Mistborn Trilogy Completed

I've finally completed the last book of the Mistborn Trilogy, The Hero of Ages. And that is no mean feat considering the fact that the only free version I've managed to find (without zip or rar), is here. Just click on the link and you'll see what I mean. Someone told me the font size is akin to reading an encyclopedia. I wouldn't have ploughed on with it if not for the fact that I've read the first two books.

As usual, Sanderson ends his stories grippingly. This book is filled with action scenes and revelations. After completing the trilogy, I see this guy more as an engineer than an author. The intelligent way he creates magic worlds (that fits into logic somehow), and open up them layer by layer by layer across his three books - that is no mean feat. And groundwork must be laid properly starting from the first book. There is hardly any conflict in his worlds, yet once you thought you knew something - well you just didn't know it well enough. Very well crafted. And that's what makes the whole trilogy appealing. As I have mentioned (or rather gushed about) before, the idea of Allomancy in itself is novel enough. But that is a just a small part of a big story.

Highly recommend for fiction/fantasy lovers, especially engineer book worms. Beats Harry Potter hands-down with regards to the creation of a magical world (in my opinion). :p I find it better than Hunger Games too, but of course they are kind of from a different fantasy genre. The main flaw I find in Mistborn is the romance between the two main protagonists borders corny-ness. Not really my type. But the rest of the book makes it bearable. :p

Now I'm deciding if I'm going to re-read this all over again, or go for another of Sanderson's work. I've read three of his now, and none disappointed me.

And So We Reach December

December now. I think months just fly by when work is concerned. We're required to sign and date at all our documentations at work. Each new date I date reminds me of each day passed. And it's so fast before we have to write down another number. 2012 seemed so far away. At first. Now it's near, and next year I'll be at the age Jon likes to call 'Christmas Cake'. I still feel like what I used to feel when I was a teen though. But physically I have aged much.

I'm getting more stable at work now, though I still make mistakes. But it feels good to be getting better at something new for once. I haven't been learning new things for a long time, and testing is somewhat new to me, although we do have lab sessions in NUS. But there wasn't so much wet chemistry involved. I used to dread pipetting, but now I'm very much used to it. My accuracy could be improved way more though.

Will be going home for Christmas in the next two weeks. Counting down for New Year in Singapore though, for the first time. Good chance to catch up with friends and have fun together. I'll be sharing a short Christmas message (Dawn too) during our Christmas caroling sessions. I haven't talked in public for a long time. Still haven't really thought of which approach I'd take to share.

Was initially rather appalled about sharing (because I have this vacant expression on my face every time I address a large group of people - in other words my charisma is level zero), but then later I was excited instead. I haven't had the chance to share the gospel for a long time. And the power of the gospel lies in the gospel itself, not the speaker. Where I am weak, God shows Himself strong. May God be glorified. Please pray for me as I prepare: that I am equipped with love, humility, and faith; and pray that hearts are prepared to receive the sowing of the seed.

Mistborn Trilogy

Stuck in this series now by Brandon Sanderson, but I only read it around certain times of the day. If I can be an Allomancer (or Mistborn), I'd burn pewter all day. According to Sanderson, pewter burners get enhanced strength/energy when they burn, but when used excessively they have what is termed 'pewter drag' (some energy knockout afterwards). Pewter burners heal quicker too, and suffer less pain and injury in battles. That's why they are called Thugs.

I always think Thugs are the most primitive Allomancers, primarily because only brute force is enhanced; but I now feel that it's could be useful for busy days. Since I'm not an Allomancer, and pewter would probably cause me severe digestion problems if ingested - I rely on coffee as an alternative instead. And it causes 'coffee drags' too.

I like Sanderson's writings - the Mistborn Trilogy is as exciting (if not more so), and almost as gripping as the Hunger Games Trilogy. There are two points in his work that I prefer over Hunger Games though: Firstly the element of mystery which I really appreciate in long novels, and secondly, he does not kill so brutally (at least not in the graphic sense), and he does not kill so many characters dear to your heart. Sadly I have a very large philosophical conflict with one of my favorite characters, Sazed. He seems to think that all religions matter because they represent hope. I think he downsized religion to a peanut. I believe in Christianity not merely because I need something to hope for. I believe because it is love, it is truth, it is hope, and it is power. It is a way of life. It is life.

And lately I feel so insecure with people. Not just lately, it's been for months now. I want to be that NUS freshie I was four years ago, or even the intern I was last year. One that was genuinely looking out to meet new people, to learn more about them and to share my life with them. I guess my zest for meeting new people have died out early, and every time I am with people that I'm not very close too, I close up like a clam-shell. I just feel that I'm not interesting enough, not friendly enough, and not loving enough. I'm not myself - there are so many layers of me I've yet to show.

Where's that part of me that enjoys building friendship? Was she shut out long ago by many other friendships that she didn't manage to sustain? Or am I just a loner pretending not to be one all the while?

Multi-tasking

I used to think I was good at multi-tasking. Doing a different number of things at the same time. Like talking on the phone and typing, managing a few computer windows concurrently, thinking about what to write in my FYP report when playing Tumblebugs, talking to Dawn while playing the piano, and watching TV while eating and reading a book (yes this is what I can do very well indeed).

But oh! Doing things in the lab just made me realize that I'm actually Level Noob in multi-tasking. A very humbling experience, and a good one too, as all humbling experiences are to me.

Today I was just asked to manage only two things concurrently, and I messed up a step in one of them. Although it was not something un-redeemable, and was easily rectified, it was a process that I've already run many times. And this was just with two (familiar) jobs on hand, and me still feeling in control, meaning I wasn't panicking or rushing or compelled with any emotions that leave my mind blank. Sadly whenever I'm pressured for time, and a number of things descend on me on the spot, my mind just blacks out and reels and doesn't now what to do next.

Well, today I made a mistake without being in that state of mind. Wonder what'd happen if it was something more important and I am on the verge of blacking out. (According to yesterday's training, this is called 'cognitive loading', and I suppose my load threshold is pretty small.) And initially I thought I could even take on one additional task on top of whatever I already had in hand.

Four months in this job has revealed to me the limitations of my multi-tasking abilities. I realize that I can multi-task quite decently when I am localized positionally (meaning I don't need to move around); but when I'm running around different rooms handling different stuff at the same time, I might forget things.

And how do I overcome this? My workload is already much lighter than all my colleagues, and I only have to account for myself mainly. How do I cope if one day I must manage running several different processes plus ad-hoc work plus checking on other people? How do I increase my cognitive loading threshold besides familiarizing myself with things? Sometimes there's no time to go through everything mentally beforehand like what I'm used to doing now to spot difficulties before they arise.

I need more practice and I hope I have the luxury of time for that before the lab gets really busy. And I'm really thankful to God for this training ground in things I'm weak at. I'm already better at my hands-on routine tests; now it's the mental part that is challenging.