Fandom, Dragon*Con, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and why I love Labor Day weekend in Atlanta

First, I loved The Night Circus. There a lot of reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads that are clearly split between "loved it" and "hated it" camps.

Reasons I loved it:
1. Nothing was as I expected.  The contest was not what I expected.  The protagonists were not what I expected. I didn't expect the deaths to happen the way they did.  I didn't anticipate the ending until very close to the end. I kept reading because I wanted to see what happened next.
2. The Circus sounded so cool.  Yes, there are long stretches of description and atmosphere.  They are necessary for you to understand why the circus was so popular.  And it's so unusual, like the Cloud Maze, where attendees can climb a 3 dimensional maze. I want to climb that.  The Ice Garden sounds like something I would love to see. And who wouldn't want to visit the regrets pond (not what it's called) where you drop a stone in a pond and with it, release a regret you hold in your heart.
3.  The description of the fandom. The novel spends time with fans of the Circus who travel from city to city to see it and send telegrams to alert each other when it shows up.  Who share their stories at cafe meet ups and in newsletters. As I am a participant in a few fandoms, I love that our part in it was included.

On a related note, Ms. Morgenstern was a speaker at the Decatur Book Festival this Labor Day weekend.  She spoke on Saturday.  But I missed it because I was at Dragon*Con.

We didn't buy a membership to attend Dragon*Con this year, because of the baby.  Though I think she would have done okay. My mother-in-law was in town, so we went to the Dragon*Con parade, then had lunch at Durango's on Peachtree Street, on the outside patio, which is prime people watching.  There are the people in costumes going from hotel to hotel for Dragon*Con.

There are the college football fans in town for  some bowl game, staying in the same hotels as Dragon*Con.  Husband's a football fan so that's fun for him too.  He would call out "War Eagle!" to any Auburn University fan walking by.  It would startle his mom every time a group would shout back "War Eagle!"

It was also Black Gay Pride Weekend in Atlanta, though up the street a bit.

Labor Day weekend in Atlanta is a great weekend of fandom of many kinds.  I love it.

Steampunk Novels -- Sept 2011

The books I've really enjoyed so far this month:

1. Heartless by Gail Carriger -- the 4th in the Parasol Protectorate series, set in Victorian England about Alexia Tarabotti who has no soul which gives her power over werewolves and vampires. At one point, I had to tweet the author about her great plotting and characters. Within a few pages, Ms. Carriger threw in a red herring; revealed the truth about a doomed love affair that broke my heart; a flirtation between two minor characters that were in character that made me cringe; then broke my heart again with 2 other characters. So well done!
2. Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve -- the first of a 4 book series in a post-apocalyptic Earth far in the future where cities are built in tiers and mounted on wheels where they roam around hunting and eating other cities and towns. They call it Municipal Darwinism. They're opposed by the Anti-Tractionists who believe that cities should be stationary. Very inventive and fun.

I've pre-ordered Goliath by Scott Westerfeld, the 3rd in the Leviathan series. It's set during WWI between the Darwinists (genetic engineering) and the Clankers (steampowered machines with legs instead of wheels).

What these all have in common are action, adventure, and romance.

Another book was A Life in Stitches by Rachael Herron, aka Yarn-a-go-go. It's a series of essays about her life, really the important people and events in her life, that have knitted pieces associated with them. For example, her quest to knit her own wedding dress, but really it's about her wedding to Lala and what weddings and marriage are really about. Another book that mad me smile and tear-up. Lovely book.

So far, September's been full of good books.

Gift certificates and e-readers

First, update on Mother-in-law: she's home from the hospital so that's good.

Second, got $150 gift certificate to Amazon from work. Already ordered Torchwood Season 2, which I'm missing. Tempted to get Caprica 1 and 1.5 but still balking at $70 plus in cost. Even if it's not my money.

Third, cashed in my rewards from my credit card and will be getting $25o in gift certificates to Barnes and Noble. Why, that's enough for a Nook Color e-reader!

So, I've been thinking of getting an e-reader. Kindle is more affordable but doesn't interface with the public library. Nook is more expensive but it does interface with the library. And I still like paper books...

Not making any decisions yet, but I love knowing I have enough free money to get either one!

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

I hope it was a good holiday for everyone. I spent it in Atlanta because I was sick and didn't feel up to flying to DC to be with Sister, new Brother-in-law, and Brother Two.

So I did get to enjoy Thanksgiving with Husband at a friend's home. It was warm enough to eat the meal outside in sleeveless shirt and skirt. I was not at 100% and being out in the sun was lovely.

Over estimated how well I was, over ate and over drank, and felt pretty bad for the rest of the night.

However, it is Thanksgiving, so I give thanks for

• my family near (Husband, cat) and far (everyone else)
• being able to see my parents and have them come visit in October
• friends old and new
• a job that is meaningful and plays a part in making the world better, heck for being employed instead of unemployed like Brother Two (his company shut down and he was laid off)
• a job that offers paid sick leave, which I have used extensively this year for my mental and physical health

I've been reading a lot. Most recently Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld and the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. They're both really good books, written mainly for young adults. I just finished The Hunger Games this afternoon and when I put it down, I was just kind of stunned; it's just so good. Looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation. And compared to the dystopian world and emotional turmoil in the book, and in many places in the world, I'm thankful for the well-fed, safe and loving life I have.

Steampunk + Girl Power + Genetic Engineering + WWI = Leviathan

Just finished the book Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, illustrated by Keith Thompson. It's a young adult novel that I really want to see as a movie. The illustrations really bring the steampunk alive.

It makes me think of the Golden Compass, which I didn't realize until now was steampunk. I'm tempted to borrow the movie again.

So in the world of Leviathan is set at the beginning of WWI, a period of time I'm not too familiar with. Germany and its allies are Clankers, building machines that have multiple legs instead of treads like tanks. Lots of spider imagery and I love the scouts that look like big dogs that seat one person. The main boy character is the heir to the Austrian empire and a Clanker.

The main girl character is British and the UK and its allies are Darwinists, that is they use genetic engineering to develop new animals, including an airship that's based on a whale but really is an ecosystem of many different animals. Pretty cool.

I devoured the book in one day and really want to see this as a movie. And can't wait for the sequel, to be set in the Ottoman Empire.

Dreaming of a Russian River Cruise

Recently I went to DC for a conference, again, and stayed with Sister, again. On Wed, we both took a vacation day and hung out.

The plan was to go to the botanical garden where she's getting married this fall, but it started raining, so we went to Fiber Space yarn shop, where I got the above:

Circular knitting needle case by Della Q

Sock Yarn by Miss Babs in the colorway Raven

I also got a itty bitty circular needle, just 9 inches long, size 2.5 mm. I could use them for socks, but probably will use them to knit stuffed snakes in the round.

Still working on the green shawl, on 2.5mm needles, so that's slow going, but portable and mindless. Perfect for watching the view go by as we go cruising down the Volga River for a month.

That's what Husband and I have been dreaming of for vacation. A river boat cruise, from Moscow to St. Petersburg for a month. Or from Singapore, through the islands of Malaysia and Indonesia, with stops in Australia and New Zealand.

That's not going to happen this year, nor next, but it's fun to dream about. More realistically we are looking at a 3 or 4 day cruise down the Hudson River from NYC to Montreal. Just sit, knit, and watch the world go by.

ETA: Work is incredibly stressful this week. There was a board meeting on Saturday where I was to be evaluated by the board of directors. That's always fun. Then they dropped the news that an anonymous complaint was lodged against me so they want 5 years worth of financials, reports, etc. Plus I feel like all they did was tell me what I did wrong, nothing about what I did right. Then after the meeting, we started a national training and I'm supposed to be all happy, encouraging and upbeat, after all that? I started e-mail all the requested stuff to the board chair and of course a lot is getting bounced back because her mailbox is full.

Stitches South 2010

Went to Stitches South for the first time today. Stitches is a knitting expo, with classes and a marketplace. I went for the shopping and above is a picture of my haul.

I went prepared. I took a limited amount of cash and when it was gone, I went home.

The highlight, other than the yarn I bought, was meeting Rachel Herron. That's her book up there. I first learned about her through her blog Yarnagogo.com. She's a 911 operator, knitter, and now author.

The Lisa Souza yarn will become a scarf someday. The green Creatively Dyed yarn will become a shawl for my mother in law. It's 1300 yards of fingering weight, almost laceweight yarn.

All this just in time too because I'm almost finished with a Noro multidirectional scarf and will need another portable project. Not that a huge honking ball of yarn is portable. Winding that skein will be quite the project for tomorrow.

Looking for Book Recommendations

This is what I'm looking for - a book that's like the show Leverage or the movie Ocean's Eleven. Lighthearted, witty, heist/caper. Female characters that are more than just the protagonist's love interest. It would be great if the main character was a woman. of color. And passes the Bechdel test: 2 women have a conversation that's not about a man. Only I would want there to be 2 main characters who are women who have a significant conversation that's not about a man.

I like the Ocean's Eleven movie, as it's full of male eye-candy. However, it was full. of. males. the only female character was played by Julia Roberts and she was the love interest wanted by the male protagonist and the male antagonist.

Leverage, on the other hand, the protagonists are evenly divided between men and women, now that they've added Tara. Who I hope stays. I like that Jeri Ryan is clearly 40 years old and is not classically beautiful. You can see her wrinkles and still pulls off playing the hottie. The women and men are equal partners in pulling off the heist/caper.

So, I'm looking for a book like the show Leverage. Light in tone, not some dark thriller. And no cozy murder mysteries please.

Suggestions?

Friday bits and pieces

1. Currently I'm reading "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin. It's the first book in the seven book A Song of Ice and Fire series. It may be made into a series by HBO. It's been a long time since I've read a fantasy novel, but it mostly reads like a historical novel about court intrigues set in a mystical Western European medieval fictional country. It's written in third person voice and each chapter focuses on a different character. I find I really like that structure.

It was recommended by the husband of a friend who is also a Buffy and Firefly fan.

2. I'm working on a baby blanket, mainly putting a green garter stitch border on this square I made some time ago.

However it's not thrilling me. I really want to make something with the colors that Grumperina's making here. That peacock blue really speaks to me and I like the greens and white she's using too. However, I'd sub one of the greens with yellow. Blue/green/yellow/white is one of my favorite combos. At lunch, I may run to Needlenook and see what they have in the Tahki Stacey Charles cottons.

Do I need to buy more yarn? No. Is that really the point? No again.

3. Spent the MLK Day weekend in Charleston, South Carolina. Beautiful city. Lots of wrought iron work. Made me want to learn how to do it. It was me, Husband, and Husband's mother. It was our first time there for all of us. The picture of the tree at top was taken there. It's covered in ferns, which I hadn't seen before. Also stopped at Knitk.com and bought 2 skeins of Merisoft Hand Painted yarn in 2 different colorways, one of which is blue/green/yellow/white. But hand wash wool. Not appropriate for a spring baby blanket.

This trip was our gift to her for not spending winter holiday with her in Wisconsin. Husband and I went to Palm Springs/Joshua Tree National Park/Los Angeles instead to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I still need to post about that trip.

4. Still loving my iPhone. I posted to Facebook all the time and Husband just told me about the Dragon dictation app. about 10 years ago, I bought the Dragon software to use in grad school. there was just so much typing! However it wasn't very good and I ended up typing every paper anyway. The Dragon app has come very far since then.

As Violet of the Lime and Violet podcast said, the iPhone does everything except make coffee. Then in the latest episode, she mentioned that a listener has all their electronics hooked into some central control console, and her husband somehow hooked their coffee maker to that system and their iPhone, so now their iPhone does make coffee. That's taking it a bit far for me, but I love the idea.

5. Favorite new recipe: Beer bread. So easy.

Preheat oven to 350 F or 375F -- the recipes I found vary

Combine 3 cups self rising flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 bottle beer.

Pour into greased 9 x 5 bread pan

bake for 1 hour

I used a bottle of our homebrew which is a dark beer. It goes really well with the chicken, bean, rutabaga stew I made over the weekend.

6. Happy that Leverage and Project Runway are back and have almost reached the end of Angel the Series. Fred's died and turned into Illyria. I'm liking Illyria but kind of sad to know that the end of the series is almost here. Postponing the end by reading a Game of Thrones. Looking forward to Caprica. Sad the Dollhouse is almost over too. The twists and turns!

7. Just found out a friend's 9 y.o. son's been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Is 9 too old for a knitted snake?

ETA: I think I'll knit my friend a shawl out of a skein of 375 yds of blue cashmere-blend sock yarn I got last week. She'll probably appreciate it more and longer than her son would for a knitted snake.

The Miracle at Speedy Motors

I've been meme-tagged by KnitTech:

Pick up the nearest book. Open on page 123. Find the fifth sentence. Post the next three sentences. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.


So the book is The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith. It's the 9th in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. It's about the first female detective in Botwana and it's really gentle and descriptive of life in Botswana in southeastern Africa. The cases are illumative of the human condition and Precious Ramotwe, the main character, often reflects that what she does is easy enough for anyone to do, if only they're attentive to details and aware of how people interact with each other.


I've read them or listened to the audiobooks, and they've made me want to visit Botswana. Husband want to visit Namibia on the southwestern coast, I want to visit Botswana on southeastern side. Maybe one day we'll go from Namibia to South Africa to Botswana.


The first book, the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, has been made into a movie starring Jill Scott.


Here's what I found on page 123.

"We must tell him before he asks," siad Mma Ramotswe. "And remember, I have offered to do this thing for you. I will go to see him and tell him what happened."

Hm.... who to tag? Many of my friends don't have blogs, so if anyone is interested in trying out this meme, go for it!

Another book from a favorite blogger

Monday night I stopped by a book store on the way home and saw that they had Crazy Aunt Purl's book "Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair." It was $16 even. When was the last time you bought something that didn't involve fractions of dollars?

When I got home at about 10pm, I read it straight through and was done by 12:30am. It was very much like her blog, not surprisingly. The biggest difference was there was that the book was a narrative of her divorce, use of knitting as a way to keep the hands busy and not calling up the ex, and recovery into a happier, fuller person. What was new to me, was the info about her romantic life, which her blog doesn't really address.

Her blog is more about the things she's doing to improve herself and her life, her friends, her knitting, and other random events in her life.

I really like CAP and think I like the blog better. There's more to the blog and no need to streamline it in order to fit a narrative.

Years ago I heard about blogs but didn't really know what they were. Then I heard that editors were reading blogs, looking for potential books. And now this week, I have two such books.

I think I like CAP more as a blog and not a book. Her charm, wackiness, wit, and wisdom, especially about letting go of her insecurities that so many women can identify with, doesn't come through in the book.

By contrast, Jane (Yarnstorm) Brocket's "Gentle Art of Domesticity" works very well as a book. Much of Yarnstorm's appeal are the pictures and the book is full of them. This book doesn't try to be a narrative and the different themes in her blog are organized by chapter in her book.

I haven't read very much of it yet. It sits on the side table and will be something I dip into a few pages at a time when I have time.