Shalee lhiah 2013: Jerrey Jerrey Fouyir

Jerrey jeihoo vee ny shalee.

Hoshiaght ny bleeaney: 128 lioaryn

Hoshiaght ny mee: 77 lioaryn

• Lhaiht aym:
• Daeedoo hiaghtin: 7 (5 chionnit)
• Kied hiaghtin as daeed:6 (3 chionnit, 1 jarroodit)
• Nah hiaghtin as daeed:7 (4 chionnit)
• Treeoo hiaghtin as daeed:5 (2 chionnit)
• Kerroo hiaghtin as daeed:2
• Nagh row er y rolley: 1
• Goit aym: 15. Chionnee mee ram manga noa (14), as ny smessey, ren carrey dou cur lioar noa dou - 'sy Çheenish! Wahll, ta mee er lhaih y manga... agh veagh feme er mooarane dy hraa dy lhiah y lioar elley, as cha bee y bree aym, er lhiam.
• Scryssit er bun elley: 1. Cheau magh mee lioar elley bentyn rish Ree Artur hug carrey dou, er y fa dy vel un lioar er y chooish shen dy liooar 'sy vlein, er lhiams

Myr shen, ta mee er scryssey 13 ass y rolley as ta 65 faagit er. Wahll, cha nel eh agglagh!

• Lioaryn lhaiht aym y vlein shoh (y chied cheayrt): 111 lioaryn!

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End of the tenth month of Reading Project.

The Beginning: 128 books

The start of this month: 77 books

• Lhaiht aym:
• Week forty: 7 (5 bought)
• Week forty-one:6 (3 bought, 1 forgotten)
• Week forty-two:7 (4 bought)
• Week forty-three:5 (2 bought)
• Week forty-four:2
• Not on the list: 1
• New: 15. I bought a lot of new manga (14), and worse, a friend has lent me a new book - in Chinese! Well, I've read the manga... but I can't see myself having time or energy to read the Chinese book any time soon. It's full of odd vocab and stuff about current affairs in China - easy to grasp as you can imagine.
• Struck off for other reasons: 1. I'm chucking out another book about the history of King Arthur - one on that topic is plenty, thanks.

So I've crossed 13 off the list, and there are 65 left. Not looking so bad...

• Books read (for the first time) this year: 111 books!

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 43

Jerrey treeoo hiaghtin as daeed ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

The Anubis gates (Tim Powers)

Mie dy liooar. Ta blass cleaynagh er, as ga dy vel y cummey eck beggan cramp, dennee mee dy row shen cooie da'n skeeal t'ayn, bentyn rish caghlaaghyn traa as enney. Ta dorraghys dy liooar ayn (Victorianagh son y chooid smoo), as ta Powers lhiggey da cur blass baggyrtagh as agglagh er ny cooishyn ta Doyle tuittym stiagh ayndaue, gyn jannoo skeeal ard-dorraghys assjeh. Agh bare lhiam gyn baggyrtyn egin noi y ven ynrican 'sy skeeal; ta fys aym dy nee skeeal "Victorianagh" t'ayn gyn shen. Ta Powers screeu dy castreycair, beggan moal foddee, as ny keayrtyn cha nel eh lane baghtal. Agh ta sleih quaagh anaasoil as reddyn neughooghyssagh noa ayn.

Ta'n skeeal hene fondagh myr skeeal jurnaaghey traa, ta mee ouryssagh mychione y lheid, son s'aashagh eh y lheid y vrockey. Er lhiam dy ren Powers obbyr chastreycair: cha nel y skeeal plooghey ayns e hoyn hene, ny ceau duillag er duillag liorish meenaghey, as va mee baghtal dy liooar ny er va taghyrt son y chooid smoo. Agh t'eh trome ny keayrtyn. Ny keayrtyn dennee mee dy row rouyr karracteyryn ayn, foddee, as kuse jeu casley rish y cheilley. Va reddyn elley yn-insh-rolaue ayms: ayns lheid y skeeal, shegin da'n fer folliaghtagh lhaih oo er ayns lioaryn shennaghys ve uss hene, as shegin da dagh ughtar goaill stiagh taghyrtys as sleih shennaghyssagh. Choud's ta fys aym cha nel oo rieau feddyn magh quoi va'n Mainshtyr, as ta jus obbeeys Egypagh dy liooar 'sy skeeal (as shen scanshoil) dy vel eh beggan quaagh nagh vel ny smoo. As myr jerrey, bare lhiam dy beagh ny smoo mraane mastey wheesh deiney. Agh ny yei shen as ooilley, v'eh feeau lhaih agh cha lhaihym eh reesht.

Bakuman y.l. 19 (Ohba Tsugumi & Obata Takeshi)

Ta sheer-haghyrtys ayn nish, gyn caa son fea. Cha nel cooishyn cadjin 'sy lioar shoh, agh daa ghoolaneyn s'jerree (er lhiam) son Muto Ashirogi. Shen doilleeidyn ellynagh tra t'eh fo colught anime ass y vanga oc y yannoo, as eisht "scammylt" ta baggyrt keird Azuki. Ga dy vel wheesh taghyrt, hug Ohba as Obata boayl as caa da dagh ooilley charracteyr ainjyssagh (by vie lhiam rieau ny fo-charracteyryn). Er lhiam dy vel Obata roie lesh y gheay; t'eh taishbyney rheamys e schlei voish aitt cartoonagh dys trome-chooishaght vyn, as shimmey reayrtys lheead as mea t'ayn, lane dy vioys as mynphoyntyn.

Bakuman y.l. 20 (Ohba Tsugumi & Obata Takeshi)

Va mee lane ghreesit son yn ym-lioar s'jerree shoh, as chionnee mee ee (ny sleaie ny va foym) lurg drogh-laa. S'treih lhiam fakin jerrey straih ghow mee wheesh soylley jeh, agh she jerrey mie t'ayn. Ta drama taitnyssagh ayn, as dennee mee dy row Ohba as Obata cho jeean er y skeeal oc as va ny karracteyryn oc er ny (far-)skeealyn t'ocsyn; ta'n manga-mooie cloie rere y manga-sthie. Ren ad feaysley dagh strooan y skeeal dy fondagh, as ga dy row jerrey-ny-yei-jerrey ayn, er lhiam nagh row eh anvullee. Shen er y fa dy vel ad er nyannoo shickyr rish 20 lioar dy vel dagh strooan scanshoil, foddee. Ren cochiangley quaagh Azuki as Mashiro, as ny persoonidyn neuchadjin oc, lhiggey da jerrey shaghney ro-veiyghys, as dennee mee dy row eh cooie da'n chubbyl quaagh. Ta mee er ngeddyn soylley ass towse ass y 'traih shoh, as bee'm shirrey ny smoo 'syn aght cheddin. Agh ta mian aym foast dy 'eddyn magh erreeyn ny h-ellyneyryn elley...

The dragon and the griffin (Aidan Meehan)

Lioar ellyn elley bentyn rish ellyn Celtiagh as cummaght ny Wigganee er. Cha nel monney anaase aym er shennaghys ellyn hene, as myr shen cha ghow mee monney assjee. 'Sy lioar elley Veehan aym, ren eh soilshaghey aghtyn as saaseyn feamagh dhyt bentyn rish ny loayr eh er, agh 'sy lioar shoh cha nel eh cur coontaghyn jeh ny caslyssyn t'ayn. Myr shen cha nel ee wheesh ymmydoil, er lhiam.

Chammah's shen, hooar mee nagh ren mee recortys tra lhaih mee fer elley meeghyn er dy henney! Caillt aym liorish marranys Blogger, s'cosoylagh.

Language, thought and reality (Benjamin Lee Whorf)

Screeuyn as obbraghyn çhaglymit Venjamin Lee Whorf, as eshyn ny çhengoayllee amateyragh hug geill da kianglaghyn eddyr çhengey as smooinaght. V'ad anaasoil dy liooar, agh trome ny keayrtyn - ta ram cooid hengoaylleeagh ayn bentyn rish çhengaghyn nagh vel fys ny enney aym orroo, gyn soilshaghey erbee. Screeuit da earishlioaryn ard-scoillaragh, er lhiam. Ny yei shen ghow mee soylley jeh, as ta'n eie echey er "cryptotypes" feer anaasoil.

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The end of week forty-two of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

The Anubis gates (Tim Powers)

A pretty decent story all told. It has a lot of atmosphere and its slightly convoluted structure gives it a bit of the feeling that the protagonist would probably have with keeping times and identities in order. There's a reasonable dose of (mostly Victorian) grime and grimness that manages to do its thing in the story and convey the very sinister and wretched things that Doyle is dragged into, without falling into offputting grimdark. There's some onstage gore and darkness, but generally they're narrated rather than depicted. There are some very enjoyable weird people and mystical elements, which felt novel to me. On the whole, decent but not stellar writing; it's a little bit heavy at times and not always entirely clear, which is an issue with a complex story with some very similar characters. Could maybe have been shorter and punchier; sometimes feels like Powers wasn't sure whether he wanted an action-packed yarn or a heavy atmospheric story.

The story itself is reasonable, though I always worry about time-travel plots because they're easy to do badly. In this case I think Powers managed a respectable plot that didn't disappear up its own rear end or turn into Exposition Central, and tied itself up neatly, though I wasn't always clear on what was going on. I got the sense there were slightly too many characters, though. There were also some aspects that I found predictable as soon as I worked out what kind of story it was: the enigmatic historical figure is bound to be yourself in the past, for example, and the compulsion to work in several historical figures is apparently irresistable (though Powers does it reasonably). As far as I can work out we never find out who the Master was, and I slightly feel that there was just enough Egyptian magic in the story to make it strange that there isn't more about it, especially given one major scene. Finally, there's precisely one female character worth mentioning, and while she has a couple of decent scenes I'd have preferred it without the obligatory rape threats. I'm glad I've read it but I don't think I'll feel the urge to reread it.

Bakuman v. 19 (Ohba Tsugumi & Obata Takeshi)

Things have reached a fairly constant level of drama now, so there's no chance of a lull. Instead we have what are likely to be the two final challenges Muto Ashirogi must overcome, namely some artistic concerns as they finally get their anime, and a "scandal" that threatens Azuki's career. Despite this, Ohba and Obata manage to give a little love to just about all the characters, and Obata really seems to be flying, showcasing the range of his art from comical to deadly earnest, and throwing in lots of luxuriant scenes full of vibrant detail.

Bakuman v. 20 (Ohba Tsugumi & Obata Takeshi)

I was really excited for this final volume, and gave in after a bad day. I'm sad to see a series I've so thoroughly enjoyed coming to an end, but they did it well. We get some nice drama, and both Ohba and Obata seem to be about as enthused as their creations are, as the manga parallels the manga-within-the-manga. All the threads wrapped up satisfactorily, in a series of endings that managed not to feel particularly anticlimactic - perhaps because they'd so firmly established the importance of each aspect of the story. Azuki/Mashiro's strange relationship and unusual personalities made the potentially soppy ending feel quite appropriate. Thoroughly enjoyed this one, and I'll be looking for more work by these two. Actually I'd really like to know what becomes of some of the other artists...

The dragon and the griffin (Aidan Meehan)

Another book about Celtic design, this time discussing the influence of the vikings. I'm not interested in art history as such, so I didn't find much to interest me here. The other Meehan book I had discussed how to use Celtic patterns yourself, but this simply shows some nice pictures and describes their features rather than providing any guidance. So I think it's a less useful book in general.

I also found one I didn't record reading months ago - probably lost in one of the several Blogger failures.

Language, thought and reality (Benjamin Lee Whorf)

Some collected writings of Whorf, an amateur linguist who worked on links between language and thought, and on Native American languages. It's fairly interesting, but pretty heavy - a lot of linguistic content aimed at journals, in a slightly old-fashioned style, and focused on languages I'm not familiar with with no explanation. Worth reading though, and I enjoyed the stuff about cryptotypes.

Padjer ny blaaghyn

She coraa ny blaaghyn cheayll mee er y gheay Neeay, y shenn gheay Neear graihagh as litçheragh, sheer-heeidey, lieh-ny-cadley, cour y Ghreag.

"Ta ny keylljyn ersooyl, t'adsyn er duittym as er nyn vaagail; cha nel graih ec deiney orrin foast, as ta shin nyn lomarcan fo hoilshey ny h-eayst. Ta jeshaghtyn foawragh siyraghey harrish ny magheryn aalin, as ny raaidjyn oc creoi as atçhimagh er fud ny çheerey.

"Ta caayryn kanghyraagh skeaylley harrish yn 'aiyr, sheer-'eiyral 'syn oayll oc, as milley yn oie liorish lonraghey.

"Ta ny keylljyn ersooyl, O Phan, ny keylljyn, ny keylljyn. As uss foddey, O Phan, as foddey ersooyl."

Va mee my hassoo ‘syn oie eddyr daa phortagh raad yiarn rish oirr chaayr ayns Mean ny Çheerey. Er y derrey yeh honnick mee traenyn goll shaghym, fer 'sy daa vinnid; as er y jeh elley, daa hraen 'sy queig.

Va ny thieyn-greasey fargagh faggys dy liooar, as va cummey scoaghagh er y speyr er-nyn-skyn, myr t’urree ayns ashlishyn-çhiassagh.

Va ny blaaghyn ayns raad jeeragh ny caayrey vishee, as myr shen cheayll mee ad nyn badjer y ghoaill. As eisht cheayll mee, myr arrane snaue noi y gheay, coraa Phan cur oghsan daue ass Arcaid—

"Fuirree erriu rish tammylt, cha bee y lheid ayn rish foddey."

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Ass The Prayer of the Flowers liorish yn Çhiarn Dunsany, çhyndaait ayms.

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 42

Jerrey nah hiaghtin as daeed ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

So spirited a town (Nicholas Murray)

Lioar anaasoil, aasagh dy lhaih as lane dy vree phersoonagh. Ta Murray covestey cooinaghtyn, aaraaghyn as shennaghys myr broie blasstal dy liooar, as cha cheau mee agh un laa lhaih ee. Cha vow uss mooarane fysseree assjee, agh cha nee tekslioar t'ayn, agh eab dy ghoaill annym y valley as cur sooill kenjal da.

Twenty thousand leagues under the sea (Jules Verne)

She skeeal anaasoil dy liooar t'ayn, ayns ayrn, as skeeal far-skeealaght heanse "chreoi" leah lane dy eieyn as sheiltynys. Ta taghyrtyn contoyrtyssagh ny anaasoil ayn, y lhied by vie lhiam myr gilley ayns straih X Adventure liorish Willard Price. Er y laue elley - nagh trome eh! T'eh lane as slane dy rollaghyn enmyn eeastyn shliggagh as neuhliggagh, as leaghtyn beggey er shoh as er shen, ny smoo fys na cree. Cha nel eh gra red erbee anaasoil mychione ny h-eeastyn shen, agh credjal dy vel enmyn hene anaasoil dy liooar - cha nel ad. Er y laue elley, by vie lhiam fakin eh gaccan ayns 1870 mychione stroie meeresoonagh 'sy teihll najooragh, as by hreih lhiam smooinaghtyn dy vel ny reddyn cheddin taghyrt foast. Dy beagh reagheyder kenjal ennagh er ngiarrey magh y chooid smoo jeh'n stoo shen, veagh lioar anaasoil as chontoyrtyssagh ain. S'treih lhiam gra nagh dod mee moylley eh agh myr sampleyr shennaghyssagh. Ta lioaryn elley ayn ta bentyn rish stoo cosoylagh as ad ny s'eddrymey er sooill as laue.

I Don't Like You At All, Big Brother y.l. 3-4 (un lioar) (Kouichi Kusano)

Va'n ym-lioar shoh ny share lhiam na'n fer elley, as shen son y chooid smoo er y fa dy vel eh baghtal dy liooar dy nee skeeal aitt faghidagh t'ayn. 'Sy chied lioar, va mee beggan currit ass mychione y chooish ghraih v'ayn; cha row mee shickyr er barel yn ughtar cour y chooish. 'Syn ym-lioar shoh, ta'n lane chooish ny smoo aitt. Ta ny inneenyn hene gymmyrkey myr she gamman t'ayn, maylartey noteyn er ny haghyr tra v'ad speeikey er y yilley as myr shen, as t'ad caarjyn baghtal rish y cheilley. S'mie lhiam ny karracteyryn nish erreish daue goll er jannoo ny smoo baghtal, as y voir erskyn ooilley, foddee.

Toradora y.l. 4 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

Myr smooinee mee, ta'n skeeal leah er coayl aym; she skeeal elley t'er mayrn, bentyn son y chooid smoo rish inneenyn caggey son y yilley boght - wahll, son pooar harrish. As son dy cummal seose yn eie shen, shegin da ny karracteyryn ve ny sloo resoonagh as sneeyn aashagh y ghoaill orroo. Ny yei shen, ta aitt dy liooar ayn.

Toradora y.l. 5 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

Ta beggan ny smoo eddyr-obbraghey 'syn ym-lioar shoh, as cha nel wheesh caggey son y yilley. Ta ny smoo niart ec ny fo-charracteyryn as t'ad reaghey reddyn son y chooid smoo. Ghow mee soylley jee.

Oreimo y.l. 4 (Fushimi Tsukasa)

Ta'n lane ym-lioar shoh bentyn rish argane eddyr yn ard-inneen Kirino as carrey eck ta feddyn magh yn anaase quaagh t'eck. Dy firrinagh, voir eh orrym beggan er y fa dy vel ad ooilley meeresoonagh 'sy chooish shen. She aegidee t'ayn, shegin dou goaill rish, agh t'ad ommidjagh dy liooar. As er lhiam nagh row eh cooie lane ym-lioar y cheau er y lheid. Va mee laccal y bishaghey persoonagh, as eddyr-obbraghyn nagh row ard-haghyrtagh car y traa. Castreycair.

King Arthur : the true story (Graham Phillips, Martin Keatman)

Shoh coontey jeh sheiltynyssyn ny h-ughtaryn er quoi, c'raad as cre'n tra va'n Ree Artur ayn. V'ee anaasoil dy liooar, as by vie lhiam ny meeryn shennaghyssagh aynjee. As ta aght so-chredjal oc myrgeddin. Agh shegin dou gra, 'sy jerrey, dy vel ad troggal sheiltynys er bun yl-sheiltynys, as goaill rish ec dagh keim dy vel y fer s'jerree fondagh. T'ad feddyn sheiltynys so-chredjal as goaill rish dy vel eh cosoylagh. Cha nod oo jannoo studeyrys er lheid y vun, chaarjyn. Myr shen, feeu lhaih, agh ny jerk firrinys ghlen assjee.

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The end of week forty-two of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

So spirited a town (Nicholas Murray)

An interesting book, easy to read and with a personal touch. Murray melds memories, quotations and history into a pleasant amalgam, and I easily read it within a day. You won't get a huge amount of hard information out of it, but it's not trying to be a textbook; rather, it's an attempt to capture something Liverpool and cast a loving eye over it.

Twenty thousand leagues under the sea (Jules Verne)

An interesting enough story to some extent, and an example of early "hard" sci-fi full of ideas and imagination. There are interesting and adventurous events in there, the kind I enjoyed as a lad in things like the X Adventure series by Willard Price. On the other hand, it's a bit of a slog. There are many, many sections where the protagonist simply lists the names of species - rarely saying anything about them, and even more rarely anything interesting, but simply listing them as though that should be interesting in its own right. There are little lectures here and there too, largely dry and unable to rouse my enthusiasm, and I say that as a biologist. On the other hand, I'll admit it's impressive that in 1870 Verne was already railing against the thoughtless havoc wrought on the natural world - and depressing to see how little effect it's had. I really do think, though, that it would have benefited from a kindly editor's hand to cut away some of the word-crust, leaving an interesting and adventurous book behind. As it is, I'm afraid I can't really recommend this book as the adventure story it seems to want to be, but only as a historical artefact for people with an interest in the genre. There are other books now that touch on similar content, lighter on the eye and the hand, and for most people I think they'd be a better option.

I Don't Like You At All, Big Brother v. 3-4 (one book) (Kouichi Kusano)

I think I enjoyed this a bit more than the previous book, partly because it seemed to set out its stall more clearly as a ridiculous comedy. In the first book, while I enjoyed it, I wasn't quite sure just how silly it thought it was, especially the sibling romance aspect. In this book, the whole thing is more comedic. The fueding girls shift to handling it as a sort of game, to the point where they're doing joint surveillance and exchanging their reports on the day's attempted flirtations, and maintaining a competitive friendship over it. I'm liking the characters now that many of them have been a bit more fleshed out, especially the mum, for some reason, even though she barely appears.

Toradora v. 4 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

As I suspected, the early story (or the one I thought I was reading, anyway) is gone from the series; what's left is mostly about some girls fighting for a boy, or at least for dominance over him. To my mild irritation, keeping up that story seems to call for the characters to be rather erratic so they can take offence unreasonably and be melodramatic (although in fairness that's sometimes how teenage life goes). However, I still had a reasonable time with it.

Toradora v. 5 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

This book has a bit more interaction between characters, and gives some of them (particularly the protagonist's nominal love interest) some development. It's much less about fueding over Ryuuji, and more just about some hijinks, while I enjoyed seeing the minor characters get some screentime.

Oreimo v. 4 (Fushimi Tsukasa)

This entire volume is taken up by a fight Kirino (the protagonist's sister) and her bezzie when she finds out exactly what Kirino's into (that being porn, mostly). Honestly, I found it a bit tiresome because everyone behaves unreasonably for no obvious reason. Yes, teenagers, but they're being daft even so. I didn't really feel this was worth a whole volume, and in particular I missed the actual character stuff - this one was basically all melodrama. Middling.

King Arthur : the true story (Graham Phillips, Martin Keatman)

An account of the authors' theories about who, when and where was King Arthur. It was fairly interesting, and I enjoyed the historical titbits throughout. They have a persuasive way with them, too. I have to say though, that when you think on it, they're building theory upon theory, assuming with each step that the one before was not merely possible but likely. That's no way to do serious scholarship, and so you can't take this book as such, or its findings as accurate.

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 41

Jerrey chied hiaghtin as daeed ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

Mayo Chiki y.l. 2 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

Aitt ommidjagh, agh aitt ny yei shen. S'mie lhiam yn inneen kialgagh, Kanade, ta reaghey ny caarjyn(?) eck car y traa cour deanyn folliaghtagh.

Mayo Chiki y.l. 3 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

Mie dy liooar reesht. Lane dy eieyn ommidjagh er ennaghtyn as aggleyn, agh shen aght lioaryn, nagh nee?

I Don't Like You At All, Big Brother y.l. 1-2 (un lioar) (Kouichi Kusano)

Quaagh dy liooar. T'eh bentyn rish inneen ta feddyn magh dy vel ee ny doltey inneen, as myr shen nagh vel fuill dy lhiettal veih graih rish y braar eck as ee er cannoo ny lurg. Ta'n skeeal jus bentyn rish yn aght t'ee geabbey dy hayrn, as eshyn gyn fys er y doltey, as shassoo noi 'syn aigney echey. Ta aitt dy liooar ny keayrtyn, bentyn rish cleayney keintyssagh as nearey son y chooid smoo - as ghow mee taitnys dy liooar jus son yn aght kiarit as trome-chooishagh t'ee gobbraghey er y dean shen liorish saaseyn aitt - agh quaagh foast. Aitt Shapaanagh, nagh quaagh eh?

The stories of English (David Crystal)

Erreish dou dy lhaih, hooar magh mee nagh row ee er y rolley. Atreih! She lioar hrome t'ayn, ta soilshaghey magh as scrutaghey shennaghys ny Baarle, as shen er aght cooie: gyn croghey er "Baarle Chadjinit" car y traa, agh cur lane tastey da ny caghlaaghyn abbyrt, aght screeuee as keim loayrtagh v'ayn as t'ayn. Ghow mee soylley jeh, ga dy dennee mee dy row eh ro-hrome ny keayrtyn (585 duillagyn!). Ta Crystal currit da goaill stiagh kishtaghyn-lhiattee as sampleyryn ayndaue, as ga dy mie lhiam ad son y chooid smoo, t'ad brishey stoo ny h-arganeyn ny keayrtyn. T'eh cur ram tastey da cooishyn sleih by vie lhieu "aareaghey" as "stiurey" ny "freayll" y Vaarle, neayr's ny 1700yn foddee, as yn aght ta shen er ngoaill toshiaght brishey seose nish. Lioar 'ondagh.

Te yn y grug (Kate Roberts)

Çhaglym dy skeealyn beggey 'sy Vretnish. Agh cha nel monney aitt ry-akin ayndaue, er chor erbee. Ta'n chied 'er doolagh dy liooar, as ta'n daa ny yei gyn monney anaase. Eer my t'ee ginsh skeeal cadjin, ta blass truanagh er. Cha nel aitt erbee ry-akin, as daag mee jee er jerrey'n treeoo skeeal. Hooar mee coontey jee jus nish: "Stories of growing up and loss of innocence, of a child striving to understand the complexity of the world and its people, and accepting that disillusionment is part of life." Bwooise da Jee dy daag mee jee, dy jarroo. Ta bea ro-ghiare dy lhaih lheid y stoo doolagh.

The angel with one hundred wings (Daniel Horch)

Skeeal jeant ass eieyn 'syn Oie As Thousane Araabagh. Cha nel eh cur wheesh geill da ard-charracteyryn y vun-skeeal, agh da bea Abdulhassan, ny 'er-lhee as far-chemmicagh, as ny charrey y Hultan. She shenn dooinney t'ayn, agh t'eh goll er tayrn stiagh ayns skeeal daa pheiagh aegey as ta shen cur erree baase er. Er lhiam dy row ee beggan moal hoshiaght, agh haink ee dy ve feer vie. Son y chooid smoo, ta'n skeeal shoh mychione graih (ymmodee sorçhyn), goll er goaill stiagh ayns reddyn, eash as ve. Er y laue elley, ta contoyrtys as gaue ayn myrgeddin. Ga dy nee lioar 'allsoonagh ayn ny keayrtyn, cha voir shen orrym myr t'eh dy cadjin. By vie lhiam y coontey shoh jeh shenn 'er beggan sondagh, ta jannoo eh chooid share nish dy yannoo mie gyn fys erbee ny feanish baghtal er ny ta mie ny dyn. She coontey ennaghtagh as anaasoil t'ayn, lane dy vynphoyntyn fondagh: neuablid Abdulhassan dy hoiggal y lught-thie echey; doilleeid bea ayns balley fo fer ard-smaghtagh varrys oo dys marroo sannish; smooinaghtyn shenn deiney as y caarjys eddyr oc.

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The end of week forty-one of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

Mayo Chiki v. 2 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

Silly fun, but fun anyway. I like the manipulative girl, Kanade, who arranges her "friends" towards her own aims, allegedly in their own interests but mysterious and sometimes sadistic along the way.

Mayo Chiki v. 3 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

Still decent. Full of daft ideas about emotions, especially phobias, but hey, it's light-hearted fiction.

I Don't Like You At All, Big Brother v. 1-2 (un lioar) (Kouichi Kusano)

So, ah, yeah. This is about a girl who discovers she's adopted, which is really handy because she's lusting after her older brother (and vice versa). Mostly the story's about the way she tries to keep his attention, when he thinks they're blood relations and fights against his inclinations. It's entertaining enough, with a mix of embarrassment, comic lust, and the very serious ways teenagers go about things. I did enjoy the very straight-faced and deliberate way she works towards her goal via various quite comical methods - but it's rather strange at the same time. I think the cultural gulf here is broadish, because I really can't imagine the like coming out in English?

The stories of English (David Crystal)

After hammering my way through this brick, I found out it doesn't even seem to have been on the list. Tragic! It's a pretty heavy work in contrast to something like Mother Tongue, examining and explaining the history and diversity of English, without putting the usual emphasis on "Standard English". There's lots of stuff about the varieties that peacefully coexisted through most of history until some stupid ideas about linguistic and moral purity exploded onto the scene in the 1700s-ish. I enjoyed it despite feeling it was tough going at times, and had to settle into a good blend of reading and skimming. It's 585 pages! Crystal includes a lot of "sidebars" with examples, which are often interesting but can break up the flow considerably. He also spends a lot of time on the language reformers, but not actually an unreasonable amount in the end. A good solid book.

Te yn y grug (Kate Roberts)

A collection of Welsh short stories. But there's precious little fun to be had here (why are so, so many Welsh books like this?). The first one's miserable as anything, and the next two were short on interest and full of moping and lack of pleasure from the protagonist. Even when someone's relating anecdotes there's a shadow over the story. There's not a mite of fun to be seen, and I gave up at the end of the third story. Good thing too. I just found this on a page about the stage adaptation: "Stories of growing up and loss of innocence, of a child striving to understand the complexity of the world and its people, and accepting that disillusionment is part of life." Right barrel of laughs, eh? Life's too short to read miserable books.

The angel with one hundred wings (Daniel Horch)

A story based on an episode of theThousand and One Nights. It doesn't focus on the traditional protagonist, but on Abdulhassan, a pharmacist and alchemist who drifted into friendship with the Sultan. He's an old man now, but is drawn helplessly into the story of two youngsters while trying to do the right thing, and his fate is sealed by that. I found it slow to begin with, but enjoyed it very much in the end. The story mostly deals with love (of various kinds), absorption in things, age and life, but there's plenty of action amongst it. I enjoyed the portrayal of an unwittingly selfish old man who's doing his best to do good, without much idea or evidence of what's the right thing to do. It's a touching and interesting story, full of nice details: Abdulhassan's inability to understand his family; the challenges of life in an autocracy where you can be killed simply to quash a rumour; and the thoughts and friendship of old men.

Y Deyrey haink er Sarnath

Ta logh anvaaragh chiune ayns çheer Mnar, gyn alt erbee roie stiagh aynjee chamoo strooan erbee roie magh assjee.  Jeih thousane blein er-dy-henney va ard-valley mooar Sarnath ny lhie rish, agh cha nel Sarnath ayn foast.

T’ad gra, ‘syn eash ass cooinaghtyn rish aegid y teihill, roish my daink deiney Harnath dys çheer Vnar, va ard-valley elley rish y logh; ard-valley cloaie lheeah Ib, cho shenn as y logh hene, as cummaltee aynjee nagh by haittin lesh sooillyn deiney.  By whaagh ad as neuwoyagh; as dy jarroo, shen cliaghtey bioee heihill ta aw as garroo foast.  T’eh grainnit er rollianyn breekagh Kadatheron dy row crackan glass oc, daah ny loghey as ny kay ta girree jee; va sooillyn deamagh oc, as beillyn puissagh bog, as cleayshyn quaaghey, as cha row coraa erbee oc.  T’eh grainnit foast dy daink ad neose jeh’n eayst fo choodagh kay oie dy row, as maroo haink y logh vooar chiune as ard-valley cloaie lheeah Ib.  Lhig da’n skeeal shen ny dyn, t’eh shickyr dy dug ad ooashley da jee-jalloo cloaie mooir-ghlass ayns cummey Vokrug, y jialgheer ushtey mooar, as rish oieghyn ny h-eayst vishee ghaunse ad rinkaghyn graney roish.  As t’eh screeut er pabyr Ilarnek dy dooar ad aile laa dy row, as eisht doad ad aile dy mennick rish ny feillaghyn oc.  Agh cha nel monney screeuit er ny cummaltee shid, son v’adsyn ayn ayns ny shenn shenn eashyn, as s’aeg ad cloan gheiney, as beggan fys t’oc er ny bioee hinney v’ayn. Erreish da ymmodee eashyn, haink deiney dys çheer Mnar: deiney dorraghey bochillagh as ny shioltaneyn keyrragh oc, as hrog ad Thraa, Ilarnek as Kadatheron er yn awin Ai lhoobagh.  As va kynnee ennagh ny s’tramylt na’n cheilley, as seiy ad er oaie dys oirr ny loghey, as troggal Sarnath raad dooar ad meain chostal ‘sy thalloo.  Cha nee foddey voish caayr lheeah Ib dy ren ny clein wandreilagh lhiaghtey kied chlaghyn Harnath, as ghow ad yindys mooar voish cummaltee Ib.  Agh va blass feoh ‘sy yindys oc, son er lhieu nagh cooie eh dy row lheid ny bioee shooyl ayns seihll deiney ‘sy choleayrtys.  Chamoo by vie lhieu ny jallooyn quaaghey v’er leacyn lheeah Ib, as adsyn agglagh son ny h-eashyn v’orroo.  Quoi ec ta fys er y fa dy hannee cummaltee as jallooyn ‘sy teihll cho anmagh, eer rish roshtyn deiney?  Agh she çheer feer chiune ee Mnar, as foddey roish çheeraghyn elley laa as oie. 

Myr s’menkey honnick ny Sarnathee cummaltee Ib, ny smoo y dwoaie hug ad orroosyn; chamoo leodee eh tra dooar ad ny cummaltee faase as bog fo bwoalley claghyn as shleiyghn as sideyn.  As myr shen, laa dy row, ren ny fir chaggee aegey, tilgeyryn as shleiyderyn as sideryn, soiaghey er Ib as marroo ooilley cummaltee ny caayrey, as seiy ad ny kirp whaagh stiagh ‘sy logh liorish shleiyghyn liauyrey, er son nagh row ad arryltagh dy ventyn roo.  As er son nagh by vie lhieu leacyn lheeah grainnit Ib, cheau ad adsyn stiagh ‘sy logh myrgeddin, as goaill yindys rish y doccarys cre’n aght hie ny leacyn tromey er ymmyrkey ass foddey jeh; as shegin daue er ve, son nagh row nyn lheid ry-akin ayns çheer Vnar chamoo ny thallooyn mygeayrt-y-mooee.

As myr shen ass ard-valley shenndeeagh Ib cha row nhee erbee er mayrn agh y jee-jalloo mooir-ghlass grainnit ayms cummey Vokrug, y jialgheer ushtey.  Hug ny fir chaggee eshyn lhieu erash dys Sarnath, myr cowrey ny barriaght v’ocsyn er shenn jeeghyn as cummaltee Ib, as myr cowrey kioneys er Mnar.  Agh yn oie erreish daue ny hroggal ‘sy çhiamble va drogh-haghyrt ayn.  Honnick ad soilshaghyn quaaghey harrish y logh, as ‘sy voghrey hooar ad dy row y jee-jalloo ersooyl, as yn ard-saggyrt Taran-Ish ny lhie marroo, myr fer hooar baase ass atçhim erskyn insh.  As er yn altar chrysolite, ayns linnaghyn garroo er-craa, va Taran-Ish er screeu cowrey DEYREY.

Shimmey ard-saggyrt v’ayn ny lurg Taran-Ish, agh cha dooar ad arragh y jee-jalloo mooir-ghlass.  As shimmey eash haink as daag, tra haink lesh Sarnath dys ard-raah, do nagh by chooin agh lesh saggyrtyn as shenn vraane ny screeu Taran-Ish er yn altyr chrysolite.  Dirree bollagh traghtee eddyr Sarnath as caayr Ilarnek, as vaylartee ad meain chostal ny thallooin son meain elley as eaddee ghoan as clijeenyn as lioaryn as greieyn fir cheirdey as dagh ooilley chooid hoailleeaght t’er fys ocsyn ta cummal rish yn awin Ai lhoobagh as ny çheeraghyn mygeayrt-y-mooee.  Myr shen haink Sarnath dy ve mooar as ynsit as aalin, as hug magh ee sheshaghtyn caggee varriaghtagh dys cur fo chosh ny caayryn faggys jee; as fy-yerrey, she reeghyn ooilley Mnar as ymmodee çheeraghyn ree va nyn soie er stoyl reeoil Harnath.

By yindys as ard-voyrn y teihill as ooilley gheiney ee Sarnath ard-ooashley.  Va ny boallaghyn eck jeh marmyr gloasagh yn ‘aasagh, 300 stundayrt er yrjid as 75 er lheead, do dod fainee deiney goll shaghey y cheilley rish imman er y vullagh.  Skeayll ad rish 500 lane staid, son nagh row ad foshlit agh er y çheu cour y logh; ayns shen ren boalley marrey cloaie glass fendeil y chaayr noi tonnyn, tra dirree ad dy quaagh dagh vlein rish feailley traartys Ib.  Ayns Sarnath roie jeih straiddyn as daeed voish y logh dys giatyn ny caravaanyn, as lhie jeih straiddyn as daeed harroo.  V’adsyn ass onyx, agh raad hooill cabbil as dronnagyn as elefantyn, va leacyn tryal orroo.  As va giatyn Harnath wheesh as ny straiddyn, as ad prashey, as cummaghyn lionyn as elefantyn roo, grainnit ass clagh nagh row er-enney ec deiney foast.  Ass breek fo glonney as agaid va thieyn Harnath, as garey boallit as loghan gollrish crystal ocsyn ooilley.  Er aght quaagh v’ad troggit, son cha row y lheid ry-akin ayns caayr erbee agh ish; as va troailtee ass Thraa as Ilarnek as Kadatheron cliaghtey goaill yindys er ny meillaghyn-mullee hollys oc.

Agh ny smoo yindyssagh foast va ny plaaseyn as çhiambylyn, as garaghyn Zokkar, y shenn ree.  Shimmey plaase v’ayn, as y sloo jeu ny smoo na nane erbee ayns Thraa ny Ilarnek ny Kadatheron.  As ad wheesh ard, dod deiney sheiltyn nagh row mullagh er-nyn-skyn agh y speyr hene; agh fo soilshey doagan lane dy ooil Ghothur, va jallooyn foawragh ry-akin er ny boallaghyn, jeh reeghyn as sheshaghtyn-caggee, as yn aalid oc creeoil as shaghrynagh ec y traa cheddin.  Shimmey colloo v’ayns ny plaaseyn, ass marmyr daahit, grainnit ayns cummaghyn ny share na aalid deiney.  As ayns ny plaaseyn, son y chooid smoo, va ny laareyn nyn mosaicyn ass beryl as lapis-lazuli as onyx jiarg as carbuncle as reih stooghyn elley, reaghit do dod y fakider sheiltyn dy hooill eh er ymmyryn dy vlaaghyn goan.  As va farraneyn ayn myrgeddin, as ad ceau ushtey soaral myr skiootyn aalin kiaddit dy schleioil.  She plaase reeghyn Vnar as ny thallooghyn ghow varriaght orroo ooilley.  Er piyr dy lionyn airhey chroymmit va'n troyn ny hoie, as shimmey greeish v'ayn eddyr eshyn as y laare sollys.  As v'eh grainnit ass un veer dy iuaagagh, ga nagh nhione da fer erbee caid ass haink meer wheesh foawragh.  Shimmey lout-lhiattee v'ayns y phlaase shid, as shimmey preaban caggee v'ayn raad chagg lionyn as deiney as elefantyn son baillish y ree.  Ny keayrtyn vaiht ad preaban caggee ennagh lesh ushtey hayrn ad ass y logh ayns ammyryn ushtey mooarey, as eisht va caggaghyn-marrey breeagh ayn, ny caggaghyn eddyr snauederyn as reddyn marrey marrooagh.

By ard as yindyssagh shiaght çhiambylyn tooragh jeig Harnath, ass clagh gial yl-daahagh ass enney agh ayns shid.  Va'n fer smoo jeu lane thousane stundayrt er yrdjid, as chumm ny h-ard-saggyrtyn aynsyn, as s'goan y scansh v'eddyr ny h-aghtyn beaghee v'ocsyn as v'ec ny reeghyn.  Er y thalloo va hallaghyn wheesh mooar as aalin as hallaghyn ny plaaseyn; as ayndaue chruinnee çhionnalyn son ooashlaghey Zo-Kalar as Tamash as Lobon, ard-yeeghyn Harnath, as va ny h-ynnydyn casherick ocsyn gollrish troynyn reeghyn fo chay thooishey.  Cha row jee-jallooghyn Zo-Kalar as Tamash as Lobon gollrish adsyn v'ec jeeghyn elley; v'adsyn wheesh faggys da bioys dy dod oo vreearrey dy nee ny jeeghyn faasaagagh bwaagh hene va nyn soie er ny troynyn iuaagagh.  As ec kione greeishyn gyn jerrey ass sercon sollys va'n çhamyr hooragh oc.  Assjee yeeagh ny h-ard-saggyrtyn harrish y chaayr as ny thallooghyn as y logh car y laa; as er yn eayst 'olliaghtagh as rollageyn as planaidyn trome-cheeallagh as scaanyn ny loghey er fud ny h-oie.   Ayns shid ren ad y shenn oardagh ard-cheiltagh hug dwoaie da Bokrug, y jialgheer ushtey, as ayns shid va'n altar chrysolite as screeuyn-DEYREY Taran-Ish er.

As by yindyssagh chammah ny garaghyn ren Zokkar, y shenn ree.  Skeayll ad ayns mean Harnath, liauyr as lheead as boalley ard mygeayrt-y-moo.   As va meilley-vullee glonney mooar er-nyn-skyn; rish aalican hoilshee grian as eayst as rollageyn as planaidyn ny hrooid, as rish emshir ghonney hrog ad caslyssyn gialley jeh grian as eayst as rollageyn as planaidyn jeh.  'Sy tourey ren feayraghanyn schlei sheidey geay veeley soaral nyn drooid, as 'sy gheurey ren aileyn follit ad y hiassaghey, do she sheer-arragh v'ayn ayns ny garaghyn shid.  Roie strooanyn beggey harrish shillee yial, dys rheynn lheeantyn glassey as garaghyn yl-ghaait, as shimmey droghad lhie harroo.  Shimmey eas v'ayn 'sy lhiabbee echey, as shimmey loghan lileeagh gheayrt ad stiagh aynjee.  Snaue ollee vaney er strooan as loghan, as va kiaull ushagyn goaney co-heeaney marish arrane ny h-ushtaghyn.  Dirree ny brooinyn nyn ardaneyn glassey.  Ayns shid as ayns shen va grianane ayn, fo viljyn feeney as blaaghyn millish, ny soieagyn as furrymyn ass marmyr as porphyry.  As shimmey çhiamble beg v'ayn dhyt goaill aash ny cur padjer da jeeghyn beggey.

Dagh blein ayns Sarnath ren ad ardeailley stroie Ib, as er yn ardeailley  va slane palçhey dy ‘eeyn, arraneyn, rinkey as ooilley gennallys ayn.  Hug ad arrym da anmyn adsyn v’er cur naardey ny shen cretooryn quaaghey; as ren daunseyryn as looteyryn cheau crooinyn roseyn ass garaghyn Zokkar craidey mysh cooinaghtyn ny cretooryn as ny jeeghyn shenndeeagh oc.  As yeeagh ny reeghyn harrish y logh as guee mollaght er craueyn adsyn lhie aynjee.  Hoshiaght nagh by vie lesh ny h-ard-saggyrtyn ny ardeaillaghyn shoh, son va skeealyn quaagh ry-chlashtyn nyn mast’oc; er yn aght skell rish y jalloo mooir-ghlass, as dy hooar Taran-Ish baase ass atçhim as faagail raaue dauesyn.  As dooyrt ad dy vaik ad lossan ny keayrtyn fo ushtey ny loghey ass y toor ard oc.  Agh rish ymmodee bleeantyn goll shaghey gyn seiyjaght, va ny saggyrtyn hene geayrey as guee as goaill ayrn ayns ronneeaght ny feaillaghyn.  Dy jarroo, ‘sy toor ard oc, nagh row adsyn er gooilleeney y shenn oardagh ard-cheiltagh hug dwoaie da Bokrug, y jialgheer ushtey?  As hie shaghey thousane blein lane dy verçhys as taitnys ayns Sarnath, yindys y teihill as ard-voyrn ooilley deiney.

Va ardeailley thousane blein stroie Ib ooashley erskyn sheiltynys.  V’ad er loayrt er er fud Mnar rish jeih bleeantyn, as rish yn ardeailley tayrn er gerrey haink deiney dys Sarnath er cabbil as dronnagyn as elefantyn – deiney ass Thraa, Ilarnek as Kadatheron, as ooilley caayryn Vnar as ny çheeraghyn myrgeayrt-y-mooee.  Er yn oie phoyntit, roish ny boallaghyn marmyragh, va paalyn prinseyn as paalanyn troailtee currit seose, as dirree arraneyn cummalee vaynrey er feie slyst ny loghey.  'Sy halley-fleahagh echey va'n ree Nargis-Hei ny lhie, er meshtey ec shenn 'eeyn ass sellaryn Phnath castit, as shimmey krink gee as giu mysh, as shimmey sleab roie noon as noal.  Nagh by vooar y bee naightagh goan 'syn 'eailley shid!  Kellee aalin ass ellanyn Nariel 'sy Cheayn Veanagh, mannanyn ass crink foddey Implan, boynyn dronnagyn ass yn 'aasagh Bnazagh, croyn as spiosyn ass keylljyn Chydathria, as pearlyn ass Mtal tonnagh lheiet ayns feeyn geayr Hraa.  Va aunlynyn ass towse ayn, aarlit ec ard-choagyryn Vnar, as cooie da blayst dagh goaldagh.  Agh she eeastyn mooarey ny loghey va reih vee yn 'eailley, dagh nane foawragh, as adsyn currit er moggaidyn airhey roobeenagh as diamanagh.

As y ree as y krinkys jannoo feailley 'sy phlaase, as jeeaghyn er yn ard-vee duirree orroo er moggaidyn airhey, ren fir elley feailley ayns dagh ooilley voayl.  Ayns toor yn ard-hiamble ren ny saggyrtyn ronneeaght, as ayns palaanyn çheumooie ny boallaghyn va flahyn ashoonyn naboonagh jannoo kelloorey.  As by ard-saggyrt Gnai-Keh y chied honnick scaaghyn çheet neose veih'n eayst vishee as goll stiagh 'sy logh, as y chay vollaghtagh ghlass dirree ass y logh, dys skeaylley lesh yn eayst as ceau scaa baggyrtagh harrish tooryn as meillaghyn-mullee Harnath erreeit.  Eisht honnick adsyn v'ayns tooryn ny çheumooie ny boallaghyn sollyssyn quaaghey er yn ushtey; as fakin dy row clagh lheeah Akurion, dirree er ard ass y logh rish y clyst rere cliaghtey, bunnys baiht.  As daase aggle dy tappee, derrey ghow neose flahyn Ilarnek as Rokol foddey ny paalyn as paalanyn oc, as ad y 'illey, as faagail cour yn awin Ai, ga nagh by leayr dauesyn yn oyr hene daag ad.

Eisht, er çhee meanoie, vrish ooilley giatyn prashey Harnath veih my cheilley, as vrooight magh çhionnal er keoie ren y çheer rea doo, do roie ny flahyn as troailtee ghoaldagh er çhea fo atçhim.  Son by leayr er eddinyn y çhionnal baanrid ass scoagh do-hurranse, as er ny çhengaghyn oc va focklyn wheesh agglagh nagh duirree clashtynagh erbee son feanish.  Ren deiney as sooillyn keoie er aggle oc gyllagh ny vaik ad ayns halley-fleahagh y ree, raad nagh nee Nargis-Hei as y krinkys va ry-akin foast, agh sheshaght dy nheeghyn glassey gyn coraa.  Va sooillyn deamagh oc, as beillyn puissagh bog, as cleayshyn quaaghey, as ghaunse ad rinkaghyn graney; as dymmyrk ad ayns spaagyn maaigerey moggaidyn airhey roobeenagh as diamanagh, lane dy aile feohdagh.  As rish roie er çhea ass caayr erreeit Sarnath er cabbil as dronnagyn as elefantyn, yeeagh ny flahyn as troailtee reesht er y logh chayagh, as fakin dy row clagh lheeah Akurion lane vaiht.

Er feie çheer Mnar as ny çheeraghyn mygeayrt-y-mooie skeeayll skeealyn adsyn daag Sarnath, do nagh jagh caravaanyn arragh reesht cour y chaayr vollit as y veain chostal eck.  Shimmey blein hie shaghey derrey hie troailtagh erbee ree, as eer eisht cha b'lhoys agh da fir aegey vraew 'Alona foddey goll; fir aegey chontoyrtyssagh vane as gorrym-hooillagh, gyn mooinjerys erbee da cummaltee Vnar.  Hie ad dy jarroo dys y logh dys jeeaghyn er Sarnath; agh ga dy dooar ad y logh chiune anvaaragh hene, as clagh lheeah Akurion ta girree er ard assjee rish y clyst, cha vaik ad yindys y teihill as ard-voyrn ooilley deiney.  Raad va boallaghyn 300 stundayrt er yrjid er nirree, as tooryn ny s'yrjey foast, she slyst curree follym v'ayn; as raad va daeed millioon dooinney er gummal cha snaue agh jialgheeyryn-ushtey dwoaieagh nish.  Cha row eer meainyn ny meain chostal ry-akin, son va DEYREY er jeet er Sarnath.

Agh lieh-oanluckit mastey ny leaghyryn honnick ad jee-jalloo cloaie mooir-ghlass; jee-jalloo shenn ass towse, fo vrat famlee, grainnit ayns cummey Vokrug, y jialgheeyr-ushtey mooar.  As va'n jee-jalloo currit ayns ard-çhiamble Ilarnek, as neayr's shen hie eh er ooashlaghey fo'n eayst vishee er feie çheer Mnar.

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Ass obbyr Lovecraft "The Doom that came to Sarnath", çhyndaait ayms.

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 40

Jerrey daeedoo hiaghtin ny Shallee Lhaih. Ren Blogger scryssey magh ny screeu mee lesh cree as laue, my shen ta mee fergagh dy liooar. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

Toradora y.l. 2 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

Ny smoo er daa aegidagh ta cur aggle er sleih gyn yeearree, as ny contoyrtyssyn oc rish shirrey graih. Er lhiam nagh row eh wheesh mie as y chied lioar. Ta ny karracteyryn corragh dy liooar, as ny mraane erskyn ooilley, as ta shen jannoo y skeeal faase. Chammah's shen, ta lheid y skeeal lhiggey er dy vel raghlid mraane lhiggalagh tra nagh beagh raghlid fir, as dy vel eh aitt ga dy beagh eh agglagh dy yinnagh fir ny reddyn cheddin.

Toradora y.l. 3 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

Ny smoo reesht. Er lhiam dy vel y skeeal shoh faagail y bun neuchramp v'echey, mychione daa aegidagh gyn caarjyn shirrey caarjys as graih, as t'ad jannoo assyn skeeal mychione mraane aegey caggey son gilley.

Foiled y.l. 1 (Jane Yolen)

Skeeal anaasoil as taitnyssagh mychione ben aegidagh ta currit da cliwederaght. Rish insh y skeeal, ta shin feddyn magh mychione y vea eck as y lught-thie. Cha nel caardjyn eck er y fa nagh vel ee ry-chur ayns possan sheshoil erbee 'sy scoill, agh ta bree as sheiltynys dy liooar eck. As eisht ta reddyn yindyssagh goaill toshiaght. By vie lhiam Aliera, as yn annym jialgagh eck, as y ven-vooinjerey eck myrgeddin. Cha nel eh dyn lhiettal dy vel ad cloie gammanyn cloie paart noadyr :)

Jones y plisman (John Aelod Jones)

Cha row mee shickyr cre'n torçh dy liooar v'ayn hoshiaght, agh dooar mee dy nee skeeal aitt as kiune t'ayn, mychione cooish 'olliaghtagh ayns balley beg çheerey Vretin, as dooiney er coayl. T'eh er Jones y chooish y 'easyley (gyn monney mian, son t'eh lhiastey dy liooar, agh ta'n ven echey shassoo er) agh ta ymmyrkey quaagh ny cummaltee, sheiltynys goan Yones as cooney saggyrt goaldagh cur er reddyn ve lane fud-y-cheilley. Ga dy vel JA Jones screeu dy goan, ta'n skeeal baghtal as screeuit dy mie, er lhiam. By vie lhiam eddyr-obbraghyn ny karracteyryn as feaysley jerrinagh ny cooish.

Celtic design : a beginner's manual (Aidan Meehan)

Laue-lioar ellyn er aghtyn dys jannoo jesheenaghey 'sy çhenn aght Celtiagh. Fondagh dy liooar, er lhiam, agh cha nel mee jesheenaghey monney! Ta ny caslyssyn ymmydoil, agh beagh eh ny share dy beagh ny coontaghyn roo ny s'leayrey.

Aqua y.l. 1 (Amano Kozue)

Manga kiune mychione ben aeg ta goll dys Mart dys ynsaghey dy ve ny gondoleyr. Ta'n skeeal jus mychione Mart, eddyr-obbraghyn marish co-obbree, as y lheid. By vie lhiam yn aght kiune echey, agh shegin dou gra nagh vel monney taghyrt 'sy skeeal! S'goan ny focklyn t'ayn chammah, myr shen she skeeal ass caslyssyn t'ayn, bunnys. Agh ta ny caslyssyn mie dy liooar.

Oreimo y.l. 3 (Fushimi Tsukasa)

Shegin dou gra nagh noddym lowal anaase y 'neen er y chooid cheintyssagh t'ee currit da; agh t'eh jeeaghyn dy vel y lheid ny s'cadjiney 'syn Çhapaan aght ennagh. Er y laue elley, s'mie lhiam foast eddyr-obbraghyn ny karracteyryn, as yn aght ta shuyr as braar çheet dy ve nyn caardjyn gyn scansh da'n scansh aigney as ymmyrkey t'eddyr oc. As s'mie lhiam lhaih stoo er nerdyn elley :)

Agh chionnee mee yn chooid smoo jeusyn ta heose, as hug my charrey dou fer elley 'syn Çheenish!

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The end of week forty of the Reading Project. Blogger inexplicably deleted my long, lovingly-written piece so I'm very annoyed. Here's what I've read this week:

Toradora v. 2 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

More about two adolescents who unintentionally frighten their classmates, and their slow-burn attempts to help each other win over their crushes. I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first. I found the characters a bit erratic, particularly the girls, which I felt weakened the story - people inexplicably taking offence or getting angry, and so on. Also, it's inclined to treat female violence as permissible and even basically harmless and funny, whereas of course male characters would be monsters if they acted similarly (and so don't). Not a huge issue, but it's a bit tiresome.

Toradora v. 3 (Takemiya Yuyuko)

And more. I feel like this story is shifting away from its original simple beginning (two youngsters without many friends looking for comradeship and love) and becoming a story about girls quarreling over control of a boy. It's not terrible, but I'm definitely less interested in it.

Foiled v. 1 (Jane Yolen)

An interesting, enjoyable story about a keen teenage fencer. As the story unfolds, we learn more about her life and family. Because her life and interests don't fit any social boxes, she ends up excluded at school, but she's lively and imaginative. Then fantastical things begin to happen. I liked Aliera and her slightly prickly self, and her cousin too. It didn't hurt that they mostly hang out to play RPGs :)

Jones y plisman (John Aelod Jones)

I wasn't sure what to expect here to begin with, but I found it to be a calm and entertaining story about the strange case of a missing man in a Welsh village. Jones the policeman is reluctantly obliged (mostly by his wife's determination) to try and solve the case, but the strange behaviour of the locals, Jones' rather limited imagination and the help of a visiting preacher combine to complicate matters enormously. Although JA Jones writes quite sparsely, the story's clear and effective, in my view. I enjoyed the interactions of various characters and the resolution of the story.

Celtic design : a beginner's manual (Aidan Meehan)

An artistic handbook on techniques for traditional Celtic design. As I don't really do much ornamentation, all I can say is it seemed decent. The illustrations were plentiful and good, but could have done with slightly clearer explanations - maybe a bit of numbering or some arrows to highlight what Meehan was talking about.

Aqua v. 1 (Amano Kozue)

A slow-paced, gentle manga about a young woman who travels to future Mars to become a gondolier (it makes sense in context). The story is basically just about Mars, her getting to know people and such ordinary things. I enjoyed the soothing tone of the story, but I have to say that as a result, not much happens. It's fairly short on dialogue, and at times is almost a picture book. But it's done well.

Oreimo v. 3 (Fushimi Tsukasa)

Well, I've got to say that I can't really condone the heroine's taste for the sort of sexual material she's obsessed with. It seems, from this and a bit of other reading, that that sort of thing is more acceptable in Japan. However, I do enjoy the character interactions, and the way a very different sister and brother are gradually making friends despite their vast differences of taste and opinion. And I do like reading about nerds.

But I bought most of the above recently, and my friend gave me another in Chinese!

Macrotastic

I've ended up creating several macros for work recently, some of which took a bit of research, so I thought I should share them here.

This is not the most elegant code in the world. I was asked to do a load of jobs involving repetitive, tedious and precise changes to large numbers of spreadsheets, with quite short deadlines for turnaround. It was also not clear how many there'd be in the future. In this situation, spending a lot of time producing beautiful, elegant, foolproof, robust code is a mug's game, and I'd just have missed my deadlines. Instead, I hacked together something that would work.

In a few cases I've tried to make things flexible or robust, but others are rigid. One issue is, of course, that unless you've got good information on the data you're going to be working on, you can't make things that robust. For example, it often:

• wasn't possible to establish how many rows or columns might be involved
• wasn't possible to guarantee that columns would have exactly the same names
• wasn't possible to guarantee unique terms in any column title
• wasn't possible to guarantee that data would come with particular formats
• wasn't possible to guarantee clean data

This sort of this puts the kibosh on many techniques for automatically selecting data for processing, but I did my best.

Find and replace macro

Sub Nullify()
'
' Removes NULL from workbook
'
    Cells.Replace What:="NULL", Replacement:="", lookat:=xlPart, SearchOrder _
        :=xlByRows, MatchCase:=False, SearchFormat:=False, ReplaceFormat:=False

End Sub

Replace value in a single column

Sub Dating()
'changes date values and formats that still show the default value 01011900
    
    Dim lngRow As Long
    Dim BotRow As Long
    
'selects the last used cell in column Y, without using the problematic "UsedRange" group of properties
    Cells(Rows.Count, "Y").Select
'select all cells above this cell, i.e. all of column Y that might contain data
    Selection.End(xlUp).Select
    BotRow = Selection.Row
    For lngRow = 1 To BotRow
'straightforward replacement of text
        If Cells(lngRow, "Y") = "01011900" Then
            Cells(lngRow, "Y") = "NOT"
        End If
    Next
End Sub

Insert new fields in predictable places

As is often the case, this isn't the most elegant way to achieve something - in this case, repeatedly calling the same function. However, it is extremely simple and very easy to error test, compared to anything involving looping through arrays.

Sub New_Fields()
'inserts new fields by calling Insertion repeatedly

    Dim Ws As Worksheet
    Set Ws = ActiveSheet

    Call Insertion("Surname", "Surname and Initials")
    Call Insertion("dept", "preferredDept")
'...etc
End Sub

Sub Insertion(LookFor As String, Entitle As String)
'inserts a column to the left of a specified existing column
  Dim t As Range

'search the top row
  With ActiveSheet.Rows(1)
'find a column called "LookFor"
   Set t = .Find(LookFor, lookat:=xlWhole)
     If Not t Is Nothing Then
'when found, insert a new column to the left with name=Entitle
        Columns(t.Column).EntireColumn.Select
        ActiveCell.EntireColumn.Insert
        ActiveCell.Value = Entitle
     End If
  End With

End Sub

Populate a blank field by concatenating existing fields

Sub Concatenate_Name()
'creates the "Surname and Initials" field based on existing fields

  Dim sur As Range
  Dim ini As Range
  Dim rangeList As String
  Dim r As Range

'search the top row
  With ActiveSheet.Rows(1)
    Set sur = .Find("Surname", lookat:=xlWhole)
     If Not sur Is Nothing Then
    Set ini = .Find("Inits", lookat:=xlWhole)
         If Not ini Is Nothing Then
    
        'find a column called "Surname"
           Set t = .Find("Surname and Initials", lookat:=xlWhole)
                 If Not t Is Nothing Then
        'when found, create a range based on this column
                Let rangeList = t.Column & t.Row & ":" & ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Rows.Count & t.Column
                'select a range from the top of the found column, to the end of this column; the following code picks the last row number used on the sheet, which is a passable proxy
                Set r = Range(Cells(t.Row, t.Column), Cells(ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Rows.Count, t.Column))
                    For Each Cell In r
                    'activate that cell so it can pull in the corresponding name details
                        Cell.Activate
                        If Cell.Value = "" Then
                        'if blank, concatenate the values from the existing name cells
                            PartOne = Cells(ActiveCell.Row, sur.Column)
                            PartTwo = Cells(ActiveCell.Row, ini.Column)
                            Cell.Value = (PartOne & ", " & PartTwo)
                        End If
                    Next
            
            End If
        End If
    End If
    End With

'freeze the sheet so the top row and the new "Surname and Initials" column are visible
    Cells(t.Row + 1, t.Column + 1).Activate
    ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True
End Sub

Rename columns

Sub Fix_Names()
'renames fields from exports to match those required by departments.

'call a load of instances of Change_Name with the appropriate parameters
    Call Change_Name("ABC", "abc")
    Call Change_Name("Multiple Submission", "multipleSubmission")

'...and so ad infinitum
End Sub

Sub Change_Name(LookFor As String, Alter As String)
'changes the value in a top-row cell
  Dim t As Range

'search the top row
  With ActiveSheet.Rows(1)

'find a column called "LookFor"
   Set t = .Find(LookFor, lookat:=xlWhole)
     If Not t Is Nothing Then

'when found, replace the cell's value with the value of Alter
        Cells(1, t.Column).Value = Alter
     End If
  End With
End Sub

Changing borders and colours

A weird one. There were some quite specific formats demanded in terms of how some spreadsheets looked, and doing this by hand (and checking you'd done it) was a pain. Nobody will be copy-pasting this, but you might find something relevant in here.

Sub Decorator()
'
' Decorator Macro
' Changes the format of grids and cells
'

'select all cells
    ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Select

'remove existing borders and add new grey ones
    Selection.Borders(xlDiagonalDown).LineStyle = xlNone
    Selection.Borders(xlDiagonalUp).LineStyle = xlNone
    Selection.Borders(xlEdgeLeft).LineStyle = xlNone
    Selection.Borders(xlEdgeTop).LineStyle = xlNone
    Selection.Borders(xlEdgeBottom).LineStyle = xlNone
    Selection.Borders(xlEdgeRight).LineStyle = xlNone
    Selection.Borders(xlInsideVertical).LineStyle = xlNone
    Selection.Borders(xlInsideHorizontal).LineStyle = xlNone
    Selection.Borders(xlDiagonalDown).LineStyle = xlNone
    Selection.Borders(xlDiagonalUp).LineStyle = xlNone
'sets the left border to be continuous thin grey
    With Selection.Borders(xlEdgeLeft)
        .LineStyle = xlContinuous
        .ThemeColor = 1
        .TintAndShade = -0.349986266670736
        .Weight = xlThin
    End With
'and so on for the other borders
    With Selection.Borders(xlEdgeTop)
        .LineStyle = xlContinuous
        .ThemeColor = 1
        .TintAndShade = -0.349986266670736
        .Weight = xlThin
    End With
    With Selection.Borders(xlEdgeBottom)
        .LineStyle = xlContinuous
        .ThemeColor = 1
        .TintAndShade = -0.349986266670736
        .Weight = xlThin
    End With
    With Selection.Borders(xlEdgeRight)
        .LineStyle = xlContinuous
        .ThemeColor = 1
        .TintAndShade = -0.349986266670736
        .Weight = xlThin
    End With
    With Selection.Borders(xlInsideVertical)
        .LineStyle = xlContinuous
        .ThemeColor = 1
        .TintAndShade = -0.349986266670736
        .Weight = xlThin
    End With
    With Selection.Borders(xlInsideHorizontal)
        .LineStyle = xlContinuous
        .ThemeColor = 1
        .TintAndShade = -0.349986266670736
        .Weight = xlThin
    End With
    
'main body cells
    Range("C5").Activate
    With Selection
        .HorizontalAlignment = xlGeneral
        .VerticalAlignment = xlCenter
        .Orientation = 0
        .AddIndent = False
        .IndentLevel = 0
        .ShrinkToFit = False
        .ReadingOrder = xlContext
        .MergeCells = False
    End With
    With Selection.Font
        .Name = "Tahoma"
        .Size = 10
        .Strikethrough = False
        .Superscript = False
        .Subscript = False
        .OutlineFont = False
        .Shadow = False
        .Underline = xlUnderlineStyleNone
        .TintAndShade = 0
        .ThemeFont = xlThemeFontNone
    End With
'headers
    Rows("1:1").Select
    With Selection
        .HorizontalAlignment = xlLeft
        .VerticalAlignment = xlCenter
        .WrapText = True
        .Orientation = 90
        .AddIndent = False
        .IndentLevel = 0
        .ShrinkToFit = False
        .ReadingOrder = xlContext
        .MergeCells = False
    End With
    With Selection.Font
        .Name = "Arial"
        .FontStyle = "Bold"
        .Strikethrough = False
        .Superscript = False
        .Subscript = False
        .OutlineFont = False
        .Shadow = False
        .Underline = xlUnderlineStyleNone
        .TintAndShade = 0
        .ThemeFont = xlThemeFontNone
    End With
    
'sets columns to be various colours
  Call Colourize
End Sub Sub Colourize()

  Dim myColour As String

'set all the headers to various colours, but leave other cells as some rows contain highlighting of some kind - at least it'll persist in the white columns
  Range(Cells(1, 1), Cells(1, ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Columns.Count)).Select
  Selection.Interior.ColorIndex = 2

'go through an array of column names, and call the Colourer function with the name and a set of RGB values
  greys = Array("div", "dept", "staff") 'and so on
  For i = LBound(greys) To UBound(greys)
    myColour = greys(i)
    Call Colourer(myColour, 191, 191, 191)
  Next i

  loranges = Array("startdate", "startcon", "contrend") 'and so on
  For i = LBound(loranges) To UBound(loranges)
    myColour = loranges(i)
    Call Colourer(myColour, 253, 253, 217)
  Next i

'and you get the idea - there's quite a few of these in the full version

End Sub

Sub Colourer(LookFor As String, ColourR As Integer, ColourG As Integer, ColourB As Integer)
'changes the fill colour of a column
    Dim t As Range
'search the top row
  With ActiveSheet.Rows(1)

  'find a column called "LookFor"
      Set t = .Find(LookFor, lookat:=xlWhole)
      If Not t Is Nothing Then
  'make that column the chosen colour
          Columns(t.Column).EntireColumn.Select
          Selection.Interior.Color = RGB(ColourR, ColourG, ColourB)
  
      End If
  End With
End Sub

Shalee lhiah 2013: Jerrey Mean Fouyir

Jerrey nuyoo vee ny shalee.

Hoshiaght ny bleeaney: 128 lioaryn

Hoshiaght ny mee: 79 lioaryn

• Lhaiht aym:
• Sheyoo hiaghtin jeih as feed: 1 (chionnit)
• Shiaghtoo hiaghtin jeih as feed: 1 (chionnit)
• Hoghtoo hiaghtin jeih as feed: 2 (1 chionnit)
• Nuyoo hiaghtin jeih as feed: 3 (2 chionnit)
• Nagh row er y rolley: 0
• Goit aym: 4
• Scryssit er bun elley: 0

Myr shen, ta mee er scryssey 2 ass y rolley as ta 77 faagit er. Agglagh!

• Lioaryn lhaiht aym y vlein shoh (y chied cheayrt): 84 (ny smoo na ta er-mayrn!)

---

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End of the ninth month of Reading Project.

The Beginning: 128 books

The start of this month: 79 books

• Read this month:
• Week thirty-six: 1 (new)
• Week thirty-seven: 1 (new)
• Week thirty-eight: 2 (1 new)
• Week thirty-nine: 3 (2 new)
• Not on the list: 0
• Bought: 4
• Chucked out unread: 0

That takes two measly books (okay, one quite large one) off the list, leaving 77.

• Books read (for the first time) this year: 84 (more than are left!)