beta. You CAN however get tiny snippets from my Facebook, but any in depth fun has to wait. Wish me good retention. Until next week.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars Though I liked it, I didn't like it as much as I liked the second one. I know now what bothers me about the books, but explaining it would contain spoilers and I think it's more the personal dynamic I have with the characters as a reader. The story is a good one. It's engaging, fast paced. Slightly predictable in some areas, surprising in others. It's hard to get the hitch I have, so I may reread the series and try to see the aspect in a different light. I cried, a little, and was angry, a little, and these are wonderful, but I had a hard time celebrating triumphs. Slightly frustrating. Something about it, the mockingjay's brokenness. I just don't like her. I cried, was angry, reveled, but couldn't connect. It's just baffling. View all my reviews

 Two A's in Physics. Halb uhr on elliptical. Well deserved iced cream. Modern wifery: after scrubbing the old pots, A glass of red wine. Night world!

I got my invite for Pottermore in the middle of the night, and though I have much to do today I was just too distracted! I decided it was best to at least get it started and at least get sorted... In the name of progress, you know... Note that at this time you have to sign up and wait to be activated. There also seems to be a queue, as when I got hung up on what I think was a browser compatibility error I could not login via another browser. It pretty much told me it was too full. I enjoy the way the "game" is set up, and won't fault it for being useless if you haven't read the books, but it does make it seem a little shallow. For it's purpose, it's cool. It's a book's version of the "director's voice-over" you get in "Behind the Scenes" for movies! So far getting to go "shopping" in Diagon and getting my wand and house have just been awesome bonus. If for some reason you don't want to see the images or my ans...

If only man had Natural color blindness. We'd sniff and let sniff. -JaK

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins My rating: 5 of 5 stars I had a very difficult time putting this one down. So difficult that I sit here 2 hours and 17 minutes after I said I was going to put it down. Whatever feeling I had about the first one lacking something, it's not present in this book. It hauled tailfeathers and was superiourly engaging the whole way. The abrupt ending it still a bit jarring, since so few books do that, but still I loved it. Stuff to mull and process when you're done reading. Tons of info to sort through and pan out in your imagination. I dig. Excited to read the third one... tomorrow. View all my reviews

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars I wish I'd read it before hearing all the expectations people had for it. Notice: review is vague on the feelings I was left with when the book ended. I really did like the book, I did, but I kept hearing "it's the next _Harry Potter_, or, oh my god it's so amazing you won't be able to put it down you have to read it NOW!" It was good. I like her style of writing, it moved along well, I wasn't ever bored. I felt the characters were developed really well and the universe put together without too many gaps. I heard it was written for teen genre so I cut it some slack, but it didn't really need any. I enjoyed Katniss' mind and her thinking skills. I'll be honest, I'm "team Gale", as they say, but there's still just something missing from the character dynamic at the very end of the book. I understand it's written to go into the next boo...

Welcome to Sunday, when I avoid studying at work by collecting what's been on my brain this week and shoving it into the internet in one cohesive bloggy time-capsule! The highlight is a woodpecker. THE woodpecker. The one I kept getting awful blurry photos of last year because he wouldn't sit still. Then, magic of all magics, THERE WERE TWO. Two woodpeckers.  I'm so excited... and I just can't hide it... dan dan daaaaan.....No really. I'm pretty gleeful about this. :) There've been scrub jays all over today too, but they don't sit still very long and I've an older camera. The kind that still has a 1GB XD card. For casual uses it's a darn trooper. In actually life updates there is little: I register for classes tomorrow and will hopefully get what I'm planning on. We're coming to the end of the semester and it's getting busy again, but it's nothing that some ice cream can't fix. And NO. I didn't see Hunger Games . ...