Day 181: Blameless

Blameless by Gail Carriger. ISBN: 9780316074155.

I think Carriger posits an excellent question to her character Madame Lefoux when she is asked whether or not she is seeking immortality (as a werewolf of vampire).  I won't tell you the answer, but Lefoux, being herself, gives a very reasonable answer.

Before you make up your mind about it, here are some facts you must know about being turned in Carriger's universe:

1. It is not always successful.
2. Successful transition relies on the presence of excess soul, of which there is no means of measuring.
3. Women very rarely make a successful transition.
4. A successful transition means you must sustain yourself on either blood or raw meat.
5. A successful transition usually involves losing artistic talents or creative abilities.
6. A successful werewolf transition involves very, very painful transformations than never get less painful.
7. A successful transition means that you will be beholden to either a vampire hive or a werewolf pack, at least until you are strong (read: old) enough to break off on your own, and then you will be looked upon with suspicion by everyone.

With all of these facts stacked up against it, there's almost no point in becoming immortal.  I suppose number 7 wouldn't be all that much different, as in Victorian times I would be bound by the patriarchal family structure anyway and becoming immortal may be a means of escaping it, even if only for another hierarchical form.  I think possibly the biggest concern would be the loss of artistic talents and abilities.

My brain is actually one of my favorite places to visit.  I would be loath to lose that in favor of prolonging my life.  I may not be incredibly smart, but I am clever, and I keep myself well entertained.  In fact, my brain is so inventive that sometimes it throws somewhat random images and word pairings together in a way that delights me to no end.  Most of them I would not dare to speak out loud or share, except apparently with my fiance as most of them come to me when I'm settling down for the night, but other times they lead to some turn of phrase or thought that I truly enjoy exploring and connecting in ways that might not occur to other people.

I know that my blog is not very big right now, that my audience is fairly small compared to some, but I would like to think that it is enjoyed enough by the people who do read it that they would come to miss the "soul" of my blog if it were to go missing.

An excellent and mostly spoiler free review can be found at this ain't livin'.  The blog author does an excellent job of summarizing the flavor of the book without going into boiled down summary (I am not a fan of summaries).

Day 180: Blameless

Blameless by Gail Carriger. ISBN: 9780316074155.

Before I get started on the actual topic here, I just want to say I love the covers on these.  This is not my favorite, but I dig the black and white backgrounds with subtle supernatural elements with (one supposes) Alexia in the foreground.

I think the reason I love these books so much is that Alexia and Connall annoy the ever-loving crap out of each other.  To me, this is a realistic and healthy relationship.  Mostly because it resembles my own on so many levels.  Just the other night I was assisting my fiance with editing his guest posts for my upcoming Banned Book Week, uh, postings.  I was attempting to communicate with him, while he was busy A) being purposefully dense B) honestly not getting it C) being a bad listener D) being on a completely different wavelength than me on that particular moment when we normally finish each other's sentences and read each other's minds (usually about food; we are fatkids).

We even take more or less the same roles as the Lord and Lady Maccon.  I tend to be the more pragmatic one, able to socialize with a large range of people almost solely based on my manners, but with occasional blunders due to a habit of being a bit more blunt than is normally considered "polite".  Danny, on the other hand, tends to be a bit more emotional (publicly), relies mostly on a group of friends who share commonalities, and socializes according to the already established "pack protocol" rather than a broader, more acceptable set of behaviors.  This is not to say his behaviors are unacceptable or rude, but being part of the nerd culture sometimes involves "odd" customs and an even odder set of knowledge and conversational topics.

Strangely, I think these things actually make us closer to each other.*  If I didn't get absolutely irritated with him on occasion, we would lead terribly boring lives.  If we were both so agreeable that we gave way on every little thing that annoyed us, we wouldn't be happy with each other..  We aren't exactly happy with each other now, but the occasional victory or defeat is somehow more rewarding than watching my lover cave in every time I make a demand for him to change his behavior or the way he dresses or OMG stop exhaling breath into the phone every 10 minutes like you're some kind of telephonic whale beast.**

And on some level I even enjoy the bickering and raising our voices to each other out of frustration over stupid things.***  It makes it easier to have those really difficult discussions and not get upset about it just because the other person is yelling and oh shit, we've never had a fight before.  Instead, when we are actually fighting about something that actually matters, we are able to sit down and listen to what the other person is saying and to address those concerns and come to a solution.  We don't always necessarily do it without hurting each other first, we don't necessarily do it within 24 hours, and we aren't always 100 percent mature adults in our resolutions, but we also aren't afraid to call each other assholes when it's merited (and sometimes when it's not).****  At the very least it prompts us to fix minor problems before they become big huge hairy werewolf-sized problems.

An excellent and mostly spoiler free review can be found at this ain't livin'.  The blog author does an excellent job of summarizing the flavor of the book without going into boiled down summary (I am not a fan of summaries).

*Deeble. <3  (These are responses Danny left during the editing process, thought I would share.)
**No. >:-[ 
***I'm glad one of us does.
****Which is all the time.

Day 64: Changeless

Changeless by Gail Carriger.  ISBN: 9780316074148.

One of the vampires in this series is named Lord Akeldama.  He is flamboyant, wears loud but stylish clothing, and uses pet names with impunity.  I like pet names, they are cute and endearing when exchanged among loved ones.

Not so much when you have a patron or customer using them.  I understand I don't have a name tag, but can't you think of something a little better to call me than "sweetheart?"  Maybe you think you're being cute and endearing, but just because you're about the same age as my mother doesn't mean I somehow view you as a mother.  I am not helping you purely out of the goodness of my heart, I am helping you because I get financial gain and professional satisfaction from it.  Why do you think you're so special that you think I'm giving you some kind of special treatment?

I also don't understand why women do this to other women.  Shouldn't you know better than that?  Haven't you ever been treated that way and found it condescending?  I understand that in some places it's a cultural thing, that's okay...sort of.  I just don't get it. I work hard, just like you do; please, please, show some respect.  Not just to me, show some respect to the fast food worker and the janitor and the person who works at the call center.  Even if they are in India.

Day 63: Changeless

Changeless by Gail Carriger.  ISBN: 9780316074148.

I was not planning to write three posts on this book, the third will be posted tomorrow.  And really The Gone-Away World only got that many because I didn't want anyone to feel cheated from the infamous "terrible cover" post ... sounds like a Sherlock Holmes novel.  Sherlock Holmes and the Terrible Cover Post.  Anyway, this is set in Victorian times and those upright and proper ladies are always going on about fainting at the slightest provocation. I've never really experienced fainting, and passing-out-drunk has only occurred once or twice and not within recent memory.

Well, I've passed out now, as of yesterday.  I try to make a point of giving blood, and I've done so maybe 6-7 times at this point, possibly more.  I don't know what was different about today, maybe the fact that I didn't eat enough and it's been hot and whatever else I've done wrong with my body.  Luckily I was at the end of my donating when I passed out so they got a full pint of tasty O neg., which I know they desperately need.  I now understand why fainting women are always shown with a hand against their forehead, because that is exactly what I ended up doing.  One minute I was fine, then my vein started to sting, I got dizzy and slightly nauseous.  Next thing I know there are five* people standing over me and they're covering me with a tissue sheet and pulling partitions around my blood-givin' lawn-chair-cot.  I asked what happened, and my voice sounded really weird and echo-y inside my head.  They told me I passed out.

And I wet myself.

Awesome.

I am aware of the physiology that happens when you pass out, and I understand why it happens and that it just does.  But damn you body, you're supposed to be better than that.  However, the Red Cross team treated me very kindly, with great dignity and respect.  I did not feel shame, nor do I now, over what happened.  I'm a little upset, yes, but that's mostly because I have other things going on right now and having an extra shot of adrenaline or whatever happens after you pass out and wake back up does not help with stabilizing emotions.  I'm just glad that the people at Red Cross are fabulous and wonderful.  They can take my blood any day.  I just hope this is more of a one-time experience, because I don't really care much for the idea of wetting myself in public, even if it is for a good cause.

In other bladder related news: I found out that my dad has bladder cancer.  He caught it very early, it's very treatable, and he should be fine.  There is a high chance of it reoccurring, especially since he probably won't stop smoking, but he should be fine.  It's just one more thing for me to deal with right now, and I'm getting very good at dealing.  

Anyway, go give blood.  If you wet yourself you'll get a t-shirt and scrub pants.  And even extra cookies. 
*I was not actually lucid enough to count at that point, but it was certainly more than three.

Day 62: Changeless

Changeless by Gail Carriger.  ISBN: 9780316074148.

I am very much enjoying this series, if you couldn't tell since I just finished the last book  less than a week ago.  What can I say, I only promised I would try to space out reading series.  Luckily the next book isn't out until September, and the final book of The Hunger Games isn't out until August.  This particular kind of book doesn't really lend itself well to this project, but it is so much fun to read and I felt the need to reward myself after The Gone-Away World and The Atlantis Code.

The thing is, reading this book I've come to the conclusion that I really don't care that much for steampunk.  I know this will disappoint my fiance, who seems to have an affection for the genre, but I just can't get into gadgetry.  I don't find detailed and complicated descriptions of wheels and gears and cogs and steam-power working together to do something all that interesting.  And I have an issue with authors who focus mainly on the technology in steampunk novels as it detracts greatly from character and plot development.  These things also tend to annoy me because I can't actually play with the gadgets.

I will admit, I'm not really all that big on new gadgets.  This is not to say I don't like new technology and that I don't see it's value, etc.  I do have a problem with people running out to get the latest new thing when they can't afford it (or can't afford to replace it), just because they're somehow "supposed" to have it.  Once again, I laugh at the people on FML who manage to damage their iPhones and whine about it.  Really?  Come on, it's an Extra.  Extras are things you get in life that you don't really need, but that add a little something that makes it easier or more enjoyable.  I will admit, most people need a cell phone nowadays.  You could argue against that, but with the scarcity of payphones and the inconvenience of landlines, that is the way our society is going.  But unless your work requires you to have constant access to the internet and all those crazy applications, you do not need an iPhone (or similar).  

I'm not going to say I'm slow on the uptake, but I don't have a lot of opportunities to play with new gadgets.  I've messed around with the iTouch.  I like that technology seems to be getting easier to use, but I don't tend to integrate it into my life right away and I don't think we should be so quick about that.  People seem to focus only on the positive things when they incorporate new toys into their lives, but we don't have any Mary Shelley's anymore to make people stop and think about how far it should go and how connected we should be.  People don't consider that if they buy an iPhone, they're going to have to buy a new iPhone if their original gets damaged, stolen, lost, or old.  They will have to because they got used to the constant access and functionality of the Extra and now they can't live without it..  It's too difficult to revert to not-having than to stay in a state of never-had.  

My cell phone cost $90 about 3 years ago. It sucked to pay that much because I was just starting grad school and I was not expecting to have to pay so much for a basic need (because I didn't have a landline).  However, I can afford to replace a $90 phone, especially now that the model I have is probably more in the $20-30 range, and I've dropped that damn thing more times than I can count.  I cannot afford to buy an iPhone, and I don't think it warrants the extra monthly expense for data packets and all that other crap that involves being in a "3G network."  I'm just not interested.  

I have slowly adjusted to having and using my GPS.  I still don't like having it, because after working in insurance for over a year, I know that people will break into cars just for the GPS.  Luckily I have a very unassuming car and I keep the GPS and charger in the glove box pretty much all the time.  I use the GPS for emergencies, and occasionally when I'm bored and curious about how much longer I have to drive to get from Ohio to Alabama or wherever.  But I still rely primarily on maps.  And I know how to use maps.  I sort of wonder if that's a skill that will slowly disappear from the next generation.  We have websites built for 2-year-olds now.  I kind of have a problem with that.  The younger years are so formative and important that there has to be a negative affect when exposing someone that young to the television or the internet.  

It's a problem.  You're supposed to be interacting with a child that young, not sitting her down in front of a computer and clicking the mouse for her as bright colors flash across the screen.  Most of those websites are trying to sell something anyway; don't you want to have a little more control over the messages your child receives?  You're already going to have problems getting the kid to listen to you when he's 15; if you start letting someone else tell your child what to do when they're 2, what kind of ground do you think you'll have to stand on?

I spent more time in front of the tv as a kid than I care to admit.  I think it prevented me from having some really great opportunities, or at the very least from reading more books.  I still read a lot, I still had a lot, but it took me about 20 years to really develop strong social skills.  That's right, I didn't get good at socializing until I was about 22, and even then I had some terrible, terrible snafus because I have trouble reading people sometimes.  If I had spent more time with kids my age (I usually socialized with older kids or adults when I was younger...and still do), I might not have had so many problems in high school and grade school.  It's not all technology's fault, but I do think people ought to consider its effects a little more.  Sure, you can access information, but you don't necessarily have total control of that information.  Are you sure you want to create more opportunities to have less control over what you're exposed to?

Day 56: Soulless

Soulless by Gail Carriger.  ISBN: 9780316056632. 

Sorry for the last post on this book, I know it was very close to being a book review.  My intention was really to discuss mythos.  I haven't been sleeping well lately, so we'll blame it on that and not on laziness.  

So this is going to be a rather specific moment to focus on, but while at a party Tarabotti comments about how raw oysters remind her of "nasal excrement."  This reminds of my first time eating raw oysters, which I will happily recount here.  This might not be the most interesting of posts, but since I'm not getting any feedback...yes, I'm blaming the victim.

The first, and only time, I ate raw oysters was when my fiance and I visited my mother for Thanksgiving last year.  This also happens to be close enough to her birthday, which is the 24th and fell on a Wednesday in 2009.  My mother happens to love seafood, so we went to a seafood place.  Her boyfriend asked if anyone wanted raw oysters, and since my fiance and I had never had them we were game to try them.  While I think "nasal excrement" appropriately captures the texture, I liken the taste to "licking the side of a boat."  As in the saltwater faring variety.

Perhaps I did not let it "slide down my throat" as you're supposed to.  I do have a tendency to chew my food and it's a habit that's awfully hard to break.  I even hate eating soups that contain more broth than vegetables, etc. (unless they're of the thick and creamy variety).  I think this says something about what I consider food.  If you have to chew it, even just a little bit, it's food.  Otherwise I'm not really interested.  I'm glad I tried raw oysters.  I would consider trying them again, but if they somehow became extinct or endangered and I never got to eat them again I wouldn't cry about it too much.  Well, except for the fact that we'd killed yet another species.

It's almost funny that I don't like oysters, to be honest.  There are so few foods that I dislike so intensely.  Most I will tolerate and eat if they are placed in front of me.  In order for me to eat oysters again, I think a few things would have to happen.  First, I think I would have to be fairly drunk.  Second, I think enough time would have to pass that my tastes in food change, or that I would have forgotten the unpleasantness of the taste and feeling of eating an oyster.  By the way, I love sushi and even enjoy eating octopus and eel, so it's not entirely the ick factor.  I also enjoy mussels (although I've never eaten those raw).

Other than the encounter with the raw oysters, which my mom's boyfriend had to more or less finish by himself, the dinner was delicious.  Apparently there were also about six or seven other birthday guests because we were bombarded by the song over and over again that evening.  My mother refrained from telling anyone, because honestly I think the waitstaff had been abused enough that evening.

I love food, and have a strong attachment to certain foods, even those that repulse me.  I'd be interested to hear stories from other people about foods they met and didn't like, or that have special meaning for them.  Please feel free to share in the comment section (now called "book chats").

Day 55: Soulless

Soulless by Gail Carriger.  ISBN: 9780316056632.

I think the reason I love vampire and werewolf stories so much is how old the legends are, and how much they share while still having unique cultural and regional differences.  I love when people play with the hows and whys of vampiredom.  I might even have been okay with sparkling if it had been more subtle and had some sort of pseudo-science attached to it.  Of course, nothing could have saved that other series from bad writing, so we'll just move on.

In this particular series, vampires and werewolves and ghosts exist, or rather are able to exist, because they have an excess of soul.  This happens to be a world in which dualities exist, so because there are people with an excess of soul, there are also people with no soul.  These are called preternaturals, and any supernatural that comes into contact with one returns to their mortal state as long as the contact is maintained.  These people are strangely presented as having no innate sense of morality, so technically they would be more dangerous than werewolves or vampires, the latter being able to find willing victims now that society knows about them.

Since preternaturals are extremely rare in Carriger's world, the only one we have to judge is Alexis Tarabotti and to some degree her deceased, but frequently mentioned, father.  Tarabotti is presented as overly strong willed (meaning she has any will at all in Victorian England) and somewhat socially crass.  I think I would have liked to have seen her be more so, and perhaps evincing signs of Asperger's.  I mean, it would be an interesting correlation, not that I think people with Asperger's lack souls, but there might be some correlation of soulless behavior with a lack of empathy, etc.  Then again, I'm not certain why Carriger didn't go the psychopath route either.  In any case, Tarabotti apparently reads a whole bunch on philosophy and moral development and this somehow solves the problem of her having no built-in moral center.

Ah, another thing about the mythos of Carriger's world that I found interesting were the social dynamics of the supernatural creatures.  Werewolves are apparently the more social of the creatures and have lent England's military their social order.  While they're supposedly immortal (or at least long lived), they tend to fight each other, so they don't live nearly as long as vampires.  Vampires tend to live in hives, with a queen being dominant.  Werewolves also place Alpha Females above Alpha Males, but since there are so few of them it hardly seems worth mentioning except that, once again, this is almost hilariously indecorous for Victorian times.  Both supernatural groups tend to shun outsiders, although werewolves more so.  Lone vampires are seen as kind of eccentric, but can apparently gain some status if they're old enough and not too crazy.

In any case, I love new social dynamics and the new stuff made this an interesting read.  Carriger seems to have a good understanding of how much is too much to throw at her readers all at once, and none of the plot or character got derailed or detracted by it.  I was even pleased with the touch of smuttiness in the book, and while we don't see any premarital sex scenes, this is more due to individual decision by the characters rather than blatant abstinence only Mormon driven drivel. 


For something slightly related, the New York Public Library staged a fabulous event where Improv Now stormed the building in ghost and Ghost Buster costumes to the obvious enjoyment of their patrons.  More here.