Book Review: The Tough Guide to Fantasyland

This week I read "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland" by Dianna Wynne Jones. It purports that much of what we see in generic fantasy novels is stage dressing in a theme park, put on by management for the sake of the 'tourists.' It breaks down the cliches you'll be familiar with if you've read at least a few epic fantasies, and puts them into the form of a guidebook. Humorous if you're a fan of the genre, or a reference of what to watch out for if you're writing fantasy.

It's good, but much of it was pretty much along the lines of what I'd seen on tvtropes already. Although, being specifically about fantasy, and fantasy in literature, it went a little more in depth. For example, theorizing about the ecology of Fantasyland. Taking into account the special properties of the horses there, such as being able to gallop all day without rest, sometimes without food or water, the conclusion is made that they must be a separate species from our horses--one that breeds through pollination, as the mares never seem to be in heat, and the stallions never show interest. Other observations include that no one wears socks in Fantasyland, and that the primary meal is stew, which is not good traveling food, as it takes so long to make. I don't believe tvtropes mentions that one, though I don't dare check unless I want to waste the rest of my evening, for precisely the reason expressed in this xkcd comic:

Finally: Poi!

After a few years of watching videos on Youtube, I finally got myself a set of Poi to start playing with. No, no fire poi yet. Although that would be cool, skin grafts are not my idea of fun; I'm going to practice with my nice, safe, LED poi before doing anything more daring.

And a lot of practice that will be. Like most things, when done well, it's a lot harder than it looks. Practicing will be fun, though. Especially when it gets warmer out and I can practice where there's more room - no narrow hallways or low ceilings. That has had the good effect of forcing me to stick to the simple stuff, instead of jumping ahead to harder moves and getting frustrated. Now I can consistently do a few beats of the butterfly without the balls colliding. Still working on that.

There is a series of instructional videos at playpoi that I'm going to start trying, and a plethora of others on Youtube if you find yourself interested.

You Have to Begin Somewhere

In leiu of getting an actual website set up, I'm starting a blog. A website of the more traditional variety is still planned, but it will take a little time, so I am going to take advantage of the speed and ease of blogging. What better time to start than now?

It is my intent to cover a wide variety of material in this blog. Hobbies, interests, and random thoughts, among other things. Yes, I do realize that a more focused blog might garner a larger or more devoted audience, but that's not why I'm doing this. For the most part. :)