Hey, People of the Internet!
It’s “toe the line,” not “tow the line.”
It’s “the die is cast,” not “the dye is cast.”
It’s “sow the seeds,” not “sew the seeds.”
OK. I feel better having gotten that off my chest. Thank you for your attention.
P.S. It’s “clean conscience,” not “clean conscious.”
The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan; Grade: B
Among the first books I read this year was The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. The easy humor of Riordan’s Norse-mythology-themed series had worked well enough for me last year that I decided to give this series a try, too.
There are three main characters, all demigods: the mysterious Jason, who has amnesia; Piper, daughter of a kidnapped movie star; and Leo, who has a natural talent for building and using machines. They go on a quest, the ultimate purpose of which is to fight against forces that threaten to destroy the world, meeting along the way such characters as King Midas (of the Golden Touch), Medea (an evil sorceress), and Aeolus (god of the winds).
It’s an easy, breezy read, but there’s little character development. Jason, in particular, still seems like a blank page. He’s the central character, the one around which the others gather, which makes the story weakest at its heart. There was less humor in this book than some of Riordan’s other stories (or the humor didn’t work as well for me). The premise, which is concealed for most of the story though hinted at fairly broadly, doesn’t really appeal much to me.
Though I hate to leave a series unfinished once I start it, that’s what I’m going to do in this case. I offered the book to Livia. She liked it enough to continue with the series.
This is one of the scariest things I’ve ever read about invasive species. It’s an article about Japanese knotweed, a plant that I know grows in my town. There’s none near my house yet, but geez, it sounds like it’s just a matter of time and then we’ll have to fight nonstop to keep it from destroying our house. I hope this article is just hype!
Glenn said, “Write something
each day, even if only
a lonely haiku.”
I’ve decided that Thursday shall now be known as “Picard Day,” because Thursdays are when new episodes of Picard come out. Having been able to stream TV shows on demand for years, I find it so annoying to have to wait a whole week between episodes. But it’s good for me and good for my opinion of the show. We cherish the things that are slowly doled out to us and care less for things we have in abundance. Picard Day gives me something to look forward to. Each episode is like a reward for having made it so far into the week. Happy Picard Day!
While working on my photo album this weekend, I remembered that I had some pictures on my phone that I wanted to include. So, for the first time since 2017, I took the effort to transfer pictures from my phone to my computer. Among them were these two.
I’ve struggled to get anything worthwhile done today, but I did at least write in my journal, blog, make the bed, do the dishes, and finish an art project.
Watching The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers last night I was struck by how many times the movie seemed like it ought to be coming to an end but instead kept chugging along. The third movie suffers from the same kind of awkward pacing at the end, as I recall. It might simply be an unavoidable consequence of having so many story lines to tie up.
I also have to say that, having come to expect more diversity on the screen, it is now a strange experience to watch a film in which nearly everyone has blue, gray, green, or hazel eyes, fair skin and light-colored hair. The story was written by a white guy about white guys, but even so, it seems wrong now for it to be so full of white guys. I wonder if the movie would be cast differently if it were made today, and how people would react either way.
There were some eye-color exceptions, though, including one very interesting one: Legolas, played by Orlando Bloom. I amused myself by monitoring Legolas’s eye color throughout the film and yelling “Gotcha!” when we finally reached a scene in which his eyes were brown. I had noticed the eye-color shift the last time I watched one of the LOTR films, and I looked it up on the Internet. Apparently the blue contact lenses bothered Bloom while filming, so he didn’t always wear them. Consequently we are treated to glimpses of his perfectly beautiful brown eyes from time to time.
These criticisms might make it sound as if I don’t like the movie, but that’s not the case. I’m still a fan. As with any film that you watch over and over again, you’re likely to notice different things about it during each viewing and to have evolving opinions.
I’m looking forward to the third film, which we plan to watch later this week.
Here is how my art project looks so far:
Currently reading:
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