Katelisim's Thread the Second

Thread 2! I hadn't realized that I was over the magic 250 mark. Here's all the link-ies and this year's master book list.

Have some links!

2011 Thread 1
2011 Thread 2
2010 Thread

Books Finished
1. Half Prince Volume 2, 5 Stars, Post #2
2. Half Prince Volume 3, 5 Stars, 9
3. Half Prince Volume 4, 5 Stars, 9
4. Half Prince Volume 5, 5 Stars, 15
5. Half Prince Volume 6, 5 Stars, 15
6. Half Prince Volume 7, 5 Stars, 15
7. Half Prince Volume 8, 5 Stars, 21
8. Half Prince Volume 9, 5 Stars, 21
9. Angelfall, 4.5 Stars, 27
10. Intertwined, 3.75 Stars, 38
11. Rurouni Kenshin Volume 1, 3.5 Stars, 57
12. Rurouni Kenshin Volume 2, 3.75 Stars, 72
13. Mostly Monsterly, 4 Stars, 74
14. A Touch Mortal, 4 Stars, 97
15. Phoebe 41.1
16. Fourteen Hills 18.1
17. A Touch Morbid 3.75 Stars
18. Lungfull! #16
19. Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft
20. Working Words: The Process of Creative Writing
21. Non-Profit Marketing: Marketing Management for Charitable and Nongovernmental Organizations
22. Advertising Communications & Promotion Management
23. The Hunting of the Snark, 149
24. Phantasmagoria, 149
25. Hex Hall, 3 Stars,152
26. Thirteen Ways of Looking for a Poem, 156
27. Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu #2, 168
28. Can I Just Take a Nap, 169
29. The Darkest Night, 173
30. Sandman: Season of Mists, 174
31. Demonglass, 4.5 Stars, 179
32. Spell Bound, 4 Stars, 180
33. Musui's Story, 4 Stars, 196
34. Soul Thief, 4 Stars, 206
35. Forgiven, 3.75 Stars, 208
36. Dragonquest, 218
37. Dragonflight, 218
38. Dragonsong, 218
39. Dragonsinger, 218
40. The Masterharper of Pern, 218
41. Renegades of Pern, 225
42. Ready Player One, 5 Stars, 235
43. Dead (ish), 2 Stars,
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin Thread 2
44. Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy, 4 Stars, 50
45. XKCD: 0, 4 Stars, 60
46. Penny Arcade: Attack of the Bacon Robot, 3.5, 61
47. Exiled, 3.75 Stars, 63
48. Can You Survive? Bram Stoker's Dracula, 3.5, 77
49. Shift, 4.5, 90
50. Obernewtyn, 4, 138
51. SMBC: SY,M, 3.75, 139
52. The Child Thief, 5

P.S. If it's unrated, it's probably because I read it for a class. Forced reading usually makes me a tad bit unkind. It's unfair to unleash my stubbornness on books.

I also posted a review of the movie Hick over on ze bloggy blog, if that's something you're interested in.

Oh yay, a new thread. That last one has been difficult for me to load forever. Now I get to bother you more regularly. :D

MMMMMMMBOTHER BOTHER BOTHER!

checking in to continue lurking :) Happy reading!

Good luck on the job front!

Thanks Roni! I applied to a job earlier this week that I'm very hopeful about--my supervisor from my internship sent it to me, and it's basically what I was doing with them. And it's job with the same county, just different departments. So I'm hoping my in with the county and internship will make me stick out. The posting closes tomorrow. . . . so *fingers crossed!

I want this apartment! It has a giant wrap-around bookshelf!

Cool! When you buy it, do I get to move in? :D

It's in Brazil. . . not my climate. But if it somehow finds its way north, you could crash on the sofa.

#2: Ooh, that looks pretty good. I'll, of course, wait til it's relased on DVD @ work, but I'll look for it. Thanks! :)

#4: I'll just imagine that was a dirty picture. Not loading for me. :(

#8: Omg! I love it, especially since my cats love trying to eat, puke, and pee on my books (lovely kitties that they are ;). We could totally time share that one, I'm sure. Bwahahaha! Yes, with all the millions that we have. One can always dream, right? :)

#9: And me?

#10: As long as it has air-conditioning, I'm good. I'd never leave the house.

>4 katelisim: Snork! Love it.

Also, gorgeous apartment. Why are there so many cool bookish things in Brazil when I have no intention of ever going there. The library in Rio is equally gorgeous.

*Fingers crossed* for the job - I hope it all works out for you!

#11: It's a screen capture of Potter Puppet Pals, where Harry, Ron, Dumbledore, and Voldemort go "bother bother bother bother" to poor Snape, who is forced to kind of cower, lol. You should check out the web series while at work: http://www.potterpuppetpals.com/

#12: Right? Heat and sun, so not my thing. Nothing overwhelmingly awesome of the bookish sort near me, but we do have some neat libraries at least.

I guess if I ever get that house, it will be a couchsurfing destination for LTers, lol.

Thanks Stasia!

That's a great idea for defining spaces in a loft! Good luck on this particular job.

Thanks Roni!

On a completely different topic thus far, a quote I remembered today:

"You want weapons? We're in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world!" --The Doctor

Definitely weapons. Nasty papercuts and broken toes. Even better if you can throw them. >:) Speaking of weapons in libraries, guess what isn't considered a weapon in the one I work in? Razor blades. Yes, apparently you can bring them in, scatter them around, and even admit to doing it, and nothing will be done. Just thought I'd share (*ahem* dysfuctional workplace). :) And thanks for the Potter Puppet Pals link. (Oddly, the picture loaded here @ home but not @ work.) I'll have to check it out tomorrow on a faster 'puter.

I feel like there's a distasteful joke about suicide attempts there. . . but I think I'll refrain. So here's a meme about razorblades and coke!



Sara, you best be on the look out for twitchers and pacers.

And because I'm getting excited about Halloween

#19: Not to worry. The thought of cutters and whatnot went through my head when I found the razors. (Lucky me, I'm always the one who seems to find this stuff, along with the rat traps....god, I hate teenagers.)

LOL @ the pic! Sweet. :D Unfortuantely, I know our teens are doing drugs; no question there. The conversations I've heard, the frequent trips to the bathrooms, the behavior, the pupils, etc etc etc... I'm afraid it'll take an overdose or something before our bathrooms are locked down like other libraries do in our area. We're just too stupid/naive to do anything about it.

Aaaaawwww @ #20. So cute, gore and all. :)

Why are kids doing drugs at the library. . . ??? Of all the places? This confuses me. Are they sitting in corners reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?

Because we basically let them get away with it. They tell their parents they're going to the library to "study" (gullible adults that they are), so it all sounds legit. And our librarians (no offense) are big wusses, so they don't want to interfere. What's even funnier is that we share the building with city police. Our branch is seriously one of the most fubar branches I've ever worked at. It's almost laughable, that is if I didn't have to work here and watch it all happen.

Btw, I wish all they did was sit in the corners and read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Instead they destroy our furniture, steal our stuff, use our parking garage as a public toilet (#1's AND #2's)... it's so much fun. :P

That sounds. . . . . BLEARGH!!! I just don't even. Clearly these kids need to learn what discretion and consequences are, and soon. Otherwise post-high school will be a real treat for them, lol.

>17 katelisim: I love that quote so much. I'm pretty sure I did a fistpump of victory the first time I watched that episode. But that's the librarian in me. ;)

#24: BLEARGH exactly. But at least we have some awesome security guards (temporarily hired, which means it'll just get worse when they leave) who've even criminally trespassed some kids, so it's all good. Can't rely on some of my coworkers, but I can trust those guys. And yeah, I think some of those kids are headed straight to juvie anyway, so no biggie. I've just gotten to the point that I don't even care about this job. (shrugs)

If your job wasn't so far away, I would come in and set those kids straight. . . . It makes me sooooooooooo sooooooooooo unbelievably happy when customers call out other customers :DDDD Employees shouldn't have to go through half the crap they do in the name of 'customer service,' especially when you could be fired for them whining.

On a side note. . . I'm bar tending a party room at a horror convention this weekend (zombie tiki themed). One of the high school employees came in to check their schedule and I was talking about it. . . . but, oh my goodness this girl has to double take ALL THE TIME. She thought I said whore convention. *facepalm* Though, with certain costumes, she might not be too far off, lol.

#27: Believe me, I would looove for someone to set these kids straight. But I'm so burnt out by it all. They could seriously burn our building down, and I wouldn't care. Heck, I'd even bring the marshmallows. Vegan, of course. ;)

And I agree--customer service sucks. That's why I refuse to be a branch assistant/clerk (those people who check stuff out for people, etc), because it only pays a couple $'s more than what I'm making, and the stress is soooo not worth it. And you have to do it all with a smile. At least as a page, I can be myself and not some fake bimbo.

#28: Yay for whore conventions! :D Enjoy your orgy!

No no, Sara, she's bar tending, so she only gets to watch from behind the counter, and serve drinks to the ones that come up for a breath.

Bahahahaha! I am booze lord! Whose zombie costume consists of a straw and tiki drink umbrella sticking out of a fake wound. . . . which I still need to figure out how to do. Meh, all else fails, super glue and cherry pie filling.

You totally need an umbrella impaled in your eye. Who needs depth perception when you're pouring drinks anyway? :P

That sounds like so much more work. . .

#30: So she has to pay to watch the orgy? How sad. :(

#31: And duct tape. Can't forget the duct tape. ;)

#32: My thoughts exactly! Or between the eyes.

#33: In the jugular? Cleavage? That'll be fun (for the drinkers). >:)

I only pay the gas money it takes to get there, and maybe a couple beers (since, y'know, day job still happening). Free party room pass for working. Everyone else has to pay just to walk through the door, then for the booze, and tips, etc etc etc.

Hmmmmm. . . I could probably get more tips if it was on my chest. . . but I was planning for it on my head, so the between the eyes thing could work. Braaaaaains!

*happy dance*

I found a copy of Tim Burton's The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories!!!!!

Also, Anna Dressed in Blood and Ghosts of Albion.

And a .//Hack PS2 game and an InuYasha PS1 game

And the original BBC Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy mini series.

And a VCR for $5 to replace my broken one.

SO PRODUCTIVE!

Wow. That is so productive. I went to work. And then came home. *happy dance*

I am officially a labotomized patient of a crazed doctor who worked at a county poor house. . . . in a haunted house, that is. My weekends will be filled with terrified shrieks BUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

#35: Or you could do both--between the eyes and chest. Probably overkill, but hey, it's Halloween. :) Hope it works out.

#36: Oh, yeah, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories. That one's pretty good. :) I think I read it last year or something. Have not read Anna Dressed in Blood or Ghosts of Albion, but they sound good. (ETA: Oh oh! I think I actually own the last one. The cover looks very familiar.)

They still sell VCR's? I wouldn't even know where to look if mine broke....

#37: You guys have both got me beat. Woke up, bathed, went to an appointment, came home and did as little as possible. Woo. Hoo.

#38: Er, come again?

I'm working in a themed haunted house all of October :)

You get paid to make people scream? Nice! >:)

Um. . . . not quite. It's volunteer work a few miles from my house. But I do get to freak people out :)

Oh, and that VCR came from a thrift store. I don't think they actually make them anymore.

You get to make people scream and not get arrested? Nice! >:P

And this is what my head looked like on Friday night

Katie that looks disgusting! I'm so proud of you! Did you do that yourself?

Yes, mostly. I bought the fake wound (I think it was an exit shot). Cut the straw with a hacksaw (it's from one of those heavy duty plastic reusable cups). Gorilla glued the straw and umbrella toothpick into the wound (I forget how impossible gorilla glue is to get off of fingers). The next night it took about 30mins to apply and do the make-up and blood.

Haha! That's amazing. :)

Hi! I wanted to drop by and let you know that 1/2 Prince just added another chapter online! Yay. Maybe the author/artist are back on the job.

#48: Awesome! I think I remember getting an email about that during a busy week. . . then completely forgetting about it. Thanks for the reminder!

44. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories by Tim Burton 4 Stars

Review here

ETA: I was in a hurry earlier and just wanted to make sure I posted here. . . because, I forget things sometimes. Overall, the book is very Burton. The drawings are excellent, the poems leave a little to be desired.

Also picked up:
The Whisperer in the Darkness. . . I've never read Lovecraft and felt that it's some sort of crime for me
Torchwood: Skypoint. . . not sure when in the timeline it's set
Auralia's Colors. . . pretty pretty cover

I went to a Maggie Stiefvater signing last Thursday. I hadn't read her books (yet). . . but it was very enjoyable. She's like a one-woman show, lol. I also won the raffle. My swag:

#42: Nice! (What Stephen said. :)

I'll keep the thrift store in mind, because I do have a few old, foreign VHSes that'll probably never be made into DVDs. Or I wonder if I could have them converted into DVDs... hmm.

#44: Yum! Makes me hungry for a V8. ;)

#50: I totally agree with your review. It's good, but I'm glad I only paid a couple bucks for it.

I went to my city's book festival yesterday so I could hear Mark Z. Danielewski read from his new-ish book The Fifty Year Sword and sign stuff. I'm so proud of me. . . I only bought 2 books: T50YS and a choose your own adventure style Dracula book. I felt the latter was the perfect thing to read after my current read, even though it is kid-ish/middle grade. I want someone to create adult choose your own ending books--the endings could be much more gruesome >:}

I miss Choose Your Own Adventure books, even though I completely sucked at them, and it usually took me twice as long to "read" them as a normal book. Anyway, I'm glad you had fun at your city festival. And I'm so proud--2 books! There's no way I could make it out of a store with just 2 of anything.

(Btw, there are adult choose your own ending books, but they're more romance types. Probably not what you meant. :)

Yeah. . . . I want adventure or horror.

It helped that I worked that morning and the haunted house that night. So I was there for the reading, signing, and maybe an hour among the publisher/sales/organization tables. And I only had $12 cash. T50YS was bought at possibly the only stand that took credit cards, and I refused to buy more than 1 book there cause they are spendy. In fact, most of it was more expensive than I usually go. The choose your own ending = $9, a bottle of water = $2, and I donated my last $1 to the nonprofit that organized it.

Choose Your Own Adventure...romance? My god, the anticipation must be agonizing.

Who can make a choice under that kind of pressure anyway? I mean choosing whether or not to go dive intot he bushes or hurl myself over the waterful when being chased by a headhunter is easy, but I can't imagine what kind of choices would be presented in a Choose Your Own romance. *Shudders*

#56: AHAHAHAHAHA! And how awkward some of the 'endings' could be.

There's an interesting topic on Twitter right now. Amanda Palmer (musician married to Neil Gaiman) posed an informal insurance poll (of the health variety, under hashtag #InsurancePoll) and asked for 1. country 2. occupation 3. insured, y or n (reason for n?) 4. cost and if employer assisted. The answers are staggering and making me very depressed--as if my outlook on the US healthcare system wasn't bleak enough. And despite this poison cloud it's creating above my head, I just want to keep reading and hope that this overwhelming response will have some sort of positive impact. If anyone is curious, here's the link to the hashtag page (I think you can read it w/o an account w/ link, but I'm not positive. . . . let me know if anyone tries?): https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23InsurancePoll&src=hash

Oooh! Humble Bundle is doing an ebook bundle! I've only known about their indie video game bundles.

Bundle includes books by Neil Gaiman, Corey Doctorow, John Scalzi, Mercedes Lackey & others. Pay what you want, with 2 at minimum price restriction. Money goes directly to authors and foundations. Check it out: http://www.humblebundle.com/

Fun bookshelves! I want a lot of them :)

http://www.boredpanda.com/creative-bookshelves/

45. XKCD: Volume 0 4 Stars

Compilation of Munroe's favorite strips from the web comic. With some doodles in the margins, and puzzles I have yet to figure out. Also, funny QR codes. The margin puzzles will probs take me forever to get without cheating. To be fair, he worked at NASA though, and there are a few of the comics that fly over my head. But despite me occasionally not understanding a joke, I love the ones I do get :D

This came in the Humble eBook Bundle I mentioned in post #58--which added this book, along with 4 other comics. These were also price locked for the avg donation--$13.something when I bought. So my $20 got me 13 books, which are worth >$150. . . SCORE!

46. Penny Arcade: Attack of the Bacon Robots by Mike Krahulik & Jerry Holkins 3.5 Stars

Compilation of the early Penny Arcade comic strips, from 1998 to 2000, with commentary. I started reading the comic much later than this, not sure on an exact year, but I would place it closer to 2004--and it was intermittent then due to our low quality internet connection and the fact that 4+ people shared the computer. Anyway, it was neat to see the beginning, the morphing of the art style, and the expansion in themes. Since most of the strips are topical for a niche market, the comments put them in context--most I was okay on, but a few flew over my head completely, while a couple I only knew a portion of.

If you're into video games and the industry, check it out. The comics are free online: http://www.penny-arcade.com/
They also do bloggy-type things now, and run PAX.

PS: I forgot to mention in the last post, XKCD is also a free online comic: http://xkcd.com/

Maybe the LT folks can help me with a computer problem I seem to be having. . . . About 90% of the time I click into a new 'answer' field, like LT comment box or my Google search bar, the type only comes out as numbers or when shifted, the symbols above them. . . in order. Any key combo will come out 1234567890123 or !@#$%^&*()!@#. It goes away when I manually set the language bar, but it is already set on US, but reclicking it makes it stop. Anyone have any idea what the heck is going on? It's starting to drive me bonkers.

47. Exiled by M.R. Merrick 3.75 Stars

Action packed YA fantasy filled with demon fighting. I didn't want to put it down. The dialogue feels a bit forced, but gets a bit better towards the end. Descriptions are a little sparse in the beginning, but again, get better towards the end. Overall, a fun read.

Full review on ze blog: http://katelisim.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/book-review-exiled-by-m-r-merrick/

#62: That is odd. I think Stephen did it. He's always breaking LT.

#63: I like the cover. Hmm, I wonder if we have that one at work. I might hunt it down if we do. But if it's in the teen section, I'll have to pass. That's no man's land, where the teens have been known to kill and eat library staff. Or so the rumor goes.

I figured it out. . . it was some security software from Comcast. Incompatible with the keyboard layout I was using--and conveniently, no fix for it. It took me ages to find that out, like 2 months -_-;; Safe to say, I got rid of that crap--which also took more effort than it should as the uninstall doesn't work properly and I had to get a link to do it. Stupid.

Well, it is YA. So. . . .

I'm glad you got that figured out. If it took you 2 months, it would've taken me 2 years. ;)

I'll check for Exiled at a bookstore, how's that? Less likely chance of having a razor blade pulled on me there. :)

I am not always breaking LT! Granted I dry hump it regularly but I doubt that causes any significant damage...

It probably causes psychological problems that will surface ten yrs later.

Ha, good point. Shame on you, Stephen. :P

How do you know she didn't mean psychological problems for me? :o

you probably already have some to do that to a poor, defenseless website

Nobody understands us! *Cradles LT*

LOL! Oh god, that one's going to take awhile to get out of my head. XP

Okay, now I can see how you might think LT and I are a little creepy...

74: Haha! Brain scarring!

75: I don't judge. . . just offer perspective :P

48. Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Choose Your Path Book by Ryan Jacobson, 3.5 Stars

Dracula converted to a middle-grade choose your own adventure book. Keeps the mood of the original. No Renfield :(

I've read the orig twice, so I knew 90% of the correct choices. Super short and quick read. Entertaining. A little bit of kid cheesiness bookends the story. Nostalgia for Dracula and CYOA fans. Good for readers too young to read the orig.

I did a full review for a friend's blog, and will link it once it goes live :)

Have you read Renfield by Barbara Hambly? I read it many years ago, long before I read Dracula, but I thought it was pretty cool...when I read it...many years ago...

I haven't, but I will read it when I come across it :)

I like crazy Renfield. . . especially his portrayal in Dracula: Dead and Loving It. It's just not quite Dracula to me without him.

#77: Sounds good. I'll have to see if we have that one at work, kid cheesiness and all. :)

#78: Renfield: Slave of Dracula...no, homoeroticism, I'm guessing?

#79: I love Renfield in that movie, too! :)

I just discovered something called 'dictionary art' where an artist takes an old dictionary page and makes art on it. It's sooooo cool! Or at least the ones that blend in with the words or have a nice fade are (opposed to just painting over the page).

#81: I like it, but I can so seeing library staff/patrons having a fit over seeing that.

Most of the sites I came across only used old, outdated dictionaries that were on their way to their deaths. I wouldn't condone using a book that still has lots of life in it. . . but if it's on the way to the dump anyway. . . . I much prefer this. I know people that used to work at used book stores that threw away tons of books thought to be unsellable or overstocked. Oh the horror. They could've been pretty wall hanging art.

I know people that used to work at used book stores that threw away tons of books thought to be unsellable or overstocked. -- Ugh, I hate that. Even recycling is better than just throwing them away. Some of our staff members still toss withdrawn books straight in the trash instead of the recycle bin, which just makes me shake my head. Our branch had even won some award for being eco-friendly or whatever, and I was thinking, "Um, no, we're not." You should see how much paper we throw away every day. It's obscene!

Ok, enough of the rant. Sorry. Rough day at work. :)

No need to be sorry. This crap bothers me too. My job only has cardboard recycling--which is great for the ten bajillion boxes we go through, but not so much the paper or plastic *le sigh

Our library is pretty good about the paper recycling, but to recycle books, we have to take the covers off first. Usually we just give away books that we've weeded that don't sell in the booksale (people will take even the most ridiculously trashed, beat-up, outdated books if you put them in a "free" bin). Once we had a big set of reference books that nobody wanted, though, so we had a volunteer take the covers off of those.

#85: That is really weird that your job'll recycle cardboard but not paper.

#86: Same with ours--we tear the covers off weeded books or sell them at our book sales (the books, I mean, not the covers ;). I wish we had a free bin, because I'd rather see some books available to anyone who wants them. Some people are not picky, like you said. They'll read anything, which is awesome, imho.

My college always had tables in the different departments for free stuff--old books, software, cds, magazines, etc. I found a book of Greek tragedies that smelled like chocolate. It was strange, but I still took it, lol.

My full review of the choose your own adventure Dracula is up! Find it here!

49. Shift (The Protector Book 2) by M.R. Merrick, 4.5 Stars

Holy non-stop action, Batman!

Check the full review here. In the post is also included an excerpt from book 1 AND a giveaway for a signed copy of Shift.

PS: I had to switch from WordPress to Blogger. WP started ticking me off. It's supposedly free, but to do a lot of things, you have to upgrade and drop a bunch of cash. No thank you. This is for funsies.

#88: Heck, I think I'd buy any book if it smelled like chocolate. :D

*Licks Katie's chocolate-scented book*

Noooo! Water + books never mix. What is wrong with you? Just eat it!

Stephen, does it actually taste like chocolate? Maybe it's some new technology. . . Scratch N Taste!

It tastes like my computer screen...

That doesn't exclude it from tasting like chocolate. . .

Nothing in my house tastes like chocolate.

...that I know of...

*Starts licking various things in his house, just to be sure.*

What's the weirdest taste so far?

The can of disinfectant, ironically. I'm not sure what it tastes like, because now my tongue feels funny.

Nice one, Stephen. :D

*Licks Sara*

...WAFFLES!!!!

I have no idea why I would taste like waffles, since I haven't eaten the things in, oh, a jillion years. (disinfects skin Stephen licked)

Oh, wait. Now I remember why taste like waffles. (smacks forehead)

*Licks disinfected skin* Yep, definitely waffles.

Shame on that girl! What a waste of perfectly good waffles.

It's been a jillion years since I've had any as well. (Waffles, I mean.)

(licks own skin) Nope, tastes like tofu. Too much tofu.

I don't know about perfectly good waffles. Who's gonna want to eat the ass waffles she's been sitting on?

I doubt they taste worse than regular waffles. :P

Oh, who am I kidding, waffles are delicious, though I prefer french toast...

Waffles are delicious. . . and always make me think of this episode of Zim

I haven't had waffles in ages either. But I did have pancakes for lunch today! :)

*Sniffs Micky* Mmmmmmmm, pannnnnncakes...

106: Someone should stare at that picture until he pukes. It's gotta happen eventually.

Ha! Sara gets licked and I only get sniffed. Victory!

You don't know where I was sniffing though...

I'm going to assume you sniffed my hair. I'm on the shorter side, so it's pretty difficult to sniff anything else without me noticing. :P

"Ah, that seems perfectly reasonable!" came Stephen's voice from under Micky's desk.

Stephen, what are you doing over there? I'm sitting in my chair halfway across the room. I doubt you can smell me at all from there. :P

Noooooothing... *Flips the "Record" switch comes out from under Micky's desk*

And what exactly do you think you're going to hear, other than me yelling/giggling at my TV and the clacking of keyboard keys?

I go RL socialize for two nights and my thread becomes the battleground between perviness and innocence. . . I'm sure there are plenty of witty things to say to all of the above posts, but the sleep deprivation has hidden that portion of my brain.

Anyway, continue on. Just leave the animals out of it. Humans have already had such a bad influence on them.

Right, clacking keyboard and TV noises, I'm sure that's EXACTLY what those sounds are coming from. *Overly obvious wink*

:P

Well, I just got a sad:

My manager from my internship with the library contacted me to see if I was still looking for a job. The comm associate was potentially leaving, and wanted me to replace her if all the stars aligned accordingly. So that was a *jump around I may almost be hired squee* moment. Then today, I got an email from her saying that the county told her she could only pick an employee from a list they gave her (and she couldn't put me on the list). Neither of us are happy about this. Waaaaaahhhhh!

>116 katelisim: Wooh! RL socializing. That's pretty adventurous, Katie. ;)

>117 Ape: I... don't understand what you're implying, Stephen. So I think that means innocence wins?

>118 katelisim: Boo! That sucks. Hopefully you find an equally awesome job in the near future to make up for the disappointment.

Adventurous? Not really. I do that at least once a week, lol. I don't have the people anxiety that runs rampant in some parts of this site. Speaking of. . .

Congrats to Ape's RL socializing and first LT meetup! I haven't even done an LT meetup yet. If I were in Ohio, I'd come pester you. But alas, I am not. So you're safe. . . . for now, lol.

Rachel is moving to Minnesota, dontcha know? You are free to meet-up, and talk about me, if you like. :P

Hmmmmm, which is scary, meeting up with someone or have 2 people meetup and talk about you? Eeeek... On second thought... *Locks Katie in the basement so she can't meetup with anyone and talk about him* Phew. Safe. *Wipes brow*

Everything I know of you is already in the public sphere of the interwebs. . . so I don't know what you're so worried about, lol.

But, I didn't know that she was coming to MN. For her sake, hopefully she waits until after the impending arctic times.

I don't normally have a strong MN accent (I have been told I have dictionary pronunciations, but really, it's that I hate when non-silent letters are silent--it's mounTain, not mou'in). . . but I love throwing the accent onto the word 'bag'. . . b-ehhhh-g, lolz.

#118: Sorry about your bit o' sad. :( Want my job? You might get attacked by a teenager, but what the heck, right? ;)

Stephen is meeting people? My. God. The world is going to end, isn't it? (Sorry, I know I was supposed to leave the animals out, but aawww.)

At first I thought the dog was ripping that kitteh's throat out. . . o_0;;
But it was a cute, not an ewwwww, so all's good.

Meh, teenagers don't scurrrrrrr me, lol. I hung out with a bunch of bad kids in hs, so I can deal with their ridiculousness. It would cost a bit to get over there though. . .

Is there an Ohio meetup? Has it already happened? I am so out of the loop.

Hmm, it might still be ripping the kitten's throat out, but I'm not sure the kitty would look as content as it does.

No, our teens aren't scary at all. It's just dealing with patrons who constantly complain about them (and ultimately having to tell them their opinion doesn't matter) and coworkers/supervisors who refuse to do anything about it (because some of them are actually afraid of them; go figure). That's where the problem is.

As for travel costs, you could always hitch hike. ;)

#125: Not a big Ohio meetup. Stephen and Rachel hung out for a while. I don't know about any plans for a big meetup, as those aren't my neck of the woods. I only really find out about any if they're mentioned in a thread I already follow.

#126: My grandpa used to hitchhike every summer down to the south to work in the farm fields, picking berries and what not. He said it was fine then. We all know it's not so great anymore.

Whenever people say they're afraid of teens, I think of this song, and I can't keep from humming it and making the other person not the happiest with me, lol.

>120 katelisim: In my case it's less anxiety and more the fact that I am a tremendous home body. :P

Yeah, I think once horror movies got into full swing in the 70s, people got a little paranoid/homicidal and stopped hitchhiking. Too bad for serial killers. :P

I never listened to My Chemical Romance before (that I'm aware of), so thanks for the link. I don't understand why people are afraid of teens either. They're seriously insecure little brats that need to be spanked (and not in a Sara sort of way) and/or put to work. They're a waste of space, imho. Yes, I'm a cranky old person, can you tell? ;)

129: Lol. I think it has become harder with society's mental state shifting to sue-happy. So over correctness and worry about legal ramifications just make adults nervous. Especially when the adult can end up taking full blame for something that happens. And the teens know this and exploit it. I just refuse to take crap from people, no matter the age.

I just refuse to take crap from people, no matter the age. -- That's good logic! Even a two year old? ;)

Personally, I think teens should start having more legal responsibilities. I see too many teens get away with things just short of murder that would send an 18+ year old straight to jail. A lot of them are bored, so I think child labor is an excellent choice.

Even 2 yr olds. They get a little leeway the younger they are, but no, I'm not dealing with your attitude issues. Clearly I was a good babysitter -_-;;

I almost agree. They should have something they're doing--either sports, activities, a job, or be able to stay out of trouble. One problem with that is the economy is still crap. Some places are more likely to hire teens, yes, but it took me over a to find a job when I was in HS. So. . . just make them all join clubs, lol.

Clubs, gangs...I agree. ;) Yeah, I do remember how hard it was to find a job during/after high school. I think all I could find were daycare jobs, and we all know how good I would be at that. I can't think what else there is for teens. Dishwasher? Newspaper delivery boy/girl? (Actually, I think you have to have a license and own your own car to even be considered for that, around here anyway.)

I worked at a pizza place. I know a lot of people that worked fast food/restaurants or retail.

I didn't work during high school (I was too busy being a super nerd) but during undergrad I worked in a grocery store and there were a lot of high school students working there.

I worked in a library. Best first job ever

#134: Duh! (smacks forehead) How could I forget fast food? Or retail? Mind's a bit rusty, I guess.

#135: Neither did I, but that was more of a combination of not being able to find a job and an overbearing parent that wouldn't let me work. Grocery stores--yes, that's another one. I had a classmate who worked as one of those cart gophers. Great exercise, I guess.

#136: That's a hard first job to get. However, I worked with a high schooler at the library I first started with, so yeah, it can be done. You're lucky. :)

50. Obernewtyn 4 Stars
Reread. Will be writing a review for friend's blog at some point.

51. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: Save Yourself, Mammal 3.75 Stars
A collection of comics, available online for free here.
5%=gut-busting laughter
90%=amusing to highly amusing
5%=duds

Sample:

#138: I have the book, but I haven't read it yet (which can probably be said for the majority of books I own).

#139: Looks good. I'll have to see if I can read some of it tomorrow at work. Thanks! :)

I really like the world in this book. The author started this one while still in high school, so the writing isn't phenomenal (usually a killer for me, but for some reason, it really doesn't bother me with this one). I've read through #4, own through #6. I believe it goes up to 8, not positive though. Writing does get better. The world is massive in later books.

I don't read the comic regularly, but see them posted by friends on FB occasionally. I enjoyed the ones in the book. Hopefully the rest on the site are good too :)

Oh wow, I didn't realize there were so many books in that series. Luckily, I own book 1, so I won't be too terribly confused (maybe).

I've never even heard of the comic series before, but then I'm so out of the loop on most things. I can't imagine me not liking it though. If it's illustrated, I'll probably like it. :) As for FB--blergh. I had to close my account after just a few months. It's a big time sucker (and not in a good way either).

Interesting mix of reads, Katie. Glad you liked both of them. :)

I seem to be mixing it up a bit more lately, which is usually pretty fun :)

I just finished The Child Thief by Brom. . . definitely a 5 star. . . and I may be in a book hangover for a while after this. I will have quite the fawning review up when I've had time to process. But oh my goodness, if you like a good fairy tale retelling, you should ask for this from Santa or whomever gives you gifties.

How I know I'm nerdy. . .

This put me into a 10 min laughing fit, complete with aching sides and tears:

#144: Oh, that one definitely looks good! I'll have to track that one down.

#145: I wonder if I could get away with wearing that at work and say it's a very, VERY complicated math equation to educate our youngers with... hmm, probably not. ;)

#146: It's soooooo good. And HA! I would love to see someone wear that at work XD

Blog update: Since the review of Shift, I've posted reviews for the films The Campaign and Rise of the Guardians, the Magic Piano app, and some ramblings about music, specifically the 6ish Xmas songs I can still listen to, recent concerts, and AWOLNATION's "Sail."Check them out if you so desire

I think the closest "obscene" thing I've ever worn to work was a t-shirt I used to own that said "Save a Wave, Ride a Surfer." But I, of course, wore a button-up shirt over most of it, so very few people knew what it said. It was in the name of the environment, I swear! :P

Since I'm on dialup at the moment, I'll check your blog updates at work tomorrow. :)

>144 katelisim: I love Peter Pan so I'll consider it, but I don't know if I'm ready for a twisty version of the Barrie classic.

#149: It does take some liberties, and there's a generous helping of Welsh mythology infused as well. And A LOT of violence--there are several dismemberments and deaths.

Still pondering. Dark fairytales I have no problem with and heaven knows that Peter was always a little blood-thirsty in the original book, but I still can't make up my mind if I'm willing to read an adaptation where I may not like Peter. Because Peter Pan ILU.

Oh! I loved Peter in it. We see his origins and are completely on his side--even some of the not nice things he does, I didn't mind at all! Everything made sense. AND in addition to being sympathetic towards Peter (and everything he's been through) I was also sympathetic towards the Captain--which I was not expecting. Everyone is given quite a bit of depth; no one is purely good or evil.

Ok, you've won me over. *adds book to TBR list*

Glitterfy.com - Christmas Glitter Graphics

I want to wish you a glorious celebration of that time of year when we all try to unite around a desire for Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward All. Merry Christmas, Katie!

glitter-graphics.com

I hope your Christmas day is filled with that merriment, ummm, stuff.

Merry Christmas, Katie!

Thanks everybody! A happy Christmahannakwanzakah to all! Or Festivus, if you prefer.

lol @ Festivus! How could I forget Festivus? Shall we start with the airing of grievances now or stare at the midget stripper pole some more.

Haha! Whichever you would like.

There's a Festival Foods in the same strip mall as my work. . . and we always used to say "Heading to the Festivus for the rest of us" when stopping over there, lol.

Well, it's almost the end of the year. Looks like I'll get at least one more book finished, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Maybe get to another, but I doubt it.

Book title meme!

Describe yourself: A Touch Morbid

Describe how you feel: Can I Just Take a Nap?

Describe where you currently live: Hex Hall

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Obernewtyn

Your favorite form of transportation: Dragonflight

Your best friend is: Mostly Monsterly

You and your friends are: Forgiven

What’s the weather like: Season of Mists

You fear: The Renegades of Pern

What is the best advice you have to give: Ready Player One

Thought for the day: Lungfull!

How I would like to die: Penny Arcade: Attack of the Bacon Robots or Angelfall

My soul’s present condition: Spell Bound

I'll probably write up some stats in the next week.

I almost put Season of Mists as my weather answer too! :)

I'm jealous of your Describe Yourself answer, even if it's a book I would never read. :P

I like your book title meme, too. :) I probably won't get around to one this year. Still working on making it to 75.

#162: I couldn't resist either of those for answers :)

#163: I'll be hitting 53 for sure. I might be able to sneak in one last book or a couple comics. . . but there's no way I'll even be breaking 60 this year. Lowest count since joining LT :/

Still, that's not bad! Just enjoy what you're reading. :) It doesn't really matter what the number is.

Oh, I know. I'm not too bummed about it. It's been a busy year.

Very nice answers to the meme, Katie. :)

#166: Totally understood. :) Glad you stayed with it at least. I know a lot of people have stopped doing the LT reads for whatever reason (life, work, family, etc). Hope to see you around next year!

Here's to a great new year ahead, Katie!

168: This was my fourth year doing the 75 book challenge. . . I have yet to reach that amount. But I like it here in this chatty group. And I've surpassed 50 every year. So. . . *shrugs*

169: Thanks!