Dan > Recent Status Updates

The fact that coauthor Michael Grant is Jewish makes me wonder if Ax and Tobias’s discussions re: the Andalite morning ritual is inspired by interactions between patrilineal and halakhic Jews. Tobias is interested in the ritual because his dad is Andalite, and Ax is like “well I’m obligated to do this and as a non-Andalite you’re not so literally don’t worry about it.” Sounds pretty familiar.

Rachel says she does parallel bars, but my understanding is that’s not a women’s event. So it leads me to wonder whether she’s just doing that in practice as cross training for a different event or if the ghostwriter isn’t familiar with the sport.

Very engaging, reminds me a lot of In the Heart of the Sea. Which makes sense, as that author wrote a forward for this.

FINALLY we got a winter storm!!! Been waiting to read this for ages. I have four days to finish it before I go to California, where it will be too warm. Actually bummed my time there will overlap with the coldest weather we’ll have this year.

LOVE this warriormale-type analysis of Gilgamesh/Enkidu.

“I have no idea what drove NSA engineers to name so horrid a device [a drone guidance system] after Gilgamesh (did they run out of Greek heroes?)” LMAO

Epic itself is done, now onto the essays. Also academics are so funny: one of the notes in here is the author recommending that, for a beginner to get some solid footing re: Gilgamesh, he should read two specific English translations, one French one, and another in German, not to mention specific essays in journals.

Finally got through the intro, and the poem itself seems like a good translation so far. Last one I read was in prose rather than verse, so I like this one better already.

The show is better tbh but I do appreciate being so much in Tim’s head.

Me at first: Jeez, these characters are my age or younger and have State Department jobs in Washington, what did I do wrong?

Five pages later: Oh, their parents send them money. Got it.

Funny so far, but clearly written for a British audience, so I’m missing a lot of jokes.

I get Muck is big on second chances, but I’d never let [redacted in case Emily reads this] anywhere near my team again if I were him.

Very fun old-man rant on pages 70–72 about how hockey cards are only valuable to boys who haven’t outgrown them yet.

This book is really good but I’m going to have to chase it with the silliest middle-grade book I can find.

I’m prefer cozy mysteries to graphic mysteries, but this is really good. Will probably give me nightmares though. Very Gillian Flynn-esque.

Because the last book Em picked was her coworker’s choice, I let her go again and she went with this. I like it better than ACOTAR already.

Jesus Christ, just morph wolves and you’ll probably be fine. Wolves can handle anything till about -40, and even if you’re on Ellesmere Island, it’s probably not that cold considering there’s sunlight outside.

I don’t like this one, but it’s fun that I’m reading it on the day we finally get snow.

I do think it’s silly that apparently a professor is noted as having Asperger’s and that “puts people off” with zero acknowledgment that Cadel is the most autistic boy who ever lived.

This is the first book I ever got on my Kindle, read it I believe somewhere between Christmas 2009 and New Year 2010. Age apparently plays a big part in your interpretation of this one—I hold a very different view on Cadel and Roth’s relationship at 28 than I did at 14.

Home stretch, here we go.

She keeps talking about Hell despite no indication that Christianity exists in this world (in fact, there’s evidence to the contrary).

I know this author is American and we’re not exactly knowledgable about other places, but yikes is it bad that she’s made the Irish and Scottish Highlands equivalents of her world inherently violent.

I just can’t stand this stupid book

Jesus Christ this book is so bad. I don’t know why Feyre is blaming Lucien for telling her how to trap the Suriel when she begged him to and he warned against going through with it. For such a martyr she sure has trouble taking responsibility for herself.

Every time this book mentions “the Hassic cadet” I read it as Hassidic and get excited until I realize I’m wrong.

I do not understand anything about Feyre’s decision-making process. She makes stupid choices and keeps going back and forth on things, which would be okay if the author allowed us to understand why she’s being a dumb bitch, but there’s nothing like that. Just Feyre being stupid for what appears to be no reason.