Fold your way out!*
The "What I did on my holidays" post, in list-form.
Once across the pond, where did I go?
- Downtown Toronto
- Vicinity of Richmond Hill
- King City (katarinagram!)
- Buffalo (this year's total shopping)
- Blue Mountain Ski Resort (where I shivered me timbers and wen't zig-zagging downhill for the first time in many, many years)
What life was like across ze pond.
Chock-a-block full of cooking and food-related rituals, quality time with Mom whilst the male half of the family (Dad and Brother) worked or checked out the internets, some running around, some bitter disputes, some fun and some lack of fun.
What was obtained in the land of plenty.
Mom: Useful Things for Competent Adults, such as purse, shirts and a wallet.
Dad: Invisible Nothing, followed by copies of various films.
Brother: Books
Further things obtained along the Competent Adult (Who Won't Shop For the Rest of the Year) include coat, gloves, more shirts, pants and books. I was secretly pleased that two purchases (long-sleeved shirt, scarf) were striped. quintoesque indeed!
Books brought across the pond, whoot whoot!
Kushiel's Chosen - Jacqueline Carey - Gift from Brother via Amazon Wishlist.
The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The inhabiting race rose from the seed of angels and men, and they live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.
Phedre no Delauney was sold into indentured sertivude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, the first to recognize that she is one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experiences pain and pleasure as one. He trained Phedre in the courtley arts and the talents of the bedchamber - and, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze.
When she stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendour, they weren't far off the mark.
The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phedre's brow, and they are not finished with her. While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well-loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown...and those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge.
The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde - Gift from Brother via Amazon Wishlist.
Protecting the world's greatest literature - not mentioning keeping up with Miss Havisham - is tiring work for an expectant mother. And Thursday can definately use a respite. So what better hideaway than inside an unread and unreadable Caversham Heights, a cliche-ridden pulp mystery in the hidden depths of the Well of Lost PLots, where all unpublished books reside? But peace and quiet remain elusive for Thrusday, who soon discovers that the Well itself is a veritable linguistic free-for-all, where grammasies run rampant, plot devices are hawked on the black market, and lousy books - like Caversham Heights - are scrapped for salvage. To top it off, a murderer is stalking Jurisfiction personnel and nobody is safe - least of all Thursday.
Atonement - Ian McEwan - Gift from Ma'.
On a summer day in 1935, a young Briony Tallis witnesses a moment's flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. But Briony's misunderstanding of adult motives and her precocious imagination bring about a crime that will change all their lives, a crime whose repercussions Atonement follows through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the 20th century.
The following were all bought near-free at a closing bookshop in Buffalo.
Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett
Here there be dragons...and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork with one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discowrld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all.)
Meanwhile, back at Unseen University, an ancient and long-forgotten volume - The Summoning of Dragons - is missing from the Library's shelves. To the rescue come Captain Vimes, Cosntable Carrot, and the rest of the Night Watch who, along with other brave citizens, rish everything, including a good roasting, to dethrone the flying monarch and restore order to Ankh-Morpork (before it's burned to a crips). A rare tale, wel done as only Terry Pratchett can.
[Finished reading. We meet Sybil for the first time, and everyone makes Vimes blush about it.]
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Praised as a ground-breaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary's mission to Winter, an unknown alien world whose inhabitatns can choose - and change - their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture he encounters. Completely embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The LEft Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science ficiton.
Threshold - Caitlin R. Kiernan
Chance Matthews has suffered enough tragedies. The latest - her grandfather's death - has left her shaken, convinced that she will always be alone. What she needs now is time time to recover, time to determine what her future will be.
What she doesn't need is a strange girl with alabaster skin who knows things about Chance she can't possibly know.
This girl speaks of being charged by an angel to battle mosnterls and claims she cannot do it alone. She says she needs Chance's help.
Chance doesn't believe in angels. Or monsters. But among the artifacts left by her geologist grandparents, there lies a fossil of a creature that couldn't possibly have ever existed.
But it did. And still does.
Caitlin Kiernan is the poet and bard of the wasted and the lost. - Neil Gaiman [possibly the only reason I picked the book up in the first place]
Deprivers - Steven-Elliot Altman
Imagine never touching another human being...
Robert Luxley has a biological problem that he does not understand and cannot contro: one touch from his bare skin and you're paralyzed for fifteen minutes. Lonely and isolated, he's turned his "special trick" into a lucrative career as an assassin. He thinks he's one of a kind - until one day he's confronted by a young girl named Cassandra, who tells him that he's not alone. She has it too, and the two of them are not the only carriers of
Sensory Deprivation Syndrome (SDS)
SDS is a medical condition so dangerous that carriers can render anyone they touch blind or deaf, or otherwise senseless, in seconds.
Fearing discovery, Luxley follows Cassandra through a dark underground network of "Deprivers" in a desperate hunt for her missing brother Nicholas, taken hostage by a radical group of carriers with a terrifying agenda. Luxley doesn't know who to trust, or who is safe to touch, but he needs to learn Cassandra's secrets fast. As knowledge of SDS spreads, and panic erupts, no Depriver anywhere in the world will be safe.
[Currently reading. Not quite what it says on the tin, but a decent read nonetheless.]
Movies watched whilst across the pond, whoot!
Premonition - On ze plane
Ratatouille
Eastern Promises - My having read Vodka by Boris Starling helped so much in understanding the Vory mentality. Never once did they mention zamochit :(
El hijo de la novia - *bawls* Gorgeous acting and story.
The Kingdom - Brother recommended. Ashraf Barhom had my full attention, whereas Chris Cooper was an unexpected but welcome surprise.
Fracture - AHopkins and RGosling, what's not to love?
Bon Cop, Bad Cop - As hilarious as the first time. And damn was I appreciative of the Bad Cop.
Hot Fuzz - Saxon is the best name for a dog ever! *Dr Who geek* Still prefer Shawn of the Dead though.
Independence Day - Unexpected Adam Baldwin!
Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle - *sporflefest* Brother stopped channel-surfing here with a happy and appreciative excamation.
The Nanny Diaries - On ze plane
Also caught some Family Guy and Letterman (with scraggily beard, second only to Nathan Petrelli's in scraggle).
* metaquoted pouringsand
Once across the pond, where did I go?
- Downtown Toronto
- Vicinity of Richmond Hill
- King City (katarinagram!)
- Buffalo (this year's total shopping)
- Blue Mountain Ski Resort (where I shivered me timbers and wen't zig-zagging downhill for the first time in many, many years)
What life was like across ze pond.
Chock-a-block full of cooking and food-related rituals, quality time with Mom whilst the male half of the family (Dad and Brother) worked or checked out the internets, some running around, some bitter disputes, some fun and some lack of fun.
What was obtained in the land of plenty.
Mom: Useful Things for Competent Adults, such as purse, shirts and a wallet.
Dad: Invisible Nothing, followed by copies of various films.
Brother: Books
Further things obtained along the Competent Adult (Who Won't Shop For the Rest of the Year) include coat, gloves, more shirts, pants and books. I was secretly pleased that two purchases (long-sleeved shirt, scarf) were striped. quintoesque indeed!
Books brought across the pond, whoot whoot!
Kushiel's Chosen - Jacqueline Carey - Gift from Brother via Amazon Wishlist.
The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The inhabiting race rose from the seed of angels and men, and they live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.
Phedre no Delauney was sold into indentured sertivude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, the first to recognize that she is one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experiences pain and pleasure as one. He trained Phedre in the courtley arts and the talents of the bedchamber - and, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze.
When she stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendour, they weren't far off the mark.
The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phedre's brow, and they are not finished with her. While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well-loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown...and those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge.
The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde - Gift from Brother via Amazon Wishlist.
Protecting the world's greatest literature - not mentioning keeping up with Miss Havisham - is tiring work for an expectant mother. And Thursday can definately use a respite. So what better hideaway than inside an unread and unreadable Caversham Heights, a cliche-ridden pulp mystery in the hidden depths of the Well of Lost PLots, where all unpublished books reside? But peace and quiet remain elusive for Thrusday, who soon discovers that the Well itself is a veritable linguistic free-for-all, where grammasies run rampant, plot devices are hawked on the black market, and lousy books - like Caversham Heights - are scrapped for salvage. To top it off, a murderer is stalking Jurisfiction personnel and nobody is safe - least of all Thursday.
Atonement - Ian McEwan - Gift from Ma'.
On a summer day in 1935, a young Briony Tallis witnesses a moment's flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. But Briony's misunderstanding of adult motives and her precocious imagination bring about a crime that will change all their lives, a crime whose repercussions Atonement follows through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the 20th century.
The following were all bought near-free at a closing bookshop in Buffalo.
Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett
Here there be dragons...and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork with one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discowrld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all.)
Meanwhile, back at Unseen University, an ancient and long-forgotten volume - The Summoning of Dragons - is missing from the Library's shelves. To the rescue come Captain Vimes, Cosntable Carrot, and the rest of the Night Watch who, along with other brave citizens, rish everything, including a good roasting, to dethrone the flying monarch and restore order to Ankh-Morpork (before it's burned to a crips). A rare tale, wel done as only Terry Pratchett can.
[Finished reading. We meet Sybil for the first time, and everyone makes Vimes blush about it.]
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Praised as a ground-breaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary's mission to Winter, an unknown alien world whose inhabitatns can choose - and change - their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture he encounters. Completely embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The LEft Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science ficiton.
Threshold - Caitlin R. Kiernan
Chance Matthews has suffered enough tragedies. The latest - her grandfather's death - has left her shaken, convinced that she will always be alone. What she needs now is time time to recover, time to determine what her future will be.
What she doesn't need is a strange girl with alabaster skin who knows things about Chance she can't possibly know.
This girl speaks of being charged by an angel to battle mosnterls and claims she cannot do it alone. She says she needs Chance's help.
Chance doesn't believe in angels. Or monsters. But among the artifacts left by her geologist grandparents, there lies a fossil of a creature that couldn't possibly have ever existed.
But it did. And still does.
Caitlin Kiernan is the poet and bard of the wasted and the lost. - Neil Gaiman [possibly the only reason I picked the book up in the first place]
Deprivers - Steven-Elliot Altman
Imagine never touching another human being...
Robert Luxley has a biological problem that he does not understand and cannot contro: one touch from his bare skin and you're paralyzed for fifteen minutes. Lonely and isolated, he's turned his "special trick" into a lucrative career as an assassin. He thinks he's one of a kind - until one day he's confronted by a young girl named Cassandra, who tells him that he's not alone. She has it too, and the two of them are not the only carriers of
Sensory Deprivation Syndrome (SDS)
SDS is a medical condition so dangerous that carriers can render anyone they touch blind or deaf, or otherwise senseless, in seconds.
Fearing discovery, Luxley follows Cassandra through a dark underground network of "Deprivers" in a desperate hunt for her missing brother Nicholas, taken hostage by a radical group of carriers with a terrifying agenda. Luxley doesn't know who to trust, or who is safe to touch, but he needs to learn Cassandra's secrets fast. As knowledge of SDS spreads, and panic erupts, no Depriver anywhere in the world will be safe.
[Currently reading. Not quite what it says on the tin, but a decent read nonetheless.]
Movies watched whilst across the pond, whoot!
Premonition - On ze plane
Ratatouille
Eastern Promises - My having read Vodka by Boris Starling helped so much in understanding the Vory mentality. Never once did they mention zamochit :(
El hijo de la novia - *bawls* Gorgeous acting and story.
The Kingdom - Brother recommended. Ashraf Barhom had my full attention, whereas Chris Cooper was an unexpected but welcome surprise.
Fracture - AHopkins and RGosling, what's not to love?
Bon Cop, Bad Cop - As hilarious as the first time. And damn was I appreciative of the Bad Cop.
Hot Fuzz - Saxon is the best name for a dog ever! *Dr Who geek* Still prefer Shawn of the Dead though.
Independence Day - Unexpected Adam Baldwin!
Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle - *sporflefest* Brother stopped channel-surfing here with a happy and appreciative excamation.
The Nanny Diaries - On ze plane
Also caught some Family Guy and Letterman (with scraggily beard, second only to Nathan Petrelli's in scraggle).
* metaquoted pouringsand