Brian Blessed Goes To Mars!, or: The Adventure Continues!

[C. (Comment, never msg).]

Dang, I hoped this was an announcement that you were well and out. I thought of you on Dec 5. Anyway you'll do what you have to do when the time is right and safe. The postponement is for a reason. Carolyn.

[Steven]

C. wrote: "Dang, I hoped this was an announcement that you were well and out. I thought of you on Dec 5. Anyway you'll do what you have to do when the time is right and safe. The postponement is for a reas..."

It is indeed, although that reason should be past now -- essentially, with my pulmonary history the surgeon agreed that my coming down with bronchitis was cause enough to delay the surgery for a little while (mostly likely two weeks) to get me through that and to knock out a mild urinary tract infection. I've had bronchitis turn into pneumonia twice, and no-one wants to risk a third instance of it.

Fortunately, it became obvious that I was ill by the day before the surgery -- the prior Monday, when I was in for pre-admission tests, I was suffering from severe allergies; the next day those were turning into bronchitis,a nd on Wednesday I talked to the surgeon's office and they decided to go ahead and cancel. If I'd gone in on the 5th, I would most likely have been sent home.

This is the one positive with this being urgent, but not an emergency situation yet (the odds are increasing of a major heart attack, however, so my job is to now get as well as i can, and stay well.)

[Steven]

#137 - Invincible, Vol. 6: A Different Worldby Robert Kirkman, et al

Something of a lesser entry in the series, with a thin story surrounded by mild soap opera. Kirkman does very strongly establish in this entry that Mark is driven to try and do the right thing because of his own morality and sense of responsibility; being paid by a government agency to do the job he's always intended to do is a practical convenience.

[C. (Comment, never msg).]

Please keep us updated. My faith is spiritual independent of religion but prayer is prayer and offering healing energy is what it is no matter what. :) And Steven.... just a thought few consider. Does anyone at home have your passwords? If a person passes away, relatives are notified to Timbuktu but internet peers hear nothing. I heard a pal died only because his mother answered incoming e-mail.

[Steven]

C. wrote: "Please keep us updated. My faith is spiritual independent of religion but prayer is prayer and offering healing energy is what it is no matter what. :) And Steven.... just a thought few conside..."

I had a former partner die in 2011, and only found tha out accidentally as she was back in Wisconsin. I'd know she'd been sick, and had still be exchanging messages up to a month before she died, but no-one had access to her online accounts, and no way to contact me (or several other people.)

I'll be leaving a list of passwords and contact numbers with the friends I'm living with, complete with instructions as to what will need to be done. Ideally, i should have a will in hand as well, but given that my entire estate would consist of a lot of books and music, i's easier for me to just leave a lsit of what should go where. I'm content in knowing that if I do shuffle off during, those will go to the right places.

[Steven]

#138 - The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa by Alexander McCall Smith

This serves very well both as something for children (especially in the audio version) and as a companion piece to Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. It's a collection of expended folktales from Zimbabwe and Botswana, and very enjoyable.

[Steven]

Wezll, it's "gen tlemen, start your engines!" time again, as I'm not scheduled for the heart surgery on December 17th. I might even make it all the way up Olympus by then...!

[Steven]

#139 - Invincible, Vol. 5: The Facts of Lifeby Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley

Got two of the books flipped here. A large part of this volume sets up volume 7, despite being as much of a character study as anything.

[Steven]

$140 - Invincible, Vol. 7: Three's Company by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley

Includes Kirkman's issue of THE PACT. Story threads set up in Vol. 5 come to a head here, but a lot of time is spent in brutal and bloody fighting as the only way Kirkman could think of to play out the Anton Levy story was via psychodis and violence.

[Steven]

#141- Invincible, Vol. 8: My Favorite Martian by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley

#142 - Invincible, Vol. 9: Out of This World by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley

#143 - Invincible, Vol. 10: Who's the Boss? by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley

On the one hand the soap opera continues, although I'd guess Mark's new relationship with Atom Eve will be a rocky one at times. On the other hand, Kirkman seems to be lifting plot points from Miracleman, and flailing a bit to keep the story going -- the expected revelations about Global Defense Agency boss Cecil are dreadfully ho-hum. Still not a difficult read, though.

[Steven]

#144 - Invincible, Vol. 11: Happy Days by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley

#145 - Invincible, Vol. 12: Still StandingInvincible, Vol. 12: Still Standing by Rovert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley

From relative calm before the storm, as Mark and Samantha build their romance, to a storm of violence and insanity as Angstrom Levy implements his plan, with horrific consequences, and the Viltrumites send in another challenger -- this one an old, seasoned warrior. Vol.12 pretty much goes over the top with the gory, sensationalized carnage, and it seems that Kirkman is all too fond of killing off all of Dupli-Kate's copies.

I'm hoping that things improve with further volumes.

[Steven]

#46 - Invincible, Vol. 13: Growing Pains by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley

#147 - Invincible, Vol. 14: The Viltrumite War by Kirkman, Walker, Ottley

#148 - Invincible, Vol. 15: Get SmartInvincible, Vol. 15: Get Smart by Kirkman, Walker, Ottley

The storyline finally runs up to and dives into the Viltrumite War, as the truth about the Viltrumites finally comes out and all hell breaks loose...and Mark discovers something else that Cecil hasn't told him. In the following volume, Kirkman flips the story around a bit as Mark decides to try a new approach to keeping the world safe, only to be confronted by the return of an ally with a terrible plan.

Many of the twists and turns are interesting, although Kirkman's writing does have some negatives, too -- periodic losses of focus, a tendency to treat some characters very shabbily, as with Dupli-Kate, and a sometimes annoying proclivity for long-range plotting that is epically long-range, to the point where he pays off things set up two three years earlier -- the Sequids story, for example, and I suspect there's yet to be a final payoff in the story of Robet and Monster Girl.

[Steven]

...two more, seven hours, can I make it? (I can actually do the last two post-surgery, when I'm feeling a bit less traumatized, but I'm nothing if not ludicrous.)

[C. (Comment, never msg).]

It must have been a typo, which you meant to say "now". Your post said "not going to be December 17th". Be well, Steven and tell us about it when you're safely back. Carolyn. www.CMRiedel.WordPress.com

[Steven]

#149 - Invincible, Vol. 17: What's Happening by Kirkman, Ottley, Walker

Mark discovers something really bad about surviving the Scourge, the truth about Robot and Monster Girl comes out, and London comes under threat.

[Steven]

C. wrote: "It must have been a typo, which you meant to say "now". Your post said "not going to be December 17th". Be well, Steven and tell us about it when you're safely back. Carolyn. www.CMRiedel.WordP..."

Whoops, yes, it's my typing skills showing themselves again. At this point, five and a half hours and I'll be in the waiting room.

And thank you, I will be sure to check in as soon as I'm able.

[Steven]

#150 - Classic Railway Murders, edited by Patrick Malahide.

Now, let me see if I can add to the tally, as I will have a lot of reading time in rehab, starting tomorrow.

[Steven]

The operation went well, though I now face several weeks of getting my lungs fully reinflated. The surgeon, meanwhile, reduced the number of bypasses once he opened me up, so I technically had a double. He removed a third artery that had bypassed itself. He had expected to possibly for a quintuple, so this was a nice surprise.

[Susan]

Glad to hear all went well and you are on the mend. Congrats on climbing Olympus!

[C. (Comment, never msg).]

Congratulations on reaching your reading goal. I'm hoping for happy comments in my thread, at the last stretch of 100.

Your post-surgery message is what I've been awaiting. I'd say "God bless you" but He already has! Steven, how wonderful that you are given the gift of health and fear allayed. Merry Christmas to you truly! Warmly, Carolyn. http://cmriedel.wordpress.com/riedel-...

[Steven]

#151 - Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith

[Steven]

#152 - Doctor Who Other Lives by Gary Hopkins and Doctor Who: Cryptobiosis by Elliot Thorpe

[Steven]

#153 - Lemons Never Lie by Richard Stark

[Susan]

Bravo!