ceitfianna: (Dean time rambles on)
I'm trying to get back to doing this more regularly as I find its a wonderful way to talk about books and be thoughtful about my choices.

What I finished reading

Empty Net by Toni Aleo, which I didn't finish. Its a contemporary hockey romance novel and I ate up the first three hundred or so pages but then it seemed to lag. It felt like the conflicts were being added or dragged out and since it was part of a series, they all didn't have to wrap up. The writing was good, which was why I was disappointed, I feel like with better editing and pacing, this book would really work for me.

I reread Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer and found it an intriguing read in the balance between investigative journalism and memoir. And I reread some favorite Ngaio Marsh mysteries that are set around the holidays: Death of a Fool and Tied up in Tinsel.

What I'm currently reading

Brave New Girls: Tales of Girls and Gadgets edited by Paige Daniels and Mary Fan. I'm dipping in and out of this anthology which I picked up because I heard Mary Fan speak at Chessiecon and was impressed by her. So far the stories are good but nothing amazing.

Tangled Vines by Frances Dinkelspiel and I'm enjoying it a lot. There's history, a conman and California all written in a wonderful style.

The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen, I picked this up when it was on sale and so far I'm liking it. The style makes me think of Miss Fisher and a little of the Montmaray books.

What I'm reading next

I'm hoping to finally read Bone Gap which I've been taking in and out of the library as I was distracted by other books. Other than that, it depends a lot on what I'm in the mood for.
ceitfianna: (Hiding Cat)
I would like this week to have a few things go right on the first try. The movers were late sending out the online confirmation but that's done. There's a email from the my student loans telling me to go look at a message from them but I don't want to. Last time I did the amount of interest made me want to cry, that will get put off a little longer.

My body keeps feeling off as in having asthma issues that I haven't had in a while. Allergies have rarely made me wheeze, its disturbing and disconcerting, I would like to not fall apart. My ear also seems to have healed, but it feels like it needs more. I also haven't been sleeping properly so I keep having points during the day where my temperature feels off and I just want to fall over and hide for a time. End of body rant and worries.

Meebo messenger's been shut off and I can't find a replacement that will let me get into chat, not even AIM Express which is messed up. I've got a five hour shift today and I'm already feelings a bit out of it, need chat and its wonderful community. So guys, I'm online but can't get into chat.

I'm going to do some meme answers, try to figure out who to do Happy Hour with tonight and maybe even write more on a fic that I should write. Perhaps tomorrow is a good day to go to the movies and hide from the world for a little bit.

Icon meme first.

1. Reply to this post with Dance with me, and I will pick five of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.

These five icons were chosen by [personal profile] bjornwilde



At one point I started watching Gossip Girl, I think I finished the first season but that was it. I found this icon and I love it as it shows the best of female friendship, two friends just being together.



[personal profile] anthologia made this icon and it feels quite apt for where I am at the moment, looking towards the future and not knowing what's ahead. Its peaceful and beautiful.



I loved Inception and this was by far my favorite scene in it because there was a clear sense of this isn't true reality. I wish honestly that there had been more of this but loved what there was. It was harder than I expected to find an icon of this moment.



This is a scene from the movie Atonement which I'm not a fan of. Its a gorgeous movie with wonderful actors, but I hate, hate the story. If I could have removed the actual plot, I might have liked it better. Its a heartbreaking movie about how a badly thought out and rather selfish choice that destroyed lives and to me that the person who did the wrecking never really got it. The atonement that's supposed to be the payoff felt weak to me. I have a fair amount of icons from this movie for Will as James MacAvoy spends a lot of time in it looking older than his age and hurting. I use this icon for war related things and general sadness.



My mother's originally from Carmel by the Sea so I spent my childhood spending one or two weeks there and visiting my grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin. I also grew up not far from the Atlantic ocean in Pennsylvania and my parents now live on the Delaware shore. I'm happiest when water is within walking distance for me. I loved that about Wellington, not only was the water right there but the waterfront was someplace I wanted to be. There was the public library and Te Papa and places to sit and watch the world go by. Everything for me feels a little more possible by the water. This icon is my beach, water one.

Now another round of the five topics meme.

Comment to this post saying "FIVE!" and I will pick five things I would like you to talk about. They might make sense or be totally random.

Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself, hopefully for the rest of eternity!


(I don't really care if you say "FIVE" or let me know some other way. Just for the record.)

These five are from [personal profile] crazyfurries

Five more words )

Now all this writing has been feeling a little more even keeled and now to plot who will do Happy Hour in Milliways.
ceitfianna: (four elements)
I just got off the phone and finally have my wireless connection set up, which is a relief. I had to call Linksys since apparently I have to do clone thing for my Mac and had to pay them some money, but its set. Also it was that weird feeling of I've set up a lot of wifis and fixed my parents so I know a lot of the basic steps and I think the tech lady appreciated that she didn't have to explain a lot. I wouldn't have known to do that but I think my mother mentioned having to do the same when she got her new laptop as well. Honestly calling Apple probably would have been simpler as I have AppleCare but I'm not used to thinking about the fact that I have a computer company that will help. Either way, my apartment is now wifi ready again.

Oh and I found out that one of my debit cards' numbers has been stolen again. It sounds like from the fraud guy that there has been an uptick in this happening in general as thieves are stealing from merchants which is hard to protect against. Its annoying but the banks I work with have been very good at getting me reimbursed and a new card, which is good as I had a scare of thinking I'd overdrafted today.

Today I also started reading a book that so many other people on my flist will love-historical cross dressing, world exploration, botany, science, gender roles and tall ships. Its called The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe and the writing is fantastic which is a nice bonus as the history itself is fascinating. [livejournal.com profile] bookelfe, this is right around your sweet spot and one reason I have it is because I'm trying to read more nonfiction as inspired by you. So at the Borders' going out of business' sale I got myself a pile of interesting nonfiction, this is one of them.

Since this is all rather serious and I'm feeling a little jittery, I think I'm going to finish this post with some beautiful pictures that I've taken lately.



This was the beautiful place where the reception of my brother's wedding was held.

Grapes and Butterflies )
ceitfianna: (fairy illustration)
As I've mentioned before, I recently moved a lot of pictures from my camera to my computer. Since today is being a rather quiet day, I thought I'd share some of them.

The Borders on Liberty, store number 1 is empty and closed and I have some pictures of its final weeks to share. Then I'm going to share the pictures I grabbed of the Golden Gate bridge while traveling with my parents to Sonoma Valley.

Though I grew up flying into San Francisco as my mother's originally from Carmel, I don't think I've ever crossed the Golden Gate before. On this trip, I crossed it twice and got some decent pictures considering I was in the back seat of a car. I think the next round of posting will be some beautiful nature from Ann Arbor and California. I take so many pictures of flowers simply because I can.



Someone taped this to the entry and its such an important thing to remember for all of us and beauty is far more than just how you look.

Over the bridge and through the woods. )
ceitfianna: (Fred and Ginger dancing)
My flight yesterday worked out fine and I met my parents in San Francisco. We then followed the directions into the beautiful hills of the Sonoma Valley where there was dinner put on by my brother and new sister-in-law. It was fantastic, this is a kind of home for me. I love California so much though it also makes me homesick for Wellington, which is rather odd. I grew up mainly on the East Coast but my mom's family is from Carmel so I spent a lot of summers in Northern California. Its one of those places that defines me.

I just got an email that confirms, yes, I am graduating saying that my Michigan email and things might be stopped at some point. I don't think they will as I'll still be working for the library but it was a moment of oh yes, not a student anymore.

For the next three days there are going to be parties and celebrations of my brother and me. Life is wonderful.

Also I've been reading some great books and wanting more. I read Kevin Hearne's Hounded on the plane and need to find the next two books of the trilogy as he knows how to do urban fantasy. His style is rather like Seanan McGuire's just with a different sort of hero. Tales of the Ur-Bar is a wonderful mix of stories of things that happen at a Bar that goes through time. If you play or love [livejournal.com profile] milliways_bar, I recommend it. The stories range from funny to touching to creepy with some explosions tossed in.

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