Hmm

Well. Huh. That was... actually not too bad. Boring and stifling and work, yes, but not deadly.
Being the irrepressible optimist that I am, I expect it to be worse when I phase math in. The Teacher must be disappointed in the non-deadliness factor so far; she says (not yet insists, please please please make it stay that way) I should phase in the math tomorrow instead of working straight through the SAT book and leaving math for the end.
Things I learned today:
I'm smarter than I thought.
I'm faster than I thought.
My smartness and fastness will decrease dramatically when I hit math and math hits back, but I already knew that, so never mind.
It's possible to read six (one of them was hardcover) pounds of books in three and a half days. Finishing The Gate Of Gods did a lot to reduce my pain. It was an excellent story from start to finish, (from the first book to the last, I guess I mean), and extremely well written. Most trilogies have a hard time keeping up their momentum from the first book. Hah. Martha Wells sneers at trilogies! I would talk all about the story and techniques except that the Teacher hasn't finished them yet (gee, she's taking a long time), and has mentioned blood and pain and revenge if I spoil the story for her. Life is hard. I like to enthuse and I can't because I'm against unnecessary pain. I plan to read this trilogy all over again when I have a life again. The first time through I got the story; the second time through I hope to see better how she kept the story together. The ONLY (in a three book series, that ONLY is very heavy) thing she could have done better was her POV (point of view) transference. To keep the story as interesting as she did- and also because more than once her main characters split up; most of the time, in fact- she changed the POV often. She could have done a better job in telling you each time the POV changed which character you were following. Sometimes you didn't know in the first paragraph or even the first half page who was talking, so I got in the habit of skimming ahead until I found the POV and then going back to actually read the new scene. But other than that...
I think I love Martha Wells. Considering that the last few great loves of my life were Ronald Reagan, Patrick Henry, C.S. Lewis, and hamsters, you may now take bets on how long her star will shine.
Ronald Reagan's star still actually shines with me; he just isn't my every waking and dreaming thought anymore.
My guests I spoke of earlier experienced a change in plan. They're coming today. And then again in another week and a half. Only the suggestion of a possible kitten has kept me from declaring a blood feud. (They can't come when I having nothing better to do than to visit with them and sightsee and have fun, but the minute I start cramming...)
Well, that, and the fact that there's one of me and ten of them. And they're much better at feuding than I am. The sad reality of being an only child strikes again.