To my coworkers, this gaudy catnip blanket was simply a white elephant gift.
To the kitties?
*bliss* -Chaos
Nip nirvana achieved.
*bliss* – Mayhem
Priceless.
Monthly Archives: December 2008
Whee!
Enjoy your flamingos responsibly and have a great weekend!
*sounds of Mayhem’s brain fizzing with excitement*
Little of this, little of that
Congrats to the various winners of the contest! Prizes are going to Mouse for her Greta and Stanley caption, Jeanne B. for her Chaos caption, and kitkatknit for her combo of both photos caption. Special honourable geek mention to pao for his executable caption.
Author Barbara Bretton is giving away two skeins of light blue Kid Silk Haze because knitting it drives her to distraction. She’ll announce the winner this evening (Thursday, December 11).
If you donate to Toys for Tots by December 20th and let ikisti know, you will be entered in her contest! She reports that the drop boxes are looking pretty empty this year…
How could I resist this silly little quiz? 😉 (We’ll see how much of the formatting remains after I publish this post – I’m having a bit of a fight with the output…)
| Which creature of the night are you?
Your Result: Werewolf
You are a vicious fighter and a vicious lover, absolutely dedicated to your pack. You are pushed to anger by disloyalty and injustice and have a tendency toward sudden, periodic bursts of wild behavior. |
|
| Ghost |
|
| Cthulu Spawn |
|
| Sorceror |
|
| Incubus/Succubus |
|
| Demon |
|
| Vampire |
|
| Which creature of the night are you? | |
Talk about an amazing cake!
Hee hee. Hmm, does it look like Chaos is moving appliances on the side or what?
Have you heard about Free Shipping Day? If you haven’t, check out the list of online retailers who will provide free shipping if you order on December 18… and guarantee delivery by Christmas.
The perfect t-shirt for my arachnophobic readers? 😉 This martial arts and crafts t-shirt was pretty funny. And how true is this ‘nip t-shirt?!
Reading Update
Billionaires Prefer Blondes and A Touch of Minx by Suzanne Enoch. Rick Addison has made my fictional crushes list. Obviously, I continue to enjoy this romantic suspense series.
Killer Charms by Marianne Stillings. This is related to Stillings’ novel Satisfaction (which I’ve read) and Arousing Suspicions (haven’t read yet).
Magic and the Modern Girl by Mindy Klasky. I was cranky at this book (the third in a series about Washington, DC, witch Jane Madison) for about 90% of it, but the ending finally redeemed things.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Extremely well-done urban fantasy set in a world that’s similar to ours. Recommended if you’re looking for vampire books that are different from the usual.
Suite 606 by J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas. Well, at least the Eve Dallas and Roarke (mmmm…. Roarke) story was good. And “Wayward Wizard” by McComas was fun.
Ravish: The Awakening of Sleeping Beauty by Cathy Yardley. This was a good read, but be warned that it is extremely racy.
Secrets in the Shadows (The Guardians of the Night, Book 2) by Jenna Black. Still not the greatest vampire series, but I’m curious to see what happens with the characters.
“What legs? Are you sure I usually have legs?” -Mayhem
Mittens on kitten
Don’t forget to leave your caption(s) for my caption contest by 7 pm CST today (Wednesday, December 10)! Contest is now closed.
On Sunday, I also finished knitting a plain pair of lightweight mittens that I’m using as liners for some other mittens that aren’t quite warm enough when the temperature dips below +10F. I knit the mittens from Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Mountain Twilight, 56 stitches on 2.5mm needles, using the basic mitten pattern from The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns.
“…zzzzzzz…. wha…?!” -Mayhem
“Wait a minute. This doesn’t seem right.” -Mayhem
“I don’t approve of this at all.” -Mayhem
“Help! Help! Someone call the ASPCA! I’m being mistreated! Help!” -Mayhem
Ten on Tuesday: My 10 or 20 or so Favorite Holiday Songs, presented in no particular order
Yeah, who knew I was a member of Ten on Tuesday, eh? 😉 Obviously, I don’t participate very often, but I couldn’t resist the holiday songs topic.
I’m not religious. At best, I’m agnostic. I’m a fan of SuperGuppy Kat’s term “gwfgwf” (pronounced “gwif-gwif”: “generic winter festive gathering with food”), which would include Christmas, Hanukka, the Winter Solstice/Yule, Kwanzaa, etc. (Tangentially, Wikipedia has an impressive list of winter festive gatherings believed to be inspired by the Winter Solstice.) So the holiday songs that I prefer tend not to be religious. Often, they decry commercialism or address holiday loneliness. Even Charlie Parr’s Biblically themed song “Bethlehem” is definitely not traditional.
- Greg Lake (of Emerson, Lake & Palmer) – “I Believe in Father Christmas” – listen
- Dar Williams – “The Christians and the Pagans” – listen (the audio stream is only a snippet, but the video’s the whole song)
- The Therapy Sisters – “Pachelbel’s Tantrum” – listen
- Charlie Parr – “Bethlehem” listen
- The New Standards – “River” (originally by Joni Mitchell). Since I can’t find anything about this song online (although you can order their holiday EP by scrolling to the bottom of this page), how about the Captain Polaroid version of “River”? listen
- Annette Walowicz – “Time Goes” listen
- Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – “Cold White Christmas” listen (hey, it’s set in St. Paul!)
- Neko Case – “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis” (originally by Tom Waits) listen (hey, it’s set in Minneapolis!)
- Gentleman Auction House – “Home for the Holidays” listen
- Jim White – “Christmas Day” listen
- Johnny Bertram – “Merry Christmas (You Won’t Get What You Want)” (from Peace On Earth: A Charity Holiday Album)
- Love Axe – “All I Want for Christmas Is What I Can’t Take Back” listen
- Okkervil River – “Listening to Otis Redding at Christmas” (from their Golden Opportunities Mixtape, which was a free download in 2007)
- The Priestess and the Fool – “Fairytale of New York” (originally by the Pogues) (you have to download their free Christmas EP, Ride On, Santa to listen)
- Steve Earle – “Christmas in Washington” listen
- Sufjan Stevens – “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever” listen
- Chris Hatfield – “Born Again Pagan” listen
- Trailer Trash – “Hard Candy Xmas” (you can’t listen to this song at their website, but you can listen to some of their other holiday songs)
- Aimee Mann – “I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas” listen (the audio stream is only a snippet, but the video’s the whole song)
- Wormburner – “Bells of St. Ignatius” (you can listen to a preview via Amazon)
- Young Bison – “Lee Winters’ Last Christmas” listen
- Lightning Love – “Holidays” listen
- Sleeptalker – “This Is Christmas” (from Peace On Earth: A Charity Holiday Album)
- Bing Crosby & David Bowie – “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” (you can listen to a preview via Amazon, if you haven’t already heard this hundreds of times – I was a huge David Bowie fan when I was an adolescent, and I have fond memories of watching that tv special)
“But I don’t want to be the first cat famous for singing gwfgwf music, Mom.” -Mayhem
In which I venture into the snowy streets to support a local business
Don’t forget to leave your caption(s) for my caption contest by 7 pm CST, Wednesday, December 10! Contest is closed. Thanks!
Yesterday, I wandered over to Uncle Edgar’s Mystery Bookstore to procure a signed copy of Thai Die for trek.
Here’s Monica Ferris signing trek’s very own copy.
Behind her, you can see part of two aisles and thus get a sense of how many new and used books are stuffed into Uncle Edgar’s and Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore. (The front half of the building is Uncle Hugo’s and the back half is Uncle Edgar’s.)
If you want your local independent booksellers to survive, please support them!
“Books. BORING. Sometimes tasty, sometimes fun to knock over Mom’s stacks of books, but otherwise…” -Mayhem
I feel like having a contest
Contest is now closed! Thanks for playing. 🙂
But what sort of contest should I have? Hmm, how about a caption contest? Y’all are good at those! 🙂
Please caption away in the comments to this post. You can caption either or both of the pictures below. Contest closes at 7 pm CST, Wednesday, December 10. Judging may be by funniest captions or by random number, depending on my inclination and if I bully entice Jeanne to help me judge captions. Prizes – some books, some music, some yarn, some black cat paraphernalia. The winner(s) will probably have the option to select from several different things.
This first picture is courtesy of Jeanne and features her cat Greta and one “Stanley.”
You’ve seen the second picture before, but I cleverly didn’t caption it then – so now’s your chance!
Get captioning! *settles back and prepares to giggle*
Chaos vs. the Snickerdoodles
At last! The payoff to all that foreshadowing. Please note that some parts of this post may not be suitable for CursingMama. You have been warned! 😉
“Y’know, after that ‘nip, I could totally use some cookies.” -Chaos
“Dang, it’s really hard to get this package open. You’d think I didn’t have thumbs or something. Oh, wait…” -Chaos
“Hmph. This package seems more amenable to my brute teeth attack.” -Chaos
“I have to be quick about this before Mom notices…” -Chaos
“Argh! So close. So close… No!! Mom! No!!! I want them!!” -Chaos
No snickerdoodles were consumed during this post. However, some snickerdoodles may have been extremely smooshed.
And we’ll keep on linking ’til they take our linkiness away
Knit’n’Lit is having a contest – suggest a pattern for one of the listed sock yarns and you could win a mysterious prize. Contest closes midnight CST, December 5.
O noes! Itty bitty kitty vampires! Run away!
I’m pretty sure this isn’t Mayhem. I think things would be a lot messier if she was involved… This lol gave me a flashback to when Mayhem arrived.
What an odd usb hub!
Aquarium Drunkard asked an interesting question yesterday – which sentence from their lyrics would best summarizes a particular band’s entire output? My contribution was for the Mountain Goats – although I’m still thinking about a few other artists. The comments are definitely worth a read!
How to stay in shape while you use your laptop?
Just in case you’ve missed the spiders. 😉
Isn’t this an intriguing bookcase concept?
Remember the very amusing Romance Apologia Scale on the Dear Author blog that I mentioned last week? Yesterday, Dear Author had an excellent (albeit lengthy) post that went further into the attitudes and beliefs behind Romance Apologia.
SciFiGuy.ca lists the forthcoming fantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal releases for December.
Reading Update
Succubus in the City by Nina Harper. All about a fashionista succubus living in NYC and hanging out with her demon gal pals. Started out well, stretched on a bit too long, and lost it at the end as it lurched to an abrupt stop with a sequel obviously in mind.
Living with the Dead (Women of the Otherworld, Book 9) by Kelley Armstrong. Initially, I was disappointed that this was another book about Hope and Karl, but the story sucked me in and got me completely involved.
Valentine’s Day Is Killing Me by MaryJanice Davidson, Leslie Esdaile, and Susanna Carr. Three utterly unparanormal short stories about Valentine’s Day.
Don’t Look Down by Suzanne Enoch. The sequel to Flirting with Danger might not be quite as good as the first book, but it was still darn good romantic suspense. I’ve already started Billionaires Prefer Blondes and A Touch of Minx is on its way to my library as I type. (I just realized that Samantha and Rick remind me a bit of Eve Dallas and Roarke, with dash of Stephanie Plum and Morelli/Ranger tossed in to lighten things up a bit.)
Sweet Love by Sarah Strohmeyer. I’ve read a few of Strohmeyer’s mysteries featuring Bubbles, but stopped reading them partway through one of the books (can’t remember exactly why anymore). This novel was a pleasant surprise.
Beyond Fearless (Beyond, Book 2) by Rebecca York. Paranormal romance featuring psychics – no vampires or werewolves or other things that go bump in the night.
Watchers in the Night (Guardians of the Night, Book 1) by Jenna Black. Not the greatest vampire series I’ve read, but I did get involved in the story and I’m curious to see what happens next.
The Magical Christmas Cat by Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy, Nalini Singh, and Linda Winstead Jones. Other than the extremely dorky title, this was a fun collection of cat-related paranormal romance. Mmmm… hunky were-leopards.
“Mom!!! I can’t get this most super cool toy free of the packaging! Help me!” -Mayhem
Ok, sweetie. *rustling and ripping sounds* Hmm, I wonder what Chaos is doing? (Yup, more of that foreshadowing stuff.)
Trying to catch up
So! How was everyone’s Thanksgiving (or Thursday past, for my non-US friends)? Here’s a picture from our Thanksgiving table:
Coming soon to a theater near you? I know, I know, you’ll be fighting amongst yourselves to join us next year, eh? 😉
This is what to my wondering eyes did appear Sunday morning when I sprang out of bed:
Fortunately, most of it’s gone now.
A while ago, Cheryl sent me a package of gluten-free goodies, kitty treats, and a great yarn containment bag. Everything was a huge hit – thanks, Cheryl! (Pay attention to everything in the pictures below, because you’ll be seeing some of it again… why, yes, that was extremely unsubtle foreshadowing. Thanks for noticing!)
*sniff sniff sniff* – Chaos
“What is this?! This is so cool! I love this!” -Mayhem
“Mmm… nip. Although I have my doubts that this little packet is actually 50 pounds.” -Chaos
“Oh, this is great! The best! Best thing ever!” -Mayhem