An American In Frankfurt

On a bus.

2009-07-09T14:11:36Z

I'm on a bus. I did the Jersey Shore last week with the AOs, It was beautiful and fun.

I went to work on Monday but had to leave early so that I could sell my car in western NJ. (I really miss my car already. It was a wonderful little car. But it went to a really good home. The guy likes high MPG cars and likes fixing up cars, so he had no issue with the dent or anything else. Yay! Also, I just wire transferred the money to buy my new car in Germany. It's interesting what cash will do for you. If I hadn't been saving up for this move, I wouldn't have had the cash to buy the car, and the people selling it to me for half its worth NEEDED the money to pay off their loan. It's not like I could have easily financed the private sale.)

Now I'm on a Megabus from Milwaukee to Chicago. $10 for the ride, free Wifi. No plugs though, so I'll run out of battery before I get to Chicago. I love Milwaukee. I really do. The Safe House is the most awesome restaurant in the world. When you order a martini, they send it through the pneumatic tube to shake it up and it travels through the entire restaurant. Awesome. And the tea house that began my obsession with afternoon tea is in Milwaukee. Mmmmm. And you can't beat the friends here. (Well, you could, if you had a big enough stick, but why would you want to?) I also spent yesterday with rebeccavich who I hadn't seen in 2 years (since the last time on the Jersey shore). I hadn't even known she'd moved to Milwaukee! It was great!

When i get off the bus in Chicago, I'll be meeting my godparents for the first time. They moved away from Seattle when I was 4 and never came back. I have no memories of them at all. My only knowledge of them growing up was that they had given me my little baptismal bible, and when I was in middle school my mom went to Chicago and saw them and brought back a Hard Rock Cafe sweatshirt for me. Supposedly they're really nice, but I don't know them.

And then a weekend of business at the ALA Annual conference. Crazy! I might end the weekend with more craziness and go see HP and the HBP Tuesday at Midnight. Who cares that I have an 11am flight. It's HP!

Whirlwind Tour

2009-07-09T03:11:03Z

So I have left NYC.

I am moving to Frankfurt, Germany.

And since I luckily still have a lot of friends on Livejournal, I figured maybe I should start posting regularly again.

I had to move out of my house at the end of July, so I spent a week on the Jersey Shore with metallian and mrsmetallian as well as a bunch of awesome other Alpha Thetians. I then worked one last day at NYPL, and am now in Milwaukee with the Metallians before heading to Chicago tomorrow for ALA (yay librarian conferences!).

I'll then spend 2 weeks in Seattle, 2 days in Iceland, and settle in Frankfurt (after 2 weeks of whirlwind travelling Germany with haeddre).

Oh what a crazy life I lead.

But it's nice to be back to checking LJ!

Jobs in Germany

2009-02-24T00:02:32Z

Anybody want to find me a job I can do in Frankfurt (or the immediate environs)?

Or a job I can do from abroad for an in the US company?

In Honor of the Oscars

2009-02-22T19:16:09Z

My first post in FOREVER!!!

And thanks to Comrade Christine for sending me her version.

Rules:
1. Pick 20 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
5. NO GOOGLING, using an IMDb search or other search function.

1.
I'm Fergus the Ostler.
Whogus the Whatsler?

2.
"You don't have to do this. I mean, this ain't exactly the Mississipi.
I'm on one side, I'm on the other side. I'm on the east bank, I'm on
the west bank. It's not that critical.

3.
Praise the Lord, and pass the tax rebate!

4.
I've come here with a view of asking you to marriage me. I know I
seems an insane person - because I hardly knows you - but sometimes
things are so transparency, they don't need evidential proof.

5.
What's this? You're wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see?
Don't be that guy.

6.
"I'm promoting you Major. "
"I don't think that's a very good idea."

7.
DON'T MOVE, DIRTBAG!

8.
It comes in pints?
I'm getting one.

9.
We are men of action, lies do not become us.

10.
The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

11.
"I heard that! It turned inside out?"
"And it exploded."

12.
"Tell me, what's Einstein really like?"
"Dead."

13.
Supplies!

14.
"I hate trees."
"They don't bother me. "
"Yeah, well, you weren't in the last one."

15.
He does dress better than I do, what would I bring to the relationship?

16.
Well, I hope it's a long ceremony, 'cause it's gonna be a short honeymoon.

17.
One thousand gold pieces on each of their heads, dead or alive! . . .
I prefer dead!

18.
One day, lad, all this will be yours.
What, the curtains?
No, not the curtains,

19.
"Just how obscene an amount of cash are we talking about here? Profane
or really offensive?"
"Really offensive."
"I like him so much."

20.
Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.

And a couple that Christine picked and I would have chosen but didn't
want to copy.

1a)Hey, Ryan, be careful what you shoot at. Most things in here don't
react too well to bullets.

2a) -Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?
-Because it's DULL, you twit. It'll hurt more.

Firecrackers up the wazoo

2007-05-21T16:37:23Z

Oh! Great Del Rey
Air Gear, vol. 1 2006
Itsuki is the star wrestler of the Eastside gang, but his recent victory against the Westside won’t go unpunished. After a beating and a firecracker stuck where the sun don’t shine, Itsuki is ready for revenge. With a new pair of Air Trek (a powered rollerblade that helps users “fly”) and his foster sisters (who happen to conveniently form an Air Trek gang out to stop the bad guys), the adventure begins. Perhaps the author goes by the moniker of Oh! Great to convince the reader that his work is better than it, in actuality, is. While his drawings are eye catching and highly detailed, his writing is choppy and confusing and lacks character depth. The naked shower scenes, rape or molestation of large numbers of girls in multiple scenes (implied), and the aforementioned firecracker are gratuitous and detract from the storyline. There has been a lot of shojo being reviewed for the system recently, so it would have been really nice if this had been a good shonen title to balance out collections, unfortunately it’s not. The artwork does not save the story.

Vampire Academy

2007-05-21T16:31:00Z

Mead, Richelle Razorbill
Vampire Academy 2007
With an appropriately slutty cover and a title to make students think this will be Private meets Dracula (which, really, isn’t a bad sell), the reality of the book was a pleasant surprise. Inside, we find a world where half-human Dhampirs train to protect the living vampires (Moroi) from the dead vampires (Strigoi). The book focuses on the friendship and mystical bond between Dhampir Rose and Moroi princess Lissa. Mead creates supernatural characters that are far more real than many of the shallow characters found in series fiction today. The main characters face ostracism, classism, self-mutilation (cutting), slander, first love, and depression (which they fight the old-fashioned way . . . with therapy and pills). A strong addition to the many vampire books that come out each year, with another book in the series due out in 2008.

A Princess of Roumania, revisited

2007-05-21T16:28:49Z

So, back in December, I mentioned how I didn't like the book. I just didn't.

I had to review the sequel, Tourmaline, and I didn't like it either.

Now I have to review the 3rd (and hopefully last) book in the series, White Tyger. I expect I won't like it.

But to be fair, I think there are lots of people who will. I suggested book 2 for an awardy/listy thing, I'll probably do the same for book 3. I recognize that it's just one of those things where it's a good book, just not for me. I can admit when my own preferences shouldn't overshadow the merit of a book. This doesn't happen very often though. Normally, when I'm faced with a book I don't like, it really is a bad book. I like so many DIFFERENT varieties of books, that it's surprising for me to dislike a good book. But I'm not a fan of the LOTR books either. I love the story, don't like the writing style. And that, as far as I can tell, is what happens with the Roumania books and me.

I don't like this book

2006-12-21T21:14:05Z

I'm reading A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park. I don't like it.

The below review from a user at Amazon.com really sums up what I'm feeling right now.

My favorite line in the review: "It ends with something that I would call a cliffhanger if it were even remotely interesting or thrilling."

A review by Abigail Nussbaum (Israel)
http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Roumania-Paul-Park/dp/0765310961

"The exuberant praise for Paul Park's A Princess of Roumania - from luminaries such as Karen Joy Fowler, Jonathan Lethem, Kim Stanley Robinson, and John Crowley, not to mention many respected genre reviewers - has left me scratching my head. Did all these people read the same book I did?

Park's underperforming novel might be acceptable for the YA set (although there's so much good stuff for kids these days that it's hard to imagine why they'd bother with this book), but adult readers have nothing to look for here. At no point is A Princess of Roumania truly bad, but neither does it ever manage to pull itself together into a competent piece of writing. Reading it is an experience similar to eating dough instead of bread.

Park's prose is dull and overworked in its descriptive passages, choppy and inscrutable during the (never particularly thrilling) action scenes. His plot meanders, and when it does advance it does so at a snail's pace. Worst of all, Princess' characters are at best dull, at worst, merely cyphers on the page, bereft of personality and originality.

Part of the problem is that Princess is only the first half of a story that, quite plainly, isn't broad enough to support 600 pages. The book's plot is mainly setup - getting all the pieces on the board where the author wants them - and the result is at least 200 pages of almost nothing happening, followed by 150 pages of very little happening. It's probably overstating the case to say that Princess would have made a good novel at half its page count - there's still Park's anemic prose and indifferent characterization to contend with - but it would have been a good first step. Regardless, it's important to note that Princess doesn't really stand on its own. It ends with something that I would call a cliffhanger if it were even remotely interesting or thrilling, and resolves none of the questions and mysteries raised over the course of its 370 pages.

This is hardly the first time I've found myself at odds with authors whose own fiction I've greatly admired. It probably won't be the last. The fact that Park plays a little with the conventions of the 'Princess in hiding' sub-genre doesn't make him an original writer, nor does in make A Princess of Roumania an interesting or worthwhile book. There are plenty of books out there that overturn genre tropes in interesting and thought-provoking ways, and you would be well advised to leave Park's book alone and seek them out instead."

10 sure signs a movie character is doomed and other surprising movie lists

2006-12-11T23:40:43Z

by Richard Roeper.

from the list "the 40 worst movies I've ever seen" comes:

5. Battlefield Earth: The Real danger of Scientology is that John Travolta may someday make another movie based on the wrotings of L. Ron Hubbard.

Christmas Letters

2006-12-08T22:30:20Z

Elph had the right idea. Can people please send me their addresses so I can send them Christmas letters? I've never done it before, so it's really about time I did . . .

All comments will be screened, so you should be safe, otherwise send it to my GMAIL account (i'll never see it at my alum account).

The Frost Haired VIxen

2006-12-08T22:28:45Z

This is one I DIDN'T ordre for the library, because A) it wouldn't get here far enough before Christmas to be worth it and B) it really sounds awful, in a hilarious sort of way.

"In the year 2061, Zachary Nixon, the last PI on Earth is hired by Santana Clausa, the mutant CEO of the North Pole Organization, to find a not-so-nice killer who is trying to sabotage the winter holidays by picking off cloned elf workers one-by-one."

Jesus DIDN'T come back to life?!?!?!

2006-11-20T22:38:18Z

So, I went and saw Godspell at the Barn Theater in Montville, NJ on Saturday night. It was a very well done production, good use of a small space, and on the whole superb acting (with the slightly less stellar actors/singers being given the smaller roles so you didn't notice so much, although unfortunately one of the best male singers was highlighted in one song towards the end, but we NEVER heard him solo anywhere else).

But, for those of you who don't know Godspell, it's a hippie retelling of the gospels. At the end, the penultimate song is "On the Willows" and the last supper happens during this song. Then Jesus dies at the beginning of the "Finale" (inventive title for the final song, eh?) which has Jesus singing "Oh God, I'm bleeding, Oh God, I'm dying, Oh God I'm dead" and the rest of the chorus answering "Oh God, you're de-e-e-e-e-ead" (essentially, the rest of the chorus also repeats the bleeding and dying bit too). Then they untie him from his chain link cross and carry him around while singing "Long live God, Long live God, Long live God, Long live God!" And then, in every other production I've seen, the body of Jesus gets taken offstage. In most productions, he gets carried offstage. In one particularly spiffy production at the Taproot Theater in Seattle, Jesus is strung up with long sawths of cloth from each side of the stage, then they just untie one hand which puts all the tension on one side of him and the cloths automatically drags him offstage . . . and yes, my friends and I were geeks in middle school, we went to see Godspell as a birthday party
event).

Then, they start in on a slightly somber rendition of "Prepare the way of the Lord" and then it suddenly becomes more upbeat and eventually switches into a rendition of "Day by Day". When the music changes and becomes more upbeat, JESUS IS SUPPOSED TO COME BACK ON STAGE, ___ALIVE___!!!

I mean, the whole point is that he DOES live!!!

But in this production, he's still dead at the end?!?!?! What's up with that?!?!?!

Where the athiest producers of the show ticked that the felt like they had to put on the show because they knew it would sell well to local viewers, but they didn't want Jesus to come back to life as a snub to believers?!?!

And if you're completely lost, this page has some low quality (both in terms of sound and in terms of singers) mp3s/videos of the production.

http://vc.bc.ca/godspell/cast.shtml

Ark Angels

2006-11-18T16:15:51Z

Park, Sang-Sun Tokyopop
Ark Angels: Volume 1 2005
Part of the recent influx of manwha (Korean manga that reads from left to right) into the United States, Ark Angels follows three young sisters as they try to save earth’s creatures from extinction. Along the way, they will have to stop those who wish to destroy the human race, face the trials and tribulations of high school life, and discover who the mysterious man they see in different time periods is. While at times the environmentalism is a bit pushy, the elements of hope and a firm belief in the innate goodness of the human race, along with stunning artwork and wonderful humanization of endangered animals help keep the occasionally preachy tone from overwhelming the story.

Also, the story stars Japheth, Hamu, and Shem. Sound familiar? The names of Noah's three sons. And they put the endangered animals they catch on an ark :)

QOTD

2006-11-17T22:05:25Z

Quote of the day. In response to the question "Which is the cult writer, Ray Bradbury or L. Ron Hubbard", a speaker at the reader's advisory conference I went to on Wednesday said "Trick question, just because a writer has a cult, doesn't make him a cult writer", thus making the correct answer Ray Bradbury.

Thud!

2006-11-17T21:31:48Z

Thud!
by Terry Prachett

Another great dustjacket . . .

"Commander Sam VImes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch admints he may not be the sharpest knife in the cutlery drawer-he might not even be a spoon. But he's; dogged and honest and he'll be damned if he lets anyone disturb his city's always-tentative peace- ant that includes a rabble-rousing dwarf from the sticks (or deep beneath them) who's been stirring up big trouble on the eve of the anniversary of one of Discworlds's most infamous historical events."

Why a spoon cousin?
Because it's dull you twit! It'll hurt more!

Hmmm . . . and it turns out html tags do work in Live Journal :)
Not that I'd ever tried before . . .

Vampires!!!

2006-11-15T21:58:03Z

Westerfeld, Scott Razorbill
The Last Days (A sequel to Peeps) 2006

This vampire book makes it easy to suspend disbelief by being set in a very real modern day Manhattan with a very real cast of teenage characters. Each chapter is told from one of five points of view, each character being a member of a new band bringing a new sound to the steadily more and more chaotic happenings of New York City. The author’s use of metaphor helps the reader connect to the supernatural, while the mundane tasks of life, such as school and work, that the characters continue to do, keep the reader believing that these characters are not so very different from the average teenager.

Amendment: The great music references reminded me a bit of Nick and Norah's Infinite playlist (or vice versa, since I read this one first).

Tamora Pierce!!!

2006-11-15T21:56:30Z

Tamora Pierce could write about her dirty laundry and I'd love it, but this was genuinely good. I was a bit wary of the first person pov at first, but it turned out well.

Pierce, Tamora Random House Publishers for Young Readers
Terrier (Beka Cooper) 2006
Previously, novels set in Tortall have focused on the knights, Queens Riders, Kings Own and the spies of the realm Rebekah Cooper (Beca) is a Puppy (trainee) of a less glamorous group of law enforcers: the Dogs, or police, of the Lower City. In a world where some have magic and some don’t, Beca’s abilities include the ability to hear the voices of the dead as they are transported on the backs of pigeons. They become her informants, and her cat Pounce (more than meets the eye) is both friend and protector. Pierce’s first foray into the 1st person PoV is generally successful. Written as a journal, each gap in entries is accounted for, although one wonders how Pierce will continue the format for the rest of the trilogy and still progress the timeline and story. In the Trickster series, Pierce thanked J. K. Rowling for ending the misconception that children’s and YA books must be short, and Terrier continues Pierce’s trend of longer books, weighing in at 592 pages, although some of this is due to the journal format. Lovers of Pierce’s other books will not be disappointed.

Stuart: a life backwards

2006-11-15T21:55:05Z

Masters, Alexander Delacorte Press
Stuart: a Life Backwards 2006
More of a case study than the biography it purports to be, this book follows the life of one very troubled man from his death, back through his life of drugs, homelessness, and eventually to key points of his youth that help the reader understand how his life progressed the way it did . . . at least as well as Stuart himself understood it. Masters’ extensive knowledge of “the System” that is in place to help the homeless in England certainly enlightens the reader and puts Stuart’s life into perspective, but it also creates a feeling that Stuarts life is just a clinical example of all that is right and wrong with “the System”. Because it is the British system being explored, the bureaucratic experiences are very different from those that would be experienced in the United States, making the book sadly less useful for the American student attempting to understand homelessness as an American phenomenon. While it is a compelling story, it has limited appeal to a teen audience. Use from adult.

Secret Society Girl

2006-11-15T21:54:05Z

Maybe it's because I went to Dartmouth and the "Eli" university in this book is very similar, or maybe it's because I was in a coed frat, but I absolutely ADORED this book.

Peterfreund, Diana Delacorte Press
Secret Society Girl: an Ivy League Novel 2006
Amy Haskel, editor of the “Eli University” (Yale) literary magazine, is a shoe-in for Quill & Ink, the literary senior society, so when she’s tapped by Rose & Grave, the most powerful, most secretive, most all-male society at Eli, she is surprised to say the least. As Amy enters a world of initiation and tradition, the reader enters Peterfreund’s colorful and witty world of college life. The adventures of the last few weeks of Amy’s junior year are as exciting as any episode of Alias, with the added advantage that there need be no suspension of disbelief as the author creates a very real world it is easy for the reader to relate to, even if they do not have the Ivy League experience or the vocabulary of the main characters of the book. Peterfreund puts the first person to good use in this “confession”.

Qko Chan

2006-11-15T21:51:22Z

Stay away from this book. It's really not worth reading.

Hajime, Ueda Del Rey
Q-Ko-Chan: The Earth Invader Girl 2006
A summary of this title would be easier to provide if the book were better written. Graphic novels rely heavily on artwork to help tell the story, but this title’s artwork is so basic as to be distracting. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the problems of society, aliens, and governmental feuds could be interesting if one could decipher precisely what is going on. The main story, about a robot that turns into a girl and the elementary school children who befriend her, is as underdeveloped as the characters and distracts from what could be an interesting vision of a possible future. This series appears to be geared towards a younger crowd (perhaps 5th and 6th graders). With only 2 volumes total, it is difficult to see how the story would have time to develop into anything better. Fans of FCLC might enjoy. NOT RECOMMENDED.

Ammendum, I think I've heard there are actually more volumes, but I don't know how many. Sometimes my sources are wrong.

Prisoner of Trebekistan

2006-11-15T21:50:10Z

Harris, Bob Crown
Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy! 2006
Bob Harris was a big winner on Jeopardy: a five time champion decade long participant in tournaments of champions and ultimate tournaments of champions. Prisoner take the reader everywhere from Harris’ personal life to the intricacies of human memory to travels and quests for knowledge. Harris’ early career as a standup comedian is easy to believe as you laugh your way through comedic slip-ups and hilarious mnemonic devices. While a fascinating book, the title has little appeal for the teen reader. Discussions of how brain and memory work fill a good portion of the book, and the book is designed for the adult interested in how to prepare for Jeopardy, not the teen interested in the Teen Tournament. While the true diehard teen fan may want to read this book, they can easily use from Adult.

Never Give Up

2006-11-15T21:49:17Z

Mutou, Hiromu Tokyopop
Never Give Up: Volume 1 2006
In the tradition of Hana-Kimi, W Juliet, and Girl Got Game comes another cross-dressing adventure. Kiri is incredibly handsome, but she’s a girl. In love with the beautifully handsome Tohya since they were children, both families agree that she is not beautiful enough for him. Kiri embarks on a quest to become a princess fit for Tohya. Unfortunately, in order to spend time with him and protect him as he enters the role of model, she has to become a model as well . . . a male model. Full of the usual high jinks, mistaken identities, and misplaced crushes one finds in these stories, Never Give Up lacks the character depth of Hana-Kimi or W Juliet, but that won’t stop fans from enjoying it. The artwork is well done and serves the story well. For once, the cross-dressing female actually looks masculine while dressed as a girl. Another example of a long running series with at least 13 volumes.

Magic Study and Poison Study

2006-11-15T21:48:38Z

This series is absolutely amazing. It made me remember why I liked fantasy so much back in the day (although now I lean towards science fiction). I even emailed the author a question and she responded!!! Woot!

Snyder, Maria V. Luna Books
Poison Study 2005
Yelena is being given a choice: hanging for the murder she committed or become the Commander’s new food taster and, not being a fool, she chooses the latter. She never dreamed what it would lead to: kidnapping, knife fights, poisonings (well, she did see that one coming), magical powers (both her own and others), friends, and even love. The enemies of her past continue to haunt her. Although written for adults, 18 year old Yelena is a likable character that teens will relate to. The combination of non-magical military dictatorship with the world of magic is a refreshing addition to any fantasy collection. While there is discussion of rape and torture, it is tastefully dealt with.

Snyder, Maria V. Luna Books
Magic Study 2006
In her sequel to Poison Study, Snyder creates a magical tale reminiscent of a cross between McKinley’s Blue Sword and Card’s Treason. Yelena is haunted by her past and struggling with a magical ability that scares even her teachers . Banned from the north because of her magic, she travels south to the land of her birth where she must face loving parents, a suspicious brother, an exiled king, magical studies, a mass murderer, and . . . a horse. The book easily stands alone without Poison Study. While written for adults, Yelena is only 20 and her feelings towards new surroundings will ring true with the young adult audience. Fast paced action, a healthy dash of romance, and promise of another book to come in the trilogy.

A Perfect Day for Love Letters

2006-11-15T21:46:14Z

Sorry, no, I haven't been getting love letters. I wish . . .

Asakura, George Del Rey
A Perfect Day For Love Letters: Vol. 2 2005
Six more stories of romance, five of them involving love letters. Asakura has a distinctive drawing style, where the characters often come across as unpolished, but still have great ability to express emotion. Asakura is inventive with the different formats the love letters take, from videotapes to faxes to exchange journals. An added bonus of these stories is that not all of them have a happy ending (although none of them have truly unhappy endings, rather sometimes love is recognized, but distance or death makes it impossible for the relationship to continue). This should appeal to teenagers who know all too well that love does not always work out. The last volume of this series, this makes a great addition to collections with limited space.

Fun and Funky Knitting

2006-11-15T21:41:48Z

Not that I actually thought any of you WERE going to run out and get this, but I reviewed it, so you might as well have a chance to read the review :)

Greco, Kathleen and Greco, Nick C&T Publishing
Girl’s Guide to Fun & Funky Knitting 2006
While the concept behind this book is exciting (knitting everything from skirts and sweaters to purses and bracelets using only the basic knit and purl and simple increases and decreases) the final product is sadly age inappropriate for the young adult audience. The problems with the book do not end with the pictures of models that look to be 10, and projects whose style is fitting for fourth graders. In an attempt to be trendy and eye-catching, the layout of the book becomes cluttered and difficult to read with haphazardly placed information boxes and fonts that are almost indecipherable.