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SHAKESPEARE NEVER DID THIS. OH, WAIT ...
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 10:22 pm
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By order of ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) popfiend (and because you’ve all been asking yrselves this question ever since you added me):
Your Score: Merchant of Venice You scored 38% = Tragic, 50% = Comic, 31% = Romantic, 18% = Historic
You are The Merchant of Venice. Set in the beautiful "city on the sea," The Merchant of Venice is a romantic comedy about a locally prominent sea merchant who agrees to take on a costly loan from a covetous money usurer in order to finance his friend's trip to Belmont to woo a rich and beautiful lady. When the loan defaults however, the merchant's life is at stake, but with the help of his friends, he is saved at the last second and everyone lives happily ever after. What your score tells us about you is that you are most likely a romantic person who is willing to go to extreme measures to help out a friend in need. For this, you are highly regarded and loved by many people. You may be a bit greedy at times, and sometimes you might even get yourself into a little trouble, but luckily you have friends that are willing to help you out in your time of need. We'd certainly help you out if we could.
FUN FACT: Everything I know about Shakespeare you could fit on the back of a cereal box. Hamlet whips a snow leopard’s ass, but other than that, I’m not too big in The Shake.
So I guess it’s only fitting that I should be a Shakespeare play you could cast Al Pacino in and get away with it. Or not, however that one worked out.
Never been to Venice,
This is dFCurrent Mood:  sore Current Music: TVB drama crap |
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GOD HATES ASIA THIS WEEK
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 10:12 pm
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While we all watch the absolute Big Bucket Of What The Fuck that is the Burmese military junta dealing with the cyclone aftermath in a way that actually makes FEMA look like it knows what it’s doing (or at least has some level of altruism in its operation), you should know there was a 7.8 earthquake in Sichuan today – at least 3,000 dead, possibly 5,000.
Which I mention mainly because my goddaughter’s father was supposed to be in Chengdu closing a deal with a client, but the negotiations fell through two days ago, so he’s here in HK today instead of in Chengdu where he would have been when the quake struck.
How's THAT for karma?
We didn’t feel a thing here, if yr wondering. I’ve been packing and moving stuff all day. I’m on break. I’d do a longer post on Burma (and I assume even the Americans out there know what I'm talking about – that IS getting news coverage there, right?), but I don’t have time, and what can I really add? Except why was Laura Bush the first person the White House rolled out to say something about it? What, Junior was too busy hiring the band to play his daughter’s wedding?
Back to work,
This is dFCurrent Mood:  cranky Current Music: Indiana Jones trailer on the TV |
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Raise your hands
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 02:12 pm
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if you like Show Of Hands?
Their track The Blue Cockade gives me goosebumps, mainly because of the female vocalist's voice.Current Mood:  impressed |
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The Book Nook
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 03:53 pm
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 18) The Blue Edge by Carlos Eyles
From Amazon:
"Carlos Eyles became deeply connected to the ocean world as a child growing up in Hawaii. His life, first as a free diving big game spearfisherman and now as an underwater photographer, has covered much of the planet's oceans and seas - a lifetime journey, which has paralleled the decline of the ocean's great wealth. He has written eight books and countless articles about his experiences. He recently returned to Hawaii to live and teach free diving."
"The Blue Edge invites the reader into Carlos's almost mystical interaction with the ocean's inhabitants. His encounters are extraordinary...his insights come from the heart. He takes us to the very soul of the natural world."
This book gives a fascinating insight into freediving or breath-hold diving. When I started to scuba dive, I was amazed at the level of noise I was producing with my breathing gear. I always felt very distracted by the ruccus I caused with all the gear I was hauling along. I wanted to be part of this amazing underwater world, without scaring the creeps out of the animal life. This book reminded me of that. Perhaps it is time to consider taking a freediving course. Not really sure, I am crap at holding my breath! But it is very tempting!
The book was fun, although I skipped a few paragraphs, when he waffled on at length about the mystical experience of immersing oneself into this world and becoming part of it... I know, I'm a hypocrite... ;)
My book #18 in 2008. First published in 2001, 354 pages. Total for 2008: 6.387 pages.
(clickety-click on the book cover for the journal entry)
Linkage:
Free-diving courses out of the UK
Freediving courses in Flroida
Freediving courses by the man himself, HawaiiCurrent Mood:  accomplished |
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The Book Nook
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 03:53 pm
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18) The Blue Edge by Carlos Eyles
From Amazon:
"Carlos Eyles became deeply connected to the ocean world as a child growing up in Hawaii. His life, first as a free diving big game spearfisherman and now as an underwater photographer, has covered much of the planet's oceans and seas - a lifetime journey, which has paralleled the decline of the ocean's great wealth. He has written eight books and countless articles about his experiences. He recently returned to Hawaii to live and teach free diving."
"The Blue Edge invites the reader into Carlos's almost mystical interaction with the ocean's inhabitants. His encounters are extraordinary...his insights come from the heart. He takes us to the very soul of the natural world."
This book gives a fascinating insight into freediving or breath-hold diving. When I started to scuba dive, I was amazed at the level of noise I was producing with my breathing gear. I always felt very distracted by the ruccus I caused with all the gear I was hauling along. I wanted to be part of this amazing underwater world, without scaring the creeps out of the animal life. This book reminded me of that. Perhaps it is time to consider taking a freediving course. Not really sure, I am crap at holding my breath! But it is very tempting!
The book was fun, although I skipped a few paragraphs, when he waffled on at length about the mystical experience of immersing oneself into this world and becoming part of it... I know, I'm a hypocrite... ;)
My book #18 in 2008. First published in 2001, 354 pages. Total for 2008: 6.387 pages.
(clickety-click on the book cover for the journal entry)
Linkage:
Free-diving courses out of the UK
Freediving courses in Flroida
Freediving courses by the man himself, HawaiiCurrent Mood: accomplished |
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Terrorism in my life
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 08:35 am
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In the process of applying for a mortgage, because of the Patriot Act, we had to sign a statement saying that we have not engaged in terrorist activity.
I honestly did a double take, and here are the thoughts that crossed my mind.
What about the peace protests I have participated in? Or the fact that I went to a Quaker university? Am I on a black list somewhere?
What about the time I accidentally distributed literature for the Communist Party?
What about the fact that I have signed this statement protesting the Bush administration and his upcoming commencement address where I work?
None of these are terrorist activities. But they are all things that, in a slightly altered political climate, might be labeled that way. Or maybe I've been watching The Tudors too much (where all of the sudden having an opinion against the king was the same as treason).
Speaking my mind is not being a terrorist. I just wanted to remind myself of that.
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 08:13 am
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This time of morning is when my caffeine addiction proves just how bad it is....see I cant even think... |
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Mother's Day Weekend
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 06:58 am
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I enjoyed my weekend.
Saturday I took my recyclables to be recycled - I like that.
I mailed things - I've always liked mailing things.
I shopped - nothing fancy, just ordinary needs.
Sunday I cooked some of the food I bought Saturday.
Belinda called and offered me a Mother's Day gift - free item at Chez Clay. I painted a pet food bowl in my kitchen colors.
Then I altered a skirt to bring it more up-to-date and more "New Orleans hot-weather."
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The Book Nook
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 02:48 pm
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 17) Mistral's Kiss (Merry Gentry #5) by Laurell K. Hamilton
From the Back Cover:
"I am Princess Meredith Gentry, heir to a throne of faerie. Once upon a time I had a day job. I was a private detective, but being a princess seems to have become a full- time occupation… My aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, will have it no other way. I am virtually a prisoner here, incarcerated with some of our world’s most beautiful men to serve as my bodyguards… and my lovers.For I have a duty to perform: I must produce an heir. They say practice makes perfect; well, that may be. The pleasures have been many but there is still no sign of a child, and no heir means no throne. But that’s the least of it. If I fail, my life is forfeit – death awaits at the vengeful hands of my cousin Cel and his followers. Now Mistral,captain of the queen’s guard, has come to my bed. In doing so, he defies her and risks her terrible wrath. But our joining together has reawakened old magic, a mystical power so ancient that none can stand against it and survive. Not my strongest and most favoured consorts, my Darkness and my Killing Frost. Not even my Storm Lord, Mistral himself.And yet because he helped bring this magic forth, he may live another day. If I can reclaim control of the fey power that once was, there is hope. I may still defeat those who would see me fall. Though shadows of obsession, cunning and conspiracy gather, I may survive."
I registered this under Romance, a more apt category would be"Supernatural Erotica", as the first 100 pages pretty much cosist of lots and lots and lots of sex. Surprisingly there appears a storyline after those 100 pages, that I actually liked quite a lot. Who would have thought! I don't really want to give away too much of it, but it involves the Sluagh and their king Sholto.... Yes, there's more sex as well....
My book #17 in 2008. First published in 2006, 326 pages. Total for 2008: 6.033 pages.
(clickety-click on the book cover for the journal entry)
This will be a bookray, let me know if you want to take part!Current Mood: accomplished |
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The Book Nook
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 02:48 pm
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17) Mistral's Kiss (Merry Gentry #5) by Laurell K. Hamilton
From the Back Cover:
"I am Princess Meredith Gentry, heir to a throne of faerie. Once upon a time I had a day job. I was a private detective, but being a princess seems to have become a full- time occupation… My aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, will have it no other way. I am virtually a prisoner here, incarcerated with some of our world’s most beautiful men to serve as my bodyguards… and my lovers.For I have a duty to perform: I must produce an heir. They say practice makes perfect; well, that may be. The pleasures have been many but there is still no sign of a child, and no heir means no throne. But that’s the least of it. If I fail, my life is forfeit – death awaits at the vengeful hands of my cousin Cel and his followers. Now Mistral,captain of the queen’s guard, has come to my bed. In doing so, he defies her and risks her terrible wrath. But our joining together has reawakened old magic, a mystical power so ancient that none can stand against it and survive. Not my strongest and most favoured consorts, my Darkness and my Killing Frost. Not even my Storm Lord, Mistral himself.And yet because he helped bring this magic forth, he may live another day. If I can reclaim control of the fey power that once was, there is hope. I may still defeat those who would see me fall. Though shadows of obsession, cunning and conspiracy gather, I may survive."
I registered this under Romance, a more apt category would be"Supernatural Erotica", as the first 100 pages pretty much cosist of lots and lots and lots of sex. Surprisingly there appears a storyline after those 100 pages, that I actually liked quite a lot. Who would have thought! I don't really want to give away too much of it, but it involves the Sluagh and their king Sholto.... Yes, there's more sex as well....
My book #17 in 2008. First published in 2006, 326 pages. Total for 2008: 6.033 pages.
(clickety-click on the book cover for the journal entry)
This will be a bookray, let me know if you want to take part!Current Mood: accomplished |
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Back...
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 06:52 am
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...and heading to work. I'll update (with many, many photos) when I get home.Current Mood:  happy |
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Long Weekend - always nice
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 11:17 am
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I like holidays and long weekends. But then, who doesn't?
On Saturday we went to a street fair in a neighbour town called Geldern. It was small, but had cool rides. I even have a picture!
from back to front: Maurice, Yvi, Christoph and me
Yesterday we had mothersday breakfast with Christoph's Mom and his two sisters and one of his nephews, Tom. Tommy is three years old and totally into dinosaurs at the moment. The amazing thing is the little guy knows all the names of the dinosaurs. He had a dinosaur book and showed me all the pictures in it. :-)
In the evening we had a barbecue which was nice as well.
Otherwise we took it slow. Today we plan to relax, too. Some tidying here and there and then Christoph want to take me to town and show me around, so I know where stuff is. The weather is beautiful here. Sun is shining, everything is green, birds are singing... Really nice.
Oh, and I went testdriving on Saturday! Yvi's Mom wants to sell her car which would be perfect for me, because I really need a car around here. Public transportation is almost non-existent. It's a Smart car - don't laugh, I know it's tiny, but for my purposes just perfect and driving it is great! Just have to do all the insurance stuff first, and then it's mine! Yippieee!!!
O.k., off to do - don't know yet, whatever. ;-)
Carpe Diem!Current Mood:  cheerful |
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How do you do it?
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 10:08 am
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Having just been on the phone for twenty minutes to the insurance company (around half of which seemed to be on hold), and considered my attitude towards and problem with phones generally, I was wondering how people managed with phones.
When I'm on the phone my attention wanders. Without someone physically in front of me to look at, I look at the computer screen, the TV, the nearby book, what's going on in the room... I just can't keep focused on the voice.
I hate the phone ringing anyway. It usually goes when I'm in the middle of something, and I hate having to jump up with my meal in my hand to answer it, or pause the TV programme, or whatever I'm in the middle of doing.
I'll quite happily (usually) use the phone for a job that needs doing, to check details on something or to ask someone a question. What I can't do is have a long conversation with someone. Unless I'm actively involved, I just can't keep myself listening. And I'm afraid of long silences. I'm afraid that halfway through the conversation it will peter out and there will be nothing to say. I have a policy that says I will never agree to anything, especially financial, on the phone, because I just don't think quickly enough. I'll always ask them to post stuff out to me and I'll consider it that way. I really just can't make decisions quickly. I guess it's because my subconscious comes up with some things that are so wild and wacky that I'm afraid if I allow it control then I'll do something I'll regret. So everything has to be considered carefully and thought about before replying, which I can do in real life and I can do in written form, but not over the telephone, where silence is frightening and there's no visual feedback.
I'm at my best at something like a conversation over a meal. That way I have something to occupy me other than the conversation, but it doesn't distract from it too much, in fact it helps me focus. But given the choice, I would far rather go and visit someone and have the conversation in person, or type it in email, than have a phone conversation.
Is it just me? And does anyone have any useful suggestions?Current Mood:  curious |
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Can’t lane split in a car
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 12:13 am
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Read the rest of this entry » This was cross-posted from Raven's RV. You can comment here or there, but if you could bring yourself to comment there rather than here, that would be very nice.
Here's the link to comment over there |
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The beauty of power tools
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 12:13 am
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Read the rest of this entry » This was cross-posted from Raven's RV. You can comment here or there, but if you could bring yourself to comment there rather than here, that would be very nice.
Here's the link to comment over there |
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Circle
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 11:47 pm
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http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2008/05.html#fsf_circle  Circle: 05/11/08
The final story in the May issue of FSF is "Circle" by George Tucker and it makes up for the two previous stories.
"Circle" takes place in Miami during the recent real estate boom and it is written with a similar mixture of cynicism, humor and environmentalism as Carl Hiaasen's books are.
Billy Black, the protagonist, is the grandson of a Seminole shaman who decides to use the apparent haunting at a local construction site to his advantage. The way in which Black balances his heritage with his own desire for a piece of the real estate boom pie is what reminds me most positively of Hiaasen.
As Tucker explains in his interview, "The Circle" is based on actual events and he wrote a lengthy back story for Billy Black before finally settling on the twenty pages that make up this story. Having so enjoyed this short glimpse at Billy Black's life, I'd love to see George Tucker expand things either as a series of short stories, or as a novella or perhaps a full fledged novel.
To learn more, please read the interview on the FSF blog.
Read the reviews at The Fix, The Worm Seat.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | george tucker
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© 2008 Sarah Sammis. This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. |
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a quote fraught with meaning…
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 10:57 pm
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We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
–T.S. Eliot, from Little Giddings
This one is going into the quotes file.
Anyway, consider this a thread for open musings. What’s on your mind, folks? Comment away, either here or on LJ.
I may have more to say tomorrow, despite the May death march.
Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.
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Wondering...
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 04:02 pm
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I've got a bunch of music videos on my iPhone. I'd like to be able to play them as a playlist, but so far as I can see, if I make up a playlist and drag the videos onto it, all I get is the audio playing and no video. |
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Welcome to exam hell.
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 06:41 am
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Today I have the exam from hell that I have no idea how to go about passing. It starts in 3 hours so I am up at 6am to try and get some more stuff crammed into my brain to prevent myself bursting into tears when I look at the paper. I know some stuff for this one just not enough. The past paper questions have been so specific that even if you know a topic chances are the question will fuck you up. Also everything has to be done through a comparison of three west european countires and err. I have pretty much no idea about anything other than vaugearies of them.
Anyway so it is going to be a bad morning followed by an afternoon cramming for my USA paper which I am less worried about.
5 Hours of exams to go and counting. |
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Pleasure - Back to You
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 08:25 am
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You flick your mane and click your fingers again
And draw me back, you call my name
And like a fool, I run right back to you
And dance along to your latest tune
And when the lands slides
And when the planets die
That's when I come back, when I come back to you
And when the sun cools
And when the stars fall
That's when I come back, when I come back to you
You roll those eyes and trap my hand in your thighs
It's slavery but in disguise
'Cos like a fool, I come right back to you
There's nothing else that I can do
And when the pigs fly
And when the planets die
That's when I come back, when I come back to you
And when the sun cools
And when the stars fall
That's when I come back, when I come back to you
And when the lands slides
And when the planets die
That's when I come back, when I come back to you
And when the sun cools
And when the stars fall
That's when I come back, when I come back to you
And when the war machines
Rust eternally
That's when I come back, when I come back to you
And when your heart bleeds
For a love that's dead like me
That's when I come back, when I come back to you...
(c)Current Mood:  crappy Current Music: Pleasure - Back to You |
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City of Light
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 10:15 pm
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http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2008/05.html#city_light 
City of Light is a historical drama set during the time that Buffalo New York was converting to electricity with the building of turbines at Niagara Falls.
I read the book primarily for the setting and I loved the way Buffalo and Niagara Falls were described. It is in the building of the setting that Lauren Belfer excels.
Peal away the interesting history and what is left is a rather dull and obvious Agatha Christie type mystery mixed together with a Victorian melodrama. Louisa Barrett, the head mistress of a local girls school finds herself in the middle of a series of murders related to the new power station at Niagara Falls. As the father of her god daughter is the owner, she feels compelled to solve the mystery to protect the people she loves.
If the mystery wasn't enough, there is also Barrett's own personal tragedy and the truth behind her fondness for her God daughter who appears to be clinically depressed after the death of her mother.
The relationship between Louisa Barrett and Grace is where I started to lose interest in the book. I know I was supposed to feel empathy for Louisa for all the heartbreak she has suffered but I never really connected with her. Her personal story is buried under all the historical descriptions and the clues for the mystery to such a degree that it doesn't make sense for the novel to end on her personal tragedy because it feels like an after thought.
I read this book for the Themed Challenge.
Read the reviews at Random Reflections, BookFix, Miss Keeks.
books | mystery | fiction | lauren belfer
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© 2008 Sarah Sammis. This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. |
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Heading south on I-5
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 09:13 pm
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I don’t know how much longer I’ll have online, so I’ll summarize in this post and then start to post the story with some photos of the day when I get back. We have spent so much time chasing after wireless this trip that it stopped being fun until we got here, to this rest area, and discovered that wireless had found us.
Our trip this month took us up to Redding and the Trinity/Shasta area.
Read the rest of this entry » This was cross-posted from Raven's RV. You can comment here or there, but if you could bring yourself to comment there rather than here, that would be very nice.
Here's the link to comment over there
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Survivor
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 10:07 pm
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Yes, yes. I watch Survivor. I got hooked by accident a few years ago, (my moms fault) and hate it every time it airs- and I always watch it.
Current Mood:  annoyed |
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Stink-eye is free!
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 11:14 pm
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dearhusband blogged his version of yesterday's release. He should have the video up tomorrow night.Current Mood: happy |
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So. Tonight's Radiohead Concert!
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 12:00 am
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P.S. On Updatery
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 11:46 pm
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Updatery
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 11:33 pm
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Miriam is teething!
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 10:03 pm
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Current Mood:  bouncy |
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Sunday afternoon
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 09:35 pm
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I actually went to the Art Institute before the opera, intending to see the Hopper/Homer exhibition again. In the event, I didn't, because by the time I got there, the next available time would have been just about when I would have to leave to go to the pre-opera lecture. So instead, I just wandered about taking pictures.
On the way to the Harris Theatre, I stopped to watch the installation of the Nichols Bridgeway, which will connect the Art Institute's new Modern Wing to Millennium Park. (This has been going on all weekend; I don't know how long it will take.)
So, the opera. Aaaarrrgghhhh! My favorite opera, and they ruined it! I actually walked out at intermission (some people left even earlier). See, I don't mind updating, when it has a purpose, and when it fits with the psychology and relationships in the libretto. Don Giovanni in a sex club doesn't. What are Donna Anna and her father doing there? If Musetto brings Zerlina to a sex club, he certainly shouldn't be upset if someone tries to seduce her. And ex-nun Donna Elvira in dominatrix drag? The whole thing was ridiculous. So I came home and made a spinach and mushroom quiche for dinner and did my Italian homework.
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Saw Iron Man Tonight.
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 09:42 pm
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What a fun movie. Robert Downey, Jr., as usual, is fantastic. Typical superhero movie in that lots of stuff gets blown up, but not so typical in the hero himself. I enjoyed it and would recommend it, though if your kids are sensitive to violence, you might want to get them a sitter. There are several graphically violent scenes, but the worst ones are the ones where you know what's going to happen but the camera cuts away before you see it.
Good summertime fare. Especially at a matinée price.
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Eye Candy and Salsa
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 06:14 pm
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I saw a male stripper for the first time this weekend I went to a bar to celebrate my friend Jose's birthday. I laughed a lot, because it seemed so ridiculous. I thought he was just okay, kinda cute, I guess, but mostly it was funny. My friends wanted me to go up and get a lap dance, but fortunately he retired for the evening before they could get the chance.
I was a pretty interesting bar actually. It wasn't like a strip club per se, or not like what I would have imagined it to be. At the bar there was an equal number of males and females watching the strippers, which were both male and female, and was not even the main focus of the bar. After two performances the dance floor opened up and everyone just dance all evening. There was also a dance floor in the back of bar that played salsa, meringue, and mambo (which is my favorite, I love to salsa), and was where my friends and I spent most of the evening dancing and having a good time.
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"Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell," Susanna Clarke
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 09:03 pm
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Awesome! Awesome, awesome, awesome!! So frigging long, but awesome! Set in the late 1800s, it's the story of the restoration of English magic, focusing on two magicians whose relationship changes from mentor/mentee to rivals to equals. Entertaining, engrossing, just all-around awesome. The world the author creates is incredibly detailed, with copious fake footnotes (love that!).
Mr Norrell nodded. "You must not blame Mr Strange," he said. "The magical profession is a dangerous one. There is no other which so lays a man open to the perils of vanity. Politics and Law are harmless in comparison."
"And she was quite tolerable to look at, you say?" said Mr Lascelles.
"You never saw her?" said Drawlight. "Oh! she was a heavenly creature. Quite divine. An angel."
"Indeed? And such a pinched-looking ruin of a thing now. I shall advise all the good-looking women of my acquaintance not to die," said Mr Lascelles.
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Daily Tweeties
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 04:09 am
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Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter |
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"Lord of Scandal," Nicola Cornick
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 08:59 pm
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Out of all the serious books I had taken out of the library, the one that I couldn't renew because someone else had it on request was... this. So I began it for my own amusement, and ended up finishing it and returning it a day or two late. The characters sucked me in!
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"The Miracle At Speedy Motors," Alexander McCall Smith
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 08:47 pm
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The latest installment of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and the most satisfying in a while!
There were various items of evidence garnered in old investigations: a tie left behind in a room and then discovered by a suspicious husband; the tie of a paramour, a thin, brightly coloured tie, that looked guilty. "A man who would wear a tie like that could do anything," Mma Ramotswe had observed.
It's not really a detective mystery novel so much as a reflection of a culture (much like all the rest of the books).
"There are some cars that do not like all this rain, Mma. You see, the water can get in the distributor--you know what a distributor is, do you, Mma? It is the part that sends the electricity to the--"
"Yes, yes," said Mma Ramotswe. "Women know about distributors these days."
So that's what you think of us, Boss! Too grand for us--after all we've done for you! The voice of her shoes, her green shoes with sky-blue linings, was filled with reproach, and her eyes popped open. She looked away, ashamed at her greed. She would have to be careful. It was all very well becoming Mrs. Phuti Radiphuti, wife of the proprietor of the Double Comfort Furniture Shop, but one should not forget where it was that one had come from; although, if one did, there were always one's shoes to remind one.
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"The World Without Us," Alan Weisman
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 08:36 pm
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Not nearly as depressing as I'd feared! Really incredibly fascinating, and hopeful, in a funny way. It describes what would happen if all of the people just -poof- disappeared. By examining the ways humans have left our footprint on the earth, we also get to see, in a backwards way, what we'd need to do to undo the damage. The ecosystem would bounce back pretty quickly from just about everything, except for (one word) plastics.
It takes 1,000 years for the ocean to completely turn over, but that doesn't bring the Earth back to pre-industrial purity. Ocean and atmosphere are more in balance with each other, but both are still supercharged with CO2. So is the land, where excess carbon will cycle through soil and life-forms that absorb but eventually release it. So where can it go? "Normally," says Volk, "the biosphere is like an upside-down glass jar: On top, it's basically closed to any extra matter, except for letting in a few meteors. At the bottom, the lid is slightly open - to volcanoes."
The problem is, by tapping the Carboniferous Formation and spewing it up into the sky, we've become a volcano that hasn't stopped erupting since the 1700s.
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"French Lessons: A Memoir," Alice Kaplan
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 08:22 pm
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Almost like two books in one: First, a beautiful recounting of how learning French helped the author heal from the death of her father and create the person she was to become, and secondly describing an examination of how French intellectuals became enamored with Fascism. Reading about rearranging your mind to learn another language always makes me nostalgic.
I can't stand not to be in France in June, the month of my birthday and the month my father died. The smells and sounds in the air are too strong at home - the newly cut grass, the fireflies, all the sounds of his death. So every year around the same time, I start speaking to myself in French and dreaming in French, and swearing in French when I'm driving my car. Maybe this book will put a stop to it.
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"I Just Want My Pants Back," David J. Rosen
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 08:12 pm
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I was hoping that this would be more of a fun, funny, detective-ish novel; instead, it was more about a quarter-life crisis. The characters were pretty realistic... but when I already talk like these people and do a lot of the same things they do (just fewer drugs), why do I really need to read a book about it?
Things were changing. Maybe it was because Eric was older, but Stacey was really into acting grown-up and hosting the kind of dinner parties where the cutlery matched and you sipped (never swigged) wine and played Pictionary and people were couples and the conversation veered to serious but boring topics like accountants and buying an apartment versus renting one. After a while everyone started to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher to me. I just felt like Stacey and Eric, and some of their new friends, were rushing to leave youth behind and become adults. They could not wait to take on the next phase of responsibility. "Give it to us!" they yelled. "We have broad shoulders!" It was just so goddamn dull.
Books like this make me feel like I should write a book, and would be able to get it published pretty easily. I mean, if he could do it...
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Lazy, rainy Sunday
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 08:09 pm
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Writer's Block: Remembering Mom
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 07:56 pm
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( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )Current Mood:  nostalgic Current Music: Al Greene cover of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" |
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Photography Experience
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 06:45 pm
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There's now a community for the Photography Experience: ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) photog_xp. Go join! (Image heavy, naturally). I'll be posting pictures there, which means I'll be pic-spamming all of you less (a bit less). This week's theme is animals.
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 07:30 pm
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Miami
Considering the heat you generate with your sizzling style and confidence, your hottest shopping stop can only be Miami. Here among the South Beach party pads are plenty of places to load up on clingy cocktail outfits and bikinis that’d make Mom blush. You crave excitement and get it thanks to your outrageously ogle-worthy gear and good-time vibe.
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Childhood Books
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 03:52 pm
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![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif){kind=small}
weird
bored
