Book Review: Thuvia, Maid of Mars

After three books about John Carter, Edgar Rice Burroughs finally decided to try writing about another character in his Barsoom series.[1] This time we're reading about Carthoris, John Carter's son (though the apple doesn't fall far from the tree). Burroughs also switched from the first person narrative he used while telling about John Carter to third person with an omniscient narrator. So in a few instances we actually get to see some scenes from the point of view of the titular character, Thuvia, who first appeared in the second book, The Gods of Mars.[2]

Sulfur-containing Amino Acids

I was recently working on a submission for a pass-along story [1][2] I've been writing with some of my friends for a few years now, which we call Blood Faith.[3] It concerns a secret world of vampires (no relation to the creatures found in the Twilight books and movies [4]). It is written in epistolary fashion, much like the famous vampire novel Dracula or C. S. Lewis' novel The Screwtape Letters. The first several letters are pedagogic, explaining many aspects of the vampires' secret society, while the later letters transition into a narrative about several vampires who discover additional secrets that the rank-and-file vampires are unaware of. Even though we're far into the narrative at this point, I decided to go back and write another pedagogic letter about the effects of garlic on vampires. While researching various chemical compounds found in garlic, I discovered that the chemical structures for several of these compounds weren't available on Wikimedia Commons. So I made them myself.

The Thorny Crown

Leann and I were asked to speak in Church Last Sunday.[1] Leann was asked to speak on how the Atonement of Jesus Christ helps us to overcome our trials and I was asked to focus my remarks on how the Atonement of Jesus Christ helps us to love other people. What follows is the bulk of my talk with a few improvements made here and there. I've also included references and some annotations.

Supercali…What?!!

As I've previously mentioned [1], Lilli is pretty good at imitating new words that we teach her. One time, while filming her, I asked her to say "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Of course, she was unable to:

But then I decided it would be fun to get her to say the syllables separately, on different occasions, and then crop all the videos and stitch them together. She's so cute in each of the videos that I wasn't satisfied to only upload the finished product. So you get to watch the uncut videos for each syllable, first.

Cute Little Curls

When I was born I was a little baldy. Soon my hair came in (though now it's on its way out) and for a while I even had a fringe of curls but eventually those got clipped. As far back as I can remember I haven't let my hair get long enough to see if it still curls. My sisters' hair doesn't curl anymore, so I suspect that it was just a thing of childhood. Lilli finally has enough hair that she has that same fringe of curls (so I guess it's heritable). Throughout the day the curls get kind of limp but right after she takes a bath they really pop.

Making Piles

Lilli has recently developed a penchant for making piles. She usually does this with her stuffed toys. She'll throw them in a corner, in the hall, on the couch, into her crib, etc. A few "not like the others" toys find their way into these piles, including a baby doll and her piggy bank.[1] And sometimes, just to stir things up, she'll also throw a handful of puzzle pieces or bead necklaces over the top. But sometimes (and we think this is the funniest variation) she'll stuff them behind a folding chair we keep in her room. And she's very particular about where the toys fall. If the pile of toys is on the floor, it's not complete until she throws herself on top and rolls around in it.

Reading (with Help)

Lillian is really quick to repeat new words.[1] And more often than not she's able to remember them. When we read books to her, now, we can leave out the last word on each page and she'll fill it in. Since she's so willing to repeat what we say, we've started teaching her how to pray. We say something to ask for or be grateful for and she repeats the last word. (Sometimes she does this in Church or when we have guests, too, which is adorable.) We also recently started reading a verse or two from the Scriptures with her before she goes to bed. An example follows. The text is 2 Ne. 4:28–29.[2]