I'm DONE!!!

Turned in my written master's project on the 18th, presented on the 26th, and today I turned in the papers for my competency. Just have to turn in my application, and I will be an officially licensed teacher!

The down side of all this is that everyone is leaving. Some are going so far away I have no idea when I'll get to see them again. And I still don't have a job. I don't do well with transitions at the best of times, but going home to such a state of uncertainty really sucks.

However, I was very pleased that Uncut Pages decided to perform in the Capitol Fringe Festival in DC this summer, as I could see their amazing production of Galathea. Many many props go to the director and actors. The use of masks and quick costume changes made the double casting go smoothly until the end, when the Melebius/Venus thing was a bit awkward. All the masks also reminded me of Mirrormask, which was cool. But I was really impressed by the range the actors showed with the double casting, particularly in using body movements and language to express the different characters. Lilah practically flowed as Neptune, which was really excellent. And Rachel, your clergy voice was hysterical. I'm glad you finally found a productive use for that scary voice. ;)

And before I finished all this, I rushed up to join my family at the shore for the weekend. Here's what I read then and after:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling. Of course, like everyone else on the beach. ;) Though I will say my experience was fairly unique, as we ended up with one of the misprinted copies. Pages 211-242 were repeated, and then it skipped straight to 275. At least it was early enough in the book that I could be patient until we could get a new copy, unlike that woman on the news I heard about who was missing the ending. I won't say more here, since I don't want to spoil anything for the few who might not have read it yet; but anyone who wants to discuss it with me knows where to find me.

White Jenna and The One-Armed Queen by Jane Yolen. The sequels to Sister Light, Sister Dark which I really enjoyed when I was younger, these didn't quite do it for me. White Jenna was a little bit better because it continued Jenna's story, but One-Armed Queen, about the time right after Jenna's reign, didn't really seem to have a point. Or at least I didn't see what about the story made it necessary for Yolen to write. I did enjoy the conceit of the academic letters and articles, especially the ones now continued by the researcher's daughter. But again, not enough to justify the book.

King Dork by Frank Portman. I'd heard of this before, but in the actual reading I wasn't very impressed. Some of the situations were quite amusing, like the popular girls' game of hooking up with unpopular guys and the continually changing band names. I'm not sure if this would count as a postmodern book; it definitely skims the surface, the protagonist isn't necessarily likeable, and not much if anything gets resolved. On the other hand, though, I kind of wonder when this book is set. The author was a teen in the 80's, I believe, and the book lacks many of the mentions of current teenage life that I would expect from something supposed to be set now (ie cell phones, the internet). The glossary in the back is hysterical, however.

The Bromeliad Trilogy (Truckers, Diggers, Wings) by Terry Prachett. I love Good Omens and I'd really like to start reading Prachett's Discworld series, except I don't know where to start. I saw the name and grabbed this book. It's an amusing little trilogy for young adults about a group of nomes whose home is destroyed, causing them to find a new one; and they do, in a department store inhabited by other nomes who worship the store's creator and don't quite believe in the Outside. Only the store is being demolished in a week, so they all have to get out while they still can. The whole time they are being guided by a Thing that tells them they actually came from beyond the stars and their ship is still out there, waiting for them to return. Of course, by the end, they retrieve the ship; but I like the conceit of a typical fantasy creature actually being an alien, and thus more associated with sci-fi.

While I Live by John Marsden. The first of the Ellie Chronicles, probably written due to fan response to the Tomorrow series. I really wasn't impressed with this one. It just didn't work well as a self-contained novel; not only did it seem to depend on a lot of familiarity with the previous series, but it also didn't have much of a plot arc within the single book. I know there's at least one more chronicle, but I don't know if it will be much better. As much as I wondered how on earth Ellie and her friends could go back to normal, this reverting back to wartime strategies seems like cheating. Marsden also seems to have lost a bit of Ellie's voice in this book, which is a shame, because it dilutes a strong, passionate character.

Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg. I got this from Jeff when I went up to his friends' wedding. It's actually a play about a gay baseball player who comes out and the resulting tension in the rest of the team, particularly in their homophobic new pitcher from the country. I kind of want to see this as a play, because it seems mostly monologue and dialogue based and I don't really understand why it had to be a play.

Total books read this month: 11
Total books read this year: 43