Compensatory Factor

Final Count: What I Read in 2008

2009-01-07T20:43:00.003-05:00

I have been meaning to update this for the past week, if only for my own benefit. It has been quite interesting keeping track of all the books I read (or listened to)this year--it's amounted to a lot more than I imagined.

Alrighty, here are the books I read from my last update until December 31:

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
This book was FANTASTIC. I luv Neil Gaiman even more after this (side note--you should all go see Coraline when it comes out! If you recall, I read it earlier this year and it's made of awesome!). This book is the story of Nobody Owens, a boy whose family was murdered under mysterious circumstances when he was a baby. He escapes and ends up living in a graveyard in the care of ghosts. Interesting story ensues.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by JK Rowling
This is, of course, the book that Dumbledore left to Hermione in Deathly Hallows, and which JK wrote and illustrated by hand for a few close friends. The stories included are in turn funny and creepy. The book was a bit shorter than I would have liked, but it was still an interesting addition to the Potter canon.

Day of Tears, by Julius Lester
This is subtitled 'A Novel in Dialogue," and so it was appropriate that I listened to it on audiobook. It's the fact-based story of the largest slave auction in US history, told from the plantation owner's, auctioneer's, and slaves' perspective. It was pretty interesting and well-done.

The World According to Bertie, by Alexander McCall Smith
It's no secret that I love Alexander McCall Smith, and that the 44 Scotland Street series is my favorite by him. So it will come as no surprise that I LURVED this book since it's the 4th in that series.

My Custom Van, by Michael Ian Black
This is a collection of short essays, most of which have been previously published elsewhere (see: McSweeney's). Though a few were familiar, most I hadn't read before so I enjoyed the collection. I mean, how can you go wrong with Michael Ian Black?

Books Read in 2008:
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by JK Rowling
Day of Tears, by Julius Lester
The World According to Bertie, by Alexander McCall Smith
My Custom Van, by Michael Ian Black
Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson
Laughter of Dead Kings, by Elizabeth Peters
Holiday Princess, by Meg Cabot
Angel, After the Fall, Vol. 2: First Night, by Joss Whedon, et al
Buffy Season 8, Volume 3: Wolves at the Gate, by Joss Whedon, et al
Midnight for Charlie Bone, by Jenny Nimmo
The Cay, by Theodore Taylor
The Game of Sunken Places, by M.T. Anderson
Down the Rabbit Hole, by Peter Abrahams
Paper Towns, by John Green
Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman
Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyers
Once Upon a Time in the North, by Philip Pullman
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, by Meg Cabot
Heroines, by Eileen Favorite
Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson
Airhead, by Meg Cabot
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling
Angel: After the Fall Volume 1, by Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch
Fly on the Wall, by E. Lockhart
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith
Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult
The Boy Book, by E. Lockhart
Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl
Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld
The Boyfriend List, by E. Lockhart
Size 12 is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot
Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Total books read: 57

Not bad considering I'm a slow reader. Granted, several of them were audiobooks and many were books for teens or grade school kids, but whatevs! :) That's still more than a book a week, and almost 5 books a month, on average, so I'm happy with it.

So, my blogging plans for 2009...well, obviously I haven't been updating lately. I imagine that trend will continue unless I'm suddenly inspired to do otherwise. As I've said, my need to announce what I'm thinking to the world (or the 4 of you) is pretty much satisfied via Facebook and Twitter these days. I do think I'll keep doing the book update thing for my own benefit, but I may be so lazy that I don't even provide links to the titles. (Pathetic, I know.)

Oh yeah, one thing of note: I hit my 5 year mark at my job on Monday...! Shocking.

Twitter

2008-12-01T09:48:00.003-05:00

Twitter is almost as addictive as Facebook status updates, and I have been sucked into its tangled web. You can follow me here.

I don't update as much as some people because I don't do it from my phone, and I'm still hooked on FB status updates, but I'm using it more and more. Clearly Twitter and FB are what have sucked any will to post over here away. Why spend the time to write a whole blog about Psych when I can just tweet to let everyone know there was a special Christmas epi on Friday? (Well, I could tweet that if I had any Twitter friends who cared about Psych...which is where you guys, i.e. Jaleh, joining Twitter comes in.)

That's all I have to say, really. Just join so I have more friends to tweet to and to follow in return.

Book Update

2008-11-29T13:30:00.003-05:00

Getting close to the end of the year! Eeee!

A few more to add:

Buffy Season 8, Volume 3: Wolves at the Gate, by Joss Whedon, et al
Buffy's a lesbian now? Only she's not? Oh well, whatevs--Xander gets to make with the funny.

Angel, After the Fall, Vol. 2: First Night, by Joss Whedon, et al
Goes back to the night of the apocalypse to see how each character handled it and came to be where they are now. Sort of fun, but felt a bit like filler.

Holiday Princess, by Meg Cabot
Apparently this has been out for awhile, but somehow I hadn't read it. It's Mia's guide to the winter holidays. Sort of cute, sort of skippable. Doesn't advance the Princess plot at all, it's just a side-book written by Mia and her friends.

Laughter of Dead Kings, by Elizabeth Peters
I adore Elizabeth Peters. The Amelia Peabody series is much beloved by me, but really my absolute favorite is the Vicky Bliss series due to the awesome anti-hero John Tregarth/Smythe/Smith. Dead Kings is the 6th and final in the Bliss series (sniff), and it's fantastic of course. Le sigh. So very sad it's the last one!!!

Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson
Almost done listening to this one on audiobook. Listening to it for work--it's Young Hoosier Book Award nominee--but it's actually fairly good. A little heavy handed and, as usual, I hate the voice of the person reading it, but despite all that it's a good story.

Books Read in 2008:
Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson
Laughter of Dead Kings, by Elizabeth Peters
Holiday Princess, by Meg Cabot
Angel, After the Fall, Vol. 2: First Night, by Joss Whedon, et al
Buffy Season 8, Volume 3: Wolves at the Gate, by Joss Whedon, et al
Midnight for Charlie Bone, by Jenny Nimmo
The Cay, by Theodore Taylor
The Game of Sunken Places, by M.T. Anderson
Down the Rabbit Hole, by Peter Abrahams
Paper Towns, by John Green
Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman
Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyers
Once Upon a Time in the North, by Philip Pullman
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, by Meg Cabot
Heroines, by Eileen Favorite
Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson
Airhead, by Meg Cabot
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling
Angel: After the Fall Volume 1, by Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch
Fly on the Wall, by E. Lockhart
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith
Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult
The Boy Book, by E. Lockhart
Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl
Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld
The Boyfriend List, by E. Lockhart
Size 12 is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot
Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Book Update

2008-11-09T21:27:00.004-05:00

It's been over a month since my last post, and I'm sorry to report that this is just another Book Update. I'm gonna do it blurb-style--one to two sentences, tops. And no pictures, I'm too lazy.

Midnight for Charlie Bone, by Jenny Nimmo
First in a series. Harry Potter-esque.

The Cay, by Theodore Taylor
All the kids read it in school. Shipwrecked boy lands on island and must survive.

The Game of Sunken Places, by M.T. Anderson
Two boys must make it through a real-life board game. Pretty cool.

Down the Rabbit Hole, by Peter Abrahams
Girl idolizes Sherlock Holmes and finds herself entrenched in a mystery.

Paper Towns, by John Green
MADE. OF. AWESOME. Clearly.

Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman
Chuck's first novel (as opposed to humerous non-fiction). Follows 3 people in a small North Dakota town. Funny.

Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Honestly, I am still not done with this book. It was our last Book Club book and I have been reading it for over a month. Do plan on finishing it soon so I'm putting it on here. My analysis--interesting, well-written, but freaking long and a bit scattered.

Books Read in 2008:
Midnight for Charlie Bone, by Jenny Nimmo
The Cay, by Theodore Taylor
The Game of Sunken Places, by M.T. Anderson
Down the Rabbit Hole, by Peter Abrahams
Paper Towns, by John Green
Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman
Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyers
Once Upon a Time in the North, by Philip Pullman
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, by Meg Cabot
Heroines, by Eileen Favorite
Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson
Airhead, by Meg Cabot
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling
Angel: After the Fall Volume 1, by Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch
Fly on the Wall, by E. Lockhart
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith
Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult
The Boy Book, by E. Lockhart
Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl
Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld
The Boyfriend List, by E. Lockhart
Size 12 is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot
Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Book Update

2008-09-30T20:11:00.006-05:00

I'm sorry I have nothing more interesting to talk about. Really. I've been trying to think of things but eh. But for those of you who claim to be interested, here is a book update.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris

I love me some David Sedaris. This is another great collection of previous works, but thankfully they were mostly new to me. David's stories are the sort that make the reader feel just a little (or a lot) less weird, because he'll always be weirder--in an awesome way, of course.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart

I also love me some E. Lockhart--The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, Fly on the Wall, Dramarama...all great. Lockhart has a gifted way of making the girls in her books incredibly realistic and identifiable. They think about things the way YOU (if you're a girl, anyway) thing about things. They aren't ridiculously blind to the obvious at all times like Meg Cabot's characters often are (which, as much as I love her, is my biggest complaint about Cabot's books). Instead, they're smart and relatively aware while still retaining their teenagey angst and misunderstandings. I just think Lockhart is fantastic, and I really liked this book a lot. I'd put it after her Boy books but before the rest.

Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyers

Welp, I finally finished it. It was loooong. And good. I actually really liked it. I don't know why all the uberfans were bitching about the ending, b/c it was a pretty decent one. The book itself certainly takes a leap from where the other three were and enters an entirely new territory, but once you get past that it's generally pretty good. Classic literature it'll never be (and talk about whiny heroines), but addictive.

Books Read in 2008:
When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyers
Once Upon a Time in the North, by Philip Pullman
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, by Meg Cabot
Heroines, by Eileen Favorite
Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson
Airhead, by Meg Cabot
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling
Angel: After the Fall Volume 1, by Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch
Fly on the Wall, by E. Lockhart
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith
Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult
The Boy Book, by E. Lockhart
Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl
Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld
The Boyfriend List, by E. Lockhart
Size 12 is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot
Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Shakespeare Has Added You As A Friend.

2008-09-09T22:40:00.003-05:00

This might be the most amazing thing ever.

You know, if you're a nerd like me.

Hamlet and Facebook, together at last!

Some Stuff

2008-09-07T21:55:00.003-05:00

Two posts in one night! Insanity. I know.

It's been awhile.

My latest food obsession: Homemade breakfast sandwiches. The past few months I've been letting myself stop and get various sorts of breakfast sandwiches. Usually it results in me being late to work, which is not good, plus I'm spending too much money AND it's not healthy either. The best of the bunch, which I only tried once because it's insanely expensive, was a sandwich from Starbucks--it was turkey bacon, egg, and white cheddar on a multi-grain English muffin. So yum! And so reproducible!

I decided to make my own version last week. A Thomas multi-grain Light English Muffin (provides 32% of your daily fiber intake with no saturated fat!) topped with deli ham and sharp cheddar cheese. I put it together the night before and then just pop it in the toaster oven while I finish getting ready. Wrap it in foil and take it on the road! It's fantastic. Friday morning I was at home so I had time to add an egg to that--even better.

Now, I just have to get back into the habit of drinking work coffee instead of buying Starbucks every day...

- - -

In other news, I added 3 more books to my Books Read in 2008 list. I just stuck them in the last Books post rather than copying and pasting again. They were Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot (fun, of course); Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman (like Lyra's Oxford, it's another short follow up to the His Dark Materials trilogy, this time giving back story on Lee Scorsby--fantastic); and Heroines by Eileen Favorite (our latest Book Club pick, it was okay but not great).

- - -

In other news...yeah, I don't have any other news that I can think of. If I do, I'll get right back to ya.

Fall TV 2008

2008-09-07T19:50:00.012-05:00

Time for my annual Fall What I'll Watch. So many shows have already started and even more are coming up!!!

Sundays
8pm The Amazing Race, CBS (Sept. 28)
9pm True Blood, HBO (premiers tonight) - based on a series of vampire books that's really popular with my co-workers. I'll give it a go.
10pm Entourage, HBO (premiers tonight)
10pm Feasting on Waves, Food Network (premiers tonight) - Alton Brown on a boat instead of a motorcycle. Yay!

Mondays
8pm Gossip Girl, The CW (premiered last week)
8:30pm How I Met Your Mother, CBS (Sept. 22)
9pm Heroes, NBC (Sept. 22)
9:30pm Samantha Who?, ABC (Oct. 6)
10pm The Hills, MTV (premiered a week or two ago)
10:30pm Exiled, MTV (premiered two weeks ago)

Tuesdays
8:40pm Gavin and Stacey, BBCA (premiered 2 weeks ago) - It's funny.
9pm Fringe, Fox (premieres this week at 8pm) - JJ Abram's latest.
9pm Greek, ABC Family (premiered 2 weeks ago)

Wednesdays
8pm America's Next Top Model, The CW (premiered last week)
8pm Pushing Daisies, ABC (Oct. 1)
10pm Top Design, Bravo (premiered last week)

Thursdays
8pm Ugly Betty, ABC (Sept. 25)
8pm Survivor: Gabon, CBS (Sept. 25)
8pm My Name is Earl/Kath & Kim, NBC (Sept. 25/Oct. 9)
9pm The Office/30 Rock, NBC (Sept. 25/Oct. 30)
9pm CSI, CBS (Oct 9)
9pm Kitchen Nightmares, Fox (premiered last week, but I missed it)
10pm It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FX (Sept. 18) - Finally, yay!
10pm Tabatha's Salon Takeover, Bravo (premiered 2 weeks ago)

Fridays
11pm Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO (premiered last week)

Also watching the following shows that are partially through their seasons already: Mad Men, Project Runway, The Cho Show, Burn Notice, Psych, Long Way Down...and probably others I've forgotten.

Book Update (Sort Of)

2008-08-18T21:28:00.005-05:00

Up until yesterday I was reading, quite literally, 5 books at the same time. Yeah, it takes awhile to finish any one book when you're splitting your time like that. Thankfully I just finished a couple. Plus I finished a couple of books awhile ago.

No reviews b/c 1) most of you don't care and 2) I don't feel like writing about all those books. So here's the list (updated 9/7/08):

Books Read in 2008:
Once Upon a Time in the North, by Philip Pullman
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, by Meg Cabot
Heroines, by Eileen Favorite
Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson
Airhead, by Meg Cabot
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling
Angel: After the Fall Volume 1, by Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch
Fly on the Wall, by E. Lockhart
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith
Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult
The Boy Book, by E. Lockhart
Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl
Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld
The Boyfriend List, by E. Lockhart
Size 12 is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot
Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Nooooooooooooo!

2008-08-17T09:50:00.001-05:00

Again, I say...nooooooooooooooooo!

Effing movie studios.

Grrr.

NRS: Boogie Burger

2008-08-10T17:05:00.004-05:00

Went to Boogie Burger in Broadripple last night for NRS. Attending were Amber, Damien, and I, plus NRS Guests Jen and Jeff.

Boogie Burger is a tiny place--seating is available for maybe 15-20 diners who would need to like each other a lot in order to squeeze in. But the Monkey's Tale next door allows BB customers to use its patio, thankfully, and our group settled at an outdoor table with ample space on what was a beautifully cool summer night.

But most important, of course, is the food. Ber, Jen, and Jeff all got the "New York, New York" burger, BB's version of the old mushroom & swiss standard. All were impressed by the generous toppings and seemed to really enjoy their sandwiches. Damien got the "Blue Moon" burger, which was piled high with blue cheese. While he seemed to think it might be almost too much of a good thing, I for one was impressed by how generous they were with the cheese--most places sprinkle a few crumbles of blue cheese on a burger and call it a day.

I was in the mood to be adventurous, so I tried the Citrus-Grilled Ahi Tuna sandwich, which was topped with a spicy mayo. It was DE-licious. Really, really tasty, with a slight citrusy note, but not an overpowering one. Along side my sandwich I had the garlic fries. BB tosses their standard fries with freshly chopped garlic and parsley. The aroma from the bag was heavenly...but the fries, only slightly above average. For one, they needed salt (salt makes the fry for me); for another, the amazing smell of garlic and parsley doesn't actually transfer to the fries much because the garlic and parsley don't actually stick to the fries. Rather, it all fell to the bottom, no matter how many times I gave the bag a shake to redistribute. Sad.

Overall, we were pleased with our meals. I would definitely get the tuna sandwich again, and would like to try a burger there. At the end, we girls topped the meal off with ice cream, which BB also serves. Can't beat that.

37 Things Meme

2008-08-06T17:03:00.002-05:00

This is taken from John Green, who took it from E. Lockhart. So blame the YA authors for this one.

37 Odd Things About Me

1. Do you like blue cheese?

Like? Love. Mmmm.

2. Have you ever smoked?

A couple times in college. Got so ill from smoking and drinking too much one night in NYC that I haven't smoked since.

3. Do you own a gun?

A resounding no.

4. What flavor Kool Aid was your favorite?

Cherry. Grape was (IS) my second favorite.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?

Yes. I always expect the worst, no matter what I'm there for.

6. What do you think of hot dogs?

I think of summery grilled goodness...when I don't think too deeply about them.

7. Favorite Christmas movie?

A Christmas Story. No contest.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?

Depends on the morning. Often some variation of coffee, or possibly hot tea, or just water.

9. Can you do push ups?

What constitutes 'doing' push-ups? I can do at least one...probably...

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?

Probably the emerald ring I've had since Jr. High and still wear.

11. Favorite hobby?

Watching TV.

12. Do you have A.D.D.?

Not usually.

13. Do you wear glasses/contacts?

Yes and yes.

14. Middle name?

Lynn

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?

Ow, my back hurts. I should really stop doing this and get some work done. Ooo, I'm going to yell at that kid to stop running.

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink?

Water, Diet Coke, coffee.

17. Current worry?

How I'm going to get this work project done when it seems like an insurmountable task.

18. Current hate right now?

The work project. See above.

19. Favorite place to be?

Hard one. Close tie between having dinner with my family and having drinks--preferably at a party we're throwing or at a tailgate--with my friends. Oh...or just on my couch. I like my couch a lot.

20. How did you bring in the new year?

See this.

21. Where would you like to go?

So many places. Greece 2010! London. New Orleans again. Italy. Back to New Zealand. NYC.

22. Name three people who will complete this?

Jaleh, MAYBE...I've got no other guesses.

23. Do you own slippers?

Yes.

24. What shirt are you wearing?

Pink shirt. Nothing exciting.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?

Can't say I've ever done so.

26. Can you whistle?

Yup, pretty well. Got that gene from my gramps.

27. Favorite color?

In general...dark purple.

28. Would you be a pirate?

Sure.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower?

What songs DON'T I sing in the shower?

30. Favorite Girl's Name?

Bridget.

31. Favorite boy's name?

Eh, no real opinion.

32. What's in your pocket right now?

Chapstick, keys.

33. Last thing that made you laugh?

John Green's answers to these questions.

34. What vehicle do you drive?

Titanium Gray Mazda3

35. Worst injury you've ever had?

I hope I don't jinx myself here...a sprained ankle, senior year of HS, Nimes, France.

36. Do you love where you live?

Love is a relative term. :) I love my family, and I love my friends that live here. And Indy's not so bad. We find fun things to do...

37. How many TVs do you have in your house?

Three.

I'm not sure how some of the above can be classified as "Odd" so much as "Random," but whatevs.

HP and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer!

2008-08-05T21:57:00.001-05:00

S.Q.U.E.E.!!!!!!

Go watch. Also, check out the set pictures. They're all getting so old!

ZOMG, I canNOT wait until November!!!

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

2008-07-31T12:59:00.001-05:00

Squee.

Clearly.

2008-07-29T09:13:00.005-05:00

Clearly I have nothing to say lately. I guess I'm taking sort of a mini-break. (And since I'm a contradictory sort of a person, I'm sort of hoping that by SAYING I'm going to take a mini-break I'll suddenly think of 50 things to say and won't be able to stop blogging.)

Anyway, that's why you may not (...or may, see above) hear from me much lately. It's too summery to think of things to write about, and I have a new DS Lite to play with instead of blogging.

My new DS.

Oh, now see--just writing the above made me think of something. The gang and I went to Symphony on the Prairie again and had a blast. There, that's something...

The girls at Symphony on the Prairie.

Hey Jalehla!

2008-07-20T22:53:00.003-05:00

Have you seen this yet?

(I mean, I hope others are also interested, but I'm sort of doubting it):

And the original, since it's made of awesome:

I really sort of want to read Deathly Hallows again. If only I didn't have so many other books to read right now! Le sigh.

The Doctor is In!

2008-07-16T21:49:00.001-05:00

Go watch this while it's free!!!

In other news, Project Runway starts tonight...squeee!

Book Update

2008-07-09T19:35:00.008-05:00

Finished a bunch of books all at the same time...yay, I know you're excited!

Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Okay, actually I finished this one awhile ago but I was waiting to finish more before I posted. It was interesting. It's told from both guy and girl perspective in alternating chapters. At times it was a tad overly dramatic and put-upon for me, but it was essentially a sweet love story...and hey, teenagers are nothing if not overly dramatic and put-upon, so I suppose it fits. Oh, and Michael Cera is playing Nick in the movie-version, so that can't be bad.

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
This is one of Neil's forays into children's lit (as opposed to graphic novels), and he succeeded. Actually I guess it's a pretty well-known book. It was sort of creepy and mystical and fantastic, about a girl who gets trapped in a mysterious alternate reality by her 'other mother.' I liked it tons.

Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith
This is another of McCall Smith's fantastic series. I hadn't read any of this series before but his stuff is great for trips and it was super thin, making it my pick for a book to take to DC. Like his other books, it's a character study of odd but lovable people, this time a German professor. I'd classify it as being closer to his 44 Scotland Street series than anything else--a high compliment, since I adore those books.

Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult
This was my friend Lynn's choice for our book club. We're meeting next week so I won't go into details, but I really enjoyed it. I don't normally read realistic-drama like this--in short, it's about a school shooting--but it was really compelling and well-done.

Books Read in 2008:
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith
Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult
The Boy Book, by E. Lockhart
Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl
Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld
The Boyfriend List, by E. Lockhart
Size 12 is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot
Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

And Back From DC.

2008-07-06T22:35:00.005-05:00

So I was going to post a bunch of pictures from DC, but frankly I can't be bothered at 11:30pm on Sunday and I know I won't get around to it in the next few days. Instead, I'll just post the super short little video of the gang out on Thursday night. We were celebrating Tanya (Clux's step-sister)'s birthday. This is post drinks at the Bayou Room and dinner and schooners of Blue Moon at the Fish Market in Old Town Alexandria. We had moved on to an Irish pub at this point. It's nothing exciting, but it's the people I spent the past four days with and they're excellent folks, so enjoy.

(In order: Clux, Eren, Tanya, Brendan, Pam, me)

The rest of my weekend was equally as fun...we went to the party of a Cluxy co-worker on the 4th and ended up staying there the whole day/night because flippy cup and beer pong were involved.

That night we experienced the MOST INSANE FIREWORKS EVER in Clux and Eren's neighborhood. We're talking two hours straight of big fireworks in the sky, plus everyone and their brother setting shit off in their yards...kids having Roman candle fights...pops and whistles and booms and sizzles going off literally every second that entire time. Smoke settling on the ground. It was very war-zone-ish, and very freaky. But sort of awesome. I could still hear stuff going off when I went to bed that night.

Saturday was Clux and Eren's housewarming party. I had more cheesedogs than one girl should ever eat in a day, and discovered a new favorite drink (thanks, Eren)--Dark and Stormys, made with Gosling's Black Seal Rum and ginger beer (yum), and a bit of lime juice. DGs, I got to see Imhulse and LBJ (and her little baby, adorable). Good times.

Okay, one pic--this is a schooner of Blue Moon. It's as big as it looks.

To DC.

2008-07-03T00:02:00.002-05:00

Haven't heard much from me lately, sorry...and now it'll be awhile again. I'm headed to DC for 4 days. Gonna celebrate the 4th with the Cluxer. Yaaaay!

I promise pics when I get back.

In the meantime...don't forget that Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations premieres its summer season on Monday. Yazzah! And Psych begins again on Friday, July 18. Check out this vid Jaleh posted. Heh.

A Few Adjustments

2008-06-29T18:25:00.003-05:00

Just did a little weeding over my blog roll. The blogs of a few of my friends are virtually or literally non-existent these days, so I deleted them and combined those who remain with my "Favorites."

So-long to Ber's and Matty's blogs (you have to be their Myspace friend to read them anyway), Bill's blog (he has retired from blogging and let the domain expire), and Tricia (she only used it during her time in Costa Rica). We enjoyed them while they lasted!

Doogie, Mal, and Joss

2008-06-27T09:55:00.002-05:00

Jaleh has posted the trailer to the awesome-looking Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the brainchild of Joss Whedon. It's an internet mini-series musical which stars the always awesome Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion. How could it be bad?

Go check it out.

Hey, You Know What's Awesome?

2008-06-23T21:49:00.004-05:00

These songs by Aimee Mann are what's awesome:

"Freeway"

and "31 Today"

Actually, the whole CD's good. Check it out.

Fact Of The Day.

2008-06-20T10:09:00.003-05:00

This is totally unrelated to anything, but I just had an revelation while prepping for the astronomy/constellation program I'm doing at the library next month...

Did you know that Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades constellation? You know, the one that's a cluster of seven stars (although really there are lots more than seven)? And that's why the Subaru logo has a cluster of stars on it?

Yeah. I know, but these are the things that amuse me.

Current Listens and Concerts

2008-06-17T20:45:00.005-05:00

Three CDs came for me via Amazon last week...

The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
So far I like the new Raconteurs CD...but not as much as the first one. Though admittedly, I haven't listened to it very much yet and it usually takes me a few listens before I really get into a CD.

Why haven't I listened to it much? Because I can't seem to bring myself to take this next CD out of the player...

Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple
SO good. This one doesn't have as many obvious singles as St. Elsewhere, but I like pretty much every song on there. Favorites include "Going On," "Whatever," and "Blind Mary," but really it was hard picking just those. All goodness here.

Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs
A solid effort from Death Cab. It's a great CD. I'm sure most of you have heard "I Will Possess Your Heart" and that's a good one, but I also like the more upbeat "No Sunlight" as well as "Your New Twin Sized Bed" (which they totally played on Saturday night).

Speaking of which, went to two concerts this weekend. Friday night Ber, D, Dani, and I went to Jack Johnson at Verizon...it was good, Jack played all of his most popular stuff so yay for that. It went REALLY fast, possibly because we were somewhat inebriated and possibly because we didn't get there until right before he played. It didn't rain one drop during the concert even though it stormed all day, and it started sprinkling as we walked to the car, so despite being pretty muddy we at least stayed dry.

Saturday Ber and I went to Death Cab at White River. I would be happy if every concert I went to in Indy was at that venue. It was my first time there, but I really, really liked how open and mellow it is there. And they give you chairs. Chairs! And the port-o-lets actually had air fresheners in them, and came complete with those little portable sinks with SOAP! And the beer line was nonexistent. Oh yeah, and the band was good too. Heh. No, seriously, they played most of their popular stuff and we never got tired of watching Ben Gibbard's funny little rocking dance.

What to Watch: Summer 2008 Version

2008-06-08T12:52:00.003-05:00

Several good shows are starting up soon! Since I've done it the past few years, here's what I'll be watching...

ALREADY ON

-So You Think You Can Dance, Wednesdays and Thursdays, FOX
No surprise there.

-The Next Food Network Star, Sundays, Food Network
The judges sometimes make questionable decisions, and they never have enough time for challenges. But somehow it still tends to be awesome.

JUNE

-My Boys, TBS, June 12, 9:30pm
I've said it before--My Boys is just all-around fantastic. Funny and relate-able. They've been airing last season's epis over the past week or so, and I've been re-watching them. Still good. Don't forget to watch.

-Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods, June 2, 10pm
Yeah, I know. But I like musicals. I can't help myself. And speaking of musicals...

-Camp Rock, Disney, June 20, 6pm
This is a one-time muscial-movie, a la High School Musical but hopefully awesomer. Ridiculous that I'm gonna watch it? Probably. But I still am, so suck it!

-Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Bravo, June 12, 9pm
I know Matty will be watching this one! Yazzah!

-Design Star, HGTV, June 8, 9pm
Anybody else watch this one? My mom and I love it. Sometimes the challenges are sub-par, but when they're good, they're pretty great.

-Show I wish I could start watching in June but will have to wait for it on DVD because I don't have Showtime: Weeds, June 16, 10pm. Sigh.

JULY

-Burn Notice, USA, July 10, 10pm
Eeeeee!!! I love this show. It's so great. Seriously excited for it to start again.

-Project Runway, Bravo, TBD
Eeeeeee again!!! It'll be the last season on Bravo before it heads to Lifetime. No need to explain my excitement for this show--most of you already know, and if you don't, you'd probably never understand so it's pointless anyway.

I guess that's really it. Seems like there's less on this summer than last year--no Big Love yet, no Psych. Let me know if I'm missing anything!

Book Update

2008-06-03T21:23:00.001-05:00

Two and a half more books to add to my list.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
Sequel to Uglies, which I really liked. Now Tally is a Pretty, and struggles to remember her ugly life. Good, I liked this one too, although once again my enjoyment was hindered by the horrendously voiced woman who read the audiobook. I'm sure you're all shouting at me to just stop listening to audiobooks, already, but I can't help myself. They're so convenient!!!

The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart
Ruby Oliver just got dumped by her first real boyfriend--and to make it worse, he then starts dating her now ex-best-friend. After an unfortunate series of events, Roo becomes a bit of a leper at her HS, and begins having panic attacks. So, her parents send her to a therapist, who has her make a list of all the boys who have played a significant role in her life. It's an honest and really, really funny look at the traumas of teenage life. I liked it so much, I'm reading the sequel now (The Boy Book). (Edited 6/9/08: Finished The Boy Book already! Can't wait for the next in the series.)

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
I'm not done with this one. I'm about 2/3 through, but honestly I'm just too lazy to wait and do a separate post for it when I finish it (hopefully this weekend).
It's the story of Blue Van Meer, daughter of a professor with a penchant for moving to a new college every semester. But her senior year his present to her is to stay at one school the whole time. The book is about the strange people she befriends that year, and it's also a bit of a mystery at the same time. So far, so good. It's really creative and smart.

Books Read in 2008:
The Boy Book, by E. Lockhart
Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl
Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld
The Boyfriend List, by E. Lockhart
Size 12 is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot
Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Does This Mean I'm Old?

2008-06-02T18:09:00.002-05:00

I forgot the MTV Movie Awards were on last night.

Not just sort of forgot, or chose not to watch them (who am I kidding, I often skip the music video awards but haven't missed a movie awards since its inception). No, I just flat-out didn't even think of it.

Mind you, the show has been going downhill over the past few years (last summer's invention of the Best Summer Movie So Far award, just to get a plug in for Transformers? Really? REALLY??? Damn you, Michael Bay). And Mike Myers as host? As much as I am fond of him and lurved him c.1998 and wish him nothing but the best with his upcoming movie The Love Guru (*cough*lookshorrendous*cough*), I just wonder whether he can deliver as a host. As in, I bet that 75% of the people in that room don't even know who he is anymore because they were 6 years old when Austin Powers 3 came out.

Oh well. I'll just have to DVR a rerun of it now, which means I can fast forward through his bombing jokes.

Vacation. Always Too Short.

2008-05-28T16:48:00.005-05:00

I've been on vacation! Since I haven't posted in a week, you'd think maybe I've been someplace exciting and far away! Alas, no--mostly I've just been here. But I have accumulated a few things to talk about, so here goes...

Restaurant Review
Saturday night I went to a new-to-me restaurant, Bub's Burgers & Fries in Carmel. We're not really counting it as a NRS because both Nikki and Damien had been there before. Anyway, Ber, Nik, and I had dinner there Sat night, and we all had burgers. I got cheddar and bacon on mine, and was really pleased. The burger was well seasoned, the bacon was crumbly and crisp, and the bun was buttered which added an extra bit of flavor. I was not as big a fan of the 'loaded' potato salad, which was supposed to contain scallions and bacon. I did not see or taste any trace of bacon. Sigh. Amber was happier with her waffle fries. Oh yeah, and the vanilla cokes were freakking FANTASTIC. Yum.

Movie Reviews
I spent Sunday and Monday with my nephews and parents. During those two days we went to two movies. What can I say, we're a movie kind of family.

Sunday was Prince Caspian. I don't have much to say about it, other than...eh. It was not as good as the first one. It was not bad, but it was really just too long. Read the book instead.

Monday we went to see Indiana Jones 4. I was extremely excited to see this flick, as are/were most of you, I'm sure. I was especially excited to see it with my dad and brother, as they're the ones who introduced me to the originals when I was young. But anyway, on to my opinion...I liked it. I think anyone going in expecting it to be just the same as the old ones was asking to be disappointed. You have to expect it to be...not not as good, but...well...different. Just different. Indy is old. It's a fact. He's still funny, he's still got the great comebacks, he's still having fun. Shia is also pretty great in this. Does Marion have enough to do? Well, sort of, though she's not as awesome as she is in Raiders. (BEGIN SEMI-SPOILER) Does the re-kindling of the Indy/Marion romance feel earned? Not especially. Is the Crystal Skull a satisfying MacGuffin? Eh. Not really, certainly not in the way that the Ark or the Grail were. In fact, that whole storyline felt a little ambitious/confusing. But I understand that sci-fi is where those sorts of stories were going in that era, and it's all really just an excuse to get Indy out there again. I know that a lot of people will have complaints, but I enjoyed it and would like to see it again. (END SPOILERS)
(Added 9:45pm: I liked this analysis on TWoP.)

Theme Park Review
Ber, Nik, and I road tripped to Kings Island yesterday. I hadn't been there for probably 15 years or so. Despite the questionable weather, we had a fantastic time. Actually, because of the threat of rain there weren't too many people and we walked right up to most of the coasters. The water park area closed after we were there for only about an hour, but we had a chance to go on most of the slides at least once. And though I'm not a coaster enthusiast, I went on all but one of the rides the girls went on! It was fun. Woot!

I have to go back to work tomorrow. This fact makes me very, very sad. Thankfully it's just a two day week.

Good Things.

2008-05-20T22:29:00.003-05:00

Tonight Amber and I went to the Eiteljorg Museum for another IndyHub event. It was called Mistology: The Science Behind the Cocktail, and was a (fun) lecture on the history of cocktails with tips on how to make fantastic drinks. It was sponsored by Canadian Mist whiskey and involved both free booze and food (after a $5 donation to the museum, which hey, it's a good cause). Yazzah! This is the sort of thing we love in Bethland. Several of Ber's co-workers also attended and a good time was had by all.

The other good thing you should note? SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE begins tomorrow, Thursday the 22nd, at 8pm and 9pm on Fox!!!!!!!!!!!! I think Joelle and Abby are the only ones who watch, but it is just so frakking good you guys. I wish more people would watch. TRUE TALENT. Do you hear me? Most reality TV competitions are shams of facades, I admit. But this one isn't.

That being said, you may want to skip the auditions because they occasionally put a few trainwrecks in there, a la American Idol. But once the show-proper begins airing, it's 100% Made of Awesome.

NRS: Weber Grill

2008-05-19T17:30:00.003-05:00

Saturday night saw another New Restaurant Saturday outing, this time with Amber, Damien, me, and D's friend Jeff. This week: Weber Grill.

All of us had heard mixed reviews, primarily of the 'it's overrated' variety, but Ber and I had both been wanting to try it so the boys agreed.

The ambiance was crowded and a bit noisy, but comfortable in a leather-and-dark-wood sort of way. And the service--well, I'm sad to say that the service was by far the worst part of the evening. We sat down and were given water, but no carafe of water like the other tables. Then we were brought rolls (very interesting 'pretzel bread'), but no silverware--namely knives--with which to spread butter. We were reduced to scooping the cheese-butter out with pieces of bread. Very uncouth. Besides that, she also mixed up our bills pretty badly.

But on to the food itself. Amber got the "Pick 2" BBQ combo of brisket (she liked it a lot) and pulled pork (she liked it not as much). Damien got the flank steak in chimichurri marinade and reports that it was pretty tasty. Jeff got Sesame Crusted Yellow Fin Tuna, rare, because it was sushi grade and seemed to enjoy it. I was probably the least satisfied with my choice--a Turkey Burger. I have had some seriously good turkey burgers in my time, and this was not one of them. It was okay, but did not leave much of a lasting impression. Leaving more of an impression on me was the Romaine Wedge salad--a twist on the classic blue cheese, tomato, onion, and bacon salad that's normally served over a wedge of iceberg. This one was on romaine, obviously, and was delicious. Large pieces of bacon, plenty of chunky blue cheese along with a cool, creamy blue cheese dressing. The only thing that it lacked was grape tomatoes--Scholar's Inn's wedge salad used to feature those small, sweet tomatoes which were a perfect compliment to the saltiness of the rest of the dish. Weber used ordinary vine tomatoes, and sadly they had little flavor.

D opted for the Dutch apple pie for dessert and was kind enough to share. It was very tasty, with as much crumbly streusel topping as there were apples, and served warm next to ice cream. Unfortunately the coffee he and Jeff got was less pleasing--they said it tasted burnt, like it had been sitting there too long. They asked our waitress to take it off the bill, and she obliged.

I think that does it for my evaluation. Perhaps the steak would have been fantastic if I had felt like spending $30 on one. My summation of this place's main issue? It's trying to be a fancy pants steakhouse, but 1) it's also catering to the masses and 2) it's just plain doesn't have the goods or the service to back it up. It's overpriced for what it is. My recommendation is to skip it.

Books.

2008-05-14T21:15:00.008-05:00

Two more completed.

Size 12 is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot
This is the first book in Cabot's Heather Mills series. It's a mystery series about an ex-pop star who is a star no more, and is now working in a NYC college dorm as an assistant hall director. It was pretty funny and the mystery was decent--I didn't figure it out until Heather did, which is always good. Otherwise it's a fairly standard adult Meg Cabot novel, so if you like those, you'll probably like this.

Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
This was my friend Jen's choice for our Book Club. It's the story of what may have really happened to TWA Flight 800. Though the case is closed, the main character chooses to investigate it on his own, yada yada. I won't go too much into my opinions since the club hasn't discussed it yet, except to say that it was pretty okay (except for the ending, which I hated, sorry Jen), but just not my thing.

Added 5/15/08:
OMG! I just realized that at some point I forgot to mention that I finished Uglies by Scott Westerfeld!!! I must have been waiting until I finished other books I was working on at the time and then forgot altogether. I finished it a few weeks ago. So, anyway...it was good. Really pretty good. It's set in a sort of utopian future where people undergo surgery on their 16th birthday so that they're all 'pretty' in a generic sort of way. The idea is that if everyone is equally pretty, they'll treat one another the same and there will be no jealousy, fighting, etc. But sometimes the 'uglies,' as they're called before they're changed, decide they want to stay ugly and run away to a camp called The Smoke to live like the "Rusties" (i.e., us, who depend upon steel and left behind rusted out buildings long ago...stick with me now, it all makes sense in the book...). The leaders of the Pretties don't like that, so they set out to do something about it by way of the main character, Tally. I'm listening to the second book in the series now, Pretties. There are four in the series so far. Good stuff.

Books Read in 2008:
Size 12 is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot
Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Goobs.

2008-05-13T23:12:00.003-05:00

Are my nephews adorable in their Little League uniforms? Yes.

Are they goobers nevertheless? Well, I love 'em anyway.

(Note: Yes, I realize Jake is wearing a Teen Titans shirt. It was under his uniform shirt. They don't actually play in Teen Titan shirts. Duh.)

Samantha Who?

2008-05-12T21:01:00.005-05:00

You guys should try Samantha Who? if you haven't yet. I'm not sure whether there are even any epis left this season, but it's totally good and funny. I've been watching it for the past month or so. It's no 30 Rock or HIMYM, but it's genuinely funny. It gets my stamp of approval. Go watch.

Oh yeah, also--Scrubs was picked up by ABC. It doesn't sound like it'll be a full season, but rather they'll be allowed to finish up the story over there. Zach Braff reports that the series finale will air in the fall. Read all about it on AICN.

Ahem.

2008-05-08T00:01:00.005-05:00

You knew it was coming:

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday dear meeeeeee,
Happy Birthday to me!!!

Yay! It's the 10th anniversary of my 21st birthday! Who's buying me shots?!

No? Oh well. I shall have a good b-day anyway.

Half a day off work. Lunch with a good work friend. Dinner with more good friends. Tempura ice cream. Could a girl ask for more? Methinks no.

Current Listen

2008-05-07T12:56:00.006-05:00

Couple of CDs in my CD player at the moment:

Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
I really like this one. It's a pretty happy little CD, sort of bouncy with some New Waveish/ska influences. There's one song that led me to comment to myself today, "Hmmm, that sounds like Paul Simon!" Only don't be afraid, Paul Simon haters (if any of you exist--how can you hate Paul Simon?!)--it's more of an influence, not how the CD actually sounds. Anyway, give it a listen.

Alicia Keys, As I Am
I am not, in general, a massive Alicia Keys fan. I like her alright, but I don't own any of her CDs. But man, when I heard her perform "No One" at the MTV Video awards, and I was hooked. I had to have that song. It was just so powerful and fun to sing! The library finally got the CD, I put it in the player, and...eh. I was disappointed. None of the other songs are half as awesome as "No One." But I listened to it a few more times, and now I sort of like it. It'll never be a huge favorite, but it's a solid album.

Panic at the Disco, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
A lot of people love Panic at the Disco, so I decided to give them a listen. After one listen through I was like "ugh, they sound exactly like Fall Out Boy and all those other little-boy-rocker groups around today! All the songs sound EXACTLY the same! BLAH!" But then I listened again. And again. And again. And now I sort of love that CD. It's really pretty good! It's essentially the CD that I most hate to love.

Just Thought I'd Mention...

2008-05-01T19:59:00.001-05:00

...only one week till my birthday! You know, for those of you counting.

Book Update

2008-04-28T21:06:00.002-05:00

In addition to Gods Behaving Badly, I recently finished Thornyhold by Mary Stewart. I read it at Meg Cabot's recommendation--it was one of her favorite books when she was younger and she still loves it. It's 'romantic suspense' and features possible witchcraft and general eeriness, so how could it go wrong, right? It was pretty good. I'd read more of Mary Stewart's stuff if only I didn't have a million other books on my To Read List.

Books Read in 2008:
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

NRS: Bosphorus...Plus, Book Club Update

2008-04-27T14:06:00.004-05:00

Two in one today, folks: Our book club meeting doubled as a New Restaurant Saturday, since 3 of the 4 members were present!

First the book. As you may recall, we read my pick, Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. The tally was thus: 3 of us rather liked it (myself, Nikki, and Lynn); 1 felt it was slow to start but got into it halfway through because she enjoyed the portrayal of the afterlife (Tricia); and one has not finished because she couldn't get into it/hasn't had much time to read (Amber). Shannon and Jen were not present.

It is really rather fascinating to me that people can have such different takes on the same book. Obviously I'm a librarian and I encounter this sort of thing all the time, and certainly differences of opinion make the world go round, etc., etc. But amongst a group of friends, the way in which our tastes differ is just quite fascinating to me. In a way we can get to know one another even better through this club because of those differences. I probably would never have read The Other Boleyn Girl if Amber hadn't asked us to, because it's long and...I don't know, it just didn't particularly appeal to me. But it turned out to be a great book. And Jen's choice for next month, Night Fall by Nelson DeMille, is a political thriller--not my genre at all. But, I bet it will be great.

Meanwhile, Gods Behaving Badly was right up my alley--absurd, funny, and I have always found the Greeks gods and myths fascinating so I loved the way the author brought them into the present.

On to New Restaurant Saturday. We went to the Turkish restaurant Bosphorus, located just across East Street from Lilly in downtown Indy. It was YUMMY.

We split a number of appetizers--babaganush (an eggplant dip), which Lynn especially loved (it was not my favorite, but I did enjoy it), tzatziki (cucumbers, dill, and yogurt) which Tricia requested and we all enjoyed, and borek (feta and parsely wrapped in fillo dough and fried), which was freaking amazing. The owner/manager also brought us a sample of hummus and challenged us to name the four states whose capitals begin with the same letter as the state (think: Indianapolis, IN) by the end of the meal; if we got it right we would get free dessert.

We moved on to the mains--four of us got the Beef Hummus, a rich and slightly spicey stew of beef and veggies (the veggies looked like they were from a frozen mixed-vegetable bag, but the flavor of the over all dish made up for that fact) on a bed of hummus. And when I say a bed of hummus, I mean an enormous bed of hummus. HEAVEN. We were stuffed afterwards, but happy. Tricia got the lamb shish kebab. The meat looked fairly tasty, but she sadly reported that it was rather dry and ended up dipping it into her tzatziki. So, disappointment there. If I go back I'd get the beef hummus again, or possibly try the doner gyro wrap.

Most of the girls got a glass of the house wine, and I got Turkish hot tea. It was delicious, though sadly not served in a traditional glass tea cup.

Overall, a great experience. And no, we didn't get free dessert. We almost did--we got Indianapolis, of course, plus Dover, Delaware and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. But instead of going with what we thought was too obvious--Honolulu, Hawaii--Amber suggested Hilo, HI. (Yes, it's all Amber's fault--we completely blame it on her). Oh well, we were all full to the brim anyway.

BSG Meme

2008-04-22T12:59:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jalehla, via Bill!

Which Battlestar Galactica Character Are You?

More on Battlestar Galactica. Created by BuddyTV

Meme, YA Style.

2008-04-18T19:59:00.000-05:00

What Teen Angst Novel are You? - funny, lots of results, with pix, from the author of The Boyfriend List and Fly on the Wall

ANGUS, THONGS AND FULL-FRONTAL SNOGGING, (and the other Georgia Nicolson books) by Louise Rennison. Hysterically funny, ridiculous, silly, and rambling. Go read it. It's you.Happy reading! -- E. Lockhart
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Nerdfighters!

2008-04-17T21:15:00.000-05:00

Today I met John Green. Yazzah!!!

You may have heard me mention him before.

And look, he was so nice, he posed with me (that's the Nerdfighters gang sign)! You guys, this is so exciting for me. Only Jaleh seems to really know how exciting it is (so of course I had to taunt her by texting her immediately afterwards. Love you Jal!). It was awesome. It was a small crowd at the Indiana Library Federation District 4 conference so we really sort of had him to ourselves. He spoke about the impact of libraries and librarians on teens today and had some really great stuff to say.

I also got to tour the new Central Library of IMCPL downtown, because that's where the conference was. Although that, of course, pales in comparison to JG.

All-in-all, a frakking good day, my friends.

Awesome Whedon News

2008-04-17T20:31:00.001-05:00

More Mutant Enemies will appear on Joss Whedon's new show Dollhouse. Excellent.

Battlestarry Goodness

2008-04-11T23:54:00.005-05:00

This was one of the best epis of BSG in a long time, better even than last week's premiere I think!

The reasons:
1. Double the Baltar, double the fun! ("Well...she's a sexy lady." "Yeah, yeah.")
2. Kara and Lee in the brig.
3. Giving the centurians the gift of reason.
4. The Prez and Adama as roomies. Awesome, awesome roomies.
5. "Now go, find a way to Earth."

Book Update

2008-04-10T21:49:00.008-05:00

Let me tell you all a sad story.

I have been listening to Inkspell, by Cornelia Funke, on audiobook. I was doing this in preparation for the movie that's coming out. Except--and this is after listening to 9 or 10 discs--I only just realized that it's the 2nd book in the series. I should have been listening to Inkheart.

Sigh. Did you know I'm a librarian? A children's librarian, no less? And that generally I should be able to figure out which book comes first in a series?

On the bright side, Brendan Fraser read it very well. On the not as bright side, it was loooong, and we all know the attention span I have for audiobooks in the car. No wonder I felt like I was missing stuff. Yeah, I was missing A WHOLE BOOK.

In brief, it's the story of a man who can bring stories to life when he reads them, and his daughter, who learns the skill. It's pretty good. I'm gonna listen to the actual first book now, and I'm looking forward to the movie (Brendan plays the dad, which is especially awesome since he was so great at reading the audiobooks).

I also recently finished River Secrets by Shannon Hale. It's the 3rd book in her Bayern series. And as usual, it was great.

Books Read in 2008:
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

A Live Music Summer

2008-04-07T08:52:00.002-05:00

Summer's almost here!!!

Yes, it's only April, but I think this weekend we finally turned the weather corner into spring, which means that summer activities will start soon!

I can't wait for Friday night IMA amphitheater movies...picnics at Symphony on the Prairie...putt-putt...grilling out...and this summer, concerts. Oh, there will be concerts!

I already have 3 lined up, and that's more than I went to all of last year! My tiny raise has allowed me a tiny bit more spending money, so I will be allowing myself to go to more concerts this year. Yazzah!

So far:

-Jack Johnson, June 13, Verizon

-Death Cab for Cutie, June 14, White River State Park

-Foo Fighters, July 23, Conseco

And I am not limiting myself to these. For instance, Radiohead is supposed to be here in August or September, and I WILL be going and hopefully dragging some of you along (I promise you, it's worth it, they were AMAZING when I saw them play Grant Park in Chicago a few years ago...plus they're just generally kick-ass). And I imagine one or two more concerts will pop up before summer begins.

If anyone's interested in going to see any of the above shows with us, please do! We have lawn/gen admin tix for Jack and Death Cab. Foo we do have actual seats for but we're in the rafters so we could probably get together with anyone else who gets rafter tickets (they tend to stop caring where you sit once you're up that high).

Just let me know!

Frak Alert!

2008-04-03T22:49:00.005-05:00

I almost forgot to remember to remind you.

Battlestar Galactica season 4 begins tomorrow, FRIDAY, APRIL 4 at 10pm on the SciFi Channel.

Don't miss it!!! Or you'll never know what to do when we invent robots to serve us but that then evolve and turn on us and then destroy our planet and leave us stuck in space trying to find Earth with only some myths (and a kick-ass Commander...and president...and pilots) to guide us!

Book Club Update

2008-04-01T20:04:00.005-05:00

The book club my friends and I formed had its first meeting last Friday!

Present: Me, Amber, Jen, Nikki, Shannon.
Absent: Tricia, Lynn

The gang met for dinner at Asaka (yum), and yes, we did actually talk about our first book, The Other Boleyn Girl. I mean, we probably chatted about it for at least 10 minutes altogether! Heh. No, seriously, we did discuss the book. I won't go into details except to say that not everyone had finished it (I did!) but that everyone had enjoyed/was enjoying it. Some of us had done some light research to learn more about the rest of Henry's wives and that time period so we also chatted about that.

For those reading along, the next book is my pick: Gods Behaving Badly, by Marie Phillips. The Greek gods are alive, well, and living in a London house. They've got everyday jobs to pay the bills. But their powers are waning and they're getting bored, so wackiness is sure to ensue! I'm a few pages in and so far it's PDG (pretty damn good).

Books Read in 2008:
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Hey Buffy Fans!

2008-03-25T20:53:00.004-05:00

Want info about the Paley Fest Buffy reunion? Check out Ain't It Cool News's post about it. They have links to the full audio from the event, pictures, interviews, and more.

Yazzah!

(That's my new combo of 'yay' and 'huzzah,' btw. I like it.)

Pretty in Pink.

2008-03-25T20:27:00.003-05:00

Hey! Like the movie Pretty in Pink? So do I!

And so does author Meg Cabot:

John Adams and Emma

2008-03-23T16:26:00.004-05:00

Anybody else watching the John Adams miniseries on HBO? I am just catching up on the second episode today, and, well--more than anything it's making me want to watch the musical 1776 again. Anyone else? No? Really? Oh well. (But it's good!)

In other news, the Masterpiece Theater Jane Austen marathon starts up again after 3 weeks off with Emma. It's the version with a young Kate Beckinsale. Yay!

Yay For Stats! I Guess.

2008-03-21T22:44:00.003-05:00

Someone I know invited me to participate in a Yahoo Fantasy Sports Tourney Pick'em bracket thingie, so, being a betting woman (when no money is involved) I decided to participate. Somehow I am now in the lead of the pool (23 out of 28 correct picks at the moment). I have not watched one NCAA game this year (sorry Andrew) and haven't watched any of the tournament. I just picked based almost completely on the stats that Yahoo provides about each team. I know! Maybe it's because I have no real emotional stake in it (except for IU and a little for Butler, of course). But I think it's pretty frakking funny.

We'll see how long it lasts.

Well Worth 34 Seconds Of Your Time. (Or More Likely Not.)

2008-03-18T22:10:00.007-05:00

Event: Claddagh outing on Saturday in honor of St. Patrick.

Cast: Lynn, Ber, Jeff, Kenney, Tricia, and me (plus Shannon and Paul later in the evening).

Time I left home to meet up with my friends on Saturday: 3pm

Time I got home on Sunday morning: 3am

Yeah.

Hope you all had Happy St. Patrick's Days!

So Say We All.

2008-03-16T20:05:00.003-05:00

You know how I'm always going on, like, "Blah blah blah, Battlestar Galactica is one of the best shows on TV, why aren't you guys watching, blah blah, for real, why aren't more of my friends watching this, no, really, I mean it, it's worth it, WATCH BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!!!"?

Does that ring a bell?

Yeah, okay.

Well, BSG is beginning its final season on April 4! Huzzah and wOOt. If anyone feels compelled to watch but doesn't have time to watch Seasons 1-3 plus BSG: Razor by April, check this out. (Thanks to Babblecat for pointing it out.) It'll catch you all the way up to the present in just a few minutes! Also, it's sort of funny! And if you have any 'what the frak?' moments, just let me know and I will attempt to straighten you out.

Parts I and II.

2008-03-12T20:43:00.003-05:00

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

It's official--the first Harry Potter movie to be split into two parts will actually be the last of the franchise. Yes, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I will reach theaters in November of 2010 and HPDH Part II will open in May 2011.

The two movies will be filmed at the same time and released about 6 months apart. The decision was based on the fact that unlike the rest of the series, there are no truly extraneous subplots in the seventh book so it would be difficult to cut it down to one film. David Yates will direct once again.

I, for one, am thrilled. I have high hopes that for once I won't walk away from the film thinking only of what was left out. Oh, I'm sure I'll still have problems with it, but let me dream for awhile.

And in the meantime...only about 9 months until HP and the Half-Blood Prince! Let my obsession begin!

John Green and Indy.com

2008-03-11T22:46:00.004-05:00

My favorite Nerdfighter (and awesome YA author), John Green, was quoted on Indy.com today (and also apparently in the print version)!

Check it out.

Happy Birthday, D!

2008-03-10T00:03:00.017-05:00

Today Damien turns thirty-something. A few of us went out on Saturday to help him celebrate. Here are a few pics (taken with my new camera)!

The birthday boy.

Dinner at MacNiven's...half of the party...

...and the other half.

D's 'cheesy beans on toast.' He claims they were delicious. Ergh.

And three adorable kids. Awww.

Finally, the re-appearance of the vlog. Sort of. It's really dark and sadly I am in the habit of holding the camera at my level, thus cutting off the heads of my friends. But still. Happy Birthday D!

Book Update

2008-03-04T22:16:00.005-05:00

Finished two books this week, and am almost finished with a third so I'm tacking it on the end.

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
I'm sure I read this when I was little, but was glad to re-read it. I will discuss it next week with my book club of elementary school kids.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
For some reason I had never read this Newbery Award winner, but I finally got around to listening to the audiobook. It wasn't what I thought it would be, but I did like it. Another situation, though, where I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read it myself. (Why do I keep listening to audiobooks, you may ask? Because there's SO much I want to read and don't have nearly enough time! I'm all about the multi-tasking.)

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

I still have about a quarter of this book left, but it's going swiftly (at over 600 pages, it had better!). So far it's definitely my favorite of the three Twilight books. I still think Bella needs to get a life (I agree with her father on that), but she's not as pathetic as she is in New Moon, at least. And I am completely pulling for Jacob, still.

Books Read in 2008:
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Who Knew?!

2008-03-03T21:53:00.000-05:00

Hey Jeff!

2008-03-03T18:17:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday!!!

Camera.

2008-03-02T23:25:00.005-05:00

I've been wanting a new camera for awhile. My old Canon PowerShot A75 has served me well but 1) it's huge and heavy and 2) when I visited Milford Sound in New Zealand it got wet from a waterfall and hasn't been the same since. I've actually owned it for 3 or 4 years so I don't feel too guilty getting a new one.

I decided to get this Canon PowerShot SD40 because it has pretty decent reviews and Amazon has them for a good price. Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but it's PINK. Awesome. It also comes in a cool looking brown called "Twilight Sephia" and I almost picked that, but the pink one will match my cell phone AND my wireless mouse (not to mention my blog), which is, you know, obviously important when picking a digital camera.

In my research I also came across this one, the Canon PowerShot SD850, which is just a bit more expensive and has even better reviews. It's not pink, of course, but if you're in the market for a new camera you might check it out. Not that I'm a camera expert or anything. Point-and-shoots are as fancy as I get. So feel free to ignore me completely.

Hey! Guess What's Coming My Way!

2008-02-28T22:03:00.011-05:00

Hey Veronica Mars fans!

Veronica Mars Seasons 1, 2, and 3 are all on sale for only $19.99 each at Amazon! I already have Season 1, but Season 2 and Season 3 are on their way to me right now. Huzzah!

How can you beat this deal? You can't. Go buy them.

Stuff I Meant To Mention

2008-02-26T21:30:00.006-05:00

In case you wondered, I DID watch the Oscars on Sunday. But I recorded them and forwarded through all the boring bits. As far as I'm concerned, it's the only way I'll watch from now on. So much better without the montages and the awards for Animated Shorts! I don't have the patience in my old age.

Anyway. Those of you who watched would probably agree with me that the best moment of the night was when Marketa Irglova (from Once--if you haven't seen it, please, rent it asap, it's a sweet little movie with beautiful music) gave her belated acceptance speech. See, the orchestra started playing before she got a chance to give her speech after her song co-writer, Glen Hansard, gave his thank yous. And his speech was hardly long! So she was allowed to return to the stage, and gave a lovely, brief, moving acceptance speech.

Also old news: I finished two more books. These were for work so I won't go into detail, except to say that they are both Young Hoosier Book Award nominees.

Books Read in 2008:
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Added bonus...here's a little taste of Glen and Marketa's music. FYI, they're dating in real life--adorable!

Current Listens

2008-02-24T19:09:00.003-05:00

I've been very into Kate Nash's CD, Made of Bricks. She sounds a lot like Lily Allen but plays the piano. You may recognize her song "Foundations"...

And I particularly love her song "Pumpkin Soup." So catchy!

Have also been listening to the crazy Brit musician Mika. His CD, Life in Cartoon Motion, is pretty good. Here's one you may have heard, "Grace Kelly."

Tired of Books Yet? Too Bad.

2008-02-19T20:58:00.015-05:00

Yeah, more books. Sorry, it's all I have to talk about right now. Plus, I am, well, a LIBRARIAN. It's amazing that there haven't been more books on this blog before now!

The exciting thing that's happening now, however, is that some of my amigas and I have started a book club! Credit goes to Ber, who got the idea with some other folks and then allowed us to run with it (despite the fact that the other original participants ended up not having time to do it).

Here's the cast of characters, in alphabetical order (almost):

The Brilliant Ber, of course.

Miss Jen E., maker of fine finger foods.

Lynn (on the right) and Nikki, who had the foresight to pose together about two years ago just for this occasion, I'm sure.

Sha-nah-non, as I like to call her (you are allowed to do that when you've known someone since elementary school). You may call her Shannon.

The always thoughtful Tricia.

And, of course, your dutiful blogger: Me.

The rules:
-In the above alphabetical order (except I'm second, not last...obviously), each person will choose a book. Amber picks first.
-We all read said book.
-We then get together to discuss the book a little, but mostly to hang out and eat and drink and generally have a fun girls' night at the location of the book-picker's choice.
-The next person down the list picks a book. Repeat the process!

Sound fun? Are you maybe a little jealous? Aw, come on, I bet you are. Well, if you'd like to cyber-participate, you can! Just read along with us! I'll announce each book as we prepare to read it, and will then post my thoughts (and possibly the thoughts of my compatriots) after the group has gotten together to discuss!

First up, Amber's choice: The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory. We're aiming to be done with it in about a month, near the end of March.

And, finally: I have finished another book. Princess Mia by Meg Cabot, the next-to-last book in The Princess Diaries series. I am totally rooting for JP-- Jaleh, I'm sure you know what I mean.

Books Read in 2008:
Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

She's Baaaack!

2008-02-18T22:40:00.003-05:00

Get ready to cower in your closets, folks--Tyra's back! I am only partially kidding. She seriously does scare me a little these days. Luckily, America's Next Top Model still entertains, and I will tune in despite her steadily growing ego.

So, head's up: ANTM returns this Wednesday. Be sure to tune in!

Looking for Alaska

2008-02-13T20:57:00.004-05:00

Today I finished listening to John Green's novel Looking for Alaska on audiobook.

Here's the thing--it's a great novel. I love John Green (see: my obsession with Brotherhood 2.0 and Nerdfighters). The book itself is a Printz Award winner (that's the Young Adult equivalent of a Newbery Award). It's all about how people in your life can have huge impacts on you, even if they're only in your life for a short amount of time. It's also about the process of growing and learning who you are. It's thought provoking and poetically written.

But. The dude they got to do the audiobook? Ergh. He is not so terrible that I had to turn it off, but the way he read it just seemed completely WRONG at times. It's true that I spend more time than the average person reading aloud--it goes with the children's librarian gig--so maybe that makes me more critical. I don't know. At any rate, it sort of made me like the book less than I probably would have liked it if I had read it myself. And that makes me a little sad. Oh well.

Books Read in 2008:
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Oh Yeah...

2008-02-12T23:14:00.003-05:00

...for those who might be interested...

THE STRIKE IS OVER!!!!!!!!

Huzzah! And, um, what's the word? OH. Woooot!!!

I was completely supportive of the strike but it makes me no less glad that they were able to settle it. Not all of our shows will come back--Pushing Daisies is definitely out for the rest of the season, and word is Heroes won't return until next year--but many shows still plan to produce a few more epis before the summer.

Yay!

Credit to Babblecat...

2008-02-12T18:02:00.000-05:00

...for calling my attention to this latest quiz:

Hey, Jaleh...

2008-02-12T10:18:00.000-05:00

...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

New Restaurant Saturday: Keltie's and Oberweis

2008-02-10T17:33:00.000-05:00

Amber, Nikki, and I got together last night for a New Restaurant Saturday. Our choice? Keltie's in Westfield, IN (north of Carmel). Ber read a favorable review for it on Indy.com and so we all agreed to venture further north than we've ever been before (for an NRS, that is).

The best description I can think of for Keltie's is that it's "casually classy" or possibly "small-town fancy." It features an interesting combination of down-home (pot pie, meatloaf, sandwiches) and classic (Beef Wellington, steak, Beggar’s Purse) dishes that have all been gourmet’d up a bit. Our server seemed extremely busy and a bit rushed and could have been friendlier, but she was far from the worst I've been served by and did check on us often.

And now to the food. We all started with the House Salad, a delicious combination of greens, strawberries, almond slivers, and cheddar cheese all tossed in a sweet poppy seed dressing. It was amazing. For our entrees, Amber and I both tried the Beef Wellington as a special treat. If you've never heard of this blast-from-the-past, it's a 6oz filet topped with a mushroom mixture and wrapped in puff pastry. Yum. This particular version was topped by onion confit and sat atop a bed of risotto, asparagus, and red peppers. I am still unsure whether I liked the onion confit--to me, the entire dish began to taste like the tangy-sweet onion mixture rather than allowing the distinctive flavors of the mushrooms and beef to come through. But, it did add a nice zing to the dish. The risotto was a bit al dente for me, but not disturbingly so (and it's better than being mushy). But I'm nit-picking here. Overall it was very good.

Nikki had the meatloaf. It was a large, thick slice which they grilled before setting it on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus and topping it with a small amount of flavorful gravy. I'm not a fan of meatloaf as a general rule, but Keltie's may have won me over--the bit I tried was VERY good. Nikki seemed very happy with her choice and told me it was a "flavor explosion of meatiness" (that may be paraphrased, heh).

After dinner we couldn't resist stopping by the Oberweis ice cream shop/Dairy Store. I didn't even know such stores existed! They had a wide variety of ice cream flavors and other treats, and we all enjoyed what we got (me: Butter Brickle in a sugar cone; Ber: Chocolate Peanut Butter in a waffle cone; Nik: a chocolate-marshmallow latte). But, of course, it's hard to go wrong with ice cream.

Told You I Had A Bunch In The Works.

2008-02-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

Finished another one.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

Technically this was for work (my School Age Book Club will discuss it next week) and I have read it before. But it's a favorite of mine. I love whodunit mysteries like this. When I book-talk it to kids, I usually say that it's sort of like Clue--there's a limited number of people, and the murderer is one of them, and the players must figure it out without the help of police (it is, of course, also sort of like Murder on the Orient Express in that way, but the kiddies are generally a bit young for Agatha Christie).

Books Read in 2008:
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

More MJ.

2008-02-04T00:28:00.000-05:00

I finished another Maureen Johnson book at lunch today. The Key to the Golden Thunderbird this time. It was super good. It was her first and so far it ranks as one of my favorites by her. Read more about it here.

Books Read in 2008:
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Flashing (The Kind With Clothes)

2008-02-03T18:00:00.000-05:00

Who watched the season premiere of Lost on Thursday? I really liked it. I was also a big fan of last season's finale.

My conclusion: Flashing-forward is the greatest plot device to happen to that show since flashing back during Season 1.

Think about it! It brings up all sorts of new and excellent mysteries! Who will be the other 3 members of the Oceanic 6, the six people who seemingly survive (we already know Jack, Kate, and Hurley are 3 of the 6). Is it really only 6 that survive? Are there other survivers that were left behind, or are the Oceanic 6 responsible for getting them killed?! Because there's also some big cover-up that is obviously getting underneath the skin of both Jack and Hurley.

Am I the only one who is seriously back into this great-again show? If you haven't given it a chance, I highly recommend you do so.

Seriously.

2008-01-30T20:43:00.000-05:00

This is the sort of thing that gets us librarians raging mad.

Alright. I posted a John vlog, so here's something sort of awesome from Hank just to balance it out.

(For anyone who's curious, John and Hank Green do still usually post about once a week on the Nerdfighters website. That makes me happy.)

Austen Update

2008-01-29T22:35:00.000-05:00

(Boys, beware--I use the word 'dreamy' at least two times in this post.)

So who's been watching the Jane Austen Collection on Masterpiece Theater every Sunday? I have, I have! Yay!

The first week was Persuasion--very good. Seemed to wrap itself up too quickly at the end, but still, a satisfying venture into Austenland.

The second week was Northanger Abbey--VERY good. I thought it was lively and actually somewhat suspenseful--it's one Austen story where I actually did think that the bad-guy-who's-not-actually-bad might actually be bad. But a very sweet ending.

What I really want to talk about is this past Sunday's Mansfield Park. Okay. Let me start by saying that I did enjoy it. But me and Billie Piper, we have a love-hate relationship. Alright, it is not so much a love or a hate, really it is a tepid relationship. I don't think she's a particularly bad actress or anything--I just think she's eh. And I'll admit it--the ENTIRE time I was completely distracted by the fact that they did not style her hair up off her shoulders, as adult women would have worn their hair back then. I kept screaming "put her frakking hair up! This is not appropriate!" Listen, I know I'm strange. But am I the only one who noticed that? I guess I have just watched way too many Jane Austen movies.

Anyway. So I was not enamoured with Billie Piper. I think that overall I prefer the feature film version with Frances O'Connor. But bonus points for their dreamy-but-clergy-like Edward, and for casting Malachi from Hex as Henry and the Bionic Woman as Maria.

Next week the Austen biopic, and then...dun da dah! Every girl's favorite jerk, the dreamy Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy makes an appearance for three weeks in a row. Huzzah!

Book (and DVD) Update

2008-01-28T22:36:00.000-05:00

So, I was talking to Jaleh tonight, and she mentioned that it had been awhile since I posted. Actually, what she said was, "you need to post soon!" or something like that. I am nothing if not a people pleaser (ahem), so here you go, Jal!

First of all, my excuses...I won't bore you with the details, but turns out this manager business has left me busy (I won't point out that I'm not even officially the mgr yet--that's apparently beside the point). Very little spare time, people. Gah! When am I supposed to update my blog, I ask you?! Hopefully over the next few months it will smooth out and I'll have a bit more free time.

In the meantime, I do have a book update for you.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Yeah, it claims to be written by some dude named S. Morgenstern and only abridged by Goldman, but in reality it's 100% Goldman's work of fiction (even down to some fictional 'facts' in his introduction and commentary). If you have seen the movie, you have effectively read the book. However, it's still worth a read.

Mister Monday: Book 1 of The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix

This is a super popular children's series. It's a relatively original concept dealing with a "Land of Time" sort of place, and the hero of the series is on a quest to collect all of the keys to that kingdom--keys which are actually minute and hour hands, and which are held by the days of the week (Mister Monday, etc.). I wouldn't say it's the next Harry Potter, but if you have a young one in your life who is sad that HP is over, he or she may enjoy this series. I listened to the audio book and it was pretty enjoyable--not "must immediately get Book 2" enjoyable, but enjoyable nonetheless.

DVD Update
I must also quickly mention La Vie en Rose, which I just watched this weekend. It was REALLY good. Let's put it this way--I had never really given Edith Piaf much consideration before I saw this movie, but it left me really, really interested in and fascinated by her. Just really good.

Books Read in 2008:
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Mister Monday by Garth Nix
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Books by MJ

2008-01-21T22:37:00.000-05:00

No energy to write full reviews, but I have finished my first 2 books of 2008! They're both Maureen Johnson books--I feel obligated to read all of hers since she actually sent me an autographed book.

Girl at Sea was, appropriately, about a girl at sea. More specifically, a girl who is forced to spend the summer on a boat with her dad, his research professor girlfriend, plus the girlfriend's research assistant and her daughter. Secrets, misunderstandings, and romance ensue.

Devilish was about the buying of people's souls. Turns out there's a demon at Jane's private Catholic school who promises her best friend popularity in return for her soul. Can Jane save her by making her own deal with the devil?

Books Read in 2008:
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Zuneland

2008-01-20T21:14:00.000-05:00

Apparently Jaleh and Bill have more of an influence over me than even I would care to admit (although as long as there is no bridge-jumping involved, I guess that's okay). First the Books Read in 2008 thing; now I have bought myself a Zune. An 8 GB red Zune, to be exact.

It's sort of a "hey, way to go with the whole getting that manager job thing" congratulatory present for myself. Needless to say, that was all the excuse I needed to replace my poor, slowly-dying little green mini iPod (hard to believe I used to think my mini was tiny--the Zune barely exists, it weighs so little).

So, for Jaleh and Bill I am posting my Zune Card. Not many songs played yet, but that will soon change. Yay!

Boss Lady

2008-01-18T16:26:00.000-05:00

Big news on the Beth-front!

I'm a manager now!

I KNOW!

The manager of my Children's Department left at the beginning of the month. Then the person I wanted to be our new manager, my friend and co-worker K, announced she was leaving soon after that. So, I decided it was time to try to step-up. After all, I am good at being bossy.

And guess what? They actually hired me! I found out today.

There are certainly pluses and minuses to the job, but I'm pretty excited to get started. For those who are curious, it's essentially the exact same job that I currently do, plus a lot of scheduling, meetings, and, well, managing people.

Wish me luck!

Books Read in 2008

2008-01-14T21:52:00.000-05:00

Jaleh and Bill have convinced me (not on purpose, but by leading-by-example) to keep a more comprehensive list of the books I have read this year. It's no so much for others as it is for me to look back and think "man, I've read a lot of books," or possibly "man, I really haven't read as much as I thought I did."

So far this year I have completed...let's see...um.....okay, zero books. But I need to qualify that by pointing out that I am reading one book at work for fun and two for actual work; another two at home (Girl at Sea arrived while I was in the middle of The Princess Bride); and I'm listening to one audiobook in the car. So, hopefully the list will actually include a whopping 6 in a very short span. I'll be sure to report when I've finished.

New Things To Watch.

2008-01-13T21:12:00.000-05:00

The strike continues, it's true, but there are still a few good shows on TV.

Psych has begun airing new episodes--part of the same season that began earlier this fall. Huzzah! Always good. USA Network, Fridays at 10pm.

The Travel Channel began airing new epis of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations last Monday, and another new episode airs tomorrow at 10pm. Yippeee!

And tonight was the first night of PBS's Masterpiece Theater: The Complete Jane Austen series. Yaaay! Tonight is Persuasion, Austen's last novel. And it features Anthony Stewart Head (i.e., Giles). Excellent! Austen's other 5 novels and one biographical film will take us through the first Sunday in April. So girls, brace yourselves for 3 months of empire waist dresses, misunderstandings, spunky heroines, and dashing men!

Celebrity Life Coach

2008-01-07T22:00:00.000-05:00

My friend Dave just told me that he and his wife made up a game called "Celebrity Life Coach." The rules are simply this:

1) Which celebrity would you like to be your life coach?
2) Which celebrity would you least like to be your life coach?

Fun, right???

My answers (spur of the moment, off the top of my head):

1) Jennifer Garner (girl has got her sh*t together)
2) New York from I Love New York (ick)

Britney and La Lohan would have been just tooooo obvious for #2, I think.

So, how about you guys? Which celebs would you want and not want to guide you through life?

Prize Patrol

2008-01-02T17:12:00.000-05:00

I received my prize from Maureen Johnson today! It is a signed copy of her book Girl at Sea! Which is super cool, because I am collector of signed books (in an unofficial sort of way), and also I have never read this particular novel but totally want to!

So, woot! And also, huzzah!

I love prizes. Prizes make me so very happy.

NYE '08

2008-01-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! A Happy New Year to you all!

What did I do for New Year's? Thanks for asking! I'd love to tell you!

Ber and B circa 2007.

Ber and I went to Dean's Vino in Fountain Square for a party thrown by the Hoosier Beer Geeks.

Deano's Vino, approved of by The Food Network's Guy Fieri!

Miracle of miracles, it was free! Well, getting in was--the beer wasn't...until after midnight, that is, when they opened up a donated keg. Huzzah! Those Beer Geeks know how to party!

A Hoosier Beer Geek, serving up free beer!

All-in-all, it was a pretty fun time. We made some new friends, ate some good food, drank some good drinks. Can't ask for much more than that.

We never pass up a photo opportunity.

I hope you all had fantastic Eves, and I wish you all a Merry 2008!

U-Verse and Recipe of the Day

2007-12-28T18:25:00.000-05:00

I am sitting on my couch as I type this post. Isn't that exciting?! I know, most of you have already entered the world of wireless, but...well, now I'm there too! Huzzah! My AT&T U-verse was finally installed today!!! That also means that I have entered the extremely exciting world of DVRs! The excitement never stops. No, for real. For real! Excitement!

Several of you wanted me to tell you how it went, and I shall oblige.

CONS:
-It took 6.5 hours for them to install it. Um, yeah. That's a frakking long time. However, it was primarily due to the fact that I had a guy who was new and was out on his own for the first time. After about 3.5 hours, his 'mentor' came with another trainee and the three of them made more progress.

PROS:
-The installer was extremely apologetic, and they were all very nice. And they waited until the last minute to detach my Comcast so that I had something to entertain me. Plus I was prepared for it to take up to 8 hrs because I had done my research and knew that installations were taking time due to the newness of the service.
-The picture quality is pretty excellent, and the channels change faster than with Comcast. And there is an awesome picture-in-picture on the guide that lets you see what's happening on other channels as you browse, all while still seeing your current channel in the background!
-I have wireless! And it seems to work real well!
-I have DVR! And 3 set top boxes!
-And all of that costs me less than what my Comcast was going to start costing me in January (when they raise the price again)!

If I experience any major problems with the service, I'll be sure to let you know.

NEW COMPENSATORY FACTOR FEATURE: Recipe of the Day
And in the meantime, a recipe. I made the most amazingly yummy Chicken Tortilla Soup tonight!!! SO good and so incredibly easy that I felt compelled to share the recipe. I may make this another of my occasional features, joining the ranks of Book Update, DVD Update, TV Reviews, etc.

This is from a Williams-Sonoma Soup cookbook that I stole from my mom, with my adaptations:

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium white onion finely diced
1-1.5 tsp chili powder
1 32 oz carton chicken stock
Approx. 1.5 cups shredded, cooked chicken (about 1 breast)
Juice of 1 or 2 limes
Salt to taste
My additions: approx. 1/3 c canned diced tomatoes with juice and 1/3 c corn

Put the oil and onion in a pot and slowly heat so that the onions soften without browning (5-10 min). Once onions are translucent, add chili powder and stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add stock and tomatoes. Allow to simmer for 15-20 min. Add juice of lime/s and salt to taste. Add corn and chicken. Allow them to heat through, about 3 min.

Garnish with lots of avocado and cheese (I used pepper jack), and serve with tortilla chips. Makes about 2 hearty portions.

Sadness for Jaleh and Me.

2007-12-28T00:16:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow (today? I guess it's after midnight) is John Green's very LAST Brotherhood 2.0 post.

Aw man, I am seriously sad! Just the thought makes me incredibly sad!

Sorry, had to take a moment there.

Anyway...John's last post is today, and Hank's will be Monday, and then poof! The project that launched Nerdfighters, happy dances, New Song Wednesdays, scavenger hunts, My Pants, voting for challenges, putting things on your head, and secret siblings of all ages, shapes, and sizes from all around the world will be over. And possibly the saddest part is that of all the people I know--and I like to think I know quite a few--only Jalehla understands how sad this is. If you have never watched before (and there are a lot of you), well...go back and watch the whole year. Seriously. John is my favorite, but Hank's got some good ones too. Make it the thing you do on New Year's Day. It should only take...oh...the ENTIRE day. But really--they are Made of Awesome. (Ahem, that's an inside joke, and it's jokes, right? Erm, right, Jaleh?)

Sweeney Todd

2007-12-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

Went to see Sweeney Todd on Monday. I liked it. You know how there's supposed to be lots of blood? Well, indeed there is. But it's pretty cartoonish looking, so if you are at all squeamish don't worry (too much--there is some throat-slitting that might still creep you out).

Anyway. I love Stephen Sondheim (Into the Woods is one of my all-time favorite musicals). I love Johnny Depp (he is hotter when he's dirty, and he is definitely unkempt in this movie). I love Alan Rickman (he is awesomely in Evil-Snape-mode here, minus the wig and magic). I generally like Helena Bonham Carter. So, lots of good pieces making up an all around good film. Notice I did not say GREAT--I was not completely blown away by it--but the visuals were fantastic, the acting was good, the singing was decent, and as with all of Sondheim's work, it combines humor and sadness beautifully.

Has anyone else seen it? Do you agree or disagree? Let me know!

(Bonus trivia for anyone who knows the musical and also loves Alias: Victor Garber played Anthony Hope, the young sailor in love with Todd's daughter, in the original Broadway cast!!! Heh! Further proof that Spy Daddy can do anything.)

New Restaurant Saturday, Birthday Edition: Mama Carolla's

2007-12-23T23:15:00.001-05:00

Last night Amber, Damien, and I went to Mama Carolla's to celebrate Amber's birthday. Amber has been there before, and Damien had been there many years ago, but since he had only vague memories and I had never been we are counting it as an NRS.

The NRSers

I had the Chicken Rigatoni, which involved--no surprise here--both chicken and rigatoni. The sauce seemed to be composed almost entirely of olive oil, along with pancetta, garlic, and crushed red pepper. The flavor was pretty good--the picante-ness of the red pepper sort of built up over time, which I enjoyed--but I couldn't help wishing that the sauce was a little more creamy and a little less oily. But oh well. There was plenty of it, and the leftovers I had for lunch today were almost as good as the dish was in the restaurant last night.

Amber had a different sort of chicken dish--I can't remember the name, but it was chicken cutlets rolled around prosciutto, spinach, and mushrooms and smothered in a delicious tomato sauce (she let me try it). I enjoyed the bit I had, and she seemed to really like it. If only I could tell you what it was called... Damien had the salmon, which came in a creamy dill sauce. He told me that he liked it, and indeed the bite I had was pretty tasty (but not tasty enough to win over the seafood-disliking Amber, though she did brave a tiny bite).

Afterwards, the three of us went to Tavern to further celebrate The Berthday. Pictures were taken, and after D. left, new chums were made. Fun!

Once again, Happy Berthday!

Birthday Wishes

2007-12-23T14:41:00.001-05:00

Today is Ber's birthday, so...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BER!!!

(or, "Berthday"...has Nikki copyrighted that yet?)

Holiday Cheer!

2007-12-19T10:01:00.001-05:00

If you hadn't noticed, TV is in a bit of a slump right now because of the writer's strike. So a girl must find things to do with her time. For one thing, I watched my Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVD last night (woot!) which I got earlier this week (woot!). But that still leaves some free time.

So I have been keeping up with the author blogs that are on my blog roll down there on the right hand side of this page. That includes John Green and Brotherhood 2.0, of course...and also John's good friend and fellow YA author Maureen Johnson.

Maureen is...how to say it...um...really funny. Kind of strange and goofy funny, but funny nonetheless. And like several of today's YA authors with blogs, she generously gives stuff away all the time.

The other day she posted a video on her blog as part of the Brotherhood 2.0 Project for Awesome, and she promised to send "AWESOME, possibly Nerdfighter related prizes" (Nerdfighters being people who watch Brotherhood 2.0 and consider themselves to be made of awesome--which I of course do) to anyone who posted a response video. So...I did! Having said free time on my hands, I posted a response video, and today she posted this blog in which she promises to send the 5 people who posted videos "AWESOME PRIZES" (capital letters were hers). I am so excited to see what the prize will be!!!

This will probably not be interesting or exciting to anyone except maybe Jaleh, who has also read Maureen's books. But I don't care. Authors and prizes make me happy, and I am now filled with Holiday Cheer!

(On a more sad note, speaking of authors...Brotherhood 2.0 doesn't have much time left. The brothers end their year-long run on December 31. Jaleh blogged about it, but I too will be in mourning once January 1 rolls around. Sniff!)

Hey Twilight Fans!

2007-12-17T19:40:00.000-05:00

(i.e., Jaleh and Bill!)

Did you know that Twilight is gonna be a movie?! Yep, Stephenie Meyer's books will be joining the ranks of the many YA books that have been turned into movies lately. I just read about it on YA author E.Lockhart's blog.

Bella will be played by some chick named Kristen Stewart who has apparently been in several movies I have actually seen (but don't particularly remember her from); Edward will be played by none other than Cedric from Harry Potter (aka Robert Pattinson)!!! That works for me.

And while I haven't yet posted about it, yes, I have read Twilight. I read it last month, and am actually almost finished with New Moon. For those who don't know, the basic concept is that a HS girl, Bella, falls intensely in love with a vampire, Edward. Craziness obviously ensues. While I'm not quite as obsessed over them as Jal and Bill seemed to be, so far they are pretty good. (Does it mean anything that I'm actually rooting for Jacob? Edward's martyr complex kind of annoys me. Oh well.)

New Restaurant Saturday*: Stir Crazy

2007-12-16T13:03:00.000-05:00

*This was not an officially sanctioned New Restaurant Saturday, but because two members were there and the other two members were offered the opportunity to go, and because it was new to us, I'm gonna call it that. Mkay?

Last night Amber and I had one of the most fun dining experiences that I, personally, have ever had. Stir Crazy, a new Pan-Asian restaurant that is sort of a cross between P.F. Chang's and a Mongolian BBQ, had a pre-opening party/tasting last night at their soon-to-open Castleton restaurant. We learned about it through our beloved Indy Hub (where we got the discounted tix to the Symphony on the Prairie and an invitation to a party for the opening of the Oceans exhibit at the zoo.)

The food, in general, was pretty standard for Pan-Asian fare. There were a few dishes that stood out, and I'll discuss them later. But why, you may ask, was it so fun if the food was only average-to-good? Because of the way the event was set up! As we entered, we were offered wine, beer, and soda. Once we found ourselves a table and settled in, the food started arriving almost immediately. And oh, there was so much! Waiters circulated with small portions of various menu items. There were tiny Chinese take-out containers of stir-fried dishes. There were appetizer samples. There were small plates of main courses. And, near the end of the event, there were dessert samples. Plus all this time there were the free-flowing beverages. It was really a dream for someone like me, who loves getting to try all sorts of food (and loves it even more when it's FREE). Plus, we had semi-important looking people coming over to ask our opinions! I LOVE giving people my opinions of things (obviously, ahem).

Adding to the festive atmosphere was the entertainment. Every twenty minutes or so two men in a traditional Chinese dragon suit (think Chinese New Year festivals) would move around the room performing acrobatic feats. Then someone in the kitchen would hit a gong and the men at the stir fry station would make giant flames flare up from their woks. Very fun.

Here is a run-down of the dishes that Amber and/or I tried last night (you can visit the Greenwood Stir Crazy menu in PDF format):

Appetizers
1. Ahi Tuna and Avocado Poke: Marinated, raw ahi tuna and onion over smashed avocado, served on some sort of thin cracker. It was delicious, and I am not even a huge fan of the raw in general. Amber even tried it, and she doesn't like seafood!

2. Chicken Imperial Rolls: Pretty much just a chicken spring roll. Didn't have enough flavor. A lot of the dishes were under seasoned, and we couldn't decide whether that's the way they're intended to be, or whether the cooks are still getting used to the new recipes. It was not the best spring roll I've ever had--it was a bit dry, and as I said, needed more salt. But not terrible.

3. Chicken Lettuce Wraps: Not even half as good as P.F. Chang's.

4. & 5. Potstickers: We tried both chicken and pork. They were large and full of filling...almost too full, if that's possible. They were a bit firm inside. They weren't bad, that's not it--they just weren't very tender.

6. Chicken Satay: Under seasoned.

7. Crab Rangoon: YUM. These were some of the best I've had. Lots of filling that involved what appeared to be real, actual crab (unlike most crab Rangoon, which seem to be almost 100% straight cream cheese).

8. Wok Seared Tuna Sashimi: Served rare. I only took a small bite of this, because the pieces were large and we weren't given knives so there was no way to eat it gracefully. The bite I had was quite flavorful though.

9. Coconut Shrimp: Pretty standard coconut shrimp, served on sticks. I usually find that coconut shrimp have too much breading on them for my tastes, and these were no exception.

10. Five Spice Ribs: Pork spare ribs with a hoisin sauce. These were really good. Difficult to eat, but good. A strong fruity plum flavor from the hoisin sauce, but not in a bad way.

10b. (Updated 12/17) Crab Cake Hand Rolls: Yummy crab cakes on rice wrapped in a nori wrapper, a la sushi. These were full of crab and the panko breadcrumb coating was delicious.

Served Over Rice
11. Kung Pao Shrimp: Slightly spicy, it was chicken, scallions, veggies, and peanuts in a chili sauce. It was the first dish I ate there. Not bad, but again, under seasoned.

12. Szechwan Shrimp: Again, slightly spicy yet under seasoned. It came with good veggies--broccoli, red peppers, onions, mushrooms--but the chicken had little flavor.

13. Sesame Chicken: Lightly coated crispy chicken in a sweet mango sauce. It was actually pretty good, although the mango sauce had both Amber and I stumped for a bit because of its unexpected flavor.

14. Singapore Chicken: I think Amber tried this one. It came later in the service, and I was just focused on saving room for more wontons. It came in a yellow curry sauce.

15. Ginger Beef: Beef, onions, peapods, and mushrooms in a ginger sauce. Beef was gingery but under seasoned. I ate the peapods, and they were good.

16. Vietnamese Lemongrass Pork Tenderloin: I'm sure that the pork tenderloin itself would have been very good, but unfortunately it was covered in a sweet chili sauce that tasted strongly of the dreaded CILANTRO...vomit.

Our Top Two Dishes
17. Japanese Steak: Amazing, tender filet mignon topped with mushrooms in a buttery sauce. This dish was phenomenal, thanks in no small part to the amount of butter that I'm sure was involved. But, it was supposedly soy butter, which at least sounds healthier (though I have no facts to back that up).

18. Bangkok Noodles with Chicken: Chicken, flat wheat noodles, and green beans in a spicy red curry sauce. This is the dish I would order if and when I go back. I love a good red curry, and this one was pretty amazing. The sauce was perfectly spicy from the red curry, but still had almost a buttery creaminess from the coconut milk. Really well-balanced flavors--just all-around yummy.

Desserts
19. Mandarin Chocolate Fondue: If you like orange and chocolate together, you'll like this fondue. Luckily, Ber and I both do. They served it with strawberries. Very good.

20. Banana Wontons: Bananas and white chocolate inside a crispy, cinnamon-sugar dusted wonton and covered with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a sweet caramel sauce. YUM. Ber does not enjoy bananas, so this wasn't her cup of tea though she did try it.

Yes, that's right, folks. Together we tried TWENTY-ONE different dishes (added 10b on 12/17/07). I'd guess at least 18 or 19 each, and that doesn't even count the ones we may have tried more than once. It was a festival of gluttony. But again, SO fun! Obviously we started out strong, eating most of what came our way, but had to limit ourselves to a bite or two of the later dishes (unless they were amazing, in which case we managed to make room).

My one sadness was that their main feature--the Mongolian BBQ aspect where you can create your own stir fry from a meat and veggie bar (think FlatTop, Chicagoans)--was not on offer. Which seems strange since it's kind of the draw. But I suppose the goal was to get people to try their set menu dishes, and at that they succeeded.

Would I go back? For the Bangkok Noodles, absolutely. For the Japanese Steak, yes, if I was feeling wealthy. And to try the create-your-own to see if it stacks up to FlatTop, absolutely.

Movie Update

2007-12-09T22:16:00.000-05:00

Last week I got several movies in from the library. Watching those, plus the two movies I went to on Saturday, meant I had quite a little movie fest this weekend!

Let's start with the movies I saw in the theater.

The Golden Compass: I really liked it! I was worried because it has gotten some so-so reviews, but I think it comes down to this: If you read the book, you'll be happy with it; if you haven't, you may be confused. Some of the reviews I read seemed to imply that if you are familiar with the book, you'll be unhappy. But I disagree. It's really a pretty faithful adaptation. The only exception is the ending, which does indeed stop short of the book's dramatic conclusion. However, if you listen closely you hear Lyra say that the alethiometer has told her that she's "bringing him (Asriel) what he needs." She thinks it means he wants the alethiometer, but those who know the story know better. I'm guessing that it'll definitely happen in the second movie, possibly at the beginning so they can tie in Lyra since in the book she doesn't show up for awhile.

They did tone down the religious aspect a tad, but not as significantly as everyone seems to think. The first two books really don't contain that much religious commentary anyway--it's the third that deals with it the most.

At any rate, the lead girl is a really great Lyra. When reading the book I obviously had my own image of her, and Dakota Blue Richards' portrayal was pretty spot on. Nicole Kidman was a surprisingly believable Mrs. Coulter. They threw Daniel Craig a bone and gave him an extra scene, but his role is really inconsequential until the last book. Eva Green was a good Serafina Pekkala. Sam Elliot was a fantastic Lee Scoresby. My one exception: I didn't like Ian McKellen for Iorak Byrnison's voice. He needs something more gravelly and bear-like. Ian has a cool voice, but it's just not booming enough.

Enchanted: The girls and I went to see this on Saturday night. As Jaleh said, it's super cute and anyone who has a fondness for the Disney musicals (especially those of the '90s, although Snow White and Cinderella both get some major nods) will enjoy it. Amy Adams was made to play a Disney princess, and James Marsden makes a great self-absorbed prince (Gaston, anyone?).

***

Now, on to the DVDs.

Deathproof was pretty fantastic. Seemed like when they were in the theater, the whole double feature thing was not as well-received as everyone expected it to be, but I liked both movies. Actually, I had expected to like this one less than Planet Terror, but it has a pretty awesome ending, and the addition of real-life stunt person Zoe Bell doing her own stunts was pretty rad. Really wish I had gotten myself to the theater to experience them together.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer: Okay, I will admit that I fell asleep during most of this one, but then I went back and watched most of it again. It is what it is. The FF movies aren't the best superhero movies ever, but once in awhile they're sort of funny. That's pretty much the best compliment I can give them.

Premonition: Um...I easily foresaw the ending, so I guess it was true to its title. It was trying to be clever, but it was too much of a mash-up for too long. It took too much time to let the audience in on what was going on. It was okay. Not horrible, but not particularly great.

Pretty Sick, All Right.

2007-12-06T00:27:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching SiCKO (finally), and have come to the conclusion that everyone who has not already seen it should run out and rent it immediately. I know Michael Moore can be controversial and many people don't like him/don't like some of his methods, but he sure can tell an effective story. It's absolutely worth your time.

The Golden Movie???

2007-12-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

The Golden Compass movie comes out on Friday!!! Who else is excited? Anyone? Anyone?

For reals, this had better be good. I love those books sooo much (well, mostly I love the second and third book sooo much, but the first sets the scene). I hope this isn't absolutely terrible! It looks visually good enough...now let's hope they don't suck out all of the controversy that makes it so fantastic.

I am totally going to see it sometime on Saturday, I have already decided. I will definitely let you all know what I think!

Funny or Die

2007-12-03T22:18:00.000-05:00

I know I'm behind the times, but man, have you guys gone over to Funny or Die? Oh my god. Adam McKay's daughter Pearl is amazing.

The first one, "The Landlord":

And, of course, "Good Cop, Baby Cop":

Heh.

Karaoke Birthday

2007-12-02T15:39:00.001-05:00

I didn't forget you Nikki...it may be a day late, but here it is anyway!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NIKKI!!!!!!!!

Many, many thanks for finally bringing Karaoke Revolution into my life. I've heard stories of it for more than 3 years but never had the opportunity to play. Now I'll never be able to do regular karaoke again b/c KR's awesomeness has ruined it for me. YAY!

Hope your b-day was as fun for you as it was for me! Heee.

Models and Cougars

2007-11-30T11:10:00.000-05:00

A couple of TV posts combined...

ANTM: Is anyone else upset that Heather got the boot this week? Granted, her Asperger's does not make things like go-sees, memorizing lines, and eye contact easy for her. But, come on--she HAS Asperger's! Cut her some slack. She takes amazing pictures, and I think that given time she might be able to conquer those other road blocks.

30 Rock: I think this is just about my favorite show on TV right now. Minute-for-minute it definitely provides the most laughs. And last night was one of the best episodes ever. SO many great lines. (20-year-old-Jamie: "Now I'm getting attitude from the sexy librarian over here?" Liz: What? Sexy? You are. Shut up!" / Jamie: "I'll pick you up at 10." Liz: "At night?" / Liz: "I'm 37. Don't make me go to Brooklyn!" / Little league kid: "I'm going to be a talkative doorman with a drinking problem." / Liz: "I have fun. I went up on my roof the other day." / Liz: "Now I understand why Demi does it." / Jack: "Casey gets voted off." Liz: "You monster. Why are you like this?!" / Frank: "You both smell great." And that's not even half of them...) And the whole subplot with Jack taking over Tracy's little league team? Genius.

By The Way

2007-11-28T14:34:00.000-05:00

If any of you are wondering why I haven't given my opinion of Battlestar Galactica: Razor, well...it pains me to say that I missed it. I had myself convinced that it was airing last Sunday, and I was out and about on Saturday night (when it actually aired) so there was no chance for me to fortuitously happen across it. Ergh.

To top it off, I don't think they have any plans to re-air it because they're releasing it on DVD soon. At least I have until BSG begins in April to track it down and watch it! (Erm...don't suppose any of you within driving distance taped it? No? Siiiiigh.)