Just An Idea…

Just an idea, but maybe we should keep this blog thing going. I mean, not as like a requirement or anything, just as something to keep in touch and see how everyone’s Spring semester is going. I don’t know if anyone wants to, but just thought it might be a cool idea. Good luck with finals everyone!

now that classes are over

It was really weird not having to get up for class today! It was really nice actually! I was able to sleep in until 10:30 am, but then I had to get up and study. Im really dreading having to take finals. I wish they would have been during a class period last week so that we could all be home this week!! Oh well thats not how it goes. But all in all I thought we had a great semester in The Mysterious World, and I wish you all the best of luck!

the semester is over

I cant believe that the semester is over!! It went by so fast. Finals are already next week. It seems like yesterday we were just going over the course introductions and what have you. I am so nervous to take my finals. I have 3 finals next week. eeek. But on the bright side all mine are at the beginning at the week so I get to go home thuesday afternoon!! woo hoo!!
Other that I would like to wish everyone good luck with their finals and presentations that then have next week and to have a good time at home/over break! Have a merry christmas and a happy new year!!! see everyone in 2009!! yay!

Anyone else?

Is anyone else amazed at how fast time has gone? It feels like we just started getting into a rhythm and now finals are staring us in the face and soon that too will pass. Then we’ll have break, which won’t last long enough. After that J-term, for those of us who are taking one. Soon enough, we’ll be into spring semester. I remember talking with older studnets who mentioned that the last two weeks after Thanksgiving fly by, but I never thought that they would go that fast.

It’s Snowing!

. . . on our blog, in honor of the season. You’ll find the snow isn’t the only thing that has changed – WordPress decided to launch a new interface, just in time for you to enjoy it before you finish the semester. So don’t be too thrown if you add a post or edit one. Things look a little different behind the scenes. Once I stop being cross about having to adjust, I might even like it.

Total Shock

Have you ever had one of those days where everything seems to get in your way and ruin your life and then have the next day be the complete opposite? Well today was the day that made everything better. I don’t know if any of you remember that library survey we were supposed to take ( I know Barbara does). But anyways, so I did the survey when I had some spare time and didn’t really think much of it. Today, I got an e-mail from Anna in the library saying I won the contest for library VIP and the private study room!! I am so excited..even though it’s for spring semester. I am still in shock (like the title suggests). I completely had forgotten about it until I looked in my inbox and read the message.

P.S. Anyone interested in renting a private study room during finals spring semester?

Why is it that I always write about the weekend?

I always seem to write about what I am doing or what I did on the weekend. Hmm, maybe I don’t find the rest of the week worth writing about…. whatever.

So to continue the trend, this weekend is Christmas in Christ Chapel. It is a concert celebrating, what else, the Christmas season. Each year has a theme and this year’s theme is French culture. So, if you enjoy listening to choral ensembles singing in both French and English you should go. NO, seriously, you all should go it will be an awesome concert. There are 5 performances. One on Friday night and two each on Saturday and Sunday. I will be at all of them sitting in the middle of the Choir of Christ Chapel, we’ll be in the middle, in the fourth row. I would say you should come so I can make weird faces at people during the concert but that’s “unprofessional.” Honestly, GO!

Back To School

After being home for about a week for break, I thought I was finally able to calm my anxiousness and nerves and get rid of that stress that’s always following me around. But no, I’m back at school and along with it, the stress!!! I can’t seem to relax anymore it’s ridiculous, I’m even having problems falling asleep when I’m here at school. I’m so excited for Christmas break, but that still seems so far away when I think about all the stuff I have to finish here first. I just wish i could poof it all away, but since that’s not even close to possible I’m just going to have to push through it! Good luck everybody on finishing up everything, cramming it in, and finals! I know I’ll need it! And I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Book Review: The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander

A review by Krista Primley of THE KITCHEN BOY by Robert Alexander

It is not easy to be the Tsar of your people and be imprisoned by Bolshevik soldiers. You have your family beside you as the loyalist army is pressing in closer to the town in which you live. But you still must continue to lead the Russian people. How do you deal with the pressure of knowing that you and your family are in danger of death?

The novel, “The Kitchen Boy”, by Robert Alexander, is a thrilling tale of the last Tsar. He includes facts of the Tsar and his family while bringing to life a servant kitchen boy.  Robert Alexander is a pen name of R. D. Zimmerman. Alexander was permitted access to Russian archives and palaces that are not open to the general public.  He has written many other novels such as “Hostage, Outburst” under his own name.

Alexander writes the story of the Tsar and Tsarista in the Ipatiev House. He mixes a factual story with a fictional witness to create the living novel of “The Kitchen Boy”. This historical fiction story involves the life of the last Tsar of Russia, who is imprisoned by Russian Guards in his own home. Nikolai, his family, and his servants must work together secretly to escape from their fatal end. No one knows the complete truth of the Tsar’s murder, but no one has ever thought to question the lonely servant. The “kitchen boy” named Leonka, narrates the story of the murder from his eyes. However, he has more information than anyone else does. He witnesses the mystery first hand until the morning of the murder. He is sent away and never sought out for the whole story. But now, in Alexander’s novel, the truth is revealed; he provides answers to the questions of the missing bodies, and the precious jewels. The entire mystery now fits together.

Alexander does an excellent job by giving the reader a sense of both the dragging of time while the family waits for an answer and the urgent need of action by the characters. The “Kitchen Boy” is an authentic story of the last Romanovs. I fully recommend this work of fiction as a must read. Alexander will have readers searching for more evidence about the last Tsar.  His clever way of narrating the story makes the reader feel like they are listening to a private tape that the world has not yet been exposed to. He keeps them on their toes like they too are listening for that “whistle in the night”.

Book Review: Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason

A review by Laura Schut of JAR CITY by Arnaldur Indridason (New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2000)

This intriguing novel brings us on a journey through Iceland’s main city, Reykjavik, in order to crack the case of an old man’s mysterious and seemingly pointless murder.  When a helpless old man is found dead in his flat in Reykjavik, Iceland, Erlendur, one of Iceland’s most successful detectives, is assigned to the case.

Erlendur, with the help of his comrades Sigurdur Oli and Elinborg, must find the culprit responsible for the death of the old man.  Tragically, the old man was killed by a blow to the head with an ashtray, which was left at the scene.  While investigating the man’s flat, three important things were discovered: an unpleasant lingering stench within the flat, a note that says nothing but I am HIM, and a photograph of a young girl’s grave in the middle of winter.

All three discoveries lead to the findings of very important factors in the case of the old man’s death, whose name is Holberg.  Erlendur believes at first that he is just dealing with Holberg’s murder, as to who did it and the motive behind the act.  To his surprise, as the case slowly unfolds in front of him, Erlendur realizes that he is unlocking the haunting past of Holberg and the people so negatively affected by this man and his actions.

Erlendur not only learns of Holberg’s life but he also digs up the past of people Holberg once knew through personal interactions with those people and files stored away for many, many years.  When a highly protected genetic database is breached, it raises suspicion and further investigation introduces a shocking twist.  As the novel proceeds, Erlendur unravels a very complicated past involving rape and children dying mysteriously young.  These discoveries lead to a most shocking twist in the end of the novel to where everything discovered while turning those pages fits together perfectly as if they were pieces of a rather large puzzle.

The author, Arnaldur Indridason, has an amazing way of fitting pieces of a mystery together so that they create a complete understanding of what happened, how it happened, and why it happened.  He is extremely creative and pays very close attention to detail.  In my eyes, this mystery novel should receive top awards for it was nearly impossible for me to put down after starting.  It’s captivating mystery and dialogue keeps the reader wanting more.  Overall, this book was an Icelandic mystery masterpiece.