Final Post

I read 2638 pages this semester. They were all fiction and from the same series of books called the Sword of Truth series.


In the beginning of the semester I would classify myself as a sporadic reader who goes periods of time without reading anything then finds a series or book he enjoys and rapidly progresses through the books and then has periods without reading again. An example of that is during on summer I did not read for 3 weeks then found a series called Dragonlance and read the triology  of 3 books all over 700 pages in about a week. Going into this class I was involved in a 11 book series called the Sword of Truth. Throughout the semester i continued reading this series, but I felt like I slowed my reading purposefully so that I would not hit over the week maximiums by that much, so I would not have to find a new series I was interested in. The blog as you go style was not conductive to how I read because over a long weekend I would read one of the books in the car, so then I spent weeks spreading out the blogs for that book trying to keep the posts around 50 pgs to not include too much of the book in one blog. By the end of the semester I was far ahead of my blogging posts and to get the last amount of one of the books in I had to increase the pg number of posts and finish with a long post. I read whenever I had down time or I got engaged in my book. I cannot read with music, so it was quite where I read. I feel like my reading habits have not changed and I just have more books that I looking into, so I might have less down time between books.
The class kinda changed my attitude toward's poetry because of how we did not necessarily have to find poems with a specific meaning and just liking the imagery was a good enough reason to present it. I also enjoyed how we could pick our own poetry because in other English classes you have to explore poems from older times periods which use old words or try to rhyme and have obscure meanings relating with history while in this class you could just find a poem that you likes for whatever reason and it could have whatever meaning you wanted and then you got to write about that. The way we analyzed poems was unique, but I think it helped develop a different set of writing skills which other English classes missed. The one thing I think the class surprised me about was the reading of the poetry in the tournament setting. I did not think that I would be able to do that well at all but it seemed that it was not as difficult as I stressed it to be.
I enjoyed my semester I Etymology for a variety of reasons. The classes seems to be a relaxed place and most of the assignments were picked or could be personalized by the students. The row of students I sat in enjoy there time in the class whatever the circumstances and even though we may not have focused 100% of the time most of us got what we needed done while having fun. Although some classes I with after-sight I might not have taken, I would have definitely taken Etymology again.

Confessor pg 478-603

Jennsen was taken to Jagang's army and not Jagang has her in his possession, but the more distressing news is that he found the original Book of Counted Shadows. With the book he has everything he needs to open the Boxes of Orden except the containment field in the Gardens of Life in the palace.
Rachel is visited by her "mother" again and Gratch carries her so she can give someone a message which is suppose to help Richard.
Jagang made contact and informed Richard that he had the choice of surrendering, waiting untill they built the bridge and having the soldiers massacre his palace, try and avoid both and have Jagang open the boxes unsafely, or use Six to get to the Garden of Life. Richard said he would consider the options. Jagang said the surrender required Richard's death and Nicci handed over, but saved his people.
Richard prepared himself to go to the underworld to try and gain what he needed to attempt to govern the powers of Orden and win if he could get close to them. When Richard went into the underworld, the beast followed him. After flashing forward we find out that the beast has trapped him, and Richard only has one option, use magic in a place in doesn't exist. It succeeds in killing the beast, but the recoil was about to kill Richard when we appeared in the spirit house. The Mud people used the spirit ritual to pull Richard out of the underworld just in time to save his life. We find out the Rachel came her and her message was to use this to save Richard a surprising foresight supporting the conclusion that the "mother" was Shota. Richard set out immediately for Tamarang.
Zedd, Rikka, and Tom were all caught by Six spells and were placed in the prison where Richard hid the Book of a War Wizard's Power. They found the book.
With the prolong absence of Richard at the palace they feared the worst and assumed the beast killed Richard in the underworld. Nathan decided to surrender, and they began preparations.
Kahlan still on her journey to Six with Samuel is traveling, but Samuel continues to act more suspicious. He ends attacking her and she is able to kill him by using her Confessor power. Samuel then tells her information she is not suppose to know because it corrupts the sterile field of the Chainfire reversal spell.
Richard found Kahlan soon after and had to indifferent to her new knowledge, but convinced her to come with him towards Tamarang.
They reached Tamarang and found Zed, Rikka, and Tom in the room with the book. Six attacked them, but Shota had bought her time and killed Six through deception. The book was blank. Zed told Richard it was the unwritten rule, and that Baraccus left it for him to know he had to figure it out. They need to get to the People's Palace quickly, so they use Six's dragon to fly there because he knows Richard from his mother and is willing to help.
Richard continues with the surrender to allow him to get close to the Boxes of Orden. Richard figured out what he needed just before Jagang got there. Jagang let the Sisters prepare the spell while he went to get Nicci. Nicci had a collar in her possession and used it to trap Jagang and led him back so he could witness the event. The Sisters completed the spell according to the book, but it failed. Richard figured out the key to the power of Orden was the Sword of Truth. Their safety method was the user had to be able to turn the Sword white as only people acting now out of hate could. Richard forced Jagang to face an insignificant death. Then he used the Sword of Truth to command the Boxes of Orden. With the power he made two worlds one without magic for the Order to suffer due to their own ideology and one for the people of the New World. The world for the Order may eventually come to see the error in their ways, but it is never a short road to eradicating the ideas of evil. The world without magic will be infected with Chainfire to make them forget what happened and insure the erase of magic. The pristinely ungifted asked to go to the world without magic, so that magic could thrive in Richard's world. Kahlan also had her memory restored because she did not violate the sterile field in a different way.
The book ended with Cara's wedding to General Meiffert, and the quote from Richard "Your life is yours alone. Rise up and live it."
The last wizard's rule that was never said is that we cannot accept things unquestionably told to us from our forefathers as fact. Sometimes there are lies and we have to learn the truth for ourselves. Completely belief in the words of the past blinds us to advance our society in a new and better direct.

Confessor pg 443-477

Kahlan is being taken my Samuel to Six. She doesn't know where she is going or who Samuel is but she doesn't trust him because of Richard's distrust in him which was expressed when she was taken away. She worries that Richard did not escape the magic of the Sister and fears the fate that awaits him, but does not think she can do anything.
Richard and Nicci recovered from the battle and eliminated the threat of an Imperial Order invasion of the palace for a time. General Meiffert told Richard that Six used a red dragon to attack the group of soldiers and lower their ability to prevent supplies from making its way through. Jagang also destroyed towns which might have considered rebelling losing the force of the rebellion in the Old World. Richard and Nicci combine to learn how to wield their last hope of winning the Boxes of Orden. Richard needs to go to the underworld to retrive the memories to reverse Chainfire and the cyrpt staff helps him find sorceress sand to make his journey. Richard completes the prophecy of the dream weavers too by finding a book that helps him let Jillian cast dreams on the Imperial Order's army ruining there ability to sleep.
Richard's final battle to lead the New World in has always been the battle of the magic of the Boxes of Orden. That is why he was made a war wizard by in the past to ensure victory. His final battle is coming and they highlight a cloth with ink staining through to the other side which must be involved somehow in the use of the Boxes of Orden.

Confessor pg 389-442

Cara talked to the people work repaired and looked after the catacombs of the People's Palace and found that some of them thought there was something wrong with a specific passage. Immediately realized what they thought was wrong and ordered for soldiers and Nathan to come down.
Rachel got to the cave that she was drawn to, and there was a painting of the monsters chasing her and an art spell drawing her there. She found out that she had the gift to use art magic to and used it to make the monsters attack Violet and not her. She also removed the painting holding Richard's gift, but Six found her and is going to force her to be the court artist now.
Richard, Nicci, Adie, and General Meiffert got to the catacombs and used Adie's ability to sneak through by removing the light. Cara by this time had Nathan use his gift to see on the other side of the hallway that was out of place and they found people on the other side. They heard Richard's attack on them and the wall built to hide the Imperial Order Soldiers was removed and a battle broke out. During the battle Richard got his gift back and was able to remove the collar from Nicci saving her, but Adie was severely injured, and the beast appear since Richard's gift returned and he had to defeat that form with an arrow that can break magic barriers.
Richard has rescued everyone, but he still has to eliminate the Imperial Order's army. At this point with the Old World campaign failing his only hope is the Boxes of Orden which Jagang has, so he needs to find a way to get them.

Confessor pg. 329-388

Richard prepared for the game against Jagang's team through repainting the his men then going through the game plan. When he arrived at the game Jagang was not there, but he soon returned. The emperor's team were much larger and stronger than Jagang's team, but they used new organized tactics to confused and overpower the other team. Richard forced Jagang into situations were he had to use his power as emperor to make unfair calls so his team would not lose because he did not want to have to give up Nicci to Karg. Later in the game Richard ran a play that allowed Johnrock to score, but in response the other team ran a play to kill him. Richard showed that even the emperor team must obey the rules he place because he then lured the 3 members of the emperor's team to the safe zone and killed all of them with the broc and scored. Richard purposely manipulated the score to keep the game close. He would not score when he could, but also scored immediately after they did to stay tied. He was only doing what was necessary; he was saving energy. Nicci suspected he was going to start a war. She was right.
Richard in the final possession (in the beginning of the game he gave them the first possession to make sure he got the last one) scored a 2 point throw to win the game, but Jagang ruled that he went out of bounds before to prevent his victory then he scored another before the end and Jagang overruled that one too for no reason. The crowd became riotous and the thousands watching began to fight.
In the commotion Richard used the time to try and shoot Jagang with an arrow and kill him, but someone moved in the way and took the first arrow so the second only wounded him. After that, Richard made his way to Kahlan, Nicci, and Jillian killing Karg in the process. He started towards the ramp to take the underground passage, but on the way he ran into a Sister who used magic to paralyze him. Kahlan escaped with Samual who showed up during the battle, and before Richard was captured, Adie and General Meiffert returning from the Old World because of some trouble they encountered. They quickly devised a plan to try an sneak there way to the palace.
Jagang's actions contradicted the belief that the everyone in the Imperial Order is equal and to be prideful is a sin. It helps shows the flaws of the order because corrupt organizations do not follow their own rules.

Poems

Theme: Author - Carl Sandburg
Video Poem - "Wilderness" by Carl Sandburg

Other poems:
"Doors" by Carl Sandburg
"I Am the People, the Mob" by Carl Sandburg
"Grass" by Carl Sandburg
"Cool Tombs" by Carl Sandburg
"Choose" by Carl Sandburg

Confessor pg 293-328

Richard is beginning to worry because he has not seen Kahlan or Jagang at any of the recent Ja'La dh Jin matches lately. The owner of his team tells him that he has not missed the notice of the emperor, so he has laid his hopes on Jagang showing up for the final match when he faces the emperor's team.
The Sisters of the Dark has been inspecting the Books of Counted Shadows which Jagang has brought them, and they have discovered between all of the books there is one different in one of the spell forms in each of the books. With knowledge or insight into more books they are at a dead end. Jagang decides to go to see the Ja'La games. With the arrive at Richard's game he sees that Nicci is also captured and freezes for a second only to be smashed by those playing around him. He gets up with some difficulty, but goes on to win the game which allows his team to face the emperor's team.
While Richard is recovering for the next game, members of the emperor's team are sent to kill him to insure victory. Richard defends himself while making sure not to kill them which would result in punishment. The owner of the team shows up to end the fight. The actions are dismissed as just part of Ja'La dh Jin. The emperor promised to let Richard's owner Commander Karg have Nicci for a night if his team won the game as a bet, so Jagang has strong motives to prevent their success.
At the People's Palace Adie has decided to leave because with her gift diminished in the place and her being blind without it she is having difficulty functioning and can be better use else where. She is playing to sneak away the night of the Ja'La final game, so she may be some assistance in Richard's plan.
Ja'La dh Jin means the game of life, so there views about it show some truths they believe about the life. When they attacked Richard to eliminate him for victory they saw no problem because although it is not "fair" in life victory means everything to them; morals are secondary. Jagang's bet adds weight to the game that could possible be manipulated.

Wired Family

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/fashion/01FAMILY.html?_r=1&hp

My family is not really that wired into different realities most of the time. I might isolate myself to do homework on the computer, but normally we eat together as a family and play games, which are some kind of board game or outside activity, once a week. We have busy schedules with school and sports, so sometimes we might not be in the same place at the same time, but we do not exist on different planes due to electronics.

Confessor pg. 259-292

Rachel is still racing away from some unknown force, presumably under the influence of Six. When she stops to rest for the night, some woman appears to her, and she believes it is her mother. Her mother shares food with her and gives her advice to not ride the horse as hard the next day, so that it would not become run down and slow her move. The women also gave her something and put it is her pocket although we do not know what it is.
Kahlan is by Nicci's side after the torment Jagang gave her the night before because of he disloyalty. Kahlan comforts Nicci while probing her for answers. She learns that Richard was looking to help her and that Nicci believes that Richard can save them.
At the People's Palace Nathan is searching for Nicci and Ann. He is determined to find them both primarily because of his desire to find Ann. While looking for the the Imperial Order sends a messenger to ask for their surrender. Rather than immediately exterminating the person with the message Nathan decides the tell them he will "consider" it because he wants them to dedicate resources to trying to aim for a surrender that will never happen to buy time. Verna is suspicious wondering if Nathan would not sell them out for his own benefit.
The Woman that Rachel met is probably Shota appearing as someone else. She probably gave Rachel something necessary to help her escape or weaken Six when she arrives. Kahlan delicate questioning to find answers is impressive and how she pays attention to details to find the secrets that Nicci was trying to carefully avoid. Nathan is devious and he idea of buying time is intelligent and shows how sometimes rash actions can lead to missed opportunities.

Confessor pg. 206-258

While Nicci is talking to Ann, 3 Sisters of the Dark appear and immediate attack them. Due to the spell on the palace Ann and Nicci's magic is severly deminished and the 3 Sisters have linked there powers, so while they can use their magic Ann and Nicci quickly lose the battle. Ann is killed. After over 1000 years of living and overseeing and manipulating the world, the Prelate died. Nicci was taken hostage. They take her to Jagang's camp through the catacombs which they discovered. The library of the bones had a passage into the People's Palace through which they got in. They took Nicci to Jagang and then Nicci saw Kahlan and recognized her, but acted like she could not see her. Jagang is going to use the passage to storm the Palace when he can gather what he needs to use the Boxes of Orden.
Jagang likes Nicci and tries to make himself believe that she only helped Richard to try and get his attention and that she could not forsake the ideals of the Order which she use to protect. Jagang shows confedence in his ability to get the last Box, and normally Jagang does not have false confidence which leads me to believe that he has a deal with the Six to help him. The decisive moment of the battle might depend on Richard getting his gift back to take the power of the boxes.
Jagang shows a belief in something that is not true because of his wish for it to be true. He tries to come up with an idea of how Nicci could still be on his side and because of his desire for it to be true he believes it. This is a breach of the Wizard's First Rule which warns that people are foolish and belief lies because of a desire that it is true or a fear that it is true.

Confessor pg 164-205

Jennsen and some of the pristinely ungifted were captured when the Imperial Order sent soldiers to take the Book of Counted Shadows from the library of bones there. With that Book there will only be one remaining that Jagang could need.
Nicci used the sliph to explain the problem at the Wizard's Keep to Nathan and Ann. She told them how they knew the Keep's magic was failing and that it could be side effects to the magic in the People's Palace. She also told them how she put a Box of Orden in play under Richard's name. This was greeted with hostility at first, but like Zedd they soon understood the necessity of it. Nathan told Nicci that the actions has secured them facing the Great Void, and Richard is there only hope of escaping it.
Ann wanted to talk to Nicci for a while. Nicci agreed so that she could try and gain information on Six because now she had one of the Boxes of Orden that Nicci needed to recover, but Ann had other motives. Ann wanted Nicci to try and become Richard's woman in his life. Although Nicci would have loved to fulfill that role she showed great restraint as Richard's friend to explain that Kahlan was real and who he deserved.
Nicci constantly shows an excellent job of representing how friend should act by thinking of what benefits Richard and not only thinking of herself.

Bloggies

Brown Sugar had a good blog. It contained a good mix of well formed reading posts along with posts about the major events important to him or the occurrences of the day. I likes how he had a vote on who people though the next Superbowl winner would be although now the vote is closed and I do not like the team that got picked. The blog had information on other sports he found interesting and was overall a well formed blog.

Confessor pg 118-163

Kahlan watched the first game Richard played. At first, the crowd and the other team mocked Richard's team for the red paint, but when the game began Kahlan realized how deadly Richard truly was. His team used tactics which seemed to be mistakes, but had shocking results. Richard scored with the bror even when it was not his team's turn and by the end of the first round his team had 3 (5 counting the points not counted) and the other had 0. The other team tried to shift to brutalizing his team as revenge, but then Richard retaliated proving to them that trying to kill his team would only led to their deaths. He forced them to play under his rules or to face death. Jagang had to move on because of new information from the Sisters before the game finished, but Richard's victory was going to be definite.
Nicci woke up from the battle with Six due to Zed's healing. She expected to die, and was confused in how Zed was able to fight her power. Zed explained the witch women draw power from the spells you cast, so you have to use low power spells to combat them of face the effects of  your own spell. There is also a problem with the Keep. Due to magic failing it's barriers are falling and the walls are bleeding. It needs to be shut down with magic to be preserved. Nicci also figured out why a sterile field must be used in the reversal of Chainfire. Kahlan's emotions have to be led by her experience, so Richard cannot tell her his relationship to her until he completes fixes the spell.
Zed makes a wonderful point of interest when talking about how to combat a witch women. Sometimes you want to fight things we your full force but reason before action works the best. Sometimes the weakness of your enemy is not your strongest force, but a clever use of a small force.

Confessor pg 71-118

Richard is talking with Johnrock a fellow teammate who is also a captured New World citizen when they are commanded to line up because the Emperor is coming around to inspect the different teams. Richard did not consider the problem that Jagang or Sisters would see him up close, and now he needed to find a way to disguise his face. On the way over he purposely falls to put mud on his face so they cannot recognize him, but before they are inspected Jagang is called away to a new discovery. Richard realizing he needed a permanent solution asks for paint to mark his men with symbols to separate them out and strike fear into their opponents and is able to get it.
Kahlan with Jagang watched Richard fall a realized that it was on purpose. Trying to think of a reason why someone would commit such and act, she figured out that he was hiding his face the same way she was using her hood to watch her guard. This gave farther evidence that Richard was on her side. Following Jagang, she found out what the discovery was. They had found another of the buried libraries in the Azrith Plain. In it they also found a Book of Counted Shadow. While there, guards come back with Jillian captured. She did not get away in the end even after Kahlan's struggle for her, and now Jagang has a tool to get Kahlan to do what he wants.
Richard uses red paint to mark his men. At first his men were hesitate, but soon they were fighting to be next. The symbols he used were adapted forms of the symbols of a war wizard to explain the movement of the dance of death and some were symbols from the Boxes of Orden, but they were combined in new ways original to prevent the Sisters from recognizing the spells. He saved one unique element for himself. He placed the lightning bolts of the Con Dar on his forehead. Con Dar his tided to the Confessor power it means Blood Rage.
Kahlan and Jallian were following the Emperor around as he watched the games. We learn how Ja'La games are played. They have 2 goals at opposing sides, and one team is the offensive for a period of time. They have to get the broc into the opposing goal by throwing it from behind a 1 or 2 point line. There is one "safe" block on the field that the other team cannot touch you on, but then they just surround you, and wait you out. The defense cannot score during their other team's period, but they can steal the broc. each team gets so many periods then as many as it takes to have a lead on their opponents. Besides that there are not rules; the game is meant to be bloody and to involve fighting and a struggle. Kahlan sees Richard's team in the paint, and everyone is astonished at their appearance.
The Ja'La game is a mirror of life in some manners. Their is no "safe spot" in life and the safe spot in the game becomes a trap to lose or face many at once. Life is a struggle; some may not consider it fair, but life is not always fair you have to fight the opposition you face and most of the time it is easier to try and dodge the struggles with planning then charge into them. The Con Dar emphasizes on Richard's intention in saving Kahlan regardless the consequences.

Confessor pg 41-70

Zedd by now has noticed that Nicci retreated to the room with the Box of Orden and intends to figure out why. Zed tries to use magic to worm his way into the seals Nicci has put on the door, but it does not work and alerts Nicci who then opens the door. She lets Zedd and Cara in to see her work. They immediately see all of the spell symbols used to put the Box of Orden into play under Richard's name. Zedd is at first furious that Nicci would do such a thing thinking that it will kill Richard and end all they had worked for, but Nicci shows Zedd it is the only thing that they could do. They had to give Richard the weapons to lead them in this final battle and the power of Orden was on of the struggles which would decide who one, so Richard needed to be a central figure in it. No one else had the power or the qualifications necessary to correctly use the power, so Richard is there only chance to win the power of Orden. Rachel has disappeared, so Rikka has been searching for her, but has not found her yet. Suddenly they notice that some of the passageways are making sounds, so Zedd and Cara go to check it out. On the way Six comes in and is able to counter the spells of Nicci and slow her movement down to a point where time seems frozen. Zedd sees what is happening in the distance and is able to cast spells to Nicci's amazement, but they cannot reach Six all the way over there.
Rachel feels an urge to go somewhere, but it is no explained well. It seems she may be being charmed by Six, but I am uncertain why Six would need her at this point. Rachel's urge is making her race somewhere though.
The power of Orden under Richard's control expresses Nicci's and Zedd's trust in Richard's fundamental value, life. We are all only given one life and it is the greatest gift that we can ever receive. Life gives us all the opportunities we have. Existing gives us choices which can lead to many different places. Life can seem discouraging at times because we have to do things that we might not necessarily like, but most times the reason we struggle through those difficulties is so we can enjoy one of the benefits of living. Our lives our in control of only ourselves we have all the choices, so have consequences and some have rewards, but all lead us down a path.

Art Gallary Action List 4.19

The solemn soothing appearance of the copper imprinting art illustrates the resilience of life over death. The cross in the background is darkened and its form does not indicate a saving force, but cruelty it inflicted. The center rose is vibrant and appears like it was perfectly grow despite the dismal background. It has a tangle of stems and lateral buds that have encircled the cross and have appeared to struggle death. Some of the buds have separated and grown away from the cross and the center rose. The rose’s thorns are evident expressing the resilience of the flower. Even in the corners the growth of the rose is evident. The rose has overcame the struggles of its growth.

Confessor pg. 1-40

Richard now in the camp is facing the difficulties of the Imperial Order hating his team for having people from the New World on it. Some women who have decided to help their team win tried to kill Richard in his sleep, both failed, but it did give Richard reason to have special guards to farther protect himself. When he tried to get back to sleep an phantom figure came to him and told him that he had one year until the first day of winter to complete the cleanse or he will forfeit his life. The phantom is referring to completing the Boxes of Orden and cleansing Chainfire and since Nicci named him and put him in play if he fails he dies, but if he succeeds he is granted the power of Orden to cleanse the world of the Chainfire.
Kahlan is still thinking about seeing Richard. She cannot place her feeling for him, but has great reverance and infatuation of him for reasons she cannot understand. While thinking on what she can do, Sister Ulicia begins convulsing. When she finishes she tells them that someone else has put the Boxes of Orden into play and that the time has reset.
The book began with a new beginning of the struggle, a new cycle to try to control. The Order is still has a clear advantage, but with all battles advantages do not decide the outcome. This is the last book of the series it is the end, but it starts with a beginning of the struggle again. Richard will have to fulfill the prophesy and lead them through this darkening time or the world come be forfeit.

Phantom pg 629-673

The attacks against the Old World have begun. The destruction is gaining the desired effect and Jagang soon speculates that the D’Haran soldiers are behind it. Kahlan and the army are finally in front of the People’s Palace and are building a ramp to try and gain entry due to any other kind of attack would be foolish. Richard’s caravan of soldiers has made it to the camp and he sees Kahlan and she sees him too. Although she does not know him because of her loss of memory she immediately feels a connection without talking to him.

            Nicci visits the People’s Palace to see how Nathan is handling the place. While at devotion she realizes what she must do. She rushes to the Wizard’s Keep and puts the Box of Orden that Rachel returned to the Wizard’s Keep in play under Richard’s name.

            It was the end of the book but it left with the remark that Richard was given the chance of their success for the final battle was not the battlefield against the Imperial Order, but the magic of Orden, the power over life and death itself. She had given Richard the chance to take the power of Orden; She had given Richard her trust that he would uphold life when he had power over it.

Phantom pg 587-628

Rachel is able to escape the palace during the commotion between Violet and Six. On the way out she steals one of the Boxes of Orden back. When she makes it out and runs into the Imperial Order soldiers she runs and is not going to make it until Chase appears and saves her. They both start heading to the Wizard’s Keep.

Nicci learns from the sliph what happened to Richard because of his commands to the sliph to tell them. When she talks to Zed she learns he found a way to verify through magic what Richard was telling them all along. They also learn that there are multiple copies of The Book of Count Shadows. From the new information the have a new book that instructs the use of the books: The Book of Life. Nicci is going to try and learn how to the Boxes of Orden work, so that she can instruct Richard in their use when he finds them.

From the talk between Nicci and Zed, One of the ideas that all knowledge is valuable comes up. Knowledge even at one point may seem foolish, but those with insight hide it in the back of their mind to use as piece of future puzzles because we cannot predict the challenges we face, but we can learn and try to prepare ourselves for them.

Phantom pg 559-586

Richard was captured by Six, but without his power he was having a hard time overcoming the strong bewitching power of her. She was leading him to Queen Violet to be tortured and used in Six’s plan. When she left Richard in a room, he was able to finally concentrate without her strong presence there. Richard hid the book so that Six could not see the secrets it held. While Six was leading him towards Violet’s palace, she told him that Kahlan was in the captured by Jagang. She overestimated her control over him because when he passed the Imperial Order soldiers moving into the city because of an arrangement to stole a sword and used his knowledge through the Sword of Truth and the Dance of Death to cut through them mercilessly heading towards and escape. When he reached the gap in the wall he was met with thousands of archer pointing arrows toward him. The commander of the army offered him slavery to play Ja’La dh Jin, because of his obvious skill and art of attacking towards a goal, or to die a painful torturous death for all those he killed. Richard had no choice and accepted the slavery.

            Violet was unpleased that Six had lost Richard although she had no choice except to fight the Imperial Order for control over him which was hardly possible. So after listening to a scolding she got from Violet she throw her to the ground and told her that she had enough and that she was done playing games to get her will under the figurehead and assume the crown taking it away from Violet.

            Violet’s reign was not one expected to last since Six had control and all the means to take it whenever when she wanted. Richard being captured by the Imperial Order and being taken away from the book he needs is distressing, but it gives him the opportunity to get the Kahlan and attempt to rescue her which will be an interesting feat.

Phantom pg 507-558

The army of the Order was moving quickly towards the People’s Palace. Jagang was trying to get there to begin the siege and finish the war with the goal this close in sight. He forces Kahlan to be near him at all times through the collar. When they finished their ride he made Kahlan walk around the camp to find men who could see her so that she could not so easily kill the guards next time. Then he force her to watch the Ja’La  dh Jin games, a brutal game which lacks almost any rules beside how to score. When he was returning officers came to talk to Jagang and she used the distraction to kill some of the guards that could see her before she was stopped through the collar’s magic. Jagang later promised her suffering through forcing someone she cared about to watch him punish her.

            With the defenses in place and the army of D’Hara attacking the Old World, The Imperial Order’s army does not seem like a threat except for the possibility of using the boxes of Orden. Kahlan will face daily torment, but Richard will find a way to rescue her just like Zed was rescued when he was captured.

Phantom pg 469-506

Richard has reached the wisp’s homeland, but he is exhausted. When he reaches there, he is initially turned back because the wisps are dying due to the corruption of magic. When he mentioned Shar’s promise of help and is able to tell them about another wisp that went looking for him that he never meet, they allowed him in and lead him to the secret library. It had been filled with sand though to keep people out. He went to a ridge and dig into the side of the library so the sand would pour out. He was able to retrieve the book, but it was all blank. He thought that it must be because he no longer had the gift to read such a book, and began to head to the Wizard’s Keep, but on the way out Six found him, and he had no sword or gift to protect him she quickly knocked him out with magic.

            Kahlan awoke in Jagang’s tent. The remaining Sisters and Jagang were still discussing the Book of Counted Shadows. Ulicia believes it is a fake copy because of Kahlan’s simple answer while Arminia thinks it still could be a real copy. Jagang reveals that he has another copy of it and soon will have others, so they can compare them and find which one is the original. From their conversation Kahlan learns that she is the Mother Confessor. She tries to kill Jagang with his knife she stole, but she failed.

            Six’s control of Richard without any defend through magic may become a problem. Kahlan is starting to regain the resistance against the Order she had even without her memory. Jagang does not plan to kill her, but make her suffer. Even without his gift I do not think Six will have as much control over Richard as she thinks, and since she is taking him to where the spell is he may be able to remove it to regain his gift with the book.

Phantom pg 417-468

When they reached where Tovi was, they found Emperor Jagang. Apparently the intention of preserving Richard while destroying life had not protected them with the bond, so Jagang had been helping led them the whole time to get the Boxes of Orden, the Book of Counted Shadows, and Kahlan. Jagang was busy going through the Book of Counted Shadows with the Sisters to try and see if it was a true copy, so they could use the Boxes of Orden. While they were distracted, Kahlan, invisible to the guards, stole the guard’s knifes and killed them to allow Jillian to escape. Jillian escaped, but Kahlan could not because the collar incapacitated her. She was able to kill Sister Cecillia before they used the collar.

            This gives light to Jagang’s ultimate plan that he has been secretly working on. He is going to use the Boxes of Orden to destroy the remaining unrest and solidify the Order’s power. He cannot find all of the rebels without Orden’s power. He also now has Kahlan. After all of the problems Kahlan has caused him it is hard to imagine all the problems Jagang is going to try and cause her. We have traded the threat of the Keeper to the shadow of the Imperial Order.

Phantom pg 380-416

Richard awakes in a new place he has never been before. The sliph is over him trying to make sure he survived. He is in an escape tunnel that Baraccus made. He no longer has his gift. The sliph begins to talk to him and seems to respond to his statements trying to get more out of him, but in the end the sliph tells him that he has failed the test the Baraccus left him and disappears.

Back at the Wizard’s Keep they begin to try and piece together what happened to Richard. For the time being though, Nathan must become Lord Rahl to protect them against the dream walker. Him and Ann are going to the palace before it is under siege.

Richard remembered where he had heard what the sliph told him before. A night wisp named Shar had told him it before. He realizes that Baraccus had been laying multiple tests in his path to check his progress and give him multiple opportunities to get the book that held to secrets to his powers. The night wisps have held the secret library for him. The sliph comes back and tells him that he has passed the test and where he is and how to get to the night wisps.

The book should be able to tell Richard how to get his power back or instruct him on how to use it when he gets it back by removing the drawn spell. Richard has been granted great power which he never learned to use. With this power he could be able to eliminate the Imperial Order through constructed magic or other means which the Order has no defense against without other war wizards. This is the first time they have a promising solution to end the war.

Spring Break

For spring break, I spent my first two days on the road. I went on college visits to Purdue on friday and Washington University in Saint Louis on Saturday. We drove home on Saturday night. The rest of break I spent home. Since my leg is starting to hurt again, I did EFX and swimming until Friday to give my legs a break and then ran the rest of break. I filled in open time with a variety of activities including video games. It was not overly exciting as some people's breaks, but it did give a good time for relaxation.

Tuesday's Action List - House anaylzation

Pharrell William's house has more of a mordern feel compared to Dan Martensen and Shannan wooden more old fashion looking home. Both homes had pools. The beginning pictures of Dan Martensen and Shannann make it look rustic and maybe in need of repair, but as you go farther in the house to the bedrooms and kitchen they still hold the wooden house look but are nicer. Pharrell William's house is mostly white in cooler and looks new. It has some overlooks facing the ocean and an interesting design for the stairwells which as narrow spirals. Their is cartoon art on some of the white walls, and bushes made of metal and light bulbs. The last place owned by Jamie Isaia and Anthony Malat appears almost as a museum with unique art and decoration throughout the apartment. They have books or art lining every open space and it clutters the walls blocking out their plain paint. One of the rooms has been decorated to fit the appearance of an old library. 

Phantom pg 349-379

Six somehow knows when Richard is in the sliph, so she completes the spell while he is in the sliph, but the beast attacked Richard while he was traveling, and because the beast is unpredictable he cannot be seen through Six’s power. Six and Violet work frantically to fix the spell to work in the new circumstances while Richard, Cara, and Nicci do there best to fight off the beast’s new form. In the sliph, magic just retaliates against to caster, so Nicci could not assist in its defeat. Despite Richard’s efforts to cut the tentacles of the beast he was losing the battle. Nicci and Cara had been ripped away from him, and then a sudden burst of magic hit him. Nicci and Cara awoke at the Wizard’s Keep, their destination, and quickly realize that Richard is not there. They hurry to Zed to talk to him and ask Jebra of her vision so they can learn where Richard is. They fear he is dead though because the agiels are not working. When they get to Jerba she is enchanted by Six who tries to kill her.

Six’s attempt to kill Jerba after in her mind means that she too needed to know where Richard was, but did not want them to learn. This means that Richard is probably alive. Also since the burst of magic was the spell Six used on Richard she did something that interfered with his gift because the agiels do not work. Six’s plan is starting to be revealed. She needs Richard for something along with the magic of drawing.

Action List 3.29.11

It is interesting the amount of money that is involved in online poker and how these players developed their skills so quickly. The multitasking ability of people due to some games keeps increasing especially the real time strategy games which Cates began with require management of many things at once. Other brain is adaptable so the constant experience of these situations gives them a developmental advantage to older people whose brains are less adaptable because of age. The rise of these people is extraordinary, but not overall surprising when looking at the facts. They exchanged social time being naturally excluded from society to improve their ability towards a career they loved, but did not even consider at that point.

Action List 3.29.11

Jeremy Land seems to be very realistic about his future. He states his major interests, but then turns to what is real possibilities for him and restrictions which he will experience giving him a good idea of his real future. I think his future career is most likely to happen.
Salome Zamora might not be taking it seriously or have a strange imagination because I doubt the owning a bakery that can bake marijuana into the bread for some consumers is realistic for profit or for legal reasons.
A few others might be deluded in thinking they will become famous actors or advance from a 2 year college into medical school.
In 10 years, I how to be finishing medical school and looking for employment, but it will be a long and difficult road in which many things might change. A lot of people begin with the same aspirations as me, so I hope that I will not fade like others.

Phantom pg 310-348

Rachel is still in the cave with Violet who is treating her worst than when they were "playmates." She is suffering punishments for her running away and for all the actions of others which Violet blames on her, but Violet and Six are working on a magic drawing that involves Richard. This design is more complicated then what the previous magic drawing on Richard was, so it must have a different function.
Richard returning to the keep runs into Berdine. She tells him about how her studying of Kolo's journal has been going to give them insight into the events surrounding the Great War. She has found information about Baraccus. He was questioned as a traitor at the time and there were rumors going around, but Berdine found some other information in a book of prophecy that was talking about the copying of a key and hiding them among the bones. Richard realizes that the key is the Book of Counted Shadows and that the Sisters of the Dark have learned this too, so they are going to use them to try and release death on the living. He rushes to the sliph to warn Zed and come up with a plan with everyone racing behind him.
From learning about the new books he now knows that the Sisters of the Dark are at Caska and will likely confront them when he has a good opportunity, so he can go help his troops south. Six is going to come into play soon because they are crafting a spell around Richard and have one of the Boxes so it is likely that both groups will converge on Six and Violet.

Phantom pg 237-309

Samuel took Rachel to Six, but princess Violet was there also. Violet had now become queen at the death of her mother and was ruling we her unusual desire of other's suffering. Six had helped her heal after Kahlan and Richard had corrected problems in there kingdom, and now Violet was found to have the gift of magic art which can be used to trap people among other things. Six was teaching Violet about her gift and Samuel had retrieved the Box of Orden and Rachel at Violet's desire. Violent is planning revenge on Richard.

Kahlan is almost at Caska with the Sisters of the Dark when they find Jilian. Tovi had captured her grandfather and was making her wait and watch for them to come. The Sisters initially attack her, but Kahlan protected him until she told them what she was doing.

Richard went to the D'Hara through the sliph to tell the army to not engage the Order in a final battle. He has realized that there can be no victory against the force that size, so he is sending the army to break up into groups and terrorized the Old World so that the army cannot provide enough food for itself and will starve. They are going to be separate parties of soldiers attacking anything which could help the Order's army and hopefully free people like the ones in Alter'rang too. Richard is not going with them he is still working on fixing Chainfire and stopping the Sisters of the Dark.

I am glad that the Richard realized to charge the strategy because it goes back to the symbol of the starburst everyone kept trying to make the events lead to a final battle, but there it no solution for victory in it. The final battle was a trick and diversion that everyone focused on, and Richard understood that. Violet seems to be an immediate problem because if she used the art magic in Richard he will have to try and counter it and he may not succeed this time without the Sword of Truth. Richard needs to also find and get the book explaining his ability to he can help end the war.

Diction exercise: Country Boys

Cody from the movie Country Boys mumbled homespun diction conveys and uncertainty in how to express himself appropriately. He spoke in mostly soft brief statements to answer question. He seemed to hesitate in his answers illustrating a worry of people misinterpreting him because of his experience with being mocked. While around friends, he uses more vulgar language and seems to be more open with less hesitation. He also expresses himself through music. He desires to be unique by playing heavy metal music while incorporating Christian beliefs which through personal experiences. There is a small span of emotion present in his voice when he speaks. All of the ways he communicates himself gives him a quality of shyness and fear of farther discrimination. Chris, from the same movie, has a clear colloquial language that has a tone of uncertainty showing a lack of confidence. Chris does not speak softly or short statements, but will ramble sometimes expressing the same concern almost to himself multiple times. He has a much wider range of emotion in his voice, but the most commonly found is worry or uncertainty. He has high aspirations seen through a fictional character he made up to help support him, but he is ridden with fears or not accomplishing those goals. He rarely was anything but respectful to others. Chris’s fears of the future presented themselves in his respectful homely diction. 

Phantom pg 186-236

Shota did not leave it up to Jebra's words alone to sway Richard's actions. She walked up and touched him placing him in some kind of dream in which he experienced the executions of him and his men around him with Kahlan witnessing it and the ridicule of the Order's soldiers around him. His magic would not work even though it should have. He was completely helpless; there was no solution. As he was killed he flashed back to the Wizard's Keep in his actual body.
Nicci and Cara were obviously alarmed by that time and forcing Shota away from Richard prepared to take any force necessary to protect him. After a menacing exchange of threats Richard began to understand Shota's attempt to show him what he must see. Richard as Shota for any remaining help and she told him that it was only for him to hear.
Shota began to talk of the Wizards during the Great War. She talked of the name of the First Wizard at that time, Baraccus, and his relation to Richard. He also was married to the woman who became the first Confessor similiar to Kahlan being the only Confessor current time. She then explained his importance to Richard. A spy wizard during this time accessed the Temple of Winds and was able to corrupt the gift, so less people would be born with it and it would die out but also that in the distant future a dream walker would be born to lead the Old World to victory in the war. Baraccus discovering the problem when he went to check the problem could not change either, but instead made sure that a war wizard would be born to protect the New World. Richard is the war wizard and Jagang is the dream walker. Baraccus also left a book that he wrote in the Temple of Winds explaining all of the powers of a war wizard giving Richard the powers to win the war.
This chapter is set the stage of what Richard must face. The Imperial Order is looming over the remaining New World, the Sisters of Dark are close to causing the Keeper to engulf the world of the living, and Six is collecting seemingly unconnected items and causing problems that need to be addressed. The salvation seems to be this book, but no one knows were it is.

Phantom pg 138-185

Jerba begins her story of the attack of Galea. She did not know how long the fighting took, but the end result was clear the Order had won. She heard the battering rams breaking through the gates of the castle were she was imprisoned and the screams of the victims the Order's soldiers found. She hide in the back of the cell to hide and avoid being caught because she knew the consequences. All of the other prisoners which were mans accused of murder and the like were released and helped the Order pillage the city. Anyone not set aside to help provide for the occupying army were killed in cruel fashions. Young children were separated to be indoctrinated into the faith of the Order because it is easier to get people to die for your cause if they believe it sends them to heaven and that their enemies are corrupting the world with infidel beliefs. Because Jerba hide during the initial attack, when she emerged the soldiers thought she had been set aside to serve them and she became a slave which was better than the alternative. Jebra witnessed great cruelties of the Order, but then Shota came and saved her from the madness.
After Jebra was done with her tale, Richard tried to explain the importance of Chainfire to Shota and how it needs to be dealt with. Shota is skeptical since she does not see it in the flows of time, but Richard still believes it is a great threat.
The story helps show the evils of the Order, but also that they are not different than the people in the New World, but they are indoctrinated from a young age to corrupt their beliefs and conform them to the Order. Resistance in this setting meant death, and unlike we saw in the Old World there could be no resistance of the mind because those with it were quickly noticed and eliminated. It gave and grave warning of the future if Richard fails.

Kids Ruling School

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/opinion/15engel.html?_r=1&hp

I do not think letting students control what they do all day is a good idea. In a small controlled environment it may help encourage some people to work harder and find answers to questions they pose, but in a large environment it could become just a social event. Some parts of school may not fit well with people's personalities, but nothing will fit everyone perfectly. I think the current school system promotes people to apply themselves for grades they desire while teaching at a level that can be achieved by most.

Phantom pg 103-138

The two women approaching the Wizard's Keeper were Shota and Jerba. Richard, Cara, Rikki, Nicci, Zed, Nathan, and Ann all rushed to the entrance to make check what was happening. Shota informed Richard that Chase was stabbed my Samuel with the Sword of Truth and although he is injured he will survive, but Rachel was taken. Shota also informs Richard that Samuel has been bewitched by another witch women. Nicci believes she knows this woman's name is Six because of the talk among the Sisters of the Dark. They feared Six indicating her power. Shota also believes that she needs to help Richard stop chasing phantoms because according to the flow of time the Order is still going to win the war and she wants to change that by influencing what Richard has to think about. To do that she has taken Jerba, a seer, from Galea who survived the onslaught that they face to explain the horrors to Richard.
Jerba begins to tell what happened after Zed sent her to watch over the Queen of Galea and to help her out of her illness. Cyrilla feared the Order and devoted everything to isolating themselves in a defense she believed could hold out the Order. Anyone who spoke against her was convicted of treason, and when Jerba had a vision of the destruction that would happen if they stayed isolated she was thrown in jail for such thoughts being treasonous against the country. Zed reveals the Wizard's Tenth Rule explaining this action that people will try to avoid their fears even if it means irrational action. The rule is: "Willfully turning aside the truth is treason to one's self." Jerba waited in prison for a long time and then the attack of the Order begun.
We learned that Richard must change his coarse of action if he wants victory. We also learned a new Wizard's Rule. Hiding from the truth does not change it. We must face it and guard against the repercussions that it will lead to. The knowledge of Samuel's bewitchment leads to questions on how attacking for the One Box of Orden and Rachel relate. Rachel originally helped hide on of the boxes from Darken Rahl, but I am unsure of the relation.

Phantom pg 72-103

Kahlan is with the Sisters and walks through one of Galea's cities. It is torn apart from the Order and is a hideous sight. Kahlan is filled with rage for vengeance, but because of forgetting her past she is unsure why. The Sisters quickly move through the city and find Jagang's forces on the other side in the distant. They know they can make it past their slow moving forces to Caska without getting too close to the large encampment, but Arminia is worried that the force will kill Richard and make them vulnerable before they complete their task. Ulicia is unconcerned about that possibility and moves them on.

Nicci wakes up with Richard's watchful eye over her. She is surprised to be alive. She soon learns that Richard undid the web a second time and Zed healed her. Zed wants to know how Richard knew what to do so Richard explains the symbols of a War Wizard he learned. One means movement with iron form. The starburst means be let your vision be open to all that is there neverfocusing on one thing exclusively for doing so can hide what you need to see. The primary edict is "It means only one thing, and everything: cut. Once committed to fight, cut. Everything else is secondary. Cut. That is your duty, your purpose, your hunger. There is no rule more important, no commitment that overrides that one. Cut."The lines are a portrayal of the dance. Cut from the void, not from bewilderment. Cut the enemy as quickly and directly as possible. Cut with certainty. Cut decisively, resolutely. Cut into his strength. Flow through the gaps in his guard. Cut him. Cut him down utterly. Don't allow him a breath. Crush Him. Cut him without mercy to the depths of his spirit."It is the balance to life: death. It is the dance with death."

Richard then reveals his belief that the Chainfire being imbued with the chimes is causing it to remove magic slowly along with memory. No one remembers Scarlet the dragon that helped Richard in the first two books, so as magic creatures are erased the memory of them is too. As they are discussing it he realizes 2 women are coming to the Keep.

I like the meaning of the starburst because sometimes we become to focused on elements of something and things function as a whole, so by ignoring part of something you can not be able to understand something right in front of you. The primary edict sticks in my head as something I like although I am not sure how to apply it yet.

March Maddness

I love this time of year because spring is could in less than a week, the weather is warming to perfect temperatures for running, a the basketball tournament is about to begin. It seemed to be a common topic in almost every class today, and it is interesting to hear everyone's different opinions one why one team is better or will beat another. Basketball great to watch and hopefully I will have time to catch some of the good games that will go on. Although I do not expect them to win, I hope Purdue will since I might be going there in a few years and my parents went there I feel obligated to support them.

Phantom pg 1-71

Kahlan reached the meeting place with the three Sisters of the Dark. Tovi was suppose to be there, but they do not know what has happened to her. At the inn they were suppose to meet at someone is able to see Kahlan. The Sisters are infuriated and kill him before he can say address Kahlan as the Mother Confessor allowing her to know that she is more than a slave. Then the Sisters of the Dark force the innkeeper's daughter into telling them that Tovi went to Caska. They departed immediately to catch up.

Richard is reading in the keep to learn more about what to do when he notices something strange in the air. By following it too its source, he found Zed, Ann and Nathan around Nicci who was levitating in the air. Richard soon learned that they were doing an internal verification web on Chainfire so that Nicci could see how the spell worked and try and reverse it. Richard notices that something is out of place though. A line is missing. He figures out that the Chainfire spell has been contaminated by the chimes, and because of that the spell was killing Nicci. He used he understanding of the symbols to release Nicci from the spell, but in doing so the Beast found him through his gift. They had to once again try to fight the Beast, but nothing they did seemed to harm it until Nicci used the grace they had drawn for the verification web along with her gift to cast one powerful burst not intending to harm it but to send it away. In doing so, Nicci had once again trapped herself in the web, and expected death to follow.

Caska is the Deep Nothing, so something in the Sisters of the Dark's plan involves the use of the central sites. The motivation of Samuel's attack on Tovi is still unknown, but did give them time. The contamination of the chimes is no longer speculation. It's verification indicates that there will be severe repercussions to magic in the future. Richard has once again shown innate ability to understand magic in ways that those who have studied could not. The beast still stalking him is troubling because it lost focus near the end of the last book after he escaped it in the keep the first time. The book has moved into events quickly which is different than previous books.

Rock-Paper-Scissors

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/science/rock-paper-scissors.html

Above is the website to a computer that is suppose to be able to find patterns in our seemingly random behavior in rock paper scissors to win by a significant measure in the long run. Personally I was able to use the describing statement to change my evident behaviors it would key to constantly allowing me to have a lead of one game at the end of about 30 matches, but this tactic might fail in the end too. Other people around me were facing more difficulties with very few winning more than the computer.

Weekend Blog Assignment: Spellbound

Neil is constantly practicing words even right before the competition. I think he uses the practicing to distract himself from the anxiety of the competition and to give himself confidence that with all of the words he knows he does not have to worry about getting something unexpected or missing something. Ashley, on the other hand, does not deal with the pressure well. The first time she goes up to the pedestal for a word she froze. To get through these stress she said she prayed to God before the spelling bee and seemed to be driven by a desire to represent herself well. When she froze on the first word, she broke through the fears and answered it correctly, so although she did not begin the competition dealing with the stress well, she was able to degrade her fears through her drive.

Chainfire pg 608-667

Richard appeared in the Deep Nothing along with Cara and Nicci in an instant. The priestess of the bones who had fled to the temple to wait for Richard is there and had just been caught by Imperial Order scouts. Richard and Nicci quickly dispense of them, and learn what is happening to the village he. Richard sends Nicci and Cara to end the attack from the Imperial Order, and he stays with the priestess of the bones to look among the ruins for what he needs. Eventually, they find a hidden chamber full of books, and one of the books is named Chainfire.

Nicci and Cara having successfully defended the village returned to the sliph about the before Richard found the book. When he returned to them, he showed Nicci, who through skimming it say that it was the idea of casting a spell to erase someone similar to what happened to Kahlan, but had dire consequences.

As Nicci was reading Richard saw a snake vine, knowing the meaning of such an event he immediately went through the sliph to the People's Palace to check on the Boxes of Orden. His suspicious were confirmed, and he found that the boxes were stolen. From General Trimack, he learned that Tovi was injuried by someone wielding the Sword of Truth and captured by General Meiffert. Richard went there to learn what she knew. Nicci went in to interrogate her because Tovi did not know whose side Nicci was on. From talking to Tovi she learned that Richard was right about everything. Kahlan was capture by the 4 sisters, Richard was protected from the spell they cast on her from the Sword of Truth, all evidence suggesting Kahlan was not real had been planted by them, the Boxes of Orden is the counter to Chainfire, and that they have maintained there bond to Richard throughout this time by granting granting him immortality if they succeed, the Sister of the Dark put the Boxes of Orden in play with only 2 because Samuel stole one.

With the information acquired, Richard went back to the Wizard's Keep through the sliph. He presented Zed, Ann and Nathan with all of the information he had acquired and asked for them to help him stop the Sisters of the Dark because this was the final battle that they had kept trying to force onto him through prophecy.

Richard's instincts once again found the answers necessary. The Final Battle that was referanced in the prophecies is not about to happen. Now that he has convinced everyone to help him and that he is thinking clearly he can make progression towards solving the real problems. These last chapters showed some forgiveness which refers to the Wizard's Fourth Rule: There is magic in true forgiveness. Richard forgave everyone for not believing him specifically Nicci who felt in need of such forgiveness and Cara for something she had done in her past that he had hoped Richard would never know. Forgiveness allows us to progress from the past which gives use insight into hope to prevent mistakes, but is not a place that dwelling on can fix or change.

Chainfire pg. 511-607

When Ann and Nathan arrive at the Wizard's Keep, Richard is there along with Zed, Nicci, Cara, and Rikka. Ann and Nathan ask Zed about the prophecy and learn that they are damage here too, but Zed explains he believes he has the answer. Zed shows them the book about prophetic worms and says that due to the decrease in births of prophets after the Great War, Wizards believed that prophecy would eventually not have enough prophets to support it and would begin to deteriorate. Nathan and Ann also try to present Richard with the prophecy that says he must go to lead the final battle which they believe will happen soon. Richard still looking for Kahlan looks at the prophecy and begins to analyze problems with it, but by doing so, he is using his gift and summoned the beast. All of them try to stop them beast, but nothing worked. Richard made the beast follow him away from everyone else, and went through one of the strongest shields in the Wizard's Keep which required both sides of the gift which stopped the beast.

In that place, Richard found valuable books, but he found a place to think, something more valuable. During the time he stayed there Zed, Nathan, and Ann decided that to save other and to get him to lead the final battle so they would win they must erase his memory of Kahlan.

Kahlan was in the People Palace during this time with the remaining four Sisters of the Dark that are not under the control of Jagang. They used Kahlan, who is unnoticed by anyone because of the spell, to remove the Boxes of Orden from the Garden of Life.

As Nicci approached Richard to warn him of Zed, Ann, and Nathan's plan, he figured out what happened. He figured that the remaining Sisters of the Dark had Kahlan from thinking about the day that she was taken. He remembered something moving in the trees, but there being no wind, and that he could not open his eyes even if he tried because of a sleep spell. To escape the Keep and Zed they went to the sliph. Richard asked the sliph if it could take them to a place called the Deep Nothing and it did.

The mystery is beginning to dissolve. Richard will learn what he needs at the Deep Nothing, and then he will be able to have proof of Kahlan's existence. Throughout the book we have seen slight changes in personalities because of Kahlan's disappearance, but the effect on Zed and Ann have seen to be more apparent. I do not think Zed would have questioned Richard in such a way if he had the memories of Kahlan, and Ann never became less faithful of following prophecy blindly without Kahlan's confrontation. I shows the impact that people make on others even though sometimes it is not realized. The removal of one person can change many others even if everything else remains constant. It reminds me of something that The Doctor from Doctor Who said, "I've never met anyone who wasn't important."

2.28 Diction Excerise

a. gashes

lapping

scurried

shoals

wilderness

warbles

underbrush

fangs

b. Elevation: potent and compelling
Connotation: emblematic and denotative
Sound: metamorphose and fluctuating
Concreteness: corporeal and tangible

The metamorphic nature of Carl Sanburg's potent, emblematic diction along with the ending voice in The Wilderness exudes a sense of subjugating the internal chaos of the man in the poem.

Chainfire pg 438-510

We learn where the Deep Nothing is in the next chapter, and what is happening there. It is a small village of people surviving in an inhospitable area with ruins. The ruins possess some information about the powerful group of people that use to live there, but have not been there in a long time. The Imperial Order has just discovered the place and has begun to take over, but they have had a prophecy that says that Richard Rahl will come after hordes of evil men come to overthrow them. A girl named Jillian was named priestess of the bones, and is to wait for Richard to come.

Richard reached the Wizard's Keep the same time as Nicci did. Nicci told Richard that the people at Althur'rang were successful in defending against the Imperial Order. Richard went to see if Zed could shed some light on the recent clues or events. Zed like the others did not remember Kahlan and Richard tried to prove it by showing Zed the grave of Kahlan, the Mother Confessor, was empty and she was not dead, but they was a body there. The body did not have any recognizable features but its presence destroyed Richard faith. Zed gave the Wizard's Ninth Rule: A contradiction can not exist in part or in reality.

Richard went into depression believing that Kahlan might very well be only in his imagination. Nicci, knowing that this state was worst than the delusion she believed he had prior, encouraged him to see how he was giving up and that she did not believe Kahlan was real but he needed to remain steadfast in his conviction or accept reality. Richard gained back his determination, and approached the visitors arriving at the Keep, Nathan and Ann.

The Deep Nothing must be a central location with book like the one found by Nathan in the beginning of the book. Chainfire must be there among the bones, and the priestess of the bones will be there to help Richard. The Wizard's Ninth Rule must be true like all of the wizard's rules, so the contradiction cause by the spell cast that erased Kahlan is causing a contradiction, so this must be the source of one of the problems. It also means that there can only be one truth when one excludes the other. We must be firm in the correct conviction because if it is true it will not be contradicted. Nicci showed the qualities of a good friend that we have been seeing. She helped Richard back to the place he needed to be even though she did not want him to be there. She did what she had to for him and was there for him when he needed her the most. The depression also shows the waste of time Richard spent feeling a loss of motivation. He ended in the same place he began with just a bunch of wasted time. Constructive thought to solve problems is necessary not sulking.

Chainfire pg. 324-437

Zed has began to find the problem that is occurring in the prophecy too. Chase and Rachel are getting ready to leave to bring their family to the Wizard's Keep. Rikka notices Zed's frustration and gets Zed to explain the problem. Zed believes he knows what may be the source and rushes to find a book on the something called a prophecy worm. Rikka follows him and convinces him to show her down there in case Zed is never able to show Richard.

Richard is almost at Shota when he wakes up noticing that something is moving around him. By the time Cara rushes back from watch to see the disturbance, Richard has already figured out he was surrounded in some kind of web that burnt through any organic tissue it touched and was slowly constricting. He tried to cut his way out with the Sword of Truth, but it just became more and more reinforced. Before it was too late, Richard realized to cut down a tree next to him to make a bridge out of the web to escape.

After that encounter, they went on till they reached Shota's home. There Shota told Richard more about the beast chasing him. It made to not have a nature so that Richard cannot learn how to counter it. It randomly attacks at different times in different ways until it succeed. It is not rushed by time or angered by failure, so it may not attack for a while then attack with no warning. It also may try failed tactics multiple times or a new one each time. It is in essence suppose to be completely random with a single goal to kill him. Using his gift though does give an exact location of where he is, so he that does increase the chance of an attack. Shota did not know about Kahlan like everyone else, and in exchange she made him trade the Sword of Truth for the information he wanted. She told him "Chainfire" was important to what he seeked, What you seek is long buried, You must find the place of the bones in the Deep Nothing, and Beware the viper with four heads.
Richard and Cara then started heading towards the Wizard's Keep to see if Zed could shed some light on the clues.

I think Chainfire has to do with the spell that was evoked. It sounds like a spell to me, and almost sounds like it would cause a chain effect that is unpredictable and destructive, like erasing someone from everyone's memories. I think the vipers has something to do with the Boxes of Orden because the door to the Garden of Life had snakes on it as a warning not to go that way, but it did not really describe it to look like a 4 headed snake still they seem connected. I do not think the prophetic worm theory is any good because it does not seem to have to do with Chainfire. The doubts of people in Richard's abilities to lead will continue to increase especially after giving up the Sword of Truth to Shota, but I think Shota demanded it for his benefit because he constantly uses it as a form of his gift without trying, so by removing the only part of his gift he has complete control over will reduce encounters with the beast. This book also shows the aspect of true friends. Although Cara and Nicci do not believe in Richard and think he is delusional from his injury they are still following him, and being what he needs the most in his journey.

Chainfire pg 283-323

Verna is in at the People's Palace with Berdine to look check the volumes of prophecy there to see if the same discrepancy is present in the prophecy blanks are appearing in all books of prophecy. Verna does not tell Berdine what is wrong, and then asked her questions about a few books in one of the libraries to see if she see the same problem without planting a suggestion which could influence the perception. Berdine found the same problem in the prophecy proving what we already know that Kahlan has gone missing in the prophecies too.

Verna was forced into a devotion because she was at the People's Palace at the proper time, and through it she found meaning in her life again. She found was she was really fighting for and finally found reassurance in Warren's death.

Then she checked to make sure the Boxes of Orden were safe, and they were. The First File guarding them now has weapons that can penetrate any magic barrier to eliminate wizards. As far as Verna could tell, everything was fine.

Many of the characters have found resolve and meaning in the devotions, and I think it is trying to show the value of just stopping and thinking for a part of your day to analyze things and find meaning for yourself. The Boxes of Orden keep getting mentioned and they have not been a concern since the first book, so I think they are soon going to be involved with the solution to one of the problems.

2.23 Diction Exercise

a.) dark slate
treacherously
stocky
taciturn
hewn
sharply
amidst
lean

b.) Elevation: Intelligible and unequivocal
Connotation: Literal and methodical
Sound: Monotone and dryness
Concreteness: Objective and definite

c.) Neil Gaiman's diction in "Stardust" is intelligibly methodical with objective dryness conveying the seriousness of the informative passage.

Chainfire pg 222-282

Richard packed his things and left with Cara to find Shota while Nicci remained in Althur'rang. Nicci took over the preparations for battle, and made the Imperial Order's army believe that a group of them wanted to surrender. She went as a gift of the people who did not want to fight, so that she could get close enough to kill their wizard's and force them into attacking right before night causing disorder. Although she killed the wrong wizard on accident at first, The wizard which was the leader foolishly gave her a chance to remove him to. Thinking she got all of the wizards, she retreated to Althur'rang with the remaining army that was not killed in her fight with the wizards following her. She lead them into the traps set up causing disorder among there ranks. At the end of the chapter, she realizes that there is a third wizard that she must find and deal with before he causes to many problems.
The Imperial Order let their emotions of anger at Nicci's attack overrule the reason that should have made them question charging after her. They allowed themselves to fall into a planned trap by blindly seeking retribution. Using reason in stressful situations is the difference between success and failure sometimes. We must be aware of traps that surround us and defend against them.

Chainfire pg 174-222

Richard, Nicci, and Cara retire to a inn owned by Ishaq. They eat a quick meal and then head to bed for the night. Nicci stayed on the first floor and Cara stayed on the second floor in the room next to Richard. Suddenly, Richard heard a crash coming from a few rooms down. When he turned, he show something coming at him breaking everything in his way, and the he had to dive out of the window and grab onto the edge to prevent from falling. After he had escaped whatever it was, some misty inky cloud came out of the window and disappear. The guards place around the building came rushing from all sides. They helped Richard back up through the window, but Cara in the next room did not dodge the mass. She was frozen in a defensive stance and was not moving; when they reach her they felt that she was frigid, and quickly moved her to Nicci's room to try and figure  out the problem. Nicci spent a few hours working on healing Cara, but the cause of her suffering and wound was unknown and seemed to still be killing her. Nicci could not do anymore. Richard unable to accept Cara's death went into the room, and while trying to encourage her to fight, his gift allowed him to sink into Cara, and bring her back from the brink of death and save her. Nicci was surprised when she saw Richard emerge from the room with Cara, but as worried as surprised. When she left Cara was beyond the reach of her magic, yet Richard was able to use his gift to save her without trying, and by using his gift he alerted the beast of his presence there. Richard decides that he need to continue his journey especially now that the beast knows of his presence. While Richard was healing Cara, she was able to prob him as well, and she show that without Kahlen is we lonely in his core, so she suggested to Nicci to maybe try and she if he was open to relation with her because she did not want Richard to remain so lonely.
 I was surprised on the new side of Cara that quickly emerged in these chapters. There were hints that she had a different nature that the rigid determined protection of Richard that was her duty, but it really emerged in this chapter. Evidence of Kahlen disappear keeps accumulating, but people are still dismissing Richard. I am not sure I would believe him at first, but the holes in others memories when he makes some points would have been strong evidence to me. I believe that I have a good memory, so suddenly forgetting things would draw more concern from me.

Chainfire pg 127-173

Ann and Nathan found a prophecy that indicates the final battle which will decide the fate of both worlds is coming soon, and only with Richard leading them they have a chance of success. They immediately rush off to find Richard taking Tom with them and leaving Jennsen to watch over their new discovery and the Bandakar people.
Richard has arrived at Altur'rang and tries once more to convince them of the reality of Kahlen. They still do not concede to the point, but soon he finds other important matters at hand. The Imperial Order is coming to take back Altur'rang with a sizable force and they have a wizard with them. Richard decides that Nicci needs to stay and help them defend the city while he continues his journey.
I think Richard in his despair is missing things. In his argument for Kahlen's existence he did not push key points that would they could not have explained, and an easy solution of finding someone who can back him up is Jennsen because she is not effected by normal magic. Even if she cannot remember that reduces the causes down significantly. He is breaking the Wizard's Third Rule: Passion rules Reason. His is allowing himself to become distraught because of worrying which is distracting him from key pieces of the puzzle that he normally observes.

Chainfire pg 60-126

Richard raced back to his allies who had made a perimeter and found them all brutally decimated. Richard investigated the area, but found no tracks. Nicci, Cara, Victor, and he started heading to Altur'Rang to get horses because Richard plans to go somewhere. They traveled through the forest to not be tracked, and when they stopped for the night Richard asked Nicci what she knew about this thing. Nicci explained that she believes it is another contraption of magic manipulating people to form a weapon as Nicholas was. When she was investigating Jagang's use of magic to make people into weapons, she found that Nicholas was just a stepping stone to make some invincible monster. She thinks they may have succeed.
Nathan back in Owen's homeland found a concealed storage of prophecies, but something is unusual about them. He knows some of the books, but they have blank area's that he did not remember, but he cannot remember and other word that are there although he knows there should be. He tries to show Ann to see if she can explain the discrepancy, but she does not know what is happening either.
The beast is worrisome because that is most likely the cause of Kahlen's disappearance. When I was reading the the problem that Nathen knew was there but could not figure out, the problem occurred to me. Kahlen is in prophecy along with Richard, so the missing blanks in the books of Richard's prophecy are Kahlen. She did not only disappear from peoples memory, but she disappeared from the existence even in the books that were written over 3000 years before this point. The cause of her disappearance is strong. I think since Richard was near death when the magic to cause people to forget Kahlen was released it did not effect him, and that is why only he remembers her, or the bond between which prevents the confessor power from affecting him also wards this magic as well.

Eating Fiber Increases Life Span

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/food/diet-nutrition/2011-02-14-fiber_N.htm

High Fiber Diets have been linked with lower chances of heart disease, infectious and respiratory illness, cancer, and an overall longer life span in this study. People with high fiber diets were 22% less likely to die from any cause compared to those who had lower amounts. Confounding variables such as weight, education level, smoking and health status were taken into account. They suggest about 38 grams of fiber a day for men and 25 grams for women. 


I knew fiber is a necessary nutrient we need daily , but I did not think it would have such a large impact on our health that this study suggests. It even says that fiber may have strong immune benefits. More insight into how the study was preformed is found at http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/fiber-1282873-grams-study.html showing it was a prospective study with  31,000 participents. Although these results strongly show correlation, I am sure more evidence is still being complied to help support or verify causation.

Observations on the Walton Ford painting Buddha Purnima

In the painting “Buddha Purnima” by Walter Ford the monkey carrying fruit on the crocodile’s back with small monkey bones nearby on the island alludes to the folly of the monkey and the crocodile’s seduction which will help fill its belly. The scene of the picture at first glance appears lighthearted with the monkey and the crocodile cooperating to see the monkey to the shore safely, but when carefully inspected the crocodile’s seductiveness is revealed. The first clue is the mingled pieces of bones in the right corner of the painting suggesting the hostile intent. The detail that captures the intent is in the distances, and it is what looks like a crocodile’s mouth with a monkey fearfully flailing to escape its fate. The threat is not realized by the monkey which has a reassuring hand on the back of the crocodile suggesting the monkey’s unfailing trust in its ferry. The monkey is also clutching the fruits it has scavenged like a precious treasure. The value of his cargo seems to distract the monkey of his surroundings allowing him to fall into obvious trap. The obliviousness of the monkey due to the distraction of his treasure implies that we to may fail victim to allowing perceived valuables distract us from hostile surroundings and lead to misfortune.

The picture reminds me of the fable of the crocodile and the monkey in which a crocodile becomes friends with a monkey, and the crocodile’s wife demands for him to get the monkey’s heart, so he takes the monkey on the water to eat him, but the monkey tricks the crocodile to get back to land. Except in this painting, it appears the crocodile gets the heart.

Chainfire pg 1-60

Richard appears in the beginning of this book critically injured. He is being rushed to Nicci to be healed, but the whole time he is trying to indicate something to the men carrying him. At the end before he passes out he tells them one word "Kahlen". When he wakes up he is healed, but no one know who Kahlen is. Richard believes that she is in some kind of danger and immediately without concern for his current weakened state starts searching for her. Nicci and Cara worried about the injuries effecting Richard's mind follow him to look out for him, and in hope to talk some senses into him. When he arrives at the battle site where he was injured, he looks and finds all of Kahlen's footprints are erased. He continues and finds that one area seems perfectly untouched by even nature except for what looks like a slightly disturbed rock. Richard believes that all of Kahlen's footprints have been erased in a similar method to the one used by Zed in the first book, and that magic must have also been used to erase the memory of Kahlen through something similiar to a death spell. At the end of the chapter Richard notices something is wrong, and ravens immediately start flying away due to a disturbance.

I believe, of course, that Kahlen is real because I can not even begin to conceive how all of the events in the previous eight books would have occurred without her. Magic is definitely the cause and the Imperial order is related, but the question is how did Jagang accomplish such a feat. Due to the little information it is difficult to predict what is happening next. Without tracks to follow Kahlen could be anywhere. It is an interesting start to one of this author's books because of how quickly problems and events happened.

Naked Empire pg 689-725

Richard told everyone at the camp he had a plan and would reveal it in 2 hours and that in the mean time he needed to sleep. He used this as a distraction to make Nicholas stop watching him for about an hour, so he could sneak into Nicholas's room when the 2 hours ran up. When Nicholas used his soul to visit the camp again to learn the plan Richard went into his room about kill him before he realized what was happening to his body. Since Richard finally understood the problem his gift was back and he used it to return Kahlan to her body. Shortly after they opened the gate to the city from the inside, and eliminated the remained Imperial Order forces. Richard on the verge of death from the poison had his gift take over which told others how the make the antidote to save him. They were successful, and Richard survived. At the end Kahlan, Cara, and Richard resume on their way to Nicci, but Jennsen and Tom stay in Owen's land to help organize it and protect it for a while.

Zed in the New World has recaptured the Wizard's Keep with the help of Chase and Rikka. He plans to get the has some boundary wardens to protect the keep along with him because of his inability to deal with pristinely ungifted, and to get the Wizard's Keep more lively as it once was when the gift was a common trait.

Richard's gift began to fail because he held reservations on his actions. His perception of believing in his values were being questioned by himself, and it was creating the imbalance inflicting him.

The main theme of this book was to "Deserve Victory". This means two different things. It means that we cannot wait for things to be given to us, but must work for what is important for us. We cannot expect others to be our saviors, but we need to take our goals and fight for them ourselves. The other idea is we must not hold reservations in what we fight for because a little doubt can grow beyond control. That reservation can cause hesitation which means defeat. We must be determined and convicted in our actions and fight for them the best we can.

Naked Empire pg 640-686

Kahlan exchanged herself for the fake antidote. Nicholas took her into their fortified base and captured her soul to end her resistance. Richard woke up in time to realize that his location was about to be hit by wizard's fire, and he moved everyone around. When they avoided the danger Richard realized that Kahlan was not there, and learned what had happened. In the morning he attacked the base to recover Kahlan, but Nicholas had already fled. They were successful in the attack against the base with the help of Ann and Nathan who arrived at the end of the fight. Nathan tried to straighten out Richard's problem with the gift, but couldn't, so Richard decided to use the little time he had left to go save Kahlan. They perused Nicholas relentlessly and caught up to him. While planning the attack, Richard went out to think and realized what he was missing. The key to his problems. "Deserve Victory" the meaning of the wizard's eighth rule was for him not Owen's people, and he now knew why.

He did not tell us why it is the key yet and I lack solid speculation on the meaning it was trying to communicate to Richard. I definitely has something to do with unlocking his gift, but I am unsure what. Nathan gave him advice that a Slide is vulnerable when outside his body, so Richard will try to use that to hi advantage, but I do not know how he will get Nicholas outside his body when Richard is close because he knows right where Richard is all the time through following him.