I just got back from 1/2 hr on the elliptical machine at the gym, and as such am only capable of expressing the random thoughts that have been floating around my head today.
1. Have you heard the band Owl City? Today I realized that their songs are what crushing tweeners would have imagined Legolas singing to them a couple years back when Lord of the Rings was huge. (You know, ignoring the whole ruthlessly impaling people with arrows thing, because he’s sensitive, dang it!) Seriously, if songs are too twee for me, that’s saying something major.
2. I know I’m risking wrath here, but I CAN NOT see the appeal of John Mayer. He may be on my top 5 most disliked musicians list.
3. In a factor of about a billion more ( I don’t know how to say that, I don’t know math) than I dislike John Mayer, I HATE (HATE!) the smell that assaults you as you walk past Ambercrombie and Fitch at the mall. How does anyone shop there? Does this opinion make me old? Possibly.
4. I tried on roughly 17 dresses today (I have a hot date coming up!) and none were either long enough or had the right neckline. Or the sleeves were wrong. My friends who have similar dressing issues as I do- where do you find dresses? Not even fancy ones, just regular ones? I’m totally striking out here.
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
6. The genuis mix on my Nano right now is totally scoring for me. Gene, Travis, Suede, Manic Street Preachers, U2 – awesome.
7. I have about 20 JD Salinger short stories in my possession that I have never read before. All previously published in magazines or such, but never collected. Unread Salinger, that’s about as close to literary heaven as I can get. I’m also planning a re-read of Catcher in the Rye in honor of Salinger’s passing; I haven’t read it since high school.
8. I have lovely new rainboots- black and white go-go boot style. Truly the most happy making rainboots I’ve ever owned. I can’t wait for it to rain again.
9. Speaking of lovely new things, I have the schnazziest new computer ever seen. She is tiny, she is shiny, she is quick and ruthlessly efficient. She’s pretty dang close to silent, and could take down any computer that got near her. She’s beautifully organized, but I can tell she has a firmly based core of feist. If she got drunk I’m almost positive she would punch her commanding officer in the face. (Ok, so maybe not.) But, as such, she has been christened Starbuck. B made her for me, and she is almost as wonderful as he is.
10. It’s almost my bedtime. Tiny has been waking up obscenely early, which means I have been waking up just as obscenely early. Obscene, I tell you. Anyway, I’m going to bed. Otherwise I’ll be grumpy in the morning, and that’s no fun for anyone. Just ask, they’ll tell you. And I have to teach Sunday School tomorrow. Someone remind me of that tomorrow, I’m almost certain to forget. It’s a good lesson though, I’m excited.
What random thoughts have you had today?
by F.G. Cottam was a total impulse grab from the library. The blurb about the book included a haunting and a “decadent party in the 1920s”, and well, if I’m anything, I’m a sucker for the 1920s; decadent parties from then even more so. The story was interesting, hinging on a house possessed of such evil that it makes anyone who visits insane (and ultimately suicidal) from continual haunting after they leave the house. Only one man had successfully “gotten away” from the house, but he realizes he’s still embroiled in its evil after he’s called upon to help some college students who were lured to the house. As the story progresses we learn how he was originally involved in the mystery of the house, and as he tries to help the girls, he discovers the truth of the house. (It all started with said decadent party in the 1920s. ) Anyway, overall it was quite good, with some very well drawn characters. It’s only flaw for me was a rather sudden and surprising resolution that left me wanting far more information. (Let me be clear- there was enough information given, it wasn’t confusing or anything, I just wanted more.)
by Kim John Payne with Lisa M. Ross is one of the best parenting books I’ve read in quite a while. Payne maintains that kids are being overwhelmed by too many toys, too many activities, too much information, too many choices, and that that by simplifying in all of those areas, they will do better and be happier. There’s seriously so much in this book that I can’t begin to summarize it all; all I will say is that I HIGHLY recommend it, and it’s one I’ll go back to over and over again.
by Steven Brust was everything I wanted and more. I adore Brust’s Vlad Taltos series, and this episode returned to his trademark wit. There was a good section of 10 or so pages in a row where I just cracked up on every page. This installment sees Vlad trying to help his falsely (but kind of rightly, because she did what she was accused of, but that’s not why she was actually imprisoned) imprisoned friend while negotiating his way through the political machinations of the powers that be (who are also his, and the imprisioned’s, friends, but are bound by duty to do their jobs) and solving a conspiracy. Getting to see Cawti and Krager again, as well as meeting Vlad Jr. was fantastic as well.
by Jane Austen for book club this month, and I started reading, and then it looked like I was going to miss book club, and I had so many other things to read that I stopped reading, and then book club got moved to my house and so I had to finish it frantically this last couple of days. I’m glad I did, it’s the first Austen I’ve actually made it all the way through ( I KNOW, I KNOW. Don’t you have some book you should have read? Actually I read an article about people who lie about having read books and why they do, and I’ll admit that I lie about having read Austen just to avoid the incredulous reactions.) and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I kept wanting to slap various characters, but I’m fairly certain that was the point, so it was ok. What was odd, though, was that I kept thinking throughout what a different book it would have been had it been written by Virginia Woolf or Evelyn Waugh. I think the thought came up because they’ve all written about similar subjects- a good person ignored, a group visiting the country – and my mind wandered. If Waugh had written it the story would have been similar but the absurdity more pronounced, if it had been Woolf there would have been a death and more inner turmoil and torment. Anyway, it was an interesting thing to think about as I read. But that shouldn’t be taken to mean that I wished it was written differently, it was wonderful as it was. And true to report, the love letter toward the end is paralyzingly lovely.
and 
. I’ve got school on the brain.
by Bryan Talbot, which I have from the library and will need to return soon. I’ve been meaning to read it for literally YEARS now, so I’m glad to get to it.
by Antoinette Portis: A gorgeous little kid’s story about a penguin named Edna who decides to look for “the something else”- something not like the white, black, or blue that make up her days and nights (the ice, night, and water). It’s short, the art is lovely, and it contains such a wonderful lesson about widening your horizons to look for truth.
