It Started with a Journal

( Brief thoughts on Fringe, through the first seven-ish eps. )

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Dinner with J. Friday night was lovely. We never seem to run out of things to talk about, and at the end it's like, argh, I had 5 other things to tell her! Pair was cute, but the food left something to be desired. The gougeres were terrible and the mussels were way overcooked. They have nothing on The Stone House.

The dinner party last night was really fun. I generally like every member of my team on a personal level; it's just that our work styles sometimes clash.

My attempt at appetizers didn't quite go the way I wanted. ( My woe and other party details. )

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I've just put in a big Amazon order for the Buffy S8 and Angel S6 volumes that I haven't been keeping up with. I'll need to reread everything from the beginning because I suspect it's not going to make any sense if I don't! One thing I regret from Comic Con is that one of the Buffy artists was there signing comics and I didn't even think about bringing mine. D'oh!

I've been rereading the Hot Gimmick manga, and I'm kind of blown away by how adult themed it is. It was the very first manga I ever read, so I just kind of figured they were all like that.

Next on the manga front I'm going to be reading Skip Beat!, which I may or may not actually get into. Apparently it was going to be made into a TW serial called "Extravagant Challenge" starring Ariel Lin, but for some reason it got shelved. I have all 22 volumes except for 2-4 from the library.

It is so ridiculous that you can't put holds on holds. What that means is that you often get things out of order, depending on when your turn comes up, or else you have to keep a separate list of what you want, rather than being able to conveniently use the library system to keep track of it. Which even then might be doable, except if you want things that are high in demand, because then it behooves you to get on the waiting list asap. If you did it one at a time, it could be months in between! I suspect this also delays people getting books, because as there's no late charges, people probably just keep the later books until they get the earlier ones, then read all at once. The good news is that I wrote to Sno-Isle about it, and the response was that they are going to institute the feature I want in the April timeframe. Yay!

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I saw this on rainpuddle13's LJ and had to share because it is so creepy and COOL! Zombie ants! For real! The fungus that kills the ants takes control of their tiny ant brains and guides them to the ideal location for the fungus's growth. Seriously awesome. I mean, human zombie stories are all so lame and pointless -- all they do is kill with no real purpose.

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I've had the AeroGarden for 1 week now, and 5/7 herbs have sprouted. It's even possible the other two herbs have sprouted as well, but they're in the back, the light's in the way, and I can't really tell. The thyme is ahead of schedule; I could see little sprouts at 4 days and it was supposed to take a minimum of 7 days. I think I'm going to try and take pictures every week to keep a visual record of the growth!

( First 2 pictures! )

Did I mention that I made Tres Leches Cake recently? I had it for the first time at Mistral Kitchen. It was sooooo good. They served theirs with strawberry sorbet. I wasn't that ambitious, but even plain it's wonderful.

I started reading Ursula K. Le Guin's The Beginning Place, and now I remember why I can't seem to get into her books... it's her writing. There's something about it that makes it difficult to follow. I'm constantly zoning out. I understand each individual word -- it's not like the writing is particularly dense or flowery -- yet when I read whole sentences or paragraphs they make no impression on me, they're utterly meaningless. This book is a 'teen' book, I'm only like 10 pages in, and this has happened about half a dozen times already. I go back and read the problem sentences verrrry slowly, but it doesn't usually help. I'm like, what is she trying to describe/say?! What just happened??

Lunch w/ the DG gals this weekend, yay! We're going to Maggiano's. Haven't been there in forever, hope they still have the take-home pasta thingy still.

TV Show Meme Day 15 - Favorite female character: Veronica Mars

What can I say about Veronica Mars? She's smart, sassy, and kick ass in every way. She doesn't have the perfect life but she doesn't allow herself to be a victim. She's confident in her abilities -- and if she isn't, she knows how to hide it well. She has an awesome dad. She never lets anyone get the better of her. She's played by one of the cutest actresses working today. And she manages to do all this and still be likable.

I am filling in for a colleague this week for the first time ever. I had very little insight to his work/processes before. Prior to leaving, he was like, "Should be a pretty light week." Famous. last. words. HE SO OWES ME. It's been completely insane. Talk about trial by fire. His whole team's like, wow, what a time for you to cover for L.! It's been interesting to gain some insight to what he does, though -- and next time I have to cover for him I'll know what I'm getting into.

One day soon I am going to make this chocolate Guinness cake. I'm not a fan of drinking alcohol (mostly because it only takes like two sips to get me buzzed, and soon after that it's tomato face and headache), but I LOVE cooking with it.

I'm re-reading one of my favorite historical romance novels, one by Laura Kinsale called Seize the Fire. In general, Kinsale's heroes and heroines are not cut from the usual romance novel cloth -- she seems to go out of her way to be unique. Even so, this is NOT a romance novel for the typical romance novel reader. The reason I say this is because the hero is such a bastard of an anti-hero. It was the first time I'd ever, EVER read a romance novel with such a hero. I mean, it's *unheard* of. I think I pretty much stopped reading traditional romance novels after this book, because I liked this hero so much -- it was so refreshing -- that traditional heroes just became uber dull. Many people have the opposite reaction as me. :-) Many people hate the book, rant about how it's Kinsale's worst work, etc. Instead, for me, it showed me that I like imperfect, flawed, edgy heroes who might not fit into the traditional description of "hero." Such as, say, Draco Malfoy. :-)

The novel opens with the hero (Sheridan Drake), on a ship that's being attacked. He's just finished his naval career in the British Navy (which he got into because his asshole father tricked him), and he's super pissed off at the idiot whose fault it is that they're under attack and fuming about the fact that he might actually die at sea after finally getting out of the Navy (he's a Captain). Since he figures he's a goner anyway, he whips out his sword "for dramatic effect" and in a rage goes to attack said idiot, but the pitch of the ship prevents the actual attack and he knocks down the guy, effectively getting the latter out of harm's way of a falling mast. After that accidentally he saves everyone from a bomb. Then we see a series of letters from the idiot he had meant to attack, commending Sheridan to the King for his heroic and selfless actions (for which he gets knighted). Hilarious.

A bit further in, there's a heavy petting session between Sheridan and the heroine, Olympia, who is a princess of some tiny country she's never seen but wants to bring them democracy. She's consistently described as "plump," which also goes against the grain of the traditional romance novel heroine, who's usually willowy. In any case, after this session Sheridan's all -- ahem -- worked up, and he says shortly to his valet, "I want the maid. Lily. Lavinia. What the devil's her name?" And the valet's like, "Mary." It's fun to read and I'm sure it was fun to write. Olympia initially thinks Sheridan's a swell guy, hero of the nation, etc. etc., but eventually learns what a bad, bad man he is. And then the fun really starts.

I'd rather be immersing myself in THAT than what I'm currently doing, that's for sure.

1) Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
2) His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik
3) Throne of Jade, Naomi Novik
4) Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
5) Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
6) Jinx, Meg Cabot
7) Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
8) Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?, Louise Rennison
9) My Life in France, Alex Prudhomme
10) Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer
11) Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay
12) Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger
13) Nothing to Envy, Barbara Demick
14) How to Be Popular, Meg Cabot
15) Black Powder War, Naomi Novik
16) Airhead, Meg Cabot
17) Being Nikki, Meg Cabot
18) Runaway, Meg Cabot
19) Empire of Ivory, Naomi Novik
20) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
21) Seize the Fire, Laura Kinsale
22) Victory of Eagles, Naomi Novik
23) Three Incestuous Sisters, Audrey Niffenegger
24) The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Julia Quinn
25) The Lost Duke of Wyndham, Julia Quinn
26) Mr. Cavendish, I Presume, Julia Quinn
27) The Beginning Place, Ursula K. Le Guin
28) Bittersweet Passion, Lynne Graham
29) Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, Sarah MacLean
30) Once & Always, Judith McNaught
31) Greek Tycoon, Inexperienced Mistress, Lynne Graham
32) What Happens in London, Julia Quinn
33) Tongues of Serpents, Naomi Novik
34) My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult
35) Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins

Currently reading:
- The Duke and I, Julia Quinn
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
- The Food of a Younger Land, Mark Kurlansky
- Shanghai Girls, Lisa See
- Shutter Island, Dennis Lehane
- The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson
- Double Crossing (Nancy Drew Supermystery #1), Carolyn Keene
- To Have and To Hold, Patricia Gaffney

On the docket:
- Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
- Peony in Love, Lisa See
- A Cavern of Black Ice, J.V. Jones
- Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey
- Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery
- Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

Gave up:
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen & Seth Grahame