Rock Against Voldemedia

(Typed up on Dec. 11)


I am not for passing a million bills & expanding government even more-- like that "homegrown terrorism" bill wants to do-- but this is definitely talking about keeping Freedom of Speech & of the Press & keeping us informed, not talking about stupid Paris-friggin'-Hilton. Stop the trash & the lame BS that the media keeps spouting that keeps people in the dark! The amazing thing (aside from the fact that the Rock Against Voldemedia album is free to download) is that people from all political parties are serious about this. (Apocalypse, right?) And I like the fact that in the Podcast, it's mention that, despite things like Podcast & MySpace being the vehicles for things like Wizard rock, they're still spouting their own corporational bullshit.

It reminded me: on the radio the other day, some woman made it sound like immigrants are bad. Ok: not all immigrants are illegal. You can't make sweeping generalizations about people just because they're immigrants, or white, or black, or striped, or whatever. We're a nation of immigrants, & the first European settlers pushed the indigenous peoples off their land, so I don't know what this woman's problem was. She disturbed me.

...The internet quit while I was writing that. Coincidence? I think not. (Kidding, kidding. It always quits on me; it ticks me off...)

These recent posts have been full of political crap & judicious use of the italic HTML tag. Ah well.

Our solemn hour

Sent out an e-mail that is basically the same thing, so I apologize if you are seeing this twice.

Bill
Article

Truth or overreacting? Personally, I don't know. After learning about the military coups in Latin America & the U.S.' involvement in them-- especially concerning the SOA-- this does make me feel uneasy. Because even if the bill is really going to focus on actual violent force, I bet that there are going to be those that abuse it to get the "subversives." In other words, people thinking differently from the government, students, young people, writers, musicians, artists, &c. They are all considered "dangerous" & "subversives." What happened in Latin America could happen here. That was what I was afraid of.

The idea & dream of this country seems to have completely died. Things that used to seem secure & safe no longer seem so. Things that seemed innocent & helpful no longer seem so. Ideas & beliefs are suddenly completely shattered.

But they can't do this. To pass a bill that would stifle original thought, or abused to such ends violates our First Amendment rights. It sounds horribly pompous & idealistic-- & I've never had much patience for idealists-- but I refuse to let this happen. I will be damned if the government takes away my First Amendment rights, if they sink so low as to imprison people for-- God forbid-- thinking, whether they like what's being said or not. I am not supporting the fundies & extremists (I think they suck), I just seriously think that this Bill is either a wolf in sheep's clothing or that it can & will be abused. There is a saying, you know: I may not like what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Though it's easier said than done.

When I found out about the SOA & the dirty wars, I worried & wondered, What does that mean could happen here? Could this be it? Could it be an overreaction?

Regardless, life goes on... Bought things yesterday. Got presents for people, then got home & saw that I didn't have nearly as much as I thought, which made me feel rather ashamed. So I still need to maybe get a few more bits & baubles for people. Also got a few things myself, like markers that hopefully work a bit better than the other ones I've got, sparkly bird ornaments (the one's plastic string already broke; oops), a small pack of Andes mints, & a small Jack Sparrow notebook because it's a caricature & the expression is brilliant. Also got some stuff to send to Toriko in Australia (have quite a few foodstuffs to send to her now). All that at the Dollar Tree: nine items from there in all. (I know, dollar stores. I am a horrible person.) Then went to Borders & got two gifts, & also bought A Wizard of Earthsea, because looking through The People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien (by TORn), Tehanu mentions it a lot, so I decided to read at least the first book. It's fairly interesting thus far. So I spent money, & can't help but generally feel guilty over it. Can't even say "at least I got people presents," because I don't think I've gotten enough for people yet!

Here's something nice to do. :)

Really need to work on finals stuff today & tomorrow. Drawing II final is due Tuesday; have eight more paintings/drawings/whatever to go. Also still need to talk to my painting track advisor about getting credit for skipping Drawing I. Also need to type up my final English essay, which I began to do, but it's rambling & not even making any sense to me. (Then you know it's bad.) The paper has to do with the humanities, so I'm going to do it based off of literature, more specifically The Lord of the Rings (with sides of stuff like Sil) & Harry Potter... something about the relevance of fantasy in today's world? But it's very disorganized, despite only being about two paragraphs thus far, so should probably draw up a hasty list of what to include & hopefully finish it before tomorrow. After such things, I can start to try & work on sending things to people that would like things sent to them, like Rose & Maggie(AK).

Feel really thirsty & very tired & melancholy & worried. (Great, now I am going to turn crazily paranoid. Goddammit.)

Some lyrics (& you could probably find the songs on YouTube, which you should. And also look at the lyrics):

And Then There Was Silence-- Blind Guardian

Our Solemn Hour-- Within Temptation

We Will Rise --Arch Enemy

My Spirit Will Go On-- DragonForce

Black Winter Night-- DragonForce (really, so much of their stuff works if you're angry or something, if only because it's power metal)

Bright Eyes-- Blind Guardian

Planet Hell-- Nightwish

Born in a Mourning Hall-- Blind Guardian

May It Be-- Enya (Fellowship of the Ring OST)

Day after day as I bodies slay
And the sun becomes dark in the sky
Everything's lost for this human race
And the dawn of a new age will rise

Rays of sunlight now are gone
Only visions of ice will remain
The fallen ones and forgotten souls
Will rise up over the slain

No more hope as we raise our hands to the sky
No more dreams as the rivers run dry

Everything's lost all is left astray
Only sorrow and sadness remains
Curtains have dropped on our fallen world
And the forces of darkness shall rise

Why can't you see what has happened to thee
Can you not open your eyes
Everything's lost there is no retreat
And the valleys echo with pain

No more hope as we raise our hands to the sky
No more dreams as the rivers run dry

On the endless sea of madness we sail forever more
And the endless tears of sadness towards the distant shores
When the flame has died forever we stand one and all
With the power of the almighty sword

We fight the battle on the fields tonight
To save us from the master of all evil sign
And to the battle on forever standing strong
We feel the fire power of the night warriors

No more tomorrow
Dying of sorrow
Over the mountains and up through the trees
Traveling across seven seas

No more hope as we hold our hands to the sky
No more dreams as the rivers run dry

On the endless seas of madness we sail forever more
And the endless tears of sadness towards the distant shores
When the flame has died forever we stand one and all
With the power of the almighty sword

We fight the battle on the fields tonight
To save us from the master of all evil sign
And to the battle on forever standing strong
We feel the fire power of the night warriors

On the endless seas of madness we sail forever more
And the endless tears of sadness towards the distant shores
When the flame has died forever we stand one and all
With the power of the almighty sword

We'll fight the battle on the fields tonight
To save us from the master of all
We fight the battle on the fields tonight
To save us from the master of all evil sign

And to the battle on
Forever standing strong
We feel the fire
Power of the night warriors

The power of the night warriors...



I am disturbed & upset that this still exists. I never heard of it until this year, never heard about how the higher-ups know about what happens & yet don't seem to care, as the school is still open. They think changing the name & adding human rights classes-- which are sometimes not even offered & are relatively small-- is going to change the school overall. No. It's not. They are killing people they call "subversives;" people who think differently from their regime, people who are innocent, & are either considered dangerous-- artists, musicians, students, &c.-- or are guilty by association. They kill everyone, be they children, religious people, or people who have never done anything wrong in their lives but just happen to know someone they deem "subversive." They claim Amnesty International gave them a thumbs up; Amnesty International says that they have never said that, & never would.

This isn't some sole event, & it's not the only horrible thing in the world today. But I find it extremely disturbing that this is my country that is training these people, while knowing what they do. The interests they say they are protecting are not the interests of the everyday citizen. This isn't me being anti-American: the people who are allowing this to happen are anti-American! We want to make like we're this beacon, & then we do this. It's disgusting & hypocritical. And the higher-ups in our government & military are letting it happen. They admitted it. They train these people, knowing who they're killing-- people that, over here, we supposedly value-- & then arrest people who peacefully protest, asking for the permanent closure of the school. There are protestors who have served nine months in prison for exercising their First Amendment & their right to assemble peacefully.

If they say this is all ok, then what path is the country heading down?

The government has swelled; it was never supposed to, it was supposed to be small. People keep wanting to add to it; this wasn't what the original plan was, & it causes far more problems than it solves. The federal government was supposed to be mainly for defense of the nation, & now it has far too much power, & people keep giving it more, by insisting on programs & crap for every-- little-- thing. Stop giving the government so much power!

If the death squads obviously don't seem to regard as these people as equals, then what are we saying when we train them? What does this mean could happen tomorrow, what could happen over here? I just can't believe that the government of the country that I live in-- the country that's supposed to be all about "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" & equality-- is saying that it's ok to kill innocents. People who think differently from the government. It's disturbing.


I never thought you would fail yourself.

Observational notebook stuff

Some things from the old observational notebook that was started in 2005 for Telemedia. Don't use it much anymore-- indeed, it got to the point where it was no longer required for the class-- & it's falling apart, but there are some recent things in it, & I do still look through it. So here's a few things from it, just because.

-------------------
"Silent & furious"
--

DENNIS is hugging a toilet

SHERRY
Dennis, what are you doing?

DENNIS
Life sucks, Sherry.

SHERRY
Dennis... the toilet doesn't care.

(courtesy of Lauryll)
--

"Don't run him over, he's from Virginia!"
--

Your Gods and my Gods-- do you or I know which are stronger?

-Indian proverb
--

The voice of a child, however honest & true, is meaningless to those who have forgotten how to listen.

-Dumbledore
--

He's gonna come back, he's gonna see that, & he's gonna kick your ass from here all the way to Massapequa.

-Josh, T3, 9/29/05
--

10/17-- Rachel: What if John Proctor & Hale had babies?
--

10/25-- The Flying Hamster of DOOM (on a t-shirt =P)
--

I am no one's cabbage before ten in the morning. -SBP James
11/7- in italian: Non sono il cavalo di nessuno prima delle dieci di mattina.
--

10/21 The Two Trees by William Butler Yeats

Beloved, gaze in thine own heart,
The holy tree is growing there;
From joy the holy branches start,
And all the trembling flowers they bear.
The changing colours of its fruit
Have dowered the stars with merry light;
The surety of its hidden root
Has planted quiet in the night;
The shaking of its leafy head
Has given the waves their melody,
And made my lips and music wed,
Murmuring a wizard song for thee.
There the Loves a circle go,
The flaming circle of our days,
Gyring, spiring to and fro
In those great ignorant leafy ways;
Remembering all that shaken hair
And how the wingèd sandals dart,
Thine eyes grow full of tender care:
Beloved, gaze in thine own heart.

Gaze no more in the bitter glass
The demons, with their subtle guile,
Lift up before us when they pass,
Or only gaze a little while;
For there a fatal image grows
That the stormy night receives,
Roots half hidden under snows,
Broken boughs and blackened leaves.
For all things turn to barrenness
In the dim glass the demons hold,
The glass of outer weariness,
Made when God slept in times of old.
There, through the broken branches, go
The ravens of unresting thought;
Flying, crying, to and fro,
Cruel claw and hungry throat,
Or else they stand and sniff the wind,
And shake their ragged wings; alas!
Thy tender eyes grow all unkind:
Gaze no more in the bitter glass.
--

The Hosting of the Sidhe ~W.B. Yeats

The host is riding from Knocknarea
And over the grave of Clooth-na-Bare;
Caoilte tossing his burning hair,
And Niamh calling Away, come away:
Empty your heart of its mortal dream.
The winds awaken, the leaves whirl round,
Our cheeks are pale, our hair is unbound,
Our breasts are heaving, our eyes are agleam,
Our arms are waving, our lips are apart;
And if any gaze on our rushing band,
We come between him and the deed of his hand,
We come between him and the hope of his heart.
The host is rushing 'twixt night and day,
And where is there hope or deed as fair?
Caoilte tossing his burning hair,
And Niamh calling Away, come away.
--

11/1 @ 4:something or about 5 am
I can see so many stars, it's amazing. It's so beautiful. I found Sirius, finally. The brightest star in the sky. ...It's so dark out; these pinpricks of light are the only things in the sky that can be seen. No clouds to speak of.

...Arien is beginning to rise.
--

11/2- in Georgia now (12:33 p.m. as of now)

(on the way down, saw a sign that said, "Peaches & Cream- Lemmon Farms." (ha ha.))
--

11/3-
8:13 p.m.- Cities at night from high up look as if stars have fallen to the ground.
--

11/4- pg 38- Dracula:
And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere "modernity" cannot kill.

From Honathan Harker's Journal
--

11/8- Is there fate amongst us still, sent down from the pagan world of old, that such things must be, and in such way?

-Dr. Van Helsing, pg 114
Dracula
--

11/9 (B4)- Ben: And for $20 a month, you can join mine & Mac's religion... We give you Kool-Aid.
Janna: Do you have Nikes?
me: Why does this sound like D&D club of old?
Ben: *puts finger to his lips*
Janna: Do you give us Nikes?
Ben: We have bagels.
Janna: You can't start a religion without Nikes.
--

11/14- ...more bitterly did I perceive the futility of all attempt at cheering a mind from which darkness, as if an inherent positive quality, poured forth upon all objects of the moral and physical universe in one unceasing radiation of gloom.
-From "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
--

From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:

NOTICE
Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot will be shot.

BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR,
Per G.G., Chief of Ordnance.
--

11/15-- From "The Masque of the Red Death"

...There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made.
--

Nobody's nice
When you're older your heart turns to ice

-"Have You Forgotten"
-Red House Painters
--

11/28/05-- Saw Goblet of Fire @ 12 am @ The Senator!!!!]

Pg 944 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die:

As a three-part film, The Lord of the Rings can transport viewers effortlessly to other lands where heroism, love, and sacrifice make perfect sense.
--

11/19/05-- When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food.

-Desiderius Erasmus
--

11/23- You're looking at me like I've got lobsters crawling out of my ears. -Kayleigh (B3 Study hall)
--

11/28-- Colin talking about having his own world or being the gov.
me: If your word was law, I'd lead the revolution.
-

You think I care about your problems? This is about my problems.
-Josh, A4
--

12/1- Fish gets eaten by bear. Fish dies. Bear is happy. Fish is not. -Kayleigh
-

It's like being raped by words. -me to dad (why?)
--

12/2 (A4, T2)-- Bynum: The most punch, the most drama.
Josh: The most Kool-Aid.
-

They should fear me. I'm glorious. And a gladiator. In disguise.
-Rachel on beating people w/ her Latin book
--

The Sad Shepherd W.B. Yeats (Macalaurë?)

There was a man whom Sorrow named his friend,
And he, of his high comrade Sorrow dreaming,
Went walking with slow steps along the gleaming
And humming sands, where windy surges wend:
And he called loudly to the stars to bend
From their pale thrones and comfort him, but they
Among themselves laugh on and sing alway:
And then the man whom Sorrow named his friend
Cried out, Dim sea, hear my most piteous story!
The sea swept on and cried her old cry still,
Rolling along in dreams from hill to hill.
He fled the persecution of her glory
And, in a far-off, gentle valley stopping,
Cried all his story to the dewdrops glistening.
But naught they heard, for they are always listening,
The dewdrops, for the sound of their own dropping.
And the man whom Sorrow named his friend
Sought once again the shore, and found a shell,
And thought, I will my heavy story tell
Till my own words, re-echoing, shall send
Their sadness through a hollow, pearly heart;
And my own tale again for me shall sing,
And my own whispering words be comforting,
And lo! my ancient burden may depart.
Then he sang softly nigh the pearly rim;
But the sad dweller by the sea-ways lone
Changed all he sang to inarticulate moan
Among her wildering whirls, forgetting him.
-

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow," James mumbles into his elbow. "I don't care what tomorrow is. It's just as bad as today only I get to dread it first."
-part 10 (SBP)
--

12/22- (dismissal)
Rachel: (coughing) I think those oil pastels are coming back up.
Maggie: (shaking her) No!
Rachel: Pardon me if I cough up a neon green.
Maggie: If you do, can I have it?
Rachel: No.
Maggie: Damn.
-

Maggie told this: Cypressi is talking about the Sculpture BBQ
Cypressi: Ok, class ends in three minutes, & I'm going to go put some hot dogs on the grill.
--

1/1/06-- Mom: I'm fine with a dictatorship as long as I'm the dictator. What does that make me?
Mark: A woman. (hides behind dad)
--

1/5-- "--because right is right, and wrong is wrong, & a body ain't got no business doing wrong when he ain't ignorant & knows better."
-Tom Sawyer
pg 221 Huck Finn
--

1/10- Kayleigh on posture:
me: So how do I stand?
Kayleigh: I don't know, I haven't looked at your pelvis lately. ...That sounds wrong.
--

1/27- Non c'è peggior sordo di colui che non vuol sentire.
(There is no worse deaf person than the one who does not want to hear.)
-Italian proverb
-

I should like to save the Shire, if I could-- though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them.

-Frodo, The Fellowship of the Ring
pg 96
--

2/6- How does one go about resigning from the human race?
-Diana Trent, Waiting for God
--

2/16- Josh: Mr. Bynum's asexual.
Bynum: (behind a desk) Hey, I'm right here.
Josh: I know. That's why I made the joke.
Bynum: Oh. Carry on.
--

2/17- B4- "watching" The Day After Tomorrow

Janna: You know, you'd think somebody'd notice on the weather... "And next week the Apocalypse is coming, so get out those galoshes & good luck!" =D
-

Joke Allyson made yesterday:
A mother & daughter went to the doctor's because the daughter was pregnant. The doctor asked the mother if her daughter had ever kissed a boy. She said no. The doctor asked the daughter & she said no.

The doctor went to the window & looked out. The mother asked what he was doing. He said, "Well, the last time this happened, there was a star in the east & Three Wise Men came riding up. I'm sure as hell not going to miss it this time."
--

We pity him. We hate him. We fear him-- all because there is a little of him in each of us, though we admit it to ourselves only in the darkest part of the night.
-Justarius
--

3/8- These blue eyes gave nothing, expected nothing. They held too much knowledge. They had seen too much in their six years-- too much sorrow, too much pain. They had looked beneath the bed and discovered that there really were monsters lurking in the shadows.
-pg 26
The Soulforge
--

(DST3K) Dalamar: [God] Love the sinner, hate the sin... Love the sinner, hate the sin... Awww, damn, why should I have to work this hard? EVERYBODY can go to hell.
--

3/22-

In western lands beneath the Sun
the flowers may rise in Spring,
the trees may bud, the waters run,
the merry finches sing.
Or maybe 'tis cloudless night
and swaying beeches bear
the Elven-stars as jewels white
amid their branching hair.

Though here at journey's end I lie
in darkness buried deep,
beyond all towers strong and high,
beyond all mountains steep,
above all shadows rides the Sun
and Stars for ever dwell:
I will not say the Day is done,
nor bid the Stars farewell.

~J.R.R. Tolkien
(Samwise Gamgee, pg 226 of Return of the King)
--

3/30- Written in the last bathroom stall in the 2nd story bathroom in the hallway where 208 is:

Who I am hates
who I've been...
-Reliant K
--

4/3- pg 149, King:

Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising
I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing.
To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking:
Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!

(Éomer)
--

4/25/06-- from 4/20-

Learning about advertising. Ad for sending money to poor children in Africa.
Rashad: Most of them really aren't that poor. I mean, look outside. That's what it looks like. I mean, there's the occaisional zebra running by, but it looks like this.
Ms. Shapiro: But they have problems with electricity...
Several people: So do we!
Jameel: I bet they have those same commercials over there, only switched around... "Help those poor kids in Baltimore"...
--

5/3- me: My nose...
Kayleigh: You need to stroke it. It needs tender loving care.
--

6/5- written on the wall by a desk in Mrs. Holmes' room:
cross
my
heart
and
HOPE TO DIE
--

6/7- Holy sugar & pie, that hurt.
-Kayleigh (B3, but today it's B1)
-

Ms. Craig, come back. -someone on the announcements
--

6/16- "God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts."
--

8/1/06 (from 7/28) Janna (in her "angsty teen voice"): The floor is my only friend. It holds me up from the world.
--

8/25-- Lauryll: I mean, I can't multitask that much, you know?
me: What? "The camels can't tax you that much"?


-------
Will stop here for right now, if anyone cares, before going on to the section where 12th grade started. May scan some of the pages of it...?

Lament for Théodred (Old English)
Nú on théostrum licgeth Théodred se léofa
hæ'letha holdost. Ne sceal hearpen sweg
wigend weccean; ne winfæ't gylden
guma sceal healden, ne god hafoc
geond sæ'l swingan, ne se swifta mearh
burhstede beatan. Bealocwealm hafath
fréone frecan forth onsended.
Giedd sculon singan gléomenn sorgiende
on Meduselde thæ't he manna wæ're
his dryhtne direst and maga deorost.
----------------------
Now dear Théodred lies in darkness,
most loyal of fighters. The sound of the harp shall not
wake the warrior; nor shall the man
hold a golden wine-cup, nor good hawk
swing through the hall, nor the swift horse
stamp in the courtyard. An evil death has
sent forth the noble warrior.
A song shall sing sorrowing minstrels
in Meduseld, that he was of men
dearest to his lord and bravest of kinsmen.

(æ' = "æ" with an accent) (Totally stealing Maid of Orange's thing; I am so dumb : pp)

To those protestors at the Fairie Festival

In response to the close-minded fundamentalist protestors outside of last year's & this year's May Day Fairie Festival, telling people they were going to go to hell:

From Kevin Crossley-Holland's book The Arthur Trilogy Book One: The Seeing Stone:

Chapter 15-- Nine

Merlin and Oliver often argue, and Oliver sometimes gets angry.

I walked several times round the moat with them today, and they began by agreeing that the complete and flawless number is nine. But then they disagreed why. "The reason, Merlin," said Oliver, "is perfectly obvious. Lord God is our Father. He is the Son and he is the Holy Ghost. Three-in-one and one-in-three."

"And three equals nine," said Merlin.

"No, Merlin! Three does not equal nine."

Merlin waved his hands impatiently. "Constipatus!" he muttered.

Oliver took no notice. "Three is the divine number, and three-fold three is nine," he went on. "So nine is the flawless number. Quod erat demonstrandum."

"I get the idea," said Merlin.

"You get..." snapped Oliver, and he blocked one nostril with his right forefinger and blew snot from the other onto the ground.

"I'll tell you nine," said Merlin quietly. "The nine spirits, each with a bottomless chalice..."

"That is blasphemy!" said Oliver loudly.

"Nothing of the kind," replied Merlin.

"Do you deny Christ?"

"Not for one moment," said Merlin.

"It's as well for you," said Oliver.

"Are you threatening me?" asked Merlin.

Oliver glared at Merlin. "Your own tongue is your enemy," he said.

"My tongue is my servant."

"And it often leads you into mortal danger. There is no room in the house of Christ for nine spirits."

"One person sips from the chalice of poetry," continued Merlin, "and shapes poems for us. Another person sips from the chalice of song, and delights us."

"Cow dung!" shouted Oliver. "A load of cow dung! And you know it!" And he turned his back on us, and flounced off.

"Who are the other spirits?" I asked.

"I will tell you," said Merlin, "in a little while and soon. In the meantime, you must find your number."

"What do you mean?"

"Each of us is born under one star, and it guides us. In each of us, one element is most powerful. Each of us is true to one number, and it is time for you to find it."

woah

Haven't posted in this for a long time. And am not feeling well right now, though did just get back from a field trip to Washington DC which was ok-- went to the National Gallery & the Hirshorn. People were giving us odd looks before we even got off the bus.

Following written 4/17/07 1:53 a.m.:

The main thing recently, though, has been that I have begun to read Anne Rice. About two weeks ago, we were at a Goodwill & in looking through the books, saw Interview With the Vampire. Have always wondered what reading an Anne Rice book would be like, chiefly due to memories of "Lady Minty's" customs back in the days when the online MLP community was thriving: Lestat (or 'Stat)-pony, Nicki-pony, & Louis-pony. She stated what they were from, & so that's what I've always thought of, seeing an Anne Rice book. Of course I'd also heard things about them; think father once said he's read them. This was the chief reason I left the book on the shelf: Didn't want the parentals to know.

But got in line & thought would regret not getting it, & so made an excuse of wanting to "check something." Everyone else went out to the car; went back, grabbed the book, & bought it for fifty cents. And read it in three or four days.

It's hackneyed, but I couldn't put it down. It was written so well & it seemed elegant, even the gruesome (sp) parts. It's difficult to explain, aside from saying, "I really liked it." The end made me go, "What-- the--hell?" It kept me from painting. I finished it when I was supposed to be doing a painting assignment. Felt stupid, but just had to find out how it ended. People complain about Louis' whining, but I found it easy to read. And Louis' "whining" didn't bother me at all; in fact, sometimes he said something that made me say, "Exactly!" It was dark, elaborate, & elegant, & there were definitely moments of suspense. And when Lestat comes back from the swamp & Louis & Claudia see him & the fledgling outside-- that was creepy. And interesting to note how Lestat's character changes during the course of the novel.

And, of course, just had to get the next one.

A little more than a week after buying Interview, was able to go out to Borders & found The Vampire Lestat. It was about $8.36 when all was paid, & felt, admittedly, slightly foolish. But it was what I did Spring Break, which was a huge disappointment. It took longer to finish, though-- only just finished it.

One reason: Despite the fact I like to read, Spring Break drove me crazy by keeping me home all the time. There was nothing to do even when there was something to do. It's also a slightly different style-- of course, it is Lestat here & not Louis telling the story. That came across clearly. The other fact was that it just seemed a bit more adventure-oriented (though I do like adventures, do not get me wrong). Interview seemed more subtle, even in its moments of action. Lestat had an almost reckless air to it & more action than thought (this makes no sense). Lestat terrifying the theatregoers felt a little lacking, though his perception of Nicolas' feelings was not. The corpses he finds in Magnus' tower is one of those moments where the elegance shows again, even in the more disturbing images & circumstances. Lestat's realization of the "nothingness" made me feel sad, & Nicki was sad, as well.

But the story of Marius-- eh. First off, there are many discrepencies (sp) with the Celts as they are portrayed. The Celts had ceased to practice human sacrifice long before more "civilized" people-- ie the Romans-- & the whole 'wickerman" thing has been proved a myth. And felt uncomfortable with the idea of "the Mother and the Father"-- Akasha & Enkil. Don't know why, but the whole explanantion was a little disquieting (word?). And it just didn't have the feel to it, the kind Interview had to it, of grotesque elegance & sadness to it. But then again, myabe that is Louis & Lestat, ever the rebel, is more straightforward. But the thing is, the beginning had something of that feeling, as did some other parts throughout the novel. Like I said before, Nicki's madness & despair was extremely sad, & Lestat's feeling of there being just nothing conveyed the terror. But some parts didn't have that kind of feeling.

"Dionysus..." was priceless. First, Louis doesn't hate Lestat (?!), then there's that mad performance & Gabrielle swings in out of nowhere-- talk about a hell of a reunion! And the open-ended, cliffhanger ending...

Of course, it also makes it feel difficult to reread Interview. Because, while Louis by the end makes it clear he feels no malice towards Lestat, there's still a feeling of distance & misunderstanding. In Lestat at the end, Louis & Lestat are more buddy than ever before. It's not that I'm adverse to it, it just seems like rereading Interview will be odd now.

It's also one of those "action scenes." I liked it a lot, but at the same time, it felt out of place. There's a chase scene, the Porsche explodes; it feels odd but exciting at the same time. Here are our vampires suddenly in action mode. There's something subtly uncomfortable & wrong with that, while at the same time it's exciting & almost kind of funny. Lestat, Louis, & Gabrielle: Action Heros! (I cannot spell that word; pathetic.) It's so difficult to explain, yet that feeling can be applied to almost the whole book. There;s something too bright that makes it not fit quite right with the darkness of Interview-- reminiscent of what Nicolas said about the "light" in Lestat, & then Lestat comparing Nicki & Louis' temperaments. Really, between Lestat & Louis, I "identify" (ugh, that word & phrase) more with Louis, especially in Interview, because by the end of Lestat, though any bitterness of not wanting to be a vampire seems to be gone, there is still the feeling of guilt (when Louis mentions his victims). It's an odd feeling that hard to describe.

Oh, but Gabrielle is brilliant. Wasn't quite sure what to think of her for a while-- mother/lover, WTF-- but the image of her in safari clothes driving a Porsche at breakneck speed & generally just seeming tomboyish is brilliant.

Have to go. Pardon any typos.