Going Back or Not

I don't really have anything I want to write about today.  Sure, there are a lot of things I could be writing about that are on my mind, but most really aren't appropriate for this time.  Instead, I will write about something somewhat pressing on me, my upcoming online classes.  I am currently registered for two graduate courses for the fall.  However, I am still in doubt about whether or not I will actually take them.  On the one hand, I will be getting closer to a Masters degree, even if it is not the one I initially planned on.  Actually completing my degree will look better on any resumés or applications then just having a few random classes.  It would also give meaning to all of the time and money I have already put in on these classes.  On the other hand, I am not all that enthusiastic about the classes.  To be honest, I'm not too thrilled about anything at the moment.  I should be taking two classes, but I really don't have the finances to pay for that many classes all at once.  I might be taking the class that will be offered during the shortened Winter term.  It would be about the same amount of money, but spread out so it wouldn't be such a hard hit.  Also, these are the only two classes for the fall that I am even halfway interested in.  They are also the classes that look like they would have the fewest total books needed.  I'm still not sure if I want to take either of them, though.  None of the other classes that I could take seem right for me, or my ultimate goals.  I'm just unsure about if I should be doing this at all, especially at this time.  As I mentioned, I don't really have the money.  I'm not sure if I will have the time.  Even with the limited schedule, I might be stressed.  I took three classes my first semester, and I wound up having to read first thing in the morning just to make sure I finished a book on time.  For my second semester, I had assignments that took much longer than planned, sometimes taking twice as long just to format the work correctly.  I'm worried that such a thing could happen again.  Worse, closings might limit my access to research materials.  Even with internet connections, I having problems finding all of the materials I needed.  Fortunately, I had local sources.  (I even got to use some of my private library to compensate for a few things.  Don't ask how I got to tie some of my more esoteric interests into a research paper, just be advised that I could.)  I am just having so many doubts about having another semester.  Even if I manage to get these three classes by the end of the year, I still have a least two more classes to go, as well as an exit exam to look forward to, which I'm not.  I don't know if I can find two classes for the spring.  I am not even sure if I need just two more classes, as the qualifications changed for the degree at the end of my first year, so I might need three classes instead of two.  The exit exam is a different problem.  I am only somewhat familiar with many of the works that could be covered.  Others, I am not interested in at all, almost to the point where I don't want to even think about reading them.  I don't even know if I could find a proctor that would allow me to take the test.  Everything just seems to be pointing to me that I shouldn't be going back.  I have about a month to make the final decision, and I honestly don't have an opinion either way.

The Return of "The Dresden Files" Files

This week will mark the finale of a months-long project of mine, to read the entirety of Jim Butcher's "The Dresden Files" before the latest book in the series comes out next week.  I used "read" instead of just "re-read" because I hadn't actually read all of the books the first time around.  I know.  How can someone like a series if one hasn't read all the books involved.  Don't ask me, as I'm not sure how it happened myself.  In fact, I hadn't read the third through eighth books in the series until aI started this project.  Here is the order of how I first read the books:  2, 1, 9, 10, 11, 12, [A?], 13, 14, 15, [B], 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I had gotten the second book, Fool Moon, for my book store, Booknotes, and I didn't give it much attention until the television show premiered on what is now known as Syfy.  I read the book soon after, and the ordered the first book the try and read the series in order.  I then read all the new books when they came out, which was at the ninth book, White Night, by the time.  Until this year, I never read the intervening books.  The "A" represents the first collection of Dresden short stories, Side Jobs.  Most of the stories had appeared in other collections before, but this was the first time they were all brought together, in a rough chronological order.  The book also had a new story that took place soon after the twelfth book.  I can't remember if I read it when it first came out or later.  That's why it has the question mark beside it.  The "B" is first the second short story collection, Brief Cases.  This collects the rest of the short stories that were written for other collections.  This one I know I read soon after it came out, as it included the first new Dresden works well as the first longer fiction by Butcher, in some time.  The inclusion was a novella that marked the first time Dresden wasn't the main POV character, as portions were told form the views of Maggie and Mouse, Dresden's daughter and dog respectively.  That's right, a dog.  Don't worry though, as Mouse is definitively smarter than Dresden.  [He's a magical creature that could live for centuries, and it is highly unusual that the dog chose to be with Dresden.]  Maggie might be too.  Anyway, it was a good stop gap to last until this month.  Peace Talks is currently on track to be released next Tuesday, July 14.  I was able to read a short excerpt earlier this year when the book was officially announced.  What is amazing is that in might not be the only Dresden book out this year.  See, as a book store owner, I have access to advance knowledge of release dates.    Frequently, these dates can be pushed back, or even bumped up, if there is a need.  As of the last time I checked,  a Dresden book titled Battle Ground is due out in September.  The accuracy of this release is still in doubt, as Butcher has never released two new books in the same series so close together, so I expect this date to change or be revealed as something slightly different than the usual book.  Anyway, back to the reading.  I'll start on the fifteenth book, Skin Game, this Friday.  I'll start the short stories collections immediately after.  I'll then be ready for Peace Talks, soon after it comes out.  I'm giving a a rest period before touching it.  Just to be safe.

Read 'Em and Weep at the Lackluster Writing

While I don't mean to brag, I feel that I am qualified to judge other people's writing.  I was an English major in college, and I am slowly working my way to a Master's degree, or two.  I have an ultimate goal of becoming a professional writer, probably.  I have owned a book store for almost twenty years (and maybe not for much longer), so I know about trends and current tastes.  I feel confidently that this makes me almost an expert, allowing me to assess and critique works.  For the most part, I try not to as it can come across as bragging.  I usually only to so when someone makes such a huge error that the meaning they were trying to convey is lost, or when it was an easily corrected typo or such.  I honestly try not to do so when English might not be the writer's first language.  Such a correction might not be seen in the way I meant it to be.  Honestly, I am trying to help people out, even when it allows me to show off a bit.  There is a downside to all or this, though.  This can take some of the enjoyment out of reading, especially when the work lacks something.  Sure, I can appreciate a work that I have to read, such as for a class, even when I don't like it all that much.  Usually, if I really like a book, I ignore any minor flaws in the writing.  Unfortunately, the opposite can also happen.  I have just finished reading a book that I had been waiting a while for.  [I will not mention the book's title or author, nor will I provide definitive details about the plot and characters, as I refuse to give any book a book review.]  The plot was interesting, and the main characters were intriguing.  However, much of the writing felt off.  The writing was grammatical , and the editing seemed to be correct.  The word choices were off-putting at times.  The narration was handled by the main character.  Much of it was repetitive, detailing events that occurred on a regular basis.  Once something happens, you don't need to go into so much detail when it happens again unless something drastically changes or is otherwise different.  It doesn't help if you add or subtract a detail if it is just the same routine.  The dialogue also felt off.  Sometimes a character would say something that didn't fit their style, or in such a way that most people wouldn't usually use.  The word choices weren't really wrong, just not what most people would use in an everyday conversation.  It wasn't every time, but enough for such stylistic choices to stand out.  A few details were left hanging without any explanation, but this could be due to the fact that it is the first book in a new series and plot hooks needed to be set up for the sequels.  Don't get me wrong, I still liked the book, overall, I just feel that it could have used a stronger editorial hand to guide the work along. This wasn't the author's first work, and I don't think I have read anything else by this author.   I am planning to read the next book in the series in another week or so, but I am still not sure if I will like the writing as much as I will enjoy the work as a whole. 

Electile Dysfunction

Yesterday was the rescheduled primary day in Kentucky.  While some state officials and national pundits praised the state's turnout, not everything could be considered something to crow about.  I first saw signs of possible trouble when the governor delayed a original May election date by a month during the first week of the lockdown.  At that time, it was premature to delay anything, not knowing how the pandemic would be playing out.  As it was, some form of an election could have been conducted on the original date, but it would have needed major changes to work as normal.  A month after the first announcement, details about how the election would be handled came out.  Mail-in absentee balloting would be expanded so that fewer people would be showing up at polling places.  Voters could email or call in to get a ballot.  They could also set up appointments to vote early, as can be done in regular elections.  The biggest change was that only one polling place would be set up in each county, regardless of the needs of the county.  Every registered voter would be sent a postcard with the information needed to vote.  Things didn't turn out that way.  I never got a postcard.  I heard from many others that they didn't get one either, mostly in eastern Kentucky.  It could be the postcards got lost on the way to or from Charleston, West Virginia. [A few years ago,  the postal service closed the main processing hub for the region and sent all future mail to Charleston for processing.  While this saved money, it could add a day or so to the delivery of out-of-state mail and two or more days to intrastate mail, as it had to go through another state to get to its final destination.]  Some people never got that information, even though the same information was available elsewhere.  Not everyone had internet access either, as not everyone owns a computer or smart phone, and many free internet services, such as public libraries, weren't open yet.   I'm not sure how many knew about being able to make appointments, even though the service has always been available.  Furthermore, some counties were able to have more than one polling place.  Pike county had five, six if you count the county court house where one could still make an appointment, if they were in a high risk group for contacting anything.  Jefferson and Fayette counties, the two counties with the highest population in the state, only got one place each.  [For argument's sake, Pike county is the largest county in area in the state.  In fact, it is one of the largest counties in the nation east of the Mississippi River.  It can take over a hour to drive from one end of the county to the other.  Having multiple sites may have been needed.]. With populations in the hundreds of thousands, more sites were needed.  Some tried to get more sites open, but the legal results were not in their favor and there would not be enough time to appeal, not without the possible confusion on behalf of the electorate.   On Election Day, I heard of waits of over an hour, outdoors, in the rain, locally.  Fayette county had it worse.  Waits of over two hours were common.  The last voters left after eight pm, two hours after polls were supposed to close, only because the were in line a six.  In Jefferson county, election officers actually shut the doors at six, even with people still trying to get in line.  [At one time, I was an election officer.  Anyone still in line at closing time can still vote, but officers can shut it down at exactly that time.  Picking hairs, but it is still a borderline call.] Difficulties with getting in and parking caused delays.  Candidates tried to file injunctions to keep the doors open, although, the last I heard, a judge at 6:30 pm allowed those still on site to vote.  How many were still there, I don't know.   Afterwards, sites announces the day's results.  A few races were declared, but the major ones that were making national headlines were still too close.  The final totals cannot be announced until all of the absentee ballots are counted, and they are due back in until next week.  Only those postmarked by the election are to be counted.  However, there is no way of knowing how many of these ballots were filled out correctly or if any were not filled out seriously.  Once the final totals are in, there could be a few lawsuits about the legitimacy of the results.  I'm surprised more lawsuits weren't filed beforehand, but, since the courts and state government weren't fully open, it does make sense.  The governor could have asked the state legislature to do something during the last days of their session to help make the process run smoother, but he didn't.  He couldn't, not without losing like a hypocrite.  He had complained that the legislature shouldn't be in session at the height of the pandemic, and that they should do the basics of passing a budget or just close and he would call a special session that would cover the budget, and only that, at a later time.  [Kentucky is just about the state where the legislature cannot call itself to order.  Aside from a regular yearly session, only the governor or acting governor can call a session, and they are the ones who get to decide what can be considered.  The legislature can always close the session if they don't want to consider that action, though.] So, while turnout looks great, I wouldn't call this a success, by any means.  Many voters may have inadvertently been disenfranchised by these actions.  It was all a confusing mess, with a hint of controversy surrounding it. November's election can't be held this exact same way, even if there are those out there who think this is a viable way to conduct the democratic process.

The Game's a Foot, or Actually a Higher Body Part That I Don't Mention in Mixed Company

I like playing games.  That is one of the main reasons for this blog after all.  Just look at the overview sometimes.  However, I have been having problems with many of the games I play online, and these problems have begun to irk me.  Most of these games I play through my Facebook account.  I am not sure if that is entirely relevant, but it could be.  Just this past weekend, I did not have access to one of my games.  At all.  It disappeared from my page.  It disappeared from the Facebook Games menu.  It disappeared from my Activity Log.  It was as if it never existed in the first place.  I couldn't even remember its actual name.  By Monday, it was back as if nothing had happened.  I was even able to continue my daily log in bonus.  Not the weirdest thing that has happened, but very close.  At least it wasn't as bade the game that couldn't download for over a week and I ultimately had to delete it from my account.  Didn't like it too much anyway, but still.  I have had other ongoing issues with some of my other games as well.  One game, which like the others I will be mentioning I will not be naming, has had some strange glitches lately.  First, there is the ongoing one where it will reset the daily log in bonus every time I play or even refresh the page.  This means I can get an unlimited number of bonuses, as well as refill my life meter, whenever I need to, but only when using my regular browser.  Whenever I play using a different browser, or computer, the games works normally.  I can get the better daily bonuses this way, but I need to wait for the life meter to refill, so I sometimes switch browsers and log into Facebook using the other.  I used to do this just once a day to get the bonus, but I have had to do so more frequently since a new group competition mode started up.  The game bunches people up randomly to help achieve certain goals, and at certain points, award bonuses, some of which are time limited.  If a team doesn't achieve all the goals within a certain time frame, the group is broken up and you join a new one.   A week or two ago, I was put into a new team.  At that point, the weirdness started.  My picture was no longer included in the game, as if it couldn't be uploaded.  None of the other people in my group had actual pictures either, just cartoony filler spots.  They didn't have any actual names either.  However, one of my teammates was racking up huge points.  Hundreds per day, even though the max one can get for beating a level is about 200, and that is from finishing up a stage.  How one player do this is all but impossible, especially since none of the other team members gain points on anything near a regular basis.  On the other hand, I'm reaching major goals every other day or so, leading to longer games sessions with better bonuses.  It is getting tiresome.  I wish I had this kind of problem with other games.  One game randomly forgets how to fully upload, leaving me unable to play at all for hours at a time.  Another randomly has some graphics drop, making it harder to figure out what my next play should be.  It is one of two games that have their daily bonus clocks reset about 10 pm every night.  This means I have to be careful with how long a play them.  I sometimes have to forego a games session because I started playing it again too late.  I didn't want to waste a good bonus if I only could play for a short time before going to bed.  Then there is the sports game.  For the past two weeks, I have been very streaky on it. I actually got downgraded in it this weekend because of a bad losing streak.  Fans of the game frequently complain that such streaks are built into the game so that players would buy extra equipment to improve their playing.  I can't be sure of this, because I never make in game purchases, but things were very bad for awhile.  One day, I would be making miracle plays, almost out of nowhere.  The next day, everything would be off by just enough, that I couldn't win unless I was perfect on every shot.  Even then, I would wind up losing the tiebreaker, as the in game physics would seem to change or the controls would be off by just a fraction.  Just enough to cause me to lose.  Who knows?  Maybe it is my fault that my reflexes are off, not the game's.  On the other hand again, with all of the weirdness I get lately, I am willing to accept all theories.

Like Soap Through an Hourglass

I had made many comments on this blog about my love of comic books.  However, there is a similar form of entertainment that I have frequently enjoyed--soap operas.  To be honest, the history of these two literary forms are quite intwined.  Both started as forms of advertising detergents to the masses based around the New York World's Fair back in the 1930s.  Comic books started as collections of newspaper strips bound together with advertisements form detergents included.  Remember, these books were originally intended for an adult audience.  Later, the books would be filled with original material, ultimately focusing on the superhero genre.  Kids would become the presumed audience, and, as such, the detergent ads faded away.  On a different front, another company decided to go with the new radio audience,  Here, the advertisement would be blended into a conversation a woman had with news (okay, gossip) about her neighbors.  Soon, the dramatics would overshadow the ads, and the serial began.  Some of these early shows would wind up moving to television, where detergent companies would still be the primary sponsor.  Hence, "soap" opera.  Both comic books and soap operas feature many of the same traits.  They both feature ongoing plotlines, with stories building up to dramatic finales.  Revisionist histories are explored, as new information on past events are revealed, or even changed to better suit the needs of current stories.  New characters are brought in, or old ones return, sometimes from impossible events.  They really are pretty much the same type of form, just based in different formats and with different primary audiences.  I was forced to watch my first soaps when I was a very young boy and didn't have any choice in the matter.  Fortunately, I wasn't forced to watch them anymore once I entered school.  During summer vacation, I began to take over the television, and no one else really watched them anymore either.  Then, the summer after my freshman year in high school, I somehow started watching Santa Barbara.  It was still fairly new then so it was fairly easy to get into, although I must admit to never finding out about every single back story.  I was bored at that time in the afternoon, so I started watching it.  I continued once school started back, sometimes setting the VCR to record it so I wouldn't miss even the first few minutes.  Santa Barbara was a great show that didn't go too far over the top.  Over its run, it had won multiple Daytime Emmys in almost all of the major categories.  Unfortunately, once the actors playing the main super couple left, the show went quickly downhill.  It was cancelled during my third year of college.  However, all wasn't lost.  I had started watching Days of Our Lives during the summer before my senior year of high school.  Yeah, I got bored a lot during the summer.  I would go on recording and watching it to this day.  Many things have changed since I started watching soaps, though.  Back then, the three networks of the day had a combined twelve soaps on, three one hour ones and one half hour show per network.  The cancellation of Santa Barbara marked the beginning of the end.  While each network tried to bring new shows about and get viewers, nothing seemed to work.  Longtime shows would be cancelled and some new shows brought in, to mixed reviews.  On NBC, for example, there was Sunset Beach and Passions.  I watched the former for the last two or three seasons of its run, possibly a tad longer.  I could never figure everything out about it; too much backstory wasn't unclear.  It kept doing fantasy sequences, even suggesting on its last episode that the entire show had been one long dream sequence of the main female character who never left her small town.  Or something.  Passions I watched from the start.  It was supposedly about this small New England town that was suffering under the curse of a morally ambiguous witch who had been punished for her ways.  That show was known for its very strange plots, which I won't go into because they were that weird.  It was mostly known for having a character, a doll who became real, die to give his heart to one of the show's purest characters on the same day that the actor died in real life.  The angel of that doll would later push the witch into redeeming her ways and asking forgiveness to save the town from a volcano that was threatening to destroy it during its final episodes. By the end of its run, which included being cancelled by NBC and moving to a cable service, only one super couple featured during it first week remained together.  All others had been broken up for one reason or another, even when both actors wore still on the show.  A real downer.  Today, only for soaps remain.  Two on CBS, and one each on ABC and NBC, including my Days of Our Lives.  Unfortunately, the outback have hit shows hard.  Most have been in repeats or classic episodes for weeks now as they had short follow through times.  Days, however, shoots months of episodes well in advance, meaning they have a month or so of new episodes left before they too will be forced into reruns.  Production might start back soon, in some form, but I might have to wait awhile before the sands run through the hourglass again.

Baby Got Backer

Last week marked the end of the first Kickstarter campaign that I backed.  I missed out on the last campaign from this company, due to unsureness of the process involved, and I have been second-guessing myself ever since.  I really didn't have that much money to get involved, but after finally receiving confirmation of my rejection, I decided to fund this new campaign.  Sure, I could have gone the basic route, and pledge on a level that would just give me access to the early draft of the work, but I decided to go with a tier where I could get the finished product once it comes out, in a PDF format, after editing and artwork were added.  It will be sometime next year before everything will be finished.  In the meantime, I will get some benefits from the stretch goals that got included.  There will be a second, companion book to go with the first one, which I also will be receiving as a PDF.  I will also get four novellas written in the gaming universe.  Not sure how connected they will be or what effect they will have on the overarching metaplot.  I will get three older books, again as PDFs, as further bonuses:  a short story anthology, an art book, and a cookbook.  Yeah, that last one confused me too, but the company produced it for some reason.  It connects a recipe, or two, with many of the groups in the game.  I also get digital wallpaper for my computer.  This will probably be one of the first things I'll get to receive.  Most of the PDFs might not come out until after the backer kit process starts in the next month or so.  Finally, I will get a coupon for the t-shirt.  Yep, a special shirt to commemorate the project.  This bonus I will probably skip, but it will depend on how much more it would cost me to have it shipped.  All of these bonuses come for my backer level.  If I had pledged at a higher tier, I could have gotten other freebies, such as extra copies of the final PDF or physical copies of the book. I couldn't go that high at this time.  I did pledge extra, though.  One of the goals included PDFs of nine older books, many of which I missed out on when they first came out.  Actually, there are twelve books, as two are compilations.  I will be getting them all for about the same cost as getting two or three of them.  This was about as far as I was planning to go, until another goal opened up to get a newer book that I wanted, again at a fairly good discount.  I was waffling about whether or not to add it, when I had a visit last week from someone I hadn't seen in a long time.  [By the way, thanks again ABH.  That brief talk cheered me up.  I just hope that we will get to actually do something once again, besides talking from across a room for a few minutes.]  That visit helped me make up my mind and add to my pledge just as the campaign was winding down.  There was some controversy, as Kickstarter had connection issues during the last hour.  Fortunately, my pledge addition was accepted.  Unfortunately, the final stretch goal wasn't reached.  While the art staff will get a pay bonus, the rest of the creative team will not.  At least they will get paid for all of the extra material they will have to write.  One of the reasons I got into this was so I could a feel for the process, and maybe start my own campaign.  One of my many daydreams is to actually work in the gaming universe.  It feels like a great fit for me; I'm just not sure how to get involved.  This could be a first step.  I just have to wait until my rewards come in.