Libromancy

Libromancy.

One word: Llamacycle. Get your ass up in an airplane and buy Joe and I a pair for Christmas.

I hate livejournal. I have no clue why but there's something about it that has always bothered me. I'm thinking about jumping ship again and getting my own little cozy space on a server somewhere... we'll see.

Sorry that I haven't been updating much. I keep my own paper journal for that sort of thing, and rarely touch the internet anymore except for those moments when I want to share my opinion about a book over at the No Pressure Book Club.

Speaking of books! I'm going to be doing the From the Stacks Challenge. My five books are:

1.Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.
2.Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel.
3.Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
4.House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.
5.L'enfant de Sable by Tahar Ben Jelloun.

Probably a third of my stack is in some foreign language or the other, but I'm only going to do one for this challenge because I don't want my mind to explode. Understandable.

First I have to finish up Theft by Peter Carey, then I can begin.

Oh, and don't worry, if I do decide to ditch livejournal (again) I'll post a redirect here.

It's wierd to see my own words come out of Brad Pitt's mouth.

"Brad Pitt, ever the social activist, says he won't be marrying Angelina Jolie until the restrictions on who can marry whom are dropped.

"Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able," the 42-year-old actor reveals in Esquire magazine's October issue, on newsstands Sept. 19. "

I've read a lot lately. I feel like I should do something with all of this bookiness now in my heads. Thus, below, mini reviews.

Books about books:

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig. The hype around this book led me to believe that it was a historical fiction adventure or a novel about a researcher. Both of which would have interested me. What we have instead is a bit of chick lit that just happens to mostly take place in France during Napolean's time. Here's the thing with romances: you don't read them for intellectual stimulation or classy writing. You read them for the sex. Sadly, this book even fails in this regard because it only has 1.5 sex scenes, and it's of the virginal- oh it hurts but she enjoyed it anyway- variety. Yawn.

The Archivist by Martha Cooley. Maybe I should have read a few reviews of this before I picked up the book. I got it thinking that I would get some insight into, you know, being an arcivist. Go figure. Actually the book is more of a meditation on WWII survivor guilt and religious conversion. Typically, I don't like being surprised by a book straying unexpectedly into religious territory. The fact that I finished the novel and really enjoyed it, despite my strong desire to read a book about books, demonstrates how deeply it enraptured me.

A Gentle Madness by Nicholas A. Basbanes. This book is a huge nonfiction work about book collectors. Book collectors are a strange sort of folk, and Basbanes claims that this work is not to list every book collector ever, but instead to show you some of the more important and amusing ones. Well, he does show you almost every book collector ever, and you have to wade through the hundreds of boring facts to get to any good anecdotes. Someone needs to make a shorter book with just the amusing stuff for those of us not interested in an encyclopedic work.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, vols 1 and 2 by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. I was anxious to read this because it's a very literary book. Every character is from an English novel; the stars of the show are Wilhemina Murray (Dracula) and Allan Quatermain (King Soloman's Mines). Sadly, the meat of it, the actual comic, wasn't that exceptional. What I did really enjoy were Moore's longer fictional non-fictionals that compliment the comic parts. At the end of volume 2 is a fictional geography of England, outlining the lay of the land as it is represented in English literature. This part is an English major's wet dream. I'm thinking about buying it and adding it to my collection of Arthurian literature that is taking up a disproportionate amount of space in my library.

Other Comics

Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore. This could be aptly described as an illustrated version of Bikini Kill's "Rebel Grrrl." The characters all seem so familiar to me that there is no excitement in it; but that might also be because I'm not a big fan of romantic comedies.

Top 10 by Alan Moore and Gen Ha. I expected more from this, since I love Alan Moore's stuff, but this was a pretty typical superhero comic. Except much funnier and utterly porntastic.

Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan. You actually get a plot summary with this one, because the plot is so vital to this series. As one character describes-- it's the rapture, but only men are taken. Suddenly, only females are left on earth to witness the apocalypse. That is, just females and one male, Yorick. As Yorick's name hints at, this series is another "English major's wet dream." Also one of the most thrilling, hilarious, and addictive comic books I have ever read. The politics are a little dubious, but beyond that I have no complaints. This series literally manages to hit every pleasure center in your brain. It's entertaining, it's emotional, it's intelligent, it's action packed... and the series is long enough for you to become absorbed in it. That's one of the main pluses. Highly recommended if you want a quick but extremely worthwhile read.

Other Novels:

A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies by Ellen Cooney. Being that this novel is about a proper lady who accidentally winds up living in a brothel, I had high hopes for this novel. While it wasn't that bad, it certainly wasn't as fun or adventurous as a plot summary suggests.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I almost forgot to write about this book at all! Of all the books I've read since I've left school, this has been one of my favorites. The writing is exquisite, the kind that prompts you to reread paragraphs outloud just to taste the different sounds as you make them. My vocabulary probably doubled after reading this book! It's divided into six 'stories' that span different centuries in the history of this world. You travel from the 19th century through to a post-apocalyptic future, tracing the cycles of humanity, the recurrance of courage, fear, solitude, hope. I know that sounds like romantic fiddle faddle, but after reading this book I was able to say such broad words like "courage" and "hope" and actually feel like they have meaning. Need I say that I recommend it?

Thinking about going to see Mark Danielewski read his new book. Have it on hold from the library. Never finish Houes of Leaves-- too long to check out from the library and read, too expensive to buy. Am considering this problem.

Anyway, back to the reading... going would mean skipping tutoring, or maybe just leaving way way early... decisions, decisions..

also interested in going see Bruce Campbell at the end of the month. I remember Laura (that was her name right?) and her Bruce Campbell obsession... how she went to Houston or somewheres to see him read and he flirted with her the whole time. They'll be alcohol at this one, double the fun.

Please suggest books for me to read. For once in my life, I'm not interested in something to just pass the time. I want something that teaches me, or makes me feel deeply.

It took me 8, count 'em, 8 tries to log in. Why is that?

Tonight was the whiskey taste test.

I am reporting live from my living room to bring you the results.

What we decided was that from now on, at home anyway, we're drinking Black Velvet. Joe and I had fairly different tastes, and we both happened to like this one. It's also the trashiest one and took me 5 minutes to open... I am serious when I say that my hand has a second degree burn from trying to open the frigging bottle.

We both rated Crown as the worst. That was the only thing we had in common!

Joe liked the cognacs- Hennessey and Courvasier. I was all over the charts.

The detailed are behind ( this cut )

The overall experience of the taste taste was much different than what I anticipated so I thought I should warn you.

During the taste test, you are required to drink much, much, much more quickly than you do in a typical setting. Joe did the taste test first, and after only the second whiskey, he started coughing and punking out. I thought he was being weak so I kept badgering him until he went to his fourth. Then he insisted on a break... I didn't like it and forced him to continue after a while. When it was my turn, I regretted it. He gave me much smaller tastes, and after my very first one I realized how I had gotten myself in trouble. You drink it slowly, to savor it and all, but if you time it, it's so much faster than you're used to drinking it that you might as well be chugging it. Just this morning I watched an ER epsidoe where someone almost dies at a college party, so by my second drink I was trying to find someway to quit before I died. I made it through alive, but let me warn you that A. I drank probably 2 gallons of water today, not counting my three glasses of tea, and B. I paced myself during the taste test. Please, please be careful if you perform an 8-alcohol taste test because you end up drinking quite a bit in probably an hour or less.

Well that's it. Hope you enjoyed it. I put my life on the line for your edufication.

I've had this dress since highschool. Most of its lifespan has been spent sitting in my sewing kit due to a big gash it developed across the abdomen. Now that my sewing machine is up and running I decided to finally take care of it.

I walked to Goodwill and found the first fabric that matched the color, then basically cut and paste it on. Below are the results. Please note that I'm holding it on because the whole side is cut out.




Now I have a few questions about where to go from here. First of all, is that a stain on my left breast, or a shadow? I can't even tell when I look at the actual fabric.

Secondly, should I add another strip of fabric to the bottom? I'm thinking yes, Joe's thinking no. It's sort of short as it is.

Lastly, and most importantly... how the hell can I hold it together but still get in and out of it? It used to have a zipper, but I had to take that out to add in the swatch. Maybe I can use some little hooks? No clue....

Is there money in making cos play costumes? If so, that would be a good excuse to sew some ridiculous pieces that you know you'll never wear.

BTW, my alltime favorite cosplay photo. I love the guy in the back going, WTF!??!!