(no subject)

Workman at Door: *vaguely waves*  Is that gray car yours?
Me:  The Buick LeSabre?
WaD:  No, the gray car.
Me:  On the other side of the dumpster?
WaD:  Yes.

(My car is a bit greyish, but is actually more tan colored...no one has ever called it grey before.)

UPSIDE!  The dumpster!  It is gone!  We actually have all the parking in front of the building back!

Wren's Quest by Sherwood Smith

Set a year or so after Wren to the Rescue, Wren’s Quest has Wren and her friend Connor, the youngest prince no one knows what to do with on a quest to find out who Wren’s birth parents are, while their friends Princess Teressa and Tyron try to get to the bottom of a conspiracy at court.

Wren and Connor’s adventures were just as fun as the adventures in the first book were. And I admit, if I like both characters, I’ll never stop loving the “normal person coaches royalty on how to live and pass as a commoner” bit. Tess’s navigating her way through the court reminded me somewhat of Mel doing the same in Crown Duel, but I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t only read Crown Duel a few months ago. I don’t have a lot to say about it, save that it was just as fun as the first. I do, though, have a couple of spoilery nitpicks.

( fairly mild spoilers )

Polling for car ride sanity

So, this Saturday is my family reunion. Four~ hours there, four~ back. For those who do not know, parts of this portion of the family like to walk around in an endless cloud of smoke, believe beer is a necessity of life, and have regularly changing partners. And are exceptionally opinionated. (It's hereditary. I have the mild version.) Due to some lineup changes and people being told to lay off the vices in recent years, last year was very pleasant. This year, however, will have the added drama of a female relative bringing her girl friend along. Compared to many on the f-list, I'm pretty conservative. Compared to most people I'm related to on any side (or subside), I'm a "flaming liberal." (This is not a phrase that has been directed at me, but a popular one around here.) This should be...interesting.

None of this should be interpreted as a lack of love for my relatives.

ANYWAY! Hours and hours in the car means one thing: READING MATERIAL! I MUST HAVE IT!

And so, the main options:

[Poll #1269934]

*These are what I have, except for the "(or so)"s, in which case, I have a bit more, but figure that's enough.

Comic Vol 2-3

Uhm, yes. I won’t be reading any more of this one.

I like the bits with Alice applying herself and wanting to learn more about being an artist and becoming a better manhwaga, but too much of it seems to revolve around humiliating her and being mean to her. If it were for personal growth or journey, I wouldn’t mind, but most of it is for comedic effect. In addition, the bulk of the plot boils down to “boy wants revenge on girl for his being a jerk.”

If the manhwaga realized what an unlikable jerk Patrick is, it’d be different, but s/he seems to think he’s cool and sympathetic and likable. In addition, the first female character besides Alice to show up for more than five pages and have more n her mind than how hot Patrick is is quickly reduced to an Evil Interferer and False Friend. I’d count off for using her wanting to be a lawyer as evidence that she’s stuck up and bad news, but Alice’s ambitions for her own career balance that out. Or at least, make it better than it would have been otherwise. I could get past that normally, but not in combination with everything else.

One thing I will say, though, is that the first two volumes were printed by Ice Kunion, and the third by Yen Press after Ice Kunion went out of business. The improvement in production quality is pretty impressive.

Omukae Desu Vol 2

This continues to be fun, but not as awesome (on every level) or cracktastic as Pearl Pink. The latter is actually somewhat surprising, as one of the main characters is a shinigami who wears a pink bunny suit that he decorates for various theme months and who carts souls to the afterlife on his motorcycle.

( Spoilers make me concerned about what lurks inside Meca Tanaka's head. )

icon meme for boredom

Comment on this post. Choose seven userpics[or more if you want] from my profile and I'll tell you whatever you want to know about them, explaining what they mean and why I'm using them, what the property is about if you don't know, , etc. Post this  in your own journal so others can play along[or not].

here we go again...

☂ SMALL FANDOMS MEME 2 ☂