It Started with a Journal

Too much to update, too little time. Not that any of these updates are all that riveting. But I find that if I don't post to LJ on a semi-regular basis, I just drop out of the habit for weeks/months.

On the book front:

- I finally bought and read the last Georgia Nicolson book (sad face), Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?. I was actually surprised to learn it was the last one, because like The Princess Diaires, it seemed like it was going to go on forever. In the case of both series, I was both sad and relieved. Sad because they've been so enjoyable; relieved because the longer the went on, the longer it drags out the problems of the two people you want to see get together. Meg Cabot actually pulled off a very decent (if abrupt) ending for PD. Louise Rennison was less successful. ATMBISBM was enjoyable, but not as funny as other books in the series have been, and failed to be emotionally moving. :/ It wasn't BAD, but it wasn't the send off the series deserved, imho. ( Now I get really spoilery. )

- Partially through My Life in France, Julia Child's memoir. One thing I have to thank Julie Powell for is the renewed interest in a true cooking great. (To be fair, I liked Powell's book, even if in the movie version her life paled in comparison to Julia's... not the least because Amy Adams played her very annoyingly and Meryl Streep was a wonderful Julia Child.) I'm enjoying it so far, though I find the parts about the food far more interesting than the parts about France/Europe/the world. >.>

- Also, I've just started Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane. It's really a shame that I've waited this long, considering that when the book came out I actually MET him (thanks to corianderstem) and have an autographed first edition of the book. I'm finally reading it because the movie's coming out soon and I decided I wanted to know what I was getting into. Plus, the venture is intriguing in general because it's like, what, Dennis Lehane wrote a horror novel? Leonardo DiCaprio is going to be in a horror flick? And it's directed by Martin Scorcese? I just don't expect to see those names attached to the horror genre.

I'm still watching/enjoying BSG. I am about midway through season 2. I think my favorite character is Boomer. I dig her romance with Helo, which is surprising because I hated that actor in Dollhouse, lol. I alternately like/dislike Starbuck, and while I sorta dig her quasi-thing with Apollo, I also think Apollo has a very girly voice, which so does not track with his enormous arm muscles. I generally like him, though. Not a fan of Commander Adama for the most part, though I like him way more than I like Tigh (and omg Tigh's wife Ellen needs to DIE). Surprisingly (because I feel like I should find him annoying), I like Dr. Baltar, though not so much his Cylon shadow (and the stupid music that accompanies her whenever she shows up). Finally, I like the President, a lot.

Yesterday I had brunch with my friend J., then we went to the Ballard farmers market (bought nothing) and nearby Kavu (bought a jacket and a purse, neither of which I really needed), then watched Valentine's Day. J. loves sappy romcoms, and while I usually don't, I was willing to watch it for her sake, since we don't really watch movies together all that often. I pretty much agree with this review, which trashes the movie, however, I liked it more than the reviewer did, because I went into expecting it to be the kind of movie it was. So while everything the reviewer says is pretty much accurate, I was more forgiving of its flaws. There are a gazillion storylines (a la Love Actually, though possibly with even more), and all but one followed a very predictable path (for me). It's just a really, really fluffy piece with little redeeming value other than in-the-moment entertainment, starring some very familiar actors: Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Garner (too bad they didn't have a scene together -- Will and Sydney back together again!), Taylor Swift, Taylor Lautner (okay, the two Taylors were amusing), Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, Topher Grace, Queen Latifah (who was wasted), Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel (two Jessicas I normally can't stand, but they were both OK in this movie), Patrick Dempsey, Shirley Maclaine, etc. etc.

After the movie we went for a walk in Discovery Park, which was really muddy, then to Trader Joe's, where I got the ingredients for a potato leek soup. And! Very exciting -- a bottle of wine that I actually intend to DRINK (as opposed to using in cooking)! I usually don't like wine (or alcohol of most kinds, as I respond in an allergic way), but I had this one at work last week and it was really good. I think I can drink half a glass of it with actual enjoyment! (This is huge for me.) It's this Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling. I'm sure I like it because it's sweeter than most other wines I've had. Maybe for dinner tonight I'll have some of this wine with some Brie I acquired recently. How very French!

Oh, I have a question though, for you wine buffs... you know how some wines are meant to be aged (they get better) while others start to degrade? How do I know? I'd like to run out and buy a dozen bottles of this wine since I know I like it, but since that would probably last me quite some time I wouldn't want to stock up if they're just going to spoil before I get around to actually drinking them. (Did a quick search and it would appear that Rieslings might age better than other types of white, but are still meant to be drunk "young," within 1-2 years of release. Is that generally accepted to be true?)

The past few days have been pretty crappy. There was The Incident, which I am feeling slightly better about (though I still re-live it every so often), and then yesterday there was this fire drill (figurative) where I had to drop all my other projects to focus on this other one out of the blue. P. sucked me into it, and of course no one could say him nay, since he is my manager's manager. He said he didn't trust anyone else to do it/be able to do it (which, awww, but also $&!%&#@). So I got it done (T. -- my manager -- came into my office and was all, "P. thinks you're a god!" And I'm like, I prefer goddess ... but anyway). Only, get this: this other woman, who had been originally tasked to do it, did it, but P. panicked that it wasn't getting done so he pulled me in. And so we ended up scrapping what she did, because I'd gotten further, but still!!! Why were there TWO people working on the same thing? I hate when they do that. And now she's all bitter at me for stealing her thunder or making her look incompetent or whatever. I'm like, dude, I didn't want to have my entire day hosed by your damn project! It's not like I went looking to one-up her or something. P. gave me a directive! I had to do it! I hope there's not going to be strain between us now. Makes for v. uncomfortable meetings.

Have finished book 5 of the Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison. These books roxors. I didn't think I was going to like this one as much as the others, since I am a devotee to Dave the Laugh and I thought he wasn't going to appear much in this one ... but I was happily wrong. What I'd really like are the British editions of these books, though Georgia's introductory notes to her chums in Hamburger-a-Gogo-Land are quite amusing.

Also, for fearthainn and anyone else who was following that Anita Blake discussion: Okay, so the vampires having a soul thing is, as everyone has said, a mystery. However, the other thing that intrigued me but which there are no clear answers to yet is the idea that vampires have pulses. How does that work, exactly? Anita has mentioned a few times now about feeling a vamp's pulse ... is it just an echo of her own, when she's close to them, or what?

( Sarea: Coming Soon to a State Near You! )

*huggles akscully in a non-lezzy way* (Or do I?)

Dinner w/ corianderstem tonight and checking out her new digs. Wheeee!