Back!

I'm back! Thanks to everyone who wished me well, and apologies for not replying earlier.

I have no idea how the interview itself went -- I'm not very good with the whole oral examination process, as can be seen in the nightmare of comps. But hopefully something good will happen *Crosses fingers*. Cool Company looks like an interesting company to work for. Everyone is quite laid back and in summery clothes instead of suits, beanbag chairs everywhere, and bright colors all around. It's a nice change from the inside of Evil Ibanking Firm -- cold, gray, and full of boring cubicles.

California was also lovely, but then, California almost invariably is. The sun was shining, and the auntie whose house I was staying at took me and a few of my sister's classmates out to dinner. So I had good Chinese food for the first time in what feels like forever. And a very delicious vegan cake. The auntie and her family in general doesn't eat dairy (lactose intolerance, my old friend...), and the cake was apparently baked without butter. But it was still quite excellent... two layers of chocolate cake layered in between with all sorts of fresh berries. And I was fed curry rice and wontons and lots and lots of fruit. Fruit is heavenly.

And am now tired and extremely sick of airplanes.

Book meme!

And now that I've just gotten back to college, the boy has left for Houston =(. And my throat still hurts, which prompts my mom to think I've got SARS! Argh. So I will do a book meme. Total non sequitor, yeah, but hey, that's how my mind works!

Gacked from rheanna27

1. What's your favorite book of all time? Why? Top ten favorites?

Obviously, tough question. The usual answer I give to this is Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game for the sheer number of times I've read it and the enormous emotional impact it has on me every time. But that's highly generalized.

A very rough top ten in no particular order would look like (with only one book/series per author):

1. Ender's Game (OSC) - see above. I read it first in seventh grade and just never got it out of my head.
2. His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman) - for epic imaginative scope in a non-Tolkien-derivative kind of way, and for sticking enormous themes of redemption and original sin in a book supposedly for young adults. And I say supposedly because there is no way adult people can scoff at this book at being juvenille. And for Lyra and Will, who are just awesome characters. And for Lyra's world and daemons. I want one.
3. Sandman (Neil Gaiman) - do I really need to explain this? And I count this as a book despite the comics format.
4. Deerskin (Robin McKinley) - I love all her books, actually, but this seems to be the one I reread the most often.
5. Good Omens (Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett) - Funniest. Book. Ever. And it's co-written... so doesn't violate rules, uh huh.
6. Fionavar Tapestry (Guy Gavriel Kay) - Still my favorite of his many books and what I think is the best Tokien-influenced high fantasy written. Beats Jordan and Brooks and all those people hands down.
7. Fairy Tale Series (edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow) - Not one book per se, but a series of anthologies (Ruby Slippers Golden Tears, Snow White Blood Red, etc.). Some I like better than others, but in general, the stories (all fairy tale retellings, obviously) are gorgeous.
8. Jackaroo (Cynthia Voight) - quiet prose and a strong heroine who isn't strong for the sake of expressing the author's opinions, but is so because of her own lifestyle.
9. Black Jewels trilogy (Anne Bishop) - sometimes too sappy or too romance-novel-like, but I love the darkness of the world, and I love Daemon. To itty-bitty pieces.
10. Sevenwaters trilogy (Juliet Marillier) - Celtic background, retelling of the Seven Swans fairy tale.. and romance. Heh. I am a sucker.

The funny thing is, this list isn't at all what I think are the best books out there. But these are the ones I reread with great frequency when I'm feeling down or homesick or just bored. These are my comfort books. And I would have included the Speaker for the Dead trilogy by OSC because I love it to death, but I figured Ender's Game kind of covered it already. The final three are also spur of the moment and not quite as time-tested as the others.

2. Is there any author who's been so consistently wonderful that you've devoured all of his or her work and actually enjoyed *all or most* of it?

Oh yeah. I will (and almost have) read everything Orson Scott Card has written. I love the way all his characters think about moral quandries. I admit, sometimes after reading too many, the style gets old, but after a little break it's all shiny and new and happy again. I will also (and have) read anything Robin McKinley's written. Ditto with Neil Gaiman. Those are my top three.

3. What book do you most often recommend to other people?

Ender's Game. I make everyone read it if they haven't, and so far, only one person has disliked it. And she didn't dislike it so much as think it was too intense. Other recommendations tend to be more personal.

4. What book should be turned into a movie? Should they even *do* that? Does it kill the book?

I think it's ok, as long as I've never read the book. Because there's never been one of those cases in which I liked the movie better. I've never had it actually kill a book for me, although sometimes I wish I never saw the Harry Potter movies, because none of the people in there look like the people in my head. Strangely, I adored LotR (although it may verge on hating if they don't do something nice with Faramir! sigh. Just reread parts and remembered how much I liked him in the books) and the shot of Eowyn in her white dress running out was beautiful. But I shudder at the thought of a Sandman movie, an Ender's Game one and a HDM one. I also don't think people should make books out of movies because movie/tv books almost invariably suck. Oh! But am still highly excited about Miyazaki doing DWJ's Howl's Moving Castle!!

5. What's your favorite biography? Am I the only one who likes those?

Er. I don't read them much at all... maybe James Joyce by Richard Ellmann? That's probably just because I had to use it to write my own critical biography on Joyce. Hee. Oyce writes about Joyce!

Hee

Found this Anti-Mary Sue community (marysues) through fandom_wank. Yeah, I read fandom_wank on a sometimes regular basis because sometimes it's amusing. And sometimes I stumble on arguments about things that I do care and think about. And I ignore all the ones about anime sucking, because I'm too tired of fighting that fight.

Anyway, to the point. I'm writing a Mary Sue story! Hee! My as of yet unnamed Forbidden Game fic (I think I stuck it in my Memories somewhere) is centered around an OC character who could very likely be a Mary Sue. So for my own fun and enjoyment, I am borrowing the template of the community:

Story or series title: Unknown
Fandom: Forbidden Game (LJS)
Culprit/Author's name: Oyceter

Full Name (plus titles if any): Summer Locke
Full Species(es): human
Hair Color (include adjectives): still in the works
Eye Color (include adjectives): ditto
Unusual Markings/Colorations: nothing really
Special Possessions (if any): Julian's runestave

Annoying Origin: See below
Annoying Connections To Canon Characters: Tom and Jenny's granddaughter, named after Summer Parker-Pearson in the book, brings Julian back to life
Annoying Special Abilities: Can read tarot cards and probably runes, can do the spell of recalling Julian without any apparent difficulty, gets Major Arcana tarot cards in every reading, hears Julian's voice throughout childhood
Other Annoying Traits: Scary, unbelievable and stilted childhood that has harmed her for life, very cold

Lookit my Mary Sue! *giggles*