The novel takes place over the course of four days in 1946, though there are a number of flash-backs, at a rickety summer theater on the boardwalk. Elizabeth, just out of college, is an aspiring actress working as an apprentice. She has much to learn, about theater, life and herself.

I love it! Ultra slice-of-life. Totally character driven. Very nostalgic. (I was born in 1952.) It has one of those tidy happy endings that many people hate, but guess what? I'm a bit tired of anguish and tragedy.

Walkin' Butterfly by Chihiro Tamaki is a four volume manga about a very tall girl who has a very bad attitude about everyone treating her like a freak because she is so tall. Of course her attitude is actually her largest problem, and turning it around is the meat of the story.

This series was published in North America by Aurora, which went bust after volume three. I have volume four from the French publisher Asuka, which also seems to have disappeared in merger-mania and EU meltdown.

For some reason I like stories about people who don't feel they belong in the body/situation dealt them by fate. (I know I'm not alone in this.)

I finally have finished Tales of the Abyss, after 140 hours of playing over the course of two months. (The long playing and real time span is because of events and the worsening state of my hands.)

Abyss goes on my extremely short list to play again, both because I really like it and because the mechanics are such that the second time through will be both easier and significantly different.

I will probably not start another big PS2/PS3 game until August at the earliest. I have some small story-type games, several tactics-type games and visual novels that will be much easier on my hands.

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead is actually only one of quite a few books I've read or re-read during the time since the accident. This book typifies why I like young adult novels so much; it definitely deserves its Newbery Medal!

The other books that I recall off-hand reading were La Dame aux Camélias (the story behind La Traviata), Anno Dracula, Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron, the His Dark Materials trilogy and of course A Wrinkle in Time. Also single volumes of various manga and volumes 5 and 6 of the wonderful Kieli light novel by Yukako Kabei.

Next I'm planning on re-reading all the intertwingled Murray/Austin books by Madeleine L'Engle.

Since I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel in '92 I have paid attention to computer ergonomics. I don't do much typing now, and drawing has become quite a pain. But I'm not ready to give up gaming; I don't know how I would survive all the long evenings on my own without Japanese RPGs. So how to make gaming more ergonomic?

Back in the heyday of console gaming, a number of little companies made all manner of special controllers. The intent was not always to provide alternatives for people with disabilities, but some of these controllers are useful for single-hand playing, or playing with minimal use of the thumbs.

This is the ASCII Grip by Asciiware, a company that seems to have vanished without a trace. I bought it in mint condition for $20 on Amazon Marketplace. (Less than I've paid for some wrist braces.)

Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist, by Christof Koch, is a very thought-provoking book. I majored in and did graduate study in philosophy (and minored in and took graduate courses in psychology), so this just-published book is what I consider to be an easy read.

I find Koch's thesis, that consciousness is simply a property of a sufficiently complex system, quite reasonable. I believe his point is that what we call consciousness is in fact nothing but self-awareness of a complex system in operation. It is not, "I think, therefore I am," but rather, "I am, therefore I think." And that's all there is to it.

My kids and I decided to watch Blade Runner (again) after lunch on Thursday. It is arguably the greatest science fiction film ever made. No small part of that is the score by Vangelis, who has been a favorite of mine since I picked up the Aprhodite's Child album 666 in the early seventies.

 "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe:
 Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion;
 I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near Tanhauser Gate;
 All those–moments–will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
 Time to die."

Death Kappa does it mostly the old way: rubber monsters, cardboard buildings, model tanks and trucks, with plenty of over-the-top acting, a story that makes very little sense, an atomic explosion, a (too long) knock-down city-destroying monster brawl and finally a good monster gone berserk tamed by a maiden's song.

Thing is, when the old masters made monster movies this way, they were (at least in their own minds) seriously trying to do good work. Death Kappa, though, feels like it belongs somewhere between Plan 9 and Rebirth of Mothra (this is not a kind thing to say). It was kind of fun to watch, but...

Young Miss Holmes: Casebook 1-2 by Kaoru Shintani (Seven Seas) is wonderful! I'm a life-long Sherlock Holmes fan and have read and watched many an imitation, pastiche or re-telling of the canon; this one is a true gem.

The 'cases' here are re-tellings of stories from the canon, with the assumption that Holmes has a very bright and quirky niece Christie who is as adept as he at pulling solutions to puzzles from seeming thin air.

My favorite here is "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire," which features a PG-13 guest appearance by Mina Tepes from Dance in the Vampire Bund.

This movie is the latest of many creative works based on the original novel by Yasutaka Tsutusi. Contrary to the slug on the cover, the anime version of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is not the original; it is but another derivative work.

Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is one of my favorite games. It's a three-part game, only the first of which has been released in North America. The second part is one of only two two-UMD games ever made for the PSP, and I believe it has little chance of being released here, because of that. But I continue to hope.

I have purchased the Japanese version of all three games (they've been out long enough that they are available in bargain versions) but it'll be a while still until my Japanese is up to that.

I also have some manga based on the game, music, and this animation: two forty-five minute OVAs that were just released. These take place during the second game, which is a direct sequel to the first game (the games are called 'chapters'). No subtitles, and I'll be even more surprised if they are released here, though it'd make a nice package with the second game (hint, hint).

I import most of this stuff from CD Japan or Yes Asia. The shipping there is much less expensive than Amazon.co.jp, though of course slower. (Like two weeks versus two days.) Yes Asia has a lot of anime and movies with English subtitles that are released for Hong Kong or Korea.

Twin Spica, by Kou Yaginuma, is published in 12 volumes by Vertical in North America. I really applaud Vertical for carrying through with this and completing the series. I suspect it was a struggle, as they began publishing volumes that matched the 16 Japanese volumes, then began putting more and more pages in each volume to finish up with one of 425 pages.

Thank you Vertical, and of course thank you Yaginuma sensei, for one of my most favorite manga. Ad astra!

Star Ocean: The Last Hope (PS3) is the fifth and final game of the Star Ocean series. I like the entire series so much that all I can say is that my favorite Star Ocean game is the one I'm currently playing. In fact, I could say that I play other games primarily to dull the edge of familiarity so I can play the Star Ocean games again. I guess that makes me a fan.

Next time I play SO:TLH it'll be at the Universe level, and I think I'll use French for subtitles and text with the Japanese dialog. I find that usually Japanese translates better into French than English.

Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Ubervilles, by Kim Newman, is a brilliant work. Based on a manuscript recently found in the vaults of a collapsed European banking institution written by Colonel Sebastian Moran, it tells the story of the so-called Napoleon of Crime from a new perspective. Not simply a retelling of tales from the canon, the stories here give a glimpse of what was going on in the criminal underworld of London and the Empire during the time the "thin man" of Baker street was coming to fame.

As one might expect from the title, the stories contain references to and uses of many fictional and real characters of the period. It's outrageously funny in many places, and a total blast to read.

I first saw Silent Running shortly after it was made, while I was in college. It had quite an impact on me. The film has a strong environmental thesis, with two songs sung by Joan Baez. (I was an active and vocal member of Friends of the Earth and Zero Population Growth at the time.)

I still think it's a good science fiction film. Of course the three maintenance robots, Huey, Louie and Dewy (played by double-amputees inside the robot bodies, using their arms to move the robot legs) are the real stars. The set, which made use of the soon-to-be-scrapped aircraft carrier Valley Forge, is awesome. The special effects are great for their day, too.

Proof that I am kind of sort of still working on the light novel. I've written a bit, too.

There isn't any reason I have to do much of anything any longer, and the thing I am most motivated to do is of value only to myself and my imaginary muses. Perhaps at some point in life I got off at the wrong bus stop and now I'm no longer in the real world. That would explain so many things...

Please*Twins! is 13 episodes of amazingly charming fun with no other redeeming social value. The story is contrived, the sexual innuendo is unrelenting and the characters are all too cute to be real.

Twins is basically a spoof on every moe anime stereotype that ever haunted late night television (in Japan). It works brilliantly because it always takes itself 100% seriously. (The way Monty Python and the Holy Grail does, and The Princess Bride totally fails to do.)

Takes place a year after Please*Teacher! and is not a sequel, but a tangential story. Personally, I like Twins better than Teacher.