What’s better than getting a book by Terry Pratchett as a very early surprise Christmas present?

Being given a book by Terry Pratchett that the author signed him self as a very early surprise Christmas present.

I don’t have my name on it, but by golly gee, Pterry held this same book in his hand so he could sign it! I’m holding the same thing he held!!! And considering the circumstances on how this came to be (I’m guessing my copy is pre-signed), I’m just completely and sincerely happy.

[ETA] – as per Lynn, the book was signed by Pterry himself in front of her sister! So yey! Really really happy!!

I’d like to thank Lynn and her sister for helping The Beloved out.

And I whole-heartedly want to thank The Beloved for this wonderful early Christmas present. (So this is the reason you don’t want me to buy the book when we saw it at Fully Booked Serendra!)

Now, I should really start reading Going Postal before I could read this. *huggles book*

I finally got my book last Friday, but I was only able to read it last night.

And man, it was a good read.

I’m liking Alice, the witch-but-not-really-but-still-one,¹ as each book passes. Not because she is a girl, but because of how she thinks and do things. And despite people not liking her because of how she was brought up, she still helps. And it doesn’t help that she kicks ass too.

Tom, of course, is growing up in this book, and bit by bit his destiny is being unveiled. The Beloved’s and my theory about his nature is proven true because of the revelation of his heritage. The seventh son of a seventh son and that is a striking combination, and could prove true to be a powerful thing.

The story is dark, it is basically a sort of horror story for children anyway² , with all the blood and mild gore, but I have no qualms about it. It is well written and skilfully put together and a recommended read.

On a different note, why do I feel ashamed that I am late in finding out that the Wardstone Chronicles finally have an official site? Somehow I don’t feel like the fan I should be, creating a fan shrine / fanlisting and all.

#ahem#

But the official site is flashy, and I like going around clicking the links. And I finally know how the author, Joseph Delany , looks like!

I must really finish the 5th fanlisting now³ and the redesign of the fan shrine. But first, I need to reread the book.

1. It’s so hard to explain. I’ll either have to tell you thewhole story or make you read the book ↩
2. Yes, I read mostly children’s books. Sod off. ↩
3. For the above mentioned book ↩

My online nii-san¹ , Mark, has lent me his books since he figured I may need them for my line of work. And I must say, they are indeed very very helpful.

One is Web Standards Solution by Dan Cederholm. I initially thought it will be a handy dandy markup and style reference book, but it’s also a how-to book. A handbook for a web designer indeed.

This is where I learned that you can’t escape tables, and they are still semantic. Besides, floating rows and rows of tabular data (calendars, spreadsheets, charts and schedules) with CSS is very dodgy.

The second one is another book by Dan Cederholm, Bulletproof Web Design. It gives tips and techniques on how to make a bulletproof design that will stand against accessibility, usability and browser compatibility issues, and other worst-case scenarios. Am planning to use what I have learned so far from this book to Sugoi Stuff‘s redesign.

The other one is really cool. The Zen of CSS Design by Dave Shea and Molly E. Holzschlag. It is a compilation of several beautiful and usable submissions to the CSS Zen Garden project² with notable techniques and tips on how they did it. So much eyecandy!

They are indeed very helpful to a lowly web designer such as I. And I believe, these are still very helpful for successful designers as well.Now, if there is only a cheaper alternative to buying these imported books. Until then…

Mark, can I return these books to you next year?

1. Japanese term for older brother. Why I call him that when we’re not even blood related, is a long story ↩
2. It is a collaborative demonstration of what can be accomplished visually through CSS-based design. You can learn more about it at their website. I’ve been wanting to create a layout to submit to them for a long time already. ↩