The boy did the preliminaries, sealing the circles, erecting the bonds. Now we were all subject to the rules of the summoning. But then he stopped. He did not progress. The woman looked at him furiously. I've forgotten it, he said.
Jonathan Stroud
And then, as if written by the hand of a bad novelist, an incredible thing happened.
funny luck humour
If anyone else asked that question, O He Who Is Terrible and Great, I would have said they were an ignorant fool; in you it is a sign of the disarming simplicity which is the fount of all virtue.
funny ignorance ridiculous humour
A dozen more questions occurred to me. Not to mention twenty-two possible solutions to each one, sixteen resulting hypotheses and counter-theorems, eight abstract speculations, a quadrilateral equation, two axioms, and a limerick. That's raw intelligence for you.
intelligence
Literature offers the thrill of minds of great clarity wrestling with the endless problems and delights of being human. To engage with them is to engage with oneself, and the lasting rewards are not confined to specific career paths.
literature study university english
Ambition is all very well, my lad, but you must cloak it.
ambition
The bristling eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. Mesmerized, the boy watched them disappear under the hanging thatch of white hair. There, almost coyly, they remained just out of sight for a moment, before suddenly descending with a terrible finality and weight.
funny humor wit
Listen, a goad's anything that provokes or incites an enemy---let me have a go: cursed deamon! You have met your end! The shivering fire awaits you! I shall spread your vile essance across this hall like.. Um, like margarine, a very think layer of it..---ye-es.. Im not sure he'll pick up on that analogy. Never mind, keep going.
enemy
The darkness cloaking my mind lifted. Instantly, I was as alert as ever, crystal-sharp in all my perceptions, a coiled spring ready to explode into action. It was time to escape! Except it wasn't.
perception mind action thetimes time
Together, we must advance unafraid into the modern age!
age
I order you, Bartimaeus, to reveal whether you have diligently and wholly carried out your charge- Of course I have - what do you think this is, costume jewelry?
order
rules progress circles
Monday In Other Place. Did nothing.
places
Maybe I'd better call a halt to the journal for a bit. Until something crops up, that is, which it hopefully won't for a couple of decades. In the meantime: farewell, enjoy your futile lives, etc. This is Bartimaeus, care of The Other Place, signing off.
places farewell
A better plan would be to head straight for Bart's Guide to London, since that's hugely entertaining and witty, i.e. Written by me.
plans
He magician emerges from bed and we recount our tale. Her response lacks gratitude: stammering furiously, she chides us for the damage to her lawns and flowerbed. The boy is smacked; I am Spasmed; we both spend the day with nail-clippers attending to the damage to the garden.
beds
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