LIEFBLARGH (for the handful of silly people who are actually interested XD)

[life_of_eden]

Okay! So I'm out the other end of my watercolor class and it was AWESOME the whole way through. Pretty soon here I'll put the finishing touches on my favorite pieces from the class and scan them into the artblogAnd that means that it is OFFICIALLY summer. I've got no idea what to do with myself :D That is, I do have plenty of things to do, but

Comments

[nightengale]

Oooh, books. :D

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series is both wonderfully realistic and mindful of the little details - and also hilariously funny and enthusiastic and captivating and and and. *read them omg* I need more people to fangirl with :D :D

I'm fairly sure you've heard of Ellen Kushener's "Swordspoint" but if not - READ IT. It's kind of hard to get ahold of copies unless you buy it outright; I own two, and when my second copy comes back from being loaned out I'll loan it to you if you haven't gotten ahold of a copy of your own by then.

Lynn Flewelling does a really great trilogy of fantasy books; respectively they're The Bone Doll's Twin, Hidden Warrior, and The Oracle's Queen. IIRC.

"Bel Canto" by Ann Patchett is really good contemporary non-genre fiction, a really fast read but really powerful as well.

Any short stories by Margaret Atwood or John Cheever, for starters. I can get you more names of short story authors, or just mail you some of my collections for borrowing, if you like the form.

Neil Gaiman deserves his rep; Neverwhere and American Gods are my favorites so far, but I haven't read Anasazi Boys so that may change. In his list of collaborations, Good Omens and The Sandman: The Dream Hunters are both very good, for very different reasons.

LJ layouts....There's tutorials that are really helpful, actually. Once you get the basic concept down there's dozens of ways to replicate/modify the format. If you join a layout community and find one that's laid out the way you want, you could gank the code and replace the images with your own, with credit to the codemaker. Or just look at the code and use it to sort out how to make your own. I've never googled for the tutorials but I bet you could turn them up quickly that way; LJ itself has a few mostly-useful ones as well.

Congrats on getting your commission doooone ♥

Annnd, yay for the eye-flirting. Is good to indulge sometimes. Maybe it'll go somewhere??

Lastly - do you still have that Last Exile goat plushie? I have been swimming in plushies (from the carny games at the amusement park) and was thinking of it.

[pencil_smudged]

BOOK RECS = FAAAAAAABULOUS~!

Have heard of Dresden Files but know nothing about. Have not heard of Swordspoint. Have heard only good things about M. Atwood, and fully intend to investigate everyone else. Am looking forward to reading!!!

I have Anansi Boys if you'd like to borrow. Not my favorite Gaiman (I sort of found it hard to connect with the main chara), but I only read it once and it's been a while since I looked at it. I should probably give it at least a couple more readthroughs before I give it a final judgment. Am DESPERATE to get my grubby little paws on The Sandman...the whole series. The Absolute Sandman collection is exciting (and, augh, EXPENSIVE), and now I finally have something specific I want for Christmas this year. According to Neil's blog, The Dream Hunters is not included in the four volumes of Absolute SM, but his publisher or someone recently approached him about doing a 5th volume of Sandman things. I hope it happens X3.

RE: Layout. Will get around to researching this eventually, but it's a bit lower on the priority totem pole. Will probably just join a layout community for the sake of ease and friendliness.

Eye-flirting was probably a one-time-dealie, but whatever. *is V. Busy and Important Future Successful Art Businessperson. Or something*

And yes, I've still got the plushie. It's currently sitting on my bookshelf next to my desk X3