does this thing still work?

[ziparumpazoo]

It's been so incredibly long since I last posted that I don't even know where to start. Short form: Got my boat operator's license card (it says I'm Competent. whoohoo!), recovering from a minor car accident takes way longer than I'd like (being 20 definitely wasted on 20 year olds), but the kayaking is helping with the upper back problems so long

Comments

[abyssinia4077]

Wow, those photos are gorgeous!

Then I read The Giver by Lois Lowry, which I really enjoyed, right up until the ending, which I felt was a cheat for the character of Jonas. Again, the kind of twist not a summer reading priority, however the book is a deeper social commentary than it first appears and I'm still thinking it over.

I was pretty much exactly the target age when that book came out, and one of those kids who was a voracious reader. And thus, I was expected to read this book multiple times. I HATED it. Vehemently. Mostly due to the ending. At this point, I only vaguely remember anything about it, but I remember being so angry about it and so annoyed that I had to read it again. Half of me wonders if I'd react the same way now, but I'm not sure I want to find out.

[ziparumpazoo]

Oh man, I'd be ticked too. I really liked the concept of the story - it's a classic sci-fi trope that's been done really well before with movies like Aeon Flux and GATTACA, but if the book was intended for the junior high age group, the message I took away from the ending is that if you try to think for yourself, somebody's going to take advantage of you and trick you and you'll end up dead. The Wikipedia articles on the other books in the series says they survive, but that feels like a retcon to me.

Oh! It was you who rec'd the Bag Balm for cracked skin, right? I've been meaning to say thank you because it's been a lifesaver. :)

[abyssinia4077]

Yeah. It's funny - I only very vaguely remember the book (something about the main character being chosen to receive memories from an old man and realizing the world is all the same and nobody can see any colors now or something? And something about a baby and the boy and baby running off at the end or...something) but I really really really clearly remember my utter HATE for the ending and thus the entire book. Like feeling completely betrayed by the author (whose other books I liked).

Also, wow, I had no idea she'd turned it into a series!

I tend to recommend Bag Balm for that, so, yeah, probably me. Glad it helped! It's awesome for super dry/unhappy (like from chafing) skin and also really good at treating sunburn once the heat in the skin has gone and can't be trapped by the grease.

[ziparumpazoo]

Thank you! I'm still amazed what that tiny camera on the iphone can do with good light.

[syxp]

Impressive.

All my iPhone camera seems capable of is taking blurry pictures of cats. :P

[ziparumpazoo]

I have not yet found the slider to off the blurry cat setting on my phone.