Oh, blah.

I'm way tired.

Yesterday morning the dogs woke me up at around 6:00, so I got up and let them out. I really should've gone back to bed, because I was a zombie for most of the day. I tried to sleep in the afternoon, but for some reason my brain wouldn't shut off completely. I decided to put off going to the library until the next day (today), because I didn't feel like going much.

And, as usual, I forgot that I had books due yesterday in addition to CDs. Guess who has fines to pay? :p

Anyway, last night I got really tired. I kept nodding off when Mom and I were watching Gene Simmons' Family Jewels, so after watching five minutes or so of Letterman, I went to bed.

And then this morning, I woke up twice. I heard the dogs and thought, "No way am I getting up this early again!" Fortunately, Mom got up with them, so I fell back to sleep. I woke up again at... I think it was nine-ish. I still feel like a zombie, but not as much as last night.

I think I'm making a cup of coffee today.

The temperature is too damn high!

Yup. It's bloody hot.

Fortunately, we had the AC on, and we turned the TV off because it was throwing too much heat, and instead we had the radio on. I read a little bit of I Capture the Castle, too. Boy, do I love AC...

I've not done much knitting, except for a headband for House Cup. I may post a picture sometime. It turned out nicely, and I still have a bit of cotton leftover. I've got itchy fingers, though, so I may start something else out of cotton to keep me busy - I need to destash anyway. I was going to start a hat, but the yarn I want to use is wool so I may leave that for autumn. I have bits and bobs of cotton to use up, though, so I might make a scrap-cloth.

I have something else to keep me busy: a book is waiting for me to pick up at the library. Trouble is, it's 407 pages long, so I'm worried I won't be able to read it. I have three weeks with the book, though, so we'll see. I may be stuck in the house if the heat keeps up, so it'll be nice to have a new book to read.

Luckily, it's cooler today than it was yesterday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for rain...

A Confusion of Sports Terminology

From watching soccer, I've noticed that I get a bit confused by what the commentators are saying sometimes. Part of it has to do with my having watched hockey as a kid, and part of it is because I'm still learning the rules of soccer. So, here is an example of how I confuse my sports terms...

#1: 'Extra Time'. In soccer, overtime periods are called 'extra time', but I still say 'overtime' because, being Canadian, I'm used to hockey terms at times. Also, the extra time periods (two fifteen-minute periods) are mandatory - I think hockey overtime is sudden-death (or maybe it's only sudden-death in playoff games?).

#2: 'Added/Stoppage Time'. This has more to do with how different commentators talk. From watching the FIFA World Cup, I was used to it being called 'stoppage time', but sometimes I hear commentators say 'added time'. Stoppage/added time, for anyone who isn't familiar with the term, is the amount of time accumulated from the stops in play for fouls or injuries, and it's played at the end of the half.

#3: 'Penalty box'. My hockey knowledge appears again here. In hockey, a penalty box is where players sit when they've committed a foul. While that player's in the box, everyone else plays a 'power play' - which means that for the time that the player's in the box, the other team has an advantage, and when the power play timer is up the player in the box comes back out on the ice and regular play is resumed. Now, in soccer, a penalty box is the big outer box at the goal nets. When a player is roughly challenged in that box, they are sometimes entitled to a penalty kick (a kick that's closer to the goal than a free kick, and there is no 'wall' of players to deflect it - players are allowed to stand behind the kicker but, if I remember correctly, they can't move until the kick is taken). I say 'sometimes' because I'm still not familiar with all the rules, and sometimes a referee can decide that no penalty will be given. This box is often called the penalty area instead, but I find that when commentators are covering Major League Soccer (a North American league), they tend to say 'box' instead of 'area'.

Because I'm still not familiar with all the rules, here's a Wiki link on the penalty box/area. It will explain it better than I can :)

Last, but definitely not least, I want to congratulate Japan on winning the Women's FIFA World Cup. You did awesome!!!! :D

Aaaaand finished!

So, I finally finished Blood and Chocolate :)

I like the book and the movie for different reasons. For instance, I didn't like Book Aiden as much as Movie Aiden - maybe it has something to do with the age difference between the movie characters and the book characters. I'd like to re-watch the movie, because I haven't seen it in a while and I can't remember much of the plot.

Now, to finish I Capture the Castle... the problem is, I saw the movie before finishing the book, so I know how it ends :( But the book is better than the movie, although I liked the movie quite a bit. I was annoyed that they made Cassandra's brother Thomas a lot younger for the movie, though - in the book he's about fifteen, but in the movie he's more like eleven of twelve.

I still have an itch to start a new book, even though I have others to finish. I'm trying to stop myself from starting another book until I finish I Capture the Castle - I only have ninety-ish pages to go, and the font is pretty easy to read.

So those are my latest book adventures. Hopefully by the time I post another book-related blog post, I'll be finished I Capture the Castle!