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Reading plans for 2009
Dec. 10th, 2008 12:32 pmI'm trying to find a list of classic novels to give me a bit of inspiration about what to read next year on top of my list of usual suspects. I have no trouble finding s.f. and mysteries and such to read, but I have the keen suspicion that I haven't read as many classics as I think I have. Allow me to add that I know that many s.f. books and mysteries are considered classics, but I'm talking non-genre fiction, specifically.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not doing this out of some weird masochistic sense of elitist obligation. I usually enjoy classics when I read them, but these days they're not really on my radar, as it were. I've read very little by way of the "big" classics (Tolstoy, Hardy, Balzac, what have you), and as such I miss a lot of cultural references along the way. I'd like to correct this, and perhaps discover some treasures along the way.
The plan is to participate in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
50bookchallenge again, starting January 1st. I am going to challenge myself to read 50 books of my own choosing (minimum) and 50 "classics" as well. Two books per week is eminently doable for me. :)
So, dear flist, help out a girl with weak Google Fu. Are there any really long lists out there with the Big Classics One Can't Avoid And Is Usually Made To Read In School?
I'm open to non-fiction, and I would LOVE suggestions in French, too. I haven't done nearly enough reading in my mother tongue lately.
Also: new icon love! I am slowly filling my shiny new icon slots, mostly with icons I snagged from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
iconsbycurtana. :)
Don't get me wrong. I'm not doing this out of some weird masochistic sense of elitist obligation. I usually enjoy classics when I read them, but these days they're not really on my radar, as it were. I've read very little by way of the "big" classics (Tolstoy, Hardy, Balzac, what have you), and as such I miss a lot of cultural references along the way. I'd like to correct this, and perhaps discover some treasures along the way.
The plan is to participate in
50bookchallenge again, starting January 1st. I am going to challenge myself to read 50 books of my own choosing (minimum) and 50 "classics" as well. Two books per week is eminently doable for me. :)So, dear flist, help out a girl with weak Google Fu. Are there any really long lists out there with the Big Classics One Can't Avoid And Is Usually Made To Read In School?
I'm open to non-fiction, and I would LOVE suggestions in French, too. I haven't done nearly enough reading in my mother tongue lately.
Also: new icon love! I am slowly filling my shiny new icon slots, mostly with icons I snagged from
iconsbycurtana. :)
Temporarily Incommunicado
Jul. 16th, 2007 07:46 pmI am sneaking online at work to say that I am having connectivity issues at home. My modem appears to be snubbing me. I hope the problem will be resolved soon, but if you don't hear from me for a while, that's why.
Cheers!
Also: GIP courtesy oftaxlady
:::ETA:::
After reading a number of frustrated posts from others, I have realized that it was my provider and not me, and that the situation has been resolved already. So, yay!
Cheers!
Also: GIP courtesy of
taxlady:::ETA:::
After reading a number of frustrated posts from others, I have realized that it was my provider and not me, and that the situation has been resolved already. So, yay!
Icon love!
Mar. 13th, 2007 01:38 pmAnyone who hasn't at least gone to look at iconsbycurtana should do so now. They are t3h awesome.
curtana, I have ganked a bunch and shoved them, with credit, in my icon list. There are so many that it would take forever to credit individually, so they're all there. :)
iconsbycurtana should do so now. They are t3h awesome.curtana, I have ganked a bunch and shoved them, with credit, in my icon list. There are so many that it would take forever to credit individually, so they're all there. :)Something else I forgot
Mar. 9th, 2007 11:22 amMany thanks to sorceror for the Forgetful Jones pic. It is now a happy icon. :)
The thing I forgot to mention (among many others, I'm sure) is that they fired the little Italian boy at work this week. I can't say I'm surprised. It's not that he wasn't a good worker, because he was, and he was nice in his own way. He just played a little too fast and loose with his hours worked/hours charged. He was warned repeatedly, and when he ignored the warnings he was fired. That and a few other things.
It's too bad. I kind of liked him, and he certainly kept things interesting. The central is much quieter without him around. That's a good thing and a bad thing. I'm not worried about him: he's finishing school in another month and he'll be able to concentrate full-time doing ceramic work, which is what he wanted to do anyway.
Oh well. The good news is that they like me, think I'm doing a great job, and have patted me on the back and told me to carry on as I've been going.
sorceror for the Forgetful Jones pic. It is now a happy icon. :)The thing I forgot to mention (among many others, I'm sure) is that they fired the little Italian boy at work this week. I can't say I'm surprised. It's not that he wasn't a good worker, because he was, and he was nice in his own way. He just played a little too fast and loose with his hours worked/hours charged. He was warned repeatedly, and when he ignored the warnings he was fired. That and a few other things.
It's too bad. I kind of liked him, and he certainly kept things interesting. The central is much quieter without him around. That's a good thing and a bad thing. I'm not worried about him: he's finishing school in another month and he'll be able to concentrate full-time doing ceramic work, which is what he wanted to do anyway.
Oh well. The good news is that they like me, think I'm doing a great job, and have patted me on the back and told me to carry on as I've been going.
Hippy-dippyness, and GIP!
Jan. 19th, 2007 10:21 amIt's ridiculously difficult to get in touch with anyone who might have red wriggler worms to sell.
Eco-quartier is closed from Friday to Sunday, inclusively.
The other number I tried (I was told "worm swap" but it's somewhere else) said they wouldn't have worms until April.
Worm Swap didn't answer their phone.
Sustainable Concordia didn't answer their phone.
Pousse-menu answered, but only after I tried three times (every 15 minutes).
So I'm off to Pousse-menu later today. I'm going to take a shower, hie myself to Best Buy for a camera, and then to Pousse-menu for worms. I hope their worms aren't as stupidly expensive as the other stuff, because I am leery of the prices listed on their website. They're selling the whole worm-kit for over $70, whereas I paid $13 for my box. Yeah.
GIP for environmental stuff!
Okay, shower.
Eco-quartier is closed from Friday to Sunday, inclusively.
The other number I tried (I was told "worm swap" but it's somewhere else) said they wouldn't have worms until April.
Worm Swap didn't answer their phone.
Sustainable Concordia didn't answer their phone.
Pousse-menu answered, but only after I tried three times (every 15 minutes).
So I'm off to Pousse-menu later today. I'm going to take a shower, hie myself to Best Buy for a camera, and then to Pousse-menu for worms. I hope their worms aren't as stupidly expensive as the other stuff, because I am leery of the prices listed on their website. They're selling the whole worm-kit for over $70, whereas I paid $13 for my box. Yeah.
GIP for environmental stuff!
Okay, shower.
So I made a cooking icon.
The text is a bit fuzzy, but my crappy little image editing software won't let me do anything very fancy, so mnyeh.
In other news, the cats are all curled up together in my armchairs, sleeping. It's the cutest thing ever. Why can't they always be this cute?
Going to bed now. Early day tomorrow. :)
The text is a bit fuzzy, but my crappy little image editing software won't let me do anything very fancy, so mnyeh.
In other news, the cats are all curled up together in my armchairs, sleeping. It's the cutest thing ever. Why can't they always be this cute?
Going to bed now. Early day tomorrow. :)
I now have a zombie icon. I figured it was about time. Also, it reflects my current state of being. I was planning on making an early night of it, but the Paternal Unit had other ideas, and so I've only been home for about 15 minutes. Going to go pass out now. No writing today. Writing tomorrow. Yes.
G'night.
:::keels over:::
G'night.
:::keels over:::
I am running off to my Sunday game, but I needed to point this out: the wonderful, talented and spectacular toughlovemuse gave me RAINBOW SOCKS yesterday! Two pairs!
I have made an icon to celebrate this event.
I am wearing the rainbow socks now. Nothing ever seems quite so terrible when you have rainbow socks on your feet.
toughlovemuse gave me RAINBOW SOCKS yesterday! Two pairs!I have made an icon to celebrate this event.
I am wearing the rainbow socks now. Nothing ever seems quite so terrible when you have rainbow socks on your feet.
Cooking goodness
Oct. 23rd, 2006 06:04 pmI am making tuna casserole tonight. My kitchen is clean enough that I will contemplate cooking in it. Looking in my cupboards, I discovered that I was running a close second to Mother Hubbard, but that I had pasta and a few cans of tuna. Further scrounging revealed a can of condensed mushroom soup, so I'm good to go. I have never made this before, but I think it'll be good. I've topped it with cheese instead of bread crumbs, and it is now in the oven at 450˚. Melty goodness.
Tomorrow there will be more cleaning. I'm going to try to head to bed early tonight in the hopes that I will be able to get up around 7am and thus not lose my entire day again. Today was disconcerting that way, to put it mildly. I'm too used to having longer days now. No more sleeping in until all hours, except on weekends.
In honour of the tuna casserole, I have made a new icon. It's not exactly a cooking icon, but it's close, and it'll serve for outdoors-y things too, like campfires and such.
Tomorrow there will be more cleaning. I'm going to try to head to bed early tonight in the hopes that I will be able to get up around 7am and thus not lose my entire day again. Today was disconcerting that way, to put it mildly. I'm too used to having longer days now. No more sleeping in until all hours, except on weekends.
In honour of the tuna casserole, I have made a new icon. It's not exactly a cooking icon, but it's close, and it'll serve for outdoors-y things too, like campfires and such.
It's 22:00 and I'm not in bed yet. I feel like such a grown-up. ^_-
I made a public transit icon. I have a feeling I'm going to be needing it. For those of you who don't know, the STM is the Société de Transport de Montréal, our local public transit, erm, organisation-thingie. They used to be the STCUM until all the boroughs merged, so I may occasionally lapse and call it that instead.
So, yes. GIP. I also made a Cthulhu-mop icon, taken from Two Lumps, which may become another cleaning-related icon, or which I may just use however the hell I please. *bounce*
I made a public transit icon. I have a feeling I'm going to be needing it. For those of you who don't know, the STM is the Société de Transport de Montréal, our local public transit, erm, organisation-thingie. They used to be the STCUM until all the boroughs merged, so I may occasionally lapse and call it that instead.
So, yes. GIP. I also made a Cthulhu-mop icon, taken from Two Lumps, which may become another cleaning-related icon, or which I may just use however the hell I please. *bounce*
Domestic Divinity
Aug. 15th, 2006 11:11 pmI swear I'm going to bed.
However, I needed to make this GIP to brag about all the good stuff I got done tonight. Lots and lots of bogganing got accomplished.
Okay, so I didn't finish washing the floors the way I intended, but I got lots of cooking done. I even made a loaf of banana bread. I'm vaguely concerned that it's underdone, as it stuck to the metallic thingie I used to test it, but I don't dare cook it longer, as it's already stayed in the oven ten minutes longer than the longest time allowed by the recipe.
I'm going to test it out ontoughlovemuse tomorrow when she comes here for our writing jam.
I also made shepherd's pie. I think it turned out well, though we won't know until we try it tomorrow. I nearly made a hash of that as well, because I overestimated the size of my pot and nearly made everything overflow. However, I saved it from an ignominious death, and, like I said, I think it's turned out well.
This is a multipurpose GIP post. I'm going to use it for commenting on B12, too, whenever that starts up again. It appeals to my sense of irony. Or something.
Tomorrow I shall was the floors beforetoughlovemuse shows up and clean out the litter boxes. I made another icon for cleaning stuff. I shall post another GIP in a moment to show it off.
Whee! Bed soon.
However, I needed to make this GIP to brag about all the good stuff I got done tonight. Lots and lots of bogganing got accomplished.
Okay, so I didn't finish washing the floors the way I intended, but I got lots of cooking done. I even made a loaf of banana bread. I'm vaguely concerned that it's underdone, as it stuck to the metallic thingie I used to test it, but I don't dare cook it longer, as it's already stayed in the oven ten minutes longer than the longest time allowed by the recipe.
I'm going to test it out on
toughlovemuse tomorrow when she comes here for our writing jam.I also made shepherd's pie. I think it turned out well, though we won't know until we try it tomorrow. I nearly made a hash of that as well, because I overestimated the size of my pot and nearly made everything overflow. However, I saved it from an ignominious death, and, like I said, I think it's turned out well.
This is a multipurpose GIP post. I'm going to use it for commenting on B12, too, whenever that starts up again. It appeals to my sense of irony. Or something.
Tomorrow I shall was the floors before
toughlovemuse shows up and clean out the litter boxes. I made another icon for cleaning stuff. I shall post another GIP in a moment to show it off.Whee! Bed soon.
Cleaning Update #53,826,914
Aug. 11th, 2006 12:43 amThe floor is still not clean. I have some sort of weird psychological block about washing the damned floor.
Have switched from the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou?" to Concrete Blonde.
More dishes sneaked up on me and had to be done. Bathroom is halfway tidy.
I have tea! Many many thanks to t! who surprised me with a water bottle filled with milk earlier. Tea makes everything better. In fact, I shall use my tea icon, because I haven't used it on a post yet. Yay tea!
The whole "tired" thing isn't helping. I'm slowing down, and that of course means that everything else is slowing down as a result. I may have to resort to ABBA to keep me going. Or maybe I should put on Invisible. That ought to do it. :D
That being said, the apartment is in fact getting cleaner by the minute. It's even getting clean as I type, because I left some stuff to soak.
I should put a load of laundry in the machine. In fact, there are many things I need to do before going to bed. Tomorrow is going to be so much fun, let me tell ya...
Okay. Back to cleaning. :::rolls up sleeves:::
Have switched from the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou?" to Concrete Blonde.
More dishes sneaked up on me and had to be done. Bathroom is halfway tidy.
I have tea! Many many thanks to t! who surprised me with a water bottle filled with milk earlier. Tea makes everything better. In fact, I shall use my tea icon, because I haven't used it on a post yet. Yay tea!
The whole "tired" thing isn't helping. I'm slowing down, and that of course means that everything else is slowing down as a result. I may have to resort to ABBA to keep me going. Or maybe I should put on Invisible. That ought to do it. :D
That being said, the apartment is in fact getting cleaner by the minute. It's even getting clean as I type, because I left some stuff to soak.
I should put a load of laundry in the machine. In fact, there are many things I need to do before going to bed. Tomorrow is going to be so much fun, let me tell ya...
Okay. Back to cleaning. :::rolls up sleeves:::
Miles to go and so forth...
Aug. 9th, 2006 08:40 pmI'm tired, but the cleaning is nowhere near where it should be. Taking a quick break because I am very very sweaty and blech.
My mother has generously offered to come in Friday afternoon and do a bit of cleaning for me. That means I have to make sure this place is damned well presentable for when she gets here. Bad enough the place being a mess without having to submit to maternal disapproval on top of it all.
Apart from my complete and total session of moaning written here above, the cleaning is actually going pretty well. Slowly, but well. The apartment is about 40% cleaner than yesterday, and about 50% cleaner than it was on Monday. I don't know how that math works, please don't ask.
I've cleaned out the refrigerator, done almost all of my dishes, and gotten rid of a TON of stuff already. There's another ton waiting to be discarded, but the place already feels lighter. The problem with cleaning out the fridge is that now I'm hungry and there's nothing to eat in here. Well, there wasn't anything to eat before, but at least I had the illusion that there was food. I may have to venture out later in search of vittles.
Gah.
Tired does not begin to describe what I'm feeling. Bouts of insomnia this week have not helped. I wish that my insomnia was more produuctive. If I was completely awake, for instance, then I'd be able to bop around the apartment and clean. Instead I seem to be spending my nights one-quarter asleep, shifting around restlessly and not actually deriving any benefit at all from this state of semi-wakefulness. It's most frustrating.
I think I may try to go to bed early. Like, say, now. Then I'll get up early and continue my cleaning. Maybe it's wishful thinking that has me believing I'll be able to get up that early tomorrow. Maybe not. I'm willing to give it a shot, as I am fagged.
Oh, and Gratuitous Start Trek Icon! Just because.
My mother has generously offered to come in Friday afternoon and do a bit of cleaning for me. That means I have to make sure this place is damned well presentable for when she gets here. Bad enough the place being a mess without having to submit to maternal disapproval on top of it all.
Apart from my complete and total session of moaning written here above, the cleaning is actually going pretty well. Slowly, but well. The apartment is about 40% cleaner than yesterday, and about 50% cleaner than it was on Monday. I don't know how that math works, please don't ask.
I've cleaned out the refrigerator, done almost all of my dishes, and gotten rid of a TON of stuff already. There's another ton waiting to be discarded, but the place already feels lighter. The problem with cleaning out the fridge is that now I'm hungry and there's nothing to eat in here. Well, there wasn't anything to eat before, but at least I had the illusion that there was food. I may have to venture out later in search of vittles.
Gah.
Tired does not begin to describe what I'm feeling. Bouts of insomnia this week have not helped. I wish that my insomnia was more produuctive. If I was completely awake, for instance, then I'd be able to bop around the apartment and clean. Instead I seem to be spending my nights one-quarter asleep, shifting around restlessly and not actually deriving any benefit at all from this state of semi-wakefulness. It's most frustrating.
I think I may try to go to bed early. Like, say, now. Then I'll get up early and continue my cleaning. Maybe it's wishful thinking that has me believing I'll be able to get up that early tomorrow. Maybe not. I'm willing to give it a shot, as I am fagged.
Oh, and Gratuitous Start Trek Icon! Just because.
Theoretical fitness filter
Jul. 11th, 2006 10:40 pmSo I mentioned in my last post that I might be making a filter in which I would go into painfully boring detail about my upcoming Campaign For Physical Fitness. If I do end up making this filter (it's all highly theoretical at this point), would you like to be included? I will not at all be offended/hurt/angry if you don't want to read that kind of stuff. Weight and fitness are iffy subjects at best, and are triggery for some people. Hence, y'know, the filter. :)
So:
[Poll #767264]
Oh, and GIP! Sort of...
So:
[Poll #767264]
Oh, and GIP! Sort of...
