Pacing

I’m bereft.

I sped through ‘Dead Man Rising’ and now I have to wait until Waterstones deposits the next installment on my front door which is going to take 3 – 5 days.

Dagnammit, why didn’t I pace myself. I have absolutley no discipline.

Now, I am going to have to distract myself with something else when all I want is to get on with the next installment of Dante Valentine’s twisted life. Humph.

Would re-reading the first book again be construed as overkill, obsessive perhaps? Ahh who cares, it’s a story. I’m loving it, I’m gonna re-read it.

 

Perfect Day

I’m just having the most perfect day today.

It’s stormy outside, all black clouds and thunder and the wind is whipping the rain in sheets against my window, and I’m all cosy and warm inside with a cup of coffee, enjoying a fantastic book that is so effortless to read. My budgies are sitting, almost kissing and making little love noises to each other which by the way is just the cutest and I think I have a very good chance at getting the job I interviewed for yesterday.

Some days just don’t get any better.

 

Interview with a ….reader.

I have another interview tomorrow with a well known book-chain. Heh. Anything to feed my addictions.

I am LOVING ‘Working for the Devil’ by Lilith Saintcrow. But after finishing the first book it has put me in a real melancholy mood. I have bought the second one but I am not sure how much I am going to like it. Don’t want to spoil anything but one of the main characters dies at the end and I am not sure how the dynamic of the second book will be without them. However the title, ‘Dead Man Rising’, gives me some hope.

I am now tied between who my favorite urban fantasy couple are. I love Jaz and Vayl from Jennifer Rardins’ Jaz Parks series, but I am now also in love with Dante and Jaf from the Lilith Saintcrow books….not to mention Harry and Murphy from The Dresden Files, who knows if they two will ever get together?

Jaz and Vayl are good for the anticipation since they haven’t really started anything yet, Jaf and Dante are a much more tragic couple. Which I also adore.

I’m just a soppy romantic at heart. I better get happy ending for all couples at the end of the series. If not, I’ll cry. *pout*

Quandry

So now I have the Eternal Cardigan knitted, I’m sort of in a knitting funk. I’m not sure what I want to knit next. I have loads of yarn but not enough to make a large project like a jumper/cardigan but I am a little bored of small projects at the moment. Hats, scarfs and the such. I mean there are only so many accessories a girl can have. Two hats for every day of the week is perhaps excessive.

I don’t want to make toys or baby’s clothes so what….

Perhaps I’ll just catch up on my reading. I have more than enough to keep me going. I think I may have to read Lilith Saintcrow’s  ‘Working For The Devil’ next. I came across her novels from a link on Jennifer Rardin’s website. It looks great. It’s been sitting next to my pillow for over a week now, unloved, unnoticed, unread.

I think now is the time.

Nubbin

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The eternal cardigan is knitted and blocked and currently being painstakingly sewn together. I am anal when it comes to invisible seams etc when constructing a project and this can take the most time but it is worth it. This is going to be really nice when it’s finished.

I cannot wait to get some pictures up.

In other unrelated news, I was at the hospital during the week to have a couple of moles removed, one from my neck the other on the left side of my nose. Yes, I had what looked like the typical witch wart on my nose. It had changed colour and size (read – gotten friggin’ enormous) so I went and had them both lopped of. I am now obsessed with my nose as it looks really strange without it’s little amigo. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to it not being there. Kinda like Chandler’s nubbin. Ah bye-bye dear friend.

I have finished my Lost marathon and moved onto Las Vegas. It has been showing on Sky and I kept catching the last half hour of an episode which is always really annoying. I found myself laughing quite a bit, it really is much more of a comedy than anything else. So, now I am enjoying life at the Montecito. The cast all have great chemistry and the cracks from Danny and Mike are timed to perfection. They make a great double act. I could do without the whole Danny/Mary saga though, she is such a wet friggin’ hen. Get over yourself doll.

Supernatural had a fantastic episode this week, although it wasn’t about zombies like it was advertised. I do not know where that comparison came from. Great reveal at the end and did deliver as a kind of mini-finale just in case they don’t get to produce anymore this season. Ahhh Jensen Ackles how I love thee.

 

 

 

 

Redux

So I got round to watching the season Premiere of Lost and realized I had forgotten everything. To jog the memory, I went back and am watching the first three seasons again.

I know that plenty of people have been hating on Lost, myself included, but I have come to the conclusion that week-to-week episodic viewing of this programme really doesn’t lend itself to the intensity of the story etc. I have been gripped, watching it all, one after the other, and it makes total sense. Also, the answers are starting to appear. Albeit in amongst even more questions.

 So my advice is to watch it in blocks, not week to week. That way you won’t get LOST! (heh)

Lara Croft is a Wuss

I’m sitting here procrastinating cause I need to pluck the eybrows. Yep, it’s that bad! Here is a book review. Sort of.

So starting with Jim Butcher, I have slowly been wooed by the sub-genre of Urban Fantasy. I’m now completely, head over heels in love. Jim pulled me in, got me interested, flirted even. Mike Carey, he got me all hot & bothered, reached second base. But it took a woman, Jennifer Rardin, to seal the deal. Heh.

All jokes aside though, I bought her first book, ‘Once Bitten, Twice Shy‘ after reading glowing reviews all over the blogosphere. It turns out readers are better judges of books than critics. Who’d of thunk, huh? That’s not to say that Jennifer’s series of ‘Jaz Parks’ books haven’t had critical praise because they have, it’s just I never thought of reading actual reader’s reviews before! Stupid me.

Back to the books.

Jennifer Rardin’s books revolve around a smart, sassy, paranoid, crazy and dangerous to know in a ‘Lethal Weapon’ kind of way, female character Jasmine ‘Jaz’ Parks. She works for the CIA with her boss Vayl, who is a vampire. (played in this reader’s imagination by Gerard Bulter…gulp.) Vayl is a good guy who is dispatched around the world to assassinate all manner of bad guys. And more than that I’m not gonna tell you because I want you to read them. Plus you can read the blurb on every website.

With a blend of action, angst, humour and a wee smidgeon of romance (to keep the guys happy) and a spattering of gore (to keep the girls happy) Jennifer Rardin has hit the jackpot. Her characters are complex and colourful while still remaining ‘real’ enough in the context of her universe. There is real character growth over the three books with relationships changing and evolving around the five main players and also the major ‘minor’ characters. Mysterious backstories are interwoven deftly and plots are played out to a gratifying conclusion.

In a nutshell…. Jaz Parks can kick Lara Croft’s ass!

Just do yourself a favour and read them. You will not be sorry. And if you don’t like them, then only sensible reason is that you are a freak, with no heart or sense of humour.

PS. Pop over to Jennifer Rardin’s website and speak to the lady herself. She is one funny dame.

Soppy Cow

So I came home this afternoon, ready to tell everyone about the absolute fortune I have just spent (and saved) shopping at HK Handknts, the yarn store that is closing. However, something has just happened to knock all of that out of my mind.

I got a card through the post today, from Sandra (who is one of my a-ha buddies, although we have never met in the flesh.) I love getting letters in the post which makes me a huge hypocrite as I never send them myself.

Anyway I had a big smile, thinking ‘Oh a letter from Sandra, how sweet!’  Then I opened it to see that it wasn’t just from Sandra but from Sue (Canada), Catherine (US), Kelly (US), Caterina (Italy), Marieke (Netherlands) and finally Sandra (Germany).

I had a bit of a ‘Jonah’ year last year. This little card has made it’s way around the globe collecting happy thoughts and comments from all these amazing women for me. That they took time out of their busy, hectic stressful lives balancing family, work and all manner of things to send me good vibes makes me feel incredibly grateful and humble that I know such splendid people. And that I can count them as friends even though I’m not worth it! Because they all had their fair share of hassles last year as well.

So as I sit here typing and smiling and crying, I just wanted to say to these amazing women, thank you! Your card has done more for me today than a week of a-ha concerts (!) could do and I can’t wait to see each of you in May so I can give each of you a big hug (and probably burst into tears as well..) .

I hope everyone out there has at least one friend in the world as amazing as these six women.

Presenting…..

So this meme has been kicking about for ages and I kept meaning to do it but I had to reload my photo-editing software before I could.

My I present…..

A new exciting group – Girl With A Suitcase with thier debut album, People Who Can’t Read.

I think I may actually start a band just so I could release this! We would be a seven piece, acoustic lo-fi band specialising in beautiful, melodic songs that wrench the heart while leaving you with this unknown sense of well-being.

Tracklist

1. Fight The Dog

2. Strong Man

3. Sleeping & Resting

4. High Enough

5. Honest Effort

6. There Used To Be A Real Me

7. Prepared For Marytrdom

8. Bark Against The Bad

9. Generic Love Song For You

10. Counted Truths

11. Books To The Sky

12. Even For The King

—————————————————————–

Instructions:

You go to each of the links below and follow the directions shown. Then you paste the picture into a photo program, paste it into Paint (or whatever graphics program you use), then write the text of #1 and #2 below on it.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Be sure to send me a link if you do your own!

Excitement

So we got our seating allocation from the pre-sale and we got first row. Oh yes, Steph and I will be front and center at own very own Mange F concert, Morten Harket concert and Savoy concert.

In celebration I was going to blog about how the last time I was front row at a Magne F concert it changed my life because that where I met so many people who have become so ingrained in my life I can’t actually remember when I wasn’t friends with them. How we may not see each other or speak to one another for months or years at a time but when you walk into that concert hall, the smiles and waves and hugs come to you and it’s as if no time has passed at all. Or that I am closer to some of these people and they probably know me better than some of my ‘everyday’ friends because they have seen me in the grip of the mania and they know. They understand cause it belongs to them too. Which make us almost like family.

But all my pictures from that night were taken on a shitty little disposable camera. (I will not make that mistake again.) and didn’t come out.

I am in the process of uploading all my pictures and organising them into some order on Flickr and looking at them and seeing the same old faces set me to reminiscing. 2005-06 was a busy year for us a-ha fans. I went to every concert on UK soil that year. And quite a few abroad as well. I used the excuse that I was working on the a-ha website at the time and had every intention of writing up a tour diary. I did do the first ones but it kinda frazzled.

But I do want to show of some of my fav pics so I might do a little mini-diary and post a daily pic.

Get ready to be bored to tears!

One of the many provocative statues in Vigelands Park in Oslo