Most the classes are pretty straightforeward, though the STS is just credit hour bullshit...all the other classes I needed weren't available schedule/semester wise. The average grade for Shakespeare is an A-...we'll be reading a Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Othello and some others...good shit.



And I'm all moved into the new house. Its pretty fun living here. The downsides include distance and transportation (30 minute walk or I have to bother the other guys for rides), the bathtub drain doesn't finish draining until I'm far done showering, and for some reason my room always feels damp.

This was supposed to be last friday's post, but since I moved in we (Myself, John, Tim and Alex) been playing Call of Duty 4 nonstop, including restarting and playing Prestige Mode. Good thing there's so little homework for Bio students first week. Moar nexttime.

Sigh, so Wednesday's post was delayed by 6+ hours of fixing the wireless settings on the home network. My dad changed from Comcast cable to AT&T DSL for convenience reasons, and well...it wasn't so convenient for me. Since my brother lost the quick config CD for the linksys router I had to do everything by hand, and lets just say it didn't work out too well. After hours of frustration my dad called technical services and the best we got was slow ass internet on the one computer. Another hour and I reestablished the Comcast line and the Wifi settings. So yeah it was a waste of an entire day, and I'll have to retry that DSL again tomorrow. Comcast blows imo, what with their throttling and all, but I can manage...only 2 more days before I head back to Tech for the Fall semester.

Alright, enough of the boring crap and on to the meat of the post. I've been on a book-buying binge lately, hitting up all the bases on the Sci Fi Military tour.

Dune -> Chapterhouse Dune
Frank Herbert's classic tale of humanity's spice controlled empire is heavy on the politics and scheming of the various factions. The best thing about the novels are the way Herbert presents the major events. He builds up a slow mythos for each faction and character which always culminates in amazing scenery. The Sardaukar mythos, the power you feel behind Leto II's formation of Fish Speakers, Bashar Teg's ascendancy, and the ghola Teg's post hypnotic awakening are just a few of the spectacular scenes. The weaker novels are Children of Dune, which just transitions from a stand-alone Dune to the rest of the saga, and perhaps God Emperor of Dune which occasionally goes stale and has an anticlimactic ending (imo). Currently reading: Hunters of Dune. Herbert's son wrote two more novels to conclude the series based directly on his father's old notes.

Foundation -> Foundation and Earth
Its so hard to find every single one of Asimov's Foundation series...its like each of the big name bookstores has a conspiracy to sell one or two, but not all of them. This saga tells the tale of the Foundation set up by Hari Seldon to preserve humanity and rebuild the Galactic Empire stronger than ever after its predicted downfall. As with most of Asimov's tales there are amazing concepts of technology and futuristic human psychology. The heroes of the tales aren't conquerors or warriors, they're scientists and people with a strong understanding of human nature. A MUST read. Dune was okay but intense and for the hardcore. The Foundation saga is great as a casual read and even greater as a sci fi rendition of the future of humanity. Some other author has the rights to the name now, so he's writing some "Foundation" novels, but I think I'll pass on those, unless other reviews suggest otherwise.

The Forever War
Joe Haldeman's science fiction based allegory for the Vietnam War uses the time dilation phenomenon heavily. The distancing from society of the soldiers due to the time dilation parallels the alienation felt by the wartime and postwar soldiers from 'Nam. Not only do you get a feel of the overall change in society each time skip, but you also get the smaller fine details of city and suburban life, and the technological arms race and fear created by the ever present time factors. My favorite part besides the overall "humans are just overall fucked up" is the "T-16" rifle used by the soldiers and its "tumbling" ammunition. A great homage to the M-16 slipping through war law loopholes. A very quick read; totally worth the time.

Ringworld
Larry Niven's classic inspiration for the Halo rings is simple in concept: build a structure that is the halfway point between a Dyson Sphere and solar satellites/planets. What sets this novel apart from the others is the vast array of non-human species, which are at first only name-dropped but then further explored slowly, drawing the reader in. The concept of the Ringworld is amazing, but Niven explores the potential weaknesses of such a structure. The beginning half was strong, but I felt that it drifted nearer towards the ending. A great classic and a pretty quick read. Next up: Ringworld Engineers.

Finally we get my favorite additions to my library:
Warhammer 40,000: The Horus Heresy - Horus Rising
I've never played Warhammer 40k, but I've been a huge fan of the concept universe. I mean come on...Space Marines!!! Dan Abnett is FUCKING AMAZING. The language used in this novel is a hybridization of military and aristocracy. There's a sense of nobility to the characters' vernacular, invoking honor and brotherhood, two of my favorite concepts. I already know the overall story for the Warhammer 40k universe, and as such reading about the beginning to the greatest event in W40k history I was granted little pieces and characters foreshadowing greater events in the saga's future. Next up when I can find it: False Gods. Currently reading: Legion, and Fulgrim. These two novels aren't a part of Horus's Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus story, and takes place after the eventual schism, so they are fine to read without ruining the story of Horus himself.

So that's been my reading list for the past semester and a glimpse of what I shall by finishing up this semester. Next time: recent Anime followings.

So here's my first post, and why not start it off with a visual?



Just the standard Windows XP stuff. I'll put up one of my Linux desktop later. That's a Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion wallpaper with Code Geass season 2 at the top, along with the Superman: Doomsday movie I keep putting off and Daria season 1 that I'm holding onto for a friend before semester starts.

I like to keep my desktop clean and uncluttered as much as possible.

I use my Windows desktop primarily for Warcraft III (I play Dota and Night of the Dead: Aftermath) and AIM 6.0. Sure Linux has Pidgin and its great, but I still like some little stuff of AIM 6.0 is all. And all my attempts at using WCIII in Wine always cause major troubles...so for now...Windows -_-;

rawr.