Thursday's child has far to go
Dec. 14th, 2006 01:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cleolindaThe funny thing is, I really was born on a Thursday.
So I had my cry out yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, a particularly angry cry for some reason, and then pulled my shit together. I curled up and reread The Golden Compass, which I remembered so little of that it was like a completely new book, and felt better afterwards. (For those of you wondering about the flurry of related posts here lately, a quick synopsis, with only minor first-quarter-of-the-book spoilers to set the scene.)
Something interesting that turned up in the comments of the previous entry: several people mentioned wanting to know where they could buy the Fifteen Minutes book I wrote (no, really, they did!). I was kind of surprised given how thoroughly I felt I'd plastered that information both here and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
m15m, but to be fair, that was a year ago, and there are people reading now who weren't reading then. So: if you live in Europe or the UK, you ought to be able to find the book in shops, or get a shop to order it for you. (ETA: You can also get it in Australia and, IIRC, a few Asian countries as well.) If you're in North America, the only way to get it is from Amazon UK (which you can also use in Europe or the UK). Unlike Amazon US, which is being a bastard about shipping times in order to get people to stop using the Super Saver Shipping and switch over to the $79-a-year plan, Amazon UK has great, fast shipping. The book ends up being something like $11-12 (US), and then about $22 after shipping. And it's a 400-page hardback, ten movies not posted online, etc.--you're getting your money's worth rather than a flimsy half-assed paperback, is what I'm saying. And, like I was fond of saying last year, it's an excellent Christmas present for people who are hard to shop for, as long as they're okay with a LOTR/15M pull quote on the back cover containing the word "shit" (I still can't believe they did that).
Meanwhile, I remembered an old joke I've always liked:
Q: What's worse than a worm in your apple?
A: The Holocaust.
Awful, and yet funny in an absurdist way because it's true. It's kind of a "It sucks, but it ain't Darfur" way of looking at the world, I guess.
(Random thought: While Christmas shopping on Amazon, I saw that Mattel has a Twelve Dancing Princesses Barbie thing going on now. This is the most brilliant marketing strategy I have ever seen: in order to properly act out the story, you have to buy at least twelve dolls [thirteen, including Prince Derek]. [Prince Derek?] )
Gunmen kidnap 10 children in Haiti.
Fla. senator defies Bush, visits Syria.
Mass. gay marriage critics sue lawmakers. I didn't even know you could do that.
2 convicted of killing tsunami victim ("killing a woman who survived the first waves of the 2004 tsunami but then was pushed back into the sea by the pair after they snatched her gold necklace." Aaaaaand there went my faith in humanity again).
Parton pledges $500,000 to hospital.
Big fine for underage 'Girls Gone Wild.'
Wisconsin hunter bags deer with 7 legs.
Man pulls 7-foot python from toilet.
A mouse hitches a ride.
A monkey and his duck (why yes, this is the all-animals edition of Cleo's Linkspam).
So I had my cry out yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, a particularly angry cry for some reason, and then pulled my shit together. I curled up and reread The Golden Compass, which I remembered so little of that it was like a completely new book, and felt better afterwards. (For those of you wondering about the flurry of related posts here lately, a quick synopsis, with only minor first-quarter-of-the-book spoilers to set the scene.)
Something interesting that turned up in the comments of the previous entry: several people mentioned wanting to know where they could buy the Fifteen Minutes book I wrote (no, really, they did!). I was kind of surprised given how thoroughly I felt I'd plastered that information both here and
m15m, but to be fair, that was a year ago, and there are people reading now who weren't reading then. So: if you live in Europe or the UK, you ought to be able to find the book in shops, or get a shop to order it for you. (ETA: You can also get it in Australia and, IIRC, a few Asian countries as well.) If you're in North America, the only way to get it is from Amazon UK (which you can also use in Europe or the UK). Unlike Amazon US, which is being a bastard about shipping times in order to get people to stop using the Super Saver Shipping and switch over to the $79-a-year plan, Amazon UK has great, fast shipping. The book ends up being something like $11-12 (US), and then about $22 after shipping. And it's a 400-page hardback, ten movies not posted online, etc.--you're getting your money's worth rather than a flimsy half-assed paperback, is what I'm saying. And, like I was fond of saying last year, it's an excellent Christmas present for people who are hard to shop for, as long as they're okay with a LOTR/15M pull quote on the back cover containing the word "shit" (I still can't believe they did that).Meanwhile, I remembered an old joke I've always liked:
Q: What's worse than a worm in your apple?
A: The Holocaust.
Awful, and yet funny in an absurdist way because it's true. It's kind of a "It sucks, but it ain't Darfur" way of looking at the world, I guess.
(Random thought: While Christmas shopping on Amazon, I saw that Mattel has a Twelve Dancing Princesses Barbie thing going on now. This is the most brilliant marketing strategy I have ever seen: in order to properly act out the story, you have to buy at least twelve dolls [thirteen, including Prince Derek]. [Prince Derek?] )
Gunmen kidnap 10 children in Haiti.
Fla. senator defies Bush, visits Syria.
Mass. gay marriage critics sue lawmakers. I didn't even know you could do that.
2 convicted of killing tsunami victim ("killing a woman who survived the first waves of the 2004 tsunami but then was pushed back into the sea by the pair after they snatched her gold necklace." Aaaaaand there went my faith in humanity again).
Parton pledges $500,000 to hospital.
Big fine for underage 'Girls Gone Wild.'
Wisconsin hunter bags deer with 7 legs.
Man pulls 7-foot python from toilet.
A mouse hitches a ride.
A monkey and his duck (why yes, this is the all-animals edition of Cleo's Linkspam).
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 07:16 am (UTC)It's definately worth the money, guys.
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Date: 2006-12-14 07:19 am (UTC)Wisconsin hunter bags deer with 7 legs.
Man pulls 7-foot python from toilet.
Today's linkspam is brought to you by the number seven.
Seven! That is a number! Ah ah ah!Lord, I almost forgot...
Date: 2006-12-14 07:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 07:31 am (UTC)Speaking of faith in humanity, I am sure there are people who buy the book because the word "shit" is on the cover.
I was born on a Thursday, too. We tend to be very hard on ourselves.
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Date: 2006-12-14 07:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2006-12-14 07:49 am (UTC)Speaking of m15m, you have ruined Phantom of the Opera for me. It was on MovieCentral over the summer, and within five minutes I was giggling hysterically, because all I could hear was your dialogue. I will never be able to watch it again without hearing, "Oh, SNAP!". Just so you know.
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Date: 2006-12-14 08:26 am (UTC)And then I brought them home and read it aloud to them, and they forgave me. =)
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Date: 2006-12-14 07:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 10:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 07:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 02:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 07:59 am (UTC)(Those people scare us.)
(A lot.)
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Date: 2006-12-14 03:28 pm (UTC)But he's also convinced that the US Government has buildings on the moon, so... yeah.
Woo for crazy grandparents!!
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From:no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 08:05 am (UTC)It may not be true iambic pentameter, but I wrote this sonnet at three in the morning when insomnia overtook me, and I couldn't think of much else to do...
So to say happy birthday!
Sonnet for Cleolinda
With naught but words, I say Happy Birthday,
To a brilliant woman, a free spirit,
Of all things I find, this is the best way,
To arrange my well wishes, so they'll fit,
I've the utmost regard for your kindness,
Treating those you don't know with great respect,
And without your news linkage I'd regress,
Knowing not who our country did elect,
You keep us all so very well informed,
Every new post is a joy to read,
We see the opinions that you have formed,
And you oft respond to what back we feed,
Thanks for making the internet better,
With every sentence, word, and letter.
Read every as three syllables, and it kinda works. ^_^
cheers here to you on your birthday Cleo!
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Date: 2006-12-14 08:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 08:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 08:39 am (UTC)I hope this year will be better than the previous one :)
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Date: 2006-12-14 08:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 09:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 09:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 09:53 am (UTC)I was wondering if your book was available in Australia?
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Date: 2006-12-14 10:57 am (UTC)So yeah. If you hunt around and can't find it, just see if they can get it in for you, I guess.
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Date: 2006-12-14 09:59 am (UTC)My cousin-by-marriage, who is four and thus the right age to be getting into that sort of thing, has nearly every single one of the dolls from that set. She's only missing two - the set of twins who are in between the little Kelly-sized triplets and the older Barbie-sized sisters. She also has Prince Derek, or actually, she has two of him. (I don't know if you caught the names of the dolls, but they include things like "Janessa" and "Edeline" and "Hadley".)
She even has the movie, which I have been subjected to multiple times while watching her, and it is predictably terrible. (Not as bad as the Barbie Rapunzel movie, but still pretty bad.) It's interesting to see what they've done with the story. There's this whole dancing theme, and an evil aunt who's poisoning the king/father to take over the throne. And Derek? Not so much a prince as a cobbler, but he does marry the Barbie character, Princess Genevieve.
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Date: 2006-12-14 10:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2006-12-14 10:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 10:35 am (UTC)that monkey photo would be cute if not for the fact that the monkey has tiny people hands. anything not human with people hands scares me.
and of course, happy birthday.
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Date: 2006-12-14 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 11:10 am (UTC)(Now, I'm curious about Saturday's child...I will have to go find this out.)
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Date: 2006-12-14 11:27 am (UTC)Movies In Fifteen Minutes. The Ten Biggest Movies Ever For People Who Can't Be Bothered von Cleolinda Jones von Orion Publishing Group (Gebundene Ausgabe - 20 Oktober 2005)
Preis: EUR 13,90
Gewöhnlich versandfertig bei Amazon.de in 1 bis 2 Wochen.
Neu & gebraucht ab EUR 8,47
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Date: 2006-12-14 11:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 05:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 11:40 am (UTC)But more importantly, will he get to keep his duck??
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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Date: 2006-12-14 11:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 11:41 am (UTC)