cleolinda: (galadriel helpful)
cleolinda ([personal profile] cleolinda) wrote2008-11-03 10:24 am

Random ramblings

This isn't specifically in response to yesterday's LJ Question o' the Day ("As the Northern hemisphere spins toward the shortest day of the year, it's getting dark earlier and earlier. What comforts do you fall back on when the days are short and the nights are long?"), but I notice it kind of answers it anyway:

Media Monkey seems to be working out decently. It loads faster than Yahoo Jukebox ever did, seems to slow down my computer less, and isn't terribly hard to maneuver. I have myself a nice Favorite Paramore Songs playlist now because SHUT UP, OKAY? SHUT UP. It's fun and boppy and that's what I need while I'm trying to work.

Also: I was at the sto' to get some more hot chocolate (among other things), and generally my cocoa of preference is Nestle something or other in packets, but this time I happened to spy canisters of chocolate-and-hazelnut Ghirardelli cocoa. (They were sold out of plain chocolate, which is sort of an endorsement in and of itself.) Well, I wasn't passing that up, so we'll see how that works. Really, what I'm looking for is a nice creamy texture, so that'll be a deciding factor as well as flavor. Hot chocolate is serious business, after all.

Also-also: I know I keep talking about the sunshine, but it's really, really fantastic. It's got that autumnal golden quality, and the sky is sort of a cornflower blue. Of course, I think I've started to think of sunlight in an entirely different way now that I've come to understand that--why --I get sludgy in January and downright depressed by February. I feel like I ought to get out there and store up as much as I can; I may, in fact, be solar-powered. Or maybe a reverse vampire? (That would be kind of funny. "I am compelled to donate blood all the time! I know I was just here yesterday! Take it! PLEASE TAAAAAAKE IIIIIIIT. Hey, let's go get Italian now.") I don't know. ("Wow, that stake feels really good. A little to the left next time, maybe?") People have recommended various full-spectrum lamps to me, but honestly, the ones I'm seeing are about $100 and I just can't afford that right now.

You know what, (also)3? I should finally learn to knit. I have a starter kit and everything.


Site Meter

[identity profile] kudzita.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Speaking of sunlight and vampires and being solar-powered, have you read Sunshine (Robin McKinley)? It's kind of delightful.

Also, Ghirardelli cocoa is good, but the tins from Williams-Sonoma are true crack cocoa. Om nom nom nom.

[identity profile] roseredhoofbeat.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 04:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, yes! Sunshine is a wonderful book. Kicks Twilight's patoot.

[identity profile] cleolinda.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 04:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Not yet, but it's at the top of my list to get around to. There's another book I keep getting recommended as well--The Silver Kiss?

[identity profile] snowwhite2421.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 05:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Silver Kiss reads more like an R.L. Stine/Christopher Pike kind of book. Fine for what it is, but nothing about it really stands out.

[identity profile] pigsnicket.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh man, I have been trying to remember the title of The Silver Kiss for ever!
I read it when I was 12 or so and sort of loved it but I'm afraid a reread may ruin those memories.

[identity profile] lylassandra.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Silver Kiss was decent, but that author's werewolf book, Blood and Chocolate is my favorite werewolf book ever.

[identity profile] sweet-pessimism.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Agreed!

[identity profile] sun-star-n-moon.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
I liked that book alright, I just feel it really really needed a sequel. There were so many loose ends she didnt tie up. It was kinda like getting the first Harry Potter book and then being told no more would follow.

Even with this flaw it still kicks Twlights ass.

And yes, its by Robin McKinley. I have a whole self full of her books and cherish every single one of them.

[identity profile] greedyskunk.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I have loved Robin McKinley since I read The Hero and the Crown back in the day (late 80's). That woman knows how to write interesting female characters!

Yes, the only flaw with Sunshine is that it needs a sequel, but I'm not holding my breath for that.

[identity profile] kudzita.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
See, I always kind of thought that she meant to end that way on purpose, with so many things left unresolved, because it fit in with the rest of the book - the whole "reality is trickier than fiction and nothing ever gets entirely explained away" dealie.

(Which is not to say that I wouldn't snap up a sequel the instant it came out!)

I've got all of her books too...she's so amazing at character- and world-building, no matter what she writes.
fiveforsilver: (Chocolate)

[personal profile] fiveforsilver 2008-11-04 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I've always thought it doesn't so much need a sequel as, you know, a cookbook ;)

[identity profile] nimlotbradamant.livejournal.com 2008-11-03 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Sunshine--i.e. The Vampire Novel I Read To Get Twilight Out Of My System. Ten thumbs up, would drool over again.

[identity profile] faeriemaiden.livejournal.com 2008-11-04 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
AMEN. I re-read Sunshine every year around the end of October, and frequently go to it for comfort reading, because it is JUST THAT GORGEOUS. (Also I like to make cinnamon rolls or gingerbread or something to eat while I read.)