Valerie Akau Meli

I learned not too long ago, that my my trainer on my LDS mission to Sapporo, Japan, passed away.  Valerie Anne Pohaiamepumehanaakealoha Akau Meli was only 45.  I was saddened to hear the news.  She was a wonderful person, and a hard working missionary.  She taught me a lot, about how to work hard, and to care about people.  From all that I saw on her facebook and her husband's, she had continued being a wonderful, selfless person after the time I was blessed to know her.  She has a beautiful family, and I pray for God's comfort to be with them.  I had often imagined meeting up with her again at some point, and I'm sad now that that won't happen.  At least in this life.
Kami yo, mata au ma-de.

 

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

I know I've talked about The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien before, but with a new school year just starting, and the third Hobbit movie coming out in a few months, I thought I'd review the book again.  I had a great discussion with my students today about the book, and they seem to enjoy it so far.

The Hobbit follows the tale of Mr. Bilbo Baggins who starts out as a rather reluctant adventurer, who is compelled to go with Gandalf and thirteen dwarves in a manner that would probably bring on a lawsuit if it happened today.  But Bilbo is a good natured guy, and he goes along with it.  Mostly because he really doesn't have much of a choice.  He's not too happy about it initially, and he never really gets very comfortable, mostly because of all the life threatening things that happen to him.  But he does get braver and more confident as the story goes along.

If you know the story of The Hobbit, you know how it ends.  But I still won't give anything away.  It's a great book, and I haven't gotten tired of reading it yet!  I highly recommend it.

Plagiarism = NOT OKAY

I was shocked and frustrated for a wonderful friend, Rachel Ann Nunes when I learned that her book, A Bid For Love was plagiarized.  At first, she tried to give the accused person the benefit of the doubt, and assumed that the lady was not guilty.  But when the plagiarist refused to send the ARC, and then told inconsistent stories to her and others about the work in question, Rachel began to grow suspicious.  A blogger did the right thing and sent Rachel an ARC of the particular work for her review.  Sadly, it was true that she'd been plagiarized.  You can read about Rachel's nightmare rollercoaster ride over the last few days here.  It's pretty sad, and the plagiarist is brazen to the point of it almost being funny if it wasn't such a terrible situation.  Ethical writers and bloggers need to stand together and support each other.  No honest writer wants her or his work plagiarized!