Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a remarkably powerful book. It explores the long lasting and devastating effects of slut shaming in a society that not only allows it but has often encouraged it. It moves into the very painful topic of suicide especially in teenagers and how the stigma attached to talking about it can be the final driving factor of a choice. If this isn't required reading, it really should be. I can only imagine how book burning zealots would seek to ban this story seeing it as smut. But as is almost always the case, that would be wrong. I highly recommend this book.
View all my reviews" title="Books" target="_blank">A book review:
Kitchen Witch
Unexpectedly my kitchen will be getting an update as we suffered some damage to our floors this summer when we were out of town. Since we're not ready to do a full remodel we're looking for cool ways to make the kitchen look better (it's been the same for 15 years) without spending tons of money until we're ready for the full remodel. I've been looking through Pinterest for inspiration thinking at some point I might want a pink, retro kitchen but the truth is that isn't me. They sure look cute but I really do prefer dark colors. In fact, as much as I think pink is adorable I recently massively cleaned out my closet and told my boyfriend not to let me buy pink clothes anymore because they look terrible on me. Seriously just dreadful. Looking for ideas I realized that I really like pictures of earthy, dark, plant filled kitchens the most. It's given me some ideas of some projects that will be a nice change for the next 4 or 5 years. I am going to attempt things such as painting my fridge and countertops. WHAT?!?!?! Yeah, we'll see.
Here are some pics of things I've been looking at:
Dita Von Teese has a tremendously cute kitchen but seriously I just don't think I could look at a bright kitchen every morning especially in a cold, Minnesota winter. I like it dark and quiet. But I also don't like beige. Or what I call the Minnesota state color: polite beige. People really like white kitchens as well. Gah, white makes me batty. I feel like I'm in an office or hospital. We are definitely leaning towards colors that most people would consider "un-sellable" but that's probably most of our house at this point.
I do like pink flowers. It's how I can add my traditional girlness. The black and white floor is cute but I was thinking of that for a bathroom....
The picture above is from the show Witches of East End. They have a tremendous house and kitchen. But I mean, they are hundreds of years old witches from Asgard. They should have a nice house.
Love the star lights and the shape of the faucet.
The big sink!
This is from a boat kitchen. It's textured, colored and seems like it'd always be warm.
Herbs and plants.
Like the open shelves, wooden breakfast table and glass cloche accents.
There is a million kitchen pictures on Pinterest where all of these are from. To more specifically see the ones I like just search the phrase "witch kitchen."
I just love them. I am really looking forward to updating the ktichen. No doubt it will be an epic pain in the ass.
Did I do ANYTHING this summer?
Now that it's September I found myself wondering this morning if I had managed to accomplish anything this summer and really started to think that I had not. Which actually is a bit insane. I think I feel this way because it's been a mix of great things and trepidation this summer. With putting out my second book, Armand El Dorado to losing both of my pets this year. To traveling to coming home to house disasters. As fall is rolling around, I thought I had better look through my pictures for any more evidence of accomplishing anything. Then! OH YEAH! I went hiking in the Grand Canyon. Which has been on my bucket list for about a BILLION YEARS. OK! So, I'll take that little victory though I have not managed to clean my house worth a damn in two months(Look-it's a thing).
I ventured to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The less visited side but no less magnificent. Woods and animals were everywhere. The temperature never got above 70 degrees and the landscape was just as beautiful as you could imagine. Some of the hiking was easy, some of it was hard, all of it was amazing. The National Parks are set-up so everyone, no matter what ability level can see at least some of the sights and I think that is wonderful. Visit the website for a TON of useful information. Tips on trails and food and clothing, etc...I took a LOT of pictures. Here's some of them from my weekend.
Fairyland and a girl named September.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
To say this is a delightful book is an understatement. It is quirky and charming. Very creative and colorful. Clever and full of sights, sounds and smells that are real indeed. I am looking forward to reading more of them and find myself wishing for a city made of fabrics and an entire Land of Autumn year round. It does of course, remind me that once again, clocks, keys and lanterns should be cared for quite carefully. Also-never underestimate the importance of a spoon or the library. Lest we not forget the Golden Rule: Never reveal your true name.
View all my reviews" title="Books" target="_blank">The Fairyland Books
Outdoor Life Or My Attempts at a Deck Garden
Doing outdoors things to a house was never my forte. I always thought I would want a beautiful, old victorian fixer upper when I was a kid. And I probably would so long as I could pay other people to take care of it. The truth is doing outdoor planting and yard work, painting, cleaning, you name it-is an epic pain-in-the-ass and I have nothing but respect for people who keep their own gardens and house up. It takes so much time, work and money. I can scarcely wrap my head around it.
I live in a town house. It's a pretty nice place if a little boring on the outside. The inside was boring as well but is slowly(and I do mean slowly) coming to life. There's never enough time, money or sometimes even desire to do all the stuff to make a place more than a storage box where you sleep. Plus, I think my boyfriend would live in a the barest, most minimalist house he could forever if I was not here. I just can't do that. So include time in to convincing him to do stuff also makes everything move a lot slower. But since I am home the overwhelming majority of my time particularly these last couple of years my desire to do things to make the space special and unique is on my mind a lot these days.
I decided to attempt a garden on one of our two decks this year. It was going well but the truth is the weather here is very temperamental and makes part of summer really miserable. I planted bee and bird as well as butterfly friendly plants and they have actually attracted more of these critters. A few other things have gone wrong but when it's gone right it's been very nice.
Behind the Scenes.... CONvergence Room Party
This year marks the 7th time my friends and I have thrown a room party at CONvergence. The first five parties were all based around the Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman. At some point, I was approached by a handsome man who suggested to me that I write a book I've always wanted to write and then have a launch party based on the book. Which is what we did last year for the first one, Ella Cerulean. You can see pics of that party here: The Naturals. It was quite a success and so, it was offered that I write a second book and throw a party again this year. And then that happen. So here is some behind the scenes of prep for the party and then my next post will be of the party and convention itself.
My Second Book!
A few snaps of the first copy of my second Sci-Fi book! I actually can't believe I got it together and wrote the second one.
Ok so here's the actual story of it's arrival:
I have been trying to distract myself all morning with videos and the like as I knew the first proof of my book was going to show up at any minute. (It turns out this isn't any easier the second time) I once slammed my thumb in a car door several hours from home and didn't shed a tear, nor when I was hospitalized off and on for a month nor when I had a biking accident that smashed my face into concrete and the ambulance driver kept calling me Brenda. But the doorbell rang and my hands were shaking as I signed for the parcel. As I opened it and felt the tears welling up because I am BAD ASS....My phone started to buzz uncontrollably with texts and calls. It turns out that I am also apparently having an affair with someone's husband. So yeah. This is even better than last year when a pallet full of someone else's book showed up instead of mine. Yes I laughed quite a bit. Even right now as I type this.
Book Review, THE BESTEST AND AMAZINGNESS
Getting into this review business.
Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book encompasses everything I love about fantasy. Using ancient mythological creatures feared, revered and misunderstood to tell a powerful story in the modern world. The devastating unending cycle of war that spreads like wildfire to the eternal hell that a world cannot recover from in the form of genocide. These books serve as a good reminder to never count out any genre of storytelling no matter what kind of book snob you may believe yourself to be. I cannot wait to read the next one.
View all my reviews" title="Books" target="_blank">Laini Taylor is the best.
Always Late to the Party, The Green Brothers
I am always behind on finding out about awesome stuff. I don't know why really. I don't live in a cave or anything. Anyway, one of those awesome things is Hank and John Green and their Youtube channel. I am doing my best to watch every single one and as I go I am going to post some of my favorites. I'll explain why I am doing this soon. Take care!
Trigger Warning or My First Book Review Posted Here.....
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It hurts to type this as I adore Neil for many, many years now but some of the writings in this book are dreadful. And I would've only given it a 3(my standard rating if you even finish writing a book because it is quite difficult) but for the ones in here that are great. So great that they deserve another star. The Sherlock story for example. The Eyes Only Dossier as another. But the building a chair poem? Blah. I could mention a few others but I will not. As he does say in the introduction that short story collections are essentially vanity projects. The grading curve on them is different. I've read his other collections and the ones that are great in this book are some of the best for sure. I would say to skip some of them but really reading them all gives you an idea of comparison of a very good short story and one that was probably only published because you are Neil Gaiman. Consider it a lesson.
Spying on the Foxes
I love Minneapolis this time of year. It's green and lush and full of wildlife. The best one I've seen so far is little foxes. Have a look.
Summer in My City
Spring and early summer here in Minneapolis are pretty wonderful. Late summer is not too bad but the humidity starts to weigh me down after a while. Right now though there are critters and plants galore!! I love walking around my house and trying to spot who or what is growing and running around. I also love that so many of the neighbors really get into gardening. Probably because we are trapped indoors for so many months.
Here are some pics my boyfriend and I took on a recent walk. Go outside.
May Favorites
May was a busy month. And a bit rainy. Here are some pictures from a few things that I enjoyed.
I cooked with morel mushrooms for the first time and they were quite delicious.
I saw Above & Beyond at the crazy sold-out show.
New bedding and moon pillows from ETSY for my bedroom.
A fairy house on the way to the Linden Hill's Farmer's Market.
This adorable cat flask purse from Zulilly, which has great stuff.
Spending time on my newly put together deck.
Making large meals like french toast.
Visiting the Minneapolis Downtown Library for the first time.
Drinking champagne to celebrate finishing my second book.
Being excited that one of my favorite authors liked my photo! Woohoo!
In Summation: 30 Days of Giving
A couple of months ago I decided I was going to give away something everyday for 30 days. Well, I actually thought about doing this in December but then got into an argument with myself about the fact that I already give away many things from gifts to money in December as it’s the season for it for me and realized that I had to do this at another time for myself. Especially since I had some very specific things I wanted to give away to some people. It turns out it’s not as easy as you might think to give away something every day for 30 days in a row. In particular if you want it to have any kind of meaning beyond emptying your house. Which to a degree is a nice side benefit of giving away things and certainly has me thinking twice before I buy anything anymore since I realized I did have many things I did not find to be useful or beautiful but knew other people would. I did have a fair amount of things to give away that I did donate to ARC. Things that I did not have a deeper connection to other than perhaps someone gave it to me and I felt obligated to keep it or I had forgotten that I had it.
There were some unexpected challenges in doing this for me. Not all of them would be the same for all people some are definitely specific to me such as: As a full time writer/at home jewelry maker, I don’t see people everyday. So there were a few times that I walked around the house and made a stack of packages to give away. Some of the packages took a fair amount of time to put together. There was one that I made for my lifelong best friend that was compromised from many small trinkets and objects from my office. I wrote the origin of every single thing I sent to her into a letter so as to explain why it was seemingly random in the box but actually was not at all random. I put together a few gifts for people with things that meant a lot to me and had special memories. Most of the time the letter I wrote to go along with it didn’t rightly explain why it was important but I did try. One thing that was funny to be honest with myself about was that even though these things had a lot of meaning to me, most of the people I gave things to did not care in the least. Fair enough, what can you do?
Some days I didn’t have an idea of what to give away. I had sent boxes and bags of clothes to donation, gifts to friends and was at a loss. Then I had the idea to look through Facebook to see if there was someone who could use something. This yielded a a few things: The first one was coming across a post by Amanda Palmer in which she was asking people to send things to her sick friend. I really didn’t know what to write in the card simply because I have the hardest time talking about my book but I did send him my book. I actually sent my book to a few other people as well. I also learned about the terrible problem of dogs getting caught in hunter’s traps so I sent money to care for some of the dogs and will likely do so again. That one broke my heart. I made a care package for a friend who unexpectedly had to travel for work. I gave brand new dresses and tops to friends that I had kept with the intention of them “someday” fitting me. Which is just ridiculous because in most of those cases, I’d have to be a completely different person to wear them.
One of the big uncomfortable truths was getting real with myself about projects I had stacking up forever in my closet. Things that I always thought I really wanted to do and held onto the materials because I really liked the idea of doing these projects. Well the reality of life is that you are not going to do every project you want to do. I have a very hard time with this since it may take me a while to do something but I’ve come to the realization that I am actually someone who finishes projects. What I’ve reconciled with myself is that I have to prioritize what projects matter the most to me. I don’t want to work constantly on things and miss out on having a life or relationships so I picked the ones I knew I would do and let the others go. I passed on materials and ideas to the people I thought would likely do these things or something even better in most cases. It wasn’t easy but at the same time facing the facts was rather freeing. I also have found that I have actually been taking the time to get the things I prioritized done. Step by step as opposed to ignoring everything because there were so many it was overwhelming me without realizing it.
Now here is the most unexpected feeling I experienced that quite surprised me. The biggest gift I wanted to give someone got rejected. Several times. And it made me super frustrated. I mean really super frustrated. Like what the hell is your problem I want to give this to you, frustrated. So it turns out that perhaps giving away things isn’t always about the other person. Sometimes it’s about you and how it makes you feel. I suppose that sounds really selfish but it’s the truth. I am the one who has to live with myself and I’d rather feel like I’m at least trying to be generous than not. Of course, part of what you can encounter is the suspicion that comes with doing something for someone when it’s not a socially accepted holiday. They think you expect something in return or even more strangely, think you are judging them for something if you give them something you know they’ve wanted but have never done for themselves. That one definitely floored me.
A few things I gave away I do miss. That is good though because that means I picked out things to give away that meant something to me. I suppose I’ll add that I gave away a few hundred items. Not just 30.
There is one thing I’ve considered giving away and I have very mixed feelings about it. I have been considering donating blood. I haven’t done it yet as the ethics of it seem so gray to me. What I mean by that is the blood donation industry is run on anything but donations and is very often not altruistic in nature. I find this shameful in many ways. I don’t know, like I said mixed feelings. I know people need it but, it’s so expensive that it adds enormous debt to the hospital bills of patients which seems really wrong to me. It is something I continue to weigh.
I’m not sure that I have more thoughts on this at the moment. I may in the future and what’s more I find it likely I will do this again. I mean truly, how many things does a person need? Sharing them seems like a really good idea to me. Especially since people share so many wonderful things with me.
* I did not photograph everything I gave away but here are some snaps to perhaps give you ideas. Have a great day!
Charlotte Sometimes
Party History at CONvergence
It's that time of year again when several friends and I spend a whole lot of time plotting and building and preparing for our party at the CONvergence sci-fi/fantasy convention. As such I've been going through old photos from our very humble beginnings as a Dreaming themed party based on the Sandman graphic novels. These are pictures from 2003-2008 with themes ranging from Asia, Lost Library of Dreams, Midsummer Night's Tale, Nightmares to the love story of Dream falling in love with an Egyptian Princess. We built everything from faux bookshelves to pyramid walls. My friend brews homemade ciders, beer and wines. We make custom labels, cds, gifts and all sorts of giveaways so people have little things to remember us. It's a tremendous amount of work and money but we love it. It's really something when people come to oh and ah over what you can do with a hotel room(turns out it's a lot). Have a look!
Our first sign. Now we have fancy, custom designed and printed ones but everyone starts somewhere.
The Key to Hell is a symbol found in the story. We later designed and cut one out of wood that now hangs in my office.
Our faux library, to represent the Library of Lost Dreams.
We built an entire room within a room with sand painted walls and hieroglyphs for the Egyptian party in 2008.
The Key to Hell and Dragons hand cut and painted.
Nightmare themed party.
We cut "headstones" out of plywood and painted them with chalkboard paint so people could write on them. I still use these every year at Halloween.
We've since moved on from The Dreaming and now did one party with a second on the way based around the theme of my own book series. You can see a post about that here The Naturals. Have a great day!
Luminary Loppet
Freezing in the slippery dark to take some snaps of the Luminary Loppet. It's a pretty event. I am not very good at photographs in the dark. Ok it was also negative degrees outside and windy so I did try. It's not easy to balance a camera on ice but I'm gonna try again next year.
Making Things
There are some sad and frustrating things happening in my life right now. When my mom died some years ago, it was suggested to me to find some sort of not serious creative outlet. I started making little handmade pieces of jewelry to distract myself. I never thought I'd still be making it and sending it all over the world. I am glad for my creative time. It's really getting me through tough times again. Sometimes it's hard to focus but when I can get right into it, the concentration required is a great help to me. These are some of my favorite things I've made and a few new things I've made recently. Some are listed in my ETSY shop, GirlyGeekChic if you are so inclined. Thank you for stopping by!
New Shop Listings!
Taking a break today to work on new listings for my shop, GirlyGeekChic. Please have a visit!
In Which We Dada
So maybe it's not sophisticated music. I dunno. What I do know is that Dada Life is about as much fun as you can have both listening to them and seeing them live. I have seen their show twice now and I just love it. It is high energy and silly and all about fun. The first time I saw them I'd had a terrible day and I left with the biggest smile having danced for two hours straight and cracking up at the obsession they seem to have with bananas. This time around I took a few photos from my phone(I try not to take pics at shows because I find it very rude). I really couldn't resist. Especially when the giant banana appeared.
The lighting gear was most impressive at Myth Nightclub.
The aftermath of the giant pillow fight.