Tag!

A speedy blog post, perfect for a lazy Sunday:

Saw this on Michelle's blog - a quick, fun tag:

1. Pick up the book that you have most handy
2. Turn to page 161
3. Find the 5th complete sentence
4. Cite the sentence on your blog
5. Pass it on to 5 other unsuspecting blogger friends.

From The Secret History by Donna Tartt, which I am currently reading:

"He lit another cigarette."

If you're reading this and you blog, consider yourself tagged!

New Year's Housekeeping

OK, time to clean up le blog and get ready for the new year. I am personally glad to put '08 behind us and move the hell on. On my very first to-do list of the year:

• Take better care of myself. This means exercising and eating healthy food. Simple, right? Yeah.
• Clean up this office! No wonder I can't seem to get any work done.
• Start making daily cards again - it's a great way to stay in the scrappy mood. I miss my favorite hobby!

I'm not calling those resolutions, because that word just has too much expectation attached. Words I do not want to hear this year:

• Economy. Everyone, everywhere is talking about the "new economy," the "state of our economy," the "bad economy" - e-freakin'-nuff already! This is not raising consumer confidence and is stressing me right out.
• Bail Out. If you need a refresher on where I stand here, check last week's post.
• Hope/Change. Let's not overuse these two very important words.
  
• Jigglypuff. My son has taken to chanting this lately. Over it.

Switching gears. I didn't quite make my goal of 50 books last year. For 2009 I'm going with a goal of 26 books, one for every two weeks. Making a new list over on the side bar but for record's sake, here is a recap of last year's reads, with my favorites in bold:

37. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
36. Snow Flower And The Secret Fan (Lisa See)
35. The Broker (John Grisham)
34. The Motel Life (Willy Vlautin)
33. The Heretic's Daughter (Kathleen Kent)
32. Three Bags Full (Leonie Swann)
31. Fearless Fourteen (Janet Evanovich)
30. A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)
29. Stitch N Bitch Crochet (Debbie Stoller)
28. Worse Than Watergate - The Secret Presidency George W. Bush (John W. Dean)
27. I lock My Door Upon Myself (Joyce Carol Oates)
26. No Time For Goodbye (Linwood Barclay)
25. Boy Still Missing (John Searles)
24. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwater)
23. 84, Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff)
22. Black Out (Lisa Unger)
21. The Tent (Margaret Atwater)
20. Dead Sleep (Greg Iles)
19. The Book Of Lost Things (John Connolly)
18. Sharp Objects (Gillian Flynn)
17. Zombie (Joyce Carol Oates)
16. The Fourth Hand (John Irving)
15. A Friend Of The Earth (T.C. Boyle)
14. The Courage Consort (Michel Faber)
13. Tallgrass (Sandra Dallas)
12. T Is For Trespass (Sue Grafton)
11. The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova)
10. Lean Mean Thirteen (Janet Evanovich)
9. The Forest Lover (Susan Vreeland)
8. The Rapture Of Canaan (Sheri Reynolds)
7. I Am The Messenger (Markus Zusak)
6. The Madonnas Of Leningrad (Debra Dean)
5. Blood Memory (Greg Iles)
4. True Evil (Greg Iles)
3. Extremely Close And Incredibly Loud (Jonathan Safron Foer)
2. Fierce Invalids Back From Hot Climates (Tom Robbins)
1. Mortal Fear (Greg Iles)

Happy New Year! Crossing fingers for a peaceful, prosperous 2009.

PS I wonder how many blogs are playing this song right now?

Finally

I actually scrapbooked yesterday! It had been a really long time, I was starting to get worried that I'd lost that lovin' feeling for paper and glue, but no...it was just on the back burner. Made three layouts, nothing fancy but still - it felt good. Might do some more today, and I'm excited to do Ali's A Week In The Life project next week. There, I said it so now I have to do it!

Whenever I review a book on goodreads.com it always asks if I want to blog the review and gives the embed code. Here's what happened when I used that code:


The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book. Maybe the scariest thing I've ever read, including The Shining. ;)

When I say scary, I mean scary as in could we ever get to that place? I just couldn't get it out of my mind. Maybe it's good (or bad) timing, with the world in such turmoil right now. A very powerful read.

I saw it on the "banned books" shelf at the library and had heard of it before so I grabbed it up. Sort of ironic, it being banned - in the story a lot of things are banned and it is horrific.

PS: I could never vote for someone who has tried to ban books. EVER.

View all my reviews.


Pretty cool. Go technology!

Just Stuff In My Head

Hot August Nights is in full swing. It's a huge classic car show and celebration of all things '50s that takes over our town every year. Not being a huge car person, and not really into poodle skirts, I find that the event is more of a traffic jam than anything. But, keep on coming, folks...it stimulates our local economy.

And, seriously...when did chow mein go from crunchy fried noodles topped with veggie or meat goo, to soft noodles with chunks? Just curious.

I'm about 2/3 through The Book Of Lost Things. It's pretty cool, if you like fantasy. A little bit Narnia, a little bit Pan's Labyrinth - dark and full of mysteries. Evil creatures abound.

Off to check out some Olympic action.