The Letter Meme....and I got "G"

Nymeth gave me a letter WEEKS ago....and I've put it off until now. Mostly because I was having trouble with "G". I mean, really. G. Let's just say, this is a whole lot harder than I thought it would be!! Here are the 10 Things I Love that Begin with G:

• Gaimen. Neil, that is. Ever since that fateful day when I picked up American Gods, Neil Gaiman is on the very short list of favorite writers.




• Going Green. What can I say? I'm a tree-hugger at heart. We all need to do our part and try to save this planet, even if it's just changing the light bulbs we use in our house. Come on people....let's get environmentally conscious!!



• Gold Coast....as in downtown Chicago's most beautiful neighborhood!! It's affluent, upscale and contains the "Magnificent Mile" otherwise known as Michigan Ave!! Watertower Place, the John Hancock Building and Navy Pier are just a few stops you can make in the Gold Coast!




• Grandparents. There is nothing better than Grandparents!!




• Grosse Point Blank - I think I might have mentioned once or twice (or 50 times) that John Cusak was my favorite actor. Well...this is one of my favorite Cusak Movies. So Smart....and SO funny!! And it begins with a G!




• Gone With the Wind - The book is in my top 5 of favorite books, and the movie ranks pretty high itself.




• Goodfellows or the Godfather - Or can you say, Mafia Movies for $1000?? A precursor to The Soprano's (which is one of my all-time favorite TV shows), these movies really showed us a whole different way of doing business!




• Grey Goose Vodka Dirty Martini - Doesn't it just sound like a wonderful way to relax after a LONG day??




• Green Day - Just one of the greatest bands ever.....enough said!

• Gorrilaz - Figured I might as well end with a couple of bands since you all know how important music is in my life!!

There.....it's done! Damn. That was really hard!! If anyone else plays along and wants a letter just let me know. I like seeing everyone's answers!!

5 Things Meme

Booklogged tagged me for this meme, so I thought I would play along!

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago: (I can't even remember yesterday!)
1. Getting ready for Christmas with my son. It would have been the first Christmas that he would really have fun (18 months old). So I was buying a lot of toys!
2. I was finishing up some computer classes at the Jr. College here in town.
3. I was getting ready to start a new job at Caterpillar (and now I'm getting ready to start a new job again!!)
4. After Christmas in 1997, I made MY first trip to Disney World for 3 days with my husband. It was a wonderful time!
5. I was reading very little (can you imagine!)

5 Things on my T0-Do List today:
1. Send off my Secret Santa package!
2. Go pick up dog food at Petsmart.
3. Change the sheets and clean the bedrooms.
4. Do a little more Christmas shopping!
5. Go downtown and take the drug test so I can start my new job!!

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Buy a new house, so the girls don't have to share a bedroom.
2. Take the whole family on a Christmas Cruise during Christmas vacation.
3. Pay off all my debts!
4. Go to the bookstore and buy whatever I felt like buying!
5. Donate money to the Dream Center in Peoria, to help others have a nice Christmas as well.

5 Things I'll never wear again (or have never worn):
1. Crop-tops.
2. Cowboy boots.
3. Maternity clothes.
4. Split skirts.
5. Interview suits! (I guess I'd better Never say Never!)

5 Favorite Toys:
1. Tivo
2. Guitar Hero for PS2
3. Computer
4. Satellite Radio
5. My bread maker

5 People to tag:
Chris at Book-A-Rama
Suey at It's All About the Books
Melody from Melody's Reading Corner
Rhinoa from Rhinoa's Ramblings
Amy from The Sleepy Reader

See that was fun!

Cleaning For Thanksgiving!

I KNEW there was a reason my house was so messy!! Since I am hosting Thanksgiving tomorrow for my in-laws, I'm off cleaning today!! I also still have to do some last minute shopping and try to bake some orange cranberry bread and a pumpkin pie cake tonight!!

I just found this poem and wanted to leave you with it :

Cleaning Poem

I asked the Lord to tell me

Why my house is such a mess.

He asked if I'd been 'puttering',

And I had to answer "yes."

He told me to get off my butt

And tidy up the house.

And so I started cleaning up...

The smudges off my mouse.

I wiped and shined the topside.

That really did the trick...

I was just admiring my work...

I didn't mean to 'click.'

But click, I did, and oops I found

A real absorbing site

That I got SO way into...

I was into it all night.

(Sigh)Nothing's changed except my mouse

It's very, very shiny.

I guess my house will stay a mess...

While I sit here on my hiney.

Later!

In Honor of my Inner Goth Girl

And just in time for Carl's RIP challenge!! This is cool!! Siouxie has been one of my favorite rockers for years!!! Expecially back when my inner goth was much more outer goth!!

Your Score: Siouxsie Sioux!

Our test has determined that you possess
36% Hellbentness, 23% Sanguinity, and 62% Creeps!
Well done!

You are Siouxsie Sioux, lead singer of Siouxsie and the Banshees!

Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British gothic rock band that encompassed the punk and new wave genres. She and the Banshees were not directly involved in the early goth scene as such, but had a massive influence on it in terms of both music and image. Siouxsie Sioux courted much controversy in the band's early days with her dress, often wearing 'bondage' clothes and fetish wear. Their music had been called "gothic" as far back as 1979, and their music formed the template for a lot of female-fronted goth bands in much the same way that Siouxsie's sense of style provided a fashion plate for many female goths. Between the two bands, Siouxsie & the Banshees and Bauhaus pretty much rocked early gothic style into being.

Link: The what Proto-Goth Icon are you? Test written by anastasia_x on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

In Honor of the release of Order of the Phoenix

Find out your Harry Potter personality at LiquidGeneration!

Since we went to see the movie yesterday, I thought this was appropriate!! Thanks Dark Orpheus! I'm stealing from you!

Movie was out of this world, by the way!



be sorted @ nimbo.net

Random Posting....and More Free Books!

Yes, it must be my lucky week. Not only did I win a new Sci-Fi book, but the lovely Tanabata from In Spring it is The Dawn was giving away a copy of Anthony Doerr's About Grace for Buy a Friend a Book Week. And guess what? She drew my name too!! Yeah!! Thank you so much Tanabata!! I'm really excited. This looks like a great book too!!



John, at The Book Mine Set, is doing his Weekly Compare again this week. Last week's winner, Jane Austen, is squaring off this week against Kurt Vonnegut. Well....no contest for me. I'm a HUGE Vonnegut fan.








Speaking of Jane, they are releasing a movie about her life starring Anne Hathaway. It is called Becoming Jane. I saw the previews for it a few weeks ago, and it looks really good. Except, Anne Hathaway is WAY too pretty to play Jane Austen. I don't know much about this movie, or how factually it is supposed to be, but I still think I would like to see it.

Finally, I found something new. It is called the "Pay-It-Forward" Book Exchange and it is hosted by Overwhelmed With Joy! Click on the pretty picture for more details or to join up. It looks like the first book to be exchanged is Lucky by Alice Sebold. Looks Like fun!!

Later!!

Apparently I'm only fit for Adults!

Holy Hell! I really didn't expect much more than a PG-13!

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:
dead (8x)
death (6x)
suicide (5x)
murder (4x)
crap (1x)
porn (1x)

On another note, I'd better start getting in shape! I'm not sure I'd be able to survive a zombie attack if one would hit!!

48%

LATER!

My Daemon...what do you think??

How damn cool is this?? In honor of the new movie "The Golden Compass" from the book by Phillip Pullman, you can go to the movies website and create your own daemon!! If you would like to try this youself, you should!!

Overheard in New York

One of my new favorite blogs is called Overheard in New York. I can't help but laugh out loud. I gotta stop reading this at work!! (And see...I'm not the only one that thinks it's funny!!) It's a place where people log conversations they've heard in New York City. Some of them make me very glad I don't actually live in NYC!! These a just a couple of my favorites from today:


How the Projects Got Gentrified

Yuppie girl: Sometimes I feel like it would be fun to live in the projects.
Yuppie guy: Uh, why?
Yuppie girl: Everybody knows each other -- it's like summer camp.
Yuppie guy: But they shoot each other.
Yuppie girl: Yeah -- summer camp, but with guns.

--99th & 3rd Overheard by: Dan

Skinny NYU girl #1: Oh my god, I couldn't believe it happened. It's one of those things you have nightmares about.
Skinny NYU girl #2: I know. Don't people know they shouldn't eat for at least two hours before?
Skinny NYU girl #1: Duh, totally. Who farts in the middle of yoga class?
Skinny NYU girl #2: She'll have to go to therapy for months.

--Washington Square ParkOverheard by: Michelle

Check it out! Later!

My Visual DNA

Couldn't help myself. This is WAY too cool.......

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

How Many of These Books Have YOU Read??

I have never tried one of these list memes before. Thank you, Ms. Literary Feline (who got this meme from Bookfool). Apparently if you read it, you are automatically tagged! So, I guess that means if you are reading MY list, then you are tagged as well!!

Look at the list of books below: *Bold the ones you’ve read* Italicize the ones you want to read* Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in. If you are reading this (and haven't participated yet), tag, you’re it! **If there are any books on this list that I didn't italicize and you think I should read, let me know in comments! (on a side note, I high-lighted in blue the books that I actually have on some challenge lists for the year!!) Sounds like fun, right? Right!! It's a strange list of books, I'm not really sure where they came from. Some Classics, some bestseller, some award winners. Very Ecclectic!!

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)

2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)

5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)

6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)

7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)

8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)

9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)

10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)

11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)

12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)

14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)

16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)

17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)

18. The Stand (Stephen King)

19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)

20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)

21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)

22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)

24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)

25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) Alternate TBR

27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)

28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)

29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)

30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)

31. Dune (Frank Herbert)

32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)

33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)

34. 1984 (Orwell)

35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley) Alternate TBR

36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)

37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)

38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)

39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)

42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)

43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)

44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)

45. The Bible (Actually, I've read a bunch of the books....never all at once)

46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)

47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)

48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)

49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)

50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)

51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)

52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)

53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)

54. Great Expectations (Dickens)

55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)

56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)

57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)

58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)

59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)

60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)

61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)

64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)

65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)

66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)

68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

69. Les Miserables (Hugo)

70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)

72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)

73. Shogun (James Clavell)

74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)

75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)

77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)

78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)

79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)

80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)

81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)

82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)

83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)

84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)

85. Emma (Jane Austen)

86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)

87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)

89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)

90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)

91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)

92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)

93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)

94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)

95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)

96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)

97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)

98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)

99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)

100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Wow. I've only read a little over 1/4 of them.....29, to be exact. And I have a lot on my TBR. Let's hear some of your opinions!!

Later!!

What Kind of Reader are YOU?

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm You're probably in the final stages of a Ph.D. or otherwise finding a way to make your living out of reading. You are one of the literati. Other people's grammatical mistakes make you insane.
Dedicated Reader
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Non-Reader
Fad Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Like this was a surprise??? Nope!! I thought this quiz was cute. And since I have about 4 books going right now, and haven't had a chance to review anything, I was feeling the need to post something! Now, if I could just figure out how to make a living out of my reading, I'd be set for life!

Later!!

What Jane Austen Character am I???

Take the Quiz here!

Well....I've only read 1 Jane Austen novel and Sense and Sensibility wasn't it!! So I guess I'm not really sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing!! But this is what it says about it:

:: M A R I A N N E ::
You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a little to vocal in your honesty. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

Now, I don't know how true this is.....some, maybe. But as my daddy would say, I can't carry a tune in a bucket!!

I "borrowed" this quiz from Christina at Book-a-Rama . Thanks!!

Later!

Hmmmmm......I've GOT to get to Starbucks TODAY!

Caramel Frappuccino

Creative and expressive, you tend to match your Frappuccino flavor to your mood. And a flavored syrup is always a must!

What Flavor Frappuccino Are You?

Oh Yeah!! This is me. When I need a fix, it's time to hit Starbucks!! And yes, I usually prefer anything with Caramel!! YUMMY!!

Later....I'm cleaning for the big SUPER BOWL party!!! Let's hear it, one and all: GO BEARS!!

And just how accurate is it??

As I was trying to catch up on checking out my friends blogs, I came across a book quiz on Kailana's Written World. I thought I would try it, since I don't have anything else to do (ha, ha!) Here are my results!!

You're The Mists of Avalon!

by Marion Zimmer Bradley

You're obsessed with Camelot in all its forms, from Arthurian legend
to the Kennedy administration. Your favorite movie from childhood was "The Sword in
the Stone". But more than tales of wizardry and Cuban missiles, you've focused on
women. You know that they truly hold all the power. You always wished you could meet
Jackie Kennedy.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Hmmm.....this IS pretty accurate!! You should take it and find out!

Later!

To Meme or not to.......

OK....I've heard the term but I've never really thought too much about them. But I found this one, and thought it would be fun....AND appropriate, so I'm "borrowing" it!! Thanks so much to the Literary Feline herself for the Book Meme! I know...it's stealing shamelessly, though I added a couple of my own!

Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror?
Hmmm....since I was young, I've been a huge Stephen King fan. I would have to say horror, although lately fantasy and sci-fi are really picking up for me!

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
To be honest, I actually prefer Trade Paperback to anything. That is to read. (If I'm going to buy a "Keeper", I prefer harback). The TPB's are so much easier to read and carry around. After that would be hardback, and mass markets would be last.

Jane Austen of the Bronte Sisters?
OK...this is tough. I've only read one Jane Austen. So right now, I'll go with the Bronte's. This may change in the coming years.

Amazon or Brick and Mortar?
I definitely prefer actually going to a real bookstore than buying online. I know the convience is there. But there is nothing like the smell of all those new books!! Can you say OBSESSION??

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Wow. I really like both! I prefer Barnes & Noble mostly for the Starbucks and how friendly everyone is. I do prefer the way Borders is laid out, and I LOVE their 2 for 3 tables!

Hitchhiker or Discworld?
Haven't read either, so I guess I can't comment!

Bookmark or Dogear?
Bookmark definitely!! I HATE to damage the pages of a book!!

Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?
Who actually alphabetizes by title??? That sounds really dumb to me!! Must be by author.

Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
I do a bit of both Keeping and selling. I have an extensive collection and I just can't keep all the books I read. So I do tend to sell a lot of the paperbacks. I can't imagine actually throwing away a book!

Read with dustjacket or remove it?
I take the dustjacket off.....hate to let it get ripped!

Short story or novel?
I don't read a lot of short stories. I prefer novels because you get so much more character development.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Why Harry Potter, of course!!

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
I really prefer to break at chapters, but with 3 kids that's not always the case!!

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
The Goth Girl in me totally prefers the "It was dark and stormy night"!!

Buy or Borrow?
I do both! I probably buy more than I should though!

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
All of the above!! These book blogs have been great for getting good, solid recommendations. I actually prefer those to any paid critic! And I will pick up a book at the store if it catches my fancy!

Lewis or Tolkien?
Lord of the Rings, baby!! Tolkien, for sure!

Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)?
As I said, I don't generlly care for short stories, but if I was going to read them, I think I'd like the diversity of the Anthology.

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
Tidy Endings. I like to have Closure!

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
I almost exclusively read at night during the week. With kids and work there is really no other time. On the weekends, I squeeze in reading when I can.

Standalone or Series?
Both. I've found some really good series lately.

Classic or Modern?
Again....both! I think I read a lot more classics than some people. And they are classics for a reason. But sometimes, I really like to read more modern books.

New or used?
Although I read both, I prefer new.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Tough question. Especially here because I'm sure with all the Bookies out there, someone will have heard of it, depending on the genre. I guess I will have to go with A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali. EXCELLENT book.


Top 5 favorite books read last year?
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
One Thousand White Women: The Journal of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safron Foer


Top 5 favorite books of all time that are not listed above?

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Stand by Stephen King

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

5 favorite series?

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich

Anita Blake Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton

The Dark Tower by Stephen King

Shopaholics by Sophie Kinsella

Later!