Hi, I'm a Very Funny Dude.

So let me introduce myself. First of all, I am a Christian. I claim Jesus as my Lord. I believe that Jesus paid it all and there is nothing I can add to it. I am not a very narrow-minded Christian. I have a variety of interests and I have met many a snoot who has condemned me because of them.

Next, announcements.

Alright, enough begging for reviews, lol. I have not done any writing for a long time, and I've done some occasional reading on FF.

I admit that my Narnia/Oz crossover didn't go over too well. I am somewhat embarrassed at it when I occasionally reread it. Well, they say fanfiction is where you find out how badly you can write; now I know. Anyway, the story stays. One reviewer liked it. Every product finds its niche, and I am not going to disappoint anyone who likes what I write, no matter what the majority thinks.

I am pleased that the majority of readers do like my parody. I wasn't sure that would pan out, either. So, if you want to start out with a good taste of me, I recommend either that, or If You Give a With a Cookie in either English or Latin. If you do read the silly crossover, prepare for torture.

I've done some more thinking. C S Lewis mixed paganism with his stories liberally, and unabashedly defended his right to do so as a Christian author. Most good stories have it to some degree. New Age is really just modern paganism. The Wizard of Oz and its sequel are the sort of stories that could easily have been written by a Christian. I do tend to take some things too seriously, and like Lewis, I should lighten up a bit, lol. Downing a good story because of its pagan elements is really narrow-minded, whether be Narnia, Potter, or Star Wars. More constructive is worrying about things such as whether the Sith are really the good guys, as it sharpens the mind, and leads to exploration of themes such as Wicked.

Now, some fantasy books and related materials I've read:

Books I've read (or had read to me):
Oz stories. I have always had a fetish with Glinda. Some Oz fans agree with me and many disagree, but I think "The Marvelous Land of Oz" was the best Oz book ever written. Unfortunately, L Frank Baum succumbed to fan pressure in his later years and the quality of his writing suffered. I was getting tired of Dorothy and Ozma by "Glinda of Oz", as they were becoming Mary Sueish. As for "The Land of Oz", it had funny jokes, political commentary, and good moral values. Respect for authority and the responsibility that comes with power were among its themes.
The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. I was disappointed that Eilonwy lost her magic.
The Chronicles of Narnia. Those were great books. I only wish Lewis had a more balanced treatment of female magicians. And I look forward to the upcoming movie!
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman. It held my interest to the end. It was recommended to me by another Christian. It was very anti-God and anti-C S Lewis, and it is not something I would recommend to an impressionable child.
A Series of Unfortunate Events. The movie was a bummer. As for the eleven extant and two forthcoming books, Ignore Lemony Snicket's warnings, he's only fooling with you. Trust me, it'll all end happily ever after. So volunteer to read them all the way through - or should I say, be taken in by them - and it will pay more dividends than you could possibly imagine.
Harry Potter. Those movies stink, too, and I don't care for all the silly paraphernalia. In fact, most people who say, "Harry Potter sucks", have only seen the movies and never read the books. I recommend people read the books, because they are not rushed. Recently, they ruined Dumbledore worse than Jackson ever handled Galadriel.
Mary Poppins by Pamela L Travers. This is the rare case where the movie is far better than the book, and I don't care for the sequels. In retrospect, I think it was actually very Potteresque; the magic takes place in the "real" world, and most muggles seem to be oblivious to it; George Banks is quite Dursleyish, but he changes.
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. The book was definitely better, but the movies were not bad. It explores the idea that authors create or interact with the worlds they write about.
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. An interesting twist on the notion that magic is demonic. There is much political commentary, and it relates very well to how people feel about America as a superpower nation; as much as I love my country and support the president, I hope we don't become like the Magicians.
The Wind on Fire Trilogy by William Nicholson. If the Morah possesses you to read, then this is the trilogy for you. Escape from the tyranny of exams. Confound the Mastery. Seek the Homeland.
The Archives of Anthropos by John White. It is very similar to Narnia, replete with dryads, talking animals, an evil witch from the North, etc; heroes usually have power from the Changer; Gaal the Shephard brings salvation; and a lot of names are borrowed from Biblical Hebrew and Greek. The author seems to be a charismatic Christian associated with the Vineyard movement. In one of the books, there is even a virgin birth.
Shadowmancer, and its sequel, Wormwood, by G P Taylor. This "Christian" Harry Potter flopped. It actually was neither Potteresque, nor was it very Christian. It seemed that author was portraying ghosts in the real world, even allowing that demons can trap them against their will, denying them the right to move on. Not only was the devil trying to defeat God, but it was suggested that he might succeed. Of course, he failed, but the very suggestion was repugnant.
The Space Trilogy by C S Lewis. Definitely sci-fi, but it also deals with Merlin.
The Langoliers by Stephen King. Audiobook. This horror story is unique and held my interest, as did the movie. I'm not generally a Stephen King fan.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Read by the teacher.
So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane. Well, I finally finished it. It got really interesting when they encountered machines and vehicles that were alive and tried to eat them.

books I didn't finish:
Lord of the Rings trilogy and its companions. Too thick; I couldn't force myself forward. I am dependent on the movies and hearsay for my information. I am glad that some readers corrected my misimpressions of Galadriel the sorceress, or actually not the sorceress; Gimli didn't like that label, but she reminded me of Glinda.
The Compleat Enchanter by Sprague de Camp.
Magic Kingdom for Sale: Sold by Terry Brooks. It has as an honorary tribute to "The Wizard of Oz", particularly the section where Dorothy talks to the GWN about witches; but to my disappointment, the only witch in this book, Nightshade, was evil; at least the good guys gave her a chance to repent.
The Tangle Box by Terry Brooks. The sequel, and still no good witches. Nightshade is back with a vengeance.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. The movie was great. The fairy was not evil, but misguided; I loved it.
Taliesin by Stephen Lawhead. My sister recommended the book and its sequels, but I'm bored so far.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman. My sister never finished reading it to me; I loved the movie; the kissing didn't bother me.
The Quest for the White Witch by Tanith Lee. I used it for kindling; it made me doubt whether I should be reading fantasy, lol. It had a very psychologically disturbed, and sexually abused witch, and an oppressed society looking for a messiah, and I saw no hope for the series. It was a pathetic piece of pornography.
Oathbound and Oathbreakers by Mercedes Lackey. It had a good witch in it, but it didn't hold my permanent interest. There was also has a Goddess and elements that could appeal to Wiccans/Witches/Pagans. I don't mean this with disrespect, as I believe many of the implicit teachings are consistent with what Wiccans believe. On the whole, I can't see how the books are to a large degree inconsistent with Christianity, either; after all, one must consider that Tolkien entertained reincarnation for fantasy purposes.
Polgara the Sorceress by David Eddings. I'm curious about how Eddings portrays witches.
The Number of the Beast by Robert Heinlein. My interest was motivated by its connection to Oz. It explores the connection between authors and their creations in a weird, quasi-string-theoretical, quasi-many-worlds-view sort of manner. Something like 10 to the 6 to the 6 to the 6th is the proposed number of universes.
Artemis Fowl series. I just can't force myself into this mixture of computer technology and fairies, yet, as I am so distracted by other things.

books about fantasy:
Harry Potter and the Bible by Richard Abanes. This book is very lame; the author does not know what he's talking about; if applied to the Bible, his methods would be characterized as eisegesis; that is, he reads into the text notions that simply aren't there at all. He makes a big deal about anecdotes that mean nothing other than that parents should know their kids and watch their kids. He harps on the fact that fantasy writers borrow from folklore all the time, and that includes his own favorite authors, Lewis and Tolkien, and he applies a double standard. His perspective seems to be very limited; there are books he as a Christian should be criticizing, such as Philip Pullman's and Tanith Lee's; he really doesn't know anything about David Eddings or Mercedes Lackey; he has no idea what fantasy is out there; he only knows about the most popular and his pet authors. Total balderdash.
Fantasy and Your Family by Richard Abanes. Another lame book. More of the same drivel.
What's a Christian to Do with Harry Potter? by Connie Neal. A breath of fresh air. The author has read the books and knows how to properly exegete them. She allows that some readers may have a hard time accepting them because of their conscience and offers suggestions for using the books as witnessing tools.
The Gospel According to Harry Potter by Connie Neal. The author interprets various parts Harry Potter as Christian allegory, much as has been done with the Wizard of Oz on a website I have seen. Some examples she gives are actually very compelling.
The Sorcerer's Companion. About Harry Potter. I have only read parts of it, some of which relate the books to real-world occultism and the paranormal, which is more than I need or care to know.
Companion to Narnia by Paul F Ford.
Various websites discussing Harry Potter, Oz, and other fantasy, some of it very negative and narrow-minded, and some of it interesting.
Various books about J K Rowling that I should read but haven't touched.

End-times fiction:
Something should be said about Left Behind. It deals with supernatural events surrounding the end times. It includes weird things such as: metallic flying scorpions whose sting torments to no end but does not kill, global earthquakes, mysterious disappearances, and surreal darkness. Its rival, the Last Disciple series, which has just kicked off, only deals with the ordinary, as the authors do not take such an exotic view of the end times, and it is set in the Roman empire, at a time in church history when miracles have already ceased or become rare, unless you consider the fulfilment of a prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple a miracle. It does, however, deal with the mystery and lore surrounding the number of the beast. It gave me an idea of what it was like to live in the first century, like I've never had before. I have been following both series.

some favorite cartoons:
He-Man. I loved the Sorceress.
She-Ra.
Thundercats.
Superfriends.
Scooby-Doo.
Smurfs.
Yu-Gi-Oh. I know it's related to Magic the Gathering, but having been exposed to some of the Neo-Egyptian hype that's out there, I found the ankh-shaped key interesting. While interacting with BlackVoices, one of these Kemetian freaks was hostile to me and my whiteness and called me the Cracka! Since then, I have never lost interest in that silly stuff they call Ma'at. The 42 principles are fine in themselves. They are interesting from a historical perspective, as they demonstrate that the light of conscience has been with us since the Flood, leaving the pagans without excuse for loving darkness. But to apply a double standard by adding racial rhetoric and taking up the ungodly teachings and practices that have piggybacked on the principles, is simply going too far.

my hobbies and interests:
I should say something about them. I love mathematics. I was plodding my way through Topoi by Robert Goldblatt. I was disappointed that the author doesn't prove every theorem he states. And I have so many other books I wish I could get through but don't have time, not the least of which are Set Theory by Jech, which I am now reading, and Topology by Dugundji. I am also very curious about current physics theories. It has been a struggle to read Quantum Field Theory of Point Particles and Stringsby Brian Hatfield. I am currently stuck on chapter eleven, not being able to make sense of the perturbation equations.

de latinitate:
Meanwhile, I continue to keep up with my current fiction crazes. While I am at it, I am distracted by my curiosity about Latin. I notice that almost every book I read throws it at me at least occasionally. W. v. o. Quine, another set theorist, was wont to refer to his definitions as "definiens" and "definiendum". While it was obvious what relation one of these bore to the other, I couldn't figure out which was which. The Last Discple authors have seized without delay the day to give the reader snapshots of actual speech by the first century characters, some of it not appropriate for liberi, lol. And as we all know by now, Rowling is also full of it, packing some etymology into every spell to humorous effect. But even less serious writers such as Baum and Snicket have indulged in it at least once. It has been since time immemorial that I read the Wogglebug's pompous ejaculation of "semper idem" (Glinda would spell it differently, lol) when not being literate outside of English at the time, the wrong pronunciation was indelibly etched in my mind. At least it is comforting to know that Baum would have likely committed the same error, as the restored pronunciation wasn't widely taught in universities during his time. But now with much research having been done over the net, I can't think of any other way to say, "remember to die", as was the meaning of the motto of Prufrock Prep. Still, "memento mori" is a highly unusual expression in many ways, so that it takes at least 30 chapters of Wheelock's to explain it that someone other than a rocket scientist may understand it, lol. So now I am distracted with trying to learn an ancient language to the point of achieving fluency and therefore have no idea when I shall return to my math books. But in the meantime, I may find it an amusing exercize trying to render my fics. All ye CS Lewis and Tolkien fans, let it be known that both these authors were crazy over languages along with the rest of the Inkling ilk. Let us therefore not treat ancient languages as sleeping dragons never to be tickled; rather, let us revive them recasting our own stories into them for all it is worth. For it would do honor to the ones we most admire.

some message board I have recently visited:
International Wizard of Oz Club. My activity has been on the message board only.
Lake Lachrymose. That forum unfortunately has no activity.
The Gospel According to Oz. And neither does that one.
Unfortunate Forum. You gotta see some Sebald code I posted. Also posted: my own unauthorized pet theory.
BlackVoices. I have been flamed.

The world is quiet here.