Oy!

The blog is all dusty and musty. I don't like it. Consider this post to be like a Swiffer.

Many blog-worthy events have come and gone un-blogged, and I feel sort of guilty. After all, what else is a blog for? So: I'm going to make a list of all the things I wished I blogged about but never got around to, complete with brief descriptions and comments, etc.

In June, I went to a David Sedaris reading/signing in a lovely little book store! It was amazing! I must have been smiling the entire time, I was so excited. He is very friendly and rather short in person. He read us two new (well, new at the time) essays, in addition to parts of his diary and a couple other things. Everybody was laughing and having a marvelous time. The setting was very intimate and was so happy to be able to go. He signed my copies of Me Talk Pretty One Day and Naked, and gave me a condom (he was handing them out to all the teenagers). This book event has got to be one of the highlight of my life so far, and I love him to pieces!

Also in June, I saw Third Eye Blind with a bunch of friends at a free concert in a park. Excellent, much? They were fantastic live and played a lot of my favorite songs. The entire day was an adventure and a smashing good time.

On a more somber note, huge funding cuts have been made to the public libraries in my area. The new hours-- which became effective July 1st-- are truly devastating. I continue to volunteer and drop by often. Hopefully these cuts will be revoked when the state budget gets back on track someday, as I believe libraries to be among the most precious of resources.

Speaking of reading, this summer I've gathered up the courage to finally read Anne Rice. I've always seen her work labeled as horror, which made me steer clear of her for a long time (I'm not really one for horror, you see). However, I was reassured by other readers that her writing is more gothic than horror and my curiosity eventually won out. As of today, I've read Interview with the Vampire and am getting very close to finishing The Vampire Lestat. I find I'm more fond of the latter, but I did like Interview, too. While the book as a whole did have its weak points (i.e. Rice's tendency to write in such a flowery manner it's often distracting), I found it overall a good read. I find I've been much more motivated while reading Lestat, probably because I really like Lestat. It's good stuff, I tell you. (As a side note, I thought I'd tell a little story about my early experiences with Anne Rice. I used to babysit these darling little girls, and prominently displayed in their living room were all of Anne Rice's works. I'd read the ghoulish titles and see the macabre cover art and be very afraid [I was also afraid of the Gollum bookends and oriental masks, but they really are very, very kind people.] Anyways, I think it's a funny way to first become acquainted with an author.)

And what was I most looking forward to in July? The big screen adaption of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, of course! My two friends and one of their moms saw a late show downtown. We dressed up and had a wicked time! I must say I was impressed with this film and thought it far better than the last one. I was satisfied with the portrayal of teenage Tom Riddle, who I feared would be butchered, and I swooned often over Alan Rickman (and Tom Felton, who appeared quite a lot). I thought they did a lousy job of explaining who the real Half-Blood Prince was in the end. In the book, it's so enchanting, because who doesn't believe Snape is made of win? Yeah, nobody. Overall, I liked it very much. Also, did anyone else notice that the wonky, smooth black bricks from the department of mysteries made a comeback? They were in the orphanage. I guess David Yates loves those bricks. I also was impressed with Slughorn's performance and character portrayal. I thought it to be one of the film's strong points. I really must reread the series one of these days!

If anyone read all that (and I realize it's a beast) I really am flattered and applaud your perseverance. Of course, loads of other things happened and are happening or will happen, but I thought it'd be nice to skim over the main points in my life as of late. Now, with the clear conscience of a good blogger, I shall move on to my one of my summer assignments, which is what I really should have been doing for the past hour. Cheers!

Coincidence?

So, the other night while cooking up a killer batch of fajitas, something on the tortilla packaging caught my eye...

See the no on 8? I do believe the tortilla company is covertly trying to say they support equality via gay marriage.

MJ

I know I'm a little late on this, but better late than never. And what would be a better time than while I'm here dancing to Michael Jackson right now?

Like almost everyone, I was shocked when he died. He was so young, and I had always thought him to be immortal. I suppose he is, though, in spirit. All the wonky later years aside, Michael Jackson really was a shibby person at heart. He was extremely talented and produced some of the grooviest music of the age, not to mention videos and dance moves. I'm glad our lifetimes overlapped.

These are the two MJ songs I remember listening to all the time as a kid. Chamone, dance on.

Time

Today, the writer's block question asks: "If you could be a teenager living in any decade, which one would you choose?" The consensus seems to be the 1960's, and I admit I would have loved to be alive then, as well. I would have loved to watch the maned first lunar landing and pick up a first edition of Stranger In A Strange Land, not to mention the abundance of peacelove and the divine music scene. I would have also loved to live in the 70s, epecially to see Ziggy Stardust come to earth and experience How The West Was Won in person. You know, 1972 was a good year for music. Music aside, there was lot going on back then. Huge revolutionary advances and all. I know that time period wasn't perfect, like so many romantics (which I myself am often guily of) idolize it to be. There was still horrible wars and racism and violence, but I suppose every decade is tainted in some way.

Assuming I have a way to travel time, I would like to experience every decade in the 20th century as a teenager. They're all so interesting. I want to visit a time when people actually danced... I want to go to the swing age. I'd like to visit a time when cloche hats were popular or when people gathered around radios.

If I think about it some more, I'd fancy seeing the Victorian era. There was an awful lot of beautiful buildings and attire back then. I could transform myself into an glorious young man and find Robert Ross. (Originally, it was my scheme to become Oscar Wilde's lover, but he and Bosie are so lovely I wouldn't want to interfere. Also, if I were Robert Ross' lover, I could still visit Oscar Wilde and hang on his every word.) I've got it all planned out. Besides, being a woman in the Victorian Era wouldn't be too shibby...

While I'm traveling the ages, I'd want to see almost every time period, if only for a little while, including the future. You know, this reminds me of a book series I used to read when I was younger called The Magic Treehouse. It was about a brother and sister, Jack and Annie, who traveled through time in a treehouse completing tasks for their friend, Morgan le Fay. She would leave a book about wherever they were traveling to, for Jack and Annie so they could learn and have a sort of guide. They were good books.

Also: Star Trek, Back to the Future, and Harry Potter teach me the dangers of time travel. I'd have to exercise caution, careful not to disrupt anything or create a paradox or anything of that sort.

If you're still with me after all that ranting... I noticed that very few people who answered the writer's block question were content living now. While I long to go to so many times, there are good things about now. I wonder if people in the future will ask this question and answer, "Oh, I'd want to visit the 2000's! I could see the turn of the milenium, see the rise of the Internet age, go to Harry Potter midnight release parties, go to Obama rallies, see all those funny reality TV shows, cruise around in a blue Prius..."

Mi vida está loca

I (believe) I have now read all of BMB.  Then again, another hidden stash may spring up... a fan can only hope.

Anyways, you may or may not wonder what I've been up to besides reading awesome webcomics.  Well, I've been noticing the definite lack of spring around here.  One day it's chilly and cloudy, the next it's blazing sun with oppressive temperatures.  The weather-maker apparently thought it fit to skip a traditional spring with gentle spring weather and instead sporadically switch between summer and winter.  I suspect global warming is behind these shenanigans.

Weather aside, I often feel as if I am metaphorically drowning.  School is coming to a close at an alarming speed.  I feel like I still have so much to do before the year ends.  Next year is going to have a beastly work load and multiple summer assignments.  Free time and sanity (not to mention sleep) look pretty much shot.  And then while I'm worrying about next year, I still have projects and ever-nearing finals happening this year.  Oy.  Time is speeding by much too quickly for my taste.

On a lighter note, I've got a smashing book.  After hearing from numerous reliable sources of its excellence, I decided to give Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game a read.  It's fantastic!  I haven't finished it yet, but I so far I recommend it.  Perhaps I'll try and get my brother to read it...

So: keeping it together until summer is my main focus right now.  Too bad there will be no more new stories with Cy and Skids and the gang to cheer me on... but who says I can't revist old haunts? ^_~

Shibby!

Hey there, blog.

The other day was pretty bittersweet, the reason being I finished my favorite webcomic to date: Boy Meets Boy by K. Sandra Fuhr.  I came across it while surfing for results concerning the David Levithan novel of the same name (the book and the comic aren't related, though).  I started reading it and found myself smiling more and more. 

The comic centers around a gay couple, Mik and Harley, and their quirky friends (their evil incarnate landlady, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer obsessed boy band, Mik's slightly psycho ex, Harley's peppy sister, etc.)  Various situations arise, and a good times are ensued.  All the characters are so wonderful!  I want to give them all hugs.

If you're interested, the first strip is here.  I recommend you check it out.

All in all, I had a blast reading it.  Blogs are for sharing, no? ^_^ 

EDIT: Once again, I have found a hidden stash of BMB comics I have not yet read!  This happened to me once before, too... Hail, webcomic gods!  I'a go read them now... ciao!

Tuesday is martes

I must admit it is taking me an embarrassingly long time to finish reading Frankenstein.  It's a good book, but I have virtually nill time to read.  Also, when reading books written with older language, it takes me a minute to get into it, thus I can't read a paragraph here and a paragraph there while taking notes in Spanish class.  It requires a certain level of concentration.  I vowed to finish it over spring break, but alas... 

I just renewed the thing, and I have until the 28th.  A decent amount of time, you may say, to read the second half of a not-actually-that-long novel.  We'll see.  The next book I hope to read is Running With Scissors, but there are so many books on the list I can't be certain.  I miss those lovely summer days when I read a book almost daily.

On the topic of renewing books, I love being able to renew books online.  It's such a breeze, and while I'm at it I can scout out new titles and check library hours.  It's a fabulous business.  All available from the comfort of my kitchen while I simultaneously blog about it in another window.

Although it is officially the season of new life and spring break has come and passed, it was exceptionally windy today.  Chills you to the bone, it does.  Power outages sprinkling the area, etc.  Even though I do tend to curse it as I heave myself out of the pool after practice, I do love the wind.  It's so very powerful.

Although I have no idea when the mango sitting on my kitchen counter will ripen, you just read my blog update of the day.