Well, I guess I'm not a freak...

...in this case, anyway.

All the time I spent not liking Dance with Dragons, I thought there was something wrong with me. My attention span was shot, I didn't remember the first books well enough, for whatever reason I just wasn't able to appreciate a good book anymore. This morning, while looking up something else on Amazon, I decided to glance at the Dance with Dragons page.



*boggle* More bad ratings than good! And the reviews said just what I had said! From the review rated Most Helpful:

"In practical terms, though, [the book's style] comes down to "Delay," "Pointless Stalling," and would be more accurately summed up as "an entire book about multiple characters wandering slowly across the world to approach - but never reach - a place in which something interesting has the potential to happen." "

That review and I agreed that we weren't unhappy we read the book, that a bad GRRM book is still better than average, but it's so nice to have confirmation that it wasn't just me!

To the few people on my flist who haven't read the book yet: I hope this helps set your expectations lower! The less you expect, the more you'll like it.

I like free things

A couple years ago, Discover Card offered a free GPS if you opened a card with them and used it at least once. I used it, got the GPS, and canceled the card. (Which was quite a story, the woman on the phone got so mad at me! "How dare you cancel it after getting the GPS! Do you think we get them for free?!" Your company set the terms, lady, I acted within them!) Great GPS, I still use it years later.

A month or so back, Chase(?) offered me a $200 gift card to anything Disney if I opened a card with them and used it once. Sensing a repeat of the GPS, I did so. (Though this time I didn't close the card, I've since learned that closing quickly can hurt your credit score, so I'm going to wait a while.) I've currently got the $200 Disney gift card in my hot little hands.

I'm not sure what to do with it. I could use it at any Disney store (online or RL). It's strange, but I kind of have been wanting to go back to Disney World for a while now. Strange because I have zero interest in riding rides and I haven't really liked a Disney movie since Hunchback/Lion King. All these new CGI movies (Cars, Toy Story) do nothing for me. But there's sciencey things at Disney, plus Epcot, and I really would like to see Animal Kingdom.

However, the other big issue is I don't want to fly, and if I gave in and did fly my mother would kill me if I went somewhere other than visiting her. But I don't want to fly at all, so it's a moot point.

So... what to do with the card. I could donate it. I could send it to my sister (she has two youngish kids). I could save it in case I ever do go to Disney World.

It's pretty darned cool the free things you can get from credit card companies.

(132 icons and not a single Disney one. Sheesh!)