Where The Wild Things Are

I always liked this book as a kid. I'm not sure how cool the movie is going to be, but the trailer makes it look awesome. It could be the song, but now I want to see it.




As awesome as that was, this clip is so much better...

Curling Up with a Butterbeer

My very own copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has arrived from Amazon.com! I am not a super geek or anything, but I feel I need to read it immediately to avoid accidentally reading any spoilers on the internet. I just hope to finish it in two weeks.

Here is the box it arrived in.

Later Muggles!

PS For those who don’t know what Butterbeer is:

Butterbeer is the drink of choice for younger wizards. Though marketed to children, it contains alcohol: it appears to cause no noticeable drunkenness on a thirteen-year-old humans (though it creates the feeling of "warmth"), but is strong enough to cause drunkenness in a house-elf; presumably, in very large amounts, the same would apply to a human. J. K. Rowling said in her interview to Bon Appetit magazine that she imagines it "to taste a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch". Butterbeer can be served cold or hot but either way it has a warming effect.

Great Read

I finished yet another book, The Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton. I found this one during one of my last weekends in the states. I didn't need another book, but it looked like a really good read on my deployment.

Without telling you too much, it centers around a secret diary by Charles Darwin's daughter, Lizzy. The diary is fiction, discovered by fictional characters, but is used as a device to explore Darwin's famous voyage on the HMS Beagle. The historical characters are real. The outcome, like The Da Vinci Code, must not be taken too seriously, but it is fine storytelling.

It did not disappoint. If you liked the The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown I highly suggest this book.

Little People

I've just finished reading The Children of Men (P.D. James). It was a book Casie recommended and is now a major motion picture. Good book, spooky cover, and perhaps too well written. I didn't know a ton of the words.

I did an experiment, being the nerd I am, and wrote down all the words I didn't know in a 25 page span.

These were the words: inviolate, malcontents, importunities, hamlet, tattered, profusion, prudence, decree, cassock, recalcitrant, unpretentious, denuded, blight, palliatives, grenadiers, fiefdom, dinghy, magistrates, farfel, sulky, cosseted, hieratic, jerkin, etiolated, melancholy, nonplussed, despot, edict, pittance, sojourner, indignation, derelict, estuary, pendulous, festooned, chalets, weal, crepe, posy, disheveled, buffeted, jetty, pirouetting, macabre, detritus, irresolute, chintz, palatable, and laden. Is it just me, or are these hard words?

The total came to 48 words. I could still get through the book and understand it, but maybe my vocabulary needs a little work.

The book talks about the world becoming infertile in the year 2027. It isn't hard to imagine, here in Iraq, since I haven't seen a child in over 75 days! The things we take for granted.

I (heart) Books

If I go into a mall I have to go in the book store. I am attracted to the dust covers, the smell, even the texture of the pages. Casie hates our weekly marathon trips to Barnes & Noble on Sundays. She loves books too, but I love browsing for new reads. She would prefer to buy one and curl up at home to actually read it.

I have about a million (guess-timation) books sitting on bookshelves back home. Casie is always reminding me to read what I have. The problem with that is it requires time, that is better spent running, watching television, or reading magazines/comic books back in the states. Being deployed has afforded me the time to get reacquainted with reading books again.

So far I've read this deployment:
Angels & Demons (Dan Brown)
Inside Ring (Mike Lawson)
Animal Farm (George Orwell)
Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)

I just finished reading Flags of Our Fathers (James Bradley) today. Excellent read. Very detailed description of the events leading to, the flag raising, and events afterwards. Emotional last chapter. I bought the DVD for $4 from a local vendor last week. The movie looks good, but I try to read the book before going to see the movie. Now I can!

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