Pneumatised!

I hadn’t gotten much reading done the past few months. I’ve been busy with a few other distractions. I did get to finish reading two novels that I really wanted to read.

Sharra’s Exile (published in the omnibus, Heritage and Exile) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
A Clash of Kings (book two of A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin

Sharra’s Exile is indeed a nice rewrite of Bradley’s earlier Sword of Aldones. The story is fleshed out more while retaining some of the key plot lines from Sword of Aldones.

I am really enjoying A Song of Ice and Fire, and I have a feeling I might like the third book the best. Without spoiling anything, let’s just say the third book feels like the climax of the first part of the series. (I could be wrong, of course, but that’s my gut feeling about the third book.) After finishing the second book, I had to dig into the third book a bit and read the prologue, which starts with the same storyline as the first book.

I am currently reading Hamilton’s The Laughing Corpse. I have to agree that Hamilton is indeed an imaginative writer. I have to admit that I am at a loss as to who or what the killer is. Vampire? Zombie? Vampires don’t eat brains and zombies don’t have brains to be a smart killer, so who/what could it be that is feeding off people but is leaving no substantial clues? Interesting. I’m about halfway through. So far, I still enjoy Hamilton’s sassy writing style.

My current reading list:
The Laughing Corpse (an Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novel) by Laurell K. Hamilton
Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton
Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Ancestors of Avalon by Diana L. Paxson
A Storm of Swords (book three of A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin
Gormenghast (the sequel to Titus Groan) by Mervyn Peake
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (I am on part three of book two, page 443)
The Spell Sword (published in the omnibus, The Forbidden Circle) by Marion Zimmer Bradley

What’s next on my reading list:
Crossroads of Twilight (book ten of The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan
The Transition of Titus Crow (published in Brian Lumley’s Mythos Omnibus) by Brian Lumley (or possibly Necroscope seeing as I enjoyed Lumley’s writing, I am curious if I might like his other series as well)
Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn

~~~C

I’ve been doing a lot of reading again. Mostly trying to get through a stack of books that were piling up again. I really should try to avoid the used bookstore sometimes, but it’s always fun finding a good deal on something that turns out to be a gem.

Comics have really come a long way since I was younger. I hated comics when I was a kid. There were mostly the superhero comics and I was not that much a fan of those. Plus, I never cared for that artwork back then (though it is my understanding they didn’t have a good range of colours then as they do now). I am still keeping up with the Buffy and Angel comics. Not only do I like the Buffy stories, I like the art in this series. Joss Whedon has a good eye for style.

I’ve loved Star Wars since I was a kid. I am enjoying Dark Horse’s collection of Star Wars comics that they published since the 1990s. You can see a gradual change in colours being used in the art over the years. The newer stuff definitely looks better.

Recommended comics:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Predators and Prey (Season 8, volume 5)
Angel: Aftermath (Angel volume 5)
Star Wars Omnibus: Tales of the Jedi (volumes 1 and 2)

Here’s a list of novels I read recently:

Winter’s Heart (book nine of The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan
The Heritage of Hastur (published in the omnibus, Heritage and Exile) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Rogue Squadron (book one of Star Wars: X-wing) by Michael A. Stackpole
The Burrowers Beneath (published in Brian Lumley’s Mythos Omnibus) by Brian Lumley
Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams
Ralestone Luck by Andre Norton

Finally, onto book ten of The Wheel of Time. Book twelve, called The Gathering Storm, is finally in print. It will be a while before it is in paperback, but that’s okay as I have two books to read to catch up. Meanwhile, I am making my way through Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. While I really like Jordan’s epic, I find Martin’s epic more mature and I rather enjoy his writing more. Martin is technically a much better writer than Jordan, but I do like both stories for different reasons.

Heritage of Hastur was a good read. I can see why many consider it to be Bradley’s best Darkover novel. The next Darkover novel on my list is Sharra’s Exile, Bradley’s re-write of her earlier Sword of Aldones.

Rogue Squadron is part of the Star Wars: X-Wing series of novels. It has been said by some readers to be the best Star Wars series in novel form after the Thrawn stories written by Timothy Zahn. Rogue Squadron introduces a new Star Wars character, Corran Horn… er, correct that, Horn was introduced in the Rogue Squadron comics by Dark Horse. But if you didn’t read those, then this will introduce you to Corran Horn. Corran Horn and Wedge Antilles (along with Tycho Celchu from the comics) seem to be the primary characters of this novel and series. Star Wars fans will remember Wedge Antilles from the first Star Wars movie. Since Return of the Jedi, Antilles becomes the leader of Rogue Squadron and is considered to be a living legend among pilots. I did enjoy this novel (probably because I would love to be a space pilot). For it’s medium length (under 400 pages), it introduces a complicated background story and is filled with interesting new characters. Book two of this series is called Wedge’s Gamble and I am wanting to read that sometime. Before that though, I will be reading the second book in the Thrawn trilogy, Dark Force Rising.

Brian Lumley’s Mythos Omnibus has been sitting around home for a while. Nathan read that a while back and it seemed interesting to me. Out of a desire to read some fantasy horror, I started to read the first book in the omnibus. Lumley has taken the Cthulhu mythos from Lovecraft and created a wonderful Holmesian atmosphere to go with the horror elements of Cthulhu. The main character of the story is Titus Crow, who maintains an interest in occult subjects and begins investigating evidences of Cthulhu. His sidekick, Henri-Laurent de Marigny, is very much like Conan Doyle’s, Dr. Watson. I found I really enjoyed Lumley’s writing and this story. I’ve been interested in the Cthulhu story for awhile so I thought this might be amusing. Having read Lovecraft’s short story, The Call of Cthulhu, I felt that Lumley’s take on the Cthulhu myth is in line with Lovecraft’s original ideas. The added Holmesian atmosphere is a plus for me since I did enjoy the Sherlock Holmes stories when I was younger.

What can I say about Douglas Adams that hasn’t been said? Hilarious. I particularly like “bistromathics”! Brilliantly funny.

Ralestone Luck is Andre Norton’s second published novel, published in 1938. I found a used copy of it, but you can read this novel online at The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ralestone Luck, by Andre Norton. It is an amusing little adventure/mystery story. Norton is a good writer and will get you absorbed in the story quickly.

Here is my current reading list:

Gormenghast (the sequel to Titus Groan) by Mervyn Peake
A Clash of Kings (book two of A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (I am on part three of book two, page 443)

As mentioned, I am trying to make my way through Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. I haven’t gone back to War and Peace yet, since I rather enjoy my fantasy novels more. Along with Martin’s novel, I am making my way through Gormenghast, which is set on a fantasy world of its own. I think I am still wrapping my head around the gothic eeriness of Mervyn Peake’s story. It is also morbidly humourous. Don’t read it unless you like dark comedies, but the writing is brilliant and you would be sorely missing out if you don’t read it. Gormenghast, as I mentioned before, is the sequel to Titus Groan. This novel should be an interesting read if you are curious as to what happens to Titus as he grows up.

What’s next on my reading list:
Sharra’s Exile (published in the omnibus, Heritage and Exile) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Crossroads of Twilight (book ten of The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan
The Transition of Titus Crow (published in Brian Lumley’s Mythos Omnibus) by Brian Lumley (or possibly Necroscope seeing as I enjoyed Lumley’s writing, I am curious if I might like his other series as well)
Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn

Aside from reading novels, I’ve gone back to studying Korean. I started it a while back, but didn’t get too far. I decided that to help me study, it would help to be able to type Korean since I like to make notes on the computer. I installed scim onto my Debian laptop and it works wonderfully. I even have Chinese and Japanese language inputting available if I ever need. When I get a chance sometime I will check out which Chinese inputting layouts work best for learning how to write Chinese characters, but it’s Korean studying for now.

안녕히 가세요!
(”Annyǒnghi kaseyo” which means “goodbye” and is spoken by the person who is staying to someone who is leaving)
~~~C

Samhain (aka the Witches’ New Year) is traditionally celebrated on October 31 through to November 2. The astrological timing of Samhain this year is November 7 at 1:49 a.m. EST. This is also noted as Start of Winter solar segment in the Chinese calendar.

Here are upcoming calendar dates (through to the winter solstice):

November 11 – Popping Trees month in the Lakota calendar
November 16 – new moon at 2:14 p.m. EST
November 17 – start of the 10th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Pig month in Chinese astrology
November 22 – Light Snow segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Sagittarius which according to EST occurs November 21 at 11:22 p.m. or November 22 at 12:22 p.m. Chinese ST)
November 24 – Elder month in Graves’ calendar
November 26 – Tide month in Kondratiev’s calendar
December 2 – full moon at 2:30 a.m. EST; Long Nights Moon (folk name for the full moon)
December 7 – 11th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Heavy Snow segment
December 11 – Hard Freeze month in the Lakota calendar
December 16 – new moon at 7:02 a.m. EST; start of the 11th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Rat month in Chinese astrology

The winter solstice (aka Yule) occurs on December 21 at 12:47 p.m. EST, when the Sun enters Capricorn. The Chinese calendar notes the Winter Solstice solar segment as occurring on December 22. According to Chinese ST, the Sun enters Capricorn on that day at 12:47 a.m. (I should note here that December 22 is Graves’ Day Apart since I am using his calendar with EST.)

Now we have come to my final blog entry on calendar dates. Thank you for following the past year with me. I will be working on a separate writing project involving calendar dates and astrological events that will require me to divert some of my focus and attention away from this blog, though I will try to keep updates on here about various writing projects on which I am working. Please do return to this blog every so often as writing is no fun without those who read what is written!

Happy harvesting, merry Yule, and best wishes for future endeavours!
~~~C

I actually hadn’t had much chance to read a whole lot the past few months. I needed to get a new laptop and since then was spending some time updating my Linux knowledge and skills. I still haven’t finished reading the “Linux bible” aka Linux: The Complete Reference (6th edition) by Richard Petersen. It is a fairly comprehensive reference book on Linux in general covering everything from beginner to advanced topics in Linux.

Fiction-wise, here’s what I got to read:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 7
Angel: After the Fall (volume 4)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Three Against the Witch World by Andre Norton
The Door Through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Here is my current reading list:
Winter’s Heart (book nine of The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan
Rogue Squadron (book one of Star Wars: X-wing) by Michael A. Stackpole
The Heritage of Hastur (published in the omnibus, Heritage and Exile) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Keeper’s Price by Marion Zimmer Bradley and the friends of Darkover (a Darkover anthology of short stories)
Gormenghast (the sequel to Titus Groan) by Mervyn Peake
A Clash of Kings (book two of A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (I am on part three of book two, page 443)

I am still not sure what I think of the Witch World series by Andre Norton. The world is intriguing enough and it is clear that the author has carefully thought out the story and the fantasy world. I find I like Norton’s way of story-telling and tend to feel compelled to keep reading, even if I may not like any of the characters. Perhaps though, that is indeed the mark of a good storyteller. I will be reading more Witch World novels. In fact, I acquired quite a few of them. Recently, there were plenty of Norton novels at the used bookstore (BMV!)

The Door Through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley is an amusing little story. I believe she wrote this around the same time she wrote her first Darkover novels, and I am hypothesizing that she intended to write more stories taking place in the overall universe that encompasses Darkover, but it turned out Darkover was more popular and readers wanted more about Darkover, so it was Darkover stories she ended up writing more about. The Door Through Space takes place on a planet with a red sun – not Darkover, but Wolf. Seeing that Wolf has a red sun, and it is mentioned at one point that they trade for horses from Darkover, I am assuming Wolf is in the same solar system as Darkover. The story also mentions Vainwal, a planet mentioned in the Darkover novels as well. I feel that The Door Through Space is proof that Bradley envisioned a much larger universe than just Darkover and the Terran Empire, and I find myself curious about how many more stories could be told related to Bradley’s Terran Empire. Indeed, it provides much to think about in relation to a story idea I am still mulling over. (I have more than one story idea!)

In any case, I enjoyed The Door Through Space. The main character amused me and even some of the side characters were quite amusing. Bradley tends to write a few of her characters with their own sense of “honour code”, characters who are quite independent and intelligent. I think this novel by Bradley is well worth reading. It is short, about 180 pages with medium font, so the only thing preventing you from reading this novel is failing to find it somewhere used.

I am currently reading Winter’s Heart. I’d like to finish it before winter sets in.

~~~C

The autumn equinox (aka Harvestide) occurs when the Sun enters Libra. This year it is on September 22 at 5:18 p.m. EDT. The autumn equinox is also noted as a solar segment in the Chinese calendar, occurring on September 23 (Chinese ST).

Here are upcoming calendar dates (through to Samhain):

September 29 – Ivy month in Graves’ calendar
October 1 – Boar month in Kondratiev’s calendar
October 4 – full moon at 2:10 a.m. EDT; Blood Moon (folk name for the full moon)
October 8- 9th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Cold Dew segment
October 11 – Harvest month in the Lakota calendar
October 18 – new moon at 1:33 a.m. EDT; start of the 9th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Dog month in Chinese astrology
October 23 – Frost Descends segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Scorpio which according to EDT occurs October 23 at 2:43 a.m. or at 2:43 p.m. Chinese ST)
October 27 – Reed month in Graves’ calendar
October 30 – Cliff month in Kondratiev’s calendar
November 2 – full moon at 2:10 p.m. EST; Mourning Moon (folk name for the full moon)

The next sabbat is Samhain (aka the Witches’ New Year), traditionally celebrated on October 31 through to November 2. The astrological timing of Samhain this year is November 7 at 1:49 a.m. EST. This is also noted as Start of Winter solar segment in the Chinese calendar.

The next calendar update will be around the sabbat Samhain.

Happy harvesting!
~~~C

“Better late than never”… I was working on this blog when the “k” button on my laptop decided it would die for sure this time (it’s been buggy for a little while). I was going to wait until September to buy a new laptop (my old one just couldn’t handle the internet anymore and was actually slow even in WordPress), but it seemed fate was sending me a message. As it turned out there were some nice sales on laptops this month (likely in time for “back to school”) and I bought a laptop (an HP) and a netbook (Acer Aspire One) for a total of $1000 and change. So, finally back to this blog.

August 7th began the 7th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Start of Autumn segment. This was also the date for Lughnasadh this year according to astronomical observances as the sun reaches 135 degrees (Leo 15 degrees) in the sky. It seems fitting to me that the Chinese 7th solar month, Start of Autumn, would relate to Lughnasadh as Lughnasadh is considered to be the second of three sabbats relating to the harvest time. Relating to harvesting, August 11th started Hunter’s month in the Lakota calendar.

Today, August 20 – new moon at 6:01 a.m. EDT; start of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Monkey month in Chinese astrology

Upcoming calendar dates:

August 23 – Still Hot segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Virgo which according to EDT occurs August 22 at 7:38 p.m. or August 23 at 7:38 a.m. Chinese ST)
September 1 – Vine month in Graves’ calendar
September 2 – Hill of Bards month in Kondratiev’s calendar
September 4 – full moon at 12:02 p.m. EDT; Harvest Moon (folk name for the full moon)
September 7 – 8th solar month in the Chinese calendar, White Dew segment
September 11 – Ripening month in the Lakota calendar
September 18 – new moon at 2:44 p.m. EDT
September 19 – start of the 8th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Rooster month in Chinese astrology

The next sabbat is on September 22 – the autumn equinox aka Harvestide, which occurs when the Sun enters Libra. It also noted as a solar segment in the Chinese calendar (this year on September 23).

Harvestide is the second of the three harvest sabbats, starting with Lughnasadh. Samhain aka All Hallows’ Eve aka Hallowe’en is the final harvest sabbat before the witches’ new year. If you research traditions associated with these sabbats you will note the progression from the first harvest to the last. The first harvest is consists of fruits and some plants (some plants are harvested closer to the autumn). The second harvest consists of grains such as corn. The third harvest consists of nuts and meats. Traditionally, livestock is reviewed and that which will not live through to the spring is killed for the meat it can provide before it dies of some winter sickness. In this way, nothing is wasted.

The next calendar update will be around Harvestide. Until then, blessings for a bountiful harvest!

~~~C

If you are interested in reiki, there is a new reiki article on my website – The Sacred Usui Reiki Symbols – which you should find interesting to read. Some of the information can be found in my reiki two manual, which gives more information on how the symbols are used in practice.

~~~C

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the leap month started on June 23. Because the Chinese lunar calendar is reconciled with the solar calendar, occasionally a leap month has to be inserted. The month is considered to be a leap month because there is no solar centerpoint (such as the Sun entering Cancer at 90 degrees) within that lunar month. (Please see my first article on calendars for more explanation of the Chinese calendar.)

The leap month is considered to be a double of the lunar month before it. This leap month is the 5th Double Month, which means we have two Horse months this year. The Double Month is generally considered to be lucky in the Chinese lunar calendar. So, hopefully a little luck might come your way, especially for those born in the month or year of the Horse.

As mentioned previously, the Chinese calendar is set according to Chinese Standard Time. The lunar months start on the new moon, which means that there was also a new moon earlier this week. The new moon this month occurred on June 22 at 3:35 p.m. EDT (which is June 23, 3:35 p.m. CST, thus the lunar month started on the June 23).

Upcoming calendar events and dates are:

July 7 – full moon at 5:21 a.m. EDT and lunar eclipse at 5:38 EDT; Mead Moon (folk name for the full moon); 6th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Slight Heat segment; Holly month in Graves’ calendar
July 8 – Spear month in Kondratiev’s calendar
July 11 – Hot Winds month in the Lakota calendar
July 21 – new moon at 10:34 p.m. EDT and solar eclipse at 10:35 p.m EDT
July 22 – start of the 6th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Sheep month in Chinese astrology
July 23 – Great Heat segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Leo, which according to EDT occurs July 22 at 12:36 p.m. or July 23 at 12:36 a.m. Chinese ST)
August 4 – Hazel month in Graves’ calendar
August 5 – full moon at 8:55 p.m. EDT and lunar eclipse at 8:39 p.m. EDT; Corn Moon (folk name for the full moon); Salmon month in Kondratiev’s calendar

The next pagan festival after the summer solstice is Lughnasadh on August 1st (if you are traditional) or on August 7th (if you want to observe the astronomical significance of the festival; I am of the opinion that anciently it was celebrated when the Sun was in 15 degrees Leo).

You may note a certain theme in the names of the calendar months in this cycle – predominantly hot! We have Slight Heat and Great Heat in the Chinese calendar and Hot Winds in the Lakota calendar. Tied into this time of heat, we have the theme of hunting in Kondratiev’s calendar (Spear month and Salmon month) and themes of cultivation in the full moon names of Mead and Corn. This is definitely the height of the harvest season, and perhaps you may want to celebrate with some mead or corn! (I’ve already started on the corn. )

The next calendar update will be at the beginning of August, the time of Lughnasadh.

~~~C

I recently decided to make my reiki manuals one and two available for purchase through lulu.com. If you’re interested in reiki, already a practitioner, or a reiki teacher, you should find my reiki manuals interesting to read. It is a blend of Western reiki and Japanese reiki based on the training I received in Western reiki and my research into Japanese reiki. Only manuals one and two are available right now. I am still working on the third manual. I put it aside about a year and a half ago as I was mulling over some things in my head. In any case, I hope to get that done by the end of this year and will be putting that on lulu.com. I also have a “regular book” that I am planning to write on reiki that I hope will catch a wider readership. To see everything I have published on lulu.com, go to my storefront – http://stores.lulu.com/brighidsflame.

Because I could not decide on the covers I wanted for the manuals I opted for two different covers for each manual. There are also two different binding versions for each manual. You may purchase a spiral bound version or a perfect bound version. The spiral bound version is ideal for note-taking and studying. The perfect bound version is great as a reference copy. Both versions are 8.5″x11″.

Here are the two different covers for reiki manual one:

and for reiki manual two:

To quickly purchase one of my manuals, use the buttons below. They will put the manual directly into your lulu.com shopping cart.

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual one (cover 1, spiral bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual one (cover 2, spiral bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual one (cover 1, perfect bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual one (cover 2, perfect bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual two (cover 1, spiral bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual two (cover 2, spiral bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual two (cover 1, perfect bound version)

Click this button if you want to purchase reiki manual two (cover 2, perfect bound version)

A little note regarding my decision to self-publish my manuals:

Why is self-publishing better than the traditional mass-market publishing? The reason I chose to self-publish is that the majority of the revenue goes to the me as the author. If you appreciate the value of what I personally put into writing my books, you will like the fact that what you are paying goes to me rather than the “middleman”, that is, the retailers. Through lulu.com 80% of the net income (sale price minus manufacturing costs) goes to me, 20% goes to the lulu.com. Contrast that with mass-market publishing, where the retailer marks up the price by at least double their costs. This is the formula for selling retail:

Manufacturing costs plus author’s revenue (that would be the royalties I’d want) plus retail markup (this is double manufacturing costs plus author’s revenue) = sales price

Contrary to what some people may believe, books published on the mass-market aren’t necessarily better books than self-published books. (The gods only know how many books I put back on the shelf after flipping through them.) By supporting independent publishers like myself, you are encouraging people who honestly love to write. Part of the reason there are so many pointless books in the retail bookstores is that some people write simply to turn a buck or two. It’s very annoying. So please, please support independent publishers! Thanks.

~~~C

Ah… it’s been another busy couple of months.

Here’s a couple of novels I finished reading recently:
30 Days of Night – Rumours of the Undead by Steve Miles and Jeff Mariotte
A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton

and a couple of comics:
30 Days of Night – Return to Barrow
Buffy – Time of Your Life (Season 8, volume 4)

Following is a list of books that I’ve started reading:
Winter’s Heart (book nine of The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan
Three Against the Witch World by Andre Norton
Gormenghast (the sequel to Titus Groan) by Mervyn Peake
Rogue Squadron (book one of Star Wars: X-wing) by Michael A. Stackpole
A Clash of Kings (book two of A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (as of today, I am on part three of book two, page 443)
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

I mentioned that I was putting a few books aside for now. I think for now I am putting Ursula LeGuin’s Always Coming Home aside for now. I think it will be more likely that I will read either The Left Hand of Darkness or The Dispossessed before I finish Always Coming Home when I get back to reading LeGuin novels.

Here is a review of The Sum of All Men (book one of Runelords) by David Farland:

I didn’t actually finish this book because I was disappointed with the story line so far. I think I read the first 100 pages or so. I don’t really buy into the scenario of people seeing how great and glamourous Raj Ahten is to the point that they decided to throw down their weapons and surrender to him. I sort of feel cheated, like he copped out of having to write a decent battle scene between the two armies (which seems strange to me as the overall writing is decent enough).

Then, there is the supposedly “strong” heroine who verbally threatens to risk her life by taking up arms in the battlefield if it was required, but deep inside wouldn’t really. For someone who trains in martial arts and lives its philosophy, suffice it to say the heroine of the novel was a big disappointment for me. Clearly, the author thinks some women can look strong, but really must not be that strong mentally or physically in reality.

I really enjoy George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time much better than this novel. Seeing as I still have some ways to go with Martin’s series, still have to catch up with Jordan’s series, and have a few other books that might be more interesting to read than Farland’s, I doubt I will be inclined to finish reading this novel by Farland any time soon.

30 Days of Night – Rumours of the Undead was a decent story. The story isn’t going to be anyone’s favourite, and it really should be read as part of the 30 Days of Night continuity. The overall 30 Days of Night series is intriguing. I will have to see how well I like it after reading through a few more of the graphic novels.

A Kiss of Shadows (book one in the Merry Gentry series) has Hamilton’s typical flair for sarcasm, humour, and adventure that is familiar from her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. The difference is that the Merry Gentry series is more romantic in nature and very sensual (to put it mildly). I am more interested in this series for Hamilton’s depiction of the faery world. So far it is intriguing and she has built a full world with lots of different, not just characters, but species. Intriguing.

Yay, Buffy! What can I say? I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer – the ultimate kick-ass girl. But what happens when Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Fray the Vampire Slayer? Oh no! Time warp! If you are a Buffy fan and haven’t been reading the season eight comics, you really should pick up Time of Your LIfe (volume four of Buffy season 8). I love the art in this series and the whole series is overseen by Joss Whedon. This is stuff you wouldn’t have seen in a TV series.

And speaking of Buffy, I finally got the last Buffy Omnibus – volume 7. “Oh happy happy joy joy!”

I recently went back to reading Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. I’m on book nine, Winter’s Heart. I am a little more than a third of the way through, but then got into another one of those crazy writing phases where I write almost non-stop and my brain keeps jumping topics so I have to accomodate by working on more than one writing thing at a time. (Yes, my brain really does work that way sometimes. Some days I wonder that I make any sense at all!)

~~~C

Here are the upcoming calendar events and dates:

Today, May 5 – Beltane; 4th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Start of Summer segment
May 9 – full moon at 12:01 a.m. EDT; Flower Moon (folk name for the moon)
May 11 – Flowering month in the Lakota calendar
May 12 – Hawthorn month in Graves’ calendar
May 13 – Flowers month in Kondratiev’s calendar
May 21 – Grain Fills segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Gemini, which according to EDT occurs May 20 at 5:51 p.m.; the Chinese calendar is set for Chinese time, 13 hours ahead of ET)
May 24 – new moon at 8:11 a.m.; start of the 5th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Horse month in Chinese astrology
June 5 – 5th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Grain in Ear segment
June 7 – full moon at 2:12 p.m. EDT; Strong Sun Moon (folk name for the moon)
June 9 – Oak month in Graves’ calendar
June 10 – Fiery God month in Kondratiev’s calendar
June 11 – Drying Up month in the Lakota calendar
June 21 – summer solstice aka Midsummer aka Litha (occurs when the Sun enters Cancer); also noted as a solar segment in the Chinese calendar

It should be interesting to note that the names associated with the months around this time of the year are related to fruitfulness and fecundity (e.g. Flowering, Hawthorn, Flowers, Grain Fills, and even Flower Moon for the full moon). Then in June the names are related to heat and fire (e.g. Fiery God, Drying Up, and Strong Sun Moon for the full moon).

The next calendar update will be around the summer solstice.

Blessings for a bountiful spring!
~~~C

Nate showed me this little blog entry today – Five Pounds and Not an Ounce of a Clue and I just have to shake my head at this writer. He clearly knows nothing about being fit. So, I had to reply to his blog (not sure if he will accept the comment I left). Here is my comment:

Okay, first thing you should know about keeping fit… pound for pound, muscle tissue weighs more than fat tissue. If you were training for a while, stopped, and then lost weight, chances are you lost muscle mass. For someone just starting to get fit, three days a week of exercise is fine. After a while though, three days a week just maintains your current fitness level – unless you increase the intensity of your workouts on those three days (i.e., heavier weights, more time on cardio). Failing that, you should work out more often if you want to actually gain muscle toning, muscle bulk, better cardio, and increase your overall fitness level. You should, every so often, push your limits.

Regarding the “gut” issue, you should try to breathe through your diaphragm. When working out at your maximum intensity, you will feel your diaphragm contracting repeatedly. It’s a sure physical sign that you are working at your hardest. When you are not exercising a lot, you don’t need the amount of calories that are in a cheeseburger and fries, unless that’s all you ate all day, and even then, I’d say go for a long walk. To avoid having a gut, you really need to keep up with the cardio.

To keep fit, you need to keep active. There is no shortcut to being fit. Some people may be genetically pre-disposed to being thin, but that does not even guarantee fitness because without muscle training and cardio, thin people are just weak walking skeletons. With proper weight training, a person with a small body frame need not necessarily be weak! How I know this is simple…

I have a small body frame, but I am not weak. I am 5′3″ and I weigh 54 kg (about 115 lbs). I was always fit and active as a teenager and the past 10 years I have dedicated myself to staying fit and healthy (this should be about your health and not just appearances). I started doing martial arts (because I never got to as a child and because I missed getting exercise – there was no time when I was in university), over the years I included weight training and running. I do taekwondo on a regular basis and cross-train that with running, cycling, and weight training. I also include skipping in my workout routine as it builds the calves and the shins. I had a knee injury and surgery almost 6 years ago, and I took the physiotherapy exercises I was given and improved upon them. I am actually stronger than before my knee injury.

A while back, I kept a training blog detailing my training up until I tested for my 2nd dan black belt – Cass’ training blog. It takes more than an hour three times a week to really improve. I generally prefer two-hour workouts.

To sum up, anyone can be fit. No excuses. It is a lot of hard work. There is no shortcut, no easy way. It gets easier over time and you will feel better about yourself. BUT you really have to WANT to be fit and healthy. You have to be determined, and you got to love being healthy. If you exercise for any other reason but fitness and to be healthy (such as for appearances’ sake), you’re more likely to get frustrated and find it all worthless. After you get used to working out over time, a good workout should leave you smiling and feeling good about yourself.

Reading time again!

For some reason, I went on a phase of reading graphic novels. Here are the graphic novels I read recently:

Anita Blake: First Death by Laurell K. Hamilton
Watchmen
Fallen Angel – To Serve in Hell (volume 2, IDW comics)
Fallen Angel – Back in Noire (volume 3, IDW comics)
30 Days of Night – Dark Days and Annual 2004
Star Wars Omnibus: Rise of the Sith
Spike: After the Fall
Angel: After the Fall (volume 3)

I really liked the Anita Blake character, so chances are likely I will read the novels, but first I wanted to see how well I like Hamilton’s Merry Gentry character. That series, starting with A Kiss of Shadows, is about a faerie who is working as a private investigator in the human world. Anite Blake: First Death is a new story by Hamilton and is only available in as a graphic novel.

Yes, I admit I am one of those who had to read Watchmen after they decided to make a movie based on it. More than that though, it is pegged as the graphic novel to read if you’ve never read one before so I figured I should read it. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to read it before seeing the movie, but that’s okay. There has been differing opinions about the movie versus the book, but I thought both were equally good. The graphic novel has a certain appeal to graphic novel readers and the movie has a certain appeal to movie-goers. I found the story in the movie did not change a whole lot from the graphic novel and in that regards it was well made and Allen Moore should be happy that the movie didn’t change the story too much. (Yes, I have heard of his comment that if he wanted Watchmen to be a movie he would have written it as a screenplay and not as a graphic novel (or something to that effect), but he didn’t so whatever… he should stop grumbling because now he’s making even more money having movies made and having new people introduced to his graphic novels. Consider the movies to be marketing for the graphic novels.) In any case, I recommend reading and watching Watchmen. Although I am not particularly fond of the ending of the story, I think the story makes some very good points about society. The story is most definitely a commentary on our society, the nature of humans, and why we want to believe in superheroes so much.

Fallen Angel is another graphic novel series that I particularly like. The series was first published by DC comics. DC published 20 issues of the series, then the series was moved to IDW comics. The IDW run is complete now at 33 issues. The story will continue in July as Fallen Angel: Reborn. It will guest star a favourite character from the Buffyverse – Illyria! If you’re a Buffy/Angel fan like I am, you won’t want to miss a story involving both Fallen Angel and Illyria.

30 Days of Night is an interesting graphic novel series. The first volume has an interesting storyline and a movie was made based on the first volume. If you haven’t seen the movie, you might want to check it out. It’s a little fantastical, a little violent, and a little “ew… gross!”, but it’s a vampire story. The vampires have decided to take over Barrow, Alaska since the town experiences polar night. In the story, the sun does not rise for 30 days (in the real Barrow, Alaska the sun does not rise for 67 days, according to Wikipedia). When the sun sets, chaos ensues (of course!) and people are trying to survive the 30 days of night while the vampires roam the town. Dark Days is the continuation of the story and the Annual 2004 has some short stories and introduces the character Agent Norris who is part of the 30 Days of Night: Rumours of the Undead novel, which I am planning on reading.

I am rather enjoying the Star Wars omnibus graphic novels. Rise of the Sith takes place just before The Phantom Menace. The Darth Maul story is particularly violent, but I find it amusing that in graphic novels they can sometimes make you like an “evil” character. There are two stories of Qui-Gon and Obi-wan as well as a short story about a female bounty hunter. The story, “Jedi Council: Acts of War” is my favourite story in this collection.

Ah.. Spike! What girl can resist the charms of Spike? Not even Buffy could, given some time. Spike: After the Fall tells the story of what happened to Spike immediately after the last episode of Angel. Angel: After the Fall (volume 3) is out now and continues the story from volume 1. According to IDW Publishing, both Spike: After the Fall and Angel: After the Fall graphic novels have made the New York Times best-seller lists.

Here are the novels I’ve read recently:

The Fall of Atlantis by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin
Star Wars – Heir to the Empire (book one of the Thrawn Trilogy) by Timothy Zahn
The World Wreckers by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Web of the Witch World by Andre Norton

Bradley once again has created some memorable characters in The Fall of Atlantis and an intriguing story. It is a novel worth reading.

The Tombs of Atuan is the second novel of Earthsea and I was particularly amused by Tenar. This was quite an amusing story.

Star Wars – Heir to the Empire is the first real Star Wars novel. It is the first novel in The Thrawn Trilogy, and it captures the essence of the original Star Wars trilogy. I found I did not want to put the book down because there was action and adventure one after the next, what I always loved about the Star Wars movies.

Ah… Darkover. I finally got to go back to Bradley’s Darkover novels. I really like these novels. There is a certain hm… “je ne said quoi” about them. I think it might be because they have the same action and adventure feel as Star Wars, but there is also an overall sense of intellectual questioning in the stories. I particularly liked The World Wreckers. Although at the simplest the story is about saving the planet Darkover from destruction (so that others may sweep in and rebuild it for “planetary investment”), Bradley manages to weave a complex tale involving at least seven characters who turn out to be fundamental in saving Darkover.

I found I enjoyed the second novel of Witch World, Web of the Witch World, more so than the first. I think this might be simply because the story picked up pretty fast, but I suppose if you didn’t read Witch World you might not understand fully what was happening in this novel. I think it will be interesting to see how Norton opens up the world she created.

I finally finished reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. A brilliant read and much more philosophical than it would seem to the casual peruser. Ah… I still love astronomy. At one time, astronomy and astrology were considered to be the same, astrology being a more difficult study as it involved interpreting what you see in the skies. I do think I am akin to the classical astrologers, such as William Lilly. After I finished reading A Brief History of Time, I studied some astrology, as I find myself doing every so often. I am still making my way through William Lilly’s Christian Astrology. It’s hard to read that book without wanting to have your natal chart in front of you so you can compare it to what Lilly is writing about.

Following is a list of books that I’ve started reading:
30 Days of Night – Rumours of the Undead by Steve Miles and Jeff Mariotte
A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton
A Clash of Kings (book two of A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin
Winter’s Heart (book nine of The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (as of today, I am on part two of book two, page 384)
Gormenghast (the sequel to Titus Groan) by Mervyn Peake
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Always Coming Home by Ursula K. LeGuin

I’ve decided to put these three books aside for now – for various reasons:
Dawnthief (book one of Chronicles of the Raven) by James Barclay
Running with the Demon (book one of The Word and the Void) by Terry Brooks
The Sum of All Men (book one of Runelords) by David Farland

~~~C

The next major pagan festival is the spring equinox on March 20th. It is popularly known as Ostara and in the tradition of Wicca I studied it is called Lady Day, after the maiden goddess image that is associated with the spring equinox and fertility of this time of the year.

Recent calendar events and dates (I actually was hoping to list these as upcoming calendar dates, but as I mentioned in my last blog entry, life just got in the way of me doing any writing at all):

February 9 – full moon at 9:49 a.m. EST and lunar eclipse at 9:38 a.m. EST; Snow Moon (folk name for the full moon)
February 11 – Strong Winds month in the Lakota calendar
February 17 – Ash month in Graves’ calendar
February 18 – Wind month in Kondratiev’s calendar; Rain Water segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Pisces)
February 24 – new moon at 8:35 p.m. EST
February 25 – start of the 2nd lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Rabbit month in Chinese astrology
March 5 – 2nd solar month in the Chinese calendar, Excited Insects segment

Today, March 10 – full moon at 10:38 p.m. EDT; Quickening Moon (folk name for the full moon)

Upcoming calendar events and dates:

March 11 – Fast Waterflow month in the Lakota calendar
March 17 – Alder month in Graves’ calendar
March 18 – Sun-Tear month in Kondratiev’s calendar
March 20 – spring equinox aka Lady Day aka Ostara (occurs when the Sun enters Aries); also noted as a solar segment in the Chinese calendar
March 26 – new moon at 12:06 p.m. EDT
March 27 – start of the 3rd lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Dragon month in Chinese astrology
April 4 – 3rd solar month in the Chinese calendar, Clear and Bright segment
April 9 – full moon at 10:56 a.m. EDT; Seed Moon (folk name for the full moon)
April 11 – Planting month in the Lakota calendar
April 14 – Willow month in Graves’ calendar
April 15 – Hawk month in Kondratiev’s calendar
April 20 – Grain Rains segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Taurus, which according to EDT occurs April 19 at 6:44 p.m.; the Chinese calendar is set for Chinese time, 13 hours ahead of ET)
April 24 – new moon at 11:22 p.m. EDT
April 25 – start of the 4th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Snake month in Chinese astrology

The next pagan festival after the spring equinox is Beltane on May 1st (if you are traditional) or on May 5th (if you want to observe the astronomical significance of the festival; I am of the opinion that anciently it was celebrated when the Sun was in 15 degrees Taurus).

In the next few months, perhaps you may want to celebrate one of the upcoming calendar dates mentioned. Try to determine a significance of that day for you. Pagans commonly celebrate the full moon and the sabbats (solar festival dates). Perhaps one of the calendar dates will provide an interesting meaning for you. As the weather gets warmer, I plan on being more active outdoors. I hope you enjoy the next few months ahead as well!

~~~C

It has been just over two months since I last wrote. Sometimes life just gets in the way. It’s hard to write when other issues suddenly become more important and distract you from having any creative thought. Astrologically, it’s called transiting Uranus opposite my Venus in the 4th house. Yikes! Not fun at all. My life was in chaos from January 29th until this week and the only thing I have been able to maintain is training in and helping teach taekwondo. Aside from a few comics, the books I’ve read were mostly read around the end of December and in the month of January.

I read the following books:
Fur Magic by Andre Norton (part of The Magic Books collection)
Witch World by Andre Norton
A Game of Thrones (book one of A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin

and comics:
Star Wars Omnibus: X-Wing Rogue Squadron Volume 2
Star Wars Omnibus: X-Wing Rogue Squadron Volume 3
Fallen Angel (volume 1, DC comics)
Fallen Angel – Down to Earth (volume 2, DC comics)
Fallen Angel – To Serve in Heaven (volume 1, IDW comics)
7 Brothers by John Woo
Y: The Last Man – Cycles (volume 2)
The Hedge Knight by George R.R. Martin
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 6
Spike vs. Dracula

This list is a list of books that I’ve started reading (though I’ve put a few of them aside for now, and might come back to them later predominantly because other stories seem more interesting to me):
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Fall of Atlantis by Marion Zimmer Bradley
A Clash of Kings (book two of A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin
Winter’s Heart (book nine of The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan
A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton
Star Wars – Heir to the Empire (book one of the Thrawn Trilogy) by Timothy Zahn
Gormenghast (the sequel to Titus Groan) by Mervyn Peake
Dawnthief (book one of Chronicles of the Raven) by James Barclay
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Always Coming Home by Ursula K. LeGuin
Running with the Demon (book one of The Word and the Void) by Terry Brooks
The Sum of All Men (book one of Runelords) by David Farland

Aside from fiction there is some reading I need to catch up on that was set aside over a year ago (I think I last mentioned these on my previous blog in January 2007):
The World’s Religions
China: Its History and Culture
The Meaning of Witchcraft

I also have to finish reading A Brief History of Time. I’ve been reading this off and on over the years – mostly because I kept getting distracted from the book, and partly that for each chapter I read I need to let my poor brain mull over it for a long while… I generally get the gist of what Hawking is talking about, and I am determined to finish this book sometime.

I recommend A Song of Ice and Fire. It is a very mature fantasy series and extremely well written. I think the writing is better than Robert Jordan’s actually, although I like both series very much. I plan on returning to either of those series after I finish reading War and Peace and The Fall of Atlantis. Witch World was pretty interesting. I can see the similarities between Witch World and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover novels. I plan on reading more Witch World novels (it’s a series of novels set in Witch World) and returning to the Darkover ones when I finish reading The Fall of Atlantis. In case I didn’t mention, The Fall of Atlantis was actually written before The Mists of Avalon, but published after. You might be able to pick up similarities between the characters in the Atlantis story and the Avalon story, and in fact, Ancestors of Avalon is written to bridge the Avalon story with the Atlantis one. Very intriguing the way the mind of Bradley worked.

~~~C