justalurkr: (Default)
Yes, I still suffer from that thing where when I try to speak French (3 years in high school and I was pretty good,) Spanish tries to come out and I revert gracelessly to English.

But I digress. I meant "I am inspired."

I've taken a notion to walk a half marathon on my 50th birthday (as posted yesterday)partly as an old-age defiance thing, and partly because the Weight Watcher's annual 5k Walk-It Challenge isn't all that challenging to me. It's meant to promote increased activity while training for it and I am already fit enough to hop on a treadmill at 3.7 mph until the little LED thing says 3.1 miles. Yeah, not challenging.

Also, I'm nearly done reading Christopher_McDougall's paean to barefoot running, Born to Run, available in paperback and Kindle and well summed up by this video, which I cannot figure out how to embed.

Additional inspiration provided by an unplanned trip to the doctor's yesterday for suspicious tightness of the chest, on of the better known symptoms of undiagnosed female heart attack as it is usually dismissed in ERs for what I actually had, which is newly discovered acid reflux (to which I will not link because...ew. Look it up yourself if you're curious and have a strong stomach.)

Note: No, I did not dial 911. Anyone who is in any doubt at all and has not yet educated themselves on the typically female heart attack symptoms should not pause prior to dialing 911 for tightness in the chest. I didn't do it because I'd read up on it in the past (and was not having any of the other symptoms) and am very well acquainted with my risk factors for heart attack (minimal: normal blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and lung function, plus my maternal survivor of a mild heart attack lives a less healthy life than I and waited to have hers on a hike in a Fijian rain forest in her mid-60s.) Yeah, it was still stupid to stop long enough to refresh my memory and decide to make an appointment instead. I would have been very, very chagrined (and possibly dead) had this actually been a cardiac event, so govern yourselves accordingly.

Good news: normal blood pressure, "excellent" EKG and an enormous load off my mind.
Bad news: Chocolate, caffeine, tomatoes and onions (all fave raves of mine) may very well be my triggers, as I'd consumed them all in larger than usual quantities last Sunday.

So with achieving wisdom, attaining a certain age, maturing like fine wine...whatever you call it, pushing 50 is now providing the real world reasons to eat right and exercise. Note to those younger than the Baby Boom: the real world motivation is always there, you just won't feel it until your dotage. :P
justalurkr: (Default)
So, I got my dad a Kindle for Father's Day/his birthday/Christmas, and it shipped already registered to my amazon account and upon activation, started coughing up the content thereof as if recalling archives.

I've already given away the game with "don't read anything from Ellora's Cave, it's all porn ," to my parents and may now be traumatized for life.

Thank you sweet Baby Jesus that none of the fanfiction I've converted uploads to the amazon server.

Off to hyperventilate now
justalurkr: (Default)
...that I fail The Psychopath Test (A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson.)

I was already pretty sure I'd fail after seeing his spot on the Daily Show (there is a 15 second ad before it starts, sorry) but it was good to read through the actual test, worry like hell because some of the psychopath traits match ADD symptoms, then find out that if you read the list and worry, you're not a psychopath. Psychopaths don't worry about much of anything and hello! You seem to be dead on the ground there.

Have only read the bits about imprisoned psychopaths so far, but a great deal of the rest of it deals with the people who are running around loose and in many cases, running the world. I can't wait to start diagnosing our nation's leadership!
justalurkr: (Default)
So, I've been downloading bargain e-books from Booksprung, and think I have noticed a trend after reading two of them in rapid succession.

Containment by Christian Cantrell (.99 cents -- this guy prices his own stuff at amazon and lets you have it for free at his website. In my opinion, he is an Author Who Gets It.)

Amazon product description:
As Earth's ability to support human life begins to diminish at an alarming rate, the Global Space Agency is formed with a single mandate: protect humanity from extinction by colonizing the solar system as quickly as possible. Venus, being almost the same mass as Earth, is chosen over Mars as humanity’s first permanent steppingstone into the universe.

specifics cut for space and because some folks don't like to know too much before they start reading )

justalurkr sez: Outstanding story, right up to the end. Maybe I mean except for the end? I remember thinking "maybe it's just this guy," then I read...

The Dishonored Dead: A Zombie Novel by Robert Swartwood (as of this post, on sale for .99 cents at amazon, says for a limited time)

Amazon product description:
In a not-so-distant future, the world has devolved and most of the population has become the animated dead. Those few that are living are called zombies. They are feared and must be hunted down and destroyed.

specifics cut for same as above )

...and that novel just stopped, too, although I felt it was a considerably better-handled just stop.

Question: is this engaging-to-the-freakishly-sudden-end some modern/post-modern/post-post-modern literary to break the commercial mold, or am I seeing part of the reason some authors will only ever self-publish?

Brief overview of the endings and what they had in common for anyone not interested in reading the stories all the way through, though if you dig environmental sci-fi or supernatural thrillers, these are both good to the penultimate drop )It felt like cheap conceit to me, especially since neither novel seems built for continuing into a sequel. Both endings came across more as authorial "I'm done with the story and if you're not, oh well."

On the upside, my reaction is more eggs in the basket of why those people author Laurell K. Hamilton calls "Negative Readers" (all links to that "essay" appear to be dead, btw, and am too lazy for the wayback machine at the mo) can't keep it to him or herself. To wit, those were (and are) outrageously good yarns until they...just stop, and I for one was left wanting more, but not in a good way. Maybe the authorial knitting needles broke?

edited to add the fanfic perspective under a cut, as there are broad spoilers concerning characterization )
justalurkr: (Default)
Quote from the Booksprung blog:
Fifteen years ago, Russian paleontologist Kirill Yeskov decided to rewrite Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” for fun. His new version, “The Last Ring-bearer,” assumes that the original story of the Ring of Power is actually a retelling of a major war as written by the victors — and as with human history, the vanquished were painted with a more villainous brush than they deserved. You can’t find it in any U.S. bookstores, but you can download the ebook for free.

Gandalf is apparently a completely bad-assed warmonger. :D

Looks like we'll never see a commercial English translation because the Tolkien estate is a completely bad-assed...um, whatever. There is a download link at the blog for both Kindle and Nook compatible versions.

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