How to Admire Heroes

As I've been trying to catch up with the Marvel movies, there was a moment in Spider-man Homecoming that caught my attention. The bully says he admires Spider-man, and sees him as an inspiration to be a better person. Then he immediately turns around and starts bullying Peter. 

It made me think of someone I used to work with at the Zoo. He was a HUGE Marvel fan. But then he'd bully people too. Not as directly, but he'd spread malicious gossip about people - me included. He'd tell things out of context, and leave out details to try to make people sound as bad as possible. 

I wonder. I guess people look up to super-heroes, knowing they can never quite be like that. So do some people look up to nice people, but never bother trying to be a better person? 

 

So... it's the Nowhere King?

I'm researching Celestial stags for the short story about the plum trees. "Celestial stag" seems to be a poor translation, as they are found in underground mines. And there doesn't seem to be much solid history for where this creature came from. It may just belong to a class of undead demons in Chinese folklore. But they're dangerous - they will do anything to escape the mines and get above ground. And bad things will happen if they do.

So, undead beasts named for stags, and trapped in a place they try to escape imprisonment..

It's the freaking Nowhere King! 

All the Same Snags

I've been writing a few short stories, so I can alternate writing them and editing Evva's story. 

I'm trying to start a new one. I know how it ends. And I think I even know the danger they're fighting. But I have no idea what causes the danger... 

Anyway, this short story explains why the Dayspring Mage Temple is surrounded by a thicket of plum trees, which are not native to the area. Or at least, this story will explain that. When I have all the pieces together.

Why Can't They be Entertaining?

I mention in my last reading update how painfully boring all of my Europe travel books are (the ones I bought about specific locations, such as Blarney Castle in Ireland). 

I know I've mentioned something similar a long time ago, but why can't these writers try to make their books interesting to read? It felt almost like a deliberate attempt to make them as dry and uninteresting as possible. Especially those books that talked about the art. I know there are better things to say about art and artists that what those museum books scratch out. 

And I know it can be done. I just finished John Green's new book about the history and current state of Tuberculosis. A kind of book I don't think I've ever read before. And it was good. It was entertaining, and touching. 

(And fitting - one of my characters had TB as a kid, which is an idea I had before John Green got invested in the topic. I finished the first draft of that story a few months before Everything is Tuberculosis was released. So now I can do it better justice in my own story). 

Why can't there be more educational books that are just good to read? It would make learning so much more fun to so many people.

Something Seen Mostly in Movies

Sometimes in movies, people will stop and stare at someone who's supposed to be beautiful. 

I kind of always assumed that was an exaggeration. Until I saw it happen in person. 

My cousin is literally registered as a model. He has shoulder-length curly hair. I've always thought my cousins are cool, but I never really thought beyond that. 

For Christmas, he came to visit with his son and fiance. We were walking down the street, past a target-shooting game/ride. It's pirate themed. So there was a lady dressed as a pirate on the street, drumming up business. Instead of holding a parrot on her arm, she had a plush octopus on her arm. As she was calling out to potential customers, she stopped and stared at my cousin as we walked by. Then I guess she snapped back to her senses because she said, "I got distracted by that mane. It's gorgeous." 

My aunt says that even when he was 15, people would stop and stare at him.

See, I told you I have cool cousins. They can get reactions out of people you usually only see in movies.

Reading Update

The Red Badge of Courage, by Crane

I think this is the most musing book I've ever read. Most of it happened in the protagonist's head. And most of it was lengthy discourses with himself about the nature of bravery. I think I'd need to read it again to get a better opinion.

 

Shaper, by Haas

This one was fascinating. It's the story of a boy who blames his family for the death of his dog. The new neighbors that move in are animal trainers. The good kind, who really know their stuff. I was impressed with how well the book worked that into the story, and it was a good story too.

Black Horses for the King, by McCaffrey

A different sort of King Arthur story. Because no one thinks about needing special horses to carry knights in their heavy, shining armor.

The Bald Eagle, by Davis

An amazing history of the US's national bird. 

 

The Last Monster, by Garrett

A story of a girl who becomes the guardian of the world's monsters. She has a sad history, but learns to be a good guardian. 

Trail to Heaven, by Ridington

The author spent a long time with the Dunne-za people (from an area known today as Canada). This book does a great job teaching about their culture, and special people like the Dreamers.

 

Ishi: Last of his Tribe, by Kroeber

The story of the last Yahi man, after the rest of his people were wiped out. Some of them managed to live in hiding for a while, but when Ishi was the last, he came down out of the mountains and ended up as more or less a living museum exhibit. I've heard some mixed things about how he was really treated by the museum. It was a good book though.

 

My Neighbor Totoro, by Kubo

I was amazed to discover that there was a novelization of the movie. Apparently it was only translated into English somewhat recently. Some of the book was quite different than the movie. Even the finale of finding Mei. It was cool to have some more pieces to the story. Like I never considered that the guy that helps them move in at the beginning is the uncle! And the girls go back to visit their family for a little while.

The Return of the Wolf, by Grooms

A great book about the history of wolves in the US. 

 

The Odyssey, by Homer

I read (at least most of) this book in school. But it was so long ago that I only remembered bits and pieces. I completely forgot that the actual journey is a small section of the book. Odysseus is telling people what happened to him during the ten years he was lost at sea. Much more of the book is about getting revenge on the suitors.

 

In Europe, I bought a bunch of books about the sites I visited. When I got home, I had plenty of time to read up on the locations and art I'd seen. I'll lump all of these together. And all of them are about as bland as you can get. It's like the authors were trying to take all of the excitement out of some amazing places and history. For example, for the museum books they'll have little blurbs about some of the artwork. And it will say the year it was made, who made it, what's it's made of, and the fact that it has an amazing use of light or color, etc. But it doesn't give the art any life. 

Exposition Overload

A little while ago, I had a random thought about Evva's story. Near the beginning, she and her teacher help solve a problem in a town that they're passing through. At one point, I wondered what would happen if someone from the town made a mistake, and the problem resurfaced. So I've been writing a short story about that. I've nearly finished.

It's more sad than I expected, but it has a nice ending. 

As usual, I don't often know much of what will happen when I start a story. I know I have to redo the whole beginning. And two pages in, there is suddenly an entire page of exposition. That will need to be streamlined and mixed in, of course. But that page of exposition really helped me figure out what I was actually doing XD

 

Red ruffed lemur