Saturday, July 15, 2006

I’ve had a tough week at work. I’ve been working on several major problems, all of them big technical headaches with no clear path forward. I managed to fix them—I think—on Friday afternoon, so at least I don’t have to worry about them this weekend.

As a result, I’ve been arriving home and crashing at night. Haven’t felt like making or doing much of anything. I’m tired of stir-fry, which has been a staple of my diet for months. At least I can still eat my other dishes.

So I spent several evenings watching anime. In particular:

1. Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid. As mentioned earlier, I watched the first half two weeks ago, and thought it was excellent. The last half was fantastic. Absolutely perfect in a lot of ways, though I felt frustrated that the main relationship wasn’t pushed forward as much as it felt the show was leading up to. Still, it was dramatic and funny and exciting and generally everything I love in a mecha show. ‘Twas also gratifying to see a few Gundam references.
2. Eureka 7, another mecha show, this one more inspired by Cowboy Bebop than, say, Gundam (though it has a few fun Gundam references). I’m only a few episodes in, but what I’ve seen so far has been enjoyable and very well-made.
3. Strawberry Marshmallow, a perfectly-named show: absolute sugary fluff. It’s a modern slice-of-life comedy about a group of of eleven- and twelve-year old girls. Nothing of significance occurs. Best described as “cute little girls doing cute things.” Some folks hate saccharine shows like this; I love ’em. Wonder what that says about me.
4. KamiChu!, another slice-of-life comedy about young girls, though this one is a little more serious. It focuses on four junior high school girls in a slightly alternate world full of small gods; the protagonist has been granted goddess powers and now finds herself in great demand. Lots of good, clean fun.

Meanwhile, I’m closing in on finalizing draft 2 of Giant Armors, my young adult novel. Several reviewers pointed out that the ending lacks dramatic power, so I’ve been rewriting several other scenes to make the final fight much more desperate.

It’s been a fascinating experience. The story has diverged so drastically from its initial concept, and I’m having a great time traveling this path. Can’t wait to start draft 3, and really flesh out all the descriptions and word choices and such.

In completely different news, congratulations to Robert Eggleton on net-publication of his fantasy novel Rarity. He sent an advance copy to me to critique, and while I was unable to do that, I provided a blurb for him. The writing is just amazing; fleshed out, detailed, the kind that draws you inexorably in.

And that’s it for me today.