Random (but not really)

Sunday, February 12, 2006

The Phoenix Guards

The Phoenix Guards (1991) Steven Brust

As is typically the case, once I finished reading the Vlad Taltos books, I felt myself consumed by an overwhelming desire to go back and re-read the other Dragaeran books. That is to say, mention of characters and events in the Vlad Taltos books whetted my appetite for re-reading about events of The Phoenix Guards and the following books.

Let me just say: I love Steven Brust’s writing.

Read More about The Phoenix Guards

Written by Michelle at 4:26 pm    

Comments (0)  Permalink

Categories: Books & Reading  

Saturday, February 11, 2006

You’re Searching for What?

I love going through my referrer logs.

“pictures of salem massachusetts 1788 to 1791”
Because photography was a popular hobby back then

“are british people abel to get skin cancer from sunbeds”
No, the Queen protects the British from skin cancer

“burned down dairy queen in kentucky”
Is burning down Dairy Queen a popular sport in Kentucky?

“a real dinosaur is captured in new zeland”
I’m hoping this is in reference to a short story, otherwise the New Zeland government has some sort of Area 51 for dinosaurs

“is your washroom breeding bolsheviks? propaganda”
Bolshevicks in the washroom? And I thought that the people who didn’t wash their hands were bad

“graph of people getting liposuction”
That’s just really strange

“hard boiled donor egg blog”
Ummm…

Written by Michelle at 2:47 pm    

Comments (2)  Permalink

Categories: Uncategorized  

Friday, February 10, 2006

Fum

Michael is baking bread, which I smelled when I got out of the shower.

My first thought was, Yum! However, my second thought was:

Fee Fie Fo Fum
I smell the blood of an Englishman
Be he live or be he dead
I’ll grind his bones to make my bread

Which then led me to wonder: When you make bread from ground up bones, what do you use as leavening?

Written by Michelle at 9:59 pm    

Comments (0)  Permalink

Categories: Uncategorized  

Some News

So finally some news on the job front. There was a message on the answering machine when we got home, asking Michael to call to set up an interview next week.

Finally! I was actually going to come home this evening and check to make sure the answering machine was working, since it had been three weeks and he hadn’t gotten anything. (And yes, our phone really does ring that infrequently that no one else had left any messages either.)

So, wish him luck for next week, and here’s to hoping that more of those calls come rolling in.

Written by Michelle at 8:33 pm    

Comments (2)  Permalink

Categories: Uncategorized  

Dragon

Dragon (1998) Steven Brust

I really like Dragon. It’s fun, it’s well-written, and I particularly like some of the observations that Vlad makes about life and war.

For the most part, Dragon takes place soon after Taltos, however, a few parts of the story take place after Yendi. And if you think that’s confusing, you’re right.

Read More about Dragon

Written by Michelle at 8:29 pm    

Comments (0)  Permalink

Categories: Books & Reading  

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Orca

Orca (1996) Steven Brust

Set about a year after Athyra, Vlad has wandered into Northport in search of a sorcerer who might be able to cure Sven, the Teckla boy who lost his mind during the events of Athyra. He finds one, however, her price is keeping her from being evicted from her house. To do this, Vlad has to enlist the help of Kiera the Thief, and hope that she holds their friendship higher than the needs of the Jhereg.

Read More about Orca

Written by Michelle at 9:17 pm    

Comments (0)  Permalink

Categories: Books & Reading  

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Athyra

Athyra (1993) Steven Brust

Once you get past the fact that it is not written from Vlad’s point of view, Athyra is a very good book. The story is told from the point of view of Sven. It’s not first person like the other Vlad books, but we know Sven’s thoughts and feelings and impressions as he eventually meets Vlad. It also has several passages from the point of view of Rocza, which I found very interesting. After all, unlike Liosh, she came to Vlad full grown, and is still a wild creature.

Read More about Athyra

Written by Michelle at 6:34 pm    

Comments (0)  Permalink

Categories: Books & Reading  

Head On Up

Learned something new today. Well, it was more of applying something I swiped from somewhere else, but still. (from here)

You will notice if you refresh this page (Ctrl + F5), the header image should change. So now you can see all the different headers I’ve used for this page. And hopefully it will motivate me to make some new ones, so some of the older headers come up less frequently.

I also had to go into my .htaccess file to keep stupid jerks from stealing my images and bandwidth. I had thought that I had set things up to stop hot linking, however, whatever was set up through my hosting service wasn’t working, so I had to go into the .htaccess file to do it. So that should be taken care of as well, however, if you have problems with images loading, please let me know asap. There is always a possibility that my fixes are actually breaks.

(And for those who care, there are actually two types of refreshes you can do. F5 or the refresh button refreshes the content, while Ctrl+F5 Refreshes from the source.)

ADDENDUM the First:
Michael rewrote the PHP file for me, so the images should load much faster now.

Written by Michelle at 12:17 pm    

Comments (2)  Permalink

Categories: Uncategorized  

Boggle

Go to Google Sets.
Type in:
– mow lawn
– do laundry
– buy groceries
Choose Large Set.

In case the list has changed…
(more…)

Written by Michelle at 7:57 am    

Comments (0)  Permalink

Categories: Uncategorized  

Monday, February 6, 2006

Jhereg, Yendi, Teckla, Taltos, Phoenix

Jhereg (1983) Steven Brust

Comfort reading. Those books that you reach for when you’re feeling low, because you know they’re guaranteed to take you away from whatever is bothering you.

That’s the place that Steven Brust holds in my library.

Read More about Jhereg

Yendi (1984) Steven Brust

Yendi is the second book in Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos series, however, in the time line it comes before the first book, Jhereg. Instead of taking off from where Jhereg left off, we go back in time, to when Vlad met Cawti, his future wife.

Read More about Yendi

Teckla (1987) Steven Brust

In case you were thinking that I love absolutely everything that Steven Brust has written, this book is the proof that I don’t.

Read More about Teckla

Taltos (1988) Steven Brust

With great relief I picked up Taltos, which again tells some of Vald’s history, and returns to the tone of the first two books. Taltos is fun and amusing, especially as Vlad and Morrolan get to know each other and learn to work together. It is also interesting to see Vlad’s first impressions of Morrolan and Sethra.

Read More about Taltos

Phoenix (1990) Steven Brust

Chronologically, Phoenix follows Teckla. Verra, the demon goddess, has “work” for Vlad. She wants the king of Greenaere killed, and she refuses to say why. Vlad and Cawti are still at odds, with no reconciliation on the horizon, as Cawti’s actions with the revolutionary group continue to place her in danger, and Vlad’s opposition to anyone harming her places him at odds with the Jhereg.

Read More about Phoenix

Written by Michelle at 8:08 am    

Comments (0)  Permalink

Categories: Books & Reading  

Saturday, February 4, 2006

Comfort Food

As it’s now less than a month until Michael’s office closes, and he hasn’t yet gotten a single call about a job, I’m all about comfort food.

Just got done making lasagna, deviled chicken soup, and chicken pie, most of which will go in the freezer for later. These are some of my favorite foods when I’m down–especially the chicken pie. So I should be good for a few weeks.

Plus, I have leftover bread pudding with whiskey sauce to eat. The only thing missing is Bittersweet Brownies. Maybe some time during the week.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got chocolate and some of my favorite books calling me…

Written by Michelle at 2:17 pm    

Comments (0)  Permalink

Categories: Food  

Deviled Chicken Soup

(more…)

Written by Michelle at 2:09 pm    

Comments (0)  Permalink

Categories: Food  

Chicken Pie

(more…)

Written by Michelle at 1:54 pm    

Comments (2)  Permalink

Categories: Food  

Tag, I’m It

From Tom

Four jobs I’ve had:
Bug Picker, Cook, Information Technology Consultant, Microbiology Laboratory Technician

Four movies I can watch over and over:
The Fifth Element, The Lost Boys, The Princess Bride, Star Wars

Four places I’ve lived:
Baltimore MD, Fayetteville NC, Milwaukee WI, Morgantown WV

Four TV shows I love:
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Firefly, M.A.S.H., Wild Wild West

Four places I’ve vacationed:
Baltimore MD, Cincinnati OH, Fresno CA, Oahu Hawaii

Four of my favorite dishes:
Chicken Pie, Crabcakes, Deviled Chicken Soup, Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Four sites I visit daily:
BBC News, Calvin & Hobbes, The Literacy Site (and its compatriots), Making Light

Four places I would rather be right now:
Sitting somewhere eating and drinking with my friends, Visiting my grandmother, Visiting my Aunt & Uncle, Nowhere else really–I like where I am well enough

Four bloggers I am tagging:
S at Hillbilly Sophisticate, pericat, Winston Smith, anyone who has not already done this.

Now you’re it.

ADDENDUM:
S’s answers are up

Written by Michelle at 1:12 pm    

Comments (4)  Permalink

Categories: Uncategorized  
« Previous PageNext Page »

Powered by WordPress