Review of The three lives of Alix st Pierre by Natasha Lester

I'm a librarian and despite what many people might think this does not involve much reading. 

This summer however me and some coworkers are presenting three new books each for an audience of predominantly older women. Since I have to go through the work of finding, getting, reading and forming an opinion on these books I might as well post it here as well. With the added bonus that I can be brutally honest here. 

The plot

It's 1947 in Paris and Alix is back to start her new job for the then relatively unknown Christian Dior. She got her start writing for fashion magazines in Paris but had to shift focus during the war when move to USA where she grew up. Back in Paris and again working with fashion she ruminates about the differences, Paris bears the scars of war and rationing and she herself has changed by the part she played in the war working for the secret service.

Her first job for Dior is to make sure journalists actually show up for the fashion show. This is Made harder by it being held a week after everyone else and after all the international reporters has left. But by reviving old contacts and using knowledge and tricks she learned as a spy she manages to make some headway. This does mean repeatably running into one Antony March. He's a reporter for the New York journal and son of the newspapers owner. He is also antagonistic and seemingly knows more than says, asking question about not only her but also Bobby, her fiance who died during the war. His death weighs heavy on her conciseness because it her plans, her lying informant that lured them into a trap.

Reminded of the deaths she decides to find the informant and get revenge for Bobby and the other eight that died that day. Until a note is left on her desk in telling her to leave Paris. There is only one explanation the informant who's name she doesn't know knows her. And she must figure out who he is and who to trust in a city where everyone has secrets.

My thoughts

I don't really care about fashion but there are little hints about the thing that happened. Something that she did during the war. Something she still feels guilty about. The hints that there might be spies does carry me through the early part. Until it becomes clear that it will probably be the majority of the plot. 

So plot-wise it's fine, at least for the first hundred pages that I read, but the dialog is clunky. Actually all the text... none of it flows like I want. This makes it hard to get to know her and it's the same with location descriptions. Though all of this might just be because I read a bad translation. 

Alix also repeatably makes some pretty wild leaps of logic that always seems to pan out, but really shouldn't. case in point: someone has stolen and released some fashion drawings Anthony remarks that people one has helped are more likely to betray you (are they though?) and Alix just immediately knows who it is. That's not how you do detective work. 

If you have read it, What did you think? If not the it can be bought here Three lives.

The state of the blog 2024

This post is mostly just a general update of things that will happen this autumn that will have an impact on this blog one way or the other. That is assuming I have any regular readers who would care. 

Adsense

I have started the process to get adds on this blog. Since before there are affiliate links to amazon on some posts but no one has clicked on anything, as far as I can tell. Therefore I'm trying a different way namely ads. I don't know how annoying they will be and if I don't like it I'll just remove them again. So far I have applied and the blog is being reviewed. Hopefully it won't take too long.

Studies

This spring I applied to several universities with the plan to spend the next two years getting a master degree. If I got in that would also mean taking a time of from work. The result of this is that there's a lot of things waiting on this. Form the small things like weather or not to by new work shoes or if I should save money or invest it like I usually do.

But also just the stress of not knowing what my life will look like three months from now. Along the little voice in the back of my head reminding me that I might not even get accepted. In that case I'll have to have an awkward conversation with my boss. There's been a lot of preparations for me leaving and getting replacements and letting them know what things they need to do. My leaving has been publicly announced to my coworkers. So for months they have been asking how it's going and I'll have to say that I don't know because the schools hasn't announced that yet.  I have been worrying weather or not I got accepted. My coworkers are all very encouraging and they all assured me that of course I would, but this doesn't actually help with my anxiety at all. 

So yeah its been a lot but now they have finally announced who is admitted and I (after an hour waiting to even log in to the website, not nerve wracking at all) got accepted to my second choice. Which is an online course in Uppsala. 

What this means for the blog is that after august I don't know how busy I'll be and won't know how much time I'll have to write. I won't need to commute every day but also I can't write during downtime at work. The question is also if I'll even have time to read or do other projects. More pressing is if I after reading course literature and writing papers all day will feel like reading fiction and writing posts about it. But only time will tell. In any case I have posts scheduled for some time.  

On a more personal note while I would have preferred to study on campus it is a good test. For some years now I have aspired to FIRE(Financial independence retire early). Basically you save money, invest it, stop working and do whatever you want living of the dividends. In my case I would probably write. But being an introvert and homebody I worry that if I were to retire I would just stay home all day. I worry that I would never talk to anyone and get lonely. But it's equally possible that once I'm no longer forced to interact with people for work I'll have more time and energy to spend with the people I like. These two years of studies would aptly test that. If in the next years I barely see anyone then I will need to rethink my retirement plans. If I join a writers group, meet my sister for lunch etc then I might do better than I thought. But only time will tell. 

Sorry about the anxiety but it helps to write it out. Anyway the long and short of it is that I don't know how much or little I'll write in the coming years but hopefully this blog wont die like the last one did.

Review of Nobody's fool by Daniel Simons & Christopher Chabris

 I'm a librarian and despite what many people might think this does not involve much reading. 

This summer however me and some coworkers are presenting three new books each for an audience of predominantly older women. Since I have to go through the work of finding, getting, reading and forming an opinion on these books I might as well post it here as well. With the added bonus that I can be brutally honest here. 

First up

Nobody's fool

It's a nonfiction book written by two psychology professors about the aspects of human psychology that makes us vulnerable to con artists, misinformation and other influences. With each chapter taking up different vulnerabilities.

Like how peoples first instinct when given a piece of information is to assume it is true. (I find myself doing this even when I know the person isn't trustworthy.) Doubly so when it agrees with our worldview. Or comes from a trusted source.

We tend to focus on the information we have and draw conclusions from that, most never considers questioning what information was left out. It made me think of clickbait headlines like "10 habits of successful people" without comparing them to the habits of the people who aren't successful.

We tend to focus on the information we have and draw conclusions from that, most never considers questioning what information was left out. Why? Because they save us time and energy and most of the time they work. It's the times they don't that's the problem. We all make predictions of the future. Using models allows us to act faster and we based these on our experiences. Problem arise when we stop questioning information just because it agrees with our prediction. 

It also contains how tips for how to avoid these traps. Questions to ask yourself when encountering new information.

My thoughts

The tone is quite considerate and non judgmental, pointing out that people who are deceived are not necessarily stupid. Clever people are instead much better at coming up with reasons and justifications for why they are right. Even when confronted by evidence. I didn't have time to read more than hundred pages since its for work and I have other things I need to do but I quite like it and wouldn't mind finish it in my free time.

If you have read it, What did you think? If not the it can be bought here Nobody's fool

My lamp or why I spent a saturday sitting on the floor

When I moved into my current apartment I got more space, more rooms and suddenly found myself needing more ceiling lamps. With over 3 meter ceilings I felt I needed something big and one with no visible bulbs because it gives me a headache to look at them. 

I originally bought one that was fine and hung it I'm my living room with the plan to move it to the bedroom when I found something better. Which finally after living here for almost six months I have. And yes this does mean that for six months I had no lamp in my bedroom except for the small one on the bedside table.

The one I finally found had black metal bands and as you can see in the picture also visible light bulbs. This is partially because I forgot but the light caused headache has been less of a problem in this apartment think its because they are higher up. Also I have a plan for that.

Step one repairs

There's nuts and bolts holding the rings together. As I carried it home I heard the soft sound of one falling off and disappearing forever. Looking closer I realized it was not the only one and that another nut were missing with several being loose. Of course the missing ones weren't the same size and so I had to go buy two packets because you can't just buy two nuts. At least screwing them on was the work of seconds. 

Step two basic functionality

I installed a new cable because of how the electrical outlets sits in my apartment. First measuring from the outlet to the lamp 1.9 meters and shortened the cable to fit because the only one they had in the store was three meters. This was all went fairly quickly mostly because I had already done something similar to two other lamps when I moved in. I also needed light bulbs and decided to splurge a bit and bought light bulbs that lets you change the brightness and color using a remote.

Step three Decorations

And now we come to the fun bit. Since the moment I saw it I had a plan, using the metal as a foundation and cower it in ivy or something similar with the aim of making something cottage core/witchy. Unfortunately real plants was out of the question I'm not using a ladder every time I need water my plants not to mention the weight. So fake plants it is. I'm usually opposed to this because up close they tend to look bad and I associate them with dustiness. But it's a ceiling lamp so no one is ever going to look at it close. I did consider making my own it but fake Ivy is too easy to get and none of the pictures I found of diy-ivy looked any better (most looked worse). 

I also considered adding hanging butterflies or little glass birds and I might still do that but that's for later. This lamp does give me the alternative to change the with the seasons but with high ceilings that's is quite an undertaking. So maybe just a summer and Christmas theme. But again that is a thought for another time for now I'll just make sure it's all easily removable.

Because the exposed bulbs are a problem (also ugly) I decided to make some lampshades for them and going with the plant theme made them to look like flowers. I did a test of the method for these a few weeks ago and you can read about it this post, it has some more detailed instructions.

But to sum it up I cut out petals of crepe paper. Painted them partially pink and glued them it to a metal wire. This time I made it in an L shape. Wrapping the longer piece in paper and painting it green. And then wrapping the whole thing around the lamp. 

I first did one to make sure my plan worked. I didn't want to make three just to realize something was wrong. But it was fine and I went ahead and made the rest. 

With that done I went ahead and wrapped it in my fake vines. It was fiddly and it turned out I had bought more than I needed. But the excess found its home around my bathroom mirror.

Step four Hanging

Hanging it wasn't hard per say and since I had cut the cable correctly it worked fine. But it is unnerving being that high up. Standing on a tall and not quite straight ladder. Looking down and thinking that if I fall I will likely break something. This is one of the reasons I'll probably not change the theme of it with every season. I did however end up redoing most of the vines since what looked even when lying on the floor wasn't when hanging in place.  

At this point it was after 3 and I had been doing this since 8 most of it sitting on the floor hunched over. So I seriously considered just hanging the old lamp in the bedroom without adjusting its cable. But I know if I don't do it now it will annoy me for months until I deal with it. So i did the adult thing and fixed it now.

Results

You can tell the vines are fake, the bottom of it is quite far down so you can get fairly close to it. But I'm hoping people aren't going to look too closely and after a few days I do find it less noticeable.  

The flower shades are actually more of a problem since they make the light pinkish and somewhat muted. I'll keep them for now and maybe exchange them for white or yellow ones later.

But all in all not too bad, it mostly looked like I imagined it would which isn't always the case. But most importantly I now  after having lived here for half a year finally has a ceiling lamp in my bedroom.

Review of The Scum Villain's Self-saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu part two

Readers be warned this review contains spoilers for the first book and also doesn't make much sense without it so go read my review of part one and maybe the book before reading this. 

 Plot

The scum villain is back in this part two of the series.

It starts about a year after the end of the first book Shen Quingqui has spent the last three years mourning his student Lou Binghe (who Shen stabbed before pushing him into the demon realm during a competition) but also enjoying his freedom from the system. 

Shen and others sect leaders are having a meeting (this is truly the most thrilling of settings) when a  messenger arrives. They are told about a city being completely isolated except one man managed to escape explained that there is a plague in the city before dying. Since then various sects has sent in healers to try and help but no one has come out again. Shen, Liu Quigge and Mu Quingfang decides to go to a city in order to investigate the plague and hopefully curing it. However once they have snuck in Shen discovered that it is in fact not a plague but rather caused by demons. While chasing a demon he instead runs into Lou who is back from the demon realm. Except he is two years earlier than in the original novel and his proximity is turning the system back online (it makes sense if you've read the first one). He has in fact been back for some time and has become the premiere apprentice to Huan Hua Palace and rumors abound about what really happened at the competition. Many are quick to point fingers at Shen (not undeserved) since clearly Lou is not dead like Shen said. As accusations pile up from demons and Huan hua palace apprentices alike and an old flame of Shens show up and things are looking dark. 

My thoughts

Unsurprisingly my thoughts are mostly the same as the last one. Shens frustration with the system are still funny and the plot is interesting and exiting. There is a thing though the Chinese original was a web series when they divided them into books it got odd. I noticed this in the first novel too after the climax of the competition the story should have ended instead there is another chapter of Shen finding mushrooms and a snake person. the same happens in this where Shen dies (he gets better) which should have been a cliffhanger ending but instead happens in the middle of the book.

Last book it was clear that while Shen saw Lou through the lens of what he would one day do and was unaware of Lous affection for him which were obvious to the reader, now it's different. I honestly don't know what Lou is thinking. Shen is convinced Lou hates him and is angry and is going to do all the horrible things he did in the original work, specifically the things Lou did to him. The system on the other hand claims Lou is merely annoyed And I honestly don't know what he's thinking does he love him, hate him? Lou is obsessed though sometimes he feels more hurt and confused. If it's not clear this is a good thing I prefer my books to not be predictable.

And finally after much ado he has realize what we have all known. That the longer it goes the less help  he'll have of his knowledge of the original work. Shen's not the sharpest when it comes to interpersonal relationships and is of course horrified to realize Lou is no longer a peak masculine stereotype. Wondering what the fans will think about the harem of 300 ladies not happening and Lou having feelings for his teacher, obsessive and necrophilic though they may be.

All in all I'm definitely going to continue reading the series but I might not post about the rest. 

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Scum villain.

My day as an Election worker

This really started last autumn when I applied to become an election worker for the EU election. Or maybe earlier. Since I did work at the last general election and found it to be a fun if exhausting experience.  

There was a bit of trouble this year in that I moved during the application process. Knowing something of what the likely schedule for the election day would be I did not want to do this where I had to do any commuting. But this was before last autumn when I was on the cusp of getting a new apartment but hadn't yet. So to be safe I applied in both the town I lived in at the time as well as the city I planned to move to. Then once I'd moved I turned down the position in my old town.

8 of may

Some time ago I had gotten an email with approved as a reserve. Today I'm leaving work early to take a two hour seminar to learn all the rules and routines we must follow when working. It's mostly the same as last time but with some minor changes. But it was two years since I last did this so the reminder is always good. Also they offered sandwiches and tea. 

7 of June

A while ago I got an email with my posting along with some additional duties. Specifically I got the job to pick up the voter register and bring it on the election day. Unfortunately the place where I'm meant to pick it up is only open between 8 and 18 on the Friday before the election. During these times I'm usually either at work or commuting, but there wasn't much for it than to go pick it up before work. Luckily it's on the way to the train station and I'm fine with getting to work late since I didn't have any meetings that day. At least it was done quickly, just finding the right room showing my I'd and I'm on my way to work.

9 of june aka election day

I wake up early, well it's the same time as I would get up during the work days but for a Sunday it's early.

A quick breakfast and collecting my things then I'm away. Taking my bike there it's not far 10 minutes according to google maps (they lie) and I got there with five minutes to spare despite stopping a few times to check that I was going the right way.  

I was there for the first shift which means helping setting everything up and figuring out how things are supposed to be set up. Unlike last time there's no offered lunch or snacks. It might be because it is a different election EU not general or because this is a different municipality but it is noted.

8.00 Everything is in place for the first voters to arrive. 

8.30 Everything is still in place for the first voters to arrive. So far there hasn't been any just party members leaving ballots for some of the smaller parties. There has been voters but they were all going to the location next door. Theoretically my job right now is greeting and directing the voters. But so far it's just been a lot of standing around. Or rather sitting strategically placed where I can watch the front door.

8.45 The early votes has arrived and some voters has started to come by not a rush or even a steady stream but still it's something.

9.30 I take my turn receiving the votes. It's cold here it might be summer but not warm and the doors open. I'm bringing a thicker sweater when I get back from lunch. Mostly so far it's gone well. Not that many voters but so long as we are still dealing with counting and registering the early votes it's actually preferable.

12.00 It's finally time for my lunch break (I've been fantasizing about hot ramen soup for a while now) and I'm taking my bike home. Lunch, doing some chores and then relaxing on the couch for a bit. This does ruin my schedule a bit the break is only a 2 and half hour and I usually does most of my chores on Sunday. Some things I did yesterday and some will just have to wait for another day the rest I'm trying to squeeze in where I can.

14.30 And then the day ended rather anticlimactic. Halfway back from lunch and I almost fainted when my blood pressure dropped. I ended up calling in sick sitting on the sidewalk before stumbling across the street to a corner store buying painkillers and licorice (it raises blood pressure). I then sat on their floor for a bit before feeling good enough to slowly walk home. My blood pressure dropping like this has happened before at least a few times a year and although they pass quickly within the hour I could tell that this one was partially triggered by the exertion of cycling in headwind so continuing going back and forth wasn't really an option. 

Reflections

I need to get better about eating my iron supplements. It has shown to be effective to stop the fainting.

I had forgotten how exhausting it is working from 7 to 22 and then waking up early the next day to go to work. Sure there are breaks but it's still a lot and the breaks aren't really long enough to do anything more than the most basic things. I would recommend everyone to try it but I'm not sure if I Will do it for the next general election. On the other hand I plan for my life to look quite differently then so maybe I will. 

Review of Vox Machina origins by Matthew Mercer

For the last year or so I have had an interest in dungeons and dragons. Not with playing it but watching other people play.

Going from Dimension 20 to critical role and since I'm a bit of a completionist I decided to start at the beginning. Which brought me to the legend of vox machina which started airing on twitch 2017.

114 three hour episodes later and I'm still not ready to leave these characters and in considering getting an amazon prime account to watch the animated series version. But I managed to restrain myself and didn't immediately re-watch the same adventure but turned instead to the prequel comic book. 

I tend to get very excited about a single topic at the time and try to read everything about it.

Plot

Twins Vax (Rogue) and Vex (ranger) are in the swamp town of Stillben investigating a curse that is killing the people. Getting attacked by fishpeople but are helped by Keyleth (druid) who is also investigating the deaths but reveals that the cause is poison and not a curse. They thank her and leaves to continue their investigation. Asking the local alchemist about poisons are immediately attacked again this time by shadowy assassins. 

Meanwhile Scanlan (bard) and Grog (barbarian) is also in Stillben along with their party investigating a temple cult thing belonging to a frog god. After a fight and while looting the temple they find a mysterious potion. Taking it to the alchemist to be identified they find his shop filled with shadowy assassins. Killing them they head to a bar to discuss their plans their companions are all for leaving but Scanlan is approached by Tiberius (sorcerer) who is investigating the curse/poison along with Keyleth on behalf of a criminal syndicate. Revealing that the potion found is the poison he has been looking for and buys the potion. Scanlan convinces grog to look into what's happening in the town thinking it would make a better story then if they just left.

The six of them then continues investigating getting in the way of the others until they reluctantly agrees to team up.

My thoughts

It suffers a bit from being just the story and somewhat condensed. In the stream they tend to get side tracked a lot. I also missed the ridiculous banter between players and seeing the other players reaction to what the others are doing. Also my favorite character (Percy) doesn't appear until the next installment and yes I have read that one to.

Apart from that it was what I expected and hoped. It had the characters I like, the random plans and shenanigans all with some very pretty artwork. And I think most fans of the show would like it.

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Vox machina or if you haven't seen the videos then this is the first episode.