Had a dream this morning (well, not actually a dream, but one of those half awake, half not moments) where I thought I should buy that Dianne Sylvan book, you know, the one with the purple cover? I knew the title at the time, but all I remember now is that it had the word Goddess in it. Sadly, it does not exist (yet?). I will say that I am really, really enjoying her book, The Body Sacred. The problem I have with it is the problem I have with a lot of similar books - I can quickly read the book, but I can't find the time to sit down and go through the exercises. Something to work on, I guess.

I just finished reading Jane Eyre for the first time and quite liked it. I have a hard time getting through literature from that period because the prose is usually too prosy for me (for lack of a better term) and I have a hard time focusing on the story. But this I got through and really liked. Maybe because I kept picturing Alan Rickman as Mr. Rochester. Not intentionally, but I'd hear him talking in my head and then realize that I was voicing the character as Alan Rickman. That he's never played Mr. Rochester is kind of a crime, because he's totally suited for it.

Wow.... Again, I have nothing to say, just... wow. That was AWFUL. ( More Minor Spoilers )

Does anyone else think the name Bella kind of sounds like the name of a horse?

Also, I was totally reading waiting for the metro at L'Enfant Plaza yesterday, when the woman next to me says, "You know, the fourth one is coming out this weekend."

It took me a minute to figure out that she was talking to me about the Twilight books. "Oh really? I'm just getting started... They're hysterical."

Pause. Pause. "Yeah, they're a lot of fun. I'm a big fan."

Oh.

OMG, y'all, I've 75 pages into Eclipse New Moon and this shit is bananas. The only books that I've read that are funnier than this were actually trying to be funny. Wow.

ETA: Errr... New Moon. Not Eclipse. Whoops.

I forgot to mention... with my tummy being punky on Friday, I ate several Pepto Bismol tablets. I woke up Saturday morning to... a black tongue. It's one of the side effects of Pepto Bismol chewables, but it definitely freaked me out first thing in the moring, like... did I have a lot of grape popsicles?! And all I could think about was that story of the poison on the edge of the Bible where the guy licks his finger to turn the page and then his tongue turns black and he dies and people stick out their tongues as a greeting to make sure that the person they're meeting is honorable. (Which I had been told was a folk legend in elementary school but is apparently in the plot of In the Name of the Rose?!) anneball thought I was a Chow Chow and stentoriansista thought I was a giraffe, so clearly I'm just weird that way.

Saturday night I fell asleep on the couch while watching Degrassi. I don't know which is worse. Crawled into bed to have one of the worst night's sleep I've had in a long time. I probably woke up 6 times between 12:30 and 6:30, at which point the cat realized I was awake and started meowing at me to come feed her (the cat is very sweet and very talkative when she wants something. Like food), so I stumbled out of bed and did and went back to sleep where I slept fitfully... until 8am. When someone nearby started hammering. And then they stopped. And then they started again. And then they stopped. And then they started what I originally thought was a chop saw but then later decided was an electric leaf blower. And then they stopped. And then they started again. And then they stopped. And then they started again. At which point I was seriously considering yelling out the window and telling them to shut the fuck up but I decided that wasn't polite, so I went back to the couch on the other side of the house to sleep (where I could still hear the leaf blower, but it was quieter) and continued to have really fitful sleep until noon. It was the kind of thing where you go to sleep and you have a bunch of dreams that feel really long and you wake up and it's 10 minutes later? Yeah, it sucked. Dragged myself out of bed, got some food in me and headed to the Uptown to see The Dark Knight with anneball and a friend. I got there wicked early and got in line at 2:30 for a 3:30 show... and was not the first person in line. (anneball, I will repay you for the ticket, I just didn't have any cash on me) We got kickin' seats and the movie was very, very good. I agree with the reviews... it's really not Batman's story, it's Harvey Dent's story and it's the Joker's story... both characters were much more interesting and dynamic than Batman's, who just stands around being conflicted.

The movie ended and it was 6:20 and there was a line down the street to Four Fields to get into the 7:05 show. Went to anneball's apartment to steal books and then I left 20 mintues later, the line was to the corner, around it and then up the street. For a 7pm show on a Sunday. Crazy.

Back at the cat-sitting house, the TV wouldn't turn on (...), so I sat and read on of the books I got while I listened to the people next door have a screaming fight for 45 minutes. At first I thought it was their television or people on the street, but I definitely put my ear to the wall like Nosey McNosersons and yep, this woman was full on screaming (at who? I have no idea). Took a bath, went to bed, left the house this morning and the owners should return tonight. All good in the hood.

Schwinn won't pay for labor to fix the crank and I'm sure as hell not going to, so it looks like the bike is going back to Amazon. I was actually really peeved when I went to City Bikes and found that they had two folding bikes after all. I guess when I get my prepaid return label and ship it back to Amazon, I'll have to go give the two folding bikes they have there a try. (That will make me feel better because I'll support my local bike store and get me some free service at the same time!) And if I don't like those, I might actually call Spokes Etc... instead of just checking their website. Hrm... now I have to figure out what to do with my b-day present from pucksraven and co (thanks again y'all!), since that got applied to the bike (which was also a present to stentoriansista since we could have gone on bike rides together... if said bike had actually worked properly. Bitches)

Also... the book I read last night? I am so embarrassed to admit it, but... Twilight. OMFG. OMFG. I just... wow. Y'all? ( Minor Spoilers. )

So, it's been an insanely busy past couple of days. I spent my entire SecondJob shift catching up on LJ since Monday afternoon. I have 44 emails to read and many more to answer. Oy. The worst part of today? It was caffeine free. I'm only now getting the withdrawal headache (awesome).

So, I give you my metric ton of linkspam:

I can name 44 Asian countries in 10m 0s

Click here to Play

I'm not going to lie to you, I google cheated a third of those. I mean, who remembers Kyrgyzstan?

Terry Pratchett?! NOOOOOOOOO!

Similarly, someone else is finishing the last Robert Jordan book. I'd care, if I was still interested in spending the next 5 years rereading all 11 of those.

Note to Self: Don't be a tool like Carson Daly.

Similarly, MTV workers strike (We declare shenanigans = best sign ever)

Second Note to Self: Commit to faking death (unless you really want to live like Anne Frank... did I just make a holocaust joke? Even if it was accurate?)

Brits say they like Christmas (implied is that American PC stuff is stupid and impractical)

Like, OMG, women like to steal money and then shop!!! OMG SHOES!. Men steal and then shop, too. You just don't get receipts for hookers and blow.

Tamora Pierce fandom overview - awesome. (OMG Spoilers. Duh)

One to add to the pagan reading list

Also, new m15m - and it helps a girl get much needed surgery.

I've been explicity forbidden by ninthraven to bring HP7 to this retreat I'm going on this weekend. I'm leaving my stuff at work and picking it up before I go meet my ride tomorrow morning. I reserved my copy of HP7 at the Olsson's half a block away from work. It opens at 10. I meet my ride at 10:15.

::wibbles::

I have been craving carmelized onions and sauteed mushrooms. No reason why. And I've got plenty of food, so I have no reason to cook them. Except that I wants.

ETA: Bwa ha ha! "Last chapter" of HPatDH from shoebox_project. No spoilers, just funny funny.

And since it's getting to be that time, anybody who posts any Harry Potter spoilers above an LJ-cut WILL BE DECAPITATED AND FED TO DONKEYS. CRANKY DONKEYS. WITH STICKS.

Now, this is not to say that "OMG, Dumbledore reads knitting patterns!" needs to be cut, but "SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE ON PAGE 692 OMG SO TRUE" is not cool. WITH STICKS.

So, I just reread Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it - it's a series of short novels all centered around Weetzie Bat, a young filmmaker in LA, compressed into a larger book. It's a series of lovely, romantic, lyrical books that combine magical realism with the pain of real life and they're just fucking beautiful.

Reading them always makes me a little sad. The characters are startlingly real and harsh in their emotions, but that's not what always gives me a little pang of regret when I read them. The characters have their flaws, their problems, their magic... and there's something about them that I know I can never be. They're all beautiful, mysterious and skinny.

Now, the GF constantly reassures me that I'm pretty, beautiful, gorgeous, stunning. I give her orgasms. It's part of the deal. And while I'm a lovely person, silly and (hopefully) funny and witty, I'm certainly not mysterious. Hell, I wouldn't have a livejournal if I wanted that. Reading descriptions of these magical vegetarians who are always eating and who are always skin and bones, I know it's something I could never be. I don't know, even if I get myself down to a size 8, which I know will never happen (at least, not healthily), I'm sure I'll still think of myself of fat and unworthy of anyone's affection.

And magic? For some reason, I've always known that's for someone that's never worn pants in my size. Maybe it's because of things like the ridiculous wife prancing around in fairy wings on Wife Swap the other week, or because the most ridiculous pagans I've met have always been large, or because the most compelling ones have always had dress sizes in the single digits, or even shit like Practical Magic but I've always had this thought in the back of my head that the reason that I've never had the Profound Mystical Experience I keep expecting to happen is due to my waist.

Which is not to say that I devalue my religion or that it devalues me or that I hate myself because of my size. I've been having issues the whole pagan thing because I've been unwilling to spend the time to focus on it... which reminds me that I had a really powerful dream on Thursday that I need to recap. I prided myself so much on being "special" when I was younger... I was smart, I was a writer, I was going to Mean Something to the world. And then I grew up a bit and I realized that yes, I'm smart, but everyone seems to be much smarter, I'm a good writer, but not when compared to the professional writing world and the things that I love are conventional and not Meaningful and I'm not changing the world the way I was so sure I'd do. In other words, I'm having a huge Avenue Q moment.

It just makes me sad to reread these books that have these beautiful, powerful heroines who overcome adverse odds and make their own magic and think that that's a kind of magic that I will never have, because I'm not one of the beautiful people. The world doesn't sit up and take notice you if you're a size 14 the way it does if you look like a supermodel. Not when Norbit makes the most money at the box office and Tyra Banks is attacked for gaining 30 pounds. I'm never going to be one of the special, beautiful, magical people. It's hard to love yourself when the world refuses to even recognize yourself as a person, sometimes. I try to pretend that it doesn't bother me, but it does.

I'm wearing my recycled jean skirt today with a pair of kicky ankle boots stentoriansista gave me with those leggings I bought and I feel super cute and not unlike a hipster. I love this outfit so much, I may just marry it. I deconstructed another pair of jeans yesterday that I shall make into another skirt, but probably a bit more of an a-line than my current one. My problem is that the waist on both of these pairs of jeans are too big for me by at least 3" right now and I have to figure out how to take in denim. Also, the back of the skirt doesn't sit right and it makes me kinda look like I have a tail, so I'm gonna fix that and do a running stitch about 1/2" from the border of the skirt to keep it from fraying too too much.

Slow day yesterday... sat around making Valentine's cards with mel21clc - she made all of these super cute cupcakes, while I made me some super cute stalker cards. I made 4 and I need to figure out who three of them are going to. If I can get my bum over to AC Moore, I also need to start making my Valentine's prezzie for stentoriansista. Then went up to West Hyattsville to be all pagan with Becoming for Imbolc. I need to get pagan-y more often. Hopefully things will happen and I'll have a normal Monday-Friday work week like the rest of America so I can go to circles and such. After that, we went out to the Reef in Adams Morgan and had drinks and jumbo slices and then went home and crashed and now I'm at work.

I'm currently reading Voodoo & Afro-Caribbean Paganism, which I'm enjoying quite a bit. I'm not about to go call orishas or anything, but the information there is interesting. For example, some traditions have a St. Expedite. Expedite isn't actually a saint or a person - practitioners saw "Expedite" stamped on packages from the mail and decided that the word had magical powers and made it a saint. Also, in some traditions, Jesus Christ possesses people the same way the Ogun would - he just comes down and visits. Of course, it's impossible to get JC to leave, because he wants to stand around and give sermons to people. Awesome, no?

I think once I'm done with this one, I need to invest some money and get a book on Hecate. My Samhain experience and my current obsession with bones and skulls makes me think I need to do some more research on her. On the way back from ritual last night, I definitely sat on the metro and started picturing what everyone's skeletons looked like. It was kinda spooky, but also pretty nifty.

Friday I did laundry, went grocery shopping and made octavialuna's black beans and rice recipe, which is far different from the Brazilian black beans and rice, but still quite enjoyable. Not sure I'll make it again, but there wasn't that much prep and I've got food for like a week and a half. I also prepped my potluck dish for Imbolc - this dish with cream of celery subbed for cream of mushroom and celery ribs subbed for the can of mushrooms because one of the attendees has a hardcore mushroom allergy. I also added some turkey bacon. I wasn't thrilled with the results, but it was a good experiment. I put all of that in a plastic bag along with 4 containers of black beans and rice and went to work. Unfortunately, on the way to work, one of the tupperware containers started leaking all over the interior of my back, ruining the flight safety cards I stole for mel21clc going to California. Got to work, dropped those off, worked the shmancy night and headed over to stentoriansista's. On the way, the sewing scissors I brought to get blessed at Imbolc poked a hole in the baggie I had my Imbolc food in and the container of sour cream started leaking, so when I pulled it out, crap started leaking everywhere. The interior of my bag was soaked, I have potato-y goodness on my coat and my voodoo book is all gooky. Stupid food. I didn't make bread or granola, both of which I needed to do. Blah. Not to mention I spent most of Friday walking around like a gimp, because I wore my kicky black patent faux-leather wedges to work and they managed to give me two blisters on each foot, all of which were painful, despite the bandaids.

It's the superbowl today. I don't even know who's playing and I'm certainly not watching it - opening night is tonight, so I'm finally going to see the show and then have a couple of beers before heading home early. I do blame the superbowl for the complete and total lack of sour cream and the grocery store. I had to buy a 24oz tub, which is fine because I'll use it all, but I wanted to get 2 8oz tubs.

So, it's super slow today and I should go do the things I need to do. Except there aren't that many. Alas, alack. Managing director bought me coffee, which was super nice of him, so I'm no longer sitting at my desk, thinking about naptime. I'm now sitting at my desk, bouncy on caffeine and singing the final song from "School of Rock."

Happiness is a full bookshelf.
( See for yourself! )

Mom sent me a bunch of books I couldn't bear to part with from home. New additions are all of my Tamora Pierce books, the Enchanted Forest series by Patricia C. Wrede, His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, the Weetzie Bat books by Francesca Lia Block and some Connie Willis books. I am SO HAPPY I did a little dance of glee getting it out.

Right. Back to prepping.

WHEEEEE BOOKSBOOKSBOOKS!

Also, new layout. Can't decide if it's too girly or not.

I read this Cinderella retelling in a bookstore when I was 12. I didn't buy it. I've always wished I had. It would be silly to spend $30 for a battered paperback copy now, right? Right? Especially since I am teh poor?

The same way that spending $5 on a copy of a book about a psychic Cabbage Patch doll would be redonkulus, yes? Please, someone take my credit card from me. Please.

ETA: Gah! GAH!! People, I do not need any more books! They talk when I'm not there! Seriously! The credit card! Bake it away, toys!

Dear DC Library System,

Stop thinking that I haven't returned books. I have returned both of the books you think are overdue and I did it over a month ago. It's not my fault you're incompetent. It's probably not your fault you're incompetent, because if the US would bite the bullet and grant you statehood, you'd be able to fund these things better. However, the books are there. Find them and stop fining me. While I have a long and expensive list of library fines, I have never returned a book late to you, despite my 2 book a week habit that you so delightfully enable.

Also, you suck and are full of bureaucracy (the bad kind) and the MLK library smells bad and is poorly designed.

Hugs and kisses,
Christina

Ah yes, another bored Sunday.

But it's been a week. I've been negotiating the time difference, insomnia, getting back to work, tummy woes and getting stentoriansista out to California with me. Not to mention yesterday, stentoriansista, mel21clc and I went a-shopping. We took mel21clc to David's Bridal to get her a bridesmaid dress where she dealt with a whole bunch of rude associates and had to call Pennsylvania to get her dress. Pennsylvania was far more pleasant than Springfield, thank goodness.

Then we went off to Costco where I got a sewing machine!!! I got this Brother machine and it looks like Amazon has it for $30 less than it was onsale at Costco with free shipping. Huh. I'm going to doublecheck model when I get home, but seriously, we are not amused, even if I'm not actually paying for it. I also got my usual 6 pounds of pork, giant bag of craisins, shampoo & conditioner, etc... I did refrain from getting my giant wheel o' brie. Ran to Pentagon City to Gap, Sephora and Williams-Sonoma where I got some nifty cooling racks and a roasting cookbook. One of these days I'm going to buy myself a roasting pan with a rack. Until then, I'll continue my precarious pan w/ chicken on a cookie rack arrangement. Hasn't given me problems so far.

Friday, I attempted three recipes from Simpler the Better... and only one was really successful. I tried grilled steak fajitas, which gave a salsa recipe that had waaay too much tomato and not enough avacado seasoning. Plus the tortillas weren't as hot as they should have been and the steak was too chewy and not in small enough chunks. I also make a garlic parmesan corn side dish, which had way too much cream - I don't think I boiled it long enough. The winner of the night was the white chocolate mousse, which was great except that I forgot I don't like white chocolate mousse that much. I'd put them in wine glasses for pretty presentation, but the best fit were my ginormous glasses, which had 4 servings of mousse in two containers. Too much. But I really like this cookbook, as it's not a lot of ingredients and looks like good, easy food.

Then ran out and saw Dreamgirls which was seriously fantastic. I enjoyed all of it and for Buffy fans, the demon in "Once More With Feeling" is in this. He doesn't sing and dance, but he's definitely in it.

I have to figure out where and what to spend my borders card on. I'm definitely going to get my hypnosis book and maybe I'll grab a DVD or something with the rest. Trying to figure out if I should splurge on a couple of books I know I want or wait until they're in paperback. Anyway, now I'm just hanging out at work, listending to Pandora and waiting for it to be 6 so I can go home and do laundry and get ready for tomorrow's clothes swap. Swapping! Of the clothing! So I can get wearable things!

Ugh, this week is going to be busy busy busy.

This is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasynovels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club. Bold theones you've read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved.
( And the list is... )

That is my choice of word for today. Work was fine, but I went to the doctor beforehand and did the whole "I'm having problems with X & Y" and got a "You're fine! Please to be giving us a $20 copay now!" I wish I were more assertive at the doctor's but the attitude I get always pisses me off. I'm sorry, I wouldn't take an hour out of my day and give you money if I didn't feel something was wrong. Doctors never listen and I find that exceedingly frustrating.

Unfortunate number two is my reading material. I picked up Wicca's Charm at the Arlington County Library booksale thinking that it would be kind of like Drawing Down the Moon. I completely missed the part where the writer had worked for The Washington Times, a paper that refers to gay marriage as 'gay "marriage."' It's rather condescending. After about 30 pages, it's clear that the author thinks these people are wrong and going to hell. She's trying to give an honest portrayal, but her distate for the religion is clear. Favorite bit so far? "Wiccans are, as a rule, not consciously or deliberately worshipping Satan. Whether they are unconsciously worshipping him is an issue on which Wiccans will differ with Christians." Considering that the author originally thought we were Satan worshippers before writiing this story, I suppose it's a start. Still, I'm only continuing to read this because I need metro reading. I doubt I'll finish it - maybe I'll give it to the OHF library? If they want it? When I first met Shea at a Pagan happy hour (actual name escapes me), he mentioned that he'd been contacted by an author looking to write a book, researched her and refused based on her previous writing experience. $5 says this is the author (and it's too bad, because he probably would have come off pretty well).

ZOMG Grand Tour Sequel!

I just found out my gym is closing on Sundays and shutting down the pool. I have written an angry letter and quite probably will be switching to a new gym. Luckily, GlobalFit lets me do that for $10.

Why does no one in my house empty the dishwasher? Instead of emptying the dishwasher and putting used tupperware in it, they wash the tupperware. Le sigh.

Check out my book review. First book review I've written that's been over a paragraph. In a nutshell? Good plot, interesting story, bad tone. If you kill a main character in front of me and I don't care? Problem. Also, I can't title anything worth a damn.

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski - Y'all, I had to stop reading this at night, that is how much it freaked me out. People have called Dionaea House a bad ripoff of this plotline and sort of yes, but mostly no. The book is supposed to be written by a blind guy named Zampano about a non-existent movie called The Navidson Record. A tattoo artist named Johnny Truant puts in his own insights in footnotes. The bizarre formatting makes this book hard to read in places, but very intersting. What killed me where the footnotes - I always had a number or two missing. At 750 pages, this isn't a short book, but omg so awesome. It's creepy the same way that Blair Witch Project is creepy - you never know the how or the why of the scary. It just is and the 'what if' is part of what freaked me out so much. Often, it's what the author doesn't say that is so fantastic. It's definitely a book that will leave you shaken.

So, it's 2:30 on Sunday, and I'm wondering why I'm here. Both in that existential, meaning of life way and why am I not at home? I want to be asleep or reading the paper or knitting (can't do all 3 at once, alas). I got to bed at 2:30 and up at 10:30 (and that was a serious struggle). I forgot to take an allergy pill this morning, so I've got a sinus headache. I don't think I can read House of Leaves before going to bed anymore. It's creeping me out quite a bit. I wish I hadn't read The Dionaea House stuff before this book... the plots are somewhat similar (so far, anyway!) and it's kind of spoiling the fun for me. But DUDE. This book is SUPER COOl.

Tonight's opening. And I should watch the show and stay for the after party. But the show will be over around 10 o'clock and I'm tired... part of me just wants to go home after the show starts. I could get my grocery shopping done, I could get the chili ready to start crocking tomorrow night, I could watch Intervention and I could knit. I could get some decent sleep. Or, I can sit and watch the 3 hour show (again), have a couple of beers, get home after midnight and start tomorrow with a hangover. What would the Flying Spaghetti Monster do? And when do I have time to make granola?

This weekend wasn't really a weekend. I got some extra sleep, but I never had any serious laze about on couch time. I never cleaned anything. I didn't even cook. I got some great stuff done, but yeah. I don't know when I'm going to get some actual rest any time soon. Well, Easter Sunday, because I'll be recovering from the wedding. I'm just tired and a touch overwhelmed, I guess.

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey - I put a hold on this book after the controversy died down - I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I'm utterly unimpressed. This book is the same as almost every other addiction book I've read and not as interesting as the chicklit Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes. At least there you have some sympathy for the characters. The random Capitalization and complete lack of commas or quotes around dialogue are interesting for the first hundred pages or so, but then get really old. Y'all, I got over that in junior year creative writing classes. The one interesting part about the storyline was that "James" immediately realizes that he has a problem and refuses to buy into the AA dogma. I kept reading simply because I wanted to see if he eventually came around or if he didn't. Everything else was boring as hell. I was interested in the AA stuff because I find it interesting - Pagan types can have a hard time in AA groups because their faith doesn't fit with the monotheistic ideas of AA and my EXCO alternative healing course went into the ideas of AA a little bit. I wasn't invested in the characters at all... in fact, when there's the listing of what happened to whom at the end, I didn't know who half of them were. I'm not even glad I read this, to be honest.

The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce - The latest in the Circle of Magic series. The kids have all grown up. There's OMGTEHSEXXOR in this kids book including omglesbians! Which, by the way, serious kudos to the author for bringing homosexuality into a young adult's book and handling it like a character being gay is a perfectly normal thing. Thanks. You rock. Sorry if Jerry Falwell calls you a whore or something. I actually liked how the author brought together elements from different parts of the past books and the story was actually rather well told. This one was stronger that the original circle series in a lot of respects. On the other hand, the addition of OMGSEX did some odd things to the storyline. Like making a pair of friends into naked friends, something that had never been established before and actually seemed out of character... Anyway, if you love Tamora Pierce, this won't be a let down.

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner - A plus size female writer finds out her exboyfriend has written about both her and her size in a national magazine. She's struggling with the break-up, feeling humiliated, and trying to lose weight and life gets even more complicated. I actually found this book to be really interesting and enjoyed it until a certain point. Telling would be OMGSPOILERS, but it's the twist after the movie star. It changes the tone of the story completely and made what was actually an interesting look at an unconventional life into a completely conventional story that I'm getting tired of. OMGSPOILERS will make me complete is a story that I'm really freaking tired of hearing and not a solution I'm looking forward to investing in anytime soon. (Not weightloss surgery) So, I liked this book, I kept reading it, but I was disappointed because it had the potential to be so much more interesting.

Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier - OK, when you graduate from Oberlin College, they make you sign a waiver that says you may not slander any other Oberlin graduates. Therefore, I loved this novel. OMG SO MUCH that you or anyone college aged that you know should go to Oberlin College. Honestly, I liked this one quite a bit too - it was an engaging look at early 1900's Britain and tangentially the suffragette movement. Chevalier employs a multiperson narrative that's interesting and fun. The story is well built, the characters are interesting (one's annoying as hell, but she's supposed to be) but... something about this one didn't do it for me. This wasn't nearly as interesting as Girl With a Pearl Earring or The Lady and the Unicorn. I wasn't as invested in the characters, perhaps because of the first person super short narratives Chevalier uses or just because I don't care that much about British cemetaries. A good book, but not her best.

Before I get started, I should say that I read fast. I love to read. I've devoured books ever since I was about 9. I go through maybe a book a week from the library. If I bought all of the books I read, I'd be broke and unable to walk in my room. I'm starting to keep track of what I read because I'm now doing one of those 'OK, I read a book and it was about some girl who was a hooker... the cover was green... what was that called?' And I don't like that.

My method when choosing the next book to read is simple. Wander through the new book section of the library, see what has an interesting title and an interesting cover. Then I read the liner notes and if it sounds good, I check it out. Sci-fi usually trumps fiction, though I get my share of that, too. Sometimes the books are good, sometimes the books are bad.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman - This is a reread. And despite what everyone says, this is NOT a sequel to American Gods. I mean really. Don't make me hurt you. According to Neil Gaiman speaking at the National Book Festival last September, he just liked Mr. Nancy so much that he borrowed him from Anansi Boys and put him in American Gods. Anyway, this is a fun book about family with the usual impeccable Neil Gaiman humor. It's about family more than it's about the silly god stuff and it's quite entertaining. But you're not getting my lime.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - I'm a sucker for historical fiction in the Napoleonic era. Blame Sorcery and Cecelia. This is a fun spy thriller with corsets and the gratuitous sex scenes. I read The Masque of the Black Tulip first and this may be the stronger of the two. Of course, Black Tulip leaves it open for a third. I also like the switch between real time and back in the day, the different perspectives and the hint of romance in the modern story. It's not literature but it's definitely good.

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domique - This was an interesting story of a ghost trying to find out what happened to her lover and the story of a couple she's been haunting. The tone of this one was a bit too level for me. It was very cool and almost flat. Again, the juxtaposition of flashbacks and current time was well done but I found it hard to empathize with the ghost, Raziela. Razi living is an endearing character, Razi the ghost is... well... just not my style. It's well written but wasn't engaging for me.

But not from the work side of things. Work was slow, so I managed to get everything else done, though not that LostWriters article that needs another edit and a better ending. And probably a mention of Mr. Calls Me Katherine. Speaking of, guess who called me 4 times this weekend? Did I call him back? No. Definitely not. I had a busy weekend, and didn't have the energy. I really should call him back tonight. And watch Ray.

Anyway, I found my woolly mammoth pattern and my wedding afghan pattern. (The wedding afghan may be way too much work and probably won't be done in time for the wedding... but neither was the last one)

I took a lunch break today (wonders!), ran to CVS, and then ran to the library. Can I mention just how much I love working 6 blocks from the library? I managed to find a copy of Knitting Without Tears, Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting (!!!!!), and a Sewing Basics book. Because I kinda need to learn the sewing basics if I am to attempt the impossible... darts! I'll drop The Rules of Attraction and start reading this on the train tonight. (BTW, so far? The book is not quite as interesting as the movie. But maybe that's just because I have a celesbian crush on Shannyn Sossamon)

Anyway, I'm excited, is all.