It’s January, so it’s time to knit preemie hats for k3tog! Although the blog is gone, you can head over to their Ravelry group.
Kelle’s looking for submissions for Yarnival. Submit soon, because she’ll be publishing on January 15.
I think that Amy’s picture really captures the essence of the Minnesota State Fair experience – what do you think?
The Uptown Mpls Blog’s top 20 pictures of 2008 are worth a look.
Hee hee – did you see xkcd’s guide to converting to the metric system?
Isn’t this a scary thought?!
This is how I felt upon returning to my usual work schedule (start at 6:30 am) yesterday morning…
Do not let your kitties read Perry and Emily’s New Year’s resolutions!
Here’s a link to a thoughtful article in defense of buying books. While the majority of my reading material is from the public library, I do purchase some books and I’m making sure to do so from local stores that I want to stay in business.
Literary Escapism’s latest Escapist Newsletter has a truly mind boggling list of urban fantasy/paranormal romance links – upcoming releases, author interviews, and much more.
The bloggers at Book Binge have listed their favorite heroes of 2008 – do you agree or disagree? I left a few of mine in the comments. Flashing back to my crushes on fictional characters thing, I think I have to add Wrath, Zsadist, Butch, and Vishous from the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
If you’re a fan of vampire books, check out The Ultimate VampList – and remember that it’s divided by subject, so if you don’t see an author that you expect, he or she may simply be on a different page.
Reading Update
Lover Enshrined (The Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 6) by J.R. Ward. Disappointing. Important to read before the next book comes out this spring, but this book doesn’t have the immersive qualities of the previous five. I think Ward spent too much time on other story elements and not enough time on Phury beyond his addiction issues. (Um, I may also have reread the first four books – at least most of them. Skipped most of the bits about the lessers the second time.)
Dead After Dark by Sherrilyn Kenyon, J.R. Ward, Susan Squires, and Dianna Love. Kenyon’s story about the Were-Hunter Fury was ok, but not great. Ward’s story was set in the same city as her Black Dagger Brotherhood books, but wasn’t about any of the familiar characters.
Zen and the Art of Vampires (Dark Ones, Book 6) by Katie MacAlister. Cliffhanger. You know how I feel about them. Hmph. Plus this book was crazy confusing. I kept reading, hoping for clarity.
Fangs for the Memories (The Young Brothers, Book 1) by Kathy Love. Light paranormal romance about a vampire with amnesia who doesn’t remember that he’s a vampire.
Anyway You Want It by Kathy Love. The first in a nameless series about lampir (energy vampire) brothers who live in New Orleans. (The second book, which I read a few weeks ago, is I Want You To Want Me.)
Megan’s Mark, Harmony’s Way, and Tanner’s Scheme (The Breeds, Books 1-3) by Lora Leigh. Not the best written stuff on the planet, but the premise is intriguing. These are extremely graphic.
Degrees of Separation (Jessie Arnold Mysteries) by Sue Henry. I have to admit to getting this series a bit confused with Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak mysteries! Anyway, in this latest Jessie Arnold mystery, Jessie’s knee is finally healed and she’s back to mushing.
“And now what are you doing, Mom?! You are so weird. Can’t let you out of my sight for a minute, can I?!” -Mayhem
High time we went metric and if that (http://xkcd.com/526/) helps, Great! We were waved by the Italian police to go to the slow lane when we were doing 120 kph 😉
Great picture of Mayhem. Years ago we stopped using a feather duster because one of the cats (not both) thought whenever the duster came out it was playtime!
Wow! You know how to pack in the info! Mayhem doesn’t know that’s one big kitty toy and she should be trying to kill it. Think how much fun that would be.
Heh, I love those descriptions of the metric system. 4kg for a cat? Pffft, they should come over to my place!
Yeah, Gandalf goes bonkers for the Swiffer duster…
I like the kitty resolutions.. very funny. Great picture of May as well!
There seemed to be a lot of bicycles in the top 20 Uptown photos. : ) Thanks for the fun and interesting links, too!
You have a kingdom??? Love May’s pretty eyes! Ugh to this early morning routine…me want vacation back!
Chris- 71K does look like a lot less than 156 lbs. Not that I would know, or anything.
Chops is an even 10K.
Where exactly is this kingdom located??
Knew you’d like the Friday Food last week. 🙂
that might be my favorite shot of May that I’ve seen
I just checked out Literary Escapism – wow! What a great resource! Thank you.
A whole kingdom! I’ll get right on it! 😉
Lots o’ Stuff seems an apt title to me. The squirrel and coffee is hilarious and scary. I also love the metric conversions. How could you function without May keeping an eye on you?!
I know I’m not ready to be back at work–for a few minutes I really thought that last picture was taken from under the couch, and I was trying to figure out how you got under it, too, and then…oh dear. Should have gone back to bed today.
(And even my squirrel-obsessed dog wouldn’t be able to keep up with one hyped up on coffee! Yipes!)
I purposely bought my most recent book – one of the Post Secret ones – and new even, just to support the site. We do need to spend our money wisely and in the right ways.
hah! too funny. love the link about the cat’s two rules. And those top ten photos on MplS were wonderful (yet I wonder who it was that had a thing about reflections in puddles – there certainly were a lot of those 🙂
And I am SO sending my daughter the link to the Vamp books – hah!
Those feathers are not nearly pink enough.
Great links today, Chris! I esp. like the metric conversion chart and the defense of buying books.
BTW, Capricha cat has been hunting my new Roomba. Apparently that’s now her toy, too!
Can not believe you didn’t reveal for the general blog knowledge the number of books you read in 2008 😉
I’ll get around to doing a 2008 summary – hopefully before 2010. 😉
still laughing at the squirrels! (even hubby snickered) we have a large family that live in a big tree in the front yard and have taken over, they and the cats even tolerate eachother to a point.
Did you see the survey results where they said the most literate folk live? Seattle and Minneapolis tied for first! (but then people said it was cause it’s too cold in both places to do much else)
you can’t stop the kitty revolution! you will submit to our furry rule!!!
“Teriyaki Ostrich On a Stick” (pronounced on a steeek). Now I KNOW I have to visit Minnesota during the State Fair! (I’m a big book buyer, too. My splurges are books and sock yarn.)
I love the MN State Fair experience photo 🙂 I think Perdita’s resolution is to annoy us as much as possible.
Cute socks!
You look so darling getting out of bed. You should have seen Hez this morning when she realized I really was getting up at 7am. Horrified.
So the Black Dagger Brotherhood is good for at least five books?
Can I ask why the state fair is held this time of year? Or am I missing something?
May has very hypnotic eyes!
Wow, thanks for all the great linkage!
I love that look on May’s’ face. That seems to be exactly what she’s thinking.
Yeah, look at all those links! Great shot of Miss Mayhem.
LOL! Zoe has a set of rules similar to “teh rulz”. I haven’t been too quick getting out of bed in the morning this week either. It’s taking lots of caffeine.
I hardly know where to go first!
Umm, do you read a book a day!?
Great pic!
After reading Phury’s book I decided that the BDB was no longer the series for me. I loved Phury in previous books, and didn’t like the way that particular one went. Then again, I didn’t like the trend of the 2 books just prior to it either, so I wanted to stop while I was ahead.
And I love xkcd. Love.
I was disappointed in Phury’s story. I wanted more for him. Way more.
I was also upset to find that his story wasn’t the end. Not b/c I want the series to end, but b/c I won’t remember it all when the next book comes out.
I can’t remmber… did you read the Charlaine Harris? (I’m not bothering to watch True Blood. A) no HBO B) no movie/tv based on book is as good as book if you’ve read the book.
Aww! Too cute 🙂