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Hmmm....

Mmmm... Pumpkin Pie!

Now that my "engagement high" has kind of worn off, I'm more comfortable about planning a small wedding (well, I will be once I get to the point where I can set the date) and I'm also able to go through the motions of daily life again. I was getting sick of not being able to read.

I've been reading some good stuff lately. I finished my third Jane Austen novel, Northanger Abbey, a week or so ago. I really liked it, but I didn't think it was as good as the other two I have read, Sense an Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. I do understand that it was her first novel, (although not the first that was published) so it was bound to not be her best. I plan on having the rest read (excepting the unfinished novels and novellas) by January so I can watch all of the new Masterpiece Theatre novel adaptations!

My reading habits lately have been flip flopping between the classics and young adult books, so I moved on to Extras, the fourth book in the Uglies "trilogy." This one doesn't specifically deal with the protagonist, Tally, although she does appear in the novel. It takes place in a Japanese city and details a new post-apocalyptic society that is obsessed with fame. I really, REALLY, like this series. I've read some of his vampire novels and while they were good, they didn't quite appeal to me as much as Twilight, etc. But this series is very inventive, and I really want to ride on a hoverboard more than ever now!

I'm now reading Henry James' Turn of the Screw. It's pretty freaky. I'm not too far into it yet to figure out whether the children are really being possessed by these ghosts, or if the governess is just plain crazy.

Next up is a reread of The Book Thief. I read it earlier in the year and loved it. I'm supposed to be reading it this time around because I get to do a book review for The Georgia Library Quarterly. I'm excited because I don't get to do too many YA things being an academic librarian, other than order teen books. If all goes well, I should be published in the winter issue.

Moving on from books...

This Saturday, I'm going to make my first pumpkin pie and yeast rolls from scratch in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner with Jon and his parents in Colorado next month. My mom is an excellent baker and should be able to show me the ropes. The Thanksgiving dinner will be prepared in Jon's new house (he closed today) which I suppose will eventually be our house. Luckily he has the same stove as my parents, so other than elevation, I shouldn't experience too many problems.

I want to dress up for Halloween this year, but I just can't think of anything free to wear. I can't justify buying a costume at this point, and the only place I plan on dressing up is work, as I've declined attending any parties with a close to 60 hour work week coming up. Maybe I can be a nerdy librarian, oh wait...

I was really hoping to go off on a tirade about this talk radio host and how much he annoyed me on my commute home Tuesday, but alas, my enthusiasm for writing has almost completely petered out (and just when it was about to get interesting.)

Maybe next time.

Moving Right Along...

It's interesting how you're going through the motions of life when all of the sudden something comes along to completely change your routine. My life has definitely been altered for a week now.

I no longer have a boyfriend.

But I'm not single either.

No, this isn't every relationship I've ever experienced in college and graduate school, I'm actually engaged to be married.

Let me tell you how much of a surprise this was to me a week ago today when Jon proposed. We both knew that the other was the "one" and such, but he had me thinking that something like this wouldn't happen for months. I'm not going to get into how he proposed or post pictures of my (beautiful) ring, because it's private and I'll be more than willing to tell you a. if I actually know you and/or b. in person.

So, next August I should be packing up my stuff and heading out to Ft. Collins, Colorado to LIVE, not visit. I'm very excited to relocate to such a cool place with all the nature-ish stuff and proximity to other cool states with more nature-ish stuff. I'm going to be sad to leave my job, because I get along well with most people and my boss is super nice. I'm also sad to leave my family and Georgia friends, but there's always holidays, and there will be a sweet guest room (eventually) waiting for any visitors.

The wedding should be sometime next fall. It will not be in Georgia because neither of us want a large wedding, but there will be a reception type event in Georgia at some point so the hoards of parental friends can come and visit.

I'm sort of scared of wedding planning. I'm not too excited about beginning the job search again. But I am very happy about moving to Colorado and starting my life with my hubby-to-be. :)

I'll have to remember that last sentence as I spend the next few months stressing over jobs, dresses, flowers, and cake.

Although, I'm pretty cool about the cake part. Bring on the cake!

Don't Take it Personally...

I apologize for the lack of personal updates.

I'm alive and kicking, not some zombie who only reads books and posts about them.

Life is going as well as can be, but somehow is very busy.

Trust that a life update will appear on this blog sometime next week after I get back from a brief Colorado visit.

XOXOXO,
Traci

Book Review: The Illustrated Dracula

Author: Bram Stoker
Illustrator: Jae Lee
Date Originally Published: 1897
Start Date: October 1st
Finish Date: October 6th

I read this novel to complete peril number 1 in the R.I.P Challenge. Up to this point, I was a Dracula virgin. I haven't even seen the Coppola or Bela Lugosi versions of the movie, because I don't watch scary movies, try as my boyfriend might to get me to watch them. I have read The Historian, though, and promised myself to try out Dracula because of my love for the former book. Well, I must say, I wasn't disappointed with the latter either.

Dracula began with Jonathan Harker's journey to Count Dracula's castle near the Carpathian Mountains, to take care of some real estate papers, as the Count had decided to purchase property in England. I love reading about this area of the world, mainly because a good chunk of my heritage descends from Eastern Europe. I've always wanted to visit the area, and even the fictional descriptions sound incredibly beautiful. Harker arrived at the castle during the night and found crazy wolves running around and a creepy, though elegant man awaiting his arrival. His rooms were nice but he was not allowed to explore the castle. He also foound that the count never ate and did not cast a shadow. He soon got the feeling that he was being held against his will at the place and started to witness crazy events like the count crawling on walls like a bug and three women who were beautiful, but liked to suck blood out of children that the count brought to them. Jonathan's imprisonment to me was, by far, the scariest part of the book.

Jonathan somehow escaped the castle. Meanwhile, a cargo ship arrived in England with no crew excepting a dead man and a "dog" who jumped ship when pulling into the dock. The real story began to weave here as Mina, Jonathan's fiancé (eventual wife) began to notice strange happenings with her friend, Lucy, as she sleepwalked at night. This brought in Drs. John Seward and Abraham Van Helsing, as well as Lucy's husband to be, Arthur Holmwood, and American Quincey Morris. These men along with Jonathan and Mina set out on a horrifying voyage to eradicate Dracula for good.

My favorite character was Renfield. I can't even imagine meeting a chap like him in real life. His love for consuming life (spiders, flies, etc.) definitely creeped me out and I found myself oddly sympathizing with him often in the book, especially when he begged for his release from the asylum. He was fascinating.

I loved the story. It had the perfect dark, Gothic feel. The diary entries, newspaper articles, and letters acted as a great medium for storytelling and I felt like I got to know most of the characters well. Stoker's writing style is absolutely beautiful. While reading the book, I didn't feel like I was hindered by some sophisticated vocabulary of the late 1800s. I was also surprised by how much the plot differed from what I thought I knew of the story.

I particularly loved this version for the illustrations. Jae Lee's illustration style was definitely made for this novel. His depictions of Dracula definitely had that whole Nosferatu thing going on, the women are sexy even though they don blood stained mouths, and the settings and backgrounds were dark and misty.

Overall, I loved this book. It will definitely be a re-read for me, perhaps each fall. Okay, so maybe I'll have to watch the Coppola movie. With my boyfriend. In daylight.

I'm going to continue with the R.I.P. Challenge, even though I've technically completed my peril requirements. I going to veer away from the challenge for my next book (Seeing Redd), but will return to Northanger Abbey.

Book Review: The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings

Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Start Date: September 19th
Finish Date: September 28th

This review is going to be informal. I'm really glad that I gave Poe a second chance. I read many of his short stories and poems in middle and high school, but I didn't really appreciate them much until now.

Anyways, I want to cover a good portion of the stories I read (I'm going to leave the poems out of this review) by naming story superlatives.

Overall Favorite: "The Masque of the Red Death"

This is one Poe short story that I have always liked. I love the colorful description of the party rooms. The cover of this book edition was painted for this story and you can see the shrouded figure of the Red Death, the ebony clock, and all of the dead people strewn about on the floor. Fantastic visual.

Most Psychological: "William Wilson"

Personally, I wouldn't want to be followed around all life by... me. After all, you are your own best competitor as well as your own best critic.

Biggest Gore Factor: "The Black Cat"

Never become an alcoholic. Also, never mess with your pets folks in an alcoholic rage. They will come back to haunt you after you harm/kill them, and eat your spouse's corpse (whom you also killed) after you wall him/her up to cover your crime. This story also affirms the fact that I am a dog person.

Most Surprising: "The Gold Bug"

I seriously thought that the narrator's friend was going crazy after he was bit by the heavy gold bug found on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. I was surprised to find out that the bug led him to buried pirate treasure, not insanity. It was refreshing to see happy endings in some of the stories, this one included.

Most Suspenseful: "The Pit and the Pendulum"

I forgot how much I liked this story in high school. I would never want to be in the narrator's position. The Spanish Inquisition is NOT one of those areas of history that I would like to live! Plus, contemplating jumping into that pit must have been awful, not to mention being bound to a table with a bunch of rats stealing your food while a razor sharp pendulum slowly descends to cut you into pieces.

Best Detective Story: "The Murders on the Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined Letter"

Although Monsieur Dupin is almost too smart and too good to be true, I enjoyed these reads and learning how all of the Parisian crimes were solved.

Most Creepy: "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"

Maybe it's my fear of corpses, but having a dead person in a trance speak absolutely freaks me out. Don't even get me started about when they wake him up...

Overall, I really got into all of the stories. Poe has quite an imagination. As a child, I had a very vivid imagination which has now evolved into serious over thinking as an adult. I feel that Poe must have been the same way, only he was able to retain his imagination as an over thinker. His stories are perfect reads for people who spend a lot of time thinking, and not so much time talking. Although the talkers will like his stories as well, because they're great to relate to others. :)

My next read to complete Peril I is Dracula. Amanda and I plan on reading this at the same time, so I have to wait until Monday to start it. Hopefully, I can finish Orwell's 1984 over the next couple of days as it has remained 2/3 finished since the end of August.

Dear Edgar Allan Poe,

I'm terribly sorry that, up until this year, I didn't care much for you. Granted, I've always liked "The Masque of the Red Death," but beyond that, you bored me and I thought of you as way overrated. I apologize, but in high school, (the last time I read one of your stories) I thought about nothing more than boys, color guard, and one day being a famous news anchor (ha).

Better late than never though... I'm in the middle of a collection of your fantastic short stories. Not one has left me bored and each are the perfect amount of "scary." You have a way with words my dear. I am now a genuine fan and I might even skim some of your poems when I'm finished with the short stories, and that's saying something.

Sincerely,

An adoring fan

Book Review: Blood and Chocolate

Author: Annette Curtis Klause
Year Published: 1997
Start Date: September 15th
Finish Date: September 18th

I haven't read much on loups-garoux or werewolves as they are commonly known in English, excepting Professor Lupin and Jacob in the Twilight series. Being a huge YA literature fan, Blood and Chocolate leaves me slightly disappointed.

I don't know much about werewolves, but I feel a bit more well rounded, and not so vampire focused (I LOVE vampires), for once by completing this novel. I really enjoyed the wolfish aspects of the story. Vivian is a 15-16 year old werewolf who moves from West Virginia to the Maryland suburbs when a fire destroys her pack's inn. This fire also takes her father, the pack king's life. While living in the suburbs, the pack struggles to both not reveal their animal forms to the normal word, as well as not kill humans. This proves to be difficult in such a concentrated area pf people, and Vivian finds herself in a lot of trouble and gets wrapped up in a lot of misunderstandings. I rather enjoyed this aspect of the novel and Klause's descriptions of the pleasure of wolf transformation and running through the woods on full moon, as well as the brutal animal instincts that go along with being a werewolf.

While I enjoyed the wolf aspects, I loathed the love stories in this book. Vivian finds herself attracted to a human boy (who is a complete tool) and uses her convenient beauty and powers of seduction to lure this guy into a tangled web. Also, after fighting at a ritual (the males were determining a new pack leader after the death of Vivian's father) ceremony with other female wolves (protecting her mother), Vivian finds herself head female and under the watchful eyes of the new pack leader, Gabriel (she's now the Queen to his King). Perhaps the love aspects of this novel are supposed to represent the mind of a 16 year old and the passion of the animal, but I just found it over the top. I'm not exactly sure if 13 year olds (the reading level on Amazon says 9-12, yikes!) should be reading about implied rough sex. They don't need to infer that all 16 year olds dress provocatively to seduce others (so maybe they should too???). I can see, however, how high school girls would eat this book up. Blood and Chocolate is like a toned down romance novel with cool gore and fantasy elements.

I found myself just as annoyed with Vivian (at certain times) as I was with Bella (Twilight series) and Gemma (A Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy). This is something that I come to expect from YA novels, and I don't mind it normally. The story in Blood and Chocolate, though, wasn't as strong nor as convincing as the latter two novels, which made my annoyance with Vivian a bit stronger, even though she was essentially less dense and more self-assured than both Gemma and Bella combined. I also have to take into account when the book was written. YA was a relatively new genre in 1997 and not nearly as popular then as it is now (the Printz award was not established until 2000). Therefore, not too many people were writing novels aimed specifically at teens in 1997. There are obviously fantastic exceptions though, like the His Dark Materials trilogy, but I digress.

Overall, I'm glad that I checked out this book from the public library as opposed to purchasing it. The book was definitely a page turner, and I can see how it appeals to teens, but it's definitely not my favorite. I doubt that I will purchase it for our growing teen collection over here at the university either, as I don't see many teachers using it in their curricula.

Now, if I could just find a good zombie novel, I wouldn't feel so bad about being partial to vampires.

Onward to Poe...

Book Review: The Woman in White

Author: Wilkie Collins
Year Published: 1860
Start Date: September 1st
Finish Date: September 15th

The Woman in White has become a new favorite of mine. True to its sensationalist nature, the novel revolves around a dark secret harbored by select evil characters. Unfortunately (but it wouldn't be a story without this), the genuinely good characters become entangled with the sinister ones who guard the secret.

The story opens with the protagonist, Walter Hartwright, as he takes on a job as a drawing instructor for two sisters in Limmeridge House (Cumberland). Walking back to London after visiting with his mother and sister on the night before his departure, he encounters a mysterious and distressed woman dressed all in white who needs help with finding her way to London. In transit, she warns Walter against an unnamed Baronet who my or may not show up later in the novel. After she is on her way, Walter overhears men claiming that a woman has recently escaped the asylum. The story further develops once he arrives at Limmeridge House, and the mystery of the woman in white is revealed.

While the story itself is very interesting, I found myself concentrating a lot on the characters of the book, especially the not so good ones. While upon first glance Sir Percival Glyde appears to be most evil person in the novel, I found the Italian Count Fosco to be the most disturbing. His corpulent figure, piercing eyes, and his suave, genial exterior personality frightened me. While I was able to pinpoint his evil from the get go, (having read multiple passages on Professor Umbridge and having dealt with a good bit of passive-aggressiveness in my lifetime) I had a lot of difficulty predicting his personal objectives until they were revealed to me near the end of the book. His weird fascination and concern with Marian, whom I truly liked despite her representing Wilkie's obvious misogynistic feelings, also chilled me to the bone.

What I really enjoyed about this novel was that it was so easy to read. I would highly recommend this book for people who are reluctant to read the classics. I can totally see how The Moonstone (well if it is anything like The Woman in White, as it is currently on my TBR pile) and The Woman and White were so popular in their days. The pace of the novel was comfortable for me. I neither felt like I was given too many details to process before the next event occurred, nor did I feel the plot was too predictable, and therefore boring. Also, having multiple narrators helped me get a good sense of the characters and helped focus on time as a key element in the plot. If I had been reading this in it's true form back in 1860-1861, I would have been anxiously awaiting each new issue of All the Year Round.

Rest in Peace...

...to one of my favorite authors, Madeleine L'Engle.

Color Wheel

I usually stick with the same template on this blog. I like the vivid colors. But the blue just didn't represent September to me, so I changed the blog template color to orange, which happens to be one of my favorite colors (green being the ultimate favorite). Plus, orange fits the months of September through November, as green fits the months of March through May and blue fits June through August. This is all in my head of course. Pink will be a stretch to represent December through February, but the only time I really like the color of pink is at Christmas for some reason. Plus, Valentines (barf) Day is in February, so there is a connection.

Now that you all know my blog color schedule, (because I always have to do things in a regimented manner) you can look for a change of color in my blog as the seasons begin to change.

Well, unless some better, prettier template comes along.

The Woman in White Snowy Range

September has come alas! It may be 90 degrees outside, (and they're turning off the air conditioner at work... yipee) but I get the slightest hint of fall's arrival in the early morning and dusk. It could not come any more quickly.

I got back yesterday from a brief trip to Colorado. I had such a good time with Jon. Other than a beautiful trip to the snowy range, (destination: Lake Marie) we basically hung out, watched the progression of his house being built, took walks after a home made dinner, etc. It was nice.




Even the plane rides to and fro were very entertaining. I've finally settled into my The Woman in White to begin the R.I.P Challenge. Oh how I love this story so far! Sir Percival is currently being introduced, so I have a feeling that I'm about to witness some good ol' fashioned evil. I have to thank my friend Amanda for reintroducing me to the classics. They are honestly better when I can read them at my own pace and not be forced to identify every incidence of ambiguity, foreshadowing, and allusion. My Amazon wishlist is currently heavy with classics, and I intend to read every one of them at some point. More on The Woman in White when I finish!

I'm lucky that I have things to currently make me happy. I have friends going through some yucky personal and professional stuff, ill family members, etc. that I have been praying for/thinking about for weeks now. It's always something, and all I can do is hope that everybody gets through things in one piece.

Oh so Ready for a Change...

It's really difficult for me to pinpoint my favorite season. When people ask, I usually say "fall" because it's pretty and the weather is mild. As I get older though, I've come to appreciate seasonal change. Lately, in this awful heat, I've been longing for winter, which rarely happens because I'm not a fan of the extreme cold and I like snow, but it scares the crap out of me to drive in it (and yes, I have done so when I lived for two years in a place that does get a moderate amount of snow). When I can find the good in something that I usually don't like so much, (excellent reading weather and warm socks) I know that I must just like change.

While fall hits Georgia much later than many places, I find myself daydreaming about the oh so wonderful things that happen in the cooler weather:

-Foliage: I think the colors of autumn are the best of any season.

-Good reading weather: Fall is the perfect time for Gothic novels, mysteries, scary reading challenges, which are rapidly becoming my favorites (or is it the approaching season change).

-Football: Okay, I am not a sports fan, (and luckily, I don't go to a huge football school anymore) but it's kind of fun to watch other people get really worked up (and drunk) over a stupid game (and occasionally keep up with the scores and rankings for the sake of my family). I just can't bring myself to get emotional about it all like everybody else does, but when I look at it's bare bones, it's kind of fun.

-Spices: pumpkin cookies, bread, pie, cup cakes, ginger snaps, spice drop cookies, gum drops, etc. I love (not as much as Jon though) all things pumpkin (excepting my allergy to the seeds) and fall is the perfect time for all things baking oriented.

-Bubble baths and candles: It's kind of hard to take a hot bath in the summer because, well, it's so hot outside. But during fall, I can kick back with my "Autumn Leaves" scented candle, turn off the lights, and relax in the bathtub after a stressful 12 hour work day.

-Fall clothes: I love wearing textured tights, nice closed-toe heels, layers, long-sleeves, bold colors, anything J. Crew in the fall.

I have spent a good portion of my recent days pondering these awesome aspects of the approaching season. Then reality hits and I realize that it's still 100+ degrees outside, my car is a furnace even when driving home from work at 7pm, kids aren't allowed to play outside at the elementary schools, my friend can't rehearse her color guard outside without getting a million parent complaints, and I can't walk outside without my hair becoming a poofy mess.

I heart Georgia! I'll probably be longing for this hotness come January and February, but what can I say? I like change.

Just a side note... thanks to all of the R.I.P. Challenge folks for the encouragement. I'm looking forward to reading all of the fantastic reviews about your reads. I will begin The Woman in White come Saturday, September 1st on my 2.5 hour flight to Denver.

BEHOLD!

As our rare books cataloger was cataloging a book tonight, he called me into his office to decipher some weird handwriting and a picture on the back of the cover. Turns out, this 1930s copy of The Shape of Things to Come was not only signed by H. G. Wells himself on the title page, but the book was also owned by a lady named Hazel Lavery who was an Anglo-Irish artist and second wife of Irish painter Sir John Lavrey. I emailed Amanda right away about this and her response was as follows:

"bookgasm*bookgasm*bookgasm*bookgasm*"

My thoughts exactly.

I'm not a nerd... or AM I???

My First Challenge

I've decided to participate in my first reading challenge. I'm somewhat scared to do this because while I read habitually, I'm not exactly up to the standards of my friends with their English degrees. After all, this is NOT a book blog, nor do I plan on starting one because I would just appear to be an idiot! The theme of this challenge though, is particularly alluring, so if I was ever going to get the nerves too participate, now is the time.

This is the second year for Readers Imbibing Peril, R.I.P. for short, which will take place from September 1st through October 31st. There are many different options for this challenge, but I'm going to opt for the "vanilla" peril and read 4 books of any length. Each book should be creepy, scary, eerie, Gothic, you name it... basically, perfect Fall reading.

The following are the 4 that I plan to read (in no particular order):

-Dracula, by Bram Stoker
-The Fall of the House of Usher and other Writings, by Edgar Allan Poe (I'm actually going to read something other than a novel for once)
-The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins
-Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klaus

I'm really happy that he included the YA genre in the challenge, because it comprises the majority of my reading piles. Excepting some Poe short stories, I picked books that I have never read before (Yes, I've never read Dracula nor The Woman in White).

If I have time, I might add in a couple more like:

-Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
-The Thirteenth Tale (a reread, but I like it still) by Diane Setterfield

Sadly, my current books are paling in comparison to my September and October TBR pile.

Join if you like to read!

I'm a Sucker for the Blood Sucker

What can I say? I LOVE Vampires. Okay, if I encountered a particularly thirsty one, I don't think I'd venture to say that I'd love them so much, but they make great creepy/hot characters in books.

My very first vivid nightmare as a kid involved a vampire (à la Bela Lugosi style). The dream was in black and white and this freaky undead one (who lived in a coffin standing on end like a fantasized mummy would) was after my dad. The vampire was trying to lure my dad with an apple, like the serpent in the Book of Genesis or something. I remember waking up frightened out of my mind at the scene and wondering if my father was okay.

Luckily, my dad survived the ordeal and here I am today, completing what feels like my 17th vampire novel since August 2006 (Eclipse, part of the Twilight series). I think I've gotten to the point where I'm no longer creeped out by the nightmare itself and can "research" vampires with interest. I started reading the first two books in the aforementioned YA series, then read some of Scott Westerfeld's vampire novels (not as good as his Uglies trilogy, but alright), then read the book that sealed the deal, The Historian (yes, a best seller I actually loved for once). I've never been so thoroughly scared in my life as I was reading this book. The connection for me felt real as well, since a good chunk of my heritage is based in that part of the world. Plus, Vlad Ţepeş was a real person, and his history alone is enough to make any sort of vampire lore seem a bit pale in comparison. While I was reading the book, it got to the point that I was thinking about vampires so much that I freaked myself out and couldn't read at night, nor alone in the house.

I always wonder why I like reading about something that scares me so much, when I'm the biggest scaredy cat when it comes to watching horror movies, and I'm not interested in reading about zombies or other creepy beasts/undeads of legend. It's probably the nightmare from my childhood and wanting to kick my dream vampire's ass for going after my father, or the fact that they seem to be so suave and hot in literature and movies (thanks to Gary Oldman and Stephenie Meyer) but can suck the life out of you.

Ah well, I suppose confronting my own fears is a good thing. :)

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination

-John Lennon

Why is it that vacations always go by so fast? My 10 day vacation went by like a blur and now I'm back to work work work. School starts up next week (I think) and suddenly I realize that I've been at Brenau for a year this coming Wednesday. Wow. I'm just thankful that the faculty retreat won't be half as overwhelming as it was last year. Although a day at Lake Lanier trying to be professional is going to be pretty difficult, considering the 100+ degree heat currently taking over Georgia. WHY?? I hate winter, but I'm psyched about fall clothes, as they are my favorite. It can't come soon enough. Plus, the cold is such good reading weather (I can finally read Dracula).

My vacation was fun. I spent part of it in Keystone, Colorado for Jon's family reunion. I spent a good portion of it being shy around his family, but it was easier to communicate with them once card games were involved. I'm a card and board game fanatic. I also went white water rafting for the first time. We went on an intermediate course, but in level 4 rapids (or whatever you call it) because the season is about to end. Our guide tipped us over once going down a waterfall. Once I was able to breathe from the shock of hitting 40 degree water and having said water fill up my nose and mouth, I had a lot of fun and was a bit less nervous about never having rafted before. I also got on a bike for the first time in something like 15 years (I was awful for about half of the ride) and rode down the continental divide area in Vail, in the freezing rain.

The second half was spent in the Black Hills in South Dakota. This was my second time to the area (Badlands, Custer State Park area) but my first time in both Wind Cave and Jewel Cave. Jon and I had a lot of fun everywhere we went, and even got to ride a gigantic jakalope at Wall Drug. There is something very calming about the prairie and I think summer is the best time to visit the area... especially to see the prairie dogs!

Now I'm attempting to get back to normal. Indeed, it leaves a lot to the imagination...

Quick, Short, and to the Point

I'm/I've...

-Leaving for my final summer vacation on Thursday (10 days, a few in Dillon, Colorado for Jon's family reunion, a few days in South Dakota visiting America, and a couple just chilling with my guy)

-Back to where I left off reading Dickens (with the exception of the August 7th release of Eclipse) and hoping to get through it fast so I can alleviate some of this book anxiety

-Been finding myself often as of late in a state of reverie, dreaming of traveling to far away places, the future, Gloria Swanson and how freaky she was in Sunset Boulevard, how much I liked Harry Potter and His Dark Materials, and why my dog insists on making love pals out of any stuffed animal that I try to sleep with (not that I still sleep with stuffed animals... come on, I'm 25 *coughs*)

-Wondering why my face looks simultaneously like I'm an 18 year old and an Italian entrée

-Been loving SCRUBS with my friend Adrian, as we are the female versions of J.D. and Turk

-Wondering if this will be the first summer since 2002 that I haven't had a killer tan (maybe I will thank myself when I'm 40)

-Remaining amazed at my paternal grandfather, who has recently been diagnosed with two types of terminal cancer, and is only getting palliative treatment, got off his hiney after having a serious surgery on his colon, and went into his part time job (that he doesn't need to have in the first place)

Be back in August!

Woman Problems, Weddings, Getting Dusty, and Finding the Meaning of Dust

I apologize for my absence, but vacation and just general chaos have gotten in the way of blogging. I'm finally relaxed after having to leave work early this afternoon, as I found myself in quite a bit of pain. Normally I don't leave work early for a little pain, but my reproductive system was on meltdown mode, as it decides to do every once in a while, and I found myself going to my boss, who told me to, by all means, go home.

After a very hot (yes in the middle of July) bath, and taking a fish oil pill (I took too much naproxen sodium already today), and having dinner brought to me in bed, I finally feel better. Thanks mom for the great dinner (and the not so great genes)!

Anyways, vacation was a blast. Both weddings went very well. I especially enjoyed both the food and the low-key ceremony of the Vegas wedding and the UGA flagline reunion of the Georgia wedding. If I wasn't at a wedding, I was hiking with Jon (and sometimes Jon's friends) in Utah and Colorado national parks and monuments. I kept up very well (and complained little once I realized that people do rarely see mountain lions) on strenuous hikes and I survived camping (with an air mattress). The state parks were well-kept and I longed for their shower facilities later in the week when I was all dusty with desert sand. I enjoy not being too girly, but also not being too hard core, but rather somewhere in the middle (obviously this is my own opinion on myself, and might not be other's). You won't catch me at the mall every weekend, but you also won't catch me peeing in a pit toilet infested by large crickets (I will squat in front of a large audience before that ever happens again... and I'm dead serious).

Anyways, now that people know about my feminine problems, and fear of large bugs, and falling into pits of sewage, let's move on...

I don't know what kind of hole I was living in to not know about the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. I'm kind of glad that I'm reading it now though, instead of as a teenager because they're so literary (Paradise Lost anybody?) and complicated. It's difficult to tell who's good and who's bad in the books at times. I love the main character Lyra, because she reminds me of a mix between Hermione Granger, Vicky Austen, and Meg Murray. Plus the concept of dæmons is amazing. He's such a fantastic story teller. I totally recommend the series, especially if you're a bit more, um, open minded about religion (and realize that he's not attacking religion, but an oppressive earthly component of religion). If these books are approved and hailed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, then I'm going to read them. If Laura Mallory only knew about this one, she'd think Harry Potter was something to be taught in Bible class (although again, I think they're too long for her to actually read).

Fantasy Fun...

I probably won't write again for a couple of weeks. I have a wedding to attend this weekend, followed by a week of vacation (to attend another wedding) out west with my guy. Try not to cry while I'm away. :)