I'm Back Again and Eva's Reading Meme

I'm exhausted from playing the tourist in my own city this weekend, but we had so much fun. I know Megan had a great time going to all of our favorite "New Orleans places" and we had a tad bit too much fun on Bourbon Street Saturday night which left us in bed for most of the morning on Sunday, but that's what Bourbon Street's all about :p The trip was short, which sucked, but we definitely made the most out of it and turned it into a really good visit and hopefully I'll be reporting to Texas soon for some interviews and visiting time! And then all of this long distance stuff will finally be over with. That will indeed be a great day!

So I'm back now to book blogging after the weekend hiatus, and I thought I'd start with Eva's reading meme that I've been tagged for by quite a few people! Here it goes:

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

You know, I thought and thought on this one and I really can't think of a particular book that I cringe away from. I can however think of a genre that I cringe away from....All that late 19th/early 20th century period piece literature. I know there's a literary name for that (someone help me out here, I'm not a lit major :p) . I'm hoping to remedy that by reading two Jane Austen books this year...we'll see how it goes. I've tried Edith Wharton twice and couldn't get into her. And I've just completely avoided anything else from that period despite people loving it. I do love Dickens, but his writing tended to focus on the every day person and real life stuff rather than high society...maybe I have the wrong idea of the genre, we'll see!

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

I'd like to have a little back yard barbecue for my guests. Something where people could sit around, talk, pick on food and just mingle with one another. Maybe listen to some good music in the background...I'm currently listening to Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman on audiobook and forgot how great of a character Richard Mayhew is...he'd definitely be invited along for the BBQ. He seems like he'd be a nice guy to sit down and hang out with and he'd have some interesting tales to tell. I would LOVE to have a hobbit at a backyard BBQ while we're telling stories. And tell me they wouldn't enjoy an outdoor meal! The problem is, which one? I suppose I'd go with Frodo, although I've always loved Bilbo's story so much...I do have 4 editions of The Hobbit after all. And finally, I don't know how many of you are familiar with The Bone People by Keri Hulme, but it's an amazing Maori book and there's a sort of tragic character that I absolutely loved by the name of Kerewin. She's an awesome Maori native who I'd love to get to know more.

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?

I'll prepare to be shot down by some, though I know by not all....but I would rather shoot myself in the foot than to ever have to read The Great Gatsby again. Call it a classic, but I couldn't stand it! Sorry to those who love it :O

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?

I've never blatantly admitted to having read a book that I haven't before, but I've hinted that I have when it comes to people talking about books or books being made into movies that didn't stick to the book and blah blah...This happened recently with Lord of the Flies actually (yes, I haven't read Lord of the Flies! I know, I need to remedy that!) I just nodded as if I knew exactly what they meant :p

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t?

No, it's usually the opposite...Sometimes I'll think that I hadn't ever read a book and then I'll go read it and think "wait a minute, I know this story". Not that this happens often, but it has. Last time this happened was with Tom Sawyer. I thought it was ashame that I had never read this, so I started reading it and realized that I had and it brought back a flood of memories of being a kid. Kinda neat experience actually.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead of personalise the VIP)

Definitely Lois Lowry's The Giver. It's an amazing book that really focuses on what's important in humanity and what makes human relationships special and what makes our bonds work...what makes our civilization work. And it shows how trying to aim for sameness,trying to erase our differences just doesn't work. The world needs diversity. Plus, if the VIP isn't a big reader, it's short :p

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

Hi good fairy! Easy answer here..Japanese! I love Japanese literature and I'm really stuck in that state of mind right now with Bellezza's challenge. I've always had a fascination with the Japanese language though. I love their written characters, I love their spoken language, and there's even expression in the way that the characters are written. As Nymeth mentioned in her answer to this question, I would love read a Haruki Murakami book in it's original Japanese. As much as I enjoyed Norwegian Wood in it's English translation, I'm sure that much of it was lost. Same goes with The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima. I'd love to read it in it's original, and I could just tell when I was reading it that some of it had been "americanized". I guess it couldn't be helped.

A mischievious fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

Well this fairy doesn't sound mischievious at all...it sounds like the good fairy again ;) This one's easy for me too...American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Yes it's chunky, but I could never tire of it. It's such an amazing book. Each page blew me away.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?

The main thing that I've discovered from book blogging is reading outside of my genre of choice which was fantasy. I still LOVE my fantasy books and they're still my favorites, but looking at my list of books read last year, I read about half and half fantasy and non-fantasy which was a BIG change for me! I've also loved this community that I've discovered of people to talk to about books. I've never had this before and it's just amazing. It makes me all warm and fuzzy. Before it was just me and occasionally my classmates if I happened to be in a literature course. And that was back when I was an undergrad.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

Oh-ho-ho-ho....how I wish...First of all, I was thinking...we would all have to have mansions in order to have our dream libraries...you do realize this? Of course it would be a decent sized room, but not huge...I'm going for cozy. And I'd like to have a nice domed ceiling with marble floors. Definitely Mahogany shelves from ceiling to floor with the rolling ladder. I'd love to have a few large windows that let plenty of sunlight in during the day with window seats and then soft yellow lighting for night time. And I'd love a fireplace! I would definitely need to have some plush chairs or sofas with an ottoman that were just right with a coffee table. An espresso machine would be nice along with a tea kettle, so I could have my choice of reading beverages. As far as the books go, I'm a fan of hardbacks or trade paperbacks and I'd need to have all of my authors entire collections :p preferably signed, first editions and I'd love to have the special editions (like Neil Gaiman's Hill House editions *drool*) Getting the idea yet?

And Now to tag four people!

Deslily @ Here, There, & Everywhere
Scott @ Booky Ooky
Quixotical
Bookfool!

This was an awesome meme, Eva :) I have to say that it's the most fun I've ever had filling one out...great job!

The Goings-On Of Life

It's been a few days since I've posted here, so I figured it's time for an update! My weekend with Megan was great :) We made the most of it and managed to make a 2 day trip feel like much more. I think we got a total of about 6 hours of sleep the whole weekend. But I'm all recovered now. The plan is for her to come down for a real trip in a couple of weeks and she'll probably stay for about a week. The bed feels empty again now, and I'll have to adjust to that, but I'm left with a smile on my face from our visit.The 10:4 challenge officially ended a couple of days ago, and unfortunately I did not meet the 10 pound goal, but I'm still proud of myself. I lost 8.6 pounds, which is more than I've done in quite some time! In fact, since Katrina (now a little over 2 years) all I've done is gain weight. So to lose any weight at all is awesome. Carl has given me a chance to redeem myself though the RIP5 Challenge! This one is to lose 5 pounds by October 31st. Weight now is 187.4 pounds. So the goal is 182.4 pounds by October 31st. The 10:4 challenge did lead to some healthy changes for me. I've started drinking a lot more water and juice instead of cokes all the time. I've also cut back on the fast food, though I could definitely cut back some more still :/ In fact, if I just stopped eating fast food all together for these 2 months, I know I'd lose the 5 pounds...but I know I won't, so I'm not going to set unrealistic goals. I'm just going to be more conscientious than I've been!

The RIP Challenge has been so much fun, and it's only day 4! I kicked it off with Rob Zombie's Halloween on Saturday. I absolutely loved it! Halloween is probably my favorite classic slasher flick. Halloween and Halloween II are both excellent in my book. I'm even a big fan of 4 & 5. I'm also a huge fan of Rob Zombie's films. House of 1000 Corpses and The Devils Rejects are some of my favorite horror movies since the 70's and early 80's. When I heard he was doing Halloween, I got so excited and it was better than I expected. Warning! This film is not appropriate for those who are easily offended or do not like gore. I saw plenty of people who brought their children, I guess expecting just another horror movie (not knowing anything about Rob Zombie obviously), and they all walked out after the first 5 minutes of dialogue. Zombie did a great job with this film. The first half explains the origins of Michael Myers...the creation of a serial killer, his home life, his mental illness (some sort of dissociative disorder), and makes the movie believable...instead of just some supernatural horror movie killer, he's human...we actually feel for him, for the horrible childhood he has and for his illness. The second part of the movie is an almost exact replication of the original Halloween, but with a few twists, modernized, and with the more believable background story that we now know. I loved it!Just in time to be the mascot of the RIP challenge, I received my little purple poppet in the mail today :D He (I've decided it's a boy) is very cool and came with one of these little hands that I've been seeing and have been wanting! Here he is posing with Dracula that I have really been enjoying. It's such an atmospheric read, and even though it's hot as hell in New Orleans right now, it's managed to fool my brain into believing that it's Fall.

Tomorrow is a day of all things job related. I have a meeting with my licensure supervisor in the morning. She sounds really sweet over the phone, so I'm looking forward to meeting her. Then I have to start all of the paperwork and do the drug test and all of that fun stuff. My very temporary start date is September 24th, but that's subject to change. It all depends on paperwork going smoothly and my licensure paperwork being filed quickly...which in Louisiana post-Katrina..."quickly" isn't a word that's heard very often.

I missed short story Sunday this past weekend, so I'll be playing catch up next weekend. Regular blogs should now be back on the schedule.

A Couple Of Newbery Reviews

I've been falling behind on a couple of reviews, so here are two quick ones for two books that I loved reading for the Newbery challenge.

The first was Lois Lowry's, The Giver. The Giver is a dystopian novel about a brave new world that cherishes "sameness" There is no color in the world, there are no true feelings, there is no true love. Families are manufactured and every aspect of life is planned from the day you are born, in fact, from the moment you are conceived; seeing as each member of the community is assigned a job at the age of 12, and one of those jobs is "birth mother," a position that is looked poorly upon.

Jonas is assigned the title of Receiver of Memories, a title that is given only once every few generations. The job of the receiver of memories is to be the only person who remembers humanity as we know it today. The receiver of memories is the only person in the community who will ever know what the word "snow" means, what the word "love" means, what the word "war" means. He is given these memories by The Giver, the former receiver of memories. Jonas actually experiences each memory when The Giver lays his hands on his back and transmits the memory. The training is often brutal and painful. Throughout his training, Jonas realizes how animalistic and cold humanity has actually become and he wishes to restore love and compassion back to society.

I absolutely loved The Giver and wish I would've read it earlier in life. I certainly plan on reading more of Lowry's work. My next book of her's may be Gossamer after reading Nicola's wonderful review of that book for the RIP challenge! Sounds like a great one.

I also finished Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson today. I had read this one ages ago when I was much younger, and I remember loving it then. I remember it being such a magical book to me and relating perfectly to Jess and Leslie's kingdom. It reminded me of me and my cousin when we used to build forts outside made out of whatever wood that we could find, and to us, it would be a real battle zone. Or me and my sister would make tents in the house with the kitchen chairs and a sheet and it would be a little magical place.

So, I read this book today, years later, and what do you know, I fell right back into that place. I suspect that this will always be a special book to me. It's a comfort book. A book that I can fall into and relate to. But it's such a tragic book. No matter how many times I read it, this book will always choke me up. I won't talk about why, but for those who have read the book, I'm sure you understand.

I've yet to see the movie, because I wanted to refresh myself on the book first, but now that I've reread it, I think I'm just going to go out and buy it! I've heard nothing but good stuff about it and am really looking forward to seeing this book as a film. And I'm just thinking, this is also my first read for the Cardathon Challenge...cool!

OK, all caught up! Now, on to the RIP Challenge with Dracula!!! Yay!

And guess what?! Megan's coming in town!!! But only for a day :( But that's better than nothing. A friend of hers is coming to pick up another friend and bring him back to Texas, so he asked her if she wanted to take a ride. So I get to see her for a day. So I'll probably disappear from blogging for the next couple of days. Might be here tomorrow, but Sunday will most probably be a no show ;) Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Greetings From Texas

So today is my last day in Texas and I'm not ready to leave. This trip flew by way too fast. It's been a perfect trip. Exactly what I wanted. We've had the time together that we wanted to spend, but it just hasn't been enough....it never will be until we're back in the same place. But the time we've had has been well spent. It's been spent mostly over coffee, target, book shopping, eating, driving and listening to music, drinking, sleeping, and all that other good stuff.

Tomorrow will be a sad goodbye as it always is, but hopefully all of these goodbyes will end soon. Megan had to work tonight, so I figured I'd fit in a blog and say hello to everyone and then of course fit in some Harry Potter reading ;) Right now our mini poodle, Buddy, is licking my brand new Harry Potter book which he was just corrected for. He has a new best friend...a 50 pound Great Dane puppy...oh yeah, there are pictures of that that I will post when I get home. I think I'll go visit Megan later tonight and have a cappuccino and desert and continue the Harry reading.

Book buying has been pretty decent here. I picked up a copy of The Time Traveler's Wife for Megan. Of course I got my copy of the new Harry Potter this morning. I've also bought a hardcover copy of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo, Rip Van Winkle illustrated by Arthur Rackham, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield for the RIP Challenge and Renfield by Barbara Hambly for the RIP Challenge.

I also finished The Color of Magic by Terry Prachett and I honestly wasn't that nuts about it. Don't be mad at me everybody! I have to admit though that I didn't give it a fair reading. I was distracted throughout my reading of it, but it never really caught me. I did however like Rincewind quite a bit and the ending left me with enough of a cliffhanger to pick up The Light Fantastic which I will be doing. It did have it's funny moments and it was a very clever book. I love the world that Prachett has created, I think I just need to get to know it a bit more. Many of you told me that I may not be nuts about this first book, so I expected it somewhat. I'll continue on with the series because I'm curious enough to know what happens in The Light Fantastic and the later books in the series sound incredible!

That's all for now folks! A warning ahead of time...until I finish The Deathly Hallows, if I see the words "Harry Potter" on your blog, I'm likely to wait until I'm finished reading the book to visit your page ;) I completely understand if you do the same with mine. Happy reading everyone! I missed you guys.

Strange Noises

There are very odd noises coming from my stomach. At first I thought that maybe I was just watching too much Dr. Who and was hungover from last night, but it's slowly being confirmed that it may indeed be a stomach virus. Just in time for a road trip to Texas. Well that should be fun. Whenever I get stomach viruses they tend to not last very long...so hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow night.

So Jessica is going home tomorrow morning. It's been a great week and I've really enjoyed having someone to hang out with. I've found that I have more friends down here than I thought I did. I just fell out of touch with alot of people over the years. I've been hanging out at PJ's at night with the old crew that's still over there. PJ's is the coffee shop that I used to work at and the coffee junkies I used to hang out with 5 years ago are still there and it felt great to fall back into that crowd. I also got to go see Harry Potter (which was great!) with my friend DJ who I haven't hung out with in a really long time. We used to be comic book buddies but fell out of touch when he got married. So this past week has been alot of fun as time with Jroy always is.

And next comes time with Megan! We have lots of nothing planned which is fine by me :) I'm sure there will be movies and restaurants and coffee and book shopping and all of our old things. I'm just looking forward to being with her again. Going for long drives to no place in particular while listening to music. Sleeping all day and just staying in bed together. Sitting around and catching up on us time. A week won't be long enough, but it's all I can afford right now...and there's the issue of still having to be back here to find a job :/ Hopefully she can make a New Orleans trip sometime soon too....that would be good...but if not, we'll make it work!

As for now, I'll rest up and try to get better in time for Monday's road trip. I love road trips, I always look forward to them. Driving on the interstate with the windows down and good music always makes me happy...not so much with a stomach virus...

Finding Comfort In Old Places...

The past couple of days have been a time of renewal...a time to recharge. Megan and I have been talking a lot lately about the way things were, the way things are, and the way things always will be between us. Two years ago, Hurricane Katrina blew us to two different locations and forced us into a long distance relationship after being together for 4 years. This is not to say that our relationship was perfect before Katrina, it was far from it, but the distance didn't help. But even though our relationship wasn't perfect, there was something there that was so special...so strong...so unique and worth cherishing. There's a feeling of safety between us, a feeling of knowing each other completely and loving that person fully for who they are, of wanting to be with that person whenever you can and even more so when you can't. The not being able to be together part led us apart for awhile, but I'm happy to say that we are back together. I think we've always been together...I never felt that I lost her. For me, it was easier mentally to say that we "weren't together" because of the distance thing. I'll be going to see her again next week to spend a week with her in Texas. Hopefully, once I get a job and get out on my own and once her lease is up in Texas we can work towards something more permanent. I'll sleep happy tonight knowing that my facebook status is once again "in a relationship with Megan." :)

My best friend since high school, Jessica, is also in town and I can't tell you how happy that's made me. It's nice to fall back into old routines and meet up for coffee and just hang out and talk and smoke cigarettes. Last night we went to our bar hang out, had a few drinks, played video poker, and just talked. Jessica's one of those people that I'll always be comfortable with and the kind of person where any topic is up for grabs. I could go years without talking to her, bump into her and it would be like we just saw each other yesterday. We've shared many great memories and we seem to never run out of stories to tell or relive. So she's in town for the rest of the week and the fun shall continue.

I must have been a good boy somewhere down the line to deserve a month like this ;)

Life And Other Things

I feel like I'm finally making a little bit of progress in life! I was contacted by a friend of a friend of my mom's who is a private practice counselor who was kind enough to offer me a little bit of advice on the job hunt, etc. The friend of my mom's sent him a copy of my resume and he said that he was very impressed by it...but where I may be running into a road block with not finding a job is that I don't mention anything about licensure on my resume. So after back and forth emails, I've now begun the licensure process for my LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor)! So I can now put on my resume that I'm "license eligible" which will hopefully open up some more doors for me since employers will see that I am indeed working my way towards becoming licensed. He said that he would think that people could figure that out since I have clinical experience and a Masters in counseling, but you never know. He was also kind enough to offer me a little bit of work! It's not much and I'm still very much on the lookout for a job....and nothing's definite yet, but he said that he does see some adolescents and if I'm interested, we can get together for lunch when I get back from Texas and talk about me maybe seeing a couple of his clients on a very part time basis. This would probably be just 2 or 3 clients a month, but it would give me some practice and some supervision which would be great! Very nice man!

In other news, I'm trying to cut back on my coffee drinking....ok, trying to cut back on my coffee BUYING. Here's the deal: I worked at a coffee shop for 5 years which caused a very bad coffee addiction. The result is that I now only drink coffee shop coffee, which is expensive. I've got it down to two a day, and now I'm trying to get it down to one a day. I usually have an iced coffee in the morning from one coffee shop and an iced latte in the afternoon from another coffee shop. Cutting out the iced latte as it's a little more expensive. So for the second night in a row, I successfully turned my car around as I was headed towards the coffee shop and instead came home and drank a Coke Blak...which is really good by the way...it's a strangely delicious mix of Coke and Black Coffee....trust me on this one, it works.

Currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger on Carl's and many others recommendations and it really is a wonderful book. I was hooked immediately....like on page 1 immediately. What a fascinating book. I don't know if this is the best book in the world for me to read right now as it made me desperately miss Megan even more than I already do, but I can't resist it. I think it actually shows how wonderful of an author Niffenegger is that I could find Megan and myself in her pages. She captures the essence of love perfectly...that comfortableness in memories and that pain of being away from the person you love. But I'll be traveling to Megan in two weeks and I can't wait to just have some us time....so instead of wallowing in my own self pity while reading this book, I'm enjoying it for the wonderful story that it is :)

Speaking of wonderful stories (don't you love the random flow of this post) Orson Scott Card has published the latest issue of his online magazine Intergalactic Medicine Show. For those who have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I'm slightly obsessed with this man. This is his online magazine of fiction...and it's only $2.50 an issue!! This issue is amazing! There is a brand new short story by Peter Beagle in it, a brand new interview with Peter Beagle, A new Ender short story by Orson Scott Card, and essay on Snape from Harry Potter by Orson Scott Card, and numerous other short stories by other great authors. I've bought every issue so far, and they are all amazing...worth so much more than $2.50...I guess that's the beauty of an online magazine...no printing costs!

I would also like to point you to Orson Scott Card's latest weekly review column. He reviews The Prestige and The Illusionist and I enjoyed his comments on both.

And one final thing and I swear I'll shut up for the night...this was just too cool. So, I'm at Border's last night looking for the new Stardust hardcover (which still isn't out) and I come across the coolest art book. It's The Art of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire! This book is incredible! No, I didn't buy it because the only copy they had was beat up, but they have all these great drawings by incredible artist and quite a few drawings by Charles Vess!!! I had no idea that Vess did any Song of Ice and Fire art. It was great to see some of the characters translated by an artist. There was a wonderful picture of Daenerys and a great one of Jon as well among so many others. 192 pages of art. I'll definitely be picking this one up soon.

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!

A Quick Post Of Links

Lisa Snellings-Clark is about to re-open the gallery via eBay for the Summer Solstice sale. In preparation, there are goodies up already. Red poppets, more Little Pink Poppets that are amazing (I own one and you should too), and get ready for this.....Blue Poppets!! I'm so excited about Blue Poppets. Blue is my favorite color and I really have always wanted a blue poppet. See, it doesn't take much to make me happy...really...not much at all... There are also stuffed poppets being made and you can see them on this post of her blog.

Megan (yes, my Megan) is fairly new to the blogging community, so I'm sending you all her way. She's written a review for the new Jeff Buckley album. Yes, even though he has passed there are still new Jeff Buckley albums. This one sounds great and if you're a fan, I recommend checking out her review. I'll be picking this one up.

And finally, Scott has a great new book blog named Booky Ooky and he's reviewed a set of books that look incredible. I need to get these. They are the Griffin and Sabine & Morning Star Trilogies. Check out his review for an excellent description of the series and for a fun blog to read.

Migraines Pt. 2, A New Blog, Alice Poppets

The migraines have returned, so this will be a short post. I just want these to go away. Doctors appointment on the 30th of this month, so hopefully we can come up with a better solution then. I ended up leaving work early today which really wasn't such a bad thing. I got all of my groups done this morning and had my last family session at 1. So I would've just been twiddling my thumbs for the rest of the day.

There's a new edition to the blogroll and this one is very special to me. The blog's name is Girl Come Undone and it is authored by the same Megan that you hear me talk about on here. Me and Megan have quite a history as can be seen on this previous post. You can look forward to some excellent writing from her on all things interesting. She's a wonderful artist and a big fan of Dave McKean and Brian Froud. Very creative type of person. Enjoy!

Edit: One more thing! I just found the cutest damn things on Lisa Snellings-Clark's blog. Alice in Wonderland poppets!!!

But I do Like Wednesdays

Just a quick catch up. Megan's in town and that makes me very happy. She's only in until Sunday, but at least it's some time that we get together. Tonight was nice. I met her after work, we went and got some chinese from our old favorite take out place, ate it by candlelight on the floor at her house, and then went target shopping where we bought more junk food. That was followed by just driving around and listening to music and showing off all of my fun Dave McKean things that I've bought since the last time she was in town. He's pretty much her favorite artist. They have very similar styles. Megan's big into collage/paint/sketch art, and McKean uses that same combination. A very simple night, but exactly what I needed.

Didn't get to see 300 as planned, but we will make it out to the theater soon. Tonight was just not enough time for a movie. Still haven't finished Stardust. I've been dying to finish it up (only like 20 pages left) but unfortunately, my life doesn't even allow me the 10 minutes it would take to do that. Maybe I'll just stay up late tonight and suffer tomorrow.

Tomorrow is nerve racking. My faculty supervisor is coming to observe me at the hospital and meeting with my supervisor. I'm pretty confident that all will go well, but still nervous nonetheless.