Month: May 2023

Estrellas y Dragones, Episode 3: Nightflyers by George R.R Martin

The latest episode of the podcast Estrellas y Dragones, in which, I colaborate with my dear friend Dred from the blog Lo que leemos , has just dropped.

We discussed the 1980 novella Nightflyers by famous author George R.R. Martin. This particular work was nominated for a Hugo and won the Locus Award for best novella in 1981. The author, better known for his epic fantasy Saga of A Song of Fire and Ice, gives us an enthralling science fiction horror story that is equal parts Aliens and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Be sure to check out the episode on Spotify. The link is above, or in any platform, that you get your podcasts. Or if you prefer to see the video version of it, you can catch us on YouTube.

Off to read.

azr

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Daily Journal: May 13, 2023

After a much needed rest, I’m back to try and conquer this year’s goals, and more importantly, getting back to my previous writing rhythm with these daily entries.

Today’s reading has been a bit slower than what I had in mind coming into the weekend, but it’s better not to focus on what I haven’t done and instead try to salvage a bit of the day with a last effort before succumbing to sleep.

As tradition dictates, the month of May is mainly focused, from May 4 to May 25, to read anything from the many tales from a Galaxy far, far away. I have already finished a couple of books, Ahsoka and Before the Awakening, and right now, I’m working on a pretty interesting story of the training of infamous Sith Lord Darth Maul.

In The Wrath of Darth Maul, we bear witness to the cruel methods of Darth Sidious in order to obtain a worthy apprentice in the dark sith arts. Although this story is not part of the official story canon, there’s a lot of ties to the events that are portrait in both the Prequel Trilogy and the Clone Wars series. Regardless of what the new direction of the universe has taken, I still have plans to go over the more than 100 books from the Legends series. There are some true gems waiting to be discovered.

To top things off , there’s a couple of printed graphic novels that I bought quite some time ago. One from the High Republic era and one from the Bounty Hunters storyline that takes place in the Rebellion era. This little reading marathon is the perfect excuse to jump into what has been going on in the current storyline and maybe try and play catch-up.

Off to read.

azr

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Perpetual motion, or, how to read 9,000 pages in 26 days

The end is nigh

Not in an apocalyptic way, but at least for my fifteen year of reading, the clock is ticking away, and let me tell you, I’m not even close to where my total should be. Of course, this gives me purpose.

The pressing number for the last 26 days of my reading year is 9,125 pages. This magical number comes from one of my many projections. With that gargantuan number, I’ll balance out this year’s reading, offsetting the enormous amount of surplus pages that have stacked up over the years, more than 200,000 pages in all.

With a little over 8 years to get to the coveted 1,000,000-page mark, I’m looking for at least 65,000 pages for each of the remaining years. This makes any extra pages a necessity to come out victorious and finish the last sentence of the last book, sitting in a beautiful space surrounded by books, with a light drizzle making beautiful and calming music.

But as always, there’s an immediate task to tackle in order to savor the final result right now it’s to read around 350 daily pages from today until my 42th birthday.

Off to read.

azr

P.S.

I’ll keep you posted with the return of my Daily Journal entries.

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One month

I’m exactly one month from wrapping up year number fifteen of my quest to read 1,000,000 pages, and there’s still a whole lot of reading left to do.

In case you’re wondering, my total so far is 53,965, which puts me about 29 days behind schedule. In previous posts, I was toying with the idea of putting in place a rigorous reading schedule to achieve at least a total that would balance out the enormous surplus of pages from past years. I have done so, with really satisfactory results.

Right now, there are two numbers that have become the main focus of my final ride of the year. The first is 10,882 pages. This particular number is to contribute with some extra pages to counteract my weaker years. With the time left, I will have to read an average of 360 pages to do so, not a walk in the park but also not so farfetched as to not deem it feasible.

The second number is 11,835 pages, being the exact number to surpass by 1 page, my best year. Although year number fifteen has become my second best year, I’ll always strive to make each year my best, if only by 1 page. In order to achieve such an enormous task, I would have to read an average of 395, not as far removed as the number to balance out the year, so of course, this is the real focal point of the remaining month.

The thing that keeps me going forward is that the first half of my project is well within reach, which means that I’m only 29,659 pages away from the 500,000-page mark, putting the projected date on April 4, 2024.

I’ll keep an eye on the prize and work on hitting my marks for the current year.

Off to read.

azr

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Itineribus: Two of my favorite spots in The Land of Enchantment

The state of New Mexico, located in the southwest of the United States of America, does justice to its nickname, The Land of Enchantment. You can find a wide variety of vistas, from sweeping desert landscapes to alpine forests with a healthy dose of snow in the winter, this enigmatic land has a lot of places to explore.

Sometimes you have to disconnect to reconnect, and the two places that I had the privileged to visit in this little getaway have a special place in my heart, going back to really pleasant childhood memories. I have visited them several times, but they never cease to amaze me.

The first stop was White Sands National Park, as the name tells really clearly, the park consists of around 710 square kilometers of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals, making it the largest of its kind on Earth. The best course of action when visiting this magical place is to take off your shoes and socks, to walk barefoot on the rolling dunes, believe me not, but you can feel the stress melt away and get swept away by the wind to get lost in the ancient mountains that surround this beautiful desert landscape.

The second stop was City of Rocks State Park, located between the cities of Deming and Silver City, also in the State of New Mexico, this geological formation comprised of large rocks columns is believed to have formed around 35 millions years ago with the eruption of a large volcano, with the power of erosion over millions of years, it formed what resembles the skyline of an ancient city. You can get lost between and the nooks and crannies, and find some really confortable stone chairs to listen to the wind and catch up on your reading, or under the enormous trees, while you take the amazing landscape that the Chihuahuan desert can provide.

In all, this was a very amazing weekend getaway, it was the perfect opportunity to recharge my batteries in my beloved desert, nothing but sunshine and clean air. I hope explore a few more places in this amazing land, there are few places in the near future, including a few ones that I haven’t yet been, anyone interest in a UFO crash site?

Until next time, safe travels.

azr

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