book review: Shatterday

Just finished up reading Harlan Ellison's Shatterday, a collection of (apparently) some of his best short stories.

I take it that Ellison stuck to writing a lot of short stories; he's very good at getting a point across concisely - most of the stories in this collection are 20 pages long or less.

He writes some sci-fi/fantasy and horror, touching on aspects of the human condition.

I'm not used to reading short stories collections; on one hand this type of book really lends itself to reading bit by bit; but on the other hand the experience does not offer the same type of immersion as a long story. I felt a little bit like I was back in English class from high school, reading short stories and abridged versions of things.

I can't say that I thought everything Ellison did in that book was golden, but there were certainly some thought-provoking stories within with unusual twists.

On the other hand, I'm glad that I got the book at the library; while Ellison is good, I do not think I would have been happy with having paid $15 for the trade paperback.

Next in the que - another collection by Ellison.

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touristy weekend...

One of my best friends from back home came out to spend the weekend, and we hung out all day friday, saturday, and sunday.

Really good catching up and finally doing some of the touristy stuff in the city that I've never gotten to do yet. Saw the space needle, the EMP, rode the monorail, saw a band do a show, and finally started to sample many of the watering holes around town.

Can't complain at all.

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Love for Missy Elliot

Under Construction:

Listening to it again, and really liking it...very, very well done album all around; every song is good. I think it is one of her better ones (though really, just about everything she does is good).

Not many filler tracks on the album, the only thing that sometimes get a little old are the tracks where Missy goes and speaks her mind - I appreciate her perspective and all, but it can get boring hearing that all the time.

Anyway, still a very solid record, almost 5 years later...I think this one should still be good another 5 or 10 years from now as well...

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I have a marker in Korea!

Apparently I have been marked as party of the family on their ancestral site. My name has been marked as "American Dan".

Awesome.

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