Time, Penguins win, Kings Rising
Feb. 9th, 2016 10:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkI keep having "wow, time!" moments. Today LB told me to visit for lunch because he didn't want to cook only for himself, but it takes me 45 minutes to get there so my reaction was "I can't, I don't have time - oh wait, I do!" Similarly yesterday evening: I can't watch the Pens-Ducks game, I need to sleep enough so I can work tomorrow - wait. It's such a great feeling.
I handed in my thesis officially yesterday, after hearing back from my advisor: she told me the first part (that I mostly wrote two years ago) is excellent, but the second part is not very good, so I'm only getting a 2 (out of five, with 1 being the best.) I'd prepared myself for a 4, so this was great news :) Now only a few bureaucracy things left to do, then in a month I should officially get my degree. My parents and friends told me there has to be a party, either I'll organize one or they will. I don't even want to think about that yet.
The day after tomorrow I'll visit my grandparents for a week and a half, I haven't seen half of my relatives since last April. There will also be good food and, for the first time in two years (!), I'll go alpine skiing. Somehow the past two years I didn't get around to it. I'm looking forward to it!
Downside of going skiing, I'll miss some of the few remaining hockey practices, and there's a chance tomorrow could be the last one. I'll have to make it count.
I got pretty lucky again with the Pens game I decided to watch! The Pens were all over the Ducks. I was strangely nervous when they were up by two, the Penguins showed only recently that it doesn't guarantee a win by any means and the Ducks had some good attacks. It definitely wasn't as lopsided as the 6-2 end result made it look. I only relaxed a bit after Sid's amazing second goal. Four point night for the captain, who's playing fantastic hockey right now, such a joy to watch. He and Letang are just racking up the points. The Baby Pens also did very well! Only one goal, but lots of offensive zone pressure.
After some trouble with ebook formats and stuff, I read "Kings Rising" by C.S.Pacat today. It was good, but I think I'll have to read it again to really enjoy it. It's been a few months since I read the first two books, but I read them more than once so my memory was still good. (In the meantime I read fic.) Somehow, between the ending of the second book and the beginning of this one, I became even more protective of the characters. I don't do well with humiliation in general, especially public humiliation, so there were several times when I had to stop reading for a few minutes. I knew there would be a happy ending, of course, but I didn't know how or what was going to happen. In hindsight I'm sure the next time I'll enjoy the scene at Kingsmeet, for example, with Laurent trading his life for Damen's, but this time I mostly felt anxious, and "noooo Damen what are you doing don't attack him that's what he wants, the urge to kill him is completely understandable but don't be stupid, this will end badly." (I was surprised Laurent trading himself even worked, after all the rules at Kingsmeet are so strict a king had to kill his own brother for defending him.)
I liked Jokaste, that her mind works so similarly to Laurent's, and that Laurent figures out that she still had some positive feelings for Damen and had saved his life and frees her. I liked Laurent being his usual brilliant self on the road, with the crossdressing and as Charls the merchant, and Nikandros reacting to that. I liked Nikandros in general. I was sorry Damen didn't tell Jord, or we didn't see it, what really happened at Kingsmeet. I liked that Laurent brought not Guion, but his wife, who wanted justice for Aimeric. At first I thought Paschal's brother's letter was very deus ex machina, but Nicaise stole the letter, so even parts of that were prepared. (I wonder why Paschal hesitated until Damen called him out?) The ending felt very abrupt, I can see why but I'd have liked a bit more. But that's what fic is for!
It was unexpected to find my name in the acknowledgements at the end, I didn't remember how often I'd commented, but nice. Following the story as it was being written was fun, but this, all in one go, was fun too, and I'm happy for the author it worked out well for her.
I'm looking forward to fic! Because I'm leaving on Thursday I actually don't have that much free time to read until then, there's still packing and a few other things to do, but I have a six hour train ride coming up.
I handed in my thesis officially yesterday, after hearing back from my advisor: she told me the first part (that I mostly wrote two years ago) is excellent, but the second part is not very good, so I'm only getting a 2 (out of five, with 1 being the best.) I'd prepared myself for a 4, so this was great news :) Now only a few bureaucracy things left to do, then in a month I should officially get my degree. My parents and friends told me there has to be a party, either I'll organize one or they will. I don't even want to think about that yet.
The day after tomorrow I'll visit my grandparents for a week and a half, I haven't seen half of my relatives since last April. There will also be good food and, for the first time in two years (!), I'll go alpine skiing. Somehow the past two years I didn't get around to it. I'm looking forward to it!
Downside of going skiing, I'll miss some of the few remaining hockey practices, and there's a chance tomorrow could be the last one. I'll have to make it count.
I got pretty lucky again with the Pens game I decided to watch! The Pens were all over the Ducks. I was strangely nervous when they were up by two, the Penguins showed only recently that it doesn't guarantee a win by any means and the Ducks had some good attacks. It definitely wasn't as lopsided as the 6-2 end result made it look. I only relaxed a bit after Sid's amazing second goal. Four point night for the captain, who's playing fantastic hockey right now, such a joy to watch. He and Letang are just racking up the points. The Baby Pens also did very well! Only one goal, but lots of offensive zone pressure.
After some trouble with ebook formats and stuff, I read "Kings Rising" by C.S.Pacat today. It was good, but I think I'll have to read it again to really enjoy it. It's been a few months since I read the first two books, but I read them more than once so my memory was still good. (In the meantime I read fic.) Somehow, between the ending of the second book and the beginning of this one, I became even more protective of the characters. I don't do well with humiliation in general, especially public humiliation, so there were several times when I had to stop reading for a few minutes. I knew there would be a happy ending, of course, but I didn't know how or what was going to happen. In hindsight I'm sure the next time I'll enjoy the scene at Kingsmeet, for example, with Laurent trading his life for Damen's, but this time I mostly felt anxious, and "noooo Damen what are you doing don't attack him that's what he wants, the urge to kill him is completely understandable but don't be stupid, this will end badly." (I was surprised Laurent trading himself even worked, after all the rules at Kingsmeet are so strict a king had to kill his own brother for defending him.)
I liked Jokaste, that her mind works so similarly to Laurent's, and that Laurent figures out that she still had some positive feelings for Damen and had saved his life and frees her. I liked Laurent being his usual brilliant self on the road, with the crossdressing and as Charls the merchant, and Nikandros reacting to that. I liked Nikandros in general. I was sorry Damen didn't tell Jord, or we didn't see it, what really happened at Kingsmeet. I liked that Laurent brought not Guion, but his wife, who wanted justice for Aimeric. At first I thought Paschal's brother's letter was very deus ex machina, but Nicaise stole the letter, so even parts of that were prepared. (I wonder why Paschal hesitated until Damen called him out?) The ending felt very abrupt, I can see why but I'd have liked a bit more. But that's what fic is for!
It was unexpected to find my name in the acknowledgements at the end, I didn't remember how often I'd commented, but nice. Following the story as it was being written was fun, but this, all in one go, was fun too, and I'm happy for the author it worked out well for her.
I'm looking forward to fic! Because I'm leaving on Thursday I actually don't have that much free time to read until then, there's still packing and a few other things to do, but I have a six hour train ride coming up.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 12:00 am (UTC)Yay! Go you for getting it finished and getting a decent grade!
I still haven't read the Captive Prince books but with everyone loving them, I think I should.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 12:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 02:53 am (UTC)(Let's be honest. I mostly read fic these days -- published books usually don't capture my interest in the same way -- so a bit of idfic might get me reading again. I miss printed pages.)
no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 01:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 06:47 pm (UTC)Its more... Finding enthusiasm to finish the book.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 10:29 pm (UTC)Ah yes, that can be tricky.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 10:54 pm (UTC)If it's part of a local network, it might be worth checking if they have a hold system so you can get books/DVDs/etc at a local convenient library.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 11:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-11 12:21 am (UTC)Whereas now those services are free, plus they've turned the libraries into 24hr free wifi hotspots so now when I drive past my local library on a Sunday (when it's closed) there's usually a few kids hanging around with phones or laptops using the internet.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 01:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 12:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-10 02:17 pm (UTC)