Slacking

"Uh, I need a pitcher of Bud Light."
Drunk Guy (fifteen minutes after I ordered a pitcher for him and he disappeared before I could deliver it)

This week was the first of having my 2,500 words a week goal. My grand total: 830 or so. Great start, eh? My problem is not knowing where to start the chapter I'm working on right now. I'm thinking I should just skip ahead in the chapter to the part where I know what I want to do. I can always go back and change/fix the beginning once I get a clearer picture of exactly what is going to happen in the rest.

Book Review: Sweetness in the Belly, by Camilla Gibb. The main character, Lilly, is the child of English parents who spent the end of their lives wandering the world. When they die, she is raised by a Muslim religious leader in Ethiopia. The book exists in two parts-one in Ethiopia, one later in London. Going back and forth between the two is interesting and the structure works pretty well. The writing is good and the cultural deatails are excellent. Overall, a good read, but not spectacular.

Book Review: Human, Smithsonian. Every now and again I find something nifty at the library, like this book. It's got gorgeous illustrations and more information that anyone can possibly absorb in one sitting. The book has great anthropological info on an impressively large number of peoples, my main reason for checking it out. Also, there's a lot of talk about biology, evolution, and the future of the world. I love the pictures, like the information, and was only a little disappointed at things the book does not address-such as female circumcision in the section on rites of passage.

Movie Review: The Man Without a Face. I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The gist of the story is that Justine McLeoud (Mel Gibson), a man with a burn damaged face, tutors and befriends the young Chuck Nordstadt (Nick Stahl) who's trying to pass an exam that will get him into a military academy and away from his estrogen riddled home. When I read the blurb on Netflix, I expected the bonding between the two, but not the sinister turn toward the end nor the humor.

McLeod: The problem is one of water.
Chuck Norstadt: Water?
McLeod: Water. Women have, on average, about 5% more of it than do men, making them subject to different forces of gravity. Oh don't take my word for it, you can look it up in Newton. It's there.
Chuck Norstadt: Couldn't they be drained? [McLeod laughs]
Chuck Norstadt: I'm serious!
McLeod: Well, I believe they're waiting for us to drink more fluids.