| Bookcrossing |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|05:26 pm] |
Have just discovered the bookcrossing website http://www.bookcrossing.com/home I found a book which had a bookcrossing sticker in it, so I registered with the site and updated the book's details - since I'm about to head to Florence next week I thought I'd read it on holiday and leave it in the guest house there. I love the idea of actually keeping track of books you 'let go' - I'm always giving books away to people, donating them to charity shops or leaving them on my travels, partly because I have very limited bookshelf space (and no room for more shelves) and partly because I like the idea of sharing books with others - I also buy a fair number of books from charity shops to help recycle them. So I'm a happy bunny at the moment.
Has anyone else discovered this site? |
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| Philadelphia: PRR Steam Plant Implosion |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|10:45 am] |
Made the early morning trek up to Philly to see this go down. I got there about an hour before it went down and staked out a spot. I was the first person on the block but even minutes after I got there people began to pour into the streets. I got a better spot for my video camera than even the lady from Controlled Demolition International (the people bringing down the stack) did. She was probably pissed. They did a poor job of giving people a signal when this was going to go down. The news said 7:30. Than the CDI lady said 7:45. It actually went down around 7:47. They usually let off a siren or something when it is about to happen but they didn't do anything. My video camera was acting up about 6 seconds before this happened and thankfully it started filming right at this second. I didn't even have to edit this video at all. It was perfect timing...
While I was waiting I saw something that looked like a giant rat go under this Jeep. Some people and I walked over to take a look. We saw it was an opossum. Later on the opossum walked across the street through the crowd of people and dug under the fence and started walking towards the implosion. I don't think he even made it to the tracks but wherever he was I'm sure he got a rude awakening. |
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| The True Love |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|03:27 pm] |
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Сегодня снова настоящая любовь в Солянке. Я играю в компании верных соратников Липского и Грозного. Заходите! |
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| birthday happenings... |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|11:58 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | allllllll right | ] |
My birthday is wrapping up in New Zealand time, but it's still happening in the US...right? I was born 28 years ago (yeaaaah) at the old Pennsylvania hospital near 8th & Pine in Philly.
I think the only way to make birthdays less depressing is to celebrate it many days in a row.
Thursday-
We went to see the Teacups @ Hopetoun Alpha. They were so girly and lovely.
I made this video montage of their performance. (LSL you'd love them!)
You can check them out here:
http://myspace.com/teawithfriends
Friday-
Crease and I stayed in since we were too tired from a busy work week and the show the night before. We ate pizza and drank champagne, and watched a few more episodes of "Skins" S2.
aka. perfect night in slothville
Saturday-
I got a haircut. Chris and I had lunch at Raw Power! We ate delicious tofu sandwiches and scramble. I went on a mini-shopping spree in the city centre and in Newmarket. Came home took a nap, got ready, I wore this dress by CUE...(scored secondhand, thank you dress gods!)
So cheerleader, still...I can't help it!
We had dinner with Jeff, Nancy, Kimia, Matt and Jess at an Indian restaurant on K-road. =)
Drank a lot of wine, ate really good food with good company, recorded some silly videos (stay tuned for that),and then headed over to The Studio to see The Buzzcocks. They were SPOT ON amazing. They still have it. I am turning into one of those people who hates new music. Steve Diggle looks like he's having the time of his life and points his finger every other minute which Jeff and Chris couldn't stop laughing about. There were so many old school punks now adults there. So many older men, smiling and singing to the music of their youth. I didn't get to talk to Steve, oh well. =( I recorded most of their set, which I'll post soonish. Before we walked into the show, the bouncer glanced at my ID. As we walked out, he wished me a happy birthday 10 minutes before my birthday kicked in! How sweet!
We went to a gay bar (Family) and danced for a good ten minutes...and I welcomed 28 (oh god, 30 is rapidly approaching, no offence!) in the Southern Hemisphere, dancing like I was 21 again at Sasha's/Tramps. After that, we left and went to Whammy Bar for the "after party." We saw some fun rock band that looked and sounded very 90s.
Sunday(Today)-
I slept in, Crease made me breakfast, watched more "Skins," finished up some chores/errands, went to the mall, had my birthday noodles (It's a superstitious Filipino/Chinese thing.) We drank coffee, had carrot pineapple cake...and passion fruit sponge cake. Relaxed at home, and I made a cake to bring into work tomorrow. That's about it...
Chris said it best, "You don't realise how lonely you are until you celebrate your birthday in a foreign country not knowing anybody." That was the case last year. Thankfully not this year.
xo
jv |
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| Early Reading |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|02:29 pm] |
This post is motivated by naked curiosity. I just tracked down and purchased an old copy of The Magic Story Tree. This was one of my favoritest books when I was but yea high. It's a book of fairy tales that are well told and illustrated. The stories made a deep impression, especially the one about the woodpecker and the one about the big dipper.
So this got me thinking of my other old best beloved books from when I *very* first started to read. I still have some of these: Billy and Blaze; Flip; Jenny and the Cat Club; Charles Addam's Mother Goose; Momotaro, Peach Boy; Pua Pua Lena Lena (these last two were more advanced and drew me in because of the illustrations). My dad had a book that collected 100 years of cartoons from Punch, the British magazine. I loved it so much I took it to pre-school with me. I probably didn't understand a word. Oh there were so many more. My first poetry volume came from Childcraft as part of a sort of youngsters encyclopedia set. One volume was full of wonderful poems that children could appreciate. We lost the set in a move. Years later I found the set at a basement bookstore. I bought the whole thing just for that one volume. I paid for the whole set, took the volume I wanted, and gave the rest back to the bookstore. Because I don't need to learn how to make paper machie volcanoes (volume seven).
Care to share your special early readers? Extra points for more obscure titles! |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|06:45 pm] |
i haven't been posting here very often, but! this is pretty much all that's been up. lol.
<3 |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|04:31 pm] |
Hello, fellow bibliophiles of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) bookish! I'm looking for non-fiction recs centering on the culture of Italy. I'm not sure how to describe what I'm looking for, since I'm not much of a non-fiction reader normally and I don't read a lot of travel accounts...but I guess I'm looking for something that's very evocative of a certain aspect of the setting, the culture, and the people? Along similar lines, I'm also looking for some good places to start with in reading about the culture and history of ancient Mesopotamia (it can focus on just one empire, like Sumerian or Babylonian, or be a survey of that entire time, or whatever). A book that contains photographs of the art and architecture along with a good text would be great, although obviously if need be I can just poke around on Google Images for those.
If this helps in clarifying what I'm looking for and why: Basically, I'm working on a fantasy (science fantasy?) novel of mine set in a non-Earth dimension/world/whatever, and I've been stuck for the longest time in trying to figure out some sort of aesthetic or culture for the main setting. So my current desperate plan of attack is to take various aspects of different Earth cultures, merge it into something mostly unrecognizable as such, and add my own personal touch. In this case, I chose Italy because I'm finishing up on an art history class about works from the Italian Renaissance, and ancient Mesopotamia because that's a subject that's interested me for a while but which I haven't done a lot of reading on.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. |
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| Recommendations? |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|06:30 pm] |
Books I'm interested in:
* The Outlander (Series) by Diana Gabaldon
* Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel by Susanna Clarke
* The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
* Angel Time (Song Of The Seraphim Series) by Anne Rice
* The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
And quite possibly every book ever written by Alice Hoffman (In Chronological Order, starting with "Property Of" and ending with "The Story Sisters")
Any recommendations on which one I should start with? I plan to read them all, but is there one in particular that you think is worth reading more than the rest? |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|05:01 pm] |
So I never do these meme things, but it's a rainy Saturday, so why not?
- Reply to this meme by typing "hey girl hey!"
- I will then give you 3-5 words that remind me of you.
- Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.
My girl ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) sammydebutante gave me...
Body Mods: I've got two passions in life - sociology & body modification. It's my art, my soul. I've got roughly 15 tattooes & 20 piercings, several of which are stretched (1" lobes, 4ga seconds, 8ga tragus', 0ga tounge, 10ga septum). My ears were scapelled, which was probably the most intense body modification I've recieved to date. I plan on getting wrist implants, scarification on my thigh & some sort of branding. This Thursday I'm going to Nashua, NH to get a chest microdermal. I've got plans for a half sleeve, a full back piece, a side piece, armpit pieces & the tops of both my feet. I don't know what kind of woman I would be if I have never discovered the beauty of body modification. It helps me like myself, inside & out. I physically wear my heart on my sleeve... on my skin... & I would have it no other way.
Jen: My heart & soul; my best friend & girlfriend. Jen (lovebuzz03) & I have been together for nearly 8 months. We met because of the community dyke_riot. She lived in Riverside, California & I live in Portland, ME. We first commented to each other about 3-4 years ago. She became close with a girl who lives in Portland & began texting me because she was going to possibly come move here, just to start fresh. We immediately fell in love & within a month of texting, I paid for her to move out here. She is the woman I'll be spending the rest of my life with. She's genderqueer, which I think is a beautiful, brilliant thing. She keeps me grounded & sane & I help her keep her head in the clouds. We match perfectly & I can't imagine ever wanting to leave her.
Hair Color: I've been dying my hair since I was 12. The first time I dyed it, I tried to get brown hair with blonde highlights. I ended up with orange hair. At the time, I was scarred. I guess I didn't know that 6 years later, I'd be dying my hair pumpkin orange. My hair has been every color under the sun... twice. It's currently purple, which I'm fading out. I'll be dying my hair electric blue in Decemember. It's very thin & very dead because of the amount of bleach I've put into it, but I'm not particularly considered with that.
Drinking: I enjoy drinking... probably too much. I'm what my friends call a "functioning alcoholic". I pay my bills, I hold a full-time job, I have a great relationship with not only my girlfriend but both my parents as well as a solid group of friends, ect. It just so happens that 4-5 nights out of the week, I'm drunk. I prefer dark rum & vodka over other liquors & PBR over other beers. It's not bragging when I admit that I can drink you under the table. I'm sure someday I'll stop drinking, but it's not really an issue for me at this point in my life.
♥ |
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| First review! |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|10:46 pm] |
Author: Nicci Gerrard
Title: Things We Knew Were True
Pages: 309
Grade: A-
I think this book had the effect on me that the Time Traveller's Wife was supposed to, but never did. It's really well written and very emotionally charged; it's been a while since a book has left me in tears but this one succeeded.
The story is about three sisters who have to deal and cope with a family tragedy that turns their lives upside down. The characters are well developed and three dimensional, particularly Edie, who is the protagonist. If you've ever been that shy, bookish teenager with a penchant for troubled, dreamy boys, then you'll probably relate to 17 year old Edie very well. One of my favourite things about the book was how well it described first love - the awkwardness, the excitement, the obsession. After Edie falls in love with Ricky, her first boyfriend, something happens that tears her family apart, and she has to leave everything and everyone she's ever known. Some twenty years later, she's called back to her hometown and is forced to re-examine all the places and people she was forced to abandon.
Despite this, the book is most definitely not a romance. Its main themes are grief, sex, family relationships, suburban society, thwarted teenage dreams and the attempts to reconcile oneself with those lost dreams once you hit your middle years. It's divided into two parts that serve to contrast these two stages in life in a particularly effective yet extremely harsh way. It's a little depressing, to be sure, and very gritty - the characters are unapologetically real and some are alarmingly familiar - but there is plenty of warmth and humour to balance it out. It won't exactly cheer you up, but it won't leave you feeling completely depressed either. Thought provoking is probably the best way to sum it up.
The prose is simple and easy to read. It's poetic and descriptive without going too overboard. I finished it in a single afternoon and was left in a huge jumble of emotions. Definitely recommended! |
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| Need Help Understanding Something |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|02:01 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  confused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Again-Flyleaf | ] |
Hi there! I need some help understanding somethings in 1984, because I tried asking my oldest brother who's read the book to clarify it and he told me to figure it out on my own and I asked my friend too and he tried to explain it but nothing made sense.
( Confused ) |
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| Asterios Polyp |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|08:45 am] |
Asterios Polyp
by David Mazzucchelli
Grade: A-
One of my favorite superhero stories (and probably my favorite Batman story) is Batman: Year One, written by Frank Miller and with gorgeous art by David Mazzucchelli and dark, pastel-like colors by Richmond Lewis.
So I was naturally looking forward to a graphic novel completely by Mazzucchelli. Minus Frank MIller (not so gritty) and Richmond Lewis (brighter color schemes) Asterios Polyp looks completely different from that earlier work. Even Mazzucchelli's art looks different - he's got two more decades of experience. He still has beautiful lines, but now it's more like Tintin with brushes of Kyle Baker energy. His techniques are far more varied now and this book almost catalogs the possibilities for opening up the page.
The story itself... well, tough to describe. It's mainly flashbacks in the life of Asterios Polyp, architect instructor, and how his marriage crumbled. I didn't think it was working for me till it neared the end and the fugue-like structure started coming together. It's really a love story and a really unique one. Plus the ending is both sad and funny and unexpected and yet completely plausible in structural terms. Neat book. |
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| For someone still a member of this community (?) |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|09:46 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  pleased | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | chill mat fan | ] |
At this point I can't remember how long ago someone recommend/reviewed a book in this community. I was intrigued and ordered the book from an independent bookstore which I like to do when I am feeling financially flush. As with most book loving people it went in the "to be read pile". I finally pulled out of the pile and began to read it.
I just finished it this evening. It was a great read. It was a great read. It was a great read.
So to the lovely person who pointed me in the direction of Open Me by Sunshine O'Donnell thank you very much. I found the story compelling, the historical data beyond interesting and Sunshine's way with a simile and way around the topic matter of the novel fresh and unique. |
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| Just bought 4 new books! Want your opinions... |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|10:08 pm] |
-Okaaay
I just bought four new books!
::Wicked:: by Gregory Maguire
::Pride & Prejudice:: by Jane Austen
::If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?:: by Melissa Kantor
::Vampire Academy:: by Richelle Mead
I want your PERSONAL opinions on these if you have read them! Please do not come and bash my choices! I am not a particularly picky reader, so I usually just pick-up anything to fit my mood! :) I LOVE this community and all the help it has given me!!!! Now, help me pick which one to read first!!
Thanks
---Jessica |
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| cheated |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|09:47 pm] |
i'm being cheated quite a bit on my rent! i don't know if i should be pissed off at the situation. it's not like i'm busting my butt to make rent or anything. I agreed to pay the amount I'm currently paying, so why am I kind of pissed now? Should I say anything? I know I won't be able to find much cheaper rent, unless I find people to move into a new place... but that requires a deposit, a lease, and all that not-fun stuff.
what do you think?
numbers: i pay 400.00 a month for my own large room. I think everyone else is paying 250 a month (even Chase who is in the master bedroom with attatched bathroom). One might be paying even less than that, but he's only here 2 times a month, so who cares?
What do you think?
more numbers: I make 10.50 an hour. I work about 33 hours a week. I make about 1200.00 a month.
gah! I need opinions! |
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| Endless Blue |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|10:17 pm] |
Endless Blue by Wen Spencer
In a space-faring future, where humanity is under attack from mysterious aliens called nefrim, where genetic modified Reds and Blues are slaves of human society -- Captain Mikhail Volkov (who is also the crown prince of Novaya Rus) is summoned for a mission. A ship that had been lost years earlier had reappeared in space -- at least its engine had -- and it was encrusted with coral.
Turk -- Mikhail's foster-brother and Red Commander, a Red himself and so an oddity -- replaces their lost Reds, they prepare the ship for sea (insofar as anything can be done), and they replicate the passage of the ship that was lost. It lands them in a strange world. Where chunks of rock soar through the sky over ocean. Where multitudinous alien races survive -- minotaurs, hauk, and seraphim, among others -- and time does not flow as it does in their universe. Where Turk wrestles with his heritage and his resentment, and Mikhail with his depressive tendencies and his past. Where significant secrets are discovered, which will affect the human race. |
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| First posty.. |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|07:59 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Study | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
I am looking for a particular book, however I forgot the name. That's where you guys come into play. It's about the end of the world and a sickness has spread through the world, but only those who are 12 and over die from it. So there are a bunch of kids trying to figure out how to run the world....and the rest of it goes blank. I can't remember the author or the title, I do remember that it was a book selection for a my junior high school, I didn't go to that class, but it was a book that apparently the teacher was making everyone read it because there was a huge stack of them. If you have any idea please let me know.... chibimoon21@gmail.com
THANK YOU!
-Nicole |
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| Lily Bard Series. |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|08:38 pm] |
Shakespeare's Champion (Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 2)
3/5
You can find my review for book one here.
Lily Bard's life in the small town of shakespeare seems to get hectic at times. One day, at her normal work out place, Lily goes to open it for her friend. She finds the door unlocked and gets inside only to discover the body of a town member. This has been the third death in the past couple of months so Lily finds herself wondering if it was an accident. While Lily is trying to put the pieces together for this puzzle, little blue papers start turning up around town. The papers are suggesting that the white people want to take back what is theirs. Lily is disgusted and very confused on what is happening to her small town. She cant help but feel suspicous about a new comer in town. He is tall with dark hair and very mysterious. He keeps popping up with the strange events going on too. Although she feels he might not be as innocent as everyone else thinks, she cant help but feel warmth overcome certain areas when she is around him. This makes it really hard for Lily to stay concentrated on what is going on in her town.
I enjoyed this one a lot more than the other. I felt like there were a lot more events going on. I also find myself reading for who Lily is and not so much about the story. Its nice to read about a strong women sometimes.
( Book 3-5 under here. ) |
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| Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|10:24 pm] |
Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.
(from the publisher)
020 bb $a 9780440180296
100 bb $a Vonnegut, Kurt.
245 b0 $a Slaughterhouse-five, or, The children's crusade: $b a duty dance with death / $c by Kurt Vonnegut.
246 bb $a Slaughterhouse 5
246 b0 $a Children's crusade
260 3b $a New York: $b Dell Publishing, $c December 1991, c1969.
300 bb $a 215p.: $b ill.; $c 17cm.
I feel kind of like a jerk for not loving this book. There was nothing wrong it, and I see why it's endured despite losing some relevance, but I don't think it's going to stand out in my mind in the long run.
The tone was very... American. And I don't quite know what I mean by that. Or maybe it's just that period of writing. When I was reading it, it didn't have the same voice as the 19th century novel or Can Lit. It's a nice change and it kind of made the reading go faster.
I loved the thoughts on predestination and the aliens of Tralfamadore. The aptly named main character, Billy Pilgrim, lives his life according to the premise that there is no free will, sedately moving from one situation to another, passively accepting everything that happens to him. The repeated "So it goes" at every death further emphasizes the feel of helplessness that Pilgrim represents. He finds comfort in knowing that he can't change anything and as he skips through time he has the luxury (curse?) of knowing how things will unfold.
On a larger scale, the Tralfamadorians say that Earth is the only place where people speak of free will. That war will always happen because it has always happened and will always happen and it's just better not to look at it. Pilgrim's fate is tied up with that of the universe. Like how the aliens know how the end of the universe will come about, Pilgrim, too, knows how he will die. Both calmly accept these endings without a thought of trying to change them, thus perpetuating cruelty and war on both their planets.
This was my first Vonnegut novel and would have to say that it was just all right. It didn't blow my mind, but I did enjoy it. I would classify it much more part of the WWII genre - if there is such a thing - than science fiction, however. The scifi allowed for a novel way of exploring the themes, but the focus is primarily on the influence and impact of war. Of the great American classics, I think I have read only The Great Gatsby and Fahrenheit 451 and I feel like there's a large gap in my reading background because of it. It must just come from familiarity, but I have a harder time getting into the classics when they're American instead of English or even Canadian. I think, perhaps, I should start to remedy that. |
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| A certain...je ne sais quoi... |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|08:18 pm] |
In light of some recent thoughts I posted on my LJ regarding the presence (or lack thereof) of leading lady vampires on television, I'm rather curious if anyone has any recommendations regarding leading lady vampires in fiction....aside from Anne Rice.
They can be evil or they can be good, they just can't be submissive to a male character (development and focus wise), vampire or human. I've read tons regarding the dynamic between a human woman and a male vampire, but now I want to see the opposite. Television won't give me that, so I'm turning to the medium that has never let me down.
Got any solid recommendations? |
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| reading list |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|11:51 am] |
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Hi. I've just created a long reading list for myself. At the moment the list includes 116 books of various genres although many of the books fall in the fantasy and science-fiction genres which are obviously my favorite. I also have quite a few retellings on the list since this is also a large interest of mine. Anyway the goal was 120 books so I'm looking for a few more books to add onto the list. The list can be viewed here at my blog: http://alishenai.livejournal.com/ |
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