Ocy's Secret, Innermost Thoughts

_ocelott_ @ 2008-10-03T19:00:00

2008-10-04T00:31:17Z

Well, it's that time again. Time for all that election nonsense to start up again. Geez, you Americans are nuts. I don't even live in the country, and I know more about your candidates than the Canadian ones. I will be happy when the election's over and I don't have to hear the media frenzy about Obama and Palin anymore.

An interesting side effect of the election is that it seems the average American is disenchanted with Bush and are coming to blame him for all the horrible horrible decisions he made while in office. Congratulations, guys, and welcome to the realization the rest of us came to eight years ago: Bush is a moron. And a dangerous moron, at that. Some of you have probably seen it before, but since it never ceases to delight me, I thought I'd share with you a very Canadian response to Bush and his Bush-isms, as given by Colin Mochrie in 2003.

On behalf of Canadians everywhere I'd like to offer an apology to the United States of America. We haven't been getting along very well recently and for that, I am truly sorry. I'm sorry we called George Bush a moron. He is a moron, but it wasn't nice of us to point it out. If it's any consolation, the fact that he's a moron shouldn't reflect poorly on the people of America. After all, it's not like you actually elected him.

I'm sorry about our softwood lumber. Just because we have more trees than you, doesn't give us the right to sell you lumber that's cheaper and better than your own. It would be like, if, well, say you had ten times the television audience we did and you flood our market with great shows, cheaper than we could produce. I know you'd never do that.

I'm sorry we beat you in Olympic hockey. In our defence I guess our excuse would be that our team was much, much, much, much better than yours. As word of apology, please accept all of our NHL teams which, one by one, are going out of business and moving to your fine country.

I'm sorry about our waffling on Iraq. I mean, when you're going up against a crazed dictator, you want to have your friends by your side. I realize it took more than two years before you guys pitched in against Hitler, but that was different. Everyone knew he had weapons.

I'm sorry we burnt down your White House during the war of 1812. I see you're rebuilt it! It's very nice.

I'm sorry for Alan Thicke, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Loverboy, that song from Seriff that ends with a really high-pitched long note. Your beer. I know we had nothing to do with your beer, but we feel your pain.

And finally, on behalf of all Canadians, I'm sorry that we're constantly apologizing for things in a passive-aggressive way which is really a thinly veiled criticism. I sincerely hope that you're not upset over this. Because we've seen what you do to countries you get upset with.

And while we're on the topic, I figured I'd share the awesome Political Compass test. To nobody's great surprise (least of all my own), I'm a left-wing Libertarian. Politically, that puts me in the same sort of area as Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, which makes me giggle a little.

Canadians and chocolate

2008-09-23T04:07:58Z

According to aurillia's recent journal entry, chocolate bars are a Canadian invention. Which means me buying a bunch of them isn't just splurging on sugar, it's patriotic.

Think my husband will buy into my reasoning?

Child of a Dead God

2008-09-14T04:14:30Z

I (finally) finished reading Barb and JC Hendee's Child of a Dead God this week, but decided against reviewing it on genrereviews because it's the sixth book in the series, doesn't stand well on its own, and gives major spoilers for a series full of mystery and slow reveals. I know there's at least one person who wants to hear my thoughts on the book, though, so I'm giving a mini-breakdown here. I'm assuming anyone interested has at least some idea of what the book/series is about, so I'll skip any attempt at plot summary.

(If you don't know anything about the books, I do recommend checking them out. D&D-style high fantasy involving vampires? Awesome. sarlias reviewed the first one, Dhampir, over here.)

I've come to the conclusion that Magiere is an urban fantasy heroine trapped in a high fantasy series. She's strong, she's angry, she kicks bad guys in the head. She even has the leather pants for the job. Not that this is a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination; I loves me some urban fantasy, after all.

Chap has grown to be really interesting, a full character in his own right instead of just the animal sidekick. He has the slightly alien perspective of the Fay, but relates to people better than he does his "kin." I love the connection between him and Wynn. They make for a nice pair.

The story itself wasn't as dark as some of the previous installations, and there was at least one point where I wanted to smack Wynn over the head with a sharp rock, but I'll admit she's grown on me as the series has progressed, enough that I'm looking forward to seeing how she develops in her own upcoming trilogy. Her triangle of romantic potential was very nicely handled, particularly the two resolution scenes. Nothing about it is cut and dried, and I like that.

The ending left, as usual, as many questions open as had been answered, but I felt more of a sense of satisfaction with the more immediate issues having been resolved. The last few chapters were delightful, the peaceful lull a nice change of pace and a perfect way to end Magiere and Leesil's story.

9am is a stupid time to start school

2008-09-08T03:00:27Z

So I'm thinking I don't like this school in the morning thing. They should all work around my natural (read: nocturnal) schedule so I don't have to get up before the crack of noon. The kids don't need daylight, they have electricity.

Scattergories

2008-09-04T05:12:47Z

Monique sent this one to me, and I thought "meh, why not?" (Yeah, ok, mostly I'm procrastinating all the work I'm supposed to be doing.)

SCATTERGORIES... it's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours, send it on to 10 people including the one that sent this to you.

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things... nothing made up!

Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You can't use your name for the boy/girl name question. And you can not use the same word twice.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Anna
BOY NAME: Austin
4 LETTER WORD: aunt
GIRL NAME: Amy
OCCUPATION: architect
A COLOR: aubergine
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: antennae (they do so count, I have two pairs)
BEVERAGE: absinthe
FOOD: applesauce
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: aspirin
A PLACE: Argentina
REASON FOR BEING LATE: absessed tooth
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: ARG!

BBAW participating blogs

2008-08-29T22:25:03Z

I got an e-mail last night with a full list of the blogs participating in Book Blog Appreciation Week thus far. It's a pretty long list, but you just might find a new and interesting blog by checking it out. Or you could use it to help you out in filling your nomination ballot for the BBAW awards. Because I know you're all filling one out, right? Deadline's the 31st, so get to it!

2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews
The 3 R's: Reading, 'Riting, and Randomness
4 the Love of Books
A Book Lover
A Bookworm's World
A Guy's Moleskine Notebook
A Hoyden's Look at Literature
A Lovely Shore Breeze
A Peek At My Bookshelf
A Platypus with a book walks into a bar...
A World in the Pages
A Writer's Dream
Adventures in Reading
Age 30 - A Year of Books
Alabama Book Worm
All I Have To Say
Allison's Attic of Books
Alpha Heroes
Amateur de Livre
The Amazing Adulthood of Alexis
Amber Miller - Author, Writer, & Web Site Designer
Amber Stults - Book Reviewer and Author
Amy's Corner of the World
Apooo Bookclub
Apprentice Writer
Arch Thinking
As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves
At Home With Books
Aunt Rowena sez:
Babbling Book Reviews
Bart's Bookshelf
Becky's Book Reviews
Bermudaonion's Weblog
Better World Blog
Between Sundays
BiblioHistoria
Bibliolatry
Bibliophile Support Group
Blacklin's Reading Room Reviews & More
Blog Book Tours
Blog Business World
Bloggin' 'Bout Books
Bloody Hell, It's a Book Barrage!
Blue Archipelago
The Bluestocking Guide: Reviews by a Partial, Prejudiced, and Ignorant Reader
Bobbi's Book Nook
Book-a-holic
Book Binge
Book Chatter and Other Stuff
Book Chic
Book Club Girl
Book Crazy
Book Critiques
Book Escape
The Book Girl
The Book Lady's Blog
Book Minx
The Book Muncher
Book Nook Club
The Book Reader
Book Review Maniac
Book Reviews
The Book Smugglers
Book Zombie
Booked Books
Booking Mama
Bookish Ruth
Booklorn
Bookroomreview's Weblog
Books 'N Border Collies
Books and Authors
Books I Done Read
Books, Movies, and Chinese Food
Books on the Nightstand
Bookshipper
Booksweet
The Bookworm
Breaking the Spine
Breeni Books
BTripp's Books
But If You Look At Me Closely...
Café of Dreams
Candid Canine
Caribousmom
Canadian Book Worm
Cheryl's Book Nook
Cheryl Rainfield
Christian Bookworm Reviews
Christian Children's Book Review
Christian Novels
Civil War History
Clear Shining After Rain
Confessions of a Bibliophile
Confuzzled Books
Critty Joy
Croak
Cubie's Confections
Cupid's Chokehold
Damn Heart...
The Dark Phantom
Deborah Vogts
Devourer of Books
Diary of an Eccentric
Dog Ear Diary
Dolce Bellezza
Everyday I Write the Book Blog
Fashionista Piranha
Femmes Fatales
Fnord Incorporated
The Fox Reads
Free Spirit
Frequency of Silence
The Friendly Book Nook
Fyrefly's Book Blog
God-Writing
Good Reads
The GRITS Online Reading Club
Heather's Books
Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?
The Hidden Side of a Leaf
Hope's Bookshelf
I Read What??
I Smell Books
Iced Tea - Books, TV, Etc.
In Laurie's Mind
In Spring it is the Dawn
The Indextrious Reader
Into the Fire
It's All About Books...
Jace Scribbles...
Janicu's Book Blog
Japanese Literature Challenge 2
Jen's Book Thoughts
Jenn's Bookshelf
Journey to the End of the TBR Pile
Joy's Blog
Julie's Jewels
Jungle Red Writers
Just A (Reading) Fool
Kittling: Books
Leafing Through Life
LadyVampire's Lair
The Lair of the Undead Rat
Lesa's Book Critiques
Lesley's Book Nook
Letters On Pages
Life According to B
Life and Times of a "New" New Yorker
Lighthouse-Academy
Linus's Blanket
Literanista
Literarily
Literary Escapism
Literary License
The Literate Housewife Review
Liv's Book Reviews
Lori's Reading Corner
Lost In Books
Love To Read
Lurve a la Mode
Madeleine's Book Blog
The Magic Lasso
Mama Bear Reads
Marireads
Marjolein's Book Blog
MarysLibrary
Maw Books Blog
Mayra's Secret Bookcase
Me, My Book, and the Couch
Medieval Bookworm
Mega Site of Bible Studies and Information
Melly's Spot - Author Melanie Anderson
Melody's Reading Corner
Mervi's Book Reviews
Michele - only one 'L'
Midnight Twilight's Book Blog
Minds Alive on the Shelves
Mog's Blog and More...
Mrs. Magoo Reads
Muse Books Reviews
Musings of a Bookish Kitty
My 50 Book Challenge
My Christian Fiction Blog
My Friend Amy
My Life in Books
Mysteries in Paradise
Necromancy Never Pays
Never A Dull Moment
Nose in a Book
The Novel World
The Nursery @ The Literate Housewife
OCD, Vampires, and Amusing Rants, Oh My!
The Octogon
On My Bookshelf...
One For The Books
Out of the Blue
The Page Flipper
Pages Turned
Paper Bridges
Patricia's Vampire Notes
Peeking Between the Pages
Presenting Lenore
The Printed Page
Quiverfull Family
Ramblings on Romance
Read, Read, Read
Readerbuzz
Reading and Ruminations
Reading Keeps You Sane
Reading Romance Books
Reading With Monie
Reading, Writing, and Retirement
Reading Room
The Reading Spot
ReadingAdventures
Readingjunky's Reading Roost
Rebecca Reads
Redlady's Reading Room
Relz Reviewz
Reviewer X
Reviews by Jessewave
Rhapsodyinbooks's Weblog
Rhonda McKnight on Urban Christian Ficton
Rip My Bodice
Romance Book Worm
Romance Rookie
Rose City Reader
S. Krishna's Books
Sassymonkey Reads
Savvy Verse & Wit
Seaside Book Worm Blogger
See Ya On The Net
She Reads and Reads
She Reads Books
She Treads Softly
Shelf Life
Shooting Stars Mag
Should Be Reading
Simply Books
Simply Romance Reviews
The Sleepy Reader
SmallWorld Reads
Smiling Sally
So Many Books... So Little Time
So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
Socrates' Book Reviews
SORMAG's Blog
Stacy's Place On Earth
Stamped With Grace
Stephanie's Written Word
The Story Siren
Straight From Hel
Strategist's Personal Library
Stuff as Dreams are Made on
Survival of the Book
Talk About My Favorite Authors
Teen Troves
Tempatt
Terra's Book Blog
Things Mean A Lot
This Book For Free
Thoughts from an Evil Overlord
Thoughts of Joy
The Thrillionth Page
Through the Looking Glass Book Review
TOCWOC - A Civil War Blog
The Tome Traveller's Weblog
Too Many Books
Tower of Books
Traci's Book Bag
Trish Perry - Reading, Writing, and the Stuff In-Between
Under the Cover
Well-Mannered Frivolity
Walking on Sunshine
Welcome to Married Life
Wendy's Minding Spot
What Cheesy Reads
What Vanessa Reads
Window To My World
With Intent To Commit Horror
WORD up!
Worducopia
World According to Books
Writer's Block Reviews
Writing By Faith
Writing On The Edge
Yankee Romance Reviews
Young Readers
Zensanity

If I screwed up any blog names or links or left anyone out, please let me know so I can fix it!

Edit: By all means, please feel free to link back here or steal the list! If you'd like the coding with the links intact, e-mail me at the address here and I'll send it to you.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

2008-08-27T22:37:20Z

Know what has the power of awesome? Book blogs. (Not that I'm at all biased on that front by any means...)

Because of the fierce awesomeness of book blogs, the people who run them, and the insane effect these blogs have on our TBR lists, Amy of My Friend Amy has organized Book Blogger Appreciation Week from September 15-19th. Everyone go mark it down on your calendars. I'll wait.

Done? Alright. Here's the lowdown: nominations are going down for book blog awards. Soooo... speak up! Make your voice heard and nominate your favourite book blogs. Clicky on the BBAW banner below for the list of award categories and the e-mail address to send your nominations to.

As a side note, they are adding Most Altruistic Blog, Funniest/Most Humorous Blog, Best Sci-fi/fantasy/horror/spec-fic blog, and Best Commenter/commentator as categories, so be sure to bear that in mind when you're filling in your answers.

Avatar: The Last Episode

2008-08-25T01:00:36Z

~~Dear Mike and Brian~~
~~Dear Mike and Bryan~~
Dear guys who created Avatar: The Last Airbender:

First of all, you'll have to forgive me. I'm not quite enough of an Avatard to remember how to spell your names.

I'm a relatively new convert to the show, my introduction coming through your ludicrously huge fanbase. (Some of the fans scare me a little, but I think that could be said of any fandom.) Most of my knowledge of the first two seasons comes from paying attention to the constant and enthusiastic fan discussions, as well as countless pieces of fanart. I caught the odd episode on rerun, but most of what I've seen is from the third and final season of the show.

I caught the series finale last night, and I have to say guys, not impressed. A lot of it kind of felt like you'd written yourself into a corner and had no idea what to do next, so things started happening randomly. A pinch of inconsistency, a dose of "let's ignore all the character development we've done so far," and a huge wallop of deus ex machina is pretty much what the final episode seemed to consist of. I'll admit I don't have a thorough knowledge of the show, but if someone like me, coming in near the end, can smell the dodgy ending, I can't even imagine how annoyed some of the long-time fans must be.

I was disappointed at the lack of character development for Aang, who was supposed to be the protagonist, but never really had to sacrifice anything or do any growing at all. The Fire nation, which have been a warring people for generations, are suddenly content to begin an era of peace because they have a new king who says they should stop fighting? What, seriously? And is Zuko's mother actually alive or was Azula just having an insane hallucination? Most of all, what was up with the sudden and awkward tacking on of the romantic "resolutions" at the end? There was no lead-up to either one, and as a result they felt forced, as if the two of you had previously decided this was the way the show must end, no matter what. I'm not speaking as a die-hard "Zutara" fan, either, since I didn't have any particular preference as to which way the romance went, but the way things wrapped up not only felt awkward and unnecessary, but a step back in character development all around. Poorly done, fellows.

I'd continue ranting for awhile, but I think I've given up quite enough spoilers as it is. Suffice it to say I found this finale a thoroughly disappointing end to a promising show.

At least the special effects were good.

What I'm reading now

2008-08-19T18:36:26Z

My count for science fiction reviews over at genrereviews is dipping a little low, so that's what I was supposed to be reading this weekend. I even had a shiny new copy of Endgame, but as it turns out, that's the fifth book in the series, and even 50 pages in I have absolutely no clue what's going on. Publishers, take note: if the latest offering in the series doesn't work as a standalone novel, mark on the cover that this is part of a series, kthxpls. If a book looks interesting enough, I have no issues hunting down a copy of book one. However, having spent my money on book 5 already, now I'm annoyed and don't really want to be spending the extra time and money it will cost to dig up the rest of the series. Why yes, I am petty like that.

So instead I devoured the Kelley Armstrong novel that's been sitting, patiently waiting for me to have a chance to get around to it. I'm not going to write out a full review for a number of reasons, but if anyone really cares, random thoughts behind the cut.

Ok, brief rundown on my thoughts about No Humans Involved without bothering to do a plot summary: I've always liked Jamie, so I was more than a little delighted to see her get her own book. She makes me laugh, and I dig her brand of flaky/smart. She's an interesting choice for an urban fantasy heroine, since she's not only older than the norm at 40-something, but she doesn't fight and her powers don't involve kicking evil butt. Mostly she talks to ghosts and is annoyed at how often she finds herself in a position where she needs help from the more physically capable supernaturals. Not that she's a weak character by any stretch of the imagination, she just has a knack for getting herself in over her head.

It was nice to see another side of Jeremy. So far, he's mostly been presented as the smooth, confident alpha wolf, since he doesn't tend to feature largely in the series except from the perspective of Elena and Clay, the wolves under him. And really nice to see him and Jamie on a more equal footing.

The scene near the end with Jamie using her powers on the animals was really powerful, and I think goes to show that she doesn't always have to be the girl who gets rescued from the bad guys. She's not superstrong, and she can't kill someone with a Latin phrase and a gesture, but she's smart and has her own resources. Overall, really enjoyed myself. The book wasn't as strong as Stolen or The Summoning, but I think Jamie might now be tied with Paige as my favourite Otherworld narrator.

Lately I've been doing a bit of hunting for YA sf, actually. With the recent success of Twilight, there seems to be no shortage of dark fantasy and horror clogging up the YA section, and my TBR stack reflects that. I have no science fiction for teens, though, and my mad powers of search on the interwebs seem to indicate that's because there isn't much of it out there right now. Which makes me very sad. I did manage to find a book or two during my last trek to the library, but if any of you have recommendations for YA sf, please let me know. (Vampires and zombies need not apply.)

How to deal with an overflowing TBR box

2008-08-09T10:36:21Z

sarlias sent me a two-month paid subscription thing, which basically means I can abuse twice as many icons. Icons are awesome and make my page colourful.

Alright, I have issues. We all knew this, but perhaps you guys can help me out. I have a ridiculously huge pile of books to be read. No seriously, the pile you're imagining as I say that is not doing justice to how many shiny new books I have right here. (And by "shiny new" I mean the majority of them I bought used, but they're new to me and that's all that matters.) I actually have them assorted according to genre and they're sitting in boxes next to my desk because there are too many of them to actually sit on my desk. Were I to have them all in one box, I would never ever be able to move it. We're talking a whole freaking lot of books. Most of which I'm actually pretty excited to get reading, so having a priority list doesn't always help.

Right now I'm in the middle of reading Joe Haldeman's The Accidental Time Machine, which is basically about a guy who invents a time machine that can only go forwards. Also, he can't control how far forward.

Next? I have no freaking clue. Usually I have some sort of game plan, but... not at the moment. So I shall force you all to decide for me. At some point or another, I plan to get them all read and reviewed. Y'know, eventually.

First, there's Mary Ann Mitchell's Street of Death, the story of a young woman surrounded by Jews in the middle of the Inquisition. She's eventually accused of being a witch, and it's supposed to be very dark and lovely.

For scifi, there's Kristine Smith's Endgame which I know very little about, since I grabbed it on a whim in the bookstore because I'm a sucker for women authors who write female protagonists in the science fiction genre. There are so few of them, it tends to stand out. From the summary on the back of the book, humans and aliens are at war, and the main character is the hybrid that both sides hate but she might be the only person who can bring about peace.

Michelle Sagara's Cast In Courtlight just came out in mass market paperback, and I since I seriously loved the first book, I had to nab that action. Fantasy/urban fantasy.

For a change of pace, I've got Megan Hart's erotica novel, Broken, in my stack. I'm not usually given to reading much erotica, since I like a little plot and character development in my books thank you very much, but I was assured this one actually qualifies as a story with sex in it as opposed to the other way around. So hey, willing to give it a shot at the very least.

ladyrevan sent me a copy of Peter David's Tigerheart, which is a Peter Pan-esque adventure fantasy. I was obsessed with Peter Pan when I was a kid, so you can bet this holds some appeal.

Brian James recently came out with the dark YA novel Zombie Blondes, which might not have reached the epidemic of Twilight levels, but is selling well and causing some controversy of its own. It sounds very much like a Stepford Wives but with more teen angst. And, y'know, zombies.

And because it always winds up coming back to vampires in some way or another, we've got JR Ward's Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1), which is another of those big deal series I just have to check out. Also, it was sent to me by sarlias, who would of course never steer me wrong. ...right?

So tell me, guys! Make up my mind for me, pleeeeease. What comes next on my list?

View Poll: #1237736

Edit: And it looks like Zombie Blondes wins out!

Cool Nerd Queen

2008-08-03T09:25:53Z

Picked this one up from Far, who managed to beat me out in every category, including literature. Jerk.

Results turned out pretty much the way I expected, although I'd kind of think I earned the literary geekiness more than the sf geekiness. Not that I'm not an sf geek, but I understood some of the references from having hung out in geek circles instead of from my own enthusiasm. Although I suppose hanging out with geeks is, in its own way, rather geeky.

My inner villain

2008-07-27T07:44:16Z

Your results:
You are Mystique

Mystique		76%
Catwoman		71%
Poison Ivy		66%
Apocalypse		59%
Magneto		53%
Dr. Doom		51%
Dark Phoenix		51%
Venom		48%
Riddler		47%
Juggernaut		44%
Lex Luthor		41%
Kingpin		41%
Green Goblin		40%
Two-Face		40%
The Joker		38%
Mr. Freeze		30%

Sometimes motherly, sometimes a beautiful companion, but most of the time a deceiving vixen.

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

...yeah, fair enough. I'll go with that.

I'm mildly entertained that the three I scored highest on are all women. Evidently my inner villain is very feminine. Who knew?

I hope to set an example, y'know, for children and stuff.

2008-07-19T20:19:23Z

I wish my blog was a sing-along featuring Nathan Fillion.

Bathing with Books

2008-07-18T06:19:24Z

My brand-new, autographed copy of Shannon Butcher's No Control --the one I brought back with me from Polaris-- hopped in the shower with me. I guess it got lonely sitting on the shelf over there by itself, and wondered if it could make the leap through the shower curtain into the bathtub. The answer is yes, it can.

Fortunately, only the top edge got wet (albeit very wet), and it's still readable. I'm just annoyed because it's new and it's a signed copy. Likely the book knew this would annoy me and is now snickering.

Polaris, part three

2008-07-17T04:33:21Z

Third and final part! Tune in for more madcap adventures and stalkerish obsessions!

Sunday
This was the most stalkeriffic of all my days. Essentially, I spent the morning following Kelley around, and all afternoon tailing Tanya. The 10am panel was Kelley's "The Nature of Fear," talking about what sorts of things scare us, what don't, and why. Again, because of the early time, it was a small and cozy thing, really more of a back and forth. I like those ones, cuz then the panelists thank me for being such a loudmouth. it's awesome. From there, Kelley, Lorne, and Erik discussed the intricacies of designing a magic system in fantasy worlds, and also fire golems. No, not really related at all, but it was still fun. Then I had to hit Kelley up to sign my Kelley collection (I'd gotten Tanya the day before). Waiting for Kelley's signing to start, I caught the end of Tanya's, and helped her figure out where she had to be once she finally got to the end of her autograph line.

Getting my Women of the Otherworld books and The Summoning signed didn't take very long, so I still managed to pop into Tanya and Jim's panel about changes from book to screen. (Hey, it's not really stalking unless you're everywhere.) Really fun chatter about good interpretations, bad interpretations, and some of the puzzling and useless changes people like to make when they turn a book into a movie or a tv show. What with Blood Ties and the Dresden Files, it's not so hard to tell why they'd schedule this particular panel, considering they had both Tanya and Jim on the guest list.

Then, Tanya and I scurried (along with the rest of her entourage) to the opposite side of the hotel, for a panel about what it's like to write for television with co-panelist Kelly J. Compeau (copywriter, floor director, and production assistant extraordinaire). The glee-fest about the best book ever was once again, on the opposite end of the hotel. So scurrying back to where we came from (Tanya's cursing was particularly colourful and entertaining) for a love-in on the books we adore. Yes, Sarah, the Kushiel books were mentioned, and I didn't even have to bring them up. I did support the statement that they had been really good, though. During this panel, Tanya said that because she wasn't currently in the middle of a series, nobody was waiting breathlessly for her next book. Of course, I had to point out that I was. She laughed. "Well, I know you are. You've been stalking me for two conventions now." The room kind of giggled. So of course I had to set the story straight. "For, uh, everyone who just laughed at that? True story." More laughter. I'm not sure these people truly appreciate the depths of my creepy fanaticism.

Next was Kelley Armstrong's reading, a short story from her Women of the Otherworld series followed by a Q&A period. I won a totebag. Yes, you may all express your jealousy now.

Last panel of the convention, a discussion about paranormal romance. Yeah, like I was going to skip that. Kelley along with Shannon K Butcher (alternately known in some circles as "Jim's wife", although she's a published author in her own right) and Stephanie Bedwell-Grime. This was another panel where I think I spoke out as much as the panelists did. What? When it comes to urban fantasy and paranormal romance, good luck getting me to shut up. Next time, I should just sign up to be a panelist or something. Then at least I'd have an excuse for all the yapping.

Got a hug from Tanya as she raced out to go home, and promised to send her the pictures I took of her with her award so she could put them on her blog. Everything was starting to come down, although I did manage to catch a picture of me and my new pal, R2.

Yeah. We're tight.

Shortly after, the husband and I returned to our hotel, had supper, and pretty much crashed. Not knowing Toronto (and not having the money for more cab fare), playing tourist for the evening wasn't really an option, so we settled in, packed our bags, watched a little tv, did some snuggling, and went to bed.

The next morning was up early, checking out, and catching a flight back home. The babies were happy to see us, and judging by the clumps of cat fur, so was the kitty. We brought home presents for the kids (bribery for a quicker forgiveness) and the cat got a good brushing session.

So all is back to normal. Well, mostly. Now I have to find places to put all these extra books I brought home from the convention...

Oh, and important lesson? When going to Toronto for a weekend, don't take a taxi. It's actually cheaper to rent a car. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Polaris, part two

2008-07-16T21:08:14Z

When you're visiting another city, you don't get to go home and cook yourself some supper, and eating out every day gets expensive. We figured, to save time and money, we'd limit ourselves to two meals per day. We had breakfast delivered to our room first thing in the morning, which we ate as we got ready for the day, and then stopped and caught dinner whenever we had a break in programming. Hey, it worked for us. Friday evening, we had supper at the Orchid, the Doubletree's standard hotel restaurant. Saturday morning was our first in-hotel breakfast, and since the alarm beside the bed didn't go off, it was also our wakeup call. Nothing quite like waking up to the smell of bacon and eggs.

Saturday:
Panels started at 10am, and because we're slightly insane, we decided we should start right about then, too. Morning saw us comparing the humour of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and Robert Rankin. Fun discussion, all in all. Next was a Q&A panel for general creativeness. The aforementioned Lar was there, along with Kelley Armstrong, Erik Buchanan, and the brilliant Tanya Huff (do I need to put a link for her? Can we just assume anyone who's reading this has some inkling of who she is, if only because of my stalkerish ways?) The room this panel was held in was a good ten minute hike from ANYWHERE ELSE in the entire hotel. Since the hotel is freaking huge to begin with, I was of course late. Most of the discussion revolved around the panelists' personal preferences, their "tricks of the trade," so to speak. After the panel, I was introduced to my new sister, Jo, and informed my new brother is an idiot. (The same could be said for my old brothers...)

Big long hike back to the normal parts of the convention, where for a very short time, I joined a panel on literary snobbery. Anyone who's visited genrereviews will have heard me rant on that very topic, so I was pretty interested in hearing what they had to say, but got bored when it became a wangst-fest on how fantasy and science fiction are the least respected genre in existence. "Even romance sells better!" Good grief. The word choice there infers to me that, uh, maybe fantasy isn't the bottom of the barrel, if you people feel you can look down on romance and feel outrage that it outsells you. Just sayin'.

Kelley got together with Jim Butcher to talk about the all-important first sentence or first paragraph and how to catch a reader's attention. Evidently fire is good, as is lingerie. Bonus points for mixing the two. Tanya did a reading from the first chapter of the novel she's currently working on. Now I'm going to pick up the book when it comes out, see how it ends. (Right, like I wouldn't have done that anyway...) It's always very fun to hear Tanya read. She's very expressive.

My husband had been running around dressed as the Mad Hatter all day, and I had been planning to pull out the Alice costume later in the day, for the masquerade (I really can't wear the shoes all day), but people were asking so often that I finally changed in the afternoon. Note to self: stockings are not the same thing as stay-ups, regardless of how fun the print is. Get a garter belt. (Picture is from Halloween, but the costumes are the same.)

There were a bunch more panels about writing, the publication process, and much stalking of both Tanya and Kelley, which was pretty easy as long as I stuck to the literary circuit. (The husband followed Jim around, which was almost as easy.) Nearly every panel on a literary topic had one of the three, and those are the things I'm interested in anyway. It all worked out.

The Constellation Awards were held Saturday evening, and I have to admit, I was disappointed at how few of the nominees/winners were actually there. There was a surprising lack of Canadian nominees, considering this is supposed to be a Canadian awards ceremony. For the nine awards presented at the ceremony, only one winner was actually there to accept. (And now I do my dance of glee.) Tanya won for Outstanding Canadian Contribution to Science Fiction Film or Television in 2007, for being the writer/creative consultant to Blood Ties (the tv series based on her Blood books). She blogs a little bit about it here and here. I took lots of pictures, but the lighting on the stage washed out absolutely everything. Fortunately, I snuck over and got a couple shots of Tanya with her award afterwards. Really, it would have been a crime not to have pictures of her from that evening. She looked fantastic.

After the awards, the husband and I splurged for sushi, mostly because the hotel had a sushi restaurant and we haven't had any since our last anniversary. Of course, it was late enough that we probably would have thought the plants in the foyer were delicious, but regardless, we really enjoyed the sushi. I had changed into formal wear for the awards ceremony, and my feet did not want to turn back into Alice, so I threw my jeans back on and we more or less called it a day.

I feel I should mention that by this point, pretty much every panelist in the literary track seemed to recognize me at least by sight in the hallways. I attribute this to my loud-mouth ways. I had something to say on pretty much every topic and well, I'm not shy. I'm pretty sure the recognition process goes something like "hey, that chick looks familiar... oh yeah, she was in my panel earlier today. The loud-mouthed redhead from the front row." Little do they know, I'm the loud-mouthed redhead in the front row of EVERY panel. Mwah-ha-ha-ha!

Polaris, part one

2008-07-16T18:22:59Z

Alright, alright. I know people are wanting to hear how my time at Polaris went, so here comes the breakdown. I'm going to do this day by day, rather than jumping around and confusing everyone beyond return, including myself. Pretty much everything was done with husband in tow, unless stated otherwise.

Friday:
Got up at doesn't-really-exist o'clock, got dressed, threw the last of my necessities in my ridiculously overpacked bag, and got the kids up. Got a ride to the airport from my dad, who was taking care of the kids for the weekend. The airport and flight were pretty uneventful. Got a lot of reading done and Steve (my ipod) was delighted at all the attention I give him when I'm bored. Took the free shuttle from the Toronto airport to the hotel we were staying at, which was not the hotel hosting the convention. Had enough time to unpack and settle in a bit before going to the Doubletree Hotel and getting ourselves registered. I have to say, I was impressed at the number of costumes and the attention to detail for most of them. Lots more costumes at Polaris than Keycon, even taking into account the bigger city and higher volume of people in general. We went to the opening ceremonies, and were surprised at how sparsely attended they were... until the ceremonies started. Less of a ceremony than an under-rehearsed skit. Hmm. Lack of people should have served as a warning, I'm thinking. First panel involved potential spoilers for the book I was in the middle of reading, essentially talking about the myth that publishers are looking for long books when in fact the opposite is true. (Tanya was there, so of course I was, too.)

We missed out on the Blastoff Party due to limited seating, and so went to the Art Troubleshooting session with Lar deSouza, artist of Least I Could Do webcomic who has credentials out the wazoo. Lar is made of awesomesauce and win, and his tips were actually very helpful. I even had an "aha!" moment. The time slot after that didn't really have any panels were wanted to attend, so the husband and I headed to Harry's bar to have a drink and just talk, something we don't have enough time to do at home, what with the two small children and the cat. Re-discovered that hey, we actually enjoy each others' company. Cool.

Next was a panel on protecting your work and copyrights, most of which I actually already knew. Interestingly, I became the informant on how copyright works on original art, especially of the sort posted on the internet. Also got to share the infamous ferret story, as the discussion turned to plaguerism and its consequences. The husband asked if I just wanted to sit at the front and join Lorne Kates as a panelist. I stuck my tongue out at him.

Next was Lar again, with his hilarious session of Kama Sutra origami. Yes, it's exactly what you think it is. You haven't lived until you've experienced a room full of people creating their own penises out of paper. Quote of the evening belongs to Lar: "I love this! No matter what I say, it comes out sounding dirty! It's awesome!"

Last panel of the evening was "Where are all the Plain Women," a topic I like to occasionally rant about, so was pretty eager to attend. As a late night panel, it was pretty sparse. Actually, Kenneth Tam, the sole panelist, had brought his buddies along in case nobody else showed up. It was a great session, cozy with lots of back and forth. Much to Ken's embarrassment, his buddies kept talking up his books. Of course this meant we all had to, and for the rest of the weekend, every time we ran into Ken in the hallways or at a panel, there was much fangirly squealing. "OMG, it's KENNETH TAM!" Every time we did this, he looked like he wanted to dig a hole to hide in. Which obviously only encouraged us. By the end of the weekend, I finally told him "you know, we only do that because of your hilarious reaction." He said "yeah... I only react like that so you'll keep doing it. Have you noticed every time you do it, people stop and stare? 'hey, what's going on over there? Who's that guy?'" Free publicity for Mr. Tam!

Friday, I wore a short skirt with my awesome knee-high boots of doom. Charlie wore a regular button-down shirt with his favourite hat. Three times, people stopped us to ask who we were dressed up as. Someone even asked to take our photo. The thing is, we, uh, weren't in costume. At all. These are the clothes we'd wear to go hang out with our buddies.

Oh, and for bonus parts, I was beaten up by a Klingon. (Yes, ok, I'm exaggerating.) How many of you can make that claim? Yeah, that's what I thought. The Klingons were running security for the event, so they were all over the place. Hoardes of them. There was one couple in particular, wearing matching his and hers Klingon costumes. And I, uh, mentioned how cute they were. The female of the species just laughed, but the male was less entertained. "Cute?!?" he roared, grabbing his weapon. I think I only lived through the encounter because the bar was too crowded for a real battle.

I still think they were cute, though.

The countdown has begun...

2008-07-08T20:38:56Z

...and Polaris has finally put up a tentative programming schedule. Excellent. Now I can get all obsessive with my colour-coding markers and spend days agonizing over the three "must attend" panels that have all been scheduled to run at the same time.

And, uh, perhaps I should finish up all those library books before I go, too. Just a thought.

Happy Canada Day!

2008-07-01T07:40:34Z

So for the non-Canadians, July 1st is Canada Day (our Independace day). I love my country. I mean sure, we complain about the weather and the government and all, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. There are a long list of countries I'd like to visit, but Canada will always be home to me. On occasion, I've had American friends give me a hard time about my love for a country that isn't theirs, and really, all I have to do is remind them of our healthcare system, and they see my point. Not that healthcare is the only thing we have going for us by any means. Here is a list of just some of things for Canadians should be proud of...

1. Smarties
2. Crispy Crunch, Coffee Crisp
3. The size of our footballs fields and one less down
4. Baseball is Canadian
5. Lacrosse is Canadian
6. Hockey is Canadian
7. Basketball is Canadian
8. Apple pie is Canadian
9. Mr. Dress-up kicks Mr. Rogers ass
10. Tim Hortons kicks Dunkin' Donuts ass
11. In the war of 1812, started by America, Canadians pushed the Americans back past their 'White House'. Then we burned it, along most of Washington, under the command of William Lyon McKenzie who was insane and hammered all the time. We got bored because they ran away, so we came home and partied. (This section of history, by the way, is missing from most American textbooks. Go figure.)
12. Canada has the largest French population that never surrendered to Germany.
13. We have the largest English population that never ever surrendered or withdrew during any war to anyone, anywhere.
14. Our civil war was a bar fight that lasted a little over an hour.
15. The only person who was arrested in our civil war was an American mercenary, who slept in and missed the whole thing... but showed up just in time to get caught.
16. We knew plaid was cool far before Seattle caught on.
17. The Hudsons Bay Company once owned over 10% of the earth's surface and is still around as the worlds oldest company.
18. The average dog sled team can kill and devour a full grown human in under 3 minutes.
19. We still know what to do with all the parts of a buffalo.
20. We don't marry our kin-folk.
21. We invented ski-doos, jet-skis, velcro, zippers, insulin, penicillin, zambonis, the telephone and short wave radios that save countless lives each year.
22. We ALL have frozen our tongues to something metal and lived to tell about it.
23. A Canadian invented Superman.

BUT MOST IMPORTANT!
24. The handles on our beer cases are big enough to fit your hands with mitts on. OOOoohhhhh Canada!! Oh yeah... and our elections only take one day.

I AM CANADIAN!!! Now light the candle.

HAPPY CANADA DAY, EVERYBODY!

I can has ambition, pls?

2008-06-27T03:03:57Z

Excellent. One step closer to my goal.

The Big Read

2008-06-23T17:24:37Z

Alright, fine, aurillia. You have me playing your dirty game. I'm filling out your book meme. Are you happy now?

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read. (Almost all of these are books I own)
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

(I'm putting a * by books I never finished.)

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings* - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (ok, I'll admit I loved some of them a lot more than others. Can I call bits and pieces on this underlining thing and still count as a fangirl?)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (yes, the whole thing. Really.)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations* - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (I loved it when I was a little girl person, but I'm not sure what I'd think of it now.)
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (Yeah again, some more than others)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy* - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (Erm... doesn't this count as part of the Chronicles of Narnia?)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm* - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist* - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (I actually read this in the original french. No, don't be impressed, it was for French class in high school.)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (Um, again, don't you think this counts as part of the aforementioned collection?)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I have 31 out of 100, which I suppose is still a failing grade, but considering the average is allegedly 6, I refuse to feel too badly about it. I've got 6 in the top 10, that's pretty good, right? ...right?

Actually, I'm a little appalled at 6 being the average, if that's true. I'd read 9 of these books by the time I was 12 years old. Some of these I would have underlined years ago, but it's been years since I've read them, so I honestly don't know if I still love them, or if I'd be appalled at what I used to like.

And yes, I've never read Dune and I never managed to get through either Lord of the Rings or Hitch-hiker's Guide. Clearly, I am a bad genre fiction reader.

Polaris, ahoy!

2008-06-14T20:04:18Z

I am going to Polaris (formerly Toronto Trek) in July. Air Miles is a wonderful, wonderful program. Anyone who's going to be around should drop me a line so we can get together for lunch or something while I'm out there. Friendship is always better when there's food involved.

I haven't been to Toronto since I was 18. Hopefully nobody confuses me for a teenage runaway this time around.

When I grow up...

2008-06-08T22:28:26Z

I have come to the conclusion that I want to be a crazy cat lady when I grow up. Which, of course, has led me to wondering just how many cats I have to have before I can qualify. According to the people I've polled so far, a lot depends on whether or not I live alone and if I try to cram all the cats in a small apartment or if I have a farm or something they can take over.

I figure, as long as I'm spending more money on cat food than on groceries, I'm well on my way.

What? It's good to have goals!

Against the Grain

2008-06-07T08:29:18Z

I'm always a little wary about reading and reviewing something really popular. I read Neil Gaiman's American Gods a little while ago, and despite really wanting to like it, my reaction to the book was a resounding "meh." However, the book was written by NEIL FREAKING GAIMAN who has been elevated from major author to rock star status, with the rabid fanbase to match. So I posted my thoughts about the book he'd written, fully expecting to be slammed for my opinion.

When you write a review about something that ridiculously popular, people who would otherwise never have looked at what you have to say will come check it out. Brand familiarity, I guess. By the next day, I had a ton of responses to my review (yes, I know, a ton is a weight measurement. These were heavy comments), and I was pleasantly surprised that not a single person told me I was an idiot. People disagreed with me, but they were polite about it, and most of the American Gods fans said something to the effect of "oh, that's too bad." Needless to say, I had to ask them to turn down the hostility.

What was more surprising was that the vast majority of commenters agreed with me. I'm not fooling myself in thinking that mine is the most popular opinion out there, but after all the rave reviews I'd read, it was nice to know that my dissenting voice wasn't entirely alone. I expect the agreeing voices were the most common comments I got because they were relieved to find they weren't the only ones underwhelmed by all the hype surrounding the book, which was pretty much the same thing I felt reading their responses. So we all patted each other on the back and validated each others' opinions and it was a lovely thing.

(For the record, I think Neil Gaiman is brilliant, funny, and charming. I love the concepts behind his books. His method of narration just doesn't draw me in, though, and I'm always left aware that I'm sitting there reading a book. I thoroughly enjoy his blog, though.)

So the moral of the story is... uh, I don't actually know. I don't think I really have a point. The whole thing came to mind mostly because I just finished with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, the fanbase of which rivals Potterdom for insane loyalty. People seem to either really love or really hate the book, and I apparently lost my head and thought "oooh, there aren't enough opinions about that book floating around already!" The response so far has been similar to my Gaiman review. A few people politely disagree, but the majority think my points are bang on.

Strangely, I didn't have a single person disagree with my critique of the romance novel Fabio wrote. I can't imagine why.

Adventures in Twilight

2008-06-03T18:58:39Z

No, that's not twilight as in dusk, it's Twilight as in the ridiculously popular YA novel.

Lately, I've been bombarded with talk about the novel from a billion different sources. People raving about the wonders of the book, people ranting about how terrible it is, people theorizing on why it's become so insanely popular. It's come from enough sources that I've come to the conclusion that I have to read this thing, if for no other reason than for me to know what I'm talking about next time the subject comes up. (Now watch, by the time I make it through the book, the whole thing will be "so over" and I'll be behind the times again. Go me!)

Sarah also has decided she's got to read Twilight for similar reasons (and also because she pretty much gloms anything with fangs). Since we'd both decided to read it, we thought "hey, we'll read it together and compare opinions, and stick up a double review." (Cuz, in case I haven't pimped it out enough, we put up book reviews on genrereviews...) Sarah already had her copy, so I thought I'll just pick one up at the library, since I had to go return some books anyway, and we'd be all set.

Oh, if only life were that simple.

I underestimated how freakishly popular this book is. The library apparently can't keep it on the shelves. They have about a dozen copies, and not one of them was in. Not only that, but there were 71 holds waiting to read this book. No, I'm not exaggerating, I checked the computer myself. 71 holds. (The list is probably longer today than it was yesterday, actually. A quick search tells me there are now 77 holds. Yeesh.)

I was not willing to put my name on a list that was already far too long, since by the looks of things it meant I wouldn't get to read the stupid thing until sometime next year. I weighed my options and decided with some reluctance that I'd have to suck it up and buy a copy. Which I hate doing unless I'm pretty sure I'm going to like the thing, but the reviews have me a little skeptical about that.

The library trip wasn't a total bust, though. They were having a used book sale, and everything I could stuff into a plastic shopping bag was 5$. Which of course meant I returned home with a ridiculous number of books, and will undoubtedly be back at the library, prowling around the sale again before it ends. Probably half of the stuff I picked up is YA, which I seriously need more of. My YA section is the wimpiest part of my home library. (Which, y'know, in translation means it doesn't require its own bookcase. Yet.)

We finished up at the booksale, the kids picked out their usual selections to borrow from the library, and I emptied the library's collection of books on ancient Greece. What? A girl has to have a hobby. With a stroller full of books, we ducked into the bookstore across the street and I paid for a copy of Twilight.

Having paid for it, I'd better be raving over this thing instead of ranting. Then again, if I hate it, I suppose I could always donate it to the library. I hear they could use another copy.