Drabble Geeks

Geeks…Being Total Geeks.

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A Romantic Cop Drama?

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I’ll admit, I may have a problem with constantly reading Nicholas Sparks novels. I found two I loved to death, to the point where the covers are falling off. Now, I’m treating his books like Pokémon, and I need to read them all, for better and worse. This book, A Bend in the Road, falls squarely in the middle. Reading the description, I was expecting an adorable romance about two people from previously failed relationships, for very different reasons, coming together and finding love again. That was true for the first half of the novel. The second half was a terribly written cop drama that made no sense.

The second half of the book was a beautiful description of police brutality when of course, the only recourse for the protagonists’ actions was suspension with pay. Other things could have been happening, but I was just so mad. A message to Sparks:

Stop writing cops! You are terrible at it! Just because you made the cop the main protagonist doesn’t mean we will forgive his insane actions!

And by trying to make us forgive him, he did try by having our cop protagonists do a cute flashback to when the book was a romance novel. I one hundred percent support just stopping and the middle and pretending that the ending didn’t happen; you will be much happier that way.

An Entirely New World Pt 4

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I finished reading the forth book within the Chronicles of Narnia series, and now I’m wondering if there is a point in finishing the series. If not for the fact that I’ve pretty much promised myself and the fact that my friends are adamant that the later books are better. I’ve just feel like I myself am getting more annoyed at the books than I spend time caring about what’s going on.

For example, at this point, as we found out in t he previous books, the characters that we gained a connection to, will no longer be showing up. Instead, we get random boy and girl who we could care less about and have no development other than being stupid, because pushing someone off a cliff is the logical response to having a conversation. Also, evil chair… I whish I was joking, but there was an evil chair. I don’t think I need to say more. Avoid this book at all costs, mainly for your sanity.

Along that Yellow Brink Road Pt 2.5

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As I was making my way through what is left of the Oz series, I realized that I missed an installment. Being the completionist that I am, I of course had to go back and read The Woggle-Bug Book. It takes places, directly after the second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz, I think. To be honest, I don’t know why this book exists, and book is being very generous.

This fanfiction of a short story is about how Mr. Insect-with-too-many-names-to-be-taken-seriously somehow ends up in America, I think, and tries to by a wife because he like a dress. And then some other things happened. I’m also pretty surer there was a random section with a dash a racism but I was just trying to get through to the end. It sounded stupid, and I’m pretty sure that if I put any actually though into it I would cry because of it. Just take my advice. This “book” isn’t worth your sanity. Literally do anything else.

Escaping the Underworld

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Imagine this: you are trapped in the underworld with your father, but what to do anything to escape, including taking down hordes of enemies in the way and getting help from your estranged family members. That is Hades in a nutshell. This is an action-packed room-based procedurally generated game taking place in the Underworld of Greek Mythology as you follow Zagreus, son of Hades, in trying to reach the surface.

Not only is the game gorgeous and amazingly voice-acted, but the action is also very seamless and responsive. It could be because I’m used to crappy computers, but I am used to playing action games that do nothing but stutter and take seconds before a response from the on-screen character. I recently got this game on the switch, and now I am saving up all my money possible to buy a better computer so I can feel this fantastic playing an action game in the future. I just don’t want to stop playing because of the fantastic gameplay and heart-touching story I wasn’t expecting. I would highly recommend anyone picking up this beautifully made game.

An Entirely New World Pt 3

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I finally got around to reading the third book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, and I gotta say, I was not worth it. More characters that you won’t carry about show up nor get even a page of description. All of our “favorite” character’s weren’t even then because Peter was off at school and Susan was busy finding a husband. The common things we’re looking forward to in a fantasy series.

In time, instead of sitting around listening to a story, we’re sitting around on a boat. Why? Because Aslan told us to. With nonsense side plots that make no sense? Absolutely. At times, the story felts like an Oz book with the random tangents of fantasy Dorothy had to go on. It wasn’t worth the time it took to read. Am I happy our “favorite” family won’t be going back to Narnia, and we’ll hear someone else’s story? Yes, yes, and more yes. The four we’ve learned to “love” should have stopped after their first adventure.

Studio Ghibli Made a Video Game

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Like the title says, the Studio Ghibli’s beautiful style haws been added to a video game, or something that you could call a video game. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but I would definitely say that it is not for everyone. Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds boasts itself as a MMORPG featuring some classic classes such as witches, rangers, and swordsmen. I, of course, chose a witch to “play” as.

To be honest, this is more a beautiful cinematic that you enjoy to watch with a side of research management. I large part of the game is managing your inventory and leveling up your weapons and pets. I really am enjoying the story beats, but if you are looking for a hardcore MMORPG in which every single button press effects the action, this is not the game for you. If you want something mindless to do and just want the pretty colors go by like I do, you might really enjoy it. There are some customizations options, but all the classes are gender- and race-locked, so be prepared for everyone looking more or less the same.

The game is available in the Apple and Google Play store. There also seems to be a pretty active PC port if that is your cup of tea. I am currently a level sixty witch, and even though at times it’s a grind, I haven’t felt the need to buy experience boosts are anything, so I do think it is pretty balanced in a way. Of course that fact that you can buy stuff is thrown in your face every couple of levels, it’s not necessary to continue.

The History of Our Evolution

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Sometimes, we all just need to read a book that answers the question of “how did we get here.” Other times, it’s a question of how in the world has humanity not destroyed the world five times over by now. I’m still surprised that half the US hasn’t gone up in flames with people announcing the sex f their almost babies. Anyway, the answers to both those questions and more are answered in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.

On top of explaining some of the important advances in human evolution, such as the scam that was the Agricultural Revolution, it also asks questions that I don’t think many people think about. Such as assuming imperialism is bad, is there really any way of getting rid of the effects, or are we just doomed to live with it? How money came about is still super confusing to me, but it is still interesting to me how it came about. I still don’t understand lots of things, but it was really interesting reading some thoughts about the last couple of thousands of years that the human species have been on the earth. If you like history of any kind, I’m positive you’ll love this book.

Singing Your Heart Out

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A lot of the time, singing in written media does not connect the way it should. You cannot hear the heart behind the words while sometimes you are just told the feelings that you’re supposed to feel. That is not the case with Full Moon o Sagashite by Arina Tanemura. Maybe it is just that medium of manga the lends to it so well, but it has so much heart and soul.

Full Moon follows Mitsuki, a girl who loves singing but has throat cancer that is preventing her from pursuing a career. Enter Shinigami, gods of death, who believe that giving her the ability to follow her dreams will allow her to peacefully go with them. On top of this seemingly basic plot line, there are many twists and turns that leave your heart racing and unable to put down a volume until the very end. While this manga was amazing, one of the best that I have ever read, there are some serious topics discussed which are impossible to say without giving plot away, so do take care while reading. I’m almost certain you will love the story.

Murder High School

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Think about it: going to high school, only to be locked in, and finding a body a couple of days in. You would think that it’s out of this world, but instead it’s Danganronpa. I’ve played the first two games as my computer can’t handle the third, but I absolutely loved every moment that I played.

Danganronpa is an insane story with so many plot twists that revolve around solving murders in a think-tank style of accusing everyone without having a single piece of evidence or shred of logic. The characters are lovable and hate-able and each have their own unique characteristics that make getting to know each character an experience. There is also an amazing villain to top everything off. If you are not into learning more about the characters, you can skip this. The art style is unique in that everything seems 2D in a 3D world while other parts stick with the typical animal style with a sprinkle other others. Ether way, it is a gorgeous experience, but do know that there are some very dark themes that I don’t know if I could explain without major spoilers.

Semester 3 Grad School Reflection

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This is coming out later than I wanted, but that’s life sometimes. In December, I couldn’t handle all the things coming my way, and for the two weeks of my winter holiday, I did nothing but play video games and watch old TV shows. I also watched The Matrix for the first time, binging the trilogy in a day before seeing the newest movie the next. I had a fantastic break, but now it is time to get back to work, starting with reflecting on this past fall semester.

Firstly, this was the semester that we went back to in-person classes. It was a bit jarring since my first year was entirely online. Traveling across campus was a weird experience for me, especially with all the people who ended up being out and about. It was nice seeing people around town, but at the same time, there was the usual nonsense that I’d come to expect. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, crossing streets without looking both ways because your head is stuck in your phone.

Anyway, the class that I took this semester was a cancer biology course. I learned a lot and was very surprised with the A I got in the class. The material was challenging, and I was not expecting to do well in those classes even though I enjoyed it. Of course, every time I would be in class, I would wonder how any species has lived without any massive catastrophe because biology is wild. One mistake can cause several problems in the long term, and you just have to hope that everything goes well. This really just proves to me the evolution is wild.

Next, I would like to talk about my research. Right now, I think it is going pretty well. I have some experiments in the bag, and I hope that I can get a paper out sometime this next year. We have some pretty remarkable findings that we just need to validate before putting it out there. I am very excited about that. It will be nice to get something out before my research has to slow again. The lab is currently trying to start up a colony of mice that will generate the testicular cancer phenotype that we want. Even though we are following a paper, which makes this slightly more straightforward, we will have to have tons of mice and lots of breeding before doing any experiments. At least while my experiments are slowing down, I can focus on my exams.

This year, the focus will be getting ready for my qualifying and preliminary exams. My qualifying exams are answering questions in writing and being a part of an oral presentation with my committee members. This is the next step in becoming a Ph.D. candidate. I have no clue what I could be asked concerning these exams, so I just have to do the absolute best I can. I’ll be spending the next 3 to 4 months studying; I wish myself luck. I will be learning all that I can on testicular cancer, male reproduction in general, and toxicology topics since that is the focus of my research. I’m just hoping that I can handle the craziness that will be a part of this year and make it through okay. I suspect that I’ll have a couple of panic attacks along that way, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I think.