I read a lot of books this year. 147 books to be precise (unless I read another book today making it 148, but that seems unlikely).

I found several new series that I quite enjoyed:
The comic NYX, is a slightly older series that tells the story of three teens who are trying to deal with their mutant status.

Another comic I enjoyed was Madame Xanadu.

Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series was made into a comic with Mercy Thompson: Homecoming. It tells how Mercy came to the tri-city area.

Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler is a supernatural fantasy that is quite different from others out there, as the creatures are more out of folklore than horror.

I also stumbled upon Soulless by Gail Carriger, which is a Victorian fantasy with vampires and werewolves. I love Victorian settings.

Rob Thurman started a new series (at least I hope it’s a new series) with Trick of the Light. I love Trickster characters, so she was going to have to work to not make me like this book. She also had a new book in the Cal Leandros series out, Deathwish.

Faith Hunter’s Skinwalker series was a nice surprise, although I was less enamored with her Rogue Mage series.

If you have not read Sergi Lukyanenko Night Watch series, this is a good time to go back and do so, as Last Watch just came out in English.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines–a nice twist on fairy tale characters. Not quite as good as Fables, which also has a new volume out, with The Dark Ages but both are very good.

Several good anthologies came out in 2009 as well. Mean Streets was one of my favorites, with stories by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, and Thomas E. Sniegoski. With the exception of Laurell K Hamilton’s story (which I didn’t bother to read), Never After was another good anthology, with stories that are twists on the happily ever after theme. The anthology Strange Brew has stories by some of my favorite authors, including Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, and PN Elrod. One of the things I love about good anthologies is they introduce me to new authors, and this series gave me Faith Hunter and her character jane Yellowrock.

Of course I read far more books than these, and lots of books that had been published in previous years, but these are my highlights of 2009.

Check ‘em out!

Being on vacation, it’s easy to lose track of time, so I just realized it’s Wednesday.

For the upcoming new year, today’s word is: ten

I was hoping to be a jester!

Your result for The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test…

The Harlequin

You scored 29% Cardinal, 46% Monk, 47% Lady, and 32% Knight!

Take The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test at HelloQuizzy

Thanks Nathan!

Why it looks like a blog!

(blows dust off top of bookcase)

Looks like someone has been neglecting the place.

As the physical house is getting cleaned today, the likelihood of anything more entertaining appearing here is quite low.

But you’re more than welcome to make yourself comfortable in the interim. Plenty of cookies and legal beverages. Have a seat, pet the cats, just look our for Kat, he’s been pissy lately.

Adeste, fideles, laeti triumphantes;
Venite, venite in Bethlehem.
Natum videte Regem angelorum.

Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine,
Parturit virgo mater,
Deum verum, genitum, non factum.

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus, Dominum.

En grege relicto, humiles ad cunas
Vocati pastores approperant:
Et nos ovanti gradu festinemus.

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus, Dominum.

Stella duce, Magi Christum adorantes,
Aurum, thus, et myrrham dant munera.
Jesu infanti corda praebeamus.

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus, Dominum.

Aeterni Parrentis splendorem aeternum
Velatum sub carne videbimus,
Deum infantem, pannis involutem.

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus, Dominum.

Pro nobis egenum et foeno cubantem
Piis foveamus amplexibus;
Sic nos amantem quis non redamaret?

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”

by Clement Clarke Moore or Henry Livingston

Sorry! Got busy! Forgot it was Wednesday! Made challah instead!

Better late than never?

Whatever.

Word association word is: cookie

I’ve joked for years that most guys I know treat me like the little sister they never wanted.

Now I have further proof.

Over a year ago, I came home to discover a surprise package. Why yes, I did in fact receive six bottles of bird vomit. How lucky am I?

So yesterday, I received yet another package in the mail. Now, before I show you what I receive, you should know that two of my friends also received packages.

Anne is very excited about her package of ramen, and MWT was thrilled to have received a box of sachima.

So what did Michelle receive, may you ask?

Was I this excited about my loot?

(more…)

Don’t forget to celebrate in the traditional way!

Happy solstice!

New poll in the sidebar: what’s your favorite Christmas Carol.

This doesn’t include hymns, which you might sing while caroling. Of course, the last time I remember caroling, was for French club in high school. We went around my French teachers neighborhood, singing French Christmas carols, to her neighbors. Then we went back to her house and had a party.

Anyway, your favorite Christmas carols?

Saturday I cut out sugar cookies and baked them. They still need iced, but that’s for another day.

WVU Alert 12:41 PM

WVU Closed beginning 1:30 pm today until further notice. Updates: wvu.edu

I love snow!

Since the semester is over, and more than half the population of the town is gone, I have a feeling there will be no rush to clear the roads.

Going up the hill…

Going down the hill…

Many furry thanks to Diana who provided fresh, homemade, catnip toys to Kit and Kat!

So. Depression, blah blah blah, upped my meds, blah blah blah.

Same old song and dance there.

What’s new is that Thursday I have an appointment to see if we can figure out what the hell happened to put me in the ER Monday night.

Yes, I feel fine. I felt fine Monday night actually. But I’d like to make sure that this incident was an aberration and not something that is going to need further inquiry.

Also, after following the various medical trials and tribulations of my friend Shawn, I am very glad that I have excellent health care providers, and live in an area where there are a variety of doctors–both general practice and specialists–that I can see.

Sure you don’t wanna move to Morgantown Shawn?

It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for word association.

In honor of my adventures Monday night, today’s word is: emergency

I was looking for a new cookies recipe to try, and when I ran across this one, I remembered that I’d frozen some blueberries this summer, so that meant I had to make the recipe, right?

The recipe was straightforward, however, the cookies took longer than expected to bake, and although they are delicious, they’re sticky and fall apart when you pick them up. But they are really really good, so I’m going to play with the cookie size and baking times to see if I can get things to turn out better.

And definitely use the lemon oil–the lemon flavor makes these cookies.

Blueberry Hill Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp lemon oil
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup toasted coconut
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup semi-frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Blend butter and sugars. Add egg, vanilla, and lemon oil. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Fold in oats, then coconut, then flour.

By hand, fold in blueberries.

Scoop 2 tbsp balls of dough on baking sheets, at least 3 inches apart (the cookies spread a lot).

Bake 14 minutes.

Cool on the cookie sheets for 10 minutes, then finish cooling on a wire rack.

As I said, they were very delicious, but extremely sticky, and completely fell apart. I’ll have to play with the recipe to see if I can get the next batch to hold together better.

From A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman

Spent the weekend making Christmas cookies (most of which are frozen/refrigerated in dough form).

Any requests before I finish up next weekend?

For those who may use and RSS feed for this place (there are legions of you I’m sure), I’ve been tweaking the layout for the site.

I’ve added a temporary snowfall, which was a lot of fun to create I must admit, and I created a new set of banner headers. Refresh and you’ll see a new header (Michael created that php file for me a couple years ago, and is willing to share it if anyone is interested in it.)

All the photos in the headers are mine, and all the manipulations are mine.

This is one of those songs.

Yes, Kit really is that much smaller than Kat.

I came across an article discussing at the results of a study of antidepressants.

The study found that the anti-depressant Paxil (and in theory all SSRIs) do more than alleviate the patient’s depression, it found that the anti-depressant actually changed the personality of those taking the drug.

In the study, people who took Paxil (paroxetine), a selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), had a drop in neuroticism, which is a tendency toward emotional instability and negative mood. They also had an increase in extraversion, which is a tendency toward outgoingness, compared to similarly depressed people taking placebo.

As someone who takes anti-depressants, am I unsure how I feel about this.

The drugs I am changing may well be changing my entire personality, and not just alleviating my depression? Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

Part of me is disturbed by the idea of a personality change, but the greater part of me enjoys being more outgoing, and I definitely prefer being emotionally stable to the alternative. (I’m prone to mood swings anyway, and if they annoy me, I’m sure they’re far worse for those around me.)

So emotional stability is a good thing, and for me, an increase in extroversion is a good thing. But is it possible someone could decide that introversion itself is something that should be treated? Would it be acceptable to treat someone with an SSRI because they are introverted, even if they aren’t depressed? Would an SSRI even affect the introversion of someone who was not depressed?

As usual, I have no answers, only more questions. But for me, I’m pleased with the effect that the anti-depressant I am taking has upon both my mood and personality, so I’ll take that as a good thing.

New poll today – best Christmas song. This does not include hymns or carols, but rather the songs you hear on the radio.

But I’ll take comments for hymns and carols.

What does it say about me that upon seeing the following in my Inbox:

I immediately thought, I hated HIGHLIGHTS! Why do I want a radio station for it?