primroseburrows: (gord red)
  • I own three copies of Black House (So far. I'm not ruling out finding another one in a box somewhere). Two of these are hardcover.

  • Mary has invited me to go with her and Juliana to Calgary next year. I may have held my arm out for her to twist gently, before saying yes. Hopefully I can talk her into staying longer than her suggested five days. Because um. FIVE DAYS? Still, yay Calgary!

  • Song of the Day:

  • Tomorrow we go to Meadowbrook's annual Holiday Faire. I've missed the last couple of years, which is a shame since I do a whole bunch of my holiday shopping there. They have all sorts of professional vendors who rent tables and sell everything from silk dresses to handmade wooden toys to organic herbal bath products to hand-dyed wool for felting to one-of-a-kind glass ornaments--all sorts of unique stuff like that. Since my goal every season is to get non-generic gifts and get all my shopping done without once setting foot in a mall, it's the perfect place. And it supports an awesome school.

  • Have finished Torchwood (which is a very amazing show; you should watch it if you haven't yet), and have read some fic, with mixed reviews. Not all are bad--some are really very good, but I still haven't found a fandom with a more consistently talented bunch of writers than C6D. Having said that, the Torchwood bunch are pretty resourceful when it comes to AUs. My theory is that it's because for TW, AU is canon. Also and possibly unrelated, some of the stuff I've read about the behaviour of the more fringe-y part of the fandom makes me want to do this:



  • Blog of the Day: Stuff White People Like. I'm particularly partial to this one, this one and this one.
primroseburrows: (skquarter)
"Stephen King has penned some of the literary world's most memorable horror novels, from Carrie to The Shining. But what in the name of Cujo could possibly send shivers up the author's spine?

The answer has finally come: U.S. television studios."


Stephen King teams up with Canada's E1 for new series

"It is a deal that shatters the conventions of big-budget television productions. Rather than take his concept directly to a Hollywood studio, the author has specifically gone outside of the U.S. in order to retain more creative control over how the series is made."

There's a REASON he's my platonic!pretend!boyfriend, guys.
primroseburrows: (skquarter)
Um, hello? WANT THIS NOW, PLZ.


On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.



1088 pages!!!
primroseburrows: (skquarter)
A verbal expression of my love for this would exceed the character posting limit by zillions:

Part 1:


Part 2:
primroseburrows: (DT: other worlds)
Here's a list of organizations providing aid to Myanmar/Burma.

I really want to do something to help out and throwing money doesn't seem like much, and I don't have much, but they really DO need it. I wish I could just go there and help, you know? Not gonna happen, but still.


We could sure use this guy right about now:




Also,

people in glass White Houses, and all that.



In other news, Stephen King is made of so much awesome it's not even funny.
primroseburrows: (typing)
  • Eeeeeeee! The only thing is, I dunno if I should go because [livejournal.com profile] tapped_trish's baby might decide to show up when I'm four hours away. Or he/she might decide to show up before, or after, in which case, hmm...

  • You say "covered in muck" like it's a BAD thing.

  • Speaking of which, here's a tiny news blurb on the subject.

  • FIC REC: Every once in a blue moon I come across a story that I'm positive I've read only to find that er, no I haven't, I just thought I had because I've known about it for so long and it's part of the Fandom Primer of Fic Everyone's Read. So, um. It turns out I hadn't read [livejournal.com profile] minervacat's That's Where All of the Gangsters Live, and if some you haven't either (and check, you may just think you have), you need to go do that. It's Ray K gen with a little F/K and a dash of Stella thrown in, but mostly it's Ray/Chicago.

    I love stories that paint pictures of the landscape anyway ([livejournal.com profile] nos4a2no9 does this. Go read her stuff, especially her beautiful F/K story The Price of Distance), and this one is great because it also paints an amazing picture of Ray K., and character studies are another one of my favourite kinds of stories. It's also a good intro for someone just peeking into dS fandom. And yay, now I want to go to Chicago. *adds to list*

  • I need to make a plan for my life. Like, I have to get my BSN and I really want to finish up the doula certification. And then there's the whole thing about where I'm going to live (NOT IN PAWTUCKET, DEAR GODS NO). I also want to do travel nursing, which is one reason I need the BSN: Certain Countries Which Shall Remain Nameless expect you to have one to work as an RN), I have a vague idea of all of this stuff, but no organized plan. I should maybe sit down with a Life Coach or something, but I've always thought Life Coaching to be silly, so, um.

  • Book Rec: The Long Exile by Melanie McGrath. I'd bought this at Borders after hearing an interview with the author on the radio, but then I proceeded to leave it at work where it disappeared. So when I was in Ottawa last month I found another copy at Chapters (I almost overlooked it because the size, cover and even the TITLE were different from the US Version). It's heartbreaking and fascinating at the same time. It made me sad and angry and hopeful and also made me think about how much assumptions about my own culture and way of life get in the way of understanding people different than me, and how often that's hurtful to those people. I try to be aware of my own prejudices, but I don't think any of us really can do that completely. Anyway, I really recommend this book. So far, I'm also liking Farley Mowat's No Man's River, which I bought on the same trip to Chapters.

  • This whole random list is nothing but an excuse not to clean my house. I should really do that. Now Soon.

  • Non-LJ friend Sandra wants to go to MontrĂ©al before it gets too cold. She wants me to go with her. She's talking Columbus Day Weekend. Er. That would be THIS WEEKEND. *headdesk* Maybe I can talk her into Veteran's Day and buy her some leg warmers?

  • It's chilly in my room. Getting up and doing housework would really get me warmed up. So would going to Three Sisters and buying a hot fudge sundae. Well, okay, no, that last part wouldn't.

  • Speaking of ice cream, there's still an ice cream truck trolling the neighbourhood (is 'trolling' the right word?), even this late in the season (This probably has to do with the high school up the street letting out for the day). Currently it's repeat-looping an music-boxy version of what is probably Red Wing but my mind is singing "Oh, you can't scare me, I'm stickin' to the Union". Which would be a strange but oddly cool thing for an ice cream truck to be playing. Also far less depressing than "Red Wing". Here, have a video sung by the Gods:

primroseburrows: (skquarter)
So [livejournal.com profile] songdogmi gave the heads up that Rufus was on The Hour. This by me is a Good Thing, and tonight I actually had the time and attention span to actually go to the website and watch the interview. Which is what I did. Well, I went to the website, anyway. The reason why I still haven't managed to see the interview yet?

It's actually all my Platonic!Fake!boyfriend's fault. He really should have had the whole hour to himself, because as usual he rocks so hard the neighbours are complaining. &hearts&hearts&hearts

Rufus is next to watch, because he's awesome and I adore him, but, y'know.
primroseburrows: (SA: gtpoint)
You know, eventually I'll post about something important, like politics or activism or stuff.

Right now I'll just ramble on about television (insert *gasp* here) and the fannish butterfly effect and stuff.

In which Primrose natters on to the point of blithering about books, music, movies, good!television, and Paul Gross' mouth )

That's all. For your patience, here's a song I first heard while stuck in heavy traffic driving through Boston. Another example of stumbling into something I love.

Tom Waits - The Piano Has Been Drinking.

I obviously do not shut up well. Doing it now, for real. The rest, as it were, is silence.
primroseburrows: (ves'-ka gan)
Alphabet Meme time! )



Also, I'm rereading The Drawing of the Three. Try to get over the shock, y'all. Anyway, this has never been my favourite DT book even though I love it. I'm really not sure why. Because everyone's not in it, I guess. This reread's different, though. I feel like I'm reading it for the first time, and I keep getting new stuff screaming out at me.


spoilers for the Dark Tower Series )

Over a decade since I first began this story, I'm finally coming to love Roland. This is a very cool thing, so it is. It's also why rereading books isn't a waste of time, no matter what [livejournal.com profile] mr_tooby and others say.

So, yeah, this book is something else, all right. It's stuff like this that makes Roland's story (and it is Roland's story, singularly, even with all the rich characterisations we're given) so compelling that I want to reread and study and RP characters and have a piece of it in ink on my wrist. IMO, a writer is someone who tells a tale on paper. A good writer is someone whose tale is such that the story and the characters slip inside the readers' subconscious and become a part of it, become real to the reader.

Sai King is a damn good writer.

Oh, and I also bought this from iTunes for ten bucks. It was a big savings from importing it, like fourteen bucks American plus postage, but it was a big pain in the arse to get it from the computer to the iPod, because it was protected, because apparently I'm treated like a criminal when I want to play my own album that I bought legally. *screams, flails, etc.*
primroseburrows: (skquarter)
So, I was tagged by [livejournal.com profile] songdog to do this meme. It's a book meme, how could I refuse?


List five things you've been reading lately. Then tag five LiveJournal users to do the same in their own journals. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Oddly, as [livejournal.com profile] songdog is thinking about reading some (interesting, intelligent) fiction, I'm reading some (also interesting and intelligent) nonfiction. Still have my fiction in the mix, though. But it's ONE book, which is odd for me. Oh, and the reread.

1. Finishing up The Protector's War, which is a good read despite being a bit heavy on the SCA-becomes RL battle stuff. I only recently found out it's going to be a trilogy. I've already read the first book, Dies the Fire. It's a cool premise. Some unknown catastrophic event shifts the laws of physics just off-centre enough to prevent all modern technology that's run by power (electrical, gunpowder, etc) to not work anymore. Of course, Apocalyptic novels are my favourite kind, and I really like this one. The author could cut half the battles out and I'd be happy, though.

2. The latest edition of Heart and Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth by Elizabeth Davis, for my midwifery course. Much of it's a reread, since I read an earlier version for another course. Still, this is one of the best books on birth around, and it's an enjoyable read, required or no.

3. Judith Levine's Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping . This book is very good, and it's not what you think. Not preachy at all, the author describes her own experiences with boycotting shopping for one year except for necessities (although what she and her partner Paul consider "necessities" is up for debate). She goes into the pros and cons of the Voluntary Simplicity Movement without overly dumping on it or overly praising it. At the heart of it, though, it's a good autobiographical piece. There's a lot of wit in this book. And it makes me think when I buy (most of the time). The same author wrote Harmful to Minors: The Dangers of Protecting Children from Sex, which sounds like it will be VERY good. It's been on my "really want to read SOON" list for a while. It must be getting sorta close to Soon by now, right?

4. How Can I Keep From Singing: Pete Seeger by David King Dunaway. This is my bathroom book (no slight to Pete because of it--bathroom books do get read, but slower and in bite-sized pieces). I've only read the first couple of chapters so far, but I like the biographer's style, and he doesn't gloss over Pete's life or defer to his celebrity, which is most likely fine with Pete. It's a bit of a history book, as well, because Pete is an old man, and was involved with a lot of events, big and small, that spanned most of the twentieth century.

5. Unassisted Childbirth by Laura Kaplan Shanley. Only a couple of chapters into this one, too. It gets a little new-age-y, which can be a turnoff for me, but it's an interesting read. I've only recently started researching unassisted birth (not for class, but just because I'm a birth geek, and well, eventually someone's gonna ask me what I think about it and I should probably have an answer for them), and I'm finding that the more I read, the more I see UB as a very viable choice that can be as safe as any other homebirth (which is as safe as birth gets, btw)if the couple is well-prepared for the experience. This book isn't a DIY book for couples wanting to birth their baby on their own; rather it focusses on the experiences of the author and others, as well as Ms. Shanley's philosophy about the idea. I just found her website, Bornfree. Lots of readworthy stuff there. If someone's really interested in UB as a subject, though, I'd suggest another book that goes into a bit more nuts and bolts and not so much new-age jargon. Read this one after that one. Of course, like I said, I haven't gotten deep into the book yet. I think I'm going to get more out of the website and even more from Psalm and Zoya's birth video, when I get to see it.


Not part of the five book list, but I'm also going to be starting a reread (yes, a real, whole reread) of Stephen King's glorious Dark Tower Series, which isn't just my favourite SK story or my favourite dark fantasy story; it's my favourite story that's ever been written, ever (that I know about, of course. *g*). And since I really want to do justice to [livejournal.com profile] eddiecdean (and sai King, say true), I need to Refresh the brain. I've tried just reading the last bits of the last books. Not working for character study. It's a good thing that it's been long enough (has it really been a year and a half?!) that I actually CAN pick them up again. I've known these characters since somewhere around 1994. I know what it's like to wait years and years for the next leg of the journey and then all 700 and change pages in two days, only to wait again. Roland, etc. live close to my heart, aye, and the last part of the first read was so intense and heartwrenching (for joyful AND sad reasons) that I wasn't sure I'd be able to pick them up again (part of the reason was certainly that it was OVER, no book eight, nobody saying What Happens Next). I know I'll be able to do it now, though (mostly thanks to [livejournal.com profile] eddiecdean, so I'm all set to go. Now to find the time.

If anyone's ever looking for a story that has everything: humour, joy, tragedy, poetry, horror, romance, life, s/he should read this one. My heart is glad that it exists, although I'm entirely jealous of anyone who's about to read it for the first time. And really, if you don't like the first book, read the next one anyway. The first was started when SK was [livejournal.com profile] i_am_a_hannah's age (she'll be 19 this month, say thankya). The Gunslinger is bleak and dark and I like it, but not everyone does. The next books are in a different style, and not nearly as severe.

What I should really do is take the audiobooks out of the library. Woah. That's actually a great idea. SK doesn't read them, alas. I know some people are happy about this, as he's no Great Orator, but I like to hear an author read a book, with all the proper inflections and pronounciations (I mean, geez, I thought "Cuthbert" had a short U for years. It's key-youth-bert, people). Besides, I like his voice, as t00by and Maine-accented as it might be. The t00by and Maine-accented stuff is probably WHY I like it. SK is nothing if not Real, which is something that can't be said about quite a few of the rich and famous set. Apparently his neighbours adore him, and are fiercely protective of him. That says a lot, I think.


Okay, I tag...hmm. [livejournal.com profile] way2, [livejournal.com profile] robinhoo, [livejournal.com profile] mr_t00by, [livejournal.com profile] willysunny, and [livejournal.com profile] on_a_hill. And the bonus, because there seems to be an unwritten law that there should be one, [livejournal.com profile] phredlovesgoats. Also anyone else who'd like to have a go at it.

Now, off to bed. No double shift, it turned out, and I'm still up to the wee hours. Two days off, though (I think), so whee! Massive housework awaits inna morning.

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