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About meSchez is a creature of few desires: a good book, a crackling fire, some beautiful music, and a fuzzy cat.

As Anne McCaffrey would say, "Everything else is subject to change."

...

I'm never content to read just one book at a time. I always have at least ten books on my nightstand. Books are like different types of alcohol- sometimes you want something light and fluffy, other times you want something that punches you in the back of the throat and burns all the way down. Why limit yourself to one thing at a time?

About my libraryI read a lot, and I read a lot of everything. My library is an eclectic mix of history, psychology, sociology, and mythology sitting right next to manga, comics, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, the classics, and good ol' sci-fi. I blame it partly on my education, partly on my upbringing, but mostly on my quirky personality.

Everything in my library has been accumulated over the course of the twenty-four years of my life. Thus, there is everything from children's picture books to my current passion, studies of the occult. I find myself rarely able to give or sell anything away, even if I completely despise it, as I often will go back to something I've read previously for references when I'm studying.

A lot of my books fall under the tag "to read." This could mean anything from I've read it and don't feel I remember it well enough to rate it fairly, I've started it and put it down for something more interesting, or I simply haven't actually read it. In the case of most of the classics and non-fiction, I've more than likely forgotten how much I did or didn't like it, and I need to read it again before I can fairly rate it.

A question I get asked a lot (especially by my next door neighbor, who is always attempting to convert me) is if I'm a satanist.

First, most people who use the term 'satanist' have no idea what it means, other than what they've gleaned from Hollywood. Most people assume that being a satanist means worshiping the devil, sealing a pact with him that means the exchange of your soul for whatever your personal equivalent of four-and-twenty years is. That is not the true (current) definition of a satanist. Know your religions before throwing terms around.

Second, no. Just no. I'm actually a panentheistic omnist ('omnist' being another term many people erroneously translate. No, it doesn't mean I hate everything). I was raised Protestant, in a Church of Christ environment. Becoming a goth in high school, being deeply involved in the church as a child, my love of reading anything and everything, and working toward a history degree have all contributed to my fascination with the evolution of the occult over the centuries. I study it, I don't subscribe to it. For all those worried about "looking into the abyss", and it's "looking back into you"... well, don't. My interest is scholarly and won't take the leap into actualization as Faust's did.

A note on tags: the tag 'kindle' does not refer to an actual kindle title. It merely represents a book I would like to have en electronic copy of.

Homepagehttp://epikreads.blogspot.com/

Also onBookMooch, Chasing the Frog, FanFictionNet, MySpace

Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

Real nameJennifer Brockman

LocationSioux Falls, SD

Emailpyrogrrl_2000hotmail.com

Account typepublic, lifetime

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/Schehezerade (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Schehezerade (library)

Member sinceNov 10, 2007

Currently readingOn War by Carl von Clausewitz
The Social Contract and Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Symbolism in Religion & Literature by Rollo May
History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil by Dr. Paul Carus
An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (Oxford Philosophical Texts) by David Hume
show all (15)

Most recent activity

Schehezerade rated:
When Ladies Go A-Thieving: Middle-Class Shoplifters in the Victorian Department Store by Elaine S. Abelson

Schehezerade rated:
The Black Ship by Malphas

Schehezerade rated:
Eden: It's An Endless World!, Vol. 1 (v. 1) by Hiroki Endo

Schehezerade rated, added:
Fables Vol. 8: Wolves by Bill Willingham

Schehezerade rated, added:
The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle by J. Glenn Gray

Schehezerade added:
The Hierarchy of Hell by Lauran Paine

I went on a quest to find what's in the grail: mythical elixirs like soma, kykeon, and mead of poetry. McKenna and Peter Graves propose psychoactive mushrooms as the active ingredients in some of the drinks. Drugs can give you a trip to heaven or hell, so it is easy to see the effect on religion. Expansion of the imagination by drugs could have influenced the evolution of the brain; it at least, seems as likely as other theories. McKenna's belief that mushrooms growing from cow dung helped create the widespread respect for the cow sounds odd , but a team of gods associated with the cow would match up well against most other animal gods.
Great weather here until the new year then it took a dive; below 32 last night. Central Florida always gets three or four days that threaten the oranges and strawberries. You without a doubt have a more frenetic holiday experience. I try to avoid consumer madness. A little family get together is enough for me.

posted by rareflorida at 11:16 pm (EST) on Jan 4, 2012

Hope you enjoyed the holidays. If you're still working at Walmart, I guess surviving the shopping rush is an accomplishment. Cults and shamanism are my main studies lately. If anyone monitored my activity; they would think I'm into magic mushrooms. I believe in Terence McKenna's "stoned ape theory." Some mythology does look drug spawned. You up to anything interesting?

posted by rareflorida at 4:18 pm (EST) on Jan 1, 2012

Happy Halloween. My mom and her family were more like farmers than gardeners. I plowed and shelled, but I haven't did any garden stuff in years. I'm sure California had better soil than what you have now. I did some studying about a Sumerian goddess named Inanna. She should be classified as a trickster. She's kind of a super goddess, too.

posted by rareflorida at 11:24 pm (EST) on Oct 31, 2011

Two potential female tricksters are associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries, Iambe and Baubo. Dexter (book) takes a devilish delight; which, adds more humoor than Dexter (TV). Both good. You're moving? Don't envy you, I prefer keeping my rather boring life in on place. Hope the move is for the better. Good luck in the new school year.

posted by rareflorida at 11:49 pm (EST) on Sep 11, 2011

Thanks, I missed the part about masks, when I read about Bes. I'm surprised he didn't tranfer to Greece in some form. Ptah became Hephaestos; Thoth gets associated with Hermes; Venus, the sun god and the earth mother tranfers over. Maybe, he's Pan. Both hairy, musical, and associated with fertility. I started reading the Dexter books and they differ some with the TV series. The Dark Passenger is a Demon somehow related to Molloch. Shame he didn't use a trickster because the character's personality fits. I'm trying to figure out the Mystery Cults; especially, mysteries of Samothrace due to the dwarfish Cabeiri. Found some cool stuff about a mystery cult at eleusinianmysteries.org
What you up to?

posted by rareflorida at 10:04 pm (EST) on Aug 24, 2011

Lol not quite halfway through school, I'm going to be a sophomore this year! I transferred universities so now I'm going to the University of Toledo and next year I'll be transferring to the University of Maryland so I can live near my boyfriend. Lots of moving lol

I've been doing pretty well, got over some major family issues and we're all getting along better now so that's good. I struggled through my first year of college and managed to maintain a 3.5 GPA :) I've decided that now I want 3 minors with my major so I'm sure I'll be in school for a while.

I also just started getting back into reading, I rarely read at school and I have a huge list to burn through and a $50 gift card to Borders to use ;)

How have you been?

posted by QueenAlyss at 5:23 pm (EST) on Jun 6, 2011

Gosh, is it really going on two years since we last talked?!

posted by QueenAlyss at 12:25 am (EST) on Jun 2, 2011

Saw Thor. Good, but no humor for Loki. I understand the movie was about Thor, but I think they could have done better with the Loki character. Hope everything is going OK.

posted by rareflorida at 9:39 pm (EST) on May 15, 2011

I looked for dwarf jesters in Egypt and they did have them but it appears they prized the dexterity of little hands so, dwarfs were associated with jewelry and other crafts and probably the reason the craftsman god Ptah was sometimes depicted as a dwarf. Small hand comes in handy for a midwife so, they created the dwarf god Bes. Phoenicians carried dwarf figurines and it may be due to weight advantage of a dwarf manning the rudder while the big brutes row. A book by Betty M. Adelson gave me some info and I surmise some from other reading. Royal inbreeding may have something to do with dwarf reverence.

Same ol' SAD, so I do stuff like research the past to avoid the present. Happiness comes most from when I find something interesting. The courtesan stuff fit the myth I was working on dealing with the Eleusinian mysteries and the dwarf Cabeiri. And it reminded me of the Sci-Fi show Firefly. I hope you're doing well. I'm sure college and work keeps you busy.

posted by rareflorida at 12:55 am (EST) on Mar 1, 2011

Egyptians had a couple of popular dwarf gods and a dwarf probably got more respect by that culture than any culture since. A dwarf wasn't relegated to jester, apparently.

I've been reading a lot on ancient Greece, lately. If you don't know about the Anabasis by Xenophon, it may appeal to your military interest. Give a quick read about Theodora's sister Comito and see if it doesn't break your heart. It is only a couple of paragraphs. Going from that little girl to Empress, big wow.

posted by rareflorida at 10:14 pm (EST) on Feb 27, 2011

Check out Theodora (wife of Justinian I)on Wikipedia. Wife of Emperor, Orthodox saint and prostitute that performed a reenactment of Leda & the Swan, all wrapped into one person. Courtesans of antiquity; which,include the Sumerian Nadītu & and the Greek Hetaera are interesting. I kept running into interesting people just following the links. Diogenes, the one man that could get away with mocking Alexander the Great. I see why you like Stackpole, he does a great job describing the battlefield.

posted by rareflorida at 11:19 am (EST) on Feb 6, 2011

I see you picked up Gargoyle. If you aren't squeamish, you will enjoy it. Great prose and interesting story. Brush up on Dante. Found this little essay on tricksters and it cleared something up for me. I didn't realize the the difference between the rabbit and the hare. I knew the wolf was a pack animal and the coyote is a loner but I didn't know rabbits and hares had similar dissimilarities.
www.hu.mtu.edu/~rlstrick/rsvtxt/faulkner/carroll.pdf

posted by rareflorida at 11:19 pm (EST) on Jan 9, 2011

Thanks, appears to the DragonCrown series. I'll give it a try. I'm trying to write a description of a bar that is similar to the Star Wars cantina so I'll browse that series, too. I could use a lighter read next. I'm reading Brothers Karamazov, at present. I guess you're in a break between semesters. I see you reading about comparative mythologies, again. Feel free to share anything interesting.

posted by rareflorida at 8:33 pm (EST) on Jan 4, 2011

You must have an impressive collection; Abelard isn't completely obscure but a major writer hasn't yet tackled the story from what I can see. If you get on Jeopardy and get the category, "famous eunuchs,"you will have one answer and I ran into another while reading about the Nika Riots of the Justinian I era, Narses. Pure coincidence that I learned about two eunuchs in a week.

posted by rareflorida at 7:35 pm (EST) on Dec 31, 2010

I'm glad you enjoyed Silverlock. Hope School's going well. You asked me about interesting characters in history;once,and I just read a little about Peter Abelard and Heloise. A Shakespearean style tragedy and romance involving intelligent people in a dark age world. Happy Holidays to you, too.

posted by rareflorida at 7:43 pm (EST) on Dec 25, 2010

I wasn't aware of the show you mentioned. They describe it as a show to change perceptions so, I doubt they show any Michael Vick stuff on the dogs. I'm not sure how doing a show on TV changes perceptions on the humans; since, it also would reinforce the dwarfs are for entertainment. One article I read about a couple of former members of a freak-show, regretted the demise of the industry because they were forced onto disability and they preferred working plus the loss of camaraderie among other circus folk. Most social issues are complex like racism. I guess South Park did a show mocking racism by targeting redheads and some kids decided to copy the behavior. Throwing around the racist label isn't fair either as I'm sure Shirley Sherrod knows and the white cop in the Harvard Professor incident. I could go on about the subject because it frustrates me, too. Some guy guy started yelling at me and calling me a racist after I turned down his offer of taking a free soda as I was walking into a Walmart during the Obama campaign. I was in full turtle mode before I ran into him so, everything just bounced off. If I had my brother's afro and my dad hadn't died of melanoma, I wouldn't have looked as obviously white. I'm a mutt and can argue I'm descended form the Latino American so, this guy that that was obviously a mutt; too, didn't have any reason to go off on me. People are insane.

posted by rareflorida at 7:57 am (EST) on Aug 7, 2010

I see why that book kept you up, after a bit of research about Mengele. Some tribes in Africa do some terrible stuff to pygmies. Dwarfism interests me partly do to SAD. Unless I break out into a sweat, I'm normal looking but SAD makes me wish to be invisible. A dwarf can't help but draw attention so, they would live in misery if they had our condition. I've read one book that capture it, "The Dork of Cork," it was about a writer living in seclusion due to his dwarfism. Circus folk set up a town in Florida, called Gibsonton, and I've been trying to incorporate them into the mythos I've been trying to build. I see why Gary Jennings wrote Raptor and his Spangle novels. More humanity can be seen in people of abnormal stature than those in norm. I've never met another acknowledged sufferer of SAD in person. I hope your encounter goes well. I'm sure some of our behavior can be infuriating.

posted by rareflorida at 10:58 pm (EST) on Jul 28, 2010

You normally have the most updates on my connections list and your lack of activity worried me a bit. Glad to hear you were just busy. Your review got me reading Bulgakov, thanks. It didn't take long to read because I didn't want to put it down. What upsets me most about the House episode was how they botched it. It was a horrible season and I suspect this year will be the last. I'm on the Atlantic coast and the oil hasn't turned up here, yet. I kind of predicted the disaster. I posted a comment to CNN about how nuclear power worries me less than the oil rigs in the gulf, about a month before the incident. I thought a hurricane would be the cause so, I wasn't quite right. Switching to classes on campus means you may encounter our common nemesis, the oral report. I only found one solution. Take whatever topic and shape-shift it into something that interests you. If you get involved in the topic, you can distract yourself from the audience. If you get a bunch of free time, you may enjoy Joseph Campbell's analysis of Finnegan's Wake. I don't have the guts to read James Joyce but I find analysis of his work interesting.

posted by rareflorida at 11:16 pm (EST) on Jul 14, 2010

Saw your review on 'The Master and Margarita' and just started it. Very good, so far. They apparently took my idea for House and decided to ruin it. I guess the Renaissance fair episode could have been a coincidence but I doubt it. You ever try a writing contest? FOX had one for a sitcom pilot and I took a shot but I couldn't make the deadline due to missing one step in the process. Amazed that I came close, considering I had only a week to research how to do a teleplay, come up with an idea, write and format it. Writing for TV is much easier than a novel. Hope you are doing alright, SAD does affect communications.

posted by rareflorida at 8:48 pm (EST) on Jun 29, 2010

Goethe over Marlowe because I love allusions. Thomas Mann's, "Doctor Faustus," sounds interesting but I have not read it or any of the other Faust books in circulation . Thanks about the Peter the Great info. It led me to an interesting book, "The Tsar's Dwarf." Some of the newer Vampire/ were/Demon stuff interests me but some like Twilight and seem to marketed toward teen girls. One day I may take the time to see if Twilight has anything for straight men but I haven't forced myself, yet. I'm not sure it could be worse than Lovecraft which I recently forced myself to read. Couldn't stand his style, he reminded me of Dumas because the synopsis is almost always better than the actual read. Horror is very hit and miss with me. Anne Rice's BDSM style doesn't do much for me, I guess because I only see such stuff as a role-playing lark; not a lifestyle. I love Gaiman and I think it is because he does Fairy Tale style horror. Thriller style works for me, like Koontz and Silence of the Lambs works for me. Laurell K. Hamilton appears to be popular but I haven't given her a try and I can't tell if she markets to the Y chromosome. I have been in a drought of good books. Only Les Miserables has stood out in my recent readings. Just started Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, I see you gave it 4 stars. Good so far, reminds me of Gaiman.

posted by rareflorida at 8:00 pm (EST) on Mar 2, 2010

We split in different directions on our trickster research. You apparently went to the demonic side; I went to the little people. I read that the conquistadors Menendez and Cortez had dwarfs among their troops and it interested me. It seems, part of the reason Cortez was linked to Quetzalcoatl was due to both being linked to dwarfs. I enjoyed Campbell's work on Oriental mythology but,like always, I want to argue with him. He made note of the limping blacksmiths but he goes to far with linking Jesus falling down with the cross and Noah being maimed by a lion as being associated with the moon and the limping blacksmith gods. Campbell could have used someone to keep his work more orderly and refined. I like Campbell but he does frustrate me. If you run into anything interesting about little people, please give me a holler. Hope you are doing well. I got that spam message but it was obvious that it was spam, hope you got your computer cleaned.

posted by rareflorida at 11:17 pm (EST) on Mar 1, 2010

The kitty in the picture is Banzai! The exclamation point is part of his name. Although that really refers to his kitten-self. He'll be turning sixteen in April. The books, alas, are library books and were most likely overdue when the picture was taken. :)

posted by hairballsrus at 9:32 am (EST) on Feb 6, 2010

Waving hello!

posted by hairballsrus at 10:10 pm (EST) on Feb 1, 2010

Thank you for the book recommendation, and many, many apologies for taking so long to respond! I've been neglecting the MDB catalog for some time, but I'm going to spend today getting caught up.

MDB/AA1986

posted by MostDisturbingBooks at 2:33 pm (EST) on Jan 10, 2010

Oh, yay! I'm so happy you liked it! I should re-read it again sometime, myself. :)

posted by bragan at 10:15 am (EST) on Dec 30, 2009

Oh, I'm so glad the books meet with your approval! I was a little worried that you might already have read Good Omens, popular as it is, but I decided to take a chance with it since, based on your library, it really seemed like something you might like.

And I've read some of Tanya Huff's other stuff, too, and enjoyed it, but of what I've read, I think that's one's the best.

Happy holidays!

posted by bragan at 5:32 pm (EST) on Dec 19, 2009

Thanks for the SantaThing books! I've not read Masterton in about a decade, I've been meaning to get to Miéville, and that's the one Ed Lee I didn't have yet. Thanks again!
--Michael

posted by travelinlibrarian at 10:48 am (EST) on Dec 19, 2009

Oh, you're welcome, what are the chances! I just did a quick search of your LT books and didn't see it there, so I thought it was something you might be interested in... apparently I was right :) Yay!

posted by dk_phoenix at 12:02 pm (EST) on Nov 28, 2009

I didn't have much of an appetite because I'm sick, but usually that does happen lol.

Sounds great, lol! Something manga- wise must run in the family for that to happen, eh? I've heard about Vampire Hunter D, but never really looked into it. Stores around here don't really sell Berserk anymore... nor Kamikaze, which makes me sad. Have you heard of, I think it's this, Gray Man D? It seems interesting enough.

That sounds really great, and now that's coming back to me, lol it's been a while since we discussed it, sorry! Mythology is so great. Have you read the Troy that is in my collection... um, by adele geras? I love it!

I don't think I'm going to miss too many people, since most of them aren't going too far away and I don't have a lot of friends lol. Haha, the internet is actually not the most ideal way to communicate cuz a lot of my friends don't get online much, or if they do its on Facebook, which I don't have.

I went to my Grandma's with the family, it was nice but I'm sick so lots of snuffles lol. Today I went shopping in the afternoon with some friends and got great deals, but still spent $100, which makes me sad. We are going shopping on Sunday in an old part of Ann Arbor, and I love it! There's a really great manga store that I love to go visit.

I'm so excited, Im getting a TomTom XL 335S GPS, and it hasn't even been released to stores yet, but TomTom.com has some great deals for it! Over $100 off! Lol, since I'm going away I definitely need a GPS. I can't believe people are shopping during the sale hours, crazy! I went to Walmart at 4pm and it was still packed, and most of the deals hadn't really changed... crazy people. I had to check the aisles before I went into them just so I didnt get run over lol!

posted by QueenAlyss at 11:01 pm (EST) on Nov 27, 2009

Awesome, lol that is weird! What are you going back for? I cannot wait for college although im going to miss some people from high school :)

I wish we had cons around here. I just made a new friend who loves to read and reads manga, so I'm infatuated with him at the moment for being so amazing lol. I have no real people to discuss books with... you're real but ur online lol. I wish I had time to read all the books I want to. I finally finished Eldest today!!!! So I'm starting Brisingr and then onto the rest of my millions of books lol.

What are you planning for Thanksgiving?

posted by QueenAlyss at 10:09 pm (EST) on Nov 24, 2009

I'm still reading Eldest, and also Their Eyes Were Watching God for class and a few others here and there like The Red Dragon. I've been pretty good and officially accepted and am going to enroll at college next year! :) And I'm going to go for the higher scholarship cuz my GPA is higher :)

How have you been?

posted by QueenAlyss at 11:37 pm (EST) on Nov 21, 2009

Lol, I think that the holidays get lamer and lamer every year, the only exception is of course Christmas. Unfortunately it means that Christmas has to take over every other holiday in order to do so... I mean, we barely see Thanksgiving stuff! And oh god yes, the Christmas music that plays for 3 months lol. I do hope that this year the prices will be lower because of the economy, which is great for my family!

Halloween is amazing and I wish people were still dedicated to it! I barely see Halloween stuff except for candy and the lame-o bowls and generic scary things. Lol the only way to get a good costume is to visit Halloween USA and you have to get there 2 months before Halloween to find a good one, if it's even in your size. I wish I could sew so I would be able to make my own costume :) You going trick- or- treating?

Yea, right now I'm reading A Map of the Known World and Eldest (the second book in the Eragon Inheritance Cycle). A lot of people think Paolini is unimaginative, but I think he does great work. Some other good ones are David Copperfield (going on a year to read it lol), Inkheart, Tithe, Faerie Wars... lol there is a lot. Have you read Augusten Burroughs? Or Terry Brooks? Oh, and if you like reading fictional works about real authors try Matthew Pearl's The Last Dickens, The Poe Shadow, and The Dante Club... as well as The Fight Club lol

posted by QueenAlyss at 12:27 pm (EST) on Sep 27, 2009

Lol, yea it's Things Fall Apart :D See, it's that horrible

Yea, I get your point and I didn't want to sound like "that" but I just wish that the way they examine it was different. I understand racism and crap, I do see it quite a bit because we don't have a lot of minorities in my school, the ones that we do have get hit pretty hard. Plus, me being pale means that I get the albino joke, and I seriously think that some people are albino (which, isn't technically racism, but discrimination lol)... Then I also get the red head joke, blah blah (gets old fast).

I just think that we should examine it from a US stand point and how it affects us, not another country. How can we possibly grasp the issue if we are given the detachment because it's from a different country, especially Africa which has all the problems in the world. Home front attack first then broaden, teenagers can't cope with the worldwide thing very well. Besides, when we read these books, we're not even analyzing the racism part, that is the smallest degree of what we are taught... the racist part is the only reason we're reading it. The 90% that we analyze is structure etc... all the english stuff and then add in some life lessons like what it means to be a leader and how to express your voice adequately. Beh

Haha, I would read it if I actually got on the computer once in a while, with school and homework... I hardly have time to get on, which is annoying cuz I like to relax and check on things. Oh, I did get a job though through my school, a co- op so I'm getting paid! lol awesome.

How's your life at wonderful Walmart?

posted by QueenAlyss at 6:06 pm (EST) on Sep 23, 2009

I'm glad you enjoyed the Enchantment book. I figured the 1001 Arabian nights might interest you even if it was from a Freudian perspective. The Goddess book is Jungian. "Heart Aroused," may surprise you; it has a lot of perspective on Beowulf and some Grail stuff. It may have use if you ever have to do a business paper. One paper I have thought of but never written is the Trickster-like style seen in the founding principle of our economy.Look up Adam Smith's, "Wealth oh Nations," and the, "invisible hand." I didn't think you had that Campbell book and I have the video. Keep the books, I don't collect and all are accessible to me at a local library. No problem with the time between communication. I'm not into small talk so, I normally write when I think there may be something vaguely interesting. I'm reading something that may interest you, [The Traveler] by John Twelve Hawks.

posted by rareflorida at 8:58 pm (EST) on Sep 18, 2009

Lol, I actually haven't read any of them yet, I'm going to for English. Right now we're reading Things Far Away (pretty sure thats the title) and I am not stoked cuz I had to read Cry, the Beloved Country... not impressed with the issue or the style of writing that the issue comes with... SO over discrimination and racism... not to sound harsh or anything lol, but I really think we dwell on it too much and dont allow ourselves to branch away from that and move ON

posted by QueenAlyss at 4:57 pm (EST) on Sep 18, 2009

Haha, I actually have read it before and I re-read it to be sure. Yea, I really did like it, although it wasn't the most exciting read I have ever had. It had a personal air that I couldn't help but enjoy xD

They seem to be in the habit of releasing manga to accompany the anime, as in Code Geass and maybe Deathnote, though I'm not too sure on the last one. My repertoire on anime isn't quite as deep as manga, though I have seen more anime. I just tend to know more about manga lol.

Oh, well I am terribly sorry lol... I suppose it was to be expected from his brother(s?), eh? Lol, I was not expecting that last part! Yea, we are doing pretty good... he's just worried about us going away to college, so he absolutely refuses to speak about it at the moment lol.

Haha, tell me about it. I don't usually buy books myself cuz I have parents that love to at the moment and I probably buy way more than I should since I have a huge to be read pile... though there was one point in which I had read everything! Isn't Barnes and Noble great!? I absolutely love that store, I think they can just be amazing. Borders followed their suit of offering books on sale in a bargain bin. If you go to a larger Barnes and Noble they actually have an entire section dedicated to used books, and they can have some pretty rare ones too. You should try to find one!

Hmm... things are going pretty good, my summer is almost over unfortunately. However, I am going to see Trine this Monday (Angola, Indiana) so I'm really psyched about that. My mom is actually (maybe) more excited than me, she keeps saying how she wished I could go, lol. Her opinion used to be that I needed to go to community college first then to a university but I think she loves this place so much that I can go next year... way weird. She also wants me to consider dropping my work on the Questbridge application (which I may win a free scholarship to schools like Yale, Princeton, and MIT!!) so I can go there lol.

Other than that, I just have to prepare myself for going back to school. It's already been a mess so I have no idea what school will actually be like for my senior year. I'm really going to miss having a ton of time to read. I have so many books that I want to finish before school because I know I wont be able to read them during the school time except maybe on weekends.

I saw that you recently rated Charlotte's Web... wow, I haven't read that in forever, talk about childhood lol. Which reminds me, I went into the Disney store yesterday and I definitely miss being a kid! They had Cinderella on so I think I'm going to watch that. I've gotta say that anime still doesnt live up to my love of old disney movies and everything classic cartoons lol.

posted by QueenAlyss at 1:35 pm (EST) on Aug 29, 2009

Hey, I haven't heard from you in forever... you okay? lol, having a fun life?

posted by QueenAlyss at 7:47 pm (EST) on Aug 5, 2009

Hey, I was wondering about your Mythology (World of Culture) book cz it doesn't seem to be very well known anymore... Amazon has one copy of it for $0.01 lol... is it any good as a mythology book?

posted by QueenAlyss at 4:38 pm (EST) on Jul 17, 2009

Haha, yea I was waiting for you to reply to me, silly! I just figured you were busy and could never really get online or something, ya know. But yea, things are going okay, my friend from Brazil is going to be leaving in a few days and my dad is going back to a mental hospital because we got in a really big and pointless fight... so... meh :D

What's been up with you? Anything interesting?

posted by QueenAlyss at 4:33 pm (EST) on Jul 17, 2009

Wow, don't you just hate obnoxious kids? :D Yea, they'll leave soon enough and you'll have peace and quiet like nature is supposed to be. Awesome, I've never known only 2 seasons lol, Michigan has all of them and they can go to the extreme, usually! I love seeing fireflies, but i havent seen many this year... :(

Haha! Those are cute squirrels lol I love squirrels personally... I think they are cute and very smart... sometimes too smart, they can cause issues lol. My fat cat Rocket (Pictured on my profile) is continuously badgered by squirrels cuz they always talk to him and they just don't like him... which is funny cuz he would never hurt them and he's so relaxed! I actually had a friend who had a pet baby squirrel... and they (oddly) had a neighbor who was an expert on squirrels and they took care of it so it could return to the wild.

Ah, I see, yea that's probably a good idea, lol. My cats always want to go outside... we caught Tweety from outdoors and he just wants to live out there :D Aw, that would be a great job! I do hope that you actually get to spend your time cuddling kitties lol.

I've seen quite a few of the movies you have on ur account, and do you like Castle in the Sky? I havent seen it yet, but I love the author! I really like anime, dark fantasy type stuff, comedy, and lots of horror... and of course you have to add in the childrens and disney movies. I wish we had Netflix, but we dont watch movies that much

posted by QueenAlyss at 8:45 pm (EST) on Jun 21, 2009

It actually sounds pretty nice down there. Although you don't have a lot of stores and malls, etc... around your house immediately, it's still nice to have landscape and peace. I personally don't really care for living in a town except that it's a little more eco- friendly to do so, but then you have to deal with all the stop signs (bad) and slow drivers (worse, accidents!) and annoying neighbors who have waaay too many kids, lol.

I think I would go outside more if I lived in an area like you do. And animals are so amazing, it's awesome that you can actually watch all of them and etc. That's so cute about the squirrels, so I take it your cats are indoors always? Can you tell the difference between all of the squirrels? Is it beautiful during that season?

Wow, it's sounds very nice down there, i love butterfly places, it's amazing to see all of them just enjoy the surroundings and land on people! I've always wanted to volunteer at the humane society, but I just don't get around to it cuz it's in a different town, I don't know where it is, and I would be sad to see the animals stay, but put down, or be adopted (but also happy!)... lol

Do you go to the movies a lot?

posted by QueenAlyss at 5:02 pm (EST) on Jun 18, 2009

Oh, and are you or were you ever into paganism/ wicca?

posted by QueenAlyss at 12:51 pm (EST) on Jun 10, 2009

I actually own a large number of the books that I've read and I have a surprisingly good memory on the books I have read, besides when I was really young cuz thats a lot of little golden books, lol.

I'm already having issues! lol, I think its just me... no one else has had my issue where all my books that are my wishlist or read but unowned have become part of my actual library... oh the troubles lol

Besides that, I do enjoy the feature, but now i think im going to have to search the library for books i have read... dear god!

posted by QueenAlyss at 12:49 pm (EST) on Jun 10, 2009

I'm so excited that they finally have the collections thing up!! Now I can go back and try to find all the books I have ever read!! lol... this is going to suck

How have you been?

posted by QueenAlyss at 3:07 pm (EST) on Jun 9, 2009

:( lol, we're supposed to start in 5 minutes but no one has joined the chat room so i think im going to be all alone, :D oh well, ive never seen it so its a great way to not be interrupted. i just saw the third underworld movie last night for the first time and thank god my friends werent loud mouths for that movie, lol.

You have fun at work, and all. Maybe we can have a daytime movie night sometime

posted by QueenAlyss at 9:27 pm (EST) on Jun 6, 2009

lol, wow, sounds like incredible fun! At least you have a job and you some what enjoy it lol. Are you going to join me at the Hogwarts Xpress chat room to watch running with scissors? if you dont have it, you can just chat, lol

posted by QueenAlyss at 9:21 pm (EST) on Jun 6, 2009

Oh, you should join Hogwarts Express lol... I'm hosting the movie night on saturday at 9:30 for Running with Scissors

posted by QueenAlyss at 11:11 pm (EST) on Jun 4, 2009

Really? I haven't gotten around to reading it, lol. I've read Dirty Job: A Novel, The Stupidest Angel, and Fool. I loved all of them but I actually think Fool has become my favorite before Dirty Job, it's hilarious!

I used to love the book, I bought it a few years ago cuz I loved it!

Awesome! So yay, job! lol now you have no worries in that department. I wish I could find a job, but being a teen puts me a huge disadvantage

posted by QueenAlyss at 10:32 pm (EST) on Jun 3, 2009

Wow, that sucks. Why won't he let you back? Can you file a suit?

Um, i really don't have a favorite band and I haven't been listening to music too much lately. But I do love Children of Bodom even though theyre not "heavy" metal, theyre more industrial/ progressive. Watev lol. I think my favorite classical artist is Beethoven cuz his stuff is just amazing, lol. I never really know the names of the artists because I hear it but never catch the name lol. Tchaikovsky is pretty good too :)

But my favorite band that I never seem to tire of is The Offspring, I mean they are just so cool!

Haha, you have the rainbow fish, that was a good book! And have you ever read a novel by Christopher Moore?

posted by QueenAlyss at 12:50 pm (EST) on Jun 3, 2009

Hey, where've ya been?

posted by QueenAlyss at 8:23 pm (EST) on Jun 1, 2009

Btw, I had a friend come up to me once with a picture like yours and asked me to find X. Lmao, I actually pointed to the X and he was like, "Finally! Someone with a brain figured it out!"

posted by QueenAlyss at 3:21 pm (EST) on May 18, 2009

The old animals are usually the sweet ones though... they no longer want to do anything but be near the people they love and enjoy the sun! Daisy was put down because she had an auto- immune disease and I guess one night she just got really bad and they put her down.... I wasn't home. I was extremely upset about it and I still can't talk about it person- person. I remember once last Christmas, someone asked who Daisy was because we had a stocking for her still and thank god for my old friend cuz she helped close that situation up. That was maybe 6 months after she died. Oh well...

Why did you move with your aunt? And why Oregon? Geez lady that can't be that much better, lol. You would definitely do well with the government if you get in. I hear the CIA is hiring, lol, you could be a correspondent for mistakes they should avoid, it might help! Good luck with that of course! The only bad thing is that you would be a dog of the military, as they refer to it in Fullmetal Alchemist, lol.

Did you have the horse in California?

posted by QueenAlyss at 3:20 pm (EST) on May 18, 2009

Lol, I would most likely buy a previously owned property and tear down the house. I'd send the materials away for re-use and then use sustainable wood and have my house engineered to capture the heat in the winter and cold in the summer, it's really cool cuz it's kinda like thermoengineering. There is no solid ceiling in the house, this allows the air to circulate throughout in the winter because it is moving the warm air from sun and circulating the cold air up. Then the summer uses the cold air from the basement to cool. I'd also use solar panels for my electricity, more thermoengineering to use the ground's maintained heat of about 65 degrees to heat my water, and all sorts of stuff so essentially, I wont be paying for things and ill be earning money too by selling to the grid.

Wouldn't the amount in the lottery by smaller because of the smaller population? Your chances may be larger but you can't compete with the $3million jackpot here in michigan, lol. It's the snow... it makes people buy things!

Awesome! I've heard a lot of good things about both countries, especially that Australia likes to have a good time, lol. At least you can afford to go, which is amazing because if you never get the opportunity later on in life, you will LOVE that you at least had once... well, twice... :). Yea, that history stuff seems interesting, but I've always been interested in the odd places. I want to go to Sweden some day because they are becoming one of the most sustainable countries in the world and they are one of the cleanest! lol You should visit Machu Pichu before they close it from the public.

Professional book reviewers? Well, they must not have been so for a while if they can retain that kind of ignorance. The likes of J.K. Rowling, HA

Lol, yeah I have plans but I have no idea what college I want to attend and I just can't get the nagging feeling out that I just won't be good enough. We'll find out I guess! And no, you don't sound like an old woman cuz I give that advice to people sometimes and I had the same experience when I went to china because if I had planned better I would have been able to buy more things, save more currency for my collection, etc. But hey, I have a lifetime to do it again!

I love Bleach! I love the style of drawing, the drama isn't over- done, it has original artwork and ideas, and I love the context. The people on here are not the i am evil or i am good. And you see this network of characters that is so broad and affects so many people as the series progresses. I also love how the dialog is current and doesn't try too hard.

Yea, manga is a little expensive, but it is still cheaper than normal books and you can always try finding it at comic conventions used, or at used stores, used online, etc.

posted by QueenAlyss at 4:54 pm (EST) on May 12, 2009

You seriously heard that Meyer was even comparable to J.K. Rowling? Were these fans of Twilight, because it wouldn't surprise me then. People who are in love with that series seem to be some of the dumbest people I know. Meyer has some ability to write, since she was able to draw people in... the hopeless romance of an amazing gentleman boyfriend... but she is so juvenile.

Yes, China was amazing and I wish I could go back. And yea, I hope I can do it. Chemical Engineering is a tough job to get and I just hope that I'm smart enough to do it, lol. If it does work, I would definitely be set for life and I would travel. I would create the greenest house ever, cuz I'm a huge eco- fan :)

Do you have some place you want to travel to?

posted by QueenAlyss at 9:01 pm (EST) on May 11, 2009

Wow, I have to give you props for your review of Twilight. That was one of the best slams on that dumb series I've read! lol

posted by QueenAlyss at 9:15 pm (EST) on May 10, 2009

I have really been enjoying the VHD manga. The artwork is very good, and the stories (so far) follow the novels fairly closely. There is some cutting in order to squeeze a novel's worth of story into one manga, but they are big manga, and the novels sometimes feel a bit overlong to me anyway, so some condensing doesn't bother me.

posted by codyne at 10:38 pm (EST) on Apr 21, 2009

My dreams went into rerun so, things must be boring. I got a laugh when I realized Burton helped translate the "Priapeia." I downloaded a copy before you brought my attention to Burton. I always thought it funny that priapism was so, common a condition among the gods. The thought of old Greek philosophers gathered around cracking such jokes isn't the common perception.

posted by rareflorida at 11:33 pm (EST) on Apr 8, 2009

Just read a book that may interest you. [Silverlock] by by John Myers Myers and the Meyers Meyers is not a typo. I'm not going to sell it because the review on librarything should be enough for you to judge if it interests you. Some of his allusions are obscure like having the main character surviving a shipwreck of the Naglfar. You may be familiar with the Naglfar because of your fondness for Loki but few would catch the allusion. Some sites on the web give the answers to the literary references. SF greats Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Poul Anderson are fans. C.S. Lewis had it in his library so the book is respected. The bard songs could be a fun inside joke at festivals.

posted by rareflorida at 8:44 pm (EST) on Apr 6, 2009

Wow! That was super fast! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Do you think I should give it another try?

Jennifer

posted by RainbowsEnd at 10:27 pm (EST) on Dec 30, 2008

Hey! I just wanted to let you know that I mailed out Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat last Wednesday, so you should be getting it soon. It was a tiny book and shipped first class.

Enjoy!
Jennifer

posted by RainbowsEnd at 5:01 pm (EST) on Dec 15, 2008

The Fabulous Riverboat is a science fiction novel, the second book in the Riverworld series by Philip JosÃ© Farmer.

While googling for the book I thought up my first answer to your facinating person question. Cyrano hit my mind and no surprise he plays a part in Farmer's book. I like the swashbuckler/poet persona. He fought for the
My computer has developed an overheating problem and I donât think I have much time left so I canât send much. My email needed to be reset so I used this instead. I guess I'm getting a new computer for Christmas. I don't envy your work in retail. I worked at a department store for my first job and got fired for not being aggressive enough.
Inquisitors as a real and fictive character and that rules him out because religous fanatics are not my fave. Gabriel Montgomery, the knight that accidently killed Henry II of France in a jousting tournament wins the contest on an integrity level and as a personification of heroism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Montgomery
Alexander Dumas had to be an interesting person and even his minor works pique my interest. Dumas wrote about Montgomery and I'm very impressed by how well the history in, Queen Margot," was written. Dumas wrote about an incident called the, "Affair of the Diamond Necklace," that I find interesting because of the charlatans and the time period. The Count of St. Germain is an interesting figure and Dumas probably based, "The Man in the Iron Mask," on him. I would pick Dumas as best dead conversationalist.

posted by rareflorida at 4:54 pm (EST) on Dec 13, 2008

No hurry in replying back. Understandable, things get busy and nerves jangle during the holidays. I like quality of communtion rather than quantity and rush should be only for emergency. Happy Thanksgiving.

posted by rareflorida at 12:14 pm (EST) on Nov 27, 2008

Jungian synchronicity and your vast number of books logged into this site probably explains some of the similarity in your library and what I’ve been writing but I can’t help but be intrigued. Hesse interests me because of his mescaline use and I use a drug induced vision quest to access the genetic memory that I mentioned in an earlier post. The other member of the mescaline 'Hall of Fame,' Hunter Thompson has a bit more relevance to me because of similar writing style. Your trickster appreciation relates, as well. I’m doing the frame story format, which was born from 1001 nights; and I suspect also gave birth to the name you use on this site. I even recognized, Aristophanes, because he came up during my research. Another coincidence is that I use a festival that mirrors Dante’s version of hell as a primary setting. I write about Florida history but I use this area as a center of convergence because religions and diverse cultures had some early battles here. The use of drug-induced visions lets me use gods and symbols from anywhere so, I read much of what you do. I would like to use something from early Eastern mythology the complexity and lack of good source material makes it difficult. You seem to have some knowledge in that area. I’m about two thirds done of a very rough first draft and I believe your input would be good but I believe getting hit in the head by a falling star is more likely than being published and making any significant money. If you really are interested in reading what I wrote, I will send you some. I noticed your email name of pyrogirl coincides with the picture I’ve been using with me on fire. You list a love for linguistics and the first page of my story has a linguistic event. I tend to look for similar interests but I don’t expect to see much more than a couple of things. You have a Ted Bundy book and of course he has to in my version of hell. I bet your opinion of Clive Cussler is the same as mine looking at your ratings; he has great ideas but the writing could be better. One last thing the SA Friends site we made contact on is shutting down at the end of the month, if you want to log back in before it closes.

posted by rareflorida at 7:44 pm (EST) on Nov 21, 2008

Thanks for adding BannedBooksLibrary to your Interesting Libraries. Happy Reading!

posted by PhoenixTerran at 7:23 pm (EST) on Nov 17, 2008

"The Man Who Laughs," can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg if you don't mind reading from some type of portable e-reader or your computer: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12587
Feel free to write me anytime. I'm not very good at initiating conversation and I consider writing as a kind of therapy. Reading and listening come more naturally to me than writing or talking. I love your 'Renaissance Faire' pictures and I suspect that is from California, not South Dakota. You would probably enjoy a trip to Florida because of all the pirate festivities. California has much more interesting terrain, though. Your tag, ‘null’, stumps me but I could see we have similar taste and appreciation of variety. I recommend Orson Scott Card's, [Pastwatch] if you have not read it; yet, because it has the Sci-Fi and historical fiction aspects.

posted by rareflorida at 8:37 pm (EST) on Nov 10, 2008

Thanks for the info on the book. I did read A Clockwork Orange years ago. I think that I will check The Black Dahlia out. :)
--BJ

posted by billiejean at 6:41 pm (EST) on Nov 10, 2008

I'm fond of many of the same authors that you have listed and Piers Anthony is someone I have planned on reading. I've added to my fave author list by using your list of faves because I had listed only my mere recent favorites. I see we both joined the Gary Jennings group. I went to your site when you posted some comments but I was shy to post back. My Spanish ancestor was married to an African American woman and gets mentioned in many books with the more famous, Anna Kingsley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Kingsley).
I'm trying to write a book using using my Spanish ancestor because of his link to Africa, Native Americans and early colonization but honing my writing skills has been difficult. My idea is somewhat interesting because it uses the genetic memory found in Dune and a similarity to Niven's 'Inferno." I hope you get through your tough period. I have similar experience. I'm going to browse your shelves some more but I can see we have much in common. I have a love hate thing with Clive Cussler and I didn't finish Battlefield Earth but like you I jump genres.
http://www.shelfari.com/o1518031669

posted by rareflorida at 2:59 pm (EST) on Nov 10, 2008

Thanks about the library, and it seems you have books I'd forgotten about in yours so I will have to see if I can add them to mine somehow...last time I was around here, I couldn't do manual adds anymore. But as far as my favorites, I must say that I have a tendency to reread The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, my X-Wing books, selected Dragonlance, and Welcome to the NHK! the most. But I love them all. Mostly.

My major...well that's something that has changed numerous times throughout my college career but is currently Management Information Systems and will probably stay that way. I think that one line about books in college might be a little misleading....though I do have my Spanish Lit. books in there as well as some I did for my brief stint as an pseudo English major. I've been in college since fall 2001...so much for that 4 year degree.

But all that aside, thanks for taking a look at my library!

posted by VeritaReadsBooks at 9:47 am (EST) on Jan 6, 2008

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