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Don't mind the fool.

- Abernaith

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A NOTE ON THE MISLEADING DATES

If you're wondering why the dates are all mixed up, then don't wonder anymore. I'll worry about it for you. It started out as a freak accident, actually. I just realized that I've been putting October instead of January about the third entry. When I did, I figured that it's just as well. Part of my weirdness, whatever. If it bothers you, then I'm sorry, but you don't have to live with it--I do!

HIT ME, PLEASE

December 3, 2008

Neither Beginnings nor Endings

c/o cnn.com

I'm awfully sad to hear that Robert Jordan died last September 17. I only heard about it now. If it were not for him, I wouldn't have read or had a crush on Mat Cauthon. It was evident in all his books how deeply he loved his characters, and that above all allowed his fans to love his books. I would have wished that he could have finished at least the twelfth book before kicking the bucket, but really, knowing that he had been suffering greatly in the past few years while still writing, still pursuing the craft with sincere pasion, I would like to think that what was really best for him, what he really deserved was peace.

Music I am listening to: Antony & The Johnsons - Just One Star

July 20, 2008

There's a story in my head...

In fact, there are a lot of stories crammed into my head, especially after having spent the past week glutting on fantasy books. There's Naomi Novik's Temeraire series (and I am just dying inside right now while I wait for Empire of Ivory, the 4th installment, to be available here) and Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind, which is maybe too much of a geek's fantasy but something I can still sympathize with, if only a little.

"Geek fantasy" as used here does not refer to heavy/hardcore fantasy or so-called "high fantasy", which does not discriminate against sword & sorcery, science fiction, urban fantasy, etc. Rather, it points to the sort of lowbrow story-telling full of epic clichés that is the stuff of every fantasy aspiring-writer-cum-geek's dream. Even I had such fancies, that I guard jealously in the deepest vaults of my head. These sort of things were never meant to see the light of day, and for good reason. Later, they make manifestations in our writing as watered-down mutated incarnations whose entrance into the world of print leaves us with nuggets of despair that we cannot explain and usually set aside in our special cupboard labeled "Mysterious Artefacts, Shitty First Drafts and Aborted Stuff".

In actuality, these nuggets of despair are by-products of our inadequacies to let go of the trauma of not being able to write our Dream Fantasy Novel in the first place. (Wouldn't it be nice to have a sort-of writer's clinic where aspiring writers and esp. novelists who have been weened off the tit of fantasy in their most impressionable years are given the opportunity to put to paper-or computer, whatever works-the world(s) in their heads? What a great relief it would be for a writer to be exorcised of the living, breathing, thinking beings of the universe they have created in their three-pound (give or take) brain!)

Anyway, all this grim talk of worlds-in-your-head that is a potential cause of aneurism is just that: Grim Talk. Nothing comes of talk, although it does give me cause to grit my teeth and look into my head to get an honest account of all the worlds (not even my own) occupying brain-space that could have been of good use in calculus, accounting and or even biology.

Upon reading Dennis L. McKiernan's The Eye of the Hunter at a tender age...

This was my first "high fantasy" book, if "high fantasy" means being of fine print and no less than 600 pages in paperback. In saying this, I don't mean to insult the author. It's simply that this has properly ruined me for other genres at the tender age of nine. From this point on, it was all downhill...

If you go to my reading list, you'll see that practically all the worlds that all those books have created, adopted or even mutilated are all in my head. Some of those that stand out the most (of which, if asked, I could natter obscure facts and references about all day long) are by Rowling, Pratchett, Tolkien, Naomi Novik, Douglas Adams, Robert Jordan and Anne Rice. All of them wrote serials such as Discworld, Vampire Chronicles, Wheel of Time, etc. I can talk about them extensively not only because I have made the effort to read them all doggedly until the end, but also in part due to the fact that I have researched their worlds (esp. for fanfiction), hounded their wikis, fan sites and forums, and sincerely loved their characters (even just one or two could get me attached to the whole thing, and it says something about how OC I can get that I have to understand the whole world to better understand the character I fancy and therefore to better love and adore and pwn that character).

But even the ones that aren't serials, or those books whose fan communities I am not part of...their worlds are still lodged in my head. I can't talk about them as extensively or accurately, but I retain a sense of their presence, which, if I allow myself to think about long and hard, could still be said to be whole. The scary part is that all these (immensely complicated and not to mention duly copyrighted) things are sitting in the back of my head, crammed like sardines in the cupboard labeled "Unnecessary, Useless and Idle Information", and ready to explode a vein and cause me a fatal hemorrhage any day now.

There are too many books in my head, too many stories, but I still can't help devouring more and more worlds that are just so tasty, so delectable, so well-written, well-formed and sincerely loved by a writer and fellow fantasy enthusiast. I really think that the only way to prevent having that Final Fantasy (pun intended) is to let out your own dream fantasy novel, and unleash your creatures upon your hapless mortal readers (so that they, too, will have to face the dilemma of having an over-filled cerebral repository of universes).

November 20, 2007

RETURN TO YOUR ROOTS, Oh humble bookworm!

image source: BorisJulie.com

This is an awfully presumptious title. I'm not much of a bookworm because I am pretty selective about the books I read. Like, I don't read (or rather, cannot read) math books, I avoid New Age like SARS, and I absolutely abhor Self Help books. Personally, I think people who are desperate enough to read them are either morons or sad, friendless dudes with no one to talk to. But then, I'm being such a judgmental, snub-nosed know-it-all, aren't I? Well, there's really nothing wrong with Self Help books, but for books like that to be accepted as right means the world has just gone to the monkeys. And that's just sad.

Anyway, on to the main point of this entry:

I decided to look into my guestbook and I spotted some very interesting and helpful advice left by a certain "DeWayne White", way back in September of last year. Well, Mr. White, I'm sorry that it took me so long to get your message, but now that I've finally read it, I can properly acknowledge you! Thanks for your [Books#|great links]!

See, his comment got me thinking...how serious am I in aspiring to be an "accomplished bookworm"? I mean, there are hundreds of thousands of books out there that are on the so-called "must-read" list for all litterateur wannabes. Classics from Homer to Shakespeare to Jayne Eyre. And it is apparently the dream of every serious bookworm to read all the Great Books at least once in their lives. (Ahaha...that just sounded hilarious right now...I mean, you'd have to be reading 24/7 from the crib to the grave just to accomplish that...and who'd want to be that way?)

But, see, I find that I don't wanna read everything that is considered a "must-read". I might find some of the Classics palatable, but an awful lot (like Homer's Iliad and Tolstoy's War and Peace) are just too dry and outdated in style that the only way I'd appreciate them is in a practical sense--no, not as toilet paper, so stop sniggering!--but as research material for, say, ancient Greek warfare and weaponry, or for an analytical essay called "How to Write a Story and Expect Readers Not to be Utterly Bored by It".

My point is that I am more likely to pick up books I like, most likely contemporary fiction with narrative that incorporates modern plot tricks and present-day language to keep me excited--keep me 'in the loop', so to speak. I don't want to feel as moldy as the book I'm holding. And, well, not many 'moldy old books' have got me feeling excited about their stories. Oh, the soap opera-ish quality of some (*cough* Dumas *cough*) still gets me hooked and grinning like the cat that just licked clean a dish of cream, but it's not just the same.

I long for the contemporary. I am fond of myth and fantasy, but I like to see them in a fresh light, hear the voice of the narrator through the text and be absolutely sure that it is a modern voice, capable of ingenuity that only this day and this age of TV and Tylenol and plastic food can produce.

I know that a "Must-Read List" is only a guide to establishing your own list, your own "library" of books that you could proudly say you've read--or even, encountered, as some claim that books are more than mere manuals but modalities--in life. So maybe I'm now at this point where I am contemplating on what direction I ought to take, where I ought to take up the metaphorical shovel and start digging the foundations of my own library. I know for a fact that it's not going to contain only books of the conventional format (plain text on pages bound together). It's very likely that I'll expand my horizons to include comic books (just last year, I finally discovered the joys of comic books--I'd say graphic novels, but apparently, that's a sensitive term for some) and manga and, of course, stuff I read in the Internet. The Internet is my oyster--oh, wait, scrap that...I don't even like oysters very much!--the Internet is my chocolate pudding. (Which means sometimes it gets you in such a high that you start to drool, just like when looking at that oozing richness of wonderful chocolate pudding--and lay off, ya pervs! It's not the p-word I'm talking about here!) I look forward to the near future when essays, short stories, novels, and other literary works both traditional and experimental that are published in the Net will be accepted as mainstream, and will be credited by major institutions, like, say, the Pulitzer? (Har-har-har... This is turning into a sentimental speech about my Pulitzer-wannabe dreams...how embarassing...).

End of rambling.

November 18, 2007

What do you do when a cat stares at you? BLINK.

Hmm... my last attempt at fixing up this joint was December of last year. I am unfortunately out of aliens to abduct me so I cannot in good conscience make that excuse, but something did abduct me, in a way. A book. Or rather, a fantasy series. And it all began with Book the First of The Wheel of Time Saga...

That was back in December the 24^th. It seems like ages ago, now. When, after getting hooked by the series, I decided to have a Wheel of Time marathon instead of paying attention to my other non-productive happy-go-lucky hobbies, I actually set myself a calendar that would mark the last week of January as the finishing line after 11 books that are 600+/- pages each. Well, I just finished today, the 18^th of February, because after the first 5 books, the plot of WoT (heh, cheesy, that) got majorly bogged down and reading the rest grew tedious. And to think that, at the peak of my WoT marathon, I was reading at a rate of 2 doorstoppers per week. *SIGH* Perhaps I will find myself a better saga with consistent high quality to read. Hmm...but where oh where could I find one?

On the matter of searching for books, I have some great tips on that coming up in an undisclosed time in the future. Yes, I'm taking precautions now. It's rather irritating to set a date and not be able to meet it, and the sloth monster in my brain allows for a 90% chance that I do not meet target dates for accomplishing anything I ever set out to do. It's a rough world, even without complications like this. Sometimes I feel that the only thing keeping me sane are my kooky superstitions like the "sloth monster". (Yeah, right. Like there's really an inter-dimensional vortex in my brain that connects to a parallel Hell-verse where a sloth monster agent working for a Breachers Firm of Malpractioners and Ambiguists is patiently writing out the pages of my lethargic life.)

September 13, 2007

The Cat Returns

Aye, it's been a pitiful year. But worry not, here I am. Or in French, me voici! (Har har, been taking up philosophy...and there's Arthur Rimbaud in the mix somewhere...but life is good, worry not.)

Anyway, I'm here to make a report (to myself--which is kind of crazy, but really, who else is reading this anyway?) about the current revival of my reading habits. Just recently, I have practically devoured two Terry Pratchett books, "Equal Rites" and "The Wyrd Sisters", in less than 72 hours. It's good to know I still got the knack of it. As I say (from time to time), it's all about proper time management. (And also, sheer stubborness in sticking to one's jolly good vices, i.e., reading fiction.)

I finally took the chance and dove into the world of the Wyrd Sisters, that is, the Witches arc of the Discworld books. I'm a staunch fan of the Rincewind series, and an enthusiastic supporter of the Nightwatch books (because I love Vimes, that suspicious bastard, and Vetinari too, come to think of it ...innocent grin...). Now, I finally see the light in the Witches arc too, and it's a funny kind of light...all bendy and honey-hued and thick as an over-silted river. And that's classic Pratchett quality fun for you.

This is Greebo the Cat, by the way. He's the familiar of a certain Nanny Ogg, one of the Wyrd Sisters. The way Paul Kidby draws him is just fantastic, all cunning and beast and ferocious animal with the sex appeal to match. Ahaha, it's just a drawing of course, of a fictional feline...Ahaha.

A small note about the title of this post: If you know your Studio Ghibli, then you might have heard of one of their movies called "The Cat Returns". It's got the most dashing and debonnaire¹ cat I have ever seen, and he's called "Baron Humbert Von Jikkingen" (silly name, but that's all Japanese creative etymology for you). More on Ghibli and its wonderful movies on my next post.

(1) "Dashing and debonnaire" are so obsolete now, don't you agree? The moment I thought them, the odd feeling produced by the stuffy smell of mothballs struck my metaphorical nerves. =shakes head= Honestly, I wonder where I get these backward adjectives...

(2) Image of The Wyrd Sisters and Greebo the Cat from Paul Kidby's site. Please feel free to visit. It's got lots of very interesting Discworld art, and one or several are bound to make you smirk.

February 09, 2007

PBwiki Fanclub

This so totally rockz my sockz! XD

PBwiki Fanclub has gone live! Yey! It started as a vision, and with vietmusic's genius and industry, the dream has finally turned into a reality! W00t! *does the happy-jiggly-dance*

I'm so happy I think I'm gonna have a crazy seizure right now. XP

January 30/31, 2007 (about the date...don't ask.)

A Very Special Kind of Post

I love teh heat, co'z it friez mah brain cellz...(X__X)

A "VERY SPECIAL" POST ABOUT PROPER ENGLISH GRAMMER:

Abernaith is such a very special person. You can tell, because she receives guestbook comments such as this:

Abernaith shall follow this sage, sage advice. Oh yes, she will. As a hopeful writer, she likes to do things by the book, to like, uphold ye olde principles of Proper English. Oh, wait--whazzat, Peregrine? *mewling in background, that sounds a bit like sniggering...* Hey, whatcha sayin' bout mah fashizzle grammer!? Shut up, kitty, or I'll sic the crazee monkees on ya.

Yessir. Abernaith is really a very special kind of person.

___

But no, seriously, thank you, kind stranger-who-is-an-english-teacher-and-yet-also-for-some-unfathomable-reason-pretends-to-be-the-young of-a-bird-that-is-by-no-means-aquatic-last-I-checked! It means a lot to me that a visitor cared so much about my wiki as to point out my first/third person problem. I do care about proper English grammar and all that, but then, I gotta let my brain have some fun too, y'know? I'm schizo, my dear, so I'm-a gonna deal-a it my own way. Oh, no wait...I'm actually MPD. Ergo, __we're__-a gonna deal-a it our own ways! :p (Meh.)

And, in other news...

Been laughin Teh Butte off with this. It's a very special kind of movie trailer, for a very special kind of movie trailer person. Hahaha. XD Cracked me up to a gajillion particles that I positively thought I was part-apple, part-desk chair, and part-unmentionable gaseous substance for a nano-nano-second.

January 24, 2007

All that Pastafarian jazz...

A moving story: Lessons in wielding authority...

I must confess, I am surprised that The Flying Spaghetti Monster is still going strong. It's been close to a year now and still the new "devotees" are popping out of the woodwork.

I think that FSM is gradually turning into a bonafide icon of Individualistic Thinking. I've always been a fan of satire, and good satire is always kickazz for me, and I think that the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and all that jazz, is probably the best piece of theological-philosophical-political beast-of-a-satire in a long while. I hope that, more than being able to poke fun at rather stubborn Board of Education people, people will be able to use the concept of FSM to begin unraveling some of the terribly confusing tangles people put themselves into "for the sake of religion, et. al."

January 23, 2007 (And no, this date is not accurate AT ALL.)

World Domination Conspiracies, et. al.

I stumbled upon this while trying to find out about Google Drive aka GDrive. OMG, I am so a fan of Google, and I actually use the verb google, as in "to google" and "googled up", but this is just...like, HELL NO! *shudders*

This suddenly reminds me of this one post from this tech forum that my friend frequented. It was about Gmail, or perhaps Gmail Notifier. It started out quite typically, with reasonably good praise for the Google product, and then suddenly, before my disbelieving eyes, it turned into this full-blown rave about the 'greatness of Google' and how it rulez so much that its going to be the ruler of the world. (Or something with this same message in essence.) Is the world getting bored or something? Aren't there enough world conspiracies out there already?

On a lighter note...

I found this some time ago, while I was searching (rather in vain) for a particular orchid's name. I just typed "white butterfly orchid" in Google (because the orchid in question looks like a white butterfly...-_-; er, yeah, I AM A MORON) and was surprised to find something unexpectedly funny and certainly strange in this rather normal site:

Perhaps there is an ultra-vegetarian restaurant out there that actually serves flowers for breakfast. (Rose tart, madame? Or would you prefer a nice fresh batch of sweet Alpine grass--grown from authentic soil taken from a high altitude in the Alpine Mountains, of course--sprinkled with honeyed sunflower seed? Oh, you'd like the Mums sampler dish. Very well then.) Although, orchids are quite expensive, so perhaps they could be served as "special delicacies" or something. LOL!

P.S. And if you want a shirt just like in the image above, go here: gevilthings.com. The shirt's creator rockz, don't you agree? XD

January 19, 2007 (a misleading date)

Back from the Dead!

And after being AWOL for some time now, Abernaith presents:

FORCED HOLIDAY

Read it now...

And I owe it all to my craptastic dial-up's major failure...

January 01, 2007 (Not Yet The New Year)

The Book is finally out. The world of print has finally been Touched by His Noodly Appendage. Amazingly, although I am a self-proclaimed 'pirate of the new technological age', I cannot imagine, for the life of me, that I will be satisfied with just downloading (illegally cough cough yar!) an e-book copy, even if it's at its best price (i.e. free--yarr!) The thing is, I think this book is just PERFECT for the type of bookshelf people display on purpose in their living rooms and receiving areas to "subtly impress" the (hopefully) impressionable guest. Usually, what you see there are the typical encyclopedia-almanac-atlas-dictionary set, and a few of the popular classic literature like Homer, cheek-to-cheek with Jayne Eyre and (egads!) Sidney Sheldon... Well, you get the picture. But then, out of the woodwork, pops this most curious, most absurd little book, with the most moronic of titles to grace such a decent, typical book collection:

The Gospel of The Flying Spaghetti Monster Bwahahahaha!!! The baffled look, moreover, the awkward question that you, the host, will of course oblige with an enigmatic smile, Will. Be. Priceless. This is perfect, I tell you, perfect! Although Abernaith, owner of The Reading Cat, supports this book and FSM whole-heartedly, bear in mind that Abernaith nor The Reading Cat is not affiliated to, in any official way, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, nor its creator, Bobby Henderson.

Knox's Korner And I found this just the other day, and it just ROCKZ! XD The clay, the randomness of the plot (i.e. what plot?), the gut-busting humor...oh man, oh man, oh man. It keels me.

December 28, 2006

Ohmygosh. I've been so neglecting my wiki for so long. The Real World has invaded my bubble yet again! Ack! Well, actually, I've still got some fun new things to share from the internet, like: Grooks by Piet Hein

This is one heck of an interesting form of poetry. Here's a sample:

ON AN ASHTRAY 

When your thirst
and hunger cease,
may your ashes
rest in peace.
 
-by Piet Hein

LUCK

Never trust a four-leaf clover,
Just when your life's already over.

-by abernaith

So go there and Carpe Diem people! XD It totally rocks! Oh, yeah, in other news... Today I went to a tea restaurant and ordered my first ever pot of Earl Grey. *shrug* It tasted a bit like Lipton. *shrug shrug* IshouldhaveorderedOolonginstead.

December 21, 2006

December 15, 2006

I didn't know irisbleu had plugged this, and not even recently. Just caught up with it, and thought it v. interesting. It actually made me smile, bec. it's definitely the most "concrete" depiction of Crowley and Aziraphale. Not the best, not by a long shot (for the best would involve "ahem" certain fantasies of the two...hohoho!) but still something more solid and objective rather than merely figurative or representational. And I appreciate the cover's illustrator for that. Oh, and if you--yes, you, dear reader of this pathetique not-even-a-daily blog, for who else?--haven't read the book yet, THEN I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO PICK IT UP ASAP! Not everybody thinks it's hilarious (those poor souls...), and not everybody really can appreciate or have the mental patience to deal with its predominantly British humour and witticisms, but I for one think this is one of the funniest books I've ever read. (And that includes William Goldman's 'The Princess Bride'.) What I have to say about Good Omens...

What Amazon.com says about Good Omens (with the latest cover)... And I caught this also from irisbleu: Stardust

Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was Neil Gaiman's 'Stardust'. But then I clicked on the article and, well, it was still surprisingly interesting, as a matter of fact. I mean, like whoa, Earth's scientists have now gathered stardust. You know, for some strange reason, I suddenly imagined a future, maybe 10-30 years from now, where there'd be such a thing as "harvesting stardust". Dunno what it would be like, or how scientists will achieve it, but in my fantastically twisted head, it somehow involves, albeit quite impossibly, scooping stardust with your hands... Yep. I'm a dreamer. Ain't it obvious?

December 14, 2006Books, Books, and more Books...

Currently Reading: Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts

See it in...

Official Page: Shantaram

IMDb.com: Shantaram, the Movie >.< zomg! they're doing a movie!

Amazon.com: Shantaram

Google Shantaram...

This is really an amazing book. I am totally in love with it. I would so like to finish it at once, but it's an effing DOORSTOPPER. So. A long hiatus in the Calendar here for "finished book" entries.

I like lots of books, especially fiction. My favourite genres are historical fiction and fantasy. But lately, I've realized that I actually have another really, really favorite genre, and that's geographical fiction. (*whisper whisper* Wha? Whaddya sayin? *whisper whisper* Oh, that's not a real genre!!!?? OH, FIE!)

As I was saying, I like fiction that deals with geography or culture. Like, you know, set in a certain time period, or in a certain country. I like it best when the story is steeped in culture and geographical details. Stories like 'Mexico' by James Michener, 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' by Tracy Chevalier, and Khaled Hosseini's 'The Kite Runner'. I love to experience these books. It's really like traveling, except you're in bed (or somewhere else, *ahem*), and quite safe and sheltered. *sniff sniff* All the more do they make me want to travel, really...

I just visited Fanfiction today. I distinctly remember it not having almost 700 visits the last time I was there. So, when I saw the counter, I went, "ZOMG. 700 visits! >_< Waaaaaaah!" I wouldn't freak this much out with any other page (esp. with the main page, where we all know that the viewercount is a hoax, bec. it recognizes my visits, plus my previews whenever I edit...and I preview a lot, which means the viewercount is senseless there, not to mention a little heart-numbing, considering how many visits I get per day. Although, today's count was a surprise... I was expecting it to be around 2050, but I get 2140... Hmm...does that mean lots more people are visiting my site? Co'z honestly first thing I do is deduct the number of times I edit and preview (in estimation), but today's number is still too much... *madgiggling*. Okay, enough with the ego boost...

December 11, 2006

December 10, 2006

Started a BBM fic to get me off the depression bandwagon. Honestly, I'm sick and tired of moping about the Oscars. I mean, just hearing the word "Oscars" makes me sick. (Alright! I'll stop using it then!) In other news...

Stumbled upon OK Cola the other day. What can I say? I never could understand American pop culture. It's pathetic in its toxicity, don't you think? It also happened to remind me of this article by Mark Morford. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), FREAKY! *shiver* Oh, and Bill Bailey's "Chaucer Pubbe Gagge" just cracks me uppe! Bwahahahahaha! (Can't for the life of me figure out why yousendit.com's page doesn't load properly in my lappie, so I couldn't properly share this hilarious mp3 file to whoever lucky sod stops by my front page. But, if anyone cares, just nag (email) me and I'll send it to you, whoever you are.)

December 06, 2006

This year's Oscars totally crashed my dreams. I'm really, really, really disappointed that Brokeback Mountain didn't win Best Picture. I mean, it's practically won a very likely 3-Oscar combo that's a sure ticket to this last, and grandest of all awards. The only thing that could possibly suck more is the song from "Hustle & Flow", "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp", winning Best Song, right after it did an onstage performance that I (not even anywhere near Simon Cowell--of American Idol--calibre) couldn't help but think was ghastly and appalling. Here's a site that has the highest average of intelligent rants/rationalizations of the sad sad fact that Crash won Best Picture :

towleroad.typepad.com

November 27, 2006

November 22, 2006

November 18, 2006

November 16, 2006

November 12, 2006

November 8, 2006

November 3, 2006

November 1, 2006

October 31, 2006

October 29, 2006

October 27, 2006

October 26, 2006

October 25, 2006

bored people have come and gone through this page,

slipping away like light through the jalousies...

Have a confession? Did you like this site? Or do you hate it, and hate the guts of whoever came up with it?

So. Come and nag to your heart's content. Or, you could drop by my new guestbook c/o the beautiful people of Ur I.T. Mate Group.

People who give feedback are good, conscientious people.