I hate doing this - starting a book and not finishing it. I’ve given up on The Fountainhead, maybe I’ll pick it up again in the future. I appreciate the philosophy behind it. I’ve never read a book before that made me question how I look at myself and I definitely learned a lot. I read about interesting characters: the fascinating and evil Ellsworth Toohey, the annoying but just pitiful at the end Peter Keating, and of course, Howark Roark, who I don’t really see as a person but an idea of how a man should prize himself. But it’s an impossible idea, concrete, black and white, impossible. I enjoyed the first half of the book but when Gail Wynand entered the picture, it went downhill for me. I’ll just say it - I got bored.

Also that I had to put it down because I went back to nursing school and continued reading after 15 weeks might have ruined it for me. The seriousness of The Fountainhead is not what I want after the semester’s stress, not to mention the aftermath. I’m moving on to something light and entertaining. I’m trying to decide between Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere and Stardust :).

As a sort of tribute, I want to share another portion of the book. The workings of Toohey’s mind -

Toohey:
…When you deal in principles, Peter, it saves you the trouble of individual encounters.”

Keating:
“What do you mean?”

Toohey:
“I mean that you can follow one of two procedures. You can devote your life to pulling out each single weed as it comes up–and then ten lifetimes won’t be enough for the job. Or you can prepare your soil in such a manner–by spreading a certain chemical, let us say–that will be impossible for weeds to grow. This last is faster. I say ‘weed’ because it is the conventional symbolism and will not frighten you. The same technique, of course, holds true in the case of any other living plant you may wish to eliminate: buckwheat, potatoes, oranges, orchids or morning glories.”

Keating:
“Ellsworth, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I enjoyed that.

I’m still hooked on Burn Notice. I still haven’t finished the first season, I think I’m at episode 8 out of 12, and I suspect this current obsession will not go away until I watch all of the episodes. No problem with season 2 because I’ve seen each episode at least twice. I have this habit of just putting the TV on while doing something else, say studying, I need the background noise to concentrate and prevent myself from falling asleep. Anyway, thanks to Hulu.com for posting the complete episodes.

The main character Michael Westen is a covert operative who was burned in the middle of a job in Nigeria. He barely escaped and ended up in his hometown Miami with no explanation of why he was burned, no contact with his handler, and his personal assets frozen. He’s under constant surveillance, was told that he cannot leave town (or else), and was even offered to take a job as a security guard. The story revolves around Michael’s personal investigation of why he was blacklisted, and his work as freelance investigator/spy where he gets the funds to track down the people who burned him. Michael is this very intelligent, highly skilled, tough operative but he uses this to help people, and before he was burned to help the government, which essentially makes him the “good guy”, even though there is a lot of violence involved and people get killed in order to set things right. It’s a bit of a cliché when put that way but you have to watch it to see. He is also portrayed as a commitment-phobic. Basically, he became a spy to run away from his family but is unable to turn his back on them when their safety is of concern.

“People with happy families don’t become spies. A bad childhood is the perfect background for covert ops - you don’t trust anyone, you’re used to getting smacked around, and you never get homesick.”

Fiona, the ex-girlfriend, is an ex-IRA operative who specializes in explosives and guns and serves as tactical support to Michael. In exchange for her services, she makes Michael take her out to dinners, forces him to have the “talk”, makes him do favors for his mother, or a little cash for shoes. She isn’t the most moral of characters as she used to be a bank robber, she runs gun deals, and is an occasional bounty hunter. I find it very amusing when says lines like “Shall we shoot them?” or “So shoot him. What’s the problem?” with a straight face and a little bit of an accent coming out.

Then there’s Sam. He’s a former Navy Seal and an intelligence operative. He’s kind of the comic relief on the show. He’s always short on cash and he gets by dating older, wealthy women. Sugar mommies for short. And he gets excited about free meals or drinks. He’s unorthodox looking for a special op; he’s heavy, older, and unpolished looking. But don’t be fooled because he handles himself well in hand to hand combats and is a good marksman. He’s also the guy who has the special connections for information and he provides the cover IDs for Michael. He also ends up in situations like pretending to be Fiona’s father or lover, or taking a few punches (same with Michael for this one) to maintain cover.

Ay obviously I love this show by the looks (and length) of this entry. It’s not too serious (but serious enough), makes me think sometimes, funny, a little action and mystery. It’s still a fresh idea; not many spy shows out there. And did I mention the main character is hot? hehehe.

More pictures:
*Borrowed* from USAnetwork.com

…is short for Catherine Halsey, a character from the book The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

But it seemed quite normal to her; she did not appear to know that they had been parted.
He was first to ask finally:
“Did you get my wire?”
“Oh, yes. Thanks.”
“Don’t you want to know how I’m getting along in the city?”
“Sure. How are you getting along in the city?”
“Look here, you’re not terribly interested.”
“Oh, but I am! I want to know everything about you.”
“Why don’t you ask?”
“You’ll tell me when you want to.”
“It doesn’t matter much to you, does it?”
“What?”
“What I’ve been doing.”
“Oh … Yes, it does, Peter. No, not too much.”
“That’s sweet of you!”
“But, you see, it’s not what you do that matters really. It’s only you.”
“Me what?”
“Just you here. Or you in the city. Or you somewhere in the world. I don’t know. Just that.”
“You know, you’re a fool, Katie. Your technique is something awful.”
“My what?”
“Your technique. You can’t tell a man so shamelessly, like that, that you’re practically crazy about him.”
“But I am.”
“But you can’t say so. Men won’t care for you.”
“But I don’t want men to care for me.”
“You want me to, don’t you?”
“But you do, don’t you?”
“I do,” he said, his arms tightening about her. “Damnably. I’m a bigger fool than you are.”
“Well, then it’s perfectly all right,” she said, her fingers in his hair, “isn’t it?”

One of my favorite parts of the book (I have a lot!) and, so far, Katie is still my 2nd favorite character. Too bad she’s in love with such a poor excuse for a human being (nilait na). The favorite, of course, is Roark and talking about him deserves a separate post. This conversation stuck to me because it gave me a realization about a personal situation. I wish to stop explaining why I feel how I feel and why I do what I do. There only exist the fact that I feel this way, and it doesn’t necessarily require action from him or myself. I’m contented to be in this place right now.

I will be sure to get my own copy of The Fountainhead. Mostly, I read for entertainment but with this one reading is also self-discovery. Ang galing talaga. I’ll write more about Fountainhead and its wonderful characters as I go along, I’ve only read about 1/4 of the book.

Since we’re on the subject…They finally published the Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling. It’s available in two editions: collector’s and standard. The collector’s edition has a nice book case, cover, velvet bag, the works. Don’t be too surprised that it will set you back at $100. Since I’m only after the stories, I’m getting the standard edition, which costs $7.59. Oooh I have a $25 Amazon gift certificate waiting to be spent hehehe. This is still pre-order, the book is available on Dec 4. I will forget about it and I will have a nice surprise come December.