Blog Posts by Rena McGee

Crystal Singer is a great book when you're fifteen and/or know nothing about music. (Why a writer who supposedly does have voice training would hold something like perfect pitch in such high universal regard is mystery to me, for instance. Also, it's kind of weird that there's apparently no "popular" genres a of music in The Future--just classical. Instead of recommending non-classical music careers, the maestro immediately jumps to things like "crystal tuning.") It doesn't really stand the test of time in a lot of ways, but it does manage to be entertaining...if you like the main character, which I don't all that much. Much like the irritating burr in her voice, I find her to be a bit annoying.
In which there are Divas.

Originally posted on Near Life Experiences.

This is for GBE2 Prompt 63 "Unexpected"
I was slightly stumped for this particular prompt, but my bad knee acting up since yesterday prompted me to remember a few stories.
Why I Have a Bad Knee
I used to ride my bike everywhere and one morning I was going down the road to work. I thought that the person pulling out of their apartment complex driveway had seen me, but this was not the case. (I could have sword they had looked in my direction.) They drove right into me and I and flipped right over the front of the car and landed with my bike on top of me. (The bike was not injured.)
The panicky woman got out of her car to see if I was all right. Somehow, I ended up spending the next five minutes trying to calm her down. Since nothing was broken, I didn't bother going to a doctor. For a few days, I was barely able to walk, even though I didn't even get a bruise until a few days after the incident.
Roosters are Effing

Because of the John Carter movie coming out, I decided to do a Re-read of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Burroughs is not one of my favorite authors because of reasons. I have tried reading the original Tarzan books and have not been able to do that because Tarzan in the stories is a massively annoying tool. (I did like some of the old Tarzan movies and also the cartoon, but I hate the stories.) John Carter is also a massive tool but is somehow more readable to me than Tarzan.

First, let's talk about planetary romance, because that's what A Princess of Mars is.

This is the first part of a by-chapter synopsis of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I started it back in February, got sidetracked by other projects and took it back up after I got to see John Carter. (Which was an awesome movie/reboot.)

This is for GBE2 Prompt 41

Crossposted from my blog Near Life Experiences.

When I was a teenager, I used to drive my mom up the wall because I had very little interest in how I looked or what I was wearing. I also had very little interest in makeup or hairstyles or any of a number of things I was apparently supposed to care about. The only time I "cared" about my appearance is when I was being given a hard time because I failed to meet whatever standards my mom had for my appearance.

My own standards for my appearance are pretty simple.

1. If I am at home or in a casual setting: jeans and a t-shirt. T-shirt or pants may have holes in them or be extremely worn. Hair: always out of my face. Make up: None

2. If I am at work or a more formal setting: clothes and hair must be presentable and follow whatever rules are in place for setting. Make up: None.

(The reason why no makeup ever is because a) I had never learned how to apply it. b) I have an intense

Crossposted from my blog A Wicked Convergence of Circumstances.

Ask Me My Top 5 Anything This is something I'm doing on Tumblr. (My ask box is open. Also, if you're on Tumblr, add me!)

captainschwann

Okay! These are not so much my top five as my "First five from my top ten that came to mind."

Top Five Fantasy Series

Chronicles of the Kencyrath by P.C. Hodgell

What: Our Heroine is a young woman with a mysterious past and uncertain future. She is the member of one of those magical races that have Incomprehensible Missions to Defeat Evil. Problem: Evil is possibly winning and may not be evil, just Incomprehensible and unhealthy for the rest of the Universe. She spends a great deal of time accidentally leaving a path of destruction. The dean of her military academy has warned her not to drive any more of her teachers insane! Meanwhile, her favorite pastimes are reality hacking, pondering abstract philosophical concepts and untangling the mysteries of