Timewaster's Guide Archive

Okay since I'm in California and out of the loop I'll just set it straight here, under it's own topic.

I heard a rumor that Mrs. EUOL is pregnant and that it's a boy. I also heard the baby was due in September. But I haven't heard anything else yet.

The slight fear of a miniature Brandon running around and wreaking havoc on the world  propells me to ask if this is all true and when is the darling baby due and will there be pictures?

I love babies! Congrats you two! I hope we get details. 

A little while ago I received the Hugo Nomination Ballot for Nippon 2007. Apparently I get to vote, even though it's doubtful I'm going, because I was a supporting member for the 2006 Worldcon. I know I'm not alone in this, so other people must have received these ballots.

I'm happy to vote for Brandon Sanderson where I can. For best novel in 2006, I'm definitely putting Mistborn as one of the choices, because it's awesome. Now, can I vote for any other sf/fan book in that category--even YA? Or does it have to be adult sf/fan? Is it better not to vote for other choices, because that gives EUOL a better chance?

For the Campbell award, I wondered if I can again vote for Brandon Sanderson, because it is an author whose work appeared first in 2005 and 2006. Since Elantris was published in 2005, that should work. Except I'm not sure what they mean by "a professional publication." Does that mean it has to be a magazine, or a book? Let me know if I can vote for you there or not, EUOL!

The rest of the stuff, I'm not sure. If you people have suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. I'd like to look at the stuff myself, if possible, so I can feel good about voting for it. However, since I don't have any strong opinions, I don't mind considering helping someone who does to get their thing noticed.

Watched part one tonight. Anyone else see this? If so, what did you think?

Cool concept--"objects" from a room where something terrible happened have developed unusual properties. There are several people and groups with various intentions trying to track down the objects. By accident, a cop gets a powerful object--the key--and becomes involved.

I'm interested enough to give it two more evenings. Part One repeats tomorrow once, then they're showing Part Two several times, and Part Three will be shown on Wednesday. So, if you missed it, you can still check it out on the Scifi channel.

I saw a commercial for this movie on TV and it made me burst out laughing. It's about a man named Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) who hears the voice of a narrator commentating on his life. The narrator turns out to be a novelist (Emma Thompson), and he is one of her characters in her latest novel. The catch--she's decided to kill him off. Movie Trailer

I wish I had thought up this idea. It's great! Here's hoping a good idea will transfer into a good movie. I'm definitely going to see it, though, because I love Emma Thompson and movies about writing.  

I remember we had a topic on here a while back discussing the new SAT. I tried to find it, but no such luck. But I found this article interesting: SAT score drop biggest in 31 years .

Not being a fan of standardized testing, even though it worked to my advantage (I was always good at figuring out "the game" of a test and did quite well on both my ACT and SAT), I still do see the necessity of it. Colleges have to have some sort of standard by which to judge prospective students. Still, it is interesting how these statistics have sparked debate. The College Board insists that the drop in SAT scores is not significant or a result of the test being longer:

The College Board, which owns the exam, downplayed the drop, saying it amounts to a fraction of one question per exam. The board's explanation: about 3 percent fewer test-takers, out of 1.5 million, tried the exam a second time. Combined math and reading scores typically rise 30 points when a student retakes the test.

There's a rebuttal, of course:

Christine Parker, executive director of high school program development at test-prep company Princeton Review, said the College Board has always called even small increases important, so it's surprising to see it downplaying the decline.

"This is just the latest in a long line of bad news," she said. "They're in a very defensive posture."

I thought this observation particularly apt:

The new scores also stand out because just two weeks ago the rival ACT exam reported its biggest score increase in 20 years.

"It does show how meaningless the test is as a measure of educational quality, that technical changes in the test can significantly alter the (scores)," said Bob Schaeffer, an SAT critic and public education director of the group FairTest. "It's the test, not the education, that's being measured."

I think that's sad but true--tests can only do so much in measuring "knowledge." They're like a necessary but inefficient gate-keeper to college education.

Apparently there is some evidence that more students are taking the ACT, since most colleges accept both. I'll have to pass the news on to my younger brother, who's a high school senior this year--especially since while SAT scores dropped, ACT scores went up.

This topic has been moved to [link=http://www.timewastersguide.com/boards/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=suggestions;action=display;num=1151796923;start=0]Suggestions Box[/link] by Spriggan.

Just wanted to give everyone in the area a head's up about this symposium. It is happening July 13-14 at BYU. I actually haven't been before, but am going to try to make it this year. It is different from BYU's Writing Conference and more like the UVSC conference in that there isn't any workshopping. I imagine that the lectures will be informative and useful, and it will be a great place to network. BYU always manages to get top-quality authors and illustrators from the children's and YA publishing field for this--last year they had Garth Nix, and this year they have Nancy Farmer (two of my favorite authors).

Here's the website so you can read about the registration fees, authors/illustrators, and the tentative schedule. Nancy Farmer has awards for practically every book she's written--my favorite being The House of the Scorpion. P. J. Lynch is a talented illustrator--he illustrated one of our family's Christmas Classics, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey, and The Bee-Man of Orn is just breath-taking. Shannon Hale is a local Utahn who just received the Newbery Honor (and another of my favorite YA fantasy authors). I'm not familiar with the other guests' work.

My friend Paul Linsley will be at the conference, and if I go, it will probably be just on Friday. It doesn't list this on the website but I found out that if you want to do a single day it is $104 for Thursday (which includes the banquet dinner) and $74 for Friday. Post here to let me know if any of you decide to go!

And don't forget to come to Paul's book signing!  

So I thought you all might enjoy this. I'm going to be unavailable for a week--no laptop, internet, or phone--while I go to a health clinic in San Diego and eat grass. Yup, I'm being kidnapped by hippies.

*Kidnapped* is a little strong, I guess. Since my mom and I are paying to go. It should be interesting, though. No technology, no makeup, no perfume--just focusing on health and nutrition and how the body works. All the food, though, is organic, raw food, so all I'll be eating is green leafy stuff. They don't have stoves--nothing is cooked. Yum. Sprouts again!!!

I wondered if we were going to be forced to all wear the same thing--like these generic muumuus or something. Apparently, though, we get to wear our own stuff--all comfortable and casual, something that we can exercise in and wear all day while we attend classes. Individuality, huh...I guess it's not completely a hippie/cult colony.  

All joking aside, I'm actually quite excited about this. I've been feeling so awful, and this to me is a better solution than another bought of horrible antibiotics or surgery or something like that. The doctor who recommended it is really one of the few doctors who has helped me with my health problems. And he felt that getting rid of the toxins in my body (apparantly I'm quite toxic)   could clear up a lot of my health problems. In the two times I saw him over the weekend, he helped me go from complete agony to bearable pain. So, even though it's hard to get to him as he is in St. George, I think I'm just going to have to make it a priority to keep in touch with him and do check ups.

So, I know it's weird. But if it helps, I won't complain. I'll let you all know in a week if I survive the grass-eating.