Happy New Year!

A new year and it's time to tally up the results of my 50 Book Challenge for 2007.

Last book completed in 2007: The Continuity Girl, by Leah McLaren.



Last book started in 2007 (but definitely won't be finished until 2008 because I have things to do tonight, including seeing Sweeney Todd): Bank by David Bledin



I've completed 225 books in the past 365 days. I was going to stop recording everything I read after the year was up, but I quite enjoy keeping track.

Mea Culpa

A few weeks back I posted about my friend going through brain surgery. Well, I made a teeny mistake and referred to her as my best friend - as if I only have one. One of my other best friend's wife then started teasing her about being demoted in my friend hierarchy. I totally meant to write "one of my best friends". I'm sorry to everyone who might have felt slighted by my accidental poor choice of words - I still love you all just the same. Here's some cuteness to show you just how much I care:

Snicker followup

When I laughed at the cringe-worthy title "Virgin Slave, Barbarian King" I was pretty sure I was not the only one. I did not know, however, that my favourite bitches would take up the challenge, along with some friends.

The Bitches, along with two other blogs, are going to read and review and snark on the book.

I'll keep you updated...

Mom shout out

This is just a quick shout out to my mom, who makes the world's best chicken soup. Thanks to my well-stocked freezer of the stuff (which she makes for me every time she comes to visit) I was able to bring some to my friend in the hospital today, where it worked it's magical recuperative powers. Thanks, mom!

Thursday book title snicker

The Vampire Shrink. The title says cheap amateur fan fiction, the cover is dark, broody and kind of classy - which one will win?

Snicker of the day

Part of my job involves reading the reviews for new romance books. I was reading the Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine today and ran across this title: Virgin Slave, Barbarian King. Hee! I don't really care what the book is about, I just love the title.



"Julia Livia Rufa is horrified when barbarians invade Rome and steal everything in sight. But she doesn't expect to be among the taken! As Wulfric's woman, she's ordered to keep house for the uncivilized marauders. Soon, though, Julia realizes that she's more free as a slave than she ever was as a sheltered Roman virgin.

It would be all too easy to succumb to Wulfric's quiet strength, and Julia wants him more than she's ever wanted anything. But Wulfric could one day be king, and Julia is a Roman slave. What future can there be for two people from such different worlds?"

Hipster music funniness

Happy Thoughts!

Just a quick note to ask for happy thoughts and good wishes to be directed towards Philadelphia, where my best friend is having brain surgery today.

200!

Since starting my 50 Book Challenge back in January, I've been keeping track of every book I've read since then. As of today I finished my 200th book, The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman.



This is a sequel to Swordspoint, which I somewhat enjoyed. My issue with that book, as well as this one, is that the authors spent so long laying out the details and setting and characters that the plot seemed to take a backseat. I liked reading them (even though it took me far longer than most books, although that might also partly be explained by having a TV in my bedroom room now) but I wanted something to HAPPEN already. Plus, they both had fairly downbeat endings, and I like a good happy ending. Nevertheless, good books and I'm going to read the third, The Privilege of the Sword, soon as well.

p.s. Happy Thanksgiving, I hope all your smoke alarms in the house don't go off all at once from baking pies like ours just did.

Oh, my poor innocent childhood...

I think a little piece of me just died. Of course, the rest of me is rolling on the floor laughing. Caution - don't turn the sound up at work :)

Poutine!

I just found out that Kildare's, a pub near my place, has started serving poutine. Gravy and cheese curd deliciousness!

I sense a field trip coming up...

Mudflap madness

I know I'm coming late to the game on this issue, but I just read a cartoon that made me giggle and it needs some back story for those of you who were unaware of the roiling controversy.

A little while ago Wyoming Public Libraries unveiled a new campaign to get people thinking about the library. The designed bumper stickers and ads and such, but one particular bumper sticker caused an uproar:








Yes, it's the iconic mudflap girl telling people that she has a book and isn't afraid to read it! I actually think it's brilliantly clever, but many people think it's sexist and inappropriate. Anyhow, this is really just preamble to showing you the following cartoon, which made me snort Dr. Pepper out my nose.

Princess Bride Quiz

I am Buttercup (the first time I took this I was Vizzini, I don't know what changed)



Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

Sacrilege!

I just found out that McG is going to be doing an American version of one of my all-time favourite shows, Spaced. I sense train-wreck.

Crafty Goodness

If you're around the Edmonton area on November 10, check out the fabulousness that is the ArtFest Christmas Fair:



Artfest Christmas Fair, Saturday, November 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
features teddy bears, paintings, jewelry, papier mache sculptures, pottery,
prints, mixed media, candles, wreaths and much more. Come to Bellevue
Community Hall, 7308 112 Avenue, for artistic, one-of-a-kind Christmas
gifts. While shopping, enjoy hot food and drinks, baking, cotton candy, and
buskers. Cash only at most booths. To find out more about Artfest or to
volunteer, contact Susan Chin at schin90@hotmail.com, 780.220.0659.

Dancing shoes

Aw!

These shoes are for dancing with your child balancing on your feet.



Isn't that adorable?

TV poll

Stolen from Little Drama Boy

- Bold all of the following TV shows of which you've seen 3 or more episodes.
- Italicize a show if you're positive you've seen every episode.
- Asterisk if you have at least one full season on tape or DVD
- If you want, add up to 3 additional shows (keep the list in alphabetical order).

America’s Next Top Model
Angel
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Are You Being Served?
Arrested Development
Babylon 5*
Babylon 5: Crusade
Battlestar Galactica (the old one)
Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
Baywatch
Beavis & Butthead
Beauty and the Beast
Beverly Hills 90210
Bewitched
Blackadder
Bonanza
Bones
Bosom Buddies
Boston Legal
Boston Public
Boy Meets World
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Buffy the Vampire Slayer*
Bug Juice
Caitlin’s Way
Carebears
Chappelle’s Show
Charlie’s Angels
Charmed
Cheers
Clarissa Explains It All
Cold Case
Columbo
Commander in Chief
Corner Gas*
Coupling (UK)*
Coupling (US)
Cowboy Bebop
Crossing Jordan
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dallas
Dancing with the Stars
Danny Phantom
Dark Angel
Dark Skies
Davinci’s Inquest
Dawson’s Creek
Dead Like Me
Deadwood
Degrassi Junior High/High
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Designing Women
Desperate Housewives
Dharma & Greg
Digimon Adventure 01
Digimon Adventure 02
Dinosaurs
Different Strokes
Dirty Jobs
Doctor Who (1963)
Doctor Who (2005)
Doctor Who (2006)
Dragnet
Due South*
Early Edition
Earth 2
Emergency!
Entourage
ER
Everwood
Everybody Loves Raymond
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Facts of Life
Family Guy
Family Ties
Farscape
Father Ted
Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly*
Flash Forward
Flash Gordon
Flipper
Forever Knight
Fraggle Rock
Frasier
Freaks and Geeks
Friday Night Lights
Friends
Futurama
Get Smart
Ghostwriter
Gilligan’s Island
Gilmore Girls
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Greek
Green Wing
Grey’s Anatomy
Growing Pains
Gummy Bears
Gunsmoke
Hannah Montana
Happy Days
Hardcastle & McCormick
Heroes
Highlander
Highlander: The Raven
Hogan’s Heroes
Hill Street Blues
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Street
House
Hunter
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Instant Star
Inuyasha
Invader Zim
Invasion
JAG
Jackass
Jeeves and Wooster
Jem
Joey
John Doe
Just Shoot Me
Keen Eddie
Knight Rider
LA Law
Land of the Lost
Laverne and Shirley
Law & Order
Lexx
Life on Mars
Life With Derek
Little House on the Prairie
Little Mosque on the Prairie
Lizzie McGuire
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost
Lost in Space
Love, American Style
M*A*S*H
MacGyver
Magnum PI
Malcolm in the Middle
Mama’s Family
The Man from U.N.C.L.E
Married...With Children
Max Headroom
Melrose Place
MI:5
Miami Vice
Midnight Caller
Millennium
Miracles
Mission: Impossible
Monk
Mork & Mindy
Mr. Ed
Murphy Brown
My Life as a Dog
My Little Pony
My Name is Earl
My So-Called Life
My Super Sweet 16
My Three Sons
My Two Dads
NCIS
Nash Bridges
News Radio
Night Court
Nip/Tuck
North Shore
Numb3rs
NYPD Blue
One Tree Hill
Oz
Perry Mason
Phil of the Future
Pokemon
Power Rangers
Prison Break
Profiler
Project Runway
Psych
QI
Quantum Leap
Queer As Folk (US)
Queer as Folk (UK)
Red Dwarf
ReGenesis
Relic Hunter
Remington Steele
Rocco’s Modern Life
Rescue Me
Road Rules
Robin of Sherwood*
Robotech (although it's up for debate whether this really counts since, as I understand it, Robotech was a North american repackaging and redub of three different Anime series that had nothing to do with each other in their original Japanese contexts...)
Robot Chicken
ROME
Roseanne
Roswell
Salute Your Shorts
Saved by the Bell
Scarecrow and Mrs King
Scooby-Doo
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sex and the City
Silver Spoons
Simon & Simon
Six Feet Under
Skins
Sliders
Slings and Arrows*
Smallville
So Weird
South Park
Spaced
Spongebob Squarepants
Sports Night
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Enterprise
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate SG-1
Strange Luck
Superman
Supernatural
Surface
Survivor
Taxi
Teen Titans
That 70’s Show
That’s So Raven
The 4400
The Addams Family
The Adventures of Pete and Pete
The Andy Griffith Show
The Apprentice
The A-Team
The Avengers
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Bionic Woman (the old one)
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
The Dead Zone
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dresden Files
The Famous Jett Jackson
The Flash
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Honeymooners
The Invisible Man
The Jeffersons
The Jetsons
The L Word
The Love Boat
The Lucille Ball Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mighty Boosh
The Monkees
The Munsters
The Muppet Show
The Mythbusters
The Nanny
The O.C.
The Office (UK)
The Office (US)
The Pretender
The Real World
The Sentinel
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Sopranos
The Suite Life of Zack and Cod
3rd Rock from the Sun
Third Watch
This Is Wonderland*
Three's A Crowd
Three’s Company
Top Gear
Torchwood
The Twilight Zone
Twin Peaks
Twitch City*
Two and A Half Men
Ugly Betty
Undeclared
Under the Umbrella Tree
Veronica Mars
The Vicar of Dibley
The Waltons
The West Wing
Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?
Who's the Boss?
Whose Line is it Anyway? (US)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (UK)
Will and Grace
Wings
Wiseguy
Without a Trace
WKRP in Cincinnati
The Wonder Years
The X-Files
Xena: Warrior Princess
You Can't Do That on Television

Procrastination and frustration

After a lovely afternoon at the Faeriecon and the Harvest Festival, I returned home to piles of boxes. I'm moving in two weeks and really need to get my ass in gear on the packing front. I ended up spending many hours with a scale drawing of my new bedroom, scale cutouts of all my furniture, and a little scale cutout of myself so I could interact with all the little furniture cutouts in my two dimensional room. Yes, I was procrastinating. Packing goes a lot better when my mom is doing it for me.

I am also heartily sick of trying to sell stuff I can't bring with me. I think that if I can't sell it in the next week I'm going to just call Uhuru and have them haul it away for me. At least I'll get a tax receipt.

If anyone want stuff, I have an Ikea Poang chair and ottoman (dark green cushion), A locking wood media tower, an entrance bench with shoe storage and coat hooks, an Ikea Aneboda night table, a blue area rug, assorted household items like a wood picture box, a computer speaker and subwoofer set, a 20 GB external hard drive, some fans, etc...

I just want them gone :(

Big old moving sale part 1

Right, so I'm moving into a house (yay!) and contrary to common sense I will have less room. So I have to get rid of a few things. Here's round one:

Like-new entrance bench with hooks to hang up your coats and a shelf above along with shoe storage below. It's black metal with a padded bench, measuring 36" x 16" x 68".
$50 OBO


Norcent DP-220 slim DVD player with DIVX and MPEG-4 playback. Used but in great condition. $20




Roomba robot vacuum player - seldomly used, in good condition. Comes with power cord and one "electronic wall"
More fun than a pet rock, less messy than a cat. Now if only they invented one that did dishes... $50

Odds and Ends

Today I tried an asian pear for the first time. Wow, they're delicious!

I went to drop off some cookbooks at the cookbook swap in order to pare down my collection. It didn't quite work the way I intended. I dropped off three and came home with eleven.

And finally, this morning there was a squirrel in the tree outside my bedroom window who was quacking like a duck . I got a bit of video of it. Most of the time in this the squirrel is expanding his repertoire to other birds, but there's some quacking in it.