weaktwos

I resisted reading this book series. Something about the movie previews and the descriptions put me off. The fear of over-angsty teen love, perhaps.

Well, I read the sample chapter available for Kindle owners.

...

Four days and $30 in Kindle book expenditures later, I'm done with the series.

PWN3D.

Yes, it's good romantic fun. It's hard to resist falling into the dream world of Stephanie Meyer's version of vampires. There are good, non-human eating vampires who are, coincidentally, hotter than Georgia asphalt. And vampires have no financial woes. They never sleep, so they have all the time in the world to make wise financial investment decisions. Vampires have relatively few bodily functions. Sure, they must feed, but there's no indication of vampire burps or flatulence. And then there's the promise of EPIC vampire sex. Would you give up food, safety, and the mundane human life in exchange for eternal beauty, incredible strength, speed, blood drinking and the occasional tussle with evil Vampires? Hell yeah!

I had a few problems with some of her dialogue choices, and by the end, she really did hand everything to us in a gorgeous gift box and a big fluffy bow. So, it's definitely four fun volumes of wishful thinking. But because you do get fond of the characters, you enjoy their triumphs.

I'm done with book 2 of the series. Wow. I'm pretty impressed with the twists and turns Pullman is dragging the reader through.

I saw the Golden Compass movie last week. My opinion: visually appealing, but they horked up the story. Likely to avoid a war of a simliar nature in reality.

Oooo-weeee, children! Pullman is p-i-s-s-e-d at organized religion. Heh, should I call that "O-faith"? Hmmmm. His ire is particularly evident in a character's final words in book 2.

The Amazon Kindle intrigues me.

Yes, it's too expensive right now. And it would be a tool simply for reading, only.

However, if you were already one to buy books outright instead of going to the library, your break even point, assuming paying full price of a hardcover, say $25 value, is 26 books.

And anywhere you can get Sprint's EVDO network, you can download a book for no addition cost but the cost of the ebook.

That's not too bad.

And it's easier to hold with one hand!

I'm not sold on it yet, but I'm curious.

* 11:34 Overwhelmed by laziness right now. Time to change that #
* 12:56 Whoever came up with those adhesive security tabs on the edges of dvds needs to be euthanized. #
* 18:21 @ariedana: you are so right! ...and goats go to hell... #

Today was housecleaning, watching Knocked Up, and fun with Librarything. I'm up to about 354 books. I haven't even hit the main cluster of bookshelves. I predict I'll have about 1200 books. We'll see how correct my guess is soon enough. I also changed out a number of my lightbulbs with more energy saving ones. I'm liking these bulbs from Costco quite a bit!

I enjoyed Knocked Up. Seth Rogen does a very good job of acting like a stoner loser with a heart of gold. However, he's 25 and his resume is pretty impressive. Acting! I did find myself not very understanding of the premise. To think that there are a lot of folks that might get pregnant in such a boneheaded fashion astounds me. Thank goodness for the sake of the movie their relationship worked out. Sadly, reality doesn't quite measure up.

Bath bomb testing: The rejects we had fizzed for less than a minute. This is consistent, I think, with us not packing the bombs tightly enough. But they smell great.

On Friday,

taogrl and I hit Beer's Books. I scored three Joseph Campbell books. I'm most pleased.

“I’ll be damned, if it ain’t the Bobbsey Twins,”

I guess we have a cosplay idea for Dragoncon,

kellinator.

On Friday,

taogrl and I went to Modesto for the afternoon. Our goal: Yesterday's Books, a large and fascinating used bookstore. They have many collectable books there as well, so if you're a true collector, you can knock yourself out and get some nifty, rare finds.

Upon walking in the door, I bee-lined to the collector case. The notion of considering to collect rare books crossed my mind. There in the display case was a first edition copy of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird". I thought this book was fantastic. I inquired with the proprieter to look at the book.

"Now, this is not a signed copy, but it is a verified first edition and in excellent condition, " the gentleman told me. He was tall and lanky, with grey hair, an oxford shirt and slacks. Definitely the aged bookish sort's attire.

I nod as if I know what I'm in for. I was thinking the book would cost about $300 dollars. In hindsight, I was clearly naive-as-hell. I delicately lift the book from the case, look through the pages. It's fairly gorgeous. Although, the spin is a bit crooked because it's been propped up on a stand, or it was stored in a way such that it rested at an angle instead of on it's side or straigh up and down.
( Read more... )

Current Mood: content

The dream catcher in front of me is going crazy. I've seen that before. It's the Apple 1984 ad, the one they commissioned Ridley Scott to direct for the launch of the Macinitosh computer. The most expensive ad in the entire history of selling beige boxes to puzzled posers. **What the hell are they doing with that?**
**Law of Contagion.** Ramona sounds tense. **Very strong imagery of conformity versus mold-breaking,concealing conformity disguised as mold-breaking. Ever wondered why Mac users are so glassy-eyed about their boxes?**
-page 54 The Jennifer Morgue

Current Mood: amused

kellinator may appreciate this one...

Page 344:
"Golka, a Massachusetts physicist, Tesla disciple, and lightning experimenter, has pursued the ephemeral fireball with the fervor of a hunter of snarks."

All you snarky folks better lay low.

Of course, I originally thought the above was a typo. This is likely due to the fact that I haven't read enough Lewis Carroll. Snark was coined by Lewis Carroll in 1876, and refers to an imaginary animal and is used to refer to someone or something that is hard to track down.

Who knew? All this time I've seen it used in the context of people making clever quips about that which annoys them.

Today, my energy level reached its nadir. 'Round about 3pm I lost my industrious oomph. I finally winded up my tasks by about 5:40pm and went to the Hotel. I got in a little workout. San Antonio's humidity helped with enhancing my moisture emitting experience.

After a little rest, I ventured forth to Barnes and Noble and proceeded to let my eyes wander over the various wares of the purveyor of books.
( Read more... )

I had an eye appointment today.
(As I type this my cat jumps up on my computer desk and commandiers my mouse. He must know that soon I'll be out the door. But not before wearing green. And it's not like he's getting into my business, he wants to nap near me. For now.)

It's been over 2.25 years since my last eye visit. My prescription has not changed. I don't expect my vision to get better at this age, but it's nice, for now, that it's not getting worse. Then, when lasik gets cheaper, I might consider it. However, I like wearing glasses. :-) I like opting not to be able to see. ;-)

Wincing the Night Away
I am liking the Shin's new offering quite nicely. Especially the song Australia. It starts out so whimsical, it makes me smile.

Itunes and Airtunes, why hast thou forsaken me?
With the upgrade to iTunes 7, iTunes for windows won't see my Airport express hooked up to my stereo. However, my Mac iTunes sees it just fine. And right now I have them in the same location, so it's not like my mac has better receiption on the network. Plus my pc isn't wireless. So that's a little odd and perplexing. I don't see anything on my windows box that should prevent iTunes from seeing the airtunes device. Since I can see the ip address of the Airtunes device on the network, I can only assume the problem resides in the software and not the hardware.
ETA: Hah! As I finally post this technical tale of woe, a new update was available for iTunes. 7.1 magically restores Airtunes access for my windows 'puter. Excellent!

The Five Fists of Science

textivore loaned me this graphic novel by Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders . It was quite amusing in a J.P. Morgan, Edison hating sort of way. I confess I have not studied the story of Tesla versus Edison or the AC-DC debate. But I enjoy how history is filled with stories where society narrows down their preference to two competing standards. AC-DC was the late 1800s variant of VCR vs. Betamax. Or Mac v. Windows. Blu-ray versus HD. It was a very fun read. Tesla doesn't like hair, or so the writers would have us believe. And JP Morgan and Edison were into dark magic. Marconi was the pawn. The artwork captured body language quite well. I am amused how they portrayed Marconi as a stress-eater. Good times.

A Storm of Swords
I finished Martin's second installment of the Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm eager to read the third and soon fourth. I understand that book four (Feast for Crows) feels incomplete. So I will pace myself after this third book and wait for the fifth to come out before I read the fourth and fifth.

The day was filled with other trifles, but the time for blogging has ceased; the time for driving to Woodland is near.

Have a good Friday night, my dreamlets!

Current Mood: Friday
Current Music: The Shins - Phantom Limb

Here's an excerpt of a new book by Laura Sessions Stepp called "Unhooked", a book about young women and their sexual behavior. It's an interesting read, though I haven't formed an opinion on it, yet.

So, I recently finished reading Frank Fradella's (aka

newbabel) book, "Valley of Shadows".

All I have to say is this: bitch better have my sequel!

But I have more to say, but I'll say it behind the cut. For those who haven't read it: find it and do so. ( On Valley of Shadows )

Current Mood: moody

So, I'm reading

reannon's book, Tandem.

Charlie didn't go in order to see a concert by the Thornbirds?

The Thornbirds?

A band. Called. The Thornbirds?

THE THORNBIRDS?

Explain yourself, woman!

(yes, I know the graphic is cheap, but I'm impatient.)

Here's an interview of Michael Pollan. He is discussing his latest book, "The Ominvore's Dilemma".

Apparently, corn and high fructose corn syrup is in a lot of our processed foods. He also makes some interesting discoveries as he tours organic farms. It's an informative interview, and I may have to put his book on my reading list.

Current Location: 38.40895067, -121.37889559

I just finished the The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith.

My reaction? It's definitely a good light read. If you're a Philosophy major of any sort, you might get a kick out of the applied ethics issues that Isabel Dalhousie wrestles with when solving crimes. The premise is fantastic: she's the "...editor of the Review of Applied Ethics and occasional sleuth, who is often accused of getting involved in problems that are, quite frankly, none of her business."

So, we start with the idea that she's getting involved in affairs that she should not get involved in. And the exceptions to the rules go on from there.

You'll enjoy the character of Grace, who comes from less educated beginnings. She works for Isabel, and Isabel will frequently converse with her on ethical issues and compare her well-educated reaction to Grace's more visceral reaction to an ethical conundrum.

When you reach the end of a good book, there's a period of mourning that occurs. And so, I am left to deal with the joy of a good book with the quiet disappointment that it is over.

However, there are more books to read.Wicked was like a fine meal. His command of the language was delightful.

Some brief thoughts/favorite quotes:
-I wish I could have gone away to college in a town called "Shiz". How much fun to say is that? I'll tell you. A Hill of Shizzy fun. As a friend once mentioned exclaiming "Scott Bakula!" is a good surrogate for certain cuss words. I contend that uttering "Shiz" under your breath is highly satisfying and likely chock full of anti-oxidants. I would be so proud to exclaim that I attained matriculation to the University of Shiz.

-Gregory Maguire is not big on dramatic death scenes, though the Witch had a fine one. Everyone else got virtually a one liner. I didn't mind that at all. I was struck by how matter of factly these deaths occurred.

-Quote:Journalists, armed with the thesauras and apocalypic scriptures fumbled and were deafened by it. "A gulfy deliquescence of deranged and harnessed air." "A volcano of the invisible, darkly construed...".

-Quote: Poets are just as responsible for empire building as any other professional hacks.

I am home safely in California.

I had a good time overall. I sensed there was a layer of preoccupation with personal tragedies or ailments this year. If someone wasn't being personally effected by Hurricane Katrina, they were either sick, getting sick, or had some other calamity. Sure, this is not a statistically valid assessment, but this was the vibe I was getting, and it seemed a different level of energy than last year.

Despite that, it was awful fun to hang out with the likes of

dslartoo,

ariedana,

reannon,

kellinator,

bheansidhe,

vernard,

zorathenne, etc.

My flight was fairly uneventful. I finished reading Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

It truly was a touching tale of unrequited yet stubborn love. I'm not sure if I would be capable of such a thing, myself: loving someone and waiting over 50 years to win them back. I would wait one, two years tops. Then I would classify them as "not worthy" and move on. But it's a hill of romantic fun to read. But also, Florentino did move on to some extent. I wonder if Fermina ever truly found out the extent of his "moving on". As much of a romantic as I am, I did find some of Florentino's behavior rather reprehensible. If any of you have read this book, I'll be eager to hear your opinion of it.

I found it odd that the main character, Florentino Ariza was chronically constipated and also drank thermoses of coffee per day. I wonder if Marquez knew that coffee exacerbates constipation? I guess I'll have to find out at which time it was discovered that coffee encourages constipation. It is highly likely that people were not aware back in the time of the transition from the 19th to the 20th century of such an issue.

My cats are quite adorable and cuddly. They had a good time with

taogrl, thanks to her loving care. Hey, that reminds me,

taogrl. You and I need to talk of the Folsom Street Fair...

Now to unpack, launder, bathe, and tame other domestic beasts left to roam free over the weekend.

Current Music: MAD TV

Looks like I have some catching up to do.

Works of Literature
College Board's 101 Greatest Works of Literature:
bold the ones you've read.
Author - Title

Beowulf
Achebe, Chinua - Things Fall Apart
Agee, James - A Death in the Family
Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice
Baldwin, James - Go Tell It on the Mountain
Beckett, Samuel - Waiting for Godot
Bellow, Saul - The Adventures of Augie March
Brontë, Charlotte - Jane Eyre
Brontë, Emily - Wuthering Heights
Camus, Albert - The Stranger
Cather, Willa - Death Comes for the Archbishop
Chaucer, Geoffrey - The Canterbury Tales
Chekhov, Anton - The Cherry Orchard
Chopin, Kate - The Awakening
Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness
Cooper, James Fenimore - The Last of the Mohicans
Crane, Stephen - The Red Badge of Courage
Dante - Inferno
de Cervantes, Miguel - Don Quixote (but i never finished it)
Defoe, Daniel - Robinson Crusoe
Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor - Crime and Punishment
Douglass, Frederick - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Dreiser, Theodore - An American Tragedy
Dumas, Alexandre - The Three Musketeers
Eliot, George - The Mill on the Floss
Ellison, Ralph - Invisible Man
Emerson, Ralph Waldo - Selected Essays
Faulkner, William - As I Lay Dying
Faulkner, William - The Sound and the Fury
Fielding, Henry - Tom Jones (i read about half)
Fitzgerald, F. Scott - The Great Gatsby
Flaubert, Gustave - Madame Bovary
Ford, Ford Madox - The Good Soldier
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von - Faust
Golding, William - Lord of the Flies
Hardy, Thomas - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Hawthorne, Nathaniel - The Scarlet Letter
Heller, Joseph - Catch-22
Hemingway, Ernest - A Farewell to Arms
Homer - The Iliad
Homer - The Odyssey
Hugo, Victor - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hurston, Zora Neale - Their Eyes Were Watching God
Huxley, Aldous - Brave New World
Ibsen, Henrik - A Doll's House
James, Henry - The Portrait of a Lady
James, Henry - The American
Joyce, James - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Kafka, Franz - The Metamorphosis
Kingston, Maxine Hong - The Woman Warrior
Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
Lewis, Sinclair - Babbitt
London, Jack - The Call of the Wild
Mann, Thomas - The Magic Mountain
Marquez, Gabriel García - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Melville, Herman - Bartleby the Scrivener
Melville, Herman - Moby Dick
Miller, Arthur - The Crucible
Morrison, Toni - Beloved
O'Connor, Flannery - A Good Man is Hard to Find
O'Neill, Eugene - Long Day's Journey into Night
Orwell, George - Animal Farm
Pasternak, Boris - Doctor Zhivago
Plath, Sylvia - The Bell Jar
Poe, Edgar Allan - Selected Tales
Proust, Marcel - Swann's Way
Pynchon, Thomas - The Crying of Lot 49
Remarque, Erich Maria - All Quiet on the Western Front
Rostand, Edmond - Cyrano de Bergerac
Roth, Henry - Call It Sleep
Salinger, J.D. - The Catcher in the Rye
Shakespeare, William - Hamlet
Shakespeare, William - Macbeth
Shakespeare, William - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare, William - Romeo and Juliet
Shaw, George Bernard - Pygmalion
Shelley, Mary - Frankenstein
Silko, Leslie Marmon - Ceremony
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Sophocles - Antigone
Sophocles - Oedipus Rex
Steinbeck, John - The Grapes of Wrath
Stevenson, Robert Louis - Treasure Island
Stowe, Harriet Beecher - Uncle Tom's Cabin
Swift, Jonathan - Gulliver's Travels
Thackeray, William - Vanity Fair
Thoreau, Henry David - Walden
Tolstoy, Leo - War and Peace
Turgenev, Ivan - Fathers and Sons
Twain, Mark - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Voltaire - Candide
Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. - Slaughterhouse-Five
Walker, Alice - The Color Purple
Wharton, Edith - The House of Mirth
Welty, Eudora - Collected Stories
Whitman, Walt - Leaves of Grass
Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorian Gray
Williams, Tennessee - The Glass Menagerie
Woolf, Virginia - To the Lighthouse
Wright, Richard - Native Son

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weaktwos

January 2017

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Page Summary

The Twilight Saga
Books: His Dark Materials
Anne's latest electronic curiosity
Tweets for the Day
While reading reannon's "Abaddon"...
The Trip to Modesto featuring the Rapture Bathroom!
Glassy-eyed Mac users
Amusements in Nikola Tesla's Autobiography...
The Secret is in the Sauce
Some Notes on the Day
Interesting read
Valley of Shadows
Reading Tandem
An interesting interview
The Sunday Philosophy Club
Endings
Home!
From platostruth

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Weaktwos' musings

Entries tagged with books

The Twilight Saga

Books: His Dark Materials

Anne's latest electronic curiosity

Tweets for the Day

While reading reannon's "Abaddon"...

The Trip to Modesto featuring the Rapture Bathroom!

Glassy-eyed Mac users

Amusements in Nikola Tesla's Autobiography...

The Secret is in the Sauce

Some Notes on the Day

Interesting read

Valley of Shadows

Reading Tandem

An interesting interview

The Sunday Philosophy Club

Endings

Home!

From platostruth