Daryl’s Brain

It was unavoidable, just an instinctive reaction to the signals in his brain; neurons whispering promises the universe itself would be unable to fulfill, cascading signals through his body to cause a momentary glimpse of all his hopes, and forcing -yes, forcing- his hand to reach out towards that which he already knew the truth of: an illusion.

- Daryl’s Brain

So, apparently I was “tagged” in a neat little bolg-game. A priest I know in Massachusetts who blogs quite regularly, and who’s blog I tend to frequent off and on, tagged me and now it’s my turn to post. The rules are:

• Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!)
• Find Page 123
• Find the first 5 sentences
• Post the next 3 sentences
• Tag 5 people

So without further ado, here’s an excerpt from The City of God by St. Augustine.

But beyond doubt it is greater felicity to have a good neighbour at peace, then to conquer a bad one by making war. Your wishes are bad, when you desire that one whom you hate or fear should be in such a condition that you can conquer him. If, therefore, by carrying on wars that were just, not impious or unrighteous, the Romans could have acquired so great an empire, ought they not to worship as a goddess even the injustice of foreigners?

Wow, the first two sentences are fine (and actually quite applicable today) , but that last kinda looses its meaning out of the context of the rest of the chapter. Kinda fun, though.

Now to see if anyone is “listening”. I am going to tag Biss, Stella, Michelle, Coramie, and All Saints. I guess it’s time to wait and see if anyone actually reads this blog.

I am now over halfway through a book that was recommended to me by one of my brother-in-laws, and I feel that I can highly recommend it to others. The book is:

His Majesty’s Dragon
by Naomi Novik

It is an easy, light read that is very enjoyable. I am finding myself quite attached to the characters and am having a hard time putting the book down. My only complaint is that it is taking the main characters a long time to get involved in the main Napoleonic War, but that is more then made up for by the fact that the writing is so easy and quick to read.

Without giving away any spoilers, His Majesty’s Dragon is set in an alternate, historical time-line where dragons exist and England is at war with France. Think Horatio Hornblower set in a fantasy world. The main character is a Navy officer who is thrust into a life as an aviator quite unexpectedly. (Though, as the reader you expect it even before starting the book, because it says so on the back.)

Highly recommended!

So, I must recommend a writing game, Worlde Arcane. This is a game of writing and imagination. There is no chance involved aside from the chance of how people react to what you do. You create a character and then you control everything that happens to your character. Everything. If someone swings a sword at you then you decide -within reason- if that person strikes you or not and if so what the results are. The other great thing about this game is that you are supposed to only make one post per day. Well, one every five hours or so which usually ends up being one per day because you are waiting for people across the globe to make their posts. If you’re interested, my character’s name is Swizzean.

A shelter from life’s storms
A place to unwind and open up
Talk about finances was forbidden

We would reserve ourselves for the night
We would snuggle and talk about our days

It was the most comfortable place
We had ever known
It was the safest retreat
In our humble home

We’ve had countless good times
And some parties too
Now we must say good-bye
And it feels like poo