You may have noticed, friends, that I haven't been around these here parts as much as usual in the past few weeks.
The reasons behind this are threefold:
1. 12WBT
Sometimes I feel like exercising and cooking and exercising some more takes up all my time, and by the end of the day? I kind of just want to collapse in a heap and not use my brain.
2. VEDA
Yeah, I don't even know how this happened. I uploaded a video on April 1st, and then a bunch of my friends were all "WE'RE DOING VEDA!!" and I figured that I'd unintentionally started doing VEDA anyway, so I may as well keep going. Of course, given that I'm also on the Snark Squad channel every week for Segue Magic, this means I'm currently posting EIGHT videos a week. Hahahahaha ohgod. It's a lot of videos. And between shooting and editing and watching other people's videos? Yeah, it eats into what little time is left once I finish all that exercising and cooking nonsense.
(But, like, if you want to see me wibbling about books even more than usual, you should probably check out my VEDA videos...)
3. I GOT A FREAKING JOB!!!!!!!!!!
That's right, friends. I found the Holy Grail - a full time job in my field. Okay, so it's only a 12 month contract, but STILL. I start tomorrow morning, and I'm kiiiiiiiiiiiind of terrified because it's been forever since I've had to be a responsible adult on a full time basis. But it'll be FINE. In a terrifying but-I-already-don't-have-time-to-blog kind of a way.
And hey - I have an insanely long commute to get to work, so maybe if I can reach a point where my brain in capable of constructing sentences at like 7.30am, I'll write blog posts on my phone instead! Maybe. We'll see.
I'll get back into the swing of adulthood eventually, so this definitely isn't goodbye. Hell, VEDA will be over in another week and a bit, which will give me at least an extra hour a day to play with. But if I'm not around for a little while? That's why.
What's new with you guys?
K xx
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
2014 - Year in Review
And so we come to New Year's Eve. Another year over, as John Lennon would say in one of the most depressing Christmas songs of ever. And I honestly have no idea what I've done with this year. Other than reading 275 books, that is.
It's been a pretty mixed year for me. Yes, I travelled and read and hung out with my niece. But I also spent a lot of time feeling useless and rudderless and getting absolutely nowhere with my quest to find a job in my field.
But let's focus on the good stuff, because even I don't want to think about the bad stuff. I went to England and Portugal and Canberra (one of these things is not like the others). I not only completed but coordinated (along with Emily) VEDA. I gave up on Vlogmas half way through because other things got in the way, but I coordinated that too.
I successfully completed NaNoWriMo, although I have yet to actually finish the novel I wrote 52,000 words of during November.
I got to spend a couple of weeks with my little brother, several days with my BFF Sara, and I got to meet Willie and hang out together in London. And yes, I will eventually get around to telling you about the rest of my trip.
I cemented some fabulous friendships with wonderful people that I've never met before.
We finally finished recapping Buffy and Angel over on Snark Squad. We started recapping Dawson's Creek and Doctor Who. And I convinced Anna to join me in recapping Supernatural, a thankless task that I'm regularly on the struggle bus with.
I learnt that Phantom Eye is a thing, and that Alice In Wonderland syndrome is oddly fascinating. And I survived without seeing any pictures of eyeballs with pencils/arrows/whatever hanging out of them, for which I am eternally grateful.
I saw Les Miserables and The Book of Mormon live on stage.
I finished (sort of) my 101 in 1001.
I joined Mediavengers (which I promise I'll write more content for in the new year).
I hung out with this dork a lot, and it was fabulous.
And I had a job, albeit part time, for the entire year when I was expecting it to only last for first term. Plus, I'll be back there next year, which was unexpected but pretty exciting.
So it wasn't the best year ever. But it still had plenty of highlights. Here's to a 2015 that features lots of fun and good times, at least a little bit of a travel, and the end to my job hunting woes.
Happy New Year, friends.
K xx
It's been a pretty mixed year for me. Yes, I travelled and read and hung out with my niece. But I also spent a lot of time feeling useless and rudderless and getting absolutely nowhere with my quest to find a job in my field.
But let's focus on the good stuff, because even I don't want to think about the bad stuff. I went to England and Portugal and Canberra (one of these things is not like the others). I not only completed but coordinated (along with Emily) VEDA. I gave up on Vlogmas half way through because other things got in the way, but I coordinated that too.
I successfully completed NaNoWriMo, although I have yet to actually finish the novel I wrote 52,000 words of during November.
I got to spend a couple of weeks with my little brother, several days with my BFF Sara, and I got to meet Willie and hang out together in London. And yes, I will eventually get around to telling you about the rest of my trip.
I cemented some fabulous friendships with wonderful people that I've never met before.
We finally finished recapping Buffy and Angel over on Snark Squad. We started recapping Dawson's Creek and Doctor Who. And I convinced Anna to join me in recapping Supernatural, a thankless task that I'm regularly on the struggle bus with.
I learnt that Phantom Eye is a thing, and that Alice In Wonderland syndrome is oddly fascinating. And I survived without seeing any pictures of eyeballs with pencils/arrows/whatever hanging out of them, for which I am eternally grateful.
I saw Les Miserables and The Book of Mormon live on stage.
I finished (sort of) my 101 in 1001.
I joined Mediavengers (which I promise I'll write more content for in the new year).
I hung out with this dork a lot, and it was fabulous.
And I had a job, albeit part time, for the entire year when I was expecting it to only last for first term. Plus, I'll be back there next year, which was unexpected but pretty exciting.
So it wasn't the best year ever. But it still had plenty of highlights. Here's to a 2015 that features lots of fun and good times, at least a little bit of a travel, and the end to my job hunting woes.
Happy New Year, friends.
K xx
Monday, October 13, 2014
Things I've learnt today
So today I started doing some work for a family friend, tracking down articles that he needs for a super impressive medical textbook that he's working on. It's basically document delivery, but with a better job title (research assistant). Which is pretty cool. Except, you know, for the fact that he happens to be an eye surgeon and I kind of sort of have eyeball phobia...
But that's not really going to be a problem until I get to the point where I have to photocopy articles from print journals. And even then, I'm sure I can do it with an extreme case of squinting to see as little as possible. But that's Future Kirsti's problem. Sucker.
For now, I present to you a list of things I learnt today:
1. Proquest is the enemy
Unlike the other databases I was using, Proquest is all "GUESS WHAT? THIS ARTICLE HAS PICTURES. SEE??????" in the search results. Obviously, I spent the rest of the day going "Please God let it be available in Not-Proquest.
2. It's easier than you'd think to type in a document title with one hand.
The other hand was covering my eyes so that I didn't see the medical pictures. And lest you think this only apply to eyeballs, NOPE. I did the same when there were weird pictures of intestines too.
3. Doctors will find it hilarious when you cover your eyes so you can't see the pictures.
I guess when you have to dissect a human corpse in class and you look at the insides of organs all day, pictures don't seem so bad. In contrast, when the most you do in class is play with nineteenth century ceramic fragments, medical pictures are pretty gross.
4. There are some weirdly named diseases out there.
I'm looking at you, Alice in Wonderland syndrome.
5. But they're oddly fascinating.
I WANT TO KNOW ALL ABOUT IT. But I don't want to read the articles because there might be pictures. (As far as I understand it from the abstracts, you think that your body is much bigger or smaller than it actually is.)
6. Phantom Eye is a thing.
It's like Phantom Limb, but with eyes. WHO KNEW?!
7. If an article title features the words "self-inflicted", stop reading.
Seriously. You don't want to know. The rest of the title will be traumatic. Don't even think about reading the abstract.
8. You will misspell ALL THE WORDS.
Ophthalmology. Schizophrenia. Munchausen's. Just to name a few...
9. You'll find articles you REALLY WANT TO READ. But ohgod the pictures.
For example, I stumbled across one with some sensationalist title like "She bit off more than she could chew". It was about a woman who ate some sushi, then ended up with a gastroenterological condition. I started reading it because I really wanted to know what she ended up with. But then page two featured a thousand pictures of her intestines and I had to cover my eyes and click away. And then of course when Ness was all "SEND IT TO ME, I'LL READ IT!!!", I had no idea what journal it was in, so now I'll never know. Sigh.
10. Ridiculous text message conversations with old friends are the best.
This may seem unrelated, but I promise it's not. Somehow, a "how did your day go?" conversation turned into mock-writing a Mills & Boon style romance novel involving phantom eye:
"Stand back," Brent cried in his manly voice, "It might explode!"
"Honestly, Brent," Tammy replied. "You really must see someone about your phantom eye."
"No Tammy," he whispered whilst gently tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "I can't go back to that place. The flashbacks of my eye surgery are just too painful." A single tear dropped from his deep blue (good) eye and coursed through the dust on his face. Dust from the explosion he predicted, despite having a phantom eye.
"Oh Brent!" Tammy cried. "You've saved us all! Thank Heavens your phantom eye came with clairvoyance!"
"Oh Tammy," Brent murmured whilst nuzzling her neck, "You have no idea..."
You're welcome, internet. You'd never know that between us we have over 12 years of university education, would you??
So. How was your day? Did you learn anything new and unexpected?
K xx
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| Add caption |
But that's not really going to be a problem until I get to the point where I have to photocopy articles from print journals. And even then, I'm sure I can do it with an extreme case of squinting to see as little as possible. But that's Future Kirsti's problem. Sucker.
For now, I present to you a list of things I learnt today:
1. Proquest is the enemy
Unlike the other databases I was using, Proquest is all "GUESS WHAT? THIS ARTICLE HAS PICTURES. SEE??????" in the search results. Obviously, I spent the rest of the day going "Please God let it be available in Not-Proquest.
2. It's easier than you'd think to type in a document title with one hand.
The other hand was covering my eyes so that I didn't see the medical pictures. And lest you think this only apply to eyeballs, NOPE. I did the same when there were weird pictures of intestines too.
3. Doctors will find it hilarious when you cover your eyes so you can't see the pictures.
I guess when you have to dissect a human corpse in class and you look at the insides of organs all day, pictures don't seem so bad. In contrast, when the most you do in class is play with nineteenth century ceramic fragments, medical pictures are pretty gross.
4. There are some weirdly named diseases out there.
I'm looking at you, Alice in Wonderland syndrome.
5. But they're oddly fascinating.
I WANT TO KNOW ALL ABOUT IT. But I don't want to read the articles because there might be pictures. (As far as I understand it from the abstracts, you think that your body is much bigger or smaller than it actually is.)
6. Phantom Eye is a thing.
It's like Phantom Limb, but with eyes. WHO KNEW?!
7. If an article title features the words "self-inflicted", stop reading.
Seriously. You don't want to know. The rest of the title will be traumatic. Don't even think about reading the abstract.
8. You will misspell ALL THE WORDS.
Ophthalmology. Schizophrenia. Munchausen's. Just to name a few...
9. You'll find articles you REALLY WANT TO READ. But ohgod the pictures.
For example, I stumbled across one with some sensationalist title like "She bit off more than she could chew". It was about a woman who ate some sushi, then ended up with a gastroenterological condition. I started reading it because I really wanted to know what she ended up with. But then page two featured a thousand pictures of her intestines and I had to cover my eyes and click away. And then of course when Ness was all "SEND IT TO ME, I'LL READ IT!!!", I had no idea what journal it was in, so now I'll never know. Sigh.
10. Ridiculous text message conversations with old friends are the best.
This may seem unrelated, but I promise it's not. Somehow, a "how did your day go?" conversation turned into mock-writing a Mills & Boon style romance novel involving phantom eye:
"Stand back," Brent cried in his manly voice, "It might explode!"
"Honestly, Brent," Tammy replied. "You really must see someone about your phantom eye."
"No Tammy," he whispered whilst gently tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "I can't go back to that place. The flashbacks of my eye surgery are just too painful." A single tear dropped from his deep blue (good) eye and coursed through the dust on his face. Dust from the explosion he predicted, despite having a phantom eye.
"Oh Brent!" Tammy cried. "You've saved us all! Thank Heavens your phantom eye came with clairvoyance!"
"Oh Tammy," Brent murmured whilst nuzzling her neck, "You have no idea..."
You're welcome, internet. You'd never know that between us we have over 12 years of university education, would you??
So. How was your day? Did you learn anything new and unexpected?
K xx
Monday, October 6, 2014
A good idea at the time
Back in about June, I went to book my tickets to London and discovered that Qantas was in the process of changing their daily flight from Melbourne to London. Instead of leaving at like 3pm, it was moving to an 11pm departure. This seemed pretty much perfect for me, because I was planning on working on the 8th September and then flying out on the 9th. But now? I could work on the 8th AND fly out on the 8th! GENIUS.
Except then the 8th September actually arrived, and it suddenly seemed like not such a fabulous idea...
It probably didn't help that the day didn't get off to a great start - I got up to discover that I hadn't successfully cancelled our food delivery as I'd thought, and that there was a bag sitting on the front doorstep containing four litres of milk, a loaf of bread, 500g of beef mince, and a packet of cheese slices. Luckily, everything except the milk could go in the freezer or survive unopened until I got home, but I had to cart the stupid milk to work with me. And it turns out that four litres of milk is surprisingly heavy...
Work, thankfully, went smoothly. Although I feel like this contextless post-it note that I found on the floor summed up my feelings about the day quite well:
After work, I raced home, spent half an hour on the phone to Little Miss A while she did her reading, watered the gardens (of course Melbourne would experience flash floods the following day, meaning that I could have saved myself 45 minutes of watering. SIGH.), finished packing, showered, realised I was going to miss the tram, frantically Googled the bus timetable, ran out the door with my suitcase, ran back when I realised I'd left my laptop cord behind, shoved the cord into my backpack while attempting to lock the front door, ran to the bus stop (which, thankfully, is outside the house next door), and spent the next five minutes wondering if I'd missed the bus or not. Thankfully, I hadn't.
Once on the bus, I promptly began panicking that I'd left 15,000 things behind (I hadn't) and that I'd forgotten to put the alarm on (I hadn't). I got to the train station without any issues, and reorganised my backpack while waiting for the train. Once in the city, it was off to the airport bus. Luckily, there weren't many people heading that way, so I could practice standing on the right of the escalator in preparation for the Tube.
Eventually, I made it to the airport and checked in without any issues. Then I headed to McDonald's and bought some chips because I couldn't make it through emigration and security without eating SOMETHING. Once through all of that nonsense, I got Rickrolled by Melbourne Airport Duty Free, then went and ordered some proper food, which turned out to be a vegetarian pizza that tasted like bacon, something that really shouldn't be a thing...
Eventually, I was on the plane and ready for almost 24 hours trapped in a metal cylinder. WHEEEEEEEEEE. Luckily, Qantas apparently loves Marvel almost as much as I do, so I spent a decent chunk of the trip watching Marvel movies - X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I also could have watched Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 2, or Iron Man 3. But I figured three Marvel movies in a 24 hour period was probably enough. (I did also watch non-Marvel stuff, but most of it wasn't worth mentioning. Except Chef. That was great.)
The flight was...rather more exciting than anticipated. There was a 20-something girl sitting across the aisle from me who turned out to be insanely claustrophobic, so a couple of hours into the flight, she had a full blown panic attack and spent the next two hours of the flight lying on the floor by the bathrooms while her parents hovered awkwardly. Eventually, they decided to move her and her parents to a bulkhead row so that they had some more space, but because the flight was basically full, this meant having to move some people.
Said people were flying on staff tickets, one of the conditions of which is that you can be bumped at any time. But despite this, they threw a massive hissy fit and complained for like 20 minutes at the top of their lungs. At 3am while the entire plane was trying to sleep. Even after one of the staff had coldly explained to them the conditions of their tickets and informed them that everyone was trying to sleep, they still complained for another 10 minutes or so at the top of their lungs. So that was suuuuuuuuuuper fun. Still, I managed to get about five hours' sleep, which wasn't too bad, all things considered.
After approximately a hundred million years and a two hour layover in Dubai, we landed at Heathrow, where I promptly discovered that in the 27+ hours since I left home, my mascara had gone from freshly applied to this:
Luckily, I realised before I went through passport control or they may not have let me in the country... From there, I walked approximately a thousand kilometres to the Tube and made my way to my little brother, C's, office. I don't think the fancy pants receptionist downstairs was expecting someone in day-old clothes dragging a suitcase, because she looked a little perplexed before reluctantly giving me a visitor's badge. And then the receptionist at C's company had to try and get in touch with him by 14 different methods because he wasn't answering his phone. (It turned out he was shooting the breeze by the photocopier. Obviously...)
Eventually, we headed back to C's place and I was able to shower which was possibly the most exciting thing of ever. And then we headed out for a walk along the canal in the hopes that the last remaining sunlight of the day (after landing at 1.30, I didn't get to C's office until 4.00) would help my body clock to adjust. After nearly being run over by bikes for half an hour, we abandoned that plan in favour of food, and headed to a nearby pub for dinner.
Once there, I promptly decided to kickstart my holiday in fine form:
Which backfired once I realised that I'd just drunk most of a pint of cider without having eaten in about 8 hours, and I rapidly hit fight-the-urge-to-sleep-on-the-table territory... I rallied with the help of cheese fries and managed to stay awake long enough to get back to C's house and watch some TV before collapsing into bed at about 10.00.
And really, I think that's quite enough for one post! Next time, I brave the mean streets of London without a safety net.
K xx
Except then the 8th September actually arrived, and it suddenly seemed like not such a fabulous idea...
It probably didn't help that the day didn't get off to a great start - I got up to discover that I hadn't successfully cancelled our food delivery as I'd thought, and that there was a bag sitting on the front doorstep containing four litres of milk, a loaf of bread, 500g of beef mince, and a packet of cheese slices. Luckily, everything except the milk could go in the freezer or survive unopened until I got home, but I had to cart the stupid milk to work with me. And it turns out that four litres of milk is surprisingly heavy...
Work, thankfully, went smoothly. Although I feel like this contextless post-it note that I found on the floor summed up my feelings about the day quite well:
Loading
After work, I raced home, spent half an hour on the phone to Little Miss A while she did her reading, watered the gardens (of course Melbourne would experience flash floods the following day, meaning that I could have saved myself 45 minutes of watering. SIGH.), finished packing, showered, realised I was going to miss the tram, frantically Googled the bus timetable, ran out the door with my suitcase, ran back when I realised I'd left my laptop cord behind, shoved the cord into my backpack while attempting to lock the front door, ran to the bus stop (which, thankfully, is outside the house next door), and spent the next five minutes wondering if I'd missed the bus or not. Thankfully, I hadn't.
Once on the bus, I promptly began panicking that I'd left 15,000 things behind (I hadn't) and that I'd forgotten to put the alarm on (I hadn't). I got to the train station without any issues, and reorganised my backpack while waiting for the train. Once in the city, it was off to the airport bus. Luckily, there weren't many people heading that way, so I could practice standing on the right of the escalator in preparation for the Tube.
Eventually, I made it to the airport and checked in without any issues. Then I headed to McDonald's and bought some chips because I couldn't make it through emigration and security without eating SOMETHING. Once through all of that nonsense, I got Rickrolled by Melbourne Airport Duty Free, then went and ordered some proper food, which turned out to be a vegetarian pizza that tasted like bacon, something that really shouldn't be a thing...
Eventually, I was on the plane and ready for almost 24 hours trapped in a metal cylinder. WHEEEEEEEEEE. Luckily, Qantas apparently loves Marvel almost as much as I do, so I spent a decent chunk of the trip watching Marvel movies - X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I also could have watched Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 2, or Iron Man 3. But I figured three Marvel movies in a 24 hour period was probably enough. (I did also watch non-Marvel stuff, but most of it wasn't worth mentioning. Except Chef. That was great.)
The flight was...rather more exciting than anticipated. There was a 20-something girl sitting across the aisle from me who turned out to be insanely claustrophobic, so a couple of hours into the flight, she had a full blown panic attack and spent the next two hours of the flight lying on the floor by the bathrooms while her parents hovered awkwardly. Eventually, they decided to move her and her parents to a bulkhead row so that they had some more space, but because the flight was basically full, this meant having to move some people.
Said people were flying on staff tickets, one of the conditions of which is that you can be bumped at any time. But despite this, they threw a massive hissy fit and complained for like 20 minutes at the top of their lungs. At 3am while the entire plane was trying to sleep. Even after one of the staff had coldly explained to them the conditions of their tickets and informed them that everyone was trying to sleep, they still complained for another 10 minutes or so at the top of their lungs. So that was suuuuuuuuuuper fun. Still, I managed to get about five hours' sleep, which wasn't too bad, all things considered.
After approximately a hundred million years and a two hour layover in Dubai, we landed at Heathrow, where I promptly discovered that in the 27+ hours since I left home, my mascara had gone from freshly applied to this:
 |
| "Who the hell is Bucky?". Also, source. |
Eventually, we headed back to C's place and I was able to shower which was possibly the most exciting thing of ever. And then we headed out for a walk along the canal in the hopes that the last remaining sunlight of the day (after landing at 1.30, I didn't get to C's office until 4.00) would help my body clock to adjust. After nearly being run over by bikes for half an hour, we abandoned that plan in favour of food, and headed to a nearby pub for dinner.
Once there, I promptly decided to kickstart my holiday in fine form:
Loading
Which backfired once I realised that I'd just drunk most of a pint of cider without having eaten in about 8 hours, and I rapidly hit fight-the-urge-to-sleep-on-the-table territory... I rallied with the help of cheese fries and managed to stay awake long enough to get back to C's house and watch some TV before collapsing into bed at about 10.00.
And really, I think that's quite enough for one post! Next time, I brave the mean streets of London without a safety net.
K xx
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Update all the updates
Sooooo. It's been a while since I've talked about anything besides books and movies, huh? I guess that means it's time to give you guys a few updates on some stuff that's happening...
1. WE FINISHED ANGEL OMG
Yes, a couple of weeks ago, we officially posted our very last Angel recap over on Snark Squad. Since then, we've wrapped things up and, while I still have one more video to make on my own channel because Lor and Sweeney were dirty cheaters and changed the rules after I'd made my wrap-up videos, we are FINISHED with the Buffyverse. Which is crazy exciting.
But don't fret - you'll still see plenty of me over on Snark Squad. We're nearing the end of season 1 of Supernatural, and I'm working on TWO super secret projects over there as well. One will launch next week, while the other won't go live until October. But we've already started writing because we're weirdos like that.
2. I'M GOING TO ENGLAND OMG
That's right, I've booked a plane ticket and I'm heading to Old Blighty for three weeks in September! Well. More like two and a bit weeks in England and five or six days in Portugal, but whatever. It's pretty damned exciting either way. There will be all kinds of family shenanigans, and I plan on catching up with/meeting some of my favourite people. It's going to be pretty interesting, I suspect. Especially as I haven't been to the UK in 12 years, and on that particular occasion I spent all of about six hours in London!
3. I JOINED MEDIAVENGERS OMG
So after an increasing amount of weirdness and insanity on Tumblr, my BFF Kim decided that she was going to move MediAvengers to Blogger and reinvent it. And she asked me to join her, which UM DUH. So you can now find me over there on the regular, being all meta about the media pieces that Kim creates around Marvel Cinematic Universe events and characters wheeeeeee. No, but seriously. Check it out. It's pretty cool.
4. I'M GOING TO CANBERRA OMG
Not QUITE as exciting as some of the other news in this post, but Mum and I are heading up to Canberra next weekend for a few days to catch up with people and meet new babies and probably freeze to death. And to go to the bakery in Holbrook, because that's pretty much the only reason to spend seven hours on the Hume Highway...
5. I HAVE A JOB UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR OMG
Admittedly, it's only one day a week, but that's better than zero days a week! And a year working in the one place definitely looks better on my CV than two months or four months, so YAY.
6. I FINALLY FINISHED WATCHING CHARMED OMG
It only took me the better part of seven months to get through eight seasons!! And one of these days, I'll actually get around to blogging about seasons 4-8 to fit in with the ones I've already done... But for now? I've very happily moved onto Friday Night Lights. Although I don't think I'll be sharing All The Thoughts about that one. Mostly because it seems far too much like hard work!
So. What's new with you guys?
K xx
1. WE FINISHED ANGEL OMG
Yes, a couple of weeks ago, we officially posted our very last Angel recap over on Snark Squad. Since then, we've wrapped things up and, while I still have one more video to make on my own channel because Lor and Sweeney were dirty cheaters and changed the rules after I'd made my wrap-up videos, we are FINISHED with the Buffyverse. Which is crazy exciting.
But don't fret - you'll still see plenty of me over on Snark Squad. We're nearing the end of season 1 of Supernatural, and I'm working on TWO super secret projects over there as well. One will launch next week, while the other won't go live until October. But we've already started writing because we're weirdos like that.
2. I'M GOING TO ENGLAND OMG
That's right, I've booked a plane ticket and I'm heading to Old Blighty for three weeks in September! Well. More like two and a bit weeks in England and five or six days in Portugal, but whatever. It's pretty damned exciting either way. There will be all kinds of family shenanigans, and I plan on catching up with/meeting some of my favourite people. It's going to be pretty interesting, I suspect. Especially as I haven't been to the UK in 12 years, and on that particular occasion I spent all of about six hours in London!
3. I JOINED MEDIAVENGERS OMG
So after an increasing amount of weirdness and insanity on Tumblr, my BFF Kim decided that she was going to move MediAvengers to Blogger and reinvent it. And she asked me to join her, which UM DUH. So you can now find me over there on the regular, being all meta about the media pieces that Kim creates around Marvel Cinematic Universe events and characters wheeeeeee. No, but seriously. Check it out. It's pretty cool.
4. I'M GOING TO CANBERRA OMG
Not QUITE as exciting as some of the other news in this post, but Mum and I are heading up to Canberra next weekend for a few days to catch up with people and meet new babies and probably freeze to death. And to go to the bakery in Holbrook, because that's pretty much the only reason to spend seven hours on the Hume Highway...
5. I HAVE A JOB UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR OMG
Admittedly, it's only one day a week, but that's better than zero days a week! And a year working in the one place definitely looks better on my CV than two months or four months, so YAY.
6. I FINALLY FINISHED WATCHING CHARMED OMG
It only took me the better part of seven months to get through eight seasons!! And one of these days, I'll actually get around to blogging about seasons 4-8 to fit in with the ones I've already done... But for now? I've very happily moved onto Friday Night Lights. Although I don't think I'll be sharing All The Thoughts about that one. Mostly because it seems far too much like hard work!
So. What's new with you guys?
K xx
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
TTT - Banned and challenged books
This week is a freebie topic, and I'm usually pretty awful at coming up with my own topic for these things. You'd think that given how much I love books and lists, I'd be good at marrying the two together, but apparently not. I dithered around with half a dozen topics, and eventually decided that it was a good opportunity to talk about books that are regularly banned or challenged in school and public libraries, particularly in the US.
I don't know what it is about the US, but y'all love to ban you some books. Good Lord... Australia's not entirely innocent either - American Psycho is still banned in Queensland and can't be purchased or borrowed by under 18s in all other states - but the American Library Association records about 500 challenges or requests for bans each year. If you want to find out more, you can click here. As always, all images are from Goodreads.
1. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
This is STILL consistently in the top 10 banned and challenged books every year. You'd think after 50-plus years - and after the Civil Rights movement - that people would be used to its contents, but apparently not. SIGH. It's gone from being contentious for discussing rape to being contentious for using racial slurs. And look, I get it. But you can't rewrite and sanitise history. Plus, it opens up discussion opportunities in the classroom about racial inequality at the time and in the present. Which is far more valuable than giving kids a boring, politically correct book to read.
2. Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
This was a big one back in the early 2000s, with parents regularly complaining to librarians and teachers that the book promoted Satanism and was against family values and was anti-Christian blah blah blah. Oh my God, get the giant stick out of your arse and just be happy that your child is reading, will you? Some of the most religious people I know adore everything about this series. So quit burning it (seriously) already.
3. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
Seriously, people?? It was already heavily edited by her father prior to publication, and people are STILL complaining about it? And before you go thinking that this was contentious a million years ago, NOPE. Last year. Apparently a parent decided that Anne being all "Huh. I have a vagina" was too pornographic for her daughter to handle. Her DAUGHTER. Yup. That happened.
4. Looking for Alaska - John Green
This one doesn't get banned because of Alaska's fate. Oh no. It's contentious because it's basically considered a "gateway drug" to lewd behaviour because it features teenagers drinking and smoking and making out and swearing. WHATEVER IS THE WORLD COMING TO??? Teenagers NEVER do any of those things in the real world, right??? *headdesk*
5. 1984 - George Orwell
Another one that falls into the "Seriously?? We're STILL challenging this??" pile. This one was banned outright in the USSR, and is still regularly challenged or banned in US schools for being pro-communist (ironic, considering it was banned in the biggest communist country on earth) or anti-government. Um. So it's anti-government, but it's still pro-government, just not the government you approve of? My head hurts. Just let your kid read the damned book already.
6. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
So you don't want your kid reading a book about rape, I get it. But considering 1 in 6 women will be sexually assaulted in their lives and considering I've heard stories of many MANY boys complaining that the raped protagonist is "whiny and should just get over herself", it's essential that books like this remain in libraries, schools and classrooms, regardless of its controversial content.
7. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Again, I totally understand why it gets challenged. It's an incredibly violent series with some pretty horrific concepts in it. And, thanks to the movies, younger and younger kids are wanting to read them. But there are ways around it rather than just demanding that they be banned outright. I work in a primary school library, used by kids from age 6 to age 12. We have The Hunger Games series, but they're kept behind the circulation desk and are only loaned out to kids who are mature enough to handle the subject matter at the discretion of the librarian. Demanding that it be banned is an excessive reaction, especially in a high school library!
8. Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher
So...you want to ban a book about suicide for being a book about suicide? Um. What. Look, I get that it's serious subject matter. But teenagers need to know that their actions can have major consequences, that something that seems insignificant to them can be a huge deal to someone else. And this book shows that perfectly.
9. Letters from the Inside - John Marsden
This one was pretty contentious in Australia back in the early to mid-90s. It's the story of the pen pal friendship between two teenage girls, one of whom is in prison and the other of whom has a seriously creepy older brother. It's pretty dark, and I can understand why people didn't want their lower secondary kids reading it. But the fact remains, sometimes family members ARE insanely creepy and you DO need someone to talk to about it, even if that person happens to be in prison.
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
Look, this wasn't one of my favourite books. I found it pretty meh, to be perfectly honest. But I can understand why a lot of teenagers adore it. It tackles a lot of difficult subjects simultaneously, including child abuse and same sex relationships, so it's understandable that parents aren't too keen on their kids reading it. But the fact remains, it's a coming-of-age novel, and every teenager will likely find SOMETHING in there that they relate to personally.
Which of these have you read? Do you think they should be banned in schools?
K xx
Friday, March 21, 2014
What.
I had plans to write a proper post today, but I spent two hours this afternoon cleaning tape residue off book shelves at work using nothing more than eucalyptus oil and paper towels. As a result, I smell like a eucalypt forest, I have a terrible headache, and my brain has melted into a puddle.
So instead, I shall present you with this, which I discovered while putting out the new books display at work today:
Yes, that's what you think it is.
And yes, it's 100% as cracked out as you would expect.
It is MAGICAL. And I kind of wish I could be a fly on the wall when various small children take it home and insist on it being their bedtime story non-stop for the next two weeks... I also wish that Norway would make Ylvis their contestant for Eurovision. Because that would be BRILLIANT.
What's the weirdest thing you've seen today?
K xx
So instead, I shall present you with this, which I discovered while putting out the new books display at work today:
Yes, that's what you think it is.
And yes, it's 100% as cracked out as you would expect.
It is MAGICAL. And I kind of wish I could be a fly on the wall when various small children take it home and insist on it being their bedtime story non-stop for the next two weeks... I also wish that Norway would make Ylvis their contestant for Eurovision. Because that would be BRILLIANT.
What's the weirdest thing you've seen today?
K xx
Friday, February 14, 2014
Things they don't teach you in library school
So you guys know that I finished my Masters in library stuff last year. Over the past few months of working and volunteering, it's occurred to me that there's a bunch of stuff that my Masters didn't prepare me for but probably should have. As well as a bunch of stuff that was COMPLETELY SUPERFLUOUS INFORMATION AND GENERALLY A WASTE OF MY TIME. But let's focus mostly on the former, shall we?
Things I Wish They'd Taught Me In Library School
1. How to contact books.
When you're at the start of a roll of contact, it's pretty straightforward. (You know, unless you suck at contacting things and get bubbles everywhere) But when you're getting towards the end and all the contact wants to do is roll up on itself? It's a bitch and a half. Today, I had to use four pairs of scissors to weight down the corners. And a fifth pair to actually cut it. There should really be an entire subject on how to wrangle that stuff.
2. How to not squeal like an excited six year old when you come across a book that you loved as a kid and had forgotten about.
Last week's examples of this? The Bugalug's Bum Thief, aka the only Tim Winton book I've ever liked. Pagan In Exile, aka the book that contains my favourite blasphemous curse ("Christ in a cream cheese sauce!"). Come Over To My House, which is sadly out of print now, probably because it straddles a fine line between YAY DIFFERENT CULTURES and extreme cultural insensitivity...
3. There may be cockroaches.
Look, there may be cockroaches ANYWHERE, really. But when you're in a building populated by small children who like to drop crumbs and that's full of dark crevices? You will encounter them more than you would like.
4. How to not scream about said cockroaches in front of a room full of prep kids.
File under: things that would have been really handy last year when a huge cockroach fell out of a picture book and onto my foot.
5. You will always feel dusty.
Go look at your bookshelf. See how dusty the books are (even if you read/dust them regularly)? Multiply your book collection by several hundred and you'll start to understand. Always carry hand cream.
6. You WILL giggle hysterically while reshelving because some books have awful covers.
7. The system will only freeze/play up when you have a queue of 25 six year olds staring at you expectantly with piles of books in their hands.
True story.
8. You won't need to know how to MARC code.
Okay, sure, if you get a job as a cataloguer, MARC coding might be a handy skill to have. But for the vast majority of us, you can just go ahead and copy catalogue that shit. And if worst comes to worst, Google what 245 |a means.
9. Knowing your collection is more important than knowing Dewey numbers.
People are going to come in and say "Do you have any books about [for example] dragons?". Saying "Probably. Go check 398.2454 and see what you find!" isn't nearly as helpful as "Are you looking for fiction or non-fiction? If it's the former, we have Harry Potter, Eragon, the Temeraire series or The Hobbit. If it's the latter, we've got books on dragons in western culture, in Chinese culture, in Meso-American culture (though strictly speaking those are feathered serpents), in art, in literature, and in Dungeons & Dragons. Where would you like to start?"
That said, the Dewey Decimal Rap is pretty great:
10. Your patrons will crack you up more than you expect.
My favourite is still the kid who said to his friend "You know, pee is 90% water and 10% malaria", but the kid today who yelled "LET HER EAT HER APPLE IN PEACE!" at her friends who were watching me through the library window was equally hilarious.
Plus, on my first day? I discovered that a kid had shoved a book about the five senses ("Feeling with the fingers") in the puberty section. Said title took on a WHOLE different meaning.
Patrons totally make the dust and the cockroaches and the mysteriously sticky books worth it.
What elements of your job did university not prepare you for?
K xx
Things I Wish They'd Taught Me In Library School
1. How to contact books.
 |
| So. Much. Contact. |
2. How to not squeal like an excited six year old when you come across a book that you loved as a kid and had forgotten about.
Last week's examples of this? The Bugalug's Bum Thief, aka the only Tim Winton book I've ever liked. Pagan In Exile, aka the book that contains my favourite blasphemous curse ("Christ in a cream cheese sauce!"). Come Over To My House, which is sadly out of print now, probably because it straddles a fine line between YAY DIFFERENT CULTURES and extreme cultural insensitivity...
3. There may be cockroaches.
Look, there may be cockroaches ANYWHERE, really. But when you're in a building populated by small children who like to drop crumbs and that's full of dark crevices? You will encounter them more than you would like.
4. How to not scream about said cockroaches in front of a room full of prep kids.
File under: things that would have been really handy last year when a huge cockroach fell out of a picture book and onto my foot.
5. You will always feel dusty.
Go look at your bookshelf. See how dusty the books are (even if you read/dust them regularly)? Multiply your book collection by several hundred and you'll start to understand. Always carry hand cream.
6. You WILL giggle hysterically while reshelving because some books have awful covers.
 |
| I question your definition of "great" |
 |
| Her heart says "yes", her eyes say "murder" |
 |
| Friendship and demonic possession |
7. The system will only freeze/play up when you have a queue of 25 six year olds staring at you expectantly with piles of books in their hands.
True story.
8. You won't need to know how to MARC code.
Okay, sure, if you get a job as a cataloguer, MARC coding might be a handy skill to have. But for the vast majority of us, you can just go ahead and copy catalogue that shit. And if worst comes to worst, Google what 245 |a means.
9. Knowing your collection is more important than knowing Dewey numbers.
People are going to come in and say "Do you have any books about [for example] dragons?". Saying "Probably. Go check 398.2454 and see what you find!" isn't nearly as helpful as "Are you looking for fiction or non-fiction? If it's the former, we have Harry Potter, Eragon, the Temeraire series or The Hobbit. If it's the latter, we've got books on dragons in western culture, in Chinese culture, in Meso-American culture (though strictly speaking those are feathered serpents), in art, in literature, and in Dungeons & Dragons. Where would you like to start?"
That said, the Dewey Decimal Rap is pretty great:
10. Your patrons will crack you up more than you expect.
My favourite is still the kid who said to his friend "You know, pee is 90% water and 10% malaria", but the kid today who yelled "LET HER EAT HER APPLE IN PEACE!" at her friends who were watching me through the library window was equally hilarious.
Plus, on my first day? I discovered that a kid had shoved a book about the five senses ("Feeling with the fingers") in the puberty section. Said title took on a WHOLE different meaning.
Patrons totally make the dust and the cockroaches and the mysteriously sticky books worth it.
What elements of your job did university not prepare you for?
K xx
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
101 in 1001 update
I now have a slightly terrifying 60-something days left of my challenge, and there is no way in hell that I'm going to complete the remaining things on the list. However, a large number of them require money to complete, and when I wrote the list, I was kind of working on the assumption that I would be gainfully employed for the duration of the challenge, rather than for almost none of it...
I haven't yet decided what to do about the ones that I can't complete due to lack of funds. I might roll them over to the next list, or I might just feel guilty about not completing them. Or maybe I'll try and achieve them in a half arsed, cheater-y fashion. I just don't know...
ANYWAY. Let's talk about some of the stuff that I've crossed off or progressed in recent months but haven't updated you on.
6. Watch the AFI Top 100 Movies 2007 edition.
I've crossed another five titles off the list - On the Waterfront, Chinatown, Shane, Apocalypse Now and 12 Angry Men - and the only one I really enjoyed was 12 Angry Men, which was brilliant from start to finish. I didn't mind Chinatown or On the Waterfront. Shane was kind of dull, and Apocalypse Now was so long and painful that it made me want to shoot myself. Also, the water buffalo scene nearly made me vomit. So...yeah. That brings the total to 47. A bunch of the ones that are left are kind of hard to find, so I REALLY doubt that I'm going to finish this by 1 April...
7. Go out for New Year's.
I'm not sure what possessed me to put this on the list, because crowds freak me out, drunk people are annoying as all hell, and getting home would be insanely expensive and a total nightmare. Still, I left the house on New Year's Eve and went to see Desolation of Smaug with Deidre and her husband. Getting home required me to go through the (already packed) city centre, so TECHNICALLY I went out for New Year's. Although by midnight, I was at home and watching Iron Man. Because reasons.
9. Write a short story/novel.
I'm going to go ahead and count the 2,000-ish word one shot fic that I wrote a while back as a short story. Sure, it's kind of cheating, but it's a story and it's short so...yeah.
21. Get a job.
I honestly didn't expect it to take this long, but I HAVE A JOB!! Technically, I only have a job one day a week for the next ten weeks. But it might turn into something more permanent (emphasis on MIGHT) and it's better than the nothing I had before, right??
39. Clean out my closet.
DONE. With an extensive amount of help from Little Miss A and her insistence on me doing a fashion parade of the "maybe" pile, I got rid of a truly terrifying amount of stuff:
40. Go to ten new museums.
I was sitting on 8/10 before I went to New Zealand, and went to the Kaori Museum, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and Te Papa while I was in the land of the long white cloud. Done and dusted AND stretch targeted.
45. Go on a roadtrip.
I've been on numerous trips to Canberra over the past two and a half years, as well as several day trips around Florida last January. However, I think our jaunt around New Zealand fits the bill most appropriately for this one. Sure, we knew where we were staying every night, but we took our time, stopped off at look outs, navigated from questionable maps, and generally made the most of things. Plus, there was one day where we had literally no plans, and just drove wherever we felt like. We ended up driving about 500km and I got sunburnt in the car. OBVIOUSLY.
68. Go hiking.
Okay, so it wasn't overnight or carrying a tent or whatever. But I wore hiking boots, carried a Goretex jacket, water and provisions. So I'd say that "tramping" in Tongariro National Park totally counts. Full story to come. Eventually...
79. Buy an expensive piece of jewellery for my 30th.
Yeah, the "expensive" part kind of got left by the wayside due to funding issues. But I *did* buy myself a ring not long after my birthday, so I say it counts.
#96 - Save all coins smaller than 50c and go shopping at the end
Last time I gave you an update on this, I had $14. I think I'm now up to about $30. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, SHOPPING SPREE!!!!!! Oh wait...
99. Try 5 new cocktails.
I'd already crossed four of these off the list, two of which were completely disgusting. The fifth, however? AMAZING. If you're ever at the Chateau Tongariro, I highly recommend having a Black Forest hot chocolate in the lounge.
51 down, 5 in progress, just over two months to go. Um, eek?
K xx
I haven't yet decided what to do about the ones that I can't complete due to lack of funds. I might roll them over to the next list, or I might just feel guilty about not completing them. Or maybe I'll try and achieve them in a half arsed, cheater-y fashion. I just don't know...
ANYWAY. Let's talk about some of the stuff that I've crossed off or progressed in recent months but haven't updated you on.
6. Watch the AFI Top 100 Movies 2007 edition.
I've crossed another five titles off the list - On the Waterfront, Chinatown, Shane, Apocalypse Now and 12 Angry Men - and the only one I really enjoyed was 12 Angry Men, which was brilliant from start to finish. I didn't mind Chinatown or On the Waterfront. Shane was kind of dull, and Apocalypse Now was so long and painful that it made me want to shoot myself. Also, the water buffalo scene nearly made me vomit. So...yeah. That brings the total to 47. A bunch of the ones that are left are kind of hard to find, so I REALLY doubt that I'm going to finish this by 1 April...
7. Go out for New Year's.
I'm not sure what possessed me to put this on the list, because crowds freak me out, drunk people are annoying as all hell, and getting home would be insanely expensive and a total nightmare. Still, I left the house on New Year's Eve and went to see Desolation of Smaug with Deidre and her husband. Getting home required me to go through the (already packed) city centre, so TECHNICALLY I went out for New Year's. Although by midnight, I was at home and watching Iron Man. Because reasons.
9. Write a short story/novel.
I'm going to go ahead and count the 2,000-ish word one shot fic that I wrote a while back as a short story. Sure, it's kind of cheating, but it's a story and it's short so...yeah.
21. Get a job.
I honestly didn't expect it to take this long, but I HAVE A JOB!! Technically, I only have a job one day a week for the next ten weeks. But it might turn into something more permanent (emphasis on MIGHT) and it's better than the nothing I had before, right??
39. Clean out my closet.
DONE. With an extensive amount of help from Little Miss A and her insistence on me doing a fashion parade of the "maybe" pile, I got rid of a truly terrifying amount of stuff:
40. Go to ten new museums.
I was sitting on 8/10 before I went to New Zealand, and went to the Kaori Museum, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and Te Papa while I was in the land of the long white cloud. Done and dusted AND stretch targeted.
45. Go on a roadtrip.
I've been on numerous trips to Canberra over the past two and a half years, as well as several day trips around Florida last January. However, I think our jaunt around New Zealand fits the bill most appropriately for this one. Sure, we knew where we were staying every night, but we took our time, stopped off at look outs, navigated from questionable maps, and generally made the most of things. Plus, there was one day where we had literally no plans, and just drove wherever we felt like. We ended up driving about 500km and I got sunburnt in the car. OBVIOUSLY.
68. Go hiking.
Okay, so it wasn't overnight or carrying a tent or whatever. But I wore hiking boots, carried a Goretex jacket, water and provisions. So I'd say that "tramping" in Tongariro National Park totally counts. Full story to come. Eventually...
79. Buy an expensive piece of jewellery for my 30th.
Yeah, the "expensive" part kind of got left by the wayside due to funding issues. But I *did* buy myself a ring not long after my birthday, so I say it counts.
#96 - Save all coins smaller than 50c and go shopping at the end
Last time I gave you an update on this, I had $14. I think I'm now up to about $30. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, SHOPPING SPREE!!!!!! Oh wait...
99. Try 5 new cocktails.
I'd already crossed four of these off the list, two of which were completely disgusting. The fifth, however? AMAZING. If you're ever at the Chateau Tongariro, I highly recommend having a Black Forest hot chocolate in the lounge.
51 down, 5 in progress, just over two months to go. Um, eek?
K xx
Friday, December 27, 2013
2013 Book Wrap Up
You guys know I love all things books, so when I saw that Emily was doing a wrap up of her 2013 reading, I knew I had to jump on the band wagon!!
1. How many books have you read this year?
At the moment, it's sitting on 168. I'm 98% through another one, and about a quarter of the way through a second, so it'll be at least 170 by the time New Year's Eve rolls around next week!
2. What book surprised you the most?
Probably Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity, because it's one of those books that's got a major plot twist that's managed to remain a secret to the uninitiated despite being hugely popular.
3. What book were you most disappointed in?
It's a tie between Buffy season 8 volume 8 - Last Gleaming, and Kelley Armstrong's Thirteen. The first because it was just SO COMPLETELY AWFUL (as I already discussed last week), and the second because it felt decidedly average in comparison to all the other books in the series, and left me feeling like the series deserved a better ending than it got.
4. Did you start any new series?
Did I ever!
- Kate Daniel series by Ilona Andrews
- The Cahill Witch Chronicles by Jessica Spotswood
- Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch
- Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
- Wilfair series by Alysia Gray Painter
- Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi
- The Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken
- The Fifth Wave series by Rick Yancey
- Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray
- The Vicious Deep series by Zoraida Cordova
- Gone series by Michael Grant
- Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
- Virals by Kathy Reichs
- Matched by Ally Condie
- Finishing School by Gail Carriger
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
- Ashfall by Mike Mullin
5. Did you finish any series?
Not nearly as many as I started, but I did finish a few. I'm not counting those ones where I'm currently up to date with the published books but there are others in the pipeline!
- Women of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong
- Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness
- Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray
- Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth
- Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce (reread)
- The Ellie Chronicles by John Marsden
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 8 by Joss Whedon et al.
- Harry Potter by JK Rowling (reread)
6. What was your favourite book cover of the year?
I don't tend to pay that much attention to covers, and as a result they don't really play much of a role in whether or not I read something (unless they're half-naked-people covers in which case they tend to go right back on the shelf). That said, the cover of These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner is GORGEOUS.
7. What was the best non-fiction book you read?
I read almost no non-fiction this year. I think it's a product of having used my Kindle a lot more, and also frequenting the library a lot - non-fiction usually takes me a while to get through and I like to have it in physical copy. The best one I read was the book based on the gallery I worked on in Canberra, and I feel biased saying that because I'm listed as a contributing author. So I'll go with what I'm currently rereading - Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City.
8. What are you currently reading?
As I just mentioned, I'm rereading The Devil in the White City. I've been trying to do more rereading in the past couple of months, just because it seems like forever since I read some of my favourites. I'm also about to finish Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberley McCreight.
9. Any reading goals for 2014?
I'd like to reach 175 books again, like I did last year, because it seems like a nice round number (I swear, if I could read another 7 books before the end of this year, I would be THRILLED. 170 isn't the same...) and I'm not sure I can successfully reach 200, unless I cheat and read a whole lot of really short books...
Other than that, I have plans to record how many pages I read each day, just for the hell of it.
10. What books are you looking forward to in 2014?
Oh my God, there are so many series that are due to finish next year that I can't wait to get my hands on. Fairlwil by Alysia Gray Painter, for starters. Plus Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, and Clariel by Garth Nix. I'm also insanely excited about Rainbow Rowell's Landline, because of reasons. Plus, Libba Bray's Lair of Dreams.
11. What other books deserved a shout out?
The Wilfair series, which I give almost constant shoutouts to. But you guys, it's just SO DANGED CUTE. Also the Kate Daniels series, J. Meyers' Anywhere, Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, and Sarah Tregay's Love and Leftovers. Yes, the last is a verse novel, which I wasn't expecting and which I still don't know how I feel about. But it was pretty damned fabulous.
12. Your top three books of 2013.
You have no idea how hard this was, you guys. But I think I'm going to have to go with Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity, Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, and Garth Nix's Newt's Emerald.
If you want to see everything I've read this year, you can click here. And feel free to add me as a friend on Goodreads too!
Now go write your own post and link up with Emily!
K xx
1. How many books have you read this year?
At the moment, it's sitting on 168. I'm 98% through another one, and about a quarter of the way through a second, so it'll be at least 170 by the time New Year's Eve rolls around next week!
2. What book surprised you the most?
Probably Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity, because it's one of those books that's got a major plot twist that's managed to remain a secret to the uninitiated despite being hugely popular.
3. What book were you most disappointed in?
It's a tie between Buffy season 8 volume 8 - Last Gleaming, and Kelley Armstrong's Thirteen. The first because it was just SO COMPLETELY AWFUL (as I already discussed last week), and the second because it felt decidedly average in comparison to all the other books in the series, and left me feeling like the series deserved a better ending than it got.
4. Did you start any new series?
Did I ever!
- Kate Daniel series by Ilona Andrews
- The Cahill Witch Chronicles by Jessica Spotswood
- Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch
- Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
- Wilfair series by Alysia Gray Painter
- Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi
- The Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken
- The Fifth Wave series by Rick Yancey
- Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray
- The Vicious Deep series by Zoraida Cordova
- Gone series by Michael Grant
- Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
- Virals by Kathy Reichs
- Matched by Ally Condie
- Finishing School by Gail Carriger
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
- Ashfall by Mike Mullin
5. Did you finish any series?
Not nearly as many as I started, but I did finish a few. I'm not counting those ones where I'm currently up to date with the published books but there are others in the pipeline!
- Women of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong
- Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness
- Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray
- Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth
- Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce (reread)
- The Ellie Chronicles by John Marsden
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 8 by Joss Whedon et al.
- Harry Potter by JK Rowling (reread)
6. What was your favourite book cover of the year?
I don't tend to pay that much attention to covers, and as a result they don't really play much of a role in whether or not I read something (unless they're half-naked-people covers in which case they tend to go right back on the shelf). That said, the cover of These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner is GORGEOUS.
7. What was the best non-fiction book you read?
I read almost no non-fiction this year. I think it's a product of having used my Kindle a lot more, and also frequenting the library a lot - non-fiction usually takes me a while to get through and I like to have it in physical copy. The best one I read was the book based on the gallery I worked on in Canberra, and I feel biased saying that because I'm listed as a contributing author. So I'll go with what I'm currently rereading - Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City.
8. What are you currently reading?
As I just mentioned, I'm rereading The Devil in the White City. I've been trying to do more rereading in the past couple of months, just because it seems like forever since I read some of my favourites. I'm also about to finish Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberley McCreight.
9. Any reading goals for 2014?
I'd like to reach 175 books again, like I did last year, because it seems like a nice round number (I swear, if I could read another 7 books before the end of this year, I would be THRILLED. 170 isn't the same...) and I'm not sure I can successfully reach 200, unless I cheat and read a whole lot of really short books...
Other than that, I have plans to record how many pages I read each day, just for the hell of it.
10. What books are you looking forward to in 2014?
Oh my God, there are so many series that are due to finish next year that I can't wait to get my hands on. Fairlwil by Alysia Gray Painter, for starters. Plus Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, and Clariel by Garth Nix. I'm also insanely excited about Rainbow Rowell's Landline, because of reasons. Plus, Libba Bray's Lair of Dreams.
11. What other books deserved a shout out?
The Wilfair series, which I give almost constant shoutouts to. But you guys, it's just SO DANGED CUTE. Also the Kate Daniels series, J. Meyers' Anywhere, Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, and Sarah Tregay's Love and Leftovers. Yes, the last is a verse novel, which I wasn't expecting and which I still don't know how I feel about. But it was pretty damned fabulous.
12. Your top three books of 2013.
You have no idea how hard this was, you guys. But I think I'm going to have to go with Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity, Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, and Garth Nix's Newt's Emerald.
If you want to see everything I've read this year, you can click here. And feel free to add me as a friend on Goodreads too!
Now go write your own post and link up with Emily!
K xx
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Favourite photos of 2011: Volume 2
Yesterday, I forked out $125 for a single textbook. Thankfully, it's the ONLY textbook for my entire Masters degree, so I guess it could be worse? Anyway, having to put that sizeable a dent in my savings on something so unexciting made me want to look at pretty things that are free.
And so I give you my favourite photos from last year: Natural Environment Edition.
January - Cliffs at Cape Bridgewater, Victoria
July - Nice dead tree on Mount Lofty, near Melbourne
I'm pretty sure I could fill an entire art gallery with just the pictures of dead trees that I have on my hard drive. I'm kind of a little bit obsessed with them... (See also: metal statue of dead tree in Part 1 of this series!!)
August - Sunset from the John Hancock Observatory, Chicago
September - Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs
September - Part way up Pikes Peak, Colorado
September - Seven Falls, Colorado
September - Central Park, New York
September - Guanella Pass, Colorado
September - Aspen trees on the Peak to Peak Highway, Colorado
Which is your favourite? Does anyone else like dead trees as much as me? And do you know why textbooks are so sodding expensive??
K xx
And so I give you my favourite photos from last year: Natural Environment Edition.
January - Cliffs at Cape Bridgewater, Victoria
July - Nice dead tree on Mount Lofty, near Melbourne
 |
| Sometimes, you just need to make things monochrome. |
August - Sunset from the John Hancock Observatory, Chicago
 |
| I elbowed a small child out of the way for this shot. |
September - Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs
.JPG) |
| Complete with insane rock climbers, if you look closely enough! |
September - Part way up Pikes Peak, Colorado
 |
| It seems kind of Bronte-esque, to me |
September - Seven Falls, Colorado
September - Central Park, New York
 |
| This is currently my desktop background |
September - Guanella Pass, Colorado
September - Aspen trees on the Peak to Peak Highway, Colorado
 |
| This was the most amazing sea of trees I've ever seen |
Which is your favourite? Does anyone else like dead trees as much as me? And do you know why textbooks are so sodding expensive??
K xx
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Canberra shenanigans, Part 2
If you missed Part 1, it's here. If you've forgotten what happened, Paulie and I drove to Canberra. We stopped at ridiculous sights along the way. I made a Fruit Tingles cake, which was universally declared to be awesome, and then I made a Firefly reference about a cloud and everyone thought I was crazy.
Oh, and this is what I made Matt for his birthday. I meant to include this picture last time and forgot:
Anyway, on the Sunday, we pottered about the place doing dishes and generally cleaning up from the party while Paulie went mountain biking at Mount Stromlo because he's much more of a morning person than the rest of us are.
In the afternoon, we went to the Handwritten exhibition at the National Library. Drop what you're doing this minute, go to Canberra, and SEE THAT EXHIBITION. Because it's awesome. You don't get many chances to see documents written by Einstein, Machiavelli, Galileo, Dickens, Darwin and Florence Nightingale all in the one place. Not to mention handwritten scores by Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and Haydn! It was pretty crowded, but we still got to see every single object up close and personal. Sample conversations?
Me: OMG, SCHLIEMANN!!!
Matt: I KNOW, SO EXCITING!!
Paulie: Who the hell is Schliemann?
Me and Matt: He discovered Troy!
(#archaeologynerds)
Paulie: Wouldn't it be nice if you could actually READ these things?
Me: [stares at Dickens' letter] "My Dear Mrs Cattermole, I have just received your three notes together. I answer them very briefly for I am only in town to day..."
Paulie: Show off.
Indeed. (In case you're curious, they have full transcriptions available online. I didn't actually memorise the letter from Charles Dickens!)
After the exhibition, we took a wee jaunt up Mount Ainslie, but ran away very quickly before the quite obvious storm decided to break:
And then we went out for Turkish food. I got so excited about the zucchini puffs (kabak mucver) that I did a happy dance in my chair and everyone thought I was crazy. You know, just for a change... But what can I say? I loves me some zucchini puffs!
Monday proved to be quite exciting, starting with inadvertently locking the car keys in the house. Luckily, it turned out that we hadn't locked the door properly, so it was more of a hypothetical panic than a real panic. We headed to the museum, where Paulie looked around and I hung out with some of my ex-work besties and caught up on six months worth of gossip, before doing a quick run around the gallery saying hello to all my objects. And cleaning showcases with my shirt, because apparently I'm incapable of not doing that...
After a bite of lunch, we headed to Parliament House where I neglected to take any photos because I was feeling lazy. It looked much the same as it always does, unsurprisingly! From there, we headed over to the War Memorial. It was slightly rushed because we were trying to cram the whole place into about an hour and a half. But I think we made it through everything that Paulie wanted to see, along with the added bonus of being there for the closing ceremony.
Then came the super exciting part of the day. We headed over to Tongue & Groove to meet up with Vanisha and Louise. And it was so lovely to finally meet them both! I mean, how can you go wrong with bloggy friends, cider and $5 tapas?? ALL AROUND WIN. (And if you go to Tongue & Groove, I highly recommend the southwest chicken tapas! Also, the pizookies are AMAZEBALLS, from past experience)
From there, we headed to the supermarket to get some stuff for dinner. And it wasn't until we were going through the self serve checkout that I remembered that plastic bags are now banned in the ACT. So we got to walk through the Canberra Centre juggling the following because they don't sell the reusable bags at the self serve checkouts:
Oh, and this is what I made Matt for his birthday. I meant to include this picture last time and forgot:
 |
| Punny, no? |
Anyway, on the Sunday, we pottered about the place doing dishes and generally cleaning up from the party while Paulie went mountain biking at Mount Stromlo because he's much more of a morning person than the rest of us are.
In the afternoon, we went to the Handwritten exhibition at the National Library. Drop what you're doing this minute, go to Canberra, and SEE THAT EXHIBITION. Because it's awesome. You don't get many chances to see documents written by Einstein, Machiavelli, Galileo, Dickens, Darwin and Florence Nightingale all in the one place. Not to mention handwritten scores by Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and Haydn! It was pretty crowded, but we still got to see every single object up close and personal. Sample conversations?
Me: OMG, SCHLIEMANN!!!
Matt: I KNOW, SO EXCITING!!
Paulie: Who the hell is Schliemann?
Me and Matt: He discovered Troy!
(#archaeologynerds)
Paulie: Wouldn't it be nice if you could actually READ these things?
Me: [stares at Dickens' letter] "My Dear Mrs Cattermole, I have just received your three notes together. I answer them very briefly for I am only in town to day..."
Paulie: Show off.
Indeed. (In case you're curious, they have full transcriptions available online. I didn't actually memorise the letter from Charles Dickens!)
After the exhibition, we took a wee jaunt up Mount Ainslie, but ran away very quickly before the quite obvious storm decided to break:
And then we went out for Turkish food. I got so excited about the zucchini puffs (kabak mucver) that I did a happy dance in my chair and everyone thought I was crazy. You know, just for a change... But what can I say? I loves me some zucchini puffs!
Monday proved to be quite exciting, starting with inadvertently locking the car keys in the house. Luckily, it turned out that we hadn't locked the door properly, so it was more of a hypothetical panic than a real panic. We headed to the museum, where Paulie looked around and I hung out with some of my ex-work besties and caught up on six months worth of gossip, before doing a quick run around the gallery saying hello to all my objects. And cleaning showcases with my shirt, because apparently I'm incapable of not doing that...
After a bite of lunch, we headed to Parliament House where I neglected to take any photos because I was feeling lazy. It looked much the same as it always does, unsurprisingly! From there, we headed over to the War Memorial. It was slightly rushed because we were trying to cram the whole place into about an hour and a half. But I think we made it through everything that Paulie wanted to see, along with the added bonus of being there for the closing ceremony.
 |
| Bugler playing The Last Post at the Memorial closing ceremony |
Then came the super exciting part of the day. We headed over to Tongue & Groove to meet up with Vanisha and Louise. And it was so lovely to finally meet them both! I mean, how can you go wrong with bloggy friends, cider and $5 tapas?? ALL AROUND WIN. (And if you go to Tongue & Groove, I highly recommend the southwest chicken tapas! Also, the pizookies are AMAZEBALLS, from past experience)
From there, we headed to the supermarket to get some stuff for dinner. And it wasn't until we were going through the self serve checkout that I remembered that plastic bags are now banned in the ACT. So we got to walk through the Canberra Centre juggling the following because they don't sell the reusable bags at the self serve checkouts:
- 2 bags of rigatoni
- A large red capsicum
- A bag of baby spinach
- Half a butternut pumpkin
- A packet of chicken
- A punnet of cherry tomatoes
- A jar of basil pesto
- A bag of romano cheese
- A tub of Belgian chocolate ice cream
- A bunch of asparagus
And I was in three inch heels, and had to walk down a non-moving travellator. Fun times all round! O.o
The next morning, we threw all the stuff back in the car and bid farewell to Canberra. One of the cats decided that my bag looked interesting and tried to come with us:
 |
| Oh, hai... I can haz trip to Melbourne? |
The drive back wasn't particularly exciting - I mean, we'd seen all the spectacular sights on the way up!! - other than that the bag of jelly snakes we'd brought with us had melted into a giant blob in the back of the car, and I had to rip it into chunks before we could eat them. There was one disgustingly memorable moment in which we got stuck behind a truck carrying some kind of sewage. Paulie thought I'd farted (uh, thanks??) and not said anything. I thought there was a massively stinky dead kangaroo somewhere nearby, and that it was coming through the air conditioning system. But no. Sewage truck of chokingly awful stenches.
And that about sums things up, really. What more could you want from a long weekend than good friends, good cider, delicious cake, awesome historical documents and entertaining stories to tell?!
K xx
Thursday, November 3, 2011
30 Days of Photography - Day 2
The theme for day 2 is "what you wore today". I need to preface this by saying that I had a job interview this morning. I think it went okay. It certainly helped that my former boss phoned while I was on my way into the city on the tram and gave me a pep talk about how great I am and how it's really easy to be a referee for me because I'm smart and pick things up quickly and blah blah blah *preens a little*
Yup. I used another David Tennant/Doctor Who gif. Sorry...
ANYWAY. Given that I had an interview, I was ever so slightly more dressed up than usual today. Mostly because this was running through my head:
SO I DID:
When I was walking to the tram stop, a tradie nearly rear ended the car in front of him because he was busy staring at my legs. WIN.
So, fingers crossed that they hire me. But if they don't, at least I'll have the memory of the panicked expression on the tradie's face when he had to slam on the brakes!
K xx
 |
| My reaction (taken from a now lost place in the depths of Tumblr) |
Yup. I used another David Tennant/Doctor Who gif. Sorry...
ANYWAY. Given that I had an interview, I was ever so slightly more dressed up than usual today. Mostly because this was running through my head:
 |
| Source |
SO I DID:
When I was walking to the tram stop, a tradie nearly rear ended the car in front of him because he was busy staring at my legs. WIN.
So, fingers crossed that they hire me. But if they don't, at least I'll have the memory of the panicked expression on the tradie's face when he had to slam on the brakes!
K xx
Sunday, June 19, 2011
ABC of me
I've seen a few of these around the blogosphere of late, but I stole this one from Kat!
Age: 28
Bed: Double. I'm not a starfish-er, so it's more than enough space!
Chore you hate: Taking out the rubbish. It's just gross... Oh, and cleaning the shower.
Dogs: Yes!! As long as they're not little yappy white fluff ball dogs...
Essential start to your day: Shower. If I don't shower in the morning, I never feel properly awake!
Favourite colour: Blue. I'm not fussy, any shade of blue.
Gold or silver: Definitely silver. Gold washes me out.
Height: 175cm (5'9")
Instruments you play: The clarinet and the piano. But I haven't played either properly since high school, so I doubt I'm any good any more! And I'm pretty sure I can still play "Over the Sea to Skye" on the recorder...
Job title: Curatorial assistant. Which makes me sound like I'm a curator's secretary. I'm not. They just couldn't come up with a better title for the rank under Assistant Curator.
Kids: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Good God, no. Never ever ever ever ever ever. I've been saying that since I was twelve and people STILL say "Oh, you'll change your mind..." Yeah, not so much. Little Miss A is more than sufficient!
Live: Canberra. But only for 26 more days!!! :D
Mum's name: Lorraine. (Not to be confused with this Lorraine)
Nickname: Kirsti is already a nickname. Well, an abbreviation of my full name. So I never really had many nicknames. KG in high school, but that's about it! Anyone calling me 'Kirst' is asking to be stabbed in the face...
Overnight hospital stay: When I was born, I assume? Other than that, no.
Pet peeve: Lateness, cyclists attempting to set a land speed record on the footpath, people who get to the front of a queue before searching for their money.
Quote from a book or movie: "Just because you've got the emotional range a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have." Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (it's what I'm reading at the moment. Also? I just added 'Hermione' to my Chrome dictionary, because I'm sick of it having a wibbly red line!)
Righty/Lefty: Lefty!! As are my mum, my brother C, and Little Miss A.
Siblings: One younger brother (C), one older half-brother.
Time you wake up: 6.25am. Ugh...
Underwear: Not butt floss!
Veggies you dislike: Mushrooms, green beans, sprouts, eggplant, olives.
What makes you late: Checking my email on my phone before I get up! Also thinking "I'll just read ONE more chapter..."
X-Rays you've had: Teeth at the dentist, some fancy-pants full jaw thing to locate my wisdom teeth.
Yummy food you make: Just check the archives!! Or click here, here, or here.
Zoo animal: Red panda. They're just so cute and squishable! Plus, they're usually asleep, so seeing one moving around is a huge treat.
K xx
Age: 28
Bed: Double. I'm not a starfish-er, so it's more than enough space!
Chore you hate: Taking out the rubbish. It's just gross... Oh, and cleaning the shower.
Dogs: Yes!! As long as they're not little yappy white fluff ball dogs...
 |
| Domino as a week old puppy, 1996 |
Essential start to your day: Shower. If I don't shower in the morning, I never feel properly awake!
Favourite colour: Blue. I'm not fussy, any shade of blue.
Gold or silver: Definitely silver. Gold washes me out.
Height: 175cm (5'9")
Instruments you play: The clarinet and the piano. But I haven't played either properly since high school, so I doubt I'm any good any more! And I'm pretty sure I can still play "Over the Sea to Skye" on the recorder...
Job title: Curatorial assistant. Which makes me sound like I'm a curator's secretary. I'm not. They just couldn't come up with a better title for the rank under Assistant Curator.
Kids: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Good God, no. Never ever ever ever ever ever. I've been saying that since I was twelve and people STILL say "Oh, you'll change your mind..." Yeah, not so much. Little Miss A is more than sufficient!
Live: Canberra. But only for 26 more days!!! :D
Mum's name: Lorraine. (Not to be confused with this Lorraine)
Nickname: Kirsti is already a nickname. Well, an abbreviation of my full name. So I never really had many nicknames. KG in high school, but that's about it! Anyone calling me 'Kirst' is asking to be stabbed in the face...
Overnight hospital stay: When I was born, I assume? Other than that, no.
Pet peeve: Lateness, cyclists attempting to set a land speed record on the footpath, people who get to the front of a queue before searching for their money.
Quote from a book or movie: "Just because you've got the emotional range a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have." Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (it's what I'm reading at the moment. Also? I just added 'Hermione' to my Chrome dictionary, because I'm sick of it having a wibbly red line!)
Righty/Lefty: Lefty!! As are my mum, my brother C, and Little Miss A.
Siblings: One younger brother (C), one older half-brother.
Time you wake up: 6.25am. Ugh...
Underwear: Not butt floss!
Veggies you dislike: Mushrooms, green beans, sprouts, eggplant, olives.
What makes you late: Checking my email on my phone before I get up! Also thinking "I'll just read ONE more chapter..."
X-Rays you've had: Teeth at the dentist, some fancy-pants full jaw thing to locate my wisdom teeth.
Yummy food you make: Just check the archives!! Or click here, here, or here.
Zoo animal: Red panda. They're just so cute and squishable! Plus, they're usually asleep, so seeing one moving around is a huge treat.
 |
| Canberra Zoo, 2010 |
K xx
Sunday, June 5, 2011
30 Days of Books - Day 23
Dudes. I'm exhausted. And totally allergic to getting up before 9am on the weekends... We had a festival for the gallery today, and we all had to work. It was only three hours, but when you're totally not made to deal with the general public, like yours truly, and there are a truly terrifying number of children around, three hours is MORE than enough to make you exhausted. Especially when you have to get up at 7.30 on a weekend *shudder*
At least after the festival finished, I got to have lunch with Em and Matt. It featured lunch dessert in the form of pazookies - a 6 inch diameter cookie covered with topping and ice cream. We had the peanut butter and white chocolate one with caramel topping, and the double chocolate one with chocolate topping. I preferred the peanut butter and white chocolate one. I might have to try and come up with a recipe for peanut butter and white chocolate cookies when I'm an unemployed bum!
Day 23 - A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven't
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. I actually started reading this in high school at some point, and got about 50 pages in before I got distracted by something that 16 year old Kirsti found more interesting (probably Dawson's Creek or Charmed, knowing her...). So I think when I move home in about five weeks (squeeeeeee!!!), I'll grab my dad's copy and finally cross this off my to-read list!
What's been on your to-read list for a million years?
Day 01 - The best book you read last year
Day 02 - A book you've read more than 3 times
Day 03 - Your favourite series
Day 04 - Your favourite book of your favourite series
Day 05 - A book that makes you happy
Day 06 - A book that makes you sad
Day 07 - Most underrated book
Day 08 - Most overrated book
Day 09 - A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 10 - Favourite classic book
Day 11 - A book you hated
Day 12 - A book you used to love but don't any more
Day 13 - Your favourite writer
Day 14 - Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 - Favourite male character
Day 16 - Favourite female character
Day 17 - Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 - A book that disappointed you
Day 19 - Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 - Favourite romance book
Day 21 - Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 - Favourite book you own
Day 23 - A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven't
At least after the festival finished, I got to have lunch with Em and Matt. It featured lunch dessert in the form of pazookies - a 6 inch diameter cookie covered with topping and ice cream. We had the peanut butter and white chocolate one with caramel topping, and the double chocolate one with chocolate topping. I preferred the peanut butter and white chocolate one. I might have to try and come up with a recipe for peanut butter and white chocolate cookies when I'm an unemployed bum!
Day 23 - A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven't
| Source |
What's been on your to-read list for a million years?
K xx
Day 24 - A book you wish more people would've read
Day 25 - A character you can relate to the most
Day 26 - A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 - The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 - Favourite title
Day 29 - A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 - Your favourite book of all time
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