Puss Reboots

4 more books

2010-01-05T20:16:19Z

I've made a new post on the 50bookchallenge blog. I've read Jenny's Birthday Book by Esther Averill, Lizzi & Fredl: A Perilous Journey of Love and Faith by William B. Stanford, and two Mary Pope Osborne books: Thanksgiving on Thursday and High Tide in Hawaii.

I've also read a book for the Cybils which I can't share my thoughts about until after the winners are announced on Valentine's Day. And I read Curious George Hide-and-Seek which is so short it's not worth reviewing in a full blog post.

Are These My Basooms I See Before Me?

2010-01-04T00:12:46Z

I just finished the tenth book in the Georgia Nicolson series. On the cover it's marked as "Final Confessions of Georgia Nicolson" and the plot does have an air of finality to it. I've read and loved every single book in the series. The early ones I borrowed via BookCrossing and the later ones I bought to read and keep. Now I want to go back and start at the beginning of the series (Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging) and work my way back through all ten books.

My favorite addition to the last two books are the Five Little Titches who are the age that Georgia and her friends were at the start of the series. At the end they're only about 18 months older but it's enough of a change to see how much the girls have matured (in their own goofy and endearing ways).

If this is the final book of the Georgia Nicolson series, I hope Rennison has something new she's working on. If she does write something new even with a new cast of characters I will buy it in a heartbeat.

Book holds and the Cybils

2010-01-03T23:49:46Z

Now that January is here I will be spending much of my free time reading graphic novels for the 2009-2010 Cybils. I'm a second round judge just like last year. This time though I really can't just buy them all so I have to rely on my local library system.

For the first time in my life (go on and laugh!) I've actually put books on hold. The first two of the eight I managed to request came in over the weekend. So today we went in and picked them up. It was so convenient to have books that were at far away branches just magically show up in my library and have my name on them.

The downside to holds though... if you don't pick them up by the time they tell you to, they start charging you a dollar a day per book on hold. That compares to the 25 cents per day per over due book.

A pair of picture books for January 1

2010-01-02T06:12:21Z

My first two books for the year are both picture books. Since I typically read more than 50 books I'm going to count them.

Book #1: A Kitten Tale by Eric Rohmann

The book follows four kittens through the year, starting with spring as they fret about their first snow. That is except one kitten (the orange striped one) who is eagerly awaiting playing in the snow. Structurally it reminds me of Mama Cat Has Three Kittens by Denise Fleming.

Book #2: Olivia Acts Out Jodie Shepherd

We got the book without even thinking about who wrote it. We like the Olivia series but this one isn't by Ian Falconer. Sure, it's the same characters but the humor isn't as sharp and the illustrations though in the style of the originals lack the funky minimalism that makes Falconer's books so distinct. My son and daughter like the book just fine but for me it's just lacking that little something-something.

Self Protrait By Harriet

2009-12-30T18:23:52Z

A typical haul from the library

2009-12-30T06:23:51Z

I took the photograph back in October but it shows what my bag typically looks like when I come home from the library. It's usually a mixture of children's picture books picked out by my kids and a few books for myself.

Data and Spot

2009-12-29T04:51:37Z

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Sunday blahs

2009-12-27T21:34:39Z

In a couple days we drive down to South Pasadena to spend New Year's Eve with Ian's family. With being so close to leaving for a vacation I just can't get my brain in gear.

The only reading I'm doing right now is Miss Pickerell and the Geiger Counter by Ellen MacGregor. It just don't want to concentrate on anything harder.

I'm also reading through my own novel which I'm posting a chapter a week.

But mostly I'm just waiting for my brain to get into gear today.

More Flat Stanley in Vancouver photos

2009-12-26T19:47:08Z

Happy Boxing Day

2009-12-26T19:35:04Z

No plans here. No post Christmas shopping. Rain is coming. Birds are hunkering outside. The jays are demanding peanuts. Both kids have colds but are in good spirits.

Flat Stanley checks in from Vancouver (photos!)

2009-12-25T04:01:30Z

There are more photos. I will upload them later.

Flat Stanley checks in from Vancouver

2009-12-24T05:47:55Z

Got this email from my mother in law: "Flat Stanley is now in Vancouver. Tomorrow we plan on taking him to see the sights. Stay tuned for some updates."

Attack of the A to Z caterpillar

2009-12-22T00:50:04Z

My local library has a stuffed caterpillar that has the letters A to Z in capitals on one side and lowercase on the other side. It sits on top of a row of shelves in the children's section of the library. When I was at the library with Sean today I remembered having recently seen another version of the caterpillar. It's been bugging me ever since.

Seriously, I wrack my brains over the most inane things sometimes. I really don't need to remember where I saw it but I want to. Ugh.

I can remember being surprised when I saw the caterpillar because it seemed out of place. It was sitting sort of out of the way and with some industrial or maybe computer stuff. Or it was sitting in temporary storage. It might have been a store, an office, or something similar. I'm just not sure. I just remember thinking, "what an odd thing to see here."

So that's what's on my mind today. What about you?

Flat Stanley is on his way

2009-12-20T20:40:35Z

Flat Stanley left home today in his envelope with a journal. He's headed first to South Pasadena to my in-laws' home and then to Canada to see my niece. After that he'll hop in the mail to n8an and I will be giving him instructions on whom to mail next.

89 Books Recommended to AP Students

2009-12-19T07:22:40Z

I found this list on My Year of Reading Seriously. I don't agree with the inclusion of Harry Potter or Redwall. They strike me as too new and not literary enough. Although I've read half of the Harry Potter series I didn't include it among my finished reads for this list.

Bold titles I've read. Italic titles are on my to be read pile. I've read 70 out of 89.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Anne of Green Gables (the series) by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Anthem by Ayn Rand
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Black Rose by Thomas B. Costain
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Diary of Anne Frank edited by Otto Frank
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Emma by Jane Austen
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Harry Potter (the series) by J.K. Rowling
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Holes by Louis Sachar
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet A. Jacobs
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Every Burnford
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Invisable Man by H.G. Wells
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lord of the Rings (the trilogy) by J.R.R. Tolkien
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
My Antonia by Willa Cather
My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass
Night by Elie Wiesel
The Odyssey by Homer
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
Redwall (the series) by Brian Jacques
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Shane by Jack Schaefer
Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Watership Down by Richard Adams
White Fang by Jack London
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Ploot

2009-12-12T21:09:39Z

Sean drew me this monster earlier today. He used Photoshop. He was inspired by the "Ploot" episode of Lilo & Stitch (second season).

Style quide question

2009-12-09T23:13:14Z

Does your local newspaper bold names of important people? I know I've seen it done in a paper before but I can't remember where. If you know of a style guide that suggests doing this w/ famous names, please let me know in the comments. I'm doing a little research for an upcoming book review.

Inspired by NCIS

2009-11-25T05:52:31Z

Not sure I like this pallet though. I might try different colors.

TV Meme

2009-11-18T22:16:08Z

Bold those you've seen 3 or more episodes. Put an asterix (*) next to the ones that are or were your favorites.

24
7th Heaven
ALF
Alias
American Gothic
America’s Next Top Model
Angel
Arrested Development
Babylon 5
Batman: The Animated Series *
Battlestar Galactica (the old one) *
Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
Baywatch
Beverly Hills 90210
Bewitched *
Bonanza
Bones
Bosom Buddies
Boston Legal
Boy Meets World
Brothers And Sisters
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Californication
Chappelle’s Show
Charlie’s Angels
Charmed
Cheers
Chicago Hope
Chuck
Clarissa Explains it All
Columbo *
Commander in Chief
Crossing Jordan
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dark Angel
Dark Skies
DaVinci’s Inquest
Dawson’s Creek
Dead Like Me
Deadwood
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Designing Women
Desperate Housewives
Dexter
Dharma & Greg
Different Strokes
Doctor Who (original series)
Doctor Who 2005
Dragnet
Due South *
ER
Even Stevens
Everwood
Everybody Loves Raymond
Facts of Life
Family Guy
Fantasy Island
Farscape
Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly*
Frasier
Freaks and Geeks
Friends
Fringe
Futurama *
Get Smart
Gilligan’s Island
Gilmore Girls
Glee
Gossip Girl
Grey’s Anatomy
Grange Hill
Growing Pains
Gunsmoke
Happy Days
Hercules: the Legendary Journeys
Heroes
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Street
House
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Invader Zim
Invasion
Hell’s Kitchen
JAG
Jackass
Joey
Kim Possible
Knight Rider
Knight Rider: 2008
Kung Fu
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
La Femme Nikita
LA Law
Laverne and Shirley
Law and Order: SVU
Leverage
Life on Mars (UK)
Life on Mars (US)
Little House on the Prairie
Lizzie McGuire
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost
Lost in Space
MASH *
MacGyver
Malcolm in the Middle
Magnum PI *
Married… With Children
Maude
McLeods Daughters
Melrose Place
Miami Vice
Mission: Impossible
Mod Squad
Monk
Mork & Mindy
Murphy Brown
Mystery Science Theater 3000*
My Life As A Dog
My So Called Life
My Three Sons
My Two Dads
Mythbusters
NCIS*
NCIS Los Angeles
Ned Bigby’s Declassified School Survival Guide
Nip/Tuck
Northern Exposure *
Numb3rs
One Tree Hill
Oz
Perry Mason
Power Rangers
Press Gang
Prison Break
Private Practice
Privileged
Profiler
Project Runway
Psych
Pushing Daisies*
Quantum Leap
Queer As Folk (US)
Queer as Folk (UK)
ReGenesis
Remington Steele *
Rescue Me
Road Rules
ROME
Roseanne
Roswell
Sanctuary
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
Scrubs
Seaquest DSV
Seinfeld
Sex and the City
Simon & Simon *
Six Feet Under
Slings and Arrows
Smallville
So Weird
South of Nowhere
South Park
Spongebob Squarepants
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Enterprise
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate SG-1*
Starsky & Hutch
Superman (series from the 50s)
Superman (animated series)
Supernatural
Surface
Survivor
Taxi
Teen Titans
That 70’s Show
That’s So Raven
The 4400
The Addams Family
The Amazing Race
The Andy Griffith Show
The A-Team
The Avengers
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
The Dead Zone
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Honeymooners
The Jeffersons
The Jetsons
The L Word
The Love Boat
The Magnificent Seven
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Monkees
The Munsters
The Office (US)
The Office (UK)
The Powerpuff Girls
The Pretender
The Real World
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Sopranos
The Streets of San Francisco
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
The Twilight Zone
The Waltons
The West Wing
The Wonder Years
The X-Files
Third Watch
Three’s Company
Twin Peaks
Twitch City
Torchwood
True Blood
Unfabulous
Ugly Betty
Veronica Mars
Weeds
Whose Line is it Anyway? (US)*
Whose Line is it Anyway? (UK)*
Will and Grace
Wings
Xena: Warrior Princess

Name this intersection

2009-11-18T18:02:28Z

The image is from Google Maps of the street up the hill from me.

In two different books I'm currently reading I've seen this type of intersection called something I've NEVER heard it called in real life. I think this other name for it is confined to a small region of my country. Please answer my poll to either prove me right or wrong.

I will do a follow up post to explain after I get some answers.

View Poll: Name this type of intersection

A stupid meme

2009-11-18T03:20:31Z

TAG 1 : Innocent… or Guilty?

RULE 1- You can only say Guilty or Innocent.
RULE 2- You are not allowed to explain anything unless someone messages you and asks!
RULE 3- Copy and paste this into your notes, delete my answers, type in your answers and tag to your friends to answer this.

* Asked someone to marry you? Innocent
* Ever kissed someone of the same sex? Guilty
* Danced on a table in a bar? Innocent
* Ever told a lie? Innocent
* Had feelings for someone whom you can’t have back? Innocent
* Kissed a picture? Innocent
* Slept in until 5 PM? Innocent
* Fallen asleep at work/school? Innocent
* Held a snake? Guilty
* Been suspended from school? Innocent
* Worked at a fast food restaurant? Innocent
* Stolen from a store? Innocent
* Been fired from a job? Innocent
* Done something you regret? Innocent
* Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Guilty
* Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Guilty
* Kissed in the rain? Guilty
* Sat on a roof top? Innocent
* Kissed someone you shouldn’t? Innocent
* Sang in the shower? Innocent
* Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? Innocent
* Shaved your head? Innocent
* Had a boxing membership? Innocent
* Made a girlfriend cry? Innocent
* Been in a band? Innocent
* Shot a gun? Innocent
* Donated Blood? Guilty
* Eaten alligator meat? Guilty
* Eaten cheesecake? Guilty
* Still love someone you shouldn’t? Innocent
* Have/had a tattoo? Innocent
* Liked someone, but will never tell who? Innocent
* Been too honest? Guilty
* Ruined a surprise? Innocent
* Ate in a restaurant and got really bloated that you couldn’t walk afterward? Innocent
* Erased someone in your friends list? Guilty
* Dressed in a woman’s clothes (if you’re a guy) or man’s clothes (if you’re a girl)? Guilty
* Joined a pageant? Innocent
* Been told that you’re handsome or beautiful by someone who totally meant what they said? Guilty
* Had communication with your ex? Innocent
* Got totally drunk on the night before exam? Innocent
* Got totally angry that you cried so hard? Innocent

Guilty for just 12/42….

TAG 2: HOW DUMB ARE YOU?
The more [x]’ s the “dumber” you are.

* [] Gum has fallen out of your mouth when you were talking
* [] Gum has fallen out of your mouth when you were NOT talking
* [] You have ran into a glass/screen door
* [] You have jumped out of a moving vehicle
* [x] You have thought of something funny while walking by yourself
* [] Laughed, then watched people give you weird looks
* [] You have run into a tree/bush.
* [] You know that it IS possible to lick your elbow
* [] You have tried to lick your elbow… a few times
* [] You never knew that the Alphabet and Twinkle Twinkle Little star have the same rhythm.
* [] You just tried to sing them.

So far: 1

* [x] You have tripped on your shoelace and fallen.
* [x] You have choked on your own spit.
* [] You have seen the Matrix and still don’t get it.
* [] You’ve never seen the Matrix.
* [] You type only with two fingers.
* [] You have accidentally caught something on fire.
* [] You tried to drink out of a straw, but it went into your nose/eyes.
* [x] You have caught yourself drooling.
* [] You have fallen asleep in class and fell outta your chair.

So far: 4

* [] Sometimes you just stop thinking (most of the time I won't think about anything).
* [] You are telling a story and forget what you were talking about.
* [] People often shake their heads and walk away from you.
* [] You are often told to use your “inside voice”.
* [] You use your fingers to do simple math.
* [] You have eaten a bug.
* [] You are taking this test when you should be doing something more important.
* [x] You have put your clothes on backwards or inside out, and didn’t realize it.
* [] You’ve looked all over for something and realized it was in your hand.
* [x] You have run around naked in your house.

So far: 6

* [] You repost bulletins because you are scared that what they say will happen to you if you didn’t.
* [] You break a lot of things.
* [] Your friends know not to use big words around you.
* [] You tilt your head when you're confused.
* [] You have fallen out of your chair before.
* [] When you're lying in bed, you try to find pictures in the texture of the ceiling or wall.
* [] The word “ummmmm” is used many times a day.

Total:6

Yup... I'm boring and smart.

The verdict on Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

2009-11-13T22:06:02Z

As it turns out I had a 30% off coupon for a new book. So I decided to see if I could find a nicer edition — one with a larger typeface that wouldn't kill my eyes like the library book was. I found a lovely copy that meets all my requirements. So now I can finish the book at a slower pace at a chapter a night or even more slowly at 30 pages a week (like I'm doing with Proust's books).

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

2009-11-13T18:42:06Z

View Poll: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

Struggling with Nanowrimo

2009-11-07T06:19:25Z

This year I'm on track to finish my Nanowrimo (as I have in all the years I've participated) but this year I'm struggling. I'm surprised. When I first thought of the idea I was jazzed by it. But shortly after I came up with it, I was laid off. The last time I was laid off I didn't do Nanowrimo because I felt I should be using every free moment to look for work.

This time I'm thinking of the exciting of writing dashed with the realization that we would be once again struggling to make ends meet right when we thought we were done with that.

Anyway, I'm on Chapter 7. I'm keeping the basic plot structure of the book that inspired my nanowrimo and the original chapter titles. That means I'm on "The Fortress." Everything else though is all me.

Haunted mini golf

2009-10-31T05:09:41Z

Today Sean had a half day. The mini golf course in Castro Valley has been decorated for Halloween. It's so cute! I knew Sean would have a really fun time seeing the decorations and playing a round of golf.

After school I gave him a chance to change out of his costume. Then we hopped back into the car and went golfing!

As an extra bonus (beyond the great decorations) all children ages 11 and younger who played a round could pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch they'd set up behind the 19th hole (decked out with a pirate skeleton).