General Rambling

To start, some random pimpage:

1) libraholics is a community started by my friends cacophonesque and skirmish_of_wit.  It's for book discussions and such, and it is currently very small.  I recommend it to anyone looking for a new community to join, especially if you have diverse or unique interests in books and like talking about the books you read.

2)  Please sign up for my Gift Exchange.  I will be handing out assignments by the end of the week.  Right now I have enough people to do it nicely, but it would be even better with even more!

And a question:

My father wants books for Christmas.  Only thing is, I'm not sure what to give him.  He wants mysteries or historical fiction, better if it's both.  He's a big fan of The Da Vinci Code, and he likes the Hannibal Lecter books, too.  All of them.  Even the wretched one from last year.  He also likes the Molly Murphy mysteries by Rhys Bowen, Patricia Cornwell, and he liked The Rule of Four. 
Now,  my weekend:

Friday, I went out to Long Island to see my parents.  It was nice, we went to the Grand Old Long Island Steakhouse, Bryant & Cooper & my mother and I shared the Porterhouse. 

Sharing the Porterhouse is something I don't do.  The Porterhouse, for those of you who aren't steakhouse afficionados, is a cut of steak that gives you a little bit of everything and is huge and intended to be shared by at least two people.  But usually, it falls to my mother and my brother to share the Porterhouse, and I get the Filet on my own.  This is the first time we've been to Bryant & Cooper since my brother's been in Minnesota, and the first time I've been there since my parents moved away from Long Island.  In fact, I remember the last time I was there.  It was in Fall, 2003, and I passed out in the restaurant.  They revived me with cranberry juice. 

This time was much more pleasant. 

Then, on Saturday, we went to the mall in Danbury, Connecticut.  This is an hour and a half away, and while there are many nice malls on Long Island, my parents still prefer Danbury for the simple fact that they don't have to put up with Long Islanders.  We shopped quite a bit, but it mostly involved my mother buying things for me, although I did find a couple things for her. 

While shopping, we were in Bath & Body Works to spend a $30 store credit.  My mother wanted to spend it on stocking stuffers for me so she told me to just hang out and wait for her.  So I went to play with the makeup at the makeup counter.  I don't buy makeup frequently, but they have a very nice try-out counter.  There were also several teenaged girls playing with the makeup who obviously weren't buying anything at all.   I tried on one eyeshadow, and a staffmember on the floor comes up to me. 

She: "What colors can I get you?"
Me: "Oh, nothing right now, thank you, I'm just trying things out."
She: "Can I make you some recommendations for winter colors?"
Me: "No, thank you, I'm just looking around for now."
She: "So you don't want to buy anything?"
Me: "Not at the moment?"
She: "Well, this counter is for paying customers."
Me:"Oookay."

She did not do this to any of the teenagers and left them trying on a gazillion pounds of makeup.  I was very frustrated.  If my mother hadn't been paying with a store credit, I would have walked out.

Then, on Sunday, I went out with cacophonesque.  I think we must have the punniest dates ever, because, as she put it in her journal, she gets to have tea with Tea and I get to have a date with Destiny.  So it is very exciting.  We sat and drank many pots of tea and did crafty things and discussed many things and then went to the store, where I bought a new set of my old tarot cards, so that I can have a nice tangible set and not be using online readers anymore.  Yay. 

I came back home, then.

Yesterday, I saw Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.  Guys, this movie was surprisingly good considering the bad reviews it's gotten.  I don't know how many people have seen it because it looks like a kiddie movie and it essentially is and parts of it are quite trite and predictable in the way kiddie movies are but the art direction very much had the feeling of Tim Burton or Lemony Snicket or Jean-Pierre Jeunet on happy pills, or a kind of Pushing Daisies feel to it.  The mise-en-scene freaking rocked and I want a Congreve Cube.  I think I'll make one. 

I think that's all for the moment.  I know I wanted to say more, but I badly need to go to bed

General Rambling

To start, some random pimpage:

1) libraholics is a community started by my friends cacophonesque and skirmish_of_wit.  It's for book discussions and such, and it is currently very small.  I recommend it to anyone looking for a new community to join, especially if you have diverse or unique interests in books and like talking about the books you read.

2)  Please sign up for my Gift Exchange.  I will be handing out assignments by the end of the week.  Right now I have enough people to do it nicely, but it would be even better with even more!

And a question:

My father wants books for Christmas.  Only thing is, I'm not sure what to give him.  He wants mysteries or historical fiction, better if it's both.  He's a big fan of The Da Vinci Code, and he likes the Hannibal Lecter books, too.  All of them.  Even the wretched one from last year.  He also likes the Molly Murphy mysteries by Rhys Bowen, Patricia Cornwell, and he liked The Rule of Four. 
Now,  my weekend:

Friday, I went out to Long Island to see my parents.  It was nice, we went to the Grand Old Long Island Steakhouse, Bryant & Cooper & my mother and I shared the Porterhouse. 

Sharing the Porterhouse is something I don't do.  The Porterhouse, for those of you who aren't steakhouse afficionados, is a cut of steak that gives you a little bit of everything and is huge and intended to be shared by at least two people.  But usually, it falls to my mother and my brother to share the Porterhouse, and I get the Filet on my own.  This is the first time we've been to Bryant & Cooper since my brother's been in Minnesota, and the first time I've been there since my parents moved away from Long Island.  In fact, I remember the last time I was there.  It was in Fall, 2003, and I passed out in the restaurant.  They revived me with cranberry juice. 

This time was much more pleasant. 

Then, on Saturday, we went to the mall in Danbury, Connecticut.  This is an hour and a half away, and while there are many nice malls on Long Island, my parents still prefer Danbury for the simple fact that they don't have to put up with Long Islanders.  We shopped quite a bit, but it mostly involved my mother buying things for me, although I did find a couple things for her. 

While shopping, we were in Bath & Body Works to spend a $30 store credit.  My mother wanted to spend it on stocking stuffers for me so she told me to just hang out and wait for her.  So I went to play with the makeup at the makeup counter.  I don't buy makeup frequently, but they have a very nice try-out counter.  There were also several teenaged girls playing with the makeup who obviously weren't buying anything at all.   I tried on one eyeshadow, and a staffmember on the floor comes up to me. 

She: "What colors can I get you?"
Me: "Oh, nothing right now, thank you, I'm just trying things out."
She: "Can I make you some recommendations for winter colors?"
Me: "No, thank you, I'm just looking around for now."
She: "So you don't want to buy anything?"
Me: "Not at the moment?"
She: "Well, this counter is for paying customers."
Me:"Oookay."

She did not do this to any of the teenagers and left them trying on a gazillion pounds of makeup.  I was very frustrated.  If my mother hadn't been paying with a store credit, I would have walked out.

Then, on Sunday, I went out with cacophonesque.  I think we must have the punniest dates ever, because, as she put it in her journal, she gets to have tea with Tea and I get to have a date with Destiny.  So it is very exciting.  We sat and drank many pots of tea and did crafty things and discussed many things and then went to the store, where I bought a new set of my old tarot cards, so that I can have a nice tangible set and not be using online readers anymore.  Yay. 

I came back home, then.

Yesterday, I saw Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.  Guys, this movie was surprisingly good considering the bad reviews it's gotten.  I don't know how many people have seen it because it looks like a kiddie movie and it essentially is and parts of it are quite trite and predictable in the way kiddie movies are but the art direction very much had the feeling of Tim Burton or Lemony Snicket or Jean-Pierre Jeunet on happy pills, or a kind of Pushing Daisies feel to it.  The mise-en-scene freaking rocked and I want a Congreve Cube.  I think I'll make one. 

I think that's all for the moment.  I know I wanted to say more, but I badly need to go to bed

General Rambling

To start, some random pimpage:

1) libraholics is a community started by my friends cacophonesque and skirmish_of_wit.  It's for book discussions and such, and it is currently very small.  I recommend it to anyone looking for a new community to join, especially if you have diverse or unique interests in books and like talking about the books you read.

2)  Please sign up for my Gift Exchange.  I will be handing out assignments by the end of the week.  Right now I have enough people to do it nicely, but it would be even better with even more!

And a question:

My father wants books for Christmas.  Only thing is, I'm not sure what to give him.  He wants mysteries or historical fiction, better if it's both.  He's a big fan of The Da Vinci Code, and he likes the Hannibal Lecter books, too.  All of them.  Even the wretched one from last year.  He also likes the Molly Murphy mysteries by Rhys Bowen, Patricia Cornwell, and he liked The Rule of Four. 
Now,  my weekend:

Friday, I went out to Long Island to see my parents.  It was nice, we went to the Grand Old Long Island Steakhouse, Bryant & Cooper & my mother and I shared the Porterhouse. 

Sharing the Porterhouse is something I don't do.  The Porterhouse, for those of you who aren't steakhouse afficionados, is a cut of steak that gives you a little bit of everything and is huge and intended to be shared by at least two people.  But usually, it falls to my mother and my brother to share the Porterhouse, and I get the Filet on my own.  This is the first time we've been to Bryant & Cooper since my brother's been in Minnesota, and the first time I've been there since my parents moved away from Long Island.  In fact, I remember the last time I was there.  It was in Fall, 2003, and I passed out in the restaurant.  They revived me with cranberry juice. 

This time was much more pleasant. 

Then, on Saturday, we went to the mall in Danbury, Connecticut.  This is an hour and a half away, and while there are many nice malls on Long Island, my parents still prefer Danbury for the simple fact that they don't have to put up with Long Islanders.  We shopped quite a bit, but it mostly involved my mother buying things for me, although I did find a couple things for her. 

While shopping, we were in Bath & Body Works to spend a $30 store credit.  My mother wanted to spend it on stocking stuffers for me so she told me to just hang out and wait for her.  So I went to play with the makeup at the makeup counter.  I don't buy makeup frequently, but they have a very nice try-out counter.  There were also several teenaged girls playing with the makeup who obviously weren't buying anything at all.   I tried on one eyeshadow, and a staffmember on the floor comes up to me. 

She: "What colors can I get you?"
Me: "Oh, nothing right now, thank you, I'm just trying things out."
She: "Can I make you some recommendations for winter colors?"
Me: "No, thank you, I'm just looking around for now."
She: "So you don't want to buy anything?"
Me: "Not at the moment?"
She: "Well, this counter is for paying customers."
Me:"Oookay."

She did not do this to any of the teenagers and left them trying on a gazillion pounds of makeup.  I was very frustrated.  If my mother hadn't been paying with a store credit, I would have walked out.

Then, on Sunday, I went out with cacophonesque.  I think we must have the punniest dates ever, because, as she put it in her journal, she gets to have tea with Tea and I get to have a date with Destiny.  So it is very exciting.  We sat and drank many pots of tea and did crafty things and discussed many things and then went to the store, where I bought a new set of my old tarot cards, so that I can have a nice tangible set and not be using online readers anymore.  Yay. 

I came back home, then.

Yesterday, I saw Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.  Guys, this movie was surprisingly good considering the bad reviews it's gotten.  I don't know how many people have seen it because it looks like a kiddie movie and it essentially is and parts of it are quite trite and predictable in the way kiddie movies are but the art direction very much had the feeling of Tim Burton or Lemony Snicket or Jean-Pierre Jeunet on happy pills, or a kind of Pushing Daisies feel to it.  The mise-en-scene freaking rocked and I want a Congreve Cube.  I think I'll make one. 

I think that's all for the moment.  I know I wanted to say more, but I badly need to go to bed