Jall's Blog

I recently finished reading Strange Pictures after seeing it on my fyp for a while. It was definitely an interesting book, although I found it pretty confusing at times. The author, Uketsu, is an anonymous Japanese horror and mystery writer whose identity remains unknown. The English translator for this novel was done by Jim Rion. Uketsu has written four stand-alone novels: Strange Houses, Strange Pictures, Strange Buildings, and Strange Maps . These were published in that order, and the first three currently have English translations.  I first started reading Uketsu’s works with Strange Houses . Although I read most of it, I eventually gave up near the end because I found it difficult to follow. The novel heavily focuses on analyzing floor plans that connect to a murder mystery, but I had trouble keeping track of all the details and understanding the conclusions. It could still be enjoyable for readers who love complicated mysteries, but it definitely requires patience. ...

Squirrels are everywhere on campus. I don’t think I’ve ever not seen a squirrel while walking on campus or anywhere really in this area... They do a lot of interesting things like one time I was walking to school, and I saw a squirrel sitting on a bench eating a bowl of Chipotle. I wonder what the story was there…Well anyways I decided to read a book all about squirrels (Squirrels by Steven Otfinoski) to learn more about them and here are some cool facts I learned: Tree squirrels’ tails are very important as a defense against predators. For example, if a rattlesnake were to attack the squirrel, it can raise the temperature of its tail which can trick the rattlesnake into thinking the squirrel is a larger animal than it actually is. Also, if a predator grabs a squirrel by its tail, the tail can break off which can give the squirrel a way to escape. There are at least 260 species of squirrels that live on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. I’m not surprised that there aren’...

Apologies, I’m tardy, just a bit. But maybe you’ll enjoy the meter that I wrote this simple post in as a skit to also practice sonnet-writing, stat. You see, I read through Shakespeare’s many sonnets. Enjoyable, for sure, but lengthy too. Some resonated more than others, honest. I’ll illustrate my full thoughts out to you. One hundred fifty four works Shakespeare wrote, with many storylines hidden within. I see why one may call Shakespeare the GOAT. I truly feel as if he went all-in. With that, I’ll highlight some that I find cool, for honestly, I think that sonnets rule! To start off, Sonnet 20's fascinating: “A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted.” I think the work describes a man, conflating his femininity and self, untainted. The speaker lies attracted to this fellow, but feels deep loss, sayin’ “me of thee defeated,” For mother nature built the man but mellow, yet still, a man the speaker needs to treat him. “But since she pricked thee out for women’s pleasure;...