Introduction Article of this month:

Well after the end of the Realm's Faire it became a quiet month. A few of us made our way back to school, while others went on with their everyday lives. I really don't have much to expound on this month, and I'm sorry for that. This issue took some effort to put together. As you'll notice it isn't as fleshed out as it normally is. We, the staff, apologize for that. But as you all are very busy, we are too. None the less, the show must go on right? haha So here is the September issue of the Gazette! Please be sure to check out the fun and game sections for two very special articles!

Community news:

by: Valia Terrand, Amyrlin Seat

September was quite a busy month at the Realm! At the beginning of the month Brin Serallin was Raised to the rank of Accepted and chose to join the Brown Ajah. Alatariel Elendil was also Raised Accepted this month and chose to join the Yellow Ajah. The other Raising of the month was that of Rex Cogitans, who, after much deliberation chose the White Ajah.

There were also two near-sibling announcements. Sage and Nayienna Sedai announced their decision to become near-sisters. Additionaly, Mother and Recruit Darim Mael brought their near-sibling bond to the Realm as well.

Interview of the Month:

Book Review

Santiago by Mark Resnick

by: Salome Aviye, First Librarian

They say his father was a comet and his mother a cosmic wind, that he juggles planets as if they were feathers and wrestles with black holes just to work up an appetite. They say he never sleeps, and that his eyes burn brighter than a nova, and that his shout can level mountains.

This first paragraph from Resnick's 1986 novel describes the main character, Santiago. Except nobody's ever seen him and known it was Santiago they were seeing. He's a legend on the Inner Frontier, the "Wild West" of the galaxy in this science fiction novel that isn't a science fiction novel because I don't like science fiction and I like this novel.

Resnick spins a tale of a bounty hunter named Sebastian Cain going after Santiago, whose head bears the biggest price in all the galaxy. We see Cain team up with Virtue Mackenzie, a reporter who wants the biggest story the newsroom has ever seen, and the Jolly Swagman, an art collector whose favorite pasttime is gently encouraging people (at gunpoint) to add to his stash. The story includes a host of other fascinating characters: misfits, thieves, barmaids, preachers, and one Black Orpheus, whose aim is to chronicle the lives of all of them.

The book is packed with plenty of humor and realistic detail. There's much valuable depth and meaning to Resnick's story, yet it also reads very easily. This is one of the absolute best books I've ever read, and I'd encourage anyone who wants to experience a wonderfully unique story to give it a try.

Wheel of Time news:

Wheel of Time News

By: Salome Aviye, First Librarian

Come on, did you guys really need me to write this part? Of course everyone knows the biggest news in these parts is that Knife of Dreams is released on the 11th of this month! :)

But before we get to that, let's talk about one other (comparably unimportant) things. Why? Because suspense is fun. So, this month, Robert Jordan's weblog on Dragonmount was opened. There he answers questions about the books and the experience of writing them. The URL is http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/ There is a commenting function if you'd like to leave your thoughts for the author, and the blog can be syndicated for other Wheel of Time websites.

Now, onto what we've all been waiting for...KoD advance copies went out very recently, spawning a few spoiler threads, the most active of which seems to be Dragonmount.com's. Hop on over there and check out the KoD forum if you're antsy and can't wait to know everything that happens, like me.

Publisher's Weekly has released their review of KoD, stating that "The breakneck pace, lyrical beauty and astonishing scope of the early Wheel of Time volumes established Jordan as one of the top writers in the Tolkien tradition." (I'm not sure how many of his fans agree with the breakneck pace bit, but I'm not supposed to be subjective here. Ahem. Back to your regular news broadcast.) PW says, "In contrast, the latest explodes with motion, as multiple plot lines either conclude or advance, and the march to Tarmon Gai'don--the climactic last battle between the Dragon Reborn and the Dark One--begins in earnest. Jordan has said that readers will be sweating by the end of the book, and he's probably right. Sweating or not, they'll also be dreading the long year or two before the 12th installment." (Publisher's Weekly, September 12, 2005.)

Amazon is offering Chapter One of KoD with any pre-order, so you might wish to head over there and take advantage of the pre-order while there's still time - plus get an early taste of the book. Coupled with the eBook prologue, this means that a hefty initial chunk of the book is available in various formats for preview.

Tor has released a tour and book signing schedule. It can be found at http://www.knifeofdreams.com/signings.php.

(Credit goes to Dragonmount.com and Knifeofdreams.com for the information and quotes used in this article.)

Fun and Games:

Gracefully Fit

by: Jaydena McKanthur, Blue Accepted

The other day I went into a buffet restaurant with family and watched as they piled their plates high with food, high fat food, cooked in grease. I about became sick right then and there, and it made me start thinking about Americans and our obsession with bigger is better. Our portion sizes are huge compared to other countries and as we have seen this leads to obesity and overweight children as well. How often do you go to a restaurant or a fast food joint and get asked if you want to biggy size it or super size it, heck I went to Papa Murphy's the other day and they asked my mom if she wanted to get a bigger size pizza for only a dollar. I just shook my head and told her I thought a large was more than big enough. Especially since I wasn't eating that pizza and was sticking with the Veggie Delite that they offer. This was one of many things that happened, again causing me to exam why our culture is the way it is. So in this article we will be examining portion sizes and other things that if done correctly lead to a healthy life style. As many of you may know I have been on the weight loss track for about a year. I think what started me on that path was the fact that I was ballooning up in size and didn't seem to care that I was bigger than anyone I met on the street. As a child growing up I had seen my mom go through diet after diet and fail, in my house it was finish your plate or get in trouble. So when I became an adult I struggled with the lessons my mother had taught me, always finish your plate, take food when someone offers it, and always cook when someone comes to visit. When I was only 19 I married and had the chance to see a family different than my own in many ways, my mother in law was a crash dieter, which is very unhealthy for you. About a year ago she actually did something that changed my life, she joined a program called Weight Watcher and stated raving about the food and points. So I joined and these are the things I learned throughout my journey at becoming a smaller person with a better lifestyle.

Losing weight has to be a lifestyle change, I can’t impress that upon the reader of this enough. I can't tell you how many times in the last year I have seen someone come back to weight watchers in defeat because they didn't change their outlook. So many people walk in the door and act like this is the worst thing in the world, the worst negative thing that could happen. No the worst thing that could happen is that you could get bigger and bigger and never lose the weight. Losing weight is not a negative thing at all, in fact it's very positive, you just have to look at it that way. Try looking at the sacrifices you make, and thinking that you are just getting rid of the negative things that helped you to gain the weight in the first place. So when you start the path to a healthy lifestyle you have to realize that you can't go out and lose the weight and tone your body and then think that you can stop doing those things and start back on the donuts. This is a change that is going to benefit you for the rest of your life. Now another important thing in getting healthy is portion sizes, did you know that America's invented the idea of using a 10 inch dinner plate, in other countries their dinner plates are the size of our salad plates. This has to do with the fact that we think bigger is better, how many people do you know who talk about getting a bigger home, or a bigger and better job, or a bigger amount of pay. We see it everywhere in our culture and it has started long ago to carry over to her eating habits. You don't need big portions to feel full, it's far healthier to eat three small meals with several snakes to fill in the gaps between meals. Also instead of making your side dish be potatoes on your meal, use a salad or veggies. We call these filler foods, low in fat and high in filling capacity. I hope you enjoyed the column, next month we will discuss weight loss extremes and exercise programs.

Creative Corner

By: Salome Aviye, First Librarian

A few weeks ago I finally got to chat on Yahoo! messenger with the Mistress of Novices at Salidar, Phedre LeCroix. She’s a very cool person and she definitely encourages the arts, especially with her son. We began discussing drawing, something I never considered taking up seriously because it doesn’t come to me naturally and I haven’t shown any aptitude for it. Phedre talked about how she had always wanted to do it and finally, some time ago, took a class and started drawing. This was something of a novel idea to me, because I have a very difficult time picturing myself actually being okay with my first tries (no matter how bad they are) and still being able to call myself an artist.

I’ve been involved in many different kinds of art throughout the past several years, most notably writing, music, dance, photography, and graphic design. One of the stumbling blocks I catch myself running up against often is perfectionism. I’ve been a perfectionist since early childhood; it’s a character trait I’ve honed and cultivated into quite the monster over the years. Through talking to and working with other artists, I’ve come to realize it’s something we all face - whether just in passing (if we’re lucky) or, like me, as a life mate. I think, and this is a completely unscientific observation, that the nature of our work gives us a predisposition to it. A long time ago, I sentenced myself unnecessarily to being a mediocre visual artist because my natural talents have always seemed to lie in literature and writing and, to a lesser extent, the performance arts. I am only now, in the process of healing other wounds, coming to realize how that has sabotaged my attempts.

At my university orientation, we had a motivational speaker named Curtis Zimmerman who discussed exactly this, using juggling as a metaphor. Zimmerman, a former circus performer, now travels all over the world using his experiences from a materially and emotionally impoverished early life and his performance abilities to explain how we can work to change our lives for the better. I think my favorite quote of the whole night was, at the beginning of the juggling melee (in which about 300 high school graduates try and fail at catching all three balls and much cursing ensues), “Drop the balls and feel good about it!” I think that’s my favorite quote now, period, and it’s something I’ve been trying to live by lately.

So often we don’t give ourselves the five thousand (or five hundred thousand) tries we need to get it right. We don’t accept the fact that it’s okay to do things imperfectly. There are always going to be error-ridden first drafts, botched attempts at black and white photography, and drawings that look like something we might have done in kindergarten and seem suitable only for tacking up on the refrigerator. The first thing we must accept as absolutely necessary for our growth is that yes, we can be artists. Even those of us who have never considered that we might have any talent in any art have fought half the battle when they realize that as long as they show up at the page or the scene or the sketchbook or the canvas, they are doing art, and that is all that matters.

In her book The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron says, “Remember that in order to recover as an artist, you must be willing to be a bad artist. Give yourself permission to be a beginner. By being willing to be a bad artist, you have a chance to be an artist, and perhaps, over time, a very good one.

“When I make this point in teaching, I am met by instant, defensive hostility: ‘But do you know how old I will be by the time I learn to really play the piano/act/paint/write a decent play?’

“Yes...the same age you will be if you don’t.”

In the coming months, I am going to discuss many different types of art and some ways to begin working with them. I would like to begin with a challenge, though: this month, I want you to think of something that you’ve always wanted to try, such as painting, writing a poem, or even something not directly related to art, like horseback riding. You may have thought of it only in passing or as a silly fantasy, but just for a few hours or days this month, put those fears and incredulous reactions aside and see how it feels. You might even have fun! As for me, I think I have a few terrible beginning sketches begging to be created.

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