A random post of randomness

[wahlee]

I've been meaning to writeup my California trip, but I haven't yet uploaded my pictures (can't find my cord again, dangit), so I'm still putting it off. In the meantime, here's a few random thoughts that have filtered through my mind lately:

Heroes rocks. NBC especially rocks for doing a marthon on Saturday night, showing the exact three episodes I'd missed, thereby enabling me to be completely caught up for the return from hiatus on Monday. YAY! (Although must admit that I was rather glad that I only had 2 days instead of several weeks in which to hang off the edge of that cliff.)

It's so nice to see Luke and Lorelai bickering on Gilmore Girls again. Fills my soul with glee, as it were. And Paris continues to crack me up.

There's been a commercial on the radio station I listen to on the way to and from work (gotta love the traffic and weather together on the 9s!) that reminded me of one of my pet peeves: the phrase is "Grand Re-Opening," not "Re-Grand Opening." GAH! And sometimes the Utah accent really, really gets to me. It's a really big sale, not a really big sell. Sheesh. (It's even worse when this pronunciation variant ends up working its way into print, and people actually say "It's on sell!" in their newspaper ads.)

I'm half done with the center panel of the "rectange with diamond pattern" shawl from Victorian Lace Today, and I'm loving lace. Only 12 more 10-row repeats, and I get to figure out how to knit on the edging. Yay! Once I'm done with that, I'm going to start on the "shoulder shawl in cherry-leaf pattern" in 100% silk yarn that I bought on eBay from India for susy_gwen's wedding present. Then I've got to make Gryffindor and Slytherin sweaters and scarves for my nephew and niece (respectively) and finish thelittletwin's Hufflepuff scarf before July. :P I love knitting.

Found a blast from the past as I was getting hot chocolate at 7-11 on my way to work today: Hostess Chocolate Pudding Pies. Yum!! Although as I ate it, I found myself longing for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle vanilla pudding pies (with lime-green glaze) that they had when I was younger. Wish they'd bring those back.

I haven't been doing Weight Watchers for the past few weeks, as you might guess from the above post. :P

Those of you who love Stephanie Meyer's Twilight and New Moon should try reading The Goose Girl and other novels by Shannon Hale. They're even better, IMO. The Princess Academy was even a Newbery Honor Book.

Speaking of books, I picked up L.M. Montgomery's Kilmeny of the Orchard last night to fall asleep with. I don't care that Kilmeny is one of the Sueiest Mary Sues that ever lived, or that Eric is one of the Stuiest Stus (his initial description is "Eric Marshall, tall, broad-shouldered, sinewy, walking with a free, easy stride, which was somehow suggestive of reserve strength and power, was one of those men regarding whom less-favoured mortals are tempted seriously to wonder why all the gifts of fortune should be showered on one individual." Yeah. . . ). I don't care that the storyline is sacharrine, predictable, and absolutely soaked with Deus ex machina. I still adore this book. Is it possible for a story to be wonderful if it has a crummy plot but gorgeous language? 'Cause that's what Kilmeny is.

In case you didn't get the oblique reference in my last post, my part-time receptionist job has become a full-time (with benefits after 90 days!) receptionist job. The other gal they hired at the same time as me got a full-time job, and they decided that the convenience of not having to cover lunches for the receptionist was outweighed by the inconvenience of having to repeat the same information twice, so they offered me the job full-time instead of hiring someone new. Plus, they love me here. :P So, yeah. It's been good thus far, now that I've adjusted to getting up at 6:30 every morning again. I'm spending insane amounts of time online (because as long as I'm here to answer the phone, they don't care what I do to occupy my time), but somehow I still don't post. Must do something about this.

My thesis is still stuck. I'm beginning to wonder if there's a literary equivalent of dynamite, to get it un-stuck.

My family is heading out on Monday for a week-long trip to upstate New York. We're mostly going to visit Palmyra, where the LDS church was founded, but we're also going to hit Niagra Falls and Buffalo. My sister-in-law's dad has a cabin on Lake Seneca that he's renting out this summer, and he said he'd let us stay for free. :) It's my whole family, married couples and babies and even my grandma included. So excited.

I'm almost done with the .pdf version of HarryPotterSeven.com. I've put 80+ hours into it so far. Now I'm scared that no one will download it.

I think I'm going to get a salad for lunch. After the hot chocolate and the pudding pie, I'm feeling a bit heavy. Now, to get it from Wendy's, or Rumbi? *ponders*

Comments

[divinemum.livejournal.com]

1. The Utah accent gets to me, period. :P I cringe every time I have to call the Distribution Center or Deseret Book.

2. Oh yes. Kilmeny is definitely the weakest of LMM's books. I don't think it was even included in the latest round of reprints. I've oonly read it once, and it didn't leave much of an impression. (And that's saying something for an LMM book!)

3. genesse and kit_the_brave are big Shannon Hale fans. I've had both Princess Academy and The Goose Girl on my nightstand for months, and I just haven't read them yet. Now you're third person to recommend them, so I guees I should finally read them.

[wahlee-98.livejournal.com]

Hey! I worked at Deseret Book, and [i]I[/i] don't have a Utah accent (except for imploding "t"s in the middle of a few words). :P Most of my co-workers didn't either. I can't say the same for the 2 or 3 ladies who were over the age of 50, though. ;)

Kilmeny is the weakest of the Montgomery books, but it's the one I read the most (other than Jane of Lantern Hill, which has been out of print for a long time, sadly). I adore it. I can't rationally explain why, but I do. :P

Check out both of those Hale books-- and the sequels to The Goose Girl are good, too. :) Make sure you've got plenty of time, though-- they're all "can't put it down" kind of books. :)

[divinemum.livejournal.com]

Heh heh- you only *think* you don't have an accent! :P And it's not so much an accent (although there is that, too) but an inflection and tone.

I re-read Jane a few years back. It had been a really long time since I read it. I *adored* the first 2/3 of the book, but then it just...lost steam. That was so disappointing. While I own a copy of Jane, I got Kilmeny from the library. I need to hunt down a copy, as it's the only LMM book I don't own.

Check out both of those Hale books-- and the sequels to The Goose Girl are good, too. :) Make sure you've got plenty of time, though-- they're all "can't put it down" kind of books. :)

Part of the reason I haven't read the Hale books is because I had the feeling that they would be "those" kind of books. But I'm also the type of person who avoids books with a lot of hype (like HP and the Stephenie Meyer books) until at least three people I trust tell me I *have* to read them. ;) I'm just obstinate (obstinant??) like that.

[genesse.livejournal.com]

the sequels to The Goose Girl are good, too

I was hoping you'd say that. I have Enna Burning on my bookshelf and I just finished a series. I think I'll take it on my trip to California this weekend.

[lilac-bearry.livejournal.com]

Random is good! :D

[mystic-jade.livejournal.com]

Right before taking my last test at the testing center yesterday, I was taking a breather at the Bookstore and noticed Princess Academy on the children's bestseller shelf, 25% off, plus the store wide 20%. I decided to think about it! After my test I went back to the store, and they were both sold!

Now I'll have to hunt it down.

(Not that I need to buy myself another book. I went on a spree this morning to celebrate:0)

Jade

[wahlee-98.livejournal.com]

I found a hardcover copy of it in the bargain section at Deseret Book for $4. :)

[if0x.livejournal.com]

It's nice to see you on my flist again - you haven't been posting as much of late. That's not a complaint, at all, btw, just an observation to let you know that you're missed :-)

[andmore.livejournal.com]

Did you know Shannon has a book titled Austinland. It's coming out in stores May 29th. Go to her site to read more.

[wahlee-98.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I saw that. I was put off by the sentence "Sure, Jane had first read Pride and Prejudice when she was sixteen, read it a dozen times since, and read the other Austen novels at least twice, except Northanger Abbey (of course)."

What does she mean, of course? I can accept that the character might not have read NA more than once. But that "of course" implies that no one, ever, could actually enjoy it. Why must people insist that NA is not worth reading? Because it IS worth reading. In fact, it's tied with Persuasion as my second favorite. It's snarky. It's playful. And it's got my absolute favorite hero, Henry Tilney--who said the quote you see in my icon.

"Of course." BAH. I might read it, but I'm feeling resentful and insulted at the moment. :P

[andmore.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hope you do. She is a good writer, even if she does offend the true NA fans. Actually, I haven't read that book yet. I haven't even read Persuasion yet, even though I know it's a good book. I think I'll have to get it on tape since most of my life is spent at work or in the car.
Have you read River Secrets? I think that's what it's titled. It's the third book with the Goose Girl characters. I haven't read that one yet either, but I was wondering what you thought of it.

[susy-gwen.livejournal.com]

Those of you who love Stephanie Meyer's Twilight and New Moon should try reading The Goose Girl and other novels by Shannon Hale. They're even better, IMO. The Princess Academy was even a Newbery Honor Book.

You're welcome!

[ravensnape.livejournal.com]

Aren't wedding presents supose to be secret? Can I assume Jen just ignored that part of your post.:D

Silk sounds so beautiful. I was in a fabric/craft store the other day and the selection of knitting 'stuffs' made me want to learn how to knit. The colors the tectures the patterns all were simply...fun!