Lorien1976's blog

Books are back in my life!

I used to be an avid reader, mostly science fiction, but I've branched out a little into non-fiction more recently. And by recently, I mean in the last couple of years. I don't have much time left for reading. Even though work isn't school (so no homework), I seem to have even less free time than ever! Anyway, I've taken a couple weeks holiday which I've started off with a decent cold.Part of me was okay with that because it made me rest, spend some quality time at home, watching TV and catching up on some reading. On a whim, I picked up this book from the bookshop:

Witchling

Yasmine Galenorn

So okay, it's not exactly... what is the word I'm going for? Quality? Maybe. I liked the cover of its sequel, but it's not available yet, so I grabbed the first book. (Yes, I do judge books by the cover.) In a brief review, I'll just call it good time-filler. The kind of book you'd buy at the airport. Actually, the concept is kind of interesting, but I found the writing style a little juvenile, full of unnecessary pop references that felt like the advertising you see "slipped into" Hollywood blockbusters and such. Yes, I get that she likes her clothes and spends money like its water, but do we really need to know that she frequents Starbucks and loves Victoria's Secret? That seriously put me off. The plot itself was okay, but the writing didn't flow easily and I noticed it way too much. Hopefully the sequel shows improvement! One sentence summary: Three sisters with magic powers
 fight a big evil. Can anyone say, "Charmed" rip-off?

So yeah, I read that. Took me about 8 hours to get through it, I think. Probably less, but I wasn't keeping track.

On the other end of the genre, I've returned to this book:

Green Mars (Mars Trilogy)

Kim Stanley Robinson

Which is vastly different, packed with science, mostly geology, but a great deal of physics and biology. Not to mention the politics, social dynamics and psychology. The detail is stunning but really overwhelming, especially when you're nursing a cold and aren't at your sharpest. I'm actually listening to the rest of this on audio book and I find myself zoning out during his descriptions of the changing Mars environment. Still, it's a good story and well-written. The concept is thought out to even the smallest of consequences and in relation to very human characters. I'm looking forward to finishing the trilogy before my holiday is finished.

And that's my update for now!

Listening to:

Songs from the South: The Best of Paul Kelly

Paul Kelly

Watching:

Numb3rs - The Complete First Season

He's just too damn CUTE!

Yeah, yeah, I'm biased, but just LOOK:

Baby gots a new hoodie

*sigh*

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake

For anyone unfamiliar with this modern take on Swan Lake, this performance will come as a shock. Gone are the delicate, feminine swans danced by women poised in their pointe shoes, replaced by strong men, half-naked to the waist, bedecked in feathery shorts and wild, powerful moves. It's not the ballet most people think of when, if, ballet comes to their mind. It's bold and breath-taking. Even when the lead dancer isn't as strong as he should be.

All in all, I loved the show, but there were a few disappointments with the tour version of this ballet. There was no live orchestra. Canned music at a ballet? Logistically, I understand the reasons for it, and there were a few cues that were pretty tight, but still! So having the music piped out through speakers left me a little cold, but I got over it.

Upon entering the Regent Theatre (Melbourne), we were greeted with this sight:

Swan Lake "Title Screen"

The other disappointment, as I alluded to before, was the lead dancer, the swan. In the DVD that I have, Adam Cooper is the Swan and I adore it. The Prince is a minor, and irritating, character in this recording of the ballet. The Swan is all charisma, wild power and animal magnetism. You really understand this swan. Alan Vincent, however, was less convincing, shaky on more than several poses and just not "there." This time, it was the Prince, danced by Dominic North, that really stood out. He was really impressive. Perhaps, being the understudy (we went to the Sunday matinée), he had something to prove. And he did, in spades.

I've seen it on DVD, and while the performance in the recorded version is more polished and has better dancers, it does lack the immediacy of seeing it in person. So despite these minor disappointments, it was a fantastic show and worth every penny my friend spent on it! I'm so happy I was given the opportunity to catch this tour. Bec, if you ever read this blog, THANK YOU.

Indulge me

I love a good sunset and I don't care what kind of cliché that is.

DSCF6816.jpg

Clouds, clouds, clouds at sunset

Clouds, clouds, clouds at sunset

Clouds, clouds, clouds at sunset

I refuse to apologise for this obsession

Clouds, clouds, clouds at sunset

Water drops in sunset light on sunroof

Mmmm, wispy sunset clouds

Finished Quilt Design

Red-irish-quilt

Okay, so I thought about it for a while, and tried a couple options and decided on this way to finish the quilt and bring it up to 100" square. I'm pretty happy with this solution. I just need to figure out if I have enough fabric to do the border in long strips, or do them as 12" squares. Dilemmas, dilemmas.... :)

Quilting Update!

Next step...

I finally finished all the 5x5 blocks!! I couldn't resist going ahead and sewing them into rows, but now I have to stop for a bit and think about whether or not I want to add an extra border to make it big enough for a king size bed.

Man, it's going to take ages to quilt! Good thing it's winter now, I can cozy up underneath it while I work. :)

So yeah, next update will probably be my decision on the design of the quilt. Border? No border? Questions abound!

QotD: Ms. President

Is it likely that the U.S. will have a female president in the near future? In your lifetime? Why?

No way. Ain't gonna happen. First diversion from the standard WASP president would've been JFK, right? And that was shocking at the time, having a Catholic president. Nah, it's unlikely Hilary will become Ms. President. The next step is probably a Jewish man. Then an African-American man. Maybe. But they would have to be extremely rich and powerful already. Or a celebrity. And it would help if they were completely white on the inside, despite outward appearances... kinda like Condoleeza (you know it's true).

This question is like asking whether I think it'll snow in Miami in August.  You know it's true.

QotD: I'd Totally Pig Out

If you could eat anything you wanted, and not have to worry about gaining weight/being unhealthy/inhumane, what would you totally pig out on? 
Submitted by Jay.

This is a tough one, but the first thing that comes to mind is SUSHI!

But then, I also enjoy all types of breakfast foods. And then there's chocolate.

I think the question needs to be modified to include "don't feel sick after continuously eating" so that I could enjoy unlimited amounts of these foods!

New Brushes!

Pentel Aquash

And they're SPECIAL brushes that hold water! Alina Chau mentioned these in a post and I immediately (well, almost) ran out to buy my own!

I'm looking forward to trying them out properly this weekend!

Jesus rides my pencil. Wait. What?

What the? I found this item while shopping today in a bookstore. Apologies for the low quality image, I used my inconspicuous phone camera to capture this without attention.

Jesus Pencil Toppers

I don't get it. It must be a novelty joke; it couldn't be a serious item for religious writers, could it? Could it? And the other question might be, "What possessed the buyer for the book store to stock this item in the first place?" We live in Bizarro Land!

The even better question would be why were they ever made in the first place?? If someone knows the answer to any of the above questions, please enlighten me! I'm serious!

Well, mostly.