So many books

Hooray, I made it through BEDA again this year. Thanks for hanging in there with us everybody!

So now that BEDA is over, maybe I can get back into reading. Here’s what’s currently in a pile by my bed:

– Amelia Lost by Candice Fleming
– Emily the Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger
– Abandon by Meg Cabot
– Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway
– Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I’m also already working on these:
– Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
– Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson
– Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin
– Bumped by Megan McCafferty

*Whew*

– Jill

Fashionistas and Detectives make the best lovers.

Don’t you think The Time-Traveling Fashionista and You Killed Wesley Payne are in LOVE?!

Me, too! They look so cute together with their fancy dress and little mid-skip poses! Thus, I have chosen these two to be my reading assignments for the week I have off work in May. Both look very promising–I have already breezed through the pages of TTF and ADORE all the fashion illustrations–mostly dresses one can imagine on Myrna Loy.

See? Isn't she GLAMOROUS? How could I not read this book if the all the gowns remind me of her?!

I’ll let you know how they are in a few weeks 🙂
-Amber

Two Bat Dances

1. Bat Dance by Prince

2. Bat Dance that I considered one of the greatest songs ever written, and thus I co-created a dance to it and performed it for my 3rd Grade class after recess the following day. I think we wore matching turtlenecks and black strechy-pants…

Click here to listen. You won’t regret it.

Dracula Wallpaper by Edward Gorey! I took this picture at his house--maybe I will post on that later 🙂

Bats are takin’ over, that’s a fact.

-Amber

How evil is your library card?

Soooo I didn’t blog yesterday….because Steve and I were busy buying a house! It isn’t OFFICIALLY ours yet, but we are on our way to being proud poppas (yup, I am choosing to be a poppa in this situation instead of a momma) of a cozy little bungalow!

Wonder what mysteries we will discover in our bungalow?!

But I got a super exciting EVIL post today!

While twittering at/for work, I came across @Evilwylie’s offer of free EVIL LIBRARY CARDS!

“Nope, don’t explain, I’m sold.” <–my head.

Coolest thing ever, right? It gets cooler! @Evilwylie happens to live near my library and so we are going to get our evil library cards from the evil man himself 🙂

I tend to really really like evil things. Not real evil things (after all, I'm a Ravenclaw, not a Slytherin…but I married a Slytherin…) I really really like funny, dark, melancholy things like Emily the Strange, skeletons, Alkaline Trio, Murder She Wrote, sloths, etc. So an evil library card? YES PLZ!

I like to imagine that my Rainy Day book for Little Dead Girls is evil enough to deserve being checked out with an evil library card…

-Amber

3 Random Things…

…that Amber is somewhat obsessed over at this minute:

1. Ginger Ale

actually I am obsessed with Ginger EVERYTHING.

2. Copper Tubs (ala Penelope)

I just really want one…

3. Library Baby Showers (ala the newest issue of Martha Stewart)

Saw this in the magazine today! I have always thought Library Showers are very cool, but these vintage graphics are ADORABLE. It would be fun for ANY party, not just a baby shower. See all of Martha’s library party ideas here (also love the book stack menu)

Not cool, US Weekly.

so the other day, I tweeted about how UPSET I was with US Weekly–here’s why: I often disagree with the result of their “Who wore it best?” feature, but on this particular occasion I was OUTRAGED with US Weekly’s complete cattiness (whereas I am normally just annoyed with the “100 people on Rockefeller Plaza” who don’t think the way I do)! In the magazine they posted pictures of four beautiful ladies in the same Lanvin black dress. All looked completely lovely, the dress flattered ALL of their figures, yet US Weekly reported that one of the girls got 0% of the vote! First I was just mad because this is the girl I would have voted for and I was all “WAHHH CAN’T EVERYONE SEE SHE LOOKS AMAZING!”

But then I started thinking, why did US Weekly even post the picture if it got no votes? They could have just published the other three and no feelers hurt! no embarrassment! no uncomfortableness! Because that is how the “Who wore it best” feature made me feel: uncomfortable and sad. What if that had been me with 0%? I would have laughed it off and pretended that it was a TOTAL LARK–such irrelevant silliness! but then I would have gone back to my room and sat on my bed and frowned for awhile before crying and watching Bridget Jones three times in a row until I was ready to dance around the world again.

Later when I was trying to describe the situation to the nerdgirls, I searched for the image on US Weekly’s website, and this is what I found:

ONLY THREE! huh, so they also must have been uncomfortable about it and so took her photo out for the web version! But…was that the best thing? Because I was all ready to put in my online vote for her! and then she wouldn’t have been at 0%! and I am pretty sure that I am not the only one who would have voted for her because she looks FANTASTIC.

Here she is, famous nerdgirl, Ms. Chelsea Clinton!

Adorable, right?!

–Amber

Nerdgirl Dilemma

in the hotel room, trying to figure out what pizza to order…

Lindsay: “WAIT. If we order now, won’t the pizza come right in the middle of iCarly?”
Amber: “…”
Jen: “…”
Jill: “…”
Lindsay: “…”
Sheila: “I’ll get the door.”

Donal Skehan is a Good Mood Food Dude

I just tried to e-file my taxes and I am steaming mad and hating the government for making me fear that if I confuse something, they will drag me from my bed and shoot me in the town square. I totally did my own and Steve’s taxes a few years ago, but for some reason I am all baffled by the freefile software this year–it keeps not letting me do what I think I need it to do, and it won’t show me the instructions so I can look anything up (so I keep having to go back to irs.gov which we all know is not the most user-friendly website ever created), and I have a sneaking suspicion that, once I get everything filled in, the form will not send because I am not using the right browser or something. Whatever, I am going to H&R Block tomorrow. Oh great. now the fish tank filter is buzzing which I FIND TO BE THE MOST ANNOYING SOUND IN THE WORLD. I am not in a good mood.

so I need some Good Mood Food.

Hurrah! that was my segway into a post about the adorable Irish Food Blogger/Chef, Donal Skehan!

Yup, he is a very lovely chap! But that is soo not why I checked his cookbook out from the library. First, I liked how the title words all rhymed. And then I thought it was really really funny that the blurb on the cover said “Ireland’s answer to Jaime Oliver.” FINALLY, IRELAND! WE HAD BEEN WAITING FOR YOUR RESPONSE! and then I actually thought the food looked simple AND good AND interesting. and then I actually made a few of the recipes (Perfect Parmesan Parsnips! Steve made the more difficult items like the Paella. Yup, Steve is a Skehan fan, too!) and not until then did I realize he had a dreamy smile 🙂

If I was putting a blurb on his cookbook, I would write “The food industry’s answer to James McAvoy.”

I feel a little better now even without having actually eaten anything! alllllthough, I am just going to nip into the kitchen and have a bit of chocolate before bedfordshire. Prof. Lupin recommends it.

-Amber

Nerdgirl Gift Idea: Out of Print Clothing

So I woke up early to get the dishes done before work, and then tonight is my late night so I was EXHAUSTED when I got home…so dishes done, check! Taxes, ummm not yet 😦 and once again I am too tired to write a proper blog post. Seriously, I can barely keep my eyes open. And I have one I really want to write! Tomorrow–I am going to be Supergirl tomorrrrrowzzzzzzzz.

so here is a quikie:

Need something to give a classy bookworm or hip design enthusiast? Give them a shirt (or a gift certificate which is what we usually do) ala Out-of-Print Clothing! They put classic book covers on shirts. Simple as that. And they are super-duper nice and give great customer service 🙂

I wanted to be a book jacket designer for a while…maybe I should just do it for a hobby like Matt over at New Cover…except not like his, because his are really really good.

-Amber

A Morning with Lester Dog

so last night I wrote a blog post instead of doing the dishes (it is my turn). and tonight I also am too tired to do the dishes, so according to my husband I should also be too tired to blog. Urg, but I HAVE to blog! I can do the dishes tomorrow… 🙂 and of course that thinking has led to our entire counter space being covered with dirty smelly dishes. But seriously. I WILL do the dishes tomorrow. I will also do our TAXES tomorrow. yup.

Anyway, so quick post–here are some pictures of Lester Dog that we took on Sunday morning while we were all hanging out in bed watching The Parent Trap starring Lindsay aka the actress formerly known as Lindsay Lohan:

Lester LURVES to sleep like a humanoid with his little dog head on the pillow.

Hey! Raccoon Toy found his way onto the bed!

I call this one: "Portrait of a Young Lester Dog and his Raccoon Toy."

-Amber