I'm Pretty Sure I Need Another Bookshelf...

Zombie Cam

This doesn't have much to do with anything other than my own amusement.  I'm a huge fan of The Walking Dead, both the comic and the show (season 2 is going to be 13 episodes!  take THAT, 6 episode season 1!).  Somehow the TV series seems less dramatic and more hilarious when you see how they get those shots...

Andrew Lincoln, not an attractive freeze frame.  But look at the glorious mane on the camera man!

It's the khaki shorts/giant helmet combo that really gets me.

See them all over at AMC's website http://blogs.amctv.com/photo-galleries/the-walking-dead-season-1-behind-the-scenes-photos/episode-1-cowan-smith.php.  Alas, no others quite as delightfully amusing as these two.

The Things of March

What Was: Sickness. Sister! Bones and The IT Crowd. Church. Battlestar Galactica exhibit. Morning Glory, friends, fried food. Pi Day, chicken pot pie, apple pie. Choir. Little Britain, mysterious agonizing back pain, Punch Brothers concert of awesomeness.  Coffee, cute dress, business meeting.

What Will Be: Chicago-style pizza party.  Eyebrow tidying and the taco bus. Birthday! Darby O'Gill & the Little People.  Friday off.  Mani-pedis with a birthday buddy (me 27 on 3/17, she 29 on 3/19 - amazing).  Polly. Spring begins.  Brunch on Bainbridge. Vasen concert or Dr. Sketchy's.  3 day work week.  Santa Barbara.  Masterworks concert with college choir.  Sharon, beach, bad kids movies. 4 day work week.

It's a good month.

T-t-t-touch Me, I Wanna Be Li-tera-ary

A Random Post (eventually I'll get around to a quick update about the past month or so):

I have begun to notice that the more I like a book, the more I touch it.  As I wander through book stores, I touch the books laid out flat (and I tend to touch the ones that look, upon first "judge a book by its cover" glance, intriguing).  9 times out of 10 if you check my purse, there's a book in there. Julia Child is my bag's most recent tenant - I'm reading (devouring! har har) My Life in France.  And when it's not in my purse, more often than not I find myself moving it room to room with me (in case I want to read in the kitchen?).  When I come to the living room or get into bed, I set it next to me even if I'm on the computer or knitting and have no way of holding it open to read while my hands are so occupied.  If I've left it sitting on a table, I'll absently run my fingers across it when I pass.  It is a very nice feeling book - 352 pages so it's substantial but not burdensome; a good solid yet soft paperback with enough give to the pages and cover to be satisfyingly inviting but not floppy; and with just the right matte texture to the cover (a little tooth but essentially smooth so your fingers glide over it, not slip or squeak).  This is why, convenient and super-cool as they are, I will never fully convert to digital books.  I'll give up my physical books when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.

Things I Read 'N' Things I Thought 2010: Part 2

And here, my friends, is the conclusion of my 2010 reading list.  The suspected fantasy/sci-fi kick did indeed hold strong...

For # 1-27 see Things I Read 'N' Things I Thought - Part 1 

28. Astonishing X-Men (vol. 1) by Joss Whedon - It's Joss.  How can you say no?

29. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl - I wish people in the real world talked like characters in Roald Dahl books. I also wish squirrels worked in factories.

30. Come Along With Me by Shirley Jackson - Shirley. SHIRLEY!!! I LOVE YOU!!! How do you make housewives and average people so interesting and unsettling and hilarious?

31. The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce - Vampires, but weird. Ghost unicorn hoof in a bag.  Drop spindles that let you spin anything into thread.  I'm not sure I liked it, but I certainly respected her very unique vision and not unlikable main character.

32. The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz - I think I liked it.  Another book with a sudden, one or two page long conclusion that makes you go, wait, WHAT? It's OVER?

33. Deep Economy by Bill McKibben - I am terrified for the future of humanity. And yet I do nothing.  Now I feel awful.  Thanks, Bill.

34. Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King - Man, Steven King is DEPRESSING. I will love him forever.

35. The Gates by John Connolly - Oh so British. Oh so funny.  Usually I hate fiction that tries to use footnotes as a literary device, but I was very much okay with this one!

36. Gone series (Books 1-3) Gone; Hunger; Lies by Michael Grant - If Stephen King wrote a Left Behind/Under the Dome mashup with a touch of Desperation/The Regulators by way of Lord of the Flies.  I swear it makes sense.  Read all three in 2 days. Couldn't stop and stayed up way too late both nights, which is apparently EXACTLY what the author wanted (damn him).  Next isn't out until April. Booooo!

37. Green Rider series (Books 1, 2) Green Rider, First Rider's Call by Kristen Britain - Fantasy.  Nothing entirely out of the ordinary, but extremely likable. I'm working on book 3.

38. Hostage by Robert Crais - I kept thinking about Bruce Willis and Ben Foster and wishing they were actually in the book instead of just the movie. Ben Foster is TERRIFYING. I adore him.

39. How to Make an American Quilt by Whitney Otto - I want to move back to the Central Valley and quilt with my lady friends.

40. Invincible (vols. 1, 2) by Robert Kirkman - Superhero comic that lovingly and skillfully pokes fun at other superhero stories; sort of like giving your best friend a noogie.

41. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa - Baaaah! Normal/outcast girl ends up in love triangle with a nice guy and an icy, otherworldly "OMG HE'S SO GORGEOUS AND GRACEFUL AND STUNNING AND blah blah blah blah blah blah blah" dude who's actually a dull, one-dimensional, emotionally distant jerk but somehow they're suddenly deeply in soul-searing love and we're supposed to care. WHY, YA fiction, WHYYYYY!?!?!? Faeries (NEVER fairies, that's just STUPID) are the new vampires (and I think angels are the new faeries?).

42. The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke - Think "Jane Austen has magic" and you're close.

43. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Vol. 1) by Alan Moore - The story was okay.  The extra bits made me cry with laughter - author bios, summaries, "stay tuned for the next issue" announcements. Over the top old timey Britishisms!

44. Locke & Key (vols. 1, 2) by Joe Hill - Doors to anywhere! Horrible murders! On/off ghost children! Heads you can open! Mysterious transsexual-undead-demon-people-ghosts!  Not too shabby.

45. My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer (short story collection) - Retellings and new fairytales? Yes please! Hilarious! Beautiful! Awesome! Confusing! WHAT the FUCK!? P.S. Neil Gaiman, I love you.

46. The Myth of a Christian Religion by Gregory A. Boyd - I judge people too quickly.  I'm selfish with my time.  American flag + church = um, maybe we should think about this, guys....

47. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender - She can taste the anguish in your dinner! But it's still just about her and her slightly dysfunctional family.

48. Powers (vols. 1-3) by Brian Michael Bendis - Who watches the watchmen?  Apparently Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, cops working in a city full of superheroes/villains.  I'm enjoying it.

49. Prydain Chronicles (Books 2-5) The Black Cauldron; The Castle of Llyr; Taran Wanderer; The High King  by Lloyd Alexander - Hooray for good YA fantasy!  Actual character development! Whackings and smackings! FFLEWDDUR FFLAM!!

50. Scott Pilgrim (vol. 6) by Bryan Lee O'Malley - THE END!  Read them all! See the movie! Be awesome!

51. Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce - Surprisingly enjoyable lark.  Sassy yet joyously un-obnoxious female lead reminded me a bit of Daine from Tamora Pierce's Immortals series.

52. Still Missing by Chevy Stevens - Lady talks to therapist about being kidnapped and held for a year by crazy dude.  Didn't think I'd like it, but weirdly, I did.   

53. Sun & Moon, Ice & Snow by Jessica Day George - Don't bother, it's like she read East by Edith Pattou and decided to rewrite it, only shorter and boring.

54. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather - I love the way she writes. I love her characters because, like real people, they're complicated and don't always wrap up neatly and sometimes you're just not sure how you feel about them.

55. Throne of Jade (Temeraire Book 2) by Naomi Novik - Dragooooon!  A battle early on gave me more of the technical dragons-rigged-out-as-ships detail that I'm really interested in, but overall not as good as the first.  I'll still read the 3rd and see what's what.

56. The Walking Dead (vols. 12, 13) by Robert Kirkman - Of course I had finished reading both within hours of purchase. I'm loving the show even though S1 was on 6 episodes.  Ugh.  Need more now.

57. Where the Heart Is by BIllie Letts - It's PLEASANT.  It makes me happy. 

I ended up reading 69 books in 2010 (Books in a series counted individually, comics counted as a single book even if I read multiple volumes).  Categorizing books based on first impressions I've got:

18% YA fiction

15% Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror

27% YA sci-fi/fantasy/horror (most YA I read tends to be fantasy or fairy tale retellings)

12% Comics

22% General fiction

6% non fiction

And, congratulations to me! I read 67% new books and only 33% repeats.  Way to expand my horizons!

Figs and Things

Sometimes I think that, with my love of home and general domesticity and the lack of slutty clothes in my wardrobe and dearth of stories about the times I went out and got wasted and partied until sunrise with pop stars and artists and aimlessly wealthy European riff-raff-y youths, men might find me too dull to date and marry.

So I like figs and sweaters, big deal!

But then I think, "But SOMEWHERE out there SOMEONE has got to find my love of hearth and home appealing, right? ... RIGHT!?"

 Uuuuh...maybe not?  His sideburns are sweet, though.

**Kate Beaton, once again, you are full of wonder and joy. Gotta love a gal who uses profanity and writes cartoons that riff on The Yellow Wallpaper.

You Guys Gotta See This Baby, It's Crazy

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Kate Beaton, I love you.  Your comics bring me unspeakable joy.  As Anne Shirley would say, we are kindred spirits.  Why didn't you make Christmas cards of this?  It's concert week and whenever we get to the soprano recitatives in Messiah that start with "And lo, the angel of the Lord cam upon them..." I think of this guy now.