Whom the Gods Love (1995) Kate Ross

Alexander Falkland has been killed. His head smashed in with a poker while one of his famous parties rages upstairs. But Alex is the darling of the ton (it took me awhile to figure this one out; the ton is the bon ton, or high society in London) and no one has the faintest idea who would have wanted to kill him. So Malcolm Falkland, Alexander’s father, hires Julian Kestrel to assist Bow Street in this investigation, believing that the darlings of society will talk to Alexander when they wouldn’t talk to Bow Street.

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As I was out of town yesterday, I apologize for posting this a day late.

Memorial Day is the day we are to remember those who fought for our country. This is the day we remember those who fought for our freedom and for justice. This is the day we remember those who gave their lives to so that we might now have:

freedom of speech….
freedom of religion….
freedom of association….
freedom of the press….
the right to keep and bear arms….
the right to keep the military out of our homes….
the right to be secure from illegal search and seizure….
the right to a trial by jury….

Main Entry: freedom
Pronunciation: ‘frE-d&m
Function: noun
1 : the quality or state of being free: as
a: the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
b: liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another : INDEPENDENCE
c: the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous (freedom from care)

Memorial Day
The history of Memorial Day

US Census site for memorial day

http://www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/multimedia/Memorial2004.html
Remember
The Constitution and other historical US documents

But most of all, please remember the 2,466 soldiers who have died in Iraq and the almost 300 soldiers who have died in Afghanistan.

RIP
Harry Houdini, Canine Escape Artist
My parents large, primary, outside dog
1993(?)- 29 May 2006

Harry was most likely a college puppy. Some college student got him, then when he got to be too much trouble, took him outside the city and dumped him.

My parents didn’t want a new dog, but he kept hanging around the house, so eventually my mom bought a bag of generic dog kibble. Harry wouldn’t touch the stuff. So after investing in real dog food, he was then taken to the vet for shots (and other things) and became part of the family.

Years later, when mom was complaining about how finicky Harry had been about his food, Brian said, “Of course he wouldn’t eat generic dog food, I was working at Burger King and bringing him home leftover hamburgers at night.”

…Michael took a LOT of pictures at the Newport Aquarium. Hopefully they turned out well.

A Broken Vessel (1994) Kate Ross

The second Julian Kestrel mystery, A Broken Vessel looks at prostitution in the Victorian age, and the Reclamation houses that existed to recover these women. Julian is introduced to this world through his manservant Dipper, who discovers his lost sister, who is working as a ladybird.

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Green Rider (1998) Kristen Britain

Karigan G’ladheon is on her way home after getting suspended from school when a Green Rider, arrows in his back, comes across her, and begs her to carry his message satchel to the King. Meanwhile, in various spots throughout the kingdom, bad things are happening.

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We’ll teach those Romulans! We’ll build our OWN cloaking device, and make it before we’re capable of interstellar travel!

Almost moving as quickly as the invisibility cloak.

The Writer Beware list of the 20 Worst Literary Agents

• The Abacus Group Literary Agency
• Allred and Allred Literary Agents (refers clients to “book doctor” Victor West of Pacific Literary Services)
• Capital Literary Agency (formerly American Literary Agents of Washington, Inc.)
• Barbara Bauer Literary Agency
• Benedict Associates (also d/b/a B.A. Literary Agency)
• Sherwood Broome, Inc.
• Desert Rose Literary Agency
• Arthur Fleming Associates
• Finesse Literary Agency (Karen Carr)
• Brock Gannon Literary Agency
• Harris Literary Agency
• The Literary Agency Group, which includes the following:
  • Children’s Literary Agency
  • Christian Literary Agency
  • New York Literary Agency
  • Poets Literary Agency
  • The Screenplay Agency
  • Stylus Literary Agency (formerly ST Literary Agency, formerly Sydra-Techniques)
  • Writers Literary & Publishing Services Company (the editing arm of the above-mentioned agencies)
• Martin-McLean Literary Associates
• Mocknick Productions Literary Agency, Inc.
• B.K. Nelson, Inc.
• The Robins Agency (Cris Robins)
• Michele Rooney Literary Agency (also d/b/a Creative Literary Agency, Simply Nonfiction, and Michele Glance Rooney Literary Agency)
• Southeast Literary Agency
• Mrk Sullivan Associates
• West Coast Literary Associates (also d/b/a California Literary Services)

If you’re curious as to why I have posted this, please read this post on Making Light.

Top 75 Heroines of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Horror

Initially I was disappointed, becuase they mostlylooked at women in film, TV, and comics. So it’s somewhat limited in that aspect, but in retrospect, it’s a resonable limitation [Exceptions: Granny Weatherwax (Discworld) & Morgaine (Mists of Avalon)].

Plus, Jadzia Dax [Deep Space Nine] was on the list (#42).

Glaring omission: Zoe [Firefly]. Though she show was on for such a short time, I suppose I can accept that. (since the list was begun in 2004)

(via A Sweet Familiar Dissonance)

Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (2004) Isabel Allende
Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden

Alexander Cold asks his grandmother, Kate, if he can accompany her on her latest expedition for International Geographic, this time to a remote country in the Himalayas. A country nicknamed The Forbidden Kingdom, because of its far location and the fact that very few are allowed to visit each year. Elsewhere in the Himalayas, Dil Bahadur, disciple to the Buddhist monk Tensing, travel and see unexpected wonders, as Dil Bahadur trains and prepares for his future.

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I got some terribly distressing news today at the doctor. They took not just my weight by also my HEIGHT and apparently in my stocking feet I’m only 5′6 1/2″.

THIS IS TERRIBLE!

I’m even shorter than I thought I was. BAH!

(grumble)

(kicking things)

(sulking)

I sent Michael an e-mail with the subject I WANT TO DO THIS!!! followed by a link to this page

His response?

“I will not bail you out of jail.”

Jeesh. He’s no fun at all.

bricolage \bree-koh-LAHZH\
noun
Construction achieved by using whatever comes to hand; also : something constructed in this way

Which immediately made me think of Office Bricolage.

Happy Monday!

So, we watched King Arthur today (I’m really liking this Netflix thing) and I have to say it annoyed me, although not for all the reasons that I saw in the bad reviews. After all, King Arthur is a myth, so I didn’t mind them playing around with the story (after all, I have lots of books that are different takes on the Arthurian legend).

But they did two things that really irked me. First, was to not have Cai, Arthur’s foster brother. But that’s a small thing. So whatever.

Far more annoying was the characters they killed off in the final battle. Of all the knights that could have died, how come they chose only to kill Lancelot and Tristan? I mean, Lancelot and Guinevere is as much a part of Arthurian legend as Excalibur. Seems strange to have ignored that bit. And then there’s Tristan. I mean, we have an OPERA about Tristan and Isolde and King Mark, as well as folklore and tales regarding their affair.

I mean really, to have only those two perish, while the rest of the knights live? Maybe I’m just overly suspicious, but it really seems they were trying to erase the idea of adultery and King Arthur’s knights, by killing off only these knights who were infamous for their love affairs with the wrong women. (And by killing off Lancelot before Arthur’s marraige with Guinevere. Just in case.)

Well, it should once again be safe for vampires to walk around Morgantown during the day.

Dead Beat The Dresden Files Book Seven (2005) Jim Butcher

I had Michael read this book first, so he could warn me if it had a cliffhanger ending. He doesn’t mind being left hanging, whereas I hate it with a passion. But Michael said I’d be okay with this, so I dove right into the seventh Harry Dresden book, which will be the last I’ll read until the 8th book comes out in paperback.

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The Summer Country (2002) James A. Hetley

The deciding factor for buying this book was the fact that there was a blurb by Chares de Lint on the cover. Since I love his writing, I was curious as to what he would like enough to blurb.

Maureen Pierce isn’t quite right. That’s what her family thinks, and it’s what she herself thinks. Walking home from her job as a convenience store clerk one night, she discovers that maybe it’s not all in her head.

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OH MY GOD! THERE’S A GIANT BALL OF FIRE IN THE SKY! IT’S AN ASTEROID! IT’S A METEROR! WE’RE ALL GOING TO…

Oh.

Wait.

It’s the sun. It’s been so long I didn’t recognize it.

The Dragon Queen (2001) Alice Borchardt

Usually when I don’t like a book, there’s something specific I can point to, to say, “THAT horrible thing is what ruined the book for me.” Not so for The Dragon Queen. It was more like the death of a thousand paper cuts. A whole bunch of little things adding up into something I just didn’t enjoy.

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If I hadn’t just woken up from a nap, I’m sure I would be able to come up with a fantastic poster: Motivator

Possibly even better than Demotivators.

(via Whatever)

Rearranging bookshelves requires a will of iron.

Unfortunately, when it comes to books, I have a will of aluminum foil.

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During a break in the rain, I took a few minutes to get some more flower pr0n.

Pansy, Bearded iris, and Broom, all for your viewing pleasure.

My broom is still looking rough. The early snow we got last fall bent many of the stems. But other than that the plant looks great, and I love the color of the flowers.

In case you were considering a visit to Morgantown…
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Cut to the Quick (1993) Kate Ross

Reading the T. F. Banks books put me in the mood for another Victorian mystery, and lucky for me, I had one waiting here to read.

Julian Kestrel is a dandy. He’s making his mark on London society by being a sharp dresser, and the perfect gentleman–even if he doesn’t actually seem to be a gentleman.

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The Black Forest 2 (2005) Todd Livingston, Robert Tinnell, Neil Vokes

I read The Black Forest in January, and liked it. We’d picked up The Black Forest 2, but I’d somehow forgotten we had it, but when I was putting Hellraiser away, I noticed it and picked it up.

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