Wednesday, June 20, 2018

From the Archive : Cat and Falcon, Part 4

My heart beat rapidly, painfully
As the memories of what had been
Crossed my mind like a flock of butterflies
And I felt so ashamed
From the very start I knew
As you well knew, I knew
That no matter what happened
In my heart there was a place for you
But it hurts darling, oh so much
Knowing I shall never be
The one to receive your gentle touch
In the end though, in reality
It’s far better for you and for me
Knowing in truth that friends is all
That we will ever be
You’re the kind that must be free.

“Cedric, wait a minute won’t you? I’ve something for you!” Mariel called to Cedric , and he turned around. He noted sadly how much older she looked in the sunlight. Her reddish skin took on a slightly grayish tint. Mars hair which was normally tied up and tucked under her chefs cap, was down and loose, and you could see that salt and peppered through her coppery red hair was gray patches.

“Sorry. I didn’t know you wanted to talk.” Cedric replied apologetically, dropping his small duffel bag to the ground and hugged her.

Mariel paused, hugging him, and caught her breath. On the ship, the lower gravity was kinder to her. She appeared to be younger there. But every time they got back off the ship, Cedric felt as though his heart would break. Because he was always afraid that she might not make it to the next flight.

“I wanted to give you a ticket to the date auction tonight. You deserve to have some fun. And just so you know, I also am spotting for you to get a date, so I suggest you bid on some.”

Cedric felt his ears flushing as he took the ticket he was being offered, and then he slipped it into his pocket. “Why…Thank you Mar. What brought this up?”

“Paul and I got to talking last night after you left, so I sent ahead and had the ticket ready, but you didn’t stay put long enough for them to simply give it to you, therefore… I had to catch you and present it to you myself.”

Cedric cautiously accepted the ticket and hugged Mariela again. “Thank you. Although I really must say that it’s strange to think that you’re willing to pay to send me out on a date.”

Mar laughed and swatted him playfully. “Only because you deserve it. You take a lot of crap from the corporation. If I was in your shoes I’d never stand for it.”

“Ah.” Cedric smiled, then picked his bag back up. “Well I think that it will be fun. Maybe there’ll be someone interesting there.”

“There’s always someone interesting there…” Mariela replied, and then she watched him head off, and wondered who would be there that was new.

Cedric on the other hand…was trying to figure out how in the world they expected him to feel comfortable spending someone else’s money…

Monday, June 18, 2018

Music Monday : Q

Q is a peculiar letter, we don't have a ton of use for it. So it was difficult to come up with things for this weeks letter. But hey, the word of the week, is a good one.

Quisling : one who aids the enemy; a puppet leader supported by foreign power

Heh. I hope you have a chance to use this word during the week. Because if I said what I was really thinking things would get ...awkward.


The Quakes - Rocker


Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize

Queens of The Stone Age - Mosquito Song

Queen - Under Pressure

Queensryche - Walk In The Shadows

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Personal Update

Yeah I know that it may seem like I've been slacking. But to be honest I have had a lot on my mind, and I don't even know if it's anything you would want to hear about.

Life is a complicated thing after all, and not everyone has the same concerns. But my main concerns currently are health concerns. I don't know what's wrong, I don't have any answers. I've been going in to try and get them, but there aren't any answers available for me.

And it's scary. Not knowing what's actually going on is downright terrifying. It doesn't make things easier either. It leaves me wondering what exactly I've been doing with my life, and what exactly I have left to do.

I'm not sure right now.

But that's ok, right? You won't judge me for being uncertain.

But I really wish I had some answers.

Friday, June 15, 2018

Off the Shelf: Star of the Morning

A return to the genre of fantasy with Star of the Morning, one of the Nine Kingdoms books.



Star of the Morning
Lynn Kurland
315 pages 


I want to start out by saying that I have not, yet, read any of the other Nine Kingdoms books, but as Lynn Kurland's site lists this as the first of the series, I'm off to a good start.  So far, the series looks to have 10 books, set in groups of three as to the featured protagonist; while more than half of Star of the Morning is done from a second main character's point of view, the book very much centers around Morgan, the woman seen standing on the cover above.  The following two books also seem to feature her, but I don't want to put up the spoilers that the titles give; if you're curious, you can always look them up!

You cannot get much more medieval fantasy than Star of the Morning.  It centers around a dark evil trying to overtake a Kingdom, a king beset by a sudden plague (of sorts), his mage brother looking for an answer, and a young woman who may be the shining light to save the kingdom... maybe.  There are a lot of complications, little and big, and the ending to the book is not what you would expect.  You can think of it a little in terms of King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone, but instead of pulling the sword out and ruling all of England, Arthur finds out exactly what the sword does and decides to throw it back into the weaponsmith's furnace.  It's hard to describe this book without giving too much away, but there is the epic quest formula, a very strong heroine (I do not know why the book cover shows her in a dress - she doesn't wear a dress throughout the entire book), and quite a few twists and turns that fit well with the story, but can still manage to surprise an avid reader from time to time.

All in all, I did enjoy the book quite a bit, and the ending has me hooked to see how the story could possibly go on from here, as it seems the entire quest has proved fruitless and does not appear to be fixable.  There is also a nice little teaser from book five of the series, Spellweaver, this one having a male protagonist, that seems equally as well written.  There is a tiny touch of romance to the book that might turn some off, but it is less in the way of a romantic relationship and more an added burden of the characters having to face the difficulty in duty versus desire.

That said, I think Star of Morning is a very good, very well-written book that has a lot of appeal, though definitely is only for those who enjoy medieval-fantasy.  Not in-your-face unicorns and stuff, but mostly mages and the age-old good-versus-evil battles.  There really is no gender bias to this book, as the main character is a female, but the other half of the story is told through the eyes of the archmage, who is a male, so there is a very nice balance.  I could also see a wide range of ages enjoying this story.  It may be a bit too advanced for most middle-schoolers, depending on their individual reading level, but I can see myself having read this book as part of my free-reading selections in seventh grade, if I had had it at that point, and I enjoyed it just as much nearly two decades later.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

From the Archives : Cat and Falcon, Part 3

Opening my eyes to the possibilities
Meant I had to be open minded
And at least give things a chance
Even though I’d only been hurt by romance
But what I heard and what I saw
Made me wonder if I was done after all
My friends keep telling me
That I’ll find someone new
But I don’t know just yet
If that’s really what I want to do

Aurea ran through the spinning doors of the space port and weaved her way cautiously through the throngs of travelers, guests, and their friends and family. Occasionally protests were expressed as she darted between people. She slammed through the swinging door of the trade office and dropped her purse on her desk. Then she went over leaning her elbows on the higher desk top of Dillon’s desk, and looked her best friend straight in the eye.

“And today I’m on time!” She said victoriously as the clock began to chime the hour.

“Just barely.” Dillon said rubbing her temples and brushing some brilliant silver hair out of her ice blue eyes. “Not that I’ve ever tattled about you being late. That’d be the computer not me.”

“I do not rat anyone out!” Protested Amire as he started opening windows and put on the music.

“Computers… no sense of loyalty to their fellow workers.” Dillon said spitefully, knowing Amire found it frustrating that she talked like that. He was still an early model, so his system wasn’t as elaborate as the other systems that were available. But he did his job and did it well, even if he didn’t act quite “human.”

“Dillon, don’t pick on him today, please. We have bigger fish to fry.”

Dillon growled back playfully. “Must it always be fish; can’t we sometimes have a rabbit or two to fry?”

Aurea reached over the desk and scratched her best friend behind the ear. “We can have whatever it is you want. I really need to know…”

“Good morning Girls, I hope you’re ready for today’s assignment.” Their boss Caroline interrupted, standing like a giant looming over them. It was just an illusion of course… she simply wore extremely high heels.

Dillon and Aurea both straightened up and nodded. “Of course we are M’am.” Aurea said with a grin.
“Good. Discuss between the two of you which one of you is going to represent our office in the space ports Annual Date Auction. As soon as you’ve decided, please come to my office and fill me in, so that we can fill in the paperwork. Thank you.” Caroline smiled brightly and swept off. She smiled to herself; she knew that at least SHE couldn’t be in the auction. And that’s only because she got married the summer before.

Dillon looked at Aurea, and growled. “This is not good, you do realize that?”

“Why do you say that? I’ve never been to one of these things before.” Aurea replied in a curious tone. “How does it work?”

“They dress you up and auction you off to the highest bidder for a date.” Dillon said anger in her voice. “They auction off both girls and guys. The problem is you can end up having to spend a day with a real ass and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“I take it you’ve dealt with it before?”

Dillon nodded. “I got roped into it last year. I didn’t like the experience. Therefore, I nominate you for the task.”

“Hey you can’t do that!”

“Actually she can.” Amire interrupted. “Office seniority compared to you. All in all.”

“But that doesn’t mean anything!” Aurea protested. “It’s not my fault she actually arrived here a year before I did! It’s not like I could do anything about it.”

“You could have come here with me when I asked you to in the first place.” Dillon said with a laugh. “But it doesn’t matter. I think that it might be just the thing for you to do. After all, I don’t think you’ve gotten out of your apartment to do anything except for what work you do for us.”

“Briggiet is very good company…”

“Yes but like me Aurea, Briggiet is a machine.” Amire inserted his two cents. “Therefore…the excuse is not usable.”

“And you can’t go on hiding from the real world Aurea.” Dillon added. “Just because Andre turned out to be a complete jerk off doesn’t mean that all guys are. Therefore, I think you should go be in the date auction. If it turns out to be a bad experience, you can write it off as having been sport. If it turns out to be something good…well… then we know what that means.” She finished the sentence with flourished tones, her eyes shining as she watched Aurea look at her with a helpless expression.

“After you just said it’s a horrible thing?” Aurea could feel that her body was starting to show her frustration, and she took her tail in her hands and began to wring it woefully. “Why would I want to do it if you already told me that it’s something that I wouldn’t want to do?”

“Because you’re a Sriytian, like me. You’ve got to stop hiding from this world, and learn to be more courageous. Besides one bad experience with a male don’t mean anything. As our mothers said, males might make money, but it’s the females that stretch it out.”

“And that has nothing to do with what we’re discussing!”

“So? You get your butt down the hall and in that office and fill in that paperwork, or am going to chew your tail off.” Dillon said barring her teeth so her sharp canines showed in a wolf like grin.

“HEY! I could scratch you to ribbons, even if you are my best friend!” Aurea replied in protest.

“Yes dear.” Dillon replied with a bark like laugh. “But I know you won’t. So get going. I appoint you for this adventure.”

“Fine.” Aurea said her voice quiet, defeated. “But you better at least be at the event…I don’t know how this works or nothing!”

“Go talk to Caroline. She’ll be more than happy to explain the mechanics of the event, as well as inform you of all the details.” Dillon replied smiling, victory was hers.

Aurea mumbled something, and headed to Caroline’s office…feeling a slight…foreboding deep inside her. This was not going to be fun.