| My baby is 14 today! |
[Dec. 22nd, 2009|08:13 am] |
Dan's Birthday
Originally uploaded by Weebly_one.
How could it have happened - my baby boy is 14! Time flies!
He had friends sleepover last night then woke us at 7am to open hispressies - they are now installed in the lounge playing Call of Duty on the PS3 - I suppose they might emerge for food and loo breaks, but I think my job is done! |
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| "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" Review |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|04:05 am] |
Title: Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Page Number: 288
Summary on the Back/Flap: Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep's clothing. He's handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He's a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likeable: he only kills bad people. And his job as a blood spatter expert for the Miami police department puts him in the perfect position to identify his victims. But when a series of brutal murders bearing a striking similarity to his own style start turning up, Dexter is caught between being flattered and being frightened--of himself or some other fiend.
( For the review, click here ) |
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| Friday 21 December 1666 |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|11:00 pm] |
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http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1666/12/21/ Lay long, and when up find Mrs. Clerk of Greenwich and her daughter Daniel, their business among other things was a request her daughter was to make, so I took her into my chamber, and there it was to help her husband to the command of a little new pleasure boat building, which I promised to assist in. And here I had opportunity 'para baiser elle, and toucher ses mamailles' ... Then to the office, and there did a little business, and then to the 'Change and did the like. So home to dinner, and spent all the afternoon in putting some things, pictures especially, in order, and pasting my Lady Castlemayne's print on a frame, which I have made handsome, and is a fine piece. So to the office in the evening to marshall my papers of accounts presented to the Parliament, against any future occasion to recur to them, which I did do to my great content. So home and did some Tangier work, and so to bed. |
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| Untamed |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|05:56 pm] |
Untamed
P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
YA fiction; fantasy
338 pages
Life sucks when your friends are pissed at you.
Just ask Zoey Redbird – she’s become an undisputed expert on suckiness. In one week she has gone from having three boyfriends to having none, and from having a tight-knit group of friends who trusted and supported her, to being an outcast. And the worst part is, she knows it’s her own fault. Speaking of friends, the only two Zoey has left are undead, unMarked, and unable to stop bickering with each other. So who can blame her for befriending the House of Night’s newest transfer student, the majorly hot Olympic archer, James Stark?
Meanwhile, Neferet has declared a war on humans after it appears that the People of the Faith have murdered two vampyres. But Aphrodite’s latest visions show a world completely different from the High Priestess’s promises, a world full of violence, hatred, and darkness, all because of Zoey’s death—and the only way it seems she can prevent it from happening is to make things right with her friends. Zoey knows in her heart that fighting with humans is wrong. But will anyone listen to her? Zoey's adventures at vampyre finishing school take a wild and dangerous turn as loyalties are tested, shocking true intentions come to light, and an ancient evil is awakened in PC and Kristin Cast's spellbinding fourth House of Night novel.
This is probably my least favorite book in the House of Night series so far. It still is a captivating story but I didn't care for the plot line in this one quite as much as the other three. However, it it still very entertaining and I cannot wait t o read the rest of the series! I also just found out that there is going to be a new book released in May! They write these so fast haha!
Books read this year: 50/50--I finally made my GOAL!!!!!!! :) |
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| Christmas Rocky Road recipe |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|11:26 pm] |
It seems like I haven't finished with the Christmas cookery shows after all. I'm such a saddo that I couldn't resist Nigella tonight and *this* looked fabulous. I gather it's from her book, Feast and I certainly plan to *try* to find time to make it even though I'll probably put on 5lbs just from the smell...
Christmas Rocky Road
Ingredients
250g/9oz dark chocolate, chopped
150g/5oz milk chocolate, chopped
175g/6oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
4 tbsp golden syrup
200g/7oz amaretti biscuits
150g/5oz shelled Brazil nuts
150g/5oz red glacé cherries
125g/4oz mini marshmallows
1 tbsp icing sugar
edible glitter, to decorate (optional)
Method
1. Place the dark and milk chocolate pieces into a heavy-based pan. Add the butter and golden syrup and cook over a low heat to melt and combine.
2. Place the amaretti biscuits into a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin to make crumbs of various sizes.
3. Place the Brazil nuts into another freezer bag and bash in the same way.
4. Take the pan of melted chocolate mixture off the heat and add the crushed biscuits and nuts.
5. Add the glacé cherries and mini marshmallows. Fold the mixture carefully to coat all of the solid ingredients with the syrupy chocolate mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into a 25cm/10in x 30cm/12in greased and lined baking tray and smooth the surface as much as possible (although it will look bumpy).
7. Refrigerate for two hours, or until firm enough to cut. Dust with icing sugar, then sprinkle with edible glitter if you wish.
8. Remove the block of rocky road from the tray and cut into 24 rectangles. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|09:18 pm] |
am a teensy bit tipsy. One of our new neighbours invited everyone in the street around for a christmas drinky and some mince pies.
Met a *lot* of interesting people, and had a great conversation about teaching astronomy and maths to kids.
Cor. Neighbours are ace. Who knew?
I now need to go and lie down. Our neighbour buys excellent red wine.
hic. |
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| Review - The Lost Symbol; Dan Brown |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|02:30 pm] |
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown
Fiction; Thriller
One probably shouldn’t expect Dan Brown to ever top the The Da Vinci Code, but even with unhindered expectations this 3rd Langdon / Symbology mystery-thriller is a bit of a snooze, although that’s not due to a lack of setting and premise. Those elements are as appealing as ever, more so since instead of the usual far-off locations and ancient history presented in both Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code, here we have a locale and era much closer to home for Americans: none other than our own Washington D.C., and the theory that America’s history and her founding fathers are steeped in Masonic lore and mystical secrets.
When Langdon is summoned by old friend Peter Solomon, a powerful Washington figure as well as a modern-day Mason, he thinks he’s simply being called on to do one of the things he does best – lecture to a rapturous audience about symbology, which I find a fascinating subject all by itself. Soon after arriving in D.C., however, Langdon is yanked into the midst of a bizarre and sinister plot that threatens the security of the country and even the world, yadda yadda yadda.
It’s vintage Dan Brown with its lightning-fast pacing and cliffhanger chapter endings, chock full of interesting tidbits along the way to keep us interested, and we’re much like the doomed children of Hamelin as we follow Brown’s Pied Piper out of the village and into oblivion. Where the story falters is in the characterization. It’s never been Brown’s strength to begin with, and I don’t know that his characters – including Langdon, although he’s more compelling – are meant to be much more than tools to move the storyline along. Still, we need something to sink our teeth into with these characters. Brown’s formula usually includes a bizarre, almost Bond-esque villain who either wants something only Langdon can deliver, be it knowledge or an actual object, or wants Langdon out of the way so the criminal’s evil deed can be fulfilled. The villain here, a physically and mentally freakish man we know only as Mal’akh, is so two-dimensional and unrealistic that he struck me as a comic book character, and I thought he detracted from the value of the story rather than enhanced it.
Still not a bad book, and certainly an entertainer for the beach or other casual reading. Where Brown lacks in depth he makes up for with master craftsmanship in creativity and story structure, and his patent on the esoteric thriller is rock solid. |
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| Top 10 books read this year.... |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|12:29 pm] |
1. On the Beach by Nevil Shute
2. The Jukebox Queen of Malta by Zibby Oneal
3. The Sun Grows Cold by Howard Berk
4. Beloved by Toni Morrison
5. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
6. Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison
7. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
8. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
9. Damion by Herman Hesse
10. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury |
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| Top 10 books I've read this year... |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|12:28 pm] |
1. On the Beach by Nevil Shute
2. The Jukebox Queen of Malta by Zibby Oneal
3. The Sun Grows Cold by Howard Berk
4. Beloved by Toni Morrison
5. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
6. Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison
7. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
8. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
9. Damion by Herman Hesse
10. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury |
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| Also, hi from Florida |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|12:07 pm] |
We're in Florida, land of random oversized pigs in strollers.
And yes, we made it here on Friday, before the ZOMGStorm could prevent us from traveling. First time in three years that we haven't been diverted to Tampa (which means that for the first time in three years, we won't be seeing ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) haikujaguar for the holidays). We're in South Florida now, and will be taking the train to Deland on Wednesday. As always, mass quantities of food have been consumed, but little email has been read. Hope you're all having a happy holiday season. |
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