Blogging for books 2007

Good luck to all y'all on B-Schedule!

2007-07-29T22:06:25Z

If I can do it anyone can.

I'm currently all confused as to what time or day it is. My clock tells me it's 6pm EDT but I think it lies. I pretty much feel like death warmed over. But hey don't let that discourage you!

Edit: Holy crap, thank you 4theloveofpets for the sponsor (that was you right?)! I wish I could reciprocate but I'm unfortunately budgeted out at the moment.

9:00AM! WE MADE IT!

2007-07-29T12:58:55Z

Now can I pass out? Yes? Thank god.

I'd like to thank every body who sponsored me. Your donations are welcome.

I'd also like to thank every body who stuck it out and kept me company the last 24 hours. Couldn't have done it without you!

I can't believe I stayed up for over 24 hours. I'm not sure I ever want to do it again. I think if I do I will certainly remember the damn event more than 4 days in advance so that I have more time to prepare and research charities. Still, it's nice to know that I can stay awake for 24 hours (no naps!) and that I helped raise money for charity.

Now I'm sleeping until I freaking well feel like it.

You can sponsor for another 48 hours after midnight tonight so if you missed it or needed to check your finances never fear!

P.S. The cat is trying to kill me.

$118,338.99 in pledges! Wheee!

Post 48! One more to go! 30 minutes until sleep!

2007-07-29T12:26:52Z

The little brat yanked my draw string all the way out of my pants. I don't really need the draw string so it's hers now. I will of course have to make sure she doesn't strangle herself with it as she's dragging it around like a leash right now. She also keeps playing with it pretty much on top of me so I'm collateral damage. I like it better when she's sleeping.

One final picture of insane kitten. This was soon after I got her and she was fascinated by my laptop. She's still fascinated she's just too bif for me to let her sit on it anymore. Besides she always hits the capslock.

Still watching Band of Brothers

2007-07-29T11:56:14Z

So I cannot watch "Crossroads" without cracking up at the Dick Winters on a train in Paris making eyes at a French boy scene. And, no, this is not just me and my dirty mind. The real Dick Winters himself said he didn't like the way that scene played. Like Dick Winter was trying to pick the boy for some . . . well I'll leave that to your imagination. Anyway, knowing that even 70 year old Dick Winters thought that scene played a little to close to the love that dare not speak its name just makes me laugh. And I don't think Damian Lewis intended it to come off that way. Damian Lewis by all accounts spent a lot of time with Dick Winters and respects him quite a lot so I don't think he'd intentionally make it look like Dick Winters liked young boys.

My arms are getting kind of weak and my head's starting to hurt a bit. But only one more hour. My eyes are twitching.

What needs cleaning in your house?

2007-07-29T11:27:14Z

My refrigerator. I hate cleaning it. And I was also told I was getting a new one, but apparently I was lied to. I hate my refrigerator. I absolutely need a new one.

My cat also needs cleaning. She needs a flea bath and I'd go pick up some store brand stuff (just to try to prevent a vet visit) today but I'm pretty sure I won't feel like it at all.

Hee. It is at that point where every thing is making me laugh. Awesome.

Any geek worth their salt knows and has read Ender's Game.

2007-07-29T10:57:49Z

It's like a sign of geek cred. And I have read Ender's Game. I've also read a few other books in the series, just not all of them because the high school library didn't have all of them. However, my favorite Orson Scott Card book is actually Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus.

It's pretty much an alternate history type thing. Rather than just reading about the past and using primary sources to learn about it academics can actually watch and record past events. Two such academics focus their research on slavery which leads them to Christopher Columbus. The daughter of the two, Tagiri and Hassan, is sent back to 1492 along with a couple of other characters to change the past. This is pretty much a no-no. You can watch but you can't touch. But they decide that Christopher Columbus just caused too much damage, is pretty much the cause of most of the problems in the future, and they determine to change it.

It's been probably 8 years since I've read this book, maybe longer, but I actually remember its basic plot more than I remember what happens in Ender's Game and I always tell people that if they've read Ender's Game then they should give this book a go. Even if Publisher's Weekly disagrees.

One Amazon reviewer says Card promotes a Christian agenda with this book. I can't remember if he does or not, but as I proved with those other books my Christian radar sucks.

Because blogathon radio doesn't have it

2007-07-29T10:28:40Z

Rick Springfield's video of Jessie's Girl

What will be interesting is to go back and read these later because right now they seem coherent and like they make a lot of sense but I suspect that when I'm not so tired they won't.

Oh damn. I missed Copacabana.

The sky is lightening. Whee! I'm a bit awake again because I ate some thing. Whee! The cat is awake and biting me. Not whee.

Thank you to whomever just sponsored me! Whee!

Um, I think by the prodigious use of the word 'whee' in this post it is a sign that I'm getting loopy. But I think we should all be impressed that I used the word prodigious and spelled it right the first time. And yet it took me 2 tries to spell time.

Name five things in your freezer.

2007-07-29T09:58:37Z

1. Chocolate brownie ice cream

2. Popcorn shrimp that is so old I can't remember when I bought it. I think February. Maybe March. Probably February.

3. Crackers. That I've had since August of last year. I'm not even exaggerating.

4. Frozen dinners.

5. Spumoni ice cream. I ate all the chocolate out of it so it will probably sit there until I have absolutely nothing else sweet in the place or I get rid of it. I bet the nothing else sweet thing comes first if the crackers and shrimp are any indication.

P.S. Thanks to every one who has left encouraging comments. I want to respond to every one, but at this point I'm doing lucky to respond to every other one.

When the hell does dawn hit here anyway? Geez. 3 hours to go. Whee! The kitten just doesn't know what to do. She's used to sleeping when I sleep (give or take a few hours, but she'll fall asleep only to wake up and realize I'm still awake and she just gets confused. And keeps nudging my hands like she's trying to tell me to stop typing.

Anyway, I'm about to make breakfast and not have coffee because that's what I need coursing through me when I'm trying to sleep in 3 hours.

Band of Brothers ahoy!

2007-07-29T09:27:58Z

Or as TWoP said: They were brave men. They were complex men. And, thanks to Spanks's crack casting agents, they were also hot men. (Well, except David Schwimmer.) The Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg-produced HBO mini-series only spanned ten episodes, but the eye candy will feed us forever: Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, the third extra from the back in that one scene in the middle...they're all pretty. And pretty brave. Relive the World War II heroics, offensives, and friendships ripped from the Stephen Ambrose biography; then, bask in the added glow of suppressed man-love and unbridled fan lust that only an TWoP recap can provide.

Uh yeah. I just tried to get the remote straight on the couch arm behind me and I couldn't do it. My coordination is fucked.

Do you know what I like about Band of Brothers? Neither do I. I'm not a particularly huge fan of war movies. I blame Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston. I do have to admit that the splodey bits and loud noises are helping keep me up. Hopefully they aren't keeping neighbors up.

Oh I forgot how graphic this series got as far as injuries went. It is a very good thing I don't have a weak stomach because ick.

Dick Winters: He's like Jesus. In a way.

Time to bust out the water.

2007-07-29T08:57:31Z

By the way, my sister pledged $5. And I feel guilty because she can't really afford it. My other loser friends who claim to be all charitable and world-conscious can afford it, some of them anyway, they're just MIA, but my sister's broker than I am.

I'm already thinking about next year though. I hate the idea that I should pick a more popular charity to get more donations, but that seems to be what it takes. Of course I haven't decided if I'm going to do this next year. This was an experiment as much as a way to raise some money for a good cause. I wanted to know if I still had it in me to stay up 24 hours and if I could come up with something to say every 30 minutes. I did raise some money and I feel guilty for $5 of it because my sister pledged money she didn't have because I looked pathetic with only my 2 pledges.

Band of Brothers time. I thought I could just listen to music, but that won't cut it.

The problem with Youtube is that once you get on it's hard to get off.

2007-07-29T08:27:13Z

Is that as dirty as it sounds to me?

David Duchovny by Bree Sharp video. The video is poor quality but it is always hilarious.

The cast of HIMYM does Les Mis. Legen- wait for it- dary.

I just cleaned a bit (washed some dishes, cleaned the coffee table, swiffered some and that woke me up a bit, but not much. I have coffee ready to make if needed, but I really doubt it'd do anything for me and while I generally have a stern stomach I haven't tested it with coffee at 4am having been up for almost 20 hours. It might not be pleasant.

Ah well I'll finish watching Psych and if I need more things to keep me awake I'll figure it out. Oh my lord Shawn (it took me 3 times to get that right) baking a pineapple upside down cake in an Easy-bake oven wearing a floral apron might just be the best thing ever.

Oh, hungry. I'm tired of Chex mix and I don't feel like another apple. My choices are limited. I could have breakfast early and pop in another griddle cake thing or I could have ramen. This late nothing really sounds good.

Was I supposed to be talking about books?

2007-07-29T07:57:44Z

Ok, this is sort of about books. Do you alphabetize or organize your books by height? Do you organize by height and alphabetize or do you sort by genre by height? If you alphabetize do you do so by author or title?

I change it up. Now I have it done by height. I had it alpha by author by height for a while, but the cat kept pulling them off and I stopped paying attention to how I put them back.

My Star Wars book shelf is organized chronologically though. Not when it was published, but where it falls in the Star Wars timeline.

I'm afraid to turn off the light. I want to turn it off because it's really too bright for me, but I'm afraid if I turn it off I'll go to sleep.

I just need to rest my eyes for a moment. Yeah. Rest my eyes. I can type with my eyes closed. The problem is staying awake to type once my eyes are closed.

Oh I might need to make coffee but I'm afraid drinking coffee this late, or early, either one would be bad. The cat is also totally confused. She keeps popping up like "why aren't you in bed silly human?" and honestly if I didn't think it'd be bad I'm tempted to just go get in bed.

The cat is sleeping again. She's still a lucky bitch.

2007-07-29T07:27:44Z

I keep telling myself that I have to just get over this hump and that at some point soon I'll get a second wind. I'm starting not to believe that. I may have to start taking brief naps soon.

I was going to try to take part in the draw your favorite wild animal contest but a) I can't draw and b) all I have is MS Paint at my disposal so I really can't draw.

Ow ow ow my knee locked up.

Man I can never tell if I'm hearing gun shots or someone still setting off fireworks. Usually I think it just ends up being fireworks or a car backfiring, but that was like 4 or 5 rapid shots right in a row. More rapid than most fireworks or any car backfiring. I don't exactly live in the best neighborhood so it could honestly be both, but I don't hear sirens so we'll assume it was innocent.

Frankly I'm impressed I talked about books as long as I did.

2007-07-29T06:58:40Z

By this point it's not about getting sponsors because clearly my real-life friends/family/acquaintances can't be counted on to step up. It's about rather I can finish or not. It's proving that I can stay up for over 24 hours. That's right, it's personal.

The cat is, I think, learning to stay the hell away from the antenna. One firm "NO!" and a slap on the couch and she runs from it. I also have the antenna in a different position but I got most my channels back. The only channel I can't get to come back in on any frequency is Ion and I need Ion because it gives me my Designing Women and Who's The Boss reruns. But I'll mess with it some more tomorrow.

Pictures! Of books!

2007-07-29T06:26:50Z

Bookshelf in my living room.

The Star Wars bookshelf

The bookshelf of school books.

Still not a lot of sponsors. Do I have to strip naked?

Little known Canadian tv

2007-07-29T05:57:29Z

Every Sunday at 1:30am my local CBS airs a show called Tom Stone or alternately Stone Undercover depending on what country you're in. It only had 2 seasons of like 13 or 14 episodes, but I love this show. It's the reason I almost always stay up until 2:30am even though by now I've seen all the aired episodes.

Tom Stone is an ex-con, ex-cop, ex-you name it who is currently lounging in a minimum security prison until he gets released in a few months when Marino DeLunzio, with the RCMP, is sent to Calgary to investigate commercial fraud. She gets Stone out of jail early in order to get him to help with her case.

That's not really important though. Stone goes undercover a lot because he's pretty much a jack of all trades and is comfortable working with the less savory of Calgary society (and by that I mean the cows, of course). What I love about this show, even though it was only one for 2 seasons, is the relationship between Tom and Marina. They crack me up. Think Moonlighting only with perhaps a tad less sexual chemistry. At least less played up sexual chemistry. Although one of the funniest episodes was when they had to pretend to be married. Of course I always find those situations to be comedy gold (X-Files episode "Arcadia" anyone?).

Anyway, that's on now. After that not much else comes on on basic tv so I'll watch Psych and then Band of Brothers most likely.

8 more hours? Jeebus.

2007-07-29T05:25:51Z

Okay I'm about to start composing odes to my trumpet. I haven't done that in 3 years. My trumpet is generally a fall back journal entry. I wrote about it in Arts Sem for a journal entry. I think I even wrote about it way back in high school for my English journal. Although the most pointles journal entry I ever wrote then was when, one night during a pep band game, I was composing my journal entries at the last minute and did an informal poll of how many people wore glasses in the pep band. Or contacts if I knew they wore contacts.

I'm starting to feel a bit like that. Only it's just me and the cat so there's no one to poll. I wear glasses. Thrilling!

Prompt #whatever

2007-07-29T04:58:12Z

You are forced to flee from your home and relocate 2,000 miles away. You can take only what you can carry in your arms. What will you take?

The cat.

My laptop. Yes.

My purse because I can fit a ton of crap in my purse.

My purse would have my debit card and cell phone in it.

Well I'm getting tired.

2007-07-29T04:28:13Z

While I'm usually still up by this point I'm also usually turning things off and just sitting here watching tv. It might be time to wash my face/take a shower/eat an apple.

We have entered "turn up Aerosmith singing Janie's Got A Gun" really loudly territory. I will most likely start singing soon. If you're listening to blogexplosion when "Dancing Queen' pops up that's me. Oh yeah. I was going to do "Jessie's Girl" but they don't have it. What? They have Ace of Base but not "I Saw the Sign"? Basically any 80s pop song that comes up? That's me. Pat Benatar? Hell yeah. Damn, I tapped it out. Only 5 songs per hour.

Getting in the way-back machine.

2007-07-29T03:58:32Z

One book I've had for years and just can't give away even though I've never re-read it is One Perfect Rose by Mary Jo Putney.

To be honest the only thing I remember from the book is that if you drink milk after taking arsenic it helps counteract the poison. Or that because the man was being poisoned with arsenic through the milk it was slower acting. I don't know. It's possible I'm making that up too. Really, my memory can't be trusted.

I do remember that this was one of the first real romance novels I ever owned and it's in a cute little hardcover paper back sized edition.

What is going on around you right now?

2007-07-29T03:28:17Z

I'm watching country music videos. The cat's attacking a ball on a spring. People are making noises outside. It's now dark. It's one exciting minute after another over here.

List five books that you've read this year.

2007-07-29T02:57:20Z

1. Dark Angels

2. Winkie

3. Fast Women

4. Unfortunate Missfortunes

5. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

What started as a joke at the museum has turned into a real thing.

2007-07-29T02:27:29Z

See when the caretaker was on vacation he called every few days to check in. Eventually the program director just started making shit up when he called. One was that the bridge over a small creek had fallen in and then a car fell in the creek. Another thing was that we'd decided to put in a petting zoo. I can't remember if I or the program director first came up with the idea of a petting zoo, but I know that wed been talking about it and then he called and she told him. Then she got bored when I had to give a tour and no one else was in the office and she made a flier. Advertising for the petting zoo. She had pictures of animals and the coup de grace was Farmer B's Barnyard Bonanza.

Well now with a few suggestions from some other people we're trying to figure out if we can at least have a petting zoo at a festival coming up in October if not full-time. This search led to the best discovery of yesterday: Exotic chickens.

I only thought chicken came in one flavor. Extra crispy. Ba da bum. Hee.

Princess Diaries 2.

2007-07-29T01:59:03Z

No Psych because The Princess Diaries 2 is on. Whee! I didn't realize Callum Blue was in this movie. That just makes it better. I love Callum Blue.

Heh. I love the over the top villainy in these movies. Always hilarious.

This post is going to give you a little taste of what I would generally talk about on a journal. Which is mostly random stuff.

Oh I'm torn. I love Callum Blue but I know her love interest is really Chris Pine. Plus they've made Callum Blue all clean cut and sort of dorky. It's freaking me out. And now they've stuck Chris Pine in glasses and he can already cook. I'm weak. And easy. Such a sucker for hot men in glasses.

Her wedding dress is really pretty.

Yeah! Suck on it, Gimli!

You get yours, Grandma! Aww, Joe! They're getting hitched! Love!

See, I love these movies because what little girl doesn't wish she got to be a princess? With the pretty dresses and the hot prince?

You can still sponsor me until like Monday I think.

What is in your car trunk?

2007-07-29T01:26:47Z

Or I'm running out of books to talk about.

So, I have a box with sheets in it when I attempted to transport Bob, the cat, from my dad's to my apartment. The cat resisted and I never took the box out. In the box with the sheets is also a thing of antifreeze and jumper cables. I also have an ice scraper and one of those covers for the windshield that I always forget to stick in my car and thus always end up burning my hands on the steering wheel if I don't park under a tree.