Yeah, that’s quite a bit more than I thought. I started late in the day, in between sessions of conference, and basically just wrote a little bit here and there. Just now, I opened it up to finish up the current chapter, but decided against it since I’m really tired. Then I did the wordcount, and wow…
However, I’m a little bit worried that I spent too much time writing and not enough time on other things, like homework. Granted, I was ready for a break after a very busy week, but there is another paper coming up and I really need to do research for it. Plus, I didn’t do so well on the midterm, and that worries me.
But oh well. Tomorrow is Sunday, which means no homework…except for Arabic. I should have done that today as well.
Whatever. The novel is coming along nicely and that’s good.
Conference was good–the parts that I caught, that is. I listened to all three sessions (including priesthood), but slept through some parts and chatted with friends through others. I went for a walk during the first session, so I caught most of it, but not so much the second session. And priesthood I was just hanging out with Steve and some other friends, and we distracted each other through most of it.
One thing from the first session that stood out to me was the speaker who quoted D&C 121. Showing compassion after rebuking is not something I’m good at. In fact, usually I end up chewing people out for little things and leaving afterwards. So that’s something to work on. I thought that it was really interesting how salvation is something personal, whereas exaltation is something we do as families, not individuals. Dallin H. Oaks said some interesting things as well, but it’s slipping my mind at the moment. Elder Uchtdorf switched up the sustainings, and I liked the way he did it–except that it’s not really a vote, it’s something completely different. But someone else corrected him on that.
The only trouble was that conference came right in the middle of such a busy time. I would have accomplished a lot more (maybe even started my research) if conference wasn’t this weak. But I’m not complaining–it was a good to hear from the apostles and prophets.
I’m reading On My Way To Paradise right now (by Dave Wolverton–his first novel) and it’s really good! I’m extremely impressed with the way he writes. He makes things so meaningful–it’s not a “stuff happens, the end” novel at all. Every other page there’s some kind of introspection / world description that is neither info dumpy nor slow and detached nor flashbacky. Usually, something will remind the main character of some experience he’s had, or of something that he’s come across in the world, and he’ll reminisce about it in a philosophical way that ties it back to the action in the here and now.
Very good stuff. And it’s really gritty, with lots of tension and danger. Brandon calls this a classic cyberpunk novel, and I can definitely see how that is. There are a lot of man vs. the machine themes in this book, individuals fighting the system and getting crushed. But the main character is nothing, and I mean NOTHING like the protagonist of Neuromancer. That kid was a freak, a horrible person, and just plain detestable. Angelo Osic is someone I can actually feel for, an ordinary guy who wants to do the right thing but gets in way over his head. Good stuff.
And now I’m going to finish this post. Goodnight.
