file under D, for disappointing

I'm just not having good book karma. Tons of books (actually, come to think of it, that's probably a good estimate of the weight I have in books) around, and I go for the stinkers.

Maybe that's not fair. The first book actually has received lots of positive press. I had such (sing it now) high hopes, but C'est la Vie, by Suzy Gershman, just didn't do much for moi. I made it about halfway through, and I think I need to accept the fact that that'll be as far as I get. The book is about starting a new life in Paris. But Suz gets bogged down in descriptions of shopping for household goods and dinner parties. Maybe this is my fault...I didn't realize she is the author of the Born to Shop books. Now I love to shop...but I don't want to read about it. Especially $100 sheets from Lille. Whoop-de-doo. The other thing that bugs me about this book is how she makes such a point about not wanting to get caught up in the ex-pat culture. But then what does she go and do? Make friends with a group of ex-pat women. Nice try on taking the high road there, Suz. I'm not waiting around around for strike three...this book has just gone in the reject pile.

Joining C'est la Vie in that just mentioned pile is Piazzas and Pizzas. I bought this book online (from a reputable bookstore) not realizing it is published by one of those on-line groups. I couldn't get past the first few pages. The spelling errors were too distracting. Dude, next time hire yourself an editor! Also, it was too much like reading my blog, and there is a good reason why I'm not published...bor-ing. However, for the record, I am a much better speller. I'm not making any claims to grammatical superiority, but I could kick his ass in a spelling bee.

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Reflections on blogging

Mackenzie asked how I decide what to post here on Blogger vs. what I post on LJ.

Hmmmm. Most of what is here is book reviews (really, I'll pick up a book again sometime soon and get back to those). And other things I want to commemorate/remember.

LJ is more worthless ramblings.

Except when I sometimes go through periods of only posting in one journal. Then it's all fair game.

I also post to a particular audience...most of the readers of my LJ blog are people I know from bookcrossing.com, and some of them I've met while travelling. I've often thought about quitting LJ, but there are a few people I'd miss over there. So I mainly post to keep in contact with those bookcrossing friends, particularly ones in England, Spain, Canada and a few US states...even one in MB!

I also have fewer readers over here, so my audience is mainly myself. Even though I know there are a few people who read this blog, I mostly post for myself.

Neither blog is designed to knock anyone's socks off! In fact, they're so dull I'm sure socks don't even twitch.

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This old man

Here's an oldie but a goodie...

This old man, he played one,
He played knick knack with his thumb,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played two,
He played knick knack with my shoe,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played three,
He played knick knack on my knee,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played four,
He played knick knack at my door,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played five,
He played knick knack, jazz and jive,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played six,
He played knick knack with his sticks,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played seven,
He played knick knack with his pen,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played eight,
He played knick knack on my gate,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played nine,
He played knick knack, rise and shine,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played ten,
He played knick knack in my den,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played eleven,
He played knick knack up in heaven,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twelve,
He played knick knack, dig and delve,
With a
Knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.

I was trying to fall asleep the other night and this song inexplicably popped into my head. Not really sure why, as I don't normally go about my day humming nursery rhymes. So there I was at ten o'clock at night trying to remember what rhymed with eight...not that I got 1-7 correct, but at least I had some plausible rhymes going. Luckily, I fell asleep fairly soon, so I didn't waste the night making up a new verse for eight.

Date, mate, fate, freight, debate, late, state...

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Spring has sprung

Happy first day of spring!

I just love daffodils...they're such happy looking flowers.

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Evidently, I'm "very strange"

What reading crime are you guilty of?

Huckleberry Who?

This article reminds me of my brief attempt at being a grad student. We made it through the inaugural course, and in the last week the professor finally told us there was an art to reading as a grad student...skimming. Otherwise, we would never have time to read everything we needed to read. Hello? First of all, now you tell me?? And second, doesn't that just seem, oh I don't know...wrong???

Dropping out was definitely a good move, dontcha think?

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Please. Visit. Italy.

Italy's tourism minister, Francesco Rutelli.

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Catch Up

I fell off the blogging wagon. Er, more like the blogger wagon. I managed to post over at LJ, but let's be honest...there's nothing of importance over there. Not that I'm claiming there's anything of importance here, either. ;-)

Reading...not so much, lately. For some reason, I've been mostly sitting around with the laptop, aimlessly surfing the net. I do have a few good books started, I'm just having committment issues.

Work...too much, lately. One more week of 5 days, then it's back to the 4 tens. Wa-hoo!! Can't wait to get back to those three day weekends.

Travel...now that it's 2007, I can start the countdown to Italy. Just a little over 5 months left before the Italian Adventure. Are you reading this Kate?? That's less than 1/2 a year!!

That's life in a nutshell.

And in case you were wondering, today is Awkward Moments Day. Awkward is such a cool word...I love the k-w-k combo.

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