Identification (Wordpress Import)

It has been a long time since I have enjoyed reading. Truthfully, the last book I enjoyed had been one I read just as I was starting college (when I was 15 years old). There were lots of books I was supposed to read or could have read in school, but I did not enjoy that they were assigned and I was graded on them. I do not usually like being forced to do things, particularly, when it is a topic I might not be interested in, such as early/mid American Literature.

However, I have found a book I really enjoy. I started watching the new series on TV named "Legend of the Seeker" [Hulu.com] about a young man named Richard Cypher. The pilot episode was enough to grab my attention, so I watched a few more and started taking note of the story line. I suppose there were a few areas in which I could identify with the protagonist and sympathize his story with mine.

Knowing that the books were already published (not requiring me to wait for each new episode to be released) and included a greater level of detail about the characters and events, I picked up the first in the series by Terry Goodkind titled "Wizard's First Rule" [author's website] (upon which, the TV series is based). I have yet to dissect exactly where the title comes from, but figure I have the rest of the book to sort that out.

I was correct in my assumption that the book would be significantly different from the TV show. And far better. I read the first chapter as soon as I got home from the book store. I could not put it off. I planned to just read a little at a time, digest it as I read, and then read it through again as fast as possible (most people do the reverse).

Then last night happened. I woke up at 2am and could not return to sleep. I got up, threw the laundry in the washer, and took a shower. I waited a little, surfed TV and a few websites finding nothing interesting. The laundry had finished, so it was moved to the dryer. I still had no hint of sleepiness. Should I get ready and head into the office? by now it was almost 3am. No, I could not do that. I only had a small amount of work left I could do without further assistance or steps from co-workers who wouldn't be there at 4am. Should I fix the sewing machine? The last two Saturdays have consisted of me laying in bed sick rather than doing the long overdue repair. No, I wouldn't want to stop in the middle of the repair if it took longer than the time available. I will attempt that again this coming Saturday. Hum, what should I do? Ah, I know! I will read some more. And read I did. I have finished 1/10th of it at this point, and after I spend most of Dec. 24th at the airport, I should basically have it finished. The chapters are short so far, and make for frequent places to stop if I am interrupted or run out of time before my next scheduled event. The only better use for the night could have been actually sleeping, and that would have only been slightly better than if I had a big, padded armchair pulled up to the fireplace with a few logs burning. Speaking of, I need to buy some firewood and a set of smithed iron fire tending tools (poker, shovel, broom, and tongs would be nice). But I ramble.

In short, I am enjoying my new find and have renewed my desire for a few hobbies (including reading). So far, I have not been disappointed by "Legend of the Seeker" and am enthralled with "Wizard's First Rule". I look forward to finishing this book and launching into the next some time early next year.

All Stitched Up (Wordpress Import)

I found an interesting article on the WIRED blog about a music video director named Cesar Kuriyama using 45,000 photos stitched together instead of the traditional video to capture the music video. It's a great article, though the video is a little strange. Check out [the article] or [the video].