The cats ate ALL the laces but one. But luckily not the straps.

( Photo )

Great. This makes me sound somewhere between Scooby-Doo and a psychopath.


Gakked from  brisingamen and various other friends.

EDIT: I expected indigo when I took the quiz. I went back to my answers and changed one question--do I prefer mystery, or ceremony. In reality, I said "Wroo?" but the first time, I picked mystery. When I picked ceremony instead, my results came back indigo. My feeling is that this is like the Sorting Hat--which way do you want to go? I know I can frighten people, and I see my pride as my worst fault. So I suppose it's a matter of which way you want to face. Or it's another quiz on the internet.

. .

I really liked Crystal Rain. I read it on my own after I was assigned to review Ragamuffin for the SFRA Review. I will read Sly Mongoose as soon as I have it in my patty paws.
( Maybe spoilers, but not big ones. )

Via fjm 

*********
Haiti has been hit by three hurricanes in two weeks. They desperately need help. Over one million people are homeless.

Oxfam

MSF

Save the Children.


Please circulate this.

The new Prime Minister came into office in the middle of the hurricanes. One very real worry is that this will destabilise the government in a country that is always looking over its shoulder for fear of foreign intervention.
******

I would add that the US coast is also getting its share at the moment. I think that the whole world is one organism, but if you are an American, there is also OxfamAmerica.

EDIT: There is also the British Red Cross; the money will go straight to the Haitian Red Cross, which is doing the bulk of the disaster response work because it's actually based there (via sneerpout ). That's where I decided to donate a few £.

We've just watched the film of Howl's Moving Castle, and I read the book while staying in Newcastle a couple of weeks ago.

They are both good, and they have many features in common, but they are not the same. In my opinion, they should be considered on their own respective merits as individual works rather as one work called "Howl's Moving Castle."

One is a delightful animated film, the other is an excellent fantasy novel. I liked them both.

Concerning one specific item brought up in discussions of the two works: I think the air war is one way to explain what Howl does when he's "offstage" in the novel. But that and Howl's nature are artistic license, and are not rigid interpretation of the novel. It's an adaptation.

It has been suggested in several places that sf fans should attempt to 'Match It For Pratchett' - if half a million of his fans donated a pound we could match his generous donation to the Alzheimer's Society. 
 
Donate here: http://www.alzheimers-research.org.uk/

(and thank fastfwd for organizing this)


Text of this post taken partly from fjm and partly from Colette Reap's post to alt.fan.pratchett--there are only so many ways to say the same thing.

Gakked from raven_laughing.

I thought I would come out as a lawful good wizard, because of all the academics. But no. Look at the bottom under the cut for the detailed results--paladin is so far out in front that even I was surprised. (I can feel coeli's ironically raised eyebrow vibe from here; coeli, the FCC would like a word with you....)

And the alignment scores . . . well. It's very, very telling.

It seems that I really, really am a paladin all the way through. No wonder I have a hard time playing anything else...

Good grief. I am an actual paladin.

This is a quiz meme, I suppose, but roleplaying games, specifically Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, have been a part of my life (sometimes a big part) for twenty years.

What does a paladin do, in this world? I have a sword, but I can't legally use it. I suppose teaching back at the cloister might be one job available to paladins when dungeon crawls aren't really an option. I've even done a little light healing and law enforcement.

But I think 2007 is a tough year for paladins. Maybe a tough century.

---

I Am A:

Lawful Good Human Paladin (5th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength- 14
Dexterity- 17
Constitution- 14
Intelligence- 18
Wisdom- 16
Charisma- 16


Alignment:

Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.