Ich habe mal wieder was von DD gebastelt.. ich hoffe sie gefallen euch :)

(40) Icons
01 - 07| Chuck
08 - 13| Doctor's Diary
14 - 18| Matthias Schweighöfer & Joko
19 - 27| NCIS
28 - 31| Lily Allen
32 - 35| Music (The Virgins, Franz Ferdinand, Alison Mosshart, Miles Kane)
36 - 38| New Moon
39 - 40| Keira Knightley

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Codex Deryianus by Katherine Kurtz

This is an interesting book. It's basically an encyclopedia of all the Deryni books, with all the characters in the various books and short stories getting an entry. It also includes a timeline of the history of the Kingdom of Gwynedd.

What makes this a little more interesting is that Kurtz also includes entries of various sizes for people never mentioned/only mentioned in passing in the books.

All the kings and queens of Gwynedd, for example, have entries.

Many of these entries have tiny snippets of stories attached to them, which show how much work Kurtz has put into this world, but .. I don't know... after a while, I was wondering why, if she had all these interesting stories, she wasn't fleshing them out in short story or novel format.

I think this book does highlight one of Kurtz's shortcomings as an author. She's one of those "I've run out of things to do with this character, so I'll kill him/her off" authors. So, in the Codex, there are descriptions of how everyone dies. Huzzah.

This is only for people who really like the world of the Deryni.

A Few Figs from Thistles by Edna St. Vincent Millay
I had to recite one of Millay's poems when I was in 8th grade, and I've had a soft spot for her since. When I found this on The Gutenberg Project, I had to download it.

I admire poets in general because my mind doesn't work that way. (If you saw the "poetry" I wrote as an anguished teen, you'd understand. Fortunately, I threw it all out decades ago.) I appreciate the mind that hints for rhythm amongst words.

I'm really enjoying it. I may rotate Millay in for my Voice and Diction class and take the Brownings out for a while.

The Best
1. Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Laclos
A book written by a French general about sex, betrayal and interpersonal politics amidst the aristocracy of pre-Revolutionary France, this book was impossible for me to put down.

2. A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens
I'm not a Dickens fan, yet I loved this book. This could be because I read a graphic novelization of ti when I was 8, then read the book itself a few years later.

3. Wind, Sand and Stars by St-Exupery
I read this when I was fourteen. We all had to read a book and write a book report for Freshman English, and I chose this one because no one else was doing an international author and I wanted to be different. I didn;t think I'd fall in love with the beautiful language and the meandering, stream-of-consciouness storytelling style.

Even the scene where he is vomiting in the desert is almost lyrical.

The Worst
3. Lord Foul's Bane
God save me from anti-heroes. The man we're supposed to be cheering for rapes a woman on page 90. Thanks but no.

2. The Pain by Marguerite Duras
Good lord. This book was written as if the main character was in a fog, so, in the conversations in the book, the author chooses not to tell you who is saying what. But, since she didn't really give us much idea of the various characters' personalities, you have to read scenes over and over again to figure out what was going on.

This is not good writing. It is not avant-garde. It's bad writing in dire need of an editor.

So you'll never have to read it, allow me to summarize it for you:
"I'm so lost, I'm so lost... my life is fog... my boyfriend was part of the resistance here in occupied Paris, and was taken to a Concentration Camp. Whatever am I going to do... it's awful... I'm in a fog... Oh, hey... some new guy has moved in down the hall. He;s CUTE. I think I'll fuck him."

There you go. That's the entirety of the novel.

1. Farnham's Freehold by Heinlein
Hideous. In a post-nuclear world, Blacks have taken over, and whites are now slaves. This could be an interesting premise. Instead, we're treated to an almost-castration and more idiocy tha you can imagine.

Especially the Deus ex Machina ending... basically a giant "This was just a social experiment" button, that reset everything to what it was before the war, giving the Farnham family a better chance to organize.

Mind bogglingly awful.

We did something different for Thanksgiving this year. Usually we invite relatives over to our house and my parents cook. But this year, we decided to just meet at a restaurant. My parents, my sister, my brother, my brother's girlfriend, my uncle, and my uncle's girlfriend all met up at Harry Caray's for lunch. You could order things off of their regular menu, but they had Thanksgiving specials. You could get a turkey dinner or prime rib. Then they had a buffet of sides. I got the turkey, which was good. I'm actually not a big fan of Thanksgiving foods, so I wasn't really impressed with the sides. Everyone else seemed to enjoy them though. I think we were there for about two hours. A lot of the conversation was funny stories about my grandma, so that was nice.

After our big meal, my mom, sister and I decided to go see a movie. There's not too much out right now. My mom and I wanted to see An Education, but my sister refused. My mom really wanted to see Precious, but it wasn't even at the movie theater. So, we ended up seeing Fantastic Mr. Fox. I thought it was good. I love Wes Anderson movies, but this didn't really feel like a Wes Anderson movie to me. I was worried that George Clooney's voice would be distracting, but it wasn't (and yes, I'm aware that a lot of sentences in this paragraph have a "but," BUT I'm too lazy to change them). Overall, I thought it was a fun, cute movie.

When we first arrived at the movie theater, I noticed a new picture hanging on the wall. It was a black and white drawing of someone. At first, I thought it was Amelia Earhart. I wondered why they would have a picture of her when the movie seemed to come and go quickly. When I got closer, I asked my sister, "Is that Robert Pattinson?" She said, "No. Well, I think it's a female version of him." (She was totally serious and not joking.) I laughed at that and then walked up to the drawing and read the card underneath it. It WAS Robert Pattison, but the male version, not the female one. The card also said that some college student from California drew it and if you wanted to buy it, to contact her mom. It just cracks me up that my sister thought someone would draw a female version of Robert Pattison and then get a movie theater to hang it up. Heh.

Yesterday I went to the mall. That was the first time that I ever went shopping on Black Friday. I only went to one store though - New York & Company. I get tired very easily when clothes shopping. While I was in the dressing room, there was one woman who kept asking the NY&Co employees how certain items looked on her. Then she told them that she just had lipo last week and a breast augmentation, so she was going crazy and buying a ton of new stuff. She added that she should probably wait a bit for her body to fully recover, but she couldn't wait until Black Friday of next year to get new stuff. I was sorry I didn't get a look at her.

The mall was more crowded than usual, but it wasn't too bad. Probably because I just had to deal with one store. I also did some online shopping and bought an iPod touch. Actually, my mom bought it for me and said it would be a Christmas present. I'm super excited about it. Unfortunately, my mom is going to make me wait until Christmas to have it, so I won't get to play with it for a while. My sister is also getting one. We ordered it from the Apple website, so that meant we could get it engraved for free. It took us forever trying to figure out an engraving. I'm still not sure if I'm entirely pleased with what I chose.

The new Made of Fail podcast is up, and it's something like my fifth appearance on the show--and this time we also have Rinna from Poufwa, the first podcast I ever did! Also, my sexy, sexy phlegm ("Yeah... I'm reporting live from my death bed..."), brought in loud and clear courtesy of my new headset. Topic: half New Moon and half Crazy Fans, with a substantial segment on the Dollhouse cancellation up front (aw, hell, I just heard myself cough in the background).

("I am in bed with another woman right now...")

And now, I'm going back to bed.


ETA: OH BY THE WAY we totally discuss the Twilight porno that Dayna watched for us.

ETA: Who has the "fever of a hundred and werewolf" thermometer icon, and who made it? Because I totally need to start using that.



(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)

I'm watching a movie called Pathfinder, which is pretty terrible so far... BUT, it's got Karl Urban in a loincloth. So, that's pretty much always a win.

In other news, I now have a cold in addition to having a chipped tooth. Obviously, I have pissed off the health gods this year - it's been just one thing after another.

In BSG news:

++ I finished discs 2 and 3 of Season 4.5 - I'll have thoughts up later. Suffice it to say, this show loves breaking my heart.

++ I've been like, mainlining Kara/Lee fics. I think in my del.icio.us I already have 20 fics bookmarked. I'm working on a recs post, because you know I love doing those. Look for that in a couple weeks.

Totally OT, but you know I've also been working on a bandslash Jon/Spencer fic recs post for like, a million years. But now that the band has broken up, is it kind of stupid to do a recs post for a pairing that's no longer even in the same band? I dunno. But, I still like reading fics for them.

Man, this movie is awful. But, KARL URBAN IN A LOINCLOTH. I will suffer anything for that.

I need to see Star Trek again, because that's a movie he's in that's actually good. Have you noticed he likes to do lots of shitty movies? I mean, Doom? That fucking Ghost Ship movie? Gaaaaaaaaaah. He's way too pretty to be in such crap.

Here's what happened today in 140 characters or less:

• 20:25 I'm so sick of football. Aggie game on now. #
• 21:52 C'mon Ags!! #
• 22:47 Oh well, there's always next year Ags! #

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I think we have, like, three different kinds of pie. That is pretty much all you need to know.

Meanwhile, what are you thankful for? Even if you are not American or eating many awesome foods today, although if not, I do pity you a teensy bit. Of course, you also don't have to deal with the accompanying Family Holiday Drama most of the rest of us do, so... maybe we're even.

I, for one, am thankful for the Made of Fail crew, who sent me these:




(The gold and silver shimmer M&M phrases are a reference to Episode 10, which I was on--the one people seem to recommend most to newcomers. The others just have "15" printed on them, because the M is already on there, and...)

(Oh my God, how is it already Thursday and I have not finished the thing yet wtf.)


(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)

Ran a low fever today, because apparently we are still on this. I'm spinning my wheels on New Moon between cough syrup-induced comas and not getting anything done. Outstanding. And tomorrow being Happy Eating Day, I doubt I'll get much else done then, either. God, I want my life back.

Hm. Well, I think what we need is some cute. If you are in the Homewood/Birmingham (AL) area, there is a three-month-old puppy at our vet's who is in need of a home. They have dubbed him "Snoopy," but obviously he could be renamed:





Also, here is Sam home fresh from his bath this morning:




Now to decide if I want to pass out again or not.



(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)

I've been feeling kind of lost lately.

I have tenure now. (One of my students threatened to go to my department head to have me fired -- over my refusal to let her redo her Elisabeth Barret Browning reading-- and I just laughed and laughed. That confused her.)

I'm in a very "Now what?" place. So much of my life was focused on tenure, and now I have it.

I don't know what to do next, and it's an odd feeling.

Yesterday, I received in the mail an offer for a Visa Black Card. It's limited to 1% of US residents (I'm one in three million!) and it's made with carbon. Yes, you read that correctly, it's made with CARBON. The stuff of diamonds. Also, pencil lead.

Other than the fact I pay my bills on time, there is nothing in my credit history which would make me a good candidate for this card. I have a good salary. It pays the bills and enough left over for fun stuff. But it is not a millionaire's income, it's not even a hundred thousandaire income. I'm tempted to send in the application just to see if I get approved. I thought banks were going to be more selective in terms of issuing credit but I guess I was wrong.

So it turns out that we're not out of the Compocalyptic woods yet, kids. (Don't panic! It's not that bad.) I've finally set Lizzie up at my desk--which I haven't worked at for nearly four months now, by the way--and it turns out that... she doesn't fit. See, it's a huge desk with an attached shelf overtop, and it's divided down the middle by a... well, a divider. And each half is only just big enough to fit the laptop--not really anything that attaches. You know, like the wireless unit for a keyboard and mouse, or headphones, or the iPhone jack, or ANYTHING AT ALL, really. The divider doesn't run all the way from the back to the front of the desk--if I pull the laptop out, I can fit attachments in... but that's all the way to the edge of the desk, so there's no room for a separate keyboard. I'm so disgusted, I can't even tell you.

(Also, I looked at the wireless mouse, and it is completely alien to me. Great.)

So what I'm facing here is the prospect of buying a second desk. I love this desk. I don't want it to go anywhere. Also, there isn't any real possibility of it going anywhere, because I'm not even sure how we heaved it upstairs in the first place. So I'm thinking it might be possible to find a light, cheap desk--a glorified table, really, if I can get one at the right sit-down height--and put it against the foot of my bed. I am really running out of room in my room, but this is the simplest solution I can think of.

So until then, I'm stuck with the flaky touchpad mouse and the keyboard I'm not quite used to, but, like I said: it's kind of on the level of complaining that my diamond shoes are too tight.

Been resting mostly--slept in this morning, since the dogs are off getting their baths to be all shiny-fresh for Happy Eating Day. Still trying to work on New Moon in Fifteen Minutes--I am this close to busting out the 5x8 notecards all hardcore "I are srs writer"-style, just because I get completely overwhelmed by my sea of notes. FYI: I have never had to use notecards for a Fifteen Minutes before. Don't ever say I don't love you.

Meanwhile, this breaks my heart: Chris Weitz finally admits that New Line screwed The Golden Compass over. 

Weitz claims that New Line didn't trust him to handle the content of the book, that the film was taken from him in editing. Heavy-handed hacking resulted in losing nearly 30 minutes of footage from the film, and neatly exercised the edgy thrust of Phillip Pullman's book. "It was an utter violation of my status as a director and the worst thing that has happened to me professionally ... I was treated badly, it was almost like they never read the books. They seemed frightened of offending the right." Out of loyalty to the cast and crew, Weitz said he "bit through my tongue" when Compass was released.

Also: 7 Threatened Fanboy Responses to New Moon. Which really piss me off, by the way. There's a line between "The Twilight movies are ridiculous and I disagree with their view of the world" and "OMG SOMETHING LIKED BY GIRRRRRRRRRRRRLS." I was glad it didn't outgross The Dark Knight because the latter is one of my favorite movies, not because such an event would shrivel my e-penis, BOYS.

(Also-also: apparently you can now talk to your kids about Edward Cullen and drugs at the same time.)


(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)

I ordered four books from Amazon. They haven't arrived yet, but here are the titles:

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family

The six Mitford sisters were born into low-level aristocracy in the UK. They lived amazing, scandalous lives: two became authors, one married into Winston Churchill;s family, one married a Hitler supporter etc.

Archie and Amelie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age

Archie Chanler was the oldest of the Astor orphans: heirs to the Astor fortune whose parents died young. Amelie Rives was a goddaguhter of Gen Robert E. Lee and author. They fell in love and married. Theirs was a stormy relationship, as was the relationship between Archie and his siblings, who had him committed at one point. This is that story.

American Eve

In 1906, Harry Thaw, heir to the Pittsburgh based Thaw family, shot and killed architect Stanford White over Evelyn Nesbit. This led to the first great American "Trial of the Century". this book is a biography of Evelyn Nesbit.

The Irish Game: A True Story of Crime and Art

A Vermeer was stolen from an Irish estate. This is that story. (Recommended by a friend)

Can't wait!