American Gods by Neil Gaiman, reviewed by Steve on November 28 2008.
Neil Gaiman's novel takes place during the present day in the Midwest. The main premise is that gods do not cease to exist unless people stop believing in them. Likewise, new gods can be born from a prevailing belief that takes root. However, this causes a degree of tension between the old gods, who do not want to fade away, and the new gods, who wish to dominate and/or eliminate the old gods.
The story starts with a man named Shadow, who had been incarcerated for aggravated assault three years before. Shadow is released early because his wife, Laura, had been killed in a car accident. Likewise, Shadow's best friend, who had promised that Shadow would have his position back at the gym, dies in a car accident. Shadow later discovers that Laura and his best friend died in the same car accident, and that the two were having an affair.
As Shadow's plans to resume his old life come to a screeching halt--his wife is now dead and he has no job--an odd, old man sitting next to him in an airplane offers to employ him as his right-hand man. Despite Shadow's reluctance and his attempts to refuse, he finds himself wholly unable to say no.
It turns out that the odd, old man is none other than Odin, who is on a quest to unite the old gods and confront the new. These new gods--gods of freeways, the internet, electricity, mass media, and instant gratification--do not wish to relinquish their hegemonic power, and actively pursue Odin and Shadow throughout their quest.
Along the way, Shadow meets the other old gods--Anubis, Horus, Czernobog, Anansi, Loki, Thor, and others--as Odin tries to explain their plight as old gods and requests their aid. He largely meets with resistance from the old gods, who seem to have become lazy and complacent in their waning existence. However, Odin's shocking murder serves as a call to arms for the old gods, who have only just realized the danger that the new gods pose to them. With Shadow acting more or less as their leader, the old gods set out to confront the new gods and prevent their own extinction.
Neil Gaiman's narrative cleverly integrates and re-imagines world mythologies in the American landscape. Odin seems to serve as his mouthpiece when he says that, "When the people came to America, they brought us with them...They brought me, and Loki and Thor, Anansi and the Lion-God, Leprechauns and Kobolds and Banshees, Kubera and Fraue Holle and Ashtaroth ..." America is therefore not just a a melting pot of people and cultures, but also of beliefs, cultural myths, stories, legends, and religions.
In the same way, Neil Gaiman re-imagines the myths of the American landscape. He steers clear of iconic locales such as New York City, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., and the like, which have already carved out their iconic and mythological existence. Instead, he allows the Midwest its own voice to describe its own mythology.
Despite the critical acclaim for this novel, American Gods does have some serious drawbacks. The story is told by an omnicient, but rather distant, narrator, and as such, the reader often feels distant and disengaged from the story. Likewise, Shadow seems to bumble through the narrative without much willpower of his own. He seems to act more as a lackey than a hero, simply doing what he is told and traveling place to place without any sense of purpose. It is not until the last third of the novel where he finally begins to take the initiative and act on his own, and this seems to be mostly because he has no one to tell him what to do, since Odin is dead by this point in the story.
Likewise, while Gaiman has a thematic reason for naming his characters the way that he does, the names read like those of an immature writer. For instance, Odin introduces himself as Wednesday, which makes sense and has meaning to it
(Odin-->Woden-->Woden's day-->Wednesday), but it feels simplistic. The same applies to Shadow and others, who do have a deeper meaning behind their name, but nonetheless it seems lazy, trite, and simplistic.
In all, I would have to rate this novel as a 2.5 out of 5. While the novel is rich and complex for meaning under the surface, it does not read well as an entertaining piece. There are sections that are wonderfully entertaining, but more often than not, I did not feel any connection to the characters, nor did I feel compelled to keep reading. I only finished the novel because I wanted to see if it would get any better, which unfortunately did not happen.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Hello Everyone,
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope that you will all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Here's to friends, family, the written word, books, literature, education, and the human soul!
Cheers!
Steve
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope that you will all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Here's to friends, family, the written word, books, literature, education, and the human soul!
Cheers!
Steve
Monday, November 17, 2008
Elves in Elizabethan England
And Less Than Kind, by Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis. Reviewed by N. Vivian on November 17th, 2008.
I have a friend who is obsessed with all things Star Wars. This often brings her heartbreak, as she will fork over money for a movie just to be slapped in the face by George Lucas and his incompetence over and over and over again. It is a very unhealthy relationship, and one I understand completely. You see, I find myself going back to Mercedes Lackey, thinking "Surely--surely this time she means it when she says she's sorry and she loves me." Fortunately, when she collaborates with other authors, she is more inclined to behave herself. I don't know if she doesn't like to hit me in public, or the other person keeps her on her toes, but, for the most part, I can trust that books she's written with others are going to be decent (even fun!) reads.
I was not terribly disappointed by this book. Faint praise, but praise nonetheless.
Kind of a grim way to start, but if you've ever talked to me about her works, you'll see that this often isn't the case. Often, I am quite disappointed, hence the unpolitic comparison to domestic violence above. This is the fourth and last book in the "Elves in Elizabethan England" series. There is the Bright Court and the Dark Court, and both of them are dependent on humans for magic. The Bright Court gets its power from creativity, happiness, and love, while the Dark Court feeds on fear, despair, and hatred. Seers from both courts have been watching the possible futures of England, and they see one girl who will bring in a time of abundance for the Bright, and another who will bring in one for the Dark--Elizabeth and Mary, respectively. The series revolves around a few chosen heroes of the Bright Court who are tasked with protecting Elizabeth as she grows from both the agents of the Dark Court and the dangerous waters of politics. Their goal is to put her on the throne, while the Dark Court is trying to keep her off of it at any cost.
This book starts with Edward's death, and is mostly a chronicle of Mary's reign as queen, while Elizabeth impatiently waits..well, waits for Mary to die. The book talks a lot about how England was quite displeased with Mary's marriage to Philip and the reintroduction of Catholicism; there are many chapters that discuss the history of England interspersed with chapters of Elizabeth visiting Underhill and hanging out with the Sidhe.
The book is about 600 pages long, and yet, nothing happens. The whole plot is pretty much "wait for Mary to die." Elizabeth is a consummate politician and knows that she can't display even the least hint of how much she wants to become queen. She knows that England is failing under Mary's rule, and the populace is becoming more and more bitter as the burnings for heresy increase, but the only place she can discuss that is Underhill. Many, many pages are devoted to Elizabeth being frustrated at her inability to do anything to help England, and a bit torn up about her desire to be queen. She wants it so badly she can taste it, but that means she's really hoping her sister dies. Kind of an awkward place to be, emotionally. Of course, Mary makes it easier by being fairly horrid--although, in her defense (and this is mentioned in the books), the husband she adores barely tolerates her, her childhood was fairly cruel and bleak and much of that was because of Elizabeth's mother, and she truly believes she's doing the right thing for England. But, that aside, much of the book is Elizabeth on Earth marking time till she is queen and trying to elude all the plots against her, and the rest is her Underhill, making love to Denoriel and generally having a good time.
That's not to say the book doesn't have its fair share of darkness, too. There are the burnings of heretics, several murders, an elf who is kidnapping mortal children for slaves, and an "Evil" (always captialized) that attaches itself to Mary's womb and basically has to be aborted by the good guys. That was a pretty interesting narrative choice. Of course, the elf who ended up doing the actual abortion is all broken up about it, but in her defense she loves children and it messed her up to know that an innocent fetus had to be sacrificed to save the world from the Evil. Fortunately, at the end of the book, Oberon waves his hand at her and she gets over it.
For all the there really isn't a plot, I still enjoyed the book. It's one part historical fiction, one part fantasy novel, and one part romance. I like Elizabeth and that time of England's history, so reading about Bess wandering around Hatfield, trying to keep herself untouched by the treason everyone else is determined to drag her into is fun. Add the layer of "said treason is part of a scheme hatched by Dark Sidhe" and it just gets better. It's purely flufftastic; there's no underlying theme or message, nothing to really make someone pause and think. It's just bouncy and happy.
3 stars
In books I trust,
N. Vivian
P.S. Go to Borders either today, 11/17 or tomorrow 11/18 and take advantage of their "Buy one book, get a second book 1/2 off!"
I have a friend who is obsessed with all things Star Wars. This often brings her heartbreak, as she will fork over money for a movie just to be slapped in the face by George Lucas and his incompetence over and over and over again. It is a very unhealthy relationship, and one I understand completely. You see, I find myself going back to Mercedes Lackey, thinking "Surely--surely this time she means it when she says she's sorry and she loves me." Fortunately, when she collaborates with other authors, she is more inclined to behave herself. I don't know if she doesn't like to hit me in public, or the other person keeps her on her toes, but, for the most part, I can trust that books she's written with others are going to be decent (even fun!) reads.
I was not terribly disappointed by this book. Faint praise, but praise nonetheless.
Kind of a grim way to start, but if you've ever talked to me about her works, you'll see that this often isn't the case. Often, I am quite disappointed, hence the unpolitic comparison to domestic violence above. This is the fourth and last book in the "Elves in Elizabethan England" series. There is the Bright Court and the Dark Court, and both of them are dependent on humans for magic. The Bright Court gets its power from creativity, happiness, and love, while the Dark Court feeds on fear, despair, and hatred. Seers from both courts have been watching the possible futures of England, and they see one girl who will bring in a time of abundance for the Bright, and another who will bring in one for the Dark--Elizabeth and Mary, respectively. The series revolves around a few chosen heroes of the Bright Court who are tasked with protecting Elizabeth as she grows from both the agents of the Dark Court and the dangerous waters of politics. Their goal is to put her on the throne, while the Dark Court is trying to keep her off of it at any cost.
This book starts with Edward's death, and is mostly a chronicle of Mary's reign as queen, while Elizabeth impatiently waits..well, waits for Mary to die. The book talks a lot about how England was quite displeased with Mary's marriage to Philip and the reintroduction of Catholicism; there are many chapters that discuss the history of England interspersed with chapters of Elizabeth visiting Underhill and hanging out with the Sidhe.
The book is about 600 pages long, and yet, nothing happens. The whole plot is pretty much "wait for Mary to die." Elizabeth is a consummate politician and knows that she can't display even the least hint of how much she wants to become queen. She knows that England is failing under Mary's rule, and the populace is becoming more and more bitter as the burnings for heresy increase, but the only place she can discuss that is Underhill. Many, many pages are devoted to Elizabeth being frustrated at her inability to do anything to help England, and a bit torn up about her desire to be queen. She wants it so badly she can taste it, but that means she's really hoping her sister dies. Kind of an awkward place to be, emotionally. Of course, Mary makes it easier by being fairly horrid--although, in her defense (and this is mentioned in the books), the husband she adores barely tolerates her, her childhood was fairly cruel and bleak and much of that was because of Elizabeth's mother, and she truly believes she's doing the right thing for England. But, that aside, much of the book is Elizabeth on Earth marking time till she is queen and trying to elude all the plots against her, and the rest is her Underhill, making love to Denoriel and generally having a good time.
That's not to say the book doesn't have its fair share of darkness, too. There are the burnings of heretics, several murders, an elf who is kidnapping mortal children for slaves, and an "Evil" (always captialized) that attaches itself to Mary's womb and basically has to be aborted by the good guys. That was a pretty interesting narrative choice. Of course, the elf who ended up doing the actual abortion is all broken up about it, but in her defense she loves children and it messed her up to know that an innocent fetus had to be sacrificed to save the world from the Evil. Fortunately, at the end of the book, Oberon waves his hand at her and she gets over it.
For all the there really isn't a plot, I still enjoyed the book. It's one part historical fiction, one part fantasy novel, and one part romance. I like Elizabeth and that time of England's history, so reading about Bess wandering around Hatfield, trying to keep herself untouched by the treason everyone else is determined to drag her into is fun. Add the layer of "said treason is part of a scheme hatched by Dark Sidhe" and it just gets better. It's purely flufftastic; there's no underlying theme or message, nothing to really make someone pause and think. It's just bouncy and happy.
3 stars
In books I trust,
N. Vivian
P.S. Go to Borders either today, 11/17 or tomorrow 11/18 and take advantage of their "Buy one book, get a second book 1/2 off!"
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Reader Frustrations
Many of us, I am sure, have our favorite authors and follow their work with veneration and adoration. Ever since I was young, I had a "core" set of authors that I followed. Some of these are Terry Brooks, Dennis L McKiernan, David Eddings, and more recently, George R. R. Martin.
As a reader, I find myself wholly immersed in these fantastic tales, and I come to feel as though I knew the characters and had shared in their adventures. It is no surprise that when some new work comes out, I hastily snatch up a copy and proceed to vigorously devour it whole.
That being said, I find it gallingly frustrating when my beloved authors fail to deliver! There is nothing worse than a novel that fails to live up to its maker's abilities. I have felt this several times recently, in particular with Terry Brooks' new Shannara series, which fuses his Void/Word series with the world of Shannara. As his work has progressed, I found that it became more and more of a "modern" fantasy and less of an epic, classical fantasy in the vein of Tolkien. As such, I have stopped reading his new work altogether, I am sad to say. It is almost as if Mr. Brooks has "normalized" his fantasy world, making it more mundane and accidental rather than mysterious and fantastical.
For those of you who are not familiar with his work, Shannara was a world that always felt real and there were vague allusions to its being Earth in the far, far distant future. The Word/Void series took place in modern day America with magic and mythical creatures, but these fantasy elements were few and far between. Magic existed and so too did the mythical creatures, but they were largely hidden. What Mr. Brooks has recently done in fusing the two worlds together is to confirm and therefore normalize the Shannara world, which for me always seemed so wonderful in its mystery. It is revealed that modern day Earth suffers a nuclear holocaust, which destroys almost all life and magic is born as a mutation.
Isn't it funny how we can have such fierce loyalty to a particular author, or even to a specific sample of that author's work? As readers, we know, of course, that writing a novel takes a great deal of work. We try to be patient and understanding, but I must confess, my patience is at its near end with another one of my favorite authors, George R. R. Martin. The last book he wrote was A Feast for Crows, back in November of 2005. The book is part of his fantastic Song of Ice and Fire series and it ended on such a cliffhanger. It is now November 2008, and he has yet to finish the next book, A Dance of Dragons. No release date has been leaked, and Martin himself has said on his blog that he would post the minute he was finished. On Borders.com, if you search for A Dance of Dragons, the book pops up and a release date of December 2009 is listed. I am not certain whether this is definite or if it is an arbitrary date assigned by the publication company to indicate that the book has a completion deadline. Anyone have any ideas about this? I'm hoping Jay will read this post. If I remember correctly, he has a few friends who are published authors and he might be able to shed some light on this...
Nevertheless, despite my compassion for authors and their craft, I am particularly frustrated with Mr. Martin because it seems as though he is taking on FAR too much, leading, perhaps, to the current circumstances. Three years have passed since Feast for Crows was published, and the author had stated that Feast for Crows and Dance of Dragons were initially going to be one book, but that the story got too large and he had to split it up. It would seem, then, that a large portion of Dance of Dragons had been completed, and many of us fans waited for the next book to come out, thinking that it would follow soon afterwards. We were, and still are, disappointed that the sequel has not yet come out. Mr. Martin has assured his readers that he has been diligently working on his novel, but I suspect he has not been able to direct as much attention to it as he could/should. I say this because in the past three years, Mr. Martin has been EXTRAORDINARILY busy and his attention has been spread quite thin over many projects. He has served as an editor for several fantasy compilations, published a couple other novels (these ones are not part of the Song of Ice and Fire series), attended many fantasy con's all over the world...there is only so much a man can do. I do applaud him for being so involved in the field, but at the same time, he should not spread himself out so thin. I can only speculate, but I imagine this must be VERY tiring.
Mr. Martin--we, your loyal fans, adore you. We love your work, and while we understand that writing a novel is a tremendous amount of work (you, after all, are the published author, not us), this particular fan would ask that you leave more time for yourself in your busy life. Please don't spread your efforts out so thin and take on more than one project at a time. We eagerly await your next Song of Ice and Fire novel, and we are very excited about the prospects of an HBO Song of Ice and Fire mini-series.
Cheers,
Steve
As a reader, I find myself wholly immersed in these fantastic tales, and I come to feel as though I knew the characters and had shared in their adventures. It is no surprise that when some new work comes out, I hastily snatch up a copy and proceed to vigorously devour it whole.
That being said, I find it gallingly frustrating when my beloved authors fail to deliver! There is nothing worse than a novel that fails to live up to its maker's abilities. I have felt this several times recently, in particular with Terry Brooks' new Shannara series, which fuses his Void/Word series with the world of Shannara. As his work has progressed, I found that it became more and more of a "modern" fantasy and less of an epic, classical fantasy in the vein of Tolkien. As such, I have stopped reading his new work altogether, I am sad to say. It is almost as if Mr. Brooks has "normalized" his fantasy world, making it more mundane and accidental rather than mysterious and fantastical.
For those of you who are not familiar with his work, Shannara was a world that always felt real and there were vague allusions to its being Earth in the far, far distant future. The Word/Void series took place in modern day America with magic and mythical creatures, but these fantasy elements were few and far between. Magic existed and so too did the mythical creatures, but they were largely hidden. What Mr. Brooks has recently done in fusing the two worlds together is to confirm and therefore normalize the Shannara world, which for me always seemed so wonderful in its mystery. It is revealed that modern day Earth suffers a nuclear holocaust, which destroys almost all life and magic is born as a mutation.
Isn't it funny how we can have such fierce loyalty to a particular author, or even to a specific sample of that author's work? As readers, we know, of course, that writing a novel takes a great deal of work. We try to be patient and understanding, but I must confess, my patience is at its near end with another one of my favorite authors, George R. R. Martin. The last book he wrote was A Feast for Crows, back in November of 2005. The book is part of his fantastic Song of Ice and Fire series and it ended on such a cliffhanger. It is now November 2008, and he has yet to finish the next book, A Dance of Dragons. No release date has been leaked, and Martin himself has said on his blog that he would post the minute he was finished. On Borders.com, if you search for A Dance of Dragons, the book pops up and a release date of December 2009 is listed. I am not certain whether this is definite or if it is an arbitrary date assigned by the publication company to indicate that the book has a completion deadline. Anyone have any ideas about this? I'm hoping Jay will read this post. If I remember correctly, he has a few friends who are published authors and he might be able to shed some light on this...
Nevertheless, despite my compassion for authors and their craft, I am particularly frustrated with Mr. Martin because it seems as though he is taking on FAR too much, leading, perhaps, to the current circumstances. Three years have passed since Feast for Crows was published, and the author had stated that Feast for Crows and Dance of Dragons were initially going to be one book, but that the story got too large and he had to split it up. It would seem, then, that a large portion of Dance of Dragons had been completed, and many of us fans waited for the next book to come out, thinking that it would follow soon afterwards. We were, and still are, disappointed that the sequel has not yet come out. Mr. Martin has assured his readers that he has been diligently working on his novel, but I suspect he has not been able to direct as much attention to it as he could/should. I say this because in the past three years, Mr. Martin has been EXTRAORDINARILY busy and his attention has been spread quite thin over many projects. He has served as an editor for several fantasy compilations, published a couple other novels (these ones are not part of the Song of Ice and Fire series), attended many fantasy con's all over the world...there is only so much a man can do. I do applaud him for being so involved in the field, but at the same time, he should not spread himself out so thin. I can only speculate, but I imagine this must be VERY tiring.
Mr. Martin--we, your loyal fans, adore you. We love your work, and while we understand that writing a novel is a tremendous amount of work (you, after all, are the published author, not us), this particular fan would ask that you leave more time for yourself in your busy life. Please don't spread your efforts out so thin and take on more than one project at a time. We eagerly await your next Song of Ice and Fire novel, and we are very excited about the prospects of an HBO Song of Ice and Fire mini-series.
Cheers,
Steve
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Radio Silence
Hey all,
Sorry about being incommunicado recently; I know how you all wait breathlessly for my next review to be posted. But for the past week, I've been enjoying (ha!) the not-so-luxurious accomdations at Umass Memorial Hospital. Good times. Well...except for the good part. Still I'm out, feeling better, and hoping to stay that way for a bit.
Nobody ever says they wanna be a junkie when they grow up...but I do. A BLOOD JUNKIE, that is! While at the hospital, I ended up getting a blood transfusion, and I cannot express the myriad ways it made me feel better. Did you know it was possible to have warm fingers and toes without putting them on the belly of a loved one? Or that, as a mammal, you're supposed to be able to regulate your own body temperature? Or that it was possible to go a day without needing a nap? Me neither!
One of the reasons for my extended stay in the hospital is that I am very, veyr anemic, due to a multiplicity of reasons. The average person has a hematocrit level of 37. I checked in with a 23. But the difference is amazing! I guess the body does need all that oxygen after all.
Anyway, I wouldn't mind keeping this feeling of health and energy forever. Don't be surprised if you see headlines about me sneaking into blood banks with a bucket and an IV. Or I show up at your door with a tourniquet, slapping the inside of my elbow and whining, "C'mon, man, I neeeeeed it."
On a completely different note, one of the ways I'm preparing for the Zombacalypse is by collecting the bloodtypes of all my friends, so in case of severe injury, we know what type to get you. Just leave me a comment with your blood type (complete with Rh factor) and I'll mark it down for you.
I do this because I care. Truly.
I did get out of the hospital in time to vote and watch the election at my home. I am not ashamed to admit I cried. I really wish my grandfather had lived to see this. And my Uncle Jon. And Uncle Tad. And Uncle Craig. Not (just) because they're black, but because they lived through times of turbulance and struggle and strife, and they were part of the generation(s) that made this possible.
And, out of spite, I wish Strom Thurmond was, too. Heh.
However, even in the midst of all this joy, we mustn't forget a few things. First of all, Obama's presidency doesn't mean racism has magically ended. It may not be as deep and hateful as during our parents' generation, but it still exists. It is our job to remain vigilant and make sure the generations who come after us inherit a country where electing a black man (or Hispanic man, or female, or athiest, or...) is no longer a thing to be marvelled at. I didn't think I'd ever live to see this possibility, but now that I have, I'd like to get to the point where such an even merits no remark at all. THEN, we will truly have gotten somewhere as a country.
Oh, and let's not be too smug, okay? Yes, this is a momentus occasion, and yes, it deserves recognition and cheering. But we're not all that amazing on the world stage; the UN was lead by Kofi Annan, from Ghana, for almost ten years, and Pakistan elected Benazir Bhutto to be their Prime Minister back in 1998.
The second thing we must not forget is that other forms of prejudice are alive and thriving in this country. I am, of course, referring to the same-sex marriage bans that were voted into existence in Arizona, Florida, and California. I am especially disappointed in California. For one, how much of their state revenue comes from the gays? I mean, really! Can a state in that much debt really afford to spit on the wedding revenue Hollywood and San Fran were about to provide? I certainly hope they're not depending on the funds pumped into the state by the Knights of Columbus and the Mormons--do you really think they'll continue doing so now that their agenda has been met? For another, more serious reason, California actually voted to strip away rights to their citizens. Not just deny rights, but actually strip them away. That's so, incredibly wrong, I cannot even begin to describe it. What's next? Are they going to reverse Loving v Virginia? Decide marriage belongs to one blond man and one brunette woman?
Pundits are saying "The people have spoken. It's the will of the people." However, our government is NOT actually supposed to cater to the whims of the majority. It's supposed to protect the rights of minorities from those majority whims. And California did a really lousy job of that, proving that once again, America still has second-class citizenship. I'm grievously disappointed. There is no good, civil reason to deny marriage to any segment of our population. Do not legislate your religion on me. Keep this up, and I'm gonna legislate that we all have to keep kosher. Enjoy that bacon cheeseburger now, asshat.
Okay, I think I've ranted my fair share. Let's be clear, Obama's winning is a major victory for our country, both on a racial front and a political one. I really hope that he'll be able to steer us back into the forefront of the global economy, make us a force of peace, and restore our respect in ourselves, bith here and abroad. For the first time in eight years, I think that might almost be possible.
Regards,
N. Vivian
Sorry about being incommunicado recently; I know how you all wait breathlessly for my next review to be posted. But for the past week, I've been enjoying (ha!) the not-so-luxurious accomdations at Umass Memorial Hospital. Good times. Well...except for the good part. Still I'm out, feeling better, and hoping to stay that way for a bit.
Nobody ever says they wanna be a junkie when they grow up...but I do. A BLOOD JUNKIE, that is! While at the hospital, I ended up getting a blood transfusion, and I cannot express the myriad ways it made me feel better. Did you know it was possible to have warm fingers and toes without putting them on the belly of a loved one? Or that, as a mammal, you're supposed to be able to regulate your own body temperature? Or that it was possible to go a day without needing a nap? Me neither!
One of the reasons for my extended stay in the hospital is that I am very, veyr anemic, due to a multiplicity of reasons. The average person has a hematocrit level of 37. I checked in with a 23. But the difference is amazing! I guess the body does need all that oxygen after all.
Anyway, I wouldn't mind keeping this feeling of health and energy forever. Don't be surprised if you see headlines about me sneaking into blood banks with a bucket and an IV. Or I show up at your door with a tourniquet, slapping the inside of my elbow and whining, "C'mon, man, I neeeeeed it."
On a completely different note, one of the ways I'm preparing for the Zombacalypse is by collecting the bloodtypes of all my friends, so in case of severe injury, we know what type to get you. Just leave me a comment with your blood type (complete with Rh factor) and I'll mark it down for you.
I do this because I care. Truly.
I did get out of the hospital in time to vote and watch the election at my home. I am not ashamed to admit I cried. I really wish my grandfather had lived to see this. And my Uncle Jon. And Uncle Tad. And Uncle Craig. Not (just) because they're black, but because they lived through times of turbulance and struggle and strife, and they were part of the generation(s) that made this possible.
And, out of spite, I wish Strom Thurmond was, too. Heh.
However, even in the midst of all this joy, we mustn't forget a few things. First of all, Obama's presidency doesn't mean racism has magically ended. It may not be as deep and hateful as during our parents' generation, but it still exists. It is our job to remain vigilant and make sure the generations who come after us inherit a country where electing a black man (or Hispanic man, or female, or athiest, or...) is no longer a thing to be marvelled at. I didn't think I'd ever live to see this possibility, but now that I have, I'd like to get to the point where such an even merits no remark at all. THEN, we will truly have gotten somewhere as a country.
Oh, and let's not be too smug, okay? Yes, this is a momentus occasion, and yes, it deserves recognition and cheering. But we're not all that amazing on the world stage; the UN was lead by Kofi Annan, from Ghana, for almost ten years, and Pakistan elected Benazir Bhutto to be their Prime Minister back in 1998.
The second thing we must not forget is that other forms of prejudice are alive and thriving in this country. I am, of course, referring to the same-sex marriage bans that were voted into existence in Arizona, Florida, and California. I am especially disappointed in California. For one, how much of their state revenue comes from the gays? I mean, really! Can a state in that much debt really afford to spit on the wedding revenue Hollywood and San Fran were about to provide? I certainly hope they're not depending on the funds pumped into the state by the Knights of Columbus and the Mormons--do you really think they'll continue doing so now that their agenda has been met? For another, more serious reason, California actually voted to strip away rights to their citizens. Not just deny rights, but actually strip them away. That's so, incredibly wrong, I cannot even begin to describe it. What's next? Are they going to reverse Loving v Virginia? Decide marriage belongs to one blond man and one brunette woman?
Pundits are saying "The people have spoken. It's the will of the people." However, our government is NOT actually supposed to cater to the whims of the majority. It's supposed to protect the rights of minorities from those majority whims. And California did a really lousy job of that, proving that once again, America still has second-class citizenship. I'm grievously disappointed. There is no good, civil reason to deny marriage to any segment of our population. Do not legislate your religion on me. Keep this up, and I'm gonna legislate that we all have to keep kosher. Enjoy that bacon cheeseburger now, asshat.
Okay, I think I've ranted my fair share. Let's be clear, Obama's winning is a major victory for our country, both on a racial front and a political one. I really hope that he'll be able to steer us back into the forefront of the global economy, make us a force of peace, and restore our respect in ourselves, bith here and abroad. For the first time in eight years, I think that might almost be possible.
Regards,
N. Vivian
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Future Prospects
Today is a wonderful day. The presidency (more like tyranny) of George W. Bush is finally over, and with Barack Obama in the White House, the United States can get back on track and redeem herself in the world's eyes. Perhaps now the useless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can be ended, the tired young troops can be brought back home to their families, and the billions of dollars that was being spent for those wars can be directed towards our economy instead. Let us pray that this can be so. The majority of the citizens in this country made their voices heard, and widespread ideological change can finally begin. For that reason, I am glad that I live in this country.
If only we could oust Bush NOW so that the better man can take his place...
If only we could oust Bush NOW so that the better man can take his place...
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