:-(

I was rudely awoken at 5:45 this morning...I have a stomach virus.  To say I feel bad would be a tremendous understatement.  I started feeling bad yesterday afternoon but just thought I was tired.  It got worse from there but in my standard "there's absolutely nothing wrong with me" way, I assumed I would get better.  

ugh. 

I'm still trying to get in touch with KT this morning to let her know I won't be coming to the Thanksgiving extravaganza.  I want to go but I just don't think it would be a real good idea.

I'm sad.

Happy pre-Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.  If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving then I hope you have a SpEcTaCuLaR dAy tomorrow anyway!  I am going over to KT's and I'm making and taking this:

Mrs. D made one last week and brought a giant hunk of it to share with the department and I have no words other than joy and joyness.  So, all the ingredients wait faithfully on my kitchen counter and I will probably bake it tonight and frost it tomorrow :)  If you are interested, it is on the front cover of the Dec 2008 issue of Southern Living, or you could just click here.

Friday I have talked T into venturing out into the craziness that is the busiest shopping day of the year...however, we will not be shopping (at least I fervently hope not)!  Instead, we will go to see Australia!  Or Four Christmases (if I could talk T into it)!  Hugh Jackman or Vince Vaughn...it's such a tough decision because I like both of them.

Saturday is a Crafturday with the girls!  At this point, I'll be doing counted crossstich while everyone else will be doing a variety of scrapbooking, quilting, sowing, knitting, etc.  One of KT's friends has rented out a room in a community center for the day and we are going to have a real hen party.  If I have any of the cake left, it's going.  Later in the day I'll head over to mom's house where she will be cooking some chicken gizzards for me...look it up and be HoRrIfIeD like everyone else :)  Then Saturday night, if I have not passed out with exhaustion I will go see Twilight with the Book Diva again :)

Sunday...hmm, I don't know, maybe a nap?  Oh yeah, I'll be petsitting this whole time so there will be trips back and forth to the house to let the dog out :)  

I love the holidays!

OH YEAH!!!!  Sunday, I'm putting up the tree!!!!!!!!!!!and the stocking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and the cheesy plastic decorations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and watching another 12 Christmas movies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you know you want to.

just a taste...

Look what I found!  You won't BELIEVE the wonders there are to behold between the covers of this monstrosity and I will be doling them out in truly stingy doses, trust me!  So, prepare yourself for the alliterative nightmares hinted at on the bottom of the book!

:)

Sunday Salon

yes, I am joining another group, The Sunday Salon!

If you'd like to join up too, head over to The Sunday Salon, fill out the form, and blog each Sunday about what you're reading and what you plan to read!

2009 100+ Reading Challenge!

I'm joining the 100+ Reading Challenge for 2009...I'm vowing to read 100 books or more next year, join up too why don't you!?!  Go over to J. Kay's Book Blog, sign up, and get your reading on...well, next year anyway!

I'll be posting all my readings to this post.  I'm not sure how that will work out, but them's the rules and I'll be following them.  No lists are required and I wouldn't now where to begin anyway as there are all kinds of good books due to be published early next year.  I can hardly wait!

***and so it begins***

1. The United States Constitution:  A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell

I personally would never have thought I could sit down and read a book about the Constitution but I read this one cover to cover in almost one sitting.  I learned several things I did not know, got a refresher on many others, and giggled a time or two as well.  VERY accessible and quite scholarly for a general overview.  

2. a mercy by Toni Morrison

This novel had a bit too much of a stream-of-consciousness feel to it for me to really love it. That being said, most parts of the story were very cohesive and very moving.  I liked getting the story from so many different perspectives, especially the perspectives of Florens and Lina. Heartbreaking, bitter, redemptive, and so horrifically indicative of what was to blossom from the first stirrings of indentured and slave labor.  I look forward to reading another of Morrison's books soon.

Tag! You're it!

Over at the Book Lady's Blog, A great new meme is making its presence known throughout the blogosphere, The ABC List of Favorite Books!…I mean, I managed to find it so surely it will make its way around soon J  Anyway, type out your alphabet and see how many YOU can fill in!

A-Angelmonster

B-The Book Thief, The Book of Lost Things

C-Chocolat, City of Masks, Children of Men

D-Dark Horse

E-The Electric Michelangelo

F-Five Quarters of the Orange, Free for All

G-A Game of Thrones, Gargoyle, The Glass Castle, Garden Spells

H-His Majesty’s Dragon, Hero and the Crown, Host, Heartsick

I-I am the Messenger

J-Jade Island

K-Kite Runner

L-Lace Reader, Lightning’s Daughter, Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him

M-March

N-Now You See Her

O-Open Season, Old Man’s War

P-People of the Book, Proust Was a Neuroscientist, Pillars of the Earth

Q-

R-The Road

S-Sunshine, Sunday’s With Vlad, The Sugar Queen

T-The Taking, The Teacher’s Funeral, The Thirteenth Tale

U-The Uncommon Reader

V-The Virgin Blue, A Voyage Long and Strange, Vertical Run

W-Water For Elephants, The Worst Hard Time, Water Mirror

X-

Y-Year of Wonders

Z-Z is for Zachariah, Zookeeper’s Wife

____________________

Anyone reading?  If so, make an ABC List of Favorites post on your own blog or bloggy type application.

total recall

Here are two of my honorary nieces, E and Toes (toes is the tiny cuteness). When E came in to show KT and I her "baby carrier" I immediately thought of the Arnold Schwarzen*&%*(&) (sp?) classic, Total Recall, but I figured she would have been a little creeped out. Not 6-yr-old conversation I suppose. After this little mental detour, we roasted marshmallows at KT's gas stove :)

my morning time angel

Binky loves some sunshine!

2 months later

and I finally get this picture up on the ol' blog. Sorry it took so long but procrastination is obviously one of my better talents.

I am still LoViNg my new tattoo. It makes me smile at least 5 times per day. Of course, now that this has healed up I'm already thinking of what I want next. I have absolutely no idea how someone just gets one tattoo.

too much time on his hands

new medical garble from T

as I've mentioned before, my friend T works the switchboard for a local LARGE medical facility and her department is responsible for transferring incoming calls to the various departments.  Over the years she has shared with me many of the...um...interesting things people ask for instead of the department they actually need.  For example, the person who called to get the results from their autopsy.  You get the point.  

Without further ado!

Things to NOT call your doctor for:

the gastrointelligent clinic (= gastroenterology)

the gastroarchaeology clinic (again, gastroenterology)

the confusion clinic (= infusion clinic, hematology and chemotherapy and such)

the weewee doctor (= urologist)

that is all.

ugggggh

the crud has decended and I have been stricken....SO not looking forward to work tomorrow :(

I'm about to take some Nyquil and attempt to be well in the morning when I wake up.  We'll see how that goes.  I've had Dayquil and some Afrin (in desperation due to lack of oxygen, I do know they shouldn't be taken together).  I want to get to sleep before the Afrin wears off and I'll just hope the air pressure from my CPAP will keep me from getting super congested again.  Itch eyes, sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, I have it all!  

Some things I also have are pictures to share but I'm too lazy to go get my camera so you'll simply have to wait for another day, alas.

night ya'll

bookworm tag

okay, so I wasn't tagged for this, but Trish over at Hey Lady? Watcha Readin'? was and I'm stealing the tag.

Pass it on to five other bloggers, and tell them to open the nearest book to page 56. Write out the fifth sentence on that page, and also the next two to five sentences. The CLOSEST BOOK, not your favorite or most intellectual.

So the closest book to hand for me this morning is God Rest Ye Merry Soldiers: A True Civil War Christmas Story by James McIvor:

The Yankees surrendered, and that evening Forrest's men were on their way again, leaving as fast as they had come.  Hearing the news of Forrest's raid on Murfreesboro, and fearing a threat to their hold on the state's capital itself, the Union army at Nashville quickly pulled back from the forces they had too confidently spread all across Middle and West Tennessee.  For the rest of the summer and fall the Union army would remain encamped in and around Nashville behind strong fortifications.  And so it was to Murfreesboro that Bragg now, in late fall, decided to concentrate his entire Army of Tennessee.  He hoped to entice the Union army into a battle in which Bragg would hold the defensive advantage.

Yes, stunning I know...I wish there'd been a more interesting book to hand, but such is the life of a meme.

Your turn KT, E, Lauren, Kathy and Z!

be forewarned!

I have found a great new blog, Books for the Holidays, and I am FiReD uP about it!  Notice the new button on my sidebar "I'm buying books for the holidays" and know that if you receive a gift from me this year, it will be a monograph of some kind!  The holidays always make me feel like I am shoveling money off into a void and I have no idea why I have not considered this in the past (since I'm a librarian and all)!

Over at Books for the Holidays, they have lists and lists and lists of stuff and will be happy to help you select a book for that hard-to-buy-for person.

Please consider purchasing books during your holiday shopping too!  Support authors, support art, support culture, keep literature alive!

that is all.

farewell and goodbye

to my oh-so-sweet staycation!  Seriously, if you haven't tried this I highly recommend it.  No luggage, no reservations, no gas stations, no cheap takeout (well, maybe a little...), no piles of laundry other that the various pj's I've worn over the past 7 days

listen closely....that, my dear readers, is the sound of contentment :)  Plus, about 30 minutes ago I surpased my goal of reading 7 books in 7 days to 8 books in 7 days...total, I began 10 books but two of them I had to abandon after a few chapters as they were failing to hold my interest and I've made a vow to myself that I will no longer finish any books that I'm not enjoying.  Here's a list!

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World by Tony Horwitz

The Walking Dead: Book 2  by Robert Kirkman, et al

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

Black Powder War by Naomi Novik

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindquist

Total Chaos by Jean-Claude Izzo

Now my head is literally bursting with all sorts of fun, disturbing, interesting and horrifying things and I am happy again!  

well...

I know I have gaps in my knowledge, but I never expected it would be these two...I've obviously let myself go :(

There Are 2 Gaps in Your Knowledge

Where you have gaps in your knowledge: History Art Where you don't have gaps in your knowledge: Philosophy Religion Economics Literature Science

Do You Have Gaps in Your Knowledge?

catching up

so I have all this stuff that I've been saving in my bloglines account that I wanted to write about and apparently today is the day, though my strenuous reading schedule is calling (7 books in 7 days...I'm almost there!).  

Anyway, I usually hate to post someone else's stuff in it's entirety but I must share my love of Eugene Novikov's work at Cinematical!  He and Scott Weinberg are my go-to guys when I want to watch something good and gory :)  So here is Novikov's Love Letter to Midnight Meat Train:

Dear Midnight Meat Train,

It was so great to see you on Wednesday night at the old, one-screen Clay Theatre in San Francisco. Pretty awesome that someone caught your pitiful theatrical release and decided to book you for a two-night run here. Actual people do things so much better than corporations sometimes.

Anyway, there's no easy way to say this: I love you. In fact, I think I might be in love with you. Deep inside I think you know the depth of my affection. But let me list just a few examples of your awesomeness.

I love how artfully, how meticulously, you were directed. You're freakin' beautiful, is what you are. What happened to the Ryuhei Kitamura who made the smug, ugly, useless Versus? I wasn't prepared for this evocative, moody plunge into bleakness. Every shot is a wonderfully unreal composition of light and shadow; every angle and camera move seems calculated to make you as unsettling as possible. 

I love that you took the time to get the details right. The little things -- they're so difficult. The relationship between the main character and his girlfriend/fiance is believable and sweet; there are some genuinely lovely scenes in the first half, moments where you just pause to regard these people outside of the plot. And those photos that are supposed to make Leon a star in the New York art world? Those are actually some great freakin' photos. I bought it, y'know?

I love the way the ending makes your story bigger instead of smaller. Most horror movies turn out to be so puny -- it usually turns out that the killer was abused as a child, or is taking revenge against bullies, or is just evil, with no motivation at all. What a joy to see one that opens up to reveal something larger, something scarier. (I understand we have Clive Barker to thank for this.) And I loved how you let apparent incongruencies linger uncomfortably, risking our thinking you stupid, before explaining them in the final minutes.

I love that you have a moral dimension. What is the artist's role in depicting the awful, horrible things in the world? How far can he go to seek them out? At what point does he become complicit in them? These are questions you actually take seriously. Layers! In a gory horror flick! Remarkable.

We have to be apart until Lionsgate finally decides to put you on DVD (although Comcast customers who feel like watching you on TV can do so). In the meantime, though, I plan to rave about you to anyone who'll listen. I'm tolerant of the Sawfranchise, but Saw V's 3,000 screen release this weekend is kind of pissing me off now. 

Oh, I forgot one thing: I've been calling you Midnight Meat Train for short, but I love how your title is actually The Midnight Meat Train. Old-fashioned, but so appropriate.

Until next time,

Eugene

Come on now, that is AWESOME and you know it!  You now want to see it just as much as I do...well almost as much anyway!

I love Fall!

I do apologize for the low quality of these photographs...I should definitely have run the car through a car wash before attempting to take photos through the nasty cracked winshield. That being said, are the leaves B-U-tiful?!?!!?!

I voted!

Did you?

as promised :)

I proudly present to you the Blue Witch, Hannah Montana, a diminutive purple-croced Cinderella, and a Mom!

I applied everyone's makeup, including my own. I wasn't going to put on any makeup but the girls seemed amused so I'm glad I did :)

Cinderella's energy petered out early on, so the Mom also functioned as a kind of sherpa for her majesty. She asked for candy every so often and we unwrapped a piece and handed it up to her. As some point she tried to hand me a well-goobered piece of something and I graciously declined. She was pleased. I am surprised the Mom did not have well-goobered candy all in her hair.

As I mentioned in another post, E asked me to hold her hat because it "made her head feel cold" and Essie just gave me the microphone. I assume it was interfering with her candy acquisition. So, from goth aunt/librarian to cheesy Vegas lounge witch I went. Happily I might add, though after I took this photo of myself Essie Montana wanted her microphone back :)

dia de los muertos!

okay, so that was actually yesterday but the bare hands gallery downtown is having a celebration today and I'm heading over there directly after work!  Hopefully I will behave in a decorous manner and have good stories to tell at the same time

:)

evenin' ya'll!

time change and sundry items

don't forget that you should have set all your clocks back one hour!  It has recently gone from 12am (and waaaay past my bedtime) to 11pm (moderately past my bedtime.  "Recently" means 30 minutes ago so it is now close to waaaay past my bedtime again.  

Oh, but just let me tell you why I'm a bit wakeful.  I went with KT and Z to see Quarantine tonight. I have visions of things that snarl and gnaw dancing in my head and I'm concerned that they will visit me in my sleep.  I'm such a baby!  So, it's nearly midnight and I'm on my second giant mug of hot chocolate liberally laced with butterscotch schnapps...my wintry beverage of choice thanks to KT.  It was SO MUCH FUN! ...aside from insanely scary...

Yesterday I went to see Zack and Miri Make a Porno and loved it!  I have told everyone I talk to that it is a chick flick in wolves' clothing so don't be fooled.  If you go to see it, you will see a romance interspersed with porno bits.  However, like all bad porn they just look bored while Zack and Miri look anything but.  I would watch it again for the high school reunion if nothing else.  I only wish our 10 year reunion had coughed up anything that interesting but I didn't even get to go since I was in the middle of grad school at the time and had class that night so I guess I shouldn't complain about the level of inactivity.

Today is my dad's 65th birthday and he and my stepmom and my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew agreed to meet for lunch by library so I could join in too since I had to work today.  We had burgers and fries and beer and a great time.  I had to leave before everyone else so I could get back to the library to let my coworker go to lunch but Daxx was v.v. understanding and patient with my extended family lunch.

If you haven't noticed the new item on my sidebar, I'm finally on Facebook!  I still don't quite know how I'm going to manage all the different sites I'm farting around with now but I guess it'll work itself out somehow.  It isn't as if I have anything better to do when I get off work, most of the time anyway.  I am getting out and socializing a lot more than I did.  Hey, in fact I've been carded 3 times this week!  It must be all the hot chocolate giving me a childish glow or something because I haven't been carded in YeArS and one carder frowned at me mightily as if it might be a fake ID.  It made my day, really.  I wanted to say, "Sir, if you'll just shine your flashlight at my head and look at this bumper crop of tinsel coming in...I assure you that license is accurate."  But I didn't, I simply smiled and walked on in.

I went trick-or-treating with KT and her kids yesterday evening and I'll have pictures as soon as I'm motivated enough to get my camera out of my purse.  I decided to put on a little of the girls' Halloween makeup because it would make them laugh and I had on my favorite zombie tshirt so when the girls asked me what I was I just told them I was a goth librarian.  For a six, five and three year old, this meant nothing :)  Over the course of the evening E asked me to hold her witch hat because "it makes my head feel cold" and Essie simply handed me her Hannh Mntana microphone with no explanation so I gradually transitioned into a bad lounge act in Vegas.  I took a photo to push home the point, you'll see.  Toes petered out pretty early and ended up riding for most of the night on KT's shoulders.  Toes' Cnderlla dress ended up on top of KT's head so she went from indulgent mom to a weird looking nun with a child growing out of her back.  I have photos of that too.  lots and lots (read: 7) of photos!

Plus I need to take a good photo of my new tattoo AND my new bumper sticker (Driving Slower to Save Gas).  I must tell you that my fellow motorists have been much more polite since I applied the sticker.  They were pissed off when they thought I was just some old crochety librarian (since I do have Librarian: The Original Search Engine on one side already) but now that there is a REASON that I'm driving slow, and one they can apparently respect, I don't get tailgated as much and have not gotten flipped off either!  There may be hope for the human race yet, I'll let you know after the election.

night ya'll!

htw

Proud to support Change We Can Believe In - November 4th!  

No matter who you plan to vote for, GO OUT AND VOTE!!!!!!!