Thaaaaaaanksgiving

For those celebrating, hope you have a happy and non-stressful Thanksgiving full of good food and minimal fighting.

There are good things out there or things you can do to make good things happen, so let's focus on that.

And also the pie. Let's all focus on pie.

Thanksgiving and OH HEY dog pictures

I promised you puppy pictures, and I am here to provide puppy pictures!

As with every Thanksgiving for the past 10+ years I've gone down to South Carolina to visit my dad/play with his various pets. Over the years there have been:

A pheasant. It came with the house. I don't know if it ever had a name.

A watch goose. Geese make WAY better watch animals than dogs. At least this one did. Plus it acted as a body guard for some of the other animals because seriously, nothing will mess with a goose.

Ducks! I think there were 4 at one point. they knew to stay near the goose and thus were safe from the dogs. But once the goose died, the ducks didn't stand a chance (because someone felt that the ducks shouldn't be caged up and should instead be free. In this case that means "free to be eaten by the dogs")

4 chickens. Or I guess 3 chickens and a rooster and guess what? Roosters are assholes. At least this one was. As to their fate, see "freedom" above.

10 goats? I think there were probably about 10 in the end. Did you know goats eat everything? Because they seriously eat EVERYTHING. Also baby goats are the most adorable thing and will use the roof of an old shed as a slide. ADORABLY.

An emu. This was another stray that wandered onto the property and hung out for awhile before moving on. No one knows where it came from. It is another world down there.

20+ Cats. Not all at once but there were a bunch of wild cats that lived in the barn and honestly, 20 is probably a low number for them. I didn't see most of them cos of the whole wild thing. Except for glowing eyes showing up under various bushes. Right now there are 3 house cats. I have no pictures of them, however, because they stay in my dad's bedroom and aren't big fans of people that aren't my dad or step-mom.

20 dogs. Probably. Again, not all at once but over the years. The house came with 2 basset hounds because that's apparently a thing that sometimes happens down south. Some stray dogs wandered onto the property, a neighbor has puppies, some other puppies were born, you know how it goes. Right now there are 3 dogs: Clyde, Lucy, and Puccini. AND HERE ARE THEIR PICTURES

"Sleeping in fields" is sort of the big dogs' specialty. It also puts them in a great position for tummy rubs. The little dog stays on a leash because he cannot be trusted to not annoy the other dogs and get his ass kicked. But they do hang out with him sometimes.

AND now it's Christmas season. I am a pain in the ass pre-Thanksgiving when it comes to Christmas music and decorations, but once Thanksgiving is over I AM FOR IT! And here is my tree. You can't really see the tinsel on it but it is all over.

What are your holiday plans, whatever you may celebrate??

Thanksgiving Time!

I hope those of you in the U.S. are enjoying eating ALL THE FOOD. Those of you not in the U.S. should also try eating all the food as all the food is delicious.

As with previous years, I've wandered down south for the holiday* where the internet access is slim, but the puppy access is high so it's a pretty good trade-off. I'd apologize in advance for being around to read and comment on everyone's blog, except I have been pretty bad about that in general. Which I AM sorry for and I'm trying to get better about. Anyway, Thanksgiving.

Bookish things I am thankful for:
1. Time to read: My long commute may suck a LOT but it at least gives me an opportunity to read. Or sometimes not read if I feel like listening to music but the point is I have a bunch of time to read which is nice.
2. Means to buy books: I certainly do not have ALL THE MONEY but I do have enough to cover my bills with some leftover for books. I think I need to make the effort to use the library so some of that leftover can go somewhere other than books, but it's nice that I have the option.
3. This blog: I may not have all the time I used to to keep up with this blog, but I still heart it and I'm still making the effort to be here as often as I can.
4. The people I met cos of this blog: You people (and if you're reading this you can pretty much guarantee you're one of these people) are the reason I'm still writing this blog. I love the readalongs and minithons and general meeting-and-talking-to people who have become great friends.

I know there are more things but I won't continue listing them. There are important things to get to

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving/day of eating lots of food and lots to be thankful for.

*And unfortunately, as with previous years, Tom is staying up here because of work. Would-be-robbers should take note the house will not be empty so no funny business.

Thanksgiving: ALL THE PUPPY PICTURES

I hope everyone, at least those in the States, had a lovely Thanksgiving. For the rest of you, I hope you at a lot of food anyway. Just because food is delicious.

I was lazy getting the puppy pictures off of my phone, or you would have gotten these yesterday and the November reading wrap-up today. but as it was I wrote part of the wrap-up before November is over and hadn't started this yet. And while my travels on Monday were uneventful, it was still about 8 1/2 hours of door-to-door travel to get from my dad's house in South Carolina back home to NY*, so I was tired.

My Thanksgiving reading didn't play out as I anticipated. And by that I mean I ended up not reading  A Storm of Swords because after Bridget Jones I was in the mood for the original and re-read Pride and Prejudice. But then I wanted something to break that up so I started The Shining. Because I have schizo reading choices. I did however spend time listening to the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, and I'll have you people know I'm very disappointed you didn't bring this to my attention sooner. Really, very disappointed.

 But as promised, here are puppy pictures!!

Dad has 4 dogs: the mutts Clyde, Lucy, and Ranger and then a miniature dachshund Puccini. Puccini is a terror, but an adorable terror so he gets away with a lot. Clyde could get away with a lot too, if he tried, cos he's sort of the favorite (and the oldest and THE BEST ONE). But he's pretty well behaved. As long as you're not a squirrel, cat, or bird. If you're an animal smaller than him, you better be faster cos otherwise you'll be a snack. There are also 3 cats (one of them saved from the outside and the wrath of Clyde) but I only saw them briefly (they mostly hide in the master bed room) so I have no pictures of them. It's cool though, cos PUPPIES

LOOK AT THIS FACE 

Lucy 

Clyde & Ranger

Clyde, laying around some more

And there are no puppies here, at least not in frame, but here's my Dad and brother frying up one of the turkeys. Because we celebrated in the appropriate southern tradition. I believe this was even the cajun bird.

Om nom nom

I'll get around to actual reviews soon. You know. Probably.

*If you're curious my travels consisted of: a car ride, a shuttle van ride, 1 airplane, a monorail, and 2 different commuter rail lines. Because ADVENTURE. Or you know TAKING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.

Thanksgiving Reading

From BookRiot

The Celebration of Caloric Debauchery/Thanksgiving is just one day away here in the States. As for the past I-don't-know-how-many-years now, I'm going to be down in South Carolina.* Actually by the time this posts I'll be on my way down. I'll be MIA over the next few days while I eat way too much, play with the dogs, and hopefully get a lot of reading done. I won't get too much internet-ing done because internet is in short supply down there, and I'm pretty much limited to my phone.

What will I be reading while I'm down there? I'm not exactly sure. I just bought & recently started Bridget Jones's Diary. I'm pretty sure I'm one of the last people to read this book. (I haven't seen the movie either.) I've been in a Pride & Prejudice mood recently, and I thought this would be a good time to try it. I'm also thinking I might pick up the next Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire book A Storm of Swords since I first picked up the series last Thanksgiving so it seems like a good choice. Besides, I can't think of many Thanksgiving themed books, so why not make my own Thanksgiving reading tradition? Or maybe I'll go with something else. Who knows.

Since this is the season and all, I wanted to talk about how thankful I am for all of the book blogger friends I've made. I was going to say I'm so grateful for this blog, but really the blog wouldn't be nearly as fun (and I can't promise I would have kept up with it) if it wasn't for everyone else. I'm so grateful for the friends I've made. You all kick ass and I hope you're all having a great Thanksgiving. Even those of you outside the States, you should probably eat a lot of food and think of the things you're thankful for because why not? How many excuses do you need to do this?

I'll return shortly hopefully with more book reviews and definitely with some animal pictures.

*To would-be robbers, be warned while I'm out of town Boyfriend+ is holding down the fort. 

Thanksgiving and all my excuses for not being around

Heeeeeey everyone. Long time not talk to. Or "write at" I guess is more accurate. So, where have I been?

First up, there was Thanksgiving! I had/have extra vacation days that I failed to use, so I took some extra time off to spend the time with my Dad down in South Carolina. I was down there last Thanksgiving as well because, again, screw cold weather and YAY for lots of pets. The numbers have reversed and now my Dad has 3 cats and 6 dogs, and since I like dogs better anyway, that was pretty sweet. Like last year though, I don't really have internet access down there, save what I can get on my phone. Which means I had no easy way to post, and instead I decided to focus on reading and eating and playing with the dogs.

UPDATED to include those puppy pics that I tried to give you earlier.

I didn't actually get THAT much reading done while I was down there. Or rather I finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter not long into my journey down south and decided I should give this Game of Thrones thing a try and that book is a zillion and 1 pages long. Oh also AMC played Gone with the Wind on Wednesday and then The Godfather and The Godfather Part II on Thursday, so that distracted me as well.

I was thinking I'd get a post out once I got back from the airport but that didn't so much happen. I didn't realize it but I was landing at the airport right at rush hour and taking the LIRR with luggage during peak times is NOT FUN. On top of that, Hurricane Sandy messed up one of the train tunnels, which means there are still cancelled trains, so the trains are even more crowded. AND THEN the train I got one was running 2 less cars than normal because the LIRR wanted to welcome me back and remind me what I had missed. By the time I got home, this was all I wanted:
I started to catch up on The Walking Dead but I failed at that because Boyfriend+ came home bearing Chinese food, so I agreed to turn off the zombies. I DID win at eating Chinese food so there you go.

So yeah, I'll get working on a review soon. I'll also get around to reading all those blog posts that backed up on my Google Reader. It will take some time but I'm working on it. And I'll have a wedding update on Sunday that's actually about stuff from two Sundays ago, but I am bad at doing anything in a timely manner.

Upcoming reviews OR a post to distract you from the fact that I have no real post

Hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving. At least those of you who are in the US. For my international readers, you should really get in on this holiday. Seriously, you hang out with family and think about what you're thankful for and most importantly PIE! It's pretty cool.

I spent my Thanksgiving in South Carolina because screw cold weather. I'm currently pet-less and my dad has a bit of a menagerie (6 cats and 3 dogs at the start of the trip*) so that's always fun. Plus it distracts me from the fact that, with the exception of my phone, I'm internet-less down there. Oh they have internet, but they're so far out they can't get unlimited access (I didn't realize that was a problem for things that aren't wireless phones) and they work out of the home so they need their interwebs. Also I'm way too lazy to set up anything. This paragraph is just a big excuse as to why a) I haven't posted anything in awhile and b) why I haven't read any blogs in a week. But I have been reading! So to tempt you with stuff I will be reviewing once I get my shit together, here are the books I've read that I need to write about:

Beat to a Pulp edited by Scott D. Parker and David Cranmer
On Writing by Stephen King
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Also to distract you from the fact that I have no real post, here are some animal pictures!

*By the end of the trip it was down to 3 cats. See, most of the animals my dad gets are animals that wander over and don't leave. The house is an old plantation so it's in the middle of no where and there are stray animals roaming the area. There used to be a bunch of wildcats around, which was good because they took care of the mice and rats. That is until my dad got a couple dogs that just destroyed the cat population. If you're wondering what a dog would do if it ever caught the cat, kill it is the answer. So dad was feeding this a cat that started showing up, and one day noticed she looked a little larger than usual. And what do you know, she's pregnant. To keep the cat and her eventual kittens safe, they brought the cat inside. The cat is going the 16 and Pregnant route, but instead of time on an MTV show and a boob job, it gets to live inside and not get eaten by dogs. Clever girl. But 6 cats is a lot so they were going to give away all the kittens and managed 3 (2 to my step-mom's sister and one to a co-worker of hers). I'm trying to convince Boyfriend that we need one of these but so far he's resisting. Specifically the cat in the last picture that is like "I will destroy you, pine needle, but also I will nap!"

You breached

Hope all that celebrate it had a happy Thanksgiving and if you had to travel there was minimal groping at the airport.  I was in the middle of nowhere the last few days which meant I had limited online access so I'm just catching up on everything now.  It was nice to unplug but my email and Google Reader are a bit daunting at the moment.  In between stuffing my face with far too much food and playing with my dad's terror of a dachshund Puccini (my grandmother likes Italian opera and my dad likes puns), I did manage to finish The City and The City.  


I was honestly let down by the book and I partially blame this on expectations set by a blurb* on the back of the book.  A blurb from The Times says: "The names Kafka and Orwell tend to be invoked too easily for anything a bit out of the ordinary, but in this case they are worthy comparisons."  I expected the dual cities to be explained and to offer some sort of social commentary for the modern world.  But that never happened.  The two cities make for an interesting setting but the story remains a fairly straightforward murder mystery.  Woman found murdered because she was getting too close to The Truth, detective has to discover The Truth to solve the mystery.  It's not a bad story or a bad mystery but that blurb made me expect so much more.

The mystery itself was interesting and I wasn't able to guess it before hand.  Of course I usually don't guess the outcome before hand so take that with a grain of salt.  Just because the book wasn't what I expected, the setting felt like more than just a gimmick.  The setting is integral to the mystery, I just wish the setting had been more important than the mystery.

I've sat here staring at this entry for awhile and I'm not sure what else to say about the book.  Give it a try, it was an interesting story but Kafka and Orwell it is not.

*Greg at The New Dork Review has a great post about the importance of blurbs so check it out if you get a chance.