Book and School-Related Stuff

So, I decided at the beginning of the semester that I was going to write at least one article for the school newspaper per issue (or something like that--I was at least going to write for the paper). I contacted the person who used to be the advisor when I had my Journalism class a few years ago, who forwarded my message to the current advisor, who forwarded it to the paper's editor.

She was glad to get my message, since apparently she had been the entire newspaper staff last semester, all by herself.

Granted, with my schedule, I can't really do much in the way of hard news, and I'm terrible at that kind of reporting anyway. So, I offered to do some reviews--mostly book reviews, but I also thought about possibly attending concerts and such if they were free and I had the time.

Shannon (the editor) was enthusiastic at that idea, and told me that the deadline was this past Monday. So I wrote two reviews for the March Commuter (that's the name of the paper, The Commuter): one about The Chimes of Resdorn, and one about Temeraire. I thought of doing one about The Briar King, but it was the first book in the series, and I had just started the second, so I decided not to.

For the April Commuter, I will be writing a bit of a feature review about the works of Jane Austen (I've been meaning to read them for years, but never got around to it), which I will tentatively title, "A New Perspective on Classic Austen." I am not quite sure yet what subject I wish to pursue for the May Commuter, but I'm thinking of reviewing a few thrillers, or maybe branching off into horrror. I may even read some non-fiction, if I'm in the mood, instead.

I finished The Charnel Prince (sequel to The Briar King), and it left me wanting badly to read the next book, if there is one now. But alas, I don't have it, and if I'm to finish all six Austen novels before the Commuter's deadline near the end of March, I had to get cracking on those.

I've decided to read them from shortest to longest (as I do when I'm reading fanfiction at the Lois & Clark Fanfic Archive--because it's easiest unless there is a series). I'm just weird like that, I guess. So, this morning, I began reading Northanger Abbey, and I will persevere through until the end of Mansfield Park.

So far, I am on chapter thirteen, and it's quite interesting. I will not say more than that at this point, because I want to save most of my detailed observations for the article.

Once the semester is over, I will post each of the articles I have written for the Commuter here on the blog, in a new category, and those can serve as my literary recommendations to you.

The Absent-Minded Astronomy Student

I got home from work on Tuesday, still thinking about all the crap I'd had to deal with at work. I had the responsibility for the royalties stuff basically foisted on me when the previous person decided to go back to school full-time, and I don't really know what I'm doing most of the time, so when problems crop up (as they have been doing frequently the last few weeks), I don't really know how to fix them, but I have to try anyway--possibly screwing things up even more in the process.

Anyway, I got home, and needed to unwind. So I checked my e-mail and went upstairs to read. I was almost finished with Temeraire, and I wanted to be able to start a new book Wednesday morning. I finished the book around 9:15. I looked at the clock, and something struck me as odd.

Then I remembered--it was Tuesday! I should have been in class an hour and a half before that! And to top it off, we had a quiz on Tuesday. The teacher usually lets us out early (class is supposed to end at 10:20) if he's finished with the lecture and whatever else needs to get done, so I wasn't sure I would be able to get to class before everybody left, even though I'm only a ten-minute drive away.

Panicking, I sent an e-mail to the teacher, explaining my absent-mindedness (I hadn't even realized it was Tuesday, much less time to go to class), and practically begging to be allowed to make up the quiz. I'm hoping I get a reply before class tonight though, because I'm not sure he won't be going over the quiz tonight. If he does, I'll just have to take the zero. I can't remember how many points each quiz is out of the 1,000 for the semester, but I hope it's not a letter-grade's worth if I'm not allowed to make it up. I've also set my phone to alert me when it's time to leave for school on Tuesdays and Thursdays now.

This whole situation irks me, because I'm usually so good with getting to class on time (in fact, I'm usually early, so that I can sit in the hallway to read for a while).

I started a new book yesterday called The Briar King by Greg Keyes. It's one of two books by him given to me by one of my visiting teachers (Temeraire was also a gift from her). So far, it's very intriguing, and also somewhat confusing. At first, I had trouble figuring out what the heck was going on (for longer than usual), but now that I'm almost halfway through it's easier to follow.

It's interesting though--the maps included look like the northeast quadrant of the United States, from the bottom tip of Virginia, up to the tip of Lake Michigan or so, but with a lot of distortion, and only water south of Virginia. I keep having to look at the maps again as I read, so that I know what places they're talking about. The names of people and places are kind of weird too.