Sense and Sensibility - Colonel Brandon

I think that Col. Brandon captivates me more than any of the other characters, even beyond Elinor, whom I like immensely.

Maybe it is his quiet resolve. His love that is always there, always constant, and never showy. I am a little miffed that Marianne did not come to love him without the time factor. I guess, the best that can be said is that she did grow to love him, and that counts for something.

He deserved her love, and the way she treated him put her in the red, but he never saw it that way. He only ever loved her, in spite of herself.

Maybe that is the captivating part of it all. She reminded him of someone that did return his love, seeing the value within him. He loved that woman in spite of her circumstance, in spite of the consequences of all the pain in her life. The toll those things took on her health did nothing to assuage his love and kindness for her.

What a man. What a gentleman. I want to slap Marianne for being so dull as to not recognize his unwavering determination in love. It took her "time," to realize it. And even though I want to slap her, Col. Brandon only loved her.

Regina G

See more interesting characters here.

New Schedule--Sigh!

July -- Molecular Biology of the Gene,

                                   James D. Watson, et al.

                             --Organic Chemistry, John McMurry

                             --Pride and Prejudice, on CD, Jane Austen

August -- Failure Is Not An Option, Gene Kranz

                        -- Programming with Java, in 24 Hours,

                              Rogers Cadenhead

September-- Darwin's Black Box, Michael Behe

November -- The Hobbit, JRR Tolkein

January -- The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene

 

The Family Sched

We will be reading HP-HBP and Prince Caspian. Well, probably PC first, so we can watch the DVD as soon as we get it. LOVE it!! Then, HP, so we can be ready for that movie. We've got a few more details of OotP to hash out before we move on, anyway.

Reading Schedule

I've been thinking of doing this for some time, but just haven't had much time. I'll go back into the past and then go into the future a little bit. It may get a little boring, but I hope you'll bear with me.

January to April -- Molecular Biology of the Gene,

                                   James D. Watson, et al.

                             --Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain,

                                     Bear, Connors, Paradiso

April -- May 10 -- Failure Is Not An Option, Gene Kranz

                        -- Programming with Java, in 24 Hours,

                              Rogers Cadenhead

May 11 - June 7 -- Darwin's Black Box, Michael Behe

June 8 - July 5 -- The Hobbit, JRR Tolkein

July 6 - August 2 -- The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene

My Current Reading Goals

I have updated "My Reading List" and "On the Night Stand."

The books that are "On the Night Stand" are ones that I am attempting to read/study, all at the same time.

• I'm doing a non-Precepts approach to the Precepts course "Sermon on the Mount." Basically, I'll be reading the Sermon and sqeezing every drop of meaning out of the passage that I can. I am using the Precepts material as a guide, but I'm not highlighting or anything. That is in part because I do not want to destroy the Precepts book and need to copy the passage that it gives at the end of the book.
• Voyage of the Dawn Treader (what a captivating title), I will aim to complete a chapter/day, average.  Once I start Out of the Silent Planet, it may go similarly.
• Failure is Not an Option is my other primary reading for now. I hate to admit that I'm not aiming to read it too deeply (memorize dates, at all), but give it a surface reading, such that I know about what happens, then reference it for timeline, later. I'm aiming to read a few chapters per week.
• For O. Henry, I'm aiming to finish at least one story per week.
• Programming with Java in 24 Hours I'm doing because I was going to take the class for my minor this semester, but didn't want the pressure of keeping up with tests and assignments, so I'm studying it on my own. My pace will be something on the order of an "hour" a week (a chapter a week). This may be the equivalent of 2 semesters to get through this book, but I don't care. This is something I want to do. I've already had a programming class, last semester, so I dont' think this will be too difficult. The most difficulty I've had so far is loading the programs on and getting the compiler into the PATH.
• Jane Austen I'm reading when I get the chance to sit down with my stepmother for a few hours. I know there are books on tape, but, due to circumstances beyond my control, I owe the library a bit of money, right now and I'm not eager to get back into that situation.
• EA Poe, I'm reading as I get around to it.
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is also one that I will reading as the mood strikes. I really need to finish that installment, as I'm over half-way through, I believe.

Regi G

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I hope that if you are one of the last people, like me, to pick up this book, that you will actually read it. It is riotously funny, hilarious, and good fun (did I mention the humor???).

I have enjoyed this book, from start to finish, mainly because it is so much fun. It was a nice break from what has to have been the worst year of my entire life, thus far.

I think that the best thing about this book is that there doesn't seem to be any preaching, there is no real political statement, so moral lesson, just a bunch of silliness--child's play, which lifts the mood, better than Zoloft.

Give it a read, especially when things aren't going so well.

I've already started The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. LOVE it! I took it with me when I had jury duty. Except for the fact that I was called around lunch time to sit on a panel of 30 others, I was thoroughly enjoying that book, too.

Well, "so long, and thanks for all the fish!"

Regi G

What do Jane Austen, O. Henry, Edgar Allan Poe, and CS Lewis have in common?

I don't know, but I own books by all of them. The first three, I own "complete works" of those authors. I don't think there is one out there with all of CS Lewis' works. It would be a big book, indeed.

I have also read minimally from the O. Henry book (which I just bought the other night) and the EA Poe book. I read "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfall," which was wonderful, incredibly insightful, fascinating to read, and...wrong. *cries*

I try to pick up a story or nicely complete section from the many, very thick books I have. It will take me years, literally, before I can say I've finished such a book. Harry Potter, that's easy. Compilations of classics--forever, but I will try to read fairly regularly.

I will probably buy many more books before I finish one. Well, except for the Jane Austen book, which I plan to read with my stepmother, as, with her health issues, she is not as able to read as she used to be.

One more little thing. We bought $5 giftcards to a bookstore for our children to buy books with. It was a near miss. Well, I do actually mean a miss, because my older daughter's book was too expensive (Nancy Drew is not 2-for-1, right now), and they only got toys or journals. I know journals aren't such a bad thing, but I was really hoping that they would get something to read, even if it was High School Musical.

Regi G