My Geek Odyssey

This seems like a perfectly ironic time to talk about the wonderful time we had in New Orleans over Christmas! Not only was it amazing to tour the city but we also had to opportunity to find some very cool caches. Two of particular note were GCGFHX – Marie Laveau, Voodoo Queen and GCE02C – View Carre’.   The first is a virtual in St. Louis Cemetery #1 – not only did we find the needed information for the cache but we also spent a good while exploring and photographing this wonderful, historic cemetery.  The other is the one cache in New Orleans that I’d say is an absolute ‘must do.’  Not to give too much away, I’ll just say that it will give you a unique ‘vertical’ experience.

Before we left home I did check if there were any knitting or needlework shops in the area.  I discovered the Garden District Needlework Shop wasn’t all that far from where we were staying!

The day we visited, there was a fair amount of traffic in the shop, which was quite large.  Housed in an old building in a quaint shopping and dining area, Garden District Needlework consists of one large room with areas for sitting and shopping.  There is also a smaller room up front dedicated to sale merchandise.

The shop is a combination of knitting and embroidery (focusing on painted canvas) so I set right to browsing through everything!  As painted canvas has never been a particular preference of mine, I went through the embroidery section fairly quickly but did pick up some Caron Watercolors in a fun Tahiti colorway (on sale, too!) that I think I’ll use for the Hardanger amulet bag from the EGA State Day and two skeins of Pure Palette silks in shades of green.

On the knitting side, they did have a wide variety including many of the ’staples.’  I focused on the sock yarns as I believe they’re easiest to buy while traveling.  Oops, I may have gone a teensy bit overboard here!  I got JitterBug in a beautiful pink that will most likely end up as a scarf and also in more ‘manly’ colors for socks for Bruce.  They also had TOFUtsies in a black, tan and cream combo that had Bruce’s name written all over it.

Finally, I found some Muench Cleo in the sale room.  This metallic & viscose yarn should make a fun scarf for the office – it’s a silver around a core of Mardi Gras colors – a terrific souvenir of this trip!

All of this new yarn is patiently waiting to be used because I’ve been focusing on the black, blue and purple projects this week.  Bruce’s mittens should be done tonight so I can post photos in a day or two.  My poor purple socks are sitting with one done and one left to cast on.  They’ve been put aside so I could use my blue yarn to make some small items to help the monkeys get in the spirit for the big game tonight!  Mongo has some socks and Cecil, despite what he says in the comic strip, is pleased with his new hat and scarf.

No, no, no I’m not bruised.  Looking at my current projects I realized that I’ve got one purple, one black and two blue!

Remember me saying I had too much yarn? Well, the purple is the only one that came from my stash. Yes, I went shopping!  But it was for a good reason.  Guess I better explain.

The purple project is a pair of socks in a pattern called ‘Hedgerow’ by Jane Cochran.  The first one came off the needles last night and I’m very pleased.  Now to cast on #2 so I can start to wear them!

The black project is a pair of mittens for Bruce.  I was looking on Ravelry a week or so ago and saw this new pattern called Troiclaux by Kim McBrien.  They’re perfect for Bruce!  I’ve got the first one cast on but I’m not going to post any photos so you can all try and imagine what they will look like!

Over the weekend I learned about a program called ‘Super Scarves‘ – an effort to produce 8,000 hand knit scarves for the volunteers for the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis!  I figured I should do my part and make one so I picked up the necessary blue (and white) yarn at Stitches & Scones last night.  While there I did also get a skein of Colts Blue for myself and am trying to decide what to try and finish before the Big Game on Sunday!  One suggestion has been some socks for the new monkey . . .

So yesterday there was a speech given that uplifted spirits and in my opinion will shape the future. Yes, Steve Jobs announced a new product. Oh, the president did give the State of the Union address, but…

A bit of history… my first computer was an Apple II+ which I shared with my brother.  In 1984, my parents decided that I needed a computer for college.  So I looked  at an IBM PC Jr. thinking I needed a “computer.”  The salesman turned me towards this new thing called a Macintosh.  I thought it was so cool, especially- having a cassette to guide me through using this thing called a “mouse.”  That 128kb Mac got me through college, and sold me on the Mac.  I am definitely opinionated when it comes to computers- even having worked in an “anti-Apple” environment for almost 20 years.  So Apple introduces the iPad.  People don’t get it and I think… “wow.”

See my parents are interesting beasts.  My dad is under the impression that the top of line is what he needs no matter what.  I have seen them buy computers that they don’t need.  So I see the iPad as a perfect device for people like my parents.  those people who only use computers to check email, Facebook, and use the Internet.  They don’t need much else.  This fits-  Sue and I are thinking about getting these as replacements for our 5 year old laptops.  I’m interested in seeing an iPad up close and mostly seeing how this will change the playing field… like the iPod & iPhone.  Yes, yes there are things that need work, but then again I am a Mac Zombie and I can’t wait to see My Geek Odyssey on an iPad.

Earlier today I took some photos of purchases from shops I plan to review and I realized something – I’ve got a lot of yarn!  Too much?  Well, can you really have too much?

On top of that, I got a package from KnitPicks yesterday with the kit for a week’s worth of socks – I do love the colors but don’t quite know when I’ll get to them!

What all this tells me is I better get knitting!  Fortunately I’ve got a pair of socks on my needles.  Hope to have enough progress for photos soon.

So 348 pages into this book and finally, finally we start getting into the actual conflict (besides does Edward like me?).  I could go through this chapter by chapter, but at least the last 100 pages started to get more interesting.  A little more interesting.  I’m not going to waste your time with pesky details I’m just going to dive right into it with a general summary and commentary.

Edward finally introduces himself as Bella’s boyfriend.  A storm arrives giving the Cullens a chance to play baseball which ends up going all wrong.  During the game another clan (coven) of vampires arrives and one of them decides that Bella would make a wonderful midnight snack.  So James starts hunting Bella just because he’s looking for some fun.  The Cullens panic and try to figure out what to do-  Bella comes up with a plan.  Breaking off from her father (in a brief screaming session about how she hates everything about Forks- which was exactly what she was saying at the beginning of the book) she runs with Jasper & Alice to Phoenix to hide out.  So now Bella is away from Edward – Oh the heartbreak, the trauma.  So while the rest of the Cullens are trying to throw this “tracker” off the scent (and as we found out before Bella really stinks) Bella hides out.  Amazingly enough the bad guy (yup! over 350 pages and we finally have a bad guy) figures out where Bella is and as Bella is trying to figure out what Alice is seeing in her visions.  Bella in the tradition of the paperbag princess gets a call from her “mom” and decides that the only way to save her from the bad vampire is to escape her protectors.  As James, the bad vampire, says “this was too easy.”  She is (shock of all shocks) led into a trap and as the villian monologues about how he actually was doing this as revenge for not being able to eat Alice decades ago (Where did that come from?) Bella is a goner… yup! she’s dead- end of book, that’s it show’s over, time go home, nothing else to see…

But wait!  This is a romance story-  so Edward and everyone in the cavalry show up and take out the big bad vampire (off camera while Bella is unconscious) and poor innocent Bella has been bitten by a vampire!  Oh joy!  She can now be with Edward forever!  Nope- not this time.  See according to this mythology, vampires carry with them a toxin so if you aren’t killed in three days (three painful days) you then become a vampire.  Well Bella starts screaming about pain and Edward does what anyone would do when it comes to a snake bite- he sucks out the venom… Yes 400+ pages and Edward finally gets to suck Bella’s blood like any normal decent vampire.  C’mon haven’t these guys read the manual on vampires?  Bella is saved by Edward and remains human (much to her chagrin).  James is destroyed (or is he?) the only way you can really kill a vampire.  Cut the vampire into tiny pieces then sauté in holy water with a sprig of garlic until burnt to a crisp- serve over brown rice… or something like that.

So Bella is hurt (badly) recovering in the hospital. Edward is blaming himself (teenage angst- it isn’t all about you). Bella wishes to become a vampire so she can be with Edward forever… (it’s gonna happen, just a matter of time-  I’m guessing at the end of her 7th year at Hogwarts).  The story the silly pathetic humans are told is that Edward flew down to talk with her (after she broke up with him) and while walking to his room she tripped (so far makes sense) and falls down a series of steps gaining enough momentum to crash through a window… and that’s my story & I’m sticking to it.

As the story ends, Bella ends up at the prom (I remember my prom… oh the pain, the agony, why couldn’t I have just been turned into a vampire it would have been mush more enjoyable) and meets up with young Master Foreshadowing in the guise of Jacob Black (aka Remus Lupin) to deliver a warning about the the moon and the moors or something.  Bella is still hoping to be turned into a vampire… but Edward is still against it.  He just wants her to be human and have all the experiences (like the prom) that humans have (gosh, what a thoughtful bloodsucking monster). So as the sun slowly sets (“Twilight” folks) Edward and Bella are together ready to take on whatever this crazy world throws at them, (aliens, let it please be aliens) two love struck kids- setting out to conquer the world (they’re going to need laser guns, and robots, giant robots… with missiles and a jet pack).

—

In conclusion- good book?  meh.  Definitely not the worst thing I have ever read… but if I wasn’t doing this review I might have stopped before the bad vampire showed up.  I think too much time was spent building the relationship between Edward & Bella (yup, it’s a romance novel) and more could have been spent with the final conflict.  If this James was really evil and a tracker I would have thought, like a cat, he would have wanted to “play with his food” a little more than he did.  Even changing the point of view to Edward’s as he was pursuing James… I think that might have added more thrills to the end, which really was a let down.  Part of it is reading a series and knowing that everyone ends up OK since there are more books in the series, it is hard to feel any suspense when you know that there are only a few thousand pages left in the story.

Looking at this through the lens of the Campbell’s Hero’s Journey with Bella as the hero- this doesn’t fit, she really doesn’t to much in the way of growth or change.  The only difference is instead of a whining teenager she has become a whining teenager in love with a vampire.  Even with all the “character development” taking the majority of the story, I can’t say I really cared about the characters.  Harry Potter books- I cared about what happened to the characters and wanted to know what happened next.  Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game I was overjoyed when I heard the next book came out and even went back to read Ender’s Shadow to see the story from a different point of view.  This story? Not so much.

Some have suggested that I read the next book in the series since it is better, I’m going to veto that and move on to the final Young Hoosier Books I need to finish along with some others.  I can say I’m happy that I read this so I have an idea what everyone has been talking about but…

Recap on Twilight Vampire Mythology:

• Vampires cannot die (unless they are torn into little pieces and set aflame)
• Vampires have superpowers like super hearing, super sense of smell, super speed, invulnerablity, etc.  There was no mention of heat or x-ray vision.
• Vampires have a venom that unless you are completely drained of life- seeps through your circulatory system (feeling like you are on fire) and within 3 days you are dead and therefore a vampire.
• While vampires can move quickly they cannot turn into bats, fly, turn into mist, etc.
• A group of vampires is called a coven (I thought that was a group of witches). Some are good (like Carlisle’s) some aren’t (that would be James’)
• Vampires do not eat human food (not even Count Chocula cereal)
• Crosses, and other religious stuff like holy water- nothing, no effect.
• Garlic- besides smelling no effect either- doesn’t even mask Bella’s odor.
• Light doesn’t really bother Vampires it just makes them sparkle like a disco ball- and unless you are in certain cities in California this can bring unwanted attention to you.
• Werewolves aka Native Americans are the natural (supernatural?) enemies of Vampires. No Dracula & the Wolfman team-up.

From what I understand like the old Universal Monster Movies each book will cover a different monster.  So New Moon deals with Werewolves. Eclipse could also be called “Edward & Bella meet Dr. Frankenstein”.  Breaking Dawn is just a remake of “Dawn of the Dead” with zombies invading Fork… Remember “Kill the Brain & you kill the ghoul.”  Next in the franchise is Breakfast (at Tiffany’s) where the newlywed Bella & Edward head to New York and deal with mutant alligators in the sewers.  Midday Sun our loving pair meet up with the Mummy while in Cairo. To end the series we have Tea Time- Edward & Bella finally confront the strange groundskeeper who with his dying breath says “I would have gotten away with it- if it wasn’t for you meddling kids…”