NaNo Day 5 aka The Little Engine That Could

So here's day 5 and I still have ideas! To anyone who thinks that they can't do NaNoWriMo, you can! I promise you, you can! If I can do this, anyone can, trust me. I sat at my computer today knowing that I was behind and knowing that I somehow had to reach 8,335 words today. And sadly I had no plot ideas when I walked into work this morning (yes I'm still writing at work :p). I literally opened my computer and typed a couple of words and thought "uh-oh! No more ideas". And then one hit me and I ran with it and I loved it! I finished the day with 8,482 words and I now have plenty of ideas for where I'm going next with my story.

I am starting to realize that the editing process is going to take quite a long time once I'm done with this puppy. I'm afraid that this is only going to be readable to me in its current form and will most probably make no sense to anyone else in its first draft. I'm going to have to go back and rearrange scenes and add scenes and develop scenes more, but for right now, I'm just going forward as the NaNo team suggests and leaving editing for later. I genuinely like my story though and that's something that I never thought would happen! Yeah, told you, I'm my own worst critic! I really expected crap to come out, but the story is there...it's just hard to get it to come out on paper how it looks in my head sometimes. But we're getting there!

I was so proud of my near 8500 words today and I started clicking on friends' friends' pages and started finding people who have already gone well over the 50,000 word mark! How the hell do you do that?! One girl went over 50K on the first day! She wrote for 24 hours straight on November 1st and blogged each hour on her progress. Kinda like Dewey's read-a-thon. Now that's impressive!

My reading has suffered as a result of NaNo, I'm afraid (I haven't forgotten about you Pat ;) But I'm still reading Rebecca and I'm REALLY enjoying it now with only about 80 pages left. And then I have to tackle this giant pile sitting next to my bed. I have another ARC heading my way too from Carole McDonnell. She's a really sweet woman who's sending me a copy of her book Wind Follower which sounds incredible and has an awesome cover! So look for that review in probably about a month. As for now...back to NaNo...

'Tis Mine At Last!

Out of boredom tonight, I decided to go to Barnes and Noble...big surprise there, right? I meandered my way over to the sci-fi/fantasy section (another big surprise there) and what do my eyes fall upon but the new hardcover Stardust! I am in love and I have a new favorite book! I'm going to have to disagree with Carl and Jeff here, but I have my reasons. I do agree that the pages are a bit thin and the quality could've been a bit better. I think the main reason I disagree though is because I've never owned an illustrated version of Stardust! With my B&N discount card, I got $8 off too, so I only paid $32...not much more than the soft cover version. However, I can understand how if you already own the $30 soft cover version you would be disappointed with this one. With that being said, here's why I wasn't disappointed being an illustrated Stardust virgin:

This book is gorgeous. I can't stop looking at it. The cover is beautiful as you can see and the picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. It's presented very well. The end pages are amazing. The detail that Charles Vess puts into his work never ceases to amaze me. I could stare at his work for hours. I can see now that this novel was indeed meant to be read as an illustrated novel and I will always recommend it to be read as one in the future. So beautiful.

I loved the extras in the back of the book. I agree that there could've been a bit more, but I loved what was there. The first is the original proposal that Gaiman and Vess wrote up and it's really neat! Gaiman wrote an updated note at the end commenting on how different the novel ended up being from what he originally perceived it to be and apparently Croup and Vandemar of Neverwhere fame were originally slated to be in Stardust! Interesting fact.

Next up are Vess' original sketches in progress for the four covers of the original comic book form releases of the novel. These were neat, but nothing overly exciting. I recently acquired a print of the cover for the third book from the San Diego Comic Con through eBay and I love it! Plan on getting that one framed.

And the next couple of sections, I absolutely love. There are six newly revealed scenes from Stardust and some more preliminary sketches that Vess did. My favorite new painting that Vess included is one of Yvaine singing with her sisters surrounded by faerie folk. Absolutely beautiful. There are also a couple of sketches for an unwritten Stardust sequel! As Vess says, there is no mention of when and if this will happen, but the idea is out there, and a couple of sketches have been done. And then there are 4 busts and the sculpture of Yvaine that's been shown on his website that should be released around the time of the movie.

I'm so happy with this purchase and I'm sure that I'll be staring at this book for days. Megan will surely be sick of me pointing out every little detail to her while I'm in Texas as I tend to do with things like this ;) Though she's a Gaiman fan too, so she should appreciate it!

I also picked up three other books while I was there! On Carl's recommendation and wonderful review, I had to get Annette Curtis Klause's Freaks: Alive, on the Inside. As he said, the cover is amazing. Looking forward to this one. Sounds like my kind of book. Because of Winn-Dixie should feed my Kate DiCamillo addiction for now as they still didn't have any copies of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. And finally, I picked up Bram Stoker's Dracula for the R.I.P. Challenge. B&N had all of there Classics on sale for 30% off, plus members get the extra 10% off. B&N does a great job with their hardcover editions of classics and I've always thought that they were a steal at $7.95...with the discount, it came out to only $5! Can't beat that.

Anyone else get any good books lately?

Trip To The Bookstore And Mapping July

I've been so stressed lately and I'm not entirely sure why. I think it's just a number of things. Much of it is good stress, but good stress is stress none the less. I could sit here and ramble on about everything that's stressing me out, but that would only make me stress out even more...so instead, I'll talk about what I do to handle stress :) Well first of all, I tend to turn to books...duh...this usually involves buying books, which I did tonight. I didn't go overboard though...I used some control. The books of the night:

Kate Di Camillo's The Tiger Rising - I just had to read something else by her after the wonder Tale of Despereaux and this was all they had by her at Barnes and Noble. I may read this one tonight. Sounds great. By the way, if you're a DiCamillo fan, I highly recommend that you check out Carl's excellent review of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. It's the book that I really wanted to get by her tonight after reading his review...but they didn't have it :(

Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic - This is the first book in the Discworld series. Knowing Nymeth's love of Pratchett's Discworld novels and after Jean Pierre's Thud! review and resulting Discworld conversation, I just had to start this series! So here it goes!

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera - Nymeth wrote a wonderful review on this one and Robin described it as "the most passionate and intoxicating book I have ever read." Well, after that I had to read it! The girl at the register at B&N told me that Marquez is her favorite author, so I have really high expectations of this one! Looking forward to it and I can add this one to my Classics Challenge list.

SO...the other thing I do when I'm stressed out is plan, plan, plan and organize, organize, organize...I need structure and when life gets too out of hand, I go crazy trying to get everything back in place. So I've planned out July's reading :) I may not get all of this in as I have a friend coming in all next week and then the following week I FINALLY get to spend a week with Megan...but here's the plan:-Finish The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
-The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo (may read tonight)
-Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (for Classics Challenge)
-The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
-Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (for Newbery Challenge)
-Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
-Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (bonus for Classics Challenge)
-AND Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (this one will be read on July 21st...trust me)

Keep your fingers crossed on Thursday for me...Job interview at 2!

Mutant Tomatoes, New Arrivals, & Web Wanderings

While picking tomatoes today we came across this very strange little pair. Close examination of the photo to the left will reveal what appears to be a pair of tomato siamese twins in the upper left corner. Scientists have yet to confirm what may have led to this genetic manipulation or if extra terrestrials may have been involved in this truly bizarre occurrence.

Three of the (alongwithsevenotherbooks) (see previous post) arrived today...yay! They were:

1. Folk of the Fringe by Orson Scott Card
2. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
3. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

And now, some Web Wanderings!:

First, on a serious note, Carl has written a truly touching memorial on a wonderful and inspiring person, photographer, and friend of his who passed away a year ago. She was Jenn See from Following My Fish. His post is full of absolutely amazing photographs that were taken by her. They truly took my breath away. My favorite was the third down (Antique mirror in window). Simple picture, but something just amazing about it. It captivated me as I'm sure Jennifer did to so many people. Other favorites were the set of pictures that go from Flower in Sunlight to A Rock on a Table. Follow the links in Carl's post. They'll take you to wonderful places.

Charles Vess has wonderful news for us Stardust fans. He has pictures of the brand new Stardust hardcover illustrated book with an "addition 50 pages of material" along with pictures of The Stardust Visual Companion. AND it looks like both will be out next week! Which means that I will be VERY broke next week seeing as Interworld and M is for Magic also come out next week. But what has two thumbs and loves Neil Gaiman and will be very happy next week? This guy!

This one definitely gets the blue ribbon for funniest thing of the week. Scott has posted the shortest, funniest video in the world on his In the What? blog. If I were not so lazy, I'd just post the video here, but just click the link and go see it on his blog. I agree with him and suggest watching it about 5 times for maximum effect. It's only 4 seconds long.

On Stephanie's blog, I found my new calling in life...UC Riverside is looking for a new curator for the world's largest library of science fiction, fantasy, and horror books. The library houses first editions of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein among others. There is also talk about the first ever doctoral program in science fiction studies!!! How cool is that?! Read more about it on Stephanie's blog.

And finally, Darla D. posted a link to this really cool little portfolio of photos of books arranged in very clever ways. Check it out. I loved them!

A Few Thoughts On Books, Movies, And Vacation

I knew it had to come sooner or later...the first book of the year that I couldn't stand. It was Grendel by John Gardner. I really wanted to like this book. I read it for the Banned Books Challenge and I'm not going to do a review of it because I really couldn't do it justice. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what half of the book was about because it couldn't hold my attention. My mind would wander and I couldn't be bothered to go back and see what I missed. The writing came off as pretentious to me and I should've known I wouldn't like it when I saw that the New York Times said that it was an "Extraordinary Achievement." Not that I always disagree with the New York Times, but I picture rich literary people at snobby parties talking about the "cleverness" of this book. Just not my cup of tea. It grabbed me during a couple of passages, particularly at the end, but it wasn't enough to save the whole experience. Ah well, it happens.

I've found myself craving more George R.R. Martin the past couple of days which is a really good sign. I really enjoyed A Game of Thrones, and the more it sinks in, the better it was. So last night I ordered A Clash of Kings (alongwithsevenotherbooks), the second book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, and I just can't wait to read it! I'm so glad that I decided to start this series and I was so very pleasantly surprised by it. Highly recommend that one to anyone who's a fan of fantasy or really just a fan of a good character driven story.

Movies...I watched Sin City with my little brother for the first time today and it was incredible! I don't know why I waited so long to see this one. Definitely a one of a kind experience. It's filmed like no movie I've ever seen before and it's a treat for the eyes...but then again, isn't any movie with Jessica Alba. OK...that was lame. But seriously, the use (or lack of use) of color in the movie was great and Frank Miller's story was just incredible. I'm going to have to pick up the graphic novels. According to IMDB, Sin City 2 is in pre-production and Johnny Depp is rumored to be in this one. Can't wait. They even have Sin City 3 listed on IMDB, so fans of the original may have quite a few treats coming.

I also rented The Queen which I may start tonight, but seeing as it's already 12:30 in the morning, I may just save that one for tomorrow. I've heard that Helen Mirren did an outstanding job in this movie and I've been wanting to see this one, so I'll let you know how it was.

I'm also a big fan of horror movies and this usually includes the really bad ones as well, but Pulse was just too bad...even for me. I rented this one last week and it was just so stupid. It was the one where a computer virus kills people. So stupid, don't waste your time. Not a single part that even remotely creeped me out, the story had so many holes that it wasn't funny, and the acting was God awful. Just no.

And finally, the next vacation of the year is being planned. Since Katrina, I've been going to see Megan about 4 or 5 times a year. This year, I haven't been to see her once yet! I was there for New Years Eve, so that kinda counts and we went to Mexico together, but I haven't been to Texas. So I think I'm making the trip up there on July 16th or 17th and am coming back on the 22nd. I always have such a great time when I'm up there with her and it'll be nice to spend the time together doing the things we love to do...the little things I miss like getting coffee, shopping at Target, going to the bookstore, going to dinner...all that jazz. And I get to see Buddy and the rest of her family. I miss everyone there! Can't wait!

So Speaking Of Stuff.....

I went to Borders today! Why Borders instead of Barnes and Noble you might ask? Well I went to Barnes and Noble first and I'm just about fed up with the one here. I'm sure you all know that the reason I went to the bookstore today is because Colleen Gleason's new book Rises the Night is out in stores today!! Well, once again, Barnes and Noble didn't have it shelved! Our Barnes and Noble is horrible about this. Every time I want a book that is recently released, it's never on the shelves. I have to go to customer service and ask them for it and they have to go in the back and someone always comes back with this idiot grin on their face and says "oh, we didn't unpack those yet...here you go." So this time, I just left instead of asking and brought my business to Borders. I'm sick of it.

Borders was quite a nice experience today! I found all kinds of stuff as you can see by the picture. First and foremost is the reason I went. Colleen's new book, Rises the Night...second in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles. It is the sequel to The Rest Falls Away which was one of my favorite books of the year so far. If you haven't read it yet, I highly suggest it. It will appeal to just about anyone. You can read my review here. If you have read it, go out and buy Rises the Night!! Help Colleen make the best sellers lists. I read somewhere that first week sales matter the most and the book is only $6.99, so even if you think you may read it down the road, go out and buy it this week. And if you do buy it this week, take a picture of yourself with the book and send it to Carl at Stainless Steel Dropping for his contest and you may win an advanced reader copy of The Bleeding Dusk, the third installment in the series! I'll be jumping into Rises the Night as soon as this post is finished!

Another purchase was Marilyn Manson's new CD. I've been a fan of Marilyn Manson's for over 10 years now. It goes back to my goth days. It started out of shock value. He was, and still is to an extent all about the shock value, and so was I back then. And I guess my enjoyment of his music is still related to memories of teenage days. But I must say that his new album is really good! I was really surprised. I imagined that it would be horrible and almost laughable, but it's not at all. I'm really enjoying it. The title of the album is no less offensive than anything else he's done: Eat me, Drink me...I don't think he'll ever change in that way, and his voice is still bad as ever, but it works for him...and it works for me. I've seen him in concert a bazillion times, and the man is an amazing entertainer. He puts on a show like no other. His new video is very well done, but once again, a tad bit on the risque side. You can find it on his website. It's for the song Heart Shaped Glasses. It was shot by James Cameron believe it or not. I don't recommend watching it if your at work or around children. The opening 30 seconds had me thinking I was watching some kind of gothic, high budget soft-core porn....there's no nudity, but there might as well be. Aside from that, it's a really great video :p Maybe Quix will like it...there may be books involved :p

Next purchase - The new Realms of Fantasy! Amazing issue! The cover article is on the new Harry Potter movie and has a behind the scenes exclusive. There is also an article by Terri Windling of Endicott Studio on the themes in stories about Rapunzel. And there's a whole feature on Charles Vess and his art for Stardust!! yay!! And of course there are all the wonderful short stories including one by Tim Pratt.

I also finally got my hands on a copy of Geek Monthly! Another yay! This is one that I've been looking out for for awhile and that my Barnes and Noble apparently refuses to carry...but Borders had it :) This one came recommended by Carl, and I'm glad I finally found it!

Also picked up Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis and The Giver by Lois Lowry as both are books I'm reading for the Newbery Challenge. I'm guessing I'll officially start that challenge in July seeing as I still have to finish both the Once Upon a Time Challenge AND Banned Books Challenge this month. Phew!

I always tell the people at Borders "no" when they ask me if I want to sign up for their rewards card. I say no because I mostly shop at Barnes and Noble and always assumed that you had to pay for their rewards program like you do at Barnes and Noble. Well no one ever mentioned THAT IT'S FREE! So when I asked the lady today how much the program was for future reference and she said "it's free", I said "well sign me up then." So I'm now a Border's member too. Yay for Border's Bucks!

Acquiring Strange Things

There's been quite a bit of talk lately of "stuff" going on in blogland. That is...on the acquiring, accumulation, attachment, and worshiping and adoration of stuff. Indeed, the title of this blog is partially taken from my love for "stuff". It's primarily taken from my favorite Shakespeare quote, but also taken from my love of collecting fantasy related things. I certainly have a tendency to be a pack rat at times and attach to things very quickly. My newest love is 4 sheets of paper that I bought for $1 at Michael's yesterday. See...it doesn't take much to make me happy. My one true love is books. That should be no surprise to anyone.

There's something about thumbing through books, looking at books on a shelf, collecting books, smelling the pages of books (and getting very odd looks while doing so), taking photos of books (and once again, getting verry odd looks while doing so), and just having them. I don't think that there's a place in my house where there is not a book within range of the eyes. They're all over the place here. It's gotten to be quite an expensive affair. As one grows attached to stuff, one tends to discover the sub-genres of said stuff. For me, it's the small presses (such as Subterranean) that offer the more expensive "limited" editions of books. Of course these are embellished, or signed, or numbered, or have really cool artwork, and you dish out the money for them. But as an avid book lover, I don't mind spending a little bit more.

I've come to be the same way with art over the years. I've collected anything that catches the eye be it small sculptures from garage sales, papers, prints, notebooks, journals, frames, just about anything, and this love has kind of spilled over into books as well.

Carl and Literacy-Chic have both written interesting posts recently on their take on Stuff and I highly recommend that you read them. Good stuff there (no pun intended).

What sparked my decision to write this post was a text message from my sister that was truly bizarre...It read: "Do u want a gold plated vintage ant farm?" To which I replied "Uh sure..Whatever that is I'll take it." I never turn down more stuff ;)

Everyone seems to be enjoying the paper that I bought yesterday and due to Quixotical's excellent online hunting skills, I now know that the paper is made by a company called Die Cuts With a View. Click the name to be taken to their website. You can't order from their website, but their paper is sold in most craft stores and if you do a Yahoo or Google search you can find online retailers that carry their stuff. I love their Once Upon a Time and Far East lines of paper. Really cool stuff. I think I'm going to have to buy some and possibly take Quix's idea of making bookmarks!

Tying Up Loose Ends And A Website

This has been a repetitive theme of my blog lately and I apologize for boring people to tears, but I'm fitting in another "end of the semester" blog entry.

Tomorrow's the last day at my internship site and I'm so sad about it. I've loved it over there so much. I'd work there for free if I could. OK, maybe not, but I've enjoyed it that much. I'm going to miss the patients so much even though they're only there for about a week at a time and the crowd is constantly changing. I feel like I've actually made a difference in these kid's lives. I see kids come into the hospital in a really bad off way and leave with a smile on their face and it feels so good to know that they have that fighting chance.

I had a family session at the end of the day today and thought to myself "that went horrible, she's not leaving anytime soon." The reason she's not leaving anytime soon is that she's still a threat to her family. Basically, people come into the hospital because they're a threat to themselves or a threat to others. Usually suicidal or homicidal attempts or ideation. We don't discharge them until the doctor thinks they're no longer suicidal or homicidal. So when I realized that the girl wasn't going home because she was still a threat to others, I had this moment of awakening that all of the other people who do go home have actually changed and they're actually not a threat to others anymore (for the moment at least). It felt so good to come to that realization and to think that I may have had a hand in steering them towards the change that they need to make. I definitely think that it's the client that does the work and makes the change. I take no responsibility for that. But it's nice to think that I might've put a spark into someone's mind that ignited a fire for change.

So now I'm getting nervous about not being able to find a job. I talked to a girl today who works at a grief counseling center for children down here and she said she would give my name and number to her boss. That made me happy. I'd love to do that. There's really not a whole lot of places to work with children here in New Orleans. That's the population I want to work with. I love working with adolescents. I've enjoyed it so much this semester and I know that's where I belong. Just can't find a place that will pay me to do that. I can do that in private practice, but I need somewhere to work while I'm getting my licensure first. We'll see.

On a totally different note, I've sparked up quite a conversation in the comments section of a previous post about a website that Marina told me about. The website is bookcloseouts.com. Now, in addition to that, bookfool went on to tell me about currentcodes.com that has a code for bookcloseouts.com that offers an additional savings. The bookcloseouts.com website offers all kinds of really great books at, you got it, close out prices. I scored 10 books for $60.15 after shipping. All of the books were hardcover or trade paperbacks. Marina also told me that you can enter a wishlist and it lets you know when books you want become available as closeout books. WARNING!! This is a VERY dangerous website ;) Stephanie wanted to know what books I bought, so here they are:

1. Wyrms by Orson Scott Card
2. The Book Of Ballads by Charles Vess and others
3. The Faery Reel ed. by Terri Windling Illus. by Charles Vess
4. The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
5. Into the Green by Charles de Lint
6. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
7. Tithe by Holly Black
8. What it Takes to Pull Me Through by David Marcus
9. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
10. Martin Dressler by Steven Millhauser

Not a bad list, eh?

Where Do Books Come From?

After reading one of Jenclair’s wonderful book reviews, I decided to ask her where she finds her books. She has such an eclectic collection of books that she’s read and among those are so many books that I’ve never heard of before. Many of her reads come from the “what’s new” shelf at the library and from other bloggers out there. It sparked some great conversation on her blog. So I decided that I’d answer that question for myself as well.

I have no idea where some of my books came from. There are certain authors that I’ve read for awhile, and they’ve become auto buys. Orson Scott Card and Neil Gaiman are my two biggest auto buys. No matter what they publish, I’m buying it. Charles de Lint has become one of those auto buys as well for me.

Then there’s the “chocolate authors”, a phrase that Elaine coined not too long ago on her blog, and I like it. Chocolate authors are those authors who aren’t necessarily the best authors in the world, but they’re a fun guilty pleasure. Dean Koontz is Elaine’s chocolate author. I’d have to say that Stephen King is mine. His books aren’t literary genius, but I know I’ll have fun with them. So whenever a new King book goes on the shelf, I’ll usually buy it.

Most of my new finds come from the internet. The blogging world has become a HUGE resource of To Be Read books. Every time I read a review that I like, the book goes on the always growing Amazon list. Then there are favorite authors of mine that recommend books that they like. Orson Scott Card writes a weekly review column and there are usually a couple of books that I like on there. That’s where I learned of the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull (second book comes out on Tuesday!). I loved the first book, and am looking forward to the new one. Neil Gaiman mentions books as well every now and then on his blog.

I’m also a bookshelf browser at the bookstore. I’ve been known to buy books based on their covers alone. If a cover really catches my eye, I’ll buy the book just to stare at the cover, and most of the time I end up enjoying the book as well.

Amazon’s recommended reads and Listmania’s have been a great resource as well.

I seldom go to the library. I love libraries, they’re wonderful places, but I have a strong need to own my books. I like seeing them being collected on the shelves, and books almost become a friend to me that I can revisit later on.

So where do you find your reads? As Jenclair recommended, write a post about it and link back in the comments. Or just leave a comment on here. I’d love to know!

I'm Overwhelmed With Cool Stuff!

So first of all, I get home and see that I won the contest for Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge and will be the recipient of an Endicott Studio Tshirt and a signed Print from Terri Windling. How frickin cool! I chose Tree Woman and Child. I love that print. It's beautiful. Congrats to Quixotical and Marina as well, two more winners! By the way...Endicott Studio is a wonderful thing and they donate to a lot of children's charities and need money to continue to support themselves. I highly recommend that if you have a little extra, contribute to them. In return for your contributions you can get beautiful Terri Windling prints and Endicott Studio tshirts that are really cool!

Then, I got my grab bag from Subterranean Press. I ordered one of these $99 grab bags and was hoping that I wasn't getting ripped off. I definitely didn't get ripped off. 9 beautiful, mostly signed and numbered editions came very quickly worth over $450 dollars. Wow. Here's what I got:

Charles Stross' Missile Gap (Deluxe Hardcover Edition)
David J. Schow's Havoc Swims Jaded (Deluxe Hardcover Edition)
The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg (This one's gorgeous!)
Dead Names: The Dark History of the Necronomicon by Simon (Signed, Limited, Numbered)
Kealan Patrick Burke's Currency of Souls (Signed, Hardcover, Numbered)
Tim Powers' A Soul in a Bottle (Signed, Limited, Numbered)
James P. Blaylock's 13 Phantasms (Chapbook)
Peter Crowther's The Spaces Between The Lines (Deluxe, Numbered, Hardcover)
Terry Lamsley's Made Ready & Cupboard Love (Signed, Limited, Numbered)

Ready for this one......I nearly lost my breath when I saw it:

Mirromask by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean (Signed, Limited, Numbered, and BEAUTIFUL)

I know this book alone costs $125 because I thought of buying it (but couldn't bring myself to since I already have the regular copy). I was blown away that they put this in a grab bag. All of the books sound great.

And finally, I also got an Email from booksprice.com offering me a free book. I chose Storm Front by Jim Butcher (The first in the Dresden series). They're a really great site! I checked them out. You type in the book, cd, game or dvd that you're looking for and they show you a list of different retailers and who has what for the best price. Great tool for us book buying addicts! :D

What a great treat of a day after complaining about losing all of my books yesterday! Gotta love that positive karma :)

The Thing That Is Library

So what did Chris find in the mail today? I found my CueCat that I ordered from Library Thing and I love it! It's this cool little ISBN scanner that puts all of the information for your books into your Library Thing. It's $15, and well worth it if you ask me. Now I can be a librarian wanna-be at home whenever I want.

I've finally updated my LibraryThing and put all of my books onto it. This was exciting for me, but very sad at the same time. I realized that Katrina ate a big chunk of my books. I knew that I lost a bunch of books, but didn't realize how many until I pulled the ones left out of storage once I got the new bookshelves. After taking a census of my books via LibraryThing, I have 180 books left, though I bought many of those (prob. about 80) since Katrina. Among the missing books are all 3 Lord of the Rings books, Ender's Game, Children of the Mind (one of my favs in the Ender series by Orson Scott Card), Seventh Son (first in Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series) some C.S. Lewis books (though I still have most of his), my original copy of A Wrinkle in Time with my favorite cover, all of my cheesy Anne Rice books that I used to love and will probably buy again, and countless others that I can't think of right now. Kind of a bummer, but it's all good. It will be fun to build up the library again from scratch.

P.S. I've added a LibraryThing thing to the sidebar

Remembering Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut passed away this morning at the age of 84. How sad. He had apparently fallen last week and suffered brain damage from the fall. Vonnegut is known as one of those great, classic modern authors. He wrote Slaughterhouse Five, Cat's Cradle, and Welcome to the Monkey House among many others. I haven't read any Vonnegut, but he was one of Megan's favorite authors along with Oscar Wilde and Yukio Mishima. And to be in the same boat as the other two make him something special. I'm reading Slaughterhouse Five for the banned books challenge, but was going to read Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon next. Instead, I'm bumping Slaughterhouse Five up to the next spot in memory of Vonnegut. Though I haven't read anything by him yet, he'll still be missed. He's been an inspiration to American literature and to people close to me.

In other book news, I've decided to take a break from the challenges. I need to throw in a book to read just for fun (not to say challenges aren't fun). So I've decided that next up will be Colleen Gleason's The Rest Falls Away since it's the newest book in my possession and is not being read for a challenge. I'm so nervous that I'm not going to finish my challenges. Tolkien's new book comes out on April 17th, so I have to read that one and Brandon Mull's next book in the Fablehaven series comes out on May 1st. That still gives me plenty of time until the end of June, but I'm graduating and going to Mexico with Megan for the latter part of May and reading is probably not one of the things I'll be doing in Mexico. Though of course I'll bring a couple of books along. Jeesh...is reading supposed to be this overwhelming ;)

My New Room

So after a very long day of moving and an 8 hour work shift after that, I am officially settled into my new room. What a relief. Tomorrow will be what a Sunday was meant to be...a day of rest. Here's a broad picture of the room. The wallpaper doesn't look as bad in the picture, or maybe I'm just getting used to it. But everyone gasps when they see it.















I'm glad to just have my own space again. It feels great. I love the feeling of tranquility (in case you can't tell by the many buddhas and candles) and I like my room to be a peaceful place. And I think I've done the best that I can with this space. I'm actually happy with it. The wallpaper's even starting to grow on me. It's actually kind of neat, I would just never choose it. It has all these different old ships and then descriptions and measurements written by each one. Maybe if I were 5 it would be cooler. I also got to display some art that I've been wanting to for awhile. Megan did the two drawings for me and also did the collage in the middle. I've always loved them, now I can display them. And in the middle is my Luck's Dancer from Lisa Snellings-Clark.















And last but certainly not least, I finally have a bookshelf again. Though I only have maybe one tenth of the books I actually own with me. I'm constantly having to ship books off to my Gram's house because there's just never any room. Hopefully within the next month I'll have all my books with me again. We're getting 3 bookshelves for the living room and I'm moving all my books onto those. It'll feel so good to have them all with me again. Here's the beginning of a very good thing:














So now I shall retire after a long days work to the wonderful thing that I used to take for granted called "my room."

Shtuff...

I received my books from Jason at Second Chance Book Adoption today and I must say, I was so very pleasantly surprised. Not only did I get 4 books in beautiful like new condition, but three of them were signed by the authors! Went back and looked at past books I bought from him and 2 of the Chuck Palahniuk books were signed as well. Today I got Someplace to be Flying, signed by Charles DeLint, Girl in Landscape, signed by Jonathan Lethem, and Lullaby signed by Chuck Palahniuk. Good deals.

Speaking of books, Neil Gaiman posted a couple of links to DreamHaven's bookstore website and I found so much cool stuff that I want to buy now! But we're moving in a couple of weeks, so I'll wait until the new address is being lived in. In their "New and Noteworthy" section, they have a story of Ray Bradbury's entitled The Homecoming that is fully illustrated in color by Dave McKean for $14.95, and Gene Wolfe and Lisa Snellings-Clarks Strange Birds for $10.00 (Save me a copy of these two ;) Strange Birds comes signed by Gene Wolfe and Lisa if you request a signed copy. The Sale section has some great deals too, one of which is Yoshitaka Amano's Hero Vol. 1, hardcover for $12.00. I hope these don't all sell out. Dream Haven was apparently broken into a couple of nights ago, and they really need the extra business. So support them!

Speaking of Lisa, I got the second part of my ebay order, another little red poppet, in the mail today. Goes well with my other one, yet unique in it's own way.

A couple of web wanderings

It's Friday at last! It's actually been a really good week. Things have been somewhat slow on the unit, but they have remained interesting. I find myself becoming alot more comfortable with leading groups and today led the children's group without my supervisor and I think I made some good progress with a couple of the kids.

In job world, 2 opportunities have opened up. One is of course the guidance counselor job I have been ranting about, and the second is a place called "New Beginnings" which is similar to my internship placement. I believe it's an inpatient facility for children and adolescents, and I may put my resume in there too. My supervisor recommended them. They pay slightly better than this current place would, but they're also in Hammond which is about an hour's drive away from here. So I'd either be commuting or moving. I think I'm putting most of my eggs in the guidance counselor basket for now. It sounds like a great position, and the lady who will be interviewing me sounds very enthusiastic. Good stuff.

Oh yeah, web wanderings. A couple that I wanted to share. The first comes from Neil Gaiman in his entry "Now We Are Six". This is the 6th birthday of Neil's blog, so to celebrate, there is a little tool at the bottom called "Neil and his Magnificent Oracular Journal." It's sort of like a magic 8 ball, only it's Neil in the middle dressed in a Swami costume. Ask him a question, shake the orb, and an answer shall be given from a previous blog post. Fun stuff.

The second thing may interest some people. Subterranean Press is offering free advanced reading copies of some upcoming books to people who either review for a living or have a high-trafficked blog. Authors are Elizabeth Bear, Connie Willis, Ted Chiang, Robert Silverberg, Cherie Priest, Joe Lansdale, David Marusek, and last but not least, John Scalzi. More good stuff.

Update: Interview at Brother Martin at 3:00 on Wednesday....Say a prayer for me!

Odd Book Questions and today

Let's start with today. Today was a good day overall but one of those days that therapists talk about when they say you have to leave work at work and not bring it home with you. There was a lot of crying on the unit today and many an upset child. It's hard to just leave all that at work and not let it get to you. Some of their stories are just so sad. But I'm managing well. In more exciting work related news, I got to lead a group today! I was very excited. I led the children's group which consists of children under the age of 12. I was told by my supervisor that I did a wonderful job and she would have never guessed that this was my first time leading a group. She said that I seemed very comfortable and can read my clients well. How happy this made me! And I got to start doing psychosocial evals. today. I'm glad I'm finally getting a little responsibility over there.

Now on to the odd book questions. Once again, I was reading Stainless Steel Dropping's blog and he had some very interesting questions on books today in this post, so I thought I'd answer a few myself.

Amazon or Brick and Mortar?

Interesting question...I've managed to get a slight addiction to Amazon. So I order lots of stuff there just so that I can get something in the mail :) Also, it's a great resource for books that are hard to find in the stores and/or past editions of books that may have a cover that you wanted but can't find. I do still hit up the local bookstore for books that I "need to have right now" or for the bargain books section. I always walk away with stuff from there. I'm a sucker for a book sale.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

I despise Borders, so Barnes and Noble wins by default. Just kidding, i actually love Barnes and Noble. I think that it's a wonderful bookstore and can remember the day that we first got one like it was yesterday. I was a teenager then and would spend sometimes 5 hours just walking the aisles. Borders just doesn't do it for me. I don't know why, it's just not all that great of a bookstore. And it's arranged very strangely.

Bookmark or Dog ear?

People who dog ear their books should be shot. Once again, just kidding, but I do think that it should be made a sin to dog ear a book. I used to do this all the time, but I just can't do it anymore. I feel like I am abusing my book if I ever "mark my place". Books have become more and more like prize possessions to me as I've gotten older and I'm always upset if anything happens to them. So...definitely bookmark. I've found some interesting things to use as bookmarks over the years. I'm currently using a postcard from Albuquerque.

Keep, Throw away, or Sell?

Throw away a book?! I've never thrown away a book before, nor do I think I ever have seen anyone do this. Personally I keep my books since I would be considered a collector of books and normally have to have the expensive hardcover versions of books if not the trade edition. I can't do mass market paperback unless I really want it to read and that's all that's available at B&N. I also tend to by mass market paperback for series books just because it can be very expensive to buy all hardcovers. For example, I have numerous Orson Scott Card mass market paperback books because he has published over 50 books (almost all of which I have read) and of the fifty, 22 of them that I have read have been from 4 different series (Ender-speaker and shadow series, homecoming series, tales of alvin maker series, and women of genesis series). Every now and then I'll sell a book on eBay if it's REALLY bad or if I've upgraded to a better edition of a current book.

Read with dustjacket or remove it?

Always with the dustjacket. May be an OCD thing of mine, but the dustjacket cannot come off regardless of how much of a pain in the ass it may be.

Short Story or Novel?

I'll take a novel any day over a short story, though I have recently been getting into short stories by Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, and Orson Scott Card. They're just not long enough for me.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snickett?

I really can't stand Lemony Snickett...sorry guys. But I do thoroughly enjoy Harry Potter and am extremely excited about the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I wouldn't consider J.K. Rowling's writing remarkable but it's quite good. And Lord knows she can tell a gripping story. I mean how many books does she sell whenever a new HP comes out? I'm very much looking forward to seeing what she does next now that the HP story is over.

Buy or borrow?

Duh, buy. Need to own my books.

Lewis or Tolkien?

Very difficult here, but I have to go with C.S. Lewis. The Narnia books are some of my favorite book-related memories as a child and as an adult, I've also come to love his religious philosophy books. In fact, there is a really cool book published that I've been wanting to read, but have not yet called The Question of God in which C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud debate the existence of God. I think it's more of there quotes and ideas against each other rather than a face to face debate, but still very cool.

Stop reading when tired or at a chapter break?

I have to read to the end of the chapter. If I don't I'll fall asleep and forget what happened. It's as if someone is talking to you and in mid sentence stop and then pick up where they left off tomorrow.

So I've given you all plenty of reading material today, and if no one reads it, at least I enjoyed writing it :) I've also decided to go for a different look for the blog so hopefully you enjoy that as well.

Geaux Tigers and stuff

So I'm trying to get in a quick blog post during half time of the sugar bowl...and yes, LSU is winning 21-14. I hope we can keep it up! Geaux Tigers!

Ok, that's enough of sports fan chris....here comes dork chris again..

I've decided to keep a list of books that I read this year in my blog just for fun. I think it'll be interesting to see at the end of the year what I've read...though this will probably amount to about 10 books looking at my schedule this semester. But the first book I read was Stephen King's Lisey's Story..I usually don't like Stephen King, but this was such an incredible book. Very different than anything else I have ever read by him. It's the Story of Lisey Landon, wife of the deceased author Scott Landon and is told by flashbacks (very intimate flashbacks) of their relationship and through the strange world of Booya Moon. It really is a great book.

Finally, Nicole told me about a cool website for others (like myself) trying to loose weight. It's called Spark People and is totally free. You enter your info and it gives you the target calories and fat grams among other things that you need to eat to achieve your weight loss goals. It also tells you how many calories worth of cardio you should be doing. Check it out...it's free and has tons of tools to help you out.

Edit/Update: Tigers win 41-14!!! Problematic score for people with Dyslexia...woohoo!!!!