Changes are afoot my friends, oh yes, the changes are coming. Be prepared for downtime and weirdness as I do what I promised to do two years ago- update this damned blog!
So, in my forays into Good Reads and LibraryThing and various other book review sites, blogs and geekified bookworm websites, I’ve casually seen these odd things called challenges. They range from the simple- “read three books about your state in a month” to the mega-complex, with page after page of guidelines and rules and page numbers… etc.
Guess which I kind I got wrapped up into?
Our Fearless Leader’s kick ass girlfriend, who, incidentally, deserves her own special nickname on this site… let’s see…I’m not creative so lets go with Awesome Chick, A.C. for short.
Anyway, she and I have bonded over ghost hunts and whatnot, but our main draw is books. Oh yes, we love the books. So she joined this challenge and invited me along. It is complex and detailed, so I won’t go into it here, but the goal is to read a lot of books in widely differing categories between September and November. Points are given when certain tasks are completed. The points mean just about as much they did on that old comedy show, “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” which is to say, nada. But the challenge, the books, the marathon reading… it is too strong a force to resist.
Naturally, this lead me to scrutinizing other book challenges. Which, also naturally, lead me to decide to participate in many of those as well… at the same fucking time! I should never complain again- I bring all my stress on myself.
Anyway, so as part of my challenge experience I am going to- what else? Blog about it. It started yesterday and I have already emptied my bank account buying books to fit the exacting criteria of these challenges. Sigh. We’re having an imaginary Christmas this year I think (I got a pogo stick!).
So, to recap the last two days reading- I haven’t finished anything except a few kids books, the rediscovered Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books, which are just as delightful now as they were when I read them twenty (!) years ago.
I’ve started the following books-
The Court of Air, by Stephen Hunt
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World by Arthur Herman
Redemption Alley by Lilith Saintcrow
If I manage to finish one of these before starting another, I’ll be highly surprised.
Yes, I went a month without posting. I suck. There are plenty of things to blog about- another ghost hunt, a trip to a paranormal conference, many new books to review etc. Things are a bit crazy right now- we’re trying to find a place to live and I’m searching fanatically for a new job (that’s another post). Therefore I’m just updating the now playing info until I have a second to breathe.
Watching: So You Think You Can Dance? has replaced AI for my weekly TV night with the girls. We are walking too! So proud of us. Oh, I am liking Burn Notice but don’t have cable or reliabile internet, so I rarely see it.
Listening: M79 by Vampire Weekend and Mosquito by SR-71. Also the Naked Scientist Podcasts
Shopping: Nothing right now
Playing: Bowling on the Wii, sometimes Boxing
Reading: Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey, while I wait ever so impatiently for Namaah’s Kiss
“Now if somebody wants to sue us, they have an option to sue, but I’m fairly certain that a judge will see it the way the way the citizens see it here,” Mayor James Valley said. “The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution.”
Quote by Thich Nhat Hanh
I grieve for this woman. France should be ashamed of itself today. A horrible, debilitating disease from which there is NO relief. The denying of the right to die for a mentally competent adult should be considered a crime against humanity.
I fervently hope some brave person took it upon themselves to aid her in this quest for relief, relief from the physical pain and the unimaginable emotional pain of having your family watch as she turned from Maman to monster. To that brave person: whoever you are, I’d hug you if I could. Once the grief lessens, sleep well at night, you did the right thing.
The idea of losing a family member terrifies me. I’ve been very lucky thus far- I didn’t lose anyone really close to me until I was 21. It still affects me everyday. Yet, the idea of watching a family member suffer in agony for an interminable period from a terminal illness… I can’t even put into words how scary that is.
I’d like to find those people who rallied against this woman’s right to die. I’d like to stuff red hot pins in all their appendages, and eyes, and stomach, and anything else it would take to get them to realize a life of agony is no life at all. Like Hanh says, its fear of the unknown- fear of cosmic retrobution- fear of death that gives people the stubborn will to keep fighting when no hope is left, to suffer bravely and ask for no help. This is the way a lot of people react to diblitating, painful illness. However, when the pain is so great and the chance for recovery none existant, eventually a person moves past that fear and with head held high, walks proudly into that dark night. Or tries to, until close-minded people with those same fears try to stop them. Shame.
I dislike HRC, I didn’t caucus for her, although I will likely vote for her if she gets the nomination.
But if one more piece of shit news outlet publishes a story about her getting teary eyed, I will start a journalistic revolution.
From www.cnn.com “Hillary Clinton became teary-eyed during an event at Yale University Monday — a moment that harkened back to her much talked-about display of emotion on the eve of the New Hampshire Primary.”
For fuck’s sake! Who honestly cares? If she was a man would ANYBODY care? If I wanted a robot for president, I’d vote for John Kerry again.
Liberal media my ass. Sexist, double standard promoting, mysogynistic hypocrites is what they are. They aren’t liberal or conservative anymore, they’re just mean.