The cool kids are writing "settling into grad school" blog posts, so I figure I might as well join the club:
The living situation is solid. Living with 5 other people isn't that different from living with 3, and when everybody has their own rooms, it's actually a lot easier. The guys are all fairly chill and I don't see too much potential for personality clashing, which is a huge relief. I don't have an abundance in common with anybody, but that's where my diverse knowledge and interest base pays off. I've had plenty of good times chilling and getting to know the roommates, either procrastinating around the house or out at the bars. I'm actually pretty excited that we've got a "regular" bar nearby in the form of Southern Sun Pub and Brewery, which is less than a 10 minute walk.
My only complaint lies in the kitchen. We've got too much stuff too poorly organized, and most of it is of pretty crappy quality. Trying to keep all of my tools straight and in a place where I can find it is an exercise in futility. Fortunately, I have a knife magnet now which houses a handful of tools that I need regularly, and I've had enough money to slowly pick up the few things we need (still need to get a couple of reasonably sized skillets, though). More irksome, for whatever reason, nobody seems particularly interested in eating what I'm making if they're being asked to chip in. It makes it hard to make not only more elaborate meals, but also simple things like soup unless I want to be eating it for days.
Boulder itself is pretty awesome. After a lifetime in the Midwest, dry heat is a wonder to behold. Being able to walk two miles in 90 degree weather and barely start to sweat is amazing. There's plenty to do in town, though my previous sciatica issues have made me hesitant to do a whole lot of hiking or any climbing, no matter how much the housemates want me to. The house is in a great location. Besides Southern Sun, we're also withing easy walking distance of both groceries (~.5 miles) and school (~2 miles) as well as several decent restaurants. We've also got nearby bus stops for the inevitable day when I can't walk to school.
Classes are good. I started out not particularly caring about Program Analysis, but the more I think about some of the work I'm interested in -- particularly abstractions for concurrency -- the more I realize how essential verification is going to be if I want people to take my research seriously. It will probably get rough once we get into project territory, but I'll be grateful for it down the road. User Centered Design started out slow but is getting more interesting. We're currently talking a lot about designing for accessibility to those with disabilities, which isn't anything I've thought about a lot before. The professor is also very interested in programming language comprehensibility and is excited to have a student in the class who wants to do some work in that area.
Research is less good. It turns out that my advisors and the group we're working with from CSU got their wires crossed when first discussing the project. When I came in, they thought we were going to be verifying policies for on-the-fly reconfiguration of smart power grids to ensure constant energy delivery and writing a DSL to describe these topology changes. It turns out that they just want us to optimize an algorithm for doing cost-benefit analysis on running feeder lines between sections of a smart grid. This isn't remotely in the realm of Programming Languages/Verification research, and it's not even kind of a year-long problem, but the first step is to do what they want from us. As a result, I'm banging my head against crazy statistical algorithms and MATLAB. This is just making me more convicted that I need to take some time to generate excitement about the work I want to do and possibly start up on reviving some of my old senior research project code.
Finally, I'm surprised by how grateful I've been for the InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship group. Usually hearing the word "Evangelical" is enough to make me suspicious, but these are the sorts of evangelicals who would come to school some place like Boulder. I haven't had to deal with a lot of judgmental, conservative "personal relationship with Jesus" BS, which is a huge relief. My understanding of Christianity definitely differs from that of most of the other people, but it's good for me to be made to read and think about the Bible once or twice a week. It's also just a good social outlet. It's easy to call people up to go down to Pearl Street or just to sit and visit after small group on Wednesdays (which, fortunately, meets at our house). Last week we had about 20 people over for a game night that lasted a good seven hours (I highly recommend both Bang!, which is like a more elaborate Mafia, and Small World, which reminds me of a streamlined History of the World in many ways). Tonight I'm heading out to a Nepalese restaurant with some folks. Should be good times.
Anyway, I'm feeling pretty settled at this point and life is, as usual, mostly good. Glad to be where I am, even if I only have the slightest idea of where I'm going.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Scott Pilgrim
Sometime in March or April of 2008, I heard that Edgar Wright, of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead fame, was writing and directing a film adaptation of a comic series called Scott Pilgrim and that it would star Michael Cera. I love Edgar Wright, I love Michael Cera (note that this was just before Michael Cera fatigue swept a good portion the nation along with the backlash against Juno), so I immediately went and checked out the series and fell in love with it. I've eagerly anticipated each new volume (up to the final one, which released in July) and this movie ever since. I just recently finished re-reading the books and tonight I finally saw the film, so I figured it was about damn time I blogged about it.
The comics and the movie are really cut from the same cloth, so most of what I can say will apply to both, and the same can be said of the most common criticism: what's really at stake? By far the most common criticism of the movie was that it was hard to care about Scott and even harder to see why he was fighting for Ramona. That's a pretty legitimate complaint, until you take a closer look and see the point: None of this is about being in love. It's entirely about growing up. This relationship is just a catalyst, as they so often are.
Scott and Ramona are, quite frankly, the two least likable characters in this story. Scott is an idiot with no attention span, job, or prospects. He doesn't particularly care about anything and moves through life on a whim, unwittingly hurting people left and right, often times without even remembering how things went down. Ramona is slightly more responsible in that she at least has a job and her own apartment, but she's similarly capricious. The only difference is that she's fully aware of the hurt she's created and simply runs away from it any time it catches up.
Scott's battles with Ramona's exes simultaneously force him to fight for something for a change and make Ramona confront her own baggage and acknowledge that there are things and people in her life worth keeping around. Whether or not she's "the one" or Scott really loves her is hardly the question. The issue at hand is that both of them are realizing that we have to live in this world as it is, not as we'd prefer it to be. We can't live by mooching off our friends and wasting our time on idle fancies or by staying ahead of the inevitable changes. More importantly, we can't live our lives thinking we're the perfect hero of our story. We need to take charge of our affairs and of our faults and face the hard fact that reality is tough and being a good person in spite of that is tougher.
The book and the movie, which entered development and writing about halfway through the series, have different ways of letting Scott come to terms with these facts. In the movie, Wright has Scott acknowledge that he's fighting for himself and "earning the power of self-respect" when he confronts Gideon for the second time. This is slightly more straightforward and certainly happier than the comic's approach. In O'Malley's version, Scott encounters nega-Scott and he finally admits to himself what he's done and how many people he's hurt more than necessary by being willfully oblivious. Being the guilt-ridden penance junkie I am, I think I like this better, but both work well. In either case, Scott comes to terms with the fact that his life is his life, and he can't continue brushing it off if he wants it to turn around, and that's the important part.
So, that's my big reason for not caring a whole lot about whether Ramona appears to be worth fighting for. The other one is simply this: who are we to judge? As a rule, I've generally given up trying to figure out what it is that draws people to each other. We all have our own criteria, and it's hardly our place to judge. Most movies and books try to establish that people are right for one another with grand arm waving and a showiness that just doesn't happen in life. I prefer it when I'm allowed to just trust that these people are making the choice that they feel is best for them in their lives.
Not much else to say on the matter. The other big component is just the referential/stylistic component, which is the upfront draw. Both O'Malley and Wright have a near perfect understanding of homage and parody, and they keep the in-jokes coming at a blinding pace while keeping the bulk of the overt material readily accessible. Especially as a member of the in-group, I can't think of anything to complain about on this end.
Short version: Check out both the movie and the comics. They're not perfect, but you'll still be glad you did.
The comics and the movie are really cut from the same cloth, so most of what I can say will apply to both, and the same can be said of the most common criticism: what's really at stake? By far the most common criticism of the movie was that it was hard to care about Scott and even harder to see why he was fighting for Ramona. That's a pretty legitimate complaint, until you take a closer look and see the point: None of this is about being in love. It's entirely about growing up. This relationship is just a catalyst, as they so often are.
Scott and Ramona are, quite frankly, the two least likable characters in this story. Scott is an idiot with no attention span, job, or prospects. He doesn't particularly care about anything and moves through life on a whim, unwittingly hurting people left and right, often times without even remembering how things went down. Ramona is slightly more responsible in that she at least has a job and her own apartment, but she's similarly capricious. The only difference is that she's fully aware of the hurt she's created and simply runs away from it any time it catches up.
Scott's battles with Ramona's exes simultaneously force him to fight for something for a change and make Ramona confront her own baggage and acknowledge that there are things and people in her life worth keeping around. Whether or not she's "the one" or Scott really loves her is hardly the question. The issue at hand is that both of them are realizing that we have to live in this world as it is, not as we'd prefer it to be. We can't live by mooching off our friends and wasting our time on idle fancies or by staying ahead of the inevitable changes. More importantly, we can't live our lives thinking we're the perfect hero of our story. We need to take charge of our affairs and of our faults and face the hard fact that reality is tough and being a good person in spite of that is tougher.
The book and the movie, which entered development and writing about halfway through the series, have different ways of letting Scott come to terms with these facts. In the movie, Wright has Scott acknowledge that he's fighting for himself and "earning the power of self-respect" when he confronts Gideon for the second time. This is slightly more straightforward and certainly happier than the comic's approach. In O'Malley's version, Scott encounters nega-Scott and he finally admits to himself what he's done and how many people he's hurt more than necessary by being willfully oblivious. Being the guilt-ridden penance junkie I am, I think I like this better, but both work well. In either case, Scott comes to terms with the fact that his life is his life, and he can't continue brushing it off if he wants it to turn around, and that's the important part.
So, that's my big reason for not caring a whole lot about whether Ramona appears to be worth fighting for. The other one is simply this: who are we to judge? As a rule, I've generally given up trying to figure out what it is that draws people to each other. We all have our own criteria, and it's hardly our place to judge. Most movies and books try to establish that people are right for one another with grand arm waving and a showiness that just doesn't happen in life. I prefer it when I'm allowed to just trust that these people are making the choice that they feel is best for them in their lives.
Not much else to say on the matter. The other big component is just the referential/stylistic component, which is the upfront draw. Both O'Malley and Wright have a near perfect understanding of homage and parody, and they keep the in-jokes coming at a blinding pace while keeping the bulk of the overt material readily accessible. Especially as a member of the in-group, I can't think of anything to complain about on this end.
Short version: Check out both the movie and the comics. They're not perfect, but you'll still be glad you did.
Monday, August 16, 2010
It's Not Too Late, George!
So, George Lucas has announced his plans for theBlu-Ray release of the Star Wars trilogy. It's just the '97 "Special Edition" versions of the movie released at a higher resolution. Now, this is disappointing to me because, as many of you know, I had a brilliant idea for this inevitable release a few months back. The short version is this: Create Your Own Edition.
Basically, provide a menu system that allows viewers to choose which version of the films they want to watch at any point where there is a difference between versions. Who shot first? Did Han meet Jabba in the docking bay at Mos Eisley? Did Alderaan's explosion look like special effects from the '70's or from the '90's? Was the destruction of the second Death Star celebrated by awesome, dancing Ewoks or by an interplanetary throwing down of Palpatine statues? (for the record: Han, No, '90's, and Yub Yub!).
Everybody has their own perfect version of Star Wars, so let them create it and share it (hell, give us a BD-Live feature that lets us watch our friends' cuts!). Seriously, this is an idea that would have satisfied *everybody* and made the release something really special instead of just another Lucas cash-in opportunity. I make no official claim to this idea, so feel free to spread it around in case it somehow makes its way to the fine folks at Lucasfilm before the planned Fall 2011 release.
Basically, provide a menu system that allows viewers to choose which version of the films they want to watch at any point where there is a difference between versions. Who shot first? Did Han meet Jabba in the docking bay at Mos Eisley? Did Alderaan's explosion look like special effects from the '70's or from the '90's? Was the destruction of the second Death Star celebrated by awesome, dancing Ewoks or by an interplanetary throwing down of Palpatine statues? (for the record: Han, No, '90's, and Yub Yub!).
Everybody has their own perfect version of Star Wars, so let them create it and share it (hell, give us a BD-Live feature that lets us watch our friends' cuts!). Seriously, this is an idea that would have satisfied *everybody* and made the release something really special instead of just another Lucas cash-in opportunity. I make no official claim to this idea, so feel free to spread it around in case it somehow makes its way to the fine folks at Lucasfilm before the planned Fall 2011 release.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Music for a 14 Hour Car Ride
Leave for Boulder tomorrow. Riding out their in a rented minivan with my parents. Since their taste in music is pretty different from mine, and since my dad vetoed audio-books for whatever reason, I took a lot longer than normal to pick out music for the trip and had to delve a bit into guilty pleasure territory. The final album list looks like this:
Beck: Sea Change
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: Americana Deluxe
Bruce Springsteen: Ghost of Tom Joad
Derek and the Dominoes: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Dessa: A Badly Broken Code*
Explosions in the Sky: All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone*
The Frames: For the Birds
Freezepop: Fancy Ultra Fresh
The Hush Sound: Like Vines
Jack Johnson: Brushfire Fairytales
Jimmy Buffet: Meet me in Margaritaville
The Killers: Hot Fuss
Nickel Creek: This Side
Nobuo Uematsu: Final Fantasy 6 Piano Collections
Reel Big Fish: Cheer Up
Sigur Ros: Agaetis Byrjun
TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain*
Weezer: The Blue Album
Wilco and Billy Bragg: Mermaid Avenue
Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts: Selections from the Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack
*Denotes music that will only be listened to if I'm driving.
Beck: Sea Change
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: Americana Deluxe
Bruce Springsteen: Ghost of Tom Joad
Derek and the Dominoes: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Dessa: A Badly Broken Code*
Explosions in the Sky: All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone*
The Frames: For the Birds
The Hush Sound: Like Vines
Jack Johnson: Brushfire Fairytales
Jimmy Buffet: Meet me in Margaritaville
The Killers: Hot Fuss
Nickel Creek: This Side
Nobuo Uematsu: Final Fantasy 6 Piano Collections
Reel Big Fish: Cheer Up
Sigur Ros: Agaetis Byrjun
TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain*
Weezer: The Blue Album
Wilco and Billy Bragg: Mermaid Avenue
Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts: Selections from the Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack
*Denotes music that will only be listened to if I'm driving.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Eclectic Update
I'm feeling really bored right now, so I'm going to pretend I'm a 14-year-old girl from 2004 and treat my blog like a diary for a night, just for shits and giggles. No single topic, just a bunch of loosely connected thoughts and facts about my life of late. If people actually like this, maybe I'll do it semi-regularly.
So, the Firefly stuff sort of imploded. Didn't realize how little I'd want to sit and watch TV, even Firefly, during the busier parts of my summer. I have not had a weekend to myself since June 11 and won't have one until just before classes start on the 23rd. I have either been elsewhere or had my grandparents in town or, in the case of this weekend, been packing any time a weekend rolled around for the last eight weeks. That might seem irrelevant during the summer, but when you consider the fact that my parents tend to forget that I am an adult and lay claim to most of my weekday evenings, it has added up to me having precious little time to enjoy this summer. In fact, the two best days I've had at home in my two and a half month stay were the two that I spent downtown on Jury duty. I got to explore and meet people and catch lawyers off guard and sit and read in peace. It was actually pretty awesome.
Speaking of reading, I've done a lot of that this summer. I mentioned that I finally got around to Pride and Prejudice in my (intentionally) somewhat controversial post on Mr. Darcy awhile back and wrote about my thoughts upon re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Beyond those two, I also read or re-read: Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere which, while not my favorite of his novels, is likely his most accessible; Boneshaker, a very solid first entry into Steampunk by Cherie Priest; Mossflower, easily my favorite of the Redwall series; and the first five books in Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series.
I wrote a little bit about the first book in this series and my thoughts on Fantasy as a whole when I started into it last summer. I'm happy to say that I have, by and large, quite enjoyed the books. They aren't without their faults. My biggest issue at first was that the first two books and more clung so closely to genre norms that I often saw Startling Revelations coming hundreds of pages in advance. During the third book, though, Butcher proves that all of the tropes were not a framework but mere scaffolding, and the series begins to move based on the considerable merits of its own setting and politics. More consistent problems, for me, include an occasional tendency towards the highly visual writing that makes Fantasy a difficult genre for me and Butcher's tendency to delve into unnecessary repetition of basic facts to make sure his audience is following along (how many times in a book do we need to be reminded of the importance of body language to the Canim?). By and large, though, Butcher keeps the pace flowing rapidly and the books are a solid read for fans, or lapsed fans, of Fantasy.
All of this reading got me to finally start working a little bit on a writing project I've been muddling over for years. Unfortunately I'm not talking about The Littlest Hobo, which tends to just make me go to very, very dark places. I've mostly got the loose details of a setting and a protagonist in place and am still trying to find the plot. I've got a couple of pages of establishing material written which I may post in the not too distant future. If anybody else would like to read about a "professional" medical test subject's experiences in a corporate dystopia, let me know.
I've been watching HIMYM with my mom lately (which is both weird and perfectly natural) and I've noticed that none of the characters beyond Barney, and, to a lesser extent, Robin, are terribly consistently defined in terms of personality. Ted can be perfectly charming and respectful in one episode and nearly as big a sleaze as Barney in the next; Marshall can't decide if he's the straigh-man or the goofball; and Lilly swaps between erudite and childlike at a whim. Honestly, though, I think that's part of why the series works and an important distinction between it and Friends, to which it will probably always be compared. None of us fills exactly one role in our social groups. We put on and take off hats as the situation demands it. It's nice to see characters who are similarly varied, even if the end result is sometimes more like season 5 and less like season 4.
Been cooking lots of Mexican/Tex-Mex lately. It's kind of like when I was first learning to cook and all I could really make was stir-fry and chili. My family was so blown away that they kept on asking me to make that same thing. Now I keep on getting talked into making tacos, guacamole, and salsa for people. As much as I love it, I'm hoping to move on to something new soon. Lots of ideas for soup recipes, especially ones that involve lentils and kale (though not together...yet). Here's hoping that the occasional weirdness of cooking at altitude won't kill that plan.
Not a lot of videogame action this summer. The same thing that killed the Firefly coverage killed that. Did finally cave in and pick up Jade Empire on Xbox Originals, though. I was...a bit disappointed. After reading IGN's 10.0 review, I was expecting something a little more. Part of the problem is that silent protagonists don't work as an emotional repository when the rest of the world talks. Bioware obviously realized this by the time they were making Mass Effect, and it's amazing how taking a certain amount of control away from the player -- giving the protagonist his/her own voice and words -- enhances attachment and even ownership. Bioware is apparently going a step further even in the Dragon Age sequel, allowing the user to select only the tone of the response, not even giving any sort of textual summary at the time of choosing. I'm excited to see how that will work out.
That's it, I guess. Hopefully everybody found something of interest.
So, the Firefly stuff sort of imploded. Didn't realize how little I'd want to sit and watch TV, even Firefly, during the busier parts of my summer. I have not had a weekend to myself since June 11 and won't have one until just before classes start on the 23rd. I have either been elsewhere or had my grandparents in town or, in the case of this weekend, been packing any time a weekend rolled around for the last eight weeks. That might seem irrelevant during the summer, but when you consider the fact that my parents tend to forget that I am an adult and lay claim to most of my weekday evenings, it has added up to me having precious little time to enjoy this summer. In fact, the two best days I've had at home in my two and a half month stay were the two that I spent downtown on Jury duty. I got to explore and meet people and catch lawyers off guard and sit and read in peace. It was actually pretty awesome.
Speaking of reading, I've done a lot of that this summer. I mentioned that I finally got around to Pride and Prejudice in my (intentionally) somewhat controversial post on Mr. Darcy awhile back and wrote about my thoughts upon re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Beyond those two, I also read or re-read: Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere which, while not my favorite of his novels, is likely his most accessible; Boneshaker, a very solid first entry into Steampunk by Cherie Priest; Mossflower, easily my favorite of the Redwall series; and the first five books in Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series.
I wrote a little bit about the first book in this series and my thoughts on Fantasy as a whole when I started into it last summer. I'm happy to say that I have, by and large, quite enjoyed the books. They aren't without their faults. My biggest issue at first was that the first two books and more clung so closely to genre norms that I often saw Startling Revelations coming hundreds of pages in advance. During the third book, though, Butcher proves that all of the tropes were not a framework but mere scaffolding, and the series begins to move based on the considerable merits of its own setting and politics. More consistent problems, for me, include an occasional tendency towards the highly visual writing that makes Fantasy a difficult genre for me and Butcher's tendency to delve into unnecessary repetition of basic facts to make sure his audience is following along (how many times in a book do we need to be reminded of the importance of body language to the Canim?). By and large, though, Butcher keeps the pace flowing rapidly and the books are a solid read for fans, or lapsed fans, of Fantasy.
All of this reading got me to finally start working a little bit on a writing project I've been muddling over for years. Unfortunately I'm not talking about The Littlest Hobo, which tends to just make me go to very, very dark places. I've mostly got the loose details of a setting and a protagonist in place and am still trying to find the plot. I've got a couple of pages of establishing material written which I may post in the not too distant future. If anybody else would like to read about a "professional" medical test subject's experiences in a corporate dystopia, let me know.
I've been watching HIMYM with my mom lately (which is both weird and perfectly natural) and I've noticed that none of the characters beyond Barney, and, to a lesser extent, Robin, are terribly consistently defined in terms of personality. Ted can be perfectly charming and respectful in one episode and nearly as big a sleaze as Barney in the next; Marshall can't decide if he's the straigh-man or the goofball; and Lilly swaps between erudite and childlike at a whim. Honestly, though, I think that's part of why the series works and an important distinction between it and Friends, to which it will probably always be compared. None of us fills exactly one role in our social groups. We put on and take off hats as the situation demands it. It's nice to see characters who are similarly varied, even if the end result is sometimes more like season 5 and less like season 4.
Been cooking lots of Mexican/Tex-Mex lately. It's kind of like when I was first learning to cook and all I could really make was stir-fry and chili. My family was so blown away that they kept on asking me to make that same thing. Now I keep on getting talked into making tacos, guacamole, and salsa for people. As much as I love it, I'm hoping to move on to something new soon. Lots of ideas for soup recipes, especially ones that involve lentils and kale (though not together...yet). Here's hoping that the occasional weirdness of cooking at altitude won't kill that plan.
Not a lot of videogame action this summer. The same thing that killed the Firefly coverage killed that. Did finally cave in and pick up Jade Empire on Xbox Originals, though. I was...a bit disappointed. After reading IGN's 10.0 review, I was expecting something a little more. Part of the problem is that silent protagonists don't work as an emotional repository when the rest of the world talks. Bioware obviously realized this by the time they were making Mass Effect, and it's amazing how taking a certain amount of control away from the player -- giving the protagonist his/her own voice and words -- enhances attachment and even ownership. Bioware is apparently going a step further even in the Dragon Age sequel, allowing the user to select only the tone of the response, not even giving any sort of textual summary at the time of choosing. I'm excited to see how that will work out.
That's it, I guess. Hopefully everybody found something of interest.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Looking Back: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The first time I read the Harry Potter series, I pushed through all 7 books in 17 days. That included time spent packing, moving, and waiting to be in contact with people from whom I could secure the next volume. Once I finally finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, at the end of that marathon, I was exhausted and, admittedly, a bit depressed. It was hard to feel anything about the book in particular, other than the wonderful, dreadful knowledge that it was all done. As time passed, and I reflected on the final volume in particular, I had a few nagging issues with it, but I wasn't confident enough in my recall to make any formal complaints. Last summer, I had a bit to say while re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was a good re-experiencing these books in a less hurried (or should I say harried*) way, and I've been waiting for the opportunity to do the same with The Deathly Hallows.
I'm now happy to say two things about this book. One, my complaints still stand; and two, they are still largely overshadowed by a handful of key moments.
I'll start with the complaints because, well, that's just the sort of man I am. For one, the entire arc of the book is just alien to the rest of the series. Much of that comes from the fact that Hogwarts isn't present to provide structure of classes and quiditch term breaks. Stranger, though, is that, in this volume, Harry starts out on a mission. In every other book, Harry heads to school just hoping to God for a normal year. We know that isn't going to happen, but we also get to see everything develop and come together slowly with a few peaks of action or character building thrown in. It's almost a mystery structure: Weird stuff going on...One of the professors is acting weirder than normal... OMG, Voldemort!
In Deathly Hallows it's...well, it's just OMG, Voldemort! The whole time. It's a bit overwhelming. It's also strange because it gives Harry sort of a list of mission objectives to complete.
To me, it just feels less like a narrative and more like a lot of checking off of lists. It doesn't help that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are barely escaping death everywhere they go. Leave for The Burrow, barely escape death. Go to a cafe in London, barely escape death. Go to the Ministry, barely escape death. Go to Godric's Hollow, barely escape death. Go to a random forest, barely escape death. Go visit Luna's dad, barely escape death. Get captured by Death Eaters, barely escape death. Go to Gringotts, barely escape death. Go to Hogwarts, barely escape death. That's nine times, off the top of my head, that the kids almost die! That's nine times more than in any other Harry Potter book! Obviously, this is a very dangerous trip!
As borderline awkward as all of this is, though, it's not nearly my biggest complaint. That would be reserved for the long list of material that I feel is almost entirely unnecessary. There's a lot of time spent on the life (and lies) of Albus Dumbledore in this book. Most of it is there to give a false sense that Harry might have serious doubts or turn his back on his mission. I never thought that would happen. The only other purpose it serves is to humanize Dumbledore a bit, but I really don't think that was needed. Adults will assume that his wisdom was hard-won, and kids can stand to have a blemish-less hero once in awhile. It's all interesting to a degree, but not nearly as much as it is distracting. If Rowling can go on ahead and tell us what characters' lives are like in between the main ending and the epilogue through unofficial channels, she can do the same with Dumbledore's home life.
I also fail to see the point of removing Ron for a whole 80 pages of story. I suppose it serves to slap us in the face with the continued mutuality of Hermione's feelings and of his role in the group beyond comic relief, but it just seemed cheap to have him gone for one small vignette and suddenly back.
My biggest problem, however, remains with the eponymous Deathly Hallows and the half-assed introduction of wand lore. I really don't see how the Deathly Hallows were in any way necessary. The Resurrection Stone gave us a nice scene with Harry walking to his demise, I suppose, but it did nothing for the Cloak, and the nature of the Elder Wand then gets all mired up in the BS wand lore stuff. I would have much preferred they stick to the, "Hey, I died for everybody. You can't do any harm to anybody anymore. Suck it!" approach to the ending. Instead, they conflate it with the "Your wand is now mine by way of Draco's actions" Deus Ex Machina by which Harry doesn't even have to be the one to fire the killing curse at Voldy. If that was really the whole reason for all of that wand bull -- pretending that Harry never killed anybody (he did, think of why he didn't stun Stan Shunpike, and then the fact that he did the same to others on his trail) -- then it's just, well, dumb. I'll also note that, when push came to shove, none of the "good guys" were terribly opposed to using any of the "unforgivable curses". The readiness with which Harry uttered his first "imperius" always rubbed me the wrong way.
All said and done, though; as much as the various points above irritate me, it's still a more than adequate ending. Why? Because Harry experiencing Snape's memories is the most important chapter in the entire series. Because Rowling still knows these characters. Because I never actually wanted to stop reading, either time through the book. I meant to take four or five days to cover Deathly Hallows on this outing. I couldn't last longer than two, and I really tried.
*I really ought to be shot
I'm now happy to say two things about this book. One, my complaints still stand; and two, they are still largely overshadowed by a handful of key moments.
I'll start with the complaints because, well, that's just the sort of man I am. For one, the entire arc of the book is just alien to the rest of the series. Much of that comes from the fact that Hogwarts isn't present to provide structure of classes and quiditch term breaks. Stranger, though, is that, in this volume, Harry starts out on a mission. In every other book, Harry heads to school just hoping to God for a normal year. We know that isn't going to happen, but we also get to see everything develop and come together slowly with a few peaks of action or character building thrown in. It's almost a mystery structure: Weird stuff going on...One of the professors is acting weirder than normal... OMG, Voldemort!
In Deathly Hallows it's...well, it's just OMG, Voldemort! The whole time. It's a bit overwhelming. It's also strange because it gives Harry sort of a list of mission objectives to complete.
Primary Objectives:
1. Find horcruxes.
1a. Find the locket
1b. Find the cup
1c. Find something related to Rowena Ravenclaw
1d. Get the snake alone
2. Figure out how to destroy horcruxes.
2a. Recover the sword of Godric Gryffindor
2b. Break into the Chamber of Secrets in unlikely fashion
to retrieve Basilisk Fangs.
2c. Learn that the dumb, fat, evil kids randomly learned
how to cast a ridiculously potent fire spell.
Bonus Objective:
3. Unite the Deathly Hallows.
To me, it just feels less like a narrative and more like a lot of checking off of lists. It doesn't help that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are barely escaping death everywhere they go. Leave for The Burrow, barely escape death. Go to a cafe in London, barely escape death. Go to the Ministry, barely escape death. Go to Godric's Hollow, barely escape death. Go to a random forest, barely escape death. Go visit Luna's dad, barely escape death. Get captured by Death Eaters, barely escape death. Go to Gringotts, barely escape death. Go to Hogwarts, barely escape death. That's nine times, off the top of my head, that the kids almost die! That's nine times more than in any other Harry Potter book! Obviously, this is a very dangerous trip!
As borderline awkward as all of this is, though, it's not nearly my biggest complaint. That would be reserved for the long list of material that I feel is almost entirely unnecessary. There's a lot of time spent on the life (and lies) of Albus Dumbledore in this book. Most of it is there to give a false sense that Harry might have serious doubts or turn his back on his mission. I never thought that would happen. The only other purpose it serves is to humanize Dumbledore a bit, but I really don't think that was needed. Adults will assume that his wisdom was hard-won, and kids can stand to have a blemish-less hero once in awhile. It's all interesting to a degree, but not nearly as much as it is distracting. If Rowling can go on ahead and tell us what characters' lives are like in between the main ending and the epilogue through unofficial channels, she can do the same with Dumbledore's home life.
I also fail to see the point of removing Ron for a whole 80 pages of story. I suppose it serves to slap us in the face with the continued mutuality of Hermione's feelings and of his role in the group beyond comic relief, but it just seemed cheap to have him gone for one small vignette and suddenly back.
My biggest problem, however, remains with the eponymous Deathly Hallows and the half-assed introduction of wand lore. I really don't see how the Deathly Hallows were in any way necessary. The Resurrection Stone gave us a nice scene with Harry walking to his demise, I suppose, but it did nothing for the Cloak, and the nature of the Elder Wand then gets all mired up in the BS wand lore stuff. I would have much preferred they stick to the, "Hey, I died for everybody. You can't do any harm to anybody anymore. Suck it!" approach to the ending. Instead, they conflate it with the "Your wand is now mine by way of Draco's actions" Deus Ex Machina by which Harry doesn't even have to be the one to fire the killing curse at Voldy. If that was really the whole reason for all of that wand bull -- pretending that Harry never killed anybody (he did, think of why he didn't stun Stan Shunpike, and then the fact that he did the same to others on his trail) -- then it's just, well, dumb. I'll also note that, when push came to shove, none of the "good guys" were terribly opposed to using any of the "unforgivable curses". The readiness with which Harry uttered his first "imperius" always rubbed me the wrong way.
All said and done, though; as much as the various points above irritate me, it's still a more than adequate ending. Why? Because Harry experiencing Snape's memories is the most important chapter in the entire series. Because Rowling still knows these characters. Because I never actually wanted to stop reading, either time through the book. I meant to take four or five days to cover Deathly Hallows on this outing. I couldn't last longer than two, and I really tried.
*I really ought to be shot
About Me
Lately, I've been writing people from all across the Internets, notably those who are physically located in Boulder, CO, about considering me as a roommate. Since I am stuck on the Internets, unable to manifest myself in Boulder to meet people or see properties, I have been getting a lot of practice introducing and describing myself to people. This afternoon, I had the opportunity to write the longest such explanation yet while starting correspondence with a group of five guys from I've never met before whom I was put in touch with through InterVarsity and who might be willing to let me rent a house with them. I'm not even remotely enthused by the possibility right now, but I've got to take what I can get. At the very least, I think the email introduction a pretty good one -- at the very least, it's thorough (most are much, much more brief). Let's see how many of you agree and what you think I left out:
"...
Mostly, though, I'd like to know a bit more about all of you along with how and how well you know each other. I can get along with just about anybody, but I'm very much an introvert and it can take me awhile to figure out where I fit into established group dynamics and to feel comfortable. Living with 5 guys I don't know from Adam who I don't readily identify with and who are already pretty close could easily result in me semi-consciously cutting myself off. I don't particularly feel like doing that to myself or to you.
I can start by sharing a bit (or perhaps a lot) about myself: I'm an incoming PhD student in Computer Science. I don't fit super well into whatever stereotype that may cause you to imagine, but I am definitely a bit of a nerd. I like boardgames and videogames, I use Linux, I read and (usually) get xkcd , and I'm pretty willing to get excited and engage in debate about relatively meaningless things so long as nobody is being terribly serious about it. I even minored in Japanese. However, I don't obsess over anime, comic books, or RPGs (except occasionally Mass Effect and Chrono Trigger <_<); I get along perfectly well with people who aren't huge nerds; and I even enjoy watching and occasionally playing sports (especially my Twins and Vikings).
I really like music. If Calvin College, where I did my undergrad, had a better program, I would have pursued a double major with it. I sing and play saxophone pretty well and hope to do a bit of both at whatever church I wind up attending. A lot of what I listen to for pleasure is relatively indie (TV on the Radio, DeVotchKa, Explosions in the Sky), but I also love Jazz (Coltrane, Stan Getz), classic rock (Zeppelin, The Who), "classical" (Brahms, Mozart, Stravinsky) and even good pop music on occasion (The Killers, old Weezer). I will never proclaim that I hate an entire genre of music, as so many people do with hip-hop and/or country, even if I'm not terribly fond of the most prominent examples of those genres, as is the case with hip-hop and country. As a result of hanging out with a lot of media production people, I'm also really into movies and relish hanging out and binging on TV on DVD. My collection isn't huge, but I like to think it's of pretty good quality. If you have an appreciation for Arrested Development, Pushing Daises, Freaks and Geeks, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer...we'll probably get along.
In terms of things that more directly impact living arrangements, I have a fellowship, so paying my share of rent and utils should never be a problem. I sometimes let my own room get cluttered with laundry or papers, but I'm pretty good at keeping common areas clean so long as other people make an attempt to do so as well. If you're a bunch of slobs, I'll probably join right along out of spite. I like to cook, and I'm very happy to cook for others so long as they cover their share of the cost. I'm not terribly fond of passive-aggressive behavior, as I tend to respond in kind, which isn't something I like doing. I much prefer that issues be addressed directly and considerately. I'm usually pretty good at acknowledging when I'm in the wrong, and it takes a hell of a lot to make me hold a grudge. About the only thing you can do that will immediately give rise to dislike from me is display intolerance towards another person's race, sexuality, politics, religion, or whatever else (for the record, I am a white, heterosexual, liberal Christian).
I don't mind having people over, and would like to have people over myself for pot-lucks or grill outs or just to hang out. I don't want to live in a huge party house, though, and I tend to revert to people watching in crowds of larger than 10-15, which weirds some people out. I don't drink or smoke and would rather not live with smokers (certainly no 420), but I don't have any problem with others drinking so long as no one person is getting absolutely trashed five nights a week.
Finally, as long as you seem to know one another at least in part through InterVarsity, I may as well also comment that I'm Catholic. Not a "The Pope is always right and Protestants are heathens" Catholic, but an "I appreciate the bulk of the theology, love the level of social activism, and semi-reluctantly understand the value of the hierarchy and thus see no real cause to leave the Church" Catholic. I thoroughly enjoy discussing theology academically, but I'm not huge into talking about my faith or my "walk with Jesus". I can explain in a couple of easy sentences why I'm a Christian if I'm asked, and that's about the deepest I like to go on the subject under all but the most extreme of circumstances.
..."
huh? huh?
"...
Mostly, though, I'd like to know a bit more about all of you along with how and how well you know each other. I can get along with just about anybody, but I'm very much an introvert and it can take me awhile to figure out where I fit into established group dynamics and to feel comfortable. Living with 5 guys I don't know from Adam who I don't readily identify with and who are already pretty close could easily result in me semi-consciously cutting myself off. I don't particularly feel like doing that to myself or to you.
I can start by sharing a bit (or perhaps a lot) about myself: I'm an incoming PhD student in Computer Science. I don't fit super well into whatever stereotype that may cause you to imagine, but I am definitely a bit of a nerd. I like boardgames and videogames, I use Linux, I read and (usually) get xkcd , and I'm pretty willing to get excited and engage in debate about relatively meaningless things so long as nobody is being terribly serious about it. I even minored in Japanese. However, I don't obsess over anime, comic books, or RPGs (except occasionally Mass Effect and Chrono Trigger <_<); I get along perfectly well with people who aren't huge nerds; and I even enjoy watching and occasionally playing sports (especially my Twins and Vikings).
I really like music. If Calvin College, where I did my undergrad, had a better program, I would have pursued a double major with it. I sing and play saxophone pretty well and hope to do a bit of both at whatever church I wind up attending. A lot of what I listen to for pleasure is relatively indie (TV on the Radio, DeVotchKa, Explosions in the Sky), but I also love Jazz (Coltrane, Stan Getz), classic rock (Zeppelin, The Who), "classical" (Brahms, Mozart, Stravinsky) and even good pop music on occasion (The Killers, old Weezer). I will never proclaim that I hate an entire genre of music, as so many people do with hip-hop and/or country, even if I'm not terribly fond of the most prominent examples of those genres, as is the case with hip-hop and country. As a result of hanging out with a lot of media production people, I'm also really into movies and relish hanging out and binging on TV on DVD. My collection isn't huge, but I like to think it's of pretty good quality. If you have an appreciation for Arrested Development, Pushing Daises, Freaks and Geeks, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer...we'll probably get along.
In terms of things that more directly impact living arrangements, I have a fellowship, so paying my share of rent and utils should never be a problem. I sometimes let my own room get cluttered with laundry or papers, but I'm pretty good at keeping common areas clean so long as other people make an attempt to do so as well. If you're a bunch of slobs, I'll probably join right along out of spite. I like to cook, and I'm very happy to cook for others so long as they cover their share of the cost. I'm not terribly fond of passive-aggressive behavior, as I tend to respond in kind, which isn't something I like doing. I much prefer that issues be addressed directly and considerately. I'm usually pretty good at acknowledging when I'm in the wrong, and it takes a hell of a lot to make me hold a grudge. About the only thing you can do that will immediately give rise to dislike from me is display intolerance towards another person's race, sexuality, politics, religion, or whatever else (for the record, I am a white, heterosexual, liberal Christian).
I don't mind having people over, and would like to have people over myself for pot-lucks or grill outs or just to hang out. I don't want to live in a huge party house, though, and I tend to revert to people watching in crowds of larger than 10-15, which weirds some people out. I don't drink or smoke and would rather not live with smokers (certainly no 420), but I don't have any problem with others drinking so long as no one person is getting absolutely trashed five nights a week.
Finally, as long as you seem to know one another at least in part through InterVarsity, I may as well also comment that I'm Catholic. Not a "The Pope is always right and Protestants are heathens" Catholic, but an "I appreciate the bulk of the theology, love the level of social activism, and semi-reluctantly understand the value of the hierarchy and thus see no real cause to leave the Church" Catholic. I thoroughly enjoy discussing theology academically, but I'm not huge into talking about my faith or my "walk with Jesus". I can explain in a couple of easy sentences why I'm a Christian if I'm asked, and that's about the deepest I like to go on the subject under all but the most extreme of circumstances.
..."
huh? huh?
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