Joie de vivre

savetheolives was AMAZING.



I must go pick my jaw up off the floor now.

w00t! 

And for once, I won't have to get up at 3:30am to get to the airport on time. Bliss. 

my_everafter, sometime before Oct. 6 I will be getting in touch with you to try to work out a time to visit, if you are agreeable. :)

1. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J. K. Rowling

I only read this one once, in one great big night-long gulp the day it came out. I thought it was time to read it again before I attacked the 7th book.

2. Shakespeare: the invention of the human, Harold Bloom

I wish I owned this one just so that I could read it in short snippets and take in only the chapter about whatever play I was reading at the time -- it's a rather large amount of theory and information to read straight through. He lost me in some places, seemed mistaken in others, but was largely brilliant throughout. Except for his (rather unfortunate) obsession with Falstaff as the "perfect Shakespearean character", because I got tired of seeing said gentleman mentioned every other page and often every other paragraph. I do not jest.

3. The Quotable Book Lover, Ben Jacobs and Hjalmarsson

Yes, I sit down and read books of quotations. Wanna make something of it? I would remind you of Winston Churchill's words:

It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.... The quotations when engraved upon the memory give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more.

4. A Spy for All Seasons, Duane R. Clarridge

Not as engaging as I had hoped. Oh well. It was more political than espionage in nature. Lots about Iran-Contra, which I'm not really old enough to be much interested in.

5. The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester

This is one of my top picks for the month. I always like books about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary (Tolkien was involved, you know!), and this one combines wordsmithing with the intriguing story of a man confined to a mental institution who just happened to play a large role in the Dictionary.

...few would disagree that serendipity in dictionaries is a most splendid thing indeed.

This has been the story of an American soldier whose involvement in the making of the world's greatest dictionary was singular, astonishing, memorable, and laudable -- and yet at the same time, wretchedly sad.

6. The Island of Lost Maps, Miles Harvey

One of my other top books for this month. It is incredibly engaging. It intersperses the story of one of this era's most prolific map thieves (he stole millions of dollars of maps, mostly out of rare-book libraries, often by simply slicing them out of books right under the noses of the librarians --cue horrified scream here--) with the long and almost noble history of mapthievery. Just ponder the fact that Columbus wouldn't have had a map to inspire him to try to find the Indies if it hadn't been stolen from Portugal. 

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling

Amazing. Also amazing to read most of it it with a friend. :) *waves at laraemily * Joys shared really are joys doubled!

8. Mother Tongue, Joel Davis

I didn't so much like this guy's writing style. Also: clearly he was a first time grandparent at the time of the writing, because he kept mentioning his grandson every couple of pages. That's irritating in what is supposed to be a scholarly work.

9. Queen Elizabeth II: a celebration of Her Majesty's fifty-year reign, Tim Graham 

A birthday book from savetheolives! Beautiful collection of photographs, and quite a bit of text, too. I cried my way through the coronation pages, because she was so young and beautiful.

10. The Griffin and the Minor Canon, Frank Stockton 

It's very sad when a book makes my book list before I get a thank you card out for it! This was another birthday book, and a marvelous one it is, too! (equuschickhas great taste, naturally.) It's a charming children's book from the 1800s, and liberally illustrated in a most beautiful manner.

11. The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde (Audio)

I've been listening to this in the car, just because it's been awhile since I've gotten my Wilde fix. This particular version is older, and the English accents are highly overdone, but then, that just adds to the comedic effect. I am most amused.

And thus ends July's books. I have quite a number in the works that I had hoped to get done by the end of the month, but they shall wait until the end of August rolls around to be revealed. I'm sure you won't die of curiosity in the meantime -- in any case, you can see what I'm reading now if you click on over here.

On the way home tonight I mostly kept my eyes on the bank of clouds (thankfully directly ahead of my path) where God was putting on a lightening show to rival any of man's fireworks displays. Beautiful. 

I got a package from Australia today, sent by our very own blackswans! For the first time in my life, though, I am being a very, very good girl and waiting to open all my presents at my birthday dinner. Alas, this package almost ruined my resolve. It's not every day something comes from across the seas, you know. "Air mail" -- don't the words just thrill?

So maybe weird things make me happy. Leave me be in my randomly happy little bubble!

Next Friday [Poll #991817][Poll #991817]

Before ruthettehas a heart attack: This is not her book. It did, however, come to me in the mail yesterday (I joined www.paperbackswap.com for the sole purpose of acquiring it!) and now it is all read and WOW. I should have made the reading of it last longer, but it was so good, I couldn't help flying through it. Connie Wilson is brilliant, not the least of which for the character of Flip. 

So. Yeah. This evening, as soon as I had dispensed with my familial obligations, I curled up on the rocking chair with a big cup of coffee and finished it off. And now I have everything else to catch up on. Toodle-pip!

In which Gmail Chat gets scary on a Sunday afternoon. [Censored;  Names Not Changed to Protect the Innocent.]

Marie: I WILL HAUNT YOUR DREAMS!
Hannah: I dare you.
Marie: Just wait and see.
Hannah: "Oh, it's a leaf! It might hurt me!"
Marie: Hahahaha.
Hannah: I ain't skeered of nobody.
Marie: Subtle payback for the patty comment
Hannah: Oh ha ha. :P
Marie: I will HAUNT your DREAMS!
Hannah: Just for that, that's all I'm going to call him.
Marie: MwahahahaHS
Hannah: HS?
  Must be some code.
Marie: Mistake
Hannah: I know. ;)
Marie: Although perhaps it could be a ghost snake:
  MwahahahiSSSSSS!
Hannah: Oh dear. I'm frightened.
Marie: oh noes!
  the dreaded ghost snake!
Hannah: OH NOES!!!11111!
Marie: it has come to eeeeeat our braaaaains!
Hannah: Ew, that's like Night of the Living Dead. :P

I love this girl. *beams at  savetheolives

Have you noticed the moon in the last few days? Big...bright...a true harvest moon. I woke up around one last night (who am I kidding? I was barely asleep) and thought day was dawning outside, it was that bright.

Go look at the moon.

I find it amazing that though we are scattered throughout the world, we all see the same moon. It makes you feel more real to me.

Goodnight, friends. Goodnight, moon.

I had some fun, inconsequential things to say, but I can't bring myself to write them just now.

Guys, whether you know her or not, pray for alissamarie. Her father died today, just two and a half days before her wedding.

I know most of you have already seen this plea on any number of other LJs, but I felt compelled to do my part in case there was even one person who hadn't seen yet. 

My heart is sore.