No new content here this morning, but I’ve got two new posts up at other webspots.
Over at Required Reading, I’ve got a short review and an interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith. Cynthia writes for children and teens, and her new book Tantalize is a YA urban gothic fantasy. Check it out!
Also, my second post is up at Daily Writing Tips. Enjoy!
By the way, let me know if there are any writing mysteries you’d like to see explained! I’m looking for new post topics.
Reading: Current read is Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith, who so happens to be a sorority sister. Cool! I should finish that today.
Recently finished Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot, the first in her “Heather Wells Mysteries” series. As I’ve said many, many times, Meg Cabot is always a great read.
I also finished Coal Run by Tawni O’Dell. O’Dell writes stories that are set in the general area of PA where I grew up…not precisely where I grew up, but in the “hey, we played them in football” area. She writes really well about tragedy and dysfunction, creating flawed but utterly human characters.
Also continuing to read and enjoy Daredevil.
Watching: I finally watched the last few episodes of Veronica Mars that TiVo saved for me. I liked the last couple of episodes for an end to the season…but if the show doesn’t come back for another? (the CW is still dangling a shred of hope over our heads…) Then the last episode was unmercifully cruel. Bah.
Movies…I haven’t seen a new movie in the last little bit, but Rand and I watched This Film is Not Yet Rated over the weekend. It seems like we watched a whole bunch of stuff, but I’m having trouble remembering what…oh well.
Listening: As you may have noticed, I’ve been on a bit of a Dixie Chicks kick. TiVo recorded their appearance on Austin City Limits, which was pretty cool. I’m still loving “Taking the Long Way.” 🙂
Reading: Coal Run by Tawni O’Dell. Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis. Just finished The Amber Spyglass, will be writing about it soon. On deck: Lisey’s Story by Stephen King.
Watching: 28 Weeks Later (I wasn’t crazy about it); Thank You for Smoking (not sure how I felt about it. I didn’t love it.); Shut Up & Sing (a flawed documentary, but I enjoyed it.)
Lost, Heroes (season finale tonight!!), American Idol (I was wrong…bye bye Melinda. I was sad to see her go, but I suspect it’ll be better for her career in the long run).
I have several episodes of Veronica Mars to watch…I’m bummed about the news that it won’t be coming back next season, but not surprised.
Listening: The Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way. I’m not all the way through the album yet, but I’m loving it. It’s raw, emotional, powerful stuff.
Well, I’ve been busy working…subbing and getting the last of my grading done. I’m almost finished! Woohoo!
People keep asking me what I’m going to do this summer. The answer to that is…um, I have no idea. I’ll be subbing until the last possible day to sub, and my pays are two weeks behind. That’ll get me through to the end of June. I start teaching a college class in mid-July, which will get me through half of July and most of August. So I have a couple of gaps that I’m going to need to fill in…I don’t think I can bring myself to work retail or restaurant again. I suppose I might put my name in at a few temp agencies, but they have so few actual temp positions. Hrm. Suggestions are welcome. 🙂
I hope all the mothers out there had a lovely Mother’s Day. I met my parents in Ellicottville for lunch, which was very nice. My mom and Rand’s mom both got the Mother’s Day calligraphy gifts I had made and posted on my Etsy site. I think they were both pleased.
Yesterday was my Dad’s birthday, which I forgot to mention on the blog, but did not forget to acknowledge. Happy Birthday, Dad!
I finished a couple of books yesterday…As Seen on TV, chicklit by Sarah Mlynowski (borrowed from LT!), and The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. I enjoyed both. I didn’t like The Thief Lord nearly as much as I liked Inkheart, though. Today, I’ve started The Amber Spyglass, the third part of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.
Monday’s Heroes was awesome, of course. I’m both excited and a little sad about next week’s season finale.
Watched Idol last night, and I think maybe Jordin’s going to go this week. I think Melinda’s proven herself to be an incredibly versatile performer over the past few weeks, and she rocks! Also, Blake was very good, and he’s very popular among the young girls. We’ll see how that goes…
Well, I’m finally able to breathe a bit…grades for two classes are DONE. I’m reading portfolios for my third class, started today, and I have plenty of time to finish them. I’m calculating their final grades as I go along. The fourth class finished up their writing exit exams yesterday. I’m in the home stretch!
I’m working today, and I’ve found myself with an extra free period, so I figured I’d share what I’ve been up to in the past week other than grading papers!
Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. Rand and Wolfram made an appearance at Queen City Comics on Main Street.
We started the day with breakfast with Wolfram and his wife Rai-an at Amy’s Place, then headed over to the shop at around 11. The guys played three sets with short breaks in between. Small crowds would gather now and then, and several people bought copies of Super Secret. Emil got us pizza from Just Pizza for lunch, which I didn’t realize how much I’d missed until that moment. Later, I was browsing a discount rack in the shop and came across a fun Alias book (a book about the tv show, not the comic). It came with a bonus DVD and has a full episode guide–something the box set is missing. I was contemplating buying it when Emil told me to take it as a gift. Aw…thanks, Emil!
Saturday evening, we met up with jennimi and Scott for dinner at Anchor Bar, and then went to see the Shredd & Ragan Comedy Fest. The Comedy Fest featured Mike Birbiglia, a very, very funny comedian. He was the reason we went. The rest of the so-called fest featured Evil Jim (who really shouldn’t ever do stand-up…eep.), Tom Tran (very funny) and Matt Bergman (pretty funny).
On Sunday, we spent some time visiting Rand’s brother and SIL and their new baby, Aiden.
What a little cutie, eh?
The rest of the week has been kind of a blur. I finished reading The Golden Compass and am nearly finished with The Subtle Knife. I’m really, really liking them. Heroes and Lost both rocked my world this week. I was unsurprised that LaKisha was voted off of Idol this week. (by the way…TiVo is the best thing EVER. I can zip through an episode of AI in 20 minutes.) Yoga continues to be amazing.
There’s probably more, but that’s gonna be it for now, I think. Back to class for me.
Happy Friday, everyone!
This is fun! I don’t really like the sidebar widget, but here’s a peek at what I’m reading (and what I’ve read):
Weird.
A few days ago, I randomly received a book in the mail. Now, Rand and I both frequently order books and have book-shaped packages delivered on a regular basis, but this one wasn’t anything either of us had ordered.
It came from the Annenberg Public Policy Center. If anyone has the slightest clue as to how this happened, I’d love to hear it.
One bit of coolness–it has original cartoons by Signe Wilkinson, a political cartoonist I enjoy. 🙂
Reading: For as busy as I’ve been, I’ve certainly found time to read lately. I’ve kind of put other projects on hold for the time being, but I squeeze in reading whenever I can. Here’s what I’ve been up to…
Buffy Season 8 (issue 3)–Rand picked this up for me on his weekly comics-buying venture. I’m enjoying it quite a bit. The first issue was bumpy, but it’s now settling into a great rhythm.
Fray — Joss Whedon’s story of a future slayer. I read this in pretty much one sitting, and I was so disappointed to find out that there was no more Fray. Boo! It did tell a complete story, but left you with the implication that there was more to come. Ah, maybe one day.
The Last Unicorn –When I was maybe 10 or so, the movie version of The Last Unicorn ran on HBO. My dad taped it for me, and I remember loving it. I watched it over and over and over again. It wasn’t until years later that I realized it was based on a book. Recently, I came across a used copy of the book and picked it up. It was interesting how the story came back to me as I read. It’s a lovely and sad fairy tale, and it was as good as I remember. After finishing the book, I promptly went to the Conlan Press website and ordered the 25th anniversary edition DVD. (orders from this website directly benefit the author.) I can’t wait to see it again!
Twisted –The new novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. I loved it, and I will be posting in more detail on my book blog.
I’ve also just started The Golden Compass, which I somehow missed out on when I was younger. So far, I’m loving it!
Watching: Well, American Idol, of course…it was Bon Jovi week, after all! 😉 I thought Jordin’s performance was one of the weakest this week, but I didn’t think there was any way she was going to be sent home. I was right.
I actually kinda liked Blake’s funky hip-hop beatbox version of You Give Love a Bad Name. It was certainly brave, and no one can accuse him of not “making it his own.”
LaKisha and Melinda both rocked the songs they chose. Melinda even made me like Have a Nice Day, which I hated when I heard it on the radio. (I did not purchase that album. I think the last one I bought was Bounce, which didn’t do a whole lot for me.)
I thought the audience chose wisely, with Phil and Chris going home this week.
I liked the new Bon Jovi song. Maybe I’ll buy the new album when it comes out…
This week’s Heroes and last week’s Lost both made me squee with delight! I did not watch last night’s Lost yet.
Kind of randomly, TiVo started recording early episodes of Family Ties, so Rand and I have been watching those. That’s been interesting. 😉 It’s been a little while since I’ve watched any movies.
Listening: I recently listened to Ryan Fitzsimmons’ Open All Night. I enjoyed it very much.
As always, I’m open to suggestions!
Rand bought this book a while back on a recommendation. He never read it, so eventually, I picked it up and started reading. Just so I don’t have to explain the setup, here’s the book description from Amazon:
In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet which will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question the meaning of being “human.” When the lone survivor of the expedition, Emilio Sandoz, returns to Earth in 2059, he will try to explain what went wrong… Words like “provocative” and “compelling” will come to mind as you read this shocking novel about first contact with a race that creates music akin to both poetry and prayer.
The cast of characters is large, but The Sparrow is primarily the story of Sandoz, the Jesuit priest who is the only survivor of the mission to Rakhat. The author, Mary Doria Russell, is a paleoanthropologist. She uses the species that the humans encounter to explore ideas that wouldn’t have been possible for humans to explore on earth. This is her first novel, and it’s not without its problems, but overall, I thought it was stunning.
At first, I thought this was going to be a difficult novel to read. As I got into it, though, I found I had no trouble following the juxtaposed storylines and keeping track of all the characters. Russell builds suspense very well, keeping readers interested in finding out not what happened, but how.
I was thinking about Star Trek’s prime directive as I was reading…the prime directive is a pledge to not interfere with the “healthy development of alien life and culture.” While on Rakhat, the team does something seemingly harmless that ends up throwing the alien cultures into turmoil. I had to chuckle when I read the discussion questions at the end of the book, and one of them directly addressed the prime directive.
I read the book’s final pages a weeping, blubbering mess. The Sparrow was a sad and beautiful exploration of humanity, love, faith, and family. While it was science fiction, I don’t think that you need to be a SF fan to appreciate it. I’m very interested in hearing from others who have read this book, because I’d love to discuss it further.
The semester is rapidly coming to an end, and so I’ve been busybusy with class-type things. And after today, I have a big ol’ pile of papers to grade, so I’ll be even more busy. Phew!
I am teaching a class again this summer, and I’ll be needing to figure out how to make enough $ to sustain me in the in-between times. (from when school ends in June until the summer session starts, and from when the summer session ends until I start getting paychecks in the fall.)
I had my second yoga class last night, and I am loving it. I’m looking into getting myself a yoga mat of my very own.
I just began reading The Sparrow, which I’ve heard nothing but good things about. The downside is that it’s a 405-page book, and I’m finding myself wanting to do nothing but readreadread. I’ve finished several YA selections in the past couple of weeks, which you can see over at Required Reading. (or not. I can’t seem to get the link to work. you can get there from my About page, if you care. Or try this.)
I loved Heroes this week, and I’m eagerly anticipating next week’s episode! I haven’t watched last night’s Lost yet, but I’m also looking forward to that.
And with that, I’m off to read. Or grade. But probably read…