Normal Life

It doesn't seem like a lot of interesting things have been happening of late. We've fallen into a routine at home and work without there being many changes. This is good and bad as it means that nothing has gone wrong in our lives and yet things seem somewhat mundane. I have to agree with M.C. from "A Laugh or Death Situation" that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being normal. As someone who has experienced some of the things that she has, I can relate to her situation - and I don't have problems with having a "normal" life.

We really do enjoy our quite life. This isn't to say that we don't have fun, but it is quite in that our evenings are taken up with homework, reading books, talking, and chores. On the really exciting days we'll all end up in the kitchen while dinner is cooking dancing to the music on the radio. I started teaching Kanga the Cha-Cha the other day. I need to work on my leading technique. She and Tigger (who has started jumping off of everything, like his namesake) will usually play well together after dinner until it's time for pajamas. If they get them on quickly enough we'll read some books before prayers and bed. Kanga is getting better at reading, as is clear as we read the Book of Mormon after dinner every night.

Thinking of the Book of Mormon, and other sacred texts, I have plenty of memories as a kid when I was happy when my parents forgot or didn't have time to read after dinner. This was because I always thought there were other things that were more fun to do. My parents started the tradition of reading after dinner when I was about Kanga's age and have kept it up for the last twenty-five years. We've alternated through the Book of Mormon, the New Testament, and the Doctrine and Covenants, but always returned to the Book of Mormon. We're doing the same thing in our family. We are almost 200 pages through and it's only been over a year and a half. We do what we can with small children, but like I said, Kanga's reading has been improving and she is able to get through a lot of the words a lot better. She's due for some more testing and one of the things they do to practice is read nonsense words. I think words like "Limhi," "Amulek," and "Abinidi" make pretty good practice. Not to mention all the "heretofores", "therefores," and "delivereds" she's had to deal with. I remember my parents joking that the teachers would be surprised when their kids could read rather uncommon words with ease, but struggle with many basic ones. I think about it often when Kanga is reading.

We're continuing preparations for the arrival of Baby Roo in September. I'm calling him Roo because he bounces around like mad in his mother and he'll be sharing a room with his older brother. That and I'm positive that Kanga will be great at giving him instructions and helping to take care of him. Last night we had some delicious potato casserole with chorizo. The last time we made it I enjoyed putting the leftovers in tortillas for my lunch for a week afterwards. This time though we froze the massive amounts of leftovers so that we could have a read made meal should we need it after Roo shows up. We're also looking for a bunk bed for the two boys. We've seen some great ideas of taking the slats out of the bottom bunk and putting a crib in there. That will maximize the space in their room. I hate to say it, but there will probably come a point in the next ten years or so when we will have to move just to find a bigger home. We love this house (and yard) but fitting three kids in there is going to be an interesting challenge.

This has turned out longer than I initially thought it would. Life is good and that is really all there is to it.

Online games and collaborative play

My family knows that I really enjoy computer games. I have never been much of an online gamer for a number of reasons. First, the number of idiotic, offensive, and vulgar people out there seems to be disproportionately high in online games. It's hard to enjoy yourself when people are being vulgar, rude, or jerks all over your experience. Second, it's hard to coordinate your efforts with others and therefore maximize your collaborative play. Many of the games I enjoy are military simulators of one kind or another and being able to work as a team is something I enjoy. And lastly, I didn't always have the internet for it.

It's been a blessing and a curse to get on Steam's online gaming system. A blessing because it makes it easy to coordinate getting into the same game and you can use voice chat while in game to coordinate with your friends. A curse because it makes it easy to purchase games and for the same reasons stated above. But I've found that my adult self is better at limited my playing than my teenage self was. Most of the time.

This weekend saw my Leeroy and myself playing for a couple of hours and we had a lot of fun. What follows is a list of some of the things that happened during play that were both successes and surprises that helped our enjoyment.

Any base we choose to take we did and held until the time came to take a different one.

We both got high scores on a game where previous efforts had been painful.

Leeroy succeeded in shooting down multiple helicopters with shoulder laughed anti-tank missiles. His success improved as we played.

I succeeded in shooting down a helicopter less than a second before a plane destroyed my AA unit.

We drove a dune buggy out from under the guns of a waiting chopper and were able to dodge his rockets until we got to cover. Unfortunately, he got us a short time after that - but the ride was awesome.

We had a bridge blown out from underneath us. I was able to bail out (in mid air) and parachute to safety. Leeroy wasn't so lucky.

I successfully grenaded a jeep on it's way up a hill. For all intents and purposes I wanted to hit him, but didn't think I would.

I successfully grenaded a guy without seeing where he was. I knew he was coming for us and I just got a lucky throw in.

It was a lot of fun to play with Leeroy and we're glad that we are able to play on the same side. Otherwise it just gets nasty.

Audible Book Review - Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett

I just realized that in the last two weeks or so I've listened to three books that in total came to about 42 hours. That is still six hours less than Words of Radiance, but that extra six hours took me another week to get through. I blame pacing and life events. The latest book I've finished is the most recent Pratchett book, Raising Steam. Narrated by Steven Brigs, like many of his audio books, it was a lot of fun. Featuring Moist von Lipvig, the lovable con artist turned government controlled problem solver, the story did involve a lot of other characters as well. We got a better look at Harry King, Adorabel Dearheart von Lipvig, and the Lowking of the dwarfs, as well as being introduced to Dick Simnal, the genius of the steam, and Thunderbolt, his lawyer. And don't forget Sam "Stoneface" Vimes. Here's the link for Audible's page for the book. The story moved well and was enjoyable. There was intrigue, action, and the usual amount of self-reflection. Every Pratchett book I've read will call the reader forward to think of something that goes far enough beyond the Discworld that it enters our own life.

Plot: Moist von Lipvig is Vetinari's go to man when things need to be done. And something needs to be done with the Rail Way. Unlike the Post Office, the Bank, or the Mint the Rail Way is new to Anhk-Morpork and Moist is put in charge of the city's interest in the enterprise. Moist fits right in - helping to buy the landed needed for the rails, thinking up idea for them to incorporate, fighting off fundamentalist dwarfs. [Wait! What was that last one?] The rail way keeps Moist moving and out of trouble (as much as possible) but now the dwarven religious leaders have taken a stand against all things dwarfish (i.e. everything). Now in addition to keeping things on track Moist has to contend with pint sized fanatics with his name on their list of "things to do away with."

My personal favorites: Moist is always a fun character and his wife, Adorabel, is even better. The pacing of the book was good. It ebbed and flowed from planning to implementation to action. The book's time frame was longer than many of Pratchett's other books, which was nice. As usual the humor was superb. I liked the scenes with Moist and Vimes, they are opposites in many ways, but yet so similar. I liked Moist's comment that if Vimes is "Vetinari's terrier" than Moist is "Vetinari's scoundrel."

Considerations: Like the other Discworld books there is no vulgar language and very little strong language of any sort. The action is free of gore or gratuitous violence. And aside from a few innuendos used rather appropriately there is no sensuality. I cannot remember ever hesitating to recommend a Discworld novel and it holds true with Raising Steam.

I hope to see more Pratchett books, but also knowing of the challenges that he is facing I don't have any expectations. One reviewer mentioned that this book felt like a "kind of a farewell" and whether it is or not I was very satisfied with it. The total length was just over 12 hours.

The plague of Rome, a neighborhood egging, and a baptism

Friday night I spent watching Rome fall to pieces. As the years ticked by the death count mounted. Pluto, the God not the ex-planet, had never been so busy. The blood lust was thick and money and armies changed hands as the Gods played with the lives of mortals. It was the Ludi Romani again! Last year something came up and I was unable to attend. But this year I remember in the nick-of-time and got my usual position as Apollo, sun God and thrower or plagues! It was good to see people from past years and I even saw a cousin who is a student in the program. I went up by myself. Angel was feeling under the weather what with hitting her 19 week mark with baby Roo. More than ever I saw the Gods (or the people playing them) manipulating the mortals until the final battle consisted of two factions both championed by some major divine support. I didn't have a faction and enjoyed the chaos. What can I say? It doesn't matter who wins the Sun will set on their empire just like the last. (He he he he!)

Saturday, we finally got our taxes sent off this week. Right before the deadline. There were complications in obtaining some needed information which delayed us, but we got it done. Finally. We never seem able to get them done in just one day. It's awfully discouraging. With taxes to be done we popped down to my folks and got them done early in the morning. This was because her neighborhood was putting on an Easter Egg Hunt.

This hunt involved about one hundred kids and their parents. It spanned the whole neighborhood. It was a lot of fun. each house participating hung a flyer on their door (or mailbox, tree, etc.) and spread candy or Easter Eggs all over their front yard. At each house, each kid would just take one treat and then move one. Unfortunately, it looked like there were more kids than eggs as some of the house (including my parents and Mom had put out 96) didn't have any more treats towards the end. It was good to walk the neighborhood and I even ran into a high school acquaintance and spent some time catching up with him. His daughter was a year younger that Kanga (and a year older than Tigger) and it was good to enjoy the wonderful weather.

Sunday we were able to attend the baptism of a former coworker of Angel's. When they met he said he was a "non-believing Buddhist" which only served to start a conversation about religion. He is a good man and very intelligent who wanted to make sure he was committed before being baptized. It was a wonderful meeting and the kids even did a good job sitting through it. We were able to talk to Kanga about baptism. As she's be able to be baptized in two years we need to help her start to understand some things now.

All in all, it was a very nice weekend.

Audible Book Review - Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

My brother recommended I try Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone based on it's eligibility for the Hugo this year. As a voting member he and his wife received e-copies of all of the eligible works he found it fascinating. Knowing how excited my brother can get about things he enjoys I took a look at it on Audible. The selection is larger than my local library and i recently found their return policy so I'm more willing to risk a new book or author there. I read the synopsis and was intrigued. It did look promising. However, I already had books in mind and so it sat on my wishlist until I found the return policy on Audible. Trading in Redshirts I scooped up Three Parts Dead and found myself entranced. The world is gritty. The magic is mystical, and the plot was a mystery wrapped with fantasy, religion, and corporate intrigue. Here the link to Audible's page for the book. The narrator was Claudia Alick and she did a good job of the book. It wasn't perfect, but it was very good. I liked the world that Gladstone created, somewhere between high and urban fantasy. The mix was well done. There is a pretty decent learning curve - Gladstone does a lot of showing the world without too much preamble. The Craft (magic - specifically a form of necromancy) is not fully explained, we just know it's limitations and potentials. We don't know how they do things though. It was a fun ride. Unexpected at times and very riveting.

Plot: Tara is under a lot of pressure. She was graduated from The Hidden Schools of Craft simply so they could throw her out the front door to plummet to her death. Then, in an attempt to help her home village she finds herself on the wrong end of an angry mob. Now she is the newest associate (probationary) in one of the world's leading firms of craft and she and her boss have to figure out how a god died and how they are going to fix it before the rioting starts. Combine that with vampires, gargoyles, creditors, and the black suits of Justice and this case is not going to be easy. Tara may be pressured, but at least she wasn't the one on watch when the God died. Abelard, a priest of Kos Everburning, was there when his God ceased to be. Needless to say he is having a crisis of faith and is bound to do everything he can to help Tara and her boss represent the deity in the coming battle for his body and godly power. That includes introducing Tara to his friend Kat - even if Kat is addicted to an odd stimulant. Dealing with her own problems, Kat's professional expertise and unusual recreation (letting vampires bit her wrist) helps Tara and Abelard track down information about Kos' death and they begin to suspect that the god didn't die of natural causes. It appears to be a case of murder most divine.

My personal favorites: The book kept moving. The pacing was quick and well managed. Tara was an interesting character. Abelard, Kat, and the other POV characters were also well flushed out. They each had their strengths and weaknesses. I particularly liked Abelard. He was a religious character who was faced with a literal crisis of faith and overcame it without ever forsaking his faith. The theology of the book was new and refreshing and the world felt well explored. It had a great mix of action and humor and it was easy to listen to. The conclusion wrapped up the story and left things open for more exploring with the characters if the author desires to later.

Considerations: There was very little in the way of graphic description or language in this book. I must point out one use of very strong language at the end, but otherwise it was quite clean. While there was, what might be termed, sensual description (a depiction of Kat getting a "hit" off a vampire bite) there were no sexual situations. There was a rather gruesome murder scene where the victim was dismembered but while the description gives what has been done with his body there is rather sterile without being graphic. The only other thing I mention is the the Craft is a form a necromancy and enables its practitioners to do some rather unusual things such as stick somebody's face to a wig stand. Again, the descriptions are sterile and while a little sudden are not gratuitous or graphic.

I really liked Three Parts Dead and am interested in the 2nd book in the series, Two Serpents Rise. The 2nd book doesn't appear to follow the first, but takes place in the same world. It looks promising. I've readily recommended this book to people already and will continue to do so. The total length was just over 13 hours.

Audible Book Review - Swords of Exodus by Larry Correia and Mike Kupari

I was anxious to get to Words of Radiance to start this one. Don't get me wrong, I loved Words of Radiance. I was just looking forward to a faster paced book. And like before Correia and Kupari delivered. I was impressed with the direction this book went and with the change in tone. Where the first book felt like a military thriller this one had more a more subtle vibe with the usual pedal-to-the-metal action. There seemed to be a deeper drama in this one. I did like how the drama was well scaled. The authors didn't feel the need to create romantic drama between two of the characters. Yes, they disagreed. Yes, they are romantically involved. But their relationship wasn't in danger. They just worked out the problems. It was refreshing. Here's a link to the Audible page for the book. It was again beautifully narrated by Bronson Pinchot who put his considerable talent into creating unique voices for every character (and even those characters' characters). Again, I find my recommendation of this book tainted by a warning on the language. I will say that there seemed to be less language in it than the first (perhaps because Taylor isn't in this book) and, like the first, it was used appropriately - not just thrown out to make an impression. It was a very intense book in different ways than the first and I can't wait for the third to come out.

Plot: Michael Valentine is in trouble. More specifically he is in jail. A top secret government jail that specializes in getting information out of people in the most unusual ways. Water-boarding would be a treat compared to what he has to endure. But there are people that owe him their lives and other people who think that he's the key to understanding Majestic's infamous Code Blue. In order to get him out they go to the best - Lorenzo. Brought out of retirement to save a man that has shot him (three times) is not Lorenzo's idea of a good time. However, one of the people that want Valentine free is Lorenzo's own brother, Bob, who has gone missing. The other group that want's Valentine, Exodus, knows that Lorenzo will do anything for family and so makes a deal with him - Help them get Valentine and they will help him get Bob. Come to find out, Bob was last seen in the den of the biggest, baddest, scariest criminal in the world. The man who took control of Big Eddie's holdings and who is able to keep order there with the help of only three bodyguards. And Exodus whats this man dead. Lorenzo and Valentine, again unlikely and unwilling allies, find themselves faced with slave armies, old enemies, and a man who is described simply as "the devil himself." Exodus, Valentine, and Lorenzo cannot emerge from this conflict unscathed.

My personal favorites: The characters I loved were back. Lorenzo and Valentine are both intriguing, competent, engaging, complex characters. We learn a bit more of their backgrounds and motivations. Ling and Jill are also engaging, complex characters. The villains were well done, terrifying, and logical. I loved a lot of the side characters too and felt for them what hardship occurred. I particularly liked the reference to Mormon missionaries. As I mentioned earlier, the tension and drama felt a little different from the first book. This was well done. The books are similar, but didn't feel that way because my emotions where manipulated differently. I'm already considering listening to it again.

Considerations: Like the first book this one has blood, violence, and language. There didn't feel to be as much blood and language as the first, but they are still at levels that I can't give a blanket recommendation for the book. Also, the book does have a pretty significant cliffhanger - so be prepared to wait.

Swords of Exodus was a total rush, particularly coming off of the epic fantasy Words of Radiance. I loved the drama, the action, and humor. The plot was straight-forward without being simple. The action was incredible (like the first). And the characters just made it awesome. The total length was just under 17 and half hours.

Conference Weekend

There are two very nice things about the weekend of General Conference. First, the opportunity to listen to prophets, seers, and revelators. The second being able to sleep in from your usual 9:00 am church time. That second one may be a little selfish. Which is against what was spoken of this weekend. Great. It hasn't been a day and I'm already having troubles. I guess that's what repentance is for.

The talks this year were all very good. I found it interesting that Elder Jeffery R. Holland led off the conference. As an established pulpit-pounder he set a tone of conviction and earnestness that really ran through the whole conference. I don't know if it's just been recent events calling for definitive statements from the church, or just the sense of urgency with the call to hasten the work but the talks this conference all seemed very direct and solid. Maybe it was me. (I'm pretty sure it was me). I found the range of topics wonderful. They were encouraging, uplifting, faith building, and instructive. I was particularly touched by Elder Carlos H. Amado's talk. I often listen to talks with the questions, "What am I to do?" in the back of my mind. With talks like Elder Holland's, President Uchtdorf's, or Elder Bednar's it's pretty easy to learn what needs to be done. While taking notes on Elder Amado's, however, I couldn't identify what it was I was to do. I realized that his talk was his testimony - my task was to listen and believe. He was truly prophetic in his talk.

In addition to the wonderful talks and counsel given, it was most enjoyable to spend some time with family. Angel and I invited my cousin down to join us for the day and then I returned to Logan with him to attended the Priesthood session with his brother and our grandfather. We enjoyed talking books between sessions and each got some recommendations from each other. He's a big Audible.com user and has recently finished some large novels. Kanga and Tigger did pretty well considering their ages. As I thought about it, Angel and I need to come up with some good activities for them to do during conference to help them stay interested. They actually listened pretty well for many of the talks, but invariably ended up making enough noise it was hard for anybody to listen. Again, the key word is "considering," but they did well.

I need to remember to keep up on the conference talks. Rereading them is important. I am very grateful to have a prophet on the Earth who speaks and guides us. I've have never been lead astray by words spoken in conference. I need to keep up on them so as to make sure I don't go astray without them.

Audible Book Review - Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

A little under a month ago I received Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. Forty-eight listening hours later I finished. It was impressive. The second book in The Stormlight Archives, Words of Radiance picks up very soon on the heals of the first book, The Way of Kings and covers a period a little over two months. Here is a link to the Audible page for the book. I was a little concerned that I might not like it as much when I heard that it would follow the character of Shallan Davar, the main female lead. I liked her in The Way of Kings, but liked Kaladin more. I was concerned that her story would be more of the scholarly work she did in the first book. I was wonderfully surprised. There were plenty of viewpoints of other characters, so we had a lot of variety, and we got to see Shallan thrown into a host of situations that were both humorous and exciting. In addition we got her back story which was fascinating and I'm fulling convinced that she should be more messed up then she seemed. All in all, the book was full of good action, awesome characters, and answered a lot of questions. And now I get to wait a year or more for the next one. Sanderson, You better be working on it. The book was expertly read by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading.

 Plot: Following the disaster on the Shattered Plains, Dalinar Kholin is determined to unite the Alethi high lords whether they want to be or not. The constant rivalry and bickering between them will not help them to be ready what what he feels is coming. Dalinar most find a way to control these "children with armies" and so he lets his son, Adolin, off his lease to beat some sense into their best men. With Dalinar's actions being so upsetting to the other high princes the job of protecting him and his family is not very easy. But then Kaladin of Bridge Four has never had an easy job. With his bridgemen safe from Sadeas' suicidal assault runs he now has to turn them into real soldiers - overcome their apathetic attitudes, and get them trained. To boot he gets to see what King Elhokar and his court are like. And he doesn't like it. But what does he do when what he feels needs to be done goes against what he's sworn to do? As Dalinar and Kaladin start wheels moving to reform the people of the Shattered Plains, Shallan Davar and Jasnah Kholin (Dalinar's neice) are on their way the the Shattered Plains to investigate to rise of the Voidbringers, mystical and mythical terrors that bring rise and lay waste to civilization. However, they are not the only ones interested in the Voidbringers. Shallan is put to the test when she is separated from Jasnah and most make her own way through rough and wild land only to enter the politics of the high princes of Alethkar. More deceptive, dangerous, and filled with hidden killers than the wilderness that surround them Shallan is forced to confront her past and her present in order to ensure a future for all the people involved. Even those that want to see her dead.

My personal favorites: Sanderson knows how to tell a long story in a way that keeps you interested. If there isn't action, there is intrigue. If there is no intrigue, there is suspense. If there is no suspense, there is drama. And each is more fulfilling than the last. Just about every character has a visible arc that leads them through their weaknesses and to their strengths. Yet they are not perfect. Up until the end of the story there are surprises and new promises made that we won't have fulfilled until the next book. While they may seem random, I found the interludes interesting. They provide us, the reader, with information to see what is going to happen and by informing us of things the characters can only suspect or guess at. It enables the author to fulfill promises to us the reader while leaving the characters in the dark - a hallmark of suspense. I love the action of the duels with Adolin and the battles. The pace was good and there was always something to wonder about without the book feeling overdone.

Considerations: Like most epic fantasy there is death and destruction, but never graphically described. You should defiantly read the first book prior to starting this one. Although - it did do a good job of giving us enough information to recall the previous book without bogging down the story. Shallan's father is a monster who does and experiences some very brutal treatment. Her home is not a happy one. The only other thing you need to consider is that the audio version does not have the illustrations that are in the book. However, Brandon Sanderson has posted them on his website. They are quite stunning and may help understand some things more.

Words of Radiance was fantastic and I enjoyed it immensely. I'm glad that I'm listening to these as they come out. It does make for a long wait between books, but I'm willing to do that. It just means I get to read other stuff in the interim. The total length was just over 48 hours.