So I finally got around to reading Catherine Fisher's The Oracle Betrayed. I gotta say, I'm kind of disappointed. I really liked the concept behind it and I'm intrigued enough to read the other two--eventually--but the entire thing just fell kind of flat. The main weakness lies in the characters. They never really gained any depth or true personality. You never really got a true feel for them; you just watched them go through motions without having any real motivation or emotional connection to them. Maybe we were told too much instead of getting to see? I don't know. It just felt like something was missing... However, although I do have my doubts about where the next books are headed, I will say that I was immensely grateful that she didn't include any romance between the leads--yet. There's just not any spark there and I was really afraid she was going to force it. I still am. I know it's bound to be coming...

Meanwhile, I also read East by Edith Pattou and the next on my Prachett list, Wyrd Sisters. I really enjoyed both of them. I think Wyrd Sisters might be my favorite Prachett so far! Currently working on A Game of Thrones but that's going to take a while...

The more I keep hearing about Xenoblade, the more excited I get. Fingers crossed it's brought State side!

I'm feeling rather "meh" about LOST. I can't say I'm disappointed, but I definitely didn't come away from it going, "Oh. My. God. That was awesome!" There were some parts I liked (I really did enjoy the final scene and its circular nature), but I also have to suppress my urge to call "Bullshit!" on a couple of things (WAAAALLLTT!). And as Jin and Sun were the only paring I cared about I could care less about seeing any of the others making out. And some...just don't work for me. And the alt-world being what it was, I am now even more upset with what they did with Jin, Sun, and Sayid's island stories. They just don't seem fitting at all. A lot of the last season didn't seem fitting for that matter, but I've long ago just decided to shrug and go where the show took me. (I am, however, still trying to figure out what the point of the Temple was...)

All this said, I feel like the creators did a good job of doing what they wanted to do. I think the problem is that while creators were concerned with presenting themes and philosophy by exploring the lives of the characters and the connections they forged in the midst of all these mysterious circumstances, a decent portion of the audience was more concerned with the literal plot and explaining the weird backdrop and incidents in which the characters found themselves. So many times have I seen comments expressing the sentiment: "Who cares about who Kate picks, I just want to know [insert unanswered question here]," and so many times have I thought the same thing. Unfortunately for us, who winds up with who turned out to be of the utmost importance to Darlton. Hence why I feel "meh."

Ah, well, it was fun ride, and it does feel rather surreal to know that it is over. So it goes... One less show to watch next year... she thought wistfully...

Lost has made me cry. My favorites, all offed in one shot. Guess I'll have to hope for the alt-time line to revive them? ...But it still won't be the same! And I don't know how I feel about the alt. I just don't know. And I resent deaths for the purpose of saying, "Oh, look how evil this guy is! No one is safe!" Bah, this is just sad.

One: I have been working my way through the Jane Austen Collection DVDs, featuring adaptations circa the 70s/80s, that I got for Christmas several years ago. I've yet to watch Pride and Prejudice and my Sense and Sensibility disc won't read, but in general, I have enjoyed them, especially after I got over the staging and other nitpicky things. Sure Mansfield Park was a little boring, but it kept me watching. However, Northanger Abbey was beyond ridiculous and I have been rambling on for the sole purpose of saying this: LOL!!! What is with the music? And, oh, Catherine's actress...

Two: I have just finished Emily of New Moon, and I really enjoyed it. I've heard there is supposed to be a bit of a divide between Anne people and Emily people, but I don't see why. There are certainly similarities but I think they are two very different animals. Emily was much darker and more realistic than  Anne. I suppose sentiment will always make me an Anne person, but I really like Emily--a lot. And Perry. And Ilse. And he father. And Elizabeth. Not sold on Teddy or Emily/Teddy, but I think that's because we never got to see their meeting and he didn't speak until well after his initial introduction. But I also understand that both the character and his romance with Emily gets more interesting early on in the next book. I will have to read the rest of the series someday, though no time soon. As it is I only read Emily because a friend had let it to me and I have to hang on to lent books for too long. But I definitely plan to finish exploring the world of New Moon.

Tired of Evil!Sasuke. Not thrilled with the way the plot's been heading post-Pein. Will sit tight and hope it all gets resolved in some great way that will make up for all the nonsense and bring back the love I felt in the Part 1.

I'd kind of fallen out of Office fandom. I've always watched the show, but I hadn't really ventured into the episode/spoiler discussions for sometime. Well, today I did, and I am most disturbed to discover that shipping wank has come to the Office. True, there were people who routed for different and sometimes conflicting pairings, but I'd never noticed any real animosity. But the wank over Andy/Erin vs Andy/Oscar is disheartening to say the least.

Personally, I loved the idea of Andy/Oscar, but the more I thought about it, the less I think Oscar would really want to date Andy. But, hey, the episode where they were drunk together was great, and I enjoyed their bonding no end. And it would be a fun pairing. However, I'm also really enjoying Andy/Erin. It's adorable. And they really do seem to make a lot of sense. I think what really sold me on the pairing was when Erin started singing the Mr. Scott song from "Scott's Tots" because it made me immediately think of Andy and something he would do. And the drummers were amazing.

And I don't have a point other than I'm sad at the ridiculous (and mostly unjustified) hate Erin is getting. I can understand people not especially liking her, but we havn't been given much of reason (beyond personal taste) to dislike her. Yeah, she's quirky, but its all good!

So lets just get along!
(And, yes, I do find myself less enchanted with Pam than I used to be.)

In regard to Mary: Good, now in the threequal she can romance the eye doctor!